Hoot of the Coot.
nature spots
Red Deer.
Today our walk in the New Forest yielded the UK’s largest Deer the Red Deer. In the forest, numbers are maintained around 90 animals.
Size: Up to 1.37 metres at the shoulder, length from nose to tail is 2.01m in males.
Muntjac in the New Forest.
Having recorded some of these small deer on our trail cameras in the past year today we were lucky enough to bump into this lone Muntjac while looking for fallow deer in the New Forest this morning. These shy deer are small and are only about the size of a small dog.
Muntjac is mainly a solitary deer. They use scent to communicate their territories. Individuals do this by rubbing the long v-shaped slits on their foreheads where their frontal glands are onto the ground or branches. They also have two large glands located just in front of the eyes, called the pre-orbital glands. Muntjac frequently lick these with their long tongues, this is thought to help them recognise their own scent.
Video film of Muntjac spotted today repeated in slow motion.
Vole.
A Field Vole is also known as a short-tailed vole. I was lucky to spot this common but hard to see cute little animal. They have grey-brown fur above and creamy-grey belly, with a short tail. Weighing just 20 to 40 grams this small mammal has a life span of just a year. They are about the size of a golf ball!
A colourful sky.
A flock of Shelduck brighten up the sky on the River Hamble.
Winter Gulls.
Gulls are all in winter non-breeding colours at this time of year.
Common Gull.
The Common gull looks like a small, version of the herring gull I do not see them in great numbers in my local area however the odd ones I do see are always close or within flocks of Black-headed gulls
Black-headed gulls.
These noisy small gulls are the most abundant gull in my local area. They are always on the lookout for an easy meal. Humans are an easy touch for a meal.
City birdwatch.
More Southampton city centre Ring-necked parakeets.
Tree Creeper.
A Treecreeper in the New Forest today – they are a small and very active bird that lives in trees. They have a long, slender, down-curved bill. It is speckly brown above and mainly white below and is very camouflaged and can be hard to see against the tree bark.
Hamble Point Oystercatchers.
Some Oystercatchers on the beach at Hamble Point on Southampton Water. This film is worth watching with the sound on as it shows the birds antics off to their best.
A ringed Oystercatcher. – details reported.
Footnote. This bird was first ringed in 2007.
| FP45535 | N | O+R//RW | 31 Dec 2007 | Hamble Point, River Hamble, Warsash, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 13 Oct 2008 | Hook-with-Warsash LNR, Fareham, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 27 Oct 2008 | Hook-with-Warsash LNR, Fareham, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 2 Jan 2009 | Hamble Point, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 17 Sep 2010 | Hook Spit, River Hamble, Warsash, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 28-Mar-12 | Hamble Point, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 15 Apr 2012 | Hamble Common Foreshore, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 4 Jan 2013 | River Hamble, Warsash, Fareham, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 24 Aug 2014 | Chilling, Warsash, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 9 Feb 2018 | Hamble Point, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 14 Feb 2019 | Hamble Point, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 21-Jan-20 | Hamble Point, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 22-Jan-21 | Hook Spit, River Hamble, Warsash, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
| FP45535 | S | O+R//RW | 17-Jan-23 | Hamble Point, Southampton Water, Hampshire, S England |
Hunting Forest.
In 1079 when William The Conqueror named the area his ‘new hunting forest’, close to 1,000 years later his ‘New Forest’ remains as a National Park. The ancient systems established by William The Conqueror to protect and manage the woodlands and heaths are still in place today.
Hunting Deer required planning, good horsemanship and the ability to handle weapons. It was dangerous. King William’s second son, Richard, and third son, William, were killed whilst hunting in the New Forest as was his grandson, Richard. Hunting was seen at that time as a method of practising many of the skills required for battle.
Fallow deer are today the most commonly seen deer in the New Forest. Numbers are maintained at about 1,300 on the Crown lands. Although not a native species to the UK, they have been present since Norman times and have the longest continuous lineage of any deer species in the Forest.
This time of year the Deer keep in their herds – Stags together separate from the young female deer.
Continued Reflections from my World. 