New Forest

Watering Hole.

/ Andy Finnegan / Leave a comment

As our heatwave continues, another hot walk across the open plain in the New Forest: a 4-mile round trip to Whitten Pond.

Cows drink 60 to 120 litres of water a day. Some of the ponds dry out in the summer, but Forestry England says there are up to 1000 ponds in the New Forest.

As we walked over Holmsley Ridge, Whitten Pond came into view, and a large herd of cows was also heading to the water. We arrived about the same time.

Ring Plover, which I am more used to seeing on the coast, were at the pond, and a small family were around the edge. They are one of our coastal birds that will breed inland.

A juvenile Pied Wagtail.

Stonechat {Male}.

Parenthood.

/ Andy Finnegan / 4 Comments

Yesterday’s New Forest walk was a bit of a surprise as we found another Raft Spider stronghold. We found a nest full of newly hatched spiderlings. What was different about this nest was that it was being guarded by a parent spider. I had not seen this before.

Adult on guard.

Raft spiders do not spin webs to catch insects; they grab and catch their prey.

Frogs.

/ Andy Finnegan / 2 Comments

Marsh frogs (Pelophylax ridibundus) are Europe’s largest native frog species; they are not native to the UK. There is a colony in the New Forest, and I try to see if I can spot some at this time of year. They are colourful frogs with a range from brown to green.

Red-veined Darter.

/ Andy Finnegan / 1 Comment

A hot walk in the New Forest during a “heatwave” and spotted a new dragonfly, 1st for me. Red-veined Darter. According to the British Dragonfly Society, this dragonfly is a fairly frequent migrant, principally to southern Britain, with scattered sightings elsewhere. Numbers spotted have been increasing since the 1980s. Breeding has been observed regularly, but the colonies are not yet stable.