New Forest

Remembered.

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The Royal Canadian Army Service Corps.

The Canadian Memorial is a simple wooden roadside cross with two flag poles. It is situated overlooking the sloping ground, near Bolderwood on a forest road leading to Emery Down.

The memorial remembers World War Two Canadian forces present in the New Forest before the D-Day invasion of June 6th, 1944 ‘

At this site, during the build-up to D-Day, Canadians were stationed in the area. It is also close to one of Forest’s wartime airfields at Stoney Cross.

A plaque with an inscription reads: ‘On this site, a cross was erected to the glory of God on 14th April 1944, by men of the 3rd Canadian Division RCASC’ ( the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps.)

On D-Day, RCASC soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Division and 2nd Armoured Brigade landed on Juno Beach.

Smile you are on camera!

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The Canada Geese goslings have grown up so much over the last few weeks. Three families despite the odds have raised all their little ones into “teenagers”.

I placed my small action camera {Olympus Tough} on a stool and let it capture the geese coming over for a feed. Video and stills from the film. Some of these portraits have got to make you smile.

Moorland wanders.

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A Moorland walk in the New Forest this morning.

Common cotton grass has fluffy, white seed heads that dot boggy moorlands and heaths its bright heads show up across the landscape which looks like something has been dropped until you get close enough to see it is a seedhead. Despite its name, common cotton grass is a member of the sedge family, rather than being a true grass.

In the winter we came across a small pond on the moor and decided to return in the summer as it

looked like a good site for Dragonflies, we returned today and it was.

Female Broad-bodied Chaser.

Male Broad-bodied Chaser.

Male Emperor Dragonfly.

Female Emperor Dragonfly. Egg-laying.

A Male Stonechat keeping its distance from the pond.

Foxgloves are now in full flower.

Fallow Deer are never far away on a New Forest walk.

A New Forest stream.

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A closer look at and into a New Forest stream.

A nature walk along a small stream in the New Forest with a closer look and some of the water life in and around the waterway.

Speedwell (Veronica persica)

Lots of Tadpoles in the stream today.

Film of Dragonfly larva (+ some small fish). The larvae will climb out of the water for the last part of its life cycle and then it will split down its back and a Dragonfly will emerge.

Water crowfoot, (Ranunculus aquatilis).

Water

Water skimmers or striders are small insects that are adapted for life on top of still water, using surface tension to their advantage so they can “walk on water.”

Dartford Warbler.

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The Dartford Warbler is found in a few localised places in the UK. Back in early1960’s following servere winters Dartford warblers numbers crashed and only10 pairs remained (They only eat insects and do not migrate for the winter, which means it is vulnerable to cold weather and prolonged snow cover ). On a positive note today, there are about 3,200 pairs nesting.

They are dependent on dry heath habitats, particularly on gorse in good condition. It is a ground-nesting bird, preferring to breed under the protective cover of dense heather or compact gorse. It makes a grassy, cup-shaped nest, in which it lays three to five eggs. It can have up to three broods from April to July.

A bird I only saw once in my childhood today I know of 4 places where they are doing well close to my home.

sound on to hear song.

Small birds.

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Some small birds spotted on a walk in the New Forest yesterday. Walking on marked paths/trails to avoid disturbing ground-nesting Curlew and Lapwings. Much of the New forest is Heath and Moor and an important habitat for these ground-nesting birds.

Distant and high flying Skylarks were fairly abundant on my walk.

The flowering Gorse bushes provided some good spots for the Rare Dartford Warbler. They nest deep in these bushes and the thorns give the nests vicious and effective protection from praditors.

Some of these birds seemed to be collecting cobwebs I presume for glue for their nests.

Others were collecting insects so I think there must be some nearby nests.

Dunnock’s caught me out a couple of times pretending to be a Dartford Warbler until I got a bit closer!

Also spotted a Male Chaffinch.

I found these duck eggs which had been predated probably by a crow or a magpie a fair distance from any pond or river.

As well as bird insects are starting to appear.

The round-leaved sundew a heathland plant found in the New Forest has round leaves which have sticky, ‘dew’-covered tendrils that tempt onto it unsuspecting insects as prey. The ‘dew’ is very sticky, trapping the insect; the sundew’s tendrils detect the presence of its stuck prey and curl inwards to engulf it. After a while, the whole leaf wraps around the insect which is digested. The acidic habitats the round-leaved sundew lives in don’t provide enough nutrients, so it has evolved this carnivorous way of life to supplement its diet.