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Pine Martens in the New Forest
by
Marcus Ward
On Tuesday 26 September the first indoor meeting of our Autumn/Winter season of talks starts at 7:15pm in St. Thomas' Church Hall with a brief AGM before Marcus’ talk. Members free, visitors £5.00
We're pleased to welcome back Marcus, from Wild New Forest, who will tell us all about these elusive creatures and show us the evidence of their presence in the Forest. We can expect an excellent evening.
Some of our speakers bring merchandise to sell (or take bookings) which might be the case tonight.
After two days of gales and a lot of rain our walk was blessed with sunshine and just a couple of short showers. We had adjusted the departure time to 09:30 from 10:00 to avoid the congestion in the car park that Jo and I experienced a week ago. Our circular route began along a lane lined with brambles laden with ripening fruit, which provided a tasty morsel from time to time. House Sparrows chirped and a Chiffchaff flitted between small trees. Unfortunately the recent bad weather had washed away most of the remaining flowers from Common Fleabane, Gipsywort and Black Horehound by the path.
The marsh is grazed by a herd of horses, foals and a stallion, Nigel. Evidence of his passing was piled up along the paths at regular intervals. The rushes were turning brown against a background of green with the blue of Sea Aster providing a bit of colour. From the path we ‘scoped Curlew, but a Stock Dove was less co-operative. Virtually every ditch had a fishing Little Egret or two.
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| Sea Aster © Richard Coomber |
On reaching Crouch Hill we left the path to walk across the soft turf, where rabbit burrows rather than piles of horse poo were more of a hazard. It was the perfect habitat for Wheatears and before long we were looking at least six, but it was the Yellow Wagtails that stole the show with some 15 birds, of which the majority were stunning adults. Also in the area were a few Meadow Pipits , Pied Wagtails and Linnets.
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| Wheatear © Richard Coomber |
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| Yellow Wagtail © Richard Coomber |
We strolled up the low hill to view the expanse of Christchurch Harbour. Cormorants and gulls rested on an exposed sandbar, but when a major panic caused shorebirds, wildfowl and gulls to take to the air we realised that in the sky behind them hovered an Osprey, which we watched for minutes on end. Unfortunately we did miss a successful plunge and catch, but we were in just the right place as it flew over carrying a large Mullet.
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| Osprey and Mullet © Richard Coomber |
From Grimmery Bank, where the path veered north, we watched a hovering Kestrel, a lone Lesser Black-backed Gull and a pair of Ravens, one of whom dwarfed the Carrion Crow that perched on the same fallen branch.
When we eventually left the marsh and finding brambles and trees once more, Speckled Wood butterflies basked in the sheltered sunshine and a fruiting apple tree just of the path tempted some scrumping!
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| Speckled Wood © Richard Coomber |
On a hot and beautiful day, we started out from the car park heading south-west through the woodland towards the footbridge over the Beaulieu River. Before we had even got a few yards an inquisitive Southern Hawker was flying around in front of us.
As we walked through the woodland, we got sidetracked by a Speckled Wood flying around and occasionally perching in the sunlight, Enchanter’s Nightshade and Common Dog Violet.
Enchanter's Nightshade © Richard Coomber
On reaching the footbridge, we found some fungi on a tree and a fallen rotten log – we identified Common Earthball, the wonderfully named Dog Vomit Slime Mold, a red fungus that is possibly Beechwood Sickener and, identified by Richard Coomber, Stemonitis axifera.
Dog's Vomit Slime Mould © Kevin Tubb 
Stemonitis axifera © Richard Coomber
Once we crossed the footbridge and left the woodland, we found areas of Least Water Pepper. Heading out over the heath we could see that Starpole Pond still had water in it despite the recent hot and dry weather. There were a few dragonflies flying around it, but they were all Common Darter apart from one Blue Emperor.
We then proceeded to explore the small hill where we found large numbers of Marsh Gentian (lots in flower, some in bud and a few that had gone over). Butterflies included Small Heath, a tatty Holly Blue, Red Admiral and Small Copper. Fungi included HollySpeckle, The Blusher, Brown Birch Bolete and possible Iodine Bolete.
Marsh Gentian © Richard Coomber
Brown Birch Bolete © Kevin Tubb
possibly The Blusher © Kevin Tubb 
possibly Iodine Bolete © Kevin Tubb
Flora included Devil’s Bit Scabious, Mouse-eared Hawkweed, Cat’s-ear, Autumn Hawkbit, Dwarf Gorse, Eyebright sp, Tormentil and Chamomile.
Birds were scarce except for a few Meadow Pipits and Wood Pigeons but that soon changed! Firstly, we picked up lots of House Martins high up in the sky, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Common Stonechat, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Linnet and best of all a European Honey Buzzard which was calling constantly and eventually the leader managed to get it in the telescope which was quite difficult as the sky was clear - so no clouds to get bearings on.
We
then headed back to the car park and didn’t see anything new apart from a
fly-by Brimstone. KT
Please note that
due to potential car parking problems this walk is starting 30 minutes earlier
than published in our walks programme. Car-sharing might make life easier.
Grid ref: SZ172924
What3words: just.souk.cost
Even
the most optimistic of the online weather forecasts predicted spells of rain
this morning, but an undaunted group assembled in the Cadman’s Pool carpark and
avoided the rain until the last part of the walk.
The pond only held some Mallard, Canada Geese and a lone Grey Heron. We headed north into Anses Wood. This has some fine old beech and holly trees and we immediately started finding fungi. Many of us had not yet brushed up on our fungi ID skills for the autumn, so there was a degree of guesswork in this list. We found Sulphur Tuft, Earth Ball, a possible Amethyst Deceiver, a Bolete of some kind, the pink/red Beechwood Sickener, and a possible Common Stinkhorn just emerging as an egg-like structure. At the bottom of the hill we found some Green Elfcap on a fragment of fallen wood and there were several Birch Polypores on Birch trees. Butcher’s-broom was growing here, indicating that this is a old piece of woodland.
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| Beechwood Sickener © Jo Dowle |
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| Stinkhorn 'egg' © Jo Dowle |
The
path leads quite steeply downhill past some well-laden crab apple trees to where
we walked alongside the edge of the Hollyhatch Enclosure down to the stream
called Dockens Water. There were a few
muddy patches, but we skirted these as we followed the stream west. There is a lush grassy strip alongside the
stream which meanders pleasantly along the valley bottom. We identified Bog Myrtle, Common Bur-Reed, Marsh
St John’s Wort, Creeping Willow and Marsh Pennywort. A detour was made across a footbridge to
examine the marshy area where we found (not having moved much since the recce
walk 2 days ago) a lovely Raft Spider.
Raft Spider images
Above left © Richard Smith Above right © Glynis Payne
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| Splitgilll © Richard Smith |
The rain started before we reached the beautiful and remote Holly Hatch Cottage which is a Forest Keeper’s residence. Some of the House Martins which nest in the eaves of the cottage were still around and apparently returning to late broods of young in the nests. Some people headed back at this point so just a few carried on into the enclosure. More fungi were seen including Petticoat Mottlegill and a group of small Chanterelles. Apart from the House Martins, few birds were seen, although Spotted Flycatchers and Common Redstarts had been present a few days earlier.
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| Blushing Rosette © Glynis Payne |
On an earth bank we saw a number of solitary bees entering holes and tentatively identified them as Ivy Bees.
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| Ivy Bee © Richard Smith |
The rain stopped as we emerged from the enclosure, where the whole plain was brilliant purple with heather. All three species: Ling, Cross-leaved Heath and Bell Heather were seen along the walk. JD
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| Our route © Crown copyright 2023 Ordnance Survey. Media 006/23. The licence is valid until 31 December 2023 |
This Thursday we have a walk with Kevin Tubb, setting off at 10:00 from Kings Hat.
There will not be much shelter from the sun so sunscreen, hats and fluids are advised for this walk
Grid ref: SU386054
what3words: damp.woods.asset
This Thursday we have a General Interest walk with Jo Dowle, setting off at 10.00.
Grid ref: SU229122
What3words: skim.desk.vertical
A cloudy start walking toward Puttles Bridge, the cropped grass speckled with Cats-ear; a Green Woodpecker was glimpsed, a tiny toadlet and Humpback Brittlegill were seen. Among the Scots Pines across the road, Bilberry thriving in the understory, a large Southern Wood Ant’s nest and a variety of fungi including a tired Stinkhorn were spotted.
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| Bilberry © Chris Robinson |
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| Common Toad © Richard Smith |
Holly Blue © Chris Robinson 
Unbranched Bur-reed © Chris Robinson
Among the oaks and the odd birch by the bridge were a variety of inaccessible fungi, one possibly an Earthball and another on a Silver Birch, a Dog Vomit Slime Mold.
Along the track through the heather, a Great Spotted Woodpecker was briefly seen and then a New Forest speciality, some Coral-necklace, was spotted growing on a patch of bare damp soil. Leaving the track to go through the wooded area of Holm Hill, many widely spaced ancient Hollies with multiple thick stems were passed, evidently copiced over centuries. A map from 1786 shows the wood, its size and shape much the same as today and with the same track leading to it. Having a biscuit break was accompanied by the sound of some Honey Bees in a nearby nest and a visiting Bee Wolf.
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| Honey Bees © Chris Robinson |
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| Honey Bees © Richard Smith |
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| Bee Wolf © Richard Smith |
Back on the track leading to the bridge over the Silver Stream, a Red Admiral, another Holly Blue, Rove and Dor Beetles, Harebell and a fungus, possibly a Panthercap, were seen.
A Rove Beetle (Staphylinus erythopterus) © Chris Robinson
At the bridge, the sun was now out and dragonflies were flitting about. A young Robin hovered giving a good view and a highly active Keeled Skimmer briefly landed on the path for another view. Also seen were some Oblong-leaved Sundew.
Grayling © Richard Smith
Along the track to the car park, the pollinators were now busy thrumming away, excavated spoil from the holes of Bee Wolves were clearly seen along the sandy edge, a Grayling landed on the bare path and finally one of the several Meadow Pipits paraded on the track to give a splendid view of its plumage. JE
Our route
© Crown copyright 2023 Ordnance Survey.
Media 006/23.
The licence is valid until 31 December 2023