Lesser Celandine

This reserve (with access by permit only) is owned by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and comprises of 15 acres of ancient unimproved meadows alongside the Bartley Water.

As we left our cars, we saw the first of the typical spring flowers, lesser celandine on the grassy roadside bank and we could already hear many birds singing in the woods. 

As we made our way through the privately owned Fletchwood Copse we saw a beech tree starting to leaf and a green woodpecker was heard in the distance whilst a pair of great tits fluttered amongst the trees.  Pretty wood sorrel and common dog violets were dotted along the side of the long woodland track.

At the entrance to the meadows we could see that a lot of clearance work had been done on the site since our visit in August last year.  However, the spotted leaves of the common spotted orchid were showing through.

Wood Anemone

As we made our way towards the surrounding trees, we saw great tits, blue tits and a lone long-tailed tit, as bright yellow brimstone butterflies danced in the warm sun.  From the other side of the meadow came the screeching call of a green woodpecker, but try as we might, we could not see him.

A pair a buzzards came into view circling low over the tree tops and one swooped down and landed in a tree.

We had a lovely view of a rather friendly chiff chaff that followed us for a while signing out it's name.  We also saw a willow warbler in the trees and a little further on we thought we saw another, however as it started to sing it was confirmed as a chiff chaff, probably the same one seen earlier! 

These two birds are difficult to tell apart as they look very similar but their songs are very different with the willow warbler having a pretty decreasing song and a chiff chaff singing 'chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff.'

We are fairly certain we saw a bullfinch, however, as it was very high up in a tree and quite a distance we could not be sure, although it certainly had a dark coloured head and bright pinky-red front, although it could have been a male chaffinch but most of the group agreed that it looked more like a bullfinch.

Wood Sorrel

Around the edge towards the Bartley Water were most of the flowers associated with spring:  primrose, lesser celandine, wood anemone and common dog violet.  There was a particularly pretty patch where we stood surrounded by all these flowers with barren strawberry scattered amongst them.

As we ventured further we came across a rather nice patch of bramble and we stood for a while watching the wildlife around. 

A male black-cap flew amongst the bramble, possibly nesting there and a beautiful red admiral butterfly landed giving us a good view through our binoculars.  Further over, a tree creeper was spotted creeping up a tree and the song of a greenfinch filled the air as a wren flew low towards the trees.

Several 7-spotted ladybirds were seen basking in the sun and a clump of ground ivy with it's pretty purple flowers had us checking our wild flower books to identify it.  We also saw a very large white butterfly in the distance and thought it could be a female brimstone as a male was nearby. We found the spindle-tree that we had seen last August and dog's mercury was in flower under the trees.

Other birds seen were crows, blackbirds, robins, a jackdaw, magpies, wood pigeons and the call of pheasant was heard from the adjoining fields.  The warm sun had also brought out various species of bumble bees and rabbits were seen hopping through the woods whilst we ate our lunch sitting on a rather comfortable fallen tree.

As we arrived back at our cars, a few members decided to make the most of the sunny, rain-free day and make a quick trip to Testwood Lakes.  We walked around Little Testwood Lake and saw a male and female pair of tufted ducks and a few mallards. We also saw coots, moorhen, chaffinches, great tits, a coal tit, long-tailed tit, willow warbler and heard the song of a chiff chaff.  Brimstone butterflies were here too and we also saw a small tortoiseshell butterfly. Flowers seen here were red deadnettle, cowslips, herb robert and marsh marigold.

At the indoor meeting on Monday 24th April, Susan Bowser treated us a wonderful talk about the people and ponies of the New Forest.

Susan, a Commoner herself, keeps ponies on the Forest and gave us a fascinating insight into the lives of some of people who have lived this way all their lives and what the Commoners rights mean.

Susan accompanied her talk with slides showing the areas around where she lives and her own beautiful ponies.  She also showed slides demonstrating how the conifers in some areas are gradually being cleared to make way for heathland to be restored.

The Society's next outdoor meeting will be on Sunday 21st May with a visit to Chappetts Copse looking for birds, butterflies and flowers.  Meet at Oak Road Car Park, Dibden Purlieu at 10.00am (strong footwear recommended.)

The next indoor meeting will be on Monday 22nd May when we welcome Carol Watson to talk about the Flowers of the Causse and Cévenne.  Meet at 7.30pm at the St. Andrew's Centre, Dibden Purlieu.  Visitors very welcome at £2.00.

Please phone for further details on either 023 8089 7660 or 023 8084 5883.