Pylewell House

In the winter time Natural History Societies turn their attention to bird watching and The Waterside Natural History Society is no exception.

Keyhaven and the Normandy Marshes are two of the favourite bird watching spots but get quite crowded on a sunny winter Sunday.

The WNHS in an endeavour to reach a more out of the way spot decided to try walking round Pylewell Park.

Pylewell Park is situated on the East side of the Lymington river just outside of the New Forest boundary and because of its location is largely avoided by walkers and birdwatchers. We set out from the junction of Shotts lane with Lisle Court road.

It was noticed on passing through Beaulieu that the tide was high so we decided to walk on the land side first leaving the seashore until the tide was lower.

This is just one example of the detailed planning that goes in to all our walks!

We saw very few birds at first, Robins and Dunnock mainly but we did hear a Woodpecker drilling and a Nuthatch calling.

We were commenting on how few birds were to be seen on one of the estate ponds when we turned round to look in a damp meadow and saw the following:- Two Buzzards in flight, a colourful Grey Wagtail, a Heron, Jackdaws, Jay, Song Thrush, Missel Thrush, Pied Wagtail and Chaffinch.

In addition we heard a Tawny Owl calling.

Our path next led towards the shore down Tanners Lane where we stopped for lunch when we reached the shoreline.

The weather was bright and sunny and a beautiful place to stop.

Our peace was only disturbed by the occasional Sunday motorist testing their SatNav only to turn round when they ran out of road at the seashore.

Continuing our walk we went along the seashore checking off the seabirds as we went.

The usual shorebirds were seen including:- Dunlin, Curlew, Grey Plover, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Brent Geese, Cormorant, Shellduck as well as the Black Headed Gulls.

A freshwater lake that had built up behind the shingle beach yielded the following:- Mute Swans, Coot, Little Egret, Kingfisher, Reed Bunting, Little Grebe and Mallard.

The walk ended by turning back up a narrow lane to our starting point. There was a Red Admiral butterfly seen up the lane.

Flowers seen on our walk included Winter Heliotrope, Lesser Celandine and of course swathes of Snowdrops in the small copse near our start point.

Flowers seen on our walk

On our way back home we called in at Sowley Pond and noticed:- Tufted Duck, Pochard, Great Crested Grebe and a single Long Tailed Duck.

We were told of a sighting of Cattle Egret at Bergerie Farm so decided to stop on our way past.

Sure enough in a field with cattle we saw two Cattle Egrets.

You don’t need to be too clever when identifying Cattle Egrets; firstly they are usually found at the feet of cattle and secondly they are more hunched up than Little Egrets.

They are hotly tipped to be the next coloniser of these shores but since they are one of the few birds found on all continents of the world the wonder is why they have not got here before now.

A Hare was also spotted in the same field and a Kestrel in a nearby tree.

The walk turned out to be an excellent one, not just for birds but for the variety of scenery and nature in such a short space of time.

If you wait for the first Swallow or Cuckoo before venturing out into the countryside then you will have missed an awful lot.

Our next outdoor meeting will be on Sunday 16th March when we will be attempting to see mad March Hares at Cheesefoot Head near Winchester.

Meet at the car park in Oak road, Dibden Purlieu for 10:00am.

For more information contact the Secretary on 023 8089 3803.

Any comments on the above, good or bad, please e-mail mharrison67@btinternet.com