#ibsley

Somerley, Parish of Ellingham & Harbridge with Ibsley, Hampshire, England

18th September 2022: Post 2 of 2-Ibsley Common in the New Forest

Following on from my previous post, we then walked at Ibsley Common in the New Forest this afternoon where it was nice to have another really peaceful walk, taking in the beautiful scenes of bits of purple heather and lush green in trees in this moor like undulating landscape with a nice wood and stream taken in too. There was great sunshine for a lot of the walk. I took the first five and seventh and eighth pictures in this photoset of views on the walk and the sixth of some bracken lit nicely by the sun I was actually aiming to take a photo of the Stonechat sat in it I kept two versions in the end one cropped of the Stonechat which I tweeted on Dans_Pictures tonight and the view as I thought it looked nice.

There were some great birds seen on the walk; one of my favourites the Dartford Warbler briefly, Stonechat well, Meadow Pipit, lots of Swallows moving through once more, Mistle Thrush and Woodpigeon with a Blue Tit heard I believe. What I believe was a Southern Hawker dragonfly flying at the end, a beautiful iridescent beetle either Dor beetle or Splendid Earth Boring beetle if the former seen nicely again after some last Sunday at Pig Bush and three weeks ago at Martin Down and New Forest ponies again were other nice sightings here this afternoon. As we enjoyed an ice cream by Rockford on the way back, one of a few great relaxing time off things to do we have enjoyed doing between everything else this week, there were some gorgeous coloured ponies kissed by the afternoon sun. In the car there was an interesting looking insect or it may have been a spider on the window beside me.

The Ibsley Common walk was a good one for flowers with ragwort, more devil’s-bit scabious after last Sunday, more lovely freshly flowering yellow gorse a little theme this week, hawksbeard, daisy I seem to recall, the purple heather and some smashing harebells seen well looking especially lovely in the sun flowers I do admire.

I took the final two pictures in this photoset of a nice sky scene and yellow buddleia in the back garden when home this evening, there was more nice red at sunset this evening which I enjoyed out the back. It is a bank holiday tomorrow but it felt most appropriate to reflect this evening how today brought to an end a quickly passing but wonderful patch of leave for us. It was packed full of adventure, lots of bird, mammal, butterfly, dragonfly and flower sightings and others making it a key week of my wildlife and photography year and putting me in strong positions for a few of my year lists this year, so many photo opportunities in mostly fantastic weather at a perfect mix of familiar and new places for us, local and further afield. Along the way meeting some wonderful people, some of which we had met before and some we saw more than once at different places, allowing for much social interaction. And it was so relaxing. Thanks for all your support for my photos and posts this week. It will be a hard and historic day tomorrow for the UK with the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I hope you all have a good and safe new week.

Harbridge Hants.

Went for a walk on part of the Avon Valley Path, starting at Ibsley and heading towards Fordingbridge. It was blazing hot and no shade, but glorious. The flood plain was overgrown with reeds and grasses and all the hedgerows were full of small brown butterflies (Meadow Browns?). I’ve not seen such an abundance of butterflies in years, a testament to the age and lack of pesticides in these water meadows, now left unused by animal or machine it seems. 

A fine,old church at Harbridge with lovely old gravestones. Centuries of burials with family names recurring. 

8 years of going to Blashford Lakes, why I love it so much 

8 years ago today I went for the first time to a place that’s become one of my favourite and most visited nature reserves, Blashford Lakes. So I thought I’d do a post exploring why I love it so much and remembering some of the many highlights I’ve had. I’ll initially explore why I love it so much generally then I’ll write a section about each hide/area of the reserve which I go to. In each section I will indicate which of the 10 pictures from the photoset of some of my favourite Blashford images of mine from over the years was from this area if any, before saying some of my favourite wildlife I’ve seen from this area over the years. I will end by writing specifically about that visit 8 years ago today. 

What I love about Blashford Lakes is its sheer variety. Its a cluster of lakes from former gravel pits, with wetlands, woodland and grassland nestled around them, so it just attracts so many different species. Its largely thought of as a bird reserve and that is what you see most there, but there’s plenty of other wildlife too. I had been birdwatching for little over a year when I first visited in 2008, so every single visit in 2008 led to me seeing at least 1 new bird, both common and quite rare. There is definitely a closeness and intimacy about the wildlife at Blashford, and it allows for lots of picture opportunities of so many different things. Its also a beautiful area on the edge of the New Forest, I had to pick only 10 pictures of mine from it since 2008 for this photoset so its all wildlife with it being a wildlife dominated place but I have taken some landscapes there over the years too. Because of all this there is a great spirit about visiting Blashford with really friendly staff and it attracts people from many different walks of life. Now I will explore different areas of it individually allowing me to remember some of my highlights from the 8 years. 

The Tern Hide-Ibsley Water 

Pictures in photoset: The first 2 of the Grey Heron and Lapwing in 2014 and 15 respectively. 

Great species I’ve seen from it: Ring-billed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Goldeneye, Goosander, Long-tailed Duck, Bewicks Swan, Little Ringed Plover and Water Pipit. 

The Tern Hide offers a great view over Ibsley Water and is especially well thought of for its large number of Gulls. Its a great location for Ducks, Geese and Swans too especially in the winter, with some more seasonal birds in the spring. The areas of gravel in front of the hide offers a great chance for pictures. 

Goosander and Lapwing Hides-Ibsley Water 

Great species I’ve seen from them: Sand Martin, Black-necked Grebe and Buzzard. 

I visit these 2 less frequently as it overlooks the same water as the Tern, but both are very good for getting close to Sand Martins in the spring and summer and also offer beautiful views. 

Ivy North and South Hides-Ivy Lake 

Pictures in photoset: The 3rd one of the Great White Egret in 2015 

Great species I’ve seen from them: Bittern, Great White Egret, Water Rail, Bearded Tit and Kingfisher. 

Nestled in the wood and both looking at different but habitat similar bits of Ivy lake these 2 hides are key to the reserve, with both being good for water species. Ivy North especially is very good for reedbed species, and both offer a host of duck species and lots of Cormorants. The Kingfisher wood perches right in front of Ivy South make for great photo opportunities. 

Woodland Hide-Beside Ivy Lake

Pictures in photoset: The 4th, 5th and 6th of various shots of one of my favourite birds the Great Spotted Woodpecker, and the 7th and 8th picture of another of my favourites the Jay and the Siskin and Brambling. 

Great species I’ve seen from it: Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay, Siskin, Brambling, Lesser Redpoll, Nuthatch and my first ever Badgers during a night watch event in 2010. 

The Woodland Hide is my favourite at Blashford and indeed anywhere. It was the second of this type of hide at a reserve we’d ever seen when we first visited in 2008 and it certainly is very unique. Its been featured on Autumnwatch where they mentioned the glass that means the birds can’t see in but we can see out. It is definitely the place where intimacy is offered as you can get so close to woodland feeding birds and Squirrels, and you rarely need binoculars. Over the years I’ve seen such a range of species there and there’s usually something slightly different each season. I nearly always leave having appreciated a really common bird so its great to make you do that. I also nearly always leave having seen a Great Spotted Woodpecker and the closeness to this species its allowed me over the 8 years has been key to it becoming one of my favourite birds. 

Around the centre 

Pictures in photoset: The last 2 of the Earthstar Mushroom between it and the Woodland Hide in 2015 and an Elephant Hawkmoth from a Moth trap in 2011 around the back of it. 

Great species I’ve seen from it: Elephant Hawkmoth, Emperor Dragonfly, Raft Spider, one of my favourite butterflies the Silver-washed Fritillary and a similar selection of woodland birds to the hide at the feeders. 

The centre is what it describes itself to be the hub beside the car park. Its almost the bit that focuses on wildlife other than birds. It has feeders nearby and a kind of pond and plant area around the back. Its often the first place you touch upon I’m sure and its very welcoming on the inside and out. 

Rockford Lake and the screens looking over Ivy Lake 

Great species I’ve seen from it: Whooper Swan, Smew and Great White Egret 

This is the very edge of the reserve as it borders the fishing parts of the lakes, and its always quite eerie exploring it and its a nice escape when there’s lots of people there. We only discovered this bit because of seeing the Whooper Swans there in 2008 which is probably the standout moment in my 8 years of going to Blashford Lakes. We’d seen our first Goldeneye and Long-tailed Duck from the Tern Hide and just as we were leaving content someone said Whooper Swans had been spotted on Rockford Lake. We worked out where to go and headed straight there and were able to spot them from a distance. These were in a different league to many of the birds I’d ever seen at Blashford as they are very rare for Hampshire, and I just felt on top of the world. The screens looking across Ivy Lake also allow for a overview that the hides don’t really give and I felt great when I managed to spot the Great White Egret from it last year in a position where it couldn’t be seen from either of the hides.