Merlin - 24th March

Started off from Shatterford car park in the New Forest this morning at 6 O clock.
It was cloudy with a cold north-easterly wind but it was already quite light. (would have been there earlier but after 5 mins of leaving home I realised i'd left my binoculars behind & had to go back!)
In the Pines around the car park there were a few Chaffinches & Greenfinches calling & singing & a Goldcrest was singing high up in one of the Pines.
Heading south over the heath & along the railway line some Stonechats were calling, a Fieldfare flew towards me 'chuckling' & a pair of Curlew were circling around with their bubbling call. Looks like they are going to nest here near the valley mire again this year.
Still not far from the car park, to my left as the heath grades down to Shatterford bog there was a 'lump' on the lower branch of a lone dead tree. Had a look at it & through the murk of the morning I have to admit that at first glance I thought it could have been a Little Owl. I thought no, can't be that so I got a bit closer behind the cover of the only Holly bush on the heath to get a better look without spooking it & it turned out to be a Merlin. It gave me a good view before darting off.
Carried on walking on the heath along the railway line I took a quick detour over a bridge to have a look on the heath the other side (Stephill Bottom) as its sometimes good for Hen Harriers. Not today, but on the bridge were the fronds of the fern Wall Rue & on the track of the bridge the pretty little white flowers of Common Whitlow Grass were out & the leaves of Woody Nightshade were coming up & a pair of Canada Geese were on a pond at near the bridge.
Back on the original track agian were more Stonecahts & some Meadow Pipits were doing their song flights.
Down at Woodfidley Passage & then in between the railway & the east side of Denny Lodge Inclosure it becomes more wooded there were Blue Tits, Great Tits Nuthatch Mistle Thrush & Song Thrush. I went over Woodfidley bridge & had a quick wander around Frame Heath Inclosure as this is the area to see the Sika deer in the Forest. No Sika but there were Crossbills & Siskins & on a recent clear-fell site a Woodlark was singing first near the edge of the inclosure & then further in on a small Oak that I walked under.
Out of Frame Heath Inclosure & back on the bridge there was some more ferns & flowers. Wall Rue & Black Spleenwort on the brickwork & on the track Lesser Celandines, Barren Stawberry & Narrow-leaved Lungwort were in flower.
Over Woodfidley bridge & in Denny Lodge inlosure there were three herds of Fallow deer (does), Crossbills, Siskins, Robins, Wrens, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Jays, Wood Pigeons, & Stock Doves.
Coming out of Denny Lodge Inclosure at Woodfidley Passage & heading west along the Inclosure edge & across the five ditch bridges was a flock of about 50 finches mostly made up of Goldfinches with a few Redpolls & Siskins. A fallen beech tree had a few brackets of the Fat Polypore (Psuedotrametes gibbosa) & on the living trees were Ganoderma australe & Ganoderma resinaceum. Over the grass & heath & across the five bridges another Woodlark was doing his song flight, a pair of starlings were on a tree, more Meadow Pipits were displaying on the heath to my right & looking in the water from one of the bridges some Palmate newts were swimming around. Over the last bridge I disturbed a pair of Mandarin ducks which flew up & around & landed in the same place they flew up from.
Into the ancient woodland of Denny Wood more of the same woodland birds but this time there were a few Hawfinches calling from the tree tops & some Treecreepers were also about.
Out of Denny Wood, over the heath & into the wind more Stonechats & Meadow Pipits were displaying but no sign of the Merlin. Near the car park I could hear the Curlews again, a Green Woodpecker was hunting around on the ground & another Woodlark was doing his song flight before landing on a stump.

Simon Currie