Pig Bush - 26th August

Got up early & went for a walk in the New Forest this morning. Parked up at Pig Bush car park at 5.50am. Walked on the track over the heath towards the NW corner of Frame Heath Inclosure. Not much bird life around, just a couple of Meadow Pipits went up calling & a Buzzard calling from Stephill Bottom. The heather is a beautiful site at the moment, a great sheet of purple. Lots of Bog Myrtle & Lesser Spearwort among the rushes by the causeway over the valley mire. Aproaching the NW gate into Frame Heath Inclosure I heard the alarm whistle of a Sika deer hind with calf that spotted me. In the inclosure there were a few more Sika hinds dotted about, a Fallow doe & pricket (yearling) in velvet & a 10 point (which is usual) Sika stag in velvet. A Stonechat was also giving me his alarm call from a clear-fell site near the track as was a Great Spotted Woodpecker. A juvenile Hobby was giving its hunger calll from the top of a big Douglas Fir & then one of the parents started calling from a nearby tree. Plants in the Inclosure included Tormentil, Silverweed, Eyebright, Common Figwort & Hard Fern. The Dark Bushcrickets were also chirping away.

It was very quiet through the ancient woodland of Frame Wood, just with the usual birds calling: Blackbirds, Robins, Song Thrush, Wren, Great Tit, Marsh Tit, Blue Tit, Nuthatch & Long-tailed Tit. In damp patches there plenty of Lesser Skullcap, March Pennywort & Marsh St.johnswort. Not much fungi about either there at the moment: Oyster mushrooms, Chicken of the Woods, & some Collybia's.

On the track over Halfpenny Green, over the stream & back to the carpark there was some of the rare Coral Necklace, also Purple Loosestrife, Round & Oblong-leaved Sundew, Marsh St.johnswort, Lady fern, & Marsh Gentians & a Painted Lady butterfly.

Iv'e probably forgotten loads but not too bad for a couple of hours first thing in the morning at the end of summer.

Si