Burley Bumblings - 12th November

The weather was mild and sunny. A lovely walk with the highlight being some Redwings and great views of a Nuthatch.

16 of us met in the car park at Burbush Hill, just south of Burley. Although there are some wonderful scarce birds that you can chance upon, the New Forest can be pretty quiet for birds in the winter and today was no exception.
We walked along the old railway track to the new wooden house. Very few birds around. A couple of Blackbird, Meadow Pipit and a Carrion Crow were all we saw on the first part of the walk. We turned south through some wet Alder carr woodland. Here there were a few more birds. Wren calling and singing a little, Robins, Goldcrest, Great Tit and Great-spotted Woodpecker all calling, but not making themselves very visible.
As we got out onto the open heath we passed a couple of houses. One had a bird feeder in the garden and this gave us great views of a Great-spotted Woodpecker (located by Derek), Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits and a Nuthatch which spent much of its time on the roof of the house. Jeff found a Greenfinch on a tree stump and some Long-tailed Tits flew by. There was also a Collared Dove in the garden and 2 Pied Wagtails close by.
Out on the open heath we had wonderful views in the sunny weather. We kept our eyes peeled for any birds of prey, but none appeared. There was a small flock of Redwings that were feeding in some Holly bushes, Sandy saw a Magpie fly past in the distance and we saw several more Meadow Pipits. However what was lacking in bird diversity was made up for by the great views.
Simon Curson