Waterside Natural History Society walk in Denny Wood

Denny Wood in the New Forest is well known as a camping and caravanning site and through most of the summer it is full of visitors trying to ‘get away from it all’. The site closes at the beginning of October leaving only a few ponies wondering where their next meal is coming from. Gradually local dog walkers and ramblers return to use the car park as a base for their activities and a few leave seeds and peanuts for the birds. Very few people however, even at the height of summer, venture far from the roads or gravel paths and are unaware of the attractions deep in the woods.

The Natural History Society however is made of sterner stuff but even they might think twice about using an old fashioned compass and a copy of the OS map of the area. Fortunately OS maps are available for smart phones and GPS can locate your exact position with a small arrow pointing in the direction of travel. Armed with the appropriate equipment and a packed lunch the small group plunged straight into the darkest wood over a wooden style at the side of Denny Wood campsite.

Denny Wood has a mixture of mature trees including both deciduous and evergreen. The evergreen trees are mostly Scots Pine and these are the most likely to produce saplings from their seed dispersal. Deciduous trees are largely English Oak and Beech with a few Turkey Oak. A number of the more mature trees have fallen and are left to decay where they lie. Over the years this produces clearings of different ages which contribute to the variety of scenery within the wood. Sunlight filtering through the patchwork of trees, some of which have started to lose their leaves, gives a dappled effect on the ground. A slow walk through the wood produced a feeling of calm and contentment that is difficult to find these days.

Coming across a Sweet Chestnut tree laden with fruit it was remarked that the appearance of such a tree indicated the presence of a path. At first sight this was likely to be an old wives tale but Sweet Chestnut produces a hard wood that is rich in tannins which act as a preservative. Large beams of the wood tend to split so it is not used for construction purposes. It is however ideal for making fences and has been grown extensively for this reason often being planted near to where it was used. The old wives tale was confirmed as true when upon checking the location on the OS map it was within feet of the route of the old Park Pale.

Clearings in the wood were covered with bracken or patches of grass but beneath the trees moss was the preferred cover. Patches of dark green Swans neck thyme moss and pale green Common Tamarisk moss combined with other mosses to form a patchwork quilt of greens. In low lying areas Sphagnum moss clung on through drought waiting to be rejuvenated in the wetter winter climate. Beneath a stand of Hawthorn trees the moss had been scraped away leaving a large saucer shaped depression- a sure sign that Deer had been in the area. Sadly the scrape and a few footprints were the only signs of Deer during the walk. Normally sightings occur on most visits throughout the year but not on this occasion.

Fungi were present throughout the wood on the ground or on decayed matter and some of them such as Fly Agaric and Porcelain fungus were quite attractive. The use of ‘fly’ in the name may derive from its hallucinogenic properties or ‘flies in the head’ but it was also used as an insecticide when sprinkled on milk. Porcelain fungus was seen growing on a dead Beech branch and is known to release a fungicide which prevents other fungi from using the wood.

Birds were not easily seen in the wood mainly because leaves still covered the branches but small flocks of Chaffinch with Blue Tits and Great Tits occasionally appeared in dense foliage. A flock of Redwing and Fieldfare appeared in the distance darting from tree to tree. These winter visitors present something of a challenge for bird watchers as they never stop moving long enough to focus binoculars but can be identified by the way they move.

The walk which lasted over two hours was on small paths and tracks through the trees with only occasional use of gravel paths. A healthier and more calming experience than walking through nature on a bright autumn day would be difficult to imagine.

The indoor meeting for October was a talk on ‘Natures Magic Moments’ by John Combes. This was a replacement for the planned talk which had to be cancelled at the last minute and the offer by John Combes to step in was much appreciated.

Any disappointment was quickly dispelled by the amount of equipment both in sound and vision which enabled John Combes to display a professional talent not only in photography but in sound recordings and musical accompaniment. The first ‘magic moment’ was the influx of Waxwings that occurred in the winter of 2010/2011 and with the help of strategically placed apples the resulting photographs were quite spectacular. Other ‘magic moments’ were not as exotic in subject but the technical wizardry made them appear just as spectacular. These included bats, wasps and spiders in ultra-close up and landscape photographs with unusual atmospheric conditions.

The talk proved to be a worthy replacement providing an interesting visual experience accompanied by appropriate sounds and musical effects.

Blackwater Arboretum New Forest

Waterside Natural History Society walk from Blackwater Arboretum

There are numerous possibilities for walks from the car park at Blackwater Arboretum. On this occasion the walk began along the gravel cycle paths through Poundhill inclosure up to the Highland Water stream near the Deer Sanctuary. It then continued along the stream banks towards Gritnam Wood before turning left to cross over the Rhinefield Drive and through the Arboretum back to the car park. The area is very popular even outside the school holiday period and the large car park was already quite full on arrival early on a Sunday morning. Many people arrive in cars and stay close to the car park to eat lunch or have a BBQ and this was probably the reason why a tame Robin approached the car looking for food.

A warm dry spell had broken up a few days before the walk leaving a fresher feel to the weather but a calm sunny day proved ideal for ambling through the forest. It felt more like an early summer’s day than autumn with green leaves still on the trees and grass regrowing lush along the rides. Apart from the Robin there were several Song Thrushes looking for food on the forest floor and a Nuthatch appeared to be storing titbits in the end of a rotting log.

During the day several large blue and green Southern Dragonflies whizzed around checking out the humans that had encroached on their patch. A stop in the walk provided some time for watching Common Darter Dragonflies as they flew over the brown bracken. They were visible in flight but appeared to disappear every time they landed.

Recent rain and the cooler weather provided ideal conditions for the growth of Fungi and a good selection appeared at the side of the gravel paths. There has always been a prohibition on commercial fungi picking but this prohibition has been extended to any picking from 2016.  Unfortunately anyone trying to identify one of the thousands of different types by picking also falls foul of the prohibition. There were two people seen picking fungi away from the gravel paths and also several cyclists deep in the wood which is also prohibited. Sadly without a determined enforcement effort bans could turn out to be a waste of time. A large Cep bolete fungi lying on the side of the path could be identified although it was partly eaten by some creature obviously unaware of the prohibition.

The area alongside Highland Water attracts many of the smaller birds even when there is very little water flow. A great deal of work has been done to reinstate meanders and block the flow of water in order for the land to soak up more water. This appears to have been successful as standing water could be seen on nearby boggy areas and evidence of the stream overflowing with mud and debris was present in several places. Distinctive footprints of Deer as they crossed the soft mud gave some indication of what happened when noisy humans were not present.

As well as the Blackbirds, Wrens flitted among the bracken and Great Tits searched for food up in the trees alongside their cousins the Blue Tits. A solitary Chiffchaff was also seen scrambling through the undergrowth trying to find food and deciding whether to migrate before the winter. What appeared to be small birds flying high in the tree tops turned out to be several Red Admiral butterflies perhaps trying to warm up in the sunshine?

The amount of fruit on the trees and bushes seems to have been rather sporadic this autumn. Sloes and brambles are few and far between but occasionally a heavily laden shrub stands out from the rest. Horse chestnuts and Sweet chestnuts are only just ripening but it does not appear to be a bumper year for conkers.

Returning to the car park along one of the gravel paths produced the sight of four young Fallow Deer slowly crossing the path from one side to the other. Their orange brown summer coats stood out against the greens and browns of the vegetation. The walk through the woods of the New Forest on a beautiful summer’s day turned out to be a very pleasant experience.

The indoor meeting for September was an illustrated talk on ‘Garden Wildlife in a Dibden Purlieu garden’ by Bob Chapman. Although the speaker works for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust at Blashford Lakes and may be considered an expert on wildlife the garden and its wildlife are particularly relevant to everyone. Most people enjoy walking round their garden every day but don’t think about recording what they see. Even ordinary wildlife such as Sparrows, Pigeons or Robins may be common today but rare in tens of years’ time so recording what you see on a regular basis may provide vital statistics for determining any trends.

There are several web pages that make recording easier such as ‘livingrecords.net’ or ‘ispotnature.org’ and for moths in particular ‘hantsmoth.org’. Bob Chapman has contributed many hundreds of sightings to these web sites since he started recording wildlife in his garden and photographs shown during the talk illustrated the surprising variety that turn up in Dibden Purlieu. It is true that his garden being located over the road from the New Forest helped provide sightings of insects such as Butterflies and Dragonflies unique to the heath but in some ways everyone’s garden is unique.

Whilst not everyone goes to the lengths of building a moth trap and garden pond many of the people watching the talk must have been inspired to pay more attention to the wildlife visitors to their own gardens.