The sun finally shone for our February Nature Walk on Tuesday 18th, after what seemed like an age of grey skies over Milford
We headed out over Studland Common via the Community Orchard which MCV members have been busy clearing over the past few months. It now looks terrific and it was good to see new fruit trees planted. Well done to Adrian Palmer and the MCV volunteers who have taken part.
It is always great to have David Horne accompany our walks. He has a wealth of knowledge on the history of the area as well as the nature and wildlife we encounter. We walked up through the Common and then through the Pleasure Grounds looking at the Danestream that was so impacted by the Southern Water sewage leak last year – the reasons for which are still not explained by them, nor any assurance that it couldn’t happen again and what they will do to restore its habitat
We weren’t inundated with bird sightings, but we were excited to see a Goldcrest, the UK’s smallest bird! We could hear the unusual call of a Nuthatch, but sadly we weren’t able to see it! But a Greater Spotted Woodpecker did make an appearance as we rounded back to the entrance of the Common. It was lovely to see the spring flowers starting to bloom and there were some interesting funguses along the route though none of us had an App to identify them!
Our next Nature Walk will be on Thursday 27th March, meeting at 10am at Maiden Lane, Lymington (details of car share on the website) . Do come along and join us
Gill Watson
