Monday 5th June 2023 - New Franchises (New Forest)
New Franchises RSPB - Bath Birdwatcher Yesterday David and Tony were invited by Tom Rogers to join a U3A bird watching trip to New Franchises in the New Forest. The site is owned by the RSPB but is not open to the public but it is possible to arrange a visit with the RSPB. We had arranged for a guide to meet and show us around the site. Leaving Bath at 07.45 we soon started seeing birds and the 1 st of intertest was a Red Kite just outside of Bath. We also added on the trip Rook, Magpie, Jackdaw and Kestrel. We were the 1 st to arrive and while waiting for the others, we spotted Starling and a Buzzard. 10 of us arrived for the walk but birds were few and far between with a Song Thrush being our 1 st sighting in the forest. On reaching a more open glade when a large tree had fallen we found a Spotted Flycatcher soon followed by a second and while we were watching they copulated. Firecrest is a very common bird in the woods but so very easy to hear but almost impossible to see ...