Sunny bank holiday weekend

Awesome weather for the bank holiday weekend couldn't ask for better bring suntan lotion and sun hats to the Fleet Pond Wildlife Day on Sunday

Preparations for Sunday

Today I was joined by Senior Ranger Steve and Assistant Senior Ranger Leigh marking out the stalls for the Fleet Pond Wildlife day on Sunday. It all starts at 10am unfortunately there won't be any toilet facilities but there are a couple of nice pubs in walking distance.

Dodder

The dodder is out at Fleet Pond at the moment. It is an amazing parasitic plant that doesn't have any leaves it gets its nutrition from host plants such as heather. There is lots at Fleet Pond on the dry Heath near the main car park the Hart countryside rangers can point it out at the Fleet pond wildlife day on Sunday :) looking forward to seeing you there Ranger Louise

Bird ringing Demonstration @ Fleet Pond

Ever wanted to find out more about birds and get up close?! Well...there will be bird ringing demonstrations at our Fleet Pond Wildlife day on the 26th May from 10:00am-14:00pm! It's a great opportunity to see some of our more allusive birds up close and being able to learn about why we ring birds and the BTO scheme.

Swanline @ Fleet Pond Wildlife Day

Swan lifeline will be coming to our Fleet Pond Wildlife day too! They are the oldest devoted charity which care the sick and injured swans! Come and see and see them and learn more about swans....especially as we have lots of swans of Fleet Pond!

Mobile Sawmill

Paul denning and the boys from JDB contractors are also coming to the Fleet Pond Wildlife Day. They are going to bring their new mobile saw mill. They will use it to machine up oak bollards for Hartley Wintney Central Commons and footpath edge boards for Fleet Pond :D www.facebook.com/jdbcontractorssonltd

Get close to the Fleet Pond Fish

Im so excited this is the Fish tank that the Environment Agency are bringing to the Fleet Pond Wildlife Day on Sunday. They will go out on the boat and catch some fish from the pond in the morning and the tank is then aerated to make sure they have enough oxygen. Its great to get up close and learn what species of fish are in the pond

Bushcraft Skills Demonstrations

Just had confirmation that we will have bushcraft skills demonstrations and activities at the Fleet Pond Wildlife Day.  Learn the amazing art of friction fire lighting.  Bushcraft Instructor Miles will be set up in the woodland to the left of the Fleet Pond Picnic Area it will be sign posted from the picnic area and Boathouse corner :)

Cattle on Elvetham Heath

Yey the cattle are on Elvetham Heath.  They are 3 Belted Galloways called Nancy, Nigella and Nutella :) photos to follow!

Fleet Pond Wildlife Day

Only 6 days till the Fleet Pond Wildlife Day.  We have lots of events and activities running through out the day.

Meet the rangers from Hart Countryside Services and take part in one of our many free walks during the day

10:30am Tree walk
11am Parachute games
11:30am Reptile walk
12pm Bug hunting 
12:30pm Bird walk
13pm Parachute games
13:30pm Bug hunting

Book on to the guided walks on Sunday 26th May at the Hart Countryside Gazebo at Boathouse corner (sign posted from Fleet Station and the main car park off cove road) only 20 places per walk

Water Avens out on Odiham Common

The first water Avens are out on the Southern Meadows on Odiham Common in the meadow next to Basingstoke Canal. They are beautiful delicate purple flowers that hang down like lanterns or small drooping bells. There will  be a lot more over the next few weeks. Ranger Steve.

Cattle just Chewing the cud!

Well it must be true, rain on the way if the cows are lying down. All five on Hazeley Heath South were lying around chewing the cud at 11am today looking very content and then a short while later the rain started to fall. Words of wisdom from Ranger Steve.

Cattle grazing on Hazeley Heath

Pinocchio loves eating birch saplings on Hazeley Heath. The cattle do a great job reducing the amount of scrub growth keeping the heathland open and enhancing the heathland ecosystem. Heathlands have always been managed by people grazing them which takes out the nutrients which is perfect for heather to grow. Then due to advancements in agriculture people stopped grazing heathlands and started adding fertilisers to the flat fields and grazed their livestock on nice lush pasture fields. With the lack of mans intervention the heathlands scrubbed over and the UK lost about 95% of the heathlands. But we are slowly bringing them back into management and the cattle at hazeley heath - heather, Pod, Purple, Pinocchio and Pluto are doing their bit! Well done guys! :D

Hazeley Heath

A great morning at Hazeley Heath today. The cattle were having a relaxing Sunday morning. They have great names the small belted Galloway is called Pod, the large Belted Galloway is called Heather and the Irish Moyles are called Pinocchio, Pluto and Purple. Lots of good bird sightings including tree pipit, cuckoo, and Grasshopper warbler. The cowslips are starting to flower nest the tank winch.

Sedge warbler at Fleet Pond

Sedge warbler at Fleet Pond with a museum of Paris ring on it which means it was either ringed in France or one of the French speaking region of Africa. I will send the data to the BTO (British Trust of Ornithology) and I will post when I have the information back.

Blackcap

These are blackcaps the one on the left is a male with the black cap and the one on the right is a female (brown cap) most of them spend the winter in Africa but a few stay in the UK and can be seen on garden feeders. They have a lovely call similar to the Garden Warbler very flutey

Pollen on birds

These are Garden Warblers. The closest bird has pollen on its beak. Most warblers fatten up on insects while in Africa then while migrating across stop off in countries along the way and feed on nectar for an energy boost. While feeding they pick up pollen on their faces. This pollen can be analysed to work out which flowers the birds have been feeding on and if the plants are indigenous work out which countries they have been to and map their migration path. When they arrive in the UK they start feeding on insects again to get them in prime condition for breeding.

Dawn Chorus Warbler

Had a great dawn chorus walk this morning. 16 people turned out at 4:15am to hear the beautiful sounds of the dawn chorus. We arrived in the dark when all that was calling was a robin next to the street light. We walked around Fleet Pond listening to the different species waking up and joining the chorus. The early risers included lots of song thrushes, blackbird, wren and robin. We heard lots of migrants including blackcap, reed warbler, Whitethroat, chiffchaff and willow warbler. We then joined Gary for a ringing demonstration, he was running the CES (Constant Effort Site), he had a Garden Warbler and a Reed Warbler.