I wanted to start patch walk at sunrise today, which meant getting up at 6am BST (5am GMT); it still felt very early when I took my wife a cup of tea just before leaving the house - she asked me what time it was….

Services to prevent hospital admissions “must be protected not cut” - SAM president (12 January) - Society for Acute Medicine Dr Vicky Price, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, features in a BBC News in-depth feature published today (12 January) on the impact of delayed discharges on patients, clinicians and the NHS.  She also featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (starts 2:46:20). Dr Price’s comments in full:  “There has been lots of good work done [to…

SAM Statement Services to prevent hospital admissions “must be protected not cut” – SAM President Dr Vicky Price

www.acutemedicine.org.uk/blog/2026/01...

Silhouette of a Raven at the top of a dead tree while making its characteristic ‘cronking’ call

Great views of this ‘cronking’ Raven in the morning sunshine in the #NewForest today

First Snowdrops of the year this morning - Spring will be with us in no time at all 😊

Patch summary for 2025 Despite being reportedly the sunniest year on record, 2025 could not match our patch species count of the previous twelve months. The unus...

Agree - a great piece. 300 is well beyond our reach but i was pleased to hit 120 at the end my 5th year of ‘obsessive’ low carbon patch birding in the New Forest. Looking forward to many more years to come newforestpatchbirding.blogspot.com/2026/01/patc...

Patch summary for 2025 Despite being reportedly the sunniest year on record, 2025 could not match our patch species count of the previous twelve months. The unus...

A short summary of the last year’s New Forest #patchbirding exploits

newforestpatchbirding.blogspot.com/2026/01/patc...

Autumn 2025 Patch Update A part from a couple of ‘named’ storms, the mild, dry theme of spring and summer continued well into November, enabling plenty of autumn p...

I have updated my #NewForest #patchbirding blog with the latest news and sightings from Autumn 2025

newforestpatchbirding.blogspot.com/2025/11/autu...

And me!

Lovely Red Admiral enjoying the New Forest November sunshine this morning

On my way to tomorrow’s @acutemedicine.bsky.social conference in Manchester- looking forward to catching up with old friends and colleagues

Summer 2025 Patch Update While the long dry summer of 2025 will, no doubt, be talked about for years to come, our birding achievements over the past three months w...

Latest updates from a patch of New Forest heathland with all of our summer #patchbirding sightings newforestpatchbirding.blogspot.com/2025/09/summ...

New Forest Heathland Restoration Survey 2025 YouTube video by New Forest Biodiversity Forum

Link to an interesting short film on heathland restoration in the New Forest www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-1O...

Buzzard in the shadows on a low branch

Heather in full bloom on the heathland near Sway in the New Forest, Hampshire, UK

48 species on our New Forest #patchbirding walk this morning. Buzzard and Kestrel were the only raptors and not many migrant species around today, but we did manage to find 7 Spotted Flycatchers and one Redstart. Ravens were very active overhead and the heather was looking great in the sunshine

Sounds really interesting

Whilst I’m aware that 10,000 steps a day is an arbitrary goal with limited evidence I am still pretty chuffed with my achievement of 600 consecutive days. Next target is 2 years (November 11th!)

My cat is enjoying the afternoon sunshine

63 species on today’s #patchbirding walk in the New Forest, our highest total of the year so far; highlights were Spotted Flycatcher, Little Egret and a female Marsh Harrier over the heath. Pleased to see more Swifts than we have had in previous years and good numbers of displaying Snipe

May 2025 Patch Update The warm, dry theme of March and April continued into May, providing ideal conditions for Hawthorn blossom in the first few weeks of the m...

I have updated my #NewForest #Patchbirding blog with the latest news and sightings for May 2025 for those who are interested newforestpatchbirding.blogspot.com/2025/06/may-...

A rather misty New Forest heathland #patchbirding walk this morning which may have affected the species count. Highlights were a Red Kite and Marsh Tit family, along with our first Silver Studded Blue and Small Heath butterflies of the year.

Mine is a Magnifica S, I think

I got a Delonghi bean to cup machine a couple of years ago - one of the best things I ever bought. Highly recommended

Was it busy down there?

Tortoise surrounded by Daisies and I mowed grass

Bill the tortoise is enjoying the daisies in my lawn #nomowmay

Hawthorn tree in full bloom

Slow Worm enjoying some sunshine on a New Forest heathland path

Green Hairstreak butterfly well hidden in a gorse bush

Hawthorn Blossom looking good on a sunny #NewForest #patchbirding walk this morning. Highlight was a #patchgold Common Sandpiper on Setley Pond which is a new species record for this location and our Patch. Green Hairstreak and Slow Worm also enjoying the sunshine

Should be a good year for conkers

April 2025 Patch Update Apart from the inevitable Easter washout, April 2025 has been a dry month in the New Forest, with plenty of warm sunshine providing some g...

I have updated the #NewForest #Patchbirding blog with all of our latest sightings from April

newforestpatchbirding.blogspot.com/2025/04/apar...

9 Poms east 09.15

3 East past Milford at 11.40

Give peas a chance