Alton, Hampshire Wildlife: Signs of spring...

Sunday, 24 January 2021

Signs of spring...

A walk from home up onto the chalk North of Alton - a fine sunny day (15 Jan).

Buck Roe Deer in velvet...

Kestrel catching the light lovely but refusing to look towards me...

Meadow Pipit winter in farmland in small flocks. They return north in spring - any local pipits in summer months tend to be Tree Pipits.

Woodlark are mostly associated with heathland. However they can now be found on the chalk - typically at hill tops. This one was singing on the ground with another flight-singing close by. No sign of rings on this one.

Bluebells already pushing through last year's leaf litter.

Alton Wildlife Blog

The purpose of this blog is to report on the wildlife of the area around Alton, Hampshire, UK.

All types of wildlife are covered, within an (approx) 15 mile radius of the town. This encompasses a wide range of habitats, including woodland and farmland, the prime heath-land of both the Wield and the Thames Basin, chalk download, and river valleys such as the Wey and Itchen.

Within Alton itself, then Kings Pond and the Flood Meadows are of particular interest.

If you have a similar interest in the area, then we recommend Alton Natural History Society, which runs a programme of indoor meetings in the winter, and outdoor field meetings from spring through to Autumn. See http://altonnaturalhistory.webnode.com/ for more details.