New Forest Biodiversity News - August-September 2025

This report aims to summarise some of the notable wildlife sightings and conservation news in the New Forest National Park in August and September 2025. To contribute to future editions, please contact the New Forest Biodiversity Forum Chair (russ@wildnewforest.org.uk).

Notable wildlife sightings

August 2025 was again warmer, sunnier, and drier than average, with rain restricted to the final few days of the month. Provisional Met office statistics here indicate it was officially the warmest summer on record for the UK, around 1.5^oC above the long-term average. September saw a switch to more typical autumnal conditions, with average temperatures and slightly above average sunshine and rainfall. It was windy at times during the month, with a gust of 78 mph at the Needles (Isle of Wight) on 14 Sept.

It was another insect arrival from southern Europe that stole the show in this period, with at least three European Praying Mantis recorded at a site in the central New Forest between 02 Aug and 28 Sept. This species was also discovered on the Isle of Wight and in Cornwall this summer (see here), suggesting these are part of a ‘natural’ colonisation event likely linked to warming temperatures.

Praying Mantis on 28 Sept 2025 (photo: Jonathan Crisp) 

The arrival of Little Arboreal Ladybird Calvia decemguttata in the New Forest earlier in the summer attracted significant media interest (see here), as well as a steady stream of ladybird ‘twitchers’ who successfully located the species through August and September by beating trees in the known hotspots. 

'Little Arboreal Ladybird' Calvia decemguttata on 11 Aug 2025 (Image: Paul Brock) 

Other notable invertebrates in the period included what may be the first New Forest record of the mite Erythraeus phalangoides, a specimen of the Marbled Orbweaver spider Araneus marmoreus near Bramshaw (apparently rare in the New Forest), and two specimens of the conopid fly Dark Waspgrabber Leopoldius calceatus at the New Forest coast that may suggest local colonisation (the first UK record was in 2018).

Male Marbled Orbweaver on 10 Aug 2025 (photo: Hans Bishop) 

The fungi season was slow to get going due to the summer drought, but September produced some notable sightings, not least of which was the sudden (re)colonisation of the New Forest by the Candelabra Coral Artomyces pyxidatus. The first observation was logged on iRecord on 06 Sept, which appears to be the first record for Hampshire and the New Forest, swiftly followed by the first for Wiltshire in the northern New Forest during a Hampshire Fungus Recording Group (HFRG) survey the following day. At the time of writing there have been a further five New Forest records, all on fallen hardwood such as Beech or Silver Birch, and there must surely be many more waiting to be found. The rapid arrival in the New Forest mirrors similar arrivals in other counties in southern England, and a rapid increase in the Netherlands, although whether the driver is climate change or some other environmental factor is unknown.

Candelabra Coral on 07 Sept 2025 (photo: Russell Wynn)

The HFRG survey on 07 Sept also produced a nice specimen of Tiered Tooth Hericium cirrhatum (the forerunner of a good early autumn showing of the species) and an apparent specimen of the spore eating fungus Hypomyces chryosostomus covering the underside of a large Southern Bracket Ganoderma australe - this species was only recorded as new to Britain last autumn, so this record is potentially the first for Hampshire and the New Forest. A specimen of Larch Spike Gomphidius maculatus found in the northern New Forest on 23 Sept is potentially only the second for Wiltshire and the first New Forest record for over 20 years.

Hypomyces chrysostomus on 07 Sept 2025 (photo: Russell Wynn)

Ornithological highlights were rather sparse given the season. The long-staying Lesser Yellowlegs was again reported from the Keyhaven area on 13 and 16 Aug and up to four Glossy Ibis were seen on three dates at Oxey Marsh between 05-24 Sept, part of an unprecedented influx into the UK. Storm-driven Grey Phalaropes were at Keyhaven Lagoon on several dates between 02 and 21 Sept, Oxey Marsh on 04 Sept, and Lepe on 05 Sept. Up to nine Spoonbills, five Cattle Egrets, and two Great White Egrets were also seen at or near the coast. There was a scatter of regular returning migrants such as Curlew Sandpiper, Grasshopper Warbler, Hen Harrier, Little Gull, Little Stint, Osprey, Pied Flycatcher, and Spotted Redshank, while a juvenile Turtle Dove at Keyhaven on 05 Sept was notable. Although just outside the area, it was interesting to see multiple reports of up to 59 Ring-necked Parakeets from Bitterne Park in Southampton during August, indicating ongoing colonisation by this non-native species; fortunately, they rarely seem to venture into the New Forest, and if they do, they don’t tend to linger, possibly due to the ‘Goshawk’ effect!

Grey Phalarope on 21 Sept 2025 (photo: Rob Farnworth)

Finally, a presumably disoriented Common Dolphin was filmed swimming around in the Lymington River mouth on 13 Aug (see here).

Wildlife and conservation news

A new study, funded by the New Forest Biodiversity Forum (NFBF), has demonstrated the rapid return of heathland specialist animals and fungi to a trio of heathland restoration sites in the New Forest. The study was conducted by Russell Wynn of Wild New Forest, in partnership with Forestry England, and a summary report is available here. The work featured on BBC News online here and on BBC regional TV and radio during September. In addition, talented local wildlife film-maker Matt Roseveare was commissioned by the NFBF to deliver a short video capturing some of the highlights of the work, which can be viewed on the NFBF YouTube channel here.  

This autumn saw the retirement of Andy Page as Head of Wildlife Management in the New Forest and wider district, marking the end of nearly 40 years at Forestry England. Andy will continue to play a prominent role in local biodiversity monitoring and conservation as an Associate and Steering Group member of the New Forest Biodiversity Forum and co-ordinator of the NFBF-funded New Forest Raptor Monitoring Programme, as well as a Scientific Sub-committee member with Hampshire Ornithological Society. We wish Andy all the best during this transition and look forward to continuing our work with him in the coming years.

Over the last couple of years, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) have been delivering the Gravelly Shores project at the New Forest coast, as part of Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme. Working in partnership with Beaulieu Estate and the North Solent National Nature Reserve, the project team have taken a 1.7ha area of grassland and scrub and transformed it into an open area of coastal vegetated shingle to support breeding waders and terns. The new habitat has already seen successful breeding by Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Little Ringed Plover, and Lapwing, protected by electric fencing and other measures (see here). The project has increased the resilience of shingle habitats at this site to sea-level rise and coastal erosion, and it is hoped that breeding terns will also benefit in future years.   

Many thanks as always to all those who contributed their observations and images to the various online fora that provide source material for these reports, particularly Going Birding, Hampshire Fungus Recording Group, and the Wild New Forest and Hantsmoths Facebook sites.