New Forest Biodiversity News - November-December 2025

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

Notable wildlife sightings

The weather in November was typical for late autumn, with lots of day-to-day variability but monthly rainfall and sunshine hours being average, and temperatures slightly above average. December was notably mild, particularly at night with limited frost, and with above average rainfall and sunshine hours, although temperatures dipped sharply in the final week. Data from the Met Office at the end of the year confirmed that 2025 was the UK’s hottest and sunniest year on record (see here).

There was a dramatic sighting of a young colour-ringed Goshawk attempting to catch a Goldeneye at Blashford Lakes on 25 Nov 2025; this bird was ringed as a chick in the western New Forest on 20 May 2025, as part of the New Forest Raptor Monitoring Programme.

Colour-ringed juvenile Goshawk on 25 Nov 2025 (photo: Jeremy McClements)

A male Great-tailed Grackle was found by a local birder at Calshot on 02 Nov and a few days later relocated to Holbury, where it remained into early 2026. Grackles are inquisitive and often very tame birds that are known to occasionally stow away on transatlantic cruise ships, so it had presumably hopped off an incoming vessel. There was a slight ‘twist in the ‘tail concerning the bird’s identity, which for a period veered towards Boat-tailed Grackle, which would be a first for Britain (see here). However, a very dedicated birder recovered a sample of grackle dropping and sent it off for DNA analysis, which confirmed the identification as Great-tailed Grackle, only the second for Britain and certainly a first for the New Forest. Another presumed ship-assisted rarity was a Great Shearwater seen in Southampton Water on 26 Nov. Initial reports suggested it had difficulty flying, and a plausible theory was that it crash-landed on a ship out at sea before being offloaded once the ship reached port.

The popular Great Grey Shrike remained in the Pig Bush and Shatterford area throughout the period, and a second bird ranged widely on heathland either side of the A31 from 15 Nov onwards (the former featured in the Birdguides Photo of the Week here). An influx of continental grey geese during cold weather at the end of the year saw a Tundra Bean Goose and at least 18 White-fronted Geese at Pennington Marshes from 26 Dec. Up to 28 Spoonbills and a Long-tailed Duck were also seen at the New Forest coast during the period.

DNA sequencing of fungi recorded in the New Forest in the autumn by Hampshire Fungus Recording Group (HFRG) members has revealed several additional species that appear to be new to Britain, including Amanita albogrisecens, Leucoagaricus roseilividus, and Entoloma linkii. Other highlights of HFRG surveys in November included the first New Forest record of Inocybe posterula, the second record of Yew Club, and the fourth record of Amanita olivaceogrisea. In addition, the multiple finds of Candelabra Coral earlier in the autumn featured in national media here.

Entoloma linkii on 04 Nov 2025 (photo: Russell Wynn)

Persistent southwest winds for much of the late autumn period were responsible for a notable influx of By-the-Wind-Sailor to New Forest shores. Following reports of 'hundreds of thousands' washed up on Boscombe Beach in Dorset in early December, small numbers were reported at Lepe and Hurst later in the month.

By-the-Wind Sailors at Hurst Beach on 20 Dec 2025 (photo: Russell Wynn)

Warm southerly winds also produced a specimen of the rare Crimson Speckled moth to light in a Woodlands garden on 13 Nov 2025, which will have likely originated from the Mediterranean region; this is the first New Forest record since an unprecedented influx in autumn 2022.

 Crimson Speckled in Woodlands on 13 Nov 2025 (photo: Russell Wynn)

Wildlife and conservation news

Southern Water continue to invest in much-needed upgrades to wastewater treatment works in the New Forest, with Lyndhurst works receiving a £2.3M upgrade in autumn 2025 (see here). However, this has only reduced not removed the issue of combined sewer overflows discharging into the upper Beaulieu River during periods of heavy rainfall, as active discharges were observed on multiple dates in early 2026.

Finally, these biodiversity news updates will likely move to quarterly publication in 2026, but NFBF email updates will continue to be issued monthly and we’re also producing a new monthly column about New Forest wildlife in the Lymington Times called ‘On the Wild Side’, see here.

Many thanks as always to all those who contributed their observations and images to the various online portals and organisations that provide source material for these reports, including Going Birding, Hampshire Fungus Recording Group, and various local/regional Facebook sites.