Exbury gardens birthday treat

Today, being a significant birthday for my husband, we visited Exbury Gardens in the New Forest, by the Beaulieu River.
We took  a train ride  on the little steam railway, before  exploring the extensive  gardens. The camellias are still flowering well, and the first stunning  rhododendrons and azaleas are beginning to bloom, with more to come over  the next few weeks. The photo shows Martin, the birthday boy, admiring an azalea hedge while trying to locate the whereabouts of a woodpecker we could hear drumming.