Firecrest, Longham Lakes, Dorset, 20/11/14 (Roger Peart)
29th December
A circuit of both lakes produced 45 Cormorants (23 on the large island and 22 on the pylons and wires), 45 Teal, 15 Wigeon, 6 Shovelers, 4 Pochard, 5 Little Grebe, 4 Great Crested Grebe and 11 House Sparrows (Trevor Wilkinson).
24th December
Owing to the very low water levels there are lots of birds at Longham Lakes. However despite my best efforts the only birds of note were 3 Black-tailed Godwits (George Green).
18th December
RINGING RECOVERY NEWS: “The Cetti’s Warbler (D765492) that I controlled at Longham in early November was ringed on 30th June at Wintersett Reservoir, Wakefield. So it had travelled over 300km!! Pretty good for a fairly sedentary species! The Chiffchaff (HNX586) that we controlled on 20th Nov was ringed at Swindon Sewage Works on 5th Oct – 96km almost due south in 46 days, Steady southwards progress – I wonder how much further it is now.” (Roger Peart).
The Cetti’s Warbler movement is one of the longest ever recorded within the British Isles, if not the longest (a juvenile from the same batch in Yorkshire went 100km west).
13th December
At 0900 this morning there was a drake Pintail on Longham Reservoir North (Alan Pearce).
9th December
Martin Wood recorded a few Pochard, Shoveler and Wigeon, 10 Little Egrets plus some Greylag Geese.
8th December
There were a lot of birds on Longham Lakes due to the very low level of the water in the lakes – plenty of ‘beach’ showing. Only bird of note was a drake Pintail (an uncommon bird here). Otherwise marked increase in duck numbers including 42 Gadwall, 33 Pochard and 28 Shoveler (George Green).
5th December
The OWLs counted more than 30 Little Egrets on site, a new record. Other highlights included Stonechat, Kingfisher, Chiffchaff and Water Rail.
3rd December
Among other species there were 15 Canada Geese, 4 Gadwall, 10 Pochard, 6 Little Grebes, 60 Cormorants, 18 Little Egrets, 8 Shoveler and a Stonechat (Trevor Wilkinson).
2nd December
A wildfowl count of both lakes revealed 12 Little Grebes, 24 Great Crested Grebes, 250 Coots, 119 Tufted Ducks, 25 Pochards, 26 Mallards, 46 Gadwall, 6 Wigeon, 1 Teal, 5 Shoveler, 60 Mute Swans, 16 Greylag Geese, 16 Little Egrets and about 100 Cormorants. A Peregrine also flew over (Dominic Couzens).
1st December
Four Egyptian Geese on the South Lake this pm + a marked increase in Pochard to 28 on Longham Reservoir North (George Green).
30th November
Birds around this morning included: Teal – 3, Little Egret – 5, Pochard – 6 on fishing lake (LR North), Coot – c200, Gadwall – 4 on lake, more in flood pool in field, Peregrine – 1, Tufted Duck– c100, Great Crested Grebe – 5, Little Grebe – 5, Mute Swan – 4 on the water, lots more in fields, Wigeon – 11, Mallard – 16 on the water more in flooded pools in field, Stonechat – 2, Grey Heron – 2 (Martin Wood), plus 9 Black-tailed Godwits (Alan Pearce).
29th November
There were two colour ringed Black-tailed Godwits present on Hampreston Fields with c 20 others (Alan Pearce).
28th November
Managed 60 species on-site today, without anything exceptional. Notable were 1 wintering Blackcap, 1 Raven, 18 Black-tailed Godwits, a Lapwing, 1 Stonechat and 3 Mediterranean Gulls, along with a new record high of 12 Goldcrests and a respectable winter total of 5 Chiffchaffs. Decent counts for commoner birds included 10 Blackbirds, 8 Pied Wagtails, 25 Long-tailed Tits, 24 Goldfinches, 8 Magpies, 2 Treecreepers, 8 Wrens, 6 Robins and 5 Dunnocks. There were also 60 Herring Gulls on the lakes (Dominic Couzens).
27th November
After a slow start it turned out quite well ringing at Longham this morning: 14 new birds plus three re-traps. Another Firecrest! [Longham’s second after the first a week ago], plus 3 Reed Bunting, 2 Blackbirds and 2 Chiffchaffs – but 6 Meadow Pipits. One re-trap was a Reed Bunting from 17 July 2013. Another re-trap was a Meadow Pipit ringed on October 30th last year, which is the first Meadow Pipit re-trap I have ever had. So, very encouraging (Roger Peart).
24th November
This autumn has been uninspiring at the lakes so far, but things may be on the up, this morning: Black-tailed Godwit (65) and Snipe (2) feeding at the margins of a pool in the Hampreston Fields (Alan Pearce).
A quiet morning ringing: just eight birds – no re-traps. Interesting though, as two were Meadow Pipit, and 5 Chiffchaffs, with the other being a Reed Bunting. It is quite interesting how many Chiffs seem to be over-wintering, assuming all those I have caught this month (16 to date) are not going anywhere far (Roger Peart).
20th November
Another ringing session and much better than yesterday, catching 18 new birds (including 6 more Goldcrests, 2 Chiffchaffs, 5 Reed Buntings, 2 Goldfinch and 2 Great Tit).BUT the star was a FIRECREST!! A Longham first!
Goldcrests are now up to 17 this year and I haven’t had more than 3 in any of the previous three years. Chiffchaffs are up to 227, only 18 behind 2012’s highest total. Reed Buntings are now 35 which is only 7 short of the 2012 and 2013 totals (Roger Peart).
19th November
A ringing session today was a bit poor with just 7 new birds, although these included 3 Chiffchaffs and 2 Goldcrests (Roger Peart).