Summer 2015

28th August
News of a ringing control recently. A juvenile Blackcap ringed at Longham Lakes on 29 June 2014 was controlled at Lytchett Bay, Poole, on 7th August 2015, now as a female with a brood patch. The movement was 11km, the time span 404 days (Roger Peart).

27th August
The only report today was of 4 Swifts over (George Green).

20th August
The Black-necked Grebe was seen for the last time. Also Common Sandpiper 1, Sedge Warbler 1, Reed Warbler 2, Terrapin 1(still). (Lorne Bissell)

17th August
The Black-necked Grebe was around, as were 2 Common Sandpipers (Lorne Bissell).

16th August
A decent latish-summer list included 2 Kingfisher, 4 Reed Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 5 Common Sandpiper, 1 Green Sandpiper and the Black-necked Grebe (Robin Trundle). Also 1 Pochard (Martin Wood).

15th August
The Black-necked Grebe remains, plus 2 Common Sandpipers (Lorne Bissell).

7th August
The big highlight today wouldn’t really be much of a highlight on many local patches. Nonetheless, the presence of a Coal Tit on the edge of Samuel’s Wood is extremely welcome, since it is only the 5th record for the site, and the first for almost 5 years. Also today, a Coot with 3 young, a juvenile Green Woodpecker (to confirm breeding), a Goldcrest (wandering?) and 1 Common Sandpiper (Dominic Couzens).

3rd August
Quite good variety today, with the Black-necked Grebe, Willow Warbler 1, Peregrine falcon 1, Pochard male 1 (Lorne Bissell).

29th July

The morning’s ringing session was moderately good with 17 new birds ringed and five re-traps. Reed Warblers were predominant with 9 new birds, just two of which were adults. 3 Wrens, 3 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap and a Willow Warbler made up the rest. The latter is on schedule as they pass through from the end of July into August. Two of the re-traps were of interest: a Chiffchaff ringed a year ago as a juvenile, and a Reed Warbler that was one of a brood of four ringed in the only nest I have found at Longham back in 2012. None of the other three have been seen since that year but this bird was re-trapped again in 2013, so nice to have it back again as a breeding adult (Roger Peart).

28th July
There was one Common Sandpiper on the lake (Roger Peart), as well as a single flotilla of young Tufted Ducks – 53 plus 2 females.

25th July
A count of the Tufted Duck chicks on the lakes came to 130 youngsters. The summer plumage Black-necked Grebe remains (Lorne Bissell).

Meanwhile, if anyone out there knows about terrapins, would they be able to identify the species from the photograph below? It seems that somebody has released an unwanted pet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24th July
There are plenty of breeding wildfowl and other birds still present at Longham. Look out for the first Great Crested Grebe chicks raised for ten years, as well as Coot chicks and the now famous annual bloom of Tufted Ducks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

21st July
There were 3 Common Sandpipers present, along with a single Mediterranean Gull and the Black-necked Grebe (Ron Poulter).

18th July
The Small Red-eyed Damselflies were indeed very easy to find this afternoon, with at least 16 individuals seen, including 5 pairs either egg-laying or mating, & 6 singletons. Similar to Monday, just 4 Red-eyed Damselflies were seen, with all but 1 sticking to the far side of the pond. Great to have a seemingly thriving population here. Also about the Lakes were 3 Brown Hawker, 1 briefly over the pond, & a pair frequenting the hedgerow by the entrance gate along the track opposite Lake Farm Close. Good numbers of Black-tailed Skimmer across the site, mostly settling on the paths, but not always easily approachable for photos. Black-necked Grebe & 1 Common Sandpiper also present (Olly Frampton).

17th July

The Black-necked Grebe was still around (Lorne Bissell).

14th July
Counts of birds included 3 Goldfinch, 17 Great Crested Grebe (14 ad, 3 juv on back, 12 Mute Swan, 67+ Tufted Duck (7 ad, 60 juv in one corner of south lake, there must be several hundred overall), Black-necked Grebe (ad in breeding plumage), 2 Little Grebe, Common Sandpiper, Coot (ad, 3 chicks), Mallard (ad, duckling), 18 Canada Geese, 2 Pied Wagtail (ad f feeding juv) and  5 House Martins. Butterflies included Peacock, while Odonata numbered 50+ Common Blue Damselfly and Black-tailed Skimmer. (Trevor Wilkinson).

The Lakes and surrounds at Longham are certainly replete with birds at the moment, and the site must rank as one of the best for observing Tufted Duck behaviour. I don’t think I have ever seen a young Tuftie on its parent’s back before.

 

12th July
Quick look this afternoon produced the stunning summer plumage Black-necked Grebe plus 7 Lapwing on one of the islands (all adults no young birds), 2 Kingfisher and 350+ insect-catching Swifts low over the lakes with 150 House Martin, Swallow and Sand Martin with them. Also few Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Short-winged Coneheads around the pool at the southern end of the site (James Phillips).

There were a few other bits  and pieces most notably the my first Common Sandpipers (2) of the autumn plus a nice Hobby which briefly mobbed a juvenile Sparrowhawk.(George Green).

11th July
Took a walk around the lakes this afternoon with my son, on the large island of south lake 4 Lapwing and a Common Sandpiper. The Black-necked Grebe was still in the north west corner but was hard to find , a good number of Tufted Duck, and small broods did wonder if the female Scaup was still about and had any young? Also seen a good number of dragonflies, including a male Scarce Chaser, plus butterflies including a male Small Skipper (Martin Wood).

9th July
An interesting morning at Longham Lakes. Shortly after arriving I was scanned the horizon towards Hampreston Meadows from the east side of the north lake near the car park when I noticed a very distant thrush-sized bird with a distinctive undulating flight heading towards the lakes. At first I thought the bird was a Green Woodpecker or possibly a Mistle Thrush. As the bird flew closer I ruled out first Green Woodpecker and then Mistle Thrush. However I was still uncertain as to the bird’s identity, the bird was still fairly high and in silhouette, but as it flew over my head I had a subliminal view of black/white stripey wings and a long thin bill. The bird dropped a little as it headed over the car park towards the large oak tree in the nearby horse paddocks. I wasn’t sure whether it settled in the tree or continued towards Ferndown. I spent about 15 minutes checking the horse paddocks without any success. I returned about an hour later but there was still no sign of the bird. The horse paddocks do look a likely habitat for a Hoopoe, so it might be worth checking them over the next few days. A good sighting but very unsatisfactory views.

Otherwise the superb summer plumage Black-necked Grebe was still in the NW corner of the South Lake. Also 2 good damselfly/dragonfly sightings – 2 Small Red-eyed Damselflies (Erythromma viridulum) on the pool beyond the south end of the South Lake and a Scarce Chaser (Libellula fulva) along the Causeway (George Green).

6th July
Black-necked Grebe still today, Common Sandpiper on north Island & Hobby over north lake (Lorne Bissell).

4th July
A very good view through the scope of my first summer plumage Black-necked Grebe. Have seen them in winter plumage and a very smart bird it was to which as now brought my total for the site up to 63 for the year so far (Martin Wood).

29th June
Common Tern buzzing around the Lakes and Black-necked Grebe on south lake (Lorne Bissell). Also a Grass Snake on the edge, a Fox in the field along the track and the Red Arrows over! (Ian Ballam).

28th June
2 Common Terns over the north lake; House Martins, Swallows, and Swifts hawking about over the lakes and causeway; Little Grebes -2, Great crested Grebe -8, Reed Bunting -4. Also 2 Meadow Brown and 2 Marbled Whites (Martin Wood).

27th June
A Black-necked Grebe turned up today, still sporting full summer plumage (Darran Jones).

25th June
3 birds of minor interest – Redshank, Egyptian Goose and male Pochard (rare here in summer) (George Green).

11th June
Rather a disappointing morning with few birds in evidence. I just caught 4 new birds and 4 retraps. Three of each were Long-tailed Tits and the other new one was a Chiffchaff. The other retrap was a male Dunnock which I had ringed in September 2012 and have caught again each year since. Only one of the new LTTs was a juvenile and the other two were both females. That means that out of 21 new LTTs caught this month (on the 8th and 11th) 14 were juveniles, 4 were definitely females (recognised by a fading brood patch) and the other three probably males. Of the 8 retraps (all obviously adults ringed in previous years) three were females. So we could be looking at least 8 breeding females on site at the moment though some of those may have joined in from outside the area. There ought to be some more youngsters out there that haven’t been caught (yet). (Roger Peart).

8th June
Today was rather better than last week for numbers ringed – total of 24 new and 7 retraps. The new ones included 18 Long-tailed Tits (plus 3 more retraps). All but 5 of those were juvs. I also had 5 more juv Robins, 4 Blackcaps (including one freshly, and possibly prematurely, out of the nest), 3 Great Tits and one each of Blackbird, Song Thrush, Wren and Reed Warbler. Another group of Swifts over, possibly about 20 this time, and a Kestrel hovering. (Roger Peart). Also Red Kite high over South lake this morning (Lorne Bissell).

4th June
Ringing was a bit quiet with just 12 new birds and 6 retraps. 4 juvenile Robins and 2 adult male Bullfinch were the highlights, plus a Cetti’s Warbler. The only other warblers were one each of Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Reed Warbler. The one interesting retrap was a Blackbird first ringed in July 2011 and not seen since. 30+ Swifts overhead made a good sight (Roger Peart).