2015 and all that…
Another year comes to an end at Longham Lakes. It was a decent year, with 130 species recorded, including five new to the site: Caspian Gull, Grasshopper Warbler, Cattle Egret, Long-eared Owl and Short-eared Owl. There weren’t many rarities, but the Penduline Tits in November certainly took some beating (shame I was away in Malawi…)
Penduline Tits, Longham Lakes, 23/11/15 (Steve Smith) (http://birdingpooleharbourandbeyond.blogspot.co.uk/)
Another major highlight was the recovery of one of our ringed Chiffchaffs in Morocco, and the mammal highlights included the first ever bat netting session on site and the first record of Nathusius’s Pipitstrelle.
19th December
Beside the usual stuff, there was a Green Sandpiper on the small island then on the east bank before flying off west over the lake towards Hampreston Fields and a Kestrel searching the west bank and causeway. 5 Grey Heron on the fields and 1 on the large island and another on the small island and 5 Little Egrets dotted about the place (Martin Wood).
7th December
Remarkable and marvellous news today. A Chiffchaff ringed at Longham Lakes, an unremarkable inland patch in Dorset has been recovered, believe it or not, in MOROCCO! The details:
Chiffchaff HCX212
16/04/2015 Ringed (by BC) Adult Longham Lakes (net 11), Dorset
26/11/2015 Entered house & released alive Kenitra, Morocco (1874 km, SSW, 224 days)
This kind of result must make all the hard work of ringing worthwhile.
4th December
Some birds of minor interest with 3 Egyptian Geese present on 1st, 2nd & 4th December. Also a Mandarin was reported on 3rd December. Otherwise very quiet (George Green).
28th November
This morning a Yellow-legged Gull 1(1st w), Mediterranean Gull 2, Common Gull 6, Dunlin 1 (calling flyover), Black-tailed Godwit 43 (circled, didn’t land), Lapwing 30 ( a few landed on North Island), Raven 1, Kingfisher 1 (on large pool sw corner), injured Roe Deer 1 (Lorne Bissell). Also a probable Short-eared Owl in the late morning, which disappeared quickly (Linda Martin).
27th November
In the late afternoon Yellow-legged Gull 1 ad (Lorne Bissell). Plenty of birds around late morning, nearly 50 species, the best being a small flock of Siskins in amongst a much larger flock of Goldfinches (George Green).
24th November
The PENDULINE TITS were still around and posing well at times for photographs, but they were elusive at other times and several people missed them. Other reports included 2 Chiffchaffs (Martin Wood), up to 80 Black-tailed Godwits (Ian Ballam), 3 Siskins and a Raven (George Green).
Penduline Tit (male), Longham Lakes, Dorset, 23/11/15 (Steve Smith).
Penduline Tit, Longham Lakes, Dorset, 23/11/15 (Steve Smith)
23rd November
The PENDULINE TITS showed on and off today in the south-west corner of the big lake.
Thanks to Steve Smith for permission to use the photos from his blog http://birdingpooleharbourandbeyond.blogspot.co.uk/.
Roger Peart: I had a very short notice session at Longham this morning, getting it in before the weather turns sour again later this week! It was rather chilly but flat calm. 13 new birds in total – 7 more Redwings, 2 Goldcrests, 1 Firecrest, 1 Cetti’s, 1 Song Thrush and 1 Blue Tit. 3 retraps (2 Robin, 1 Blue Tit) from this year. The Redwing catches have been great these last two weeks – my total is now 22, which is exactly double my previous best annual total.
22nd November
Today 2 PENDULINE TITS have turned up at Longham (Mike Stewart). They have caused a major twitch for the site and seem to be appearing on and off…
Redwing, Longham Lakes, Dorset, 12/11/2015 (Roger Peart).
12th November
Quite a good short session today, but not so many birds: 14 new and 4 local retraps. Tried a Redwing call with some success – caught two. The rest were Goldcrest 7, and one each of Chiffchaff, Wren, Robin, Blackbird and Song Thrush. The retraps were a Blackbird and three Robins – one of the latter was a bird ringed in September 2014 as a juvenile.
4th November
The month has started with a bang with another new bird for the site: SHORT-EARED OWL. Coming hot on the heels of last month’s Long-eared, one flew over Longham Lakes this afternoon. At first the bird was fairly low as it appeared from the direction of Hampreston Meadows, but then climbed high and disappeared NE towards Ferndown. I was also surprised to find 2 Migrant Hawkers still flying around despite the damp overcast weather. One caught either a bee or wasp and settled to eat it (George Green).