February and March 2019 at Longham Lakes

30th March
There were 3 Oystercatchers feeding on Hampreston Fields around the flooded ground (Robert Weaver.)

29th March
Near the ringing area there were 2 Small Tortoiseshells frequently jousting with each other high into the sky, plus 1 Peacock which occasionally interacted with them. Nearby there was a Brimstone. Meanwhile, at least two Chiffchaffs were singing and a Willow Warbler was calling (not singing) towards the clump area (Roger Peart.)

27th March
On the Hampreston floods at the end of the causeway were one each of Little Ringed Plover and Redshank. Also still one Great White Egret around. Lots of Chiffchaffs singing and a few Blackcaps. Brimstone, Red Admiral, Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell were all on the wing today (Matthew Bell.)

19th March
A Garganey was still at Longham this morning, mainly hanging around the small island on South Lake. Also a single Great Egret flew over South Lake towards the river (Ian Ballam.)

18th March
The drake Garganey was still around, plus a flock of 12 Egyptian Geese on Hampreston Meadows (George Green).  Also my first Swallow of the year , apparently tagging along with a couple of Sand Martins. Also had good views of 2 different Cetti’s Warblers today, saw at least 8 Reed Bunting males around south lake, a Grey Wagtail, 5 Little Grebes, just 11 Pochards to be found near the island at the northern end, and 2 Snipe around there as well (Carl Wilcox.)

17th March
There were 30+ Tufted Ducks on the North Lake, plus a Cormorant, a few Coots, 1 Moorhen and a Great Crested Grebe. A walk along Green Lane produced a good variety of finches including Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and a pair of Bullfinches. There was also a Goldcrest showing well. Very little on the meadows apart from 17 Greylag Geese, 2 Mute Swans and a Little Egret. On the western edge of North Lake there was good views of a Chiffchaff, a handful of ♂ Reed Buntings and a Cettis Warbler.

The South Lake had 50+ Pochards present along with Shovelers (20+ ♂ & ♀), Teal, Wigeon (10+ ♂ & ♀), Tufted Ducks and Mallards. There were plenty of Black-headed Gulls, and I heard Mediterranean Gulls calling. A Buzzard drifted over and a Kestrel was seen hunting over the Settling Marsh. There were 2 Cetti’s Warblers together on the western edge of the South Lake by the Samuel’s Wood. A Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker were in Samuel’s Wood. One Great White Egret was on the island along with 3 Little Egrets. At the southern end of South Lake a couple of Sand Martins were spotted way off by the pylons in the meadows. A walk along the causeway gave another 2 Chiffchaffs and a Cetti’s Warbler (David Foster.)

16th March
No sign of the Garganey this afternoon, but there was a Great Egret on the island with 20 odd Shovelers, plus Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon, Tufted Ducks and Mallards. 4 Sand Martins were flying into the teeth of the wind and two Egyptian Geese went over going north. The Herring/Iceland Gull was also briefly on the island (Martin Wood.)

15th March
There was a drake Garganey at midday towards northern shore of South Lake and there were about half a dozen Sand Martins around (Terry White.)

7th March
Great Egret on Hampreston Meadows viewed from the west bank of the North Lake (George Green.)

5th March
Great Egret was my first sighting for a couple of weeks. Also yesterday’s Sand Martins still present with at least 3 probably 4 birds seen. Otherwise good numbers of wildfowl and some noisy Mediterranean Gulls (George Green.)

4th March
The highlight of the day was the appearance of the first Sand Martins of the year, with at least 4 individuals appearing mid-morning over South Lake. There were plenty of wildfowl around, with 115 Pochard (31 of them on North Lake), at least 50 Wigeon and 25-30 Teal, with some Shovelers and Gadwalls as well. The Goosanders, however, were not around. The first large gathering of (presumably courting) Mediterranean Gulls for the year appeared on South Lake, with at least 25 birds, probably more came in after the count. There were also 10 Common Gulls, 8 Herring Gulls, 1 each of Great and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 192 Black-headed Gulls. 9 Little Egrets were around the place and there were 52 Greylag Geese on Hampreston Fields. At least 3 pairs of Jackdaws were prospecting in the large trees in Samuel’s Wood while, oddly enough, a Coal Tit was also singing loudly at the south end of the wood (Dominic Couzens, Ian Ballam, Ron Poulter.)

2nd March
The pair of confiding Goosanders are still present showing well in the SE corner of the South Lake near the small island. Otherwise some signs of spring with notable influxes of Fieldfares (10+) and Redwings (50+), Mediterranean (17+) and Common Gulls, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails. Still good numbers of wildfowl for the time of year with 47+ Wigeons, 22+ Teal, 47+ Shovelers and 100+ Pochards (George Green.)

1st March
The lakes were reasonably well stocked with wildfowl, with a good number of Shovelers, at least 24, and also plenty of Pochards. In Emily’s Wood, there were territories of 2 Great Tits, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Dunnock, 1 Robin and at least 1 Greenfinch. A Goldcrest was also singing there. Also in full song was a delightful flock of Redwings (Dominic Couzens.)

26th February
I visited Longham Lakes this morning in the expectation of finding some Sand Martins and or Swallows – but I was sadly disappointed. My best sighting was a pair of Goosander at the south end of the South Lake. In addition I glimpsed a 2nd male Goosander on the bend of the River Stour viewed from the west bank of the North Lake. Otherwise plenty of waterfowl on the South Lake including nearly 50 Shovelers (George Green.)

25th February
A glorious fine and sunny morning produced 32 species which included good numbers still of Greylag and Canada Geese, Wigeon, Pochard and Tufted Duck, Teal, Gadwall and Shoveler still around and Great Crested Grebes putting on a seasonal show. Best sighting of the day was a Chiffchaff mixing with a group of Long-tailed Tits (Ron Poulter.) A Peregrine flew over in mid-afternoon (Dominic Couzens.)

24th February
This afternoon there was a male and female Goosander plus 2 Mediterranean Gulls and 14 Snipe on the island (Martin Wood.)

23rd February
Still large amounts of Wigeon, Pochard, Greylag and Canada Geese together with Shoveler, Teal, Gadwall , Great Crested and Little Grebe with 3 Little Egrets made the bulk of the waterfowl. together with Mediterranean and a single Common Gull. On land plenty of singing from Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Cetti’s Warbler and Wrens gave a very springlike mood to the day (Ron Poulter.)

17th February
There were 2 Goosanders, a male and a female, on South Lake (Robert and Fran Weaver.) Other counts: Tufted Duck 130, Pochard 111, Wigeon 12, Shoveler 37, Gadwall 12, Great Egret 2, Little Egret 8, Little Grebe 4 and Great Crested Grebe 22. In addition there were 3 singing Cetti’s Warblers, 3 Reed Buntings singing, 1 Song Thrush singing and a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming (Martin Wood.)

15th February
The presumed albino Herring Gull was still present on Longham Lakes this morning. Also still 2 Great Egrets. Best of the rest was a pair of Shelducks – the first for the site this year. Otherwise very springlike with lots of birdsong including at least 6 Cetti’s Warblers (George Green.)

13th February
39 species seen this afternoon, the best being a Water Rail on the northernmost small pond. Large flocks of Pochard and Greylag Goose still present and a gathering of 16 Little Egrets seen along pumping station shore around 16.30 (possibly gathering to roost). 3 Great Egrets on Large lake island and a pair of Stonechats by the slipway (Ron Poulter.)

12th February
I found a very all-white gull at Longham Lakes this afternoon. At first I thought it might be a very bleached 1st winter Iceland Gull but it did look rather too white. However after further research I have decided that it must be an albino immature Herring Gull. Although it did look smaller than the nearby Herring Gulls, the shape didn’t look right for Iceland. Talking of white birds, still 2 Great White Egrets present (George Green.)

11th February
A short walk this afternoon: 4 Great Egrets, at least 7 Little Egrets, 1 Grey Heron, at least 6 Gadwall, Great Crested Grebes, Cormorants, Coots, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Canada Geese, lots of Black-headed Gulls, 1 Cetti’s Warbler (seen, not singing), singing Robins, Great Tits, Song Thrush (Roger Peart.) Also a nice male Pintail (George Green.).

9th February
Saw 4 Great Egrets in view at the same time, the most I’ve seen there, a ‘pair’ on each of the two islands in the southern lake. Also at least 9 Little Egrets, 15 Pochards on the south lake, good numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Cormorant, etc. (Carl Wilcox.)

6th February
Longham Lakes: over 50 species seen this morning, best sightings: 2 Great White Egrets, 2 Water Rails feeding in the open and a pair of Ravens (George Green.)

3rd February
Highlights included at least 150 Lapwings in one of the far fields. The cattle field next to the corn field gave a variety of finches including a stunning male Bullfinch, a handful of Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Chaffinches. There were at least 10 Meadow Pipits working back and forwards up the cattle field as well as half a dozen Song Thrushes. The lakes had the usual Pochard, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler, Tufted Duck and Teal. Only one Great Egret briefly on island. There were no Mute Swans on the lake, only 4 Greylags and a couple of dozen Canada Geese. At least 10 Little Grebes. Other highlights were a noisy Nuthatch perched out in the open in the Thicket, and a Green Woodpecker along the Causeway (David Foster.)

2nd February
There was good birding on patch today with 3 Golden Plovers feeding with Lapwings in the Corn Field and at least 5 more flying south with 60 Lapwings. Also 20 or more Skylarks also feeding in that field. Bird of the day though was having crippling views of a Jack Snipe in flight which was flushed along the ditch on Hampreston fields pathway (Matthew Bell.) Further cold weather movements included small numbers of Fieldfares also flying east during my visit. Otherwise 3 Great Egrets still present (George Green.)

1st February
No sign of any cold weather movement, 3 Great Egrets still present but perhaps the most surprising sighting was a flock of 30-40 Snipe flushed from the island in the South Lake by some unknown predator (George Green.)