14th December
Things have sunk today to 2 Mute Swans on Hampreston Fields and 2 Great Egrets on the lakes (via Lorne Bissell.) Mind you, once upon a time in the recent past the egrets would have been a rarity. Amazing how things have changed.
13th December
Best bird of the day was a Marsh Harrier that actually landed by the side of South Lake before being flushed. There were also 2 Great Egrets about and 2 immature Yellow-legged Gullsy. Meanwhile, the Mute Swan flock at Hampreston numbered 26, including 5 young birds (LB).
12th December
On a quieter day, there was 1 Black-tailed Godwit on the main island on South Lake, along with 2 Great Egrets. On Hampreston Fields there were 34 live Mute Swans and 1 dead one. (LB)
10th December
Just 1 Great Northern Diver remains, along with 2 Great Egrets, 4 Egyptian Geese and at least 18 Mute Swans (Lorne Bissell).
12th March
My late morning/early afternoon visit produced a smart male White Wagtail, a flock of 18 Little Egrets at Hampreston Farm (sadly no Cattle Egret) and a count of 77 Pochard (George Green).
I did a late morning trip to Longham today and had a good look through the Gulls. Best I could muster is 5 adult Common Gulls, 50 Herring Gull of various age,2 Lesser Black backed Gulls and 70 Black headed Gulls with the best c20 Mediterranean Gulls. Other birds which made it a wonderful trip were as follows: Snipe 1, Pochard 34, Shoveler 15, Teal 2, Wigeon did not count, Gadwall did not count, Cetti’s Warbler 2 singing, Reed Bunting 2 (Martin Wood.)
10th March
Birds seen: 5 Shoveler, 25 Gadwall, 18 Pochard, 5 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Mediterranean Gull, 3 Common Gull, 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 5 Cormorants and 6 Reed Buntings (Andy Collyer, via eBird)
7th March
Birds seen included 1 Snipe and 3 Mediterranean Gulls (Roly Pitts, via eBird)
5th March
I managed 40 species seen or heard this morning, the main highlights being a Red Kite (a good site year tick) and female Goldeneye still present on South Lake. Still good numbers of wildfowl including 70+ Pochard and 20+ Shoveler (George Green.)
2nd March
Birds seen today included 2 Little Grebes, 1 Green Woodpecker and 2 Long-tailed Tits. There were 2 Song Thrushes singing and Robins also singing (Andy Renton, via eBird).
1st March
Despite the poor weather I still managed 41 species seen or heard. My best sighting was a female/immature Goldeneye at the north end of the South Lake. Seemingly an increase in wildfowl numbers including 100+ Pochard. Otherwise a small influx of Mediterranean Gulls. No Great White Egret today (George Green.)
22nd February
There were single Great White and Cattle Egrets seen on the island at the north end of the South Lake, Water Rail calling, a ‘Siberian’ Chiffchaff showing well along the west side of the South Lake and at least 70+ Pochard (George Green.)
19th February
Late afternoon wander around Longham Lakes. Best seen are: 1 Great White Egret, 1 Little Egret, 1 Cattle Egret, 2 Grey Herons (making 4 heron species), 1 Black-tailed Godwit and 2 Egyptian Geese (Roly Pitts).
5th February
I disturbed two Woodcock at Longham Lakes, whilst undertaking some net ride maintenance, which were a little unexpected. Also noted a Water Rail and a small flock of 10+ Redwing, didn’t have time to look at the Lakes unfortunately (Terry Elborn.)
4th February
An enjoyable visit to Longham this morning. Didn’t stop to count the duck but was great to see the pochard flock is still present, with excellent numbers of gadwall and wigeon plus a few shoveler and teal around as well. There was 1 Lapwing, 2 Snipe, a Chiffchaff flycatching from brambles, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 1 female Kestrel, a male Sparrowhawk and a pair of Bullfinches (Steve Davis.) Also 1 Whooper Swan and 1 Cattle from footpath at Hampreston Fields, with 1 Water Pipit on the edge of a pool here. 1 Mediterranean Gull was on South Lakes, with a Siberian Chiffchaff at the north-west edge of South Lake (Lorne Bussell).
3rd February
News of a ringing recovery today: A Reed Warbler ringed at Longham on 18 August 2020 was recovered at Farlington Marshes, Portsmouth on 29th May 2021 (63km east, 284days). (Roger Peart). Also a Cattle Egret today (Lorne Bissell.)
2nd February
My highlights this morning: 1 Great White Egret and a modest count of 106+ Pochard (George Green.)
1st February
There were 3 Chiffchaffs about, one of which was a Siberian Chiffchaff (Roly Pitts).
30th January
My visit this morning produced 41 species but little of note other than 1 Great White Egret. Despite the Avian flu, large numbers of waterfowl are still present with somewhere between 750 and 1000 birds present including a flock of 160+ Greylag Geese. Otherwise the most numerous species are Wigeon, Gadwall, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Coot (George Green.)
29th January
There were reports of a female Goldeneye, flyover Marsh Harrier and Siberian Chiffchaff (via George Green).
28th January
I had a very chilly ringing session at Longham this morning, hoping for Redwings mainly. Didn’t catch any of them and the only sighting was a group of 4 that flew over from the east about 20 mins before I packed up. The only new captures were 2 Great Tits, 1 Blue Tit and 2 Greenfinch, with three re-traps of two Blue Tits from autumn 2020 and a Song Thrush ringed last autumn. Apart from two watchful Roe Deer in the mist (first photo) the other bit of interest was another Kestrel in the same tree where I photo’d it two days ago (Roger Peart.) There was also 1 Great White Egret on the island in South Lake, along with 15 Snipe (David Foster).
January 27th
The best I could find was a female Goldeneye but maybe someone with keener eyes, functioning ears and more skill will soon be broadcasting what I missed! I was particularly pleased to see my first Green Woodpecker and Chiffchaff of the year. In addition to the 41 species listed below there were 40+ Redwings in the field between the lakes and the road. (Roly Pitts). There were also 3 Black-tailed Godwits (via George Green).
138 Greylag Goose, 54 Canada Goose, 11 Mute Swan, 12 Shoveler, 121 Gadwall, 49 Wigeon, 7 Mallard, 13 Teal, 49 Pochard, 126 Tufted Duck, 1 Goldeneye (female), 2 Little Grebe, 9 Great Crested Grebe, 5 Woodpigeon, 9 Moorhen, 91 Coot, 8 Snipe, 61 Black-headed Gull, 3 Common Gull, 9 Herring Gull, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 16 Cormorant, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Great White Egret, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Green Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 1 Jay, 2 Magpie, 5 Jackdaw, 2 Carrion Crow, 5 Blue Tit, 2 Great Tit, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Wren, 8 Starling, 2 Blackbird, 3 Robin, 1 Reed Bunting
January 26th
The site has reopened at last after some dead swans were found in November 2021. A female Kestrel was seen (Roger Peart).