23rd March

Longham Lakes is temporarily closed.

22nd March
A Red Kite flew from the general direction of Longham Lakes at only a little above treetop height close to the White Hart pub, it continued south over Dudsbury golf course. The lakes were disappointing in a brisk, chilly easterly. Some Wigeon remain (Alan Pearce.)

20th March
Disappointingly quiet especially as the partially flooded Hampreston Meadows look ideal for wildfowl & waders. Best sightings a pair of Shelduck and pair of Ravens (George Green.)

18th March
Another brief visit to Longham mainly to check on a nestbox that I forgot about yesterday. There are now five boxes out of 8 that have some nest material in – obviously not including the three new boxes I put up yesterday. Then I had a quick look up the lake from the south path. Quite interesting to see a pair of Goosanders swimming near the small island. I am wondering if they are the same couple that were there a few weeks ago. If so where have they been in the mean time? I am not aware of any reports of them from Longham since my first sighting. Also 2 Chiffchaffs singing this afternoon at Longham Lakes – not far from each other. I was only in a small area of the site so there may well have been others further afield (Roger Peart.)

17th March
Sadly no sign of any summer migrants other than a few Chiffchaffs. Main highlight was 3 Oystercatchers including a pair clearly preparing to nest on the island in the South Lake. No sign of female Ring-necked Duck. (George Green.) I checked 7 nestboxes I had put up a couple of weeks ago and four of them have beginnings of nests – either Blue Tit or Great Tit. I added a further three boxes as well. Then had a walk up the west path. The most interesting thing was two very colourful Black-tailed Godwits on the nearest pool on the fields – in company with a number of Teal. Gulls were very active in the middle of the lake, washing vigorously. A pair of Little Grebes near the south path were in good breeding plumage and two Tufted Ducks near the small island were caught in the act of mating – not on camera though! A Carrion Crow sat for some while on the upper branches of a bare tree – with a number of white feathers on its wings. Finally 32 Cormorants were on the pylon and wires to the west (Roger Peart).

Ring-necked Duck (female) in between male and female Tufted Ducks, Longham Lakes 14/03/2020 (Dominic Couzens)

14th March
A blissful hour at lunchtime constituted my first visit to Longham Lakes this year (it’s a fair way from Spetisbury), and provided rich delights with the female Ring-necked Duck, a delightfully apricot-coloured Cattle Egret, a flock of 30-40 Common Snipe flushed from the main island, a Kingfisher and a fantastic number of gulls, maybe 500 (2 Great Black-backed Gulls.) This was among 42 species seen. There were good numbers of Wigeon and Gadwall around, with a few Teal (Dominic Couzens.) Earlier, Martin Wood saw 2 Shelduck and 4 Pochard, with singing Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Song Thrush and Cetti’s Warbler on a breezy morning.

13th March
No sign of the Ring-necked Duck today, but a pair of Shelduck and a Cattle Egret roosting on the South Lake island (George Green.)

11th March
This was my first visit since early February. Best sighting was the female Ring-necked Duck showing well on the North Lake. It is assumed this is the same bird present at Longham Lakes from October to mid November which then moved to spend the winter at Sturminster Marshall GP until 7th March before returning to Longham Lakes last Monday. Other good sightings were at least 1 Cattle Egret by Hampreston Farm later moving to the island on the South Lake, and a pair of Shelduck on Hampreston Meadows. Earlier a Black-tailed Godwit had been seen on the South Lake island (George Green.)

9th March
A female Ring-necked Duck was photographed at Longham Lakes today, presumably last autumn’s bird returning (per George Green.)

7th March
On the lakes were 84 Wigeon, 26 Pochard and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

There was a very unpleasant report today of an attack by two out-of-control dogs on a Roe Deer at Longham. This resulted in the deer being killed. The owner of the dogs was photographed. Having dogs so dangerously out of control is a criminal offence. If you are reading this and are aware of who the owner might be, please could you contact the police?

3rd March
Recently I have started putting nestboxes up at Longham. I put up four a couple of weeks ago and another four this afternoon. I had a quick look at the first ones after siting the latest, and one of them had a couple of pieces of fresh moss in it. There were Blue Tits calling in the vicinity. I think this may be the earliest start to a Blue Tit nest that I have recorded. No doubt, as always, the building process will take some weeks before egg laying begins. Also no less than 4 Roe Deer on the south side and a Fox, too (Roger Peart.)

2nd March
Spent an afternoon walking round South Lake today, still 56 Pochard about and a good number of Wigeon, fields still flooded and on one of the patches of grass that were not completely flooded were 32 Greylag Geese with one lone Black-tailed Godwit. There were 150 Black headed Gulls, 1 Mediterranean and 1 Common Gull and 3 Lesser Black backed Gulls (Martin Wood.)