January 2017 at Longham Lakes
29th January Had a grey wet trip round the lakes this afternoon nothing new seen and only one Great White Egret about, and 46 Pochard spread about the two lakes. So that’s me done for January ending on 63 species seen for the month (Martin Wood.) 27th January Usual...
December 2016 at Longham Lakes
So another year comes to an end. It was far from a vintage year for Longham Lakes, with just 116 species recorded, well down on last year (130). However, there were 2 species making their first appearance, Nightjar (May) and Little Stint (November-December). Other...
September to November 2016
30th November Much better views of the stint this morning along with several other observers. The consensus view is that the bird is a Little Stint albeit in unfamiliar plumage (George Green). Other good birds present included 3 Great Egrets and 8 Black-tailed...
Summer 2016
20th August Had walk round the south lake late morning early afternoon, 4 Swifts, lots of Sand Martins and House Martins over the lake. Also of interest were 2 Common Sandpiper, 1 Hobby over and a Pochard at the south end of the lake, and a Tufted Duck with 4...
Spring 2016
30th May I went to Longham this morning for a ringing session. It was surprisingly good considering that the wind was rather breezy. There were 21 new birds and 13 re-traps. These numbers were mainly boosted by a family flock of Long-tailed Tits, which included 7...
January-February 2016
23rd February A flock of 50+ Lesser Redpolls was a nice surprise at Longham Lakes this morning since this species is an uncommon visitor to this site. The flock was favouring the catkin covered trees by the small pool at the SW corner of the South Lake. Also signs of...
November and December 2015
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...
September and October 2015
26th October Nothing of the slightest interest today, unless you count yet another Yellow-browed Warbler, which is, quite unbelievably, the THIRD this autumn. Just to remind you, Longham is an inland site with no particular draw for migrants, even though it has now...
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...
May 2015
17th May A pair of Red-crested Pochard on the South Lake this morning. The Scaup is still on the South Lake. Really good to see the Swifts in full action, only a few Swallows and only managed 1 House Martin. No Cuckoo seen or heard!! Good numbers of Reed Warbler, a...