Longham Lakes 2022
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...
Getting in touch (Summer 2021)
If you have tried to contact me using the form on this website in the last couple of months, please try again! There has been an internal malfunction, which means your email address hasn't been passed on. Please accept my apologies. The problem has been fixed, so...
Summer 2020 at Longham Lakes
30th July A relatively good ringing session, with 17 new birds and 1 re-trap. 10 of the new ones were Reed Warblers (1 adult, 9 juveniles) and the others were singles of Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler, Robin, Wren, Blackbird and Song Thrush. All were...
Garden Birds in April – Their Secret Lives
This is an extract from my book "The Secret Lives of Garden Birds". It's the introduction to April. The whole book is available from the usual retailers. Order now from...
A Blissful Week in Honduras, March 2020
This March I was fortunate to visit the Republic of Honduras as a guest of the government Tourist Board, sampling the amazing birdlife. Whatever you might have heard of the country, it is certainly a diversity hotspot. We saw just under 250 species of birds,...
Late March to May 2020 at Longham Lakes
27th May This morning I had my first visit to check the 11 Longham boxes. As I hadn’t been there since early March the vegetation, especially nettles and brambles, has grown up considerably and it took a lot of time and effort to fight my way through to most of the...
March 2020 at Longham Lakes
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...
A Short Winter Trip to Central Japan (Part 1)
Winter Birding along the "Diamond Route", Honshu, Japan This was no ordinary trip to Japan. Normally, ecotourists visiting in winter go to Hokkaido, the northernmost island in the archipelago, for Cranes and Sea Eagles, or to Arasaki in Kyushu (the southernmost main...
Winter 2020 at Longham Lakes
15th February Out on the lakes were 200 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Common Gulls, 50 Herring Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 2 Great Black-backed Gulls. One of these latter gulls pinched an Eel away from a Cormorant, then was harassed by...
Forthcoming articles and publications
It's been a busy last few weeks and months. Look out for articles in the next Birdwatching magazine (about Starlings), BBC Wildlife magazine (about hibernation), WWT Waterlife magazine (Brent Geese), Nature's Home (foraging) and blogs for Naturetrek. I am also writing...