Welcome Return
This morning (May 18th) a drake Garganey was on Longham Reservoir South, not far from the island. It's the first of the year, and quite overdue. Garganeys are one of the site's spring specialities. Also this morning, a Cuckoo singing, a few Sand Martins among the...
Ortolan Appears – Again! (Plus spring so far).
It seems hardly credible, but the Ortolan Bunting that turned up this morning (8th May) on the western side of Longham Reservoir South (Dominic Couzens) is actually not even a first for the site! That accolade goes to one seen on 17th April 2011. Its latest appearance...
This Birding Summer
This summer I have a terrific set of trips lined up. There are spaces on all of these, if you fancy coming along. More details included under "What's On". You can enquire through this website or e-mail dominic@birdwords.co.uk Day Trips (10.30am-4.00pm) £15 per person...
March Update, Another First
Here's what's been happening at Longham recently: 13th March: A fall of Chiffchaffs, variously reported as a dozen (Chris Parnell) and 5 (Alan Pearce) on the corner of Samuel's Wood. Undoubtedly migrants. 12th March: Redhead Smew, diving frequently in the more...
Trips, Tweets and Exotics
Welcome to the February edition of Birdwords Update. This is a quickie, with an ID feature and a few other snippets of this and that. FEBRUARY Listen to the media, or chance upon a conversation with a neighbour, and you might be fooled into thinking that February is a...
Mid-Feb Update
Here's a quick update of what's been around in the last few weeks: 13th February: Birds seen included Meadow Pipit, Redwing, Fieldfare, Goldcrest, Mediterranean Gulls, Shovelers, Pochards, Goldeneye, Smew (F) and Lapwing (Dave and Pat Harris and OWLS). 12th...
Straightening out Swans
Yeah, I know this isn't a great picture. The light was poor and these birds were almost on the moon's surface, they were so distant. But take a look at it and it doesn't half show up the difference between Bewick's Swans (left two) and Mute Swans (right three). Notice...
Bean Geese at Longham
Three Tundra Bean Geese have dropped into Longham Lakes this afternoon - or at least into the flooded Hampreston Fields. They can be seen from the western path down Longham Reservoir North. They are the first for the site, found by George Green. Apologies for the...
Deer Diary
After seeing two species of bats on Sunday, I'm feeling sorely tempted to have a go at seeing 40 species of mammals in Dorset this year, just for fun. Today I took a quick lunchbreak and drove towards Blandford, where a large field close to Tarrant Keyneston looked...
Sleeping Beauties
Britain's bats are in the middle of hibernation right now, but that doesn't mean that they need be out of mind, or out of sight. In fact, if you know the right people you can join up with monitoring hibernation sites, which allows you a glimpse into a little known...