There is not a rarity in the world that would have made October 2014 a happy month for Longham Lakes birding. For on 15th one of the site’s most avid watchers, Chris Parnell, passed away after a long illness; he was only 46 and leaves behind a wife and two young daughters. He will be remembered as a great enthusiast and an equally gifted encourager, passing on advice and help in various ways to all he met and with whom he corresponded. The site will always be the poorer without him.
It was quite a rubbishy month anyway, with just these meagre highlights:
31st October
The OWLs recorded an average selection of birds, including Meadow Pipits, Stonechats, Grey Wagtail, Pheasant, Kestrel, Gadwall and Shoveler.
25th October
Martin Wood made some counts, including Little Egret – 2, Grey Heron – 3, Little Grebe – c10, Great Crested Grebe – 10, Shoveler – 5, Gadwall – 4, Meadow pipit – 5 and Buzzard – 3.
20th October
A quick walk around LR North produced 13 Great Crested Grebes, 16 Cormorants, 7 Mute Swans and 1 Common Darter (dragonfly). (Trevor Wilkinson).
17th October
There was not a great deal of activity around the ringing area, but we managed to catch 9 new and 2 retraps (Wren and Goldcrest, both from this year). It was a ‘Wren’ day – three new birds – and a mixed bag of the others: Chiffchaff 2, and one each of Cetti’s Warbler, Goldcrest, Bullfinch and Great Tit.
The first two captures were bats at first light, one in net 7 then another in the bottom shelf of net 11 – so not likely the same individual. I reckon they were Long-eared. (Roger Peart). [Brown Long-eared Bat would be new for Longham Lakes].
3rd October
Birds seen today included 20+ Cormorants, 13+ Little Grebes, 3 Grey Herons and 9 Long-tailed Tits. There were insects about including 2 Clouded Yellows, 3 Common Blue Damselflies and 2 Emperor dragonflies (Trevor Wilkinson).