29th January
A Mistle Thrush and a Coal Tit could be heard singing from the Study Centre car park this morning (Dominic Couzens.)
27th January
4 Great Egrets on South Lake island (Peter Moore.)
23rd January
4 Great White Egrets this morning (George Green.) I was surprised by 4 over-flying F15 Eagles [that’s a plane] (Alan Pearce.)
22nd January
3 Great White Egrets present this morning on island in South Lake. Despite a total of 48 species seen and/or heard, nothing else of real note (George Green.)
Redwings, Longham Lakes, 20/01/2019 (Darran Jones.)
20th January
Most notable things I saw were around 80 Pochards on South Lake, 7 Redwings in the horse paddocks and about 15 Shovelers. I also saw a female Pochard that appeared to have a tag across her bill but it was too far out to make out the numbers on it (Darran Jones.)
14th January
One hour viewing from the slipway between 0930 and 1030 yielded 24 species, including a pair of Stonechats, 2 Great White Egrets, 4 Little Egrets, 2 Greylag Geese and a large flock of Pochards – possibly 80+ birds split between the two lakes. Several Redwings were in the horse paddocks, a Green Woodpecker flew into the nearby trees, and a Cetti’s Warbler was heard though not seen (Ron Poulter.)
13th January
Had a quick hours walk round North and South Lake. The model yachts were out in force this afternoon, so did not see any Great Egrets and only one Little Egret. There were a good number of wildfowl up the south end of the large lake: 44 Wigeon, lots of Tufted Ducks, Shovelers, about 30 Gadwalls, 151 Pochards, 2 Little Grebes, 6 Great Crested Grebes and 51 Herring Gulls (Martin Wood.)
12th January
A thorough check of Longham Lakes and Hampreston Fields produced 50 species seen and/or heard but nothing really unusual. Still 2 Great White Egrets present but more noteworthy was a count of 160+ Pochard which is a very high count for this site (George Green.)
11th January
There was 1 Great Egret on the large island, 95 Pochards, 2 Wigeons, 7 Common Gulls and 3 Great Black-backed Gulls. A flock of 63 Lapwings was wheeling about above the large island, while a Kingfisher and a Stonechat finished off the afternoon (Martin Wood.)
10th January
There were 2 Great Egrets at Longham this morning and a Jack Snipe was flushed from beside the Causeway path (Ian Ballam.)
Pochard and Gadwall, Longham Lakes, 09/01/2019 (Roger Peart)
9th January
Had a walk around the lakes at midday. Apart from one Great White Egret on the island, six Redwing and a Mistle Thrush in the paddocks off Green Lane, nothing much else of note. I couldn’t see the Whooper. There were some swans on the distant meadows but mainly hidden from view so it might have been there (Malcolm Dowty.) In the afternoon lots of Shovelers (at least 15 I should say), Pochard, Gadwall, Mallard, couple of Great Crested Grebes within easy view and also a small, unidentified wader (Roger Peart.)
8th January
Just one Great Egret on South Lake at 09:00. The Whooper Swan wasn’t in the distant herd on Hampreston Fields.
6th January
Had a walk round South Lake this afternoon. There were 3 Great Egrets on the island with 8 Little Egrets dotted round the place. I counted 30 Pochards on North Lake and 100 on South Lake, plus 20 Wigeon, 19 Shoveler and lots of Tufted Ducks, 4 Little Grebes, 12 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Common Gulls and one Lesser Black backed Gull. Also 1 Snipe flushed. The best though was 2 Kingfishers dashing across South Lake (Martin Wood.)
5th January
There were only 2 Great Egrets this morning, a probable Jack Snipe again and 2 Egyptian Geese.
4th January
There was a probable Jack Snipe flushed today (George Green.) The Pochard count reached 182, which is a record (Nick Whitehouse.)
3rd January
There were lots of birds around today. Flocks of small birds in Samuel’s Wood included such good species as a pair of Nuthatches, a Goldcrest and a Chiffchaff. A Raven flew over, and other pleasing oddities included Pheasant, Water Rail, 3 Great Egrets, 3 Snipe on the main island, a Siskin calling (Emily’s Wood again) and 8 Cetti’s Warblers singing or calling about the place (Dominic Couzens.) The Whooper Swan was visible from the footpath towards Hampreston Church.
2nd January
At least 4 Great Egrets present this morning plus possibly a 5th bird which flew high over the lakes and appeared to continue eastwards towards Christchurch. Best of the rest a flock of 18 Black-tailed Godwits (George Green.)
1st January
Longham Lakes began the year alive with birds. The island on South Lakes is effectively an Egretry, and there were 3 Great Egrets and plenty of Little Egrets on it this morning, as well as a Grey Heron and lots of Cormorants. Later on a somewhat shady Red-crested Pochard type turned up, although this bird has atypical plumage and might be a hybrid. There were a significant number of Pochards, at least 80, along with the usual ducks, although there was only 1 Wigeon. Gulls featured, with high numbers of Common Gull (at least 10), as well as 2 Great Black-backed Gulls. Some 10-15 Black-tailed Godwits flew over, as well as 30+ Lapwings, and there was a Snipe on the island. Among 60 species seen today, notable species included 2 Siskins in Emily’s Wood, a Linnet over, at least 30-50 Fieldfares and fewer Redwings on the ploughed field north-west of the lake perimeter, a Grey Wagtail, a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker, a male and female Stonechat near the Study Centre (this species has been sparse this winter), a Sparrowhawk and a pair of Kestrels. There was no sign of the long-staying 1st-winter Whooper Swan (Dominic Couzens, Martin Wood.)