Autumn 2019 trips
There are still a few places on the following trips. Please e-mail Dominic.couzens@btinternet.com if you are interested in coming along. Wednesday 16th October – Holton Lee, near Wareham, morning only Take A35 past Upton, then A351 at the Bakers Arms roundabout. At...
Autumn 2019 at Longham Lakes
One of the highlights of an excellent autumn at Longham Lakes. 31st December I had a short ringing session at Longham this morning from 6am (putting up nets) to 8.45am [that's beyond the call of duty, Roger!] Aiming for Redwings but only caught one, plus a new Robin....
Summer 2019 at Longham Lakes
30th August Between 14:40 and 15:40, a maximum of 23 Swifts in one scan, along with c450 Sand Martins, c25 House Martins and 10 Swallows. Also 6 Sedge Warblers, 6 Willow Warblers, 2 + each of Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Reed Warbler and Cetti's Warbler...
Spring 2019 at Longham Lakes
26th May Quiet Sunday morning with no activities involving humans on the water. Usual vocal Reed Warblers and Cetti's and plenty of Swifts. An Oystercatcher was on the large island, soon joined by its mate. Together they mobbed and successfully chased away a marauding...
February and March 2019 at Longham Lakes
30th March There were 3 Oystercatchers feeding on Hampreston Fields around the flooded ground (Robert Weaver.) 29th March Near the ringing area there were 2 Small Tortoiseshells frequently jousting with each other high into the sky, plus 1 Peacock which occasionally...
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Longham Lakes
In response to a number of enquiries, the following is a summary of all the records of Odonata at Longham Lakes that I know about. There are doubtless many more. However, at least this summary shows how good the site has become since it became a reservoir in 2003. The...
January 2019 at Longham Lakes
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...
December 2018 at Longham Lakes
31st December I tried another ringing session this morning to round off the year. No definite sign of any Redwings. All rather quiet around the nets but I did catch 6 new birds and 3 re-traps. The latter were 2 Long-tailed Tits (ringed 27th September) and a Robin...
A Short Birding Trip to Malawi
I have had the pleasure of doing many overseas trips in the last few years, the details of which have appeared in various publications. Here is the first of a whole series about to come on this website. Malawi isn’t the most famous of African birding destinations....
Autumn 2018 at Longham Lakes
30th November There were 3 Great Egrets on South Lake, and the Whooper Swan was very distant at Hampreston. There were 2 Mediterranean Gulls about, plus 2 Egyptian Geese and 30 Black-tailed Godwits on Hampreston Fields (George Green.) 29th November There were 2...