After a relatively quiet winter on site, the reserve seemed to come alive yesterday, with some welcome sightings of species we haven't seen for a while, migrants coming in and a bittern bonanza!
First thing in the morning is arguably the best time for seeing and hearing birds and at Langford it certainly is one of the best times for bittern. An early morning vigil by Phase 2 - very early at 05.30 - was richly rewarded with the sighting of not 1, not 2, but 3 bitterns! I have suspected 3 birds on site for a while, so I'm pleased to confirm it. This is the highest number of confirmed bittern on site we have ever had and to hold three birds, albeit non-breeding, is a real positive step for such a young site. That wasn't the end of the bonanza however, with one of the birds seen again by myself and the Friday volunteer crew at 16.00 as we closed up the containers. A bird was also seen by Stuart and Tasia on Thursday morning.
An adult female marsh harrier drifted over Phase 2 at 10.00, spotted by John and Julie, this is the first marsh harrier record on site since late last year.
Migrants yesterday included the first sand martins of 2015, with two over the visitor trails early morning and up to five around Phase 2 later in the morning - great to see these back. A singing chiffchaff around the silt lagoons at lunchtime was my first of the year and migrants of the opposite kind included 24 whooper swans north over the visitor trails at 08.10 and c.300 fieldfare feeding in the field east of the North Trail, at 08.30.
The warm weather also brought out small tortoiseshell and peacock butterflies - peacock being my first of the year.