Well, it’s the end of a very surreal week here at Langford to say the least! The flood waters are now starting to recede a bit and have probably dropped about a foot from it’s highest point, which was reached on Wednesday. However, despite the drop in water levels, the site is still completely inundated. Here is the view from the viewing screen yesterday morning, showing well the height of the water!
Wildlife sightings from this week include a little gull on Phase 2 on Tuesday, increasing numbers of wildfowl including tufted duck, mallard, gadwall, teal, wigeon, pintail, shoveler and goldeneye, several species feeding on flood debris around the site including pied wagtail, grey wagtail, meadow pipit, starling, blue tit and fieldfare, little owl on Cottage Lane and a great white egret flying north over the site this evening at 15.45 – the second in two weeks – fantastic!
Mammals are perhaps finding it harder to deal with the flood situation than birds, but despite this we have seen large numbers of small mammals seeking higher ground, brown hares seeking refuge in the processing plant and roe deer heading south over a flooded Slough Dyke.
And finally, a peacock butterfly basking on one of our containers yesterday morning was a surprise.
IMPORTANT. Please note that the area around Langford is still very dangerous due to continued flooding. Please always follow Environment Agency guidelines and stay away from flooded areas.