It’s been a busy start to the new year here at Langford, as our contractors have now finished the re-development works on site and we have had our reserve volunteers back in getting stuck into some great jobs.
The first on the list was to get all our reed seedlings planted out on the newly landscaped areas. The volunteer Sunday work party made a great start on this on the 8th, getting around 3000 reeds planted. The weekday volunteers then finished off with another 2000 the week after, bringing the total planted to a whopping 5000. Well done to all involved.
We have started renovations on the old beach hut that has been moved to Phase 1 and will provide a base for staff and volunteers to have lunch or a quick cup of tea. The old fixtures and fittings have been taken out and the inside and outside given a fresh coat of paint.
Take a look from the Phase 1 viewing screen and you should see that we have extended the viewing channels that were cut a few weeks ago. This makes it even easier to see down into the reedbed now, giving you an even better chance to spot some great birds including water rail, snipe and perhaps that ever elusive bittern.
Recent wildlife sightings on site include little egrets, snipe and green sandpiper on Phase 2, treecreeper, great spotted woodpecker and song thrush in the woodland, up to 30 tree sparrows by the Phase 1 viewing screen and a large flock of tits around the woodland edge and Cottage Lane. Look out for the regular species including blue, great and long tailed tits along with not one, but two marsh tits seen by Site Manager Michael Copleston at the weekend, two goldcrests and a Langford rarity….a coal tit, that I finally managed to catch up with yesterday after weeks of searching!