Happy New Year to all our blog readers out there! It’s been a good Christmas and New Year period here at Langford with some fantastic wildlife sightings by our staff and volunteers. Recent highlights include –
1 male goosander on the silt lagoons
2 pintail
8 shoveler
2 shelduck
2 goldeneye
2 peregrines
1 merlin
1 short eared owl
3 cetti’s warblers
1 green sandpiper
2 little egrets
3 whooper swans
3 tree sparrows
11 bullfinches
and a female marsh harrier, seen today over Phase 2. The first marsh harrier sighting on the reserve since the summer!
It's been pretty mild recently too, with temperatures hitting a whopping 13C on Boxing Day, when volunteer Mel Thorn recorded a red admiral butterfly on site. This will be an overwintering individual, awoken from it's hibernation by the warm weather.