Usually at Langford, conducting a WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) is all about trying to get a good view of as much of the site as possible, trying to find every last bird hidden in a reed turf or in a small inlet or behind a bund and about trying my best not to flush birds so they can be counted accurately.
However, none of that applied as I made my way around site today for the final WeBS of 2012 as everything was right there in front of me, with nowhere to hide in the middle of the ‘Langford Lake’. It does make counting an awful lot easier and it was great to see so much wildfowl on site. Here are the results of today’s count –
372 teal
261 tufted duck
111 wigeon
107 mallard
53 pochard – I’ve never seen so many here
18 gadwall
2 shoveler
2 goldeneye
57 coot
4 moorhen
82 lapwing
33 snipe
1 green sandpiper
72 cormorant
7 mute swan
4 little grebe
6 grey heron
1 kingfisher
519 black-headed gull
1 common gull
1 great black-backed gull
Also on site today was a grey wagtail calling over the silt lagoons, a great spotted woodpecker by silt lagoon 4 and a green woodpecker by silt lagoon 2. I was pleased to hear a squealing water rail yesterday afternoon on silt lagoon 6 and 24 pintail flew over Phase 1 going south west.