WeBS has come round once again (seemed so quick this month!) and I treated myself to a walk around site doing the count this time, on a sunny, but very blustery day. It still seems quite quiet out on site at the moment in terms of wildfowl - there doesn't seem to have been much movement in yet, but the birds are looking stunning - males in their smart new plumage. Here are the results of Monday's count -
194 teal
173 mallard
92 tufted duck
53 shoveler - good number for Langford
40 gadwall
10 wigeon - hopefully more will build up over the winter
1 goldeneye - still just one female around, again more to come we hope!
13 mute swan
70 coot
1 moorhen
5 little egret
1 grey heron
5 cormorant
1 little grebe - great to see this, I've not seen a little grebe on site since the summer
13 lapwing - where have they all gone!?
1 green sandpiper
429 black-headed gull
18 lesser black-backed gull
3 common gull
Also on site this week.... bittern/s continues to make an appearance occasionally, but you do have to be in the right place at the right time! The regular stonechat around the dipping platform is showing well - such lovely birds, fieldfare and redwing can be seen and heard overhead and there are still brambling in the wild bird seed crop opposite the car park. I was surprised to see a lot of black knapweed plants still in flower at the southern end of the site on Monday, which certainly brightened up the area, along with yarrow still very much in bloom and a hawkweed species.
Male goldeneye - should be arriving on site soon. Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)