It’s not very often that we get the opportunity to survey the site at night, however a group of us went out on Friday evening last week to see what we could find in the middle of the night….
Birds and bats were the top priority for the evening, so with 8 pairs of ears and two bat detectors, we headed out at 22.00 around the public footpath and visitor trails around Phase 1.
A juvenile tawny owl was calling in the woodland as we made our way through – a nice site tick for some people and not a species we ever see or hear that often at Langford. In fact I often only record them at 05.00 in the morning when out doing early season breeding bird surveys! The grasshopper warbler on the western visitor trail was reeling constantly as we made our way from the Beach Hut around the Cromwell trail. In the dead of night, the sound carries much further than during the day when there is plenty of other noise around and the bird could be heard from several hundred metres away. Reed and sedge warblers were in full song around the silt lagoons and oystercatcher, coot, skylark and common tern were also heard.
Onto bats and thanks to volunteers Stuart and Julie for bringing their bat detectors and recorders, we managed to tick common pipistrelle, noctule and Daubenton’s. Some brilliant views were had as well in the torch light, of Daubenton’s bats skimming over the water surface and two pipistrelles feeding over silt lagoon 7 from the southern edge of the visitor trails. Stuart’s recording analysis also suggests a probable Nathusius’s pipistrelle too – a first site record if we can confirm it and a nice addition to the site list of a species, previously only classed as a migrant in the UK and as a resident species only since 1997.
And finally, a couple of mysteries! On our way back to the office a bird calling from the silt lagoons flew directly over us and disappeared rapidly over Phase 2, returning a minute or so later. No one saw even a shadow as it flew only a few feet above us, sparking a bit of discussion about it’s identity. However, we think kestrel is the most likely answer here, based on it’s call and the speed of flight over Phase 2.
The second mystery however remains a complete unknown. A strange call coming from Phase 1 has got us all thinking and completely stumped! Many possibilities have been investigated, but as yet, we can’t nail the ID. Further work required here, but if and when we resolve it I will be sure to let everyone know!
I got to bed at 02.30 on Saturday morning, but it was well worth it for a very enjoyable evening!