It's amazing how productive even a short walk at Langford can be! After a day spent in the office, I went out for a stroll round the public footpath up to Phase 1. The first surprise was a treecreeper in the scrub just along the footpath from the processing plant. I spotted the bird flitting between two trees, then winding it's way up a trunk searching for insects. It isn't a bird I see that often at Langford, usually in the woodland, so it was great to catch up with one.
On silt lagoon 4 was a lovely collection of wildfowl, again concentrated on one of the few areas of the reserve free of ice. The more numerous mallard, teal and tufted duck were joined by 30 pochard, two stunning male pintail, a shelduck, a smart looking winter plumaged great crested grebe and my favourite ducks, 1 male and 3 female goldeneye.
But it was up at Phase 1 where the raptor fest began! As I met up with volunteer Dave Watt, he told me of an earlier sighting over the silt lagoons - a marsh harrier! And then, as if on cue, while we were discussing the bird....there it was, flying over the silt lagoons towards Phase 1. The harrier, a juvenile, descended onto Phase 1 and we were treated to excellent views as it quartered the reedbed looking for a late afternoon meal. Eventually it dropped out of sight into the reed.
Next on the list was a fantastic male merlin. Shortly after we lost sight of the marsh harrier, a tiny steely blue/grey coloured falcon shot across silt lagoon 6 from Phase 1. This is a species which visits Langford in the winter months and in the low sunshine, looked absolutley beautiful.
A peregrine followed a few minutes later as it flew down onto Phase 1 and over the viewing screen. A pigeon had a lucky escape as the falcon took a swipe at it, before flying away low and fast down the public footpath towards the woodland.
And finally, a barn owl hunting over Phase 1 and a buzzard being mobbed by crows over the woodland finished the day off nicely. Not bad for an hours wander around the reserve!