Apologies for the lack of reserve news recently - the blog site has been down for maintenance, but we are back to busness as usual now.

Recent highlights in the last week include -

Cetti's warbler singing on silt lagoon 6 and calling from silt lagoon 4. This may suggest that there are two back on site, which would be excellent news.

3 curlew over Phases 1 and 2 on Monday - the birds circled over Phase 3 and then came down in this area. These are the first on site in a while.

Dunlin and green sandpiper on Phase 1 and silt lagoon 5.

3 whooper swans still roosting on silt lagoon 5 - they can still be seen until around 10.00 in the morning before they fly off to feeding grounds elsewhere.

There is a large flock of mixed finches and buntings around the feeding station by the viewing screen. At least 50 birds were present yesterday, including the common finches, reed bunting and yellowhammer.

And finally, perhaps the highlight of the week....a drake and redhead smew on silt lagoon 3 (the first one after the woodland) this morning. These are the first smew on site for two years and are only about the 8th record for Langford. They are easily viewable from the public footpath if they stick around.