Spring is well underway here at Langford, with all our summer migrants now back on site. We have our 10 species of warbler breeding on the reserve again this year, with grasshopper warblers using the area of scrub we did some work in for them back in the winter - always nice to see the fruits of your labour!
There are at least three cuckoos on site, with two seen together this morning (9th June) and another heard singing at the same time. Langford is always a good spot for cuckoos - we have a lot of one of their favoured host species, the reed warbler.
Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
Hobbies are on the wing, catching dragonflies in flight, a yellow wagtail was seen on Monday 8th June and a very welcome record of a turtle dove purring was received last week. We used to get this species annually, but it has been increasingly hard to see them at Langford in the last few years, so it is great that we have a bird this year.
And we have two booming bitterns at the moment and a female marsh harrier seen regularly in the last couple of weeks.
There are plenty of dragonflies on the wing, including four-spot chaser, hairy dragonfly and my first black-tailed skimmer of the year this afternoon. Butterflies still seem scarce however, lets hope for more luck with them later in the summer.
And we are pleased to announce that the reserve is now open! Please do come and visit us for a nice day out and let us know what wildlife you see.