Despite the very low water levels on the reserve at the moment there are still a lot of birds around. Dedicated Langford volunteer Stuart, was out again at the weekend carrying out our monthly WeBS count and here's what he saw...
Greylag goose
275
Canada goose
210
Black headed gull
265
Lesser black-backed gull
120
Greater black-backed gull
2
Shelduck
4
Mallard
100
Shoveler
8
Lapwing
9
Teal
29
Moorhen
11
Mute swan
22
Coot
32
Tufted duck
25
Heron
5
Little egret
15
Greenshank
Great crested grebe
1
Cormorant
Green sandpiper
Common sandpiper
Gadwall
19
Little grebe
Great white egret
It was tempting to ask him to go back and re-count the geese. There are a lot of them about at the moment and they certainly add something to the Langford soundscape. Highlight of the WeBS count ignoring the impressive count of four greenshanks, must be the great white egret that popped into the reserve to munch on some of our fish. The photo below (©Mark Kilner) is sadly not of 'our' GWE, which no doubt looked slightly more majestic, but it gives you a great idea of what to look out for. As opposed to little egrets (we have lots of these at Langford), GWEs are larger, have black not yellow feet and tend to have a yellow bill as opposed to the little egrets boring black bill.