Langford has produced some excellent birds lately, including some good quality ‘reserve ticks’ for myself and the other staff and volunteers. We have been delighted by the presence of scarcities such as goosander, smew, jack snipe and marsh tit, the ever elusive bittern and stunning birds of prey and owls, such as peregrine, merlin, marsh harrier and short eared owl. It can’t get much better than this….or can it?
Friday morning started off quite normally, with myself and volunteers Stuart Carlton, Will Booth and Sarah Bird making our way out to silt lagoon 6 to collect reed seeds for propagation in our polytunnel later this spring. It was a pleasant morning, with mild temperatures, sunshine and a hint of spring in the air as chaffinches, blue tits and great tits sang from the hedgerow by the public footpath.
At 11.45, something caught my eye flying towards us over the woodland. They were big – very big and in the split second before I got my binoculars up I could make out long outstretched necks and long trailing legs. The excitement immediately set in and as I got the binoculars up to them, my initial suspicion was proved right – 8 common cranes were flying over the woodland and silt lagoons going north. Frantic yells to the volunteers to look skywards followed and as they flew over us, we got fantastic views. They even let out a few short honking calls for us too.
The cranes are truly special birds, as not only do they look stunning, but they are a first record for Langford and as I have been reliably informed, the group of 8 is also the largest number ever recorded in Nottinghamshire. Interestingly, a group of the same number had flown north over Bourne in south Lincolnshire about 1 ½ hours before we saw our birds at Langford.
So to answer the question….yes, it can get even better!