We have now reached the end of June and that marks the end of the Breeding Bird Survey for 2011. And what a great few months it’s been – getting up early in the morning and getting down to the reserve for first light, to be met by a cacophony of birdsong! There have been so many highlights that I can’t pick just one, so here goes with my favourite sights and sounds of Langford this spring –
Barn owl on Phase 1 hunting in the dawn mist
A stunning pair of wheatear on Phase 2 on migration through the site
Garden warblers in full song on the public footpath
Cuckoos calling, including the lovely bubbling call of the female
The screams of common terns fishing over Phase 1
Brightly coloured yellow wagtails on Phase 2 and 3
But whilst the BBS is over for the year, there is still plenty of summer wildlife to look forward to in the coming weeks. Meadow brown and ringlet butterflies are now out in force and it won’t long before we are seeing gatekeepers too. Keep your eyes open also for the purple hairstreaks along the public footpath by the woodland. Hopefully this great little species will be present on site again this year, after it first appeared in 2010.
Dragonflies and damselflies too are on the wing in good numbers, with emperors, brown hawkers, common darters and the fantastic banded demoiselle now flying. Look for them along the eastern public footpath.
And what better way to start the week than to receive the news this morning from Bill Bacon, from East Midlands Butterfly Conservation, that our record of grizzled skipper is potentially the furthest north in the country – well done to John and Graham once again for this great find!