One of the things I love most about watching wildlife is that you never quite know what you are going to see - often there is a nice surprise waiting for you when you get out there and start looking. And Langford is certainly no exception to this, as in the last week we have caught up with an elusive wader, glimpsed a secretive scrub dweller and welcomed back an old friend….
The first surprise of the week came on Wednesday as I made my way up to Phase 1 and passed the new landscaping on the old silt lagoon 7. There is often a large collection of gulls loafing on the islands and it’s always worth a quick scan. However amongst the 300+ black headed and common gulls, I spotted a small flock of lapwing accompanied by 16 golden plover. Golden plover have proved very elusive at Langford this winter, with 2-3 small flocks being seen flying over early in the winter, but none since, making it great to see this pretty little wader using the site.
Also on Wednesday I took a walk around silt lagoon 6, hoping to hear that distinctive ‘pinging’ call of a bearded tit. However, whilst I had no luck with the beardies, I was entertained by not one, but two Cetti’s warblers singing away from the willow scrub and reedmace by the edge of the lagoon. Suddenly I saw movement in the vegetation in front of me, up went the binoculars and to my surprise there was a Cetti’s warbler, flitting through the stand of reed and reedmace in full view. An excellent encounter with this noisy, but very hard to spot species.
And the old friend and best news of the week….a bittern seen by Site Manager Michael Copleston on Thursday flying into silt lagoon 6. It’s very encouraging indeed to know that the site is still supporting wintering bittern after the re-development works. So keep an eye out from the public footpath and the viewing screen and do let us know if you spot the bird.
Other recent sightings include a jay by the woodland edge, marsh tit and coal tit still feeding with a large tit flock in the woodland and on Cottage Lane, a peregrine hunting over Phase 2 and a whopping 9 goldeneye, including 6 displaying males seen yesterday by Warden Paul Bennett and myself on silt lagoon 3.