Wetland Bird Survey - April 2025

With the sun shining down upon us, the reserve is looking in a much healthier state than it did this time last year, when the water levels were still high and the water itself still uninvitingly murky from the winter flooding. This year's fresh green reed shoots are rapidly growing and over the past week the first Cuckoo, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat of the year have been heard. Heron species are still very much on the agenda, with 1, maybe 2, bitterns booming and as shown by the WeBS count below, egrets are in abundance. The Glossy Ibis are still here, which is amazing, maybe not quite so amazing for the local frog population, but the Ibis have been on site since the 27th February, so 6 weeks and counting. Talking of frogs, 8 out of the 13 amphibian ponds that have been dug over the past few years have frogspawn/tadpoles in them, which is great for the frogs... and for the Ibis!

My current favourite thing to see at Langford, Great White Egrets in trees (photo by Ron Mitchell).