Wetland Bird Survey - July 2024

If you've been on the reserve recently, you may have noticed the 3 black hawk kites hovering over the Phase 2 area... after the winter flood water had receded the reed across the whole site was looking very forlorn, most of it has bounced back, but the reeded islands on Phase 2 are slightly lower-lying and this combined with lots of hungry geese has left a lot of the established reed in that part of the site looking extremely unhappy. The kites are up as an experimental attempt to dissuade the geese from going into that area and so far at least they seem to be working. Interestingly heron species seem unfazed by them and common terns are still feeding under them, but the geese for now at least are avoiding the area, giving the reed a bit of time to gather its strength.

In terms of the WeBS count, no surprises this month... or in fact maybe it was surprising that no Great White Egrets were on site and no bitterns were flying around during the time the survey was carried out. Both are being seen regularly at the moment:

A few recent photos taken by Stuart Carlton at Langford. Bittern, Common Blue and Common Tern.