Yesterday morning, Paul, Stuart and I conducted the monthly Wetland bird Survey (WeBS) and for the second month in a row, it was a challenge to count small ducks a quarter of a mile away in a howling gale! However, we persevered and here are yesterday's results....
258 teal
195 tufted duck
103 wigeon - a good number for Langford
90 mallard
58 gadwall
22 shoveler
9 goldeneye
5 pochard
1 pintail - the first on site in a while
20 mute swan
110 coot
2 moorhen
2 great crested grebe
1 little grebe
24 cormorant
4 grey heron
3 little egret
5 redshank - we don't usually see this many together here
3 snipe
2 lapwing
1 dunlin
1 kingfisher
1 water rail
312 black-headed gull
11 common gull
1 lesser black-backed gull
1 great black-backed gull
And some more news from this week - grey wagtail over Phase 3 yesterday, 2 whooper swans going north low over Phase 1 this morning, excellent views of roe deer on silt lagoon 6 and Cetti's warbler calling from reed fringing Phase 1 this morning - I even caught a rare glimpse of the bird as it flitted through a sparse section of reed below the viewing screen (so keep an eye out for it!).