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…

My first job this morning was to write a blog about yesterday's 'Starling Spectacular' walk; the second of this winter.  However, it would seem that ChristineB beat me too it on our forum and added some great images that really captured the event! 

Whilst the murmuration seemed slightly muted by the strong wind, it was still quite impressive.  However, I have to say that I think the starlings were upstaged last…

As winter advances, the weather still seems vey autumn like, with nighttime temperatures only occasionally dropping to zero and sunny, calm days hitting double figures! Consequently, numbers of winter migrants here at Langford are still not as high as they have been in recent, colder Decembers, with presumably fewer birds moving westwards from the continent.

However, there has still been plenty to keep us entertained…

Yesterday was our final volunteer Sunday of 2013 and what an excellent day we had in glorious sunshine – it was even quite warm! 12 people arrived bright and early for a day of scrub management up on Phase 1.

Management of this scrub block began last winter and was soon suspended due to the site flooding, however the small area we worked on last winter has already started to show positive benefits, with increased…

I was joined by 32 visitors on Sunday 17th November, for the first of our 'Starling Spectacular'- themed walks.

The group saw approximately 3000 birds 'murmurating' for about 20 minutes, which at the time was the longest we'd seen this season.

As you'll have seen from Jenny's recent blog, the roost has now increased in size, as we'd hoped.  This is probably due to 'our' birds being joined…

Anyone familiar with Langford will know that every winter, starlings utilise our developing reedbeds for roosting. Numbers fluctuate greatly from year to year, with around 10,000 in 2010 (my first year here), growing to a massive 40,000 last winter.

This year is no exception to the rule and so far the numbers are up to 4000-5000 tonight reported by our Site Manager, Michael. This is the largest number we have seen this…

It’s been rather quiet here at Langford recently, with very modest numbers of wildfowl and winter thrushes being recorded across the site. The monthly WeBS count last week revealed around 200 each of tufted duck and teal, with smaller numbers of mallard and gadwall and pochard, wigeon and shoveler numbers around the 20 mark. This hasn’t changed this week, with similar numbers of all species. The three gol…

Yesterday (10^th November) saw our second ‘Conservation Experience’ day here at Langford (see blog from 28^th October). Following on from our first day two weeks ago, we welcomed 11 guests onto site for a day of scrub management on Phase 1.

The weather was slightly kinder to us than it was for our first day, with plenty of sunshine and calm conditions and the group soon got stuck into thinning the scrub block…

Paul and I completed the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) this morning. It’s not easy stood on a bund in the driving rain trying to count wildfowl in the distance! But we managed it and results are as follows….

221 teal

203 tufted duck

122 mallard

76 gadwall

26 pochard

24 wigeon

19 shoveler

2 goldeneye

19 mute swan

1 whooper swan

7 greylag goose

118 coot

5 moorhen

1 water rail – I got a brilliant…

Some nice sightings this week here at Langford, with highlights including –

A whooper swan on Phase 3,

Merlin on Phase 1 - seen by Warden, Paul,

1 lesser redpoll over the visitors car park – my first of the winter on site,

2 pintail on Phase 2,

40 pink-footed geese overhead – also my first over Langford this winter,

A small inch long drinker moth caterpillar around the silt lagoons yesterday was…

Yesterday was the first of our ‘Conservation Experience’ days here at Langford, an initiative designed to get people more involved with their local reserve. We are really pleased to be taking part this year and on Sunday, welcomed 8 guests onto site for a day of reed planting and controlling willow on silt lagoon 7.

Despite the very blustery conditions, the group got stuck in straight away planting out some…

Well not quite, but it has been occasionally known for seals to swim up the Trent reaching Cromwell Weir, which lies adjacent to the reserve. This is also the tidal extent of the river, therefore we do get some sea water infiltrating as far as Langford.

However, this morning I had another taste of the coast on site with a first reserve record – a species I usually encounter whilst seawatching off the Lincolnshire coast…

I completed the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) this morning, with some nice species turning up including some first site records for the winter. Here are this morning’s results –

151 teal

127 tufted duck

117 mallard

46 gadwall

29 shoveler

15 wigeon

10 pochard

1 goldeneye – first site record this winter, with tufted ducks on Phase 2

16 mute swan

22 whooper swan – the first on the deck this…

As we approach the middle of October, it certainly feels like winter is on it’s way here at Langford. The weather has certainly been wintry in the last few days, with cold north westerly’s and a couple of soakings! The birds too are on the move with the following highlights in the last few days –

6 whooper swans going south west over Phase 2 this morning – the first of the winter. We usually get a small…

Volunteer Sunday was once again upon us last weekend and what a glorious sunny and warm day we had – not bad at all for the beginning of October!

The first activity of the day was to arrange some brash and log piles in the woodland. Dead wood within any woodland area is brilliant, providing a home for a wide variety of wildlife including nesting birds, a plethora of invertebrates and many species of fungi. Much…

A quieter week on the reserve for sightings, but nevertheless some nice highlights including –

Juvenile marsh harrier feeding over Phase 2. This is a lovely bird, with uniform dark chocolate brown plumage and an bright orange/cream cap.

2 dunlin on Phase 3

Flocks of golden plover calling overhead – one of the characteristic sounds of autumn here at Langford.

Grey wagtail on Phase 3.

Water rail calling…

Please take a look at the latest volunteering opportunity at our Beckingham Marshes reserve, near Gainsborough.... 

Are you interested in barn owls and like the idea of your very own ‘Springwatch’ project?

Down at the Willow Works the RSPB cameras are recording live images of barn owls inside one of two nest boxes. This weekend (22 September) the very first chick of six eggs hatched...

Barn Owl. John…

Apologies for the lack of blogs in the last week – I’m now back from holiday and the first job of the day was the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). Here are this morning’s results….

109 mallard

79 teal

54 tufted duck

35 gadwall

10 shoveler

2 wigeon

2 pochard

25 mute swan

233 coot

6 moorhen

9 great crested grebe

5 little grebe

6 cormorant

5 grey heron

3 little egret

1 kingfis…

If you're stuck for something to do tomorrow, then why not try the Collingham Show and Ploughing Match tomorrow? http://www.collinghamshow.com/

As well as the other attractions there, I'll be manning a stand alongside Tarran Huntley, who's the RSPB Membership Development Officer for south Nottinghamshire.

So if you'd like to talk to me about how the Langford project is progressing, or speak to Tarran about…

Despite the bird bonanza quietening down this week, waders still continue to feature highly on Langford's sightings list. Highlights from the last 3 days include....

2 black-tailed godwit, including 1 still in almost full breeding plumage

26 dunlin on Phase 3 this afternoon

1 ringed plover still with the dunlin on Phase 3

Snipe everywhere, including small groups moving overhead

Greenshank still on Phase 3

2…

After my wader bonanza on Tuesday last week, the good luck continued with several quality site records. The ruff, dunlin and ringed plovers were still present throughout Wednesday and Thursday, with 3 hobby feeding over Phase 2, multiple kingfishers, greenshank and common and green sandpipers. However, it was Friday when the real fun started….

Friday’s sightings

1 little stint – on Phase 3, then flew north…

I had another good moth trap this morning – it’s amazing the difference a fully working battery makes! Setaceous hebrew characters, Xestia c-nigrum were the order of the day, with 22 in the trap. This is a common species flying from May – September, the larvae feeding on a variety of herbaceous plants.

Bright line brown eye, Lacanobia oleracea is a pretty little species and one that I haven’t seen at…

….by Langford standards at least! My walk around the site this afternoon was very productive, with some good waders for the site, almost continuous display of hobbies overhead and a few other things thrown in there too! Highlights include….

2 greenshank on Phase 3

1 green sandpiper and 1 common sandpiper on Phase 3

6 dunlin on Phase 3, feeding in a flock with 3 ringed plover

1 ruff on Phase 3 – my first…

Another month has gone by and it was volunteer Sunday once again this weekend. This month the activities on offer were installing fish shelters on the old silt lagoon 7 and retrieving weldmesh from Phase 1 to use out on Phase 2. 10 people arrived bright and early for a day’s work, on a very pleasant, but windy September day.

Throughout the morning, the group were successful in removing 76 sheets of weldmesh from…

Paul and I conducted the monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) yesterday morning. Although fairly quiet there were some nice waders and a distinct taste of the coming autumn, with the return of a winter duck species. Here are the results….

57 mallard

54 teal

28 tufted duck

14 gadwall

125 coot

5 moorhen

25 mute swan

11 great crested grebe

5 little grebe

13 little egret

5 grey heron

3 snipe

2 greenshan…