Unfortunately, there's not much point at the moment, as the footpath is closed.  However, if you did, you would be in for a big surprise.

If you read Jenny's blog last week, you'll be aware that the footpath has been closed whilst we make improvements to the footpath along the eastern perimeter of the site.

Contractors M. Gould are making good progress, despite the poor weather and the results can be seen…

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Just a quick note to say that our perimeter footpath from Cottage Lane to Westfield Lane (the eastern boundary footpath), is now closed for a few weeks, whilst we complete re-surfacing works. This work is part of our project to partially open the site sometime in 2013 and will incorporate footpaths and a carpark.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause and thankyou for your co-operation.

I'm rather fond of galls, as regular readers of this blog may have guessed! So here is another one I came across today in the woodland on a fallen leaf of pedunculate oak, Quercus robur. The smaller ones at the bottom of the leaf are the oak spangle gall, or Neuroterus quercusbaccarum, that featured here a few months ago, but what is the larger spherical one above them? Answer next week....

It was a pretty quiet Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) this morning, especially considering the time of year – at least it was quiet for wetland birds – no so much when you consider the hundreds (maybe even pushing 1000) fieldfares and redwings feeding in the pathside shrubs and moving over the site. Here are this mornings results….

8 little grebe

2 great crested grebe

92 mallard

125 tufted duck

40

Another good couple of days for wildlfie on site. Highlights include -

Thursday 15th November

450 pink-footed geese over flying north-west in 3 separate skeins

another 10,000 strong starling roost

800 golden plover moving over the reserve

and the warm and sunny weather brought out a butterfly - a very worn specimen of either a red admiral or peacock was seen disappearing into the scrub on Phase 1.

And today (Friday…

We came across this strange growth of blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, on several shrubs whilst doing some scrub managment today - any ideas what has caused this? Look out for our thoughts next week....

I left the office this morning joking about how today was going to be the day I finally got lucky with a certain species I have been waiting to see at Langford some time – little did I know that today indeed was the day!

A walk around the public footpath produced numerous redwings and fieldfares and a nice flock feeding in the woodland including long-tailed, blue and great tits and goldcrests. A little further…

Our recent period of good birds has continued over last weekend, with some excellent sightings by our staff and volunteers, including a first for the reserve….

Saturday’s records from our Conservation Officer, Carl Cornish include the first male goldeneye of the winter on Phase 2, a male pintail on Phase 1 (first for the winter), 3 jack snipe on Phase 2, 4 green sandpipers across the site, 3 brambling again…

Fungi season is in full swing and here is the latest selection of photos from the reserve. Can anyone confirm the identification of these and let me know if my guesses are correct?

Scleroderma species?

Sulpher tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare?

Lycoperdon species?

And one I know....Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric.

After yesterday's excellent day list, we have had yet another good day on site. Highlights as follows -

male merlin over Phase 1

adult female marsh harrier on Phases 1 and 2, at one point being mobbed by a raven

female goldeneye on Phase 3

grey wagtail on Phase 1

male stonechat on Phase 2

flocks of golden plover over Phase 1

and what seemed like a large movement of passerines over and around the site this morning…

It's been a fantastic day for birds here today, with several good records for the site and a species I haven't seen since I first started working here over two years ago! Here is my day list....

2 green sandpipers - one on Phase 2 and the other on Phase 3

150 lapwing over Phase 3

1 jack snipe on Phase 2 - I had a brilliant view of this bird as it flew up in front of me

2 goldeneye - the first of the winter…

A walk out on Phase 2 at the moment reveals plenty of footprints in the mud, where birds have been feeding along the water's edges. Have a look at these I took last week - any guesses on species (I've put a 10p coin in the photos for size comparison)....

It's the start of the main fungi season now, with plenty of species starting the sprout their fruiting bodies. Unfortunately I'm no mycologist, but I do get the fungi book out each autumn and learn a few more each year! One I can identify easily however is the shaggy inkcap, or Coprinus comatus to give it it's scientific name. It is a common amnd widespread species in much of the UK and occurs throughout Europe…

Time for the monthly WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) again this morning and October can be an exciting month with numbers of wildfowl and gulls building up. Here are the results of this morning’s count –

104 tufted duck

71 mallard

31 teal

13 gadwall

4 shoveler

1 wigeon

9 mute swan

8 great crested grebe

20 little grebe – a large count of this species!

34 coot

2 moorhen

5 cormorant

4 grey hero…

Regular readers of our blog may remember from a few months ago, a blog about a potential new species of beetle for Nottinghamshire found on site. Well, we were right and the following paper has appeared in the latest edition [21 (2), September 2012] of The Coleopterist journal. The Coleopterist is the journal for students of the beetle fauna of the UK, their website can be found here http://www.coleopterist.org.uk/. Many…

We had a very successful volunteer Sunday on the 7^th, with 14 people arriving on a beautiful morning ready to take on some scrub management work on Phase 1. We have two main blocks of scrub on Phase 1 and on Sunday the group were working on the western block, ‘scalloping’ the edges (cutting out semi-circles of scrub along the margins) and thinning out the taller trees in the middle of the block.

This work…

A lovely specimen of Carabus granulatus, (a ground beetle) found in one of our storage containers this morning.

Also on site today were three common snipe and one jack snipe on Phase 2, small flocks of linnet feeding on thistle heads around the reed edges and green sandpiper calling overhead.

I came across this platform in amongst a small reed turf on Phase 2 this morning. Something has been resting here, but what....

Here are my latest photos from Langford, taken this morning on the public footpath by the woodland edge. It was a beautiful morning and the sun was shining, but the air temperature was still rather cool - enabling me to get some close up shots of basking insects....

I don't usually get this close to common darters, Sympetrum striolatum,  with the camera.

A beautiful fresh looking red admiral, Vanessa atalanta.

It was a beautiful day on Friday and it was great to see so many insects on the wing, perhaps catching some of the last rays of sunshine before autumn really sets in! Migrant hawker dragonflies, or Aeshna mixta to be scientific are a stunning species. They are one of the larger dragonflies at just over 60mm in length and are widespread and common in southern and central England and are increasing their range northwards…

It’s my first day back at Langford today after my holiday in Scotland and I have been greeted by some terrible weather! However the swallows didn’t seem at all bothered by the strong wind and heavy rain as they fed over Phase 2. There were around 100 birds in total, flying very close as I walked over the islands – it’s fantastic to see these birds so close up.

Also on Phase 2, two green sandp…

It's been rather productive for wildlife sightings on site today, with a singing Cetti's warbler in silt lagoons 4 and 5 entertaining us throughout the day as we worked in the polytunnel, building a new reed propagation bay. Cetti's warblers are now in permanent residence here at Langford since they first appeared on site in 2009, with up to 4 singing males recorded this spring. This is in line with their northward…

I found this pile of dragonfly wings hidden away at the edge of the reedbed on the balancing pond last week. Something has been tucking into our Odonata fauna - but what was it? We don't know for sure, so post your guesses in the comments box below....

Carl Cornish the RSPB's Nottinghamshire Conservation Officer is leading a walk from Collingham on the footpath going around the new landscape created from the sand and gravel extractions.

Meet 9.30am at Co-op Car Park, Co--op, High St, Collingham, NG23 7LB

the walk is 6.25 miles long and should take 2hrs 30mins

Contact: Carl Cornish, 07850 722835, carl.cornish@rspb.org.uk