Ownership of the 120ha of land on which Langford Lowfields sits, transferred across from Tarmac and Trinity College (Cambridge) back in February https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-64919469 ... to celebrate this important moment we held an event at Langford last week on 22nd June.

The day was a great success, with thunder storms avoided and the sun shining down upon us. Bee orchids were seen in flower…

We're now in the midst of the breeding season, with bitterns all over the place, swarms of sand martins swooping overhead and common terns plunging into the water for fish. The wildflowers are in bloom with swaths of ox-eye daisies and clumps of ragged robin providing a splash of colour. 

May's WeBS count was carried out at the weekend, providing a snapshot of what's about at the moment. 4 bitterns is the highest number…

Firstly, here's a nice article about the recent land transfer that went up on the BBC website recently: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-64919469

Secondly, this month's WeBS count recorded the highest number to date of shoveler on site - 108, the previous highest WeBS count was 82 back in April 2021. We must be providing a good selection of tasty water snails and larvae to have lured in so many…

Langford Lowfields, reached a momentous milestone last month, when ownership of 120ha of land including reedbed, woodland, grassland and scrub, transferred from sustainable building materials and construction solutions business Tarmac and also from Trinity College, Cambridge, to the RSPB.

There has been a long build up to this historic moment, with the RSPB having worked in partnership with Tarmac at Langford Quarry since…

Probably due to the milder weather, it feels like it's been a relatively 'quiet' winter at Langford, nothing too out of the ordinary has turned up and duck numbers have been on the lower side compared to previous years (although during the 22/23 winter period we have set new WeBS records for pintail in October and gadwall in December). Despite the overall lower numbers, a well rounded suite of birds were recorded on this…

A beautiful, sunny winter's day greeted the WeBS team on Sunday. A lot of the reserve was frozen (hence there being only 1 wetland bird on it) and so the birds were floating around in the few unfrozen areas. Headline news from the count were the 25 goldeneye and 6 whooper swans.

P1

P2

P3

Total

Water rail

1

1

Canada goose

1

1

Gadwall

5

37

42

Grey heron

1

2

3

…

Apologies for this... On 5th January between 10am and 3pm there will be no vehicle access to the car park! National Grid contractors are working on the low voltage lines that cross the track. Recommendation is either to come early and be off site by 10am or to postpone any planned visits until a later date. 

Quick note to say please be aware that lorries are using the access track to the car park today (Friday 23rd) to collect the big pile of harvested sugar beet. This may cause short delays and disruption, but access to the car park will still be possible with patience. Please give the lorries right of way and pull into the passing places to let them past.

Despite the 80% ice coverage the brave WeBS Warriors completed the wetland bird count at the weekend and recorded a good range of species. The 31 snipe were of note along, with the jack snipe and 2 smew. Other recent birds of note have included 3 bitterns, 7 marsh harriers and a pair of mandarin. With the ice now thawing duck numbers should once again start increasing.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

TOTAL

Water…

Despite the thick mist and a lack of personnel, the diminished WeBS team headed out into the misty wilds of Langford on Sunday morning to carry out the November count. No gorillas were spotted in the mist, however the second highest ever WeBS count of gadwall was made. With the highest count interestingly having been made last November (208 birds).

Having just completed the Langford Lowfields 2021-2022 Annual Report …

After breaking Langford's tufted duck record during the September WeBS count, things were back to normal this month on the tufty front, much to the relief of the WeBS team who had probably had enough of counting them... Talking of black and white ducks though, the first goldeneye of the year was seen on Phase 3, 16 pintail were also present a sure sign of the change in the seasons and wigeon numbers are building. Areas…

2022 has been a historic year for Langford... for the first time ever, two bittern nests were found on site! Bitterns have nested on site for the past couple of years, but this is the first time that we’ve had two nests running simultaneously, it represents the next important step in our journey to becoming a bittern-filled, reedbed paradise. The nests were close together, probably indicating that although we had two…

Casting our minds back to August, it is often a quieter time for birds as they skulk around, feeding and recovering from the rigours of the breeding season and a bit more effort is required to find anything. And so attention turns to butterflies and dragonflies and excitingly two species of damselfly were seen for the first time at Langford this year, willow emerald and small red-eyed damselfly. I am awaiting photos of…

During the breeding season visitors are welcome to explore the most northerly part of the reserve (phase 1), and enjoy the wildlife.  However the more southerly parts (phase 2 and 3) are left for the birds so that they can nest and raise their young in peace.

Now that the breeding season is coming to a close we have opened our seasonal trail to all our visitors.  This is a well-signposted track from phase 1 into centre…

I mentioned this briefly a couple of blogs ago, but by popular demand I'm going to return to the amazing news, that bearded tits have once again bred at Langford. These evocative little birds, also known as bearded reedlings, are, as their name suggests, very very fond of reedbeds. Feeding on reed seeds during the winter and tasty reedbed insects during the warmer parts of the year, numbers were as low as 2-4 pairs across…

I'm a bit more on track at the moment, so here they are, fresh in from the dedicated, early Sunday morning WeBS team, the results of July's Wetland Bird Survey...

P1

P2

P3

Total

Black headed gull

27

38

14

79

Canada goose

6

26

36

68

Greylag goose

14

38

187

239

Common tern

2

15

1

18

Coot

12

15

195

222

Cormorant

1

3

31

35

Great…

Firstly, please be aware that there may well be delays accessing our car park up until 10th August, due to the on-going, essential works on the pylon.

Secondly, your sleepless nights of waiting and wondering can now end, as the results from June's Wetland Bird Survey are finally here! 

P1

P2

P3

Total

Common tern

4

9

13

Moorhen

3

2

5

Tufted duck

4

50

18

72

Mallard

…

Here we go... very cold off the press!? ... The belated May WeBS count. With 3 black-winged stilts and 3 bittern record, it was a count to remember, one that will go down in the annals of Langford WeBS history. A smattering of other waders also added to the quality of the count.

Record shot of the stilts - Mark Dawson 

 

P1

P2

P3

Total

Black winged stilts

3

3

Black tailed godwit

1

1

Ringed…

On-going, essential work on the pylon next to our car park, unfortunately means that access is currently unpredictable and can't be guaranteed. The powerlines are being replaced, with the old ones needing to be dropped to the ground. In recent days visitors have been turned away by the traffic management team. There is limited parking nearby and so as sad as it is, the recommendation is to avoid the reserve this weekend…

Regular blog readers will have just recovered from the excitement of reading the March WeBS summary only to be overwhelmed with this April one. We seem to have an exotic menagerie forming with the Egyptian geese being joined by a couple of Cape shelduck...

P1

P2

P3

Total

Gadwall

3

10

26

39

Mallard

10

13

17

40

Teal

5

21

26

Pochard

3

2

5

Tufted duck

28

27

…

Only a month overdue!!?? Here's the WeBS count from March:

P1

P2

P3

Total

Great crested grebe

5

12

10

27

Coot

18

25

51

94

Tufted duck

31

179

134

344

Teal

4

4

40

48

Mallard

7

15

6

28

Canada goose

17

15

11

43

Greylag goose

34

22

4

60

Water rail

2

2

Mute swan

2

7

3

12

Bittern

1

1

Gadwall

…

The WeBS count for February was postponed by a week, due to various storms and the fact the reserve almost flooded again. The river was literally starting to poke its soggy fingers over the top of the floodbank, sneaking through the grass. Another cm and we'd have suffered the same fate as we did during 2021 and 2020. As it is, we had a very lucky escape and I imagine the wildlife in the reedbed breathed a collective…

The weather forecasters will tell us that it's the 1st of March and that it is the first day of spring.  Hoorah!  So what's happening at Langford Lowfields.

We are on the lookout for summer migrants coming in and we have heard our first chiffchaff singing on the reserve.  The first avocet of the year called in and although we have seen bitterns we await the first boom of the season.  Exciting times.

Avocet by Stuart…

You may have noticed that it has been raining recently, as it always does at this time of year, and the River Trent is starting to creep up the floodbank and getting close to peeping over the top into the reserve.

We're alright at the moment but that river is a fearsome sight.

The River Trent on the right is approaching the top of flood bank (25cm from the top at time of writing), Langford Lowfields is on the left.…

We all love electricity but those power lines which carry the electricity need maintenance and the big pylon near our car park is next on the list.

The line turns at ‘our’ pylon (Number 55) and this makes it a special one so National Grid contractors will be setting up a large compound around it.

  Pylon 55 at sunrise, by courtesy of the nocturnal Roger Bennett

Work starts on 15 Feb and continues until 6 May. They…