What a cracking start to the year with some top birds dropping in already, from handsome male wheater and a pair of garganey, through to the old favourites of hobby and marsh harrier.

Langford Lowfields is certainly blossoming at the moment and keeping up with the birds on site, especially when they are passing through, like the bar-tailed godwits last week, not to mention yesterdays wood sandpipers, can get taxing - even…

Highlights from the latter half of the week....

Thursday

Male marsh harrier over Phase 1

2 hobbys over Phase 1

And the first swifts of the year spotted by Warden, Paul Bennett over Phase 1

And Friday

2 hobbys over Phase 1 and 2

2 greenshanks on silt lagoon 7

A pair of grey partridge on Phase 2

My first four-spotted chaser dragonflies of 2011

And a stunning buff-tip moth at the light on office door found by Site…

To give everyone interested in the site, the latest sightings from the reserve Michael has signed up on Twitter.  Go to www.twitter.com and sign up and you won't miss a thing.  Once you have signed up search for MCopleston and start enjoying regular tweets!

Happy Easter to everyone and what a great weekend it is shaping up to be with all this sunshine! I had a pleasant afternoon down on the reserve yesterday in glorious 25C temperatures and the place was buzzing with life. I picked up my first hobby of the year over Phase 1. What a stunning bird this is, with it's steely grey upperparts, black and white head pattern and bright orange/red 'trousers'. Look for them darting…

This morning I met volunteers Julie Straw and Linda Lowndes, to carry out this months WeBS count on yet another glorious day.

Results were as follows:

shelduck - 9

oystercatcher - 14

mallard - 28

coot - 26

Canada goose - 9

greylag goose - 40

grey heron - 3

great crested grebe - 8

lapwing - 9

tufted duck - 33

mute swan - 11

gadwall - 19

teal - 15

shoveler - 2

snipe - 3

little ringed plover - 4

black-headed…

I was joined on site today by eight members of the public who had booked on to an 'Introduction to Birdwatching' course, organised by the BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) and TVLP (Trent Vale Landscape Partnership).

After running through some of the basics (optics, field guides, websites etc), we wasted little time in getting outside in the glorious sunshine.  It was initially a little hard going…

Sightings from this week so far....

Monday -

2 grey partridge on Phase 2

1 snipe on Phase 2

A white wagtail on Phase 3

Cetti's warbler singing from the silt lagoons

Sedge warbler singing in Phase 1

And a stoat in the woodland!

Tuesday -

1 green sandpiper on lagoon 7

2 buzzard over Phase 2, with another over the eastern public footpath

Green woodpecker calling away from the woodland edge

Grasshopper w…

A glorious day at Langford yesterday brought the first 2011 record of another spring migrant to the site....a singing reed warbler in Phase 1. This is quite early for reed warblers to be returning to our reedbed, we usually expect them towards the end of April and follows the early arrivial of a sedge warbler last Sunday.

Some other sightings from this week include -

Thursday

Female marsh harrier over Phase 1

2…

Some sightings from today -

Up to 8 little ringed plovers

5 oystercatchers on Phase 2 and 3

3 redshank

3 little egrets on Phase 2

Green sandpiper on Phase 3

Yellow wagtail and white wagtail in a flock of pied wagtails on Phase 3

Buzzard over Phase 2

Cetti's warbler and sedge warbler on Phase 1

Plenty of singing chiffchaffs, willow warblers and blackcaps

Sand martins and swallows over Phase 1 and 2

And…

I was welcomed back from holiday today by lovely warm and sunny weather, some great birds and a rather nice lepidopteran surprise!

Today's birds include -

2 little ringed plovers on Phase 2

An avocet on silt lagoon 6

Redshank and lapwing on Phase 2

Little egret on Phase 2

Up to 3 pairs of shelduck

2 sand martins over Phase 1

Buzzard over Phase 2

Chiffchaffs, yellowhammers, reed buntings and skylarks si…

I met volunteers Graham Gamage, Julie Straw and John Ellis at 06.15 last Sunday morning.  However, considering that the clocks had gone forward by an hour that very morning, it definitely still felt like 05.15.

We met to carry out the second leg of the annual water rail survey, which requires starting at the crack of dawn.

As well as the water rails heard uttering their 'charming' songs, we also heard the songs of …

Last Sunday I was joined by 29 members of our nearest local members group.  Many of them have actively supported the development of Langford Lowfields since it's inception, so it's always nice to welcome them back and show them how the site is developing.

Compared to the previous two walks that I've lead at Langford this year, we were blessed with good weather and good birds.

Spring was definitely in the air…

Last Thursday night provided the second opportunity of 2011 to get the moth trap out. It was a perfect night with tempertures as high as 10C, light winds and no rain. And the good weather must have remained throughout the night as the next morning we were delighted to find a total of 10 moths in the trap, including a new species for the site!

The first moth to emerge was a dotted border, followed by three more. This…

In January, I was invited along to The Holy Trinity Catholic School in Newark-upon-Trent by Head of Foundation, Ella Mayfield.

Ella informed me that she had received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, sourced by The Trent Vale Landscape Partnership (TVLP) for the creation of two pieces of mosaic artwork.  The theme for these installations was to be the wildlife of the River Trent and more specifically, a swan and…