08.45 Thursday 5th April.

River levels remain very high this morning, but the site is currently not flooding. It is best to avoid the reserve, but it is still open for now. It is likely that the reserve will be closed from tomorrow afternoon over the weekend due to further forecast rain on Saturday and Sunday.

We apologise for the inconvenience and please do get in touch with any queries - 01636 893611.

Thanks, the…

PLEASE NOTE....there is now a flood warning issued for the area around RSPB Langford Lowfields. Please avoid the reserve tomorrow (Thursday 5th April) and we will update on the situation on Thursday morning. Thanks.

Please note that the public footpath along the southern edge of the quarry (running alongside Slough Dyke) is currently impassible due to flooding. Please stay clear of this area and keep safe :)

It still doesn’t feel too much like spring here at Langford with the odd short spell of warm sunshine, but the predominant weather over the last few weeks has still been cold, windy and at times, snowy! However despite this, we have seen our first migrants in from Africa, with sand martins arriving on site on the 14^th March. It is always very welcome to see them darting over the reedbeds, feeding on the first flying…

The first day of meteorological spring couldn't be further from reality today as I look out of the window (at home!) onto nearly a foot of snow, with a howling easterly accompanying the flurries! We were lucky then to get the remainder of our winter woodland and scrub management programme finished last week before the weather hit.

Since January we have been thinning sycamore in our woodland and you will see some…

For maybe the first time, water levels at Langford are currently at their winter optimum of 4m AOD. Levels vary throughout the year and it's also good to have some variation from year to year, but in general we aim to mimic natural, seasonal fluctuations. This means high water in winter and lower water at the end of the summer (down to about 3m AOD). This is the first time I've seen water under the boardwalk and it's…

Our volunteers have been busy in the last couple of weeks up at the northern end of the reserve, planting the remainder of our wildlife-friendly hedge that we started two years ago. The hedge runs along the top 450 metres of the North Trail on the Trent side of the site and comprises a nice mix of native species including common hawthorn, field maple, common buckthorn, guelder rose, wild privet, common dog rose and common…

It’s an interesting time of year at Langford, where the end of the winter starts to meet the beginning of the spring and it feels so good after a long dark few months!

One of the first signs that things are starting to change is the twittering song of the skylark. I was delighted to see and hear my first one last week, followed by more yesterday at the southern end of the reserve.

There are plenty more birds…

Snow, wind, rain, mud, Stuart and Tony had it all on Sunday whilst carrying out the January WeBS count. The number of species they picked up during the survey hopefully made up for their Himalayan expedition-like conditions:

Mute swan

13

Mallard

50

Gadwall

90

Wigeon

230

Teal

106

Tufted duck

80

Greater black-backed gull

1…

Please note that from 5th-9th February the Langford Lowfields car park and the access track leading to it will be closed whilst we re-grade the whole track to remove the pot holes, this is a big job and will be much easier for the contractor if he's not having to dodge cars. The track currently resembles the surface of the moon, so it'll be great to get it sorted out and hopefully the short term inconvenience will be…

We don’t have much woodland and scrub at Langford, but what we do have is home to some nice wildlife. Purple and white-letter hairstreaks, great spotted and green woodpeckers, grasshopper warbler and as of 2017, even nightingale and spotted flycatcher all reside in the more wooded areas of the site and it is now the time of year where we take a break from wetlands and do a bit of habitat management in somewhat drier conditions…

I thought I'd share some of the exciting stories that came out of Langford Lowfields last year...

• 5200 reed seedlings were planted in one day, by volunteers and staff during the annual North Midlands One Team jamboree event at Langford in September 2017.
• 520 visitors in a month, were recorded in February 2017, these counts are always an underestimate, but this is the highest monthly count to date.
• 139 species…

Firstly, from the Langford team, a very Happy New Year to everyone! So 2018 is here and we are excited for what lies ahead at Langford this year. After the success of breeding bearded tits in 2016 and 2017 and our booming bittern last year, there is certainly much to look forward to as the winter comes to an end and spring approaches.

It is still of course a bit off yet and indeed it's blowing a gale force wind and raining…

Finally the Floating Bridge is open again! After waiting patiently for a few months for the water levels to come up, they are now at a suitable level for the bridge to be floating, meaning it can be walked on without being damaged. This also means the small circular loop on the reserve is now open again. A walk round this loop today gave me excellent views of goldeneyes, wigeons, reed buntings and a bittern tucked into…

We had our annual Christmas volunteer thank you event last night and as always it was amazing re-capping all the brilliant work our volunteer team have done throughout the year. On the Beach Hut welcoming visitors and monitoring wildlife, on the regular practical conservation work parties, in the office helping with species data recording and outside recording the life of the reserve through photography and carrying out…

A beautiful flock of 11 whooper swans were floating around on Phase 1 (the area in front of the Beach Hut) all day today and were still there when darkness fell. They are a true winter bird in the UK and aren't a common sight at Langford, so it was great to see them. A marsh harrier was also seen today as well as good numbers of wigeon, squealing water rails, noisy Cetti's warblers and a small group of bullfinches. There…

The annual Winter Wonderland Walk at Langford is going to be happening on 3rd December. I'll be leading the walk and we'll be exploring parts of the reserve not currently open to the public, looking for exciting winter wildlife on the way. Members - £8 adults, £4 children, Non-Members - £10 adults, £5 children. The walk will be starting at 13:30 in the Langford Lowfields car park. Booking is essential 01636 893611 or…

Unfortunately following a theft last night the automatic gate that controls entry to the reserve car park is out of action at the moment. The gate will be opened manually by staff members and volunteers, but this means we can only guarantee daily reserve opening times of 9am-5pm. As before though, the exit to the car park is usable at any time of day. The theft involved a large solar panel being taken, it has RSPB painted…

... sadly not the feathered kind, but impressive none the less.

 

The crane's dominating the skyline at the north end of the reserve whilst it removes the metal piling from around the new outfall sluice. As the project nears completion, the flap valve (which is 2m high) has now also been attached to the River Trent end of the pipe, this is a one way, non-return valve, which will allow water to flow out of the reserve…

If you've visited Langford recently you can't have failed to notice that there is a lot of activity at the northern end of the site. This activity is focused on installing our new outfall sluice, a massive water control structure that will let water out of the reserve and fish into the reserve. Work on the sluice is now almost complete with just a few finishing touches and a bit of tidying…

Once again, our friend and local birder and wildlife artist, Mike Warren is holding an exhibition of his excellent work in Collingham in November. Mike has been visiting Langford since the quarry began in the late 80's and has been watching and drawing our birds ever since!

Come along! :)

Having spent the past two hours grappling with enormous pike that needed to be moved from the Phase 3 restoration area, here are the slightly delayed, but nevertheless brilliant... Wetland Bird Survey records from October. Stuart once again braved the elements and trekked around the whole reserve, counting wetland birds as he went. There are large numbers of gulls on site at the moment and Stuart did particularly well…

Work is progressing well on the huge outfall sluice that will connect Langford Lowfields to the River Trent. Once completed it will allow us to evacuate excess water quickly from the reserve and also allow eels and potentially other fish to swim in the opposite direction so they can take up residence in our beautiful reedbed. The timescale has shifted slightly and we're now looking at a completion date of…

This is my second blog post in the space of a few minutes!

Those of you who regularly visit the reserve will have noticed we don't have much water at the moment. For a wetland site this isn't great, however it is related to factors that in the long run will see Langford Lowfields becoming even more amazing. Before I get into the reason for the low levels, I should say that low water levels aren't always a bad thing,…

Despite the very low water levels on the reserve at the moment there are still a lot of birds around. Dedicated Langford volunteer Stuart, was out again at the weekend carrying out our monthly WeBS count and here's what he saw...

Greylag goose

275

Canada goose

210

Black headed gull

265

Lesser black-backed gull

120

Greater black-backed gull

2

…