Just to let everyone know that the southern section of the Cromwell Trail from the viewing screen entrance to the western boundary will be closed this week from late afternoon on Monday until 17.00 on Thursday. This is to allow us to repair a leaking pipe that has been causing water loss from Phase 1. This work is important to ensure we can effectively keep water levels high in the area, benefitting reed development and…

....for our fabulous sand martin bank? Lovingly restored by our hard working Sunday volunteer crew yesterday, ready for (hopefully) another successful breeding season. After last year's disappointment of no birds using the bank, we have our fingers crossed for the bird's return in 2016. And with the first sand martins already returning to the UK, we should be seeing them back at Langford soon.

Ready to go!

WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) seems to come around quicker each month at the moment(!) and February's count was completed recently be keen volunteer WeBS'er Matt Marsh. And it's clear from Matt's counts that spring is on it's way as the number of wildfowl on site dwindles, with birds starting to move back to more northerly breeding grounds. Here are Matt's results....

109 tufted duck

42 wigeon

Over the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed a large increase in the water levels across the site. This is absolutely fabulous! After such a dry year in 2015 and our landscaping work on the southern end of the site affecting our water levels, most of last year and the start of this year has seen some of the lowest levels on site in the last few years. Isolated dry years are no real problem for our growing reed…

Just a quick one to let everyone know that the floating bridge is now open again! The water levels have now come up sufficiently to allow safe access to the bridge. Needless to say, we are chuffed - enjoy!

This month’s Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) was completed last week by volunteers Stuart Carlton and Matt Marsh, on what was quite possibly the coldest day of the winter so far. Almost 100% of the site was frozen, the ice cover displacing many of the birds, as can be seen by the low counts for some species. Here are the day’s results –

123 teal

86 tufted duck

33 mallard

17 gadwall

13 shoveler

7 p…

Last week Phase 1 was host to a rather unusual species of duck, one that we don't see very often at Langford and despite not being native to the UK, one which is interesting nevertheless....the red-crested pochard. Red-crested pochard are native to eastern Europe and Asia eastwards to China, with scattered small populations in Spain, France and the Netherlands. In their native range, most are migratory, wintering…

Hi everyone, firstly wishing you all a Happy New Year and all the best for 2016!

Just to let everyone know who may be visiting the site in the next few days that, as of 10.30 today until Thursday, our neighbours will be removing sugar beet from the area by the car park. Please be aware that there will be lorries using the entrance track and some minor delays are possible whilst the lorries are loaded.

Apologies for…

And just a quick one to say a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our readers! Normal business and blogging will be resumed from Monday 4th January, so watch this space....

We have now started our winter supplementary feeding by the car park on Cottage Lane. This is part of our HLS agreement and is designed to get birds through the 'hungry gap' - the part of the year when farmland seed sources have…

This months WeBS count was conducted last Friday and Julie, Roger, John E and I spent a very pleasant morning around site enjoying the count. Here are the morning's results....

153 tufted duck

124 teal

78 mallard

32 shoveler

29 gadwall

14 goldeneye

9 wigeon

6 pochard

12 mute swan

9 cormorant

18 grey heron

2 little egret

37 coot

3 moorhen

A whopping 500 lapwing!

4 green sandpiper

2 redshank

1 great…

One habitat at Langford that we don't often talk about is our woodland. The area is only small at around 3 hectares and comprises a mix of tree species, predominantly broadleaves including oak, English elm, sycamore, ash and four colossal hybrid black poplars. We undertake some small scale management within the woodland as part of our winter work programme each year in an attempt to increase the amount of light penetrating…

A walk around Phase 2 last week was interrupted by a very distinct noise coming from above, one that we haven't heard here at Langford for a while and originating from one (rather three) of one of my favourite birds - the raven. Raven was added to the Langford bird list in 2010, when a bird flew over Phase 1 one summer afternoon. Since then there have been a handful of records, including a run of 4-5 sightings in 2012…

WeBS has come round once again (seemed so quick this month!) and I treated myself to a walk around site doing the count this time, on a sunny, but very blustery day. It still seems quite quiet out on site at the moment in terms of wildfowl - there doesn't seem to have been much movement in yet, but the birds are looking stunning - males in their smart new plumage. Here are the results of Monday's count -

194…

Thanks to Mike for this lovely image of a kingfisher to accompany his exhibition advert - go along!

At a time of year when most warblers are leaving for warmer climes, here at Langford we have been treated to the return of Cetti's warbler on site, after an absence of 18 months. With their explosively loud song, it is very noticeable when they aren't there, so imagine my delight when walking past the northernmost silt lagoon (the one behind the Beach hut) a couple of weeks ago and a bird let out a burst of their…

Last Thursday saw the latest WeBS count completed on site, this month by volunteers Stuart Carlton and Matt Marsh. October is always a nice month, with the return of some of our winter visitors and wildfowl in particular looking stunning in fresh plumage - always brightens up a dull autumn day! Here are the results of the count -

135 mallard

118 tufted duck

82 teal

40 pochard - very impressive number for Langford

Please see details and website link below for details of Mike's forthcoming exhibition in Collingham next month. Exhibits will be mostly based on the birds of Langford and Mike will be promoting his latest book - 'Taking Flight - The birds of Langford Lowfields'. It's great having our very own local artist working on site - thanks Mike!

For anyone who isn't familiar with Mike's work, do have a look on…

Well, not quite yet - it is still warm and sunny out there - but the birds know what's coming and we have started to see the welcome return of some winter visitors this week here at Langford. Our Conservation Officer, Carl has been out and about seeing his first redwings of the winter overhead last weekend, siskin and lesser redpoll continue to make an appearance and the first flocks of golden plover have been seen…

It should be back to business as usual on the blog from this week, as I have now returned from the Isle of Wight - a week of watching great green bush crickets and wasp spiders! But it's back up north now and I have been welcomed back by my first stonechat of the autumn by the Beach Hut on Tuesday, found by Dave Roberts and the distinctive call of the first grey wagtails of the autumn over the office yesterday and…

Volunteer Sunday was upon us once again yesterday and it was a glorious September day, with cloudless skies, warm temperatures and a pleasant south-westerly breeze - perfect for a spot of reed planting. Each year we plant out 10,000-15,00 reeds on site and yesterday the target area was the western island of Phase 2.

After finding plenty of nice wet and muddy edges, we got to work planting up the 32 trays of reed designated…

Back at the end of July, the Friday volunteer crew and I had a fabulous day out on Phase 2, where we were joined by our Regional Reserves Manager Nick Droy, for a spot of reed fencing. Young reed is very susceptible to grazing by birds - most notably coot and geese. As the young shoots only have small rhizomes (and consequently, small energy stores), they find it hard to recover from constant grazing pressure. To alleviate…

Last week was WeBS time once again and this month volunteers Stuart Carlton and Matt Marsh completed the survey. It is always a potentially exciting time, with autumn migration getting underway and this month numbers of waders are looking good. Here are this month's results....

103 mallard

27 tufted duck

21 teal

1 shoveler

34 mute swan

184 graylag goose

1 Canada goose

6 great crested grebe

14 cormorant

Just a quick note to say that we have closed the floating bridge this afternoon. This is due to low water levels causing the bridge to beach. Access is still available over the boardwalk and around the rest of the Cromwell and North Trails.

For any enquiries, please do contact Jenny on 01636 893611.

We apologies for any inconvenience and will get it open again as soon as we can!

It's the start of a new WeBS year and the start of the most exciting time in the birding calendar - autumn migration. We have had a few good things through already, with the 24 blackwits being a highlight from last week. I completed the monthly WeBS this morning, with results as follows....

48 mallard

15 tufted duck

6 teal

22 mute swan - plus 8 cygnets on site doing well

25 Canada goose

2 shelduck - brood of…

The Diptera (True Flies) are a fascinating group of insects, yet unfortunately not a group that I get much time to look at in detail. However, thanks to entomologist Richard Davidson, we have had some very interesting records recently.

The first and one of the most interesting is Melieria omissa. This is a picture-winged fly (Ulididae), named after their patterned wings. The species has been recorded previously on the…