We had a great guided walk at Langford on Sunday afternoon, taking in the quiet off-limit parts of the site, an amazing sunset and some good wildlife too, including a great white egret. A green sandpiper, bullfinch, stonechats, reed bunting, Cetti's warbler and water rails also put in an appearance, alongside the increasing numbers of wintering wildfowl, with teal and wigeon being the highlights. A sparrowhawk was seen…

Just to remind you all that there is a guided walk happening at Langford Lowfields on Sunday 25th November. It starts at 2pm and will last a couple of hours. Prices are £10 non-RSPB members, £8 RSPB members and then half price for children. We'll be meeting in the Langford Lowfields car park, before heading out onto the reserve to see what wintry wildlife we can find. The walk will be going into the non-public part of…

Here are the much anticipated WeBS counts for October, they give a good flavour of what's about at Langford at the moment:

Grey heron

8

Mallard

94

Little egret

3

Kingfisher

4

Redshank

3

Green sandpiper

2

Ruff

1

Snipe

7

Mute swan

29

Teal

147

Shoveler

32

…

Just in case it's useful, here's an aerial photo of the reserve, with the key features and areas marked. The photo is a few years out of date and does not show Phase 3 in all it's glory, but it helps see how the site fits together and also helps with pinpointing the locations of wildlife sightings. The perimeter footpath is shown as well as the North Trail and the Cromwell Trail, which loop around the part of the site…

Here are the WeBS records for September, with the variety of wading birds, in particular the wood sandpiper, being the standout highlights:

Great crested grebe

5

Shoveler

20

Mute swan

33

Coot

73

Moorhen

15

Mallard

97

Wigeon

12

Little grebe

9

Shelduck

2

Grey heron

10

Tufted…

It always gets a bit quieter at this time of year in terms of bird life on the reserve. With the breeding season pretty much finished, those that survived are recovering, resting and moulting, the parents exhausted and the youngsters lurking in the undergrowth. There is still some good stuff to see though, avocets and common terns are pretty much guaranteed on site, along with various warblers still skulking around and…

I'm being nice and punctual this month with the Wetland Bird Survey results:

Little egret

16

Mediterranean gull

1

Grey heron

12

Cormorant

6

Herring gull

1

Yellow legged gull

2

Mallard

86

Oystercatcher

2

Dunlin

1

Common tern

7

Great crested grebe

16

Gadw…

Almost a month out of date, but here are the Wetland Bird Survey counts for June. Of particular note were the high numbers of great crested grebes on site. Almost all of them floating around on the newly restored Phase 3 area.

Avocets

5

Lapwing

31

Black headed gull

162

Common tern

4

Lesser black backed gull

8

Teal

8

Gadwall

…

Life at Langford is always busy and the last few weeks have been no exception. Our annual programme of grass cutting and vegetation management is well underway, with our volunteer teams out and about every week making the reserve look it’s best.

It’s not all about grass cutting though….it’s also the busiest time of year in the polytunnel, with new seedlings being sown, weeding and watering to…

Now is the time of year to see an abundance of wild flowers at Langford Lowfields, with swathes of oxeye daisies, knapweed and birdsfoot trefoil in flower. We held a wildflower walk for our volunteer team recently and as well as a number of impressive looking southern marsh orchids, we spent time learning to identify a number of flowering plants (see list below), as well as enjoying all the other sights and sounds of…

Here are a couple of excellent photos taken of the glossy ibis that spent a few days at Langford Lowfields at the end of May. Photos by Chris Harding:

There have been all sorts of exciting birds at Langford recently including a purring turtle dove, an Arctic skua, avocet chicks, black terns, hobbies and sanderlings. Lots of dragonflies are now on the wing after recently emerging and if you look carefully at the stone…

Apologies for the delay in posting the May WeBS count, but here it is...

Little egret

5

Coot

43

Avocet

17

Mute swan

11

Mallard

33

Shelduck

9

Oystercatcher

4

Gadwall

8

Greylag goose

80

Canada goose

35

Great crested grebe

14

Tufted duck

26

Pocha…

Please be aware that the North Trail is now closed until further notice due to a problem with the new sluice installation. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Thanks, The Langford Team.

Excitingly we've got an exotic glossy ibis on site at the moment and for the last 2 days it's been giving excellent close up views as it feeds on one of the islands near to the 360 degree viewing screen. The photo below was taken today by Stuart Carlton and captures the moment the ibis was commenting on how delicious the Langford Lowfields frogs are. These birds are very nomadic and are turning up in the UK on a more…

It's that time of year again when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and Jenny (the Warden) gets up bright and early to show people the sights and sound of Langford Lowfields. The walk is year is happening this weekend on Sunday 13th May, not much notice but hopefully that gives you enough time to clear out your diaries and get down to Langford for 7am. It's best to let us know in advance that you'll be coming…

Lots of amazing birds have been seen on the reserve recently, all of them probably just as confused by the fluctuating temperatures as I am. I saw my first common terns, swifts and whitethroat of the year yesterday, as well as hearing a grasshopper warbler and a reed warbler. Best of all a crane glided over the reserve heading westwards.

In terms of the Wetland Bird Survey for April, a lot of species were recorded, with…

Despite the recent weather, spring does seem to be creeping into Langford slowly and one of the main events at this time of year is the start of the Breeding Bird Survey. So with a doable, but less than ideal weather forecast, myself and John E set off this morning at 06.00 to see what we could see and hear on site.

Resident species were the main feature of the morning, with highlights including a jay, pairs of long…

The excitement of potentially flooding has distracted me from uploading the latest WeBS count, but with the threat seemingly now passed, here is the WeBS data as recorded by our now expanded team of expert volunteer bird surveyors:

Tufted duck

77

Mallard

26

Bittern

1

Coot

67

Teal

224

Canada goose

46

Greylag goose

…

The risk of flooding is over and the site is now safe. Many thanks, the Langford team.

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…