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Spring has to be my favourite time of year, with everything coming to life and the potential for anything to turn up! It’s been rather good at Langford this week, so here are some of our recent sightings…. 2 whimbrel 2 common tern 2 swift 2 red kite 4 wheatear 1 tree pipit...

I set off to do a Breeding Bird Survey in bright sunshine and 11C this morning, albeit with a strong south westerly blowing! I was hopeful, since this was the warmest morning this spring and I wasn’t disappointed. My first new migrants of the year were two arctic terns flying over the public...

Spring is continuing to advance – very slowly! Last week saw the first small torto iseshell butterfly on site and indeed the first butterfly for weeks, since a peacock was seen in a brief warmer spell in January! This was then followed by two more small tortoiseshells yesterday and my first bumblebee...

It’s finally happened – spring migrants have started arriving on site after a longer than usual wait! First thing yesterday morning, we were treated to four little ringed p lovers on Phase 1, accompanied by four redshank , two oystercatchers and displaying lapwing . It’s definitely...

I have to admit to not knowing a great deal about amphibians – despite the fact that they are indeed fascinating creatures, birds and insects always seem to dominate my time (there’s so much to learn, you can’t do it all!) However, I sense a new interest looming for this coming spring...

It’s that time of year again when spring migrants meet winter visitors here at Langford – a real transition period that can often see singing warblers accompanied by whooper swans and flocks of fieldfares and redwings flying over displaying oystercatchers and ringed plovers. Indeed the...

With winter back in full swing (we are experiencing a heavy hail shower as I type….), the start of my Breeding Bird Survey season has been somewhat thwarted! However, despite the cold temperatures, this morning the sun was shining and we ventured out into the woodland for an hour to see what was...

It may be mid-March, but winter is definitely still in full swing here at Langford, with temperatures struggling to get above 0C and an inch of snow yesterday and the forecast not looking too much better for today either! And being the middle of the month, it was of course time for the Wetland Bird Survey...

On Wednesday morning this week, we were able to do the first Breeding Bird Survey of 2013. This is one of my favourite activities on site – I love getting out onto site early, the reserve is beautiful that time in the morning and this week, the birds were in full voice! Some time spent around...

Last Sunday, 3 rd March was once again volunteer Sunday and this month we had 8 people arriving bright and early for a day of scrub removal along our eastern boundary fence line. This work has two main benefits, the first being that the grassland adjacent to the fence line is botanically very diverse...

First of all, apologies for the lack of reserve updates this week, I have been away on an excellent first aid course, run by St John Ambulance in Lincoln. So, a big thank you to them for an interesting and very informative three days – great organisation doing great work! On my return yesterday...

Just a quick blog to update everyone on some reserve sightings from the last week…. 35 whooper swans , 80 golden plover and 760 lapwing on Phase 1 on Sunday, Little egrets back on site after a two month absence due to flooding, Peregrine over Phase 1 last Tuesday, 100’s of fieldfares...

With water levels dropping rapidly in the last week or so, the monthly WeBS ( Wetland Bird Survey ) seemed more normal this month, with reed, footpaths and bunds beginning to show again (the birds have somewhere to hide behind now!) and the large expanse of open water disappearing. It is also that...

It's amazing what rising temperatures and a bit of sunshine can do on a late January day. As I made my way around the southern end of the reserve this morning I was delighted to see numerous skylarks in the immediate vicinity and it wasn't long before I heard the first burst of song! One of my...

One noticeable effect of the recent flooding here at Langford has been the amount of debris left behind by the receding flood waters. Consisting of plant material of various species, the ‘strand lines’ are proving to be excellent feeding areas for birds including meadow pipit , pied and grey...

It was Wetland Bird Survey ( WeBS ) time again this morning, the first for 2013 and the first in a long time that I have done in the snow! We arrived on site to around half an inch this morning, but with more falling throughout the middle of the day, by the end of the count we had nearly 2 inches. The...

Once again, we had a very successful volunteer Sunday last weekend, with 16 people arriving for a day’s work – excellent turn-out! With the site still very much flooded, we were able to concentrate on some woodland and scrub management on the woodland blocks at the site’s main entrance...

What a lovely end to a beautiful day this evening, with a 12,000 strong starling roost and a great sunset over the reserve! The birds treated me to a spectacular display as always, with the full roost of around 12,000 birds in the air at once over Phase 2, only dropping into the reedbed at around 4.30...

Happy New Year to all our blog readers – hope you all have a great 2013. Our year has started off wet (there’s a surprise!), with the Trent bursting it’s banks again just before Christmas. This has filled the site up again to full capacity, unfortunately setting us back a bit in terms...

Just as water levels are starting to drop, here comes the rain again! It’s wet at Beckingham too, with standing water over much of the site today. We spent the day there removing brash from the first of the winter’s hedge laying on site – which looks fantastic. Langford wildlife...

Usually at Langford, conducting a WeBS ( Wetland Bird Survey ) is all about trying to get a good view of as much of the site as possible, trying to find every last bird hidden in a reed turf or in a small inlet or behind a bund and about trying my best not to flush birds so they can be counted accurately...

Another week has passed since the flood and now Tarmac’s pumps are starting to take effect. Two large pumps are busy discharging water out of the site and levels have dropped around 12 inches since Tuesday, when the second pump was turned on. This has made it slightly easier to get to our bird...

Some nice birds from today with 3 curlew and a flyover goosander this morning and male stonechat , 5 pintail and grey wagtail this afternoon. Unfortunately, the search for the strange pipit with the large pale supercillium proved fruitless, as did my 'digi-binning' attempt at the stonechat, but...

A week on since the worst of the flooding here at Langford and the waters have started to recede a little. Having come down around 24 inches since it’s highest point, the levels now seem to have come to a stand still and haven’t dropped much since the weekend. It is now a case of waiting...

Well, it’s the end of a very surreal week here at Langford to say the least! The flood waters are now starting to recede a bit and have probably dropped about a foot from it’s highest point, which was reached on Wednesday. However, despite the drop in water levels, the site is still completely...