Langdon Nature Reserve is located a few miles from where I live and fortunately reasonably accessible by public transport.
Dating back to Saxon times, Langdon simply means ‘Long Hill’. The Country Park and Nature Reserve sit on a 385 feet high crescent shaped hilly ridge which extends from Dunton to Vange.
Langdon Nature Reserve is the largest inland reserve managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust, comprising 461 acres of ancient and secondary woodland, flower-rich meadows, lakes and former plotland gardens. It occupies some of the highest land in the county, has some panoramic views over the Thames Estuary and across to London and offers miles of excellent walks. Its attraction lies in an abundance of wildlife once common in our countryside.
I walked through the Dunton section of the reserve, including a circuit around Langdon Lake.
It was an extremely cold and sunny morning with temperatures ranging from -3°C to 1°C plus a thick ground frost.
My main target species were Fieldfare, Siskin and Bullfinch as additions to my 2023 year list …. I didn’t see any of them!
However, I did manage to add a species to my 2023 year list, a calling Pheasant which I also failed to see.
Amongst the usual and expected common woodland birds, I recorded a single Redwing, a male and female Chaffinch, a flock of c.10 Goldfinches and 2 unseen calling Green Woodpeckers.
On Langdon Lake, I recorded Mute Swan (2), Mallard (c.10), Coot (6), Moorhen (2), Grey Heron (1) and Black-headed Gull (c.10).
With regard to mammals, I saw 4 Grey Squirrels at various locations around the site and a single Red Fox in the meadow area to the east of Langdon Lake.
After my walk, I visited the Nature Discovery Centre and specifically the very good cafe for a hot chocolate and caramel muffin.
As I walked home, I spotted a Grey Heron from the bottom of Church Hill. It was flying over the north of the site and seemed to be descending towards the small pond although it would not have had much luck feeding there as it would undoubtedly have been totally frozen. This was my first record of Grey Heron for the site for 2023, taking the total number of species to date to 27.
Here are some photos from my visit:
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Robin
Photo: Grey Heron
Photo: Mute Swan
Photo: Mute Swan
Photo: male and Mallard
💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature
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