And folk wonder why we talk about ecological breakdowns: in the past on this sort of date, today's brisk, chilly headwind would have been a dead cert to produce a strong passage of Swifts and a good fall of migrants; today we logged 3 Swifts and 28 nets - many open for 10 hours - caught 5 migrants!

Mothing has been slow here recently so this Puss Moth was a treat last night. Muslin, Vine's Rustic and Chocolate-tip also nfy. #teammoth #Shrewsbury

VP yesterday morning to have a look at the splendid Avocets that arrived on Weds (always a day when something good pops up as I'm never there). This morning a singing Sedge Warbler was in scrub just off Rock Street in Shrewsbury, which was the more surprising record to me! #shropshirebirding 🪶

Wildlife group on Weds on fine spring day in woodland near Earl's Hill. Lots of insects about including nfy #hoverflies such as Leucozona lucorum, first #Odonata of the year Large Red Damselfly, and a decent flora including Sanicle. We didn't get to the best planty bit - glacial. #ukwildlife

VP with G back on Tuesday - spring-like out of the E breeze. Dropped the sluice another board. Green-winged Orchids out, 2 Green Hairstreak, lots of Orange-tip, Speckled Wood, Dasysyrphus tricinctus, 3 LRP, Common Sand, Goosander, Garden W, Siskin etc #shropshirebirding #ukwildlife #diptera

Announcing The Bird Guide: North America! This landmark field guide, published in association with @cornellbirds.bsky.social, will set a new standard for North American bird identification. Publishing in early 2027, the guide is now available for pre-order from booksellers everywhere. 🐦‍⬛ 📙

📣New regional checklist released! A provisional checklist of Barkflies (Psocoptera) for Cheshire & Lancashire by Keith Fowler is now available. This is the first checklist for this under-recorded group in the region. 👉 Download it here: www.northwestinvertebrates.org.uk/document/a-p...

Couldn't resist a trip up to Ellesmere w @janettem34.bsky.social to see the sum plum Black-necked Grebe. A bit distant but nice scope views. The male Lesser Scaup remained on S shore with Tufteds, an unexpected Common Sand flew round calling & 3 singing Reed Warblers present. #shropshirebirding 🪶

Walking to the the Mereside #WeBS count this morning there was much Alliaria petiolata (Garlic-mustard) along the old cycle path. Orange-tip male a cheat from a different site earlier in the week. WeBS had 8 Tufted, Grey Heron, 2 Mallard broods, Willow W etc #wildflowerhour #cabbagechallenge 🪶

Green-winged Orchids (Anacamptis morio) just coming into flower at Minsterley Meadows with the wildlife group on Wednesday. All seemed to be rather dark in colour in this (large) population. We were also shown the Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria), which was just unfurling. #wildflowerhour

VP WeBS early morning 2 Reed and a Garden Warbler both nfy, singing Redstart high in the big oak for the patch year, 2 Whitethroat, Siskin, 2 Jay, 16 Sand Martin, 2 Common Sand, 2 Snipe, 11 Shoveler, 3 Shelduck, 3 Teal, 4 Gadwall, Cetti's, Mallard brood etc #shropshirebirding 🪶

Still going through pics from La Palma now 6+ weeks ago. The endemic Viola palmensis on the north side of the caldera near Roques de los Muchachos, the highest point on the island at c2400m, on 2 Mar was one of the best plants of the trip and definitely at its best. #wildflowers #lapalma #botany

Tuesday so to VP with G as usual. Chilly and blustery w 120 Sand Martin, 2 Swallow, 45 BHGull (most 2CY), Common Sand, brood of 11 Mallard, 22 Shoveler, 18 Gadwall, 4 Siskin, Whitethroat, 3 Mandarin, Peregrine, Kestrel caught a small mammal etc. Red Kite being chased by the Oycs. #shropshirebirding

13 Apr continued... Then normal service was resumed with 2 Wheatear and Redstart around Pole Cottage; 6 Pied Fly, 4 Redstart, 2 Swallow etc Bridges; and 4 bright male Yellow Wags at Polemere. #shropshirebirding

1010 Y'day heading for the Mynd w @janettem34.bsky.social we were amazed to see a White Stork over the A49 near Chatford. After some manoeuvring we found a place to stop and caught it heading to SW overhead. Assumed it was the Shotatton bird but primary damage = not the same one. #shropshirebirding

Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) patch in woodland at Severn Valley Country Park with the wildlife group on Weds. Also Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) rosettes looking a bit trampled. #wildflowerhour #woodlandflowers

Spring annuals on Lyth Hill last weekend with @janettem34.bsky.social Upright Chickweed (Moenchia erecta), Changing Forget-me-not (Myosotis discolor) and Blinks (Montia fontana) already going over. Blinks and you've missed it etc. #wildflowerhour

Later at VP with @janettem34.bsky.social Whitethroat nfy in the lane hedge, Common Sand, 2 LRP, 4 Oystercatcher, 13 Shoveler, 12 Gadwall, 22 Tufted, GWE, the confiding Kestrel, c50 Sand Martin, Swallow, 4+ Willow Warbler, Cetti's etc in blustery conditions with heavy showers. #shropshirebirding

White Stork by A5 at Shotatton this morning, thanks to Reevesy for the refind. It moved just S of the village to fields being ploughed. No sign of rings and not the recent bird in Staffs? as primaries all present and correct. All suspect but as good as we could get these days. #shropshirebirding 🪶

A couple of Canary Islands endemic insects from our trip to La Palma on our way up to Roques de los Muchachos on 2 Mar. The splendid hoverfly Chrysotoxum triarcuatum and the 'slender long-horned bee' Eucera graciliceps. with @janettem34.bsky.social #diptera #lapalma

To reduce disease, we all need to make some urgent but simple changes to how we feed our garden birds. See our website for the latest guidance: brnw.ch/21x1t4w

Garden moths slightly down last night but 2 Brindled Beauty were nfy. #Shrewsbury #Teammoth

1/ The 2025 BBS Report is out now! It was a record year for volunteers taking part, with 2,800+ visiting 4,058 survey squares across the UK, Channel Islands & Isle of Man. A huge thank you to our volunteers! @btobirds.bsky.social @jncc.bsky.social @rspbscience.bsky.social #Ornithology

VP with G (changing hide codes and dropping the water a little) on Tuesday on a warm sunny day. LRP pair, Oystercatcher pair, 4 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap including a female, Sprawk, Red Kite, 5 Gadwall, 16 Shoveler. Holly Blue nfy, O-tips, Brimstone, Peacock and a Small Tort. #shropshirebirding

And also at VP with @janettem34.bsky.social this morning were Peacock, Comma and Orange-tip with another Orange-tip later along Otley Road #butterflies @westmbms-99.bsky.social

Twitched Scilla bithynica 'on the way back' (after dipping Dipper) where @bramblebotanist.bsky.social found it a year or two ago new for VC40. A purple haze as I recently drove by now 90% had been mown on the verge.

VP on sunniest day of the Easter w/e with @janettem34.bsky.social Redshank the highlight found by Sally J. They bred here when it was my patch in early 90s. Now a scarce migrant. Common Sand NFY, 3 Willow Warbler, Swallow, 38 BHGull, 2 Herring & 10 LBBG, 4 G'sander, pr Stonechat. #shropshirebirding

#Spider interest with the wildlife group on Wednesday - Zora spinimana aka Ghost Spider, thanks Nigel C-H for that one. Next I don't know what the spider is but its external parasite might be an ichneumon wasp of the genus Polysphincta. I didn't find either of these. #ukwildlife

Nearby in a fragment of ancient woodland at Porth y Waen some Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa). #wildflowerhour

A couple from Sweeney Fen in the week with the wildlife group. Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) and False Oxlip (Primula x polyantha). #wildflowerhour half of the #cowslipchallenge

VP this afternoon in case the rain dropped anything in. First Swallow of the spring for me amongst 60 Sand Martin. Also my first local Willow Warbler singing near the car park, GWE, 2 Goosander, 18 Tufted, 2 Snipe, 4 Shelduck, 14 Teal, 16 Shoveler, 2 Oystercatcher etc #shropshirebirding 🪶

Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina) at Rudge Farm on Wednesday with the wildlife group in wet woodland alongside the stream with Opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage amongst others. Always nice to find, albeit not rare. #wildflowerhour

Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) in flower around Shrewsbury this morning. #wildflowerhour #treeflowers

My most exciting find on Weds w the wildlife group was Sphaerocarpos in a sandy arable field that had asparagus in it until last year. New for Shropshire but unless I can get a sample to ripen on the kitchen windowsill it will be Sphaerocarpos sp. Help! #bryophytes @bbsbryology.bsky.social

VP this a.m. w @janettem34.bsky.social Milder with some light rain. 50 Sand Martin, Blackcap, groups of big gulls to N including 40 imm Herring of various age classes, Kestrel, Cetti's, M Thrush, 2 Coal Tit, Siskin, Red Kite, dead Greylag in field (Fox judging by the feathers) #shropshirebirding🪶

Quick pre breakfast trip to VP to chase the Grey Plover found by Sally J. Still there when I left at 0800 but apparently had gone later in the day. Only my second for VP, maybe averaging one a year in the county recently and another good Shropshire bird. #shropshirebirding 🪶

It's not too late to apply to be the recipient of the 2026 Steve Wing Memorial Bursary. Submissions can be sent to [email protected]. The closing date for applications is Tuesday 31st March 2026. See the BirdWatch Ireland website for further details. Visit birdwatchireland.ie/our-work/cap...

Meeting my cousin for lunch today at a half way house near Lutterworth so we called in to see the adult female Smew at Ryton Pools CP, Warks, sort of on the way back. It showed well from the hide, intent on its wash and brush-up. A species now hard to catch up with in Shropshire. #ukbirding 🪶

Masses of Sweet Violet (Viola odorata var. dumetorum) in flower at Mereside, Shrewsbury, during yesterday's WeBS count with @janettem34.bsky.social . Saw the regular var. odorata near here in flower on 1 Jan. Are these usually later, I wonder? 14 Shoveler remaining the best. #wildflowerhour

Wild Daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus ssp. pseudonarcissus) at a woodland site we were surveying in N Herefordshire early this week. They had apparently increased since some Bracken management on the rides. #wildflowerhour

A recent study has examined whether non-native parrots in European cities compete directly with native birds or occupy ecological roles that are otherwise underrepresented in urban systems:

Yesterday in the garden #Shrewsbury both the first Dark-bordered Bee-fly (Bombylius major) of the year and a Hairy-footed Flower-bee (Anthophora plumipes) or two buzzing about the lungwort and comfrey flowers. Top critters #ukwildlife #diptera @dipteristsforum.bsky.social @teamdiptera.bsky.social

VP WeBS in 2 parts due to early mist. 2 f Pochard, 19 Tufted, 12 Shoveler incl mating pr, $ gadwall, 4 Shelduck, 105 Canadas, 4 Gadwall, LRP (at last), 12 Snipe, W Rail, Cetti's, 8 Chiff, 2 Blackcap, 2 Fieldfare, Redpoll. Sand Martins investigating the wall! #shropshirebirding 🪶

Yesterday, garden mothing in Shrewsbury produced 70/7 with Brindled Pug nfy. Mainly fresh looking Orthosias with this well marked Twin-spot Quaker one of four seen. #teammoth #ukwildlife

Wildlife group foray over the border into Wales at Block Wood on a glorious day on Wednesday produced a super pair of the Tachinid fly Tachina ursina, making the most of the high altitude warmth. Thanks for the shout @lancefly.bsky.social @dipteristsforum.bsky.social #ukwildlife #diptera

VP this a.m. in the sun was fairly quiet but 2 f Pochard, 29 Shoveler, 3 Gadwall, 11+ Teal, 2 Snipe, 2 Lapwing, 2 Oyst etc. Stonechat, Cetti's, 4 Chiffchaff, Siskin, 3 L Redpoll, Treecreeper but most odd was a bat over the pines in morning sun. Any suggested ID? #shropshirebirding 🪶 #bat #mammal

Another day another late trip for a Shropshire mega in fading light after a busy day 😊 Taiga Bean Goose near Isombridge, county first, thanks to Reevesy and @saloplarus.bsky.social #shropshirebirding 🪶

Late trip up to Ellesmere with @janettem34.bsky.social for @saloplarus.bsky.social 's cracking male Lesser Scaup, which showed ridiculously well. Like buses, wait 20 years for a 2nd Salop record and two appear here in one winter. Also 2nd summer Med in the early roost. #shropshirebirding 🪶

Also on Wednesday with the wildlife group on the edge of secondary woodland the vac sampling produced Pammene giganteana adult and larvae of Nemophora degeerella and Taleporia tubulosa in its case that was triangular in cross section. Thanks to Mike Shurmer for identifying the larvae. #treammoth

Common Whitlow-grass (Erophila verna) at its best this week with the wildlife group on an old airfield near Atcham on Wednesday. #wildflowerhour #whiteflowers