Following a flyby find yday and stellar relocation today by John Reeves, what appears to be #shropshirebirding first Taiga Bean Goose with 2 Pinks by the River Tern at Isombridge late afternoon. Comments welcomed! #ukbirding
Shropshire's third Lesser Scaup, and the second this year, at The Mere, Ellesmere. At times it was barely 10 metres from the families and dog walkers on the Promenade, beside the main A495 through road. A very chilled rare bird!
Another great find by @saloplarus.bsky.social
#ShropshireBirds
Excellent, Tom! 🙂
Managed a couple of hours at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands today after running errands on the Wirral.
Highlights were 130+ Avocet, even more Black-tailed Godwit, three Ruff, two Marsh Harrier, five Pintail, plus a Stoat that dashed across the track near the Border Hide.
#UKBirding
Resisted the temptation to try for the nearby Lesser Scaup found by @saloplarus.bsky.social in favour of working the local patch near Crosemere after work. No regrets!
Water Rail remaining by the mere, and the field pool had the first returning patch Oystercatcher of the year.
#ShropshireBirding
Excellent work, Tom! Another great find by you 🙂
Thought I'd use the courtesy car to do a @btobirds.bsky.social heronry survey, and accidentally found a drake Lesser Scaup! Shropshire's third, but second at this site this year! South end of The Mere, #Ellesmere currently 🤩 #shropshirebirding #ukbirding
A new report from wildlife charity Buglife reveals that pesticides from common flea and tick treatments are now widespread in rivers across Britain and may be contributing to major declines in freshwater invertebrates bit.ly/4b1Pu50
Rest up! My next big webinar is coming up and you don’t want to miss it!
RSVP here: ABCbirds.org/jersvp
The eighth #CaspianGull of the year was in the Battlefield gull field this morning, a large and advanced 3cy shining through the gloom. Who knows how many individuals daily rather than weekly visits would have produced #shropshirebirding #ukbirding
I remember the bad old days of phone box trips to check "bird line" and cliquey local grapevines.
I love that my @birdguides.bsky.social subscription lets me do things like this, *if* the finder includes a location pin!
Thank you to @penrhynbirder.bsky.social for putting initial word out 🙂
Royal rumble
The desire of various wildlife charities to appoint a royal patron leaves Mark Avery slightly bemused given the various scandals over the years:
Wow, Stuart, congratulations! That would be an impressive find *without* jet lag. An excellent find 🙂
Another home from work diversion allowed me to catch another of #shropshirebirding recent purple patch with the 3 Cranes on the Weald Moors north of Telford until they got up at 1400 and headed SE until lost to view. @belvidebirding.bsky.social next? #ukbirding
“A real dark situation to be in”: thousands of starving #seabirds stranded in biggest ‘wreck’ in a decade.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Hey look it's my latest email newsletter! A little more barebones than usual, because February was, uh, a lot. buttondown.com/rheisman/arc...
Ban on sale and use of most lead ammunition in Wales, Scotland and England confirmed to be in place from 1 April 2029. Good.
www.birdlife.org/news/2025/08...
@alexanderlees.bsky.social I think you may have already posted about this story, but sharing just in case.
“Going from climate to the tree ecology to bird behavior to disease outbreak and making those connections was really exciting to me,” said Heather Watts, a Washington State University biologist.
HT @rheisman.bsky.social for the link in her excellent monthly newsletter.
#Ornithology
Our friends in @btocymru.bsky.social BTO are running a free Breeding Bird Survey training event at Llandrindod Lake on 28 March. This survey is incredibly valuable for conservation, but takes just a few hours to do!
Open to the #ShropshireBirding community, too! Click on the link to sign-up.
With everything else kicking off around us, that these little guys make the effort to come here for the summer and arrive looking like this … blimey, nothing else really matters, does it? With 3 Sand Martins at a glorious Marazion this am
#cornwallbirding #birdsseenin2026
This change in predation pressure is linked directly to garden bird feeding see e.g. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #Ornithology #UKBirding
He’s a cracker, Rhys! It’s good if they are there year round, very encouraging. 🙂
Wow, that male is *very* showy! 🙂
Crossbills at Haughmond Hill #photography #birds #ukwildlife #shropshirebirds #Nature #wildlife #birdphotography #ukbirding
A show garden to look out for if you go to the RHS Malvern Spring Festival (7-10 May): "Lifted by Birds is a peaceful, nature‑rich garden designed to support British birdlife" in partnership with the British Trust for Ornithology's @bto-gbw.bsky.social project.
rhsmalvern.co.uk/whats-on/gar...
We will never know! I didn't get to The Mere in the end, I checked the local patch and got involved in what we initially thought was a sheep rustling incident but turned out to be someone with a bad sense of direction who had come to the village to collect a sofa bed. We did eventually get him out!
Great work by WMRG and the person who reported the sighting. If you see a colour-ringed bird, or can read the number on a metal ring, the place to report it is ring.ac
#ShropshireBirding
That’s a great question, Kev 🙂
Some of of the sub-tribes are listening and aware, others still seem oblivious. And others, like me, are aware and occasionally angst stricken by balancing the long term needs of the planet and the short term needs of their MH and wellbeing. Sad, but true!
I may be guilty of clutching at straws, Steve! Five minutes away from me there’s a gull roost that sometimes hits five figures, so it’s worth a try.
Two big unknowns: will it be there, and if it is, will I find it?! It would be good to get a few pairs of eyes on it.
