It started well on January 01 with a Woodcock seen going to roost; then a Peregrine, two Lapwings and a lumbering Great Black-backed Gull overhead. I did not seen any more Lapwings until December 29. The Cetti's Warbler announced that it had stayed on from 2021 and this, or others, loudly announced their presence more or less throughout the year.
A cold snap in mid-January produced just a lone drake Shoveler in with the regular Tufted Ducks. A Little Egret flew over on the last day of January. I had to wait until May 21 for my next Little Egret sighting when three birds flew over together. A single bird visited on October 10. The only Great White Egret I am aware of is one photographed by a fisherman on July 01.
A Common Snipe on February 09 was unexpected. Two more were noted on March 05. An unusual sighting on February 02 was what I thought at the time looked like a Pied Crow – a native to sub-Saharan Africa. I learned later that one, of unknown origin, had indeed been seen elsewhere in Shropshire.
Finches were generally scarce though up to 40 Siskins could be seen feeding on Alder cones throughout February and March.
A singing Chiffchaff on the March 02 was the first sign of what turned out to be a delayed Spring passage even if the first Sand Martins had turned up on March 09. A Curlew overflew, also on March 09. My first Kestrel sighting of the year was on March 15 with just one more sighting on December 29.
Spring passage of Meadow Pipits was almost non-existent (as was Autumn passage) though nearby Belvide reported more usual counts.
The first singing Blackcap was heard on March 25; an early Common Sandpiper was noted on March 29 with an Oystercatcher the next day. The last Common Sandpiper of Spring was on May 17. One bird was noted wearing a ring and this was traced to a bird ringed as a juvenile in 2021 just over the Scottish border. I was subsequently told it had made it back home safely a few weeks later. A Dunlin (May 28) was the only other Spring wader migrant noted.
The other ringed bird I saw this year was the male Grey Wagtail first noted at The Flash in late 2020. It had been ringed as a nesting at Heysham in Lancashire that year. This was, as last year, seen on the dam-face during the breeding season with a mate. Juveniles seen later were probably its off-spring though I never noted them together. He is still around having been seen in the Wesley Brook during November.
As March turned in to April there were several Brambling on many days heading though on their way north-west. This is a species I do not see every year. Redwings and a few Fieldfare were also noted passing, off to their breeding grounds.
The next Spring arrival was a Willow Warbler on April 03, a later date than usual. When they did arrive they did so in larger numbers than usual. All had quickly passed through within a few days. Also later than usual were my first records of House Martin (April 07); Barn Swallow (April 11); and, always last, Swift (May 07).
Other warbler species that breed here were first noted as follows: Common Whitethroat (April 15); Sedge Warbler (April 19); Reed Warbler (April 24) and Garden Warbler (April 26). Only single pairs of Common Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler bred. Three of the four singing male Garden Warblers did not attract a mate and I am not sure whether the fourth bred or not. The noisy but secretive Cetti's Warbler may well have bred.
Highlight of Spring warbler passage was probably different Grasshopper Warblers giving their distinctive grasshopper-like song from deep cover on April 18 and 26. A Lesser Whitethroat was heard rattling away on May 02 and 05 only.
Breeding on the lake was about average. The Mute Swans hatched at least eight cygnets with four fledging. They seem especially reluctant to fly away this year. The cob Mute Swan again dispatched the Canada Goose goslings though he seemed unusually tolerant toward the many adults using the water and the grass since Autumn. This the first year I can recall where Canada Geese have spent long periods on the water here.
Mallard had several broods: as far as I can tell none survived. Six pairs of Great Crested Grebes nested with at least eight juveniles looking full-grown. All these disappeared without my ever having seen them flying more than short hops. Coots and Moorhens seem to have had a reasonable year with multiple broods. As usual later broods had higher a survival rate.
An odd mid-year one day record (June 17) was a calling Marsh Tit. It is at least nine years since I recorded this usually sedentary species here. Voice is the best way to separate this species from the similar Willow Tit. That species regularly bred here; the last male sang unsuccessfully for a mate in 2017.
Autumn wader passage started with a Common Sandpiper on June 04. This, like a Common Redshank on June 16, was likely either a non-breeding first year bird or a failed breeder. A Black-tailed Godwit on July 10 was a good record here but better was the Wood Sandpiper that I heard flying around calling in the dark on August 28. It was my first-ever record from this site.
Mid-August seemed a strange date for Tawny Owl(s) to be heard for the first time. Two birds were in the Ricoh copse for several weeks but not noted subsequently.
The only species of tern I noted this year was a juvenile Common Tern. It unusually stayed for a few days after September 10 [The fishermen had reported adult bird(s) in June].
Autumn passage was also late and rather smaller than for many years. My first Redwing was on October 10 and my first Fieldfare on October 19. I was out of the country for the peak of the large Wood Pigeon passage but it certainly got off to a slow start. Unexpected was the sight as well as the sound of Water Rail(s) from October 25 – a species I did not note in the 2021/22 Winter and which I had assumed would not tolerate the increased disturbance.
The cold snap in early December brought some less-regular gulls with Great Black-backed, Common, Caspian and Yellow-legged all being seen together around December 13. A Mediterranean Gull was an unusual visitor much earlier (September 25).
The cold snap also produced a few Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal and a drake Shoveler.
I recorded 102 bird species this year. In 2021 I logged 112. In 2020 my total was 109.
Birds recorded in 2021 and not 2022
Red-legged Partridge
Egyptian Goose
Shelduck
Mandarin Duck
Pintail
Red-crested Pochard
Common Scoter
Little Ringed Plover
Sandwich Tern
Red Kite
Green Woodpecker
Hobby
Stonechat
Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
Yellowhammer
Also reported to me in 2021 but not seen by me
(Greater) Scaup
Arctic Tern
Wheatear
Birds recorded in 2022 and not 2021
Black-tailed Godwit
(Common) Redshank
Wood Sandpiper
Mediterranean Gull
Marsh Tit
Grasshopper Warbler
Vagrant
Pied Crow
Also reported to me in 2022 but not seen by me
Kittiwake
Butterfly species recorded for the first time in 2022
Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
Moth species recorded for the first time in 2022
Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)
Sulphur Tubic (Esperia sulphurella)
Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella)
Twin-spot Carpet (Mesotype didymata)
Hoverfly species recorded for the first time in 2022
Compost Hoverfly (Syritta pipiens)
Also notable
Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)
My first-ever grasshopper here, unlikely as it seems
Newly identified flowers in 2022
Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris)
(Ed Wilson)