Another year in which I have made over 300 visits to "my patch". The burgeoning local human population has increased the amount of disturbance of course. It would less of a problem if all dog walkers complied with the request from the site-owners, Severn Trent, to keep their dogs on leads. The increase in the cat population does not help.
Severn Trent have been taking more interest in the site and I have been party to a number of discussions about "management to increase species diversity". As far as I know they have done no surveys to establish a baseline. Nor does there seem to be a quantified target. I am not much of a fan of "management" which seems to try and create an idealised view of what is "good". It seems to me that nature operated quite well until humans came along. Perhaps they should leave things alone. They haven't of course, creating large areas of "grass" (actually mainly creeping buttercups) at the expense of "low value" (to whom?) weeds (known as wildflowers by the insects).Birds
My bird species total for this year is 106.5 – the 0.5 arising from the sighting of a White Wagtail. This migrant continental equivalent of our mostly sedentary Pied Wagtail is sometimes regarded as a separate species and sometimes not. My final bird species total for 2024 was 103 (102 in both 2023 and 2022).
Highlights from the year included:
- a pair of Garganey dropped in at the end of March. I have only one previous record of an immature bird as long ago as September 1992.
- at least one Cetti's Warbler has been present more or less continually since September 2020. This year I confirmed breeding for the first time.
- I photographed and hence confirmed a sighting of White Wagtail. It is sometimes regarded as a distinct species from our Pied Wagtail. It only nests on the Continent and is a more migratory species occurring on passage in the UK mainly in Spring. Confirmation of its identity requires a good view, especially for females.
- my only previous record of Marsh Tit was a one day bird on the strange date of June 2022. This year I heard and saw one singing at the end of March. Then at least two birds were seen and more often heard over several weeks both here and at The Flash during July.
- a Great (White) Egret adopted the site as its preferred location in late 2024. It was seen most days through to March much to the annoyance of the local Grey Heron. It is tempting to suggest it was the same bird that returned intermittently from October this year. If so it occasionally brought a friend.
- my first (Northern) Wheatear for five years was a one-morning visitor on its way to Africa in mid-September. Most of my previous sightings have been birds on Spring migration.
There was also one that got away. An unfamiliar call from a small warbler-sized bird I glimpsed very briefly one morning was almost certainly given by a vagrant Yellow-browed Warbler, lost on its way from its Siberian breeding grounds to its usual wintering area in south-east Asia. I fouled up the sound recording which might have proved it – or not. Drat!
Some of the species in more detail
A downside was the failure of the Mute Swans to breed this year. The resident cob (male) was noted dead in the water in March suspiciously on the same date as I saw the body of the cob from The Flash being taken away by a council van with blood on its neck. Another pair arrived almost immediately, eventually usurping the hitherto resident pen (female). By then it may have been too late for successful breeding. For the newly-arrived pen who, from the code on her ring, was just four years old, it may have been her first breeding attempt. No cygnets were seen.
The new cob was less aggressive than his predecessor. Single pairs of both Canada and Greylag Geese fledged goslings. In previous years the goslings have been drowned by the cob swan. Probably unrelated it was a bumper year for breeding Mallard with at least five broods fledging some of their brood.
I noted that after September these new resident Mute Swans were often to be seen flying the length of the water. Unusual: the residents normally just paddle about. They only take to the wing to chase away visitors or to teach their cygnets how to fly. After weeks of daily flying one morning in early-November they departed. The lake was devoid of Mute Swans for the first time I can recall in 30-odd years. Bird(s) have visited sporadically since. None has stayed.
The early part of the year produced a drake Goldeneye as the only unusual record (there was another Christmas Day).
Waders have been scarce this year. The reliable pre- and post-breeding passage of Common Sandpipers was about it. I did see the odd Lapwing – a species very scarce here these days. Very distant (as usual) flights of Golden Plover over fields to the East have been seen twice. On both occasions the numbers involved were much smaller than historically.
The site is normally a Winter roost site for Woodcock. This mainly nocturnal and cryptically camouflaged species flies to and from its chosen ground location. Typically I see a shape passing in the dark. Not this second-winter period though I did flush one during the day from right alongside the concessionary path.
Three pairs of Great Crested Grebes eventually nested. Five juveniles were fledged successfully. I am not sure about Little Grebe. A secretive species often heard only. Calls were heard along the North side during June and after a few days silence two adults were seen on several occasions. No juveniles were seen.
Coots seemed to have a typical year with about 20 nests, many with two or three broods, always subject to high levels of predation. For sone reason the normal Autumn increase in numbers did not materialise. Indeed the local birds have moved away and by December there were record low counts.
The first-winter period produced the expected less-common gulls in small numbers: Yellow-legged, Caspian and Great Black-backed Gull all being noted. In the second-winter period three separate sighting of Common Gull – all first-winter birds – was unusual here. A species that is very common relatively close in the Ellesmere winter-roost.
By December early morning gull arrival was well below most previous years and also subject to significant variation for reasons that are unclear.
It was a very poor year for terns. I had just a single sighting of a Common Tern.
Spring migration produced plenty of warblers on passage. There were the usual double-digit counts of Willow Warblers. They only very sporadically breed here. Many of them are on their way to Scotland. One morning eight Sedge Warblers were heard singing. None stayed to breed. It is difficult to know how long any individual bird stayed. I am sure there were double figures passing through. Four one-day Grasshopper Warblers were heard.
After failing to stay last year one of two singing Garden Warblers stayed to nest. Two fledged juveniles were seen. Two Common Whitethroats set up territories with only one staying to have two broods. At least one Lesser Whitethroat stayed almost ten days. Most unusually it was occasionally seen singing while flying between tree-tops rather than staying hidden deep in dense tangles. One seen in late July with two unidentified small birds close-by suggests it may have stayed to breed. Chiffchaffs, Reed Warblers and Blackcaps all bred in double-figures. I have already highlighted my first confirmation of Cetti's Warbler breeding.
Of course it is only male warblers that sing. How many females passed through unnoticed?
After a poor year in 2024 Reed Buntings fared no better in 2025. Small numbers were noted leaving a traditional roost side only sporadically early in the year. Song started late on all three usual territories. Little was seen or heard of them thereafter. I saw no food being collected or any sign of juveniles. The second-winter roost has again been very sporadic.
Bird species recorded this year here in the order I noted them:
01/01/25 Coot
01/01/25 Black-headed Gull
01/01/25 Cormorant
01/01/25 Greylag Goose
01/01/25 Tufted Duck
01/01/25 Mute Swan
01/01/25 Great Crested Grebe
01/01/25 Gadwall
01/01/25 Grey Heron
01/01/25 Mallard
01/01/25 Moorhen
01/01/25 Pochard
01/01/25 Carrion Crow
01/01/25 Common Buzzard
01/01/25 Great White Egret
01/01/25 Lesser Black-backed Gull
01/01/25 Herring Gull
01/01/25 Robin
01/01/25 Blue Tit
01/01/25 Blackbird
01/01/25 Great Tit
01/01/25 Cetti's Warbler
01/01/25 Magpie
01/01/25 Wren
01/01/25 Yellow-legged Gull
01/01/25 Wood Pigeon
01/01/25 Jay
01/01/25 Coal Tit
01/01/25 Goldfinch
01/01/25 Lesser Redpoll
02/01/25 Chaffinch
02/01/25 Jackdaw
02/01/25 Song Thrush
02/01/25 Dunnock
02/01/25 Siskin
02/01/25 Canada Goose
02/01/25 Bullfinch
02/01/25 Kingfisher
02/01/25 Grey Wagtail
04/01/25 Reed Bunting
04/01/25 Rook
04/01/25 Goldcrest
04/01/25 Long-tailed Tit
06/01/25 Little Grebe
06/01/25 (Common) Goldeneye
09/01/25 Great Spotted Woodpecker
09/01/25 Great Black-backed Gull
09/01/25 Stock Dove
09/01/25 Pied Wagtail
10/01/25 Sparrowhawk
10/01/25 Caspian Gull
11/01/25 Greenfinch
11/01/25 Water Rail
12/01/25 Shoveler
12/01/25 Fieldfare
14/01/25 Mistle Thrush
14/01/25 Feral Pigeon
17/01/25 Collared Dove
19/01/25 Eurasian Wigeon
19/01/25 Redwing
25/01/25 Common Kestrel
31/01/25 Goosander
01/02/25 Starling
01/02/25 Teal
07/02/25 Tree Creeper
07/02/25 Raven
12/02/25 Lapwing
23/02/25 Chiffchaff
25/02/25 Woodcock
27/02/25 Oystercatcher
03/02/25 Peregrine
05/03/25 Little Egret
07/03/25 Red Kite
15/03/25 Pheasant
15/03/25 House Sparrow
19/03/25 Nuthatch
22/03/25 Blackcap
22/03/25 Garganey
23/03/25 Sand Martin
26/03/25 Willow Warbler
28/03/25 Marsh Tit
01/04/25 Barn Swallow
05/04/25 Sky Lark
05/04/25 House Martin
08/04/25 Reed Warbler
10/04/25 White Wagtail
10/04/25 Sedge Warbler
11/04/25 Common Sandpiper
15/04/25 Grasshopper Warbler
19/04/25 Common Whitethroat
22/04/25 Garden Warbler
24/04/25 Lesser Whitethroat
24/04/25 Yellow Wagtail
26/04/25 Swift
02/05/25 Shelduck
25/05/25 Hobby
31/05/25 Curlew
23/06/25 Common Tern
11/09/25 Tawny Owl
21/09/25 Wheatear
29/09/25 Common Gull
29/09/25 Pintail
01/10/25 Meadow Pipit
16/10/25 (Common) Redshank
17/10/25 Ring-necked Parakeet
08/11/25 Egyptian Goose
25/11/25 Golden Plover
Bird species recorded this year but not in 2024
Egyptian Goose
Garganey
Pintail
Common Gull
Ring-necked Parakeet
Red Kite
Marsh Tit
Wheatear
White Wagtail
Species recorded in 2024 but not this year
Red-legged Partridge
Common Scoter
Whimbrel
Snipe
Linnet
Butterflies
Last year's cold wet Spring made 2024 a dismal year for butterflies. This year was much better. Because almost all my visits are early morning I never see this species group in full force. Orange-tip is usually the first species I record: it made it just ahead of Large, Small and Green-veined Whites in abundance. These were seen later in almost invasion-numbers as migrants from the Continent flooded in to the UK. Sixteen butterfly species were logged this year after just twelve last year (15 in 2023).
Moths
My moth log for 2025 stands at 97 species comprising 1090 individuals. It is an increase on that of 2024 (91 species) but remains well below the 134 species I recorded in 2021. One reason may be that atop the street lamp poles I check most days pre-dawn are new LED lights. These have a different light frequency range (also known as colour temperature) to the old lamps. Many species of moth are sensitive to particular light frequencies. Just three species were added to my 20-year record from here, all micro moths. This probably reflects the better information available about this often difficult group. Also the Obsidentify app, while not 100% accurate, usually suggests where I need to do further research.
Bees:
Bees, especially bumblebees, were often abundant. As usual during April and May there were also many mining bees around. I have made very little progress in being able to identify them: too many look very similar. I am sure it is like other difficult groups: thorough familiarisation with one species might make the subtle differences between the species more apparent. But you have to know where to start.
In 2024 there were very few wasps until late in their season, probably because of the cold wet Spring. No such shortage this year with good numbers remaining active in to late November at least. Even better(?) I found a European Hornet nest with almost daily sightings of these insects from July until late-September. It was my first record of this species in Shropshire.
Hoverflies:
Hoverfly fortunes were mixed and the species varied. Some of the larger species seemed to be scarce. In contrast I recorded 64 species this year. In so-doing I added nine new species to my database. Some of the new species were identified with aid from the Obsidentify app which seemed particularly reliable for this group. I do always cross-check new species with other sources. One species – Dark-winged Wrinklehead I noted on more than ten occasions. It does not look much like a typical hoverfly and I suspect I have previously dismissed it as a "difficult fly". I also see many and varied flies only some of which I can identify with use of various apps and internet sites
Plants:
I am not a botanist (among many other things) so most plants go unidentified, I was particularly pleases to find Bee Orchids Ophrys apifera, a species I have not seen for over ten years.
Another result of the long, warm Spring and Summer has been the huge crop of hips, haws, sloes and snowberries: food for birds through the Winter. Unlike so many farmers' hedgerows these were not strimmed within an inch of their life before the berries can be eaten. For some reason this abundance has not led to an influx of Fieldfare and Redwing – at least not here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Priorslee Avenue tunnel:
I have been checking the illuminated foot-tunnel under Priorslee Avenue rather more diligently. As a result I upped last year's modest total of twenty moth species to no fewer than fifty comprising 156 individuals. Some of these were not noted elsewhere. Of particular note was a dreaded Box-tree Moth Cydalima perspectalis. This introduced Asian species is rapidly spreading North with the caterpillars disfiguring any Box plants they can find.
The tunnel wall seems to be a particularly attractive location for both Brown and White-shouldered House Moths.
It is also home to an array of midges, mosquitoes, millipedes, woodlice and spiders.