VP this morning pristine juv Common Gull, 2 juv LRP, 4+ Green & 2+ Common sands, Snipe, 12 L Egret incl colour-ringed juv, 7 Grey Heron, 55 BHGull, Tufted, 9 Teal, 330 Greylag, Green Woodp, 2 family parties of Whitethroats, Redstart, juv Song Thrush, 3 Bullfinch etc #shropshirebirding 🪶 #ukwildlife

Nice flush system above Ratlinghope with the wildlife group on Wednesday. 7 Carex species including Flea Sedge (Carex pulicaris) with the fleas ready to ping. #wildflowerhour #ukwildlife

Great rarity today - a twitch! To Glos with @janettem34.bsky.social for the long-staying first-summer Long-tailed Shrike, only the third for Britain. Showed very well at times and was catching what looked like Orthoptera. Missed it catch a vole before we arrived. Heat hazy pics #ukbirding 🪶

The largest and 2nd largest invertebrates of yesterday's wildlife group trip on the edge of the Long Mynd above Ratlinghope. The rather unwelcome but spectacular Signal Crayfish and the very welcome and only a bit less showy Golden-ringed Dragonfly on Jim's chair. #ukwildlife #odonata #crustacean

VP this morning, hides only. Rarity - light drizzle briefly! Influx of Little Egrets (10 incl new juvs), 2+ Green & 3+ Common Sand, 4 Grey Heron, 15 Teal, 11 Egyptian Goose (5 flew in causing much scrapping), Green Woodpecker, Reed Warbler etc. #shropshirebirding 🪶

VP w G a sum plum schinzii Dunlin the highlight, 2 Green & 2 Common sands, 20 BHGull incl a very fresh juv (where from?), 290+ Greylag, Canlag, 9 Egyptian Goose, 5 Teal, 3 Whitethroats, Reed Bunting but hedges and arable quiet. 9 Clouded Yellow, Conops quadrifiasciatus. #shropshirebirding 🪶 #diptera

Following the sad news about Bill Oddie, here's our own little tribute from BUBO Listing bubo.org/bill-oddie.h.... RIP Bill.

Bill Oddie

bubo.org

Tree-lichen Beauty in the garden in Shrewsbury yesterday was an unexpected garden tick, only my 2nd ever and maybe only one previous county record if West Midlands Moths is up to date. A second this morning was just mad (marked differently but the first had been released several 100m away) #teammoth

Volucella fest along the cycle path to Mereside WeBS this morning. 2 V zonaria on Buddleja on the way there, then V inanis and V pellucens on Hogweed on the way back. #diptera #ukwildlife #hovers

VP 2 Green & 1 Common Sand, Marsh Tit on thistles, Redstart, 270 Glag, 9 Egyptian Goose, 3 L Egret, 2 Green Woodp, 2 Reed Warb, Swallows over hay stubble etc. Mereside WeBS - two late Mallard broods of 5 & 3 with 75 ads/fg juv, 2 summering Tufteds, 20 Canadas incl juvs etc. #shropshirebirding #webs

A rare Wednesday wildlife group out-of-county foray to N Herefordshire's Mowley Valley this week, where it was nice to find some Isolepis setacea (Bristle Club-rush) on the new scrapes. #wildflowerhour #wetlandplants

Also at Mowley Valley w the wildlife group, other highlights included yet another Clouded Yellow, a fine little bunch of Lispes (Muscidae) running about & courting on damp mud and the spotty eyed hover Eristalinus sepulchralis. #ukwildlife #mybutterflyyear #diptera @dipteristsforum.bsky.social

Mowley Valley in N Herefordshire yesterday w Wildlife Group. Their new scrapes were good for odonata including Emerald Damselfly new for the site, Common Darter, Emperor, Black-tailed Skimmer, Four-spotted Chaser, Common Blue & Blue-tailed Damselflies. #odonata #dragonfly #ukwildlife

VP this a.m. w G. Birds similar to yesterday incl Common Sand plus Green Sand, Green Woodp, Sand Martin, 15 BHGulls (c6 this year's juvs). We counted 10, possibly 1-2 more, Clouded Yellow around the arable including a helice. At least one f hanging around the Lucerne. #ukwildlife

Sadly there were no takers over the weekend for the freebie Macmillan Guide, so if anyone would like this copy of a still brilliant little guide, ping us a DM or message me here & we can sort it from there. It has a slight rip on the back cover, which I'll sellotape up for free too 😉

The White Falcon@markgolley.bsky.social · 3w ago

Saturday giveaway time! I picked a copy of the (still brilliant) Macmillan Guide to Bird Identification at Cley village fete & like the last time, I want to give this copy to a really keen young birder (18 or under). Drop me a DM - or reply here - & Lynnette will pick a name from a hat. #ukbirding

VP this morning, late summer Greylag flock grown to 190, 9 Egyptian Goose, Mandarin, 6 Teal, L Egret ad, Common Sand, 18 Lapwing, Green Woodp, Kingfisher, L Whitethroat, 4 Whitethroat, Redstart, M Thrush, Nuthatch etc. 1st Prosena siberita of the season. #shropshirebirding #diptera #ukwildlife

Also at Berrow during @dipteristsforum.bsky.social week with @lancefly.bsky.social a notable fly, the very smart Rhagoletis batava, found by eagle eyed Steve Falk earlier in the week perhaps new to Britain! It's on fruiting Sea Buckthorn and actually proved easy to find here. #ukwildlife #Diptera

Fine Dipterists Forum week in Somerset. One highlight on last full day at Berrow was not a fly, in fact the enemy of the fly😅, the dune jumping spider Marpissa nivoyi, nationally scarce, no Somerset records on NBN atlas. Vac sampled by Keith Fowler. @dipteristsforum.bsky.social #ukwildlife #spiders

RSPB - UK may be about to lose its first bird to climate change. Montane Dotterels are in steep decline, as predicted by climate change models bit.ly/4fr9eCm 📷 Allan Perkins

Today with the wildlife group at a farm near Bicton we have been to before and always has some interesting species and a warm welcome. At least 2 Clouded Yellow nfy, loads of Painted Lady, a female Tabanus autumnalis (in a poly tunnel)✅, White-legged Damselflies etc. #ukwildlife #mybutterflyyear

Have been a bit awol here recently but worth mentioning that we did eventually get Red-tipped Clearwing, two in fact, in the garden during the last heatwave on 22 June. Such a great moth family! #teammoth #ukwildlife

VP early morning the juv LRP remained, 1 Green Sand, 1 ad Oystercatcher, fresh juv Black-headed Gull, 7 Egyptian Goose including the pale ad and a juv, 3 Teal, juv Chiffchaffs etc #shropshirebirding #ukwildlife 🪶

V excited yesterday when our small Shrewsbury garden was visited by a White-letter Hairstreak. 1st on the Hemp-agrimony then on @janettem34.bsky.social 's fave rose, Lady of Charlotte! We see Purple H most years (not yet this) but WLH is a full on garden ✅ #gardenwildlife @westmbms-99.bsky.social

VP early morning Green Sand, 2 Little Egret, 2 Egyptian Goose, Barn Owl still out hunting at 0702, fledged juv Whitethroats, 8 Stock Dove, first Gatekeeper of the year, Painted Lady, Red Ads, Essex and Small Skippers etc #shropshirebirding #mybutterflyyear @ukbutterflies.bsky.social

Yesterday's visit to Newtown with @janettem34.bsky.social for my 200th ParkRun and Pryce Jones exhibitions (our main motivations, respectively) produced an unexpected patch of what I take to be Artemisia verlotiorum, Chinese Mugwort, by the R Severn above a shingle bar. #wildflowerhour #ParkRun

A nice bank of acidic grassland on our Wednesday site with the wildlife group at Green Acres Farm, Kemberton with masses of Heath Groundsel (Senecio sylvaticus). In organic for 26 years with very flowery margins too. A few Small Torts and lots of hoverflies, mainly migrant species. #wildflowerhour

Recent #Shrewsbury clearwinging - Currant (garden tick!) on Philadelphus flower while Orange-tailed lure was run nearby and one of 2 Yellow-legged to ves the same afternoon (20th). No luck with Red-tipped so far but keep trying as they are nearby. #teammoth #ukwildlife

Star of the weekend was probably Eristalis similis on Hemlock Water-dropwort at Cors Ddyga RSPB on Saturday 13th. New for Anglesey we think. with @keelebirder.bsky.social and @janettem34.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #pollinatorpals #diptera

Earlier still on Friday 12 June at Foryd Bay the Western Reef Egret (or Heron if you insist) showed very well in our fortunately timed visit en route to a family do in Llandudno. with @janettem34.bsky.social It's been a tricky monkey on and off. #ukwildlife #ukbirding

Bit of an orchid fest at Conwy RSPB last weekend including Bee and unexpected (by me) Early Marsh. #wildflowerhour #ukwildlife