Bird surveying opportunities in Shropshire by Martin George

BirdTrack

martin690 — 2020-10-15 14:18:34 UTC

A free and convenient way of storing your bird records online. BirdTrack lets you keep up to date with what others are seeing, view the latest trends, and contribute your data to BTO science.

No minimum time commitment.

Ideally you will have fairly good bird identification skills.
More information on the BTO website.

Take part in a BTO survey

martin690 — 2020-10-15 14:34:09 UTC

Make your birding count - volunteer and support BTO surveys, schemes and projects.

From expert ringers and ecologists, to patch birders, garden enthusiasts and Cuckoo sponsors - we have a range of projects to suit your skills and time available.

The Historical Ornithology of Shropshire

martin690 — 2022-02-02 20:25:27 UTC

A wonderful, free resource containing practically every public domain historical source on Shropshire's birds, including Shropshire Bird Reports, old newspaper reports of unusual species, and H E Forrest's The Fauna of Shropshire (1899), detailing a time when Corncrake were common, Turtle Doves were "Wrekin Doves" and finches were caught for sale in local markets.
Knowing what we had helps us to appreciate what we have lost and, in some cases, gained.

The Shropshire Kestrel Project

martin690 — 2022-02-07 20:39:46 UTC

Help us to find out more about Shropshire's Kestrels. We need volunteers to find and monitor nests, erect nest boxes, look out for breeding activity (1 March to 31 July) and report colour-ringed birds.

Autumn newsletter

martin690 — 2025-10-09 19:17:22 UTC

Our autumn newsletter, featuring details of the aerial survey of nesting gulls in Shrewsbury, a report on Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) training by BTO Cymru just over the border in Powis, and a look back at the BBS year in Shropshire.

Red Grouse Survey 2026

martin690 — 2026-02-21 22:04:35 UTC

Since 2011, the Red Grouse population on the Long Mynd has been counted by the co-ordinated efforts of volunteers at dusk on several evenings between late March and early May. Volunteers have included participants on the National Trust / SOS Birds of Shropshire courses, members of the local SOS, SWT and RSPB groups, National Trust Volunteers, members of the Strettons Area Community Wildlife Group, and other people interested in birds.

A survey is particularly important this year, as 2021 and 2022 were both disrupted by bad weather and we couldn’t do one in 2020, because of coronavirus restrictions.

Community Wildlife Group Curlew Surveys

martin690 — 2026-02-21 22:06:03 UTC

The foundation of the Save our Curlews campaign is the location of territories by Community Wildlife Group (CWG) surveyors. All the CWG areas are divided up into 2x2 kilometre squares on the Ordnance Survey National Grid. Surveyors take on one of these survey squares and visit three times, on dates to suit you around 1st April, 1st May and 15th June, about half a day each visit, so it doesn’t take much time. It’s easy to do, and surveyors are provided with simple survey instructions and a map to record sightings on.

Long Mynd Breeding Bird Survey

martin690 — 2026-02-21 22:08:46 UTC

A rewarding survey, but one that requires good identification skills by sight and sound, and higher level of fitness, as it involves coverage of steep upper valleys, largely on sheep tracks.

2026-08-30 17:12:34 UTC

The Red Kite in Shropshire 2005-25 report (August 2026).

It's 21 years since Shropshire-bred kites took to the skies after an absence of 130 years. Leo Smith has coordinated monitoring of the return and spread of the birds, supported by lots of dedicated volunteers, many of them BTO members.

Leo says "The Red Kite population is still concentrated in the south-west [of Shropshire], as are most members of the Raptor Group. However, the species has spread right across Shropshire, in all directions, and out the other side, so there are almost certainly a lot of nest sites and large roosts that we have no record of. Please send evidence of likely nest sites, and counts of big roost sites, to me at leo@leosmith.org.uk "