Martin George

@jannerbirder

Bird nerd, patch worker and BTO surveyor. MSc Ornithology (mostly a seabirds thing). Proud Devonian currently exiled to North Shropshire. I also run the #Shropshirebirds feed.

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Martin George@jannerbirder· 4d

As if eDNA sampling wasn’t impressive enough, now there’s this… 😮 “Portable air samplers detected dozens of bird and mammal species in Denmark, offering a new way to monitor wildlife without seeing or hearing it.” HT to Rare Bird Alert 🙂 www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/D...

A screenshot of the Rare Bird Alert news story, showing a composite monochrome image of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Snipe and Fallow Deer.

Martin George@jannerbirder· 11d

The Swallows are gathering on the wires, and the local patch had a desiccated feel to it this evening, apart from one area where a major field drain seems to be backed up. No passage waders, sadly, just lots of corvids: around 260 Jackdaws, 300 Rooks and at least ten Carrion Crows. #ShropshireBirds

(Barn) Swallows gathering on the lines/overhead power cables.

A silvery, thistle dominated pasture bathed in light from the low sun that is shining through broken cloud. Unedited image, despite the apparent sepia effect.

A brown, parched pasture with brown cows and calves in the distance, against a backdrop of mature deciduous trees. A concrete drain surrounded by surface is just visible, along with massed black dots which are part of a large aggregation of corvids. Around 260 Jackdaws, 300 Rooks and at least ten Carrion Crows.

Low sun over one of the last wheat fields to be harvested locally, with the round bales of straw still scattered where they fell. Above the tree-lined horizon a low sun is shining through gaps in low clouds, with blue sky still showing.

Martin George@jannerbirder· 18d

Another two Quail evening with a gorgeous sunset just a fifteen-minute walk from home in North Shropshire. Wonderful! The field pool isn't looking so good, sadly, it has been reduced to little more than a cattle wallow. The hoped for Wood Sandpiper is looking less likely 🙂 #ShropshireBirds

An orange sunset with clouds and vapour trails low over the skyline of mature trees.

An orange sunset with clouds and vapour trails low over the skyline of mature trees. A mature hedgerow frames the left side of the image, with the foreground being a harvest ready wheat crop.

The muddy remains of a field pool in sun-blasted pasture with mature hedges and trees beyond.

Martin George@jannerbirder· 22d

There are still some Quail in North Shropshire, but enjoy them while you can, they will soon leave us to head south. Towards the end of this clip you will hear the distinctive "wet my lips" call of one of two birds calling from barley fields off Crosemere Lane in Cockshutt. #ShropshireBirds

Martin George@jannerbirder· 25d

Maize sunsets and one of three foxes from tonight's late afternoon walk around the parched landscape of North Shropshire.

An orange sunset over a maize field with mature trees in silhouette.

A heavy crop of a distant fox sniffing on a parched sheep pasture.

A crop of a more distant fox sniffing on a parched sheep pasture with tree-lined field boundary behind.

Martin George@jannerbirder· 29d

Thought I'd been working too hard tonight when a dried cow pat blinked as I walked past it. A second check revealed this tiny leveret! Please indulge an unscientific 😍 emoji!

A leveret (baby Brown Hare) hiding amongst vegetation.

A leveret (baby Brown Hare) hiding amongst vegetation in the centre of a farm track.

A leveret (baby Brown Hare) hiding amongst vegetation in the centre of a farm track. This image has an added yellow arrow to highlight the position of the leveret as it's almost impossible to see otherwise.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jul 12

Here at the cutting edge of field ornithology it's important to stay sharp and informed. I've just been checking this essential reference in a local hide and it's the latest, 1973, edition, significantly updated since the first edition of 1955 😉

A photo of an old, hardback field guide on the wooden shelf of a bird hide. The dust jacket is red with an inset colour painting of a Goldfinch. The book's title is Bird Spotting.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jul 11

After being encouraged by @btoshropshire.bsky.social and @birdtrack.bsky.social to listen out for Quail I've just heard my first one on the local patch since we moved to the village 22 years ago! Typically it was calling from one of the few remaining fields of standing barley. #ShropshireBirds

A mature crop of barley with hedgerows and a gorgeously orange, high summer sunset behind.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jul 11

A rare three heron day in Shropshire! A very hot Grey Heron, a Cattle Egret and a Little Egret at Wood Lane NR, near Ellesmere. Permit/door code required. Also of note were a second Little Egret, 1 Greenshank, four Oystercatcher and 18 Curlew. Heavy crops of phone-scoped pics. #ShropshireBirding

Grey Heron "sitting down" and using gular fluttering to keep cool by vibrating the thin gular or throat membranes "to pump air over moist tissues to promote evaporative cooling". The bird is on a stony shoreline with green vegetation (willowherb species, perhaps hairy?) behind.

A Cattle Egret on a stony shore with green vegetation behind.

A Cattle Egret (left) and Little Egret on a stony shore with green vegetation behind. The difference in structure, particularly the neck, is obvious.

A Greenshank (left) and an Oystercatcher on mud with woody debris and vegetation, mostly Iris pseudacorus, behind.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jul 10

The Harvard and the Swordfish were both privately owned. The Swordfish surprised me. Looking at the list of aircraft displaying who needs the Mach Loop when you can go to Muddle?! 😆

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jul 4

Arrived at our favourite Cornish bakery store to discover a robbery in progress! The Herring Gull and I share a fondness for saffron buns, and I bought the (undamaged) packet that it had attempted to, er, forage before the staff chased it out 🙂 #Gulls #UrbanGulls

A Herring Gull in a shop standing over the bag of saffron buns that it has just removed from the shelf of baked goods behind it.

An uncropped image showing a Herring Gull in a shop standing over the bag of saffron buns that it has just removed from the shelf of baked goods behind it. Nice display of pasties and pastries to the left.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jun 25

At least three Nightjars heard and seen from the Mammoth Tower on Whixall Moss this evening, from 22:10. Earlier I'd had good views of a Cuckoo. Using the tower is good as it minimises the risk of disturbance and you're elevated above the worst of the mosquitoes! #ShropshireBirds

A twisting track cutting across an area of bog with lots of small willow trees against the backdrop of an orange sunset.

An orange sunset over a flat bog with lots of small willow trees.

A twilight sky over a flat bog with lots of small willow trees.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jun 24

Here's that singing Corn Bunting from the fields near Crosemere in North Shropshire. #ShropshireBirds

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jun 24

Signs of the turning seasons on the local patch in North Shropshire this evening: barley nearly ready for harvest; lots of haymaking and hirundines; Mallards entering eclipse plumage; calling Yellow Wagtails and a very welcome singing Corn Bunting. #ShropshireBirding

The sun setting over a nearly mature field of barley.

A field pool with now extensive muddy edges surrounded by fields and mature hedges.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jun 14

Finally, a positive news story about nesting #Swifts, and it’s from #Shrewsbury, courtesy of the legends at Action for Swifts over on Facebook 🙂 I believe this refers to the development off Meole Brace roundabout that will include a Starbucks, a tanning salon and a care home. #ShropshireBirds

A screenshot of a Facebook post by Action for Swifts. Text reads:

Big milestone on our Shrewsbury project 👏

These special double height S Bricks are being installed for a multi-storey care facility, where the A1 fire rating was absolutely essential for the specification and overall safety performance.
The building is being finished in Ibstock Red tile bricks a new one for us and we’re really pleased with how the final detail has come together.

Working alongside Ladbrook Manufacturing, who produced the bespoke chambers, and after sourcing specialist diamond cutting tools, the end result has been worth the effort.
Great teamwork, quality craftsmanship, and another unique project taking shape in Shrewsbury.

#Construction #Brickwork #CareFacility #Shrewsbury #IBSTOCK

A collection of Swift nest boxes, ready for installation.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Jun 6

Phone snaps of a female Goosander with five ducklings on the River Severn in central Shrewsbury today, viewed from the Frankwell footbridge. #ShropshireBirds

A female Goosander with five ducklings on the brown waters of the River Severn. The ducklings are swimming close together a little ahead of their mum.

A female Goosander with five ducklings on the brown waters of the River Severn. The ducklings are swimming close behind their mum.

The River Severn in Shrewsbury beside Smithfield Road, one of the town centre's main routes. A V-shape of ripples in the water shows where the Goosander family are swimming upstream.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 24

Perfect weather today for some seabird therapy at RSPB South Stack for nesting seabirds and Choughs. One of the highlights of the day for me was sharing the Puffins with some lovely people who in some cases were seeing them for the first time. Hopefully a #SparkBird for one or two! #BirdingWales

Puffins on a cliff-face in the mist, phonescped. Plus a few Razorbills.

Kittiwakes and Guillemots on a cliff-face breeding colony. Phonescoped.

Lots of Guillemots and an incongruous Gannet on a seabird nesting cliff. Bridled Guillemot about four Guillemots away from the Gannet at 10 o'clock. Phonescoped.

("A bridled Guillemot is a genetic variant of the Common Guillemot. It features a distinct white ring around its eye that extends backward like a thin white line, giving the bird the appearance of wearing "spectacles" or a bridal veil").

South Stack Lighthouse with pink drifts of Thrift, white walls of breeding seabirds and the offending fog bank retreating offshore.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 11

A colleague told me she'd had a messy bird strike on her garage door and was quite sad for the poor bird, but the photo revealed a splash of bird crap that looks very much like a silhouette of a Starling. From the size and location I suspect the artist was a Wood Pigeon or Lesser Black-backed Gull 🙂

A splatter of bird crap on a dark garage door. The random splatter looks like a painting of a Starling.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 9

Lovely weather for this morning's @bbs-birds.bsky.social at Haughmond Hill, near Shrewsbury. 29 bird species recorded including two "firsts for BBS square": Red Kite and Common Crossbill. Also Cuckoo and lots of warblers, notably 27 Chiffchaff, 22 Blackcap and 8 Garden Warbler. #ShropshireBirds

A forestry track through mixed woodland.

The very inconspicuous trig point on Haughmond Hill (153 metres above sea level), beside a path and surrounded by trees. The hill must have looked very different when the trig point was built.

A woodland view showing what I think is a naturalised Common Laburnum (Laburnum anagyroides) clothed in bright yellow blossom. Slightly beyond and to the right, much less obvious, is the white "May blossom" of a hawthorn, probably Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) but I was bird surveying so didn't think to check for Midland Hawthorn (C. laevigata).

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 8

I can provide some NocMig gear to go with those bins, Kev. Lots of retro charm but doesn’t work with Merlin, sadly.

A black and white image from the 1930s of a Dutch soldier wearing large, semicircular metal listening devices or dishes on either ear. The “dishes” are about twice as long as the man’s face and extend above and below the his head.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 8

Stopped off at Venus Pool after work and was amused to see this trio of herons. 40 species recorded from the pool side for @birdtrack.bsky.social with highest breeding evidence noted. Other highlights were a family party of young Long-tailed Tits and a Garden Warbler sing-off. #ShropshireBirds

A large pool backed by reeds and scrub merging into mature trees. Three large birds are wading in the foreground: left to right: Grey Heron, Little Egret, Great White Egret.

A large pool backed by reeds and scrub merging into mature trees. Three large birds are wading in the foreground: left to right: Little Egret, Great White Egret, Grey Heron. To the right of the birds are some large splashes caused by mating carp(?) reacting to the Grey Heron's shadow passing over them.

A large pool backed by reeds and scrub merging into mature trees.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 7

Pulled into a lay-by* to let an ambulance on blues pass me and noticed this impressive display of Dandelion seed heads. *On the A49, north of Shrewsbury in #Shropshire, just north of the Sandy Lane route into Grinshill.

An entire field appearing white with the translucent seed heads of Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale). In the middle distance is a horizon of trees and hedgerows and beyond that a sunset under scattered clouds.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 7

Many of my age cohort may feel that this image is allegorical 🙂

A motorboat called "Free Spirit" on a trailer beside a dusty track with scrub reaching twice the height of the craft. Boat and trailer have had some of the surrounding vegetation cut away but the trailer is still engulfed. The boat appears to be neglected and in poor condition.

Martin George@jannerbirder· May 2

The smart Lesser Kestrel on Goonhilly Downs, just southwest of Croft Pascoe Forest. If you're going for the bird it was best viewed this morning by taking the path from the lay-by gate (don't go into the woods!), walking beyond the first corner and looking left/SW on the mounds. #CornwallBirding

Goonhilly Downs, an area of heathland habitat on the Lizard Peninsula, with anti-glider obstacles dating back to WW2 that make ideal perches for a hunting Lesser Kestrel.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Apr 19

An usual "new for year" for me today: Garden Warbler singing near the Midlands Air Ambulance landing pad at Cosford. No drama, it was a CPD afternoon... Back home the firsts continued with a patch tick Whimbrel and a singing Corn Bunting near Crose Mere. #ShropshireBirding

A stretcher laden with kit bags being wheeled away from the open tail doors of a bright red Midlands Air Ambulance by a Critical Care Paramedic in a red and yellow flight suit.

A small pool amid sheep pasture with trees beyond under a clear sky. Just visible beyond the pool are white dots that were nine Mute Swans feeding on a winter wheat crop.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Apr 17

Enjoyed a nice walk down to Crose Mere after work. Lots of hirundines over the mere, but the highlight was the rapidly receding field flood which held two Shelducks, two Oystercatchers, five(!) Little Ringed Plovers, 23 Pied Wagtails and one gorgeously bright Yellow Wagtail. #ShropshireBirds

The reed-lined edge of the mere (lake) with a stand of bare trees behind and two swimming Mute Swans in the foreground.

The mere, framed by bare trees with reeds in the foreground and the setting sun shining rays of light from behind a low line of cumulus cloud.

A pasture with a receding flood (extensive muddy margins) with the trees of Lloyd's Wood/Sweat Mere beyond under a sky of grey cumulus clouds.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Apr 7

A few phone-scoped snaps from BMW (RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands) today in bright sunshine. Four warbler species in song plus seven Pintail and a bit of a wader fest: Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Knot, Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Ruff.

Wading Spotted Redshank (left) and a Redshank. The Spotted Redshank used to be called Dusky Redshank, and this one is well on the way to its impressively black breeding plumage.

An Avocet doing its sweepy feeding thing, scything the water surface with its curved bill.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Apr 6

"Volunteers needed for the Pied Flycatcher Resting Hill Nest Box Scheme near Snailbeach (3 miles south of Pontesbury). Help check nesting boxes and monitor the number of Pied Flycatchers. "For more information contact project lead Julian at: restinghillnestbox@gmail.com " #ShropshireBirding

A poster supporting the message in the post, showing images of a male Pied Flycatcher and a nest holding a clutch of the species' beautiful sky blue eggs.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Mar 26

The Great White Egret Avalon Marshes Nesting and Colour Ringing Report 2025. Two of the birds visited Shropshire. HT to Darren on the #ShropshireBirds WhatsApp news group for the link. www.alisonmorgan.co.uk/Birds/GWE%20...

A screenshot of the first page of the report.

Martin George@jannerbirder· Mar 22

The field drain has been repaired so "just" a Great White Egret on my @webs-gsmp.bsky.social core count today. Twenty years ago it would have caused a regional twitch! The Stonechat pair were new for the site, and the strikingly marked Fox was a nice bonus. #ShropshireBirds