Wildlife group trip to Prince's Rough yesterday - nice MG5 with abundant Cowslips, locally frequent Early Purple Orchid, Adder's-tongue etc. Some nice insects in the sunshine including Dotted Bee-fly (Bombylius discolor). #Diptera

pm tour of the meres to look for terns but none seen at Ellesmere, Colemere, Wood Lane or Whitemere. Mainly hirundines. Resident Mandarin at Ellesmere. Noneley looks good for waders but just Lapwing seen plus GWE, Stonechat and 6 Wheatear. #ukwildlife #ukbirding #shropshireshield

VP this morning warbler fest with Garden, Sedge and Reed nfy, Whitethroat and mobile Cetti's amongst 8 species. Also Common Sand, Redpoll, Goosander, 26 Tufted, 4 Teal, Gadwall and residents. GWOrchids out too.

A couple more from last week's wildlife group meeting - first damselfly of the year, Large Red as usual, and Brown Hare #ukwildlife

Speckled Wood nfy in Rea Brook Valley LNR in the rare spring sunshine this morning followed by an Orange-tip in the garden. #ukwildlife #butterflies West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

Over the Long Mynd en route to wildlife group meeting yesterday. 3 fine male Wheatears close to the road. These and 2 singing male Redstarts on the site were overdue yearlies.

Top day out with Shropshire Botanical Society on Prees Heath yesterday. Highlights male Minotaur Beetle, Moonwort (Botrychium lunaria), Shepherd's-cress (Teesdalia nudicaulis), Early and Changing forget-me-nots (Myosotis ramosissima and M. discolor) and other nice spring annuals

Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) and Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris) at Venus Pool in the week for #TreeFlowers #wildflowerhour

Finally a few insects at VP too with 4 Orange-tip, overdue Peacock both nfy and a Small Tortoiseshell (no longer taken for granted!). Lots of Andrena fulva in the margins too. West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

Garden mothing in Shrewsbury last night produced a fresh Pebble Prominent on the trellis and Red-green Carpet (both nfy), Swallow Prominent and Twin-spotted Quaker amongst 15/9. #ukwildlife #teammoth #mothsmatter West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

VP this morning - 1st Whitethroat of the year singing and seen, 3 new Common Sand including a lot of chasing about, LRP, 2 Snipe, 2 Oystercatcher, 2 Lapwing, 4 Willow Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 2 Shoveler, 2 L Egret, 8 Buzzard #ukbirding

Garden moths in Shrewsbury last night included 3 Oak-tree Pug, Streamer and my third record here of Lunar Marbled Brown. #teammoth #mothsmatter West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

Field Pansy (Viola arvensis) in old sand and gravel quarry in Shropshire this week. #wildflowerhour #violachallenge

Garden moths rather epic for here on v mild night - Yellow Horned, Lunar Marbled Brown, Swallow Prominent, Brindled Beauty and Oak-tree Pug all nfy. #mothsmatter West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

VP this afternoon - 2 Common Sands (quite early for Shropshire), 2 Wigeon, 2 L Egret, LRP, 6 Snipe, 6 Sand Martin, 13 Shoveler, Cetti's etc in rather brief visit

Woohoo - Pine Beauty in the garden lurking by the trellis near the trap. Only the second for the garden. 47 of 9 species #MothsMatter West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

Garden moths in Shrewsbury last night included an early Least Black Arches nfy (my earliest here by 2 weeks). #MothsMatter West Midlands Butterfly Conservation

Better catch last night in the garden in Shrewsbury including a nice male Muslin nfy amongst 59 of 9 species. Also the first Nicrophorus humator of the year. #MothsMatter West Midlands Butterfly Conservation