Survey 2025 field report
Every figure comes from our spring and autumn surveys, run by volunteers and checked by the county records centre. Where a number went down, we say so.
Table Species by group
Counts are species recorded across all three sites in the spring and autumn surveys. The county records centre checked each figure against its own sheets.
| Group | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding birds | 38 | 44 | +6 |
| Meadow and wetland plants | 92 | 107 | +15 |
| Butterflies | 14 | 19 | +5 |
| Pond and stream invertebrates | 63 | 71 | +8 |
| Red-list species | 7 | 9 | +2 |
| Hedgerow shrubs, not yet recovered | 5 | 4 | −1 |
Next report · February 2027Read the survey notes
Journal Field notes
In June we left a three-metre strip standing along the east fence. By September it held seed heads from eleven native species.
On our first morning count, fourteen goldfinches fed in the strip over twenty minutes, alongside two linnets we had not recorded on site before. Next year we will leave two strips and move them, so every part of the meadow gets a winter off.
We cleared two collapsed culverts by hand to keep the stream bed undisturbed. Within the hour, water was moving through the northern pool again for the first time since spring.
Hollow stems, where solitary bees overwinter. A log pile in shade. One patch of long grass. Leaf litter under the hedge. Seed heads on teasel and knapweed. Your garden is a stepping stone between our sites.
“My grandad cut peat on that mere. Last month I heard snipe drumming over it with my own daughter.”
Next Help the next survey
Survey training takes one morning and needs no field experience. Our ecologist runs the spring transects in April.
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