Tudor Griffiths - Part II

The amazing thing about the site is that amongst all this apocolyptic industrial landscape there is a nature reserve!  Its part of a former sand and gravel extraction area itself, as opposed to restored landfill, but it does highlight just how tough and resilient nature can be. 

We were blessed with some awesome weather on the day and some fantastic birdlife turned up to greet us. Our guide explained that this site was a particular hotspot for waders due to its shallow water and that although there were some local successes (in particular the amount of Lapwing which overwinter here) generally these species were all declining nationally.

Over 5 acres of the site has been left to go back to wetland and its managed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust and there are two main hides for the twitchers which also get used for environmental education study tours.  We were lucky enough to see a huge range of birds on our visit including Buzzards, Lapwings, Oyster catchers, a well hidden great crested Grebe, various ducks and a wood pecker.  

We are very grateful to the volunteer wardens and the Shropshire Wildlife Trust for their co-operation and support with this and in particular for Judy from Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth for organising the visit.