We've been working with the Shropshire Mammal Group over the winter, cataloguing what lives on the farm before we make any further changes to the habitat. The idea is simple: get a clear picture of what's here now, so we can properly judge how effective our wildlife improvements have been in a few years' time.
Stuart from the Mammal Group has been using a combination of trail cameras and small mammal camera boxes, positioned around the farm and concentrated along the riverbanks, where we expected to find the most activity. The camera boxes are an ingenious bit of kit: about three feet long, with a camera fixed at one end and two holes at the other, just wide enough for a shrew, vole or mouse to dart in and out and have their moment on camera.
One visitor we hadn't expected to catch on film was a grey heron. We see them from time to time around the farm, standing near or in the river, or occasionally in flight, usually alone, though sometimes in a pair. The margin of Weir Field is the most reliable spot: upstream of the weir the water runs calm, giving them a good vantage point to fish from. They're shy birds, though, and quick to take flight the moment they sense they've been spotted, so a proper look at one is rare.
This particular sighting came on a snowy day, and the footage caught something we weren't expecting either: a heron making off with a sizeable brown trout. It's good news for anyone who fancies fishing the Rea, proof that there are decent-sized trout in there, though slightly less good news for that particular fish.
Trail camera footage: a grey heron with a brown trout from the River Rea, February 2026.