Birds and other wildlife survey 2025 - Friends of the Avon New Cut (FrANC)

This 2025 survey covers part of the Avon New Cut in Bristol from Bathurst Bridge to Ashton Avenue Bridge and has been collated mainly by one FrANC member. Much of it is from her observations as she made her way along the Chocolate Path to her allotment, but it does also include occasional input from other FRANC members and also relevant sightings from the
BS3 Wildlife Group Facebook page. Thank you to those who contributed.

The counts are the maximum seen of a species at one point in time and cover the period from January to December 2025. Data was recorded monthly. The maximum over the full year is shown in bold on the right.

The focus is primarily on birds, but other wildlife species are mentioned at the end of the report.

Water birds

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Max
Black-Headed Gull	3	30	2	0	0	7	17	20	9	13	7	3	30
Canada Goose	0	2	2	7	2	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	8
Cormorant	19	11	9	6	4	4	1	4	3	28	21	33	33
Grey Wagtail	0	0	1	2	1	3	1	0	0	1	1	1	3
Heron	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Herring Gull	65	39	71	50	21	23	28	8	5	12	25	18	71
Lesser Black-Backed Gull	2	5	6	15	10	16	9	12	2	2	0	2	16
Little Egret	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Mallard	9	4	11	9	9	12	20	11	11	10	0	0	20
Moorhen	1	1	1	1	1	2	4	0	0	0	0	0	4
Oystercatcher	0	0	2	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Redshank	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Sandpiper	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1

Little Egret – an occasional visitor to the Cut

Oystercatcher – one of a pair that visit in the breeding season

Heron – a very regular sighting over the last few months

Cormorant – preening in a tree beside the Cut

Canada Geese – serenely cruising the Cut

Common Sandpiper – busy hunting for small invertebrates

Small garden birds

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Max
Blackbird	0	0	1	1	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2
Blackcap	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
Blue Tit	1	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	2
Chiffchaff	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Dunnock	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Goldcrest	2	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Goldfinch	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Great Tit	1	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Long-Tailed Tit	4	0	0	0	0	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	6
Robin	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	1	2
Sparrow	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	3
Wren	0	1	1	3	2	2	2	0	0	1	1	0	3

Chiffchaff – easy to identity with its distinctive song

Goldcrest – spotted on one of FrANC’s monthly litter picks

Great Tit – in fine voice on a sunny day

Other birds

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Max
Crow	13	5	4	3	4	3	3	2	3	3	4	3	13
Domestic Goose	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Jackdaw	1	1	5	5	5	3	1	0	5	10	1	0	10
Jay	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Magpie	2	5	2	2	2	2	3	2	1	2	1	3	5
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	1
Pigeon – feral	20	18	45	26	27	51	31	46	30	76	56	22	76
Wood Pigeon	5	4	5	2	3	6	3	4	2	3	3	6	6

Domestic Goose –appeared one day then moved on

Other wildlife

Mammals spotted were rabbits (max 4), squirrels (max 2) and, excitingly, otter (prints only).

Butterflies included Large and Small White (max 10) and single sightings of Brimstone, Cinnabar Moth, Holly Blue, Red Admiral and Small Tortoiseshell.