'Little old ladies get out of bed for the herons'

Tracking the lives of birds from nest to chick and beyond is nothing new for nature lovers, but a team behind such a project has also been shining a light on the members of the public who become emotionally invested in the storylines.

"We get little old ladies who get out of bed and come down every week to say 'how are my herons doing'?" explained Amanda Bevan, who is celebrating a fundraising breakthrough.

With husband Edward, she runs Ellesmere Heronwatch - a Shropshire birdwatching project that allows the public to observe grey herons nesting and breeding through 15 cameras on Mere Lake's Moscow Island. Thanks to a fundraising target of £35,000 being met, the nest cameras are to be upgraded as the majority are of poor quality or broken.

"Every single pledge that we’ve had comes with an endorsement of the project," Mr Bevan said. "So many people are talking about it - people stop us in the street."

He added: "The whole project’s been running for more than 30 years…but this has given it a whole new lease of life.

"The support has been absolutely overwhelming, it's been really heart-warming."

The fundraising appeal was launched in June, with the target not met until the final 24 hours of the campaign, creating a spot of tense drama on the other side of the nests.

"We had a few sleepless nights," said Mrs Bevan, "but we just came in on the very last day."

And improving the cameras was important, she said, because the project brought joy to many people.

"It is just brilliant," she said of those who follow the birds' lives closely.

The money will be used to replace the entire camera system, as well as pay for two cameras that can be controlled by the public, and two additional nest box cameras for smaller birds.

"The quality of the cameras will be such a transformation of what people are used to seeing on our screens," Mr Bevan explained.

Work is due to start on the improvements imminently.

"We’ve got the contractors on board, and the equipment will be going in within the next three or four weeks, and the whole project will open again in February," said Mrs Bevan.

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