Hedgehog in Bourn Bridge Road

David had a visitor outside his back door last night (23rd July). Apparently, he seems very healthy.

Emerald Damselfly

Jennifer took this photo of an Emerald Damselfly on a lily pad on her pond on 21st July.

It is very beautiful, smaller and slimmer than the other damselflies we usually see.

(click to enlarge)

Wildflower Walk & Bug Hunt at Granta Park - 17 July

Naturewatch was invited to join a Wildflower Walk & Bug Hunt in Granta Park, led by Iain Webb from the Wildlife Trust, over lunch-time. We used nets to search for bugs on the wild-flower meadow and the woods. We caught many small bugs and also saw a summer chafer and a lesser stag beetle.

These are just a few of the bugs we found:

Leaf Beetle

Frog Hopper

Robber Fly

Lesser Stag Beetle

Rosemary noted the following bugs: Crab Spider, Leaf Beetle, Speckled Bush Cricket, Froghopper, Sawfly larvae, Meadow Damsel Fly, Flea Beetle, Summer Chafer, Robber Fly.

There were plants that included Ladies' Bedstraw, Wild Carrot, Betony, St John's Wort & Scarlet Pimpernel.

It was a beautiful summer day and we also saw lots of butterflies: 4 Commas on one tree, Peacocks, Meadow browns, Gatekeepers, a Brimstone & many Large whites.

Bees and butterflies in the High Street

Jennifer's lavender has been full of bees and a few butterflies, when the sun has been out in the last few days...

Bumble bee

Bumble bee

Red-tailed Bumble bee

Carder bee and 2 Bumble bees       

Small Tortoiseshell

Meadow Brown

Meadow Brown and Small Tortoiseshell (undersides)

Small White

Naturewatch Visit to Lakenheath Fen - 11th July 2015

Derek organised a trip to Lakenheath on Saturday 11^th July 2015. Ten people enjoyed the visit and observed the following bird species. The sighting of the Bittern was very special - such a long flight!

1. Bearded Tit
2. Bittern (extended view of Bittern in flight over reed beds)
3. Blackheaded Gull
4. Blue Tit
5. Carrion Crow
6. Cetti's Warbler (H)
7. Chaffinch
8. Common Tern
9. Coot
10. Cormorant
11. Goldfinch
12. Great Crested Grebe
13. Great Spotted Woodpecker
14. Great Tit
15. Greenfinch
16. Grey Heron
17. Greylag
18. Jay
19. Kestrel
20. Kingfisher
21. Little Egret
22. Longtailed Tit
23. Magpie
24. Mallard
25. Marsh Harrier
26. Moorhen
27. Mute Swan
28. Pheasant (H)
29. Pied Wagtail
30. Reed Bunting
31. Reed Warbler (H)
32. Sedge Warbler
33. Shoveler
34. Sparrowhawk
35. Stock Dove (H)
36. Swallow
37. Swift
38. Tufted Duck
39. Whitethroat
40. Woodpigeon
41. Wren

 41 bird species. Those marked (H) were heard only.

In addition to birds, there were good sightings of Dragonflies and Damselflies.

Southern hawker dragonfly in High Street

Audrey took this photo of a Southern hawker dragonfly, with its exuvia, on 6 July on the wall of her garden.

Small Tortoiseshell butterflies in High Street

Jennifer had a small tortoiseshell day on 9th July – there were lots in her garden and in other gardens, mainly on lavender as these were.

Southern Hawker dragonfly on South Road

Anne spotted this dragonfly (a Southern Hawker) in vegetation at the edge of their pond on 7 June – its wings were crumpled glistening gauze at first, and then over about 5 hours the wings and body filled out, and eventually the wings were held horizontally. It had disappeared by dusk.

Hedgehog footprints

Derek & Sally used a Footprint Tunnel to collect some Hedgehog footprints in their garden:

Wicken Fen outing - 27 June 2015

Jennifer arranged an outing to Wicken Fen on Saturday 27 June, primarily to see the dragonflies and damselflies for which the Fen is renowned. We were blessed with a lovely June morning, just the right weather for these insects. Ten members and two grandchildren came.

We were fortunate that an expert from the British Dragonfly Society talked to us at the start about the life cycle of dragonflies and how to differentiate between some of the blue damselflies.

Then we walked round the Fen on the boardwalk and saw many dragonflies and damselflies at close quarters in their exquisite colours. 

Barry took these photos:

Small Skipper

Four-spotted chaser dragonfly  

Azure damselfly

Blue-tailed damselfly

Marsh orchid

Marsh orchid

Nuthatch in High Street

Jennifer saw a nuthatch in her garden on the morning 29th June and managed to get a quick photo.

Curlew over Great Abington

Andy was enjoying the summer evening (on 29th June) with his camera to hand and "saw a larger bird lazily flying over - just a dot in the sky really!"  He took a few pictures, 'blew-up' the 'dot' on the computer,

He's fairly sure it was a Curlew ... now who would have thought it!