Abington Naturewatch: August 2015

Friday, 21 August 2015

Grasshopper visits Church Lane

The Brunnings had a surprise visitor on 18th August:

River sampling - August 2015

We had a fine, dry and warm evening on 12th August for our sampling session near the cricket nets. The river was very low and we used the usual 3 kick-shuffles of one minute each in three slightly different places, all under trees which are increasingly shading the river.
(1. Gravel/rocky bottom in main flow; 2. Some Weed (water crowfoot) with rocky gravel bottom; 3. Deeper water, rocky bottom)

We submitted the following report on the Riverfly monitored species:

Organisation: Abington Naturewatch
Site name: Cricket Pitch Reach, Abington, Cambridge
River: Granta
Grid ref: TL534490
Monitoring Group Coordinator: Rob Mungovan
Date: 12 August 2015, 6.30pm
Recorded by: Peter Brunning

Cased caddisfly: Nil
Caseless caddisfly: B, ca 10
Mayfly (Ephemeridae): Nil
Blue-winged olive (Ephemeridae): Nil
Flat bodied up-wings (Heptageniidae): Nil
Olives (Baetidae): C, ca 100
Stoneflies: Nil
Gammarus (Freshwater shrimp): B, ca 20

[A:1-9; B:10-99; C:100-999;D:>1000]

A few photos were taken:

Olive

Caddis

Freshwater Shrimp (Gammarus)

In addition to the monitored species, we caught 3 small signal crayfish - 7cm, 5cm, 2cm

Signal Crayfish

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

Small Magpie Moth on North Road

Emma Jones took this beautiful photo on a North Road smallholding, on 23rd May 2015.

Small Magpie Moth

Roman Road walk - west of Mount Farm

Jennifer led a walk on the Roman Road west of Mounts Farm on the morning of Saturday 1st August.

Seven members enjoyed lovely weather with sunshine, warmth and a very light wind – ideal for seeing butterflies. They also saw lots of wild flowers, more than 40 different ones.

They saw 8 different butterflies altogether including at least 8 Chalkhill Blues and 1 Painted Lady – these were special. The Chalkhill Blues have only recently established on this part of the Roman Road. A good Painted Lady year had been predicted, with lots migrating from further south in Europe, but we have seen very few so far.

Other more common butterflies were:

Brimstone, Peacock, Large White, Meadow brown, Gatekeeper and Small Skipper

Regular reporters have been seeing new Brimstones and Peacocks recently, so please let Jennifer know if you see them in your garden or while out walking in the village. She would be especially interested if anyone sees a Painted Lady – they are very beautiful butterflies.

The group on the Roman Road

Painted Lady

Female Stag Beetle

Chalkhill Blue

Peacock

Photos by David Farrant

The Aims of Abington Naturewatch

At their meeting on 9 April 2005 the members approved this revised version of the aims of Abington Naturewatch:

To monitor and record the wildlife (fauna & flora) within the borders of the Abingtons;
To encourage protection of our wildlife, maintain its quality and foster its diversity;
To promote awareness of the richness, potential and problems of the natural environment of the Abingtons;
To cooperate in improving access to the local natural environment for the benefit of all Abington villagers.

Pat Daunt, Founder

The organisation is informal and communication is by email if possible; members are notified of events from time to time. Contact details are maintained by a small "project team". There is currently no membership fee as costs are covered by voluntary contributions at events.

Members are encouraged to report notable sightings of flora and fauna within the Abingtons to the appropriate sector coordinator and an illustrated record is published annually.

A map of the area covered, with some features noted, is available here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=213774935674882866424.00000111dca2be9f06ab8&z=13>

For more information or to join, please contact David Farrant on (01223) 892871.

Contributions to our records should be sent to sector contacts or either of the above. Photographs may also be submitted to Andy Merryweather (amerryweather61@gmail.com)