Butterflies this weekend

Ringlet and Large Skipper made an appearance in Andy M's garden this weekend, for the first time this year.  Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown were also seen, as well as a male Southern Hawker dragonfly.

Ringlet and Marbled White were also reported from the Roman Road by those on the Mid-summer walk.

 Large Skipper - male - which seemed to be 'keeping look-out' from the top of a clipped box-ball

Ringlet - settling only in the shady spots!

Little Owls nesting again on Granta Park

After two years of nesting in the heaps of building rumble in a (now re-landscaped) site on Granta Park, the Little Owls have moved on and found a new nesting site in amongst the various pipes and tubes stored on site. The pair of adult owls have at least one well-developed chick, which hopefully will successfully fledge in the next few weeks.

Adult emerging - having fed the chick(s) in the nest

Chick - looking out from the pipe-nest

Buff-tailed bumblebee in High Street

Jennifer took phis photo of a Buff-tailed Bumblebee on her honeysuckle on 17th June

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly

This very 'new-looking' Small Tortoiseshell butterfly was feeding on the perennial wallflowers in Andy M's garden today.

Elephant Hawk Moth

Andy M found an Elephant Hawk Moth in his greenhouse this morning and, after carefully moving it to the shady undergrowth, took these pictures.

Young Blue Tits everywhere

Andy M's garden was seemingly awash with young Blue Tits early this morning.  It appeared that two broods fledged at the same time, and there were adult and young Blue Tits calling from all corners of the garden.

Tufted Duck and Damselflies

A single male Tufted Duck joined the Mallards on the Granta Park lake this week.
Nearby in Sluice Woods a number of male Banded Demoiselle damselflies were also seen - Andy M

White Ermine Moth

This White Ermine Moth was spotted by Andy M flying around his bathroom one evening last week.

Abington Naturewatch Survey 25 – 28 May 2018

Derek Turnidge has collated the results of 5 reports from around the village for the late May bank holiday weekend.

Species recorded

Blackbird	Kestrel
Blackcap	Longtailed Tit
Blue Tit	Magpie
Buzzard	Mallard
Canada Goose	Mistle Thrush
Carrion Crow	Moorhen
Chaffinch	Nuthatch
Chiffchaff	Pheasant
Coal Tit	Pied Wagtail
Coot	Red Kite
Corn Bunting	Redlegged Partridge
Collared Dove	Robin
Cormorant	Rook
Dunnock	Skylark
Goldfimch	Song Thrush
Great Crested Grebe	Starling
Great Spotted Woodpecker	Stock Dove
Great Tit	Swallow
Greenfinch	Swift
Green Woodpecker	Whitethroat
House Martin	Woodpigeon
House Sparrow	Wren
Jackdaw	Yellowhammer
Jay

Five reports were received this year.

The number of species (47) shows the variety of birds in our area at this time of the year.

As well as gardens, places visited included the Old Railway Cutting, the area to the south up towards Abington Park Farm and Granta Park.

Fungus in Church Lane

Peter found this fungus growing in the compost bin on 4 June

Caterpillar on Church Lane hedge

Peter saw this caterpillar on a hedge in Church Lane on 1 June. It looks like a Vapourer moth.

Visit to Beech Woods

Sally led a visit to Beech Woods reserve on the evening of 29 May.

Derek took this photo of the rare White Helleborine in flower.