July 2025 - Summary of sightings around the Abingtons

Amphibians and Reptiles

Just a sighting of a Common Frog, on two occasions in a Lewis Cres pond, with a further one being seen in the flower beds there. When cleaning out a Bourn Bridge Rd pond, numerous Smooth Newt efts were seen, suggesting they have bred well there.

Birds

A total of 53 species from 391 reports this month, from ten reporters. For the second month running, a Nuthatch was heard in Lagden’s Grove, as well as in a LA garden. Three Treecreeper were also seen in Lagden's Grove, with another seen closeup at Hall Farm. Also unusual, was the Bullfinch seen along the ORC.

Most of the summer visitors are still around, with Blackcap and Chiffchaff seen at several sites including gardens (see blog), a Reed Warbler was spotted in the reedbed on GP and a Whitethroat reported along the ORC.

Both Swallow and House Martin were seen in throughout the month, gathering in flocks of 35-40 towards the month’s end, as fledged young joined their parents. Swift were also seen gathering in screaming flocks of up to 20 mid-month, departing for Africa shortly afterwards with the last sighting of local birds being on 29th.

Up to seven Red Kite were seen over Grange Farm with 1-2 regularly spotted elsewhere. Up to three Buzzard were also regularly reported, often soaring high up, with a Kestrel and Sparrowhawk also both occasionally seen. A Tawny Owl was heard towards the end of the month.

 Around the GP lake, an adult Little Grebe was seen with three independent young, and the Great Crested Grebe pair were spotted with a young chick being carried on the back of one adult, whilst the other dived for small fish to feed it (see blog). A total of four Mandarin Duck were seen along the river in Lagden’s Grove, with a single Barnacle Goose and a Grey Heron both spotted around the lake, along with 40 Mallard in eclipse plumage and a few Moorhen (see blog).

A Goldcrest was seen at several sites, including a closeup encounter with one individual ‘showering’ under the hosepipe spray. Green Woodpecker seem to have made a comeback, being reported eight times across various sites, including a number of juveniles (see blog), and Great Spotted Woodpecker were also seen in a couple of gardens.

A Jay was reported at four sites, a Mistle Thrush was seen in a rowan tree along the High St, and a Coal Tit was spotted regularly in a Cambridge Rd garden. A few Goldfinch and Greenfinch were reported returning to gardens, and Yellowhammer, Skylark and Linnet were all spotted along the ORC.

Butterflies and other Insects

A total of 254 reports were received in July, an increase of over 50 compared with June. Of these, 208 were of butterflies comprising an impressive 22 species. Four of these species were spotted for the first time this year: Brown Argus, Common Blue, Gatekeeper and Small Blue.

Butterflies – this year has been particularly good for Gatekeeper with 18 reports received in July, and numbers still good at the end of the month (see blog). Interestingly, Small Blue, which as its name suggests is the smallest British blue butterfly and quite tricky to spot, has only had eight (largely unverified) reports in the Abingtons since 2011. This month however it was found and photographed in the meadows on Granta Park (see blog). This chalkland species was largely confined to the south coast of England, but more recently has slowly been spreading north and east and is now reliably seen at Gog Magog Downs and Trumpington Meadows, where it was seen during our July trip (see blog).

Two butterfly species were seen less frequently in July compared to June; Small Tortoiseshell, which has generally been reported in very low numbers this year, dropped to only three sightings in July. Marbled White was spotted only in the first part of the month, but this is expected as it flies mostly in the early summer months.

Odonata - Nine dragonfly and damselfly species were seen this month in a total of 21 reports. Species first reported this year were Brown Hawker spotted on the ORC, and Black-tailed Skimmer (see blog) and Red-eyed Damselfly seen near the lake on Granta Park (see blog). Banded Demoiselle continue to be seen occasionally near the Millennium bridge (3 reports, see blog) with Common Darter and Southern Hawker seen at various sites (8 reports, see blog).

Other notable species - reported were Buff-tailed Bumblebee, White-tailed Bumblebee and Red-tailed Bumblebee have all been seen regularly throughout July (see blog) with two reports of Common Carder Bee. Warmer weather brought three sightings of Hummingbird Hawkmoth and three reports of Jersey Tiger Moth, another species rapidly spreading its range north in changing climate conditions. The metallic green Rose Chafer Beetle was seen on the LSA (see blog) and in a garden on Lewis Cres, and there were several reports of Burnet Moth (see blog).

Mammals

Bat - several seen regularly throughout the month, probably Pipistrelle, in a Cambridge Rd garden, and several bats were seen in a Lewis Cres garden on 8th and 11th. Also, a bat maternity roost was reported in a west facing barn at Hall Farm, housing over 60 bats - an annual occurrence.

Fox – one seen in a Cambridge Rd garden on 6th and 13th.

Hare – one seen in Lagden’s Grove on 13th.

Muntjac - one seen in Lagden’s Grove on 13th, one in a Cambridge Rd garden and at Hall Farm regularly throughout the month.

Roe Deer – six were spotted between ORC and Pampisford Rd on 27th, four adults and two fawns.

Weather

The total rainfall for July was 35mm, a bit below the average which is around 50mm. The highest temperature recorded was 37°C (!) on the 11th, with the lowest being 7.8°C on the 4th. Winds varied between north-east and south-west and were mainly light.

NatureWatch events

The River Sampling group met on 28th (see blog for results), with two enjoyable trips to Trumpington Meadows on 16th (see blog), and to Fleam Dyke on 26th (see blog). Our final trip for the year is planned to The Roman Road on 23rd August. The full programme can be viewed on the ANW blog here, 2025 Programme Link.

Many thanks to all those who contributed their sightings this month. Roger Dufresne, David & Gaynor Farrant, Emma Jones, Carole McCrae, Andy & Polly Merryweather, Joan Nevin, Barbara Phippen, Gill Smith, Suzan Stewart, John & Maggie Turner, Derek Turnidge.

Abbreviations: GA - Great Abington, LA – Little Abington, LSA – Land Settlement Association, GP – Granta Park, ORC – Old Railway Cutting, AbPkFm – Abington Park Farm.

River Sampling

28th July 2025 - the RiverCare team undertook the monthly river sampling by the ford. The river level was low and slow, and whilst the sample was a little sparse it still passed the 'trigger level' (a score below which requires a resampling). A couple of good-sized Bullhead were found, as well as the usual small Signal Crayfish, and more unusually a Cased Caddisfly larva.

Bullhead

Bullhead

Signal Crayfish

Mayfly larva

Cased Caddisfly larva

Cased Caddisfly larva

Caseless Caddisfly larva

Olive larva

Brown Argus and friends

28th July 2025 - Polly and Andy M were pleased to see a Brown Argus (actually a species of 'blue butterfly') flitting around the wildflower meadow patch in their garden, alongside the more regular Comma and Red Admiral basking in the evening sun.

Brown Argus, female

Brown Argus, female

Comma

Red Admiral

Southern Hawker

28th July 2025 - Andy M spotted this male Southern Hawker dragonfly, settling in for the evening in his garden recently. Most easily identified by the two greeny-yellow 'head-light' spots on the thorax (just behind the eyes), and the two 'tail-lights' of the continuous blue bands on the last two segments of the abdomen.

Fleam Dyke trip

26th July 2025 - a number of ANW members took the short walk along Fleam Dyke to Bedford Gap, the section between there and the A11 being the best managed for butterflies. As in previous years, the main target was the Chalkhill Blue butterflies, which were again present in abundance, the other highlight being a Painted Lady butterfly. A total of 13 butterfly species and a few others were recorded.

Chalkhill Blue male (JT)

Chalkhill Blue female (JT)

Chalkhill Blue male (JT)

Chalkhill Blue pair (JT)

Chalkhill Blue female (AM)

Chalkhill Blue male (AM)

Chalkhill Blue female (AM)

Chalkhill Blue mating pair (AM)

Painted Lady (JT)

Painted Lady (AM)

Painted Lady (AM)

Holly Blue (JT)

Small Tortoiseshell (JT)

Comma (JT)

Essex Skipper (AM)

Red Admiral (AM)

Gatekeeper (AM)

Brimstone (AM)

Large White (AM)

Peacock (AM)

The assembled group (DF)

photo credits: Andy M (AM), David F (DF), John T (JT)

Juveniles abound!

24th July 2025 - there have been good numbers of juvenile Blue Tit, Great Tit and Goldfinch in Andy M's garden of late, and in amongst these he has spotted a juvenile Chiffchaff, taking insects from the flowerheads, a juvenile Robin on the feeder, and several slightly damp Long-tailed Tit, after having had a bathe!  Interestingly, the adults of these species are nowhere to be seen, likely recovering from all their parenting duties and lying low whilst moulting their feathers.

Chiffchaff juvenile

Robin juvenile

Long-tailed Tit juvenile

Three Bumblebee species

20th July 2025 - David F noted three different bumblebee species on the lavender in his garden recently, White-tailed Bumblebee, Buff-tailed Bumblebee and Red-tailed Bumblebee. He also spotted a juvenile Green Woodpecker on the lawn.

White-tailed Bumblebee

Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Red-tailed Bumblebee

Green Woodpecker