News from the river

On Monday 18th July, Jennifer reported seeing hundreds of little fish in the shallow water near the shoal. They are likely to have been minnows.

On Tuesday, Derek saw a few small fish - but not in a big group as he saw and photographed last year. He took 3 pictures, but not of the fish - 2 of (green) female Banded Demoiselles and 1 (blue) male. The females are not easy to see at basic view but appear as the image is enlarged,

And on Wednesday, Jennifer took another photo of a banded demoiselle near the footbridge:

Marbled white butterfly on the Roman Road.

Jennifer saw this Marbled White butterfly on the morning of 4th July on the Roman Road.

These are very uncommon in our area. Last reported sightings were one in 2014 and two in 2011, all on the Roman Road in our parish.

June was a very poor month for butterflies this year. But now the sun is shining and the buddleia is coming into flower, look out for small tortoiseshells. Very few Meadow browns, Ringlets and Gatekeepers have been reported - let's hope they will appear in July.

Muntjac on High Street

Jennifer saw this Muntjac in her front garden, not far from the front door, at about 12 noon on Saturday 25 June. When it left it appeared to go down the lane; Jennifer will ask the neighbours if they've seen it. It looked fairly young so may not have come far.

Spotted flycatcher in Abington

This Spotted flycatcher was seen in an Abington garden on the morning of 25 June, just after 10am.
It is apparently very shy!

Abington Insect life

Derek spotted a Southern Hawker nymphal cast on 24 June:

and then saw it the next day newly emerged from its nymphal cast - and another in the process:

Meanwhile, Robin, Richard and Peter saw a banded demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) at the Millennium Bridge while doing the monthly litter pick:

Abington Birdwatch - weekend of 28 - 30 May 2016

Thanks to eleven contributors, Derek has collated an impressive list of species noted in the Abingtons over the above weekend, including a maximum number of each.

28-30 May 2016 Abington Birdwatch	Eleven Reports received Maximum number of species noted
Blackbird	5
Blackcap	1
Black-headed Gull	3
Blue Tit	8
Bullfinch	2
Buzzard	4
Canada Goose	9
Carrion Crow	3
Chaffinch	2
Chiffchaff	2
Coal Tit	3
Collared Dove	16
Corn Bunting	3
Dunnock	4
Goldfinch	16
Great Crested Grebe	3
Great Spotted Woodpecker	2
Great Tit	4
Green Woodpecker	2
Greenfinch	5
Grey Heron	3
Hobby	1
House Martin	10
House Sparrow	7
Jackdaw	>20
Jay	1
Lesser Black-backed Gull	1
Linnet	6
Little Owl	2
Long-tailed Tit	12
Magpie	3
Mallard	5
Mistle Thrush	2
Moorhen	2
Mute Swan	3
Pheasant	3
Pied Wagtail	4
Red-legged Partridge	6
Reed Bunting	1
Robin	8
Rook	>10
Skylark	4
Song Thrush	1
Sparrowhawk	1
Starling	>40
Stock Dove	2
Swallow	9
Swift	7
Treecreeper	4
Whitethroat	2
Willow Warbler	1
Woodpigeon	>50
Wren	2
Yellowhammer	2

Tree Bumblebees in Nestbox

While checking the bird nest-boxes in his garden recently, Andy M noticed that one nest-box seemed to have been filled with moss, so much so that the moss was visible through the entrance hole.  On watching for a few minutes, a number of bumblebees were seen coming and going from the nest-box.  According to 'Bumblebee Conservation', the Tree Bumblebee (Bombus hypnorum) was first seen in UK relatively recently (2001), presumably arriving from mainland Europe, and has since spread throughout Britain. Seen mostly in late spring and early summer, it can be distinguished from other bumblebee species by its characteristic ginger-coloured thorax, black abdomen and white tail - and from its habit of setting up home in nest-boxes!