Abington Naturewatch

Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Red Admiral on snowdrops

Victor Bugg writes: "A Red Admiral on snowdrops is a fairly rare sight. It stayed around for twenty minutes..."

Tuesday, 8 December 2009

Blackbird for breakfast?

Jim Cracknell took several pictures of this Sparrowhawk in his garden last week...

Saturday, 24 October 2009

For the first time for a number of years the Bourn Bridge Road and Linton Road arable fields have been ploughed early. The big field just beyond the railway to the east of Chalky Road was in stubble until recently, but owing to the drought there was only one of our 'target' stubble plants above the ground, nothing to justify an expedition. I had hopes that the recent rain might have had some good results, only to find that the plough has now arrived there too.

Another good year for fruits and berries is some consolation. The Spindle Tree near the river at the border between the cricket and fooball fields is looking better than ever. Derek Turnidge provided these photos.

Next month's village News will have details of our autumn Members Meeting which will be on the morning of Saturday 14th November. Prominent points will be deciding on one or two winter bird outings, and collecting ideas for our Naturewatch Evening early in the New Year.

Pat Daunt
Naturewatch coordinator

Sunday, 4 October 2009

Moths at the Buggs' - 30th May 2009

Saturday, 26 September 2009

River sampling - 26th September 2009

Beetle larvae

Hairworm

We sampled at the ford and near the newly repainted Millennium Bridge in a river that was quite low - with a lot of fools' water-cress in places. The samples were less abundant than usual but we saw one or two interesting creatures in and around the river, including a shoal of around 20 fish and a mallard. We also heard a great spotted woodpecker. The samples were predominantly larvae and shrimp, with a few worms and snails.

Monday, 21 September 2009

Recent Bird sightings

We have had a flock (charm?) of up to 18 Goldfinches in the garden over the last few days.

On Monday lunchtime I was lucky enough to see a Kingfisher fly away upriver from the bank near the football pitch.

Please continue to let me have a note of any unusual sightings - there will we hope be winter visitors to report later: Redwings, Fieldfares, Bramblings....

Derek Turnidge
17 September

Swans at Granta Park

Photo by Liz Obstfeld

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)