Paxton Breeding Bird Survey and Mining Bees

Yesterday was the first Breeding Bird survey of 2024 at Paxton - a windy but warm 7am start to the walk to catch the early song was rewarded by singing Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Willow Warblers on our route and elsewhere Garden Warblers and Reed Warblers announced their presence while Nightingales are here singing in the private areas of the site. Later in the morning I went to look for Mining bees in a favourite location and the bramble leaves were teaming with different species - haven't identified all yet (shown are the Early Colletes female and male, ?Orange-tailed Mining Bee, Small Sallow Mining Bee, Tawny Mining Bee and Red Mason Bee

Winter Bird Survey Paxton

Great to meet up with everyone for the start of the monthly surveys at Paxton Pits. This month our survey was of the birds - we recorded 53 species with a few winter visitors among them - Golden Eye (large flocks on Island Pit}, Goosander pair and Redwings. Best sighting (and a long way off) group of Green Sandpipers.

Birds From Summer Leys

The weather was not great yesterday for our visit to Summer Leys but we did manage to pick out and photograph a few of the many species that live there: Widgeon, Shoveller, Redshank, Lapwing, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Brambling, Reed Bunting and Long-Tailed Tit with very large feather.

 

Blacktoft Sands Landscapes

A few images of the landscape etc of Blacktoft Sands which lies on the south bank of the River Ouse, where the waterway widens to become the Humber Estuary. Reedbed covers much of the site and this is England's largest intertidal reedbed. There are six shallow saline lagoons with hides, an area of grazing marsh and a small area of mudflat. Scrub between the hides attracts a great variety of warblers and a thriving colony of tree sparrows.

Ash Die-Back and Woodland Birds

Hardwick Wood is one of East Anglia's Ancient woodlands and its Ash trees are suffering badly with Ash Dieback - the tell-tale white twigs can be seen in the woodland panorama with close ups to follow. The fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus causes the lethal disease and represents a substantial threat. It was detected in the UK for the first time in 2012 and is now very widespread. The fungus blocks water and nutrients moving in the tree's vascular system, causing a restriction in water movement that leads to a significant leaf loss, bark lesions and then the dieback in the crown of the tree itself (hence the name). The loss of the Ash trees will affect the wood - there will be fewer trees for the nesting Buzzards and Kites though hole-nesters such as the Tits, Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and Tree Creepers may gain temporarily