Paxton Snail Survey

 Yesterday we sampled the water and banks of two more water locations at Paxton Pits and a couple of land areas, recording all the Snails that we found. Here are just a selection of the species that we found. Richard Preece identified 30 different species during our hunt - many thanks!!

More Garden Minibeasts

Quite a few more sessions clearing the paths in the garden and recording any minibeasts taking shelter there. Not sure how many are new species for the list (IDs at end) but I haven't recorded the striking striped Hemipteran nymph (Nysius spp) before. Mainly small spiders but also one large beautifully marked snail.

 

Early Fungi at RSPB Sandy

 The fungi season has started but with limited species (presumably due to dry conditions) - Amanita species, Cracked Boletus, Sulphur tufts and Parasols predominate and looked great in yesterdays warm autumn sunshine. Good to bump into several friends also on the lookout for attractive clumps!

Paxton Kingfishers etc

I spent an hour at Paxton Pits today after a morning work party and was rewarded with views of at least two Kingfishers - neither of them the same as last weeks which was a female. Lovely light and reflections for the water birds - Coot, Dabchick, Shoveller, GC Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Raven and Heron

Start of the Fungi Season at Paxton

It was good to see that some Fungi are starting to emerge at Paxton Pits though not in usual numbers due to the dry conditions. Yesterday and last night's heavy rain may well stimulate the emergence of fruiting bodies. Here what we discovered on a foray on Thursday with very tentative identifications.