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Click on "Programme & Volunteering" to see the Working parties |
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Click on "Flora & Fauna Record" to go to the Birds and Wild Flower Systematic lists
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BREAKING NEWS: April 2014
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| For injured Birds of Prey and Owls To report dead bats |
30 April: Noted along Adventurers Head Drain (part of County Wildlife Site). Greater Pond Sedge in flower. Also much Cuckooflower along waters edge. Swallows nesting under bridges. Goatsbeard (Jack go-to-bed-at-noon) elsewhere. PM  |
| 29 April: Seen on 23 April around Haddenham fens. 1 Wheatear briefly. Nice to see pairs of Yellow Wagtails taking up several territories now. Corn Buntings singing in all the right places. many Skylarks heard and Reed Buntings chasing the females. Just a great morning. Common Whitethroats by the dozen singing from Rape crops. Oh yes and a Water Vole in the drains. Paul M & Ian D. |
| 26 April: Dam Bank Drove – Wheatear 3 males. Long Drove – Wheatear 1 female, Brown Hare 7 sitting down in close group. South of Galls Drove – Wheatear 1 male. Also, on 21st saw our first Large Red Damselfly of the year around our pond in Aldreth. Simon. |
| 23 April: Now have to admit to a booboo when we reported Redstart at Haddenham a few days ago. It was a female Black Redstart. Must admit we weren't overly sure even then as we first saw it on farm machinery which Common Redstarts don't usually do but blacks often do. Excuse is someone came and disturbed us and it. PM & ID in sackcloth and ashes! |
22 April: Two interesting insects seen and photographed. Alder Fly out on the fen and came into car. Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee. Showing how it is significantly different to the male brown Hairy-footed Flower Bee on 14th April. The orange on its legs is not pollen as originally thought but in fact are orange coloured hairs. Paul   |
| 21 April: A queer sort of day which started with a female Redstart off Lode Way then a pair of Common Whitethroats along Hoghill Drove but from then on little else. Even Corn Buntings didn't offer to sing much and we had only fleeting sightings. 3-4 male Reed Buntings but should have been more. Even tit family seemed inactive. Frustrating but was a good start I suppose. PM & ID 4 male Wheatear in field on Dam Bank Drove this morning; and saw our first Large Red Damselfly of the year around our pond in Aldreth. Simon. |
| 20 April: 2 singing Lesser Whitethroats along Tinker’s Lane. Simon. |
| 18 April: Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler along Long Drove and Swallow over Aldreth. Simon. |
| 16 April: 33+ Yellow Wagtails and 3 Pied Wagtails in a single recently ploughed field along Dam Bank Drove. Simon. Bee identified (see 14 April below): Anthophora plumipes. English Name: Hairy Footed Flower Bee. PM. |
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14 April: This bee was seen in garden and it was noticed that it was not a Bumble. However, am having trouble positively identifying it. It looks like Cuckoo Bee Eucera longicornis. But antennae aren't long enough for male so is it a female but my guide book doesn't show correct face features for this example?. Any help will be gratefully accepted. Email Paul Mason
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13 April: Tree sparrow in garden appears to be setting up home in our nestbox with a male house sparrow.Sheila and Ian D. Dambank. After BYs sighting of over 20 male Yellow Wagtails yesterday we went down this a.m. but could only find 5-6 left. Females don't seem to be in yet. Corn Buntings were keeping a low profile but we know they are there. No linnets, 4-5 Skylarks. Pair Grey Partridges. Long Drove by Hillrow Causeway a Common Buzzard that seems permanent there now often on poles. PM, SD & ID. Tree Sparrow |
| 12 April: Dambank .Nice little gang of birds on the bare field. 22 yellow wagtails (mostly males), 8 pied wagtails, 9 meadow pipits, 9 corn buntings, 6 reed buntings, 4 linnets. also in the area, 1 peregrine and 3 buzzards and 3 swallows. Barbara York |
11 April: As seen here the Duck Lane leucistic Blackbird is differently plumaged from Aldreth Road example. I believe from what I am told there is a third somewhere in the village. Barbara York   These found in garden are actually Wild Flowers. Alkanet is plentiful out in countryside also. Hairy Bittercress is a very low crucifer often seen by walls and garden paths. It is easily overlooked. This specimen is in grass and not too easy to photograph well, even in micro. PM   |
10 April: Cowslips, Ely Way. White Dead Nettle common everywhere. Wheatear male. Claytons Bridge. PM    |
| 9 April: North Fen. Galls Drove. 2 male Wheatears. Also numbers of Corn Buntings, Reed Buntings, Yellowhammers all displaying, singing etc. Surprisingly as we returned by the field the Wheatears were in they no longer were so must be moving on. Long Drove at least 4-5 singing Corn Buntings. Claytons Drove and bridge 2 male and 1 female Wheatears. Dambank. 2 nice bright Yellow Wagtails, 3 more Wheatears, many Skylarks and Linnets feeding all over ploughed field and still 2 White Wagtails males again. C Buzzards 3 in two places. So a good morning. PM & ID |
5 April: Singing Corn Bunting seen along Long Drove. Simon. |
| 4 April: Leucistic near white Blackbird still frequenting Aldreth Rd gardens. C. Presnell. |
| 3 April: Fairchild's Meadows. Red Kite and 3 Common Buzzards circling over. Carol Breeze. 2 Redpolls still visiting garden feeders in Bury Lane. Are they now likely to stay local and breed? Jake Allsop. That would be very nice. Long time since they last did. PM |
| 2 April: North Fen Back Drove. Up to 10 male Reed Buntings trying to attract females singing and displaying much of the time over flowering rape. Up to 3 Corn Buntings singing and 3-4 Yellowhammers singing and displaying. Getting all "sprung up". Two Marsh Harriers hunting over fields. I male 1 female but don't know if they are a pair. Long Drove. Corn Buntings setting up territories and surprisingly 30-40 Linnets still in winter flock mode. Dambank. 2 nice close smart White Wagtails. The migration has started! Oh and the usual Common Buzzards in 3 places. PM & ID |
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