THE BIRDS & WILDLIFE OF PAXTON PITS, LITTLE PAXTON VILLAGE AND SURROUNDING AREAS 2019 PRODUCED BY THE FRIENDS OF PAXTON PITS NATURE RESERVE Acknowledgements Obituary: John Green, Mammal Recorder. John was the Recorder for Bedfordshire but Paxton Pits found a special place in his heart. It all started with otters. He showed us how to find their spraints and suggested that we build some otter holts. We eventually built four of them and the number of otter sightings has steadily increased ever since. The other mammals that John did a lot of work on were mice. He surveyed harvest mice and built nest boxes for wood mice, demonstrating that over-grazed shrub areas with no cover at ground level are shunned by them. He also surveyed water shrews. Best of all, John gave his time to anyone who showed interest in mammals. This included MSc students, volunteers and, most importantly Debbie McKenzie and her customers in the Environmental Education Centre. We all miss him very much and were very grateful for his help at Paxton Pits. Special thanks to Mike Thomas, Neal Parkin, Jim Stevenson and Annette Hemming-Allen. Acknowledgement for the report contribution from Mike Thomas (Introduction), Neal Parkin (Birds), Derek Gruar (Bird ringing), Jim Stevenson (Mammals), Chris Ellson (Bats), Barry Dickerson (Moths), Ian Crosby (Invertebrates) and Peter Walker (Fungi). Thank you to Martin Runchman and Samantha Knight for organizing the WeBS counts, Roger Lloyd and Neal Parkin for the PBBS, Derek and Mo Reeves for site bird ringing, Annette Hemming-Allen for the Wildlife Monitoring Group surveys, Trevor Coughlan for Sunday working parties, Steve and Janet Prior for maintaining the nest boxes and Mike and Ann Thomas for coordinating the groups. Final thank you to All the volunteers and groups involved in providing information and helping on the Reserve. Below is a list of individuals and groups who have helped to enable the publication of the report. Apologies to anyone we have missed. We appreciate all the help you gave us in 2019 and look forward to your support in 2020. Further acknowledgement to Paxton recording groups Mick Parfitt on dragonflies and damselflies, Peter Walker on fungi, Jim Stevenson and Grainne Farrington for trees and shrubs, and everyone involved in the Paxton Wildlife Monitoring Group. Paxton regular reported sightings Garry Rawlings (GR), Jamie Wells (JW), Martin Davis (MD), Neal Parkin (NP) and Terry Brown (TB). Paxton Breeding Bird Survey volunteers (PBBS) Adrian Hyde, Alan Coles, Alan Garner, Alan Owers, Ann Scott, Ann Thomas, Annette Hemming-Allen, Chris Ellson, Chris Ward, David Bale, David Hoccom, David Hyde, David McSweeney, David MacArthur, Den Yaxley, Ian Crosby, Jamie Wells, Jane Coulter, Jim Stevenson, John Coulter, Julia Keens, Lynette Hutchings, Mark Hill, Martin Runchman, Martin Shadbolt, Maxine Biggs, Mike Anderson-Brown, Mike Thomas, Mo Reeves, Neal Parkin, Otto Kyrieleis, Peter Hawkins, Rex Beckett, Ron Hancock, Samantha Knight, Simon Marsh, Stephen May, Sylvane Anderson-Brown, Tim Rea and Viv Ward. Paxton Wetland Bird Survey volunteers Annette Hemming-Allen, Alan Garner, Ann Thomas, Chris Ward, David MacArthur, Mark Hill, Martin Runchman, Mike Thomas, Neal Parkin, Rex Beckett, Samantha Knight, Susie Long, Tim Rea and Viv Ward. 1 THE BIRDS AND WILDLIFE OF PAXTON PITS, LITTLE PAXTON VILLAGE AND SURROUNDING AREA 2019 CONTENTS Location Map 2019 Page … … 3 About Paxton Pits Page … … 4 The Birding Year Page … … 5 Birds Page … … 7 Birds Species List Page … … 37 Paxton Breeding Bird Survey Page … … 39 Bird Ringing Report Page … … 44 Bats Page … … 53 Mammals Page … … 54 Invertebrates Moths Page … … 56 Butterflies Page … … 58 Dragonflies & Damselflies Page … … 59 Other Insects Page … … 61 Fungi Page … … 62 PUBLISHED BY FRIENDS OF PAXTON PITS NATURE RESERVE 2 Paxton Pits Complex Covers Little Paxton, Nature Reserve, Recreational Lakes and Northern Pits 3 About Paxton Pits Paxton Pits is a complex of former and current gravel workings in the Ouse Valley, adjacent to the A1 trunk Road in southwest Cambridgeshire. The flooded pits are an important refuge for wildfowl in winter. The scrub surrounding the lakes, a rare habitat locally, is valuable for breeding songbirds. The Reserve is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its invertebrate and wildfowl assemblages. The southern pits are owned/leased and managed by Huntingdonshire District Council and form a designated Local Nature Reserve, with a car park on the eastern side of Little Paxton Village. The northern pits are part of a working quarry managed by Aggregate Industries and there is currently no public access to this land. Paxton Pits has a Visitor Centre for information, refreshments and a friendly welcome. There are 6 miles of nature trails leading to a much larger network of footpaths and the Ouse Valley Way. Our Meadow and Heron Trails have all ability access surfaces. There is a rich mosaic of wildlife habitats including lakes, riverside meadows, reed beds, scrub and woodland. We support over 100 species of birds each year and are a top site for nightingales which sing from mid-April to mid-June. Our traditionally managed flower-rich meadows include yellow rattle, common spotted and bee orchids. The management of the Nature Reserve is supported by the Friends of Paxton Pits. The Friends are a membership-based charity and your support would be much appreciated. Please pick up a membership form at the Visitor Centre or email us at [email protected] If you would like to help on the Reserve please contact us. To help in the Visitor Centre or with practical work on Tuesday and Wednesday, please contact the Rangers on 01480 406795 or at [email protected]. To help with events, practical conservation work on Thursdays and Sundays or wildlife surveys, please contact [email protected] If you have a skill that you think would help the Reserve please contact [email protected] For more information on the Friends and Paxton Pits Nature Reserve visit our website www.paxton-pits.org.uk or check us out on Facebook at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve is a charity registered in England and Wales, No. 1125221 and is funded entirely by its membership and fundraising activities 4 BIRD REPORTS 2019 The Birding Year It is impossible to predict the next new bird at The bird records of Paxton Pits cover the area Paxton Pits but three birds in recent years have between the A1 Road and Great Ouse River, from been a possibility. They include two American Little Paxton village in the south to the Anglian ducks, the American wigeon and green-winged Water Road in the north leading from Stirtloe. teal which have been regularly reported in East The Reserve is split into three distinct areas: Anglia, and the cattle egret which has been a. Nature Reserve covering the southern spreading throughout England, this year nesting pits with the Heronry lakes being the in Northamptonshire. It was one of these three largest. species which was seen (GR) on 28th April on b. Recreational lakes covering A1 lakes and Pumphouse Pit East. The bird was a male Sailing Lake. American wigeon bringing the total of avian c. Northern pits including Island, species recorded at Paxton Pits to 254. Diddington, Farm, Lodge and the two Pumphouse pits. The number of reported species seen in 2019 of The Paxton Breeding Bird Surveys (PBBS) and 167 was up on the past two years, although this Wetland Birds Surveys (WeBS) cover all these includes a number of sightings reported by single areas. In 2019, the PBBS were held on the first observers. The low water levels on the northern Sunday of April, May and June. A separate water pits attracted more wader species than past years bird survey was arranged in mid-July to count the especially during the May migration. late broods. The one bird excluded from the total was a Species Seen at Paxton Pits Apart from the surveys, most of the reported 140 sightings for 2019 came from three regular 120 sources: the visitors’ logbook held at the Visitor 100 Centre, records reported on Cambirds and 80 60 sightings reported to NP. Please continue to 40 report sightings at either the Visitor Centre or 20 rarer sightings can be emailed, as soon as 0 Jul Jan Jun Oct Apr Sep possible, to NP at [email protected]. Feb Dec Aug Nov Mar May 2017 2018 2019 Average The taxonomy order of birds listed in this report reflect changes to the BOU's British List sequence possible quail heard on 13th August. The call was due to ongoing developments in the scientific too brief to positively confirm, although it was understanding of avian evolution. The most the right time of year for calling birds. notable change is the falcon family which is more closely related to parrots rather than other There were nine reported rarities / vagrant diurnal raptors. species including the American wigeon with two rarities seen by only one observer. These were a The number of avian species, excluding ferruginous duck seen by MD who found the subspecies, recorded at Paxton Pits at the 2018 bird seen by many and a female black beginning of the year was 253. There were no redstart reported on Cambirds. The latter bird new records over the past two years although a was an example where it warranted further Manx shearwater in 2017 flew over Grafham verification as the time of year it was seen Water’s dam towards Paxton Pits but wasn’t seen coincided with the common redstart migration! again. In 2018 there was a juvenile ring-tailed harrier, which was a probable pallid harrier The other rarities seen were a spoonbill, common however, a Montagu’s harrier could not be crane, spotted redshank, kittiwake, pied discounted.