Abington Naturewatch: Trip to Lakenheath Fen 3rd June

Sunday 4 June 2017

Trip to Lakenheath Fen 3rd June

Derek arranged a trip to Lakenheath Fen on Saturday morning.
www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/l/lakenheathfen/about.aspx

A good group (17 people) met at 10:00; we had an introductory talk by an RSPB Volunteer when we arrived. We walked along a well maintained path, stopping to eat our packed lunches at the west end of the public area. We then returned to the car park, most of us following the river back, about 3.5 miles walk in all.

There is a good walk through a varied wetland habitat, mostly reeds and grazing marshes, with some poplars, the remains of a Bryant and May matchwood plantation. The railway forms the south boundary and the river the north.

As you can see below, the weather was good.

We saw a good number of birds, insects and flowers, including 43 species of birds:

Bittern	Great Tit	Oystercatcher
Black-headed Gull	Greenfinch	Pheasant
Blackbird	Grey Heron	Redshank
Buzzard	Greylag Goose	Reed Bunting
Carrion Crow	Hobby	Reed Warbler
Cetti's Warbler	Jay	Robin
Chaffinch	Kestrel	Rook
Chiffchaff	Lapwing	Sedge Warbler
Common Tern	Little Egret	Stonechat
Coot	Long-tailed Tit	Tufted Duck
Cormorant	Magpie	Whitethroat
Cuckoo	Mallard	Woodpigeon
Gadwall	Marsh Harrier	Wren
Goldfinch	Moorhen
Great Crested Grebe	Mute Swan

Andy took these photos:

Male and Female Four-spotted Chaser Dragonflies

Drinker moth caterpillar

Cinnabar moth

Painted Lady

Barry took these photos:

Common blue damselfly

Four-spotted Hawker

Four-spotted Hawker

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

Four-spotted Hawker

and a couple of Peter's

Tortoiseshell

Common blue damselfly

Grebe on nest

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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)