A barn owl, a small Egger Moth and a Grayling butterfly are some of the highlights of reports from the Eastern Reserves at Etton and Maxey this summer.
Other things to report include:
Anglian Water activity
Reserve manager David Cowcill reports that good progress is being made on the Etton Maxey reserve with the recent favourable weather and the activity continues to be closely monitored by an on-site ecologist to ensure wildlife is not disturbed.
The horizontal drilling under the Maxey-Northborough Road has been completed and the pipe pulled through from the reserve. The horizontal drilling diagonally under Maxey Cut and Maxey Road is well under way.
It is possible that the excavation of the main trench and pipe-laying will happen this Autumn with backfilling and restoration starting this year. A Langdyke group has met to define what we want to see – it is an opportunity to widen the conservation value of the paddocks.
Barn owl
After a couple of years inactivity, a barn owl has been using the box in the sheep shelter at Etton High Barn. We don’t yet know the status of the nest but the pellets have been analysed. The main picture above shows the owl near a nesting box installed in the barn area.
Rarities
As well as the occasional exotic bird, and perhaps aided by global warming, locally rare invertebrates keep appearing at Etton Maxey Pits. This year has seen the Small Egger Moth in May, and in August a Grayling butterfly – very difficult to spot and usually only found on the coast and not in inland Cambridgeshire. However the caterpillar food source is mainly common grasses. It was spotted by Chris Lines. More details and a photo can be seen in the Natural World August article here