A wildlife-rich mosaic of habitats with free parking and a Visitor Centre just off the A1
“The bird that came back” Latin name – anser anser The Greylag Goose, the former “Grey Goose” of the Fenlands, is the ancestor of our domestic farmyard goose. Before the widespread drainage of the East Anglian Fens, it had nested as far south as Cambridgeshire, but by the beginning of the 19th century, its breeding… Read More
Volunteers were out at the weekend on the monthly water bird survey (WeBS). It is good to see that the goldeneye are back. The tufted ducks weren’t all at Grafham Water and there were plenty to be seen on Island Pit, as well as a goosander. A great white egret on Pumphouse Pit and 6… Read More
Green Woodpeckers One of the most common and loudest bird calls that you are likely to hear at Paxton Pits at any time of the year is the “yaffle” of the green woodpecker. There are plenty around this Autumn, so you are very likely to hear one and there is also a good chance that… Read More
Latin name: Troglodytes troglodytes, which means “cave dweller” in English Image by This familiar species is listed by the BTO as the UK’s commonest breeding bird, with c11 million breeding pairs, and was known to my mother as Jenny Wren. The wren has had a very wide range of regional and folk names – at… Read More
Returning ducks Many of the ducks at Paxton Pits leave us in the Spring to breed in Northern Britain or Scandinavia. By October, they have returned to spend the winter in our milder climate and you will see far more on the reserve than in the summer months. The wigeon is one of the more… Read More
