Bray Pit is a nature reserve on the edge of the village of Holyport in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England. The nature reserve was under the management of the

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is a wildlife trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It sh ...

, but as of December 2019 is no longer listed on the Trust web site.

Geography and site

The site is in size. Bray Pit consists of a small flooded gravel pit surrounded by a strip of woodland, a mature hedge and a wide grassy bank.

Fauna

The site has the following fauna:

Invertebrates

* Anthocharis cardamines *

Bombus pascuorum ''Bombus pascuorum'', the common carder bee, is a species of bumblebee present in most of Europe in a wide variety of habitats such as meadows, pastures, waste ground, ditches and wikt:embankment, embankments, roads, and field margins, as well ...

* Megachile centuncularis * Osmia rufa * Bombus lapidarius * Bombus lucorum

Birds

Sterna hirundo The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory ...

* Fulica atra * Podiceps cristatus *

Dendrocopus major ''Dendrocopos'' is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia, Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles. Taxonomy The genus ''Dendrocopos'' was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Lu ...

Ardea cinerea The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Palearctic, Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the m ...

Delichon urbica The common house martin (''Delichon urbicum''), sometimes called the northern house martin or, particularly in Europe, just house martin, is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family which breeds in Europe, north Africa and across t ...

* Alcedo atthis * Gallinula chloropus *

Hirundo rustica The barn swallow (''Hirundo rustica'') is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally. ...

Apus apus The common swift (''Apus apus'') is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between th ...

Flora

The site has the following flora: *

Centaurea nigra ''Centaurea nigra'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names lesser knapweed, common knapweed and black knapweed. A local vernacular name is hardheads. It is native to Europe but it is known on other ...

Leucanthemum vulgare ''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (french: Marguerite commune, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions ...

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old Wor ...

* Rhinanthus minor

References

{{Authority control Parks and open spaces in Berkshire Nature reserves in Berkshire