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Englemere Pond
Englemere Pond is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the southern outskirts of North Ascot in Berkshire. The site is also a Local Nature Reserve. It is owned by the Crown Estate and managed by Bracknell Forest Borough Council. Geography The nature reserve is situated between Martins Heron railway station and Ascot railway station. It features a shallow acidic lake and marsh land. History The land for most of its recorded history has been part of a great Royal Hunting Forest that surrounded Windsor Castle. In 1990 the site was declared as a local nature reserve by Bracknell Forest Borough Council. In August 2016 an unexploded old military shell was discovered in Englemere Pond and blown up in a controlled explosion by the police. Fauna The fauna of the reserve include the following: Birds Invertebrates Reptiles, amphibians and other vertebrates * Grass snake * Common toad * Palmate newt * Adders Flora The flora of the reserve include the foll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Site Of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. SSSI/ASSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in the United Kingdom are based upon them, including national nature reserves, Ramsar sites, Special Protection Areas, and Special Areas of Conservation. The acronym "SSSI" is often pronounced "triple-S I". Selection and conservation Sites notified for their biological interest are known as Biological SSSIs (or ASSIs), and those notified for geological or physiographic interest are Geological SSSIs (or ASSIs). Sites may be divided into management units, with some areas including units that are noted for both biological and geological interest. Biological Biological SSSI/A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Chiffchaff
The common chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus collybita''), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic. It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named onomatopoeically for its simple ''chiff-chaff'' song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground, and assumes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, whilst the male has little involvement in nesting, but defends his territory against rivals, and attacks potential predators. A small insectivorous bird, it is subject to predation by mammals, such as cats and mustelids, and birds, particularly hawks of the genus '' Accipiter''. Its large range and population mean that its status is secure, although on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hairy Dragonfly
''Brachytron'' is a monotypic genus of European dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae containing the hairy dragonfly (''Brachytron pratense''), also known as the hairy hawker or spring hawker. Description The hairy dragonfly is named for its hairy thorax, distinguishing it from other hawkers. It has a long, narrow pterostigma The pterostigma (plural: pterostigmata) is a group of specialized cells in the outer wings of insects, which are often thickened or coloured, and thus stand out from other cells. It is particularly noticeable in dragonflies, but present also in ... (the coloured, sclerotized patch on the outer region of each wing). The antehumeral stripes are usually thin and green. The hairy dragonfly has coupled, oval-shaped markings on its abdomen, blue on males and yellow on females. It is smaller than other species in the genus Aeshna. It is the United Kingdom's smallest hawker.. Habitat The hairy dragonfly lives in ponds, lakes, fens, ditches, and canals rich in ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swallow
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used colloquially in Europe as a synonym for the barn swallow. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 19 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus ''Pseudochelidon'') and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand Martin
The sand martin (''Riparia riparia''), also known as the bank swallow (in the Americas), collared sand martin, or common sand martin, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the whole of Europe and the Mediterranean countries and across the Palearctic to the Pacific Ocean. It is a Holarctic species also found in North America. It winters in eastern and southern Africa, South America, and the Indian Subcontinent. Taxonomy This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', and originally named ''Hirundo riparia''; the description consisted of the simple "''H rundocinerea, gula abdomineque albis''" – "an ash-grey swallow, with white throat and belly" – and the type locality was simply given as "Europa". The specific name means "of the riverbank"; it is derived from the Latin ''ripa'' "riverbank". The pale martin of northern India and southeastern China ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Teal
The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being the only one of these small dabbling ducks in much of its range. The bird gives its name to the blue-green colour teal. It is a highly gregarious duck outside the breeding season and can form large flocks. It is commonly found in sheltered wetlands and feeds on seeds and aquatic invertebrates. The North American green-winged teal (''A. carolinensis'') was formerly (and sometimes is still) considered a subspecies of ''A. crecca''. Taxonomy The Eurasian teal belongs to the "true" teals, a group of small '' Anas'' dabbling ducks closely related to the mallard (''A. platyrhynchos'') and its relatives; that latter group in fact seems to have evolved from a true teal. It forms a superspecies with the green-winged teal and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Shoveler
The northern shoveler (; ''Spatula clypeata''), known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west of this body of water, and as far south as the Great Lakes west to Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon. The northern shoveler is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' (AEWA) applies. The conservation status of this bird is Least Concern. Taxonomy The northern shoveler was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He introduced the binomial name ''Anas clypeata''. A molecular phylogentic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gadwall
The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that it is a sister species with the falcated duck; the two are closely related to the three species of wigeons, and all of them have been assigned to the genus '' Mareca''. There are two subspecies: * ''M. s. strepera'', the common gadwall, described by Linnaeus, is the nominate subspecies. * ''M. s. couesi'', Coues's gadwall, extinct 1874, was formerly found only on Teraina, a coral atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The specific name ''strepera'' is Late Latin for "noisy". The etymology of the word ''gadwall'' is not known, but the name has been in use since 1666. Description The gadwall is long with a wingspan. The male is slightly larger than the female, weighing on average against her . The breeding male is patterned grey, with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Redpoll
The lesser redpoll (''Acanthis cabaret'') is a small passerine bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. It is the smallest, brownest, and most streaked of the redpolls. It is sometimes classified as a subspecies of the common redpoll (''Acanthis flammea'') but has recently been split from that species by most taxonomies including Clements and the British Ornithologists' Union. It is native to Europe and has been introduced to New Zealand. Many birds migrate further south in winter, but the mild climate means that it can be found all year round in much of its range, and may be joined by the other two redpoll species in winter. Taxonomy The genus name ''Acanthis'' is from the Ancient Greek ''akanthis'', a name for a small now-unidentifiable bird, and ''cabaret'' is the French name for a type of finch. Redpolls were also previously placed in the genus Carduelis but were moved to their own genus along with a number of other changes in the genus. The relationships among the redp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tawny Owl
The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, and whose upper body may be either brown or grey. (In several subspecies, individuals may be of either color.) The tawny owl typically makes its nest in a tree hole where it can protect its eggs and young against potential predators. It is non-migratory and highly territorial: as a result, when young birds grow up and leave the parental nest, if they cannot find a vacant territory to claim as their own, they will often starve. The tawny owl is a nocturnal bird of prey. It is able to hunt successfully at night because of its vision and hearing adaptations and its ability to fly silently. It usually hunts by dropping suddenly from a perch and seizing its prey, which it swallows whole. It hunts mainly rodents, although in urbanized areas its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spotted Flycatcher
The spotted flycatcher (''Muscicapa striata'') is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia. It is declining in parts of its range. This is an undistinguished looking bird with long wings and tail. The adults have grey-brown upperparts and whitish underparts, with a streaked crown and breast, giving rise to the bird's common name. The legs are short and black, and the bill is black and has the broad but pointed shape typical of aerial insectivores. Juveniles are browner than adults and have spots on the upperparts. Taxonomy The spotted flycatcher was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name ''Motacilla striata''. The genus name ''Muscicapa'' comes from the Latin ''musca'', a fly and ''capere'', to catch. The specific epithet ''striata'' is from the Latin ''striatus'' meaning striated. There ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Reed Warbler
The common reed warbler (''Acrocephalus scirpaceus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It breeds across Europe into the temperate western Palaearctic where it is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. It is also a resident species over large parts of Africa. Taxonomy The common reed warbler was formally described in 1804 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann under the binomial name ''Turdus scirpaceus''. The type locality is Alsace. The common reed warbler is now one of around 40 species placed in the genus '' Acrocephalus'' that was introduced by Johann Andreas Naumann and his son Johann Friedrich Naumann in 1811. The genus name ''Acrocephalus'' is from Ancient Greek ''akros'', "highest", and ''kephale'', "head". It is possible that the Naumanns thought ''akros'' meant "sharp-pointed". The specific ''scirpaceus'' is from Latin and means "reed". Ten subspecies are recognised: * ''A. s. scirpaceus'' (Hermann, 1804) – breeds in Europe to west Rus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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_female_and_male_dabbling.jpg "Click for more on -> Gadwall")
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