It looks to be rather a good year for Cambridge wildlife. I seriously was not expecting to find as many things, including rare plants and beautiful animals.
To start off with I found a suede bolete (Xerocomos subtomentosus) near Jesus lock. To my knowledge this has never, or not at least for a long time, been found in Cambridge. And there is an entire group of them! The first group dried out in the temperatures (I 'operate' best in the 10-20 degree range. Anything above 30 plays serious havoc with my thinking and wellbeing), but a second, even better group has sprouted and looks good! In addition I was emailed a sighting of what appears to be a group of Slippery Jack (Suillus luteus) reduced almost to an unrecogniseable pulp in the huge heat.
Here is my favourite picture of one of them, above. The only reason this did not end up on a hob after a few hours is because it grew very close to the road. Mushrooms growing near roads have a tendency to suck in lots of heavy metals and can become toxic. Mushrooms are sprouting up- I'll check places like Pinehurst and Beechwoods for any penny buns and stuff like that.
By reports barn owls are continuing to haunt the Grantchester meadows, but I was unable to see them. The tawny owls are doing well too, if you would like to see their progress, I would suggest visiting this Facebook page, which monitors all wildlife in the college, not just the owls
https://www.facebook.com/JCLiveNestbox/
I even got my pictures in there! Other species which were seen are sparrowhawks, beautiful butterflies and, surprisingly badgers
I know of three badger setts in Cambridge, and I have already made arrangements to visit a colossal 20+ entrance sett in Newnham college. The other sites I know are Churchill and St. Johns college.
The sparrowhawks are doing brilliant off Grange road, and the two chicks there are spend time flying around and singing from the tops of sequoias there. There were reports of tawny owls earlier in the year from the same place. A recent observation treated me to one of the adults munching away at a pigeon it had caught in a tree, despite that tree being right next to a path. It ignored everyone, not just us, outright. And, in addition, deer also stare at you when you walk around at times.
I didn't visit the peregrines as much now, but there is no reason to suggest that at least two of the six chicks which fledged this year wouldn't have set up territory somewhere else in the city.
Buzzards have been a surprise. I recently found out one pair chose to nest at the A14 roundabout off Milton road. It seems they are becoming like vultures, enjoying the carrion readily available from roadkill.
Red kites visit, and to my knowledge them hanging around the hills to the South suggests colonisation by them is imminent.
To my knowledge, 3 of the six owl species in England nest in Cambridge (With only SEOs, little and eagle owls not nesting in the city) and are doing well except eared owls, of which there were no reports for quite some time.
Provided it is not disturbed or lawnmowed, the bee orchid at Addenbrooke's can keep flowering over and over and over and over...
Bee and pyramidal orchids are present in Trumpington meadows. White helleborines grew by the hundreds this year in the Nightingale grounds and look REALLY happy- if they are not stomped on repeatedly by children next year, there could be an explosion of rare orchids there.
Lynx is almost back to the UK- this petition if it hits the goal could push it over the edge and see 12 lynx brought back
https://www.change.org/p/environment-minister-george-eustice-bring-the-lynx-back-to-the-uk?redirect=false