Our annual competition was established in memory of local photographer Nicola Devine, who died in 2022. This year the prize in the Over-18 category has been won by James Wainscoat for his exquisite close-up of a pair of Banded Demoiselle dragonflies. And the prize in the Under-18 category has been won by Arthur Waszak (aged […]
Long-tailed tits: tiny birds, more easily visible while the trees are bare
Arctic weather relenting …
Frozen floods, icy reedbed
Signs of Spring on New Year’s Day
The ponds are extensively flooded after all the recent rain, but today Clare Weiner photographed Stinking Hellebore in flower alongside the boardwalk, and a single flower of Winter Heliotrope near the bird-hide.
A new Bee-Fly: Bombylius discolor
Nicola Devine photographed and identified a Dotted Bee-fly on 12 April: the first recorded sighting on the Trap Grounds. Here, for comparison, is her photo of a Dark-edged Bee-fly, which she has previously recorded on several occasions, dating back to 2017.
Peacock butterfly
White Violet
A modest herald of Spring, photographed by Clare Weiner peering out under a young oak tree in Snowdrop Glade
A Film About the Trap Grounds
A film made in August 2020 by Sharon Woodward, a member of Oxford City Council’s Communications Team, has beaten thousands of other entries to win an award for Best Documentary Film in the Malnad International Wildlife and Environmental Film Festival, 2021. (Malnad is in Karnataka, by the way.) You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/kE3MUIVUPEw
Reptile survey, 2020
A meticulous weekly survey of Trap Grounds Slow Worms and Grass Snakes was conducted by two Friends of the TG from the beginning of April to the end of September 2020. The six-month recorded total was 362 Slow Worms (overall average: 10 per mat) and 2 Grass Snakes. The most productive day was in the […]