Dry Drayton Natural History and Nature Notes
We welcome your contributions as we build a collection of monthly nature notes for Dry Drayton. You can find here information about wildlife in the parish and regular and more unusual sightings of Parish flora and fauna. Please send us your sightings and comments to add to these pages or send your wildlife queries to us.
"The Parish is in no way out of the ordinary as regards its natural history. There are no rareities here, no expanse of unusual habitat. But this is precisely what makes it so special to all of us. Many nature reserves have been created in Cambridgeshire and wonderful and important though they are, they are an unfortunate necessity in our man made world, set up to conserve our diminishing wildlife. No such conventional reserves exist here in Dry Drayton. It is but a small community in the wider countryside that should still be a home for plants, animals and birds, as it was in Walker's time. But it is exactly this "wider countryside" that is most under threat now from development, unsympathetic land management that does not have wildlife at its heart and the insidious, but now all too obvious, threats of climate change." Val Perrin, Gallows Piece to Bee Garden, 2000. |
Dry Drayton Nature Notes for: January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
Species Lists for Dry Drayton: Flowering plants and ferns | Fungi | Insects and spiders | Amphibians and reptiles | Birds | Mammals
Nature Notes on: The Dry Drayton Environment and Change | Flora | Insects and spiders | Amphibians and reptiles | Birds | Mammals
For more detailed local natural history information:
- December 2011, as part of the Dry Drayton Village Plan, Val Perrin produced a Parish Biodiversity Survey / Inventory 2010/11, published on 7th December 2011. The following people helped with reviewing the species lists : Virginia Bird (plants), and Maggie and Ken Hook, Annie Harley (birds, lepidoptera and mammals).
- The Village Millennium publication, "Gallows Piece to Bee Garden", 2000, contains extensive nature notes of Dry Drayton in the Millennium year, including detailed lists of species seen in the village, by Val Perrin
- In 1876 the then Rector of Dry Drayton, Rev F.A.Walker, published a "History and Natural History of Dry Drayton", which included an account of the flora and fauna of the Parish nearly 130 years ago. This 1876 publication is now available free at Google Books: htps://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zicDxf8a2V8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
To Satisfy Your Wildlife Interests
If natural history is starting to interest you, there is plenty going on near to Dry Drayton. Why not join one of the local or national conservation organisations active in this part of Cambridgeshire.
- Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust manages numerous nature reserves in Cambridgeshire, which are open to members. Their new headquarters is nearby at Cambourne and they have an extensive programme of local events and courses for members.
- Cambridgeshire Bird Club for all things connected with local birding in the County
- The Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds has its headquarters at nearby Sandy, with nearby reserves at Fen Drayton Lakes, Fowlmere and the Ouse Washes.
- The National Trust runs a magnificent reserve at Wicken Fen.
- Other interesting nearby wildlife sites include Paxton Pits
- We are also very lucky to have nine National Nature Reserves in this area, chosen for their importance nationally and managed by Natural England.