At the Abbey Fish Ponds, volunteers were at work. Some had cut sedges and reeds.

In places this had revealed ponds that were not visible before. There are water channels that run across the ground, not bounded by banks.

That is in addition to the main stream that runs within banks.

Volunteers were also cutting down trees and from them a long hedge like barrier was being made.

There were not as many insects to be seen as last month. There were more birds singing and flying about, but they are difficult to picture clearly.

Large mammals are easier to photograph. Here is Sciurus carolinensis

Here is another – its Latin name is Felis catus.

Gareth, who is a keen bird watcher and works at Trinity Church, shared this picture taken by a resident in Conduit Road.

It shows a Peregrine Falcon on the steeple of Trinity Church.

In Trinity church today we had Harvest and the first Baptism since the start of lockdown. The harvest offering were not as big as usual and will be taken to the Asylum Welcome Food Bank in Oxford. The baby was carried round the church by Ian, the Minister, and slept through the whole event.

We hope the Peregrine Falcon will nest and make babies.

When I visited the Abbey Fish Ponds nature reserve last week there were 20 volunteers from the Earth Trust cutting back grass, and some of the summer growth, using scythes, clippers, and rakes. At lunch time they all gathered for sandwiches.

It was a sunny day and, as I passed the ponds that are closest to the path, I could see more dragon flies than on any previous monthly visit.

They did not settle for long.

A pair were flying quite slowly together linked from tail to head.

This video shows an attempt to chase a flitting dragonfly with a camera phone.

There were still a lot of blackberries and other fruit such as these haws next to the spider’s web.

The stream, through the reserve, is culverted for a short way before emerging, under the Radley Road, into the reserve.

The stream is wider where it leaves the reserve, under Audlett Drive, having been joined by at least one spring.

On my monthly visit to the Abbey Fishponds Nature reserve in Abingdon, I did see Marjorie White, from a distance, cutting back some of the sedges. Marjorie was looking after this area long before the Earth Trust took over its management.

Today was cloudy and there was not a lot of direct sunshine. I visited mid morning. This is the view over one basin of sedge and other water loving plants. There are lots of mauve fluffy flowers on long stems below the houses.

There is another meadow area, lower down, where far more varieties of wildflower thrive.

In terms of wildlife the most visible bird is the wood pigeon. I heard a robin chirping an alarm call from a tree, but there was none of the sing song heard earlier in the year.

Blackberries and elderberries are out, as are the fruits of hawthorn and wild rose. Thistles are letting go clouds of fluffy seeds.  There were quite a lot of bees, and fewer butterflies. Here is one butterfly on the mint like flowers in the marshy area.

There were plenty of caterpillars.

Over twenty caterpillars were munching their way through the leaves and up into the flowers of this particular ragwort. I don’t know why it was singled out.

Finally a view of the stream that bisects the nature reserve from top to bottom. It is only visible in short sections through all the overhanging plants.