Wildlife
TRAP GROUNDS SPECIES OF SPECIAL CONSERVATION CONCERN
This summary is based on evidence supplied by specialist recorders and an independent report commissioned by The Friends of the Trap Grounds from WildWorks Ecological Consultancy. For full lists, see the booklet The Wildlife of the Trap Grounds (printed version available, price £2.00, please send us a request). All records post-date the 1980 watershed used by the County; many are very recent. They cover both halves of the Trap Grounds site: the reed bed (a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation: SLINC) and the scrubland (recommended for SLINC status by the County Wildlife Sites selection panel in February 2002).
UK Priority BAP Species (20: updated June 2007): Water Vole, Soprano Pipistrelle, Common Toad, Common Lizard, Slow-worm, Grass Snake, Bullfinch, Cuckoo, Grasshopper Warbler, House Sparrow, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Marsh Tit, Willow Tit, Starling, Spotted Flycatcher, Turtle Dove, Song Thrush, Linnet, Skylark, Reed Bunting.
Nationally Scarce and Local Species (10: 4 Notable B + 6 others): The current Notable B species are: Buttoned Snout, Sitochroa palealis; Ruddy Darter, Sympetrum sanguineum; the fly Siphonella oscinina; and the soldier fly Chorisops nagatomi. The moss Bryum dunense is nationally scarce. Keel-fruited Cornsalad is a scarce plant with an uncertain distribution; there are only two post-1980 County records, and the record for the Trap Grounds is the only one for the City. The Scarlet Tiger Moth, Callimorpha dominula, has been downgraded from Notable B, but is still scarce. Other Nationally Local species are the moths: Red-green Carpet, Black Neck, and Round-winged Muslin.
Birds of Conservation Concern (25): Red list: Turtle Dove, Skylark, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Linnet, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting. Amber list: Water Rail, Jack Snipe, Snipe, Kingfisher, Green Woodpecker, Swallow, Dunnock, Nightingale, Stonechat, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Grasshopper Warbler, Marsh Tit, Willow Tit, Starling, Brambling, Goldfinch.
Oxfordshire Biodiversity Challenge Species (BAP Species: 28): Water Vole (Flagship), two Pipistrelle Bats (the species has recently been divided, and both are present on the site), Noctule Bat, Water Shrew, Weasel, Badger, Reed Bunting, Turtle Dove (Flagship), Bullfinch, Spotted Flycatcher (Keystone, although only a casual visitor), Song Thrush, Linnet, Skylark, Kingfisher, Nightingale, Snipe (Keystone), Sedge Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Water Rail, Grass Snake, Slow Worm, Glow-worm (Flagship), Banded Demoiselle (Flagship), Buttoned Snout, Emperor, Ragged Robin (Keystone), Yellow Loosestrife (Keystone).
‘Oxfordshire One Hundred’ Species (14): Water Vole, three bats, Reed Bunting, Turtle Dove, Spotted Flycatcher, Linnet, Kingfisher, Nightingale, Snipe, Sedge Warbler, Small Copper Moth, Scarlet Tiger Moth, Emperor Moth. The scrubland also hosts 57 other invertebrate species of county or regional importance.
The photographs above, all taken on the Trap Grounds, show (1) Glow Worms mating (Guy Padfield); (2) Migrant Hawker dragonflies mating (Diane Wilson); (3) a Speckled Wood Butterfly (Alan Allport).