There are many ways in which you can help wildlife and people at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve, which depends on the help and enthusiasm of volunteers. If you’d like to play a part, read on…

Practical conservation
Ensuring that Paxton Pits continues to be attractive to wildlife is an ongoing task. The Management Plan outlines work that needs to be done, including coppicing trees and opening up scrub to diversify habitat, managing the islands for waders and terns, and laying hedges in the traditional way.

If you’re available during the week, there are opportunities to work directly with the Ranger and his staff. Contact the Ranger, Jim Stevenson, on 01480 406795 or e-mail

During the winter, Weekend Work Parties are organised by The Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve (FPPNR) and the RSPB (see below for the terms for each). If you have any questions concerning this Programme and/or want to receive a Programme, please contact either Ray Matthews (01480 215277), David Cobham (01480 475576), Mike Thomas (01480 387749)

FPPNR Working Parties are run under conditions set by Huntingdonshire District Council. Anyone can attend without prior arrangement, but children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult who takes responsibility for them.

RSPB Working Parties are run under conditions set by the Society. All volunteers must be registered with the Society prior to the event so that RSPB insurance arrangements apply. To register, please contact Ray Matthews (01480 215277)

Volunteers must be aged 16 years or over.

Click here to scroll down to details of the weekend Working Parties for 2009/2010.
Click here to download full details, including conditions, photos and Health & Safety guidance, as an Adobe Acrobat document (pdf, 462kb)
(Most computers have an Adobe document reader installed. If yours doesn't, or you need to upgrade your reader, please go to www.adobe.com)

Voluntary wardening
If you’re a people-person, could you could help out in the Visitor Centre? Volunteer Wardens welcome visitors, provide information, refreshments and a friendly chat. Helping visitors to enjoy their time on the Reserve is a satisfying experience and only takes a few hours of your time each year. Volunteer Wardens operate a rota to open the Visitor Centre on most weekends.

To find out more, please call one of the Voluntary Warden Co-ordinating Team on 01480 472536 (David & Marjorie Chapple) or 01480 810744 (Jocelyn Gale) or e-mail

Surveys
If you can identify wildlife, particularly some of the less well known taxa, such as spiders or lichens, and could give some time to finding out more about the Reserve’s fauna, please contact the Ranger, Jim Stevenson, on 01480 406795 or e-mail
We’re particularly keen for someone to tell us about some of the invertebrates on the reserve, since only the butterflies and moths are currently monitored regularly.

The Wetland Birds Survey (WeBS) is undertaken every month from September to March, on behalf of the British Trust for Ornithology.

The Paxton Breeding Bird Survey (PBBS) is a co-ordinated count of the birds which breed around the Pits complex.

A botanical survey is being undertaken to monitor trends in some of the species for which the Nature Reserve is important. Volunteers are also mapping the presence of all plant species within the Pits complex. If you’re a keen wild plant enthusiast and would like to help, please contact Jocelyn Gale on

Wildlife records
Whether you’re a casual or regular visitor to the Pits, the wildlife which you see can add to our knowledge, especially if you tell us numbers and the locations of your records. Add them to the book in the Visitors' Centre or e-mail them to us at

Join the Friends
If you care about the wildlife at Paxton Pits, why not join The Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve?

Weekend Working Party Programme for 2009/10

Sunday 27th September 2009, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Pumphouse Pit shoreline – cutting back scrub growth on the shoreline helps keep this lake attractive to wetland birds and especially for breeding waders on Pumphouse Pit Island (SE).
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre. Transport to the site will leave shortly after 9.30 am. If you miss departure, phone 07905 809548. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.
We thank Bardon Aggregates for special support for this event.
Please note: there is no public access to this operational part of the Quarry.

Sunday 11th October 2009, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Willow coppicing on Hayling Lake - extending our long-term efforts to reclaim valuable reed bed for the special birds and insects that depend on this rare habitat.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre; if you are coming later, follow the direction map provided at the bridge-end of the car park. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.

Sunday 1st November 2009, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Viewpoints on Island Pit - trimming viewpoints will help visitors using the Ouse Valley Way, and the bird survey teams, get a better look at wildfowl using this important ‘wintering’ lake.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre. Transport to the site will leave shortly after 9.30 am. If you miss departure, phone 07905 809548. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.
We thank Bardon Aggregates for special support for this event.
Please note: there is no public access to this operational part of the Quarry.

Sunday 22nd November 2009, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Pumphouse Pit shoreline – a return to cutting back scrub growth on the shorelines of this important site for wetland birds and especially for breeding waders, close to Pumphouse Pit Islands.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre. Transport to the Quarry will leave shortly after 9.30 am. If you miss departure, phone 07905 809548.
Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.
We thank Bardon Aggregates for special support for this event.
Please note: there is no public access to this operational part of the Quarry.

Sunday 6th December 2009, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
The Gully - this sandy, shallow water haven for sunloving insects and amphibians needs occasional management to keep the sunlight streaming in. The tasks will include some hedge laying.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre; if you are coming later, follow the direction map provided at the bridge-end of the car park. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments
provided.

Sunday 10th January 2010, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Turkey Oak control – most of the felling programme for this invasive alien has been completed (in the Reserve and in the quarry), but re-growth from the stumps needs to be removed periodically. We’ll be working in West crub, a part of the Quarry that will eventually come into the Reserve. Here, the extra light is allowing native shrubs to regenerate and scrub cover to thicken. Maybe we can entice nightingales to move in? - it’s close to the first area they colonised at Paxton Pits.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre; if you are coming later, follow the direction map provided at the bridge-end of the car park. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.
We thank Bardon Aggregates for special support for this event.
Please note: there is no public access to this operational part of the Quarry.

Sunday 31st January 2010, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Sailing Lake Islands - our annual mowing and vegetation control on the two islands maintains the right habitat for a common tern colony and nesting waders (with spectacular results in 2009!).
Meet in the Sailing Club car park. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided. Wellies useful for getting in and out of the boat.
We thank Paxton Lakes Sailing Club for support.

Sunday 14th February 2010, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Pumphouse Pit Island – now that reprofiling is complete, the vegetation needs clearing to make the south east island as attractive as possible to breeding lapwing, redshank and common tern.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre. Transport to the site will leave shortly after 9.30 am. If you miss departure, phone 07905 809548. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided. Wellies useful for getting in and out of the boat.
We thank Bardon Aggregates for special support for this event.
Please note: there is no public access to this operational part of the Quarry.





Sunday 7th March 2010, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Pumphouse Pit South-East Scrub – this ‘landscape’ planting from the 1990s needs to be arrested to create valuable scrub habitat and prevent establishment of ‘predator perches’ that will threaten breeding waders on nearby islands.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre. Transport to the site will leave shortly after 9.30 am. If you miss departure, phone 07905 809548. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.
We thank Bardon Aggregates for special support for this event.
Please note: there is no public access to this operational part of the Quarry.




Sunday 28th March 2010, 9.30 - 1.00 pm
Hedge laying on Haul Road – making a start on enhancing the biodiversity of the young hedge that will eventually border Paxton Reedbed in the Reserve extension.
Meet at the Visitors’ Centre; if you are coming later, follow the direction map provided at the bridge-end of the car park. Wear stout footwear and warm clothing. Tools, gloves and refreshments provided.