Bray Pit is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

on the edge of the village of

Holyport Holyport (pronounced ''Hollyport'') is a suburban village in the civil parish of Bray (where at the 2011 Census the population was included), about south of Maidenhead town centre in the English county of Berkshire. Etymology The name 'Hol ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England. The nature reserve was under the management of the

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is a Wildlife Trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part ...

, but as of December 2019 is no longer listed on the Trust web site.

Geography and site

The site is in size. Bray Pit consists of a small flooded gravel pit surrounded by a strip of woodland, a mature hedge and a wide grassy bank.

Fauna

The site has the following fauna:

Invertebrates

Anthocharis cardamines ''Anthocharis cardamines'', the orange tip, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae, which contains about 1,100 species. ''A. cardamines'' is mainly found throughout Europe and temperate Asia (Palearctic). The males feature wings with a signature o ...

Bombus pascuorum ''Bombus pascuorum'', the common carder bee, is a species of bumblebee present in most of Europe in a wide variety of habitats such as meadows, pastures, waste ground, ditches and embankments, roads, and field margins, as well as gardens and p ...

Megachile centuncularis ''Megachile centuncularis'', commonly known as the patchwork leafcutter bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae. It was first described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Description The Megachilidae are long-tongued, ...

Osmia rufa ''Osmia bicornis'' (synonym ''Osmia rufa'') is a species of mason bee, and is known as the red mason bee due to its covering of dense gingery hair.Bombus lapidarius ''Bombus lapidarius'' is a species of bumblebee in the subgenus ''Melanobombus''. Commonly known as the red-tailed bumblebee, ''B. lapidarius'' can be found throughout much of Central Europe. Known for its distinctive black and red body, this soc ...

Bombus lucorum ''Bombus lucorum'', the white-tailed bumblebee, is a species of bumblebee, widespread and common throughout Europe. This name has been widely used for a range of nearly identical-looking or cryptic species of bumblebees. In 1983, Scholl and Obre ...

Birds

Sterna hirundo The common tern (''Sterna hirundo'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, its four subspecies breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory, ...

Fulica atra The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

* Podiceps cristatus * Dendrocopus major * Ardea cinerea * Delichon urbica *

Alcedo atthis The common kingfisher (''Alcedo atthis''), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of ...

Gallinula chloropus The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-vegetated marsh ...

* Hirundo rustica *

Apus apus The common swift (''Apus apus'') is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between t ...

Flora

The site has the following flora: *

Centaurea nigra ''Centaurea nigra'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and is also known as lesser knapweed, common knapweed, black knapweed and bell weed. It is native to central Europe, and has been introduced to temperate North America ...

Leucanthemum vulgare ''Leucanthemum vulgare'', commonly known as the ox-eye daisy, oxeye daisy, dog daisy, marguerite (, "common marguerite") and other common names, is a widespread flowering plant native to Europe and the temperate regions of Asia, and an introduced ...

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World ...

Rhinanthus minor ''Rhinanthus minor'', known as yellow rattle, is a herbaceous wildflower in the genus ''Rhinanthus'' in the family (biology), family Orobanchaceae (the broomrapes). It has circumpolar distribution in Europe, Russia, western Asia, and northern No ...

References

{{Authority control Parks and open spaces in Berkshire Nature reserves in Berkshire