Bat Detecting

Date: Friday 10th May 2024

Time: 8PM

Location: Grantchester Meadows

The main purpose of the event was bat-detecting, which uses a bat detector to detect the ultrasonic sounds emitted by bats. We found a lot of bat activity between Grantchester Meadows and Paradise Local Nature Reserve, and the journey to get there consisted of a lovely evening nature walk during which we also saw plenty of other nature. Highlights included observing beetles feeding on a tree fungus, a family of swans, and watching the sunset on Grantchester Meadows.

A full photo and video gallery is available here.

Bug Hotel Building

Date: Saturday 4th May 2024

Time: 6PM

Location: Old House Common Room, St Chad's

Protecting native insects is important due to recent declines in food sources and hiding places. Bug hotels provide a space for nesting and some species use them as a place to hibernate. Catz Nature Society built bug hotels using recycled materials such as logs with holes drilled into them and tin cans full of substrates (surfaces on which insects can live and feed) such as pine cones and twigs.

City Nature Challenge

Date: Saturday 27th April 2024

Time: 2PM

Catz Nature Society participated in the City Nature Challenge, a 'citizen science' project in which participants photograph wildlife in their city. They can then use the iNaturalist app to help them identify the species they find. In our case, we started at main site and walked to Chad's. It is only a 10-15 minute walk but even in that short distance, it is amazing how much animal and plant wildlife there is if you look out for it. A full photo gallery is available here.

Freshwater Invertebrates Demonstration

Date: Saturday 9th March 2024

Time: 2PM

Location: Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Biological Natural Sciences student Tereza Maxerová walked us to the Botanic Garden, where she demonstrated using a sieve to filter the silt at the bottom of ponds and streams for invertebrates, before letting us have a go. She then helped us to identify the species we had found. Several species were found, a particular highlight being caddisflies with their cylindrical homes. A full report and photo gallery is available at https://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/nature-society

Duck Feeding Walk

Date: Sunday 25th February 2024

Time: 1PM

Location: Sheep's Green, next to the bridge across to Lammas Land

This gentle stroll down from Catz to Sheep's Green took us through some of the beautiful green space in the centre of Cambridge. This was a great way to relax, get some fresh air and connect with nature. We used peas and sweetcorn to feed the ducks as these have more nutritional value to the ducks than bread, and excess bread is harmful to the river ecosystem. There were also two swans who let us feed them by hand.

Attenborough Night

Date: Sunday 11th February 2024

Time: 6PM

Location: Catz JCR

Sir David Attenborough is an eminent naturalist (and Cambridge alumnus) who has presented many wildlife documentaries over the years. Catz Nature Society watched Episode 4 (Freshwater) of Planet Earth III, in which Attenborough introduced us to many fascinating freshwater species across Mexico, Asia and Africa, before warning us that freshwater is a finite resource and many freshwater species are endangered.

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

Date: Sunday 28th January 2024

Time: 1PM

Catz Nature Society participated in the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. This is an annual nationwide event run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in which participants spend an hour observing which bird species they can see from their vantage point. The results are then collated by the RSPB to observe trends over time.

Mothing

Date: Sunday 22nd October 2023

Time: 7PM

Location: Grantchester Meadows

Moths are attracted by bright light, and so shining torches onto a white sheet on a dark evening makes the light more easily visible to moths from a greater distance, as well as providing a surface for them to land on. We saw several species of moths and also a few other interesting insects such as a rare species of beetle.