Join us at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden as we search for as many species as we can find in 24 hours.
Starting at 5pm on Friday 24 June, we will be joined by a team of experts exploring the plants, animals and other wildlife living in the Botanic Garden. And you can get involved too. We have a whole load of wildlife walks, workshops and activities with something for every age, from bat walks to moth trapping, pond dipping to minibeast hunts.
The data we collect will be added to the University of Cambridge’s iRecord project recording the wildlife found on University grounds. This will make it possible for us to see what lives there and help plan to support wildlife in the future.
BioBlitz Cambridge 2022 Programme
Book onto one of our wildlife walks for £5 per adult (children under 16 are free but still need a ticket) and get free entry into the Garden. Spaces are limited. Booking links will be available soon. As well as these bookable activities, there will be drop-in activities on Saturday 25 June from 10am – 5pm. Find out more at the information tents on the main lawn on the day.
Friday 24 June
Nature Walk with Prof Bill Sutherland
17.00-18:00
Join Bill Sutherland, Professor of Conservation Biology, for a natural history walk around the garden spotting wildlife as you go.
Suitable for ages 12+
Beginner Birds
17:30-18:30
Explore the garden on a guided walk, looking for garden birds as you go and learning the songs of some of the more common species. This walk is designed for birding beginners. Binoculars recommended if you have them.
Suitable for ages 8+
Natural History Walk
18.00-19:00
Join Kevin Hand, Course Director ACE Foundation and Vice President of the Cambridge Natural History Society for a walk around the garden spotting wildlife as you go.
Suitable for ages 12+
An evening mammal survey
19:00-20:30
Join the Cambridgeshire Mammal Group to explore how to survey for some of the mammals making their home at the Botanic Garden. The session will include setting small mammal traps and hedgehog footprint tunnels which will all be checked the next morning (please note – if you wish to attend the morning trap release you will need to book tickets for that activity separately).
Suitable for ages 12+
Introduction to moth trapping
20:00-21:00
Join the CUBG moth trapping team and learn all about moths and how to survey for them. (Please note – if you wish to attend the morning trap release you will need to book tickets for that activity separately).
Suitable for ages 12+
Bat Walk
21:00-22:30
Join our bat experts as they explore the diversity of bat species in the Garden after dark, and learn how bats use sound to see.
Suitable for ages 8+
Saturday 25 June
Bird ringing demo
07.00-07:45, 08:30-09:15
Join our bird ringing experts to learn how the BTO monitors birds through this important research project, and get a rare opportunity to see some bird species up close in the hand.
Suitable for ages 12+
Introduction to moth trapping
07:30-08:30
Join the CUBG moth trapping team and learn all about moths and how to survey for them.
Suitable for ages 8+
Small mammal survey trap check
08:00-08:45, 13.15-14:00
Join the Cambridgeshire Mammal Group to find out which small mammals were caught in the traps set around the Garden and watch them being released back into the wild.
Suitable for ages 8+
BTO Garden BirdWatch – Why record the common species
09:30-10:30, 14:00-15:00, 15:30-16:30
Watch the wildlife in the garden with Rob Jaques from the British Trust for Ornithology, and find out about adding data to the BTO Garden BirdWatch survey, a fantastic long-running citizen science project telling us about our local bird species.
Suitable for ages 12+
Owl pellet dissection
10.00-11.00, 11:30-12:30, 13:30-14:30
Owls swallow their prey whole and ‘sick-up’ a pellet. Sounds gross but it’s only fur and bones (no squishy stuff) and looking at the bones tells us what the owl had for dinner. Join in some real forensic science and learn about the mammals available in the owl’s feeding area. Ian Harvey and Amanda Burton.
Suitable for ages 6+
Nature Walk with Prof Bill Sutherland
11:00-12:00, 13:30-14:30
Join Bill Sutherland, Professor of Conservation Biology, for a natural history walk around the garden spotting wildlife as you go.
Suitable for ages 12+
Natural History Walk
10:30-11:30
Join Kevin Hand, Course Director ACE Foundation and Vice President of the Cambridge Natural History Society for a walk around the garden spotting wildlife as you go.
Suitable for ages 12+
Pond dipping
10:15-11:00, 11:30-12:15, 13:45-14:30, 15:00-15:45
Join our family friendly discovery of the minibeasts that live in water.
Suitable for ages 6+
Minibeast hunts
10:30-11:15, 11:45-12:30, 13:15-14:00, 14:30-15:15, 15:45-16:30
Join our family friendly hunt for minibeasts living in the long grass and under logs.
Suitable for ages 6+
Dragonfly and damselfly spotting
12:30-13:30
Take a stroll around the Garden looking for dragonflies and damselflies and learn how to identify them.
Suitable for ages 6+
Guided Bee Walk
11:00-12:00, 13:00–14:00
Take a guided walk around the Garden and discover the different types of bees and wasps that live there.
Suitable for ages 8+
Introduction to Hoverflies
10:45–11:45
Uncover some of the diversity of British hoverflies and learn how to identify some of the common species.
Suitable for ages 8+
Museum of Zoology Blog 
Hi there, struggling to book tickets for BioBlitz 22 as the links in the above post are 404ing. Can’t seem to find them on Google either. Mind having a look and updating please?
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WE’re sorry you’ve been having issues with this. We have updated the links so they should be working now.
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