There is some amazing wildlife on your doorstep if you know where to look. Professor Bill Amos of the Department of Zoology writes about looking closely at insects: ‘In these times of lockdown, a little bit of nature goes a long way. We have a small garden in central Cambridge and I thought I would challenge myself to photograph a new insect every day. Of … Continue reading Insect-eye view
Roz Wade, Learning Officer at the Museum, writes: A couple of weeks ago I found that we had newts living in the garden pond. I have seen that we have at least five if not six living in there, and they have been showing some fascinating behaviour this week. We have some males in their breeding garb, with a wonderful crest along the back. They … Continue reading Pondwatch Episode 4: Dancing Newts
Join us every Tuesday as we make an alphabet from the animals in the Museum of Zoology. Today is the letter D: D is for dodo,deer, duck, dolphin, dragonfly and damselfly. Can you think of any others? Join us next week for animals in the Museum beginning with the letter E. Expect something big with tusks and a trunk… Continue reading Animal Alphabet: D is for Dodo
Academic in the Department of Zoology, and one of our visitor engagement volunteers in the Museum, Dr Tony Fulford writes: ‘How many people don’t recognise one of the nation’s favourite birds? For those unfamiliar with the blackbird, the male is jet black with a bright yellow bill and yellow ring around his eye. The female is similar-looking but is dark brown, often with a few … Continue reading Song of the Blackbird
Spring is in the air. Birds are nesting, frogspawn is hatching, and insects are buzzing all around. To celebrate, why not try some of our activities all about animal lifecycles, inspired by the collections at the Museum of Zoology. We have arranged these activities by type of animal. Make nests and make a sock puppet to experiment with the colours of chick mouths in the … Continue reading Animal Lifecycles
Get ready – our regular Nature Classroom posts will begin on Monday with a post exploring animal lifecycles. Discover the amazing world of amphibians and their larvae. Have a go at being a bird building a nest. Get up close to a tiger skull and see how tigers change as they grow. There’s lots to look forward to. Science caps on and watch for wildlife! … Continue reading Exploring Skulls: Green Turtle
Join us every Tuesday as we make an alphabet from the animals in the Museum of Zoology. Today is the letter C: C is for crocodile, crab, cheetah, cuckoo, chipmunk, capybara, clam and chameleon. Can you think of any others? Join us next week for animals in the Museum beginning with the letter D. Continue reading Animal Alphabet: C is for Crocodile
We have a treat this week in Wildlife From Your Window: a virtual postcard from a pre-lockdown Wicken Fen, written by Professor Nick Davies of the Department of Zoology. ‘Just before the lockdown, there was a final chance to visit Wicken Fen, still clothed in her winter’s coat of last year’s yellow reeds. Many birds were still in winter flocks. On the floods, there were … Continue reading Nature Postcard from Wicken Fen
Roz Wade, Learning Officer at the Museum, writes: We have exciting news on this episode of Pondwatch – newts in the garden pond! I’ve been watching them closely, and managed to capture them on camera when they came out from their hiding places. We also have some of the aquatic finds of other members of the Museum team, so lots to explore this week. There … Continue reading Pondwatch Episode 3: Newts!
In garden ponds across the country, clumps of jelly-like eggs are hatching into little, wriggling tadpoles. Here at the Puggle Club we are celebrating the amazing world of baby frogs with some fun, froggy activities. Make your own frogspawn Tapioca frogspawn (made from Cassava flour) is safe to eat, although not very tasty. It makes a great tactile experience for all ages and abilities. You … Continue reading Frogspawn Fun
Roz Wade, Learning Officer at the Museum of Zoology, writes: Welcome to our first Mammalwatch post in Wildlife from your Window. We thought what better way to start than with a post about that terror of the bird feeder – the grey squirrel. The grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis, is a familiar sight in our gardens. The body is around 25cm long, and the tail is … Continue reading Mammalwatch: Squirrels
Dr Robert Asher, our Curator of Vertebrates, is an evolutionary biologist based in the Department of Zoology, and Fellow of Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. In this video he shares a recent scientific paper on temperature and skeletal variation in the nine-banded armadillo. Continue reading Body temperature and life history in armadillos
That patch of nettles in the corner of the garden. The dandelions in the lawn. You might call these weeds and think they make your green space look untidy. But nature loves a mess, and to support our wildlife, it is best not to be too tidy in your garden and have some areas where these wild plants can grow. Many are food plants for … Continue reading Wildflowers Not Weeds
Discover the extraordinary life of bee-flies with our Curator of Insects, Dr Ed Turner. Continue reading The wonderful world of bee-flies
At this time of year, ponds around the country are home to jelly-like masses of frogspawn and the small, wriggling tadpoles that have hatched from it. Check out our first pondwatch post and you can see frogspawn and tadpoles up close. We thought we could celebrate with some froggy activities and facts for you. Frog Origami Follow the video to make your own jumping frog … Continue reading Jumping for Joy: Frog crafts
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