Cherry blossom

Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 20-26

Welcome back to Wildlife Diaries. This is a collaboration between the Museum of Zoology and Cambridge University Botanic Garden, sharing the wildlife of the Garden as spring arrives. Catch up on last week’s post, filled with moths, cherry blossom about to bloom and birds collecting nesting materials , and the week before with with badgers, bats and more, and the first Wildlife Diaries post with … Continue reading Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 20-26

Daffodils and helebores in the Botanic Garden

Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 6-12

Welcome back to Wildlife Diaries. This is a collaboration between the Museum of Zoology and Cambridge University Botanic Garden, sharing the wildlife of the Garden as spring arrives. Catch up with last week’s post, with its flowers and fragrances, hibernating ladybirds and singing robins, and join us for a special livestream at 5pm on April 1, when you can ask your questions to our panel … Continue reading Wildlife Diaries from the Botanic Garden: March 6-12

Snowdrops with open flowers

Five minutes in nature: The Joy of Winter Fragrance

Dr William Foster, Emeritus Curator of Insects, writes: It is the world of smells that is most cruelly crushed by the cold of winter. Even on the chilliest days our eyes and ears have something to feast on. The bare branches still pattern the sky, the holly berries glow against the glossy leaves, and the blackbirds sing. But for our nostrils the diet of odours … Continue reading Five minutes in nature: The Joy of Winter Fragrance

yellow petaled flower with black yellow bee during daytime

Busy Bee Communication

Ever wondered how bees communicate with each other to work as a team? Learn about the important job these pollinating insects carry out. Play our ‘Talk like a Bee’ game and discover how bees can ‘smell’ each other when visiting flowers, and find out how we can give these insects a helping hand by building your very own bee-friendly winter refuge. Insect communication Insects can … Continue reading Busy Bee Communication

Yellow and black pom poms hanging in front of tree

Create a Bumblebee

Have you seen any bumblebees this summer? They often look more round and furry than other bees. They visit flowers to collect nectar and pollen, helping to pollinate plants as they go! Learn more about bumblebees from Ed Turner in the video below, or scroll down to get started on your Crafty Creature: Creating your bumblebee… You will need: Cardboard Wool or string(we’ve used yellow … Continue reading Create a Bumblebee

BioBlitz logo

BioBlitz 2020 at the Botanic Garden

We are excited to announce that this year’s BioBlitz will be taking place in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden from 5pm on Saturday 19 September to 5pm on Sunday 20 September. During this 24 hours we will be counting as many species as we can in the garden. You can take part by visiting the garden and adding your data to the Cambridge BioBlitz 2020 … Continue reading BioBlitz 2020 at the Botanic Garden

Photograph of a peacock buttefly on a flower

Zoology Live Day 2: Minibeasts part 2

Welcome back to our online Zoology Live festival. Continuing our celebration of all things insects and invertebrate, today we will be exploring insects on the wing. Join us TODAY at 4pm when we will have new films and LIVE interviews with Museum Research Assistant Matthew Hayes, who will he sharing butterfly-spotting tips with us, and dragonfly expert Duncan Mackay, here to answer you questions about … Continue reading Zoology Live Day 2: Minibeasts part 2