April Nature Hunt Children’s Quiz
Saturday 19th April 2025, on Long Meadow
Want to know more?
This page provides additional information about the wildlife and plants that feature in the quiz, all of which can be found in the villages. This information is intended to provide more for parents and older children to explore, either on-the-fly during the event or at leisure at home. The information is set out by question number, so you can quickly locate extra details if something in the quiz really takes your interest.
There are FOUR questions in the quiz and you can find additional information below:
Question 1: Focus on new planting in the Park Lane hedge and the benefits for wildlife
The value of hedges for wildlife
Hedgerows have many practical uses. These include creating a boundary, providing shelter for stock against bad weather, preventing soil erosion and providing cover. They are also home to a huge variety of plants and animals. They are the main habitat for 47 species of conservation concern in the UK, including 13 rapidly declining species. Indeed, hedgerows are the most significant wildlife habitat over large stretches of lowland UK. Over 1,500 insects, 600 plant, 65 birds and 20 mammals live or feed in hedgerows. So across the country they are an essential refuge for many woodland and farmland plants and animals.
From butterflies to bumblebees, from centipedes to ladybirds, hedges are home to a huge number of insects. These invertebrates are vital to the hedgerow ecosystem. Without them, plants and other animals would not survive. For instance, bees, beetles and butterflies pollinate shrubs and wildflowers, while woodlice feed on dead leaves, helping return nutrients to the soil. Insects are also a major source of food for birds and mammals.
Many species of birds depend on hedgerows for their survival. At least 30 species nest there. Grassy hedge bottoms and field margins provide nesting material, as well as insect larvae for chicks to feed on. The food and cover of a hedgerow attract many mammals. Hedgerows can also act as ‘wildlife corridors’ for reptiles, amphibians and small mammals, such as the bank vole.
The Park Lane hedge restoration
Over the winter 2024/25 HIGS started on a full restoration of the Park Lane hedge and the addition of extra rows of hedge plants to produce a dense thick hedge offering better habitat for hedgerow species.
After years of neglect the Park Lane hedge, recognised in the Local Plan as an “important countryside frontage”, was over-tall, gappy at the base, and in some places lost under bramble and ivy. We have had the top cut, and cleared out a 30m length in very poor condition before planting new lines of whips on the field side. Instead of the existing single row hedge we are planting a much thicker three row hedge.
Whips are bare-rooted one or two year old saplings. This is the recommended age/size for hedge planting as the small plants are quick to settle and grow on. However, it does mean that the restored section will take time to achieve the full range of benefits to wildlife that we hope to realise.
You can find out more about the overall plan for the hedge here.
What hedge plants have we chosen and why?
We had several criteria when choosing what species to plant:
They must be native species to maximise the potential for wildlife
They must suit the soil and other conditions here so that they will grow well
We wanted at least 10 species present to suit a wider range of wildlife
We wanted to avoid suckering species like blackthorn that would be difficult to manage
We wanted a largely deciduous hedge over its full length with use of shade tolerant evergreens as necessary
We wanted the final hedge to have a good structural framework with some tree and some shrub species
We wanted flowers, seeds, fruits and nuts (and leaves of course) to provide food for wildlife year round.
The first 30m section for restoration is at the eastern end of Long Meadow. In some parts of the section all the original hedge plants had died but some hawthorn had survived and there were one or two self-seeded plants (eg beech and dog rose) that were retained.
In this section the final mix chosen included:
| Species | Characteristics | Value for wildlife |
|---|---|---|
| Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) |
Deciduous shrub, spring flowering with autumn berries | Small flowers can be seen in spring at the end of twigs in dense clusters, which are followed by small, black berries in autumn. Dogwood leaves provide food for wildlife including micro-moths, while its berries are eaten by birds and mammals. |
| Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) |
Small deciduous tree, spring (May) flowering with long lasting berries | Good nectar source, leaves support many insects, the berries remain all winter and attract redwing and fieldfare in winter. Thorns and growth habit create good nesting places. |
| Beech (Fagus sylvatica) |
Large deciduous tree species but often maintained as a hedge. Inconspicuous early spring flowers, seeds in hard prickly husk (beech mast) in autumn | Over 94 species of invertebrates have been found on beech. Early leaf buds are eaten by pigeons, beech mast is popular with finches. Beech has good and poor mast years. When kept as a hedge the dead leaves are retained through the winter giving more cover. |
| Wild privet (Ligustrum vulgare) |
Semi-evergreen low shrub, pungent-smelling summer flowers and autumn berries | Clusters of small, white flowers from June onwards are good for nectar. Small berries ripen in the autumn to black,and often survive through the winter. The berries are a good food source for birds, particularly thrushes. |
| Oak (Quercus robur) |
Large deciduous tree species, inconspicuous catkins in spring, acorns in autumn | Leaves support a very large number of insect species. Acorns are vital for jays and important for many other species including squirrels, rats and mice. |
| Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) |
Deciduous shrub, mid-summer flowering with clusters of autumn berries | Flowers in June and July. The flower heads have large, sterile, outer flowers with smaller, fertile, yellow inner flowers. Good nectar source. Once pollinated, the plant develops bright red berries in the autumn. The berries are eaten by a range of birds. |
| Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) |
Deciduous shrub, autumn striking pink-red seed capsules, and bright orange seeds | Seeds are late so a good food source for birds and small mammals. |
| Hazel (Corylus avellana) |
Deciduous shrub, male catkins appear in January or February before the leaves, autumn nuts | Over 106 invertebrate species have been found on hazel. The nuts attract squirrels and small mammals. |
| Field maple (Acer campestre) |
Large deciduous tree, early spring flowering, winged seeds ripen slowly and eventually fall in autumn | Field maple is an important habitat for more than 50 invertebrate species. The leaves are attractive to aphids, which in turn feed many insects and birds. The winged seeds – the ‘keys’ – are often eaten by small mammals. The seeds are important as an early season food for mice, voles and birds like pigeon. |
The full restoration of the hedge will take several years to complete. We will be doing some regular monitoring to find out if the hoped for wildlife benefits materialise.
For the quiz day we had information about the following species that should benefit from a restored hedge:
Bank vole
Blackbird
Brown-lipped snail
Fieldfare
Hawthorn shieldbug
Hedgehog
Holly blue butterfly
Robin
Whitethroat
Wood mouse
This is of course just a small sample of the many species that could potentially benefit in future.
Question 2: Nature detective: who is around at night and what are they eating
A lot goes on at night! Unless you have a night camera you are unlikely to be able to see what animals are around, but there are other clues that we can use. Such animal signs include calls, burrows, leftover meals, territorial markings, fur, droppings and tracks.
For the quiz this year we have concentrated on two interesting animal signs: droppings and pellets.
Droppings
For children age 4+ years we recommend reading ‘The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business’ by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch for a humorous introduction to the world of droppings.
For everyone else the Wildlife Trust have an excellent feature on how to identify poo here.
Owl pellets
Barn owls are unable to digest the fur and bones of their prey, which they usually swallow whole. The indigestible parts are regurgitated (cast up through the beak) in the form of an owl pellet. After feeding, producing a pellet takes 6 hours or more. After each night’s hunting, an owl regurgitates 1 or 2 pellets.
Barn owl pellets are typically about the size of a man’s thumb and black when fresh. As they are mainly composed of hair and bone they have virtually no smell.
Pellets often contain the remains of 4 or 5 small mammals.
Pellet dissection can tell you exactly what a barn owl has eaten. For the Quiz we had barn owl pellets collected from Bedlam Farm, Impington.
The barn owl at Bedlam Farm was eating: shrews and voles with a few mice.
You can find out more about the life of the barn owl on our website here and more about the lives of bank voles on our website here.
Question 3: Focus on the Brook at Long Meadow
Conditions today
The Brook at Long Meadow is a tributary of the Beck Brook, it joins Beck Brook at Westwick. If you walk along the bridleway from the Gatehouse Road/Park Lane corner and take the path through the sheep field you can see the confluence. It forms part of the catchment of the River Great Ouse.
At Long Meadow the channel shape is very deep with steep sides – this is a clue that the channel has been modified by man. Another clue is in its official name – you are beside ‘Award Drain 165’ – so this a drainage channel to reduce the risk of flooding in the village.
Water reaches Long Meadow via The Green from as far as the new Darwin Green development on the edge of Cambridge. Perhaps the most surprising fact is that the Brook runs in a long pipe beneath the B1049 from the War Memorial as far as The Green. But then we should not be surprised as this part of the B1049 is called Water Lane.
When we have storms the Brook rises rapidly but normally has quite low flow. Since HIGS took on looking after Long Meadow the Brook has not spilled out of bank here although the Environment Agency classify the field as Flood Zone 3 (high risk of flooding). Over the same period there has always been some flow in the summer, but it is very shallow.
The bed of the channel is quite silty wherever the flow is slow and gravelly where the flow is a little faster.
The water may look quite clear, but the quality is not good enough for some more sensitive animals.
The steep bank on the Long Meadow side has a dense cover dominated by meadowsweet with rough grass.
In short, from a wildlife perspective there is room for improvement.
Potential for improvement
Deciding what could be done is complex and needs to be carefully planned.
From a biodiversity perspective it is important to consider a range of species and species groups to identify what should be prioritised at Long Meadow.
A short test exercise was undertaken at the Members’ Afternoon in March 2025 attendees were asked to pick three species they considered should be prioritised. The starting point was a list with pictures of ten species, some of which are seen in Long Meadow occasionally or have been in the past:
water vole,
kingfisher (occasional sightings),
grass snake,
water plantain,
cuckooflower (present in damper part of the meadow),
purple loosestrife (recorded but limited),
emperor dragonfly,
banded demoiselle (occasional sightings),
mayflies,
great silver diving beetle.
Attendees had limited time and had to rely either on any personal knowledge of the ten species, or the appeal to them of the picture - so the results of the test should be considered tentative at best.
At the Members’ Afternoon the top ranked species were the water vole, the kingfisher, and the emperor dragonfly:
The red-listed water vole is known to be present in the Beck Brook and in the Brook close to its confluence with Beck Brook, so this herbivore is clearly a good target when considering improvements.
The kingfisher is more problematic! Before we can hope to have kingfisher we need to have fish, and for the fish to thrive we need to have plenty of invertebrates and the right flow conditions for the fish.
The emperor dragonfly, an invertebrate, needs suitable conditions to lay its eggs and for its carnivorous nymphs to survive - water quality being a key issue.
The three identified above highlight the inter-connectedness of food webs and the importance of the flow and water quality.
You can find out more about the lives of water voles on our website here and grass snakes here. There is more about cuckooflower here.
Question 4: More about invasive species
First some definitions (note these apply equally to plants, animals and funga):
Native species - a species that is within its known natural range and occurs naturally in a given area or habitat. This includes species that are ‘resident’ in the given area and species that migrate to/from the given area to/from another part of their natural range.
Robin, badger, and grass snake are present in Britain all year
Swallow and redwing migrate to/from Britain every year
Introduced species – a species that has been moved intentionally or unintentionally by humans into a new geographic location where it is not naturally found. This is the opposite of a native species – it is a non-native.
Guinea pigs are kept in Britain as pets they are not found in the wild here
Naturalised species – an introduced species that becomes established in this new location, ie where the species lives, breeds and fends for itself in the wild.
Chinese water deer have had limited impact
Ring-necked parakeet is under assessment to establish whether it should be considered invasive.
Invasive species - a naturalised (or established) species that spreads rapidly and outcompetes or preys on native species.
Grey squirrel, himalayan balsam, the fungus responsible for ash dieback, muntjac deer, American mink, signal crayfish
Notifiable species – certain species are of such concern that their recording and management are covered by regulation. The Government currently has identified 36 non-native invasive plant and 30 animal species. These species lists are regularly reviewed to reflect emerging concerns.
Britain is now home to more than 3,000 invasive species. As we travel and move goods more, so the number of introductions has increased and with it the risk of new invasive species.
The majority of non-native species are not damaging. Across all habitats, only about 10% of the non-native species in Britain have a negative impact and are considered invasive. However, in aquatic habitats, a greater proportion of invasive non-native species have a negative impact (for example, 40% of freshwater non-native species established in Britain have a negative impact).
Source: Environment Agency
Invasive species may spread rapidly because the new location is free of predators, parasites and competitors that would normally limit their population in their natural environment. They may also carry diseases to which they have a resistance, but native species do not.
Invasive species can have a severe negative effect on the biodiversity in an ecosystem – they can eliminate native species therefore reducing species diversity.
The jury is still out in the case of the ring-necked parakeet – the pesky parakeet in the quiz. Are they having a significant impact on our wildlife?
You can find more about ring-necked parakeets on the Natural History Museum website here.