Exciting morning at Croft Close Nature Reserve seeing birds and moths close up
On Sunday morning, blessed by a couple of hours of warm sunshine, families and other enthusiasts were able to experience the excitement and wonder of seeing birds and moths up close. So close that people were seen with moths on their heads and hands.
The spectacular privet hawk moth and poplar hawk moths impressed with their sheer size; and contrasted with the dainty but often exquisite smaller varieties such as the aptly named peach blossom. Due to the unseasonal cold nighttime temperatures the number and variety of moths caught was lower than in past years; but our experts came prepared with a marvellous array of museum specimens to supplement the moths to be viewed.
The ringing team, taking advantage as usual of our temporary closure of the site, put up more nets and a total of 18 birds were brought in for ringing. Two of the birds turned out to be ringed already – their attachment to the Set-aside helps us understand the site’s importance to our wildlife.
Ringing is a specialised technique for which you need a licence. We are lucky that our ringing team is interested in passing on their infectious enthusiasm and insights into the world of birds. The audience were treated to a spectacular green woodpecker – such a handsome bird more often heard than seen.
This event was included in the Cambridge Nature Festival which runs to the end of June and offers a huge range of free nature-based activities and events.
A small gallery of pictures from the event is below; and in the near future our website Wildlife pages will be updated with additional photographs check here for moths and here for bird ringing.
