Category Archives: News

Events, News, Talks

Finding W H Hudson: the writer who came to Britain to save birds

The next CNHS talk, on Thursday 17th October, will be given by Conor Jameson. It will take place at 6:45 p.m. in the the seminar room of the James Dyson Building, in the Department of Engineering.

To find this room, go in via the main entrance to the department from Trumpington St (opposite Hot Numbers coffee shop, entrance marked by a metal sculpture). After a short distance, turn into the space on your left and go straight ahead. You will pass the main Baker Building of the department on your right and the Architecture Department on your left. The James Dyson Building is ahead of you, with some bicycle racks in front of it. The entrance is via a revolving door, but if this turns out to be locked then someone will let you in via a door just to the right of it. The seminar room is directly on your left. Because the talks are out of normal hours, there is some car parking available on the site. Please contact the President for details..

Conor Jameson will talk on “Finding W H Hudson — the writer who came to Britain to save birds”. Conor describes his mission to restore William Henry Hudson (1841–1922), from previously unseen letters held in America. Conor traces the unassuming field naturalist’s path through a dramatic and turbulent era: from Hudson’s journey to Britain from Argentina in 1874 to the unveiling by the prime minister of a monument and bird sanctuary in his honour 50 years later, in the heart of Hyde Park. It is a place where the young immigrant had, for a time, slept rough. The story reveals Hudson’s deep influence on the creation of his beloved Bird Society (RSPB) by its founding women, and the rise of the conservation movement. Cambridge Professor Alfred Newton has a key supporting role. This story reveals the strange magnetism of this mysterious man from the Pampas – unschooled, battle-scarred and once penniless – that made his achievements possible, and left such a profound impression on those who knew him.

All welcome – admission free – please arrive punctually

Events, News, Talks

CNHS autumn talks

The CNHS autumn programme has now been arranged with eight talks, two field studies, a fungal foray and a seasonal social.

The first talk is on Thursday 10th October when Brian Eversham will give a talk entitled: Overlooked wildlife, or, Why are there
so many species? Brian is a very knowledgeable and entertaining speaker and this will be a fascinating and revealing talk. It will take place in the David Attenborough Building at 6:45 p.m. Please arrive promptly. Tea and coffee available before hand. Admission is free.

The talks on 17th and 31st October and on 7th, 21st and 28th November will be in a new venue: the James Dyson Building. This is in the Department of Engineering. To find this room, go in via the main entrance to the department from Trumpington St (opposite Hot Numbers coffee shop, entrance marked by a metal sculpture). After a short distance, turn into the space on your left and go straight ahead. You will pass the main Baker Building of the department on your right and the Architecture Department on your left. The James Dyson Building is ahead of you, with some bicycle racks in front of it. The entrance is via a revolving door, but if this turns out to be locked then someone will let you in via a door just to the right of it. The seminar room is directly on your left, on the ground floor.

Please join the CNHS mailing list by emailing mailings@cnhs.org.uk This will mean you will be sent an email shortly before each event, reminding you about the event and the location.

Events, News, Talks

Wicken Fen: 125 Years of Conservation

On Thursday 9th May Ajay Tegala who is a ranger for the National Trust on their oldest nature reserve. He will talk about the wildlife and management of Wicken, including wetland restoration and conservation grazing – the subject of his new book, Wetland Diaries. Copies will be available.

The meeting will be preceded at 6:45 p.m. by the Cambridge Natural History Society’s Annual General Meeting. For more details of the CNHS Rules and Council see https://www.cnhs.org.uk/about/

Both the talk and the AGM will take place in person in the David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ as well as being online via Zoom. Members will be sent the Zoom link before the meeting.

ALL WELCOME – admission free. Tea and coffee available beforehand from 6 p.m.

News

Optimow – help pollinators

Morgan Morrison is a PhD student at Royal Holloway, University of London and works on pollinator conservation and citizen intervention. She gave a talk to us earlier this year about her work.

She is now looking for volunteers for the second year of the citizen science study called ‘Optimow’.

She explains: “This study will be looking into how you can manage your gardens to help bees, butterflies and other pollinators. In the study, you will be given a mowing frequency to follow and then you will count pollinators in your garden each week. The study will take 15-25 minutes a week for 12 weeks (however odd weeks can be missed!)

This is the second year of the study. In 2023, we had an amazing 180 participants and saw a 75% increase in pollinator numbers by following one of the mowing regimes!! We hope to build on this work, so we have robust advice to give members of the public about managing their lawns to help pollinators. However, this work relies on the amazing volunteers who contribute!!

I hoped the study would interest to all of you and you’d have a good skill set to complete it. If you are interested in taking part you can sign up and find more information on the google form below (https://forms.gle/scmLF3h1XvoHTkcSA).”

Events, News

Come to the 105th Conversazione

Our annual Conversazione and Nat Hist Fest is this Friday 19th and Saturday 20th April 2024, with displays on many different aspects of natural history.

Come along and find out more about ermine moths, native plants on Jesus College, charcoal making, phenology in the Botanic Garden and much else. Local organisations exhibiting include Cambridge and Peterborough Amphibian and Reptile Group, Cambridgeshire Geological Society, and the Wildlife Trust. The Cambridgeshire Beekeepers’ Association will have local honey for sale.

There’s no charge and the event is open 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

It’s in the Department of Zoology, off Downing StThere’s no charge and the event is open 1:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.reet, Cambridge CB2 3EJ Go through the archway and the Department is on the right, opposite the Museum of Zoology, which is also worth a visit. Sorry, no parking on site.

ALL WELCOME

Events, News, Uncategorized

105th Conversazione

Book space for your exhibit now!

We are delighted to announce that this year’s Conversazione will be in-person on 19th & 20th April 2024 in the Department of Zoology.

Open to the public: Friday 19th April 1pm – 6pm and Saturday 20th April 10am – 5pm.

For over a hundred years, Cambridge Natural History Society has held an annual exhibition in the Department of Zoology.  It is traditionally called ‘The Conversazione’ (nomenclature of Italian origin) because it is a social event where those attending can not only look at the displays but also have a conversation with the exhibitors.

While the 104th Conversazione, the first in person since the Covid-19 pandemic, did not attract as many exhibitors as the 100th in 2019, it was nevertheless a very successful event and it was SO GOOD to be back in person.  

The Photos on our CNHS Facebook page capture most of the exhibitors and their exhibits.  To see them go to:  https://www.facebook.com/CNHS1857  click Photos, click Albums, scroll down to and click on e.g. Conversazione 2023 Photo Album.  And the Programme or Exhibitor List from 2023 and a number of previous Conversaziones can be viewed or downloaded from our website here:  https://www.cnhs.org.uk/previous-conversazione-programmes/

These photos and the list of exhibits provide a record of fascinating displays and joyous events. We hope these will inspire you to create equally fascinating displays for this year’s event.

A prize is offered for the best exhibit at the Conversazione by an exhibitor who was a school pupil, college or university student at the time of the Conversazione. See https://www.cnhs.org.uk/conversazione/cnhs-student-prize/ for details.

If you would like to exhibit, please read the information for exhibitors and fill in the simple booking form and return it by 5th April.

News

CNHS Small Grants

Cambridge Natural History Society is launching a scheme of occasional awards of small grants to help research into natural history in the Cambridge area.

The grants, of up to £200, are aimed particularly at our younger members and early career scientists. The research may involve any aspect of natural history in its broadest sense and a grant may be used to help purchase equipment, cover travel costs, pay for
specimen analysis, cover publication costs, etc.

Full details can be downloaded here.

Applicants should send their submission to grants@cnhs.org.uk

News, Talks

Pollinator conservation – and your lawn

The first talk in the CNHS spring programme will be in person on Thursday 8th February, at 6:45 in the David Attenborough Building.

Morgan Morrison, is researching pollinator conservation at Royal Holloway, University of London. She will talk about her PhD research on which covers all things pollinator conservation. From bees, butterflies and hoverflies to disease, protected areas and citizen science. Morgan will cover questions about ‘whether diseases are spillover from honeybees to wild bee?’ all the way to ‘how citizens can help pollinators all from the comfort of their lawns?’. She will also be introducing a citizen science study taking place in summer which you could help with.

This talk will be held in the David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ at 6:45 p.m. Please arrive punctually – otherwise you may not be able to get into the building! Tea/coffee will be available beforehand.

The talk will also be available on Zoom. Those on the CNHS mailing list will be sent the link a few days beforehand. To join the CNHS mailing list, email mailings@cnhs.org.uk

ADMISSION FREE – ALL WELCOME

Events, Field studies, News

New Year plant hunts

Cambridge Natural History Society begins the New Year with the traditional plant hunting walk in the CNHS field studies area on January 1.  This year the target area returns to West Cambridge for the third time in a ten year cycle that began in 2004.

As with the first walk, we will begin at 11am where the Coton Footpath joins Adams Road.  Bring a packed lunch.  Whilst the focus is on plants we will also record all other wildlife that we encounter. 

All welcome – no need to book. If the weather is poor the visit may be postponed until January 2nd.

The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland’s thirteenth New Year Plant Hunt will run from 30th December 2023 to 2nd January 2024. The idea is to see how many plants can be found in flower in three hours. Full details, including identification guides for the top 20 species likely to be found, are at https://bsbi.org/new-year-plant-hunt .

News

Volunteer opportunities

Duncan Mackay has been volunteering at the Botanic Garden for some time and finds it is a very rewarding experience and always most interesting. He says “Several of the Museums are also looking for volunteers. If you have time to engage with these activities, I am sure you will find the staff delighted to have your help. So to start your adventure in exploring the opportunities for volunteering around Cambridge here is a good place to start: https://ucm.volunteermakers.org/get-involved/

or specifically for Natural history: https://ucm.volunteermakers.org/get-involved/museum-of-zoology/visitorengagementvolunteermuseumofzoology/19/ “

Duncan also notes that the Biological Recording Company has many free webinar See https://biologicalrecording.co.uk/ for details of these and their other events.