A male Broad-bordered yellow underwing (Noctua finbriata) hardening his wings off this afternoon in Cambridge. These photos are between 1-4pm and he left sometime after 4pm today. This moth shows sexual dimorphism as the females are a pale orangy/creamy buff whilst the males are brown.

2026 is a Painted Lady Year. Every 10 years or so there is a mass migration & in 2019 about 11 million migrated to the UK. Each Spring they migrate from tropical Africa though this is completed over several generations. In the autumn they travel back to Africa at high altitude to repeat the cycle.

More pictures from Strawberry Hill NR last weekend. Despite the cool and cloudy day we saw some interesting moths, including a Coleophora kuenella case. #ukmoths #mothsmatter #wildlifebcn

More pictures from Strawberry Hill NR last weekend. Despite the cool and cloudy day we saw some nice butterflies. #ukbutterflies

World Bee Day. Here are some bumblebees making good use of a poppy in Cambridge today. #worldbeeday

Blossom underwing caterpillars on Oak in Strawberry Hill NR yesterday #ukmoths #bcbedsnorthants #wildlifebcn

Butterflies from yesterday: Small blues, Common blues, Small coppers, Painted ladies and Brown argus. Chalk landscape near Cambridge.

A Holly blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus) ovipositing on Sainfoin in Cambridge today. It is a good year for first brood Holly blues. #cambridgewildlife #ukbutterflies

Grantchester Field Studies: 26th April. Lots of Tortoise beetles were found (Cassida vibex). The fierst clue was in the small round holes in the Knapweed leaves. A bit of searching and we began to find these green camouflage experts. #ukbeetles

Grantchester Field Studies: 26th April. A Mottled shieldbug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) flew into the churchyard and posed for a photo. There were lots of Hairy shieldbugs and also Brassica shieldbugs in all their different colours. #ukhemiptera #shieldbugs

Photos from the 2026 Conversazione are now on our facebook page - Jim Woodhouse, Lois Clarke, & setting out the exhibits (photos by Bob Jarman, Rhona Watson & Graham Copekoga).

Summer 2026 outings

A female Small snakefly (Xanthostigma xanthostigma) seen in Cambridge yesterday afternoon. Sankeflies are not usually seenas when young they live under tree bark and when adult, are usually at the tops of trees. Perhaps this one had just emerged.

A young Wood mouse aka Long-tailed field mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) seen in Cambridge yesterday. #cambsmammalgroup

Last talk of the season on Wednesday 22nd April in Cambridge. In person or online, all welcome.

More moths from the Cambridge Botanic Gardens this morning. It is hard to beat a morning with a Puss moth, a Mullein, Muslin moths, as well as Least black arches, Many plumed, Early grey etc. #mothsmatter #cambsmoths #teammoth

Ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria) and its main kleptoparasite, Lathbury's nomad bee (Nomada lathburiana). Both seen today in Cambridge - a new colony of about 20 Ashy mining bees and one nomad bee flying around. #ukbees

A pair of Speckled wood butterflies today. The male is trying to mate with the female and is wafting pheromones over her. The female is not interested and eventually plays dead to try to discourage the male.

My first Speckled wood and Holly blues of the season today in Cambridge. There were also Peacocks, a Red admiral and Brinstones flying about. My friends also saw a male Orang tip on the wing yesterday. #bc-cambs-essex.bsky.social

Chiffchaff and Blackcap. The spring weather meant that the new arrivals were singing in the woods today. #birdsoc_cam

Just in case you are free this Saturday, the wonderful Cambridge Natural History Festival is on. All welcome! #NatHistCam #CNHSConversazione

Spring moth trapping. King's College meadow is full of Cowslips and Snakeeshead fritillaries. Only one moth today, the 'local' Agonopterix purpurea but there were 7 Marbled beauty caterpillars on the white wall behind the trap (they feed on lichen). #mothsmatter

Eyed ladybird spotted today in Cambridge. On low vegetation quite a way from Pine trees. Great to see as there aren't many records in Cambridge of this beetle. #ukladybirds

A beautiful morning to go moth-trapping in the Botanic Gardens with the cherries in full bloom. Great to see some new students joining us too. 10 people, and lots of moths: Clouded drab, Hebrew characters, Common quakers, Lichen tortrix and even a Pine beauty #cubotanicgarden #moths #teammoths

A Peacock butterfly (Aglais io) nectaring amongst Apple blossom today in Cambridge.

Lots of ladybirds out in the sun today; including 2 Harlequins infected with the fungus green moss-like fungus; Hesperomyces harmonie. I also found a 2-spot, a 10-spot, possibly hundreds of 7-spots and many harlequins. #hesperomyces

My first beefly of the year today' Bombylius major / Dark-edged beefly, in central Cambridge. #bombylius

(Almost) the last talk of the season; Thursday evening, all welcome either in person or online.

Mothing on top of the David Attenborough building this morning. Lots of orthosias, and nice to have more moth-ers than moths today! #mothsmatter

Talk on Thursday 12th March. Online or in person, all welcome.

Cambridge Natural History Exhibition aka the Conversazione. Exhibits wanted.

Beautiful brimstones today.

There are five butterflies that overwinter as adults in the UK and emerge when it is warm (if you don't count the Large tortoiseshell). These are the butterflies that we we might see flying around at the moment in Cambridge - Small tortoiseshell, Peacock, Brimstone, Red admiral and Comma.

Talk on Thursday 5th March, online or in person. All welcome.

Spring, and the first butterflies of the year! A Peacock butterfly, lots of Hairy-footed flower bees have emerged (we saw 2 males and a female earlier this week, and we must have seen about 30 yesterday). Also, my first mining bee of the season, a male Andrena bicolor/Gwynne's mining bee.

A nice mention of the CNHS Conversazione at the end of this article: www.cambridgeindependent.co.uk/lifestyle/fi...

Thursday talk on Ladybirds. Online or in person, all welcome.

Dick Newall and Swifts. Talk on Thursday evening; in person or online. All welcome.

Magpies fighting. This might be a territorial fight, it seems Library Court may be a good place to nest. In the end they were disturbed and flew away. There were a few magpies nearby that you can hear with the sound on. #cambridgewildlife #birdsoc_cam #uk_birdwatching

It looks like the Roe is itchy under the bottom of his antlers - you can see him scratching with a small twig at the join with his forehead. He also chews the twig as well, presumably to get it just right!

Early morning visit to the Botanic Gardens by the moth trapping group produced one moth in the trap (a March moth) and a visit to two wonderful plants that are pollinated by moths (in the wild) - the Moonflower and Darwin's Orchid. Why not visit them yourselves? #cubotanicgarden

Another talk that might be of interest: www.cambridgephilosophicalsociety.org/events/event...

Tubaria hiemalis, aka Tubaria furfuracea var. hiemalis is known as the Winter twiglet. A feature of this fungi is that some of the larger caps curl back on themselves showing their gills. It is a common winter/spring fungi but it is a new species for this site in Cambridge.

@cnhs1857.bsky.social A talk about Beavers in person or online, Cambridge, Thursday 12th February 2026. #wildlifebcn.org #cambsmammalgroup

Tree creepers are wonderful birds and this one was being especially obliging in Cambridge yesterday. Their thin beak is perfect for finding and extracting insects from tree bark. #cambridgewildlife #birdsoc_cam #uk_birdwatching

Talking about biodiversity, moth-trapping and sweep-netting in King's College meadow. Members of CNHS were involved with BBC1's Inside the Factory for tonight at 8pm. No guarantee that they will use us in the final cut, but if you watch then look out for us. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Trumpington Meadows past, present and future. Talk by Iain Webb of the Wildlife Trust on Thursday 5th February. In person or online, all welcome.

Hesperomyces virescens. This moss-looking fungi is has infected this Harlequin ladybird. It is sometimes called the Green Beetle Hanger. Spotted in Cambridge today.

Thursday evening; in person or online. Everyone welcome. Jack Ashby - Nature's Memory; behind the scenes at the world's natural history museums.

First talk of the year; Duncan Mackay 'The intricate relationship of Sallow & Hazel and the insects that live on them'. Cambridge, in person or online.