Cambridge City
Local Nature Reserves
Welcome
The Local Nature Reserves (LNR’s) in Cambridge are for both people and wildlife. The designation of these reserves helps to protect some of the best wildlife habitats and geographical features across the City, whilst making an important contribution to the UK’s biodiversity. The reserves provide an opportunity for people to study, learn about and enjoy nature on their doorstep.
Over the last 100 years, urban development, agricultural intensification and the abandonment of management operations have put many habitats and species under threat. Today, Cambridge City Council’s Local Nature Reserves make an important contribute to the protection and enhancement of the UK’s biodiversity.
The conservation volunteers created nothing short of a work of art this week at Wenvoe Meadow in Cherry Hinton. As well as beautiful, the ‘Bee bank’ they built is a useful addition to any wild space; containing a range of nesting substrates to suit a multitude of native solitary bee requirements. There were sand/cement layers, sand/cement/soil layers all with differing ratios of each material to hopefully give the perfect conditions for our mining bee species. There was also clay and straw layers which will crack and give satisfying…
As part of the City Council’s Chalk stream initiative, https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/chalk-streams a fish survey was carried out last Thursday at Vicar’s Brook, which is the stream which runs down the side of Coe Fen nature reserve. Electro fishing is the name of the technique used, it’s basically the process of putting an electric current through the water which temporarily and painlessly stuns the fish thereby making it far easier to find them and record them. This was in advance of the stream improvements planned for the brook this year….
So much activity happening on the reserves despite the cold and wind! Swifts and swallows finally beginning to return and many Solitary bees out foraging. This male Hairy footed flower bee and the Tawny mining bees were all spotted at Bramblefields nature reserve recently. It’s worth trying to get to know our many, varied and most beautiful solitary bees. Just as important in the role of pollinators as more well known bees. Also, as most do not store collected pollen in “leg baskets” but in a…