Hobson’s Brook Bioblitz took place on the 7th and 8th June 2019. The Bioblitz was held at Clare College Playing Field, Bentley Road, Cambridge. Clare College Playing Field is flanked to the north and south by woodland, and is adjacent to meadows between Hobson’s Brook and Vicar’s Brook. A dozen experts and volunteers ran hour-long identification sessions and guided walks at the site. More than a hundred people participated in the event, despite the wet weather. The Bioblitz sessions covered plants, small mammals, birds, bats, moths, and other insects and freshwater invertebrates.
Clare College Playing Field produced 205 different taxa (mostly identified to species level). These included 36 species of birds, 8 mammals, 1 fish, 71 types of invertebrates (including 48 different moths) and 89 different plant species.
These results, compare well with the 2018 Bioblitz at Hobson’s Park, Trumpington, and the 2017 Bioblitz at Nine Wells and Empty Common, and together emphasise the diversity of habitat present along the Hobson’s Brook corridor.
Bioblitz highlights were the Tawny Owl, Kingfisher, Sparrowhawk and Little Egret, the Poplar Hawk-Moth and Spectacle Moth, the Serotine and Soprano Pipistrelle Bats, the Wood Mice and Bank Vole, the Water Scorpion, and the Grey Poplar, Lesser Water Parsnip and Stinking Iris.
These Bioblitz events have emphasised the biodiversity of green spaces close to the built environment, and show the importance of the Hobson’s Brook ‘green corridor’ in preserving wildlife in the City of Cambridge. Maintaining a strong flow of high quality water in Hobson’s Brook is clearly essential for the continued success of these ecosystems, which offer considerable benefits to the people that live close by.
Dr Steve Boreham – Bioblitz Science Co-ordinator 18th June 2019