All posts by Mark Hill

NatHistCam filmed by Cambridge TV

NatHistCam was lucky enough to feature on Cambridge TV recently, with a focus on the Garden Survey. Rosie Earwaker tells us how the filming went…

Wednesday 19th October came, and I was a mixture of both excitement and nerves with the prospect of being filmed. Paul Rule had kindly offered his garden, which had plenty of interesting features to talk about. The first thing to do when I arrived was to check what had been attracted into the moth trap, which I had set up the previous evening. It’s always exciting turning over the egg boxes at the bottom of the trap to see what creatures might be lurking, but it was very anti-climactic with just two moths showing up! That was moths off the cards then.

In the meantime, Mark Hill and Monica Frisch had started compiling a plant list for the garden. Mark was focussing on mosses, which varied from flicking bits off the roof with a long pole to getting low to the ground with hand lens to the eye (in typical botanist style). The film crew arrived after the plants had been thoroughly inspected and we launched straight into the plan for the day.

Monica was first up, with a closer look at the variety of plants in the lawn. We were a bit early for the Bee Orchid rosettes, but there were plenty of other species to talk about. Paul followed with a bit about his garden and how he encourages wildlife (deliberately or not!). Then Roger Featherstone arrived and the filming focussed on the snuffling contents of the small mammal traps, which had caught a number of lively beasts. The sun had even appeared at this point, which provided some welcome warmth on quite a chilly day.

While some of us refuelled inside for a bit, Mark was interviewed by Adam Canning about the Project and wildlife recording in the area. Last up, it was my turn to talk to Jamie Wyver about the importance of ivy as a food resource for pollinators and about bees and wasps. I found it difficult at times not to look into the camera, which was pretty close to us, and just focus on having a chat with Jamie!

The day went really well and we’re pleased to share the final piece. Thanks to all those who were involved!

http://www.cambridge-tv.co.uk/the-wild-side-ep4/