World Rivers Day

World Rivers Day (http://worldriversday.com/) is celebrated each year all round the world. This year it was officially on 29th September but we celebrated it on Saturday 28th September, while the Abington Institute was open for Jeremiah's Café.

We had a steady stream of young visitors between 10:00 and 12;00, some of whom went off with nets to add to our collection of specimens to examine. We had fish, shrimp and signal crayfish as well as a few insects.

Examining and sorting the specimens

These crayfish were cooked - very tasty!

Lots of crayfish found!

Pine Hawk-Moth caterpillar

This photo of a Pine Hawk-Moth caterpillar was taken by Ali Nobes. The caterpillar, measuring 5 cm in length, was found dead in their garden pond and was identified by looking at http://butterfly-conservation.org/2401-1682/pine-hawk-moth.html.

Its food plant is the native Scots pine, and they have a large tree growing close to the pond. The adult moth is grey in colour, so the caterpillar is its more glamorous stage!