Nature Detectives

April 18, 2026 · 2 min read · 4 visits

Once a month Tilian is joining a program called Nature Detectives. It is organized by the local NABU chapter.

After drop off I had a solo photo walk planned, which lasted until the NABU team noticed my camera and asked if I could fill in for their regular photographer who was running late. Pretty sure the camera fooled them into thinking I actually knew how to use it. Two hours later I was still there.

Today’s learning topic was about amphibians, their living environment and how their population is at risk, and what we all can do to protect them. In practice that meant examining frogs, a toad and a great crested newt up close, reviewing the amphibian traps along the road that keep them from getting killed by traffic, dipping nets in the pond and releasing the catch, looking at insect finds and stream bed creatures on a chart, and learning about biodiversity and local amphibian populations. A local farmer joined the lessons and shared that within a few years the amphibian population on his wetland dropped by a factor of five.

A reddish-brown frog sitting on dark soil among green leaves and dry oak leaves

A boy and an adult bent over an amphibian trap between nettles, checking what is inside

A dark great crested newt held between two fingers, with a finger pointing at it

Close-up of a shiny green and gold ground beetle crawling across the back of a human hand

Topics: Daily Photo, Photography