Ep 27 – The Social Wasps

In this species special we look at the social wasps. We discuss all 9 resident species (and the Asian Hornet), their habits, feeding, nest building, predators and parasites, along with their sting and what exactly is the point of wasps?

Ep 26 – Flies with Dr Erica McAlister

In this episode we talk flies with Dr Erica McAlister, Senior Curator of Diptera (true flies) at the Natural History Museum in London. She is also president of the Amateur Entomologists’ Society, and author of the The Secret Life of Flies and her new book The Inside Out of Flies.Erica answers listener questions on flies and tells…

beaver

Ep25 – Beaver Reintroduction with Derek Gow

We talk to Derek Gow about Beaver reintroduction and the story behind it, which is the topic for his book ‘Bringing Back the Beaver’ (available at all good bookstores).He tells the story of well evidenced projects that were stopped by the actions of an influential few, and the success that was won to keep the…

Ep24 – Wasp Spider Special

In this species special we look at the Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi, discussing their feeding behaviour, the males struggling to not be cannibalised while trying to mate with females, the possible function of both their striped body markings and the zig-zag of silk in their web, which is known as a ‘stabilimentum’.  We also look at…

Iolo Williams with a bald eagle

Ep 23 – Raptor Persecution and Welsh Wildlife with Iolo Williams

We talk to Iolo Williams about raptor persecution and the wildlife found in Wales. We also discuss and Iolo answers questions on how he ended up as a wildlife presenter, his favourite wildlife encounter, the effects of cats and pheasants on wildlife, Mya Bambricks plan to get more wildlife habitat in schools, where to look…

Palmate newt

Ep22 – Newts

Neil and guest host herpetologist Steve Allain discuss the UK’s Newt species. They talk about smooth, palmate and great crested newts, their habits, feeding and breeding and also look at the non native alpine and Italian crested newts, and neotony that sometimes occurs in UK species. In news they look at the pollution spill kills…

hydra

Ep21 – Hydra

A (very) short episode where Neil talks about our freshwater Cnidarians, the usually marine group that include corals and sea anemones, which focuses on the freshwater Hydra species. With a brief look at the alien freshwater jellyfish that occasionally turn up in the UK as well.

Ep20 UK Wildlife Podcast – Rockpools

We talk about Rockpools; the wildlife found there and the extreme environment in which they have to survive. In news we cover yet more BOP being killed in North Yorkshire and numerous cases of dogs attacking wildlife.

Common dolphins

Ep19 – Whales and Dolphins

We talk about the cetaceans, whales and dolphins, found around the UK’s shoreline, discuss the species found there with details on the 4 most common species and where to see them. In news we discuss a bearded vulture appearing in the UK, restoring meadows at the white cliffs of Dover, and 200,000 incidents of sewage…

Episode 18 – Stag Beetle Special

In a special short episode we talk about Stag Beetles and Lesser Stag Beetles. We discuss their life cycle, distribution, behaviour and how Neil determined if the males could bite or not! The links mentioned in the podcastPTES websiteStag beetle.infoStag beetles