We talk to Bafta Award winning wildlife cameraman Doug Allan about how he started his career in natural history videography, what its like filming polar bears and leopards seals, filming in a pub garden, his favourite wildlife sites and his upcoming talks. We have also included an automated transcription of the episode below, you can…
We talk to Dr George McGavin about the insects and arthropods that are the topic of his new audiobook All Creatures Small and Great. How he decided what to write and talk about, his guests and who else he would have liked to have included and generally chat about the wonderful world of invertebrates. We…
In part 2 of our chat with Chantelle Lindsay and Rory Crawford, we talk about the Albatross Task Force, the Great North Wood Project and breaking down barriers to nature for Black people. We finish with a more light hearted question of what their best ever wildlife encounter was. Links:Great North Wood ProjectAlbatross Task ForceChantelle’s…
We talk to the hosts of the Cbeebies show Teeny Tiny Creatures, Chantelle Lindsay and Rory Crawford, about how they got to be presenting the show, getting a job in conservation (and how hard it is!) and their dream creature to do a Teeny Tiny episode on. We also chat about how Dr Amir Khan’s…
Our guest this episode is Paul Williams from the BBC Natural History Unit, and director and producer on the latest BBC Nature Doc, The Green Planet.We talk about the Green Planet series, seeing the world’s biggest flower, the difficulties filming a cactus parasite, stories from working with Sir David Attenborough and how he got to…
We look at an invertebrate commonly found in ponds and ditches, the water lice. We cover the 3 native UK species Asellus aquaticus, Proasellus meridianus, Asellus cavaticus and the non native Caecidotea communis, their life cycle, feeding, breeding and predators. We also read out our listeners 2021 wildlife highlights and discuss our own too.
It is 2 years since the 1st episode of this podcast was released so we decided to do something a bit different, and interview each other! As we asked all the questions that were sent in, it lasted a bit longer than intended so here is part 1 of 2…
We talk to Eleanor Colver, Conservation Officer at the British Dragonfly Society, who gives us an update on the State of Dragonflies report, talking about the results and future plans informed by the results, while we chat about dragonflies in general
We talk to Lee Davies, mycologist and Fungarium Curator at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, all about Fungi! We finally talk about this whole kingdom of life so far largely ignored by this podcast, discussing what fungi are, their different ecologies, the mycorrhiza fungi and their symbiotic relationships with trees, and how many are poisonous…
We talk to 2 young naturalists Mya Bambrick and Ben Rumsby abut their experiences being a young naturalist in the UK today. We discuss what got them into wildlife, the upsides of social media from a young naturalist’s perspective, bird camps and Mya’s work with the Cameron Bespolka Trust, Vlogging and what Noc-Mig is.
We talk Craneflies with Pete Boardman, national organiser for the UK Cranefly Recording Scheme. We talk about what craneflies are, the confusion when using the name daddy long legs, the diversity and lifecycle of the craneflies, and why there are so many about at this time of year.
We talk to Dr Isla Hodgson about the sharks found in UK waters, including Basking Sharks. We answer your questions on sharks and talk how little we do know about these often misunderstood and unfairly maligned creatures. We also discuss Isla’s work with Basking Shark Scotland and the Save Our Seas Foundation which includes their…
We talk to Jack Wootton, Aquatic Ecologist for the Forth Rivers Trust, about European eels We discuss their lifecycle, diet and issues threatening their survival, and talk about the Forgotten Fish Project he started and the work they do to help eels and other fish.
A slightly different episode talking about Neil’s recent trips to Yorkshire, one with Zeiss to test out their Victory SF binoculars while enjoying the wildlife of Flamborough Cliffs and hoping to see the Albatross that had been seen there, and a 2nd trip to….well listen to find out! We also take a closer look at…
We talk to Fiona McKenna and Dave Smallshire of the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) and the work they and the BDS do to engage people, record and conserve dragonflies and damselflies. We also find out what their favourite species of this fascinating group is!
In this episode we look at the Emerald damselflies, the Lestidae, found in the UK. The Common, Scarce, Southern and Willow Emeralds, looking at how to identify them, their habitat preferences, egg laying and larva habits, the recent arrival and spread in the UK of the Willow and Southern Emeralds and some more geeky info…
Vic and Neil talk about our 9 resident Blue Butterfly species, looking at each species and their preferred habitats, larval food plants and their relationship that some have with ants, including how they trick the poor ant hosts into caring for their caterpillars.
