Talking Naturally

Episode 30 is all about Hen Harrier Day 2016, a nationwide protest at the vanishingly low numbers of breeding Hen Harriers in England, where the scientific consensus is clear: there should be more than three hundred pairs but in 2016 there were just three: illegal persecution has brought the Hen Harrier to the brink of being wiped out as a breeding species in England. This podcast is a series of vox pops and in-the-field conversations, with birders, naturalists, political leaders, and leading conservationists including Mark Avery and Chris Packham.'.

Episode 31 is in two parts. First a recording from this year's British Birdfair of Charlie Moores (Talking Naturally and BAWC), Dominic Dyer (CEO of the Badger Trust), and Mike Dilger (ecologist and TV presenter eg the BBC's One Show), discussing wildlife crime, then a conversation with the World Parrot Trust's Africa Programme Manager Dr Rowan Martin on why the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species must move the Grey Parrot from Appendix 2 to Appendix 1 and end the trade in wild-caught birds.'.

Episode 28 and this time around we are swapping out our own 'birds conservation wildlife' tag for something completely different. We're talking about mental health with Tris Reid, aka The Inked Naturalist, a conservationist/general naturalist who has become well-known for wearing his heart on his sleeve and covering most visible parts of his body with tattoos of birds. Why the change in focus? Because while this podcast might not work for most people, if it helps even one listener it will have been worth posting it.'.

Named after Estonian explorer Karl Ernst von Baer, east Asia's Baer's Pochard is (to quote Richard Hearns at Slimbridge) 'nondescript' and 'poorly-known'. Why is it worth discussing then? Listed as Critically Endangered in 2012, the species is in freefall and it's clear that without concerted conservation action it could soon be gone forever.'.

Episode 26 and we have two interviews linked by beaches and things that - most of us will probably agree - shouldn't be on them: feral cats and trash. First up is Grant Sizemore of the American Bird Conservancy discussing plans to sue New York State Parks for maintaining a colony of neutered feral cats which are endangering breeding Piping Plovers, then Martin Dorey, founder of #2minutebeachclean who is asking everyone to do just a little bit to help keep beaches free of plastics and other trash.'.

Episode 24 and this episode is all about 'ultra marathons' - like marathons with a bit more distance and bit more suffering thrown in. Who is suffering and why? Radio producer Mary Colwell, who is walking 500 miles to fundraise for Curlews, and - myself: yes, in an outrageous piece of self-publicity I'm discussing with Jamie Gilardi, Director of the World Parrot Trust, my 24 hour 200+ mile cycle ride from Wiltshire to Cornwall to fundraise for wild parrots.'.

An interview with 'Birding Beijing's Terry Townshend recorded in 2012 shortly after he became BirdLife Species Champion for the Endangered and (then) virtually unknown Jankowski's or Rufous-backed Bunting and re-released as a companion piece to TN 023'.

In a special podcast we're back 'Around the Med' discussing the almost incredible numbers of migratory birds killed in the region every year - around 25 million birds killed illegally by shooters and trappers every year - with Roula Trigou and Fran Vargas-Bianchi of the Hellenic Ornithological Society or HOS, the BirdLife partner in Greece.'.

A special TN podcast about Abberton and Hanningfield Reservoirs in Essex, sponsored by and produced in association with Essex and Suffolk Water, part of Northumbrian Water Limited. Abberton, where a successful expansion scheme was completed last year, is the largest body of freshwater in Essex, an SSSI, a Special Protection Area (or SPA), and a Ramsar Site because of the large numbers of waterbirds that roost, stage and winter here. Hanningfield is also an SSSI with a large colony of Soprano Pipistrelle bats and important numbers of waterbirds. Both locations hold small reserves managed by Essex Wildlife Trust, a partnership that works to manage and improve biodiversity across both sites.'.

In this episode we're discussing an Australian endemic, the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot with Mark Holdsworth: if it wasn't for the extraordinary efforts of Mark and other members of the Orange-bellied Parrot National Recovery Team the species would already almost certainly be extinct in the wild. Closer to home we're talking with Rob Adams, Chairman and Treasurer of Spurn Bird Observatory Trust about - of course - Spurn, site of the Spurn Migration Festival and the UK's newest observatory accommodation. On a serious note, Rob was a close friend and colleague of Martin Garner, one of birding's brightest stars who died at the end of January: Rob will be paying tribute to Martin as indeed will we.'.

In Episode 18 we have two interviews. The first was recorded just before Christmas in North Wales with the ebullient trio of Iolo Williams, Alan Davies, and Ruth Miller (all three former RSPB employees, incidentally, but now better known for Springwatch, The Biggest Twitch, and talking from the heart). The second is a discussion with the BTO's Dr Sam Franks on the urgent need to raise funds for researching into just why our Curlews are disappearing. Yes, the Curlew, as familiar as, well, Turtle Doves and Cuckoos - which just about says it all really...'.

In this episode we talk with Molly Smith Cato, the first Green MEP for the South West of England, who talks a huge amount of sense about green politics and activism, and with Graham Jones, the RSPB's Area Conservation Manager for the Northwest of England, which includes the Forest of Bowland and it's vanishing raptors.'.

This time around we're looking at Turtle Doves, a bird that spends less than half of its life in the UK but is embedded in our culture, a bird that would have been familiar to any birder just thirty or forty years ago but which has declined so rapidly that just last week it was formally reclassified by the IUCN as Vulnerable to Extinction in the medium-term. Having declined by 90% in the UK since the 1970s, the species has gone into freefall in the past decade, with numbers falling by a further 77%. Is it too late to save a beloved summer visitor? Of course not. We have interviews with RSPB, BTO, and Dove Step 'Turtle Dove Hero' Jonny Rankin.