Talking Naturally

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.'.

In a special episode of Talking Naturally I talk with Anna Clayton, a writer and researcher at Ethical Consumer magazine, shortly after the launch of a report she had written on the optics industry titled " 'Shooting Wildlife' - Who makes your binoculars, cameras and spotting scopes?" To quote the first four lines of the report: "'Sport optics', such as binoculars, spotting scopes and monoculars, are used by many keen birders and wildlife watchers. They are also essential pieces of equipment for hunters, resulting in some optics companies marketing products at both conservationists and sport hunters.'.

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 this episode we're talking with Terry Townshend, an ex-pat Norfolk birder who's been living and working in Beijing, China since 2010, where he writes the increasingly influential and conservation-based 'Birding Beijing' - a blog dedicated to celebrating the birds of China�s capital city. An excellent birder, Terry has a professional background in environmental law, is a regular contributor to the China Birdwatching Society�s lecture series, and in 2014 he became the BirdLife Species Champion for the Endangered Jankowski's or Rufous-backed Bunting.'.

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.'.

We have two interviews in this episode, themed (pretty loosely) around the Mediterranean. We're looking at Montagu's Harrier conservation on both sides of the Med with Mark Thomas (RSPB) and Almut Schlaich (Dutch Montagu's Harrier Foundation); and at the Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx (which like its principal prey item the European Rabbit) is endemic to the Med, with Eduardo Goncalves founder of SOSLynx and chief-exec of the League Against Cruel Sports.'.

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 have three different interviews. First up is Pauline Kidner, founder of Secret World Wildlife Rescue a charity with the stated vision of preventing "British wildlife suffering needlessly and inspire in everyone an understanding and love of wildlife and the countryside". After Pauline it's Jeff Dawson of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust who is working to save the critically endangered Mountain Chicken, which is now confined to just two small islands in the Caribbean. Last but of course not least is Israeli birder and conservationist Yoav Perlman, one of the organisers of the Champions of the Flyway, a unique series of events held in Israel that campaigns against the illegal killing of birds throughout the Mediterranean Flyways - a cause that surely everyone would support, but as Yoav is all too aware not everyone is happy with where Champions takes place.'.

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.'.

We've three interviews for you this episode. We're talking with Noah Strycker, the new Big Year world record holder who in 2015 travelled to 41 countries on all seven continents and finished with a remarkable 6042 species on his year list; with the RSPB's Andre Farrar discussing the recently-released government Hen Harrier Action Plan - a short document that includes the prospect of brood management in its 11 pages; and with Bristol-based author and researcher Ed Drewitt on the rise of the urban peregrine.'.