The Armchair Naturalists

Welcome to autumn: Simon, John and Margaret join forces this autumn/winter with the wonderful team at Haith’s wild bird food (https://www.haiths.com/) to launch their new project – “Make Nature Your Playground”. Gemma Saunders (Customer Care Manager) introduces herself and explains more about the project and how Haith’s aim to encourage parents and grandparents to get […]

Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “An Anniversary and An Armchair Assessment” and marked the fact that the 9th of July (when the podcast was recorded), is the date of birth of Maxwell Knight whom the FFON Maxwell Knight website is named. John and Margaret – who knew Maxwell Knight – share […]

Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Bees, bugs, ponds and water-bowls.” The FFON (www.ffon.co.uk) team discuss Sean Wensley’s timely blog “Growing close to nature during lockdown” and one specific quote, which caught the attention of a number of people on twitter: “I join, passionately and emphatically, all those who want our post-Covid […]

Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Wildlife – Interactions and Relationships.” The FFON (www.ffon.co.uk) team discuss John and Margaret’s recent blog post about their delightful village lane and how things took a turn for the worst (as far as nature was concerned) when they were confronted with a “Grass Cutting” sign. Also, […]

Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “Records and Rapport”. But first, they share messages from a variety of places including India, the Caribbean, Scotland and a safari company based in East Africa. Recorded Wednesday 6th May at 19.00. Podcast edited by Edward King. Episode show notes: Since recording the podcast, The Map’s […]

Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “The Four (Changing) Seasons”. They take a look at spring in terms of natural history – referring to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” – and then discuss the ever-present art and science connection. But first, we discuss the increasing numbers of FFON readers and contributors. Blogs we refer […]

International Dawn Chorus Day is a super opportunity to celebrate nature – specifically birdsong, and what a symphony it was this morning at 5 am. On the first Sunday in May, people from all around the world throw off the bed covers and head outside to tune in to the beautiful sound of tweeting birds.  […]

Episode notes: Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today is “Resources and help for Armchair Naturalists” and they take a look at the useful equipment for natural history, but not before discussing the exciting comings and goings of wildlife during the international lockdowns. Please visit http://www.ffon.co.uk to find out more about our ‘Armchair Naturalists’ project or email [email protected] with […]

Episode notes: Simon, John and Margaret launch The ‘Armchair Naturalists’ podcast and discuss the art and science of natural history, and they encourage everyone to get involved and explore the natural world – even if that’s only possible from the comfort of an armchair. Please visit http://www.ffon.co.uk to find out more about our ‘Armchair Naturalists’ […]

We can hear what’s always been there: birdsong.