Our sixth episode is dedicated to some of the world’s most wonderful ecosystem engineers: dung beetles. As well as being funky little insects they punch well above their weight in the ecosystem services they provide. I join scarab fanatics Darren & Ceri Mann as they delve in to some Knepp dung, and chat to Rob Howe, a livestock vet who is working with farmers to promote healthy on-farm ecology through the power of dung beetles.

To keep up to date with dung beetle news check out the British Scarabs website

This podcast wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some very talented people so many thanks go to: Lia Brazier for the beautiful artwork, Mat Davidson for the wonderful music and the fantastic Ian Bunn for his patient editing skills.

In episode 5 we meet the ebullient Matthew Oates to talk about the inebriated and hedonistic life of His Imperial Majesty, the purple emperor. We talk about the life cycle of this magnificent butterfly, what we’re learning about them at Knepp Wildland, and how to go about spotting one yourself. And most importantly we learn the origins of the not-so-ancient proverb “When tits are down, emperors are up!” Move over Confucius…

If you liked hearing from Matthew on this podcast then you might be interested in reading some of his books, of note his most recent works In Pursuit of Butterflies and His Imperial Majesty

This podcast wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some very talented people so many thanks go to: Lia Brazier for the beautiful artwork, Mat Davidson for the wonderful music and the fantastic Ian Bunn for his patient editing skills.

During episode four we delve in to the intriguing lives of reptiles and learn more about these fascinating animals at Knepp Wildland. I'm joined by my good friend, Ryan Greaves, who shares some remarkable reptile facts and encounters, and we find out what we can do for these captivating creatures in our gardens and in the wider landscape.

For more information about reptiles please check out the Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust.

This podcast wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some very talented people so many thanks go to: Lia Brazier for the beautiful artwork, Mat Davidson for the wonderful music and the fantastic Ian Bunn for his patient editing skills.

In our third episode we investigate a fascinating research project being carried out at Knepp Wildland, which is studying the social behaviour of the orange-legged furrow bee Halictus rubicundus.

Dr Rebecca Boulton from the University of Exeter gives us an insight in to the intriguing lives of these little sweat bees, including tales of cheeky mating and sneaky eggs. This podcast takes a few unexpected twists and turns, and shows how this ‘plastic’ species may be able to adapt as the climate changes.

For more information about Becky and her studies you might like to follow her on Twitter @DrBecky_B and check out her wordpress page: https://drbeckyb.wordpress.com/publications/ or https://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/profile/index.php?web_id=Rebecca_Boulton.

This podcast wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some very talented people so many thanks go to: Lia Brazier for the beautiful artwork, Mat Davidson for the wonderful music and the fantastic Ian Bunn for his patient editing skills.

In our second episode we explore the lives of the white storks nesting at Knepp Wildland which have featured on Springwatch this month.

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large charismatic bird that is the focus of a project to re-establish a breeding population in the south-east of England. 

Charlie Burrell, Knepp landowner; Lucy Groves, White Stork project officer and Kirsty Richardson, stork volunteer, join us in this episode to share their enthusiasm for the project whilst we get up close to these beautiful birds on the nest and also in their enclosure.

Enjoy the sound of the storks bill clattering and fly with us as we carry out a nest monitoring drone flight.

For more information about the project please visit the white stork project website or follow on Twitter @projectstork

This podcast wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some very talented people so many thanks go to: Lia Brazier for the beautiful artwork, Mat Davidson for the wonderful music and the fantastic Ian Bunn for his patient editing skills.

Our inaugural episode celebrates the return of the nightingale to Knepp Wildland this spring.

The nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) has seen an impressive increase in numbers at Knepp Wildland since the beginning of the rewilding project, and 2020 has been a bumper year (although we didn’t know this at the time of recording!) with somewhere in the region of 30 singing males in the southern block of the project.

Sideshow Dave joins us on this episode as we talk about nightingales during our nocturnal and dawn surveys. We’re also fortunate enough to be joined by Tony Davis, lead bird ringer and nest-finding guru at Knepp to talk about the importance of finding and monitoring the nests of this elusive species.

We end with the most wonderfully pure nightingale solo from beneath a full moon.

This podcast wouldn’t have been possible without the support of some very talented people who have kindly given their time and exceptional talent to help get this from egg to fledgling! Many thanks go to: Lia Brazier for the beautiful artwork, Mat Davidson for the wonderful music and Ian Bunn for his patient editing skills.