In this episode I visit my friend Paul Stevens, just down the road from home, to gawp at a fantastic set-up on his house. His sidewall is bedecked in Swift nest boxes and House Martin nest cups, providing a beautiful bird metropolis where these declining red-list birds can thrive.

Paul makes these boxes and nest cups from scratch himself, drawing on his experience he has gained from working with these birds. The successes he has had at home for Swifts and House Martins has really fired up a widespread surge of interest by communities in Sussex villages and towns, and further afield, to get their birds back too. Paul has been sawing, building and nailing away in his workshop and installing boxes and nest cups all over the county and the results have been amazing.

We talk about how to identify these birds, their migration, the threats they are currently facing and what we can all do to help them. We recorded at dusk so we’re surrounded by lots of wonderful sounds as the birds come into roost.

Transport yourself to the beautiful mountains of northern Spain as we visit our lovely friends Katie and Luke at their Wild Finca – an old farm they are managing through agri-wilding, creating the most wonderful diverse habitat mosaics for nature and a refuge their young family.

This episode is a departure from the normal format with a long and wide-ranging discussion on how they manage the land with Asturcón ponies and Casina cattle, the importance of environmental education for local children, and the celebrations and challenges as apex predators return to the land. There was so much to talk about I have divided this episode into two parts to share it all with you.

We discuss everything from pond creation to the everyday management of the livestock, we hear Grasshopper Warblers, Red-backed Shrikes, Nightjars, Field Crickets and, most importantly, Luke’s impression of an Eagle Owl. It’s worth tuning in just to hear that!

This is Part 2 of 2.

Transport yourself to the beautiful mountains of northern Spain as we visit our lovely friends Katie and Luke at their Wild Finca – an old farm they are managing through agri-wilding, creating the most wonderful diverse habitat mosaics for nature and a refuge their young family.

This episode is a departure from the normal format with a long and wide-ranging discussion on how they manage the land with Asturcón ponies and Casina cattle, the importance of environmental education for local children, and the celebrations and challenges as apex predators return to the land. There was so much to talk about I have divided this episode into two parts to share it all with you.

We discuss everything from pond creation to the everyday management of the livestock, we hear Grasshopper Warblers, Red-backed Shrikes, Nightjars, Field Crickets and, most importantly, Luke’s impression of an Eagle Owl. It’s worth tuning in just to hear that!

This is Part 1 of 2.