Adam Ó Hare's natural history site!
Enthuse About Nature
16/06/16
I was at the Birmingham N.E.C yesterday and today – as a member of Press – to report on BBC Gardeners’ World Live (but my focus was on the wild side of it).
I interviewed a number of interesting people (the interviews haven’t all been edited together yet) and in the video below, I have taken a selection of clips from the interviews; showing gardeners – from all walks of life – enthusing about nature:
Thanks for visiting. 💚
Wildlife At My Window
05/06/16
For day 5 – I have decided to share with you, the wildlife I can see from my window.
Recently I set up a Window Bird Feeder, and all that I had visiting, was a lovely Great Tit – despite all the birds I get in the garden…
But with patience and a wee camera set to record, I got footage of a new visitor to my feeder! 😉
Thanks. 😀
“Encourage wild at work”
04/06/16
I have been working most of the first few days of June, so I’ve opted for easy Acts of Wildness (I have had no choice really) for my 30 Days Wild ‘challenges’. They are still enjoyable mind! I particularly enjoyed Encourage wild at work, because it made me bring nature into the work place – more specifically; the staff canteen! 💚
So what did I do? Well, on my lunch break I put the Springwatch Webcams on the TV, it happened to be adorable Little Owls which were on screen. 😃
Sophie, my colleague and friend, showed some interest and happily sat down in front of the TV:
Thanks. 😊
Nature Highlights at Minsmere
03/06/16
Hello 😊
For day three, I caught up on Springwatch and UNSPRUNG episodes that I’ve missed, plus I’ve put together a short video of my highlights at RSPB Minsmere (below) featuring:
Enjoy!
Thanks for visiting. 👍🏻
“Explore somewhere wild”
02/06/16
I travelled near enough 4 hours from the West Midlands to Suffolk, so I could visit RSPB Minsmere, and also be in the BBC Springwatch Unsprung audience! Some of you will know, it’s a reserve right on the East Coast of England! And is a host to a variety of habits, wildlife and of course, BBC Springwatch! 😃 I came over on the Wednesday night and stayed in near by Leiston, at the Field End Guest House.
I often wax-lyrical (to friends and family) about reserves that have a variety of habitats, I absolutely love them, because they are so enriching to explore and will be home to many different species of wildlife, which is fantastic to observe and have encounters with.
RSPB Minsmere certainly deserves it’s national recognition! I will definitely be visiting again in the near future! I arrived on the reserve at 10.30AM.
Thanks for reading. 😄
I should hopefully be making a series of short videos very soon, for Big Centre TV. The series will be entitled Wild West (Midlands) and it will showcase the greenspaces, wildlife and naturalists that are in and around the West Midlands.
To introduce me to their audience they asked me to come in on the 24th for a live studio interview, to discuss what families in the West Midlands can get up to this Easter Holiday, surveys and seasonal wildlife.
This is my first ever live studio interview:
Thanks. 😅
Wildlife Monthly – my seasonal video guide to British wildlife – is back! 😃
It has been 5 whole years since my first ever episode! There were two series in total, which Reader’s Digest Magazine featured on their website, with the last episodes being uploaded at the end of May 2012. Each month I produced 3 videos around a minute or more, detailing flora and fauna (mainly fauna) for you to look out for; be it in your garden, local park/reserve or further afield.
The idea this year, if all goes to plan, is to produce a single video per month, following that same criteria. Episode 1 of 2016’s Wildlife Monthly is in support of the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, in which I made some pink bird food. It was filmed at Moseley Old Hall – National Trust, which is in located on the boarder of South Staffordshire and Wolverhampton – where for the day, I was Lord of the Manor. 😉
Red Fat Balls and Lard Cake Recipe:
Doubtless you’ll be doing yours in a kitchen!
The breeding population of Goldfinches has risen by approx. 91% in recent years, and in Ireland the increase was around 158%! The British Trust for Ornithology has launched a survey to determine what is attracting these fabulous finches to our gardens. — BTO.org/Goldfinch-Survey
It’s estimated that since the 70’s we have lost 6 million House Sparrows! However, I’m proud to write; in Birmingham they are in good numbers! Along with Devon and Dorset, bucking the trend. 😊
UPDATE:
To catch up on pervious episodes of Wildlife Monthly, click here.
Thanks and all the best! 😀
“The Annual Rutland Romp!” ?? I’m referring to the British Birdwatching Fair, the Birdfair of course! 🙂 Last week was my 5th time at the fair (I’ve been going every year since 2010). It’s on for 3 days over a weekend in mid August, and has been on every year for more than 25 years! I love that it’s not just people from all over Britain visiting Rutland Water, but people from all over the world that migrate to England’s smallest county for this annual and eventful occasion too!
Over the years – despite its name – Birdfair has evolved to not just be about birds and aiding their conservation, but wildlife and conservation overall. I often refer to it as a wildlife festival before telling people the name of it. It is an amazing place to meet and be surrounded by like-minded passionate people, and rub shoulders with TV personalities 😉 There are talks from wildlife TV presenters, naturalists, conservationists and filmmakers, as well as authors and photographers too. I could only do two days of the fair and arrived on Saturday, with my wildlife photographer friend, James Burman – who has taken some stunning pictures. We camped at Rutland Water Camping, on the lovely Hambleton Peninsula – where we saw Foxes and a Badger 🙂
Chris Packham’s talk was brilliant – in short; it was about cutting the crap regarding what dangers children might face outdoors, and to let them experience and enjoy nature in all its glory! Chris featured three young wildlife enthusiasts, who in turn talked about their experiences and passion for nature, and what they have been up to. I realised they each represented a region of England: Josie Hewitt – The South, Connor Coombes – The North and Georgia Locock – The Midlands. All of their talks were very good, and insightful 🙂 I’m hoping this is a progressive change, as it’s really nice hearing from a diverse range of people on stage in the Events Marquee. Connor with his Cumbrian accent and Georgia with her West Midlands accent (similar to my own), I couldn’t help but be moved, it was refreshing and humbling!
In various other marquees you can find hundreds of stands selling and promoting the latest products for wildlife enthusiasts – gadgets and clothing, scopes to sculptures, binoculars to bird food and eGuides to eco-holidays! 😀 I mainly go to the festival to catch up with old friends and make new ones, and to share it all with them! ❤
Since my 2nd time, I have met up with my friend Christine Hall, a great wildlife camerawoman, photographer and conservationist. It’s possible you’ve seen her video of a Red Squirrel on a previous series of Autumnwatch, it was slipping down a post whilst trying to get peanuts from a bird-feeder, and you may have recently seen her in the Springwatch Unsprung audience 😉
It was really good meeting Yusuf Akhtar, Victoria House and a mixture of AFON and NGB members (to name a few); Alexandra Hoadley, Ryan Clark, Susan Jones, Josie Hewitt, James Common, Georgia Locock, Drew Lyness, Billy Stockwell, Sorrel Lyall, Tom Mason and James O’Neill. Plus it was really nice catching up with Peter Cooper, Jack Perks, Josh Jaggard and Matt Collis 🙂
Every year at the Bushnell stand I chat to WildlifeKate quite a lot, we came to realise we’ve never had a photo taken together, so the picture above is the only one ever for now 😛
Mike Dilger and I chat quite a lot too, this year he bumped into me – in the Art Marquee – James and I happened to be getting to know the illustrator of his new book, Darren Woodhead – a wonderful artist. Mike’s new book is being released next year!
Simon King’s talk this year – as well as hearing about his recent wildlife filmmaking – contained a much needed reminder; a bit more needs to be done to conserve the natural world. We were made aware that nature is losing places in the dictionary! Words like Snowdrop are being taken out and replaced with the likes of “selfie” and “blog”. So I was pleased that towards the end of his talk we were informed about the Simon King Wildlife Project, which is a new charity assisting in the prevention of the degradation of the natural world, globally. The project intends to safeguard habitats, reclaim land for nature and engage people with wild creatures and wild places, which in turn will help keep the natural world intact! 🙂
Before my entry comes to an end – wildlife I observed around the reserve:
Thanks for visiting 😀
I got back from work (I don’t usually work on Sundays) and I didn’t have to wait long until I was eating a lovely Roast Dinner made by my Mum. Afterwards my Dad said a newspaper he read earlier had something about birds nesting on a roof – he kindly fetched it for me… I was appalled by what I read! So as of a few minutes ago, I did “send a letter to your local newspaper” – one of the suggestions in the 30 Days Wild booklet.
I e-mailed the newspaper, this is what I sent:
Dear Sunday Mercury/J Taylor,
Firstly, Peregrines are Falcons – not Hawks. They haven’t and won’t decimate Songbirds. Also, not all ringed birds are Pigeons and are ‘owned’ by people.
Secondly, they are ‘native’ and are protected due to the years of persecution on Raptors (Birds of Prey) from a minority of small minded people – with unfair unrealistic outdated views.
Thirdly, Peregrines have moved to where their food is, due to the affects us humans have on the natural world – they are originally Coastal Birds (mostly), like Rock Doves a.k.a Racing/City/Feral Pigeons.
Lastly, a Peregrine is only doing what is natural in nature – keeping and racing Pigeons is not. The RSPB conserve all nature equally.
Adam Canning
In reply to:
Thanks for reading 🙂
For the RSPB, people have recently been sharing a few frog faces on social media, seen any? Well, it’s in aid of a new TV advert and campaign, starting today! Hopefully it will encourage those who have watched it; to get together where they live and give nature the home it needs – and rightfully deserves 🙂
I thought I would join in and do a Frog Face, for today’s 30 Days Wild! 😛
You may be happy to know it’s also a competition – to take these amusing selfies! 😀 To find out more and on how to take part, click here: #FrogFace
Thanks 🙂
Canned Wildlife 
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