Talks and Presentations - wildlife and gardening for wildlife
If you are interested to find out more about the county of Somerset, or keen to hear how you can attract wildlife into your own garden, then why not book a presentation for your own group or organisation.
I can offer set presentations as described below or design a bespoke presentation to meet your own requirements or needs.
Having already gained practical experience working in schools on wildlife projects and presentations, I can offer wildlife inputs to meet your own schools requirements or curriculum.
To book a presentation or to find out more about a bespoke service to suit your own needs please contact me through my contacts page or use the button at the bottom of this page. Please leave your full contact details so that I can discuss your requirements with you.
Nature as your Neighbour – Gardening for Wildlife
(PART 1 of 3)
Nature as your Neighbour is a presentation about how I developed my own garden for wildlife and gives general wildlife gardening tips and advice.
All pictures within this presentation have been taken in my own garden and feature a wide variety of wildlife.
Features talked about include, how to provide food and shelter and the use of water within the wildlife garden.
Running time is approximately 60 minutes with as long as required after to answer questions and discuss any issues raised. I allow enough time to ensure that the session isn’t rushed although timings can be adjusted to suit your requirements.
This presentation runs for approx 60mins
Doorstep Wildlife and Beyond the Garden Gate…
(PART 2 of 3)
An insight into wildlife in North Somerset on my local patch. I show what we can see on my patch and why it’s good to know your own local patch. I share my concerns and fears for the future of local wildlife and explain how we can all to help support it. We also look at our own gardens and how we can all make small changes for huge benefits for local wildlife by linking with the wider landscape.
This presentation runs for approx 60mins
Learning Nature’s Way – Changing our thinking about insects
(PART 3 of 3)
This presentation is the third talk in my current ‘Wildlife Gardening’ themed presentations. Firstly we have a brief look back at the previous 2 presentations from this series and catch up with what I have been doing and recap what we spoke about. There is an interactive element to this talk where we look at insects in general and the problems they face in what is being termed as ‘A Global Disaster’
Understanding insects and more importantly their habitats can make us better wildlife gardeners and I discuss how we can move away from ‘traditional’ thinking about wildlife gardening and garden with insects in mind which is vital to every successful wildlife garden.
This presentation runs for approx 50-60mins
Garden Ponds & Water Features for Wildlife
A detailed look at ponds. Learn where to locate and how to build a pond in your garden. We look at aquatic plants and planting up your new pond using native plants. we go on to discuss potential problems and how to look after your pond. the talk includes examples of ponds built by us and we see the wildlife that we have attracted to the various ponds in our own wildlife garden. the importance of ponds within our ecosystem is often overlooked and we try to put this right with interesting facts about our dwindling pond numbers within the UK. This presentation should be of interest to new, potential and current pond owners.
This presentation runs for approx 60mins
Gardening for Moths
An introduction to moths, showing the importance of providing garden habitat for these fascinating insects. It also gives tips on what to plant to encourage moths into your own garden. We also look at the life cycle of moths and the foodplants that we must stop erradicatting and now start growing for the caterpillar stage of a moth in our own gardens. We also look at the educational benefit of moths.
This presentation runs for approx 55mins
Wildlife Garden Design – ‘designing with nature to protect it’s future’
An insight into my own ’10 design principles of S’ – I developed the principles as a check list to really help the designer understand, not only , basic design techniques but to consider the ‘bigger picture’ when designing a garden for wildlife. We look at Structure and Form, Style and Design, Sustainability plus a multitude of other subjects that influence a true wildlife garden. We also visit my own wildlife garden here in North Somerset and see features that have been put in but also some of the wildlife that I have successfully attracted to my garden. A great presentation for budding designers or anyone interested in attracting more wildlife into their garden.
This presentation runs for 60 minutes
A Moth-Man’s Tales
A Moth-Man’s Tales is an introduction to moths, showing the importance of these fascinating insects. It also gives tips on what to plant to encourage moths into your own garden.
This presentation runs for approx 45mins
‘Scorpions, Dragons and Damsels in Distress… Discovering the Insects of YACWAG’s Reserves’
Celebrating some of the amazing insects found on the nature reserves owned and managed by my local wildlife group: Yatton & Congresbury Wildlife Action Group (YACWAG), who in 2019 celebrate their 20th anniversary. This presentation starts with some general information about insects and their importance in our world. It then delves into the matter of understanding the landscape that you look for and find insects in. We go back to Roman times and discover how the North Somerset Levels were formed and how they were reclaimed only to be lost to the sea again at later times! We see how YACWAG’s reserves sit in this landscape before going into the reserves and discovering some interesting and very rare insects! Understanding the landscape is a key factor in successful wildlife watching and hopefully this presentation will make the viewer go and discover things about their own local patch!
This presentation runs for approx 60mins
MY NORTH SOMERSET LEVELS STORY… A HISTORIC LANDSCAPE
An in depth look at the history of the North Somerset Levels, focusing on the area from the foot of the Mendip Hills across to the Bristol Channel.
I have used extensive archeological material and findings to start my own investigation into what the North Somerset Levels may have looked like throughout the ages and the wildlife that did or could have frequented this historic landscape.
We discover ancient occupation across the moor and compare todays wildlife with artifacts found by archeologists helping to build a picture of the ‘Natural history’ of my beloved moor.
Running Time is approximately 60 minutes
Presentations for Schools
School Wildlife is an interactive presentation featuring lots of pictures that whiz onto screen to make montages of different species of the same animal, bird or insect.
There are questions asked for children to guess the number of certain British species and the presentation is designed to fully engage the children who are encouraged to shout out answers and get involved in the presentation whilst learning about the wildlife.
Although my current version has been designed for junior school aged children this is a highly adaptable presentation that can be changed to suit your school’s needs.
Running time is fully flexible to fit in with your time scale or lesson plan.
Contact me below for more details.
Running time to suit requirements
Discovering the wildlife of North Somerset
The Wildlife of North Somerset is a general presentation that features a wide variety of animals, birds and insects that make up the diverse county of North Somerset. The presentation features heavily the North Somerset Levels at Kenn Moor and surrounding area. The mighty Bristol Channel often turns up some surprise wildlife and viewers are treated at a look at some of the common and rarer inhabitants and visitors to this often overlooked county.
Conservation features heavily in the county with some wonderful locations to see a variety of butterflies and moths and you never quite know what might turn up!
Running time is approximately 40 minutes but again can be adapted to suit.
Nature as Your Neighbour – Family Friendly Wildlife Gardening
This is a second version of ‘Nature as Your Neighbour’ but focuses on how I and you can make a wildlife garden that is family friendly. We look at how I developed my own garden whilst having a young daughter and dog to consider. I show some of the features that I included to make our wildlife garden a fun yet educational place for children to enjoy.
Running time is approximately 60 minutes with plenty of time for questions after
YACWAG’s Reserves and Their Wildlife
Yatton and Congresbury Wildlife Action Group (YACWAG) own and manage a large number of wildlife reserves and other wildlife habitat around the villages of Congresbury and Yatton. In this presentation we take a look at these reserves and some of the wonderful wildlife that use them.
Running time is approximately 50 minutes
Yatton’s Wild Side – The Secrets of our Moor
A presentation focusing on the North Somerset Levels around the villages of Yatton and Congresbury. We look at some of the wildlife on the moor and discover some very rare insect species that are now being recorded. The moor gives up some wonderful surprises. Within the presentation we also go back to Roman times through Archeological dig results to see how the moor was formed from the salt water tidal marsh into todays fresh water paradise.
Running time is approximately 60 minutes
Garden Photography – Capturing the wild side…
In this presentation, I explain some of the basic principles of garden based nature photography. The presentation starts with some basic principles of garden deign to help encourage wildlife into your garden. we talk about setting up features to help give a better result for your pictures. We then move onto some of the basic principles of wildlife and nature photography, such as, how to approach wildlife, focus point, use of light and angles among many other tips to help you create and take a better picture. Recording wildlife and sharing pictures on social media is a big part of today’s photography habits and we look at both of these. As well as helping you take a better picture, this presentation will also help you to attract more wildlife into your outside space also.
Running time is approximately 60 minutes.
For more information about my talks or to book a presentation please contact me using the button below
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