Subjects

Nature is full of countless small and minutely detailed things, most of which pass completely unnoticed by humans. Everything illustrated in this talk, whether the scales on a butterfly’s wing, a nettle’s sting or even a slime mould, would fit comfortably inside a nutshell and most can be found within a mile or two of your doorstep, just waiting to be appreciated.

Christmas Island, a remote speck in the Indian Ocean beyond Java, has for millions of years remained out of reach for most mammals. Instead it is dominated by a vast number and variety of crabs, which rule virtually every habitat on the island. This talk looks at the crabs and other wildlife of Christmas Island, many of which are found nowhere else, and follows the spectacular annual migration of crabs from the forests down to the sea.

The tropical rainforests of Borneo are among the richest habitats on Earth, home to orang-utans, headhunting tribes (now semi-retired) and a wealth of colourful insects and other wildlife. Here we meet some of them, look at the threats that they face and learn how our actions can affect their future.

Isolated from the rest of the world for millions of years, Australia is rich in unique creatures (many of them with uniquely lethal stings, bites or punches!) in habitats ranging from desert to tropical rainforest. This talk introduces some of them and looks at how they survive in this often-harsh environment.

Indonesia, a three-thousand-mile chain of over 13,000 volcanic islands strung out between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, boasts the world’s largest living lizard: the Komodo dragon. It can weigh up to 30 stone, reaches nine feet in length and is capable of outrunning and bringing down a person, and yet it is confined to just a handful of small islands. Here we visit the dragon’s islands and meet some of the other animals and plants with which it shares its home.

The Amazon is the world’s largest river - when it floods it covers an area of tropical rainforest the size of Germany and its banks are further apart than Dover and Calais. We travel along the river before visiting an even more threatened forest near Brazil’s south coast.

From coral sea, through tundra and forest to the farmland of today we trace the evolving Chiltern landscape and the wildlife it supports. A hundred million years in an evening!

Stretching over 80 miles from Ivinghoe to Avebury and over 5,000 years from the Stone Age to the present day, the Ridgeway can claim to be the oldest road in Europe. This talk offers a blister-free walk along this ancient chalkland track, describing both its prehistory and the rich wildlife that it supports today.

Most people have heard of glow-worms but how many have actually seen them or even know what they are? We follow a glow-worm through its life from egg to adult, looking at how it feeds, how it sees off predators and of course how (and why) it produces its brilliant light. We also consider whether it is a threatened species and give tips on how to see one for yourself.

Insects are the most diverse group of creatures that have ever existed on Earth, with some five million species and new ones being discovered every day. For every one of us there are a billion of them. This talk looks at how 400 million years of evolution have allowed the insects to become so successful, how they live and why so many other species depend on them.

Not only colourful, beautiful and edible (apart from those which are deadly poisonous!), fungi are the ultimate recyclers, without which most of the world’s habitats would rapidly collapse. This talk explores the diversity of the fungal kingdom and how their often-strange lives affect us.

By trapping and storing sunlight plants form the basis of virtually all life on Earth, but they do much more than just feeding animals. This talk traces their life cycle from seed to flower, looking at how they grow, travel, breed and feed (including some that prey on animals), as well as the partnerships that they form with animals, each other and us.

A tour of the plants and animals which inhabit ponds, lakes, streams and rivers and how they are adapted to life above and below the surface.

Following the lives of the inhabitants of a typical English wood through the cycles that take place in the course of a day, a year and a lifetime.

Grasslands come in an almost limitless variety, from churchyard to chalk downland, each supporting its own unique community of plants and animals. We get down on all fours to take a closer look at life in the grass. >

Ever since humans have existed we have depended on trees in countless ways. This talk looks at why we need them and why, now more than ever, they need our help.

With so much habitat being lost from our countryside every year, even the smallest garden can offer a home for wild plants and animals. We look at designing a wildlife garden, planting, ponds and maintenance and find ways to make a garden more attractive for wildlife and more interesting for us.

A look at the ingenious and often bizarre structures that animals build for themselves.

A tour of the myriad ways in which animals and plants communicate with each other: what they say and how they say it.

A year in the British countryside (bring warm clothing!).