We have put up more than 1,000 nest boxes for Tawny Owls, Barn Owls, Little Owls and Kestrels in southern England, and they’re vital for these species who raise hundreds of young chicks in them every year. They also provide us with an opportunity to research these amazing British birds of prey and, in our latest project, in order to further our work, we would like to install monitoring units inside nest boxes to discover more about them.

Whilst we look forward to being open again and welcoming you back, we have taken a moment to look back on the past months when we’ve been flying our winter season team of birds and whom many of you won’t have had a chance to see in action this season. Saxon, our stunning Golden Eagle, has been working with Matt Williams from our Bird Team this winter so we’ve caught up with him to find out how her flying season has gone: “I have been so fortunate to be the main person working with Saxon this winter, as one of […]

Here you can read more about Nature’s a Hoot, and access resources, photos and extra insights from our eighth episode where we talk science communication, water boatmen and beavers, with special guest Sophie Pavelle. Listen now to the Nature’s a Hoot eighth episode Weird, Sexy and Hilarious Nature. Don’t forget to subscribe!

We are very excited to share an update from our Marion Paviour Award winner, Dr Georgia Jones, about her project on Kestrel diet analysis! The Trust is extremely pleased be part of this fascinating project working with Kestrels, because it aligns so well with our work on this Amber-listed species. We are extremely grateful for the generous donation from E3 Leadership Development, which made this award possible. We caught up with Georgia to find out the latest on this fascinating project we are very happy to be helping to support:

Last year we were delighted to welcome two young Black Kites to our team, Attenborough and Irwin. Training young birds is always a highlight for members of our Bird Team so being assigned this role is quite a privilege. Ben Cox was given the job of working with Irwin, so we’ve caught up with him to find out more about how the past nine months with Irwin have been:

Here you can read more about Nature’s a Hoot, and access resources, photos and extra insights from our seventh episode where we talk nature, with special guest Lucy Lapwing. Listen now to the Nature’s a Hoot seventh episode Getting nerdy about nature. Don’t forget to subscribe!

All living species have a common name and a scientific name, but what’s the purpose of the scientific name?

Hannah Shaw and Tom Morath, hosts of our wildlife podcast Nature’s a Hoot, will be coming to your living room LIVE on Sunday 21 February for a special virtual event!

In 2020, 153 birds were admitted to our National Bird of Prey Hospital™. As in previous years, the most numerous species brought to us were Tawny Owls, Kestrels and Buzzards. Two of the last birds to be admitted late in 2020, spent Christmas at the Trust and were both released very recently!

Simba is a young male African White-backed Vulture who hatched here at the Trust in 2019. His parents live in our large Vulture Restaurant aviary so, if you’re lucky, you may have seen him in the nest as a youngster. Last year, we paired Simba up with Ria May and Mike Riley from our Bird Team for training, and we’ve caught up with Ria here to get an insight about how he’s getting on: