Golden Grenades is a weekly podcast about birds and those who worship them, all set against the heart-warming, upbeat backdrop of the end of the world. Each week, YOLOBirder chats to a special guest about their five favourite birds, one of which must enter a best bird duel against the mighty peregrine falcon!
YOLOBirder’s fellow apocalypse survivor this week is Jonny Fisk, lifelong wildlife enthusiast and for the past five years has lived and worked as an Estate Worker/Assistant Warden at Spurn Bird Observatory.
Contains unexpected migration, bird serial killers, sky burials and a pointless game of Pointless!
This week’s guest on Golden Grenades is Dr. Alex Bond, senior curator in charge of birds at the Natural History Museum. Alex describes his work looking after the historically and culturally important specimens in his care and talks about his extensive work as a conservation biologist with a focus on the marine environment and island biology.
Contains the bird Alex described as “one pound balls of hate” and the one that sounds like “a northern granny when you tell them you have met a nice boy”!
This week YOLOBirder is joined by naturalist and self-proclaimed nature nerd Lucy Lapwing. Lucy started blogging about wildlife on her Instagram during a period of illness in 2015, and aims to communicate the weird and the beautiful aspects of our natural world in a funny and inclusive way. She works for the RSPB in Communication, Fundraising and Community Engagement and has ongoing bird song series on YouTube and BBC Radio 3. She has successfully spread the nerdy word on a number of [platforms recently including BBC Earth and Springwatch’s Instagram, and the Self Isolating Bird Club.
In this episode Lucy celebrates the ‘little brown jobs’ and the often overlooked female birds of a species.
This week YOLOBirder is joined by the best selling nature writer and international tour guide Dominic Couzens, who discusses his lifelong love of birds and the five species that mean the most to him. From his first published article on gull identification to his latest book, Save Our Species: Endangered Animals and How You Can Save Them, Dominic talks about his fascination for bird behaviour and telling others about the amazing things birds do. We even chat about his appearance on Harry Hill’s TV Burp!
This week nature writer and illustrator Tiffany Frances-Baker talks about her five favourite birds, her love of the night sky and how to forage!
Contains satanic buntings, knitted finches and the answer to this week’s Zero Punches Pulled question “Is it wrong to wish on space hardware”!
Will YOLOBirder’s peregrine defeat Tiffany’s tribute in the best bird off? Listen to find out!
This week YOLOBirder is joined by musician and songwriter Fyfe Dangerfield who talks about his five favourite species of bird, his Birdwatcher project and EP and which bird he would chose to dress like if he could! Also contains a sneak peek of his next smash hit ‘Nightjar Superstar’!
YOLOBirder’s special guests this week are photographer and cameraman Luke Massey and wildlife writer Katie Stacey. Two years ago Luke and Katie moved to Asturias in northern Spain and set up Wild Finca, a home and agriwilding project that might just be their biggest challenge yet. They talk about the five species of bird that have guided them on their journey to this point, and their hopes for the future.
Warning-contains various background farm animals! Also, badly-timed nappy changes, throwing meat and floating decapitated heads in swimming pools!
Note: despite Luke and Katie being outside to maximise their signal in remote northern Spain, it was Kit that had some recording issues at his end in the UK!
This week YOLOBirder is joined by Kabir Kaul, a young conservationist, wildlife writer and passionate advocate of London’s biodiversity. He is an ambassador for the Cameron Bespolka Trust, RSPB Youth Councillor, London National Park City Ranger and Director of Environment & Conservation for Middlesex Heritage and somehow manages to still fit in his school studies! Through his popular interactive map of London’s nature reserves and green spaces he encourages Londoner’s to make a difference to the wildlife on their doorstep. He has featured on BBC Autumnwatch and received the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award last year.
Kicking off the second series of Golden Grenades, YOLOBirder chats to zoologist, wildlife TV presenter, writer and photographer Megan McCubbin about her love of wildlife and how she strives to protect it. Contains goshawk sniffin’, tiger chuffin’ and Marmite flyin’!
YOLOBirder’s special guest this week is designer and animator Will Rose. Will’s work ranges from Peppa Pig and Hey Duggee to animating Sir David Attenborough himself and Luke Massey and Katie Stacey’s Film ‘The Last Song of the Nightingale’.
Contains birds seen while showering, swift plucking and the bird depicted on more stamps than any others!
