Golden Grenades

Joining Kit is very special guest, Carolyn Robertson, Nature Manager at the Cairngorms National Park Authority, helping to look after some of our most cherished habitats and species. She is also the Project Manager for the Capercaillie Emergency Plan including the annual Lek It Be campaign. Her previous roles include working for the WWT at the London Wetlands Centre, a national role based at… Sour...

Michael J. Warren is a writer, naturalist, medievalist and teacher of English with a passion for the places and birds of Britain. Michael is the author of two books, most recently The Cuckoo’s Lea; The Forgotten History of Birds and Place—a journey into the long past to discover the fascinating stories behind our ancient place-names. He was previously chair of the charity New Networks for Nature…...

In this episode of Golden Grenades, Kit is joined by his good friend Will Rose, for a live podcast recorded on the Whinchat podcasting stage at Global Birdfair 2025. Kit and Will’s very special guest for this episode is Indy Kiemel Greene. Indy is a conservationist, wildlife guide, RSPB volunteer and ambassador, Butterfly Conservation ambassador and a man who was 50% of a team walking from Lands’…...

Choosing the five bird species to save from the ecological end of days for this episode is Dawn Balmer. Dawn has worked at the British Trust for Ornithology since 1992, and her roles include fieldwork, organising ringing projects, BirdTrack Organiser, Coordinator for Bird Atlas 2007-11 and now Head of Surveys, overseeing long-term schemes and projects. She has been a keen birdwatcher from a very…...

Joining Kit for a chat about birds today is 11 year old Henry Day, aka Naturetastic Henry. He is absolutely crazy about wildlife and conservation and loves nothing more than exploring the natural world around his home in East Anglia and beyond, and sharing his adventures on his blog, socials and YouTube channel. He is a junior wildlife ambassador for the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire… Source

This is where my obsession with the fastest bird on the planet all started! For a while, we were shown a weekly BBC educational programme at school called Look and Read which included a serialised drama section. And the storyline that made a 9-year-old me sit bolt upright on the hall parquet floor and stare wide-eyed at the big telly on wheels was called Sky Hunter. Sky Hunter was brilliant… Sourc...

For the second year running Kit and Will are out on location for a very special episode. We were invited by Gareth Jones of Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group to join him for a weekend of ringing one of the best birds in the UK. But which bird?? Contains severed limbs, bad whistling, bonus churring and… the “king of the forest”! Will’s What Bird Is That? animated bird guide can be found… Sour...

In this episode, Kit is joined by Emily Joáchim, a freelance conservationist and writer. Emily has been obsessed with wildlife, particularly raptors and owls since childhood and, after completing her zoology degree, worked for various conservation organisations before spending 4 years studying the breeding ecology of the Little Owl for her PHD. She has worked with long-term nest box monitoring… So...

In this episode Kit is joined by ATM, a street artist who paints urban walls with birds threatened with extinction. He has a lifelong love of nature, having grown up surrounded by birds in an abundance which is now a distant memory. He has a particular connection to their songs, calls and the wild spaces they inhabit. His giant wildlife murals fill walls across London to Bristol and on to Poland…...

After a rather long hiatus, Golden Grenades is back! In this episode Kit is joined by Graham Appleton. Graham started birdwatching and ringing when at school in Birmingham and became heavily involve in the Wash Wader Research Group as a teenager. After a first career as a maths teacher and deputy headmaster, Graham worked for the BTO from 1997 to 2013, initially as a fundraiser and latterly as… So...

Kit’s guest on Golden Grenades for this episode is Josie George. Josie is a writer and visual artist based in the West Midlands. She is the author of her highly acclaimed book A STILL LIFE, a memoir about life as a chronically ill mother with a big heart and wide-open eyes. She is a regular writer for The Guardian Country Diary and her own blog bimblings, sharing a different view of nature from… S...

In a break from your usual programming, Kit and his pal Will Rose are on location! In Part 2 of our Northumbrian odyssey, we pick up where we left off and Tom Cadwallender shows us around his local patch. Then we head into the hills to meet up with secretary of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel, Mark Eaton and hopefully a plethora of red-listed bird species. May contain a man casually chucking a… Sour...

In a break from your usual programming, Kit is on location! He’s bought a roaming microphone, mounted it to a stick and is taking his old mucker Will Rose around Northumberland to show him the local wildlife. En route we chat to some local legends of the bird world, wear nets on our heads and learn that Puffins are mingers. Featuring; Heather Devey and Cain Scrimgeour of Wild Intrigue and the… Sou...

In this Golden Grenades bonus/extra episode Kit talks to writer and conductor Lev Parikian about his new book, Taking Flight. Source

This episode of Golden Grenades features Arjan Dwarshuis, a professional bird guide, writer, and motivational speaker, who also holds the current Guinness Book World Record for observing the largest number of bird species in a single year. In 2016, he launched his global “Big Year” and ultimately observed 6852 of the world’s over 11,000 bird species*, setting a record that stands to this day. Sour...

Kit is joined by naturalist and conservationist Nick Acheson for a chat about his new book, The Meaning of Geese, published on Thursday 9th February 2023 by Chelsea Green Publishing. Buy it here: https://chelseagreen.co.uk/book/the-meaning-of-geese/ Source

YOLOBirder’s guest on Golden Grenades in this new episode is actor and sometimes director Samuel West. He’s played Hamlet and Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Jeffrey Skilling in Enron in the West End and the voice of Pongo in Disney’s 101 Dalmations II. His television work includes Slow Horses, The Crown, Small Axe, Mr Selfridge and his films include Darkest Hour, Suffragette… Source

YOLOBirder’s guest on the podcast this time is North Shields born singer/songwriter Aaron Duff, who works both solo and with his full band under the name Hector Gannet. Aaron talks about his five favourite birds, the five species that he would protect above all others when the environmental apocalypse arrives. We chat about how he started in music, his connection to the natural world… Source

YOLObirder’s guest in the post-environmental apocalyptic wasteland is Dr Brian Briggs, a conservationist and musician on a lifelong quest to tune into the natural world. Brian is both a manager of an internationally important nature reserve, and the singer/songwriter for the band Stornoway. Stornoway were the first unsigned band to appear on Later… With Jools Holland and have subsequently… Source

YOLOBirder is back with a brand new Golden Grenades episode with the fantastic artist, writer and all round nature lover Kerrie Gardner. Kerrie is a nature inspired artist and writer living in Devon who likes to dabble in a variety of crafts. Before becoming self employed she worked as an ecologist and prior to that was an environmental educator with the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Source

YOLOBirder’s special guest on the increasingly infrequent Golden Grenades podcast is Kwesia, AKA City Girl in Nature. Kwesia is from South East London, and her experience of the outdoors growing up was playing football on the streets with dustbins for goalposts. She developed a secret interest in nature documentaries, and did not expect that a visit to her youth club from the British Exploring… So...

After a bit of a hiatus, Golden Grenades is back! Joining YOLOBirder this time is ornithologist, Jamie Dunning. Jamie is working on his PHD at Imperial College on the social lives of House Sparrows, has discovered that Puffins’ bills fluoresce and has an amateur project on the go on Twite in England. Some of us are interested in birds, but Jamie has taken it to the next level! Source

In this episode of Golden Grenades nature writer Nicola Chester discusses her work and recently published memoir, On Gallows Down. Why do people keep giving her dead things in a Bag For Life? Which bird would she like to rename the Spangle Speaker? And which species did she use to spook armed American servicemen? Have a listen to find out! Source

Actor, writer and director Mackenzie Crook discusses his love of birds, Detectorists and Worzel Gummidge and the bird he would most like to peck out one of his eyes! Source

For the final episode of the second series, YOLOBirder is joined by his Golden Grenades partner-in-crime Will Rose for a bit of last day of term, bring-a-toy-in, do-no-work tomfoolery. Includes unacceptable bird tattoos, coot skills and Will flips the table on Kit making him reveal the five species of bird he would choose to survive the environmental apocalypse. Source