In Your Nature

Send us Fan Mail In Your Nature returns with a thought-provoking new episode featuring Ricky in conversation with Pádraic Fogarty—ecologist, author, and one of Ireland’s most influential voices for nature. The discussion centres on Pádraic’s long-standing work advocating for more ambitious and meaningful conservation efforts across Ireland, from rewilding landscapes to reforming environmental poli...

Send us Fan Mail In Your Nature returns with a captivating new episode recorded live from Global BirdFair 2025, where Niall Hatch is joined by two seasoned nature guides with deep ties to the Falkland Islands—Andy Pollard, a Falklands native and expert birder, and Martin Anstee, a conservationist and expedition leader with decades of experience in the region. Together, they explore the unique biod...

Send us Fan Mail In Your Nature returns with a fascinating new episode spotlighting the Ealing Beaver Project , a pioneering urban rewilding initiative bringing these charismatic ecosystem engineers back to West London after a 400-year absence. Niall is joined (recorded live from Global BirdFair 2025 ) by Dr Sean McCormack, founder of the project and a native of County Kildare. Together, they delv...

Send us Fan Mail In Your Nature returns with a heartening new episode exploring the Return to Nature Clare Church Biodiversity Project , a community-driven initiative transforming churchyards into havens for wildlife and reflection.  Ricky is joined by Barry O’Loughlin, Biodiversity Officer with Clare County Council, to discuss the origins of the project, its progress to date, and the vital role o...

Send us Fan Mail In Your Nature returns with a luminous new episode exploring the theme of Dark Skies, featuring a guest interview with Kerem Asfuroglu of Dark Source (lighting design consultancy) and Dark Skies Ireland . As artificial light increasingly disrupts ecosystems and obscures our view of the stars, this episode sheds light on the growing movement to preserve natural darkness for the ben...

Send us Fan Mail In our last episode of 2024, In Your Nature welcomes a well-known nature celebrity for a very lively chat. Niall and Ricky speak to Éanna Ní Lamhna about biodiversity and her long track record of writing, broadcasting and advocating about and for Ireland’s flora and fauna.  Éanna gives her characteristic, energetic and unfiltered opinion on nature broadcasting, biodiversity loss i...

Send us Fan Mail The eagerly awaited, Farming For Nature (FFN) Handbook has just been published, Ricky and Niall take the opportunity to discuss how important farms and farmers are for nature in Ireland, given the dominance of agriculture lands across the Irish landscape.  Ricky speaks Dr Emma Hart on behalf of FFN and co-authors, Bridgit Barry and Brendan Dunford about the book, its content and o...

Send us Fan Mail Step into Nature , is a new book written and illustrated by naturalist Rachel McKenna, chronicles a year of her observations of everything from plants to birds, insects and fungi. It is journey through her year, describing her finds and allowing readers to pick up the book and share in her curiosity and learn from her finds. Ricky speaks to Rachel from Killaun Bog near Birr Co. Of...

Send us Fan Mail We all need a holiday from time to time but there's no doubt that travelling comes with a cost, and we're not just talking about to your bank balance! Travelling comes with an environmental impact but "eco-tourism" or "sustainable tourism" offers an opportunity to lower that impact significantly. However, with these terms becoming buzzwords in recent...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of In Your Nature comes from across the pond as Niall records from the 2024 Global Bird Fair in Rutland, United Kingdom. Known to many as "Glastonbury for birders", the Global Bird Fair sees conservation organisations, photographers, authors, artists ecotourism companies and many more join together to celebrate their shared love of birds. Over a July weekend...

Send us Fan Mail Bats can sometimes get a bad rap but in this episode of the In Your Nature podcast, we hope to dispel some myths and shine a light on these truly remarkable creatures. For this conversation, we are joined by Bat Ecologist and Senior Projects Manager with Bat Conservation Ireland, Niamh Roche, who gives us an insight into the lives of Ireland's nine species of bat. On listenin...

Send us Fan Mail This episode of In Your Nature is another collaboration with Collie Ennis of The Critter Shed and this week, we're talking all about the Grey Heron! Although amphibian expert Collie has an understandably complex relationship with the Heron, this episode has given him a newfound respect for the species! While they're known as skilled fishers, did you know that Herons have...

Send us Fan Mail We know you'll be itching to listen to this episode, which is a collaboration with Collie Ennis of The Critter Shed. This week, we're talking all about, you guessed it, critters, though not the cute and cuddly kind. Ticks, fleas and flat flies are the focus of this conversation and while the thought of that might make your skin crawl, we encourage you to listen on! Ticks...

Send us Fan Mail In an In Your Nature first, this episode was recorded live with an audience from Wild Mind Festival in Fenit, County Kerry earlier this spring. Wild Mind is a festival that celebrates our natural environment, making it the perfect fit for a visit from In Your Nature. Picture this, Niall and Ricky sitting on hay bales on stage in a artificial barn/shed structure waxing lyrical abou...

Send us Fan Mail In our end of year Christmas Special, Niall and Ricky consider what birds Santa might be enjoying at his bird table in an exploration of some of the hardiest species that call Finnish Lapland home. There is something in Santa’s bag for everyone in this episode, from fit finches to tough tits and canny corvids!  We hope you enjoy it, thanks for listening and happy Christmas!  In Yo...

Send us Fan Mail This week In Your Nature focuses on the topic of invasive species, looking specifically at two new kids on the block, the Quagga Mussel and the Alpine Newt*, two recently discovered unwelcome colonisers!  Ricky speaks to alien invasive species expert Dr. Jan-Robert Baars, Lecturer and Assistant Professor at the School of Biology and Environmental Sciences at University College Dub...

Send us Fan Mail This week Niall and Ricky are feeling the chill prompting the question, where do our summer migrants to Ireland go to get some winter sun? They discuss a list of species across the bird families that up sticks in autumn and leave in pursuit of an endless summer of sorts. A story of migration but focusing on the where and why of these massive journeys. Blackcap is our Bird of the W...

Send us Fan Mail The wildlife and wild places of Connemara are the topics of this weeks episode. John Lusby, Raptor Conservation Officer with BirdWatch Ireland discusses some of the iconic bird species (with a focus on breeding Golden Plover) which use this landscape, and conservation efforts underway to understand and protect them. John has nominated a bird of prey (surprise surprise) for Bird of...

Send us Fan Mail This weeks' episode brings us part-two of the Ireland vs New Zealand Bird-off. Originally broadcast as part of Radio New Zealand’s 'Our Changing World', produced by Co. Kerry native Claire Concannon (now ensconced in NZ), Ricky Whelan has been pitching his wits against New Zealand native and ornithologist Jamie McAulay, in a ferociously competitive and hilarious com...

Send us Fan Mail Season 8 of In Your Nature podcast is starting-off with something slightly different -  part one of a competition between Ireland and New Zealand to see which countries birds will win out in a series of categories in an inter-island bird-off! Originally broadcast as part of Radio New Zealand’s 'Our Changing World', produced by County Kerry native Claire Concannon (now en...

Send us Fan Mail This weeks episode is all about Swifts, specifically Swifts in Co. Offaly.  Since 2017, BirdWatch Ireland has been coordinating county Swift surveys. Co. Offaly was the first ever county to commission a Swift survey and this season, they commissioned a re-survey of the county. Niall sat down with Jaroslaw Majkusiak, BirdWatch Irelands' 2023 Co. Offaly Swift Surveyor to find o...

Send us Fan Mail For this weeks episode of In Your Nature podcast, we take a close look at Moths, a vast and diverse group of insects. Ricky also speaks to Amanda Pedlow, Heritage Officer at Offaly County Council, an avid citizen scientist and moth trapper on the joy of moth trapping and recording.  Topics include the lifecycle of the moth, their importance in the wider food chain, the conservatio...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we take a closer look at hedgerows, an iconic part of the Irish landscape, and discover how important they are for pollinators and the farming community. Ricky speaks to Ruth Wilson who is the Farmland Pollinator Officer (All-Ireland Pollinator Plan) at the National Biodiversity Data Centre, a post funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM)...

Send us Fan Mail This weeks In Your Nature podcast topic is the Pine Marten. Dr. Denise O'Meara of South East Technological University sat down with Ricky to chat about the Pine Martens' ecology, the reasons behind their amazing comeback in recent years, and how the Pine Martens comeback has helped the Red Squirrel population to begin to slowly recover in parts of Ireland. Bird of the We...

Send us Fan Mail This weeks episode focuses on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or H5N1, more commonly referred to as bird flu. The impact of the H5N1 has been particularly pronounced in the last two years, impacting seabird colonies on a pretty much global scale. At the outset of the episode Niall explains that while bird flu is a pre-existing virus, the virulence of the H5N1 strain is du...