Advantages: keeps you informed
Disadvantages: none

...Wild life news of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, wildlife news is the magazine that BBOWT publishes for its members. this magazine is about 60 pages of A5,A white thick papered magazine with coloured pictures This magazine is free to members each month. It has pages of information and articles about wildlife in the buck’s berks and Oxon area Let me describe the May issue, each issue is similar with articles pertinent to the month it is published. The cover for May is a full-page picture of a bluebell wood with a butterfly perched on a large bluebell. Inside a list of contents this month a comment by Martin Young a chief executive of the trust who is leaving and an introduction to our new chief executive. The next page holds a feature of one of our reserves there is always one of our reserves... Read review

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Advantages: Commonplace
Disadvantages: Rare

...be that. It would also be a safer place - safer for the diversity of nature, and safer from our reliance on monoculture, on chemicals and on high energy inputs for our food production. We as a species are taking a gamble that all these things will be sustainable, even in the face of the changing climate that our numbers and activities engender, and it is a gamble that may well be lost. One of the values of places like Marden Meadow is that they remind us we should think about such things. What's more, there's no charge for entry, which makes it especially good value for money. If you feel you ought to be giving something back for your enjoyment of the place, you can always make a donation to Kent Wildlife Trust, which owns it. * Who's in charge * Kent Wildlife Trust is an independent charity dedicated to nature conservation... Read review

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Advantages: Very good fun, make new friends, very cheap holiday
Disadvantages: Be prepared to get muddy

...-3 people per room. Everyone shared tasks - for example, there is a cooking rota. All tasks were properly explained and supervised. The National Trust were keen to see we really had a "holiday" too, so it was not all work. We had a whole day off for sightseeing, splitting into about 3 groups. Some off us went to the seaside, others visited another property, and others went off to a wildlife sanctuary. We all went to another property together on the last day using our free membership cards, and had a group meal, with the younger ones of us going for drinks in the pub. It may sound cliched but it was a fantastic experience working alongside complete strangers and watching it gell as a team. We ranged in age from 18 to 60 and everyone got on so well. We had a lot of laughs and I will never look at moats the same way again! I would thoroughly... Read review

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Advantages: Good magazine about wildlife worldwide.
Disadvantages: none.

...BBC WILDLIFE I occasionally read this magazine sometimes buy it sometimes borrow it from the library .I borrowed Decembers issue from the library over Christmas and have just found time to read it today. This magazine is published monthly. BBC wildlife contains articles about wildlife from all over the world as well as some articles about British wildlife. This month has an article of several pages about polar bears with some great photos. There is also an article about Eagle owls. Each month has a highlight section with information about what wildlife to look for It describes how in December mountain hares have a white coat to camouflage against the snow, how you might glimpse one in the Cairngorms. There is a discoveries section each month about new discoveries in the natural world. The articles are on individual... Read review

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Advantages: Once in a lifetime photo opportunities of unique wildlife were the subjects actually stay still!
Disadvantages: Not a cheap trip

...My Favourite Wildlife on the Galapagos Islands. I decided I would write about the wildlife on these Islands as the wildlife on these islands is like nothing else to be found in the world. Blue Footed Booby. We first encountered these birds at Punta Suarez on Espanola where there is quite a colony of them. The name Booby comes from the Spanish term “bobo” which means stupid fellow. They certainly look real silly when they dance during courtship and mating which we saw them do. The birds are mainly white feathered with blue feet. The male bird stomps his lovely blue feet trying to impress the female and whilst dancing spreading his wings and squawking at her. The female copied him, also squawking back so it was like watching a mirror image. I guess it was her way of saying “you’ve pulled mate!” These birds are much bigger than... Read review

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Advantages: Great animals, good 'hands on' approach
Disadvantages: None really, except if you don't like birds

...The next stop on my review-tour of the Isle of Wight is Seaview Wildlife Encounter. Formerly known as The Flamingo Park, the wildlife encounter is located in the sunny seaside town of Seaview. I've visited twice in the last few years, and it is a great day out. **About the Park & Location** Seaview is on the Eastern side of the Island, not far from Ryde up the coast, and Sandown down the coast. The park's main attraction was, for some years, its collection of Flamingo's, hence the name. However, I believe the name was changed a couple of years ago to Seaview Wildlife Encounter, so that it's clear that it is not only flamingo's there. The park is relatively large, so you should plan to spend the day there, however if you do find that you're finished before the day is over, it's only a short walk or drive to the lovely, sandy... Read review

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Advantages: Photos are excellent
Disadvantages: Some things hard to identify, such as caterpillars are not shown

...If what you need is a comprehensive guide to all types of wildlife- birds, trees, plants, lichens, marine life, insects, all in one book, then this is the book for you. Despite owning several good, more detailed books on various aspects of wildlife, I wanted one handy guide that I could take out with me on walk, to cover the whole range of things I might hope to see. I also liked this guide in particular, as it comes in a waterproof plastic cover (a bit like a library book) which makes it ideal to throw in a rucksack for a days walking and not be afraid to get out in the field to look up something you’ve found. The book is divided into sections, each highlighted by a coloured bar at the top. These sections are: • Mammals, • Birds, • Reptiles, • Amphibians, • Fish, • Butterflies and Moths, • Other insects, • Spiders... Read review

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Advantages: A lovely place to walk around
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

...Staglands Wildlife Reserve Staglands is a unique expression of New Zealand. It is a reserve, which consists of 10 ha of land. Inside the reserve it features streams, ponds, hills and gullies that have been created and developed over the years. A special feature is the old bush settlement, which gives visitors an interesting insight into what life was like for early settlers in New Zealand. When you first go into the reserve there is an area called the forest wetlands which has been extensively vegetated and provides shelter and breeding sites for a range of waterfowl. You could feed the ducks here if you wanted. The different species of bird was black swans, mute swans, grey teal, brown teal, scaup (black teal) Carolina and Mandarin wood ducks, grey ducks, paradise ducks (NZ shell ducks) and Australian shell ducks. So for someone... Read review

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Advantages: quick and easy to use - before the strange species moves off!
Disadvantages: missing caterpillars and other young

...I have been trying not to write a review for a while but to learn more from the experts – but then I saw this book. The Complete British Wildlife by Paul Sterry is our wildlife bible, bought at £12.99 10 years ago but now RRP £14.99. I could not help myself. I am driven to tell you how absolutely brilliant it has been for the identification of a diverse range of flora and fauna. Even my husband who has just walked past me muttered “the best book we have ever bought. The children and adults love it”. Firstly, I should tell you that I have two small children under five, and we are lucky enough to have a large garden backing onto a large field, common and woodland. Each time we see a butterfly or bug out comes this book. It is easy to use the index, though occasionally we have found the Latin names a little challenging and from... Read review

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Advantages: Great size for lunchboxes
Disadvantages: 1 too many in a pack?

...My kid sister used to take yogurts to school with her everyday, you know the big chunky ones that are awkward to fit in lunchboxes, the oens where you have to use a spoon that you either forget to pack or it somehow gets lost. Well one day in the supermarket we went searching for a better alternative, and were delighted when we came across wildlife choobs. Packaging. The yogurts are bought in packs of 6, each yogurt is in a plastic tube, designed in different colours depending on the flavour; Raspberry packaging is purple. Strawberry packaging is red. Apricot packaging is orange. theyre easy to open, they have a small slit in one end, that is simply torn off to open the yogurt, then you just suck it, no spoons needed. Each yogurt contains about 35 to 40g of yogurt... Read review

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