Wildlife Weekend a Great Success

Thank you to Martin Hughes-Games who joined us for a fantastic Wildlife Weekend!

It was a fantastic, insightful and inspiring weekend and it was a privilege to have Martin share his passion for wildlife with us.

Saturday was a wonderful day where we were able to fully integrate Martin into our daily activities. Firstly, he joined Dr Matt Stevens and Miriam Nicholls, from our Bird Team, to discuss British raptors and our conservation and research work with them. Before our Valley of the Eagles display, Martin shared with us his passion for British wildlife as we looked out across Reg’s Meadow (our chalk downland wildflower meadow) and the East Cholderton Valley. During this display, Martin even got the chance to join in as he helped feed and fly our team of Hooded Vultures.

In the afternoon, Martin signed copies of his book ‘A Wild Life’ and then co-commentated the Woodland Owls display with Miriam. In this display, Martin helped demonstrate the agility of our Great Grey Owls, as he stood in as a ‘human tree’ and showed us an insight to the incredible silent flight of owls. Martin even got to meet our resident screen star, Troy the Tawny Owl!

Sunday was a slightly soggier, yet more intimate affair. Despite heavy rain throughout the day, we were treated to a truly wonderful day of entertainment. To begin the day, Martin officially opened our new ‘Meet the Burrowers’ exhibit, a highly anticipated moment that you can read more about on our blog. This was followed by an insightful talk from Martin in our Griffon Rooms, about his time as a producer of natural history programmes and also working on Springwatch.

In the afternoon, the bird team treated us to a wonderful and different flying display outside. The day ended with a second talk from Martin inside, accompanied by a couple of our owls!

It was a privilege to present Martin with membership to the Trust at the end of a highly-enjoyable weekend and we hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.