The Nature Garden: gardening, wildlife and nature notes · The Weekending Show

Gan canny

·38 min·2 clips

Butterfly Conservation says the small tortoiseshell has dropped 82% since the mid-1970s.

1. The Nature Garden: gardening, wildlife and nature notes episode “Gan canny” links garden safety, spring bird migration, butterfly survey data, and weekly jobs in the garden. 2. Carl Steinson presents the week-ending show with Tom Pattinson, Tom Cadwallander from the British Trust for Ornithology, and Richard Fox from Butterfly Conservation. 3. The episode asks listeners to think about what “Gan canny” and “Techit Steady” mean for gardening, wildlife watching, and getting through spring safely. 4. Tom Pattinson says gardening should be enjoyed with care because accidents happen, from nettle stings and rose thorns to tools left lying around. 5. He cites ROSPA and says garden accidents run into “thousands, nay tens of thousands” every year across the UK. 6. He names lawnmowers, secateurs, spades, forks, electric trimmers, petrol trimmers, hoses, sprinklers, broken glass, rusty metal, and uneven paths as hazards. 7. He warns against using hedge cutters without goggles, a face screen, gloves, and suitable footwear. 8. He recommends routing the hedge-cutter cable behind the body and using an RCD that cuts the current off immediately. 9. He says a decent RCD costs about “20, 25 pounds” and asks, “What price do you put on your life?” 10. Tom Cadwallander reports from the Aln Estuary after returning from birdwatching in Gambia and mentions a new hip from the NHS. 11. He describes winter birds such as widgeon and teal drifting north while spring arrivals like chiffchaffs, sand martins, house martins, common sandpipers, and ring ouzels begin to appear. 12. He explains that chiffchaffs winter on the Iberian Peninsula or in North Africa and calls them the vanguard of summer visitors. 13. He describes sandwich terns, noting their black bills with yellow tips and using butter on a sandwich as a mnemonic. 14. He says puffins and guillemots are rafting offshore in big numbers, especially around Coquet Island and the Farne Islands. 15. He notes that the Farne Islands are open again after two years of closure linked to bird flu concerns. 16. He identifies redshank gatherings of 80 or 90 birds on the estuary and uses the German word “gunner” for pre-migration restlessness. 17. Richard Fox says Butterfly Conservation’s survey has run since the 1970s, with thousands of volunteers counting butterflies at over 3,000 locations. 18. He says 2023 was average overall, but brimstone and red admiral had their best ever UK years while small tortoiseshell had its worst. 19. The tone stays practical and field-based, with direct advice, live observations, and a calm conversational format. 20. Gardeners, birdwatchers, and wildlife volunteers will get the most from it; casual listeners seeking pure entertainment may skip it.

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