Wildlife watching from a number 40 bus – With Podcast

July 2010. Avon Wildlife Trust (AWT) is creating a new way for urban people to get closer to nature by launching Britain's first free-to-download podcast introducing bus passengers to the nature points of interest along their route.

The first AWT WildBus podcast - based on First Bristol's Service 40 bus route, between Old Market and Cribbs Causeway - is now available from www.avonwildlifetrust.org.uk .

It has been produced by Julie Doherty, the Trust's learning development officer, using the voices, stories and observations of Trust members, local residents and expert naturalists including broadcaster Simon King, who shares his boyhood memories of wildlife watching in Blaise woods.

Julie Doherty explains: "Buses are a great vantage point for viewing nature as well as an environmentally-friendly way to visit nature sites. Our hope, then, is that the podcast will not only give bus passengers pointers on what to watch out for as they travel but will also show how very easy it is to reach wildlife-rich places even from the heart of a city."

Range of wildlife habitats
Julie Doherty says: "The reason for starting with the number 40 route is that it passes such an interesting range of wildlife habitats, starting amid the tall towers in the centre where seagulls perch, then dipping in and out of built-up areas and open space as it goes by way of The Downs, Sea Mills, Shirehampton, Lawrence Weston, and Henbury to the shops at Cribbs Causeway.

Otters, chiff chaffs & pigeons
Among the insights offered by the soundtrack are where to look for otters, find unusual plants such as the itchy 'beggarticks' or skullcap or smell wild thyme, when to expect chiff chaffs on Brandon Hill and why pigeons are good for Bristol.

Talking about the podcast, Tony McNiff, Managing Director of First Bristol, Somerset and Avon says: "We want to congratulate Avon Wildlife Trust for coming up with this innovative and imaginative way to combine new technology with the great viewing opportunities presented by bus windows to create a travelling nature observatory.

"We are sure that the podcast will add pleasure and interest to Service 40 journeys and we hope it may also encourage new people to try bus travel as an environmentally friendly means of getting around the city. Customers wanting to make the most of the podcast would be well advised to get one of our many multi-journey tickets, which will allow them to hop on and off the bus as often as they wish to, exploring the many wildlife locations they'll pass en route."

The launch of Avon Wildlife Trust's WildBus podcast is part of a package of events and activities celebrating the charity's 30th birthday this year and is the latest in a long line of pioneering people and wildlife projects which have helped to make AWT a UK authority on wildlife conservation in an urban setting.