For those of us who grew up in the late eighties/early nineties the name Chris Packham is synonymous with “The Really Wild Show”, a wildlife documentary aimed at the younger generation and filed in one of the afternoon slots on weekday BBC. Since leaving the show in 1995 Chris has made guest presenter appearances on popular documentaries such as “Countryfile” in 2005 and more recently as the wildlife expert in two episodes of “The ONE Show” on BBC1.
This evening, however, was all about the birds Chris has known and photographed throughout his career so far. The talk consisted of entirely still, but exquisitely taken, photographs and short stories about each bird. Despite introducing the talks by telling the audience it would not have any particular pattern Chris managed to give a good sense of flow throughout. Beginning with the experience of being bitten by a rather angry king vulture and moving on to the feeding habits of other carnivorous birds he linked these stories to the remainder of the lecture by talking about some of the odd adaptations that different species have developed over time in order to cope with their environment.
Despite the audience being around 60% under 12’s, Chris’ talk was littered with dry humour and occasionally sarcastic comments that kept the adults amused and captivated. While not inappropriate, some of these could have been seen to go a little over the children’s heads and cause them to lose interest. However, stories about Tussocks eating crusty snot and scabs off seals; anecdotes of eagle owls preying on neighbourhood cats whilst under Chris’ care and tales about the Falkland Isles Caracara eating frozen poo were sufficiently gruesome to keep them occupied. This was only emphasized at the end when Chris asked for questions from the audience about anything and took a couple from adults but a surprising number from children. He dealt with all these extremely sensible questions with enthusiasm and verve, managing to get across an excitement for zoology to the younger generation.
For everyone who enjoys documentaries and yet feels lectures on the subject would be too stuffy, this is a wonderful show. It combines anecdotes about birds he has interacted with and fascinating stories about places he has seen. An hour is definitely not too long for Chris to expound on his experiences, and for young and old alike it is a very nicely balanced piece of entertainment and education.
This evening, however, was all about the birds Chris has known and photographed throughout his career so far. The talk consisted of entirely still, but exquisitely taken, photographs and short stories about each bird. Despite introducing the talks by telling the audience it would not have any particular pattern Chris managed to give a good sense of flow throughout. Beginning with the experience of being bitten by a rather angry king vulture and moving on to the feeding habits of other carnivorous birds he linked these stories to the remainder of the lecture by talking about some of the odd adaptations that different species have developed over time in order to cope with their environment.
Despite the audience being around 60% under 12’s, Chris’ talk was littered with dry humour and occasionally sarcastic comments that kept the adults amused and captivated. While not inappropriate, some of these could have been seen to go a little over the children’s heads and cause them to lose interest. However, stories about Tussocks eating crusty snot and scabs off seals; anecdotes of eagle owls preying on neighbourhood cats whilst under Chris’ care and tales about the Falkland Isles Caracara eating frozen poo were sufficiently gruesome to keep them occupied. This was only emphasized at the end when Chris asked for questions from the audience about anything and took a couple from adults but a surprising number from children. He dealt with all these extremely sensible questions with enthusiasm and verve, managing to get across an excitement for zoology to the younger generation.
For everyone who enjoys documentaries and yet feels lectures on the subject would be too stuffy, this is a wonderful show. It combines anecdotes about birds he has interacted with and fascinating stories about places he has seen. An hour is definitely not too long for Chris to expound on his experiences, and for young and old alike it is a very nicely balanced piece of entertainment and education.