Workshops & Events

Not-for-profit events for

Birds, Moths, Plants and Mammals

Full List of Workshops & Events

Combine seeing some fantastic species, learning about identification and ecology, whilst supporting conservation projects.

Not-for-profit Workshops

Join us on our not-for-profit workshops to get the most out of your birding, mothing or mammaling and expand your field skills. Our time in the field will be spent enjoying our passion for birds, mammals or Lepidoptera whilst learning more about identification, plumages, songs and calls, tracks and signs, migration, ecology and trapping techniques all of which will add to your overall enjoyment of natural history and your knowledge of the subject.

Events

We have also included any nature-based events that we are taking part in.

More 2025 dates will be added soon.

Scroll down the page for more information.

Workshop Date Location Duration Cost
Deeside Nature Festival 23-26 May 2025 Upper Deeside Various Events Free or low cost
Moths at Royal Botanic Garden Kew 13 Sep 2025 Royal Botanic Garden Kew, London Exact time TBC Free*

Read some of our reviews…

 

Bird Identification Workshops

Get more from your birding! 

We have a series of half or full day sessions in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. You can book onto one or more sessions and profit from these events goes to the nature reserves utilised and also to bird conservation in Scotland.

Scottish Specials

Discover the uplifting calls and songs of the Caledonian Forest dawn chorus and summer seabirds on the Aberdeenshire coast where terns, spring waders, huge seabird colonies and farmland birds await.

Exact dates to be conformed - watch this space!

 

Sandwich Tern, Aberdeenshire (C) Dan Brown

 

Moth Workshops - Scottish Specialities

We are running a series of Lepidoptera events aimed at finding some of the UKs rarest or most difficult to see species. All the profits from these workshops will go to Butterfly Conservation helping to support projects that monitor, protect and manage these superb species.

Each of the events is timed to maximise the likelihood of encountering the key species utilising local knowledge and deploying all means necessary to find and enjoy these species.

Moths at Royal Botanic Garden Kew

13 September 2025

The Royal Botanic Garden Kew has kindly offered to host an event which will be held on Saturday 13th September. Join us as we delve in to a remarkable city habitat that is perhaps one of the most diverse for moths in the country. Join Dan and Rachael as well as eminent entomologist Professor Tim Blackburn and the team at Kew as we discover what flies at night at Kew.

Full details to be released in due course.

 
Dark-bordered Beauty,  Dan Brown

Dark bordered Beauty Moth (c) Dan Brown

 

Braemar Nature Festival is becoming…

The Deeside Nature Festival

23rd - 26th May 2025

Following the success of the 2024 Braemar Nature Festival we have decided to run it again in 2025! Due to popular demand the festival has been expanded to cover the whole of the upper glen and therefore appropriately renamed, the ‘Deeside Nature Festival’.

You can find all the latest information on the 2025 festival using the button below. More events will be added as they are confirmed.

 

Watching Dippers and Grey Wagtails along the River Dee

 

Wild Discovery Festival Events

Friday 23 May 2025 | Guided Woodland Wildlife Walk | Keiloch, Ballater | 13:00-16:00 | £10 per person Children <12 free

Wild Discovery's Dan and Rachael will lead a walk at Keiloch, Invercauld in search of open pine forest birds, such as Crossbills, and other wildlife. More information here.

Friday 23 May 2025 | An evening of moths and wild sounds | Braemar Duck Pond | 2030 - 22:30 | £5 per person Children <12 free

Join Dan and Rachael from Wild Discovery at the Duck Pond, Braemar, for an introduction to the moths of Deeside plus a short walk to explore the clear, evening sounds of the glen. More information here.

Sunday 25 May 2025 | Guided Dawn Chorus | Ballater | 06:30-08:30 | £10 per person Children <12 free

Soak in the delights of the dawn chorus around the River Dee in Ballater with Dan and Rachael from Wild Discovery. This will be followed by the ‘Magic Moths of Deeside’ at Ballater Green. More information here.

Sunday 25 May 2025 | Magic Moths of Deeside | Ballater Green | 09:00-10:00 | FREE

Discover the incredible world of Moths on Ballater green with Dan and Rachael from Wild Discovery. A fabulous hand-ons experience for all the family! More information here.

Monday 26 May 2025 | Guided Mountain Wildlife Walk | Glenshee | 09:00-12:00 | £10 per person Children <12 free

Join Dan and Rachael from Wild Discovery for a guided walk at Glenshee looking for Mountain Hares, Ptarmigan and birds of prey. More information here.

 

Other Nature-Base Events

We are often involved in other events across the UK and we will keep this list updated as and when new events pop up.

11th - 13th July 2025: Global Bird Fair

Rutland, England

Wild Discovery will be exhibiting at the Global Bird Fair alongside many other nature-based businesses and charities, including tour operators, conservation charities, optic and camera retailers, artists and general wildlife-focused retailers.

The weekend is packed full of events for young and old along with countless presentations so naturally Wild Discovery will be involved with quite a few. Once we know the full details of the workshops and presentations that we will be hosting we’ll update this page.

 
Wild Discovery at the Global Bird fair 2023

Dan and Rachael at the Global Bird Fair in 2023


 

Whale and Dolphin Watching with CalMac Ferries

2025 dates to be confirmed.

Two crossings per day over 3 days on the Ullapool to Stornoway route.

With the popularity of this event growing and our expansion of the event to include two relevant charities this year we will be out on deck for a third year showing ferry passengers whales, dolphins and seabirds.

In August 2024 Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) and the Mammal Society joined us on board the Ullapool-Stornoway ferry crossings, engaging passengers about the whales and dolphins in Scottish waters AND pointing out these wonderful creatures so you could see them for yourselves. There was also an evening presentation in Ullapool ferry terminal giving in introduction to whale and dolphin spotting and the work that HWDT and the Mammal Society are doing to help build our understanding and protect our marine creatures.

This event follows the success of our collaboration with ferry operator CalMac Ferries in August 2023 when we spotted a whopping 949 whales and dolphins and over 18,000 birds!

Read our blog about about the 2023 event here.

 

Gallery

 

How it works…

Simply book on to your favoured event(s), confirm your place by paying in full and receive all the details about meeting times and places, what to bring and what to expect.

The exact running of the events will vary depending on the focal interest, for instance, our moth weekends will spend a considerable amount of time out at night, running light traps, inspecting sugared trees, monitoring pheromone lures and checking traps in the morning. Some birdwatching events may involve early starts.

 

What’s Included?

  • Professional services of one or two leaders depending on numbers

  • Shared use of optics during workshops & events

  • Shared use of identification guides during workshops & events

  • Water to top up your own reusable water bottle (we do not provide water bottles)

 

What’s Not Included?

  • Transport

  • Food, drinks

  • Accommodation

  • Event cancellation insurance or any other travel or medical insurance

  • Other items of a personal nature, e.g. souvenirs, etc.

 

If you have questions please get in touch

 

Read some more of our reviews

 

More time to explore?

Let us take care of everything on a behind the scenes, fully inclusive tour

 

Only a day to spare?

Check out our Deeside Days

 

Prefer the water?

Explore our small-ship expedition cruise options