New for 2025!
The full-day Wakelyns Tracking courses are a great place to start for anyone interested in learning how to identify and interpret a range of wildlife tracks and signs – signs that help us understand and connect with our wildlife friends. Reading the tracks and signs that the wildlife around us leave as they go about their lives is the origin of storytelling, and is still as rich, engaging and grounding as it was for our ancestors.
We will start the day with some classroom-led learning which we will then take outside with us as we spend the rest of the day exploring Wakelyns’ unique agroforestry areas. As we wander, we will find and discuss examples of tracks and signs (feeding signs, homes, droppings etc.), leaving you with a solid introduction to the ancient art of tracking.
Our day will start at 9.30 am and end at 3.30 pm. Morning coffee included. We will break for a delicious lunch from Lindsay and the team from the Wakelyns Kitchen.
£50 per person, or £25 for people on low incomes.
No existing knowledge, or experience is needed for this course. Just an enthusiasm for wildlife and a willingness to explore and learn. By the end of the day you will:
- Have a deeper appreciation of the evidence that our wildlife leaves on the landscape.
- An understanding of mammal and bird foot morphology, and be able identify some common mammal and bird tracks.
- Be able to identify some different wildlife signs and what they mean.
David Wege leads the Tracking Courses at Wakelyns. David is a professional tracker, passionate birdwatcher, nature educator, wildlife photographer, illustrator, author and conservationist.
David’s childhood passion for birds, birdwatching and all things “nature” led him to a 30-year career in international bird and biodiversity conservation with BirdLife International. Most recently, that passion for birds and the nature around us has drawn David away from my desk to reconnect with the nature he loves. On this journey of re-connection, it was learning to read and interpret the tracks and signs left by animals as they pass across the landscape that resonated with the scientist and conservationist in him. David now teaches tracking to ecological consultancies, rewilding projects, conservation NGOs and the wider public. David illustrated and published two animal track identification books in 2025.
For more information about David see www.davidwegenature.uk
David’s doing stuff at Wakelyns in 2025 including as part of Agroforestry Open Weekend.
Booking via the links below:
Wakelyns Tracking Walk on 19 April 2025 (9:30 am - 3:30 pm)Wakelyns Tree Walk on 19 April 2025 (10:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Wakelyns Tree Walk on 4 May 2025 (10:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Wakelyns Tree Walk on 28 June 2025 (10:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Wakelyns Tree Walk on 27 July 2025 (10:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Wakelyns Tree Walk on 17 August 2025 (10:00 am - 3:00 pm)
