Barra's Wild Days Out

Barra Best is in his home town of Belfast where he takes a boat ride through the busy docks with Dr Justin Judge, a local marine biologist. They seach for a local colony of seals who have made their home on the banks. Barra is blown away by the number of seals and their closeness to the city centre. Barra has his walking boots on and is in the heart of Cave Hill with Anwar Akuri, who takes walking groups to many parts of the city for exercise, health and wellbeing. He learns a lot about Anwar and about Yemen, the country he came from. Barra also gets a surprise in Colin Glen forest park where he gets a ride on Ireland’s longest zip wire. Barra’s last trip in Belfast is to the Slievenacloy nature reserve where he meets ranger Ronald Surgeoner. Barra is surprised to hear that there are lizards in Belfast. After helping Ronald to repair some fences they search for the tiny creatures and Barra cannot believe his luck when he spots one through his binoculars.

Barra is in Greenore, on the shores of Carlingford lough. He’s here to meet local man Shane Reenan to help solve the mystery of where Finn, a solitary bottlenose dolphin that has taken up residence in the lough, has come from. Barra then heads to Carlingford, where he hitches a ride out onto the lough at low tide to work on the oyster beds. Finally Barra heads to the Ring of Gullion where he meets Caóilfíonn Murphy O'Hanlon, an artist passionate about celebrating and protecting our only native goat, the Old Irish Goat.

Barra is in Clogher Valley meeting farmers Roger and Elaine who tend to over 100 alpacas. Roger explains to Barra why alpaca fleece is so highly regarded. Barra is then put to work, helping to determine if several alpacas are pregnant, and gives another one a bit of a haircut. Barra visits Loughmacrory, a small lough nestled in the Sperrins. He tries his hand at some fly fishing with a women’s angling club. After a crash course on land, he heads out onto the lough with Irish champion Pamela Marten and club member Susan Brown, and finds out why they love this sport.

Barra is in the north west, and begins in the species-rich dunes of Umbra nature reserve. He meets maverick moth recorder for Northern Ireland, Andy Crory, on an overnight moth survey in the dunes. Andy successfully encourages Barra to face his fear of moths, and shares his passion for these often misunderstood insects. Barra heads to Downhill Beach, where he meets Gavin Wallace, a beach artist who uses rakes to create huge temporary artworks in the sand. Barra joins him and a group of locals to make one of Gavin’s biggest pieces, before Barra enlists the help of a drone operator to reveal the work to the group from the sky. Catching the ferry from Magilligan Point over to the Inishowen peninsula, Barra meets Killian McLaughlin, who has setup an animal sanctuary for rescued animals, Wild Ireland. Barra helps Killian with the feeding rounds and gets up close with some of the bigger animals.

Barra is in Boho,where he pops by to meet Mary Polizzi. Originally from Zimbabwe, Mary rescues and rehabilitates wild animals from across Northern Ireland. Barra is quickly put to work rounding up house martins, before lending a hand with some other animals that have come into Mary’s care. Barra meets artist Kevin McHugh, who is part of Sliabh Beagh Arts, a group bringing art in the countryside. As he helps Kevin complete his latest work using only a power hose, Barra hears how Kevin loves to incorporate native animal species into his work. Barra heads deep into Cladagh Glen, where bat lovers Karen Healy and Catherine Reilly, from the Northern Ireland Bat Group, take him to find some of the species that live in northern Ireland. Using bat detectors, Barra learns how to identify various species by their unique call signs, before meeting a soprano pipistrelle bat rescued by Karen.

Barra heads out to sea from Ballycastle harbour with local fisherman Ian Latham and conservationist Erin McKeown. He’s taking part in a project that monitors the local population of sharks, rays and skates. Barra helps the team as they measure, tag and release sharks. Barra visits Glenarm beach where he meets sea glass hunter Ria McCullough and her daughter Emily. As they comb Glenarm beach searching for small pieces of colourful frosted glass, Barra hears how every bit of glass has a story behind it, and he is given a crash course in sea glass jewellery making. Barra takes the ferry over to Rathlin Island to search for Irish hares, in particular the rare golden hare. He meets local photographer Tom McDonnell, one of only a handful of people to have ever taken a picture of the golden hare. The two head off on a long search across the island to try and set eyes on it.

Barra meets Andrea Cowan as she picks up an injured hedgehog brought in to the local vet. She runs Loughgall Hedgehog Rescue, where Barra meets some of the hedgehogs she’s currently caring for. Six-year-old Ronan Mckenna started filming woodpeckers, red squirrels and badgers during lockdown. Barra goes on a wildlife-spotting trip with him and his dad Donal. Barra visits one of Northern Ireland’s premier birding spots – Oxford Island on the shores of Lough Neagh. Former water ski champion Janet Gray, who is blind and a lover of wildlife, is joined by birdcall expert Dot Blakely, and the three try their hand at ear birding, created so that blind or visually impaired people can distinguish different types of birds through their calls.

Barra visits Carrowhoney pet farm outside Lisnaskea, which is in the process of turning into a sanctuary that rescues exotic animals. Veronica takes Barra to meet some emus, rhea and raccoons and gets him to help her give the kune kune pig a good old scrub. After drying off, Barra visits Sophie Durand and Josh Boyd, a young couple documenting their life on a narrowboat. Barra gets a tour of their cosy quarters and hears how they haven’t looked back after leaving their life on dry land. Barra then meets Mark Butler, a wildfowler who builds and maintains specialist hides that wading birds can use for nesting. He finds out how the hides protect nests from predation and heads out on the water with Mark to maintain them.

Strangford may be best known for seals and birds, but Barra is surprised to discover that it should be equally well known for its bees. He meets beekeeper Valentine from Veesbees and her husband Chris at her Loughshore apiary. Barra dons some beekeeping gear to have a go at collecting some honey from the hive. Barra joins Gala Podgornik from Ulster Wildlife on a rock pooling adventure on the shores of Portaferry with the National Autistic Society Newtownards. Gala tells the kids what to look out for, from starfish to anemones. Moving on to Castle Espie, Barra discovers that every autumn thousands of Brent geese descend on Strangford Lough after a gruelling 3,000-mile journey from Arctic Canada. Barra helps the team care for an injured goose, before heading out to the hides with Maurice Turley to see the geese on the lough.

Barra visits the Mountpanther estate between Dundrum and Clough, home to many animals from deer to wallabies, where he helps local farm manager Tara Russell. He travels to Castlewellan forest park where his fitness is put to the test. At Murlough nature reserve, Barra meets ranger Barry Crawford. The dunes here are rich in wildlife, and a group of Exmoor ponies keep them in top condition for a huge range of species to thrive. Today the ponies are in for their yearly veterinary check.

Barra starts off at Murlough National Nature Reserve near Dundrum where he meets ranger Barry Crawford. The dunes here are rich in wildlife but it's a group of Exmoor ponies that keep them in top condition by cropping the grass short. Barra then travels to Castlewellan Forest Park where his fitness is put to the test on an uphill cycle. Then it's on to Greenore, on the shores of Carlingford Lough, to monitor a bottlenose dolphin.

Barra begins his journey in Gortin Glen Forest Park, home to a wild population of sika, a small deer that was brought into Ireland from Japan. Traveling on to Clogher Valley, he meets alpaca farmers Roger and Elaine who tend to over 100 of this species native to South America.

Barra starts off on the Inishowen peninsula in Donegal, where he meets Killian McLaughlin, who has set up Wild Ireland, an animal sanctuary for rescued animals. Barra helps him with the feeding rounds and gets up close with some of the bigger animals. Further east along the coast, Barra comes to the species-rich dunes of Umbra Nature Reserve, near Magilligan. There, he meets maverick moth recorder Andy Crory and goes on an overnight moth survey among the dunes.

Strangford Lough may be best known for seals and birds, but Barra is surprised to discover that it's also becoming famous for its honey bees. He meets beekeeper Valentine from Veesbees and her husband Chris at their loughshore apiary. Barra dons beekeeping gear and has a go at collecting some honey from the hive.

Barra visits Oxford Island on the shores of Lough Neagh. Former water ski champion Janet Gray, who is blind and a lover of wildlife, is joined by birdcall expert Dot Blakely, and the three try their hand at ear-birding, which allows blind or visually-impaired people to distinguish different types of birds through their calls. Barra meets Andrea Cowan who runs Loughgall Hedgehog Rescue, helping her care for an injured creature. He drops into Carrowhoney pet farm outside Lisnaskea where Veronica Greenaway takes him to meet wildlife from across the world including emus, rhea and raccoons.