Top 5 recommended wildlife Christmas presents for 2011

Recommended Christmas presents for 2011

It may seem a bit early to be recommending Christmas presents for this year but the words are beginning to appear in my web site logs as search terms. With it being such a tough time for many people in the current economic climate I guess that buying early is one way to reduce the financial stress of this time of year. If you’re looking for some possible ideas for buying Christmas gifts for wildlife fans then here are my top 5 possible gifts for the year.

5. Bat detectors.

The world seems to be going batty for… well bats at the moment. A bat detector is going to be a popular gift for many this Christmas. While just a few short years ago bat detectors were expensive and quite technical to use there’s a new range of equipment coming out now that’s very easy to use. There’s even a bat detector that’s specifically aimed at children with a funky look and colours (£64.99).

For most beginner bat detectives though the Bat detector kit (£79.95) that comes complete with a basic Magenta Bat 4 detector, bag and field guide to British bats will be the perfect present for wildlife loving night prowlers.

4. Zoo experience days.

Zoo experience days are not particularly cheap but they do offer an unique experience of being able to get up close to a lot of different wildlife. Most zoos will offer this sort of day so check with your local zoo. Sadly the SeaLife Centres don’t yet offer this sort of day out – I’d more than happily pay to get to feed the turtles and other marine life.

Zoo experience days are a popular day out and the market is booming. London Zoo offers zoo keepers experience days for adult at a cost of £280.00 and can be taken either at London Zoo or Whipsnade Zoo. The adult days have been so popular that they have now started junior zoo keeper days for children between 11 and 15 years old.

Of course it’s not just zoo keeper experience days that wildlife lovers will enjoy receiving as a gift. How about a day out on a woodland forage (£80.00 including lunch), a half day experience flying birds of prey (£155.22) or an evening exploring the world of owls (£100.00).

3. Camera traps.

Many of the photo sharing web sites and wildlife forums have camera trap groups, it is an increasingly popular form of photography in it’s own right. No doubt it’s been driven by the many wildlife programmes that use this sort to technique. Fortunately this popularity is helping to drive down remote camera prices and while they’ve not yet broke down through the £100 barrier the prices are very reasonable.

As with all digital cameras you pretty much get what you pay for and the lowest priced camera traps are not as easy to use as the mid price ones. Often the cheaper ones come with remote programming units and no screen to view what you have captured in the field. The more expensive ones come packed with features including pre-trigger sensors to help ensure the camera snaps that essential shot. There’s even cameras that will email or SMS message you the photograph after it’s been taken.

You can purchase a 5 megapixel camera trap for as low as £119.98 or get a 12 megapixel camera trap with pre-trigger sensors and email facility for £255.00.

2. Digiscoping kits.

Not so long ago wildlife photography was the preserve of those who could afford expensive long distance lenses for their cameras and then along came digital. Now anyone can produce high quality images using simple adaptors that fit to spotting or birding scopes. Just add the adaptor to the end of your scope and slide in almost any standard digital point and shoot camera and you have an effective wildlife photography set up. Depending on your camera you could also get acceptable long distance video shots as well.

There’s lots of different digiscope adaptors on the market and they will work with most compact digital cameras. A couple of suggestions for adaptors could be the more basic and affordable Praktica Universal Adaptor at £30.00 or you could go for the more advanced universal adaptor from Olivon at £74.40.

If you’re looking at buying a digiscoping kit from scratch as a gift then we think one of the best entry level digiscope kits around is the Praktica Digiscoping Kit 4 (£166.74) which includes the scope, adaptor and digital camera.

1. Annual wildlife passes.

This has to be my top recommendation for a Christmas present - it’s certainly the one I would appreciate most. Most zoos will have an annual pass or annual membership option which allows you unlimited entry. I have a Sealife Centre annual pass and really make great use of it – I probably visit a Sealife Centre once or twice a month so I make big savings on entry. There’s no doubt that if I lived closer to London then an annual pass to get unlimited entry to London Zoo would be right up there on my list to Santa Claus.

Annual passes are great value for example the SeaLife annual pass is £32.40 for over 15′s and £21.60 for under 15′s – £45 and £30 if you want to include London SeaLife Centre. For unlimited access to London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo you can purchase a Zoological Society of London Membership at £90.00 for adults and £60.00 for 15 and under – there’s lots of discounted memberships too.

Check with your local zoo or wildlife centre to see if they offer annual membership deals or annual passes as it’s a present that can be used time and time again with big ongoing savings – some passes will also give you discounts at the gift shop or cafe.

Hopefully this has given you some thoughts about great wildlife based Christmas presents for this year.