Why are some ladybirds yellow with black spots?” “What is the bird singing in my garden?” These, and many other random wildlife questions, will be fired at the experts taking part in the Oxford Festival of Nature and West Oxford Fun Day on July 12 and 13.

This is your chance to find out what lives on the wild side in West Oxford, on the Botley Park playing fields, in the Bulstake Stream and the hedges around there, and even in the silty mud at Tumbling Bay Bathing Place; we could be in for some surprises! In the few months that I’ve been working with Science Oxford, I’ve come to realise that the questions that most children ask, after the obligatory ‘what is it?’ is ‘what does it do?’ and ‘why?’ So, on Saturday, July 13, we’re taking the science bit of nature to West Oxford Fun Day, run by the West Oxford Community Association, to give families a whole host of wildlife oriented activities to join in with, meet local wildlife experts and help them find the answers to those pesky questions. During the afternoon, from 1pm to 5pm, there will be worm charming, finding out about trees, trapping crayfish, going on a bug safari and discovering the differences between reptiles, such as lizards, and amphibians such as newts. There’ll also be a large number of stalls with different attractions, including birds of prey, bushcraft activities, giant insects, and powerful microscopes to get a close-up look at plants and bugs.

This is all part of the Oxford Festival of Nature, which Science Oxford is running in conjunction with several natural history partners including the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and Oxford Urban Wildlife Group. The festival starts at 6.30pm on Friday evening with a packed timetable of activities led by people who know more about their specialist subject than I ever will. Come along to hear about miners, masons, carpenters and of course our familiar bumblebee with Ivan Wright from Shotover Wildlife.

What do garden birds feed on when they’re not at the birdfeeder, and what feeds on them? Dr Alan Larkman, from Oxford Ornithological Society (OOS, will introduce you to the dramatic lives of our familiar garden birds. John Melling, also of OOS, will then lead a guided walk to listen to birds singing at dusk and help you identify them by their songs.

If you’ve never heard the sound of bats, then pick up one of the echo-location devices on the bat walk led by Reg Tipping from BBOWT and Oxfordshire Bat Group to hear the different splats, chips, chucks and slap noises made by these fascinating creatures.

Hugh Warwick will be telling us how hedgehogs could save the world; and later in the evening we’ll be out moth-trapping to discover spectacular native moths with Richard Comont from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

If you’ve been inspired by BBC Springwatch and the Wild TV series and want to become a citizen scientist then come along to help us with the Oxford BioBlitz.

It’s a 24-hour search for as many living species as we can find in one small area, in this case Botley Park.

Last year we found 777 species in and around South Park. Let’s see if we can beat that total in west Oxford!

You don’t have to be an expert; in fact it really helps if you’re inquisitive rather than super-knowledgeable!

To find out more about the Oxford Festival of Nature and BioBlitz, and when would be a good time for you to join in, visit oxfordfestivalof nature.org to book on Friday’s activities, or come to Botley Park any time from 1pm to 5pm on Saturday afternoon.