BBC News at Ten - Short-eared Owls in East Yorkshire

Broadcast 1st December 2023.

BBC News at One - Short-eared Owls in East Yorkshire

 

Broadcast 1st December 2023.

Living World - Swifts

LIVING WORLD - SWIFTS (320kbs-m4a/49mb/22mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 3rd May 2015

Chris Packham relives programmes from The Living World archives.

In 1947 David Lack, Director of the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology began observing swifts around Oxford. His observations, led to the creation of one of the longest continuous studies of a single bird species in the world, the Oxford Swift Research Project. In 2000 Lionel Kelleway joined Chris Perrins high up the Oxford University Museum tower to take Living World closer to these 'devil-birds' than ever before. They begin the programme high up on the outside of the tower, watching swifts feeding in the air.

Living World - Stone Curlew

LIVING WORLD - STONE CURLEW (320kbs-m4a/50mb/21mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 20th October 2019

The Stone Curlew is one of the rarest birds in Britain. The historical change in agricultural practices across the country resulted in the decline of suitable habitat, such as grazed chalk grassland and fallow areas, which are the kinds of habitat most favoured by the stone-curlew for breeding. Subsequently, their numbers dwindled to an all time low in the mid-1980s of just a few dozen pairs in the Brecklands in East Anglia and the Wiltshire downs.

For this weeks' Living World, Joanna Pinnock travels to a remote part of Wiltshire to meet Nick Adams of the RSPB's Wessex Stone Curlew Project where she is keen to discover for herself the lifecycle of this strange almost prehistoric wader, with wide open beady yellow eyes and knobbly knees.

Secretive and difficult to see in the breeding season due to their nocturnal behaviour, in the autumn, Stone Curlews gather in roost flocks to prepare for their migration to Africa. So, after a wet autumnal day, as the light begins to fade, for this Living World, the pair listen and wait for the eerie calls of this summer migrant resonating around the equally strange and prehistoric landscape near Stonehenge. With increasing darkness, Stone Curlews begin to leave their daytime roost sites to forage and disperse over the landscape. In doing so Joanna and Nick become eager spectators to a cacophony of calls as birds fly from area to area, calls that in days gone by people likened to banshees of the night. All too soon darkness envelopes the pair, but pointedly this is Nick Adam's very last day on the project, and as the calling becomes more intense, are the birds saying goodbye to Nick for one last time?

Producer: Andrew Dawes

Magnolia Warbler, Saint Govan's Head 24th September 2023

I travelled to Pembrokeshire yesterday to see just one of the unprecedented infux of American landbirds since 20th September. The Magnolia Warbler found by local birder Toby Phelps at Saint Govan's Head is the third record for the UK, one of fifteen (so far) different species recorded across UK & Ireland, with multiple sightings of some.

I arrived at Saint Govan's Head shortly after midday and made my way around the large hawthorn north of the car park. There was a path through the scrub with about twenty birders crammed into a small area. The toggers at the front were well placed! The Magnolia Warbler appeared almost immediately flitting about, but with branches frequently obscuring the views as well as negotiating other birders, my only views were a second or two as the bird zipped about. I crept around the edge of the glade to the vantage point in the photo above. Sitting patiently, waiting, the Magnolia Warbler appeared several times, but again only for a couple of seconds, until eventually it was out in the open in the middle of the glade for several seconds. Fantastic!

I was also hoping to see the Canada Warbler only a few miles away, amazingly also found by Toby Phelps on 23rd September. First for the UK, with one in Ireland in 2006. However, that wasn't seen. I learnt today that it has been seen again!

The third of the trio of vagrant American warblers in Pembrokeshire was a Bay-breasted Warbler on Ramsey Island RSPB, found by Assistant Warden Alys Perry. The second for the UK, after one in 1995. Again, not seen yesterday, but seen again today! With the next boat not until Saturday there could be a repeat of last Saturday when some saw all three warblers in a single day! That is if they stay...

Photo by Dave Hutton | Photo by Will Bowell

Previous records:
1981 Isles of Scilly - St Agnes, 27th to 28th September.
2012 Fair Isle, male, 23rd September.

BBC Morning Live - Roy Dennis White-tailed Eagle report

 

Living World - Hen Harrier

LIVING WORLD - HEN HARRIER (320kbs-m4a/50mb/22mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 23rd September 2018

Ghosts of the Moor are how the pale grey male hen harrier is sometimes referred to as it glides seemingly without effort across an upland landscape. To find out more and to revel in actually seeing a hen harrier on the wing, in this episode Brett Westwood & lolo Williams are on the Berwyn Moors in Wales in search of this enigmatic bird of prey. lolo has brought Brett to this particular spot as since seeing his first hen harrier here as a young boy, lolo has returned every year to study their ecology and biology. As the duo watch harriers on the moor, lolo expands his understanding of how harriers utilise this unique man made habitat, especially in early spring when the males perform their spectacular "sky dances" to attract the female. Not everyone is as pleased to have hen harriers on their moorland so discussion falls to how rare in England & Scotland they are due to loss of habitat to conifer plantations or sheep, as well as conflict on grouse moors.

Lindsey Chapman revisits this revised Living World from 2001 bringing the story up to date for today's listener.

Producer Andrew Dawes.

BBC North West Today - Neston Marsh Recovery report

Living World - The Late Arrivals

LIVING WORLD - THE LATE ARRIVALS (320kbs-m4a/49mb/21mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 8th September 2017

Brett Westwood relives programmes from the Living World archives, this week an episode from 2008.

More familiar in our gardens and parks, the Red Admiral butterfly is found throughout the British Isles and is one of the highlights of the butterfly season. It is an unmistakable butterfly with its black wings, and striking red bands. But how do they get here?

Well for this Living World, Lionel Kelleway travels to Lulworth Cove in Dorset where, standing on the cliffs and fully expecting to be looking out for autumnal bird migration, instead he witnesses the small bands of Red Admiral butterflies flying in from the sea as they migrate from mainland Europe. With Lionel is Richard Fox from Butterfly Conservation, who explains what's happening.

Living World - Nightjars

LIVING WORLD - NIGHTJARS (320kbs-m4a/50mb/21mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 18th October 2021

Chris Sperring is in Somerset during the last days of summer to find a bird that is one of the first to leave before the autumn.

As the light fades a strange whirring sound fills the air and silent masters of flight hawk for moths and other airborne insects.

Producer: Ellie Sans

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2014.

Living World - Skomer

LIVING WORLD - SKOMER (320kbs-m4a/50mb/22mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 23rd June 2019

Brett Westwood travels to the island of Skomer off the Pembrokeshire coast in search of burrow-nesting puffins. As well as these 'clowns of the air', he finds an island carpeted in pink sea campion, fading bluebells, and lime green bracken. Away from the cliffs which are bustling with sea birds, he enjoys his very first encounter with the Skomer vole, which as its name suggests, is endemic to this island. Producer Sarah Bunt

Living World - Guillemots Of Skomer

LIVING WORLD - GUILLEMOTS OF SKOMER (320kbs-m4a/49mb/22mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 17th August 2014

The Living World is a natural history strand that revels in rich encounter, immersion in the natural world and warm, enthusiastic story telling.

Skomer Island lies off the south east coast of Wales and is home to thousands of seabirds.

There are 25,000 guillemots packed together on the cliffs, no other bird breeds in such close proximity to its neighbours. Fights and squabbles constantly break out, but friendships and pair-bonding are very strong. They keep the same mate for life and produce one chick a year. The fledgling has to leap from the sheer cliff face into the sea below to find its dad, surrounded by thousands of others, and try to avoid being eaten by predatory gulls. Each year each guillemot pair comes back to exactly the same place on the cliff ledge and they defend it vigorously.

In the early decades of the 20th Century there were 100,000 guillemots on Skomer but numbers plummeted to just 2000 after the second world war, probably due to oil pollution in the sea. Now numbers are slowly recovering but the increase in storms may be a problem for them in the future. Professor Tim Birkhead from Sheffield University has led a 42 year study of the birds and reveals some of their secrets to Mary Colwell in this week's Living World.

Professor Tim Birkhead, of the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, first visited Skomer Island in 1972. No one had tried to conduct a census of guillemots before and Professor Birkhead came up with an innovative way to count the birds and determine how many chicks were produced each year.

By marking birds individually with colour rings Professor Birkhead was able to measure their breeding success, see how old they are when they first start to breed and see how long the birds live.

When Professor Birkhead began his studies the guillemot population breeding on Skomer was just 2,000 individuals, yet pictures of the island thirty years earlier showed that there had been around 100,000 guillemots then. In 2011 the population showed signs of recovery as around 20,000 individuals were recorded.

Discovery: The Curious Cases Of Rutherford And Fry - 6. Why Do Birds Sing?

DISCOVERY: THE CURIOUS CASES OF RUTHERFORD AND FRY - 6. WHY DO BIRDS SING? (320kbs-m4a/19mb/27mins)
BBC World Service broadcast: 17th June 2019

"What happens to the human voice as we age? If I hear a voice on the radio, I can guess roughly how old they are. But singer's voices seem to stay relatively unchanged as they age. Why is this?" All these questions were sent in by Jonathan Crain from Long Island in New York.

Doctors Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry discover how the human voice is produced and listen to how our voice sounds when it emerges from our vocal cords. Acoustic engineer Trevor Cox, author of Now You're Talking, explains why German and French babies have a different accent. And neuroscientist Sophie Scott describes what happens when boys' voices break, and why a similar thing can happen to women during the menopause.

Finally, our voices often change dramatically in later life, as demonstrated by comedy impressionist Duncan Wisbey. Expect cameos from David Attenborough, Dumbledore and Paul McCartney.

Bird Song

"Winter is finally over and the birds are all singing their hearts out at dawn. What is all the noise about? And why are some songs so elaborate?" asks Tony Fulford from Cambridgeshire in the UK.

We find out how birds produce multiple notes at once, which one has the widest repertoire of songs, and why males like to show off quite so much. Plus, we talk to researcher Lauryn Benedict about the project which aims to solve the mystery of why female birds sing.

Featuring interviews with RSPB president and nature presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff, and world-renowned birdsong expert and sound recordist, Don Kroodsma from the University of Massachusetts. TV archive courtesy of The One Show, BBC TV.

Please send your cases for consideration for the next series to curiouscases@bbc.co.uk.

Presenters: Adam Rutherford, Hannah Fry
Producer: Michelle Martin.

(Photo: Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). Credit: Getty Images)

Slow Radio - Fair Winds

SLOW RADIO - FAIR WINDS (320kbs-m4a/66mb/29mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 28th August 2022

Fair Isle sits between Orkney and Shetland and is the most geographically remote inhabited island in the UK with a population of around 60 people. The world-famous Fair Isle knitting patterns originate from there, and are still in production to this day on the island. It is also a stopping off point for migratory birds, and, as a result, is a mecca for bird watchers who visit the island to try and spot a 'blow in'.

Inge Thomson is a musician and composer who was brought up on Fair Isle and spent her childhood playing in rock pools and birdwatching. Her music has been influenced deeply by not only the traditional music of Fair Isle, but the sounds she grew up hearing around her - lapwings, the ever present and changing wind and the sea around her.

In this Slow Radio piece, producer Helen Needham accompanies Inge to Fair Isle after an absence of eight months. They explore the island together, from clifftop to cave, capturing the unique sounds of this special place. They also stop by the knitting studio of Marie Bruhat to capture her at work on her contemporary Fair Isle pieces. And finally we hear a sound composition created specially for BBC Radio 3 by Inge featuring sounds from Fair Isle.

Produced in Aberdeen by Helen Needham
Sound Composition by Inge Thomson
Mixed by Ron McCaskill

David Attenborough - Adventures Of A Young Naturalist (Omnibus)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH - ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG NATURALIST (OMNIBUS) (320kbs-m4a/156mb/68mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 24th January 2021

An alarming encounter with a caiman in Guyana.

In the 1950s, David Attenborough, the naturalist and broadcaster grasped a life changing opportunity which led him to travel the world finding rare and elusive animal species for London Zoo and filming the expeditions for the BBC TV series, Zoo Quest.

Abridged in five parts by Richard Hamilton. Omnibus edition.

Producer: Elizabeth Allard.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.

Beardyman And The Mimics

BEARDYMAN AND THE MIMICS (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 23rd September 2021

Champion beatboxer "Beardyman", aka Darren Foreman, is a master of vocal artistry.

He's able to make all manner of noises, including entire percussive music tracks, using only his mouth, throat and tongue. Darren's been inspired by the Lyrebird, king of the animal mimics and able to replicate sounds ranging from a kookaburra's laughing call to a tourist's camera shutter to a chainsaw.

In fact, he's been so mesmerised by this bird's Oscar-worthy performance, that he's venturing on a personal journey to unveil the secrets of animal vocal mimicry.

Along the way, he'll encounter ornithologist and musican Bill Oddie, birdsong scientific experts and a whole new world of sounds.

Producer: Kirsty Henderson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2008.

Sounds Natural - Bernard Cribbins

SOUNDS NATURAL - BERNARD CRIBBINS (320kbs-m4a/68mb/29mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 29th April 2022

From the Meadow Pipit to the Red-Backed Shrike.

Actor Bernard Cribbins talks to Derek Jones about his love of bird watching, fishing and the importance of conservation.

Aided by recordings from the BBC Sound Archive.

Producer: John Burton.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 1972.