Lesser Grey Shrike, Plymouth 21st September 2016

An adult Lesser Grey Shrike was found at Plymouth by local birder Duncan Leitch on Monday 19th September. I set off for Plymouth early on Wednesday morning, arriving on site early afternoon.

Vagrant Shrikes often stick around for a while & this bird was no exception. Located along the coastal path between Mount Batten & Jennycliff, only half a dozen birders were on site when I arrived. The Lesser Grey Shrike was on view immediately & for the whole time I was there. It perched repeatedly on the same bush, sallying forth to hunt insects every so often, but always returning to the same spot.

Views were excellent, only spoiled by the slightly poor light conditions with the sun not right behind the bird, but just off to the left. A minor quibble. A lot of the habitat is not viewable from the path, so it was fortunate to be able to obtain such good, close views from along a small path/tunnel through the brambles. Unfortunately, only a few birders could fit in at one time, maybe four, but viewing from the main path through the brambles & birders was possible. The bird was viewable from further down the path looking back, but into the sun & further away.

Being a popular footpath, many people passed by & were interested to find out what all the fuss was about. After managing to see the bird they were intrigued with photos & a little background information.

Western Swamphen, Alkborough 4th September 2016

Last Tuesday, 30th August 2016, a Western Purple Swamphen appeared at Alkborough Flats NR in Lincolnshire. It turns out this is the same bird which graced Minsmere RSPB in Suffolk for a few days a couple of weeks back. I was unable to get time off work to go for that bird & then it did a Friday bunk anyway, so fortunate to have a second chance & a lot nearer home. If accepted as a wild bird, the Minsmere record would be a first for the UK.

Having decided against going yesterday because of what looked like a shedload of rain expected, I set off early this morning & arrived at the Whitton Road car park about 9.30am. As I walked along the path towards the reserve there were a few birders not far ahead of me who had all stopped to look over the reserve & could see the Western Swamphen as it moved to and fro along the edge of the very distant reedbed to the right of the main lagoon in front of a smaller square lagoon behind.

On the left you can see the hide & a small crowd of birders behind on the track. I made my over to their location & joined about 20/30 birders (numbers fluctuated constantly). The Western Swamphen appeared sporadically as it wandered about on the far edge of the lagoon, giving very good, repeated views if rather distant.

Just as I was leaving the site a small film crew arrived & asked everyone if they minded being filmed, which they didn't, but quite a few hastily departed. I spoke with one of the crew & he told me they were from "The One Show" with Mike Dilger & that the film would be broadcast sometime in the next two weeks.

Video by Pete Hines of the bird at Minsmere

Nature Series 9 - 3. The Rainforest Canopy

NATURE SERIES 9 - 3. THE RAINFOREST CANOPY (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)

BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 6th July 2016

With a two metre wingspan, strong hooked beak and four inch talons, harpy eagles are one of the most powerful birds of prey in the world and have been known to attack people who get too close to their nests, so when wildlife cameraman John Aitchison agreed to spend a month on a tiny platform high up in rainforest canopy in Venezuela to try and film a young eagle chick hunting for the first time, it was with some trepidation at what might lie ahead.

John abseiled down from his platform each night to grab a meal and a few hours of sleep, but before dawn he climbed back up onto his tiny platform, just big enough for him and his camera. High up in the rainforest canopy, his neighbours included bellowing howler monkeys, flocks of squawking parrots and colourful butterflies as well as highly venomous snakes and stinging ants. He also had to endure some torrential storms and powerful winds. But his perseverance was rewarded with stunning views across the forest, magical misty mornings, very close encounters with the harpy chick and a most unexpected meeting between the young eagle and a very brave sloth!

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Nature Series 9 - 2. James And The Peregrines

NATURE SERIES 9 - 2. JAMES AND THE PEREGRINES (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 29th June 2016

James Aldred will be familiar to many Radio 4 listeners as 'the tree climber'. As a tree canopy access expert, James spends much of his life travelling across the world and climbing up into tree canopies to film the wildlife there. His accounts have been broadcast in several BBC Radio 4 programmes, most recently James and the Giant Atlas Cedars. But in his spare time when he's home, James loves to head through the woods behind his house and up to the disused quarry to watch the Peregrines that have bred here. In 2015 he decided to keep an audio diary and follow the lives of these birds in his spare time. Historically Peregrines were prized for falconry and it's from here that we get the names falcon for the female bird and tiercel for the male.

On a freezing cold day in early February, James set off for the quarry with his recorder and microphones for the first time, and watched the adult birds patrolling back and forth marking their territory, prior to courtship. Over the coming weeks, James returned to his ringside seat as often as he could to watch these magnificent birds and determine which ledge they would choose to nest on. He followed the birds from winter through spring and summer as they bred and raised their young, as you can hear in this intimate audio diary about one of the world's most iconic birds of prey.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Nature Series 8 - 2. Arctic Terns at 66 Degrees North

NATURE SERIES 8 - 2. ARCTIC TERNS AT 66 DEGREES NORTH (128kbs-m4a/26mb/28mins)

BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 17th February 2014

In the second of three programmes recorded in Iceland, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson goes in search of Arctic Terns, which travel here from Antarctica to breed; the longest regular migration of any animal. Some birds travel even further to the Arctic Circle, and so on the summer solstice, Chris takes a 3 hour ferry journey from the mainland to the island of Grimsey which lies on the Arctic Circle to record some of these remarkable migrants.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of breeding colonies which have failed in Iceland in the past decade and Chris hears about the reasons why and what steps need to be taken to help the situation. Often called Sea Swallows because of their overall shape long tail feathers, Arctic Terns are very protective of their eggs and young and aggressive as Chris discovers when he tries to record in their colony. He also comes across Arctic Terns inland at Lake Myvatn, the 'Lake of Flies' "and it’s very aptly named. I had to wear a head net in June as tens of thousands of flies swarmed around me the moment I set foot outdoors".

After recording the haunting songs of Red-throated Divers, Long-tailed Ducks and Black-tailed Godwits, Chris watches Arctic Terns swooping down to pick off flies along the road which the adults can feed on. The programme also reveals how with the latest technology scientists have gained a fascinating insight into the exact migration routes of these birds; "We discovered new stopover areas, we discovered a new southern route but overall the sheer scale of this migration was what was most impressive to us " says Iain Stenhouse, one the scientists working on this project. "These birds are not just Olympic athletes they are spatial geniuses as well".

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Nature Series 7 - 1. Bird Wars On Malta

NATURE SERIES 7 - 1. BIRD WARS ON MALTA (128kbs-m4a/26mb/28mins)

BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 31st July 2012

Twice each year the skies above the Mediterranean island of Malta are filled with the spectacle of thousands of migrating birds. Kestrels, Bee-eaters, Honey Buzzards, Turtle Dove and Quail, among other species fly first north, in the Spring, to the breeding grounds of Europe.

They return south in the Autumn to their wintering grounds in sub Saharan Africa. If their migration takes them over Malta, twice each year they must run the gauntlet of hunters' guns. Many of the migrant bird species are protected, only two species are legal quarry for Maltese hunters.

Investigative journalist Matthew Hill travels to Malta to talk to the hunters about the age-long culture of hunting birds on Malta and to investigate allegations of widespread illegal hunting.

Presented by Matthew Hill
Produced by Lizz Pearson.

Nature Series 6 - 1. Drumming Down

NATURE SERIES 6 - 1. DRUMMING DOWN (128kbs-m4a/26mb/28mins)

BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 5th April 2012

Spring woodlands are loud now with the drumming of Great Spotted Woodpeckers and their familiar head-banging territorial sounds are everywhere in the UK . Numbers of Great Spotted Woodpeckers have increased 250% over the last few decades and they have taken to feeding in garden bird-tables along with Tits and Robins. However, their much smaller cousin, the tiny sparrow-sized Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has declined by as much as 90% in the same period and from 2011 is one of the species monitored by the Rare Birds Breeding Panel.

To find out why our Woodpeckers have experienced very different fortunes, Brett Westwood visits the Wyre Forest on the Worcestershire/Shropshire border. This ancient oak wood is one of the study plots for a 3-year RSPB research project on the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and one of the best sites to see them in the UK. They are one of the most difficult birds to study because of their size, their attraction to feeding high in the canopy and their huge winter range. A single bird may range over 700 hectares of forest habitat in winter and so is very hard to locate. In Spring they call and drum, making February, March and April the best months to see them, before the leaves are fully expanded. For Nature, Brett Westwood visits Wyre with Ken Smith and Elisabeth Charman, woodland ecologists from the RSPB, to search for the birds and to learn about the results of the survey. Although the decline of the Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers is still shrouded in mystery, some interesting facts have emerged. A third of the broods are deserted by one of the parents, leaving the other, usually the male, to bring up the young. Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers glean insects from leaves and there are indications that climate change may be affecting their prey supplies.

Among woodland birds, "Lesser Spots" aren't the only species whose numbers are falling. Nightingales, Willow Tits and Wood Warblers are also declining sharply which raises questions about the suitability of our woods for many species. But with the rise of the Greater Spotted Woodpecker, also a woodland bird, teasing out the reasons is a challenge for scientists. Brett talks to Rob Fuller, of the British Trust for Ornithology who's studied woodlands for over 30 years, and hears about the complexities of monitoring woods and the birds which live in them.

Producer: Brett Westwood
Editor: Julian Hector.