DESERT ISLAND DISCS LONGPLAY - SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (320kbs-m4a/137mb/59mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 6th June 2020
Kirsty Young chats to broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who chooses his eight tracks, book and luxury item for the desert island.
Specially extended show to mark Desert Island Disc's 70th anniversary for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
He has seen more of the world than anyone else who has ever lived - he's visited the north and south poles and witnessed most of the life in-between - from the birds in the canopies of tropical rainforests to giant earthworms in Australia.
But despite his extraordinary travels, there is one part of the globe that's eluded Sir David. As a young man and a keen rock-climber, he yearned to conquer the highest peak in the world.
"I won't make it now - I won't make it to base camp now - but as a teenager, I thought that the only thing a red-blooded Englishman really should do was to climb Everest."
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.
Francisco Yglesia - Pajaro Campana Or The Bell Bird [Analogue Rock]
Franz Schubert - Impromptu No.1 In F Minor [Ottavo]
George Frideric Handel - And The Glory Of The Lord [Decca]
Lyre Bird - Lyre Bird [BBC Sound Archive]
Johann Sebastian Bach - 3rd Of Bach's Goldberg Variations [Sony Classical]
The Gamelan Orchestra - Legong [Argo]
Carl Michael Ziehrer - Wiener Burger Waltz [Deutsche Grammophon]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Soave Sia Il Vento – Gentle Be The Breeze [Philips]
PRIVATE PASSIONS - CHRIS WATSON (320kbs-m4a/81mb/35mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 12th April 2020
Wildlife sound recordist and sound artist Chris Watson talks to Michael Berkeley about how his favourite music is inspired by the natural world.
Chris is most famous for his sound recordings for David Attenborough’s television series – for which he’s won BAFTAs – but he’s a musician too. A member of the influential post-punk band Cabaret Voltaire in the late 70s and early 80s, today he’s a sound artist and composer, creating installations around the world.
His 2003 release Weather Report, featuring soundscapes of a Kenyan savannah, a Highland glen, and an Icelandic glacier, was voted one of the 100 best albums to hear before you die by The Guardian, and has been described as ‘cinema for the ears’.
Chris’s mission in life is to make us stop what we’re doing and listen to the sounds of the natural world and this is reflected in his choices of music. We hear his own recording of a Sami calling to his ancestors across a Norwegian lake, and northern landscapes echoed in Sibelius’s symphonic poem Tapiola. And Chris chooses the music of multi-award-winning Icelandic film composer Hildur Guðnadottir, who worked with him to record the soundscape for the television series Chernobyl.
Chris tells Michael about the challenges of recording in cold and hostile environments for his many series with David Attenborough, and the pleasures of the year he spent recording the sounds around Aldeburgh for Benjamin Britten’s centenary, in 2013. We hear the magical combination of a recording he made of a nightingale in Britten’s garden paired with the Ciaconna from Britten’s Second Cello Suite.
Producer: Jane Greenwood
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.
Ánde Somby - Gadni - Spirit Of The Mountain
Jean Sibelius - Tapiola
Hildur Guðnadóttir - Folk Faer Andlit
Pierre Schaeffer - Etude Aux Chemins de Fer
Benjamin Britten - Cello Suite No.2 (5th mvt: Chaconne)
Adrian Corker - I Have The Package
Claire M Singer - Solas
A GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND BIRDS (128kbs-m4a/64mb/1hr8mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 7th to 11th January 2013
A series of five programmes to help you identify many of the birds seen and heard in Upland Britain; on heather moors, upland grasslands, cliffs and crags, bogs and mires and the high mountain tops. Not only is there advice on how to recognise the birds from their appearance, but also how to identify them from their calls and songs.
This series complements five previous series; A Guide to Garden Birds, A Guide Woodland Birds, A Guide to Water Birds, A Guide to Coastal Birds and A Guide to Farmland Birds and is aimed at both the complete novice as well as those who are eager to learn more about our upland visitors and residents.
Producer: Sarah Blunt.
A GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND BIRDS - 1. HEATHER MOORS (128kbs-m4a/13mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 7th January 2013
Which bird sounds like a coffee percolator and moves like a clockwork mouse? Well, the answer can be found in the first of a new series of guides to our commonest upland birds. Brett Westwood joins keen bird watcher Stephen Moss on the magnificent rolling hills of the Long Mynd in Shropshire where the air is filled with the 'go-back-back-back' calls of Red Grouse. With the help of recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, Brett and Stephen offer a practical and entertaining guide to the birds which you're most likely to see and hear on heather moors in Upland Britain; birds like the Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Merlin and Short-eared Owl; an owl which you're likely to see hunting in daylight and whose eyes "look like fog lamps" exclaims Brett, "they glare at you bright, yellow and black!".
A GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND BIRDS - 2. CLIFFS AND CRAGS (128kbs-m4a/13mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 8th January 2013
Brett Westwood is joined by keen bird watcher, Stephen Moss on the magnificent rolling hills of the Long Mynd in Shropshire. With the help of wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson they offer a practical and entertaining guide to the birds which you're most likely to see and hear on the cliffs and crags of upland Britain; birds like the Raven, Peregrine and one of Brett's favourite birds, the Mountain Blackbird or Ring Ouzel; a bird he first saw in April 1971 when it stopped off migration and "I've never missed an Ouzel April since then" he says, returning to the same site every year to see this rather striking-looking bird, with its sooty black feathers and white crescent or bib.
A GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND BIRDS - 3. UPLAND GRASSLANDS (128kbs-m4a/13mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 9th January 2013
Brett Westwood is joined by keen bird watcher, Stephen Moss on the magnificent rolling hills of the Long Mynd in Shropshire as Skylarks rise up out of the heather all around them and pour out their liquid song. With the help of recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, Brett and Stephen offer a practical and entertaining guide to the birds which you're most likely to see and hear on Britain's upland grasslands; birds like the Skylark (whose call Brett describes as sounding like "a sparrow with attitude"!), the Meadow Pipit, the Wheatear ("a bit like a light bulb against the moor" as it flies away from you), and the Curlew, whose bubbling song is so evocative of wild places.
A GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND BIRDS - 4. BOGS AND MIRES (128kbs-m4a/13mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 10th January 2013
Two birds with green legs, one with wing mirrors and a Common Gull that's not common at all (!) are discussed when Brett Westwood is joined by keen bird watcher Stephen Moss in rather wild and windy weather on the rolling hills of the Long Mynd in Shropshire. With the help of recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, they offer a practical and entertaining guide to the birds which you're most likely to see and hear on Britain's bogs and mires; birds like the Golden Plover with its hauntingly beautiful song, the Dunlin, Greenshank and Common Gull.
A GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND BIRDS - 5. HIGH MOUNTAIN TOPS (128kbs-m4a/13mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 11th January 2013
Brett Westwood is joined by keen bird watcher Stephen Moss in rather wild and windy weather on the rolling hills of the Long Mynd in Shropshire and with the help of recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, they offer a practical and entertaining guide to the birds which you're most likely to see and hear on Britain's high mountain tops; birds like Dotterel (which by an amazing bit of luck Brett and Stephen see on the Long Mynd as it stops off on migration), the colour changing Ptarmigan (known colloquially in America as the Snow Chicken because of its white colouring in winter) and a songbird, the Snow Bunting.
NATURE'S GREAT INVADERS (320kbs-m4a/159mb/1hr8mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 9th to 15th March 2020
Telling the stories of non-native invasive species and our complicated attitudes to them and with an uncertain political future how do we police our ecological borders?
NATURE'S GREAT INVADERS - 1. GREY SQUIRREL (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 9th March 2020
The grey squirrel is considered one of the worlds greatest natural invaders. It's been on UK shores for over a hundred years and it's two million strong population dwarfs that of our native red squirrel. It is maligned by many, but does the grey squirrel deserve its reputation as an unstoppable invader? Derek Mooney intends to find out.
NATURE'S GREAT INVADERS - 2. JAPANESE KNOTWEED (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 10th March 2020
Japanese knotweed evolved to grow on the slopes of Japanese volcanoes. It's harsh home makes it a thug of a plant outside it's natural range with a seemingly magical ability grow in the most unlikely places. In the more than 100 years since a few female specimens were brought to UK shores as an ornamental garden plant it has spread across the country and is now probably the most hated plant in the UK. But is it really the Great Invader we believe it to be? Derek Mooney intends to find out.
NATURE'S GREAT INVADERS - 3. HARLEQUIN LADYBIRD (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 11th March 2020
In the 10 years since the harlequin ladybird first hopped across the English Channel its spread has been scrutinised by an army of scientists and amateur naturalists. Its rapid colonisation has given it the unfortunate title of the world's fastest invader. Derek Mooney talks to ladybird expert Dr Helen Roy to find out how this little beetle came to be a great invader.
NATURE'S GREAT INVADERS - 4. RING-NECKED PARAKEET (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 12th March 2020
In many parts of the world including its native range the ring-necked parakeet is considered an invasive species. In the UK we still think of it as either an exotic curiosity or local nuisance. Should we be worried or continue to welcome this unlikely addition to British bird life?
NATURE'S GREAT INVADERS - 5. ASH DIEBACK FUNGUS (320kbs-m4a/31mb/13mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 13th March 2020
When trees infected with the ash-dieback fungus were first recorded in the UK in early 2012 there was widespread alarm. Four and a half years later are we closer to knowing what the final toll will be on our ash trees and with an uncertain political future how do we limit the risks posed by other invisible invaders?
A GUIDE TO WOODLAND BIRDS (320kbs-m4a/157mb/1hr8mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 8th March to 5th April 2020
Brett Westwood presents the guide to help identify your local woodland birds.
Producer: Sarah Blunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May/June 2008.
A GUIDE TO WOODLAND BIRDS - 1. CLASSIC WOODLAND BIRDS (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 8th March 2020
Beginning in the Forest of Dean, Brett's joined by bird watcher Stephen Moss and wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson where they find woodland birds including Nuthatch and Tree Creeper.
A GUIDE TO WOODLAND BIRDS - 2. COMMON WARBLERS (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 15th March 2020
Brett joins birdwatcher Stephen Moss and wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson in the Forest of Dean to identify the songs of the Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Garden Warbler.
A GUIDE TO WOODLAND BIRDS - 3. THE OAKWOOD TRIO (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 22nd March 2020
Do you know a Wood Warbler from a Redstart?
Brett Westwood is joined by bird watcher Stephen Moss and wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson.
A GUIDE TO WOODLAND BIRDS - 4. CONIFER SPECIALISTS (320kbs-m4a/31mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 29th March 2020
Brett Westwood, Stephen Moss and wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson identify birds that live on conifers, such as the Siskin, Goldcrest, Coal Tit and Crossbill.
A GUIDE TO WOODLAND BIRDS - 5. THE BIG STUFF (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 5th April 2020
Brett Westwood, Stephen Moss and Chris Watson identify the sounds of Jay, Tawny Owl, Sparrowhawk and other larger woodland birds.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 50 - 5. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 31st December 2019
Bill Bailey has not just travelled in naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's footsteps, he's crazy about him too. "I love him, I really do." Wallace is best known for what used to be known as the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution. When he died in 1913, the New York Times called him the last of the 'giants belonging to that wonderful group of intellectuals ... whose daring investigations revolutionised and evolutionised the thought of the century."
Born in 1823, Wallace was a collector, a writer, a keen conservationist, and Bill has been to Borneo to see Wallace's famous flying frog.
With Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum, and presented by Matthew Parris.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
DISCOVERY - A SENSE OF TIME (96kbs-m4a/18mb/26mins)
BBC World Service broadcast: 6th May 2019
Our senses create the world we experience. But do animals have a ‘sense’ of time, and does that differ between species, or between us and other animals?
We know that animal senses reveal a wealth of information that humans can't access. Birds can see in ultra violet, and some fish can 'feel' electricity. So perhaps their sense of time is similar.
If you've ever tried to swat flies, you'll know that they seem to have super-powered reactions that let them escape before you can blink. Presenter Geoff Marsh asks whether flies have some sort of super-power to see the world in slow motion. Are they watching your hand come down at what might appear a leisurely pace?
Science reveals a window into the minds of different species and their temporal perceptions. Some birds have such fast vision that they can see and react to movement at twice the speed you can, and our vision works at more than six times the speed of one species of deep sea fish. This programme delves into each moment of experience to ask 'what is time, biologically?' When birds have to dodge through forests and catch flies on the wing, or when flies have to avoid those birds, it would seem that a faster temporal resolution would be a huge advantage.
Geoff meets physicist Carlo Rovelli and asks him to jump outside of physics to answer questions on biology and philosophy. Geoff explores the mind of a bat with Professor Yossi Yovel in Israel, and dissects birdsong at super slow speeds with BBC wildlife sound recordist, Chris Watson. Getting deep into the minds of animals he questions whether our seconds feel like swordfish seconds, or a beetles' or birds' or bats'..?
Presenter: Geoff Marsh
Producer: Rory Galloway
Picture: Violaceous Euphonia (Euphonia violacea) male flying from branch, Itanhaem, Brazil
Credit: Getty images
