Living World - Liverpool Brownfield

LIVING WORLD - LIVERPOOL BROWNFIELD (320kbs-m4a/50mb/22mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 1st November 2015

Chris Packham relives programmes from The Living World archives.

In this programme recorded in 1993, Lionel Kelleway is joined by Gary Clennan and pioneer of restoration ecology the late Tony Bradshaw, at a rubble strewn wasteland in Liverpool. As Shakespeare said, "all the World is a stage, all the men and women merely players", which sets the scene for Lionel to discover the process of habitat restoration in an urban landscape. Along the way Lionel, Gary and Tony are in search of nature's actors, performing in a wildlife play about scavengers, opportunists and colonisers.

Living World - Woolston Eyes

LIVING WORLD - WOOLSTON EYES (320kbs-m4a/50mb/22mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 24th June 2018

Often we think of nature reserves are a product of preserving pristine or unique habitat for wildlife. Yet many nature reserves are products of reclaiming man made activity and letting nature take its course, with a little help. For this Living World wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman relives the magic of a once industrial landscape which Lionel Kelleway explored in 2000.

Lionel visits Woolston Eyes nature reserve near to Warrington where he meets up with Brian Martin who at the time of recording had been at the reserve for over 20 years recording the wildlife. This reserve is owned by the Manchester Ship Canal company and for years was used as a site to deposit dredgings from the canal. Over the decades as Lionel discovered the site became a hotch potch of heaps and shallow areas which since 1980 when the site began the long process of conversion from the devastation of canal spoil into a wildlife haven, yet only a stone's throw from the Warrington urban area.

Along the way Lionel discovers some of the species which had moved in to make this their home, such as sedge warbler and black-necked grebe which the site has become an important breeding area for. In summer many butterflies, moths, other insects can be found, including dragonflies making use of the lagoon ponds which have been created on site.

To bring this story up to date since this programme was first broadcast; Lindsey Chapman offers some recent updates into the denizens of Woolston Eyes.

Producer: Andrew Dawes

Last Word - Ian Wallace

LAST WORD - IAN WALLACE (320kbs-m4a/14mb/6mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 26th November 2021

Ian Wallace, one of the most influential figures in British ornithology. At one time he had seen a wider variety of species of birds than anyone else in Britain.

Interviewed guest: Stephen Moss

Archive clips used: BBC Radio 4, 100 Years of British Birds 07/05/2007; The Sound Approach Podcast, Interview With Ian Wallace 2019.

A Birdsong Garden - Autumn Passage

A BIRDSONG GARDEN - AUTUMN PASSAGE (320kbs-m4a/32mb/14mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 18th October 2021

From the young chiffchaff taking its first words, to the cacophony of pheasants and mallards over the river, in autumn Geoff and his family begin to appreciate the annual visitors on their doorstep as the swallows come...and go once again.

The lockdown through the spring of 2020 gave much space for reflection about life; and for wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample an opportunity to review the five-year period spent in the remote and quiet Northumbrian home he sought out, to record and study the birdsong of a typical rural garden.

Part of a five-part series, 'A Birdsong Garden' is a mix of memoir, natural history, folklore, birdsong and spacious soundscapes.

Geoff takes us through Autumn and considers how living close to and listening intently to nature can enrich our lives.

Presenter and Producer: Geoff Sample

Executive Producer: Clare Freeman

Commissioned for Culture in Quarantine, funded and supported by The Space Arts, BBC Arts and Arts Council England.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in August 2020.

Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Spurn 18th October 2021

A Two-barred Greenish Warbler was found at Spurn last Saturday. The bird was discovered by visiting birder David Bevan, but identified as a Yellow-browed Warbler. However, sometime later local birder Adam Hutt reidentified the bird as a Two-barred Greenish Warbler, a first for Spurn and the ninth for UK.

Figuring there would probably be a large crowd on the Sunday, I waited until today to make my way to the east coast. I went on news of the Two-barred Greenish Warbler still being present and arrived on site mid-afternoon. I had brief views almost as soon as I arrived, in the understory of the Sycamore on the left of the photo above. Over the next few hours I had several views spread about the small wooded area next to the Spurn Discovery Centre, but each time only for a couple of seconds. Eventually, off to the right of the photo, I did have a series of sustained views out in the open, fortunately far enough away for me to be able to focus my bins!

Photo by Adam Hutt | Photo by Gill O'Neil

Previous records:
1987 Isles of Scilly - Gugh, first-winter, 22nd to 27th October.
1996 Norfolk - Holkham Meals, 15th to 16th October.
2003 Isles of Scilly - Bryher, Samson Hill, 27th to 28th September.
2006 North Yorkshire - Filey, 16th to 18th October.
2016 Orkney - Papa Westray, 1CY, 9th October.
2017 Shetland - Foula, Mucklegrind, 2CY+, 30th May.
2017 Dorset - St Aldhelm's Head, 1CY, 15th to 18th October.
2019 Suffolk - Orford Quay, 1CY+, 13th October.

Migrant Hawker, Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB 15th October 2021

Another visit to Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB yesterday was not much different to two days previously. The first-winter drake Ruddy Shelduck was still at Marsh Covert and the Cattle Egret was having a break from its cattle escort duties on an island on the Reception Pool. Conditions were warm & the sun was out resulting in many Common Darters, a Migrant Hawker (male) and what looked like a Southern Hawker wizzing around the top path, but it was just too fast to get decent views. Birds of note included thousands of Pink-footed Geese wheeling about, a Ruff and a Reeve, brief views of a Great White Egret taking off, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Ruddy Shelduck, Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB 13th October 2021

A visit to Burton Mere Wetlands today was fruitful. The long-staying first-winter drake Ruddy Shelduck was present on Border Pool, giving distant and intermittent views, until it flew to Marsh Covert, giving much better views. This bird was first reported on 16th July 2021. The last Ruddy Shelduck I saw in Cheshire & Wirral was at Parkgate on 24th September 1972.

A Cattle Egret was escorting the herd of cattle around the Main Scrape. There were many Shoveler, Gadwall and Teal. Black-tailed Godwits were spread out over the whole of the reserve. A Raven flew over calling loudly, a Ruff was on Centenary Pool from Border Hide, with a pair of Stonechats on the edge of Border Pool.