STEVE WATERS - SONG OF THE REED - 3. EEL (320kbs-m4a/100mb/44mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 21st December 2021
Ian (played by Mark Rylance) has gone to work for neighbouring landowner Theo Buckhurst as Liv (Sophie Okonedo) prepares to sell up to Wildscapes – but nature, as ever, has a different plan, and a major flood event is forecast to engulf Fleggwick.
The third in the series of Steve Waters' seasonal dramas follows the life of a fictional wetlands nature reserve, over the period of one year.
Storm clouds are well and truly established over the nature reserve Liv has inherited from her father. The oncoming flood will bring a pulse of salt water into the Fen, threatening countless fresh water species. And with plans to sell Fleggwick also complete, the future looks decidedly insecure in this otherwise beautiful corner of Norfolk.
Song of the Reed is recorded on location at RSPB's Strumpshaw Fen. The story is informed by the sounds of the reserve as well as the real work and science of conservation taking place in the face of rapid environmental change in the wetlands of Norfolk, and everywhere.
Cast:
Liv ..... Sophie Okonedo
Ian ..... Mark Rylance
Tam ..... Ella Dorman Gajic
Kay ..... Molly Naylor
Theo ..... Tom Goodman-Hill
Nikki ..... Karen Hill
Charlie ..... Jimmy Rutherford
Voice of the Reed ..... Christine Kavanagh
Other parts played by staff and volunteers at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen
Written by Steve Waters
Music by Michael Somerset Ward with Rebecca Hearne
Cello played by Liz Hanks
Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Produced and Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4
STEVE WATERS - SONG OF THE REED - 2. WHIRLPOOL (320kbs-m4a/100mb/44mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 22nd September 2021
We return to Fleggwick where the search is on to find the miniscule Whirlpool Ramshorn Snail – a tiny creature whose presence would bolster the case for the reserve as a habitat for rare species.
Sophie Okonedo and Mark Rylance star in the second of Steve Waters' seasonal dramas following the life of a fictional wetlands nature reserve, over the period of one year.
Fleggwick, like the ecosystem it protects, is under threat. The site was not financially sustainable when its founder passed away, so his daughter Liv (Sophie Okonedo) needs to find a way for it to survive. But if that means selling out to 'trendy conservation', then Ian (Mark Rylance), the Warden, wants nothing to do with it.
Song of the Reed is recorded on location at RSPB's Strumpshaw Fen. The story is informed by the real work and science of conservation taking place in the face of rapid environmental change in the wetlands of Norfolk, and everywhere. This episode also features Tom Fewins of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, playing himself.
Cast:
Liv ..... Sophie Okonedo
Ian ..... Mark Rylance
Tam ..... Ella Dorman Gajic
Kay ..... Molly Naylor
Sadegh ..... Zaydun Khalaf
Theo ..... Tom Goodman-Hill
Nikki ..... Karen Hill
Tom ..... Tom Fewins
Voice of the Reed ..... Christine Kavanagh
Other parts played by staff and volunteers at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen
Music by Michael Somerset Ward with Rebecca Hearne
Sound design by Alisdair McGregor
Produced and Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4
STEVE WATERS - SONG OF THE REED - 1. SWALLOWTAIL (320kbs-m4a/101mb/44mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 21st June 2021
Sophie Okonedo and Mark Rylance star in the first of Steve Waters' seasonal dramas following the life of Fleggwick, a fictional wetlands nature reserve, over the period of one year.
Fleggwick, like the ecosystem it protects, is under threat. The site was not financially sustainable when its founder passed away so his daughter Liv (Sophie Okonedo) needs to find a way for it to survive. But if that means selling out to 'trendy conservation' then Ian (Mark Rylance), the Warden, wants nothing to do with it.
Recorded on location at RSPB's Strumpshaw Fen, the story is informed by the real work and science of conservation taking place in the face of rapid environmental change in the wetlands of Norfolk, and everywhere.
It's a rainy summer's day and a Swallowtail Safari is being held at the reserve with members of the public, as well as a manager from WildScapes, visiting Fleggwick with the hope of catching a glimpse of the elusive and utterly beautiful swallowtail butterfly. The future of the reserve may ride on it.
Cast:
Liv ..... Sophie Okonedo
Ian ..... Mark Rylance
Tam ..... Ella Dorman Gajic
Kay ..... Molly Naylor
Sadegh ..... Zaydun Khalaf
Nikki ..... Karen Hill
Voice of the Reed ..... Christine Kavanagh
Other parts played by staff and volunteers at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen
Written by Steve Waters
Music by Michael Somerset Ward with Rebecca Hearne
Sound Design by Alisdair McGregor
Produced and Directed by Boz Temple-Morris
A Holy Mountain production for BBC Radio 4
SOUNDS NATURAL - PERCY EDWARDS (320kbs-m4a/68mb/30mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 22nd April 2022
From Willow Warblers to Little Crakes.
Bird-imitator, animal impersonator and entertainer, Percy Edwards discusses his love of the British countryside and, in particular, its birdlife with Derek Jones.
Aided by recordings from the BBC Sound Archive.
Percy Edwards MBE: died aged 88 in 1996.
Producer: John Burton
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 1972.
SERIOUSLY... - EIDER ISLAND (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 podcast: 19th March 2022
An intimate tale of bird-human interdependence. Eider ducks probably nested on Æðey - a small island in the Icelandic Westfjords - long before the first settlers arrived. And when the settlers arrived, the birds continued to nest there. There is one house on the island and, with spring, an extended family of eider farmers gathers from all over Iceland for an annual ritual. The farmers tend to the eider ducks, offering them protection in exchange for a harvest of precious feathers. Acclaimed Danish feature-maker Rikke Houd captures a day - and a centuries old tradition - on Æðey.
Presented and produced by Rikke Houd With specially composed music by Sóley Stefánsdóttir.
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
BETWEEN THE EARS - FLIGHT OF THE MONARCH (320kbs-m4a/67mb/29mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 3rd January 2021
Composer and sound artist Rob Mackay traces the migratory route of the monarch butterfly, from the Great Lakes in Canada to the forests of Mexico, via the shifting coastal landscape of the eastern shores of Virginia.
Along the route of this sonic road-movie Rob meets people working to protect this extraordinary species: Darlene Burgess, a conservation specialist monitoring butterfly populations on the shores of Lake Eerie; Nancy Barnhart, coordinating the monarch migration programme for the Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory at Kiptopeke State Park, where we also encounter composer Matthew Burtner, whose sonifications of data from the local seagrass beds help track changes in the monarch's environment; and butterfly expert Pablo Jaramillo-López giving a tour of the Sierra Chincua and Cerro Pelón reserves in Mexico. We also hear reflections from the late Lincoln Brower, the American entomologist whose legacy has inspired many of today's research and conservation efforts.
The programme features Rob Mackay's binaural field recordings, and audio from live stream boxes, set up in partnership with the ecological art and technology collective SoundCamp to monitor the monarch's changing habitats. Plus Rob’s own flute playing, recorded in the Mexican forest meadows with David Blink on handpan and trumpet, alongside poetry in Spanish about the monarch by Rolando Rodriguez.
