Synopsis
Weekly podcast in which five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.
Episodes
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Week 18 - Samuel West
10/09/2017 Duration: 08minActor, theatre director and passionate birdwatcher Samuel West presents five very personal stories, beginning with the nightingale, followed by the grey heron, the collared dove, the capercaille and finally the red eyed vireo he spotted in the Scilly Isles.Producer Tom Bonnett
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Week 17 - Amy Liptrot
03/09/2017 Duration: 09minAuthor Amy Liptrot presents five personal stories with an Orcadian feel about the Arctic tern, hooded crow, corncrake, curlew and the greylag goose.Produced by Mark Ward
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Week 16 - Mark Ward
27/08/2017 Duration: 08minStories from Olympic gold medal winning rower Alex Gregory who saw kingfishers while training on the water, the tale of the egret that changed Clare Jones's life, Lily Burton's sad story of the mute swan, Tiffany Francis remembers seeing a corncrake and BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner tells his story of the little auk, introduced by Tweet of the Day producer Mark Ward.Picture: Anna Bilska
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Week 15 - Tim Birkhead
20/08/2017 Duration: 08minProfessor Tim Birkhead of Sheffield University presents five stories of seabirds from his time spent leading a study of the guillemot population on the island of Skomer for more than 40 years.Guillemots crowd the cliff-sides in dense populations, which offers some protection from predators but it can stay be a dangerous place to rear young. Tim tells the story of the guillemot chicks attacked by greater black backed gulls, he also describes the ferocious ravorbill, remembers an intelligent ambush by ravens, the dull social lives of puffins and ends with a story that shows the incredible eyesight and recognition of the guillemot.This week's stories are introduced by natural history radio maker Andrew Dawes.
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Week 14 - Frank Gardner
13/08/2017 Duration: 08minBBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner presents five stories about how he became interested in birdwatching and the memories bird calls evoke in him and he recounts his adventures tracking down some of the world's rarest birds. He chooses the Golden Oriole, the Great Northern Diver, birds of paradise the King of Saxony and the Three-wattled Bell-bird and he remembers a plucky white-throated kingfisher outside the Israeli parliament.
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Week 13 - Tom Bonnett
06/08/2017 Duration: 09minTweet of the Day producer Tom Bonnett introduces five tales of the impact birds have had on people's lives. This week's stories come from RSPB engagement officer Nadia Archer who tells her story of watching peregrines in Central Manchester, Olympic rower Alex Gregory recalls his pet House Sparrow Sparky and remembers rowing beside white storks whilst out training, digital editor Laura Howard delights in how learnign about nature has opened her eyes to the wonder of the countryside and Tiffany Francis remembers calling 'cheese' to the turmeric coloured yellowhammers at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.
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Week 12 - Eliza Lomas
30/07/2017 Duration: 08minEliza Lomas introduces an omnibus of five tales inspired by birds. Writer Eleanor Matthews recalls how the magpie came into her life at a time of change. Photographer and Gaelic broadcaster Cailean Maclean recalls an encounter with a great skua. Craig Hartley revels in a near miss encounter with a green woodpecker while Paul Brook recalls a long awaited for encounter with a black tern near Leeds. finally Paul Brook recalls that at the age of eight the redwing ignited his love of birds and birdwatching.
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Week 11 - Melissa Harrison
23/07/2017 Duration: 08minNature writer Melissa Harrison is the author behind At Hawthorn Time, Clay and Rain: Four Walks In English Weather. She introduces five stories of birds told by the team at RSPB Dearne Valley - Old Moor in Barnsley.We hear from Steve Vickers who describes the gossiping eider ducks he loves in the North East, Liane Holdsworth in praise of the kestrel, Heather Bennett who loves the laser-like 'pee-wit' sound of the first bird she identified for herself, Danielle Meyer remember seeing gannets on a blustery day on the Yorkshire east coast and Matthew Capper lends his booming voice in an emotional recollection of seeing the bittern when he was 19, having never seen them as a child.
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Week 10 - Hugh Thomson
16/07/2017 Duration: 08minExplorer and travel writer Hugh Thomson presents five stories of birds and the emotions they stir in people.Kim Durbin tells the tale of a tame blackbird that came so close she saw a human connection in it, gull researcher Peter Rock describes an encounter with lesser black-backed gulls, John Clifton of RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor in Barnsley has high hopes that bee-eaters will nest more and more in the UK, Paul Brook considers the luck involved in seeing wildlife and Springwatch cameraman Nigel Bean remembers finding a water rail that came to be a star of the series.
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Week 9 - Michael Morpurgo
09/07/2017 Duration: 08minAuthor and birdlover Michael Morpurgo introduces more stories of birds and birdwatching.John McPherson talks about the hooded crows and herring gulls, Joe Harkness discusses the nightingale, teenager Mya Rose Craig's bird is the sea eagle and schoolboy Josh Myers talks about the short-eared owl.
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Week 8 - Amy Liptrot
02/07/2017 Duration: 08minAuthor Amy Liptrot introduces Gary Moore on the Capercailllie, Mya Rose Craig on the nuthatch, Cyrus Todiwala on the ring-necked parakeet, Dara McNulty on the hen harrier and Joe Harkness on the woodhatch.
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Week 7 - Lindsey Chapman
25/06/2017 Duration: 08minSpringwatch Unsprung presenter Lindsey Chapman introduces five stories about birds.Wildlife cameraman Neil Anderson tracks down a golden eagle, musician Jimi Goodwin talks about a mallard, sound recordists Alasdair Grubb and Gregory Ovenden share a tales of a blue tit and a Canada goose and Lindsey herself has story of a Cetti's warbler.
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Week 6 - Polly Weston
19/06/2017 Duration: 08minRadio producer and journalist Polly Weston introduces an omnibus of personal stories about birds and their impact on people's lives, including her own story of an encounter with an owl that helped her grieve. Pictures by Gary Hadden, Nigel Belway, Hilary Chambers, Margaret Holland, NottsExMiner, Phil Boardman, Chas Moonie-Wild.
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Week 5 - David Lindo
11/06/2017 Duration: 09minDavid Lindo, known as the Urban Birder, loves all things feathered. He tells personal stories of five birds: the kestrel, the robin, the honey buzzard, the osprey and the swift.
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Week 4 - Miles Warde
04/06/2017 Duration: 09minMiles Warde introduces a story of the power of birdsong cut to vinyl from David Salmon of the Slimbridge Wetlands Centre, a celebration of the beauty of the red-breasted goose from his colleague Peter Cranswick, Chris Jones remembers his rescue raven Ringo, Joe Harkness talks about the skylark in poetry and Paul Brooks explains how a water rail helped him alleviate his depression.
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Week 3 - Alex Gregory
28/05/2017 Duration: 08minFive time world champion and two time Olympic gold medal-winning rower Alex Gregory sets up five stories about the beauty of birdsong.This episodes stories all come from the Slimbridge Wetland Centre. Ashley Davies reveals why a kingfisher changed his life. Kane Brides explains why the humble coot means so much to him. Ruth Cromie proclaims her love for the eider duck. Debbie Pain explains her joy at the return of the marsh harrier to her local patch. Peter Cranswick talks about the amazing common scoter.
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Week 2 - Hanna Tuulikki
21/05/2017 Duration: 09minFinnish-English musician and bird lover Hanna Tuulikki introduces five stories of birds.London chef and restaurant owner Cyrus Todiwala discusses his love of the city's house sparrow. Bristol-based bird scientist Peter Rock talks about his decades of research into urban lesser black backed gulls. Young conservationist and ‘Birdgirl’ Mya Rose Craig recalls the excitement of seeing a black browed albatross in Cornwall at the age of seven. Photographer John McPherson tells a tale of an encounter with a ptarmigan. Val Thompson describes the comfort she derives from seeing pink footed geese in Norfolk, a place she visited with her late husband.
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Week 1 - Will Young
14/05/2017 Duration: 08minSinger Will Young presents five wonderful stories of how birdsong has touched people's lives.Folk musician and Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee considers the nightingale, Worcestershire lawyer Mat Waddington recounts an encounter with a long tailed tit tapping at his window, eight-year-old Gabi Mann recalls how she became friends with American crows in her suburban garden in Seattle, David Lindo – otherwise known as the urban birder – recalls his first encounter with the ring ouzel on his local patch near to Wormwood Scrubs in London and Fermanagh based bird blogger Dara McAnulty talks about the whooper swan.
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Welcome to Tweet of the Week
11/05/2017 Duration: 08sWelcome to this new BBC podcast. The first episode will be published within seven days.