My Living World [Living World]

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Duration

22 minutes

Genre

Factual
Nature and Environment
Science and Nature

Station

Radio 4

Episodes

Title	First Broadcast	Comments
Jackdaw Roost	20191215	Naturalist and wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall is joined by Billy Clarke, a researcher with the BBC Natural History Unit to discuss another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. In this episode from 2011 Joanna Pinnock wonders what makes jackdaws roost together, and to find out more heads to the Cambridgeshire countryside with corvid scientist Dr Alex Thornton. Arriving in the dead of night they await one of nature's spectacles, of thousands of jackdaws simultaneously leaving their night roost in a cacophony of sound. It is one of those winter spectacles often overlooked but rivalling any in the natural world. So what is actually going on here? For Hannah and Billy this gives them the opportunity to discuss corvid activity. Science is beginning to unravel the biology and social intelligence of corvids, recently dubbed feathered apes, but there is a lot still to learn about these familiar if mysterious jackdaws. If the morning was a spectacle, how will that compare with the evening gathering at the roost; some roosts have been recorded in the Domesday Book and are still being used centuries later? Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and Billy Clarke discuss a winter jackdaw roost from Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Skomer	20190616	Hannah Stitfall and guest discuss a selection from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Stone Curlew	20191013	Wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall is joined by Dom Davies, a wildlife film researcher to discuss another pick from the Living World archive. Today their subject is Stone Curlews and a programme in which the presenter Joanna Pinnock travels to Wiltshire in search of these crepuscular waders whose haunting calls can be heard after dusk. She is joined by Nick Adams of the RSPB who has been working with local farmers on a conservation project to improve the habitat for these birds and restore the population which became seriously depleted in the mid-1980s. For Hannah and Dom the programme offers a rare encounter with a bird that few of us will have seen or heard. Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and Dom Davies discuss stone curlews from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
The Spined Loach	20191229	Keen naturalist Hannah Stitfall is joined by wildlife film researcher Dom Davies to review another programme from the LIVING WORLD archive. The subject today is Spined Loach - a fish you might never heard of because, whilst locally they are abundant, they are classified as a rare protected species and are only found in a handful of places in the UK. Also known as the Spotted Weather Loach because of their ability to detect changes in atmospheric or barometric pressure brought about by changes in the weather, they half bury themselves in fine organic sediment at the bottom of rivers or lakes during the day and then at night sieve the sediment, eating small shrimps and ejecting the mud and sand through their gills. As Hannah and Dom discover, these little fish also have some amazing survival techniques which enable them to survive low oxygen levels, whilst the spines which protrude from under their eyes are thought to help ward off predators. Producer Sarah Bunt Keen naturalists Hannah Stitfall and Dom Davies compare notes on Spined Loach. Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
The UK's rarest frog	20190630	New series in which Hannah Stitfall and a guest discuss one of her picks from the LIVING WORLD archive. Today they eavesdrop on an encounter at a secret location in Norfolk with the UK's rarest frog, the pool frog. The frogs were introduced here from Sweden over a decade ago, after the last native East Anglian pool frogs died out in the wild and their progress has been carefully monitored. As well as the frogs there's a very smelly encounter with a couple of grass snakes! Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and a guest discuss her pick from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Winter Flies	20200308	Where do flies go in winter and what happens to them? Wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall and wildlife film researcher Billy Clark review another selection from the Living World archive to try and find out the answer. The original programme was recorded beside an icy pond in a woodland near Kidderminster where, with the help of pooters and ghostbuster gear', a surprising number of flies are discovered in winter including the stunning-looking dollies, best known for their metallic green sheen and long dancing legs! Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and Billy Clark review 'Winter Flies\u2019 from the Living World archive. Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Winter Ladybirds	20190929	Zoologist and wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall is joined by Billy Clark, a researcher with the BBC Natural History Unit to discuss another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. Today the subject is over-wintering ladybirds and the challenges these most familiar of insects face during dormancy. They also discuss the origin of the name 'Ladybird', the diverse range of species we have, threats from an alien species and a ladybird survey that is looking for your help. Producer Sarah Blunt. Hannah Stitfall and Billy Clark discuss Winter Ladybirds from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Woodcock	20200322	Wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall and wildlife film researcher Dom Davies enjoy a close encounter with one of our most mysterious birds, the woodcock, when they review another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. The woodcock is a wader which spends most of its life in woodland where its wonderful mottled plumage makes it very hard to see, especially as they are nocturnal so most active at night. The population swells in winter when over a million more migrate here from Scandinavia and Russia in search of earthworms and insects which they probe from the ground with their long bills. Hannah and Dom also discuss another remarkable feature of these birds which is their strange roding flight call. Producer Sarah Blunt. Hannah Stitfall and Dom Davies review 'Woodcock\u2019 from the LIVING WORLD archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.

Episodes

Title	First Broadcast	Comments
Jackdaw Roost	20191215	Naturalist and wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall is joined by Billy Clarke, a researcher with the BBC Natural History Unit to discuss another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. In this episode from 2011 Joanna Pinnock wonders what makes jackdaws roost together, and to find out more heads to the Cambridgeshire countryside with corvid scientist Dr Alex Thornton. Arriving in the dead of night they await one of nature's spectacles, of thousands of jackdaws simultaneously leaving their night roost in a cacophony of sound. It is one of those winter spectacles often overlooked but rivalling any in the natural world. So what is actually going on here? For Hannah and Billy this gives them the opportunity to discuss corvid activity. Science is beginning to unravel the biology and social intelligence of corvids, recently dubbed feathered apes, but there is a lot still to learn about these familiar if mysterious jackdaws. If the morning was a spectacle, how will that compare with the evening gathering at the roost; some roosts have been recorded in the Domesday Book and are still being used centuries later? Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and Billy Clarke discuss a winter jackdaw roost from Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Skomer	20190616	Hannah Stitfall and guest discuss a selection from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Stone Curlew	20191013	Wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall is joined by Dom Davies, a wildlife film researcher to discuss another pick from the Living World archive. Today their subject is Stone Curlews and a programme in which the presenter Joanna Pinnock travels to Wiltshire in search of these crepuscular waders whose haunting calls can be heard after dusk. She is joined by Nick Adams of the RSPB who has been working with local farmers on a conservation project to improve the habitat for these birds and restore the population which became seriously depleted in the mid-1980s. For Hannah and Dom the programme offers a rare encounter with a bird that few of us will have seen or heard. Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and Dom Davies discuss stone curlews from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
The Spined Loach	20191229	Keen naturalist Hannah Stitfall is joined by wildlife film researcher Dom Davies to review another programme from the LIVING WORLD archive. The subject today is Spined Loach - a fish you might never heard of because, whilst locally they are abundant, they are classified as a rare protected species and are only found in a handful of places in the UK. Also known as the Spotted Weather Loach because of their ability to detect changes in atmospheric or barometric pressure brought about by changes in the weather, they half bury themselves in fine organic sediment at the bottom of rivers or lakes during the day and then at night sieve the sediment, eating small shrimps and ejecting the mud and sand through their gills. As Hannah and Dom discover, these little fish also have some amazing survival techniques which enable them to survive low oxygen levels, whilst the spines which protrude from under their eyes are thought to help ward off predators. Producer Sarah Bunt Keen naturalists Hannah Stitfall and Dom Davies compare notes on Spined Loach. Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
The UK's rarest frog	20190630	New series in which Hannah Stitfall and a guest discuss one of her picks from the LIVING WORLD archive. Today they eavesdrop on an encounter at a secret location in Norfolk with the UK's rarest frog, the pool frog. The frogs were introduced here from Sweden over a decade ago, after the last native East Anglian pool frogs died out in the wild and their progress has been carefully monitored. As well as the frogs there's a very smelly encounter with a couple of grass snakes! Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and a guest discuss her pick from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Winter Flies	20200308	Where do flies go in winter and what happens to them? Wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall and wildlife film researcher Billy Clark review another selection from the Living World archive to try and find out the answer. The original programme was recorded beside an icy pond in a woodland near Kidderminster where, with the help of pooters and ghostbuster gear', a surprising number of flies are discovered in winter including the stunning-looking dollies, best known for their metallic green sheen and long dancing legs! Producer Sarah Blunt Hannah Stitfall and Billy Clark review 'Winter Flies\u2019 from the Living World archive. Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Winter Ladybirds	20190929	Zoologist and wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall is joined by Billy Clark, a researcher with the BBC Natural History Unit to discuss another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. Today the subject is over-wintering ladybirds and the challenges these most familiar of insects face during dormancy. They also discuss the origin of the name 'Ladybird', the diverse range of species we have, threats from an alien species and a ladybird survey that is looking for your help. Producer Sarah Blunt. Hannah Stitfall and Billy Clark discuss Winter Ladybirds from the Living World archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.
Woodcock	20200322	Wildlife filmmaker Hannah Stitfall and wildlife film researcher Dom Davies enjoy a close encounter with one of our most mysterious birds, the woodcock, when they review another selection from the LIVING WORLD archive. The woodcock is a wader which spends most of its life in woodland where its wonderful mottled plumage makes it very hard to see, especially as they are nocturnal so most active at night. The population swells in winter when over a million more migrate here from Scandinavia and Russia in search of earthworms and insects which they probe from the ground with their long bills. Hannah and Dom also discuss another remarkable feature of these birds which is their strange roding flight call. Producer Sarah Blunt. Hannah Stitfall and Dom Davies review 'Woodcock\u2019 from the LIVING WORLD archive Getting up close and personal with wild nature in Britain and beyond.