Nature

100 years of Country Diaries

The daily Country Diary in the Guardian newspaper has now passed its centenary and is the longest running newspaper column in Britain. So how have these idiosyncratic nature notes survived the changing fashions of publishing, and what do they tell us about the changes to our wildlife through two world wars and a revolution in the structure of the British countryside?

Paul Evans, himself a Country Diarist, investigates.

The Guardian's Country Diary is the longest running newspaper column in Britain.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

A Country Fit for Cranes

Last month a pair of cranes bred in the East Anglian fens, a remarkable event since their chosen habitat was only created seven years ago. Michael Scott visits Lakenheath Fen to see the birds for himself and talk to the RSPB about the arrival of the cranes and its effect on plans for future wetlands.

Michael Scott visits Lakenheath Fen, a new habitat where a pair of cranes bred last month.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

A Country Fit for Cranes

Last month a pair of cranes bred in the East Anglian fens, a remarkable event since their chosen habitat was only created seven years ago. Michael Scott visits Lakenheath Fen to see the birds for himself and talk to the RSPB about the arrival of the cranes and its effect on plans for future wetlands.

Michael Scott visits Lakenheath Fen, a new habitat where a pair of cranes bred last month.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Coastal Squeeze

Sea levels are predicted to rise by as much as 1.2m by the end of the century and this will radically transform the look of our low lying coastlines. Plans are already being put in place to help that change and this is bringing benefits for wildlife but also conflict with locals.

Nature goes to Humberside to discover the start of a 100-year plan to change this magnificent estuary.

Nature goes to Humberside to explore a 100-year plan to change the estuary.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

It's probably the most familiar fish on the British menu, but how much do we really know about the cod? Grant Sonnex meets the fish behind the finger and finds out what we need to do to conserve this threatened species.

He finds how other countries have addressed the problem of dwindling stocks, meets the fishermen who depend on cod, and asks whether we are prepared to take the necessary steps to sustain this iconic fish.

Grant Sonnex finds out what we need to do to conserve cod.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Spring Songbird Special

As part of the BBC's Springwatch event, Grant Sonnex presents the programme from the RSPB's reserve at Minsmere in Suffolk. Among the reed beds and woodlands, he revels in the voices of some of Britain's finest songbirds and hears about the lives that they lead before their chorus fills the spring air.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

Grant Sonnex presents the programme from the RSPB's reserve at Minsmere in Suffolk.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Spring Songbird Special

As part of the BBC's Springwatch event, Grant Sonnex presents the programme from the RSPB's reserve at Minsmere in Suffolk. Among the reed beds and woodlands, he revels in the voices of some of Britain's finest songbirds and hears about the lives that they lead before their chorus fills the spring air.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

Grant Sonnex presents the programme from the RSPB's reserve at Minsmere in Suffolk.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Answer's in the Soil

Paul Evans delves into the fascinating world of the soil and discovers its importance to the quality of our future environment. There are an estimated 15 million species of soil organism, all interacting to form complex communities which affect the plants that grow in them and every living thing that depends in turn upon these plants.

Paul Evans discovers the importance of soil to the quality of our future environment.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Answer's in the Soil

Paul Evans delves into the fascinating world of the soil and discovers its importance to the quality of our future environment. There are an estimated 15 million species of soil organism, all interacting to form complex communities which affect the plants that grow in them and every living thing that depends in turn upon these plants.

Paul Evans discovers the importance of soil to the quality of our future environment.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Beetles: Here, There and Everywhere

Paul Evans explains his life-long fascination with beetles, from humble ladybirds to the swashbuckling diving beetles. He celebrates the myriad world of these extraordinary creatures including the slug-hunting blue ground beetle, the short-necked oil beetles whose larvae hitch rides on bees back to their nest, and an obscure Asian beetle from whom scientists are learning how to produce ultra-thin materials.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

Paul Evans explains his fascination with beetles and celebrates their myriad world.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Beetles: Here, There and Everywhere

Paul Evans explains his life-long fascination with beetles, from humble ladybirds to the swashbuckling diving beetles. He celebrates the myriad world of these extraordinary creatures including the slug-hunting blue ground beetle, the short-necked oil beetles whose larvae hitch rides on bees back to their nest, and an obscure Asian beetle from whom scientists are learning how to produce ultra-thin materials.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

Paul Evans explains his fascination with beetles and celebrates their myriad world.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Plum Prospects for Orchard Conservation

Traditional orchards in England, which have steadily declined in the last 50 years, are now being proposed as a priority habitat under the review of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Brett Westwood explores the importance of old orchards for wildlife and finds out what new conservation measures would mean.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

The Plum Prospects for Orchard Conservation: Brett Westwood on new conservation measures.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Plum Prospects for Orchard Conservation

Traditional orchards in England, which have steadily declined in the last 50 years, are now being proposed as a priority habitat under the review of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Brett Westwood explores the importance of old orchards for wildlife and finds out what new conservation measures would mean.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

The Plum Prospects for Orchard Conservation: Brett Westwood on new conservation measures.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Unearthing Buried Rivers

Paul Evans reports on the rebirth of the urban waterway. For centuries, we have covered up our city streams and built over the top. But now the buried rivers are being brought back to life as the realisation dawns that natural water flowing through our cities can reduce flooding and pollution as well as creating a better environment for people and animals to live.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

Paul Evans reports on the rebirth of the urban waterway.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Unearthing Buried Rivers

Paul Evans reports on the rebirth of the urban waterway. For centuries, we have covered up our city streams and built over the top. But now the buried rivers are being brought back to life as the realisation dawns that natural water flowing through our cities can reduce flooding and pollution as well as creating a better environment for people and animals to live.

[Rptd Tue 11.00am].

Paul Evans reports on the rebirth of the urban waterway.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

A Hundred Years of British Birds

Arguably the most influential journal of its genre, British Birds reaches its 100th birthday in June. With the help of leading ornithologists, Brett Westwood looks back at a history which mirrors the growth of birdwatching in the UK. He uncovers the scandal of the Hastings Rarities, the first arrival of the Collared Dove, and the unique legacy of observations in the magazine.

A programme marking the centenary of the influential journal British Birds.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

A Hundred Years of British Birds

Arguably the most influential journal of its genre, British Birds reaches its 100th birthday in June. With the help of leading ornithologists, Brett Westwood looks back at a history which mirrors the growth of birdwatching in the UK. He uncovers the scandal of the Hastings Rarities, the first arrival of the Collared Dove, and the unique legacy of observations in the magazine.

A programme marking the centenary of the influential journal British Birds.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans visits Dorset to find out why heathland birds don't welcome hordes of visitors.

Some wildlife organisations advocate the importance of 're-connecting' with the natural world, which means encouraging people onto nature reserves and other places rich in wildlife to experience it first hand. But whether people go as naturalists, horse-riders, dog-walkers or mountain-bikers, they all have an impact on the places they visit.

Paul tramps the heaths to find out why nightjars and woodlarks are averse to hordes of visitors.

Paul Evans visits Dorset to find out why heathland birds don't welcome hordes of visitors.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans visits Dorset to find out why heathland birds don't welcome hordes of visitors.

Some wildlife organisations advocate the importance of 're-connecting' with the natural world, which means encouraging people onto nature reserves and other places rich in wildlife to experience it first hand. But whether people go as naturalists, horse-riders, dog-walkers or mountain-bikers, they all have an impact on the places they visit.

Paul tramps the heaths to find out why nightjars and woodlarks are averse to hordes of visitors.

Paul Evans visits Dorset to find out why heathland birds don't welcome hordes of visitors.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood asks leading conservationists whether we are being consistent in our approach to non-native plants and animals.

We cull ruddy ducks and uproot Himalayan balsam, but we also enjoy watching little owls and hares in the countryside. None of these species is native to the United Kingdom, but the way in which we think of and deal with them can appear contrary and illogical.

Brett asks which species should we nip in the bud, and which we should learn to live with.

Are we being consistent in our approach to non-native plants and animals?

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood asks leading conservationists whether we are being consistent in our approach to non-native plants and animals.

We cull ruddy ducks and uproot Himalayan balsam, but we also enjoy watching little owls and hares in the countryside. None of these species is native to the United Kingdom, but the way in which we think of and deal with them can appear contrary and illogical.

Brett asks which species should we nip in the bud, and which we should learn to live with.

Are we being consistent in our approach to non-native plants and animals?

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood searches for the reasons behind the declining numbers of many of our migrant songbirds - including the cuckoo, turtle dove and spotted flycatcher - and where the birds are most vulnerable.

Speaking to researchers from the RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology, he explores the dual world of our migrants, like the pied flycatcher which spends its summers in the lush oak woods in the British Isles but winters in west African savannah woods. For some species, such as the cuckoo which evolved in Africa, northern Europe is a treasure trove of habitats and food supplies to be exploited, and many of our successful migrants are birds which originated in Africa but then moved north to cooler areas to breed.

Do the reasons for them now being under threat lie here in the UK or south of the Sahara in their winter homes, and will they be able to evolve new wintering or summering areas to compensate for losses?

Brett Westwood searches for the reasons behind the declining numbers of migrant songbirds.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood searches for the reasons behind the declining numbers of many of our migrant songbirds - including the cuckoo, turtle dove and spotted flycatcher - and where the birds are most vulnerable.

Speaking to researchers from the RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology, he explores the dual world of our migrants, like the pied flycatcher which spends its summers in the lush oak woods in the British Isles but winters in west African savannah woods. For some species, such as the cuckoo which evolved in Africa, northern Europe is a treasure trove of habitats and food supplies to be exploited, and many of our successful migrants are birds which originated in Africa but then moved north to cooler areas to breed.

Do the reasons for them now being under threat lie here in the UK or south of the Sahara in their winter homes, and will they be able to evolve new wintering or summering areas to compensate for losses?

Brett Westwood searches for the reasons behind the declining numbers of migrant songbirds.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans asks if enough is being done to conserve honeybees, their habitats and the flowers which provide them with pollen and nectar.

The modern threats to honeybees, which include varroa mites and colony collapse disorder, are being widely publicised. But the honeybee in the UK is just a single species - there are over 260 species of solitary bees and bumblebees in the British Isles, all of which perform a free and efficient pollination service.

Paul Evans asks if enough is being done to conserve honeybees.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans asks if enough is being done to conserve honeybees, their habitats and the flowers which provide them with pollen and nectar.

The modern threats to honeybees, which include varroa mites and colony collapse disorder, are being widely publicised. But the honeybee in the UK is just a single species - there are over 260 species of solitary bees and bumblebees in the British Isles, all of which perform a free and efficient pollination service.

Paul Evans asks if enough is being done to conserve honeybees.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Chris Sperring explores declining seabird numbers and asks if it represents a crisis or just a blip.

Visit any windy, spray laden seabird colony in the spring and early summer and every sense is fired by the sound, sight and smell of thousands upon thousand of birds flying to and fro with fish to feed their young that are perched precariously on every ledge.

Or that is how it should be. In many seabird colonies it is now much quieter and many traditional nesting ledges are empty. Seabird ecologists are increasingly concerned about how many species are fledging young, and in some areas none are successful in raising chicks at all.

These worrying signs are increased by looking at the number of birds that are washed up dead on beaches during the winter months. Once the seabirds have left the cliffs in the summer they spend the rest of the year out at sea. But many are now succumbing to starvation and end up washed ashore. There are definitely signs that the North Sea is changing and that seabirds are finding it harder to cope.

Chris Sperring explores declining seabird numbers and asks if it represents a crisis.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Chris Sperring explores declining seabird numbers and asks if it represents a crisis or just a blip.

Visit any windy, spray laden seabird colony in the spring and early summer and every sense is fired by the sound, sight and smell of thousands upon thousand of birds flying to and fro with fish to feed their young that are perched precariously on every ledge.

Or that is how it should be. In many seabird colonies it is now much quieter and many traditional nesting ledges are empty. Seabird ecologists are increasingly concerned about how many species are fledging young, and in some areas none are successful in raising chicks at all.

These worrying signs are increased by looking at the number of birds that are washed up dead on beaches during the winter months. Once the seabirds have left the cliffs in the summer they spend the rest of the year out at sea. But many are now succumbing to starvation and end up washed ashore. There are definitely signs that the North Sea is changing and that seabirds are finding it harder to cope.

Chris Sperring explores declining seabird numbers and asks if it represents a crisis.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans investigates the Amazon. It has always been an evocative and mysterious place, but over the last few years it has become better known for deforestation and concern about its future. Paul looks at what makes the Amazon so special, what is threatening it and how those threats are affecting the wildlife that we still know so little about.

Writers and explorers have always found the Amazon a place of inspiration and fascination. Hummingbirds, howler monkeys, vast rivers and mosquitoes are common images conjured up by the phrase 'the Amazon jungle', but that is fast disappearing. Future generations are more likely to think of soy bean plantations, cattle ranches and sugar cane rather than green frogs and towering trees.

60 per cent of the Amazon sits within Brazil, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and so the pressure to convert much of this vast natural ecosystem into beef and beans that are transported around the world is huge. Big money talks loudly, and the call of the howler monkey and the flutter of the butterflies wings are barely heard amidst the cries for growth and development.

Counterbalance that with the worldwide concern for climate change. 20 per cent of all greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere are caused by deforestation and so the world is putting pressure on countries like Brazil to protect the forests. It is a complicated picture of competing powers, but sitting in the middle is the rich and little studied wildlife of Amazonia.

Researchers at Oregon State University have found that hummingbirds are very wary about crossing areas of cleared forest, even though that area can be only a few metres across. This has serious implications for pollination of the plants and flowers of the forest because hummingbirds along with other flying insects and mammals are vitally important transporters of pollen. If we clear forest and do not leave large enough corridors for the animals to move through then the forest will become more and more inbred and depleted.

This is just one example of how we are deforesting the Amazon with little concern for the wildlife that lives there, and we do so at our peril.

The Amazon is rich in life, an important source of medicine, home to many thousands of indigenous people and crucial for the healthy functioning of our climate. Never before has the world been so interested in its future and never before has there been the opportunity to save or destroy it as there is today.

Paul Evans investigates the Amazon, the biggest area of rainforest left on Earth.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans investigates the Amazon. It has always been an evocative and mysterious place, but over the last few years it has become better known for deforestation and concern about its future. Paul looks at what makes the Amazon so special, what is threatening it and how those threats are affecting the wildlife that we still know so little about.

Writers and explorers have always found the Amazon a place of inspiration and fascination. Hummingbirds, howler monkeys, vast rivers and mosquitoes are common images conjured up by the phrase 'the Amazon jungle', but that is fast disappearing. Future generations are more likely to think of soy bean plantations, cattle ranches and sugar cane rather than green frogs and towering trees.

60 per cent of the Amazon sits within Brazil, one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and so the pressure to convert much of this vast natural ecosystem into beef and beans that are transported around the world is huge. Big money talks loudly, and the call of the howler monkey and the flutter of the butterflies wings are barely heard amidst the cries for growth and development.

Counterbalance that with the worldwide concern for climate change. 20 per cent of all greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere are caused by deforestation and so the world is putting pressure on countries like Brazil to protect the forests. It is a complicated picture of competing powers, but sitting in the middle is the rich and little studied wildlife of Amazonia.

Researchers at Oregon State University have found that hummingbirds are very wary about crossing areas of cleared forest, even though that area can be only a few metres across. This has serious implications for pollination of the plants and flowers of the forest because hummingbirds along with other flying insects and mammals are vitally important transporters of pollen. If we clear forest and do not leave large enough corridors for the animals to move through then the forest will become more and more inbred and depleted.

This is just one example of how we are deforesting the Amazon with little concern for the wildlife that lives there, and we do so at our peril.

The Amazon is rich in life, an important source of medicine, home to many thousands of indigenous people and crucial for the healthy functioning of our climate. Never before has the world been so interested in its future and never before has there been the opportunity to save or destroy it as there is today.

Paul Evans investigates the Amazon, the biggest area of rainforest left on Earth.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Wildlife film director Stephen Lyle is joined by cameraman Barrie Britton to recall their close encounter with two birds that revealed the sculpting of ornate structures and singing of songs beyond the vocal range of human beings in the courtship performance of the male vogelkop bowerbird. Making sense of the biology is Dr Joah Madden of Exeter University, who has spent the last ten years studying this sexual display.

A close encounter with two birds that revealed an exquisite courtship performance.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Wildlife film director Stephen Lyle is joined by cameraman Barrie Britton to recall their close encounter with two birds that revealed the sculpting of ornate structures and singing of songs beyond the vocal range of human beings in the courtship performance of the male vogelkop bowerbird. Making sense of the biology is Dr Joah Madden of Exeter University, who has spent the last ten years studying this sexual display.

A close encounter with two birds that revealed an exquisite courtship performance.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

It has taken many years for the BBC Natural History Unit to get onto the Calf of Man, a rugged island to the south of the Isle of Man. The weather and tides need to be right to get on and off the Calf, and for this programme it also had to be a new moon in order to meet a particularly enigmatic seabird which is yet to breed on the island.

Brett Westwood visits the Calf of Man, a rugged island to the south of the Isle of Man.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

It has taken many years for the BBC Natural History Unit to get onto the Calf of Man, a rugged island to the south of the Isle of Man. The weather and tides need to be right to get on and off the Calf, and for this programme it also had to be a new moon in order to meet a particularly enigmatic seabird which is yet to breed on the island.

Brett Westwood visits the Calf of Man, a rugged island to the south of the Isle of Man.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Gorillas first came to the attention of the western world in 1847 when the missionary, Thomas Savage, travelling in west Africa, was shown a skull he was convinced belonged to a new species of ape. Eight years later gorillas remained little known; only a few people had even glimpsed them in the wild and the species was recognised only from its bones. But, unknown to anyone, was a young gorilla already living anonymously in England?

In 1855, Wombwell's Travelling Menagerie exhibited a chimpanzee called Jenny. Jenny was not kept with the other wild beasts but lived in her own apartment. She had her own governess and was dressed in human clothes. Was Jenny a chimpanzee or was she, in reality, a gorilla? Karen Partridge goes in search of the evidence.

Jenny's journey out of Africa a little over 150 years ago marked the beginning of our tortuous and often misguided association with gorillas. In this International Year of the Gorilla, Karen Partridge uncovers Jenny's story and explores our changing relationship with gorillas, both in captivity and in the wild.

The search to find the first gorilla brought out of Africa to live in captivity.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Gorillas first came to the attention of the western world in 1847 when the missionary, Thomas Savage, travelling in west Africa, was shown a skull he was convinced belonged to a new species of ape. Eight years later gorillas remained little known; only a few people had even glimpsed them in the wild and the species was recognised only from its bones. But, unknown to anyone, was a young gorilla already living anonymously in England?

In 1855, Wombwell's Travelling Menagerie exhibited a chimpanzee called Jenny. Jenny was not kept with the other wild beasts but lived in her own apartment. She had her own governess and was dressed in human clothes. Was Jenny a chimpanzee or was she, in reality, a gorilla? Karen Partridge goes in search of the evidence.

Jenny's journey out of Africa a little over 150 years ago marked the beginning of our tortuous and often misguided association with gorillas. In this International Year of the Gorilla, Karen Partridge uncovers Jenny's story and explores our changing relationship with gorillas, both in captivity and in the wild.

The search to find the first gorilla brought out of Africa to live in captivity.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In an unusual sound safari, Paul Evans is our guide to the musicians of the insect world. There are head-banging beetles, tymbal-clicking cicadas, stridulating crickets, whining mosquitoes, pulsating moths, and toe-tapping plant hoppers. The world vibrates to the rhythms of insects. Their songs announce their presence, define their territory, lure potential mates and even shock predators.

In Japan, the songs of crickets have long been admired, and tiny caged insects are kept in the pocket or hung up in temples or houses where their songs are enjoyed as much as the dawn chorus of birds is appreciated in the west.

For some insects, sound is a weapon. For example, species of tiger moths produce pulses of sounds which they use to deter hunting bats. One explanation is that the moth's signals jams the bat's echolocation calls, in an aerial battle of sounds.

On the ground, another battle is being fought using sound as a secret weapon. Scientists at York University are developing hand-held recorders and sound recognition systems to detect wood-boring larvae in imported wood. With no sign of infestation on the outside, the larvae can be detected inside the wood by listening to the sounds they make as they tunnel and feed on the internal tissues.

An unusual sound safari, eavesdropping on the world of insect sounds.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In an unusual sound safari, Paul Evans is our guide to the musicians of the insect world. There are head-banging beetles, tymbal-clicking cicadas, stridulating crickets, whining mosquitoes, pulsating moths, and toe-tapping plant hoppers. The world vibrates to the rhythms of insects. Their songs announce their presence, define their territory, lure potential mates and even shock predators.

In Japan, the songs of crickets have long been admired, and tiny caged insects are kept in the pocket or hung up in temples or houses where their songs are enjoyed as much as the dawn chorus of birds is appreciated in the west.

For some insects, sound is a weapon. For example, species of tiger moths produce pulses of sounds which they use to deter hunting bats. One explanation is that the moth's signals jams the bat's echolocation calls, in an aerial battle of sounds.

On the ground, another battle is being fought using sound as a secret weapon. Scientists at York University are developing hand-held recorders and sound recognition systems to detect wood-boring larvae in imported wood. With no sign of infestation on the outside, the larvae can be detected inside the wood by listening to the sounds they make as they tunnel and feed on the internal tissues.

An unusual sound safari, eavesdropping on the world of insect sounds.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Isle of Man government is considering designating an area of their coastline as a marine nature reserve, protecting invaluable habitats and species. The island is famous for its marine life, not least the basking shark, so, Brett Westwood asks, how feasible is it to set up a conservation area in the sea?

Brett Westwood asks how feasible it is to set up a conservation area in the sea.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Isle of Man government is considering designating an area of their coastline as a marine nature reserve, protecting invaluable habitats and species. The island is famous for its marine life, not least the basking shark, so, Brett Westwood asks, how feasible is it to set up a conservation area in the sea?

Brett Westwood asks how feasible it is to set up a conservation area in the sea.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Poet and writer Alyson Hallett travels to Australia with a large piece of limestone as a companion, inscribed with a line from one of her poems. This is the third journey Alyson has made with a stone; each destination has been different, each stone has been different, but each has been similarly inscribed by the sculptor and lettering artist Alec Peever.

It is a project which began seven years ago, inspired by a dream and an encounter with an erratic - a huge boulder that had broken away from its motherbed centuries ago, lodged in ice and then set off on long, slow journey, until eventually it was deposited on a Welsh mountainside. It was here that Alyson encountered the boulder.

Fascinated by the idea that stones are fellow companions and movement is an essential part of their nature, Alyson started to explore the cultural importance of stones, and embarked on her project, The Migration Habits of Stones.

Alyson takes a journey with her third stone to Koonawara in Australia. We also hear from stone letterer Alec Peever and Bill Morris, warden of Leigh Woods in Bristol, the site of the first migrating stone.

A poet and a stone are companions on a most unusual journey to Australia.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Poet and writer Alyson Hallett travels to Australia with a large piece of limestone as a companion, inscribed with a line from one of her poems. This is the third journey Alyson has made with a stone; each destination has been different, each stone has been different, but each has been similarly inscribed by the sculptor and lettering artist Alec Peever.

It is a project which began seven years ago, inspired by a dream and an encounter with an erratic - a huge boulder that had broken away from its motherbed centuries ago, lodged in ice and then set off on long, slow journey, until eventually it was deposited on a Welsh mountainside. It was here that Alyson encountered the boulder.

Fascinated by the idea that stones are fellow companions and movement is an essential part of their nature, Alyson started to explore the cultural importance of stones, and embarked on her project, The Migration Habits of Stones.

Alyson takes a journey with her third stone to Koonawara in Australia. We also hear from stone letterer Alec Peever and Bill Morris, warden of Leigh Woods in Bristol, the site of the first migrating stone.

A poet and a stone are companions on a most unusual journey to Australia.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Severn Estuary is the largest, muddiest and most dynamic estuary in Britain, and thousands of birds use it every year as a stopping-off point on their migrations to and from Africa. Other migrants, including butterflies and fish, make use of it, too.

In fact, as Chris Sperring discovers, the Severn Estuary is a vital nursery ground for some of our most commonly-eaten marine fish; tiny sea bass make it as far as Gloucester before heading off back to sea.

Chris Sperring discovers that the Severn Estuary is a vital nursery ground for marine fish

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood investigates the potential for restoring large areas of heathland that could be unlocked by the thinning of Forestry Commission woodlands.

Made famous by Thomas Hardy and purple with heather in late summer, lowland heaths are some of the UK's rarest habitats and are home to some of our most specialised wildlife including sand lizards, insectivorous plants and the strange nightjar. They have steadily declined over the last century, but a new open habitats consultation could spell the restoration of large tracts of heathland from Forestry Commission woodland.

Brett talks to foresters and conservationists about the possibilities that opening up our woods present for people and for wildlife.

Brett Westwood investigates the potential for restoring large areas of heathland.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood investigates the potential for restoring large areas of heathland that could be unlocked by the thinning of Forestry Commission woodlands.

Made famous by Thomas Hardy and purple with heather in late summer, lowland heaths are some of the UK's rarest habitats and are home to some of our most specialised wildlife including sand lizards, insectivorous plants and the strange nightjar. They have steadily declined over the last century, but a new open habitats consultation could spell the restoration of large tracts of heathland from Forestry Commission woodland.

Brett talks to foresters and conservationists about the possibilities that opening up our woods present for people and for wildlife.

Brett Westwood investigates the potential for restoring large areas of heathland.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Sea of Cortez, off the coast of Mexico, is a whale and dolphin hotspot where the widest variety of cetaceans on earth can be found in one place. Along with close encounters with whales, Tessa McGregor also reflects on the prophetic words of Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck in their book, The Log of the Sea of Cortez.

Tessa McGregor explores the Sea of Cortez, a whale and dolphin hotspot off Mexico.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Sea of Cortez, off the coast of Mexico, is a whale and dolphin hotspot where the widest variety of cetaceans on earth can be found in one place. Along with close encounters with whales, Tessa McGregor also reflects on the prophetic words of Ed Ricketts and John Steinbeck in their book, The Log of the Sea of Cortez.

Tessa McGregor explores the Sea of Cortez, a whale and dolphin hotspot off Mexico.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood encounters the large blue butterfly on the Somerset Downs, which was reintroduced 25 years ago after being declared extinct in 1979. It has become established there with the help of scientists who have unravelled its bizarre, carnivorous life cycle. The large blue's caterpillar spends most of its life in the nests of ants who milk it for its sweet honeydew, but as Brett discovers, the ants get more than they bargained for.

Brett Westwood encounters the large blue butterfly on the Somerset Downs.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Brett Westwood encounters the large blue butterfly on the Somerset Downs, which was reintroduced 25 years ago after being declared extinct in 1979. It has become established there with the help of scientists who have unravelled its bizarre, carnivorous life cycle. The large blue's caterpillar spends most of its life in the nests of ants who milk it for its sweet honeydew, but as Brett discovers, the ants get more than they bargained for.

Brett Westwood encounters the large blue butterfly on the Somerset Downs.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The first of two programmes exploring our relationship with the landscape and the value of getting to know 'a local patch'.

Three wildlife enthusiasts share their experiences of their local patch and its wildlife. For wildlife cameraman, John Aitchison, the local patch is the sea loch which is just a stone's throw from his home on the west coast of Scotland. For wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, the suburban back garden in Newcastle upon Tyne is his local patch, and for wildlife artist writer Jessica Holm, it's the woodland on the Isle of Wight where she spent four years studying red squirrels.

Recordings from each location are weaved together, highlighting the value of getting to know a patch of landscape so well that it's like having 'a second skin', as Jessica Holm says.

Walking along the shore from his home, John reflects on the memories which are trigged by familiar sights: the stone where the seals haul out, the stream where he's watched the otters bathe, the patch of grass where the lapwings shelter. With time, the unfamiliar has become familiar; his closest neighbours are the curlews, oystercatchers and sea otters.

For Chris too, time has bred familiarity and memories of the past are bound up with this garden. His memories are of the sounds of the past - the houses sparrows which used to be so common, the wind sighing among the leaves of the cherry tree, the swifts arriving in the summer. The recordings he has made in his garden also demonstrate how the landscape has changed; the house sparrows once so common are now hardly ever heard in his garden, but the recordings allow him to reconnect with the past, relive memories he associates with the sounds, like his children sleeping in their pram.

It is 20 years since Jessica Holm has visited Newton Copse on the Isle of Wight where she spent four years studying red squirrels, and yet the landscape feels the same. She even finds the paths she made to the trees where she had stapled live traps to catch the squirrels she was studying. Walking among the trees she explains, 'I think when you get really attached to a place, it never leaves you ... it becomes part of the fabric of you. And even though I haven't stepped foot in this copse for 20 years, it feels exactly the same as it did all that time ago.'

The programme reveals the emotional and spiritual strength each of the three derives from a connection with the landscape that comes through time spent in a landscape, through observing, watching, getting to know a landscape, becoming familiar with its colours, moods and character.

It's a revealing and fascinating insight into the power of experience and the relationships between people and place, between Man and Nature.

Three keen naturalists describe the relationship with their 'local patch'.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The first of two programmes exploring our relationship with the landscape and the value of getting to know 'a local patch'.

Three wildlife enthusiasts share their experiences of their local patch and its wildlife. For wildlife cameraman, John Aitchison, the local patch is the sea loch which is just a stone's throw from his home on the west coast of Scotland. For wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, the suburban back garden in Newcastle upon Tyne is his local patch, and for wildlife artist writer Jessica Holm, it's the woodland on the Isle of Wight where she spent four years studying red squirrels.

Recordings from each location are weaved together, highlighting the value of getting to know a patch of landscape so well that it's like having 'a second skin', as Jessica Holm says.

Walking along the shore from his home, John reflects on the memories which are trigged by familiar sights: the stone where the seals haul out, the stream where he's watched the otters bathe, the patch of grass where the lapwings shelter. With time, the unfamiliar has become familiar; his closest neighbours are the curlews, oystercatchers and sea otters.

For Chris too, time has bred familiarity and memories of the past are bound up with this garden. His memories are of the sounds of the past - the houses sparrows which used to be so common, the wind sighing among the leaves of the cherry tree, the swifts arriving in the summer. The recordings he has made in his garden also demonstrate how the landscape has changed; the house sparrows once so common are now hardly ever heard in his garden, but the recordings allow him to reconnect with the past, relive memories he associates with the sounds, like his children sleeping in their pram.

It is 20 years since Jessica Holm has visited Newton Copse on the Isle of Wight where she spent four years studying red squirrels, and yet the landscape feels the same. She even finds the paths she made to the trees where she had stapled live traps to catch the squirrels she was studying. Walking among the trees she explains, 'I think when you get really attached to a place, it never leaves you ... it becomes part of the fabric of you. And even though I haven't stepped foot in this copse for 20 years, it feels exactly the same as it did all that time ago.'

The programme reveals the emotional and spiritual strength each of the three derives from a connection with the landscape that comes through time spent in a landscape, through observing, watching, getting to know a landscape, becoming familiar with its colours, moods and character.

It's a revealing and fascinating insight into the power of experience and the relationships between people and place, between Man and Nature.

Three keen naturalists describe the relationship with their 'local patch'.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The second of two programmes exploring our relationship with the landscape and the value of getting to know 'a local patch'.

Paul Evans explores both the personal benefits which can be gained from connecting with the natural world and the wider benefits for wildlife conservation. He examines the roles of garden wildlife monitoring schemes, and the ways in which these schemes not only generate data which provides information about the UK's biodiversity but also encourages individuals to get involved with the landscapes around them.

The programme explores how an interest in a 'local patch' can lead to a sense of responsibility and care, and the relationship between getting to know your local patch and the long-term benefits for conservation of our wildlife and our wild places.

Paul Evans explores the value of getting to know your 'local patch'.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The second of two programmes exploring our relationship with the landscape and the value of getting to know 'a local patch'.

Paul Evans explores both the personal benefits which can be gained from connecting with the natural world and the wider benefits for wildlife conservation. He examines the roles of garden wildlife monitoring schemes, and the ways in which these schemes not only generate data which provides information about the UK's biodiversity but also encourages individuals to get involved with the landscapes around them.

The programme explores how an interest in a 'local patch' can lead to a sense of responsibility and care, and the relationship between getting to know your local patch and the long-term benefits for conservation of our wildlife and our wild places.

Paul Evans explores the value of getting to know your 'local patch'.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

If you thought that all the world's rarest trees were only in virgin rainforest or on remote tropical islands, then prepare to be surprised. Brett Westwood joins botanist Tim Rich from the National Museum of Wales to look for the whitebeam trees, which are found nowhere else in the world. Ley's whitebeam near Merthyr Tydfil has only 17 specimens growing in the wild, and new species are still being described from the Avon Gorge in Bristol. Thanks to analysis of their DNA we know more than ever about these trees and their conservation presents some fascinating challenges.

Brett Westwood joins botanist Tim Rich to look for the whitebeam trees.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

If you thought that all the world's rarest trees were only in virgin rainforest or on remote tropical islands, then prepare to be surprised. Brett Westwood joins botanist Tim Rich from the National Museum of Wales to look for the whitebeam trees, which are found nowhere else in the world. Ley's whitebeam near Merthyr Tydfil has only 17 specimens growing in the wild, and new species are still being described from the Avon Gorge in Bristol. Thanks to analysis of their DNA we know more than ever about these trees and their conservation presents some fascinating challenges.

Brett Westwood joins botanist Tim Rich to look for the whitebeam trees.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Paul Evans visits the Juan Fernandez Islands in search of its firecrown hummingbird.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Four hundred miles off the Chilean coast, the Juan Fernandez Islands are the home of many plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. They are also the source of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe story. Paul Evans visits the archipelago in search of the endemic Juan Fernandez firecrown hummingbird and discovers that introduced plants and animals, such as cats, goats and even blackberries, are causing severe problems for the uniquely-adapted willdife of the islands.

Paul Evans visits the Juan Fernandez Islands in search of its firecrown hummingbird.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Dungeness is place to listen and to watch. It is a place to watch new land being made by the sea's shovelling of shingle; a place to watch the manufacture of power, a place to watch the migrating birds and moths find a transitory refuge. But watching is about far more than just looking, as writer and naturalist Paul Evans reveals in this powerful and haunting sound portrait of one of Britain's most unsettling landscapes, the shingle flats of Dungeness.

Situated between New Romney, Lydd and Camber on the Romney Marsh in Kent, Dungeness is a vast landscape of shingle ridges, accreted over the centuries by longshore drift. It is a landscape of contrasts and contradictions; nuclear power stations and fishing nets, wild birds and moth traps, shingle flats and wooden houses; an unsettling but fascinating place. It is the terminus for a railway line. There are no trees, no forests, but always the wind. At night shadows shift; fairy-lights glint in the dark where during the day there is the grey hulk of a power station.

Above the ever-present drone and hum of the power station there are the calls of the birds; in October a group of chattering Swallows wait for the wind to take them south. The wind also carries the smack and hiss of the sea as waves boil into froth and are sucked under. The sea unloads its cargo of shingle and England grows.

Dungeness has been described as 'one of the most valuable and yet vulnerable nature conservation sites in Great Britain'. It is one of the best examples of a shingle beach in the world, and home to many uncommon plants including lacey white night-scented Nottingham catchfly, as well as rare moths as well and a landing site for vast numbers of migratory birds in the spring and autumn, which are counted and studied by the Dungeness Bird Observatory. The Observatory has been based here since the 1950s and is housed at one end of five cottages originally built for the RNSSS, the Royal Navy signalling corps. Where today the washing line stands was once 'a tall flagpole which signalled coded flag messages between ships at sea and watching signallers inland'. Lighthouses have come and gone at Dungeness. The most recent was built in 1967. A spiral staircase leads the way to a vast lens and a place from which to gaze at the white cliffs of Dover and across the Channel.

Dungeness has long been a place to watch and be watched.

A sound portrait of Dungeness, written and narrated by Paul Evans.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Dungeness is place to listen and to watch. It is a place to watch new land being made by the sea's shovelling of shingle; a place to watch the manufacture of power, a place to watch the migrating birds and moths find a transitory refuge. But watching is about far more than just looking, as writer and naturalist Paul Evans reveals in this powerful and haunting sound portrait of one of Britain's most unsettling landscapes, the shingle flats of Dungeness.

Situated between New Romney, Lydd and Camber on the Romney Marsh in Kent, Dungeness is a vast landscape of shingle ridges, accreted over the centuries by longshore drift. It is a landscape of contrasts and contradictions; nuclear power stations and fishing nets, wild birds and moth traps, shingle flats and wooden houses; an unsettling but fascinating place. It is the terminus for a railway line. There are no trees, no forests, but always the wind. At night shadows shift; fairy-lights glint in the dark where during the day there is the grey hulk of a power station.

Above the ever-present drone and hum of the power station there are the calls of the birds; in October a group of chattering Swallows wait for the wind to take them south. The wind also carries the smack and hiss of the sea as waves boil into froth and are sucked under. The sea unloads its cargo of shingle and England grows.

Dungeness has been described as 'one of the most valuable and yet vulnerable nature conservation sites in Great Britain'. It is one of the best examples of a shingle beach in the world, and home to many uncommon plants including lacey white night-scented Nottingham catchfly, as well as rare moths as well and a landing site for vast numbers of migratory birds in the spring and autumn, which are counted and studied by the Dungeness Bird Observatory. The Observatory has been based here since the 1950s and is housed at one end of five cottages originally built for the RNSSS, the Royal Navy signalling corps. Where today the washing line stands was once 'a tall flagpole which signalled coded flag messages between ships at sea and watching signallers inland'. Lighthouses have come and gone at Dungeness. The most recent was built in 1967. A spiral staircase leads the way to a vast lens and a place from which to gaze at the white cliffs of Dover and across the Channel.

Dungeness has long been a place to watch and be watched.

A sound portrait of Dungeness, written and narrated by Paul Evans.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Gardening for wildlife is one of the most popular and practical things we can do to keep in touch with the natural world. But does it have any real benefits for wildlife on a countrywide scale or is it merely a placebo which convinces us that we're doing something to save the planet? Paul Evans visits the winter conference of the Wildlife Gardening Forum to find out if our efforts are making a difference, and asks conservationists where the future of wildlife gardening lies.

Paul Evans questions the benefits of gardening for wildlife.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Gardening for wildlife is one of the most popular and practical things we can do to keep in touch with the natural world. But does it have any real benefits for wildlife on a countrywide scale or is it merely a placebo which convinces us that we're doing something to save the planet? Paul Evans visits the winter conference of the Wildlife Gardening Forum to find out if our efforts are making a difference, and asks conservationists where the future of wildlife gardening lies.

Paul Evans questions the benefits of gardening for wildlife.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Sound recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

The remarkable story of Emma Turner; a pioneer of bird photography.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In 1911 a photograph of young Bittern in the nest taken by Emma Turner proved that Bitterns were breeding again in Norfolk having been driven to extinction in Britain in the late 1800s. Using extracts from her book, 'Broadland Birds', this programme tells the remarkable story of Emma Turner a pioneer of bird photography (1866-1940); who spent some 20 years at Hickling Broad in Norfolk, where she lived on a houseboat she designed named 'Water Rail' (after the first photograph she took in the Broadlands) and in a hut on a tiny island amongst the reeds (which became known as Turner's island). After meeting and being inspired by Richard Kearton (who along with his brother Cherry Kearton was one of earliest wildlife photographers) she decided to take up wildlife photography and to document all the Broadland birds. She befriended two marshmen, Alfred Nudd and keeper Jim Vincent, and with their help she learned the ways of the marsh, and how to find, study and photograph the Broadland birds. It was Vincent who helped her find the young Bittern in 1911. She was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Photographic Society for her photograph of the bird. Emma Turner was not only a pioneer bird photographer but a hugely respected ornithologist, whose studies of birds contributed enormously to our knowledge today. She died in 1940 with many accolades including having been one of the first ten women to be elected a fellow of the Linnaean Society and the first honorary ladies member of the British Ornithologists' Union.

Sound recordings by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

The remarkable story of Emma Turner; a pioneer of bird photography.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Chris is leading a team of wildlife sound recordists on this quest. They travel to Corbett National Park which was established in 1936 as Asia's first National Park. It stretches over some 1300 sq km. in the foothills of the Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand.

The park is named after the legendary hunter, naturalist and author Edward James Corbett, better known as 'Jim Corbett'. Author of 'Man-Eaters of Kumaon', Corbett spent many years killing tigers and leopards before concern about their future and that of their habitat, led him to playing a key role in establishing the National Park.

Today the Park is home to a rich and diverse range of wildlife including over 100 Bengal tigers. To help them, the team have several local guides; who are not only skilled in the art of tracking tigers; knowing what signs to look for; like scats on the ground, scratch marks on the trees, and perhaps most importantly, knowing how to listen to the forest and use the alarm calls of other animals such as the peacocks and samba deer to help track the tigers. It might sound easy enough but as Chris and the team discover, it's far more difficult than it sounds.

In their search for tigers, they play a game of 'Grandmother's footsteps' with a pair of elephants, encounter crocodiles in a river, are puzzled by something that sounds like rain but isn't, and record the unusual barks of Hanaman Langurs in the forest. As for recording the roar of a tiger, they need skill, patience and, a bit of good luck.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson travels to India to record the roar of a tiger.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson travels to India, to capture the sounds of the forest and the spine tingling roar of a Bengal Tiger.

Chris is leading a team of wildlife sound recordists on this quest. They travel to Corbett National Park which was established in 1936 as Asia's first National Park. It stretches over some 1300 sq km. in the foothills of the Himalayas in the state of Uttarakhand.

The park is named after the legendary hunter, naturalist and author Edward James Corbett, better known as 'Jim Corbett'. Author of 'Man-Eaters of Kumaon', Corbett spent many years killing tigers and leopards before concern about their future and that of their habitat, led him to playing a key role in establishing the National Park.

Today the Park is home to a rich and diverse range of wildlife including over 100 Bengal tigers. To help them, the team have several local guides; who are not only skilled in the art of tracking tigers; knowing what signs to look for; like scats on the ground, scratch marks on the trees, and perhaps most importantly, knowing how to listen to the forest and use the alarm calls of other animals such as the peacocks and samba deer to help track the tigers. It might sound easy enough but as Chris and the team discover, it's far more difficult than it sounds.

In their search for tigers, they play a game of 'Grandmother's footsteps' with a pair of elephants, encounter crocodiles in a river, are puzzled by something that sounds like rain but isn't, and record the unusual barks of Hanaman Langurs in the forest. As for recording the roar of a tiger, they need skill, patience and, a bit of good luck.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson travels to India to record the roar of a tiger.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006 by naturalist Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. The tree was verified as standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft tall) by Stephen Sillett. It's estimated to be increasing in height at about 2cm a year. The exact location of the tree is kept a secret to prevent human traffic disturbing and causing damage to the tree or its environment. After months and months of research trying to piece together clues from books and papers as to the location, of the tree, James approached Michael Taylor and to his complete amazement and delight Michael agreed to take James to see Hyperion.

In the second of two programmes, NATURE follows James and three other tree climbers as Michael first leads them to The Grove of Titans; which as its name suggests is a grove of some of the world's biggest trees by mass. Despite the fact that James and the others had seen pictures of the trees in books and on the internet, nothing could have prepared them for the colossal size of these trees. But there was another surprise in store for James when Michael led the way to Hyperion, the world's tallest tree and not only did James get to see this tree, but he also got to climb it. It was a dream come true and an unforgettable adventure.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

James Aldred visits the Grove of Titans and climbs the world's tallest tree.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Ever since he was a boy, James Aldred has loved climbing trees. And over the years, James has dreamt of seeing the world's tallest living tree, a Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Northern California called Hyperion - which measures 379.3 feet tall. (The tallest tree is Britain is a Douglas Fir in Argyll, Scotland which is about 209 feet tall. Hyperion at nearly 380 feet tall is about 3 times the height of Nelson's Column!).

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006 by naturalist Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. The tree was verified as standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft tall) by Stephen Sillett. It's estimated to be increasing in height at about 2cm a year. The exact location of the tree is kept a secret to prevent human traffic disturbing and causing damage to the tree or its environment. After months and months of research trying to piece together clues from books and papers as to the location, of the tree, James approached Michael Taylor and to his complete amazement and delight Michael agreed to take James to see Hyperion.

In the second of two programmes, NATURE follows James and three other tree climbers as Michael first leads them to The Grove of Titans; which as its name suggests is a grove of some of the world's biggest trees by mass. Despite the fact that James and the others had seen pictures of the trees in books and on the internet, nothing could have prepared them for the colossal size of these trees. But there was another surprise in store for James when Michael led the way to Hyperion, the world's tallest tree and not only did James get to see this tree, but he also got to climb it. It was a dream come true and an unforgettable adventure.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

James Aldred visits the Grove of Titans and climbs the world's tallest tree.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006 by naturalist Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. The tree was verified as standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft tall) by Stephen Sillett. It's estimated to be increasing in height at about 2cm a year. The exact location of the tree is kept a secret to prevent human traffic disturbing and causing damage to the tree or its environment. In the first of two programmes, NATURE tells the story of how James and three friends were introduced to Michael Taylor who to their delight and beyond all expectations, offered to take them to see some of the world's biggest and tallest trees, including an enormous Coastal Redwood called Emerald Giant. And not only did they see the tree, but they got to climb it, as one of the aims of their trip was to collect seed from these trees for a Conservation project at The University of Oxford, Harcourt Arboretum. Climbing these trees is no mean feat, it's a relentless, exhausting climb. As Ben says, ' You gotta earn it. And then, back on the forest floor, Michael has another surprise in store for them, when he leads the way through the forest to Hyperion, the world's tallest tree. It just reminds me of one of those enormous chimneys on Battersea Power Station ... it just goes on and on, and on, up and up and up says James.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

James Aldred travels to California in search of the world's biggest trees.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Ever since he was a boy, James Aldred has loved climbing trees. And over the years, James has dreamt of searching out some of the world's biggest trees including the world's tallest living tree, a Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in Northern California called Hyperion, which measures 379.3 feet tall. (The tallest tree in Britain is a Douglas Fir in Argyll, Scotland which is about 209 feet tall). Hyperion at nearly 380 feet tall is about 3 times the height of Nelson's Column!

Hyperion was discovered on August 25, 2006 by naturalist Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. The tree was verified as standing 115.55 m (379.1 ft tall) by Stephen Sillett. It's estimated to be increasing in height at about 2cm a year. The exact location of the tree is kept a secret to prevent human traffic disturbing and causing damage to the tree or its environment. In the first of two programmes, NATURE tells the story of how James and three friends were introduced to Michael Taylor who to their delight and beyond all expectations, offered to take them to see some of the world's biggest and tallest trees, including an enormous Coastal Redwood called Emerald Giant. And not only did they see the tree, but they got to climb it, as one of the aims of their trip was to collect seed from these trees for a Conservation project at The University of Oxford, Harcourt Arboretum. Climbing these trees is no mean feat, it's a relentless, exhausting climb. As Ben says, ' You gotta earn it. And then, back on the forest floor, Michael has another surprise in store for them, when he leads the way through the forest to Hyperion, the world's tallest tree. It just reminds me of one of those enormous chimneys on Battersea Power Station ... it just goes on and on, and on, up and up and up says James.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

James Aldred travels to California in search of the world's biggest trees.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson explains how landscape paintings have inspired him.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

With contributions from some the team who worked on the BBC series, Frozen Planet, NATURE presents a journey in sound across this frozen landscape. Whilst above the ice, the landscape is quiet, below the ice the underwater world is full of sound; for example, Orcas (killer whales) use pulses of sound to navigate rather like bats and produce and squeaks and whistles to communicate with one another over vast distances, whilst Weddell seals produce the most hauntingly beautiful ascending and descending tones. Antarctica - frozen landscape, and surprising, mesmerizing, powerful and haunting soundscape.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Astonishing and revelatory sounds above, below and within Antarctica's landscape of ice.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

What strikes most people when they first arrive in Antarctica is the quiet . It's so quiet; its the only place in the world that you can actually hear Geology happening; all these processes that you're schooled to think take thousands and thousands of years, the movement of glaciers and the shifting of rocks ... And that's an amazing experience that process of the landscape changing says Jeff Wilson, a Director on the BBC series Frozen Planet. And the sounds of 'geology happening' are captured in the first of a new series of NATURE by wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson. The sounds of the ice are astonishing; from the huge, powerful grinding and creaking sounds as glaciers calve or ice sheets buckle under pressure, to the delicate sounds of water lapping under thin sheets of sea ice or the tinkling sounds produced when fine needle-like ice crystals move in a breeze of volcanic gases inside an ice cave at the base of Erebus, Antarctica's most active volcano.

With contributions from some the team who worked on the BBC series, Frozen Planet, NATURE presents a journey in sound across this frozen landscape. Whilst above the ice, the landscape is quiet, below the ice the underwater world is full of sound; for example, Orcas (killer whales) use pulses of sound to navigate rather like bats and produce and squeaks and whistles to communicate with one another over vast distances, whilst Weddell seals produce the most hauntingly beautiful ascending and descending tones. Antarctica - frozen landscape, and surprising, mesmerizing, powerful and haunting soundscape.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Astonishing and revelatory sounds above, below and within Antarctica's landscape of ice.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

It was no easy task rigging up the concert hall with microphones. When the wind blew Chris said, chunks literally fell off and were tossed into the sea like autumn leaves. They rigged up an array of different microphones as they wanted to capture both the sense of space; the atmosphere of the concert hall, as well as close up sounds of the birds themselves. As dusk approached the first birds arrived over the pier. In time, they descended into the concert hall, and an extraordinary performance began; the sounds of tens of thousands of performers gathered together. Today the West Pier no longer exists except for some skeletal fragments. The starlings have passed into history, but what's left are the recordings. They are the recordings of a Ghost Roost.

NATURE recreates this performance with 'programme notes' about the performers and the venue.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

The sounds of a Ghost Roost; a performance by starlings.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Over ten years ago before the West Pier in Brighton was destroyed by storms and fire, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson and sound designer Thor McIntyre Burnie were given permission to rig up microphones in what had once been the grand concert hall. During the day, the pier was a dangerous place to venture, but on a winter's night, as dusk fell, and the sea glowed red, it was transformed into a magical scene as tens of thousands of starlings gathered in the air above, performing their aerial acrobatics (murmurations) before descending onto the pier to roost for the night. The starlings roosted in what remained of the concert hall, and it was the sounds of these birds gathered in their night roost, which Chris and Thor wanted to capture - from dusk until dawn, when the birds departed once again on their feeding trips.

It was no easy task rigging up the concert hall with microphones. When the wind blew Chris said, chunks literally fell off and were tossed into the sea like autumn leaves. They rigged up an array of different microphones as they wanted to capture both the sense of space; the atmosphere of the concert hall, as well as close up sounds of the birds themselves. As dusk approached the first birds arrived over the pier. In time, they descended into the concert hall, and an extraordinary performance began; the sounds of tens of thousands of performers gathered together. Today the West Pier no longer exists except for some skeletal fragments. The starlings have passed into history, but what's left are the recordings. They are the recordings of a Ghost Roost.

NATURE recreates this performance with 'programme notes' about the performers and the venue.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

The sounds of a Ghost Roost; a performance by starlings.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Paul Evans goes in search of the Water Boatman's song.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

For over a year, sound recordist Tom Lawrence has been capturing the sounds of Pollardstown Fen in Ireland. These are no ordinary sounds, but the sounds of a hidden world; an underwater world, where an orchestra of creatures create an extraordinary and vibrant music. Above the water's surface, grasshoppers and crickets stridulate; that is, they rub one part of their body across another to produce 'those fiddling tunes so evocative of summer'. Below the surface, something similar happens as water beetles, water scorpions, great diving beetles, water boatmen and lesser water boatmen and hundreds of other species produce sounds day and night at over 2Khz, reaching 99 decibels in some cases - the equivalent of sitting in the front row of an orchestra Tapping, knocking, hammering, drumming, clicking, creaking, cracking, croaking, buzzing, fuzzing, bleeping, winding, reeling, revving, puttering, pattering, humming, pulsing, squealing, shrieking.... the insects reveal themselves. Writer and narrator Paul Evans meets Tom Lawrence and takes a journey into the Fen to hear these sounds for himself. Tom leads the way. His friend, Jim Schofield joins them, bringing with him a boat (an inflatable boat that they first have to pump up), and then the three men 'wobble' along reed-lined drains into the Fen. It's a journey of revelations; not only does Paul encounter the underwater orchestra, but also Old Ireland and with it a magical adventure; They find a snake, haul up a bag of treasure, climb the steps of a Famine Tower, experience vertigo as they stand with their heads in the clouds high above the quarried land, watch Peregrines swipe through the air like sharp knives, and learn the story of a hanged man, his lost love and a vixen who wanders amongst the reeds, her piercing cry echoing through the darkness.

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Paul Evans goes in search of the Water Boatman's song.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

To find out why our woodpeckers have experienced very different fortunes, Brett Westwood visits the Wyre Forest on the Worcestershire/Shropshire border. This ancient oak wood is one of the study plots for a 3-year RSPB research project on the lesser spotted woodpecker, and one of the best sites to see them in the UK. They are one of the most difficult birds to study because of their size, their attraction to feeding high in the canopy and their huge winter range. A single bird may range over 700 hectares of forest habitat in winter and so is very hard to locate. In spring , they call and drum, making February March and April the best months to see them, before the leaves are fully expanded. For Nature, Brett Westwood visits Wyre with Ken Smith and Elisabeth Charman, woodland ecologists from the RSPB, to search for the birds and to learn about the results of the survey. Although the decline of the lesser spotted woodpeckers is still shrouded in mystery, some interesting facts have emerged. A third of the broods are deserted by one of the parents, leaving the other, usually the male, to bring up the young. Lesser spotted woodpeckers glean insects from leaves and there are indications that climate change may be affecting their prey supplies.

Among woodland birds, lesser spots aren't the only species whose numbers are falling . Nightingales, willow tits and wood warblers are also declining sharply which raises questions about the suitability of our woods for many species. But with the rise of the greater spotted woodpecker, also a woodland bird, teasing out the reasons is a challenge for scientists. Brett talks to Rob Fuller, of the British Trust for Ornithology who's studied woodlands for over 30 years, and hears about the complexities of monitoring woods and the birds which live in them.

Producer: Brett Westwood

Editor: Julian Hector.

Brett Westwood finds out why woodpecker numbers in the UK are both up and down.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Spring woodlands are loud now with the drumming of great spotted woodpeckers and their familiar head-banging territorial sounds are everywhere in the UK . Numbers of great spotted woodpeckers have increased 250% over the last few decades and they have taken to feeding in garden bird-tables along with tits and robins. However, their much smaller cousin, the tiny sparrow-sized lesser spotted woodpecker has declined by as much as 90% in the same period and from 2011 is one of the species monitored by the Rare birds Breeding Panel.

To find out why our woodpeckers have experienced very different fortunes, Brett Westwood visits the Wyre Forest on the Worcestershire/Shropshire border. This ancient oak wood is one of the study plots for a 3-year RSPB research project on the lesser spotted woodpecker, and one of the best sites to see them in the UK. They are one of the most difficult birds to study because of their size, their attraction to feeding high in the canopy and their huge winter range. A single bird may range over 700 hectares of forest habitat in winter and so is very hard to locate. In spring , they call and drum, making February March and April the best months to see them, before the leaves are fully expanded. For Nature, Brett Westwood visits Wyre with Ken Smith and Elisabeth Charman, woodland ecologists from the RSPB, to search for the birds and to learn about the results of the survey. Although the decline of the lesser spotted woodpeckers is still shrouded in mystery, some interesting facts have emerged. A third of the broods are deserted by one of the parents, leaving the other, usually the male, to bring up the young. Lesser spotted woodpeckers glean insects from leaves and there are indications that climate change may be affecting their prey supplies.

Among woodland birds, lesser spots aren't the only species whose numbers are falling . Nightingales, willow tits and wood warblers are also declining sharply which raises questions about the suitability of our woods for many species. But with the rise of the greater spotted woodpecker, also a woodland bird, teasing out the reasons is a challenge for scientists. Brett talks to Rob Fuller, of the British Trust for Ornithology who's studied woodlands for over 30 years, and hears about the complexities of monitoring woods and the birds which live in them.

Producer: Brett Westwood

Editor: Julian Hector.

Brett Westwood finds out why woodpecker numbers in the UK are both up and down.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

For Nature, Paul Evans meets the scientists who are grappling with surveys and techniques for assessing hedgehog numbers and status, scientists like Tom Moorhouse from Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit who's beginning a study to radio-track hedgehogs on arable farmland. The study is funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species, a sure sign that the need to stem the decline of our hedgehogs has become urgent.

Producer: Brett Westwood

Editor: Julian Hector.

Hedgehogs are in decline. Paul Evans separates the science from the sentimentality.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Hedgehogs are in decline in the UK. We know this from a number of studies and from the fewer corpses we see on our roads: ironically the more flattened hedgehogs, the greater the likelihood of a strong population. But teasing the facts from the image we have created of a vulnerable creature that has to be rescued and nurtured, is a challenge.

For Nature, Paul Evans meets the scientists who are grappling with surveys and techniques for assessing hedgehog numbers and status, scientists like Tom Moorhouse from Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit who's beginning a study to radio-track hedgehogs on arable farmland. The study is funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species, a sure sign that the need to stem the decline of our hedgehogs has become urgent.

Producer: Brett Westwood

Editor: Julian Hector.

Hedgehogs are in decline. Paul Evans separates the science from the sentimentality.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In evolutionary terms sika deer are recent arrivals to the UK, having been introduced from the Far East into deer parks a little over 150 years ago. Some escaped, others were released and they bred successfully in the countryside beyond park boundaries. Today the Japanese sika is free living in the wild and is now widespread across northern and western mainland Scotland and in the Scottish Borders, well established in Northern Ireland and found in concentrated pockets in England. The sika in Purbeck originate from deer introduced to Brownsea Island under the mistaken view that the surrounding water would contain them.

Naturalist, Chris Sperring, is up at the crack of dawn to join Angela Peters of the National Trust and Toby Branston of the RSPB as they begin the Spring count of sika deer in Purbeck. He talks to ecologist Dr Anita Diaz of Bournemouth University and discovers why sika are doing so well in this part of the world, what impact they're having on one of the country's most biodiverse areas and just what makes these elegant and beautiful animals tick. He also finds out how conservation organisations like the RSPB and National Trust are managing the delicate balance of deer, people and internationally important habitats.

Presented by Chris Sperring

Produced by Karen Partridge.

Chris Sperring searches for sika deer and how they're fitting into the Dorset countryside.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

If you're up early enough in Purbeck, Dorset and you're lucky enough to spot a deer, it's most likely to be a Japanese sika deer. This area has the largest population in England and the deer are often to be seen grazing on the salt marshes and heath that are such an important part of the landscape here. And if you're travelling on one of the Brownsea Island ferries you might even see one in the water, swimming to or from the island - sika are good swimmers.

In evolutionary terms sika deer are recent arrivals to the UK, having been introduced from the Far East into deer parks a little over 150 years ago. Some escaped, others were released and they bred successfully in the countryside beyond park boundaries. Today the Japanese sika is free living in the wild and is now widespread across northern and western mainland Scotland and in the Scottish Borders, well established in Northern Ireland and found in concentrated pockets in England. The sika in Purbeck originate from deer introduced to Brownsea Island under the mistaken view that the surrounding water would contain them.

Naturalist, Chris Sperring, is up at the crack of dawn to join Angela Peters of the National Trust and Toby Branston of the RSPB as they begin the Spring count of sika deer in Purbeck. He talks to ecologist Dr Anita Diaz of Bournemouth University and discovers why sika are doing so well in this part of the world, what impact they're having on one of the country's most biodiverse areas and just what makes these elegant and beautiful animals tick. He also finds out how conservation organisations like the RSPB and National Trust are managing the delicate balance of deer, people and internationally important habitats.

Presented by Chris Sperring

Produced by Karen Partridge.

Chris Sperring searches for sika deer and how they're fitting into the Dorset countryside.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

But as Brett Westwood finds out in Nature, nowadays we're giving these ancient survivors a challenge. Lampreys need clean waterways free of obstacles as two of our species migrate inland from the sea to breed in gravelly stretches of our rivers. They also spend up to 6 years as blind larvae buried in silt and so can be vulnerable to floods and water extraction.

On the River Ure in Yorkshire Brian Morland is monitoring river lampreys for the Environment Agency and he shows Brett his first blind lamprey larvae or ammocoetes. He also talks about the huge sea lampreys, a metre along and thick as a man's arm, which are being restricted by river blockages such as dams and weirs. But Paul Frears, a fisheries manager with the Environment Agency has lamprey's interests at heart and with funding from the European Water Framework Directive, can offer fresh hope to these weird and endlessly fascinating fish.

Producer: Brett Westwood

Editor: Julian Hector.

Brett Westwood discovers how the fortunes of Britain's lampreys could be improving.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In 1135 King Henry I died, allegedly of eating a surfeit of lampreys and the phrase has passed into our language, even though the vast of majority of us, and that includes many naturalists, have never seen a lamprey. We have three species in the British lsles and although they are classed as fishes, they are among the most primitive creatures with a backbone. They're survivors too: over 200 million years ago, lampreys looking very similar to those we see nowadays were clamping their suckers - lampreys don't have jaws - onto primitive fish and sucking their blood.

But as Brett Westwood finds out in Nature, nowadays we're giving these ancient survivors a challenge. Lampreys need clean waterways free of obstacles as two of our species migrate inland from the sea to breed in gravelly stretches of our rivers. They also spend up to 6 years as blind larvae buried in silt and so can be vulnerable to floods and water extraction.

On the River Ure in Yorkshire Brian Morland is monitoring river lampreys for the Environment Agency and he shows Brett his first blind lamprey larvae or ammocoetes. He also talks about the huge sea lampreys, a metre along and thick as a man's arm, which are being restricted by river blockages such as dams and weirs. But Paul Frears, a fisheries manager with the Environment Agency has lamprey's interests at heart and with funding from the European Water Framework Directive, can offer fresh hope to these weird and endlessly fascinating fish.

Producer: Brett Westwood

Editor: Julian Hector.

Brett Westwood discovers how the fortunes of Britain's lampreys could be improving.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Across the country in Norfolk the National Trust has felled trees into the River Bure at its Blickling Hall estate and in just a few years, has seen gravel beds improve for trout - members of the local fishing club are impressed - and exotic damselflies.

In Nature: Wood and Water, Brett Westwood explores the growing use of coarse woody debris( CWD) in managing our rivers. Visiting the sites he finds that this natural engineering is remarkably cheap and fast-acting. Wood felled into sluggish currents can vary flow rates and affect silt deposition. In some places scouring by faster currents has exposed gravel beds which are spawning areas for trout, and slacker areas where the young trout can shelter in pools or hide among the tangle of branches. In Staffordshire, the debris has helped native crayfish to hide in shallow streams, and the wood itself is a breeding ground for rare insects including the scarce logjammer hoverfly which lays its eggs in partly submerged sunlit logs.

There are worries from landowners about flood prevention, but according to Alastair Driver of the Environment Agency, if sites are carefully chosen, then CWD could be useful for retaining water higher in river catchments and preventing excessive flooding downstream. By mimicking nature, and allowing our rivers to be more dynamic, we could improve the quality of our river wildlife and fulfil some of the ecological requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive.

Brett Westwood finds out why conservationists are dropping logs in rivers and streams.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

According to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, fish live in trees too. The Trust's biologists are using wood as a remarkably effective tool to change the depth and flow of stream s and improve them for wildlife. They don't just stop at streams either: at the confluence of the Tame and Trent rivers , they've submerged entire willow trees in gravel islands in a project to widen the river channel.

Across the country in Norfolk the National Trust has felled trees into the River Bure at its Blickling Hall estate and in just a few years, has seen gravel beds improve for trout - members of the local fishing club are impressed - and exotic damselflies.

In Nature: Wood and Water, Brett Westwood explores the growing use of coarse woody debris( CWD) in managing our rivers. Visiting the sites he finds that this natural engineering is remarkably cheap and fast-acting. Wood felled into sluggish currents can vary flow rates and affect silt deposition. In some places scouring by faster currents has exposed gravel beds which are spawning areas for trout, and slacker areas where the young trout can shelter in pools or hide among the tangle of branches. In Staffordshire, the debris has helped native crayfish to hide in shallow streams, and the wood itself is a breeding ground for rare insects including the scarce logjammer hoverfly which lays its eggs in partly submerged sunlit logs.

There are worries from landowners about flood prevention, but according to Alastair Driver of the Environment Agency, if sites are carefully chosen, then CWD could be useful for retaining water higher in river catchments and preventing excessive flooding downstream. By mimicking nature, and allowing our rivers to be more dynamic, we could improve the quality of our river wildlife and fulfil some of the ecological requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive.

Brett Westwood finds out why conservationists are dropping logs in rivers and streams.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Twice each year the skies above the Mediterranean island of Malta are filled with the spectacle of thousands of migrating birds. Kestrels, bee-eaters, honey-buzzards, turtle dove and quail, among other species fly first north, in the Spring, to the breeding grounds of Europe.

They return south in the Autumn to their wintering grounds in sub Saharan Africa. If their migration takes them over Malta, twice each year they must run the gauntlet of hunters' guns. Many of the migrant bird species are protected, only two species are legal quarry for Maltese hunters.

Investigative journalist Matthew Hill travels to Malta to talk to the hunters about the age-long culture of hunting birds on Malta and to investigate allegations of widespread illegal hunting.

Presented by Matthew Hill

Produced by Lizz Pearson.

Matthew Hill investigates allegations of illegal bird hunting in Malta.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Travel writer and naturalist Mark Stratton has been itching to see this gargantuan insect for years and in this special edition of Nature he sets off on a quest to find out more about this striking and elusive creature which would dwarf British robins or wrens. His journey takes him to the remote Manangalas Plateau in the mountains north of the capital city, Port Moresby.

Here in the dense and humid rainforest he discovers a dedicated conservation scheme to grow the butterfly's food-plants, rear caterpillars and protect its habitat. In the face of general decline and the destruction of rainforest for oil-palm and cocoa plantations, it seems that the butterfly has staunch allies among the local tribes-people and conservation groups, but still its future is far from secure and Mark learns that in common with other rare and threatened animals, the world's biggest butterfly may need to pay its way in order to survive.

Mark Stratton visits Papua New Guinea to search for Queen Alexandra's Birdwing.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Producer Sarah Blunt.

Wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson follows Arctic terns on their migration north.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In 1985, a dragonfly landed on Ruary Mackenzie Dodds. Up until this time, he had never had much interest in insects, but so astonished and bewitched was he by "this beautiful" insect which had landed on his shirt, that he decided to find out more about dragonflies and in time that led to the founding of The Dragonfly Project to enthuse and educate people about dragonflies. In August 2013, Ruary 'handed over the baton' of the Dragonfly Project to The British Dragonfly Society who will continue this work alongside their own work to conserve dragonflies and their wetland habitats, but Ruary's eagerness to share his enthusiasm for these insects continues "I don't know what it is about dragonflies ... they absolutely electrify me ... I get so excited when I see them in the air". In this programme, Ruary searches for dragonflies and their larvae amongst the reeds and watery places of Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire and offers a fascinating insight into their lives. He's not disappointed there are common and ruddy darters, as well as brown and migrant hawkers darting, dashing and hovering over the reeds, or ovipositing their eggs in the water. Robin Wootton describes their extraordinary versatility; "They really have all the capabilities of a helicopter but they do it much quicker" and Milly Sharkey reveals how these insects can see colour and polarised light, even underwater in the larval stage; an advantage in a murky pond. Dragonflies can be traced back in the fossil record over 300 million years, and yet we still have much to learn about these 'Horse Stingers' and 'Devils Darning Needles' as they were once called, being falsely believed to sting or bite, when instead they are quite harmless. Just 'like a little piece of flying crystal' says Ruary.
Producer Sarah Blunt.

When a dragonfly landed on him in 1985, it changed Ruary MacKenzie Dodds's life!

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In 1985, a dragonfly landed on Ruary Mackenzie Dodds. Up until this time, he had never had much interest in insects, but so astonished and bewitched was he by "this beautiful" insect which had landed on his shirt, that he decided to find out more about dragonflies and in time that led to the founding of The Dragonfly Project to enthuse and educate people about dragonflies. In August 2013, Ruary 'handed over the baton' of the Dragonfly Project to The British Dragonfly Society who will continue this work alongside their own work to conserve dragonflies and their wetland habitats, but Ruary's eagerness to share his enthusiasm for these insects continues "I don't know what it is about dragonflies ... they absolutely electrify me ... I get so excited when I see them in the air". In this programme, Ruary searches for dragonflies and their larvae amongst the reeds and watery places of Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire and offers a fascinating insight into their lives. He's not disappointed there are common and ruddy darters, as well as brown and migrant hawkers darting, dashing and hovering over the reeds, or ovipositing their eggs in the water. Robin Wootton describes their extraordinary versatility; "They really have all the capabilities of a helicopter but they do it much quicker" and Milly Sharkey reveals how these insects can see colour and polarised light, even underwater in the larval stage; an advantage in a murky pond. Dragonflies can be traced back in the fossil record over 300 million years, and yet we still have much to learn about these 'Horse Stingers' and 'Devils Darning Needles' as they were once called, being falsely believed to sting or bite, when instead they are quite harmless. Just 'like a little piece of flying crystal' says Ruary.
Producer Sarah Blunt.

When a dragonfly landed on him in 1985, it changed Ruary MacKenzie Dodds's life!

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

A "Nature" with a bit of a difference. Instead of looking at rare species and conservation measures, this week's programme focuses on perhaps the most elusive (if not non-existent) creature of all - Bigfoot, the supposed ape like or hominid creature that people believe lives in the North West of the United States. With reports of sightings of strange man-like beasts that go back as far as 1920 if not stretching back into the 18th century, and the 1967 famous, if not infamous, film shot at Bluff Creek in California, there's as much interest in finding evidence of Bigfoot today as there's ever been amongst those convinced of its existence. But rebuffs of misidentification, assumption and hoaxes abound.
Invited to the annual Beachfoot Camp 2013, BBC journalist Matthew Hill hears of Bigfoot encounters from people who've had experiences across decades and heads out with Bigfoot researchers with all the latest technology in their quest to be the ones to capture that one piece of vital indisputable evidence. He also has a confounding experience that leaves him unsure what to think and tries to understand what it is in the human psyche that needs to hold to the belief that these man-like monsters exist.

Produced by Sheena Duncan.

Matthew Hill is on the trail of possibly the world's most elusive creature, Bigfoot.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

A "Nature" with a bit of a difference. Instead of looking at rare species and conservation measures, this week's programme focuses on perhaps the most elusive (if not non-existent) creature of all - Bigfoot, the supposed ape like or hominid creature that people believe lives in the North West of the United States. With reports of sightings of strange man-like beasts that go back as far as 1920 if not stretching back into the 18th century, and the 1967 famous, if not infamous, film shot at Bluff Creek in California, there's as much interest in finding evidence of Bigfoot today as there's ever been amongst those convinced of its existence. But rebuffs of misidentification, assumption and hoaxes abound.
Invited to the annual Beachfoot Camp 2013, BBC journalist Matthew Hill hears of Bigfoot encounters from people who've had experiences across decades and heads out with Bigfoot researchers with all the latest technology in their quest to be the ones to capture that one piece of vital indisputable evidence. He also has a confounding experience that leaves him unsure what to think and tries to understand what it is in the human psyche that needs to hold to the belief that these man-like monsters exist.

Produced by Sheena Duncan.

Matthew Hill is on the trail of possibly the world's most elusive creature, Bigfoot.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Every year between January and April, Humpback whales from all around the North Atlantic Ocean gather in an area called Silver Bank 100km north of the Dominican Republic to breed. After calving, the whales migrate north from these lower latitudes to their high latitude, summer feeding grounds.
In June, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson travelled to Husavik on the north coast of Iceland where he joined a whale watching trip to look for Humpback whales on their feeding grounds - and perhaps even see some of the same animals which he had recorded on their breeding grounds earlier in the year.
For many years scientists thought that male humpbacks whales only sing on their breeding grounds but in Iceland, Marianne Rasmussen and her PhD student have recorded whales singing on their feeding grounds in winter during the past four years. This has also been observed elsewhere, and one theory is that these are young immature whales singing. The songs of Humpback whales are quite astonishing; "gorgeous peals of sound, sounded like everything that a cello can do .. and organised as though it were part of a song" says Katy Payne who studied the evolving nature of these songs. The whales in any single population sing the same song, but the songs gradually evolve and change over time, for reasons which are not fully understood. There is still much debate as to why males sing; one theory is that it's to stimulate the females into oestrous. At Silver Bank, Chris found himself surrounded by whales hanging vertically, head down, motionless in the shallow waters created by a coral platform. When he lowered a pair of hydrophones (underwater microphones) beneath the boat, the clear waters were filled with the beautiful, haunting songs of Humpback whales.
Producer Sarah Blunt.

Chris Watson travels to Iceland in search of humpback whales.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Every year between January and April, Humpback whales from all around the North Atlantic Ocean gather in an area called Silver Bank 100km north of the Dominican Republic to breed. After calving, the whales migrate north from these lower latitudes to their high latitude, summer feeding grounds.
In June, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson travelled to Husavik on the north coast of Iceland where he joined a whale watching trip to look for Humpback whales on their feeding grounds - and perhaps even see some of the same animals which he had recorded on their breeding grounds earlier in the year.
For many years scientists thought that male humpbacks whales only sing on their breeding grounds but in Iceland, Marianne Rasmussen and her PhD student have recorded whales singing on their feeding grounds in winter during the past four years. This has also been observed elsewhere, and one theory is that these are young immature whales singing. The songs of Humpback whales are quite astonishing; "gorgeous peals of sound, sounded like everything that a cello can do .. and organised as though it were part of a song" says Katy Payne who studied the evolving nature of these songs. The whales in any single population sing the same song, but the songs gradually evolve and change over time, for reasons which are not fully understood. There is still much debate as to why males sing; one theory is that it's to stimulate the females into oestrous. At Silver Bank, Chris found himself surrounded by whales hanging vertically, head down, motionless in the shallow waters created by a coral platform. When he lowered a pair of hydrophones (underwater microphones) beneath the boat, the clear waters were filled with the beautiful, haunting songs of Humpback whales.
Producer Sarah Blunt.

Chris Watson travels to Iceland in search of humpback whales.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In the first of new series of NATURE, we join wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson in Iceland. When it comes to dynamic landscapes, there's perhaps nowhere in the world more exciting than Iceland; with its vast groaning glaciers, spouting geysers, thundering glacial waterfalls, hissing thermal vents and erupting volcanoes - and it's the sounds of this landscape which Chris is keen to capture. Iceland is situated on a geological rift, the Mid-Atlantic ridge between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. The plates are moving apart at a rate of 2cm a year. "Iceland is at least twice the size it was 10million years ago and is still growing" geophysicist Magnús Tumi Gu

In August 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reclassified the Atlas Cedar from 'least concern' to 'endangered species' . Drought as well as local pressures from grazing, logging and pests are threatening the survival of Morocco's endemic forests of Atlas Cedars. Professional tree climber James Aldred who grew up surrounded by trees in the New Forest is passionate about trees and tree climbing. It's not so much the technical challenges of climbing that James enjoys but the opportunity to explore the character, structure and ecology of the tree as he gains a unique perspective by climbing up high into the tree's canopy. So, James travels to Morocco to explore these ancient forests and reflect on the challenges facing them. He also finds a suitable tree to climb and sleep in overnight. From his tree top hammock, he watches a spider abseiling on its silken thread and hears owls calling through the darkness. He wakes before sunrise and climbs to the top of the tree to look out across this vast ancient forest in the early morning light. Its an unforgettable experience. Back on the ground, James discovers a fenced-off area in the forest containing tiny cedar seedlings and some young saplings - a sign of hope that these threatened Atlas Cedar forests may yet have a future.

Professional tree climber James Aldred visits Morocco to climb a giant Atlas cedar tree.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

In August 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reclassified the Atlas Cedar from 'least concern' to 'endangered species' . Drought as well as local pressures from grazing, logging and pests are threatening the survival of Morocco's endemic forests of Atlas Cedars. Professional tree climber James Aldred who grew up surrounded by trees in the New Forest is passionate about trees and tree climbing. It's not so much the technical challenges of climbing that James enjoys but the opportunity to explore the character, structure and ecology of the tree as he gains a unique perspective by climbing up high into the tree's canopy. So, James travels to Morocco to explore these ancient forests and reflect on the challenges facing them. He also finds a suitable tree to climb and sleep in overnight. From his tree top hammock, he watches a spider abseiling on its silken thread and hears owls calling through the darkness. He wakes before sunrise and climbs to the top of the tree to look out across this vast ancient forest in the early morning light. Its an unforgettable experience. Back on the ground, James discovers a fenced-off area in the forest containing tiny cedar seedlings and some young saplings - a sign of hope that these threatened Atlas Cedar forests may yet have a future.

Professional tree climber James Aldred visits Morocco to climb a giant Atlas cedar tree.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Midland Brown Snake found in the eastern United States, like many snake species migrates between winter hibernation areas and summer habitat in the Spring and Autumn. In many areas, even including the wilder or more rural areas and within State Parks where it is found, this means having to cross roads. To this small harmless snake the length of a pencil, a tarmacadamed road surface which holds the heat seems the ideal spot to pause to raise the body temperature on that journey but is also the cause of its demise. Its size and colouration means it is effectively invisible to passing traffic. While the Midland Brown Snake is not under conservation concern, the number of snakes being killed each year is high and some populations are endemic to specific areas. Howard Stableford joins a research team in an Eastern Illinois state park to find out how they are monitoring this beautiful snake, whether dead or alive, and how the information they are gathering may help other populations of this snake or other reptiles at threat from roads.

Produced by Sheena Duncan.

Howard Stableford finds out how the midland brown snake is getting help to cross the road.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

The Midland Brown Snake found in the eastern United States, like many snake species migrates between winter hibernation areas and summer habitat in the Spring and Autumn. In many areas, even including the wilder or more rural areas and within State Parks where it is found, this means having to cross roads. To this small harmless snake the length of a pencil, a tarmacadamed road surface which holds the heat seems the ideal spot to pause to raise the body temperature on that journey but is also the cause of its demise. Its size and colouration means it is effectively invisible to passing traffic. While the Midland Brown Snake is not under conservation concern, the number of snakes being killed each year is high and some populations are endemic to specific areas. Howard Stableford joins a research team in an Eastern Illinois state park to find out how they are monitoring this beautiful snake, whether dead or alive, and how the information they are gathering may help other populations of this snake or other reptiles at threat from roads.

Produced by Sheena Duncan.

Howard Stableford finds out how the midland brown snake is getting help to cross the road.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

James Aldred will be familiar to many Radio 4 listeners as 'the tree climber'. As a tree canopy access expert, James spends much of his life travelling across the world and climbing up into tree canopies to film the wildlife there, but in his spare time when he's home, James loves to head through the woods behind his house and up to the disused quarry to watch the peregrines that have bred here. In 2015 he decided to keep an audio diary and follow the lives of these birds in his spare time. Historically Peregrines were prized for falconry and it's from here that we get the names falcon for the female bird and tiercel for the male. On a freezing cold day in early February, James set off for the quarry with his recorder and microphones for the first time, and watched the adult birds patrolling back and forth marking their territory, prior to courtship. Over the coming weeks, James returned to his ringside seat as often as he could to watch these magnificent birds and determine which ledge they would choose to nest on. He followed the birds from winter through spring and summer as they bred and raised their young, as you can hear in this intimate audio diary about one of the world's most iconic birds of prey. Producer Sarah Blunt.

James Aldred follows the lives of a family of peregrines in his local quarry.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

James Aldred will be familiar to many Radio 4 listeners as 'the tree climber'. As a tree canopy access expert, James spends much of his life travelling across the world and climbing up into tree canopies to film the wildlife there, but in his spare time when he's home, James loves to head through the woods behind his house and up to the disused quarry to watch the peregrines that have bred here. In 2015 he decided to keep an audio diary and follow the lives of these birds in his spare time. Historically Peregrines were prized for falconry and it's from here that we get the names falcon for the female bird and tiercel for the male. On a freezing cold day in early February, James set off for the quarry with his recorder and microphones for the first time, and watched the adult birds patrolling back and forth marking their territory, prior to courtship. Over the coming weeks, James returned to his ringside seat as often as he could to watch these magnificent birds and determine which ledge they would choose to nest on. He followed the birds from winter through spring and summer as they bred and raised their young, as you can hear in this intimate audio diary about one of the world's most iconic birds of prey. Producer Sarah Blunt.

James Aldred follows the lives of a family of peregrines in his local quarry.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Fen Raft Spiders as their name implies are water-loving spiders. They are also large and distinctive looking spiders with white, cream or yellow stripes along the sides of both the carapace and abdomen which contrast with their dark body. They were first discovered in the mid-1950s in Redgrave and Lopham Fen in Suffolk which today is one of the sites where Helen Smith, leader of the Fen Raft Spider Recovery Programme has been introducing these spiders after their populations declined as a result of degradation and loss of lowland aquatic habitat. The spiders are also found at on the Pevensey Levels in East Sussex and Crymlyn Bog near Swansea in South Wales. For this programme, Helen, who has a license to handle these spiders, very kindly agreed to collect a male and female Fen Raft Spider and bring them indoors in a tank so that wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson could not only get a really close look at these spiders, but also try and record their courtship behaviour. This is a complex and elaborate affair, which includes the males vibrating his front legs in arcs on the water surface. After mating, the female lays her eggs in an egg sac and spins a nursery web in which to protect them. The webs are usually spun on vegetation above the water's surface, but Helen also had one in tank so Chris was able to examine the tiny spiderlings which had hatched from the egg case. Back out on the fens, Chris also lowered a couple of underwater microphones (hydrophones) into a ditch and captured the extraordinary world of sound in which these creatures live as diving beetles, backswimmers and water boatman communicated to one another below the water surface. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Chris Watson joins arachnologist Helen Smith in a quest to record the fen raft spider.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Fen Raft Spiders as their name implies are water-loving spiders. They are also large and distinctive looking spiders with white, cream or yellow stripes along the sides of both the carapace and abdomen which contrast with their dark body. They were first discovered in the mid-1950s in Redgrave and Lopham Fen in Suffolk which today is one of the sites where Helen Smith, leader of the Fen Raft Spider Recovery Programme has been introducing these spiders after their populations declined as a result of degradation and loss of lowland aquatic habitat. The spiders are also found at on the Pevensey Levels in East Sussex and Crymlyn Bog near Swansea in South Wales. For this programme, Helen, who has a license to handle these spiders, very kindly agreed to collect a male and female Fen Raft Spider and bring them indoors in a tank so that wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson could not only get a really close look at these spiders, but also try and record their courtship behaviour. This is a complex and elaborate affair, which includes the males vibrating his front legs in arcs on the water surface. After mating, the female lays her eggs in an egg sac and spins a nursery web in which to protect them. The webs are usually spun on vegetation above the water's surface, but Helen also had one in tank so Chris was able to examine the tiny spiderlings which had hatched from the egg case. Back out on the fens, Chris also lowered a couple of underwater microphones (hydrophones) into a ditch and captured the extraordinary world of sound in which these creatures live as diving beetles, backswimmers and water boatman communicated to one another below the water surface. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Chris Watson joins arachnologist Helen Smith in a quest to record the fen raft spider.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

With a two metre wingspan, strong hooked beak and four inch talons, harpy eagles are one of the most powerful birds of prey in the world and have been known to attack people who get too close to their nests, so when wildlife cameraman John Aitchison agreed to spend a month on a tiny platform high up in rainforest canopy in Venezuela to try and film a young eagle chick hunting for the first time, it was with some trepidation at what might lie ahead. John abseiled down from his platform each night to grab a meal and a few hours of sleep, but before dawn he climbed back up onto his tiny platform, just big enough for him and his camera. High up in the rainforest canopy, his neighbours included bellowing howler monkeys, flocks of squawking parrots and colourful butterflies as well as highly venomous snakes and stinging ants. He also had to endure some torrential storms and powerful winds. But his perseverance was rewarded with stunning views across the forest, magical misty mornings, very close encounters with the harpy chick and a most unexpected meeting between the young eagle and a very brave sloth! Producer Sarah Blunt.

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison spends a month living in a Rainforest canopy.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

With a two metre wingspan, strong hooked beak and four inch talons, harpy eagles are one of the most powerful birds of prey in the world and have been known to attack people who get too close to their nests, so when wildlife cameraman John Aitchison agreed to spend a month on a tiny platform high up in rainforest canopy in Venezuela to try and film a young eagle chick hunting for the first time, it was with some trepidation at what might lie ahead. John abseiled down from his platform each night to grab a meal and a few hours of sleep, but before dawn he climbed back up onto his tiny platform, just big enough for him and his camera. High up in the rainforest canopy, his neighbours included bellowing howler monkeys, flocks of squawking parrots and colourful butterflies as well as highly venomous snakes and stinging ants. He also had to endure some torrential storms and powerful winds. But his perseverance was rewarded with stunning views across the forest, magical misty mornings, very close encounters with the harpy chick and a most unexpected meeting between the young eagle and a very brave sloth! Producer Sarah Blunt.

Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison spends a month living in a Rainforest canopy.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Another chance to hear NATURE in which sound recordist Chris Watson captures the remarkable chants of And退 Somby, a Sami yoiker. Yoiks are traditional Sami chants, which come from the earth and are largely inspired by natural world. When And退 invited sound recordist Chris Watson to record him yoiking near Kvalnes in the Lofoten Islands in Norway, Chris had no idea what an extraordinary and challenging experience this would be - not only to travel north of the Arctic Circle to record these ancient chants but also to gain an insight into the culture and beliefs of the Sami People. As a westerner he was about to step into a very different world. There are yoiks for people, animals and land. In the Sami tradition it's important for everyone to have a yoik; it's as important as being given a name, and for And退, it's the Wolf yoik which has a special significance. For the recording of this and other yoiks, And退 led Chris up a very steep mountain to a small lake in a crater. Standing by the lake edge, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the air is filled with most extraordinary sounds as And退 performs his yoiks. Yoiking is far more than just a performance, it is a much deeper connection with the earth; when a yoiker sings about an animal, for example, he believes he becomes that animal. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Chris Watson travels to the Lofoten islands in Norway to record a traditional Sami yoiker.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world

Another chance to hear NATURE in which sound recordist Chris Watson captures the remarkable chants of And退 Somby, a Sami yoiker. Yoiks are traditional Sami chants, which come from the earth and are largely inspired by natural world. When And退 invited sound recordist Chris Watson to record him yoiking near Kvalnes in the Lofoten Islands in Norway, Chris had no idea what an extraordinary and challenging experience this would be - not only to travel north of the Arctic Circle to record these ancient chants but also to gain an insight into the culture and beliefs of the Sami People. As a westerner he was about to step into a very different world. There are yoiks for people, animals and land. In the Sami tradition it's important for everyone to have a yoik; it's as important as being given a name, and for And退, it's the Wolf yoik which has a special significance. For the recording of this and other yoiks, And退 led Chris up a very steep mountain to a small lake in a crater. Standing by the lake edge, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the air is filled with most extraordinary sounds as And退 performs his yoiks. Yoiking is far more than just a performance, it is a much deeper connection with the earth; when a yoiker sings about an animal, for example, he believes he becomes that animal. Producer Sarah Blunt.

Chris Watson travels to the Lofoten islands in Norway to record a traditional Sami yoiker.

Natural history programme offering a unique insight into the natural world