Second episode of earthflight, on iplayer, amazing series, , birds eye views, cameras actually on the birds to see what they see, how they hunt, interact, some unbelievable slow motion photography, i thought it was amazing, part 1, seeing ospreys in senegal plucking bits from a dead fish and then sharing it by passing food to a slender billed gull, never seen stuff like that before, large migration of birds being followed like, flamingos, snow geese, swallows, well worth a look,


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01983dp/Earthflight_Africa/

i thought this was amazing, wild humingbirds feeding out of your hands \


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=EUEZkwJulBY

Radio 4, 9pm Thursday 18th of November, Saving Species .. Brett Westwood considers the conservation of alien species, highlighting the case of Eagle Owls, which are thought to have been introduced to the UK from Scandinavia.

Guide to coastal birds tomorrow radio 4 3.45 pm, caught the last couple of mins of todays programe about the varied calls of gulls.

It was truly wonderful and after the crazy and enthralling programme about twitchers (which made me realise that although I do some very small scale county and NW stuff I'm really not one!). Then there was a daft but entertaining programme on Why Birds Sing with some New Age hippy. 3 bird progs in a row - almost a theme night!

superb Natural world documentary about the life of Cuckoos narrated by David Attenborough

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00gmxl7/Natural_World_20082009_Cuckoo/

BBC Radio 4 this morning at 11am is broadcasting a programme regarding Swifts.

More info here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tj829

springwatch episode 1 with the hunting hobbys, bitterns, avocets and others is available to watch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00snz0l/Springwatch_2010_Episode_1/

Interesting article on the bbc website about songbirds in America getting smaller due to climate change.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8560000/8560694.stm

For those who missed it first or second time round David Attenborough's Life series repeated the Birds episode this week. You can now see it on the BBC iPlayer on the following link (text about prog direct from website (available till next Sat, March 13th):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ntlyx/Life_Birds/

Birds owe their global success to feathers - something no other animal has. They allow birds to do extraordinary things.

For the first time, a slow-motion camera captures the unique flight of the Marvellous Spatuletail Hummingbird as he flashes long, iridescent tail feathers in the gloomy undergrowth. Aerial photography takes us into the sky with an Ethiopian Lammergeier dropping bones to smash them into edible-sized bits. Thousands of pink flamingoes promenade in one of nature's greatest spectacles. The Sage Grouse rubs his feathers against his chest in a comic display to make popping noises that attract females. The Vogelkop Bowerbird makes up for his dull colour by building an intricate structure and decorating it with colourful beetles and snails.

thanks Ian, good series soo far, i will look out for Rob with flask too

Ian Woosey wrote:

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Episode 4 of "Iolo`s Wild Times" is now available to watch here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r4tv3/Iolos_Wild_Times_Episode_4/

Featuring Peregrine, Goshawk, Osprey, Short-eared Owl, and a bit of Kite tickling at Gigrin Farm. See if you can spot Mr Thorpe sat in the hide with his flask and lemon-drizzle cake !

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Episode 4 of "Iolo`s Wild Times" is now available to watch here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00r4tv3/Iolos_Wild_Times_Episode_4/

Featuring Peregrine, Goshawk, Osprey, Short-eared Owl, and a bit of Kite tickling at Gigrin Farm. See if you can spot Mr Thorpe sat in the hide with his flask and lemon-drizzle cake !

\nice one Ian , just seen the first episode myself, a cracker and one for both general nature lovers and birders. A true wealth of the natural world on dsiplay from Puffin Island to Skomer Island. As the series is only being aired on BBC2 Wales it is great to get the chance to see it through the i-player. There are episodes 2 and 3 to look forward to as well, on:

Episode 2
Iolo Williams revisits some of his favourite filming locations in Wales to see what has changed over the last 15 years. Here, he looks at conservation success stories, from the revival of otters in Welsh rivers to the preservation of red squirrels on Anglesey. He starts with a look at one of his favourite birds, the hen harrier, which in the 1990s appeared to be on the brink of extinction.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qsvfn/Iolos_Wild_Times_Episode_2/

Episode 3
Here, Iolo looks at birds and animals struggling to survive, starting with an important bird nesting site which he campaigned to save in the 1990s.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qsvfn/Iolos_Wild_Times_Episode_3/

Enjoy them for yourself..

I`ve just caught up with this on BBCi-player - Iolo Williams` Wild Times :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qmxq2/Iolos_Wild_Times_Episode_1/

From what I can gather it is a programme of highlights from his BBC Wales programmes. There`s an episode 2 as well.

Of all the BBC "Wildlife Presenters" he seems to be the most knowledgeable and "bearable", having worked in conservation BEFORE he started broadcasting/presenting.......

For anyone interested in the second Woodland Birds prog, it was aired today on Radio 4. I managed to catch it on the way back from North Lancs by chance today at 3:45pm. This episode was on the calls and behaviour of western/northwestern woodland birds, with calls and songs from Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart and Nightingale. Another lovely snippet of 15 minutes that took my mind off the small snow shower and heavy traffic on the M6 . You will be able to hear it on the BBC iPlayer too if you missed it today.

In light of most people's acceptance that there is little genuine bird related TV progs of interest and in the knowledge that most people are keen to be entertained or taught more with respect to birds, thier calls, ecology and other related topics of interest I thought a new thread dedicated to the wealth of different material available (mainly for free) on the radio, on the BBC iPlayer and through iTunes in the form of Podcasts from around the world would supply some interest to some of you out there.

Radio
There are many different radio progs across the week that concentrate on natural history, conservation or the green agenda, but for more more bird specific interests BBC Radio 4 began a repeat airing of 'A Guide to Woodland Birds', which will be on Mondays at approx 3:45pm. If you are interested in brushing up on the calls of our common birds before the spring or just like listening to bird calls then this is a cracking little one for birders of all levels of expertise.

BBC iPlayer
As mentioned above, this series started on Monday, but you can catch the 'A Guide to Woodland Birds - Episode 1 (Classic Woodland Birds)' on the BBC iPlayer for another 5 days or so. Details of the first episode below:

Brett Westwood presents a series to help listeners identify different species. Brett is joined by keen bird watcher Stephen Moss in the Forest of Dean. With the help of wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, they identify some classic woodland birds, including nuthatches and tree-creepers. Broadcast on:BBC Radio 4, 3:45pm Monday 8th February 2010 Duration: 15 minutes Available until: 4:02pm Monday 15th February 2010 (Categories:Factual, Science & Nature).


Podcasts on iTunes
For those of you that have ipods or other mp3 devices or simply have installed iTunes on your computer (as you don't need an mp3 player to benefit from it, its free) there is a wealth of podcasts and downloads available that happen to be about birds, birders, twictchers and conservation bodies. I have tried the following over the last couple of years, some of which people might enjoy, but they focus on different areas and target different levels of interest, so I suggest you try any of them yourself or simply plug in 'birds', 'birdwatching', natural history or wildlife etc into the search engine in iTunes and see what comes up?! Some are from the UK, but there are even more from the US, which may not be to everyones taste, but I've tried some of the Stateside ones and have found them interesting in the fact I know very little about birding or birders over there!? Here are some examples of the podcasts I've downloaded from iTunes:

- BBC Countryfile Magazine
- BBC Wildlife Magazine
- Best of Natural History Radio
- Birdpod - Birdwatching Podcast
- Birds & Nature
- Birdwatch Radio
- On The Wing
- Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds
- RSPB Bird Notes
- This Birding Life/Bird Watcher's Digest

Like I said, if you see more or new ones on the radio, iPlayer or iTunes that have tickled your fancy then please share the wealth, as being able to download or record them makes a great way of learning, especially if they can be played back on long journeys.




-- Edited by Sean Sweeney on Tuesday 9th of February 2010 01:56:58 PM

-- Edited by Sean Sweeney on Tuesday 9th of February 2010 02:01:12 PM