Best Of Natural History Radio

After a long summer spent raising their young in the Arctic, barnacle geese need a safe place in warmer climes to fatten up before the breeding season begins again. Every winter the whole population of Svalbard barnacle geese make their way to one place in the UK; the Solway Firth on the west coast of Scotland. One of the best places to see them is the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust centre at Caerlaverock. Each day the barnacle geese gorge themselves in the fields around the centre. Just before dusk, quiet falls over the feeding birds, signalling it is time to return en masse to roost in the salt flats out of the way of opportunistic predators. Presenter Trai Anfield joins Brian Morrell to find out how their long journey has affected them and witness this incredible spectacle.

Traditional societies and the wildlife that depends on them are disappearing. Can we preserve these fragile species? Or is the pressure to develop too great in our world? This week's field report comes from Ethiopia where one of the most endangered birds in the world, the Ethiopian Bush Crow, teeters on the verge of extinction as the traditional societies they rely upon disappear. This beautiful bird needs a particular regime of grazing and scrub to survive, but the societies that provide the right habitat are fast disappearing as development and modernisation takes over. Monty Don explores, with renowned writer Jared Diamond, the value of traditional societies and what we lose when they finally vanish.

Every autumn Spurn Point National Nature Reserve is inundated with small migrating birds from continental Europe. Exhausted from their journey across the North Sea blackbirds, redwings, stonechats and other small birds make easy picking for one of the UK's most charismatic birds of prey. Also the smallest falcon in the UK, merlin are dynamic and quick - blink and you'll miss them as they dash past on the hunt. Chris Sperring meets Peter Wright, former head ranger of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and an expert in merlin having studied them in their upland breeding habitat for many years. Chris and Peter join Andy Gibson, the Outer Humber officer for the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who shows them what attracts merlin - and other birds of prey to Spurn Point National Nature Reserve.

Climate change is causing some National parks in America to re-think their boundaries. As the earth warms many species try to move to cooler climates but national parks are rooted in one place. The Sequoia National Park in California runs mainly east-west but now plans are being formed to shift it to run north-south, allowing species that need cooler temperatures to thrive. But in an increasingly crowded world, and with climate change continuing to change the earth, can we protect our treasured areas? Monty Don explores how climate change, national parks, wildlife and people are sharing the earth.

Both mysterious and fascinating fairy rings are steeped in mythology. In this episode of the Living World Chris Sperring accompanies fungi expert Lynne Boddy from Cardiff University to the National Botanical Garden of Wales to bust the myths and explore the little known subterranean world of fairy rings. Each ring is formed of a single individual fungus and are at their most obvious when their mushrooms appear above ground on pasture and in woodland.

More and more rubbish is put in landfill every year. Can rubbish tips and industrial sites be modified to help wildlife thrive in an increasingly crowded and consumerist world? The UK produces more than 100 million tonnes of rubbish annually, including 15 million tonnes of food. Much of this ends up in landfill; how can these sites be used to help wildlife? This week's field report comes from Essex, from a reclaimed landfill site which is now a wildlife haven. But is this a one-off or can it be replicated around the world? Monty Don explores the world of waste and wildlife in a world where human population is growing and consumerism increasing.

This week on the Living World Chris Sperring accompanies entomologist Richard Comont to Dry Sandford Pitts in Oxfordshire in search of a relative newcomer to the UK. Only named as a new species in 1993 and first recorded on British shores in 2001 the ivy bee (Colletes hederae) has been working its way north ever since. A real autumnal species the ivy bee is only active between September and November so its short year begins and ends within the space of a few weeks. As the name suggests its primary food source is the pollen from ivy blossom - the last of the year's flowers. Unlike honeybees or bumble bees the ivy bee is solitary - the female prepares a nest-hole on her own in which to lay her eggs which she will provision with ivy pollen. The ivy bee seems to be bucking the trend of general decline in bee populations and spreading northwards as its range expands. Dry Sandford Pits is one of the most northerly of its known locations. Where will it be spotted next?

In Australia some housing estates put restrictions on what people can do to protect koalas. They can't own dogs or cats for example and the Koala's needs are paramount. But how many people are prepared to give up lifestyle choices so that wildlife can thrive? Or are the needs and rights of people greater than those of species under threat? Monty Don explores whether people are prepared to forgo personal choice for wildlife in a world where human population is increasingly putting pressure on many species.

In the first Living World of the autumn run, Chris Sperring travels to Exeter to find a species hidden within the walls of Exeter Cathedral. First found at the Cathedral as far back as 1890, the large tube-web spider or Segestria florentina, is the largest European spider from the Segestriidae family and one of the largest spiders found in the UK. Chris Sperring and Peter Smithers, Professor at the School of Biological Sciences at Plymouth University, go on a quest (with a surprising array of props) to find the species concealed amongst the Cathedral's gothic architecture.

Some wildlife is fragile and will die out if it loses particular conditions. Some butterflies need a particular rare plant, or some birds certain trees for example. This week's field report comes from the heart of England where the needs of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly are revealed, our most endangered butterfly. In an increasingly crowded world is it possible to preserve fragile wildlife with so much demand on space. Monty Don explores whether it is possible for fragile wildlife to thrive in a world where the use of land changes from one generation to another, often linked to demand from an increasing global population.

Shared Planet explores the link between a growing human population and wildlife and there is no other part of the natural world that is under as much pressure as the earth's soils. We rely on them to grow healthy crops, which they can only do if they support an appropriate community of bacterial, fungal and invertebrate life. Wildlife too depends on this diverse life that thrives in the soil, everything from birds to plants to insects. The earth worm is the surprising champion of soils and an animal that looks vulnerable in the face of human population pressure. Monty Don will be in the studio speaking with soil scientist Dr Helaina Black and soil biophysisist Professor Wilfred Otten.

From a dawn solo to the thunderous roar of a midnight train, this vibrant sound portrait follows 24 hours in the life of Newcastle Central Station with recordings by Chris Watson. Produced by Sarah Blunt

Sharks are in decline across the world's oceans. It can be argued sharks have an image problem with reports of attacks on swimmers and surfers. Persecution and deliberate killing to clear areas near swimming beaches are only a contributor to shark decline. Legal fishing, by-catch and catching sharks for their fins are large contributors to shark decline. In this programme Monty Don talks to a wildlife cameraman who has filmed sharks for 20 years and recorded his observations of shark decline in his dive logs. Dr Shelley Clarke and Professor Colin Simpfendorfer talk about the ways in which experts believe we can share the oceans with the large diverse group of fish. Plus a report from Fiji where a single living shark is allegedly worth $50,000 a year in dive tourist revenue.

This week Monty Don explores how religious teachings might help people get more involved in conservation. In southern India, the city of Bangalore is the third most populous city in India and one of the fastest growing. As the city expands, the nearby national park - Bannerghatta - is under pressure. People now live in the buffer zone that was designed to separate people and wildlife. Elephants now regularly damage crops and farmland as their traditional sites are settled by people. Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker, Fazlun Khalid and Bishop James Jones join Monty to explore how religion and conservation fit together.

In this programme a field report from Saba Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants from the Samburu National Park in Kenya. Saba sees first-hand the sight of an elephant shot for its ivory. Monty Don explores some of the wider issues in Africa with David Western, Chairman of the Africa Conservation Centre in Kenya, and speaks with Dr Peter Li, associate professor of East Asian Politics at University of Houston-Downtown. With many commentators and scientists saying the end markets for ivory are too large to supply from legally traded ivory, what argument will save elephants from the huge market incentive to kill elephants for their ivory?

As trade between different countries and continents increases we move more animals and plants around the world. With them go diseases that can be devastating for local wildlife.

In this week's programme we have a field report from South Georgia where Tony Martin, Professor in Zoology at Dundee University and working with the South Georgia Heritage Trust, has embarked on a programme to remove 100% of rats on South Georgia. Human activity over the decades and centuries have inadvertently introduced Brown Rats to islands and mainlands and the rats have driven local extinctions of birds and caused havoc on many seabird populations, eating the chicks in the nest. Is the wildlife benefit worth the effort it takes to return such areas to a situation before Brown Rats were introduced? Monty Don also speaks with environmental author Emma Marris.

In this week's programme we have a field report from England with Simon Potts, Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services at Reading University. Simon Potts's research looks specifically at how effective bees and other pollinators are and their abundance in agricultural landscapes - a crucial link in food security. Monty Don explores some of the issues with Vandana Shiva in Delhi, a board member of the International Forum on Globalisation and an author of over 20 books about biodiversity, food and economies.

This week's Living World sees presenter Chris Sperring heading to Hampshire where with native lime tree specialist Hugh Milner they embark on a journey into the remarkable life of the UK's native lime trees. Most people's association with lime is a sticky mess on car windscreens from street planted non-native common lime. This is a hybrid of the 2 native species of lime tree in Britain, the small leaved lime and the large leaved lime. The bark, or more importantly the sap from the bark is also a great delicacy for great spotted woodpeckers, who it is now believed, after drilling their holes, wait until insects become trapped in the sap to take back to their young in the nest. More surprisingly lime trees can walk across a landscape, as they have the ability to regenerate from fallen timber or if branches make contact with the ground. Producer: Andrew Dawes

This week on Living World, presenter Trai Anfield travels to mid Scotland for an encounter with one of Britain's rarest mammals, the pine marten. Here in a remote landscape she meets up with Martyn Jamieson from the Field Studies Council for a safari with a difference, can they find a female with young, high in the tree tops? Producer: Andrew Dawes