Satush Kumar was born in Rajasthan, India, where the Peacock, the Mayura, is a sacred bird and also associated with the monsoon. In India, it is believed that after the long, hot summer peacocks come out and display their bright and vibrant fea

Satish Kumar on the Blackbird

Mar 24th, 2019 1m 38s

Peace & environment activist, Satish Kumar has lived in Devon for many years. In his garden he loves hearing the sweet melodious calls from a blackbird singing on a stone wall. Producer : Andrew DawesPicture : Copyright Gregg Dalgllish / Resu

Gillian Clarke and the Grey Heron

Mar 17th, 2019 1m 34s

For Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke she has had two close encounters with a grey heron, including the one in her garden reminding her of a Bishop wearing vestments.You can hear more from Gillian in the Tweet of the Week Omnibus availab

Gillian Clarke on the Red Kite

Mar 10th, 2019 1m 37s

Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke first saw a red kite in the Welsh mountains as a child, a bird which now has expanded east and now Gillian regularly sees them sky-dancing over Reading while she travels to London on the train.Producer :

Geoff Samples Dupont's Lark

Mar 3rd, 2019 1m 35s

For wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample the strange sound of Dupont's lark is something of an enigma, as despite recording half a dozen birds he has never actually seen one.Producer : Andrew Dawes

Geoff Sample's Orphean Warbler

Feb 24th, 2019 1m 36s

For wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample hearing the jazz like notes of the Orphean warbler on the island of Lesvos reminds me of the legend of how the bird got its name.All this week Geoff will be selecting his bird species from the Tweet of

Dominic Couzens on the Goldfinch

Feb 17th, 2019 1m 34s

For natural history writer, speaker and tour leader Dominic Couzens the impeccably turned out goldfinch is the avian glitterati, bird royalty, star quality on the feeders. Yet it was an encounter with 400 goldfinch feeding on thistle seed heads

Dominic Couzens on the Moorhen

Feb 10th, 2019 1m 31s

Taking a break from his worldwide travels, natural history writer, speaker and tour leader Dominic Couzens recounts why the moorhen is a comical bird which can hold a few surprises that's no laughing matter.Producer Andrew Dawes

Trudie Goodwin on the Hoopoe

Feb 3rd, 2019 1m 38s

For many, actress Trudie Goodwin is best known for her television roles as Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill and latterly in Emmerdale. But during all that time Trudie has possessed a lifelong love of bird watching. At the age of ten she was gi

Trudie Goodwin on the Carib Grackle

Jan 27th, 2019 1m 36s

Trudie Goodwin is probably best known for her television roles as Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill and latterly in Emmerdale. But during all that time Trudie has possessed a lifelong interest in birds and bird watching. It was while on holida

Kirsty Oswald's Robin

Jan 20th, 2019 1m 34s

For actress Kirsty Oswald, an appreciation of nature has always been a family affair. In this episode of Tweet, she explains how it was her Uncle who sparked her fascination with the natural world, and what the significance of the robin's plac

Kirsty Oswald's Bird Watching Feat

Jan 13th, 2019 1m 42s

Actress Kirsty Oswald has embarked on an ambitious bird-watching feat; over the course of a year, she plans to spot 100 different species of bird in the British Isles. In this episode of Tweet of the Day, she explains how a serendipitous walk

Rachel Unthank's Magpie

Jan 6th, 2019 1m 39s

For Rachel Unthank a lifetime interest in the magpie provides inspiration for this Tweet of the Day. Along with her sister Becky, Rachel is part of the family affair The Unthanks from the North East of England. As one of the leading exponents o

Becky Unthank's Wren

Dec 30th, 2018 1m 38s

For Becky Unthank her interest in birds goes beyond just watching them while out in the countryside, as she has recently named her son wren to reflect her love of the natural world.The Unthanks is a family affair from the North East of England

Monty Don Swallows Return

Dec 23rd, 2018 1m 35s

For writer, gardener and TV presenter Monty Don, swallows are as central to his garden as any plant. Their return to the garden in April brings a soaring familiarity of song, which when they depart in September leaves the skies above silent an

Monty Don's Fieldfare Season

Dec 16th, 2018 1m 36s

For writer, gardener and TV presenter Monty Don, the changing seasons herald different sounds and atmospheres in the garden. In autumn as the leaves begin to fall, the arrival of flocks of fieldfares from the north of Europe are as much a part

Brian Briggs and the Chaffinch Song

Dec 9th, 2018 1m 36s

Former Stornoway band member Brian Briggs with a story of how the chaffinch song was the first he recognised. Brian, now a reserve manager at the Wetlands and Wildlife Trust's Llanelli Wetland Centre, remembers how his first job as an ecologist

Brian Briggs on the Manx Shearwater

Dec 2nd, 2018 1m 37s

Brian Briggs, former singer, lyricist, and guitarist with the band Stornoway, has had a lifelong passion for the natural world and birding, even completed a PhD on ducks. Stornoway, who's third album Bronxie (the colloquial name for the arctic

Carry Akroyd and the Snipe

Nov 25th, 2018 1m 32s

Although Carry Akroyd, who is is President of the John Clare Society, grew up in the countryside, as a child she was never shown or taught anything of the natural world around her. It was not until adulthood that a revelatory moment occurred.

Carry Akroyd Black and White Birds

Nov 18th, 2018 1m 36s

Calling herself a bird noticer rather than a bird watcher, for painter and print maker Carry Akroyd birds are part of the landscape she connects to for her work. Carry illustrated the Tweet of the Day British Birds book in 2013, where she bega

Grey Partridge in No-Man's Land

Nov 11th, 2018 1m 38s

Throughout the First World War, birds were protected across the Western Front and elsewhere, which resulted in some remarkable stories of soldiers ceasing fire in order to protect birds from being killed. Writer Derek Niemann who worked for th

Derek Niemann Sparrows of the Western Front

Nov 4th, 2018 1m 36s

Derek Niemann recalls that within the horrors of the First World War the ubiquitous house sparrows living in the shattered buildings along the Western Front were one of the great survivors during the onslaught. Despite the devastation they thr

James Henry on the Little Owl

Oct 28th, 2018 1m 33s

Author of the prequel detective Jack Frost thrillers James Henry picks the diminutive, non native little owl beloved by Florence Nightingale for his Tweet of the Day.The diminutive little owl takes it genus name, Athene from Athena, the Olympia

James Henry: Yellowhammer and Beethoven

Oct 21st, 2018 3m 4s

Detective Jack Frost prequel author James Henry picks the yellowhammer, whose song is believed to have influenced one of the world’s greatest composers Ludwig Van Beethoven..Although many think the yellowhammer is a symbol of English farmland,

Tom Bailey Tweet Displacement

Oct 14th, 2018 1m 33s

Theatre maker artist Tom Bailey, the parallels between human migration and bird migration are different, yet strangely possess many cross-overs. Tom has chosen five episodes from the Tweet of the Day archive which you can hear all this week. In