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PROGRAMME INFO |
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The Living Worldis a gentle weekend natural history programme, presented by Lionel Kelleway, which aims to broadcast the best, most intimate encounters with British wildlife.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk |
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LISTEN AGAIN 25min |
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PRESENTER |
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"The Living World is the next best thing to being there. Our contributors are skilled naturalists who are able to reveal those fascinating facts about animals and plants that you don't always find in books. It's like having a personal guided tour of the countryside, without needing to leave the house."
Lionel Kelleway
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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| A close up of a female bearded tit |
AUTUMN AND THE BEARDED TITS
Lionel Kelleway travels to Blacktoft Sands, an RSPB reserve in East Yorkshire in search of a very special reed-loving bird, the Bearded Tit. Bearded Tits are beautiful birds. Lionel describes them as, “the males look as if they are wearing mascara and had a tearful night”, in reference to the black moustaches under their eyesthat run down their cheeks.
Blacktoft Sands issituated on the Humber estuary. It's the largest tidal reedbed in England and is important for its breeding bearded tits, marsh harriers and bitterns.
On a fine, still autumn morning, groups of Bearded Tits gather in the tops of the reeds calling to one another with their distinctive ‘pinging’ calls, before rising and tumbling above the reeds, and then flying high into the air, gathering in large numbers and dispersing to new sites, either in the same reed bed or further afield.
This behaviour is known as an eruption. It’s this strange behaviour which Lionel hopes to see, but when he reaches the reed bed, its shrouded in mist. The signs are not good, but the morning provides some very unexpected and wonderful encounters.
With the help of wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson, Lionel is able to eavesdrop on some amazing behaviour as the birds gather at a small table, and feed on tiny pieces of grit, which aid their digestion of the reed seeds at this time of year. In summer the birds feed on insects, but in winter they feed on reed seeds; which means a complete change in their gut morphology occurs!
Lionel also enjoys a rare opportunity to “get up, close and personal” with the Bearded Tits, and several other species, when he joins warden Pete Short and Bird Ringer Ian Simms, as they catch the birds in mist nets, and then ring and release them; all in an effort to learn more about the birds dispersal behaviour from year to year.
And Lionel even gets to hold and release one of these stunningly beautiful birds himself – it’s an unforgettable moment as the bird flies into the reeds, its delicate pinging calls filling the air.
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RELATED LINKS
鶹Լ Radio 4, LIVING WORLD - Dawn Chorus at Blacktoft Sands
鶹Լ Science & Nature
The 鶹Լ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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