Best Of Natural History Radio

New series. Wildlife film maker Hannah Stitfall and guest discuss one of her selections from the LIVING WORLD archive. Today the subject is Skomer Island off the coast of Wales and its city of sea birds, as well as the ‘clowns of the air’, an endemic vole and strange cries at night.

High winds and choppy waters slow Emily Knight and Becky Ripley's return to the island, raising fears for some of the seabirds' chicks, and there's news of a mass puffin death in Alaska

Becky Ripley and Emily Knight invite you to sink deep in sound as they present an immersive wildlife experience from master recordist Chris Watson

Becky and Emily find themselves deep in a game of puffin roulette, all in the name of science. They go grovelling underground into puffin burrows to count how many chicks have been laid in this year's breeding season and the pufflings' protective parents don't shy away from an attack. Follow the story via #PlanetPuffin

Emily Knight & Becky Ripley, from Blue Planet II: The Podcast, explore the Scottish puffin paradise where they’ll be following breeding season in #planetpuffin. In episode 2 the duo stake out in a hide on the Isle of May to monitor how many puffins have survived the cold winter months. Spring is here, and the breeding season is about to kick off.

Emily Knight & Becky Ripley, from Blue Planet II: The Podcast, drop anchor at Scotland’s Ilse of May as the puffins return after a winter at sea and the year’s breeding season is getting under way. They meet reserve manager Steely for a tour around the island’s three famous lighthouses and hear the ghastly story that could have put its first burning beacon of flames to rest. And a husband and wife who dedicated decades to studying puffins on the Isle of May reveal how much there’s left to discover about the mysterious life of the island’s puffins. As they report through the summer, Emily and Becky would love to hear your puffin stories: #planetpuffin Join them for a slice of island life, where stories of the past are met by the cries of seabirds.

Follow the fortunes of a Scottish puffin colony across this year’s breeding season with Emily Knight & Becky Ripley, from Blue Planet II: The Podcast, in #planetpuffin

The eider duck, known locally as "Cuddy's" duck, is regarded as the first bird in the world to have been given conservation protection, when St Cuthbert offered the eider duck sanctuary on the Farne Islands in the seventh century. Today, they breed in vast numbers off the Northumbrian coast, and Brett Westwood travels to Amble harbour to see the duck's colourful breeding plumage, and listen to the famous "crooning" calls of the males in the company of the RSPB's Paul Morrison and biologist Hilary Broker-Carey Since the programme was first broadcast the eider duck has been part of a discussion on Marine Conservation Zones. Wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman revisits this Living World from 2002 before bringing the story up to date for today's audience. Producer Andrew Dawes

We all know about the myth of the Mad March Hare, but what is the background to it? Is there any biological reason for the name? Lionel Kelleway meets Gill Turner, who has observed the behaviour of brown hares since the late 1990's to explore this question. Together, they marvel at the antics of the brown hare - one of the first signs of spring - on a very special farm in Hertfordshire. In the years since the programme was first broadcast, the situation of brown hares has changed considerably. Wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman revisits this Living World from 2011 before bringing the story gently up to date for today's listener. Producer Andrew Dawes

We all know about the myth of the Mad March Hare, but what is the background to it? Is there any biological reason for the name? Lionel Kelleway meets Gill Turner, who has observed the behaviour of brown hares since the late 1990's to explore this question. Together, they marvel at the antics of the brown hare - one of the first signs of spring - on a very special farm in Hertfordshire. In the years since the programme was first broadcast, the situation of brown hares has changed considerably. Wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman revisits this Living World from 2011 before bringing the story gently up to date for today's listener. Producer Andrew Dawes

In the 50 years of Living World has traveled across almost every corner of the British Isles, sometimes it is a contributor rather than the wildlife which attracts attention. In this Living World from 1974 Peter France headed up to Shetland to meet the late Bobby Tulloch, who was then working for the RSPB. When Living World visited the arrival of the Shetland Oil industry was just in its planning stage and so this unique archive programme provides a glimpse back to those days. Bobby Tulloch himself rose to fame a few years before Living World visited as the finder of a snowy owl nest of Fetlar, the first ever substantiated record in Britain. In this programme Bobby takes Peter to the snowy owl site, along the way exploring some of the other wildlife in this 'Land of the Simmer Dim' In the decades since this episode was first broadcast, Shetland's wildlife has changed and adapted. Today there is a museum containing Bobby Tulloch's archive, The Old Haa Museum and Visitor Centre on the island of Yell. Wildlife

One of our most engaging mustelids, the stoat is the subject of this Living World from 2003. Normally stoats are more often only seen in open countryside dashing across open ground and out of sight. Yet in North Yorkshire stoats have made their home closer to humans, within the ruins of Mount Grace Priory near Osmotherley. To find out more Lionel Kelleway headed to Europe's best preserved Carthusian Priory where in the company of stoat expert Robbie MacDonald, and Priory custodian Becky Wright they head off to find out more and in the course of their visit explain some of the fascinating and unique stoat biology and behaviour. In the years since this episode was first broadcast, our knowledge of these engaging mustelids has developed, allowing wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman to revisit this Living World and gently update the story for today's audience. Producer Andrew Dawes

The Island of Islay is probably best known for the production of fine peaty whiskies. Yet each winter thousands of geese and other northern birds find refuge on this Scottish island. It also has Britain's most thriving colony our rarest corvid the choughs. In 1987 Michael Scott headed over to Islay for Living World to see for himself why this island attracts more than its fair share of birds. Here he joined Dave Dick and Peter Moore from the RSPB. In the 30 years since the programme was first broadcast, there have been many changes on Islay which allows wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman to revisit this Living World and gently update the story for today's audience. Producer Andrew Dawes

The wild boar has had a checkered history in the British countryside. This once native species was hunted out of existence in the 13th Century and despite a number of reintroductions finally disappeared from our fauna in the 17th Century. And for the next 300 years the sound of boar, the onomatopoeia collective term for boar is , sound, lay silent across the landscape. Until around 20 years ago, when wild boar once again roamed some areas of the British countryside. But how did they get there? To find out more, in this Living World, Lionel Kelleway heads to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire on the trail of this shy and evasive animal, which although now firmly re-established in the British landscape is surprisingly hard to track down. Lionel enlists the help of boar expert, Dr Martin Goulding and after a day in the woods, the result was a surprise to both of them. In the decade since the programme was first broadcast, the situation of wild boar has of course changed. Wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman r

The raven is both agile and majestic in flight but shrouded in mystery, superstition and folk law. How was it that our biggest member of the crow family, a bird once protected as an important scavenger in ancient times, was then persecuted almost to extinction in the British Isles, with less that 1000 pairs clinging onto a precarious future in few remote hills in upland Britain? In this Living World from 2010, Lionel Kelleway travels to the syperstones in Shropshire where thankfully the raven is making a remarkable comeback. Here he meets up with Leo Smith and Tom Wall from the Shropshire Raven Study Group, a group who have been studying these magnificent birds for nearly 20 years. As they walk to an old raven nest in wet woodland, they encounter many ravens on the wing. But the tide has turned and now Shropshire is home to a remarkable wildlife spectacle, a raven roost in a private woodland where Lionel is chorused by over 60 ravens wheeling and displaying in the gathering dusk. Since the programme was bro

Standing next to a tree which was likely a sapling when wolves roamed freely in Scotland is a humbling experience. And so it was that Lionel Kelleway began this Living world from 2002. Joining Lionel next to a venerable 'granny tree' is renowned naturalist Roy Dennis MBE who explains that today just 1% of the original 1.5 million hectares survives. Unraveling the complexities of what happened to this huge tract of the Caledonian Forest which the Romans called 'silva caledonia' is revealed as the duo trudge across the landscape looking for ecological clues and to revel in the abundant wildlife that still thrives here, from pine marten to Scottish crossbill. But what of the future? To bring the story up to date since this programme was first broadcast in 2002, wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman refreshes the story for today's audience, including some ambitious plans to rewild the area once more. Producer Andrew Dawes

As the logo of the RSPB, the slender black and white avocet is a familiar bird in winter on the river Exe in Devon, but not in the summer. By the mid Victorian era the avocet had all but stopped breeding in Britain and it was not until 1947 that the first avocet bred again in Suffolk. Since then the breeding population has increased dramatically with over 1000 breeding pairs as their range has expanded out of the South East corner of Britain. To discover more in this episode from 2001, Lionel Kelleway heads off to the Exe on a winters day, where he joins Malcolm Davies from the RSPB. Beginning at low tide, Lionel and Malcom discuss what has happened to avocet numbers since their return as a breeding species although they do not breed in the South West. but in winter avocet arriving from the Continent can swell numbers towards 7000. Much has changed since the programme was first broadcast, therefore in this revised episode, wildlife presenter Lindsey Chapman revisits this Living World from 2001, bringing the

The shifting shingle world of Dungeness is a remarkable place. There are four internationally important shingle peninsulas in the world. Two in Germany, one in America, (Cape Canaveral) and yes you've guessed it, Dungeness in Kent. The unique landscape of Dungeness has been studied since Medieval times giving scientists such as Erica Towner and David Harper from Sussex University a wealth of historical data to work from. Which is why Peter France joined Erica and David on a timeline walk from the sea edge to dry land in this Living World. Along the way, Peter discovers shingle is a very underrated habitat and far from being like a desert the area is teeming with life. Dungeness has also the RSPB's oldest nature reserve created in 1932 from land bought in 1930 on Denge Beach. As part of their journey the trio look at the nuclear power stations on Dungeness, which were built on good former shingle sites of Special Scientific Interest. That destroyed the shingle but on the positive side, the power stations pro

The dreamy smile of the sloth has made it wildly popular, but once its slowness was condemned and saw it named after one of the seven deadly sins. Brett Westwood and Joanna Pinnock talk to those who really know, understand and live with sloths and ask if we're still projecting our own feelings onto them. Our changing attitudes to sloths tell us more about ourselves than about this harmless animal. Dr Rebecca Cliffe, founder of the Sloth Conservation Foundation and a leading researcher, is in the rainforest in Costa Rica with them right now. She describes how local people feel about them, while she sits under a tree with a sloth at the top. Joanna Pinnock tries for her own encounter with Marilyn the sloth and her baby Elio at ZSL London Zoo, and experiences the magic of sloths at first hand. William Hartston, author of Sloths: A Celebration of the World’s Most Misunderstood Mammal. explains the vexed history of sloth first as a sin then its next incarnation as a harmless South American treetop dweller named af

The jay is one of Britain’s most colourful birds. A kaleidoscope of fawns, pinks, greys, black and white, alongside striking blue wing patches which, if you’re lucky enough to get close to see, alter in graduated shades of blue and prove unmistakable in a discarded feather. Colourful they may be, for many of us though the normal view of a jay is as it disappears into woodland raucously screeching and alerting us to its presence. In autumn however, jays have other things on their mind, like collecting acorns for the winter larder. And it was in autumn at the time of peak activity that finds Brett Westwood heading to the Wyre Forest to watch the bird nicknamed the "colourful crow". Joining Brett is ornithologist John Tulley who explains that jays have excellent memories and will return to most of the acorns they bury - but not all - making them a key species when it comes to the rejuvenation of Britain's forests. even uphill. Lindsey Chapman hosts this revised Living World from 2004 by gently bringing the st