Tweet of the Day

As a child growing up in Manchester, nature writer Anita Sethi used to dream of becoming a bird and flying away to the hills and moors beyond the city. Always on the lookout for signs of nature thriving in urban parks and streets, one of her favourite birds to spot was the noisy and sociable house sparrow.
With greyish-brown plumage and a loud, chattering song, house sparrows aren't particularly flashy or exciting birds to many people, but they are highly resourceful and adaptable creatures and have made the city their home. Sadly, their numbers are in decline in many parts of the UK, but they still remain one of Manchester's most populous birds.
Presented by Anita Sethi and produced by Jo Peacey. A BBC Audio Bristol production.

Conservationist Isabella Tree tells the story of a remarkable cuckoo called Sayaan, who in April this year returned to her home and rewilding project at Knepp for the third year running. They are part of the British Trust for Ornithology’s Cuckoo Tracking Project, putting GPS trackers on cuckoos so we can learn about their migrations and help conservation. Sayaan left his overwintering grounds in the Congo in January, and crossed Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, refuelling on insects before heading off across the Sahara desert to Algeria, Ibiza and the Pyrenees. Finally he made the last 1000 km sprint to Knepp. For Isabella, the sound of every cuckoo, is the sound of triumph.
This programme features recordings by Hazel Reeves recorded at Knepp, and audio from Xeno-Canto by Frode Falkenberg (Common Cuckoo - XC1139781).
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol.

We join explorer Roland Arnison on a kayaking expedition to the outer Hebrides on a quest to record the call of the storm petrel. These small and elusive seabirds spend most of their time at sea, nesting on rocky isles around the western coasts of the UK. While camping on the coastline of a remote uninhabited island, Roland patiently waited through the night until he heard the digital trill of the 'stormy' ring out in the dark.
This programme features audio recorded by Roland Arnison, and it was produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol.

For Naturalist Mike Dilger the whimbrel has just as much star power as the curlew. He likes to spot whimbrel on the Severn estuary as they migrate north on route to their breeding grounds in Scandinavia, Iceland and Russia. But to see this wader at its best, Mike recommends heading to their solitary British breeding outpost in Shetland where whimbrel combine their distinctive piping call with a bubbling flight song.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

The CEO of the British Trust for Ornithology, Juliet Vickery, describes an encounter with a patrolling male woodcock 30 years ago, watching it circle its territory from high in the sky. Apart from this display these waders are very hard to see, usually inhabiting dense woods and heathland, which also makes them hard to monitor. However thanks to generations of volunteer observers, we know that the distribution of breeding woodcock in the UK is sadly less than half of what it was in the 1960s.
Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.