The author and journalist Horatio Clare reflects on the cultural history of the human relationship with pheasants. Its Latin name Phasianus Colchicus links the pheasant to the ancient kingdom of Colchis on the shores of the Black Sea, made famous in Greek mythology as the land of the Golden Fleece. These large, colourful long-tailed birds are native to Asia, and likely journeyed to western Europe with the Romans, becoming a symbol of wealth and status. The Normans are credited with popularising the shooting of pheasants in the 11th century, an industry which today releases an estimated 30-45 million captive-bred pheasants into the British countryside every year.

Presented by Horatio Clare and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

This programme features audio from Xeno-Canto recorded by Simon Elliot, David M and Tanguy Loïs (XC155202, XC640749 and XC727854 - Common Pheasant).

In the season where starlings gather to murmurate in our winter skies, poet Paul Farley is admiring this dazzling bird up close. Every spring a pair of starlings used to nest in a hollow wall in the house where Paul grew up, and he never got tired of studying its dark iridescent plumage. Laying in bed at night Paul would hear the starlings' impressive mimicry, and remembers the sound of a radio being tuned and even human voices, imagining that these intelligent birds have been curiously studying us.

Presented by Paul Farley and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

This programme features a recording by Oliver Swift from Xeno-Canto (XC710439 - Common Starling)

When nature writer Amy-Jane Beer moved to her current home, it seemed like the perfect rural dream. However, there then came an insistent knocking sound every morning - a pair of carrion crows would tap the windows, affronted by their reflections. Amy describes watching and learning to love these birds, which she sees as her quirky, idiosyncratic neighbours.

Presented by Amy-Jane Beer and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Featuring a recording by Martin Billard from Xeno-Canto (Carrion Crow - XC929595)

The home of poet and non-fiction writer Polly Atkin is surrounded by tawny owls. They are the most common owl in Britain, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 breeding pairs, though we don't know exactly how many. Polly describes hearing the first melancholy call of a tawny owl in autumn, echoing around the lake at Grasmere. Kept awake by chronic illness, the owls' nighttime calls remind Polly that we are not alone, the sound means company, community and home.

Polly Atkin is the author of The Company of Owls (Elliott & Thompson).

Presented by Polly Atkin and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Poet Paul Farley welcomes the return of the shelduck to our shores, back after their summer migration to the Wadden Sea. These vast mudflats off the coast of The Netherlands and Germany provide a refuge for shelducks as they go through their so-called 'catastrophic moult' where they simultaneously loose all their flight and tail feathers. Paul imagines this vast gathering of around 200,000 birds as sort of 'Shelduck Glastonbury' where they get completely flightless, and is always glad to see them home.

Presented by Paul Farley and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

In 2024 and 2025 expedition leader and film-maker Roland Arnison kayaked along the west coast and isles of Scotland to find and record the sounds of seabird species. His quest took him 40 miles out into the Atlantic to St Kilda in search of the Leach's petrel, one of Britain's rarest birds that only nests on a handful of offshore rocky islands. We join Roland scrambling up a cliff at midnight to hear the extraordinary call of this nocturnal bird.

Presented by Roland Arnison and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

This programme features audio recorded on St Kilda by Roland Arnison.

Entomologist and wildlife presenter George McGavin describes his lifelong fascination with the red-backed shrike. When George bought his first bird guide at the age of 10, this small shrike caught his eye because of its habit of impaling large insects and small vertebrates on thorns. This 'butcher bird' was once a common visitor to the south of England but was lost as a British breeding species by the 1990s - and it wasn't until 50 years after first reading about it that George finally got to see one.

Presented by George McGavin and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

Featuring a recording from Xeno-canto by Elias A. Ryberg (Red-backed shrike - XC676551)

Poet Paul Farley muses on the autumnal arrival of redwings, small thrushes that migrate here from continental and northern Europe to spend the winter. Paul watches a flock of redwings feast on a rowan tree laden with berries, and listens out for their high-pitched nocturnal call as they move under the cover of darkness.

Presented by Paul Farley and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

This programme features a recording from Xeno-canto by Mats Rellmar (Redwing - XC711115)

As autumn ripens in Cornwall, wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter Hannah Stitfall goes out in search of the firecrest. For Hannah, the firecrest is a jewel of the forest, with its dazzling golden crest and bright white eye-stripe. The dense evergreen woodlands and mild climate in Cornwall offer the perfect shelter and feeding grounds. Most firecrests seen in Cornwall in autumn are migrants from central Europe, pausing here on their way to their wintering grounds in southern Europe and north Africa. Hannah finds them notoriously difficult to film, but if you're lucky you might spot one hunting for insects hidden in leaves and pine needles.

Presented by Hannah Stitfall and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Standing on a lake edge and eager to spot some wildlife, zoologist and author Jo Wimpenny is disappointed to just find a moorhen. But then she stops herself - why does no one get excited about seeing these birds? From climbing trees to promiscuity and egg dumping, Jo finds out there is far more to moorhen life than its humble status suggests.

Presented by Jo Wimpenny and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

This programme features recordings from Xeno-Canto by Simon Elliott (Common Moorhen - XC572582 and XC572900)

Conservation biologist Tolga Aktas remembers his first encounter with a jay, in a busy park in south London. Even though jays are widespread in the UK, they can be elusive, so to see such a colourful and exotic-looking bird in his humble park was a special moment. Autumn is a great time to look out for jays, when they're foraging for and burying acorns, to retrieve later in the winter.

Presented by Tolga Aktas and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

This programme features a recording from Xeno-Canto by Arjun Dutta (Eurasian Jay - XC915378)