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)

The song thrush's morning proclamations remind naturalist and writer Amy-Jane Beer that she's home. In this episode Amy describes how she finds the confident delivery of this species' song reassuring and grounding in troubled times.

Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

Entomologist and wildlife presenter George McGavin describes a magical encounter with a snowy owl. The sighting happened while George was on a university field recording trip fifty years ago, on the island of Unst in Shetland. Snowy owls primarily live in the polar Arctic regions, and while a small number have previously bred in Shetland, they remain rare visitors, so to spot one in the British Isles is incredibly lucky.

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

Featuring a recording from Xeno-Canto by Patrik Åberg: Snowy owl - XC277682

For wildlife filmmaker and TV presenter Hannah Stitfall, the chiffchaff's song is the first sign of Spring. Each year in March and April she will spend hours following these little birds along the hedgerows trying to get some good shots, watching them feeding from flowering blackthorn, with their beaks covered in pollen. By mid-summer chiffchaffs shift their energy from courtship to preparation, as they will soon be off on their long migration to their wintering grounds. Hannah always listens out for the chiffchaff's last song of the season, before they head back to southern Europe and North Africa.

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

In poet Paul Farley's house the reed bunting is known as The Vicar. For Paul, the way it finds a high place on the tip of a reed from which to call gives off a pulpit vibe, and the contrast between the jet-black head and the brilliant white collar beneath makes it like a bird of the cloth. Whenever he sees a reed bunting in the reedbeds at the Leighton Moss nature reserve in Lancashire, a poem always writes itself.

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

Featuring a recording from Xeno-Canto by Simon Elliott: Common Reed Bunting - XC787452.

If you were walking past the Zoology building at the University of Oxford in the mid-noughties, you might have heard an unusual bird call. It’s undeniably crow-like, but not a UK native. It’s the New Caledonian crow, and zoologist and author Jo Wimpenny was studying them for her PhD. Jo describes her fondness for this bird, which is one of nature's smartest, due to its ability to make and use tools.

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

Featuring a recording from Xeno-Canto by Patrik Åberg: New Caledonian Crow - XC40120.

For naturalist and writer Amy-Jane Beer, the scratchy song of a reed warbler reminds her of a superstar DJ. In a marshy corner of a lake in Yorkshire she comes across this tiny brown-beige bird – or ‘classic little brown job’. But Amy finds the reed warbler’s song anything but nondescript – from his spot in the reedbed he is holding space like a DJ in an Ibiza club, scratching and mixing a hypnotic blend of sound.

Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Bristol Production

For conservation biologist Tolga Aktas, a walk through the city is an opportunity to observe different species of pigeon. His favourite is the wood pigeon, which is the UK’s most widespread and common pigeon. Walking through London’s parks and squares, Tolga spots the differences between wood pigeons and feral pigeons by the colours of their neck patches. Now he’s moved to the Gloucestershire countryside, the cooing call of a wood pigeon is one of the sounds that evokes the feeling of home and childhood nostalgia.

Produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio Production in Bristol

Nature author and travel writer Anita Sethi describes a vivid experience of seeing - and hearing - lapwings while walking on the West Pennine Moors. While being too fast for her to capture on camera, she recognised their distinctive call, and was stuck by their "acrobatics of sound" as they soared above her. Anita has also seen lapwings up close too, admiring their "funky hairdo" and the way their iridescent green and purple sheen lights up in the sun. Lapwings can be seen throughout the UK and their display flights are most visible during the breeding season, which typically runs from mid-March to June. Lapwings are now on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to significant population declines – so every sighting makes Anita's heart soar.

Producer: Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

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 feathers in an extravagant dance to please Indra, the god of rain, before calling to let the rains begin, bringing relief to plants, animals, soils and humans.

Producer : Andrew Dawes Image : Copyright Resurgence Magazine

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 Dawes Picture : Copyright Gregg Dalgllish / Resurgence Magazin

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 available on BBC Sounds

Producer : Andrew Dawes

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 : Andrew Dawes