One of Nature's Hotels
Estuaries are the only remaining habitats in the British Isles that are still well stocked with wildlife.
In fact, estuaries can provide such a range of food and accommodation that they can be thought of as hotels that satisfy the needs of an enormous variety of unusual visitors.
Filmed over the course of a year, this programme looks at one particular estuary, the Ythan in the north-east of Scotland, from the point of view of a small group of ecologists from the University of Aberdeen. They have been asking how so many species of ducks, geese, wading and sea birds can survive on the estuarine larder. And, perhaps what is more intriguing, how have similar and competing requirements changed the behaviour and even the evolution of the guests in this hotel. Narrator IAIN CUTHBERTSON
Film cameraman MIKE HERD Film editor TED WALTER
■Editor SIMON CAMPBELL-JONES
Written and produced by PETER JONES Preview: page 15