Wales: Land of the Wild 

Editorial

BBC One

BBC One is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964. It replaced BBC Television.

BBC 1

BBC1

BBC One Wales

Wales

Wales: Land of the Wild

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Filmed over a year, this series captures Wales's varied wildlife and stunning landscapes.

Filmed over a year, this series captures Wales's varied wildlife and stunning landscapes, from the rugged mountains of the north to the seabird colonies off the west coast.

Series 1

BBC Two

BBC Two is a TV channel that started broadcasting on the 20th April 1964.

BBC Scotland

Simulcast of BBC One Wales in high definition. From 29/01/2013

BBC One Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

BBC Two England

England

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

A BBC TV channel for Scotland which will broadcast every evening and will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made in Scotland

BBC Scotland HD

Wales: Land of the Wild: Series 1: Episode 4

Episode 4

BBC One - Wales: Land of the Wild, Series 1, Episode 4

It is autumn, the season of change, and Wales’s wildlife must prepare for winter.

It is autumn, the season of change. Wildlife is on the move, and there are battles to be fought to win mates and secure the right to breed. But time is short as winter is coming.

Around half of all British breeding goshawks live in Wales, and they are thriving in woodlands across the country. In a forest in the Black Mountains in Monmouthshire, a female goshawk hunts grey squirrels in a walnut grove. 

In mid-September in south Wales, the long, hot summer has produced a bounty of food including ivy flowers, which are a vital food source for a host of insects, one of which is the ivy bee. They live for only six weeks and September is the peak of their breeding season.

A mile offshore the Pembrokeshire coast is Ramsay Island where female grey seals and their pups relax in the late season sunshine. Seals spend most of their time in the water, but for a few weeks they come ashore to give birth, and Ramsay is the largest breeding colony in southern Britain. 

As winter sets in, the snow-covered fields attract flocks of starlings. As the light begins to fade, it’s time to find a place to roost and they head to the coast where temperatures are milder. Small feeding flocks join together and Aberystwyth becomes the stage for the season’s greatest wild spectacle, a murmuration, 50,000 strong. 

The programme also features the red kite, a species which is synonymous with Wales, but who were almost driven to extinction, with just a handful of breeding pair were left in mid-Wales in the 1990s.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Wales: Land of the Wild

Series 1

Episode 4

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC One Wales

About BBC One