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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of Britain

Countryside magazine featuring the people and wildlife that shape the landscape of the British Isles

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Open Country: Dawn Walk

Dawn Walk

BBC Radio 4 - Open Country, Dawn Walk

A coastal dawn walk with wildlife filmmaker John Aitchison in West Scotland.

A coastal dawn walk in the company of wildlife filmmaker John Aitchison near his home in West Scotland is rewarded with sightings of sea otters, porpoises and white tailed eagles.

It’s just before dawn in late May when we join wildlife cameraman John Aitchison as he steps out of his home to be greeted by a rich chorus of birdsong before strolling across his garden towards the woodland and then the shoreline beyond at the start of this coastal walk near his home in West Scotland.  As John approaches the shore he spies one of his regular neighbours; an otter, scouring the weed near the edge of the shoreline for food.  The otter is not alone, John also spots a roe deer swimming near the far shore, as well as a group of Canada geese which are wary of the otter and keep their distance.  In a shelter belt of trees, John pauses to enjoy the songs of a song thrush and a willow warbler; one a resident bird here all year round the other a summer visitor from Sub-Saharan Africa. Further along the shoreline, John passes a stunning bed of flag irises; vivid yellow against a green background.  Out at sea a group of porpoises dive for fish.  As the sun breaks through the skyline there’s another wonderful surprise when a white tailed eagle appears; a huge bird with a 6 foot wingspan which lands briefly on a rock in the shallows. As he approaches the end of his walk, John makes a discovery near the water’s edge, is serenaded by skylarks and has a surprising close encounter with a very special mammal.  Producer Sarah Blunt

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