Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: Birdwatching Special

Birdwatching Special

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, Birdwatching Special

Join Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith for a birdwatching special.

We have a bird-tastic programme this week as we celebrate the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch.

Our archive comes from the trip Mark and Euan made last year to the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth.  The Bass Rock is home to the world's largest colony of gannets, a couple of which give Euan a bit of a peck.

This week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast was made by Mark and features a recording of all the different visitors to his bird table.  We hear about some of the bird life that he can see in his garden.

We are joined live by Karl Stevens from RSPB Scotland to tell us all about the Big Garden Birdwatch- how you can take part and what kind of birds you can expect to see.

Mark turns his hand to the poetry of the collective nouns associated with birds.

In another icy week Mark took the chance to take a walk up Bennachie in Aberdeenshire and see how the ice and snow changes the landscape. 
				
Writer and audio producer Rebecca Smith heads out with her two children to Callendar Park in Falkirk to see how many different birds they can spot.

David Lindo AKA The Urban Birder joins us live to chat about the politics of the bird table- who’s eating what and how can you encourage more visitors to your feeders, especially in an urban environment. 
				
In a bird themed week of course, Euan has a mystery bird for us.  This one has many different monikers; can you guess what it is just by the sound it makes?

Jackie Morris is an author and illustrator and an upcoming guest on the Scotland Outdoors podcast.  Back in the first lockdown, she was asked to contribute to The Book of Hopes edited by the children’s author Katherine Rundell.  She reads us an extract all about the language of birds. 

And Euan has been finding out all about Imbolc after he received a card from a listener.  Also called Brigid's Day, Imbolc is a Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring and it’s happening on February 1st.

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