Out of Doors

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Out of Doors: Celebrating International Dawn Chorus Day

Celebrating International Dawn Chorus Day

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, Celebrating International Dawn Chorus Day

Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith with stories from the great outdoors.

Mark is in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, visiting the bee group to find out what bees are up to at this time of year and hints and tips for keeping them.

Cranes were once a common bird across Scotland, but they became extinct around 400 years ago.  Breeding pairs returned here in around 2012 and Euan heads to RSPB Loch of Strathbeg to hear more about these fascinating birds.

Our midweek Scotland Outdoors podcast this week features a programme Mark made a few years ago about the Secret Howff in the Cairngorms. We hear an excerpt. 

Roger Morgan-Grenville is walking the length of the UK, partly to raise awareness for the charity Curlew Action.  Mark joined him on a section of his walk near Dalwhinnie where they chatted about curlew and why they are struggling. 

As we mark International Dawn Chorus Day on Sunday 1st May, we’re joined live by Ian Broadbent from the North East Bird Report who is going to be joining Euan on the live Dawn Chorus broadcast on Radio Scotland on Sunday morning.  He tells us about what birds Euan can expect to hear at the Inchgarth Reservoir in Aberdeen and how the dawn chorus has changed over the years.

The Scottish Crannog Centre on Loch Tay suffered a devastating fire last year which destroyed their replica of a 3,000-year-old dwelling called a crannog.  This year they are running boat tours of the Loch along with Loch Tay Safaris to tell the stories of the history of the area in a different way as they prepare to re-build on a new site.

Just as Euan will be live bright and early on Sunday morning marking the Dawn Chorus, so will Tara Okon for BBC Radio Wales.  Tara chats to us about the Ynys-hir nature reserve where she’ll be broadcasting from and what she expects to see and hear.			
				
We’re not the only ones on Radio Scotland who’ve been investigating the importance of birds as we approach Dawn Chorus Day. On Thursday evening Julie Fowlis presented a special edition of Travelling Folk.  She was joined by Inge Thomson, an experimental folk artist who grow up on Fair Isle, and whose work has been heavily influenced by the birds of the island.  We listen to part of their conversation and hear some music as well.
					
And this week’s mystery bird has a rather interesting call, can you tell what it is?

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