Who Owns a Migrating Bird? with Mark Nowers

What happens to Britain’s birds when they leave Britain?Richard Prideaux and Callum McInerney-Riley are joined by Mark Nowers, RSPB Turtle Dove Conservation Adviser in Essex and one of the people behind Operation Turtle Dove.

Recorded in the middle of autumn migration, they start by looking upwards. Redwings are arriving from Scandinavia and Iceland, geese are coming in from Siberia, other birds are simply passing through, and some will travel thousands of miles further south.

Mark explains the flyways connecting Britain to the Arctic, Europe and Africa, how bird ringing and satellite trackers transformed what we know about migration, and why people once genuinely believed swallows spent the winter at the bottom of ponds.

Then things get more complicated. Atlantic storms, food failures and warmer winters all have an effect on migrating birds. And a bad year for lemmings in the Arctic can eventually show up in the number of young Brent geese arriving in Britain.

Which raises a bigger question: are they actually “our” birds?

A conversation about bird migration, but really about how thoroughly connected the natural world is.

In this episodeWhy mid-October is one of the busiest times for bird migration in Britain The East Atlantic Flyway and where Britain’s winter visitors come from Why people once thought swallows spent winter underwater How ringing developed into satellite tracking Storms, vagrant birds and arrivals from North America Bramblings, waxwings and birds moving in search of food Climate change winners and losers The surprisingly important connection between lemmings, Arctic foxes and Brent geese Whether a migratory bird can really belong to one country Turtle doves, hunting pressure and conservation across an entire flyway What farmers can do for farmland birds, and why funding matters LinksOperation Turtle Dove RSPB: Turtle Dove BTO: Bird Migration – A Masterclass BTO Cuckoo Tracking Project BTO BirdTrack SideCountry Support SideCountry on Patreon

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