Tweet of the Day

Tweet of the Day episodes:

• 03.31.2019

  Satish Kumar and the Peacock

  Satush Kumar was born in Rajasthan, India, where the Peacock, the Mayura, is a sacred bird and also associated with the monsoon. In India, it is believed that after the long, hot summer peacocks come out and display their bright...

  
• 03.24.2019

  Satish Kumar on the Blackbird

  Peace & environment activist, Satish Kumar has lived in Devon for many years. In his garden he loves hearing the sweet melodious calls from a blackbird singing on a stone wall. Producer : Andrew Dawes Picture : Copyright Gregg...

  
• 03.17.2019

  Gillian Clarke and the Grey Heron

  For Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke she has had two close encounters with a grey heron, including the one in her garden reminding her of a Bishop wearing vestments. You can hear more from Gillian in the Tweet of...

  
• 03.10.2019

  Gillian Clarke on the Red Kite

  Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke first saw a red kite in the Welsh mountains as a child, a bird which now has expanded east and now Gillian regularly sees them sky-dancing over Reading while she travels to London on...

  
• 03.03.2019

  Geoff Samples Dupont's Lark

  For wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample the strange sound of Dupont's lark is something of an enigma, as despite recording half a dozen birds he has never actually seen one. Producer : Andrew Dawes

  
• 02.24.2019

  Geoff Sample's Orphean Warbler

  For wildlife sound recordist Geoff Sample hearing the jazz like notes of the Orphean warbler on the island of Lesvos reminds me of the legend of how the bird got its name. All this week Geoff will be selecting his...

  
• 02.17.2019

  Dominic Couzens on the Goldfinch

  For natural history writer, speaker and tour leader Dominic Couzens the impeccably turned out goldfinch is the avian glitterati, bird royalty, star quality on the feeders. Yet it was an encounter with 400 goldfinch feeding on thistle seed heads which...

  
• 02.10.2019

  Dominic Couzens on the Moorhen

  Taking a break from his worldwide travels, natural history writer, speaker and tour leader Dominic Couzens recounts why the moorhen is a comical bird which can hold a few surprises that's no laughing matter. Producer Andrew Dawes

  
• 02.03.2019

  Trudie Goodwin on the Hoopoe

  For many, actress Trudie Goodwin is best known for her television roles as Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill and latterly in Emmerdale. But during all that time Trudie has possessed a lifelong love of bird watching. At the age...

  
• 01.27.2019

  Trudie Goodwin on the Carib Grackle

  Trudie Goodwin is probably best known for her television roles as Sergeant June Ackland in The Bill and latterly in Emmerdale. But during all that time Trudie has possessed a lifelong interest in birds and bird watching. It was...

  
• 01.20.2019

  Kirsty Oswald's Robin

  For actress Kirsty Oswald, an appreciation of nature has always been a family affair. In this episode of Tweet, she explains how it was her Uncle who sparked her fascination with the natural world, and what the significance of...

  
• 01.13.2019

  Kirsty Oswald's Bird Watching Feat

  Actress Kirsty Oswald has embarked on an ambitious bird-watching feat; over the course of a year, she plans to spot 100 different species of bird in the British Isles. In this episode of Tweet of the Day, she explains...

  
• 01.06.2019

  Rachel Unthank's Magpie

  For Rachel Unthank a lifetime interest in the magpie provides inspiration for this Tweet of the Day. Along with her sister Becky, Rachel is part of the family affair The Unthanks from the North East of England. As one...

  
• 12.30.2018

  Becky Unthank's Wren

  For Becky Unthank her interest in birds goes beyond just watching them while out in the countryside, as she has recently named her son wren to reflect her love of the natural world. The Unthanks is a family affair from...

  
• 12.23.2018

  Monty Don Swallows Return

  For writer, gardener and TV presenter Monty Don, swallows are as central to his garden as any plant. Their return to the garden in April brings a soaring familiarity of song, which when they depart in September leaves the...

  
• 12.16.2018

  Monty Don's Fieldfare Season

  For writer, gardener and TV presenter Monty Don, the changing seasons herald different sounds and atmospheres in the garden. In autumn as the leaves begin to fall, the arrival of flocks of fieldfares from the north of Europe are as...

  
• 12.09.2018

  Brian Briggs and the Chaffinch Song

  Former Stornoway band member Brian Briggs with a story of how the chaffinch song was the first he recognised. Brian, now a reserve manager at the Wetlands and Wildlife Trust's Llanelli Wetland Centre, remembers how his first job as an...

  
• 12.02.2018

  Brian Briggs on the Manx Shearwater

  Brian Briggs, former singer, lyricist, and guitarist with the band Stornoway, has had a lifelong passion for the natural world and birding, even completed a PhD on ducks. Stornoway, who's third album Bronxie (the colloquial name for the arctic skua)...

  
• 11.25.2018

  Carry Akroyd and the Snipe

  Although Carry Akroyd, who is is President of the John Clare Society, grew up in the countryside, as a child she was never shown or taught anything of the natural world around her. It was not until adulthood...

  
• 11.18.2018

  Carry Akroyd Black and White Birds

  Calling herself a bird noticer rather than a bird watcher, for painter and print maker Carry Akroyd birds are part of the landscape she connects to for her work. Carry illustrated the Tweet of the Day British Birds book...

  
• 11.11.2018

  Grey Partridge in No-Man's Land

  Throughout the First World War, birds were protected across the Western Front and elsewhere, which resulted in some remarkable stories of soldiers ceasing fire in order to protect birds from being killed. Writer Derek Niemann who worked for...

  
• 11.04.2018

  Derek Niemann Sparrows of the Western Front

  Derek Niemann recalls that within the horrors of the First World War the ubiquitous house sparrows living in the shattered buildings along the Western Front were one of the great survivors during the onslaught. Despite the devastation they thrived...

  
• 10.28.2018

  James Henry on the Little Owl

  Author of the prequel detective Jack Frost thrillers James Henry picks the diminutive, non native little owl beloved by Florence Nightingale for his Tweet of the Day. The diminutive little owl takes it genus name, Athene from Athena, the Olympian...

  
• 10.21.2018

  James Henry: Yellowhammer and Beethoven

  Detective Jack Frost prequel author James Henry picks the yellowhammer, whose song is believed to have influenced one of the world’s greatest composers Ludwig Van Beethoven.. Although many think the yellowhammer is a symbol of English farmland, it is...

  
• 10.14.2018

  Tom Bailey Tweet Displacement

  Theatre maker artist Tom Bailey, the parallels between human migration and bird migration are different, yet strangely possess many cross-overs. Tom has chosen five episodes from the Tweet of the Day archive which you can hear all this week....

  
• 10.07.2018

  Tom Bailey Migratory Tweet

  Being a human, being a bird, is fun, stupid, impossible, tragic, sweaty, lonely, wild, restless and death to your vocal cords. So says theatre maker Tom Bailey who has spent much of 2018 following in the migratory restlessness of...

  
• 09.30.2018

  Kitty Macfarlane the Eel and the Heron

  For singer and songwriter Kitty Macfarlane the natural world and the landscape around her provides the inspiration for her work, especially when she takes a sound recorder out with her to record bird songs. Or takes part in an eel...

  
• 09.23.2018

  Kitty MacFarlane's starlings in Somerset

  Singer songwriter Kitty MacFarlane has a strong connection to a Sense of Place in her work, especially the Somerset Levels and the birds which flock there providing inspiration. A previous semi-finalist in the BBC Young Folk awards, Kitty begins her...

  
• 09.16.2018

  Mark Whitley's Dales Tweet

  For editor of The Countryman magazine, Mark Whitley, autumn may be around the corner, but he's transported back to spring. The sight of male lapwings performing their tumbling display flight, and hearing their distinctive 'peewit' call is a sure sign...

  
• 09.09.2018

  Mark Whitley Countryman Takeover

  Editor of The Countryman magazine Mark Whitley reveals how moving offices recently has opened up a whole new vista of bird species in this Tweet of the Day. Mark begins his two weeks curating the back catalogue from Tweet of...

  
• 09.02.2018

  Kate Bradbury's Swift Tweet

  Kate Bradbury loves watching the swifts screaming across her new garden in the centre of Hove near Brighton. As yet though they aren't nesting in here house, but with help, they might just do so. As a wildlife gardener Kate...

  
• 08.26.2018

  Kate Bradbury's Sparrows Takeover

  Kate Bradbury loves the sparrows which come into her tiny garden in Hove near Brighton. As a wildlife gardener she is passionate about organic, wildlife-friendly gardening and has recently documented her love of creating a wildlife oasis in her latest...

  
• 08.19.2018

  Chris Turner's Fringe Tweet

  Chris Turner's quotable gags and rapid freestyle raps have established him as one of the most in-demand comedy acts on the circuit. Possibly less well known is his interest in birds. Thus for this Tweet of the Day, coinciding with...

  
• 08.12.2018

  Chris Turner's Festival Tweet

  Chris Turner's quotable gags and rapid freestyle raps have established him as one of the most in-demand comedy acts on the circuit. Possibly less well known is his interest in birds. Thus for this Tweet of the Day, coinciding with...

  
• 08.05.2018

  Florence Wilkinson Tweet Takeover Week 2

  For writer, filmmaker and co-founder of the bird song recognition app Warblr Florence Wilkinson, the brown thrasher, as the state bird of Georgia in the United States, is a apt choice as she recalls how her citizen science inspired project...

  
• 07.29.2018

  Florence Wilkinson Tweet Takeover Week 1

  Writer, filmmaker and co-founder of bird song recognition app Warblr Florence Wilkinson has early memories of watching wildlife and being woken by her parents to hear tawny owls. But in this Tweet of the Day she discusses why the siskin...

  
• 07.22.2018

  Stephen Gregory Tweet of the Day Takeover Week 2

  Horror novelist and keen bird watcher Stephen Gregory returns for a second instalment selecting favourite episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. As a keen birdwatcher all of his novels have some elements of an ornithological theme. With...

  
• 07.15.2018

  Stephen Gregory Tweet Takeover Week 1

  Horror Fiction writer and keen bird watcher Stephen Gregory sets out on his first week selecting favourite episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. As a keen birdwatcher all of his novels have some elements of an ornithological...

  
• 07.08.2018

  Lindsey Chapman Tweet of the Day Takeover, 2 of 2

  Actor, television and radio presenter Lindsey Chapman, with a life long passion for the natural world, begins her second week curating the airwaves with some of her favourite episodes from the back catalogue. In this episode Lindsey recounts that while...

  
• 07.01.2018

  Lindsey Chapman Tweet of the Day Takeover, 1 of 2

  With a life long passion for the natural world, actor, television and radio presenter Lindsey Chapman begins her two week take over of the Tweet of the Day airwaves. As a BBC Unsprung presenter before choosing some of her favourite...

  
• 06.24.2018

  Samuel West acts out his Tweet of the Day, 2 of 2

  Actor and keen birdwatcher Samuel West returns to Tweet of the Day for this his second week, rummaging through some of his favourite episodes from the back catalogue. In this episode Samuel recalls an early morning family visit to Oare...

  
• 06.17.2018

  Samuel West stages his Tweet of the Day, 1 of 2

  Actor and keen birdwatcher Samuel West returns to Tweet of the Day for this his first week curating the airwaves with some of his favourite episodes from the back catalogue. In this episode Samuel introduces the five species he has...

  
• 06.10.2018

  Chris Packham's Tweet of the Day Springwatch

  It is the final week of the BBC's wildlife series Springwatch; what better time then than for it's host Chris Packham, a long time presenter and supporter of Tweet of the Day, to select five of his personal favourites from...

  
• 06.03.2018

  Matt Williams Tweet of the Day Takeover 2 of 2

  In the second week of wildlife photographer, naturalist and presenter of the Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams continues his quest to unearth the best and most uplifting episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. Producer Andrew Dawes.

  
• 05.27.2018

  Matt Williams Tweet of the Day Takeover 1 of 2

  During his first week, wildlife photographer, naturalist and presenter of the Wild Voices Project podcast, Matt Williams continues his quest to unearth the best and most uplifting episodes from the Tweet of the Day back catalogue. Producer Andrew Dawes.

  
• 05.20.2018

  Simon Barnes Tweet of the Day Takeover - Week 2

  For his second week at the helm of the Tweet of the Day archive, sports writer and avid bird watcher Simon Barnes introduces more seasonal offerings from the back catalogue. Producer Maggie Ayre.

  
• 05.13.2018

  Simon Barnes Tweet of the Day Takeover - Week 1

  Simon Barnes is known as a prolific sportswriter and writer of the bad birdwatching series of books which makes him an ideal candidate to share his passion for ornithology as he takes over Tweet of the Day all this week....

  
• 05.06.2018

  Miriam Darlington takes over Tweet of the Day, 2 of 2

  Miriam Darlington, author of Owl Sense, selects a second week of birds for Tweet of the Day Producer: Sarah Addezio Photograph: Richard Austin.

  
• 04.29.2018

  Miriam Darlington selects her Tweet of the Day, 1 of 2

  Writer and naturalist Miriam Darlington selects her quintet of birds for Tweet of the Day Producer: Sarah Addezio Photograph: Richard Austin.

  
• 04.22.2018

  Martin Noble's Tweet of the Day (part 2)

  Martin Noble of British Sea Power leafs through the Tweet of the Day back catalogue to pick out five more favourite birds from the series.