Nature's Voice

Comedian Bill Bailey talks about his passion for nature and his new birdwatching television show - with a competitive edge. We look at the RSPB's Letter to the Future campaign which seeks political backing to save and protect the environment so that our grandchildren will be able to share their world with sparrows and polar bears, eagles and tigers. There's information about how you can add your signature to it.  Plus this month's great moment with nature takes place in a back garden with a festive covering of snow...but it's not robins or reindeer that the RSPB's Ciaran Nelson is celebrating!

Thousands of people will be marching in London, Glasgow and Belfast on December 5th ahead of

crunch global climate change

negotiations in Copenhagen. At the summit, world leaders must deliver a fair,

ambitious and binding agreement to cut climate pollution and stop climate change reaching dangerous

levels.

Jane Markham talks to the RSPB's Mairi Dupar about why the RSPB is encouraging people to sign

up for the largest demonstration on climate change the UK has ever

seen.

www.rspb.org.uk/thewave

As winter approaches it becomes even more important to provide food for the birds in our gardens.  In this episode of Nature's Voice Jane Markham talks to the RSPB's Heather Mitchell about this year's Feed the Birds Day and out in the garden Richard Bashford suggests the five top things we can be doing at this time of year to help our wildlife. Plus BBC Autumnwatch cameraman Gordon Buchanan recounts his great moment with nature - a close encounterwith killer whales.

The Severn and the Tana are two of the world's great rivers. This episode of Nature's Voice looks at the RSPB's work to save special places like these. We visit the Tana Delta on the coast of Kenya which is teeming with wildlife and is home to farmers and fishermen who have been making their living there in the same way for generations. But the delta's habitat is under threat from proposals for industrial scale sugar cane farms to provide food and biofuel. Nearer to home Jane Markham talks to the RSPB's Andre Farrar about the threat to the Severn Estuary. There's more information on the new saving special places pages of the RSPB website.

Disney's new documentary, Crimson Wing:the Mystery of the Flamingos, is due for release at the end of september. In this episode of Nature's Voice we talk to Matt Aeberhard who spent two years at Tanzania's Lake Natron to film the story of these remarkable birds. We look at why they are under threat at this their only breeding ground in east Africa. Plus we've details of how to claim free tickets to special showings of the film at cinemas around the UK.

Naturalist and TV presenter Mike Dilger keeps a promise to actress Alison Steadman as she prepares to start filiming a new series of Gavin and Stacey and takes her to experience the wildlife at the RSPB's reserve at Minsmere. We also look at how to get the best out of a visit to an RSPB reserve and our Great Moment with Nature feature looks at one of the noisiest of our summer visitors - the swifts - with a plea to report sightings as their numbers are on the decline and statistics are vitally important to find out why. Join Jane Markham for this episode of Nature's Voice.

There is good and bad news from the newly revised red, amber and green conservation lists. In this podcast Mike Dilger goes to Suffolk to find out how work to improve habitat has led to an increase in the numbers of stone curlews there. They've moved from the red to the amber list while cuckoos have been put on the red list for the first time. We hear from the RSPB's Grahame Madge about the winners and losers on the new lists. Plus, actress Alison Steadman recalls her Great Moment with Nature.

Why were many swifts and housemartins so late to return the UK this year? The RSPB's Andre Farrar has some answers. Jane Markham talks to Chris Packham, a vice president of the RSPB, and the new face of the BBC's Springwatch about joining the show plus we look ahead to some springwatching we can all do with the RSPB's new Make your nature count project. If you've enjoyed the Big Garden Bird Watch in the past then this is definitely for you.

TV Naturalist Mike Dilger has a date with nature to see one of his favourite birds dancing at dawn - the black grouse. It's just one of many RSPB Dates with nature around the country and we pick some of our other favourites too. We also assess the progress of the Birds of prey campaign a year after its launch and look forward to keeping up with the some of the country's most threatened raptors, hen harriers, as they take to the blogosphere.

There's good news for threatened albatross species - 85 per cent fewer birds are being killed by long line fishing boats, in the waters around South Africa, than the numbers killed two years ago. In this episode of Nature's Voice we report on the work of the Albatross Task Force which shows fishermen how to prevent the birds being attracted to their hooks. We also have the results of the 30th Big Garden Birdwatch; and there's a new entry in the top ten this year. Plus TV presenter and naturalist Mike Dilger chooses what bird he'd be - if he were a bird.