Best of Natural History Radio

The Midland Brown Snake found in the eastern United States, like many snake species migrates between winter hibernation areas and summer habitat in the Spring and Autumn. In many areas, even including the more rural areas, this means having to cross roads. To this small harmless snake the length of a pencil, a tarmacadamed road surface which holds the heat seems the ideal spot to pause to raise the body temperature on that journey but is also the cause of its demise. Its size and colouration means it is effectively invisible to passing traffic. While the Midland Brown Snake is not under conservation concern, the number of snakes being killed each year is high and some populations are endemic to specific areas. Howard Stableford joins a research team in an Eastern Illinois state park to find out how they are monitoring this beautiful snake, whether dead or alive, and how their information may help other populations of this snake or other reptiles at threat from roads.

In August 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reclassified the Atlas Cedar from 'least concern' to 'endangered species'. Drought as well as local pressures from grazing, logging and pests are threatening the survival of Morocco's endemic forests of Atlas Cedars. Professional tree climber James Aldred is passionate about trees and tree climbing. It's not so much the technical challenges of climbing that James enjoys but the opportunity to explore the character, structure and ecology of the tree. James travels to Morocco to explore these ancient forests and reflect on the challenges facing them. He also finds a suitable tree to climb and sleep in overnight. From his tree top hammock, he watches a spider abseiling on its silken thread and hears owls calling through the darkness. He wakes before sunrise and climbs to the top of the tree to look out across this vast ancient forest in the early morning light. It’s an unforgettable experience.

Crossbills are finches with large heads and bright colours: the males are red and the females are olive green. What makes them so unusual is that the tips of their beaks are crossed over; allowing them to rip into pine cones and extract the seeds. Different species of crossbills have different sized bills, which have evolved in association with the species of cones they eat. The Common Crossbill is found across the UK all year round and its numbers have been boosted by the planting of commercial conifers such as pine and larch. A real prize for birdwatchers is the larger and much rarer Parrot Crossbill, which has a very deep bill and can tackle the biggest and thickest cones. Presenter Trai Anfield and ornithologist Ian Newton, who has studied the movements of crossbills, take the rare opportunity to track down this flock, which probably irrupted from the breeding forests in Scandinavia.

In 1985, a dragonfly landed on Ruary Mackenzie Dodds. Up until this time, he had never had much interest in insects, but so astonished and bewitched was he by "this beautiful" insect which had landed on his shirt, that he decided to find out more about dragonflies and in time that led to the founding of The Dragonfly Project to enthuse and educate people about dragonflies. In August 2013, Ruary 'handed over the baton' of the Dragonfly Project to The British Dragonfly Society who will continue this work alongside their own work to conserve dragonflies and their wetland habitats, but Ruary's eagerness to share his enthusiasm for these insects continues "I don't know what it is about dragonflies ... they absolutely electrify me ... I get so excited when I see them in the air". In this programme, Ruary searches for dragonflies and their larvae amongst the reeds and watery places of Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire and offers a fascinating insight into their lives. Producer Sarah Blunt

Each year the reedbeds of the Somerset Levels become the winter home for hundreds of thousands of starlings. Making their way from across the UK and Europe these birds have found a safe haven to roost with plenty of food nearby. The famous evening murmuration, fantastic formations of huge flocks of starlings coming in to roost, brings hundreds of visitors to the levels each winter. But far fewer people see the spectacle of the dawn eruption when the starlings take off en masse to start their day foraging in the surrounding fields. Simon Clarke of Natural England talks Trai Anfield through the spectacle on Shapwick Heath. When it is all over and three quarters of a million starlings have departed for the day, thoughts turn to the reedbed and the effect the presence of so many birds has on their winter roost site and the animals they share it with.

Every year between January and April, Humpback whales from all around the North Atlantic Ocean gather in an area called Silver Bank 100km north of the Dominican Republic to breed. After calving, the whales migrate north from these lower latitudes to their high latitude, summer feeding grounds. In June, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson travelled to Husavik on the north coast of Iceland where he joined a whale watching trip to look for Humpback whales on their feeding grounds – and perhaps even see some of the same animals which he had recorded on their breeding grounds earlier in the year. Producer Sarah Blunt

Seeing a flock of black and white striped, powder puff pink flanked long-tailed tits bouncing through the grey and brown winter landscape is a cheering sight. Scruffy and bandit faced they are often heard before they are seen with piping calls to keep the flock together. Charging around in family groups these diminutive birds will spend the coldest winter nights roosting together, lined up along a branch jostling for the best position. Naturalist John Walters takes Chris Sperring to the southern fringes of Dartmoor to introduce him to one particular family group.

In the second of three programmes recorded in Iceland, wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson goes in search of Arctic Terns, which travel here from Antarctica to breed; the longest regular migration of any animal. Chris takes a 3 hour ferry journey from the mainland to the island of Grimsey which lies on the Arctic Circle to record some of these remarkable migrants. Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of breeding colonies which have failed in Iceland in the past decade and Chris hears about the reasons why and what steps need to be taken to help the situation. Producer Sarah Blunt

Each year Britain's butterflies and moths attempt to make it through the cold, dark and often wet winter months. Some species will spend the winter as eggs, others as caterpillars or pupae but some get a head start on the spring flowers by spending the winter as adults. Being at their largest and most conspicuous in a time of hunger for many insectivorous predators, is a risky strategy for butterflies. Richard Fox of butterfly conservation explains how Lepidoptera pass the winter months and takes presenter Chris Sperring to a winter hideaway for a group of adult peacock butterflies, which have some surprising strategies to keep predators at bay.

In the first of new series of NATURE, we join wildlife sound recordist Chris Watson in Iceland. When it comes to dynamic landscapes, there's perhaps nowhere in the world more exciting than Iceland; with its vast groaning glaciers, spouting geysers, thundering glacial waterfalls, hissing thermal vents and erupting volcanoes – and it's the sounds of this landscape which Chris is keen to capture. Produced by Sarah Blunt

A small group of female grey seals first chose the naturally managed sand spit Blakeney Point, on the North Norfolk coast as spot to haul out and give birth to their pups back in 2001. That year twenty-five pups were born and since then the new colony has grown year on year. Twelve years after the first pups were born at Blakeney the colony is thriving. By the end of December 2013, over fourteen hundred pups had been born with more on the way. Although delighted with the success of the new residents this burgeoning population has led to major challenges for the landowner, the National Trust to keep both the grey seals and the curious public safe from one another. To add to the challenge early December saw the biggest tidal surge in 60 years hit the north Norfolk, inundating many of the nature reserves along the coastline, including Blakeney. Presenter, Trai Anfield goes to Norfolk to see how well the Blakeney grey seals weathered the surge and to witness the drama.

In today's Shared Planet we ask who is responsible for the life in the ocean? Featuring a field report from Scotland, Monty Don explores the problems faced by life trying to compete with us for resources in an area with little or no regulation. The Isle of May is home to a quarter of a million seabirds in the breeding season, yet come the winter months most disperse out to the open sea to spend weeks at the mercy of storms and cold weather. The birds need a rich food supply to survive, yet the fish stocks and all other life in the sea is at the mercy of humanity. Suffering from what is known as "The Tragedy of the Commons", no one owns the oceans and therefore no one has responsibility for them, they are open to exploitation from many nations. Can the seabirds, whales, dolphins, turtles and all the other life that lives in the open ocean be protected? And if so by whom?

Many commercially available medicines today can trace their origins to compounds found in the natural world, yet many of those natural compounds are found in rare species, often in natural environments that are now vulnerable due to human activity. Are we in danger of losing these potentially valuable resources before they are even discovered? Monty Don explores this question through a field report from the Elan Valley in mid Wales where a tree lungwort, ravished by pollution and climate change, could provide a potential cure for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. With increased pressure from human activities in natural areas, what can be done now to ensure the survival of the unknown for future generations?

Worldwide, with an increasing human population using more and more natural resources, it is often local people and local communities who are the first to notice when something is out of balance in the natural world. In Britain it was otter hunt records that first led to the realisation that otter numbers were in steep decline in the late 1950's. So how much influence can a local community have in protecting a species for the benefit of the wider community? In this programme Monty Don explores this question through a field report looking at the decline in Napoleon wrasse around the coral reefs of Palau after commercial fishing arrived from other parts of Micronesia in the 1980's. Local fishermen noticed the wrasse were disappearing and brought about their own initiatives to protect the species.

It is estimated that in the United Kingdom, numbers of certain deer species in our countryside has almost tripled in the last 20 years. Deer are possibly the most likely mammal we are ever likely to see in the wider countryside. However in many areas deer are blamed for destroying crops and woodland, and the booming populations will fuel concerns they are having a harmful impact on other wildlife. Add to this an increasing human population pushing ever deeper into deer habitat, are we at a point whereby the management of deer in Western Europe has become a critical issue? Monty Don explores this question a field report looking at the damage deer can do in our increasingly urbanised landscape.