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Join Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin on a crisp mid-October morning at High Ash Farm, where autumn's gentle bite scatters colourful leaves across the woodland floor and Rat the terrier digs with unbridled enthusiasm. Venture into the bustling sparrow hide, alive with house mice thriving in a commensal harmony amid spilled grain and sparrow chatter, their musty scent and rapid breeding a testament to nature's opportunism. Explore the lush field margins teeming with harvest mouse nests—tiny, woven spheres of shredded grass suspended like living orbs, crafted with prehensile tails and teeming with history from binder days to modern conservation triumphs. Encounter signs of voles munching on cocksfoot bases, alongside wood mice and their underground burrows, all forming a vital prey base for predators like barn owls and buzzards. Wander into Notre Dame Wood to uncover abandoned nests: rook platforms in budding rookeries, domed magpie hideaways guarding against thieves, crude wood pigeon twig lattices, massive squirrel drays, and lofty buzzard eyries atop the canopy. Marvel at an unexpected open-air beehive of dangling honeycombs, mistaken for a short-eared owl, and savour listener tips on foraging edible fungi like chicken of the woods amid fairy rings and field mushrooms. A delightful delve into autumn's hidden habitats, mammalian marvels, and avian architectures, ideal for appreciating the intricate web of countryside life.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/18027166-episode-2-42-mousy-mysteries-and-nesting-wonders.mp3?download=true
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