The Plodcast

It's a hot midsummer day and sunlight sparkles along a stretch of gentle rapids on the River Usk. On the riverbank, floods have carved small cliffs enticing a colony of sand martins to create a stronghold. The birds sally forth to hunt insects – chattering as they go.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe.Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should some animals be killed in order to protect rarer species or precious habitats? Everything from hedgehogs and mink to crows and deers has been targeted in recent years in order to 'save' something else and it's a controversial issue that has troubled conservationists and land managers in the UK for many years.Naturalist and hedgehog champion Hugh Warwick discusses the rights and wrongs of culling wild animals with Plodcast host Fergus on a late spring walk in a Welsh meadow.Hugh's book Cull of the Wild: Killing in the Name of Conservation is out now, published by Bloomsbury.Produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. Music written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Don't forget you can claim a free copy of BBC Countryfile Magazine – simply head to try.countryfile.com/plodcast and sign up for the latest edition.If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dusk is falling after a busy bank holiday and a welcome peace is settling over the neighbourhood. The flowering clematis and roses seem to breathe a sigh of relief, exhaling a calming perfume. As you sit down on a garden bench, a blackbird sings his sultry love song from the gable of next door's house.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.Recorded by Fergus Collins, presented by Hannah Tribe. Image by GettyEmail the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Portland Bill in Dorset is famous as a first landing site for thousands of migrant birds as they arrive to breed in the UK this spring and summer. Join Kevin Parr as he wanders this peninsular meeting these avian travellers – and he makes some extraordinary finds along the way. How many bird species can you hear in this recording?Produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. Music written and performed by Blair Dunlop. Don't forget you can claim a free copy of BBC Countryfile Magazine – simply head to try.countryfile.com/plodcast and sign up for the latest edition.If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're walking on the white sands of Luskentyre on the Isle of Harris. A gentle line of surf teases the beach. Above, a common tern bobs by on its strangely buoyant flight before suddenly plunging like a downed paper aeroplane to catch small fish in the shallows.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe.Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Enter Rivendell – or what might as well be – a hidden valley on the edge of Eryri (Snowdonia) in North Wales. Plodcast host Fergus takes a nature ramble with the writer Julie Brominicks who lives off-grid with her partner here in a caravan beside a magical stream.Julie is a passionate advocate for the Welsh language and explains how it is interwoven with the landscape, nature and the rural culture of Wales.Produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. Music written and performed by Blair Dunlop.Don't forget you can claim a free copy of BBC Countryfile Magazine – simply head to try.countryfile.com/plodcast and sign up for the latest edition.If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're on the edge of a settlement on the Isle of Harris - lochs and mountains flow from where the houses end. In the quiet of the morning, a willow warbler sings his descant; turning the music of a mountain stream into birdsong.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.Recorded by Fergus Collins, introduced by Hannah Tribe. Image by Getty.Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Explore a landscape of craggy mountains, turquoise seas and deep blue lochs on the Isle of Harris in search of rare wildlife – and especially golden and white-tailed eagles. Join Plodcast host Fergus on an epic search for these mighty birds – in a series of wild adventures in the Outer Hebrides.Produced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. Music written and performed by Blair Dunlop.If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's bright early morning in East Devon, the ground is still damp from the rains during the night but the light brings an optimistic view of the day ahead. You are between open farmland and a small woodland, sitting with your morning brew and drifting away into the morning soundscape of beautiful birdsong.BBC Countryfile Magazine's Sound Escapes are a weekly audio postcard from the countryside to help you relax and transport you somewhere beautiful, wherever you happen to be.Recorded by Jack Bateman, introduced by Hannah Tribe.Email the Plodcast team – and send your sound recordings of the countryside – to: editor@countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new rewilding project has been announced in Somerset. Created by the charity Heal, the project aims to transform several hundred acres of farmland into wildlife-rich habitat that offers huge benefits for people, too.Listen on as Plodcast host Fergus meets with Heal CEO Jan Stannard to hear about the plans and what wildlife to expect – and they find some real wildlife surprises along the way.Find out more about Heal at www.healsomerset.org.ukProduced by Jack Bateman and Lewis Dobbs. Music written and performed by Blair Dunlop.If you've enjoyed the plodcast, don't forget to leave likes and positive reviews.Contact the Plodcast team and send your sound recordings of the countryside to: editor@countryfile.com.If your letter, email or message is read out on the show, you could WIN a Plodcast Postbag prize of a wildlife- or countryside-themed book chosen by the team.Visit the Countryfile Magazine website: www.countryfile.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices