Saving Species - Episode 3

We catch up with the larval poets in this programme. For much of the year we're following Purple Emperor Butterflies with National Trust Lepidopterist Matthew Oates. They are still caterpillars - and all named by Matthew after famous poets to help us keep a track of individuals - we're following their fortunes which will hopefully lead to us seeing them as adults. Purple Emperor butterflies are a truly tree canopy dwelling butterfly with some pretty foul (in human value terms, not wildlife terms) habits as grown-ups - and more about that in later programmes. And the ash cloud coming from Iceland has disrupted our plans to report from a Scottish seabird cliff but in its place we have a report from an Icelandic ornithologist. "Whooper Airport" is an area in South East Iceland coined by Whooper Swan biologists who radio tracked these migrant swans from the UK to the breeding grounds in Iceland. We report on how the fall out is impacting on migrant swans and hear that some swans are taking refuge in sheds to avoid the descending ash. We're also back in Japan reporting one of their great wildlife spectacles - the feeding of red crowned cranes and the array of other predators that join in. We have our usual wildlife news round-up from around the globe gathered this week by Kelvin Boot and we'll check into iSpot, the interactive biodiversity website of The Open University. Presented by Brett Westwood Producer: Sheena Duncan Editor: Julian Hector.