The final episode of the Tyne Tees Television series on the wildlife of the north presented by Jonathan Morrell. In the first part of the programme a report from South East Durham on Don Griss from Darlington, a member of the Northumbria Mammal Group, who is carrying out a survey into mammals living along the verges of busy roads in County Durham, Next, Jonathan goes on a walking tour looking for toadstools and mushrooms growing near Kielder Castle in Northumberland with Gordon Beakes from...

The final episode of the Tyne Tees Television series on the wildlife of the north presented by Jonathan Morrell. In the first part of the programme a report from South East Durham on Don Griss from Darlington, a member of the Northumbria Mammal Group, who is carrying out a survey into mammals living along the verges of busy roads in County Durham, Next, Jonathan goes on a walking tour looking for toadstools and mushrooms growing near Kielder Castle in Northumberland with Gordon Beakes from Newcastle University. After the break, a look at the conservation work being done by Philip Wayre of the Otter Trust which includes a new otter reserve being built on the River Greta near Bowes in County Durham. The final report with one of Tyneside top Ornithologist Keith Bowey who is a fan of Rapeseed and the wildlife living in it including the Sage Warbler who feeds and nests in the crop. Don Griss from Darlington, a member of the Northumbria Mammal Group, is on a research trip along the A66 Middleton St. George by-pass. The group is investigating the number of small mammals - shrews, mice and voles - that live on verges alongside busy roads in County Durham and provide an important source of food for birds like kestrels. Gordon Beakes from Hexham is a lecturer at Newcastle University and his speciality is mushrooms and toadstools. Presenter Jonathan Morrell joins him for a walk in the woods to collect specimens that are edible and cook up a feast of funghi. A new otter sanctuary opened by Philip Wayre at Vale House Farm, Bowes in County Durham is our next stop. Philip has already set up other otter sanctuaries in Norfolk and Cornwall. The Otter Trust's aim is to breed more of these beautiful animals and release them back into the rivers in the south of England, where otters have disappeared over the years. And we finish the series with Keith Bowey one of Tyneside's top ornithologists. Keith's made a new discovery about a small bird called the sedge warbler. Normally these pretty birds with a beautiful song are found in reedbeds, but Keith has found that they have started to colonise a commonly-grown crop - oilseed rape. 'Oilseed rape has a bad name,' he says. 'It's supposed to be a yellow blot on the countryside. It's supposed to give people asthma. But my research shows that this much-reviled crop is actually beneficial to birds. Sedge warblers are increasingly using it to nest in and feed off.' Credits: Presenter Jonathan Morrell Camera Simon Crouch, Lee Sutterby Sound Postproduction Andy Ludbrook Editor David Hindmarsh Executive Producer Jane Bolesworth Producer Charles Bowden CBTV production for Tyne Tees Television © Tyne Tees Television MM