The first episode in the fourth season of the Tyne Tees Television series on the wildlife of the north presented by Kim Inglis. In the first report Kim meets Marine Biologist Joanne Appleby at Tynemouth Aquarium to learn more about seahorses, a rare creature around the Britain coastline. Next, to Darlington and the pupils from Harrogate Hill Junior School who are helping Ian Bond, a countryside warden with Stockton-on-Tees, look after a pair of Harvey mice which Ian is hoping to re-introduce...

The first episode in the fourth season of the Tyne Tees Television series on the wildlife of the north presented by Kim Inglis. In the first report Kim meets Marine Biologist Joanne Appleby at Tynemouth Aquarium to learn more about seahorses, a rare creature around the Britain coastline. Next, to Darlington and the pupils from Harrogate Hill Junior School who are helping Ian Bond, a countryside warden with Stockton-on-Tees, look after a pair of Harvey mice which Ian is hoping to re-introduce to a nearby nature reserve. After the break, a report from the mud flats of Lindisfarne or Holy Island off the Northumberland coast where each winter Brent geese land, however not everyone on the island is happy with their return. Finally, to Greatham Beck near Hartlepool where wildlife ranger Roger Smith is working to improve the living conditions for the watervole. School children who are leading the battle to save endangered animals in the North East. This programme focuses on the efforts to breed harvest mice by children at Harrowgate Hill School in Darlington. These mammals were almost extinct in the region until Ian Bond, a countryside warden for Stockton Borough Council stepped in. He obtained some of the mice from Chester Zoo with the aim of breeding them himself before releasing them into the wild. But he ran out of space at his office. 'Ian approached me to see if we could help' said Graham Temby, science teacher at the school. 'We were only too delighted.' Children chose the names Poppy and Barley for the first two harvest mice to arrive at the school. Next summer they'll be ready to go back to the wild.' At Greatham Beck, a stream running alongside a housing estate on the edge of Hartlepool, a group of children under the guidance of wildlife ranger Robert Smith are making living conditions better for watervoles. Their work includes clearing the stream of rubbish so that the voles' burrows don't get flooded after heavy rain. Watervoles were much persecuted in the past but they are very cute animals and the children really enjoy helping to improve their habitat. Kim finds out why the feathers are flying over the arrival every winter of thousands of geese to the mudflats at Lindisfarne national nature reserve on the north Northumberland coast. The pale-bellied Brent geese are special visitors, says bird expert Steve Percival, who has been studying their behaviour for 10 years. He says Lindisfarne is the only place they come to in Britain when they fly south for the winder. But some local people aren't too happy about the geese. Farmer Rodney Smith, of Beal Farm, Berwick says they cause severe damage to his barley and wheat crops by pecking at the new shoots and trampling the plants with their webbed feet. Credits: Presenter Kim Inglis Camera Lee Sutterby Dubbing Mixer Andy Ludbrook Editor David Hindmarsh Executive Producer Jane Bolesworth Producer Charles Bowden CBTV production for Tyne Tees Television A Tyne Tees Television Presentation. Granada. © Tyne Tees Television MMI