Seeds, swifts & nurdles

The good, the bad and the downright disastrous. Tom Pattinson’s full of positivity in the garden, harvesting and storing seeds. Tom Cadwallender’s scanning the summer skies for swifts and reflecting on the season’s birds.

We’re beach cleaning with Steve Lowe at one of our quietest beaches that used to be a dump, and we look at the disastrous spillage of nurdles into the River Tyne, and how these plastic pellets are affecting our coastline.

Plus some top tips for the garden from Tom P.

Transcript

Intro and Theme tune: Princess of the Ocean by Carl Cape Band featuring Steve Deegan, Carl Cape and Jamie Robb (fiddle).

Carl Stiansen: Hello and welcome to the Nature Garden Podcast, with me, Carl Stiansen, and the Weekending Show Team from Lionheart Radio. Thanks for joining us on a canny wee wander down the garden path and country lane, with the birds and the bees, and the flowers and trees.

In this episode, the good, the bad and the downright disastrous…

Tom Pattinson’s full of positivity in the garden, harvesting and storing seeds. 

Tom Cadwallender’s scanning the summer skies for swifts and reflecting on the season’s birds.

We’re beach cleaning with Steve Lowe at one of our quietest beaches that used to be a dump. And we look at the disastrous spillage of nurdles into the River Tyne, and how these plastic pellets are affecting our coastline.

Plus some top tips for the garden from Tom P…  All coming up, on the Nature Garden Podcast.

Carl Stiansen: The heatwave in the south has continued to bring warm weather to the north and Tom’s evaluating the good and the not-so-good in the summertime garden. And he’s starting to save seeds… Hi Tom!

Tom Pattinson: audio

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Carl Stiansen: And now, the first of two reports from Steve Lowe on pollution. In this one, we catch up on the progress of the clean-up works at Lynemouth; a beach that’s been badly affected over the years by the dumping of industrial waste.

Steve Lowe: audio

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Carl Stiansen:  Now, for a terrible story, which you may be familiar with. On the nineteenth of July, up to 25 tonnes of plastic pellets, known as nurdles, spilled into the River Tyne from damaged containers, after two vessels collided at the Port of Tyne. 

The nurdles, which are generally, one to five millimetres in size, have been washing up on beaches along the coast prompting serious concerns about our wildlife and habitats. 

The Port of Tyne says it acted quickly, and the Environment Agency is investigating but some experts say the response should have been faster. 

Specialist clean-up teams are on the beaches, helped by an army of volunteers doing what they can to clear up the mess. Here’s Steve Lowe to tell us more.

Steve Lowe: audio

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Carl Stiansen:  If you’d like to help the clean-up, contact: the Nurdle Hunt page on Facebook or the Nurdle Hub North East website; And there’s also advice on the North Tyneside Council website. 

 Links: Nurdle Hub NE — Port of Tyne nurdle spill or  https://www.facebook.com/NurdleHunt/

North Tyneside Council: Plastic pellets on beaches (nurdles) | North Tyneside Council

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Carl Stiansen: Tom P’s keeping busy in the sun: harvesting, setting up his veg store and seed bank…. But what are you doing with those bags Tom? 

Tom Pattinson: audio

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Carl Stiansen: It’s been a very warm summer in Northumberland and Tom Cadwallender’s been watching the shifts of screeching swifts - the amazing speed-kings of the sky. So, with all the heat and sunshine, has it been a good breeding season for our birds?

Tom Cadwallender: audio

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Carl Stiansen: And so to the sound of wor blackbird, here’s Tom with some things to be getting on with in the garden.

Tom Pattinson: audio: Jobs for the Week

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Carl Stiansen: You’ve been listening to gardener, Tom Pattinson; birder, Tom Cadwallender from the British Trust for Ornithology, and Steve Lowe from the Cresswell Pele Tower. 

We’re taking our summer break now and we’ll be back at the end of September. Don’t forget, you can listen back to all of our previous programmes via @theNatureGarden Podcast, that’s the Nature Garden Podcast.  I’m Carl Stiansen, thanks for listening and enjoy your gardening and time outdoors with nature, bye for now.