Winterwatch 2021 episode 7

Winterwatch 2021 episode 7: In this episode, Winterwatch takes a look at wellbeing – both for humans and for animals – and how, in these difficult times, nature can have the answers.

Chris Packham will be live in the New Forest with all the news from our live cameras, and Iolo Williams is at the Centre for Alternative technology in Wales.

In the third part of her look at unloved animals, Megan McCubbin looks at why the intelligence of pigeons should be admired. Also, a look at wild swimming with a woman who has found it of enormous benefit to her mental health and who takes amazing photographs of the wildlife she sees on her swims.

Winterwatch 2021 episode 7

New Forest

The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featuring in the Domesday Book.

Pre-existing rights of common pasture are still recognised today, being enforced by official verderers and agisters. In the 18th century, the New Forest became a source of timber for the Royal Navy. It remains a habitat for many rare birds and mammals.

It is a 28,924.5-hectare (71,474-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Several areas are Geological Conservation Review and Nature Conservation Review sites. It is a Special Area of Conservation, a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. Copythorne Common is managed by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Kingston Great Common is a National Nature Reserve[17] and New Forest Northern Commons is managed by the National Trust.

The New Forest covers two parliamentary constituencies; New Forest East and New Forest West.

Columbidae

Columbidae is a bird family consisting of pigeons and doves. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

The family contains 344 species divided into 50 genera. Thirteen of the species are extinct.

In English, the smaller species tend to be called “doves” and the larger ones “pigeons”. The distinction is not consistent, however, and does not exist in most other languages. For example, the woodpigeon is often referred to, by another name, as the ringdove, due to the white markings on its neck. Historically, the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms. The bird most commonly referred to as just “pigeon” is the domestic pigeon, which is common in many cities as the feral pigeon.