Countryfile: Season 29, Episode 24

29 - 24: Northern Ireland

Ellie Harrison and Joe Crowley are in Northern Ireland, where Joe is up at the crack of dawn in woods just south of Belfast. He joins the RSPB team who are tagging swifts to find out where they feed, and he heads to the arts centre where the biggest swift colony in the city can be found to see how sensitive building benefits the birds. He also meets the locals doing their bit to help Belfast become 'swift city'. Joe then heads to the farm where you are as likely to find physalis, mustard flowers and Asian radish as you are spuds, carrots and caulis. Meanwhile, Ellie takes a canoe trip down the beautiful River Bann. It is a great place for wading birds, is steeped in history and is said to be the river St Patrick took before arriving at the island where he built a monastery. Ellie also visits Church Island and sees the sites associated with St Patrick, and she hears that it was also the poet Seamus Heaney's favourite place in the world.