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Springwatch is back (1 Viewer)

Himalaya

Well-known member
I am glad they are showing some of the birds in bold but they never show Corvids. I would love them to follow Partridge and Pheasant too.

It is about time they have changed their location. I can appreciate how easy it was to film at Pensthorpe but it was not the only nature reserve in Britain.


http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=2704


The popular BBC wildlife series Springwatch is back and will be coming live from the RSPB's Ynys-hir nature reserve near Machynlleth in mid-Wales this year. And the three-week series will be the programme makers' most ambitious location for the live shows to date. Springwatch presenters Kate Humble, Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games will celebrate the best that Welsh wildlife has to offer live from the site against the beautiful backdrop of the Cambrian Mountains.


Never before has the Springwatch team attempted such an ambitious technical rig for the live show, with fibre-optic cables stretching nearly forty miles. Over fifty high-tech secret mini-cameras have been deployed to follow real-life wildlife dramas without disturbing the animals themselves. Presenters will be broadcasting nearly a mile away from some of the nest cameras, some of which will be fitted with solar panels to be even greener.

Mike Clarke, RSPB Chief Executive, says: "We're delighted that the Springwatch team has chosen Ynys-hir as their new location, especially as this year we celebrate a hundred years of RSPB's work in Wales. Springwatch does a fantastic job of inspiring millions of people about wildlife. I know that many of our members, volunteers and staff love watching it, as do my family. What's especially important about it is how it encourages people out of their armchairs to enjoy wildlife first-hand. We know that these personal encounters with nature are a crucial factor in motivating people to step up and save it."

Springwatch has been in Norfolk for the last three years and the new site sets the stage for a host of different wildlife stars in 2011. Ynys-hir is one of the best places for wildlife in the UK, offering a mix of different habitats to explore — Welsh oak woodland with wet grassland and saltmarshes. For the first time on Springwatch, the team is planning to broadcast live pictures from the reserve's heronry of nesting Grey Herons and Little Egrets.

The presenters will be looking out for Great and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and birds of prey such as Buzzard, Goshawks and Red Kites, as well as featuring some of our most spectacular summer visitors, such as Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers. The Springwatch team will also be staking out the rivers, waterfalls and freshwater ponds in and around Ynys-hir, hoping to follow Dippers, Kingfishers, Sedge, Reed and Grasshopper Warblers. Bankside cameras will be poised and ready for river inhabitants such as otters and grebes.


And as well as birds and mammals, camera teams will be tracking down the 19 species of dragonfly, 26 species of butterflies and over 400 species of moths, as well as reptiles such as Grass Snakes, that call Ynys-hir home.

Russell Jones, RSPB Ynys-hir Warden, says: "All the staff here are really excited that Springwatch has decided to base itself at Ynys-hir. It will be fantastic for the BBC to show everyone the wonderful wildlife that we're looking after here at Ynys-hir. The variety of habitats will ensure that there is plenty to see and we hope that the birds and other wildlife will not be not too camera-shy!"

Springwatch Executive Producer Tim Scoones says: "We're delighted to be working closely with the RSPB again and we're excited about the prospects of exploring the natural wonders of the Ynys-hir nature reserve as our new main base. The RSPB team at the reserve have such a detailed knowledge of the reserve's wildlife and the whole team have been so welcoming. On Springwatch we're never quite sure what will happen — as Mother Nature writes our scripts! — but we know we are in safe hands and good company with the RSPB at Ynys-hir."
 
The popular BBC wildlife series Springwatch is back and will be coming live from the RSPB's Ynys-hir nature reserve near Machynlleth in mid-Wales this year. And the three-week series will be the programme makers' most ambitious location for the live shows to date. Springwatch presenters Kate Humble, Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games will celebrate the best that Welsh wildlife has to offer live from the site against the beautiful backdrop of the Cambrian Mountains.

Gordon Buchanan will also be filming the beavers at Knapdale from early June. I'm on holiday the middle two weeks of June and was hoping to spend a day or two there, I'll see if I can do any wildlife cameramen spotting!
 
Yeah, totally looking forward to it, and I'm keen to see what Ynis-Hir is like...it looks great. I may well have to pay it a visit at some point to try to see pied flycatchers and redstarts (hopefully) - two birds I've never seen. :t:
 
Visited wednesday, all going well. worth noting that just up the road the montgomery wildlife trusts pair of ospreys had 3 eggs and while there a third osprey arrived. MWT told that springwatch hadn't been given permission to film or set up cameras though I guess they will use footage from MWT's own cameras.
 
Five minutes in to the first episode of the new series...

Martin Hughes-Games being annoying? ("It's all about you!") Check
Kate Humble squeaking? Check.
A bird with a name? Check.
Science=boring? Check.
"Brilliant!", "Amazing!", "Magical!"? Check.

Springwatch is back.
 
You are never going to get presenters who everyone is happy with,at the same time not every subject matter will be to everyones taste.Springwatch is what it is,an easy watching programme,timed at a time when families can sit down and watch it together.It appeals to a wide range of people and has undoubtably got many more people involved in nature than other programmes.It is not Attenborough,it is simple and easy to watch and understand for millions,indeed,if it was Attenborough or someone of his stature it would only appeal to a small minority of people,probably those with an interest in nature already!!
 
You are never going to get presenters who everyone is happy with,at the same time not every subject matter will be to everyones taste.Springwatch is what it is,an easy watching programme,timed at a time when families can sit down and watch it together.It appeals to a wide range of people and has undoubtably got many more people involved in nature than other programmes.It is not Attenborough,it is simple and easy to watch and understand for millions,indeed,if it was Attenborough or someone of his stature it would only appeal to a small minority of people,probably those with an interest in nature already!!

Agree with most of your points there Sniper, not sure about your points on Sir Dave though. Many youngsters and indeed many people with a limited knowlege of nature have been enthralled by his programmes. He probably wouldn't suit a programme like Springwatch, its jovial approach to wildlife programming is not his style.
On the subject of last nights programme I thought it was a promising start and set in a good location. I was surprised though to hear Chris refering to the buzzards as 'bad guys' or words to such effect at the start of the programme.Such amateurish, comic book labelling of creatures I thought was consigned to cheap tacky wildlife programmes fronted by clueless presenters. It's not like him to use anthropomorphisms. To me it just sends out the wrong message to those with limited knowlege of wildlife.:C Rant over, I shall be watching the rest of the series.

Si.
 
Not knocking Sir Dave,but I believe that if you are not interested in nature as a young kid,say 6-12 I would of thought you would find springwatch a tad more watchable than the legend which is Sir D
 
On the subject of last nights programme I thought it was a promising start and set in a good location. I was surprised though to hear Chris refering to the buzzards as 'bad guys' or words to such effect at the start of the programme.Such amateurish, comic book labelling of creatures I thought was consigned to cheap tacky wildlife programmes fronted by clueless presenters. It's not like him to use anthropomorphisms. To me it just sends out the wrong message to those with limited knowlege of wildlife.:C Rant over, I shall be watching the rest of the series.

Si.

I was struck by that as well Si - thought it odd for Chris to say something like that.

On another aspect, I'm not usually a fan of the constant-having-a-go-at-Kate club, but I wish she wouldn't keep on saying "of course" before announcing the name of an animal - there's nothing obvious about what it is until you show us what it is and name it! grrrr!

Sorry, early morning rant over now
 
I tend to use Springwatch as a vent for general grumpiness but, inbetween shouts of rage at Humble and HG, i found some of the contect very interesting indeed. Hopefully, they will fulfil the promise to investigate the response of the Knapdale ecosystem to beavers rather than show films of fluffiness.

On the point of Attenborough - I always assumed that the huge, worldwide poularity of his programmes was precisely because he didn't infantilise or trivialise the natural world, as unfortunately SW often does. His various series appealed to all age groups, including a very young me. He assumed you were interested and wanted to know more, therefore negating the need to reduce everything to a platitudinous or overtly-emotional soundbite, as if we needed to be told what/how to feel.

Anyway, it's early days and there's still 3 weeks to go (!).
 
A big improvement in the presenting style, it seemed to us - even hubby watched it all the way through - very rare! Looking forward to Sylvia Sheldon on adders tonight- superb! It's brilliant if they are going to involve more ' amateur' naturalists; that's where a lot of the knowledge and dedication is.
 
I watched it last night and I have to say I miss the presence of Bill Oddie and Simon King. It would be great if they could return in some way. Great to hear that there will be some "amatur" naturalists on the show.

I also miss seeing John Aitcheson (think thats how you spell his surname?). He is a good wildlife film maker and I like watching his work accompanied with his own narration style which is inspiring. So Springwatch producers can we have some more of this?

I also like the chap from Derbyshire and his wildlife filming, narration and poetry reading at the end. I wonder if this will be included this time around?

I hope we get to see some of the RSPB staff at the reserve and hear about their work.

Finally, I would love to hear more about the actual film camera's they use etc

Dean:t:
 
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