Four seasons... and plenty to do!
STOP PRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Due to the American elections 91Èȱ¬ Two are running a special programme at 8pm on Wednesday 5th November - which means AUTUMNWATCH WILL BE ON AT 7 PM... Tuesday and Thursday still on at 8 pm as usual...
It's sometimes said that in Britain you can experience four seasons in a day - and here we've certainly had what feels like four seasons in a week! After the bitter winds and chilly nights of last week, today has been mild and occasionally bright - almost spring-like at times. The red squirrels are bounding across the forest floor, the lagoon is packed with feeding birds, and little flocks of goldcrests and long-tailed tits are twittering in the trees all over Brownsea Island.
So what's been going on here at the Autumnwatch production office? Well, today we suddenly realised that we had a golden opportunity to rehabilitate some of our least popular birds - the various members of the crow family. Simon has already begun to reveal the secrets of the Welsh ravens on Anglesey, with some truly fascinating stuff in Monday night's show, and more to come on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Bill has taken a trip to the mainland, where the local crows have learned to drop shellfish on the hard surface of the Poole Quay car park, in order to break open the shells and feast on the contents. We realised this was a golden opportunity to show some fabulous archive footage of 'clever crows' (see my earlier blog if you have clever crows in your neighbourhood!)
Only one problem - all the material Simon and his team need is in Bristol, while we're in Dorset and Simon is in Birmingham. Enter our heroine Alex, former producer on Springwatch, who managed to get the stuff together at double-quick speed, and (by some miracle of technology I don't quite understand) sent it up to Simon's team... All to appear on Tuesday night's show...
What else have we got? More squirrel assault course of course (one failure, one success, so a one-all draw between Jo and the squirrels). The first of three great sea eagle films, following the fortunes of a new pair of chicks from our dependable eagle couple, Skye and Frisa, and starring our old friend , the eagle man of Mull. And Bill is doing a review of what may turn out to be the best year ever for blown across the Atlantic to Britain.
This week we are going large on the Marine Bill. As many of you will know, the marine environment has been woefully neglected until quite recently, despite the very best efforts of conservation organisations to raise its profile. It seems it really is a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'. But as Kate's encounter showed on Monday night, the waters around our coasts are packed with extraordinary creatures, and habitats that really do need our protection.
On Tuesday's show Kate revisits a wreck, the Scylla, off the Devon coast - and finds a wonderland of marine life just four years after the boat was sunk. And now you have the chance to help save your favourite offshore location - check out our link to the website where you can have your say...
Gordon has a really dramatic story building on the Farnes - as National Trust warden reveals on his blog, the bulls are back!
And of course you can continue to submit your photos via our site, and (we hope - fingers crossed) upload your videos as well.
Must rush - lots to do!
Stephen
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