BBC Springwatch coming soon to Wild Ken Hill in Snettisham
Fans of 'The Watches' will be pleased to learn that the BBC will be returning to nature reserve Wild Ken Hill in Snettisham in May with presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan back once again.
Springwatch 2022 is back to do what The Watches does best, to inspire, engage and invite our audience to immerse themselves in the best of the season’s wildlife, as it happens.
When so much around the world is in flux, the programme offers the comfort blanket that only the joy of the natural world can bring and deliver a bounty of colour and heart-warming stories to living rooms across the country.
Returning to BBC2 from Monday, May 30 for three weeks of live programmes the programmers invite the audience to watch the season, the presenters will be the eyes and ears exploring three live locations and witnessing dramas, as they happen.
As always, the audience will be encouraged to feed into the content throughout the three weeks and we will react to topics and questions as they come in.
With an overarching theme of the restorative power of nature, Springwatch explores, engages and simply wallows in the joy of spending time embracing our natural world.
Bringing the very best British wildlife, not only through the smorgasbord of live nest cameras that are rigged across live locations, but also through films.
Captured on film before the live programmes will see season’s revealing blue chip behaviour, privileged insights through macro filming and meet some of the most passionate people dedicating their time and immersing themselves in the natural world.
Chris and Michaela will be back again where forward thinking land management methods both care for and crucially, co-exist with wildlife.
In spring, Wild Ken Hill’s nesting season is in full swing and remote cameras allow a privileged and intimate view into some of the most magical nests on site.
From hidden marsh harriers to the exuberant lapwing as well as our much-loved spring songbirds.
Chris and Michaela invite the audience behind the scenes to see how we film and monitor so many nests and keep up with the stories and drama.
Our cameras are also poised to capture any exciting activity in the beaver enclosure, as spring is the perfect time to catch a glimpse of the season’s new kits.
There is plenty of insect action too. We plan to rig remote LIVE cameras on a bee colony, giving us an insight inside their society, watching closely as the queen bee arrives, and the colony grows throughout our live transmission.
This also allows us to talk about and appreciate the wealth of invertebrate life attracted to Wild Ken Hill, thanks to their natural, wildlife friendly practices and will be home to more than 30 remote cameras – each hoping to capture the drama of spring as it unfolds.
Some of the nests we are primed to follow this season include the impressive birds of prey; kestrels, marsh harriers, goshawk and red kites. The farmland birds in linnets, grey partridge and curlew.
Crowd pleasers like the swifts, yellowhammers and redshanks. While down on the marsh the reedwarblers, common sandpipers, skylarks and long-tailed tits.
If we’re really lucky, we may get a full range of waterfowl such as Pintails, Shovelers, Teal, Widgeon, Gadwall, Mallards and Garganey.
But it’s not all about the birds as the site is also rich in some of our favourite mammals such as brown hares and at least three species of deer.
In the re-wilding section of the site they have introduced Red Poll Cattle, Exmoor Ponies, Tamworth Pigs, with a new batch of piglets that are only three weeks old and beavers.
The site is rich in invertebrates and small mammals all of which are (hopefully) waiting to be discovered by our cameras.
Our audience are engaging with the natural world right outside their window and we want to see what they are seeing! We'll be showcasing the best of the footage and photos that our viewers send in, tagging @BBCSpringwatch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
