At eight o' clock this evening, Winterwatch returns to our screens on BBC2, with Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan presenting from Wild Ken Hill, Norfolk.
In today's post, we take a look at five ways viewers can get the most out of the series.
1. The series itself
The first and foremost means of enjoying the series is to settle in and watch each episode during the week for the next fortnight. Set the timers on your televisions for 8pm on BBC2!
This year will see the return of presenters Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan, who will be situated at Wild Ken Hill, Norfolk for the duration of this year's Winterwatch.
Iolo Williams will also be returning to the series, broadcasting from Isle of Mull. And Megan McCubbin will be based at WWT Castle Espie in Northern Ireland.
The Presenters
Chris Packham is a naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter, and author. He has been working on nature and wildlife television since the early 1980's, and in 1986 he stepped in front of the camera to present the children's programme, The Really Wild Show. Chris is also very involved with conservation; he lends his time to a number of charities and nonprofit organisations, and he is also a president, vice-president, or patron for a number of them.
Michaela Strachan is a television presenter and, since the 1990's, has worked on a number of nature and wildlife programmes, including the BBC's Orangutan Diary. She and Chris Packham worked together on the children's wildlife programme, The Really Wild Show, and are a favourite presenting pair on The Watches.
Iolo Williams is a naturalist, writer, and television presenter. From 1985 until 1999, Iolo worked for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) as a regional co-ordinator. It was through this work that he came to make appearances in the media as an expert on birds. Since the late nineties, he has worked on a number of wildlife programmes, and has been presenting on The Watches since 2019.
Megan McCubbin is a zoologist, conservationist, naturalist, photographer, and presenter. She has worked on wildlife programming for the BBC since 2017, when she worked on Undercover Tourist, in which wildlife activists travelled to some of the world's most popular holiday destinations to investigate illegal wildlife trade. She has since worked on a number of other wildlife programmes, including The Watches since 2020.
2. The BBC website
The Watches are interactive and love to get viewers involved. A great place to get started is the Winterwatch pages of the BBC's website. From there can be found links to wildlife blog posts, short films from the series, episodes on iPlayer, fun and informative quizzes, and much more!
If you'd like to get involved, you can peruse the Winterwatch home page here.
3. Getting out and about
As just mentioned, the series loves to get viewers involved, which makes sense since there's no better way to fall in love with nature than to get out there yourself!
There are a number of ways that nature and wildlife can be explored and appreciated. Perhaps you write poetry, blog posts, or essays. Maybe you paint or take photographs. Maybe you're interested in capturing the sounds of nature, or . . .
Well, as I say, there are a great number of ways that nature lovers can express and explore their passion. And, since The Watches do strive to be interactive, viewers can find their efforts shared on the series!
Fishing on a frosty day; Grey heron, scientific name - Ardea cinerea (photo from personal collection).
4. Social media
The series, and the presenters, make the most of social media to get viewers and nature lovers involved. Social media is a great asset to this series which makes great efforts to interact with viewers, and fans can become something of an online community.
A list of the social media pages can be found below.
- All of The Watches can be followed on Facebook through the BBC Springwatch Facebook page - facebook.com/BBCSpringwatch
- As with Facebook, The Watches on Twitter can be followed through the BBC Springwatch account - twitter.com/BBCSpringwatch
- Iolo Williams is on Twitter.
You can also find others on social media who have worked on The Watches over the years - Steve Backshall, Martin Hughes-Games, Hannah Stitfall, etc. Just remember to be polite and considerate in the comments, even when you disagree with somebody out there in the social media universe.
5. Projects and giving something back
As has been mentioned, many of the presenters that work on The Watches are also conservationists. And even the amateur naturalist knows at least something of the struggles that nature and wildlife is facing in Britain, as well as globally.
There are a number of opportunities to volunteer and undertake citizen science projects throughout the country. Indeed, a number of charities and nonprofit organisations rely on reports from citizen science projects to gather data and information on nature and wildlife in the United Kingdom.
On the weekend of the 28th January, the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch will see nature lovers throughout the country watching and counting birds around the country, in gardens and local parks, and submitting their findings to the RSPB by post or online.
The Winterwatch pages on the BBC website also lists a number of projects you can do this month and through the year.
Giving a little something back is perhaps the greatest way a nature lover can demonstrate their appreciation for nature and wildlife.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this year's Winterwatch series. You can support this blog and my writing with a coffee over on ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me researching and writing so you don't have to! Thank you to all supporters!
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