Springwatch is back – bigger and better than ever!
The main location for Springwatch 2024 is RSPB Arne in Dorset. We’ll be returning this spring to catch up on the stories and wildlife characters from Springwatch 2023 – one of the most dramatic seasons we’ve ever had. We’ll also be exploring key sites across the county of Dorset, discovering the varied landscapes and local wildlife that call it home. We’ll also be on a road-trip discovering all that the Isle of Bute, Loch Lomond and Glasgow has to offer.
Our mission, as always, is to inspire, engage and captivate our audience. Inviting them to immerse themselves in the best of this season’s wildlife, as it happens.
This year, BBC Springwatch returns to iPlayer and BBC Two from Monday 27 May for three weeks of live programmes. Our presenters will be the audience’s eyes and ears exploring our LIVE locations and witnessing dramas, as they happen.
We’re broadcasting live:
- Monday 27 May – Wednesday 29 May – 8pm and Friday 31 May – 7.30pm
- Monday 3 June – Thursday 6 June – 8pm)
- Monday 10 June – Thursday 13 June – 8pm
As always, the audience will be encouraged to join the conversation as we celebrate this season full of new life and hope. We’ll react to topics and questions from viewers as they come in – and nothing is off limits when it comes to discussing the wildlife we love.
With an overarching theme of ‘Little Things Make A Big Difference’, Springwatch explores the premise that even the smallest of actions to help our wildlife can have a massive impact when we act collectively.
We’ll have a whole new array of live nest-cameras rigged across our springtime location to bring a fresh cast of characters to a primetime audience. We’ll have a range of pre-recorded films, which have been capturing what’s been happening across the UK this year. And we’re not shying away from some of the hard-hitting truths and challenges affecting our wildlife.
This year, we’re revealing more behind the scenes of Springwatch so the viewers can have exclusive access into how the series is made and the care we take not to disturb our wildlife cast of characters.
Chris and Michaela will be stationed at the RSPB’s Arne reserve in Dorset.
RSPB Arne comes alive at this time of year with rare breeding birds, specialised heathland insects and all six of the UK’s native species of reptiles.
Set against the backdrop of Poole Harbour, RSPB Arne seems to have it all. Famous for its wide-open heathlands where reptiles roam, we’ll be exploring ancient oak woodlands, farmland and reedbeds. If that wasn’t enough, mudflats, scrub, wet woodland and acid grassland are just some of the habitats where the huge variety of wildlife which call Arne home can be found.
In spring, the vast heathland that characterises this area is warming up a range of rare, unusual and charismatic characters for the breeding season.
Iolo Williams will be exploring the bountiful wildlife that Dorset has to offer as he spreads his wings to meet some of its rarest residents. From rare Little Terns nesting on the vastness of Chesil Beach to Dormice snoozing in the tranquillity of Garston’s ancient woodland, the rich habitats of southern England have a wealth of wildlife stories to explore.
Over the course of the series, he’ll be meeting those people that have dedicated themselves to understanding and protecting these special species. At Portland Bird Observatory, he’ll be joining migration monitors that have been logging spring’s arrivals on the Dorset coast for over 60 years. He’ll be meeting experts unpicking the surprising urban life of Bournemouth’s Nightjars whilst, over the border in Hampshire, he’ll look at how the efforts by local farmers are trying to turn the tide for our fastest declining bird – the Turtle Dove.
Megan McCubbin is heading to Scotland. In the Firth of Clyde off the west coast of Scotland is the Isle of Bute. It is a small island but when it comes to wildlife it packs a punch and Megan is on a mission to see as much as she can for the first week of Springwatch. She will take a deep dive into the underwater habits of seals and watch the impressive hunting habits of Osprey that return each year to breed.
She will also team up with Glasgow University’s field research centre to uncover the life that calls Loch Lomond home. The freshwater is surrounded by temperate rainforest providing habitat for an array of species which are the subject of study for the team. For two nights Megan will uncover some of the science and get hands on with the wildlife that lives on the loch.
She’ll then head to Argaty Rewilding Estate in Perthshire and explore this family-owned rewilding estate revelling in red kites that call this working farm home and discover the difference beavers have made to the landscape. Megan will get hands on with the habitat, seeing all the signs of the ecosystem engineers, and if we’re lucky, see them for ourselves!
The final week of our Scottish Springwatch tour will take Megan to Glasgow. Here she’ll be uncovering and discovering the urban wildlife that can be found in one of Scotland’s most industrious cities. We will have cameras trained on peregrine falcons nesting in tower tops and the iconic water voles hidden away in the undergrowth, as well as featuring fascinating new science and research taking place in the heart of the city.
- Watch Springwatch on iPlayer and BBC Two from Monday 27 May
Interview with Chris Packham
How can we support local wildlife this Spring?
Firstly, we can ensure that wildlife is allowed to prosper and that means communicating in our communities. No Mow May is running this month and that’s very much a community thing so people can make sure that their verges and parts of their local park or community resource areas that are green can be left un-mown.
We can also do No Mow May in our gardens, if we’re lucky enough to have gardens. It’s a time where things start growing and people will be returning to their gardens. So I’d say return with wildlife gardening in mind, not just gardening for decorative reasons. And there’s a whole wealth of material out there in terms of how people can access that and what’s appropriate for them.
Obviously, making ponds is also something that we’ve always encouraged on the Watches. The single most important thing you can do to increase biodiversity is to put a pond in your garden and bear in mind it doesn’t have to be large, we’ve done projects in the past where they’ve been washing up bowls and they still attract species to them.
What are your favourite kinds of wildlife to spot around this time of year and why?
Well it’s all the harbingers of spring: the first butterflies, I had a great day yesterday when there were brimstone butterfly about, absolutely my favourite butterfly by far. Also yesterday I had first orange tips and holly blue butterflies. You get a real sense of things happening when those species appear and it’s a joy to see them and they’re all familiar species that can appear in just about everyone’s back garden.
Birdsong obviously is coming to that peak of when we should have a dawn chorus if we’re lucky enough to live in an area with a density of birds so one species to really listen out for are blackbirds. Another is song flushes, I call them the urban nightingale. Their rich, fluid and melodic song is really special and again they’re widespread across the UK, you can find them in urban as well as rural areas. So these are all common species, but their songs are worth listening to.
What do you want viewers to learn from Springwatch?
The thing about Springwatch, as ever, is it will be a challenge and a surprise. Our mission is to bring people new stories from the nest that we follow and the other stories that we bring in and obviously we’ll be delving into the new science and the only thing that we can guarantee, or that we can’t say what it is, is that we will see something that we’ve not seen before, as that always happens.
And we will therefore delve deeply into the new science and we’ll come up with new stories for people and you know, I can’t tell you what they’ll be because who knows what will unfold. We’ve got our camera on Corfe Castle peregrines and their nesting opposite the Ravens. So there could be some interplay between those. Who knows what that could be, that could be the drama of the series peregrines versus ravens. And then we’ll find out more about both of those species and how they behave.
What advice do you have for getting kids interested in wildlife spotting?
I think the first thing is don’t demonise devices. I use my phone all the time, I use my phone to identify species. There’s some good birdsong apps that work pretty well and they are improving. I’ve also got a device that plugs into my phone and it becomes a bat detector. So I think there was an idea that we should keep young people away from their devices because they disconnect them from nature. But in fact, I would argue mine connect me with nature. And I’ve got all my field guides on my phone now. I mean, I kept my books, but most of those books when it comes to UK and European wildlife, have been translated into apps that are usable on my phone. I think it’s about retraining those young people to make sure that they understand how useful those apps can be.
What do you hope to see when you’re in Dorset?
Something new, something we haven’t seen before. Dorset wildlife has a sort of speciality there because a lot of Arne is sandy lowland heath.
Last year we saw extraordinary things with our night jars eating their own young. You just couldn’t make that up and no one’s been able to explain what was going on there. And that’s great because we love mysteries in natural history. We don’t need to know everything, but it generates conversation and people come up with ideas.
Hopefully, if we can we’ll focus on the peregrines and the ravens and we’ll see some new things. I’ll also be leading the charge to not just focus on the cute cuddly, the fluffy and the feathered, you know, it’s all about the little stuff as well. And that means the invertebrates and the plants and so largely we are pretty good at that and I’ll be pushing harder for more.
If you were a British wildlife species, what would you be and why?
Everyone would love to be something fast and dashing. It would be quite fun to be a peregrine falcon for a few minutes and be stooping at more than 100 miles an hour conventionally. That’d be quite a thrill.
But if it were a lifetime, in the jackdaw population there are groups of male jackdaws that never breed. Essentially they just sort of have a bachelor’s life without any of the encumbrance of responsibility.
And there’s always a nice jackdaw population on Corfe Castle, which is one of the most attractive ruined castles in the UK, if you ask me, it’s one of my favourite places. And jackdaws are quite smart, they can they can swindle people out of their sandwiches and scones while they’re having a cream tea alongside Corfe Castle. So I would be a non-breeding Jackdaw on Corfe Castle. I’d try to avoid the peregrines. Wouldn’t want to be eaten by one of those too quickly, of course!
Interview with Michaela Strachan
How can we support local wildlife this Spring?
Obviously we can do all the usual stuff that we always speak about that everyone should be doing anyway, like feeding the birds, putting out water, leave a bit of the garden messy, plant local foods.
But also something we’re going to be talking about this series is The Big Help Out, the biggest mass volunteering event of the year between the 7 to 9 of June. It’s not just wildlife, it’s volunteering for lots of different organisations, but obviously we’re going to be focusing on the wildlife.
We’re going to be looking at things like animal sanctuaries, environmental projects, local wildlife groups, doing all sorts of different things that people can volunteer with wildlife, anything from a beach clean to surveys, and it really is a great way that people can support local wildlife.
What are your favourite kinds of wildlife to spot around this time of year and why?
One of my favourite birds in the UK are puffins and also I’m choosing them because we’re going to be filming some nests on the Dorset coast. I’m going to focus on this one species because it could actually be a real turning point for puffins this year. Their numbers have dropped dramatically, mainly due to climate change and overfishing and the loss of what they eat, which is sandeels.
But just recently the government have got some new legislation out which is stopping industrial sandeel fishing in the English North Sea and all Scottish waters from the 26 of March. And that’s in time for the puffin breeding season, so I think it could this could be a real turning point for not just puffins, but other seabirds as well. And I find that incredibly exciting that something so big has been done to help a bird like the Puffin and so many of our of our seabirds around our coastline. I love puffins I love the colourful beaks and I love the fact that they’re so interesting to watch and they’re real characters.
What do you want viewers to learn from Springwatch?
I think like as in every Watch our aim is to inspire our viewers, inspire them to see wildlife, care about it, and then protect it. If you don’t know about wildlife, you’re not going to be interested. You’re not going to care about protecting it. So I mean, I think that’s what we really want viewers to take home from any series of the watches that we do.
And the other thing that we’re promoting is the Hero Awards. We want to show people that anyone can make a difference, we can all be wildlife heroes, anyone can help with wildlife. And during the series, we’re going to promote so many different ways that you can do that and to inspire people with our Hero Awards, awards where people have nominated others that have done amazing things for wildlife. And as I say hopefully that will inspire people to do their own things however big or small they might be.
Every series we learn something fascinating and something that surprises the experts. And I love it when we show those things and people go away with a wow moment from something that they would have totally overlooked. We want them to go away with wow moments and wow facts about things that they would never know about never had the chance to see.
What advice do you have for getting kids interested in wildlife spotting?
I think it’s getting harder and harder to get kids connected with wildlife because of the competition between watching wildlife and the draw of social media and all the other platforms that kids get involved with. So I think the way to get kids into nature is using social media to inspire them. I think we’ve just got to find new ways of keeping kids connected, most kids are born with a fascination for wildlife. So the challenge is not to let kids disconnect with that, you know, to keep them with that fascination and I also think we just need inspiration from young people. And we’re doing that more and more on the show.
What do you hope to see when you’re in Dorset?
One of the things we’re really excited about is cameras on a peregrine nest. We’re rigging up cameras on Corfe Castle with the National Trust and it’s the first time we’ve rigged a historic monument ourselves. And so that’s exciting in itself. We haven’t had cameras on a peregrine nest for a long time now. There’s also a raven nest on Corfe Castle so it will be interesting to see the interactions between the peregrine nest and the raven nest . I think that’s going to be quite an exciting nest for us to watch.
If you were a British wildlife species, what would you be and why?
I’d love to be a bottlenose dolphin. I think dolphins are smart, they’re fit, they’re speedy. They hang around in gangs, which looks fun, and they’ve got the ocean as a playground. They make people smile, and people are usually really pleased to see a bottlenose dolphin. People like dolphins and I’m one of those people who likes to be liked. So those are my reasons for wanting to be a dolphin!
Interview with Megan McCubbin
How can we support local wildlife this Spring?
We must all do our part in protecting the environment, and that can start in our gardens. Adding a small wildlife pond, native wildflower patch or hedgehog highway is a great way to look after wildlife. The most important thing we can do, though, is to use our voices for nature. By enthusing with neighbours about wildlife’s wonders, engaging with community conservation projects or asking local representatives for the changes you want to see in the landscape can be a rewarding and important way to care for wild species.
What are your favourite kinds of wildlife to spot around this time of year and why?
A favourite spring spectacle of mine has got to be the return of the seabirds to our coastlines. The sound, the smell, the chaos… it’s fabulous. I love watching the puffins, razorbills, guillemots and gannets going about their business raising a chick in such a seemingly tough environment. Further inland, the emergence of colourful wild flowers and the symphony of bird song is also pretty special. I have just heard my first churring nightjar of the season, as well as a few cuckoos! Two great species to listen out for.
What do you want viewers to learn from Springwatch?
I’d love for viewers to be left feeling empowered. Springwatch is such a joyous celebration of our native wildlife and I love getting to share the latest science and conservation news with the audience as we still have so much to learn. We do know, however, that one in six species in the UK is threatened with extinction and they need our help. I hope views will watch the show, fall in love with nature and wake up the next day feeling inspired and excited to do something different from the day before to support our natural ecosystem. Together, this is how we will turn things around.
What advice do you have for getting kids interested in wildlife spotting?
Some of the best advice I can give for getting children interesting in nature is to allow them to take the lead. When you’re outside, let them lead the way and explore what interests them the most. They might gravitate to the meadow, a pond or the woods, they might wish to dig in the soil or climb a tree. It’s important to be there whilst they explore safely but giving young kids the opportunity to get curious on their own is very important. I believe all children are born with an interest in the animals around them – it’s just about allowing them to harness that fascination in the right way!
What do you hope to see when you’re in Scotland?
There really is nowhere else as wild and dramatic as Scotland – which is one of the reasons it is such a special place for me. I am really excited to learn more about the ospreys which make their home across the islands and take a look at the ecology of the loch ecosystems. We also have some very exciting films to show from the country, including a feature of a groundbreaking conservation success for one of the UK’s most endangered bird species.
If you were a British wildlife species, what would you be and why?
If I were a British species, I would probably be an osprey or a blue shark. Both have connections to the water (one of my favourite environments) and really interest me. I would love to know first-hand what their lives are like!
Wildlife Heroes
We’ll be revealing the winners of the inaugural Springwatch Wildlife Hero Awards. In Winterwatch 2024 we asked for nominations for individuals and groups who go above and beyond for our wildlife. We had more than 1750 nominations of people doing amazing, heart-warming work up and down the country.
It was the job of Megan McCubbin, Dr Amir Khan and Jim Moir to choose the two winners – one in the Under 18’s category and one in the Over 18’s category.
The winners will be presented with their awards in the second week of the shows.
Pre-filmed Stories
As ever, Springwatch has a number of pre-recorded films which have been documenting the season as it’s been playing out. These films aim to bring diversity in every sense of the word; not only geographically, but featuring mammals and invertebrates, amphibians and fish, reptiles and birds, as well as telling heartfelt human stories of those helping, appreciating and immersing themselves in British wildlife.
Corfe Behind the Scenes
Three miles south of Arne stand the towering remains of Corfe Castle, where mating peregrines have claimed a raven’s nest atop its 20-metre high walls. We go behind the scenes as the Springwatch team hoist a 50kg camera into position, and set one of the coolest nest cams in the programme’s history.
Neonic Flea Treatments
Vet and Conservationist Sean McCormack investigates how flea treatments are poisoning our rivers, threatening the entire food web. While pollution from sewage, industry, and farming is putting huge pressure on our wildlife, new research has found two particularly deadly types of pesticide in almost every watercourse in the country, with the only major source our homes, and the chemicals we use on our beloved pets.
Atlantic Puffins
As Atlantic Puffins decline across Europe, there are colonies bucking the trend. We’ll head to Skomer, to discover why this puffin breeding ground is thriving, and learn how it could help others across the UK. We’ll also gets in the water with the puffins to learn what sociable birds they are.
Welsh Waters
Just off the Llyn peninsula in Wales, the sea bed hides danger at every turn. From cunning Giant Weavers, to Jostling Crabs, and a critically endangered Angel Shark, every mound of shifting sand can hide a hungry mouth. We spend a day in this fascinating and often hidden environment, as we follow an unassuming goby fish navigating its hostile world.
Badgers
Malcolm Ingham has been capturing footage of his local badger clans for over 10 years. Sharing his footage online he has helped to spread awareness for and show people what badgers are really like.
Malcolm has witnessed great badger interactions with otters and sheep and has the invaluable window into the secretive life of a badger family.
Death and Decay
Spring is best known for new life… but all growth is matched with decay. A squirrel has taken its last breath but its story is far from finished. As a newfound oasis, it provides as a nursery, a food source and a breeding ground for an eclectic collection of species.
Natterjack Toads
In the sandy, treeless heaths of Southern England, mires and pools form part of the landscape as a rare green-eyed amphibian ventures out of his winter burrow. Having not been seen in these parts for the last 50 years, the Natterjack toad is a welcome sight. The loudest amphibian in Europe, his chirrup fills the air once again, as he works hard to attract a mate. The full moon adds the final romantic touch. But will the tapdoles find enough food before the pools dry out once again?
Red Throated Divers
At first glance this northerly most land mass within the UK appears deserted. But then, a haunting call ricochets across the loch heralding the arrival of the Red Throated Diver. Only coming ashore in Spring to find a mate, they put on an impressive display, mirroring each other’s moves with mesmeric synchronicity. Dressed to impress, it’s not long before they have chicks in tow. But these chicks need feeding, and often, leaving them precariously vulnerable to scavenging Skuas and hungry hooded crows…
Marsh Fritillery
In the chalk grasslands of North Dorset, one butterfly caterpillar is emerging from a long hibernation. The Marsh Fritillary. But the early Spring weather has been unkind as they battle to feed and absorb enough energy from the sun. When their ‘outer jacket’ cannot expand anymore it simply has to come off, which leaves them vulnerable and struggling to settle into their new skin. They need to go through this six times before pupation and their miraculous metamorphosis into a butterfly can begin. But with so many precarious stages to get through, can they last the distance?
Roy Dennis
Chris Packham travels to Scotland to shine a light on one of his childhood heroes, legendary conservationist, Roy Dennis. A specialist in raptor reintroductions and a passionate advocate for bringing back extinct species to the British Isles, Roy takes Chris on a journey through time as they explore all he has done to help reintroduce White Tailed Eagles, Red Kites and Osprey to the UK. Starting at Roy’s home in Moray and finishing at RSPB Loch Garten – the site of Roy’s very first Osprey sighting – this is a fitting and emotional celebration of a man who has dedicated his entire life to protecting our wildlife.
Louis VI
Louis VI – zoologist, musician, and rapper – combines his passions as he speaks up, and speaks out, for nature… He travels to the edges of Eryri in Wales, to a temperate rainforest, one of the rarest and most biodiverse habitats in the UK. Joined by renowned Springwatch soundman Gary Moore, together they record the sounds of species whose voices we are at risk of losing altogether from our natural soundscape. Louis’ aim – to put a mic to mother nature and shine a light on her song, before using the sounds he records back in his studio to make a song of his own.
Capercaillie
We’ll be in the Highlands to meet PHD Researcher Jack Bamber who has dedicated the last four years to preventing Capercaillie numbers from falling whilst simultaneously leaving their biggest nest predator, the protected Pine Marten, importantly unharmed. Jack shows us his new revolutionary strategy to divert the Pine Martens which has had a miraculous 83% success rate. In the early 1990s it was said the Capercaillie would be extinct by 2010, but with Jack and his team’s help, their future may be safeguarded for a lot longer…
Pseudoscorpion
The humble compost heap. A place for our discarded waste, but for a pseudoscorpion it’s a putrid paradise and spring is the season to search for a mate. Danger lurks amongst last night’s leftovers as predators prowl but this amorous arachnid has a crafty claw to get out of harm’s way.
Matt Maran
Award winning photographer Matt Maran has made it his mission to uncover and document the lives of London’s urban foxes. Building a close relationship with these candid canines, he uses his work to characterise them and change people’s opinions of the polarising, but fantastic, fox.
Lira Valencia
Influencer. Londoner. Naturalist. We delve into the life of Lira Valencia as she delights in the wildlife of Walthamstow Wetlands. Her passion for engaging people with species that can be found on urban streets is clear as she takes a trip to heron island to ring the newly hatched chicks.
Fox Tales
There is none so adaptable as the urban fox and an allotment in north London provides the perfect place for these individuals. With a life expectancy of only 18 months we see these creatures contend with the obstacles that city living presents, and their ingenuity as they survive amidst the traffic and townhouses.
Roxy the Zoologist
For social media sensation Roxy Furman, documenting wildlife has always been second nature… Now she’s keen to share her passion with the lady who inspired her love of the natural world in the first place. Her nana Ruth. She wants to give her a glimpse into her world, and share a rare and precious day out together. Suffering from a degenerative genetic disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Ruth uses a wheelchair so Roxy’s chosen College Lakes in Tring for their outing where the hides are accessible and Spring birdlife is abundant.
Sandhoppers
As the sun sets in Scotland, strange creatures emerge on mass. Sandhoppers make their way from shelter to the shingle and seaweed at the high tide line. In magnificent macro detail we follow these invertebrates as they feed providing a crucial service to the shore breaking down detritus, and they in turn provide sustenance for a wealth of seaside species.
Mindfulness Moments
There will also be a return for an audience favourite – our Mindfulness Moments. In each programme, we’ll have a 90 second film of pure nature. No music, no presenter voice-over, just natural sound and glorious pictures to take us to wild places or immerse us in natures favourite species.
Springwatch Digital
The Springwatch digital team will, as always, be providing a wealth of exciting extra content.
Our digital team will be on location with the TV team at RSPB Arne in Dorset. Hannah Stitfall will be presenting two live Watch Out shows every week with exclusive behind the scenes content, breaking wildlife news at it happens and answering questions from the audience.
Our live wildlife cameras will be streaming across multiple platforms including TikTok every day, with tales from nests, feeders and everything in between. You can tune in on iPlayer or at www.bbc.co.uk/springwatch, where you can also find lots of additional content.
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 and Instagram.
There will be extra clips not seen on TV, revealing the natural magic of Spring as it arrives across the country, and regular highlight packages from the remote cameras will provide a more in-depth insight into the secret lives of the animals we are covering.
As ever, Watches’ digital team will be on hand to answer viewers’ wildlife-related questions on Facebook and Twitter, working with partner organisations and experts to respond to even the trickiest of inquiries.
Watch Out will be live after the TV show on:
- Tues 28 May at 9pm
- Fri 31 May at 8.30pm
- Tues 4 June at 9pm
- Thurs 6 June at 9pm
- Tues 11 June at 9pm
- Weds 12 June at 9pm.