SPRINGWATCH 2026 begins tonight! ๐Ÿฆ‰

WhatThe
WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
edited May 25 in Coffee lounge

On BBC2 tonight at 8pm for a whole hour of loveliness with Chris Packham.

Monday to Thursday for the next three weeks ๐Ÿพ

ยซ13

Comments

  • Bluebell21
    Bluebell21 Community Member Posts: 4,545 Championing

    Will be watching.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
    edited May 25

    The TV guide says Thursday's episode will cover chicks preparing to fledge and predators waiting to move in..

    My crowlet is a bit bigger than a blackbird but well hidden under these canopies for now.

  • Bluebell21
    Bluebell21 Community Member Posts: 4,545 Championing

    Lots of chicks certainly keep the adult birds busy.

    I never knew frogspawn was so interesting. Amazing seeing how they develop into tadpoles.

    Really enjoyed tonight's programme.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
    edited May 26

    Filming here:

    Storrington in West Sussex named UKโ€™s first European stork village

    The Saxons knewย the West Sussex village of Storringtonย as Estorchestone, the โ€œabode of the storksโ€.

    But the graceful white birds disappeared from its skies more than 600 years ago, when they became extinct in Britain.

    Now, after the white storkโ€™s successful return, Storrington and the nearby Knepp estate have been designated a โ€œEuropean stork villageโ€.

    The storks are thriving again on theย Knepp wildland, the first major lowland rewilding project in England. A record-breaking 53 white storks fledged from wild nests here in 2024, mostly in the tops of ancient oak trees. The birds line their huge nests with soft, fibrous dung from Kneppโ€™s free-roaming ponies.

    A lone white stork in profile

    White storks reach maturity at about three years old and can live for 20-40 years.ย 

    Storks are finding the rewilded former farmland of Knepp ideal habitat, with its insect- and earthworm-rich rough meadows and wetlands providing plenty of food. Pairs are also bonding at another site in Wadhurst, East Sussex, and are frequently seen flying across the region.

    (Patrick Barkham the Guardian)

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
    edited May 29

    I loved watching the white storks but filming on the Knepp Estate ended last night.

    There was just one eyebrow-raising Iolo (pronounced Yolo) moment for me. As he was being led to a nest of stork chicks on the ground by an Estate keeper, he told her to mind the nettles like she didn't know there were nettles on her patch! She was wearing trousers because she obviously did know while he was in shorts ๐Ÿ˜…

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
    edited June 1

    On tonight at 8pm and every evening until Thursday, this week and next!

  • Ross1975
    Ross1975 Community Member Posts: 1,357 Championing

    I've not seen Springwatch for years.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing

    Final episode of Week 2 starting now!

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing

    ๐Ÿธ

  • Bluebell21
    Bluebell21 Community Member Posts: 4,545 Championing

    What an amazing stag beetle. Not that I would want it crawling near me.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing

    I've had to dodge them when they're in flight and they are rather big ๐Ÿ˜๏ธ

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing

    I love the soundtrack and always turn it up for my crows ๐Ÿ˜„

    Crowlet is still begging for food and their chatter makes me smile.

  • Bluebell21
    Bluebell21 Community Member Posts: 4,545 Championing

    Crowlet must be getting quite big now. I am glad you are getting so much pleasure from the crows @WhatThe

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
    edited June 4

    Thank you, Bluebell. It's been fascinating. It's not a fluffball anymore and must feel safe here.

    It may just be calling its parents back as I can't always see it through the leaves. Its voice is so much stronger than it was 10 days ago.

  • ChrisR777
    ChrisR777 Community Member Posts: 1,340 Trailblazing

    We don't have them here, they live mostly in the south of England. ๐Ÿ˜

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing

    I had no idea the stag beetle is an endangered species in the UK and globally, too!

    I must admit I've seen much fewer than I did 10 or 20 years ago, in London.

  • ChrisR777
    ChrisR777 Community Member Posts: 1,340 Trailblazing
  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing

    And you're welcome to bats in the face on your walks, mate ๐Ÿ˜

  • ChrisR777
    ChrisR777 Community Member Posts: 1,340 Trailblazing

    Bats are great, they usually swerve at the last minute. I suppose there must be the odd one needing thier echo location equipment serviced.

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,025 Championing
    edited June 11

    Final episode of Springwatch 2026 tonight ๐Ÿคฉ I will miss this hour of loveliness (mostly) and we heard that the soundtrack on future series will be changed to natural sounds so I will also miss that.

    My only complaint is Iolo's shouty voice which really bothered me this time. I can manage his Welsh accent but not at that speed and volume so I had to turn the volume down. This is supposed to be a relaxing programme! I did not much enjoy his Mindfulness Moment with flies swarming the Thames, either ๐Ÿ™„