Springwatch

13 May, 2007 by The_Boss

(L-R) Simon King, Bill Oddie and Kate Humble have a spring in their step...

BBC TWO Day and time to be confirmed (end of May)

Springtime is seen as a period of growth, renewal, of new life – both plant and animal – being born, and of the cycle of life continuing; and so it is that BBC Two's Springwatch is once again blossoming on our screens.

Bill Oddie and Kate Humble return to guide viewers through the third series of Springwatch, with the trials, the tribulations and the sheer beauty that is spring. Taking place over three weeks, using 50 mini-cameras and miles of fibre-optic cable, the series follows real-life animal dramas – live – without disturbing the animals themselves.

The programmes, based on an organic farm in Devon, will feature blue tits, great tits, swallows, robins, wrens, blackbirds, song thrushes, chaffinches, barn owls, buzzards, jackdaws and badgers. And, for the first time, Springwatch will include woodpeckers, housemartins, otters, kingfishers and dippers. New nesting boxes and cameras have been set up down at the river to capture life water-side and a dedicated satellite system is set to beam stories back to the web 24 hours a day – including the results from a dedicated Golden eagle cam.

Away from the Devon farm, Simon King heads for the beautiful Scottish island of Islay in the Hebrides – a mecca for whisky drinkers and wildlife alike. He'll spend three weeks exploring the whole island, following the stories of the animal characters. In Glasgow, Gordon Buchanan launches a fox diary and follows the red fox families living in the area to discover how they cope with city life.

Springwatch is also a key player in the BBC's three-year Breathing Places Campaign, so viewers will be encouraged to explore their local area – all backed up by the 15 BBC flagship public "Springwatch Festivals" across the UK on the weekend of 9 and 10 June.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/springwatch/