12 episodes · 26th May 2020
Springwatch returns for 2020 with a dramatic, exciting and different format to comply with Covid restrictions. The team are broadcasting live from locations close to home - Chris Packham is in the New Forest, Iolo Williams is in the heart of west Wales, and Gillian Burke is at the Beaver Project near her home in Cornwall. They are joined by guest presenter Steve Backshall at his home on the banks of the Thames. It is the first time they have all been home for more than a decade so a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and witness the incredible spring of 2020 from all round the country. And Michaela calls Chris live from South Africa to launch a series of her favourite Springwatch moments from previous years.
Chris Packham, Gillian Burke and Iolo Williams are live again close to their respective homes in the New Forest, west Wales and Cornwall, where overnight events have already created dramas. This year, the Springwatch cameras are following the fortunes of bird families in the Somerset levels and in the wild and rugged Brecon Beacons. With no boat traffic on the Thames, Steve Backshall is witnessing beautiful aquatic insect hatches providing food for a host of birds like swallows and even red kites. Intrepid sound recordist Gary Moore records the incredible urban dawn chorus of songbirds which have been such a feature of spring 2020 .
Live from their home bases in the New Forest, Cornwall, west Wales and the River Thames, Chris Packham, Gillian Burke, Iolo Williams and Steve Backshall share the latest stories from the wildlife cameras. Chris reveals how fish have more ways of making sound than any other vertebrate on the planet, Iolo reveals the intimate secrets of the bird families he has been following in his own back garden, and Michaela relives the dramatic story of a very skilful stoat in Minsmere in 2016. There is also the extraordinary spectacle of the firework sea anemone, and a rare reef made by beautiful peacock worms.
It is the end of the first week of Springwatch and the team review the extraordinary events that have taken place. Gillian is looking back at her week with the beaver family in Cornwall, Chris reveals the extraordinary transformation young salmon perform, and Iolo reveals the latest findings about the mysterious migrations of short-eared owls. Steve introduces his young two-year-old son to a local family of swans.
Springwatch returns for a second live week of wildlife stories from across the country. Tonight, the team explore the power of nature on mental health. Chris Packham shares an extraordinary story of how a love of birds united British POWs and German officers during World War II. The team follow the fortunes of a pair of choughs in west Wales, and wildlife presenter and cameraman Gordon Buchanan focuses on Scottish ospreys in Loch Lomond National Park.
Live from their respective home patches in the New Forest, Cornwall, Wales and Scotland, Chris Packham, Gillian Burke, Iolo Williams and Gordon Buchanan share more seasonal stories from spring 2020. Gillian reveals the extraordinary camouflage tactics of some rock-pool inhabitants, Chris reveals how snails can use their shells to help them remember, and naturalist Brett Westwood celebrates the diversity of insects in his back garden, including an egg-shooting fly.
The team are back for another hour of wildlife stories from across the British Isles. Filmed before the current restrictions, there is a chance to meet hedgehog champion Beryl Casey as she starts training a young apprentice to help her with the 30 hogs in her care. There is a trip down memory lane with Michaela as she celebrates Spineless Si the stickleback, and Iolo looks at white-tailed eagles as many more are now being sighted up and down the country.
Chris Packham, Iolo Williams and Gillian Burke are live from their home patches for another hour-long celebration of British wildlife. They are joined by presenter and natural history cameraman Gordon Buchanan, who looks back on his epic wildlife week in Scotland. Tonight, the team reveal a unique story of habitat rewilding taking place on the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, where white storks are breeding in the wild, and Chris is on a mission to explain why we should all love wasps.
It is the third week of Springwatch, and Chris Packham, Iolo Williams and Gillian Burke catch up on all the dramas from the live wildlife cameras. They are joined by ecologist Ellie Harrison, who shares her own wildlife stories live from her home in the Cotswolds. There is an encounter with otters for wildlife cameraman Raymond Besant at his home in the Orkney Islands, and a portrait of the natural beauty of the Lake District.
Chris Packham, Iolo Williams, Gillian Burke and Ellie Harrison report live from their home counties, celebrating the wildlife thriving on their doorstep. Iolo shares his personal stories about the wildflowers growing in his local hedgerows, and cameraman Sam Oakes documents the fortunes of two very different long-tailed tit nests.
Live from their home patches, Chris Packham, Gillian Burke and Iolo Williams share news from wildlife cameras across the country. There is drama on the storm-lashed Cornish coastline for a pair of shags struggling to rear a new family of chicks. A young female pine marten prepares to rear her young on a remote Scottish peninsular, and there is a moment of magic as the team celebrates the epic beauty of Dartmoor.
In this last Springwatch of 2020, the team reflects on an unprecedented year and nature’s power to help people cope with such challenging times. Wildlife sound recordist Gary Moore searches for a 'lost' dawn chorus on the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, where numbers of rare songbirds like the nightingale are beginning to recover. Gillian Burke explains how she has been helping with a survey of one of Cornwall’s much-loved mammals, the grey seal.
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