Tag: Autumnwatch

Winterwatch 2013 now Over

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In early Autumn last year, the BBC announced that instead of the usual format for Autumnwatch, it would be cutting it to a single week, with a second week scheduled for January and would therefore be the first series of Winterwatch. Both weeks were to be set at the Aigas Field Centre, a place that has become my second home over the past five years. The large estate is a real haven for wildlife, including the rare pine marten and a family of beavers. The studio was located in a fishing cabin, next to Loch Cuil na Caillich, affectionately called “The Illicit Still”, after a story told to Sir John Lister-Kaye.

“The Illicit Still”, the log cabin used as the Winterwatch studio in 2013.

Autumnwatch was a great success, with good views of a wide range of wildlife and showed unexpected behaviour, not least in one of the beaver lodges, when a water shrew was seen on one of the cameras. Now that Winterwatch has ended, it can be viewed with equal success, with more footage of previously unseen behaviour, including beavers swimming under the ice on the loch. In fact, the timing of the week of programmes was fortuitous, as it coincided with the advent of cold weather, in what had been a mild winter up to that point. Also featured were pine martens and red squirrels, with some experimentation to examine their behaviour. The final programme was followed by Winterwatch Unsprung. The whole half an hour slot was based in the studio, instead of outside. It was good to see some of the rangers I have grown to know of the past few years, even though a number of them have left since Autumnwatch to take up new challenges. However, behind and above Chris Packham’s right shoulder, placed in prominent view, was a print of one of my images, in fact it was very appropriate, as it was a view of the very cabin they were in, from across the loch following overnight snow.

Female blackbird feeding on Pyracantha berries.

Further south, winter even gripped the southwest of England. Snow is uncommon in most winters, but we have had snow in three of the last four in Somerset now. Parts of Somerset had several inches, but in Bridgwater, the snow was preceded by a spell of heavy rain, which limited the snowfall to a just a couple of inches. However, it was enough to alter the behaviour of the local wildlife, due to the scarcity of food. The public area at the front of my house was full of blackbirds, but when the children were playing in the snow, they were forced into my garden, where they fed on berries on my Pyracantha and Cotoneaster bushes. At a couple of points, two female birds were present and this resulted in some territorial disputes. Lighting was pretty awful, but I was able to get some ok images of them perched on the bushes and some of them feeding.

 

Autumnwatch at Aigas Field Centre

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On Monday, it was announced by the BBC, that this year’s Autumnwatch would be based at a location that has become my second home over the past few years. The Aigas Field Centre is set within an eighteen acre estate, centered around an old Victorian hunting lodge. Surrounding the house that has been built as a result of a series of extensions to the hunting lodge, are a formal garden and arboretum, looked after lovingly by Lady Lucy Lister-Kaye, who also runs the kitchen and serves high quality food, along with the kitchen staff. These gardens are bordered by the log cabins where most guests stay and they are frequented by the resident red squirrels and the odd pine marten and badger.

Beyond the house and gardens are where it starts to get really interesting however. Climb uphill and you reach the education centre that was opened by the late Sir Magnus Magnusson and has been designed to be as ecologically friendly as possible. Keep going though and you enter the Caledonian pine woods, where Scottish wildcats have been seen and pine martens and badgers wander, along with foxes and small mammals. Set within these woods, there is a small loch, where a family of beavers lives. These beavers were originally introduced as a pair, as a demonstration project showing that beavers can live within the British Isles, without causing serious damage. Studies of these beavers have shown a regeneration of the deciduous woodland at the far end of the loch, with natural management (by the beavers) of the wetland area. This has increased biodiversity and proven that trees aren’t killed by the action of the beavers, but are in fact effectively coppiced. Any trees or wood that need to remain, are protected by the simple application of chicken wire.

To the left of the loch, a path continues up through the pine woods towards a tree-top hide, that overlooks the valley below, giving good views of any raptors that may be flying. The path continues on through upland moorland towards a hill-top fort, passing some hut circles along the way, where roding woodcock can be seen after dusk during the spring months. From the fort, the views are spectacular and even the Beauly firth is visible to the east. To the west, the peaks surrounding Glen Cannich, Glen Strathfarrar and Glen Affric are just visible.

While The Aigas estate is large for an estate, there are probably very few estates with such a diverse range of habitats in what is essentially a small area. As a result, there is a very diverse range of wildlife, with many migratory birds arriving in Spring and Autumn and many more resident birds and mammals, not to mention herpetic fauna. This of course makes it ideal for its use by the BBC for its series of Autumnwatch programmes, starting at the end of October.

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