There we go, just to keep Ron J and Andy B happy, here's the Autumnwatch team all smiles before the Beeb descended on Martin Mere again for the next fortnight.
Ups the number of visitors to the mere, which can only be a good thing.
Programmes could present a distraction from the Nocturnal Birders Club, but we'll have to see.
(7 Redwings, two Song Thrushes over this evening by the way).
Here's the BBC press release as to what they'll be up to....
AUTUMNWATCH
(NOV 5TH â 15TH 2007)
Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and Simon King return with a second series of Autumnwatch broadcasting Live from Nov 5-15th Monday-Thursday, 8pm BBC2. In a 2 week autumn extravaganza, they witness the beauty and the drama of a critical time for UK wildlife. They delve deeper into the dark than ever before to catch up on a new cast of characters â bringing you daily wildlife dramas and the true natural spectacles that only this season of change can offer.
Autumn in the UK is so much more than just a season of âÂÂmellow fruitfulnessâÂ?. ItâÂÂs a time of great change, of spectacular migrations and of high drama. AutumnâÂÂs calmer moments, with gorgeous light and rich colours, contrast with some of the UKâÂÂs wildest weather, with huge storms and cold snaps challenging our wildlifeâÂÂs survival instincts, whilst hinting at the urgent need to prepare for the oncoming winter. ItâÂÂs this combination of natural beauty and wild drama that gives autumn a special place in the hearts of the UK public.
DAILY WILDLIFE STORIES
AUTUMNWATCH SURVEILLANCE TEAM â AutumnwatchâÂÂs very own Simon King, ditches the life of isolation heâÂÂs so far endured on various remote Scottish Islands and heads inland for a series of âÂÂmissionsâ based around autumn spectacles and themes. Testing even SimonâÂÂs superb fieldcraft skills to the max, heâÂÂll be attempting to track down the elusive rutting wild boar in the forest of Dean, infiltrating a Bat Cave in the isolated Yorkshire Dales, penetrating the heart of a starling roost and making a perilous seafaring trip to the farne islands. With an impressive toolkit of camera equipment Simon will really be helping us see into the dark.
THE RED DEER RUT DIARY â The Boys are back in town! Simon King delivers a nightly report from the gladiatorial Red deer rut on Isle of Rum. Will Percy retain his title as King of the Greens or will grand old man Caesar reclaim the trophy?
SUPER WHOOPERS - Bill Oddie and Kate Humble will be at Martin Mere (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve), with daily, sunrise-to-sunset reports of the return of the jet propelled whooper swans that fly at up to 90 km per hour on their return journey from their breeding grounds in Iceland. Bill will be on feeding duty, whilst keeping an eye out for unusual arrivals at this important migration staging post. Kate will be on the look out for the characters she bid farewell to on her Summer trip to Iceland when she met the new generation of super whoopers. Duck Cam will be making itâÂÂs first appearance on Autumnwatch giving us a birdâÂÂs eye view of the comingâÂÂs and goings on the mere.
Mr and Mrs Beaver NEW TO AUTUMNWATCH! â Live camera feeds from the new beaver enclosure at Martinmere deliver a daily drama that hasnâÂÂt been seen in the wild on british soil, let alone on TV, since beavers became extinct in the UK in the sixteenth century. Bill describes these highly controversial mammals as âÂÂAquatic Badgersâ â and like our badgers from the farm in Devon, will they make a live appearance on the show?
FOX IN THE CITY â We catch up on the action of our Glaswegian fox families that delighted and had us on the edge of our seats during Springwatch. Gordon Buchanan reports live every night on the next stage of our cubs development as they prepare for winter â how did Jamie and the Chip shop family fare over the summer?
AUTUMN REPORTS
THE ICELANDIC TOUCH â Kate Humbles delivers reports from her travels to Iceland over the summer with the WWT on their yearly mission to visit the whooper swans in their Icelandic breeding grounds. Kate also encounters some spectacular marine mammals, including humpback whales that also migrate to British waters at this time of year.
Bill Oddie will be looking back at the effects of the summer flooding on British wildlife and heâÂÂll be getting his hands dirty as he prepares Martin Mere for the return of the winter migrants.
Regulars John Aitchison and John Keeling return with some visual feasts for us â John Aitchison captures the drama and intensity of the first storms of Autumn and John Keeling bring us the delightful frivolity of the most elusive of mustelids â the Pine Martin.
WeâÂÂll be featuring the passionate people who spend 12 weeks a year living in a tent on a Northumberland beach to protect the rare arctic and little terns that nest and raise their chicks there.
And of course weâÂÂll be bringing more high quality mini-epics where natural history meets drama taking us right into the world of some of our smaller garden inhabitants. This Autumnwatch weâÂÂll be encountering the high speed world of the shrew, learning to love fruitflies and discovering how our oak trees are home to an astonishingly diverse range of species.
âÂÂDOING YOUR BITâÂ? â AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Website â As part of the new look Nature UK BBC web offer the autumnwatch website provides a home for our audience to interact with the show, talk to us on the hugely popular message board, access webcams from around the country and get in touch with our conservation partners.
Autumnwatch is proud to be a key player in the BBCâÂÂs ambitious five year Breathing Places Campaign to significantly increase wildlife-friendly green space across the UK. Breathing Places aims to engage large numbers of people in developing green spaces in their local area that will benefit not only wildlife but people too.
Tree Planting â Last year, Autumnwatch encouraged viewers to participate in seed collecting and to grow saplings. Now, we take this to the next level and plant them. Viewers can participate in a number of key events across the UK. On the weekend of the 10th November our 15 Breathing Places cities will be holding tree parties â events that will lead our audience to our wildlife partner organisations and facilitate them to join in tree planting activities across the winter. In addition libraries across the country will be running tree parties of their own and our conservation partners will be running tree planting activities throughout the winter months.
Find Britain Oldest Tree â weâÂÂll be asking our audience to participate in the search for BritainâÂÂs oldest tree by joining in the Ancient Tree hunt run by the Woodland Trust. ItâÂÂs estimated there are around ÃÅ million ancient trees still to be found across the country. How do you tell if a tree is ancient? You hug it!
So there you go...strange, they don't seem to be joining Marshside's finest for a night in the Hesketh at any time?
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies...
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5-7 Mallard ducklings only a few days old yesterday on a brook in Aughton - pic to come!
Hmm...seawatch could be interesting this morning, if anyone can hack it. Wild cold and windy - heaven!
I'd have given it a go, but tied up in work, alas.
Doubt if I could last out more than an hour or so in this temperature, though.
Winds continue overnight; may just bring in a Little Auk or two tomorrow morning.
Can't go myself...any takers?
Latest records from Haskayne area, Oct 16th to Nov 3rd:
Collared Dove 106; Mallard 314; Buzzard 10; Green Sandpiper; Whooper Swan 4; Great Crested Grebe; Little Grebe 5+; Mute Swan 3; Blackbird 25; Fieldfare 55; Redwing 10+; Kingfisher; Curlew 37, plus 600 migrating Skylark.
And on October 30th, standing on a fisherman's stage at the irrigation lakes between the reeds, a Bittern - my 169th species for the Haskayne area.
I am a Year 10 pupil in North Yorkshire, and I am currently searching for a work experience placement as part of our school course. I am interested in wildlife photography and John Keeling has been recommended to me by Gordon Buchanan, whom I have contact with.
Could you possibly pass this on to John or give me a contact address for him?
Thanks for your help,
Nic Hartley
Aged 15
Sorry Nic, I don't know John Keeling...I do know he has worked for the BBC quite a bit on Spring and Autumnwatch programmes and is based in Derbyshire.
Perhaps a call to the BBC may be the answer? Unless anyone else out there knows how to contact John Keeling?