Nature programmes on the TV

whyulittle

New children's wildlife & photography series - SHUTTERBUGS - starts Monday 20th Oct on RTÉ Two at 9:20am and on RTÉJr on Monday 27th Oct at 5:10pm

https://www.facebook.com/10150120434115613/photos/a.10150144786715613.400832.10150120434115613/10154740603675613/?type=1

Cork boy 55

Anyone see "living the wildlife" tonight
The forest in tipp with the woodland ant nests in it wheres that, anyone?

whyulittle

Nevermind kids, this just sounds good! Pity it's on at such a stupid time though, even kids won't be able to see it at 9:20 in the morning.

Shutterbugs is a new ten part series for RTÉjr combining wildlife, wild places, photography and adventure!

In each episode a team of two young people head into the countryside to learn about Irish wildlife as they try and photograph one particular animal.

The series is presented by wildlife expert and photography enthusiast John Lusby, who will guide the teams along the way.

The target animals will be shy and evasive and to track them down each team will have to first learn about them – what they eat, where they live and how they spend most of their time.

The teams will also have to pick up new skills like climbing, snorkeling and the art of camouflage before setting off into the wilderness in search of their elusive subject.

How can you tell where an animal has been and when they’re likely to return?

How do you get close enough for a good photograph without disturbing their natural behavior?

We will follow each team every step of their challenge – meeting John, discovering their task, learning about their target animal and mastering the skills required to capture their photograph.

Along the way, they will meet scientists who study Irish wildlife and who will point them in the right direction and help them spot clues that will bring them closer to their target.

The challenges will be set in some of the wildest regions in Ireland and will range from photographing Barn Owls in ancient castles in Kerry to tracing the secretive Badger in oak woodlands in Co. Offaly.

This format is a very engaging mechanism for exploring Ireland’s wildlife and natural world.

It will bring the natural word to a young audience and encourage them to explore Ireland’s wild places with their parents or older siblings.


PROGRAMME 1 – FOXES

First cousins Ben and Alison from county Kildare will be on the hunt for Foxes.

The target will be Urban Foxes as the country cousins are much harder to spot.

Ben and Alison will have to do some detective work to spot fox signs in the city sprawl.


PROGRAMME 2 – SEALS

Lana & Caitlin from West Cork are this show’s Shutterbugs setting out from Glengariff Harbour to hopefully get a picture of a Common Seal.

Their challenge will also see them teaming up with the Seal Rescue Centre in Wexford to release two young seals back into the wild.

OpenYourEyes

whyulittle wrote: »

Nevermind kids, this just sounds good! Pity it's on at such a stupid time though, even kids won't be able to see it at 9:20 in the morning.

Should be on RTE player at least? Hopefully the word spreads about it so kids/adults can catch up on it there!

nomdeboardie

"Life Story" (Attenborough, BBC1 now)

Those poor young Greenland barnacle goslings making their first descent (if lucky) from cliff-top nest to the ground below by flightless freefall, bouncing off crags along the way :eek:

For the love of God, evolve a parental-piggy-back system or ground-nesting behaviour or alternative diet or...

This is why I generally avoid watching nature programs

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I was quite disappointed as a lot of this was shown over 30 years ago. The goslings in particular had been on an Attenborough series decades ago.

trebor28

The black footed albatrosses vs the tiger sharks was only shown a few years ago also.

Bsal

Just a reminder Autumnwatch starts tomorrow at 8pm BBC2 runs till Friday.

whyulittle

You can ease yourself into it with a half hour of the more sedate Ray Mears' Wilderness Walks, UTV at 19:30.

whyulittle

'Wild Cities' is a new four-part TV series about the urban wildlife of Cork, Dublin, Galway and Belfast. We would love to hear your wildlife stories from these cities – from unusual nesting sites for garden birds to hedgehogs that visit your garden, or perhaps a family of foxes that shares your patch?

Perhaps you feed the birds in your garden. Do you have a garden pond that becomes home to frogs and newts each year? Does a hedgehog share the petfood you leave outdoors? Perhaps after the school bell rings, your school grounds become the playground of nocturnal visitors such as badgers or foxes? Do you have bats in your attic or swallows nesting in your garage? If so, drop us a line.

Or you might know of great wild places hidden in the city that act as wildlife oases? Help us track down these urban wildlife havens and highlight these vital green spaces that bring life to our city. It’s not just town parks that become homes to wildlife, but also derelict sites, ghost estates and even graveyards.

Have you seen strange looking ladybirds or turtle in your local canal? Help us find the newest city invaders.

This series celebrates the wildlife with which we share the city – the brave, clever and tenacious animals that have managed to find a niche in this ever-changing landscape.

From the mesmerising aerobatics of a Starling murmuration over a Belfast bridge to the wild flowers in a Cork graveyard to the Salmon gliding unseen past Galway's midnight revellers, Ireland's Wild Cities will go behind the scenes, to the highest rooftops, underground and underwater to reveal an extraordinary world of wildlife activity that goes largely unseen in Ireland's great cities.

We would love you to send us your stories or if you have any photos of your city’s wildlife or your suburban garden visitors.

If you live in Cork, Dublin, Belfast and Galway and have a wildlife tale to tell, please post here.

Twitter: @ctlwildlife
Link: https://www.facebook.com/irishwildcities

https://www.facebook.com/irishwildcities/posts/922033554487984

magicbastarder

whyulittle wrote: »

https://www.facebook.com/irishwildcities/posts/922033554487984

cheers - mentioned this to the wife, and it sounds interesting. we get several foxes in the garden (near DCU) and have seen a couple of sparrowhawk kills too. but as a wildlife garden (i.e. in the sense that we're planning it rather than inheriting it), we're really just starting. may still contact them.

Bsal

Winterwatch starts on Monday 19th BBC2

Bsal

Bsal wrote: »

Winterwatch starts on Monday 19th BBC2

The underwater footage of the dipper was very nice, plus the eagle owl and the golden eagles :cool: oh and seeing all the different birds visiting the deer carcass was interesting.

Alun

Yes, I loved the underwater dipper footage, especially the way it walked along the large rock under the ice.

You can watch it here BTW http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02hfwy8

Also saw this cute little clip of a squirrel that enjoys having a blow dry

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01qf925

whyulittle

I saw an ad for the new series of Living the Wildlife on RTE the other day. I think it said it was starting on Tuesday March 24th at 7PM. Featured a Red Kite and something that resembled a Corncrake.

Can't find any details online yet.

recedite

That'll be a follow-up to "the last Shannon corncrake" as he calls fruitlessly through the night for a mate, to the sound of accompanying melancholy violin music.
Hopefully a female turns up this year, or else somebody shoots him.

Capercaillie

recedite wrote: »

That'll be a follow-up to "the last Shannon corncrake" as he calls fruitlessly through the night for a mate, to the sound of accompanying melancholy violin music.
Hopefully a female turns up this year, or else somebody shoots him.

Corncrake generally only live 1-2 years. The Corncrake on the Callow last year sang from the same spot the whole time, they generally relocate if mating successful. Corncrake are site faithful and return to within 1-2km of where they hatched. 3 males calling in 2013. Very unlikely any Corncrake will return to Callows next year. Given the tiny numbers of the last few years the population is functionally extinct.

Capercaillie

recedite wrote: »

That'll be a follow-up to "the last Shannon corncrake" as he calls fruitlessly through the night for a mate, to the sound of accompanying melancholy violin music.
Hopefully a female turns up this year, or else somebody shoots him.

Corncrake generally only live 1-2 years. The Corncrake on the Callow last year sang from the same spot the whole time, they generally relocate if mating successful. Corncrake are site faithful and return to within 1-2km of where they hatched. 3 males calling in 2013. Very unlikely any Corncrake will return to Callows next year. Given the tiny numbers of the last few years the population is functionally extinct.

As regards hunting of Corncrake huge numbers are shot/trapped in Eastern Med every year. Irish birds migrate (probably) via Spain/Morocco where hunting pressure seems less.

whyulittle

whyulittle wrote: »

I saw an ad for the new series of Living the Wildlife on RTE the other day. I think it said it was starting on Tuesday March 24th at 7PM. Featured a Red Kite and something that resembled a Corncrake.

Can't find any details online yet.

The new series does start tonight at 7pm on RTE1. Great Skua & Corncrake featured.

Capercaillie

whyulittle wrote: »

The new series does start tonight at 7pm on RTE1. Great Skua & Corncrake featured.

The Corncrake on Inishshark were sad to see. The tiny nettle patch was all the habitat they had, it's no wonder he got so many views of the bird. The Island was grazed bare by sheep. If the sheep were removed from March-September with that nettle patch they would have plenty of birds. Corncrake need meadows that are at least 20cm+. Unlikely they bred successfully last year there.

OpenYourEyes

Not TV, but supposedly Mooney Goes Wild is back on the radio on Sunday 5th April at 10pm.

Bsal

Friday 3rd April at 9pm BBC2 Easter special episode of springwatch.

Bsal

Springwatch starts on Monday at 8pm BBC2.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Bsal wrote: »

Springwatch starts on Monday at 8pm BBC2.

As usual, they a bit late with Spring.

OpenYourEyes

Keagan Square Handshake wrote: »

As usual, they a bit late with Spring.

Ah be nice, they'll have some great species and conservation projects on it this year

Capercaillie

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Ah be nice, they'll have some great species and conservation projects on it this year

Me thinks you might make an appearance!

Bsal

That would be cool!

OpenYourEyes

Capercaillie wrote: »

Me thinks you might make an appearance!

No wardens - but the Roseate Terns should make an appearance - the real stars of the show!

Capercaillie

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

No wardens - but the Roseate Terns should make an appearance - the real stars of the show!

I hope they show the work that ye do though?

OpenYourEyes

Capercaillie wrote: »

I hope they show the work that ye do though?

It'll have nestboxes, so will probably discuss them a bit, but otherwise it'll just focus on the Terns I think - will have to wait and see! We're just delighted they're getting some publicitity - fantastic birds!