Iolo Williams and the team return for one final visit to Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park for this year’s Winterwatch on BBC2
The boxes and cameras are all set up ready to capture some of the Cairngorms National Park’s stunning wildlife as the BBC2 Winterwatch team return to their teepee base for one last time before finding a new home.
As well as a glimpse of (fingers crossed!) hibernating red squirrels, wildcats and pine martens, Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan, Gillian Burke and Iolo Williams (pictured above) will be looking at the impact of climate change on the park’s flora and fauna, while Iolo’s also hoping to catch up with Freya the golden eagle, who the team have been tracking.
But with the mild and winter so far, it’s likely to be a very different Winterwatch from last year when it was a chilly minus 14!
Continues all week.
Here, Iolo, 57, chats to TV Times about what makes this place so incredibly special…
What are you hoping to see on this series of Winterwatch?
We’ll have our boxes out looking for pine martens and hopefully some hibernating red squirrels.
I’ll also be looking out for ptarmigan, which is an amazing upland grouse that changes colour in winter, and for the area’s other speciality – the crested tit.
I’m hoping we’ll get an update on Freya the golden eagle to see where she’s been since we last saw her.
Will you be sad to say goodbye to the Cairngorms?
I will be sad to leave here because of the mind-boggling variety of wildlife.
It’s one of my favourite parts of the world.
What is your favourite animal?
Well, my favourite bird is a hen harrier.
I remember going up on to the moors when I was an eight-year-old lad with my little dog and seeing these fantastic birds, and every year I still make time to go up and watch them.
The males’ sky dance is the most amazing thing you’ll ever see!
For full listings, see our TV Guide.
TV Times rating: ****
