BBC A Wild Year Series
From spring 2018 to summer 2019 I was working primarily on The BBC series A Wild Year. This UK series showed the annual cycle of three locations, Pembrokeshire, The Fens and The North Yorkshire Moors.
One of the highlights of the series was witnessing the birth of a konik foal at Wicken Fen. It was fascinating to spend a few days watching and documenting the group dynamics of the herds, from fighting stallions to caring mothers surrounding this newborn and its mother. A real delight to experience!
I was principal camera for this episode, highlights include the various new life stories in Spring/Summer, from newborn konik ponies, brood parasitism cuckoo chick and the first successful crane family at WWT Welney since Elizabeth 1st was on the throne, to the timely return of Bewick’s and whooper swans as winter arrives.
Congratulations to Tom Wright for his brilliant edit, I am particularly attached to this episode and region because of the level of my involvement. Though it may be incredibly flat and mostly used for intensive farming these days, the Fens has a unique charm and pockets of spectacular nature. I will always look back fondly on those crisp early mornings, watching the sunrise appearing through the winter mist and glistening on the hoar frost.
‘Pembrokeshire Earlys’ potato harvest and fireworks night, I filmed a range of people sequences for this episode. A highlight has to be the endearing puffins of Skomer, spending a few days on the island, taking in the island ambience during sunrise and sunset, a beautiful thing to witness. The biggest showstopper though was the autumnal starling murmuration. This is probably the most beautiful and special experience I have had with UK wildlife, with the only audience for this spectacular experience being producer Sally Cryer, Pembrokeshire birding specialist Dave Astins and myself, it was a breathtaking wildlife spectacle.
Sequences I worked on include walking festivals, summer sheep herding for a much needed shear and a peregrine family, which was a particularly memorable challenge and experience.
Summary
This series was humbling to work on, to recognise British wildlife, the variety on offer, the inspiring individuals conserving it and the requirement for us all to do more for nature on our doorstep.
BBC Thanks
A huge thank you to Verity White for bringing me on board for this series, and also to Sally Cryer, Ian Gray, Lesley Bishop, Chloë Mnatzaganian, Miles Barton and Mike Gunton.
As well as The BBC team, an enormous thank you has to go out to the various contributors that made this possible.
Fens Thanks
Being the episode I worked on the most there are numerous thank yous to be made: Nick Davies, Nicholas Watts and the team at Vinehouse Farm, David Tough and the whole WWT Welney team, Carol Leidlaw and colleagues at Wicken Fen National Trust, Felicity Irons and the Rushmatters team, James Moss and Kingfisher Bridge Reserve, and many many more, thank you all for so many fond memories.
Pembrokeshire Thanks
Dave Astins for being so helpful with the autumnal starlings murmurations, The Skomer Island Wildlife Trust Team for being so accommodating during our time on the island.
North York Moors Thanks
Colin Dilcock for all his help when filming the peregrine family.
