BBC’s Springwatch and Winterwatch presenter Chris Packham said one thing was noticeably absent when he spent three weeks filming in the Peak District for the series
Esteemed BBC television host and activist Chris Packham opened up about a heartbreaking realisation he had while filming Springwatch in the Peak District.
Chris, 64, was a guest on the BatChat podcast in November when he confessed that despite his deep enjoyment of working in the National Park, one aspect of the experience troubled him.
He revealed: “It was great, it’s very picturesque. Other people were enormously hospitable. It was a great place to be and we enjoyed our time there.
“At no point during the recording of Springwatch, and I was there for three weeks, did I see a single Buzzard or a single Kite flying over.
“So, whilst we had Dippers and we had lots of other fascinating wildlife, there were no predatory birds, because outside that tiny area, which is beautifully protected and run by the National Trust, it’s an amazing place and they do great work there, outside of that is a Raptor death zone. And so it’s very much like peering over the fence and into the desert really, which is tragic.”
A “Raptor death zone” typically refers to regions in the UK where birds of prey are unlawfully targeted and killed. Chris proceeded to express his shock over birds allegedly being targeted in the area, stating: “That kind of sums it up, doesn’t it? You’ve got all these good people doing all this great stuff.
“And then, over the fence, you’ve got some reprobates, you know, with an industry that’s completely underpinned by criminal activity. I’m talking about grouse shooting.”
Grouse shooting, particularly ‘driven grouse shooting’ where large numbers of the birds are ‘driven’ by individuals towards others armed with guns, is a contentious issue within certain sectors of the natural community. According to the RSPB, this practice is “unique” to the UK.
In a statement on their website, they urged the government to safeguard grouse in order to let nature thrive. They stated: “There is growing evidence that the drive to increase grouse numbers has led to increasingly intensive, and sometime illegal, management practices which are employed on an industrial scale.
“We’re calling on the UK Government to introduce a system of licensing to regulate grouse moor management practices in England and Wales, in line with recent legislative changes in Scotland.”
However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for birds in the Peak District. In their Weather and Wildlife Review, the National Trust reported: “There was also good news for other birds such as the pied flycatchers at Chirk Castle in Wales and Longshaw in the Peak District with good numbers fledging largely thanks to the dry and more settled weather in the spring allowing adults to forage for longer and the young to stay warm and less exposed.”
This isn’t the first time Winterwatch presenter Chris has shared his cherished experiences with nature, as he previously opened up about his feelings towards his pet dogs.
During a podcast filmed at his New Forest residence last year, the naturalist revealed that he consistently wears identical clothing whenever he walks his hounds.
Delving deeper into his affection for dogs, Chris, who received an autism diagnosis in his forties, explained this stemmed from both himself and his companions thriving on established patterns.
He shared with listeners on the Homing podcast: “I like the process of it being… part of my process of going to bed, is sharing the biscuit with them in that routine. So, those shared routines are very much an integral part of the relationship that I have with them.”
Yet one of the most heart-wrenching elements of pet ownership comes when they die, something Chris also reflected upon. He remembered: “In the past, it’s been disastrous. I didn’t learn much from losing the bird, and then my first dog died, Max.”
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