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Awesome news all round! We'll miss Kate but Michaela will be 'Really' good too :-)

And Slimbridge and Westonbirt will make great locations. I've been to Slimbridge once this year so far, and i can feel another trip coming on real soon!

Hooray, can't wait for this fabulous prog! And with Michaela joining I feel transported back to being 12 yers old watching the really wild show :-)

Fantastic! I CANNOT WAIT! :-D

Wonderful to have the viewing details; Friday nights will be Fun night, close the curtains, settle back and enjoy the best of Nature then be inspired to get "off the sofa", as CGP is fond of postulating, over the weekend :)

I can't wait now. Reading the above has got me excited. Looking forward to the show and the new locations. I will miss Kate but I'm sure michaela will do a grand job.

Autumn seems to have arrived early this year. My 3 yeAr old has already been picking conkers up off the pavement!

Iam so looking forward to the return of Autumn watch, it would be fab,if we could have winter watch and summer watch, to go with the Autumn and Spring watch. Will be counting down the days , and can't wait to see the fab filming you always have with so much more . :-D

OOOOOHHHHHHHH, yes YES YES YES You're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SOOOOO happy to rejoin Ö÷²¥´óÐã on this feature. Although from Italy I can only share a little of the programme (no tv shows, only webcams) I do thrill to see what you have prepared for us..... can't wait... God bless you for this!! Susannaxxxx

Great news; sounds like 2 excellent new locations.
Looking forward to the show (and messageboards too).
Early geese have already statred arriving - hope this doesn't mean a severe winter but just favourable winds!

Fantastic news.....eight golden Autumnwatch weeks to look forward to and the locations you've chosen are fantastic....couple of my favouite places and not too far from me !!! Will miss Kate but Michaela a great choice too.
Bring it on......

I can't wait!! 8week is a good length but wish it was more than once a week! Michaela is a good choice, she has been doing it for so long and we all remember her fondly from childhood or times past as a brilliant presenter and she has worked with Chris before on the really wild show! Bring on the Cold Autumn Friday nights snuggled up in watching Autumnwatch and unsprung! woo hoo

Please explain why the big big house spiders appear in autumn, creeping around the sitting-room floor. Where are they for the rest of the year? What are they up to?

Looking forward to seeing Michaela, but will miss Kate and Simon. I used to especially enjoy the locations that Simon visited. Why was he dropped?

Hope to see a bit of full on tree admiration at Westonbirt. Some fabulous specimens there for Martin to hug.....!

I think I found a female Pied Flycatcher in a prawn creel in Benbecula -HS7 5PG.
I 'think so' because of its slightly yellow face.

Sorry, I should have said I found it 15/09/2011 just after the UK storms, but we had good weather.

Thats wonderful, can't wait!
look forward to seeing Michaela but will miss Kate.
It would be lovely to see a bit on fungi this year, but it's such a great show & everything you do is fine with me.

Fantastic!!! I can't wait! It will be great seeing Martin and Chris again, will miss kate but Michaela is a very talented presenter and I love her too, loved watching her on milkshake when I was very young! Also congrats to Martins incredible new programme on endangered animal babies, last weeks amur leopard baby cubs was brilliant,(sooo cute!) looking forward to hearing his laugh again! good luck! :) Nice too see some regulars posting comments!

Can't wait for the show! I need a bit of nature to remind me what life is all about!! Miss Kate but love Michaela. Would really really love to see Charlotte Uhlenbroek involved with Spring/Autumn watch too. A really talented and wonderful wildlife presenter.

Oh, i'm so happy the show is coming back! Does the bbc know what this program means to people! Highlight of the year for me! Lovely program, lovely website and lovely viewers!!!!!!!!!!

Good to see AW is coming back and looking forward to an unsprung at each week too.

Level-headed Joe - bring out the Bendy Packhams!

Great news, glad to see Michaela joining the team. Can't wait to catch up with the pheasantpluckers :o)

Hi there Hi-Coo and Havadram
Seems like a long time since SW! Will be great to see you both back on the messageboards.

Please AW team can you let us know when the boards will be up and running again.

So glad to see Autumnwatch is back but without Kate?, how sad. The interaction between Kate, Cris and Martin was great, hope to see her back soon

Hi littlejojo, winnie, Hi-Coo and all the pheasant pluckers,
Yep,counting down the days, getting all the wee jobs out the way in readiness for the big event. I think it's going to be a good one :o)

I'm thrilled about the return of Autumnwatch especially since your location people have chosen my favourite places. Go Gloucestershire! Here's hoping that we'll see the presenters doing a crane dance at Slimbridge and a conker tournament at the Arboretum. Plus, they may have an answer to my question of how does 'word of beak' spread and is it confined within species?

Wonderful to hear Autumnwatch will be back ...its been a wierd summer. I have a strawberry plant that has started flowering again - in September. Has the cold summer weather caused this?

@RogerF337 - Simon was not dropped, he chose to leave Autumnwatch to pursue his own website Wildlife Whisperer & to do other things on his own.

I think Michaela will be a good stand-in for Kate, and hopefully can keep MHG and CP under control a little (some hopes!)

With Kate absent, I won't wear out the mute button on my remote this year. hee hee

Havadram, I'll hope you'll come and join us on the Seasonwatch Board.

Hi Arch,
Looking forward to it, but will have to brush up on my smiley's and Flickr uploading. It'll be good catching up with everyone. :o)

I'm looking forward to the new sites... Slimbridge is a big favourite of mine...

Looking forward to meeting up with old friends again too..

YEAH!!! Brilliant news -roll on October 7th. Sorry Kate not there but agree Michaela a great choice.

Ooh I can't wait for the new series of Autumn Watch.
Can I ask 'is it normal' to have baby goldfinches at this time of year. I have two that are being fed by their parents on my tree feeder as I write this blog?
Good luck Michaela

Darn, I was hoping for Wendy Hurrell.

Well with no Kate, no Simon and no Bill I definitely won't be watching this years show and thats the first one ever that I will miss. I really like Chris and can live with Martin but I really, really hate Michaela Strachan. I know there will be those that say give her a chance but I am just not prepaired to do that. I hate her and her presenting style with a passion.

#35.
Ah well, each to their own. Bye Mark.

Last week we were in Scotland and saw either Bewicks or Whoopers on Loch Garten, is this really early for them this year? we have photo's but they are a bit blurred as we were quite a way off, but they are definitely not mutes

Cant wait to see you all back, some decent telly at long last, love to all xxx

Dont take any notice of that cruel remark Michaela, welcome to the show xxx

Well thank goodness we've seen the back of Mark.....what a very strange comment and totally unnecessary.
We all have our favourite presenters but surely that's not what the show is about. For me it's a chance to explore the wonderful changing seasons across the UK and to learn more about what's out there for us all.
Can't wait for AW to start and a very warm welcome to Michaela.

Mark 35, Not having Simon and his rutting deer is what keeps me watching.

#40
Well said and ditto.

Hoorah!!!!!!!!!! Glad you're back...looking forward to seeing what Michaela wiil bring to the show, I too will be transported back to my youth again, you did that already when you brought Chris to the team! Can't wait!

How do we upload videos, or is that not available yet.

Been waiting for new series - then discover we are on holiday for the first night. We are on an RSPB trip along the south Coast. Hope we can find a television for the evening of the 7th. Welcome back.

I'm new to this site but I have watched sw and aw for years and am looking forward to new series. Can anyone suggest how I can stop magpies eating from nut and suet feeders, they're keeping all the little birds away?

Yay - AW back; and with Michaela on the team I stand a chance of watching it live with my husband (He's a big fan of Michaela from his childhood) instead of recorded as I usually have to. Also your locations are local to my folks so will feel really familiar! Great news all round, can't wait :)

Nice to see you on here Highlandjester
Have the same problem with the magpies here in The Cotswolds. I had thought that the hanging feeders would deter their activity but they have cleverly devised a way of hanging on for quite a while and they have a back up partner underneath hoovering up all the dropped bits.
Interested to see if anyone can give us some tips but have to say they can be quite entertaining to watch.

littlejojo 49, We quite enjoy having magpies around. Our last two cats died recently and we are feeding the leftover cat food to the magpies. Considering their size, the doves in our garden chase them away.

Glad AW is back. Is there something wrong with our conker trees? The ones around here dont look well.

The long wait is nearly over. dont mind who the presenters are, i love like minded people. But why dont you do the programme from up north for a change ,where theres real beauty? .

Glad it's back. Why no Kate? Looking forward to Michaela. Hows Oddie. Hope there is not so much poo this time around from Chris the Pooman. Really enjoy the unsprung. What happened to Simon and Gordon I hope they are doing some special features this time.

Brilliant.Welcome to Gloucestershire.Westonbirt is just 45 mins away from where i live and a great place to film autumnwatch.

Hurrah!! Really glad to see that Unsprung is on every night. We really missed it during Springwatch. Definitely the best bit of the show. Sad about Kate but I expect she'll be back...hope so.

Dear Blossom #52

Agree with you...Up Norf is very beautiful...but please give The Cotwolds a chance I can assure you that the two sites chosen are fantastic.... Should be a great base for Autumnwatch.
Not long to go now......!!

@chantel that will be a leaf miner the laval form of a exotic moth Cameraria ohridella, damages the leaves and gives smaller conkers - which is not good new for the conker championships

cant wait....very excited...do we Know how the owlets are now?...any sightings?...really looking forward to autumnwatch yipppeeee

Can't wait. I'm going to miss Kate though. Hope she's not away too long. Looking forward to Unprung as well. It's maybe not as educational as the main programme, but just a lot of fun. Just what you need on a Friday night. YIPPEE!`

On 7 October NEITHER programme is being shown live in either Wales or Northern Ireland. Instead viewers are being forcefed live rugby union. 'Live'? Interactive?

What a joke.

Oh Ashleyhr that's a shame - usually that's what happens up here on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Scotland, like with the Lost Land programmes. Useless if you can't comment on the day. :(

It's not a shame for ashleyhr. He lives in England. He has been running a campaign against the amount of rugby shown on Ö÷²¥´óÐãWales for a few years now not just when it clashes with AW.

Yes I'm in England. As I stated at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã POV message board but neglected to make clear here. My objection is NOT that Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales and Ö÷²¥´óÐã NI put unimportant rugby matches on in primetime, but that there is too much of it and that these occasions mean that viewers in these places inevitably have to WAIT (often for days or weeks) to see a popular networked programme - in this instance a (supposedly) LIVE and INTERACTIVE couple of nature programmes. Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales worship at the altar of sport. I have several relatives and friends in Wales.

If you are viewing via satellite just change channels and watch it on Ö÷²¥´óÐã1 London.

/dna/mbpointsofview/NF1951566?thread=8279861&post=110402816#p110402816
Message 31 USED to read (it's currently 'temporarily hidden'): "Apparently the following message on the 'sanity' thread - which was just now removed by a moderator and no doubt will be removed again, because they plainly do not appreciate accurate satire - is "Considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others; Are racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable; Contain swear words or other language likely to offend":

"I can't find the old thread about the 'rugby taliban', but someone thoughtfully revived THIS thread recently.

Mecca Richards has been replaced by Rhodri Taliban Davies as Head of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales, but nothing has changed. The Head of Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales Sport ie Rugby Union Indoctrination Programming remains Geoff WRU-rules-OK Williams and the team still relies on the preaching and presentation skills of Jason The Prophet Mohammed for its Friday call to worship at the altar of Welsh sport.

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mb...
www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mb... (from message 23)"

The people concerned, at Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales, are REALLY called Menna Richards, Rhodri Talfan Davies, Geoff Williams, and Jason Mohammad.

Thou must not offend Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales (I wasn't trying to offend anyone PERSONALLY).

My point is clearly that for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales, sport (notably rugby union) is a RELIGION. For them it must take precedence."

(These comments have just been emailed to Ö÷²¥´óÐã Wales - they had the link but the moderator had hidden the comments from view.)

If interested, please also see:
/dna/mbpointsofview/NF1951574?thread=8280038&latest=1#p110402086
/dna/mbpointsofview/NF1951566?thread=7401446&post=110403055#p110403055

Wil Simon be there this time?? I missed him dearly on Springwatch.....
what a pity that Kate won't be there..... I will not be the same...couldn't you pick a time that she would be available??? And maybe I'm picky, but, when is Bill coming back???

omeg..etc 66 Are you suggesting that they move Autumn to a different time of year?

AW hasn't even started and we're getting the 'where is...' already.

#53 You may have missed the episode where Kate announced in front of the SW audience during one of the few Unsprung episodes we had that she'd not be here for AW as she was doing other things but will hopefully be back next year for SW (2012).

#66 Simon announced that he's not returning to SW/AW as he is persuing his own projects with his production company. There were almost daily new threads dedicated to this topic on the SW messageboard and most are still there if you want to look back. A lot of them will just refer you to the original answer so you may want to either go to the last page or put in 'where is simon' in the search box.

Hi_Coo 68, I've discovered that some people only read the things they write.

#69 very true - personally I like the debates on the messageboards but a few on SW seemed to use it as a way of telling everyone who's opinion differed that they were wrong.

The trolls were pretty vicious this year, a lot of the attacks were personal or maybe I was just sensitive to it this year as a fair amount were directed at me and people I know :(

Great news your back, two wonderful sites, sad Kate Humble will not be present, hopefully it is only temporary, can I make a suggestion, and that is for Springwatch the presenters should be Martin, Kate, and Simon King with Bill Oddie doing the odd programme, what a wonderful lineup along with our wonderful wildlife.

Hello Hi_Coo and Davmcn

Sadly very true...I've always thought debate was healthy and stimulating but the messageboards in the spring did seem to be particularly unpleasant at times. Like you Coo I found myself at the receiving end a couple of times.

I want to be able to use the boards to discuss and learn from people that know a lot more about the subject than I do...and not to carry over some sort of personality clash.

Let's hope for interesting, stimulating boards and no more "where is...bring back" pointless, ongoing, never ending discussions.

When will the boards be opening please???

jojo 72, I guess I'm too used to Delphi Forums and the PM Blog (now quite defunct). At least registering to use the PM Blog got me on here without having to re-register as they are both Ö÷²¥´óÐã. Delphi Forums can be quite nasty, with language not permitted on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã blogs.

I replied to several posters about things they asked last year and got no reply. I think it's happened twice, so far, this year.

Great this is back, esp now we're having more Bizarre weather affecting wildlife patterns. Hope team will tackle How insects, reflowering plants & bird [non-] migrations impact....plus we want an Update on Our Barn Owls!! Michaela will be good as she has 'Previous' and is a game gal and not feigning Tweeness (which has no place in genuine Nature programmes. Also hope The Poodles put in an appearance and Chris does even more 'Geek' stuff--all great!

#72 agreed jojo - looking fwd to see you all in the Bikeshed. Will be great to catch-up with all the folk I only see on here.

Good on asking the question re the opening of the boards, I meant to do it on my earlier post but forgot - I've just been popping on over there once a day this week to see if they've opened.

The countdown is on..... :)

I do hope that you will feature the Dyfi Ospreys on Autumn Watch as they make their way South for the Winter. It has been a remarkable story throughout the Summer and it needs to be shared with the Nation!

Hello everyone. Arch I have been trying the messageboard for the last two weeks, but to no avail. It still thinks its spring. Look forward to Autumnwatch or is it Indian Summer Autumnwatch. Very nice too. Will the birds think its spring again?!!! No sign of hedgehogs either. Also look forward to talking to friends again. Finding out if Sleepypenny has finished her garden. Havadram hasn't had too many. Winni has been enjoying her pondlife. There's loads of people to talk to and to catch up on wildlife especially. How about the seal protecting the swimmers who rescued a man attacked by a shark? How about that then? Oh for goodness sake messageboard open up will you? I want to get started!

Yes, the message board is not functioning correctly. With bird migration on the go, we should be able to have a simple method of posting sitings. All the remaining swallows left Alnwick and Boulmer, Northumberland on Friday30 Sep. A large skein of greylag geese flew across Alnwick NW - SE last Monday at around 07.00.

Dear Autumn Watch

I have recently been hearing an owl calling every night around 2am in a stand of trees near my house in North East Somerset. Tonight I went outside and heard it call again and witnessed the bird flying away after about ten minutes of me standing there. It was light in colour and relatively small for such a loud call.

Please could you tell me if it’s possible to identify it from its call? It would be great if you could do a piece on it on your show. The hoot consists of 5/6 quick very short hoots followed by two long hoots and appears to be answered by other owls in the distance.

Thanks

Douglas

Autumn - season of friutfull mellowness, autumn leaves, conkers, acorns and tadpoles!The last thing I expected to see in autumn were tadpoles! I was amazed to find many tadpoles in a local pond today, October 2nd! I've never seen tadpoles this late in the year. Why are they so late and will they survive the winter to develop into frogs? I filmed them together with a copy of our local newspaper, the Hull Daily Mail, from the previous day to show the date. Here's a link to the photograph

#79 Douglas try this site to see if you can ID your owl.

Great news,but no Kate & Simon?, sad!...........

Looking forward to seeing Roy Dennis and the real stars ....The ospreys.

Hi-Coo 81, My guess is a short-eared owl with a speech impediment.

when are the webcams starting....cant wait....

Hi I can't wait to see what you have installed for us, and am keeping a eye out for the messageboards to come back.

#84 Dave that was my guess too - but listening to the RSPB owl calls should confirm it for Douglas.

Hurrah for the AW team making Gloucestershire their base for this series! Its a brilliant place and I'm lucky to live here. Have to say they've picked out two of our best places too. Hope this means that you might be able to fit in a bit about the progress of the badger vaccination programme nr Stroud at somepoint :D There's some great wildlife here and I hope you can all capture the beauty of the place sufficiently well. I may turn into your biggest critic this series ;)

I've been to Slimbridge loads of times and love every minute of it. Its brilliant! Meanwhile, Westonbirt in Autumn is just beautiful, the colours are spectacular and I'm sure the cameramen/women will enjoy capturing it in all its glory!

Can't wait to watch on the tele, if either place remains open I might try to visit, just to witness the scale of the operation!

Anyway, nice to see some familiar faces amongst the comments on here and good luck to the whole team for the new series! :)

1. Fantastic! Autumnwatch is starting!

2. Fantastic! It's coming from Westonbirt Arboretum!

Well, some of the time it's coming from Westonbirt, anyway. For those that don't know the Forestry Commission's National Arboretum just outside Tetbury in Gloucestershire, it has a fabulous variety of trees (shrubs, flowers, birds and general wildlife) and at this time of the year, depending on how the autumn has progressed, some of the autumn colours require sunglasses in order to look at them in bright sunshine. But Westonbirt is special at any time of the year, especially early morning, late spring, just after sunrise, walking a dog through Silk Wood. Bliss.

I was a member of the Westonbirt Friends for many years and as I no longer live in the UK, I'd say it is one of the things I most miss.

Really looking forward to Friday. Good luck team. :-)

Hi-Coo 87, Some time ago, the Independent gave away CDs of bird calls. There were five and I only seem to be able to find four. That's where I listened to them. They say that the calls are supplied by the RSPB, so I assume they are the same as the ones on the link you provided. The eider is good for a few laughs.

Hello Helen!!!!
(message 77) - I have been eagerly awaiting the messageboard opening too.
It's not working properly??????
Sounds BAD. I hope it's not going to take long to put right .....
You're right Helen - we all want to catch up on what's been happening over the summer.
And how this topsy turvy weather has affected animals and plants

Hi Winnie, Helen and all pheasant pluckers,

I have also tried messageboard and it doesn't seem to be open yet for Autumnwatch. No doubt we'll just have to wait as I've seen no announcements about it. Hope you are all well and looking forward to the show. Hic :o)

havadram - look at message 78; it says messageboard isn't working properly :-(

Also looking forward to the show!

Winnie, I did and it is still showing as closed from Springwatch, hopefully they'll open it soon.

See ya soon :o)

This is great,i am soooo looking forward to autumn watch and the message boards.Have been so bored since spring watch finished.8 weeks can't wait.Is there going to be web cams again?I do hope so :)

Looking forward to the watching The Really Wild Autumnwatch Show, lol

I know havadram ... hope it's their priority!!!!!
we'll end up hijacking here otherwise lol

Jeremy-web-producer - Many thanks for reply to my message 90 above and info. I',m amazed (and relieved!)to hear that these autumn tadpoles can 'over winter' and complete their developement next year - that's great news. I'll be keeping an eye on them!

Looking forward to this years Autumn watch, good luck Michaela, I think it will be interesting start with the recent hot spell followed by the looming cold spell. Fingers crossed also for all of the migratory birds on their travels!