Well, it鈥檚 Winterwatch already聽and I can鈥檛 wait! This will be my second since joining the 'Watch' teams, just over a year ago. Working on the Watches is like joining one big family of wildlife enthusiasts.
Yes, they are a team of highly professional broadcasters that come together to produce a piece of TV magic out of the apparent chaos of cameras, cables, lights and all the spaghetti of live outside broadcasting, but it鈥檚 deeper than that: everybody I鈥檝e met is passionate about TV聽and 飞颈濒诲濒颈蹿别.听
Stags in Scottish hills by Gavin Macrae
Stories are swapped, wildlife facts squirreled away for future interviews (lichen can live in outer space!) and it鈥檚 great to be surrounded by folk that share a love of the countryside.聽
During Autumnwatch Extra we interviewed what seemed like hundreds of folk. Twelve hours a day for five days. The oft-asked question was 鈥淗ow do you keep going on live TV with guests most of whom will have never been on television?鈥�. Well, at the risk of talking myself out of a job, it鈥檚 easy. There鈥� s nothing more interesting than chatting to folk who care about something deeply.
And the joy of Extra is that there鈥檚 time鈥� folk can settle, breathe and 聽share their passion.聽For Winterwatch we鈥檙e returning to Scotland; this time at Mar Lodge, close by the Glenshee ski resort. The gateway to the Cairngorm mountains and, of course, neighbours with the Queen at Balmoral.聽
This area is a magical place which plays a regular part of my working year as a reporter/presenter for the 主播大秀. I鈥檝e walked the Lairig Ghru from here. Camped here and had some of my best wildlife experiences here.
Last Christmas I cooked a salmon on an open fire by the river, then smoked it with sawdust I鈥檇 sawn from a Scots pine branch. A final addition was a wild sorrel sauce, the key ingredient which had taken me all morning to find beneath the snow.聽I鈥檓 just packing at the moment. Warm gear. There鈥檚 always snow around. And last year minus 20 odd degrees! So an extra artic sleeping bag is going in as well.聽
Plus Burns Night is next Saturday (25th) so an emergency haggis plus a copy of Robert Burn鈥檚 epic comedy poem Tam O Shanter is going in the bag. 15 minutes of witches, drink, women angry wives and a horse Meg with just a stump of a tail. I鈥檝e got to learn it all by heart by the end of Winterwatch.聽
So if you see a wee Scotsman wandering the 聽hills of Mar Lodge talking and laughing to himself, it鈥檚 only me.聽
Join us if you can.
See Euan on Autumnwatch Extra .