BBC Winterwatch set for live shows from Arne in Dorset

BBC Winterwatch is set to return to screens live from the heart of the UK's first "super" National Nature Reserve.

The wildlife show, presented by Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams, will broadcast directly from RSPB Arne in Dorset for four nights.

It will highlight the area's native wildlife - including white-tailed eagles - and is the first Winterwatch to be set in Dorset since 2017.

The new series starts on Tuesday at 20:00 GMT on BBC Two.

Arne is part of Purbeck Heaths, which was designated as the UK's first "super" National Nature Reserve by the government in 2020.

The status was awarded to encourage a more joined-up approach to conservation, with seven landowners coming together to help protect the beauty spot.

The Winterwatch team went to the Dorset reserve for their sister show Springwatch last year.

Badgers, sika deer and a variety of birds are likely to feature in the winter version of the show.

Carcass cameras will be used to observe the area's resident pair of white-tailed eagles, while they also plan to film red squirrels film on Brownsea Island .

Peter Robertson, senior site manager for RSPB Arne, said: "The nature reserve was home to Springwatch last year, which was a fantastic experience and we're really excited to welcome the BBC back to this special place to help show how amazing it is for wildlife in winter too.

"The series will be demonstrating how resilient our wildlife has to become during these colder months, and that far from being a sleepy, quiet time of year, there's so much going on.

"We're hoping the cameras will capture some of the amazing flocks of waders including avocets, golden plovers, black-tailed godwits and spoonbills and, of course, to catch a glimpse of the white-tailed eagles which were such a feature of Springwatch."

Presenters across the country from the BBC's Natural History Unit will also provide notes from where they are on the surrounding nature.

Naturalist and presenter Chris Packham will be one of the team based in Dorset.

He said: "We get an enormous influx of waders and waterfowl from further north in Europe.

"Poole Harbour, Brownsea Lagoon, and the estuary areas around Arne itself will be filled full of those migrant birds."

He said viewers might not see see some species that were common in in the 20th Century.

"It would have been much colder further north in Europe, but it isn't this year," added.

"So that will that will have an impact - so we'll be able to discuss that as well."

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