Northern Ireland<\/a> many times, but never this area before. To come here and see how beautiful it is has been amazing.<\/p>\nMeanwhile, Executive Producer Rosemary Edwards said bringing Springwatch to Crom had been more than 18 months in the making, with producers needing to carefully assess the wildlife before committing to the location.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTo choose a location, we normally have to start over a year in advance,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe need to come and check the wildlife in spring before we commit to filming here.<\/p>\n
Rosemary Edwards, Executive Producer of BBC Springwatch. (Image: NQ)<\/p>\n
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Rosemary said the programme\u2019s arrival in Fermanagh marks the first time the full-scale Springwatch outside broadcast production has been based in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is three weeks of live broadcasting, so it\u2019s a huge operation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve done the full outside broadcast production from Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The executive producer said around 95 people are involved in the production once filming gets underway, including wildlife experts, camera crews, security, caterers and presenters.<\/p>\n
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Both Michaela and Rosemary said the abundance of wildlife around Crom had already produced memorable moments, particularly in the courtyard area where swallows, swifts and house martins nest in large numbers.<\/p>\n
Michaela said her connection with nature had become increasingly important over time, particularly amid the pressures of modern life.<\/p>\n
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Michaela Strachan relaxing at Crom (Image: NQ)<\/p>\n
\u201cI turned 60 a month ago and life can be exhausting, particularly these days,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to go somewhere where you can declutter your mind, and in a place like this you can do exactly that.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAs soon as you come here, you just feel lighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have such chaotic and busy lives and we\u2019re bombarded with so much information all the time. Life is exhausting. You need to take time out and just take a break from everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Rosemary believes the programme\u2019s enduring popularity comes from helping viewers better understand the wildlife they encounter every day.<\/p>\n
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\u201cEveryone knows what a house martin is and everyone recognises a swift,\u201d she said. \u201cBut not everyone knows that swifts can sleep on the wing, or that they spend almost their entire lives in the air until they come in to nest and lay eggs.<\/p>\n
BBC Springwatch Presenter Michaela Strachan and Victoria Johnston (Image: NQ)<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s about sharing those amazing facts that people might not know, because that creates interest, then love, and ultimately a desire to protect wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n
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She added that Springwatch differs from many natural history programmes because it focuses on wildlife people can see close to home.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of natural history programmes are filmed overseas in places like Africa or India, and they\u2019re amazing,\u201d she said. \u201cBut Springwatch is about the wildlife on your doorstep.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can watch the programme and then go outside and see those birds, those foxes, or those animals for themselves. It\u2019s accessible wildlife, and it\u2019s about encouraging people to love what\u2019s around them at home as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here for more:<\/p>\n
Julie Johnston, Visitor Operations and Experience Manager for the National Trust in Fermanagh, welcomed the visit of the BBC to Crom: \u201cIt’s not often that Fermanagh is shown on the TV and we do have a hidden gem here, we have the water, we are a destination.<\/p>\n
People should be coming and staying in Fermanagh and just taking it slower and enjoying their time here. I’m hoping that this is what Fermanagh gets from this.<\/p>\n
One might begin to think some of the wildlife were being paid as they help put on a show that will broadcast all of Fermanagh\u2019s natural beauty far beyond these shores over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
Leaving behind the production hub, a large set of brown ears dart into my vision as a hare scampers across the path. Pausing \u00a0in front of the car, it turns toward the windscreen as if to say, \u2018are you here to film me too?\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under the early summer sun at Crom, the calm beauty of the lakeside landscape is being matched by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[64,63,345394,37058,284597,345396,345397,345391,5492,345393,92476,345395,128,345390,345392,338],"class_list":["post-710491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-crom","tag-executive-producer","tag-fermanagh","tag-house-martin","tag-house-martins","tag-michaela-strachan","tag-northern-ireland","tag-nq","tag-rosemary","tag-rosemary-edwards","tag-science","tag-springwatch","tag-upper-lough-erne","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}