BBC Springwatch 2024: When will nature series return - what locations and wildlife will be featured this year?

One of Britain’s most beloved nature documentaries is back for a new season - just in time to wrap up the long weekend.

BBC’s Springwatch 2024 is returning to screens on Monday evening (27 May). This year’s theme will be ‘Little Things Make A Big Difference’, BBC says, which will explore the ways in which even the smallest of actions to help our wildlife can have a massive impact - especially when people act collectively.

With three weeks of live and pre-recorded programming, some incredible and unique new ‘nest cams’, and an incredible line-up of creatures both great and small, there’s sure to be something for everyone this year.

Here’s everything we know about Springwatch 2024 so far, including who the presenters will be, and what kinds of wildlife we might see featured:

Where and when can I watch the new series?

This year, Springwatch will return to BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer from Monday (27 May) for three weeks of live on-location programming, with the audience able to witness wildlife experience joy, drama, triumph and tragedy as it happens.

You can tune is to these live broadcasts at these times:

• Mon 27 May – Weds 29 May from 8pm, plus Friday 31 May from 7.30pm
• Mon 3 June – Thurs 6 June from 8pm
• Mon 10 June – Thurs 13 June from 8pm

What wildlife and locations will be featured in 2024?

The main location for Springwatch 2024 will be the RSPB’s Arne reserve in Dorset, just as it was in 2023. The BBC said presenters would be returning this spring to catch up on the stories and wildlife characters featured Springwatch 2023 - one of the show’s most dramatic seasons to date. They would also be exploring key sites across Dorset, discovering the varied landscapes and local wildlife that call it home. Others, meanwhile, would be hitting the road and heading north, to discover all that the Isle of Bute, Loch Lomond and Glasgow have to offer.

RSPB Arne will play host to a whole new array of live nest-cameras this season, introducing the audience to a fresh cast of critters. The reserve comes alive at this time of year with rare breeding birds, specialised heathland insects, and all six of the UK’s native species of reptiles, the broadcaster said. Famous for its wide-open heathlands, presenters will also explore ancient oak woodlands, farmland, reedbed, mudflats, acid grassland and more.

Other Dorset wildlife viewers will get the chance to meet include rare little terns nesting on Chesil Beach to dormice snoozing in Garston’s ancient woodland, along with Bournemouth’s urban nightjars. Up in Scotland, the series will take a deep dive into the underwater habits of seals, and watch the impressive hunting abilities of osprey that return there each year to breed.

As usual, there will also be a range of pre-recorded films on offer, capturing what’s been happening with wildlife across the UK this year. The BBC has promised they won’t be “shying away from some of the hard-hitting truths and challenges affecting our wildlife”.

Highlights of this programming include an investigation into how flea treatments are poisoning our rivers; a film that will take viewers into the water with the friendly puffin; a chance to meet the secretive angel sharks and jostling crabs hiding around Wales’ Llyn peninsula; an introduction to a pseudoscorpion looking for love in a compost heap; and a delve into the death of a squirrel - and what comes after.

Who will the presenters be this year?

Naturalist Chris Packham and presenter Michaela Strachan will return as the series’ primary hosts this year. Asked what they would like to see in Dorset this year, Packham answered: “Something new, something we haven't seen before.... Last year we saw extraordinary things with our night jars eating their own young. You just couldn't make that up and no one's been able to explain what was going on there. And that's great because we love mysteries in natural history.”

But the long-time presenter added he’d also be leading the charge to not just focus on the cute, cuddly, fluffy and feathered critters. “It's all about the little stuff as well. And that means the invertebrates and the plants and so largely we are pretty good at that and I'll be pushing harder for more.”

Strachan said what she was most excited about was the cameras the team had rigged up on Corfe Castle - with permission of the National Trust. “It's the first time we've rigged a historic monument ourselves. And so that's exciting in itself. We haven't had cameras on a peregrine nest for a long time now,” she said. “There's also a raven nest on Corfe Castle so it will be interesting to see the interactions between the peregrine nest and the raven nest . I think that's going to be quite an exciting nest for us to watch.”

Meanwhile, zoologist Megan McCubbin - Packham’s stepdaughter - will be on the road to Scotland, where she is excited to “learn more about the ospreys which make their home across the islands”, while ornithologist Iolo Williams will be on the road around Dorset.

Viewers can also expect to see a few celebrities and influencers making guest appearances on the pre-recorded material. These include zoologist, musician, and rapper Louis VI, London influencer and naturalist Lira Valencia, and social media sensation and disability activist Roxy Furman.