WILD ABOUT OUR ISLES
We talk to Wild Isles series producer Hillary Jeffkins about the challenges of creating these ambitious and groundbreaking new natural history programmes all about British wildlife
You’ve worked with Sir David Attenborough on other wildlife series; how was your experience working with him on home turf?
David was very enthusiastic and excited to be filming in Britain and seemed to enjoy it just as much, if not more than some of his adventures abroad. He was in his element amongst the puffins and shearwaters on Skomer. His curiosity has not waned, and he was interested in the detail of every wildlife story, especially when we managed to film new behaviour.
Which habitat or climate presented the biggest technical challenge for filming?
The British weather was a real challenge: rain, wind and only sporadic sun. Marine habitats are hard to work in. Visibility underwater was at times less than a metre and finding marine life was often like searching for a moving needle in a haystack. Filming underwater is a technical challenge but the team developed a new stabilised tripod and tracking system to shoot beautiful motion timelapse beneath the waves.
Were there any animals that proved particularly elusive to capture on camera?
British wildlife is shy, so hard to film. Killer whales and white-tailed eagles were probably the most elusive animals. Nocturnal dormice and Daubenton’s bats were sensitive to light so we needed infra-red and low light cameras to film them. Strangely, the hardest shot to achieve was that of an ant picking up the caterpillar of a large blue butterfly. Meticulous timing, patience and luck led to success and the final piece in the jigsaw of an extraordinarily detailed story.
You’ve filmed wildlife all over the world; do British wildlife experiences match the drama you’ve found in more exotic climes?
British wildlife is every bit as exciting as that abroad, and there’s the bonus that you can sometimes go home and sleep in your own bed after filming. Our team witnessed high drama in Ireland. Two well-matched red deer stags clashed antlers and almost fought to the death. There’s drama, too, in the macro world of raft spiders. It was a tense moment when the smaller male approached the female to mate.
If you could choose a favourite, what would be your standout wildlife spectacle from the series?
My favourite moment is an extraordinary and unexpected behaviour involving toads. Every year, tiny, newly developed toadlets emerge from their natal pond on to the land, only to be confronted by their worst nightmare. Hiding in the vegetation are huge leeches that slither out, track them down and swallow them whole. This reminds me of the dramatic scene featuring racer snakes chasing down iguanas from the Planet Earth series, but on our doorstep.
• See our Wild Isles feature on page 48.
• Watch Wild Isles on BBC One and iPlayer from early March.