Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
Creepy crawlies don’t bug me
Springwatch's Gillian Burke, a judge of our photography contest, on the surprising subjects of her own snaps
Gillian Burke has a lot to thank hermit crabs for. The natural history TV producer won her first spot in front of the cameras on the BBC’s Springwatch when she received a tip-off that a rare species of the crabs had been found. These particular little fellows were thought extinct after the Torrey Canyon oil spill off the west coast of Cornwall in 1967. ‘Ironically,’ says Gillian, ‘the clean-up using powerful chemicals caused the most damage to marine life.’
When the crab was re-discovered in 2016, Gillian went to Springwatch producers suggesting she front a filmed report on the story. Another commission on great tits followed, she popped up on both Autumnwatch and Winterwatch, and then she joined the ‘Watches’ team as a presenter full-time last spring.
She has just spent three weeks working with Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan on this year’s Springwatch – and loved every minute. ‘It’s unscripted. It’s packed with nitty-gritty science and conservation. You share the wonders of the natural world. I don’t know anything else on TV that combines those things and is still entertainment.’
She’s also relishing being one of the celebrity judges in this year’s Weekend Wildlife Photography Challenge, which has proved so popular we’ve extended the deadline for entries to 31 August. ‘I can’t wait to see the shortlisted entries
– and what a great first prize! I might submit a few photos myself, under an assumed name,’ she jokes.
As a teenager, her favourite pursuit was printing her own black and white photos. ‘ They were mostly images of things that didn’t move – buildings, for instance. I was getting to grips with exposure and light and shade. I used a Pentax K1000, which I still have. My mum, Enid, the first black female journalist in East Africa, used it in the 70s and 80s then gave it to me.’
She didn’t take it on her first Springwatch appearance. ‘I had to concentrate on the new job. But I took it for Autumnwatch. I regret not using it in the amazing places I worked in my early career: remote parts of the Amazon, the Borneo rainforest, Australia, places I may never visit again.’
She rejects the idea that the slow shutter speed of a ‘relic’ ( her word) like hers makes for poor shots of wildlife, which are less likely to oblige by posing for a photographer. ‘I saw shots taken with a 104-year-old Graflex camera at a Formula One race – the results were extraordinary. So speed and sudden movement needn’t be a problem.’
Born in Kenya, Gillian moved to Vienna aged ten when her mother got a job as an information officer with the UN – a culture shock for a girl
‘If only I’d taken my camera to the Amazon’
used to running barefoot in the sun. ‘The hardest thing was saying goodbye to my Jack Russell Caspar. I loved him unconditionally.’
Gillian’s parents were an unconventional couple. ‘My dad, the eldest boy of 13 children, was sent to learn a trade when his father died young. He trained as a mechanic – a very good one. My mum, by contrast, had a professional career – her father ensured all six of his daughters went to university.
‘In Vienna, I was astounded to see white people collecting rubbish. People would stare because of my skin colour, especially in the countryside, but it was some of the best years of my life.’
Later, while studying biology at Bristol University, she used to walk past the BBC’s Natural History Unit on her way to lectures. ‘But it took me ages to join up my interest in animal behaviour and TV.’ Gillian eventually did work experience at the BBC then became a researcher on the series Living Europe and worked her way up to producer and director on several series for Animal Planet and Discovery Channel.
From spiders to ants, bugs and beyond, she’s climbed the natural history ladder via a slew of creepy- crawlies that most of us would run miles to avoid. ‘I don’t have phobias,’ she says, ‘but I would jump if a large spider fell on me.’ One highlight was working on the Snakemaster series on an island off Borneo. ‘I swam with sea snakes – sea kraits, to be precise – which have extremely potent venom. I know that wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea but they’re not at all aggressive: you’d have to do something very provoking to be bitten by one.’ So, that’s al l right, then.
‘I grew up with snakes in Kenya. I was aware of co- existing with other creatures. We’re all on this planet together so we have to be careful before stepping into their domain and always show them respect.’ A single mother, 43, Gillian lives with her 11-year- old son and nine-year- old daughter in west Cornwall. ‘ I’ve learnt a lot from nature about rearing young,’ she says. ‘You see a bird bringing food to its chicks and understand the anxieties and responsibilities which come with parenting.’
She is involved with local charity Cornwall Seal Group ( Research Trust) and the Marine Strandings Network. ‘But I really want to start an environmental think- tank/consultancy. I’m in discussion with key players in marine conservation, plastic pollution and fisheries policy.’
What runs through it all is her affinity with the natural world. ‘I don’t distinguish between us and animals,’ she says. ‘We’re part of the same world.’
‘Animals and us, we’re all part of the same world’