Wildlife programs

Watched two wildlife programs on BBC this evening, and they couldn't be more contrasting.

I enjoyed Autumnwatch last year, as I did with Springwatch in spring. Autumnwatch is back on, a bit later than in 2006, but with the same (human) presenters. And I'm irritated out of my box by Bill Oddie, I'm sorry to have to say. He just whitters on, thinks he's still in "Birding with Oddie", and it's a breath of fresh air to have outside presenter Simon King doing his pieces. I'm not saying Bill's subjects are boring, far from it. It's quite exciting that beavers might be reintroduced into the wild in Britain. The annual migrations of birds is a subject that does hold my interest. Here in the Western Isles, we catch a large portion of that every year. But please, can we have a little less of the Bill Oddie and Kate Humble giggle party?

Counterpoint with Alan Titchmarsh (sorry, I call him Titmarsh) who had a pre-recorded program about the natural history of the British coastline. Something again close to my heart, as I live on the coastline. Literally within stone's throw, as one of our guests once demonstrated. He was an amateur geologist who had collected a car full of rocks, and he couldn't take them all on the plane. So, as I was watching television one evening, the sound was interspersed with the gentle plop of redundant rocks splashing into the Newton Basin, tossed there by our esteemed guest. Back to AT. Although he is a wee bit too softly softly for my liking, his presentation is a lot more gentle than the guffaws of Bloddie. Sorry.