Simon King's Dorset Springwatch

By Helen Stiles on June 21st 2010

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Simon King's Dorset Springwatch

Nicky Hoare, from Dorset Wildlife Trust, caught up with wildlife film maker and Dorset enthusiast Simon King to find out about his recent experiences filming the wildlife of the county both above and below the waves for the BBC Springwatch series

Simon King (OBE), the acclaimed wildlife film maker known for Big Cat Diary, A Year in Shetland and the BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch series, where he always seems to be reporting from some far-flung, wild, windy and decidedly cold spot, decided that in this International Year of Biodiversity it had to be Dorset for this year’s Springwatch. And much of the filming took place on Dorset Wildlife Trust’s nature reserves.

Simon’s decision came as a delightful surprise after the remote choices he has made in recent years but it made perfect sense. Dorset is exceptionally diverse, with the most varied natural history for its size of any county in England. Travelling to the various Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) reserves as part of my work as Communications Officer, I can be on a dry heath watching lizards and Dartford warblers one day, and wading through deep drifts of meadow flowers on a steep hillside the next. And that is exactly what Simon has been able to show off to the world with his three weeks of broadcasting this May and June, starting on the heaths of the east, moving to the chalk downs and woods of the middle and west, and then diving (literally) into the rich waters of what looks set to be the next European Special Area of Conservation off our coast.

I met up with Simon in the second week of broadcasting, as the team left the heaths of the Isle of Purbeck for the chalky west of the county and DWT’s Kingcombe Meadows and Powerstock Common nature reserves. Living in neighbouring Somerset, Simon has worked in Dorset over many years, notably as a cameraman for his mentor Hugh Miles, and he loves the area.

“Dorset is so rich in variety – from heath and coastline to chalk downs with hidden valleys, a little capsule to showcase the unusual and the more familiar wildlife and get under their skin a little bit,” he tells me, admitting that he had chosen Dorset not just because it’s a personal favourite but because he wants to debunk the belief that you have to travel to remote islands to find a sense of wilderness. 

Here in the county we love there is incredible wildness and variety and it is music to my ears to hear that Simon feels the same way. “Dorset is exceptional because it has a real sense of the Mediterranean in landscape and fauna. On a warm summer evening it feels like parts of France and Spain.”

Asked what he likes best about the county, he replies, “It is the exotic in the detail – the deeper you look the more you discover. You just have to open your eyes.”
At Kingcombe Meadows, Simon has been filming some of the bigger wildlife – badgers, foxes and roe deer – in what appears to be a very wild setting, but is in fact entirely linked to human activity. The old hedges, sunken lanes and wildflower meadows are here because of farming over generations by the Wallbridge family until 1987. Still farmed today by DWT according to traditional methods, this unique valley really is a jewel in our crown – fit for a King, you might say.

Simon and the team who scouted the area with us early in the year fell for it straight away. This is his first visit to the reserves and we think he will be back: “Kingcombe feels unchanged, full of history and natural legacy, and all alongside man. I thank the people of Dorset for looking after their natural heritage.”

Powerstock Common, which feels as wild as anywhere in Dorset, has also evolved through the activities of man over the centuries. It was one of King John’s royal hunting forests and later became common land, used for grazing and coppicing, which gave rise to the mix of wood pasture and meadows that are so rich in wildlife today.  Now that the Trust has completed the task of removing the post-war conifer blocks from the reserve, traditional management continues, with grazing by the woolly Galloway cattle that live almost like wild beasts amongst the ancient trees. It was overlooking this patchwork of woods and meadows that we talked, as the team prepared for a live broadcast from Eggardon Hill.

Simon’s filming is always full of surprises, as he pushes back the boundaries, always peering under something or looking at things from an unusual angle. Like a child, he is full of wonder. Asked how he originally became interested in wildlife, he answers: “How does it not happen? Some kids lose contact with the world and I am dedicated to keeping people in touch with it. The more you understand, the more you can feel a part of it.”

Was it birds, mammals, insects, or any other speciality that interested him? “Anything you can get your mitts on. Growing up in the late ’60s and the ’70s, newts, ponds and sticklebacks were part of the fabric of childhood – watching tadpoles metamorphose. Indulging that passion is a part of my world. I’ve been lucky to look at charismatic megafauna but there is astonishing wildlife here.”

Even in the first week of filming for Springwatch, Simon discovered surprises like the predation of a raft spider by another raft spider, ‘the lady of the lake’ as he put it. He also captured on film previously undocumented evasive flying by a dragonfly, which dived into water just in time to avoid being snatched up by the talons of a hungry hobby. And then there was the revelation of the complexity of a skylark’s song; recorded and slowed down, it revealed that it sang 36 notes in one second. “If you peel back the layers, there are astonishing revelations,” Simon says with a smile.

Despite spending much of his time in Africa, Simon never underestimates the natural heritage at home. He is a great supporter of The Wildlife Trusts, serving as Vice President, and also as President of Avon Wildlife Trust and Patron of Somerset Wildlife Trust, so has taken a keen interest in the campaigning by Dorset and the other Wildlife Trusts to protect our seas.

For the final week of Springwatch he concentrated on Dorset’s fabulous coast. I ask him what he thinks about the Marine Act and the proposed European Special Area of Conservation status for parts of Dorset’s seas, and his delight is palpable.

“Isn’t it marvellous? I want our marine life to have equal recognition to any other wildlife, for its own sake and for our learning and edification.” With over 20 years’ diving experience, Simon was very excited about exploring our Dorset waters. “It is always great fun to witness the host of bejewelled and beautiful creatures that live there,” he says with enthusiasm.
Before he leaves for rehearsal, I ask him what challenges he is looking forward to next, but he does not see his life as a challenge: “Large and huge, delicate and fragile, I’m just trying to be a part of it and enjoy it.”  That enjoyment shines out as he strides off smiling into the driving rain to tell the world of the wonders of Dorset.

Kingcombe Meadows, near Toller Porcorum

Discover wild Dorset
Kingcombe Meadows, near Toller Porcorum (SY555992 DT2 0EQ)
Species-rich meadows with many rare wild flowers and several species of orchid. Wildlife includes roe deer and fallow, wild boar, fox, badger, bats, otter, dormouse, barn owl, swallow, house martin, buzzard, rooks, kingfisher, skylark, spotted flycatcher, great crested newts, and 36 species of butterfly, including marsh fritillary.

Open: Every day. Parking and picnic area at DWT offices Pound Cottage.
Marked trails: leaflets available at Pound Cottage and adjacent Kingcombe Visitor Centre where you will find the Courtyard Café, open daily for tea and cakes.
Accessibility: tramper trail suitable for powered disabled vehicles.

Powerstock Common

Powerstock Common, near Powerstock (SY540973)
This 115-hectare reserve has a real feel of the wild, with ancient woodland, purple moor grass rush pasture, calcareous grassland, ponds, old hedgebanks and ponds, as well as a disused railway line and old brick kiln. Wildlife includes roe and fallow deer, wild boar, brown hare, six different species of bat, bullfinch, reed bunting, linnet, orchids, and an exceptional array of butterflies.

Open: Every day. Parking at reserve entrance.
Accessibility: Fairly good on reserve tracks.

In all locations, beware of ticks and cattle; cows with calves can be dangerous. Dogs to be kept under close control.

For more details about DWT’s 40 other reserves, including Brownsea Island, Upton Heath and Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve, or to become a member and help support its work within the county (annual membership starts from £31.80 a year or £2.65 a month) go to click here  or call 01305 264620.

If you would like to get involved with volunteering at Kingcombe Meadows, Powerstock Common and other west Dorset reserves, contact Emily Brown on 01300 321329.

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