BBC Wild Burma.

[Pertinax]

my childhood was spent with jars and fish tanks full of tadpoles newts etc, I never collected birds eggs but I knew where they nested and what each birds egg looked like.

Mine too. And I spent a lot of time in the Natural History section of the local museum too.

I was fortunate that my father travelled quite a lot in his work. He would often take me on day trips with him and while he was meeting people would leave me for hours at somewhere of my choice- often in the middle of nowhere, or the public park or museum in a strange town, and pick me up at a prearranged time, later. I would spend the intervening time happily exploring a wood or peering at crayfish and newts in a pond perhaps. Never a thought of any 'danger' in those days. I also spent many whole days (opening- closing) like this 'running free' on my own in Bristol Zoo.


I can also remember catching, handling and even keeping small creatures, some of which nowadays you even need a licence to photograph, let alone touch! Sadly our children nowadays just don't get to experience that sort of freedom of exploration.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Mine too. And I spent a lot of time in the Natural History section of the local museum too.

I was somewhat fortunate in that there *was* a museum in Darlington until the mid-1990s - mostly it was a collection of mounted specimens of local wildlife (including a few species no longer found in the area, such as the last Wildcat shot in County Durham) alongside the skeletons of various domestic oddities and a lot of archeological artifacts from the area. There was also a great deal of items relating to the social and cultural history of the area, and many animal bones dating back to the Ice Age dredged up from the Skerne and Tees.

The real prize of the collection, however, was found in the small gallery of exotic mammals - a mounted polar bear which was shot somewhere near Middlesborough as it swam up the Tees estuary!

I loved that place when I was little; it very much contributed to my love of both natural history and human history - and even though I was only about 10 when it closed due to being deemed not "relevant" or "inclusive" enough by the council and replaced with a drop-in centre for the homeless and drug addicts, I was deeply angry about this even then.

A small amount of the collection was scattered to other locations, such as the Beamish Museum in County Durham and the Hancock Museum in Newcastle, although even these items have been largely kept away from public view. The polar bear was installed in the town library for a time, until political correctness deemed it wrong to display a dead animal where the town's children could see it. But the majority of the natural history collection, including the bear, was either thrown away or locked in a basement somewhere in one of the local council's offices.

You may be able to tell I am still bloody annoyed about this - I just about benefited from the museum, but future generations never will.

 

[dean]

In the moorlands near Bellingham haven't actually been to Otterburn, but there is a healthy population of dippers on the rapids near the confluence of the North Tyne and South Tyne at Hexham, and we quite often see dippers and water shrews in the Blacka Burn, which flows through a gorge next to Hel's house.

There's loads of otters, sand martins and little egrets in the area too.

You know TLD I was born and brought up by the Tyne at Blaydon then Ryton yet i have never been to the confluence of the north/south Tyne! I only learned to drive in my late 30's when I moved here to Essex, so days out with the family as a child was either Culler coats as it had rock pools or a tributary of the Tyne just outside Hexham called the devils water, or up into the Wilde's of Northumberland/ co Durham.it had a fantastic small waterfall and clear water with trout and minnows as well as stone loaches, now that takes me back from memory your neck of he woods is idyllic in good weather but a bit bleak in the rain/ wind.

I haven't been to Hancock's museum since it was revamped which is usually an excuse to get rid of non PC items and replace them with glass screens so the impatient and lazy don't have to hunt through things they they don't want to see to find what they do want to see. I remember a school trip to Chopwell woods at about 10 and every time the ranger asked what a thing was I was the only person who knew in the end he told me to let some one else have ago no one could So it was back to self taught me but I'd lost heart and subconsciously decided that most of my animal related things are best done alone and at my leisure.

Pertinax your childhood sounded more idyllic than mine Your father would be arrested now and social services involved I know what you mean about collecting things my cousin once had great crested newts in an old rabbit hutch, I can't recall how it worked as I was very small, the pond they came from was later filled in and built on, only the old railings remained if still there.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

You know TLD I was born and brought up by the Tyne at Blaydon then Ryton yet i have never been to the confluence of the north/south Tyne! I only learned to drive in my late 30's when I moved here to Essex, so days out with the family as a child was either Culler coats as it had rock pools or a tributary of the Tyne just outside Hexham called the devils water, or up into the Wilde's of Northumberland/ co Durham.it had a fantastic small waterfall and clear water with trout and minnows as well as stone loaches, now that takes me back from memory your neck of he woods is idyllic in good weather but a bit bleak in the rain/ wind.

Yeah, I know the Devils Water well quite amazed that you have never been to "Waters Meet" as that point of the Tyne is called, considering it is only about half a mile upstream of Hexham town centre and is readily accessible via a footpath leading along Tyne Green.

I haven't been to Hancock's museum since it was revamped which is usually an excuse to get rid of non PC items and replace them with glass screens so the impatient and lazy don't have to hunt through things they they don't want to see to find what they do want to see.

It's a poor cousin of what it once was, sad to say - only a tenth of the range of stuff on display that there once was, and a lot of bright colourful stuff in monosyllabic words for the lowest common denominator in its place.

Still has an incredibly excellent library on the top floor, though, which is owned by the Natural History Society of Northumbria of which I am a member.

 

[Chlidonias]

I don't know where in Northumberland you are talking about TLD but have you seen the dippers in and around the burns at Otterburn?

when I was going to England many years ago I was very amused to see a little town called Otterbum on a map. I was definitely going to go there, I thought. Then I discovered that it was just that the print was too small and it actually said Otterburn. I was most disappointed.

And that is my contribution to this thread.

Oh, actually, back on topic, I'm sort of surprised they called the series Wild Burma and not Wild Myanmar. I thought the latter name was the preferred one by the country's management. Perhaps the BBC thought Burma was a more widely-known name, and it does sound better in combination with Wild.

 

[dean]

Yeah, I know the Devils Water well quite amazed that you have never been to "Waters Meet" as that point of the Tyne is called, considering it is only about half a mile upstream of Hexham town centre and is readily accessible via a footpath leading along Tyne Green.

I spoke to my mother yesterday apparently we used to go to the waters meet as children! must have made a huge impression on me as I don't remember it at all. I do remember Planky Mill with the swinging bridge and the river and the Tyne at Bywell near stocksfield. As well as the north Tyne at walk which used to be full of freshwater mussels, I wonder if they are still there?

 

[Pertinax]

Pertinax your childhood sounded more idyllic than mine Your father would be arrested now and social services involved

It wasn't all idlyllic. I was sent to a horrible Preparatory Boarding School with a heavy accent on 'christianity'. The Headmaster was a religious Zealot and a bully, -he must be long gone now but I am sure he would be arrested for child cruelty nowadays. Probably why I have no religious leanings.

 

[Pertinax]

The real prize of the collection, however, was found in the small gallery of exotic mammals - a mounted polar bear which was shot somewhere near Middlesborough as it swam up the Tees estuary!

How long ago was this? Are there any links or information about it? Was it a genuine wild bear from the Arctic, or an escapee.

Funny how a discussion about a T.V. programme has stimulated our childhood memories of how we started our Natural history interests. Its there almost from when you first become active I think-one of my first words was 'Geese' apparently.

 

[Pertinax]

Then I discovered that it was just that the print was too small and it actually said Otterburn. I was most disappointed.

Oh, actually, back on topic, I'm sort of surprised they called the series Wild Burma and not Wild Myanmar. I thought the latter name was the preferred one by the country's management. Perhaps the BBC thought Burma was a more widely-known name, and it does sound better in combination with Wild.

Its near Otterburn (or Catterick, or both) on some army ranges where Eagle Owls bred for a number of years- its not known if the originals were escapees or migrants from across the North sea. One of the adults was shot eventually. And as a link to this thread- there was a one hour T.V. film on them a few years ago.

'Wild Burma' as a title has more punch- many people still wouldn't know 'Myanmar' I think.

 

[gentle lemur]

A serious issue. We are in danger of bringing up a generation that simply doesn't KNOW about the small and the less celebrated. They won't see (say) Finlayson's Squirrel in major UK zoos, and they won't see it on television. What is the answer?

Get a celebrity chef interested?

Funny how a discussion about a T.V. programme has stimulated our childhood memories of how we started our Natural history interests. Its there almost from when you first become active I think-one of my first words was 'Geese' apparently.

When I was in my pram, I would say 'biddy' (=birdie) if a bird flew past or my own word 'dibby' if I saw an aeroplane.

Alan

 

[TeaLovingDave]

As well as the north Tyne at walk which used to be full of freshwater mussels, I wonder if they are still there?

I doubt it - although that area of the North Tyne at Wark is the spot I previously mentioned as being great for sand martins. Wark, at 4 miles away, is the location with the nearest bus stop to Hel's house, so I pass through there quite often on my way up to visit her.

How long ago was this? Are there any links or information about it? Was it a genuine wild bear from the Arctic, or an escapee.

Early to mid-19th century, if memory serves - of course, memory can only serve one so far when the information you are recalling was written on a display plaque in a museum that has been closed for 16 years, on a mounted specimen which I last saw in Darlington library about 12 years ago.

There will undoubtably be information on the bear in a local history book *somewhere* but I would not know where to start looking - there are only very scattered references to it online, and only in the context of mentioning there was a polar bear displayed on the very few mentions of the museum online. The following image - linked because it is much too large to post in-thread - is the only one I can find online of the bear, or indeed the interior of the museum. It looks rather different to the layout from when I knew the museum, though.

http://www.tomorrows-history.com/images/content/DA/DA1200310001.jpg

Law of averages would suggest it was an escapee, but considering the early 19th century was still within the climatic period known as the "Little Ice Age" I suppose it is possible for the bear to have been a genuine stray.

Its near Otterburn (or Catterick, or both) on some army ranges where Eagle Owls bred for a number of years- its not known if the originals were escapees or migrants from across the North sea. One of the adults was shot eventually. And as a link to this thread- there was a one hour T.V. film on them a few years ago.

'Wild Burma' as a title has more punch- many people still wouldn't know 'Myanmar' I think.

Both! Not that anyone in authority will admit to it, but there are persistent rumours that there are still a fair few Eagle Owls in the area of Kielder Forest and the Cheviots.

The use of the term "Myanmar" is a thorny one - a lot of official agencies, including the UK and US governments, still use the name Burma due to reservations on the legitimacy of the military regime which instigated the nomenclature change.

 

[dean]

It wasn't all idlyllic. I was sent to a horrible Preparatory Boarding School with a heavy accent on 'christianity'. The Headmaster was a religious Zealot and a bully, -he must be long gone now but I am sure he would be arrested for child cruelty nowadays. Probably why I have no religious leanings.

I suppose in to every life a little rain will pour I wonder if zealots realize that what ever they go on about usually has the opposite reaction to the one they hope, and why don't they realize it themselves?
I don't know what my first word were, but Horsey Horsey was my favorite nursery rhyme even on the way to hospital at 18 months old after my mother slammed the kitchen door shut to stop me getting near the cooker not realizing my little finger was still on the edge. Apparently coming back I sang the same song but after the anesthetic it was a very slurred version I don't know why I went to hospital really as my granny had picked up the end of my finger and put it on the fire.

 

[Pertinax]

Both! Not that anyone in authority will admit to it, but there are persistent rumours that there are still a fair few Eagle Owls in the area of Kielder Forest and the Cheviots.

I shall try and research the Bear...

Re the Eagle Owls- as they had nested successfully for a number of years(eighteen?) its highly likely a lot of the offspring are still around and themselves breeding. If the originals did come from Europe, natural recruitment might be a possibility too.

I seem to remember the T.V. programme highlighted the fact that its unclear whether the Eagle Owl is/was originally an endemic UK breeding species, or not, in the past.

 

[devilfish]

The final episode of Wild Burma has now been aired and I enjoyed it much more than the first two. They give camera trap species a mention, sometimes with an extra sentence for description. Briefly featured animals include Shortridge's langur (Yes!), marbled cat , and hoolock gibbons, which had so far been broadcast in silence this series.
It would have been interesting if they'd have spent longer in the North, as I had hoped to do in my initial plans for this year.

 

[dean]

I agree Devil fish, of course everything having to be on knife edge and tenterhooks, we had to wait until the end to get to know some thing. It could be down to over editing of course, but I was wondering if they didn't actually find enough for 3 programmes so they spun it out with the repetitive shots of elephants tired, camera women, tribes people watching laptop footage -and taking it in there stride- It would have made a good hour to 2 hour show, I dread to think what will happen when it get so sky, it will be the zooological equivalent of watching paint dry.

 

[IanRRobinson]

It would have been interesting if they'd have spent longer in the North, as I had hoped to do in my initial plans for this year.

Quite. The Tibeto-Burmese borderlands must contain huge tracts of land that the outside world doesn't know about. It's only been in the last 15-20 years, I believe, that the existence of wolves there has become known.

 

[Pertinax]

but I was wondering if they didn't actually find enough for 3 programmes so they spun it out with the repetitive shots of elephants tired, camera women, tribes people watching laptop footage

For me, the third one was not much better than the other two. I found all three to be virtually interchangeable, with only the 'target' major species differing in each programme.(1. Elephants.2. Sun Bear/Carnivores. 3 Tiger.)
Only with the Elephants did they succeed in genuine wildlife filming other than showing Camera trap footage. That's a fact rather than a critisism in itself, but it does majorly restrict the amount of time wildlife appears onscreen.

There seemed to be a lot of the same camera trap shots used in all three programmes, by No 3, I was seeing them yet again, also shots from the animal market featured in programme 2. and maybe the 'stock' sunbear footage too. Programme 3 did seem to feature a bit more on the lesser species though.

They obviously were commissioned for three one-hour programmes so had to fill them somehow. Wildlife-wise it scarcely made a single hour IMO.

 

[lamna]

I was quite disappointed with the series, as has been mentioned, it was not a wildlife documentary, it was a wildlife cameraman documentary.

I was also pretty disappointed that they didn't even mention to the Pink Headed Duck or the Burmese Jerdon's Babbler two extinct species that might still be clinging on in Burma.

They also never mentioned what subspecies of tiger they were looking for.

For a program about a scientific survey, there was very little information.

 

[Jordan-Jaguar97]

I enjoyed the 2nd episode more, the information they gave was more in detail. I always liked the fact they included some very nice little felidae's! I wasn't complaining when I saw the likes of marbled cat, leopard cat and clouded leopards. It was also nice seeing a tiger

Oh, and clouded leopards in daylight too.

 

[Tim Brown]

Saw the latest episode[not seen the others] but I did find the Tiger orientation just a little irritating-bit of an error from one of the scientists "ah,Great Hornbills" I didn't record the prog. but from memory they were Oriental Pied Hornbills... unless he meant "great...hornbills!"