![Wildscreen's photograph of David Attenborough at ARKive's launch in Bristol, England © May 2003 [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://markavery.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/David_Attenborough-300x200.jpg)
I’ve always wanted to see Saiga antelope and that desire (which I guess will never be realised) was strengthened rather than diminished after last night’s episode. But there were Harvest Mice (which I’ve never seen either – maybe I will one day), Red Foxes diving into the snow (seen Foxes, seen snow; not seen Foxes diving into snow), Bison (seen), Buffalo (seen) and a variety of cats too.
The birds were tip-top too. The Jackson’s Whydahs who jumped in the grass were excellent (I have seen them) and you can never go wrong with a bee-eater, and even less so with Carmine Bee-eaters. It must be nearly 30 years since I saw Carmine Bee-eaters feeding among a herd of elephants at Lake Jipe in Kenya but it is not a combination that one forgets. And the sequences last night of Carmines riding on the backs of Kori Bustards (seen), Ostriches (seen) and then Elephants, using them as mobile perches which flushed the insects from the grass, were memorable too.
If Planet Earth makes one think that one is living on a wonderful planet then Strictly is quite persuasive about it being populated with wonderful people too. People who always applaud others, are pleased when they do well and who feel their pain when they lose. It may be just a little cheesy, but then I like cheese, but it is somewhat gripping too. Obviously Strictly‘s results programme precedes Planet Earth so that the allegory of ‘survival of the fittest’ is still strong in our minds when we move from the glittery sequinned dance-off to the real world.
And now we are left with the final four: Danny Mac (I’m not really sure who he is but he can dance) is the odds-on favourite, Louise Redknapp (I do know who she is surprisingly enough)(5/2), Claudia Frangapane (yep, vaguely aware of her too)(14/1) and Ore Oduba (no idea)(30/1), and provided that Ore doesn’t win my Christmas bank balance will have been enhanced. And it is unlikely that Ore will win because the British public doesn’t have a great record of voting for contestants of colour on Strictly and also because it really is between Danny Mac and Louise Redknapp on dancing merit (IMHO).
One more night of Planet Earth 2, two more weeks of Strictly, I guess a night of Sports Personality of the Year, and then – it must be Christmas!
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As I understand it there is some concern that the film crew almost caused the extinction of the Saiga antelope, and I’m not talking about the crew catering manager getting over enthusiastic with the barbecue. There is a possibility that they might have brought an infectious disease into the field with them that led to:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/planet-earth-ii-crew-witnessed-the-tragic-mass-death-of-saiga-antelope-david-attenborough-bbc1-a7447981.html
Thankfully the species can recover quickly from such events, unless the next film crew’s catering manager decides to pull out all the stops with the charcoal.
The film crew witnessed the die-off of saiga but where does the suggestion that they caused it come from? Another link discussing this mass mortality event is here: http://theconversation.com/planet-earth-ii-why-more-than-200-000-saiga-antelopes-died-in-just-days-69859
I did read somewhere that the film crew were criticised as possible disease vectors, but I cannot find the specific article. I thought it was mentioned in the Indie article, but obviously not. If they have definitely been ruled out, then I am very glad of it. The show has been one of the few bright spots of such a dreadful year, and the implication had cast a pall over it, I am glad that pall has now been lifted.
Next week is about how wildlife lives in our cities I think, at least that’s what DA said in the preview. It’s been a superb series so far, but I’d love to see such time, effort and expense spent on exposing some of the dreadful damage being done to the planet too. Less of the “rose-tinted spectacles” of the BBC Natural History team.
ThisisClareH – welcome and thank you. And thank you for your other comment.
To be fair Colin Jackson ought to have won strictly but he was choreographed a dance the judges didn’t like and lost out.
John – I remember that.
Liking Strictly and disliking Linnets? I’m beginning to wonder about you Mark!