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Chris Packham is at Minsmere in June

Chris will spend Sunday 7 June 2009 acting as a guide on site and will be chatting with Lesley, who is broadcasting three live shows from the RSPB reserve on the Suffolk coast.

Lesley's 1300-1600 BST show will be live from Minsmere on Wednesday 5, Thursday 6 and Friday 7 June.

When Chris arrives on the Sunday, the new face of Springwatch will be encouraging listeners to get away from their TV sets and to make the most of our "fantastic" county.

"Suffolk is absolutely loaded with fantastic bird sites and there are some fantastic plants and sites for insects as well," Chris said.

"So if you are lucky enough to live in Suffolk you shouldn't spent too much time indoors, not at this time of year!"

While the Springwatch team are camped out at Pensthorpe in Norfolk, Chris is taking the chance to revisit one of his old favourite locations.

"I remember my first trip to Minsmere. It was a pilgrimage to see marsh harriers in the early 70s when it was the only place these birds were breeding.

"It was a very special place to go to."

Chris's appearance at Minsmere will also coincide with the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Dirty Weekend, which you can read more about using the links on the right.

"Minsmere is a place I like to champion," said Chris. "The access there for all the visitors is fantastic -Μύ there's plenty of scope for wheelchairs and pushchairs and the hides are brilliantly located.

"It's a reserve that's been sculpted over many years to have many different habitats so it's got a great bird list.

"It's a beautiful, beautiful part of the world."

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Oddie advice

Chris, who as presenter on The Really Wild Show encouraged children to get closer to nature, took over the reins as Kate Humble's co-presenter on Springwatch in 2009 following the departure of Bill Oddie.

"I'm really enjoying it," said Chris. "I think it's brought me back to basics in some ways.

"When you have an interest in wildlife which grows over half a lifetime you end up chasing things which become increasingly fast, furious and exotic.

Bill Oddie and Kate Humble

"So coming and sitting down and watching a nest full of chaffinches, blackbirds and swallows has been a real treat. I feel like a kid again and it's really energised my interest completely."

Chris received some words of encouragement from his predecessor Oddie, whose presenting had managed to ruffle the feathers of some viewers in the past.

"He's been a mate and a mentor. His advice was 'go to it, and try not to put your foot in it as much as I did!'

But like Bill Oddie, Chris doesn't want to shy away from the more controversial aspects of conservation.

"But Bill and I are very passionate and neither of us are prepared to pull punches. We want to make a difference.

"So if something's got to be said and there's a call to action that needs to be sounded then I'll follow in his fine footsteps and say 'look get on with it'."

Whoever's presenting, Chris says Springwatch is a brilliant way of highlighting the array of wildlife that surrounds us.

"The great strength of Springwatch is that we're using familiar species. These are things we can see out of our kitchen windows, people know about them, but we're able to show them a little bit more.

"They can then follow up any interest the programme generates through the Breathing Places website, so it's a great forum for the sharing of enthusiasm."

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