A national treasure has been in the city filming for a BBC TV programme.
Chris Packham was in Hove today for the The One Show.
He was at the Booth Museum in Dyke Road and Bhasvic field in Old Shoreham Road this morning.
Lou McCurdy, co-founder of the Friends of the Field group which works to protect and enhance Bhasvic field said it was “an absolute treat” to meet Chris, who she described as a “legend”.
“It was hard to contain myself,” Lou told The Argus.
The naturalist came to the field to do some bird watching with his binoculars for some outdoor filming in the wooded area.
Lou said: “We met him on the field this morning he filmed a little piece about how he got into birds and bird watching and when he found a chaffinch’s nest as a boy.
“He is so great and so quick. He talked to us after he finished filming the piece. He was so interested.”
The 62-year-old TV presenter will be on Springwatch next month when it returns for its 20th series.
Lou and her friend Polly Strauss have been campaigning to protect the field from development for over ten years.
They are also working with a group to boost biodiversity in the field, which Lou describes as an “urban haven”.
“Chris loved the wild scruffy edges, our new orchard and hedgerows,” Lou said.
The Friends of the Field welcomed Peter Kyle MP to the field last summer to mark the unveiling of a new noticeboard, hedge, and community composting space.
Lou added: “Thanks to everyone who has helped us to create such a wonderful urban haven and especially to Graeme Lyons, our friend and eminent ecologist for his amazing biodiversity report for the whole field.”
Graeme, from Hove, has recorded nearly 500 species in the field including rare finds like the pantaloon bee and small emerald butterfly.
“These are significant records for the field and show that by not mowing right to the edge we can create wild flourishing verges for nature,” said Lou.
A spokeswoman from Brighton and Hove Museums said: "Chris Packham filmed at the Booth Museum of Natural History today for a programme which will be broadcast in the future. Sorry we can't reveal anything more at the moment but we can say it was a pleasure to show him around our fantastic museum."
The BBC was contacted for comment.
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