TV review: Autumnwatch

Well actually, it turned out to be my own fringe falling in my face but that's not the point. I thought it was a spider, so creepy crawlies are in my bad books.

This was followed by a near miss with a bowl of cat food – earning animals their own entry into said same bad book and to cap it all off, Tuesday night is green bin night in the Burns household. I won't go into details about the incident involving the wet grass cuttings that were supposed to be deposited into said bin but suffice to say no, it wasn't pleasant and yes, my tights are ruined. So plants, they're out too.

Which makes last night's new series of Autumnwatch (BBC2) a slightly strange choice for my evening's viewing. But what with it being so, well, autumnal outside and me being so against going outdoors to interact with real nature, curling up on the sofa to watch it didn't seem like such a bad idea.

Besides, Autumnwatch Innuendo is a great game popular with students and 20-somethings the UK over – all that talk of birds, bees and beavers makes for some great 'bow chicka wow wow' moments.

And last night's episode was no exception – I sniggered at least four times during the hour I spent with Michaela Strachan and company discovering exactly what could be lurking in the depths of my back garden.

But I actually got a lot more out of it than the odd raised eyebrow and wry smile. Following a new format, the show is now presented by Michaela along with Chris Packham and Martin Hughes-Games. For the next four nights it is coming live from Aigas Field Centre in Scotland.

And they served up some incredible pub quiz knowledge during the hour-long show. Did you know that female grey squirrels set up home next to their relatives in a neighbours-style? I didn't.

Or that the average grey squirrel 'squirrels' away 3,000 nuts every autumn and remembers where they put 90 per cent of them? Again, I didn't.

Another thing I didn't know was that a stag's antlers are the fastest growing mammal bone, developing by up to 10mm every day.

Want more nature-based trivia? Beavers build underwater food larders. That's store cupboards underneath actual water.

It was genuinely fascinating stuff. And I'm pretty sure I'll be able to dine out on these little nuggets of nature for, ooh, at least the next two days.

And it would be worth watching all over again just to hear a fully grown man describe a golden eagle as having a "classic body builder's" physique.

Interestingly, Chris Packham points out that autumn is a real 'make or break' season for nature as animals and plants struggle to survive as weather conditions become increasingly harsh and food increasingly scarce.

Something I think we can all relate to as winter sets in – albeit slightly less of a struggle for us humans who are forced to grudgingly reach for the hat and scarf than, say, a rutting male deer who is desperate to establish himself as leader of the pack or an increasingly endangered pine martin battling for survival.

The camera-work was of course impeccable, picking up some incredibly beautiful autumn scenes of burnt orange leaves and capturing everyday birds such as jays and bull finches in such a way that they looked positively exotic.

I even learned the word mandibulating . . . but I'll let you look that one up yourselves for a few pub quiz bonus points.

I can't say I'll be rushing to watch the next four instalments, but that's only because I'll be too busy dining out in the pub on the back of all my new-found knowledge.

Trust me; my friends – like me – are very easily impressed.