Colin suits up for wildlife

COLIN STAFFORD-JOHNSON is sitting on the bank of the river Dodder, dressed in his camouflaged ‘eejit-suit’ and holding a branch in his hand.

It all looks like a ridiculous scene from some spoof spy movie. Then suddenly there’s a flash of blue and Ireland’s most beautifully-coloured bird comes to a halt on the stick. Bullseye!

By his own admission Stafford-Johnson buzzes from the encounter with the kingfisher. Earlier in this first episode of the new series of Living The Wildlife (Tuesday, RTÉ One, 7pm), we had seen him shaking with anticipation when he found the riverside nest. “It’s like the first time every time,” he tells us. This from a cameraman who has travelled the past few decades travelling the world filming some of the most spectacular wildlife on earth. Tigers in India, rhinos in Africa, river birds in Dublin — all are approached with similar levels of infectious enthusiasm.