Goshawk

0:00:03 > 0:00:08On Deadly 60, I've had loads of incredible animal encounters.

0:00:08 > 0:00:11Here's just one of my many favourites.

0:00:12 > 0:00:16This is Deadly 60...Bites!

0:00:17 > 0:00:21Next on my list is one of the amazing birds of prey

0:00:21 > 0:00:23we have here in the UK.

0:00:23 > 0:00:28And it hunts in the challenging environment of our woodlands.

0:00:29 > 0:00:34The master of this habitat is this winged wonder, the goshawk.

0:00:34 > 0:00:39Goshawks typically breed and hunt in mature woodlands.

0:00:39 > 0:00:42And hunting in here is about dodging obstacles

0:00:42 > 0:00:44and being able to ambush your prey.

0:00:44 > 0:00:46- Because of that... - GOSHAWK CRIES OUT

0:00:46 > 0:00:50she has a very different design, and quite a loud voice, as you can hear!

0:00:50 > 0:00:53I'm not sure she'll let me show you this,

0:00:53 > 0:00:56but the wings - come on, sweetheart -

0:00:56 > 0:01:00are shorter, and more rounded.

0:01:00 > 0:01:05And she has this wonderful, fan-shaped tail.

0:01:05 > 0:01:07There you go.

0:01:07 > 0:01:10This works like a rudder steering her amongst the trees.

0:01:10 > 0:01:14To show you how awesome she can be, in full predatory mode,

0:01:14 > 0:01:19we'll have her hunt something a little bit bigger than normal. Me.

0:01:20 > 0:01:23Goshawks are so super-fast,

0:01:23 > 0:01:26we've had to bring all kinds of bits of kit

0:01:26 > 0:01:28to try and film her in flight.

0:01:28 > 0:01:32We've even got people in the trees!

0:01:37 > 0:01:39Right... Now,

0:01:39 > 0:01:42I've got, erm, I've got the lure,

0:01:42 > 0:01:46a little bit of meat there, on my hand.

0:01:48 > 0:01:50And when Ellie is loosed,

0:01:50 > 0:01:54she'll try and find the path of least resistance to find me.

0:01:54 > 0:01:58This woodland could be hell for a bird of prey.

0:01:58 > 0:02:04It's just a tangle of beech, conifers and hazel.

0:02:04 > 0:02:07All the trees are very tightly packed together.

0:02:07 > 0:02:11And for a bird as big as the goshawk, really,

0:02:11 > 0:02:15it's going to have to dodge and weave in and out

0:02:15 > 0:02:18with incredible manoeuvrability.

0:02:18 > 0:02:20I'm really quite far from her.

0:02:20 > 0:02:25But, erm, their eyesight is about eight times better than ours.

0:02:25 > 0:02:28So she should spot me with ease.

0:02:31 > 0:02:33OK, whenever you're ready...

0:02:50 > 0:02:51Ugh! Crikey!

0:02:54 > 0:02:57The force of that, as she hits you!

0:02:57 > 0:03:00Imagine what it must be like if you were a rabbit!

0:03:00 > 0:03:03I didn't hear a sound!

0:03:03 > 0:03:05It just belted me!

0:03:05 > 0:03:09OK, so now I've felt what it's like to be the prey,

0:03:09 > 0:03:12we have a remarkable bit of technology

0:03:12 > 0:03:15which can show us what it's like to be the hunter.

0:03:15 > 0:03:19This harness here - please don't take my fingers off, Ellie,

0:03:19 > 0:03:21that would be such a bad day -

0:03:21 > 0:03:25attaches to a tiny little mini camera, which is going to give us

0:03:25 > 0:03:29a goshawk's-eye view of flying through these trees.

0:03:29 > 0:03:31Come on, shall we get you kitted up?

0:03:33 > 0:03:36Right, just about...there.

0:04:00 > 0:04:04Now that my role as prey is over, it's time to check out

0:04:04 > 0:04:07exactly how Ellie hunts, in such thick woods.

0:04:07 > 0:04:12Right, let's look at our hero, or should I say heroine, in action.

0:04:16 > 0:04:20Look at that! You can see the talons coming back open, spreading,

0:04:20 > 0:04:22with razor-sharp ends to them.

0:04:22 > 0:04:25Just imagine, if you were a bird or a rabbit,

0:04:25 > 0:04:28and saw those coming at you like that,

0:04:28 > 0:04:31it would be the last thing you ever saw.

0:04:31 > 0:04:35I mean, really, she's gone from about 30 miles an hour

0:04:35 > 0:04:38to a complete stop in the space of under a second.

0:04:38 > 0:04:43The deceleration forces must be incredible, the G-forces, unreal.

0:04:43 > 0:04:46And she's doing that by throwing back her wings,

0:04:46 > 0:04:51spreading those flight feathers, and just stopping herself dead,

0:04:51 > 0:04:55like a parachute on a drag racing car. That force goes into the prey.

0:04:55 > 0:04:58All the force from the flight hits the prey,

0:04:58 > 0:05:00and it'll be all over within seconds.

0:05:03 > 0:05:04Oh, wow!

0:05:06 > 0:05:09That was... Hang on, I'm going to watch that again.

0:05:09 > 0:05:13It was all over... Even speeded down that amount,

0:05:13 > 0:05:16it's all over in a fraction of a second.

0:05:16 > 0:05:20Effortlessly, she's folded her wings together so she can get through

0:05:20 > 0:05:23that narrow gap without losing any speed whatsoever.

0:05:23 > 0:05:26But she's going through a gap not much wider than her body,

0:05:26 > 0:05:28let alone with her spread wings.

0:05:28 > 0:05:33I think all this technology that we've had to use to get any sense

0:05:33 > 0:05:36of what the goshawk's like at hunting shows

0:05:36 > 0:05:41why she has to go on the Deadly 60. I mean, she thinks, acts, sees,

0:05:41 > 0:05:44in a whole different world of speed to us.

0:05:44 > 0:05:48And that's why you're going on the Deadly 60.

0:05:48 > 0:05:51You have no idea what that is, do you?

0:05:52 > 0:05:56Amazing acceleration, speed and agility.

0:05:56 > 0:05:59This dodging and weaving aerial predator

0:05:59 > 0:06:02is any woodland animal's worst nightmare.

0:06:02 > 0:06:06Goshawk has got to go on the Deadly 60.

0:06:22 > 0:06:25Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:06:25 > 0:06:28E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk