:00:13. > :00:16.Hello, welcome to Autumnwatch. Coming to you, live, from the
:00:16. > :00:20.beautiful Highlands of Scotland. Over the next four nights we will
:00:20. > :00:25.bring you the very best of British wildlife, at this, the most
:00:25. > :00:29.dramatic time of the year. We have this whole site bugged with
:00:29. > :00:34.live cameras, everywhere and they should give a superb view of
:00:34. > :00:44.animals like this, the magnificent pine marten. There is only one
:00:44. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:05.place you will get this, and much Welcome to Autumnwatch 2012.
:01:05. > :01:11.Committee of for the next four Loch -- a four nights. We have headed
:01:11. > :01:16.north of Inverness to the amazing feel centre. We're up here to enjoy
:01:16. > :01:20.the very best of the season. For the animals, it is make-or-break
:01:20. > :01:23.time. Some of them have left us, some are going to join us and some
:01:23. > :01:28.are going to sleep through it. He will not be able to do that because
:01:28. > :01:33.I can promise you we have some fantastic shows coming up.
:01:33. > :01:43.really have, and this is one of the most beautiful places in the whole
:01:43. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:58.of the UK. We have come to one of the UK's most incredible landscapes,
:01:58. > :01:59.
:01:59. > :02:08.the Scottish Highlands, at the very heart of that the autumn spectacle.
:02:08. > :02:18.This rugged area is home to some of the UK's most iconic wildlife.
:02:18. > :02:34.
:02:34. > :02:42.Highland specialists, and familiar favourites. This time of year is
:02:42. > :02:51.full of drama and duty. -- beauty. But Alton is also a critical period
:02:51. > :02:53.for animal survival. -- autumn for for animal survival. -- autumn for
:02:53. > :03:03.some --. And we will be following them 24 hours a day as they prepare
:03:03. > :03:05.
:03:05. > :03:09.for winter. And for the seasonal challenges ahead. What about that!
:03:09. > :03:15.It is going to be good. It is going to be good. And a lot of those
:03:15. > :03:18.iconic animals surround us in this site. And many of them are
:03:18. > :03:22.nocturnal but this time of year, which is fabulous for us because it
:03:22. > :03:28.has given us the opportunity to break infra-red cameras around the
:03:28. > :03:32.site, which is a first for Autumnwatch. That is one animal --
:03:32. > :03:39.there is one animal that I'm excited about. It is directly
:03:39. > :03:44.behind us. It is a family of beaver is. We have put live cameras on the
:03:44. > :03:49.lodge where it lives, but very exciting, we have one camera right
:03:49. > :03:52.inside that Lodge. Obviously, it is a little experiment will because
:03:52. > :03:58.there are lots of chambers within that beaver lodge and we have no
:03:58. > :04:01.idea which one they uses -- which one they use. We picked one, and we
:04:01. > :04:06.did not know if we would get anything the time police to say
:04:06. > :04:15.that we did. Last night, for the first time, we saw one of the
:04:15. > :04:19.beaver is inside our rate chamber. It is a TV first! I and it is
:04:19. > :04:23.completely Darkin there. It is infrared, and we are looking at a
:04:23. > :04:30.very secretive part of its life, which is incredible. Not the only
:04:30. > :04:35.animals that are secretive around here. There are about -- about 100
:04:36. > :04:41.metres away, there is his camera. It is a collection of logs, and a
:04:41. > :04:45.dry-stone wall in the background. This is where we had been staking
:04:46. > :04:50.out pine marten said. They are extraordinarily shy animals. --
:04:50. > :04:55.pine martens. To see one in the flesh is a treat. During the last
:04:56. > :05:01.few days, we have seen this. This is a fabulous sight. Absolutely
:05:01. > :05:04.Fabulous. They are related to stoats and weasels, and it is
:05:04. > :05:08.coming up here and we had been getting the most amazing views at
:05:08. > :05:13.night. Fingers crossed, we will see these animals live as well. We have
:05:13. > :05:18.been seeing them at about this time. If they appear during the programme,
:05:18. > :05:22.we will go straight over. You can keep your eyes peeled, too, because
:05:22. > :05:28.another first, if you visit our another first, if you visit our
:05:28. > :05:31.website, and look at the webcams, website, and look at the webcams,
:05:31. > :05:33.they are on 24 hours a day. You can look for beaver is that pine marten
:05:33. > :05:36.us. The same service is available us. The same service is available
:05:36. > :05:40.on the Red Button. How could you resist? I would be there all day
:05:40. > :05:50.and all night! And it is not just around his local area. We will go
:05:50. > :05:54.further afield. We have had it up north, off the West Coast, in the
:05:54. > :05:58.search for our most magnificent bird of prey. The golden eagle,
:05:58. > :06:03.Absolutely Fabulous. Let's see whether he manages to do that.
:06:03. > :06:07.Autumn is all about migration and up the road from where we are, all
:06:07. > :06:12.of these swans have appeared. Look at those beaks. They are yellow,
:06:12. > :06:17.they are not mute swans, they are whooper swan as, all away from
:06:17. > :06:24.Iceland. -- whooper swans. They're still coming in and they will stay
:06:24. > :06:31.here, refuelling, and then in two weeks, they will move south, into
:06:31. > :06:35.the south. I hope I will be seen them on my local bird in patch. If
:06:35. > :06:41.you see that yellow beak, it is always exciting. And there is
:06:41. > :06:45.another bird, one of my favourites, which is more look local, a
:06:45. > :06:50.glorious bird. People who say that British birds are not pretty, look
:06:50. > :07:00.at that! Isn't that beautiful? They are stopping their faces. What are
:07:00. > :07:05.
:07:05. > :07:08.they doing? You tell me. They are man did relating! -- mandibulating.
:07:08. > :07:15.They're interested in the seed inside the Bury, not the fleshy
:07:15. > :07:17.part. When it is cold, on a cold day, bullfinch is way more because
:07:18. > :07:21.they increase their feeding weight during the course of the day so
:07:21. > :07:27.that they can build up their reserves to get through the night.
:07:27. > :07:31.It does not tally look good, it can put on weight in a day. That is one
:07:31. > :07:35.of your favourites. -- it does not only look good. We have travelled
:07:35. > :07:38.all over the UK to bring you fabulous wildlife footage. And we
:07:38. > :07:42.will be up-to-date with the latest research as well because even some
:07:42. > :07:52.animals that you think you are very familiar with, well, the result was
:07:52. > :07:56.something you to learn. -- there is always something new to learn.
:07:56. > :07:59.squirrels. Over two-and-a-half million of them are in our parks,
:07:59. > :08:09.woodland and gardens and they are one of the UK's most commonly seen
:08:09. > :08:15.
:08:15. > :08:25.Introduced 140 years ago, they have spread almost countrywide. But what
:08:25. > :08:36.
:08:36. > :08:46.They are masters of the trees. Long, curved claws grip the bark. And
:08:46. > :08:54.
:08:54. > :09:04.flexible joints allow them to hang This agility is absolutely vital.
:09:04. > :09:07.
:09:07. > :09:17.Life in the park is fraught with danger. Any of these would make
:09:17. > :09:18.
:09:18. > :09:21.short work of a squirrel if they could catch one. It may look as
:09:21. > :09:29.though squirrels roam everywhere across a park but the fact they
:09:29. > :09:37.have carved up into individual home ranges. They mark the boundaries of
:09:37. > :09:47.these by rubbing urine and saliva into the ground. And they dispatch
:09:47. > :09:55.
:09:55. > :10:00.any intruders by chasing them off. Family members to have a softer
:10:00. > :10:06.side. Related females will set up as nature's -- neighbours and they
:10:06. > :10:14.will even groom each other. When it comes to food, grey
:10:14. > :10:18.squirrels live on a diet of seeds, berries and food. -- fruit. And
:10:18. > :10:24.anything else they can persuade park visitors to part with -- to
:10:24. > :10:30.part with. But it is how they prepare for the lean months of
:10:30. > :10:39.winter that makes squirrels so successful. In autumn, they will
:10:39. > :10:47.spend hours collecting and storing food. It is a strategy known as
:10:47. > :10:54.caching. They will take a hole in the ground a push the food into it.
:10:54. > :10:59.-- Daegu a whole. In the disguise it. Autumn leaves come in handy.
:10:59. > :11:03.Scientists have discovered that they can store up to 3000 nuts.
:11:03. > :11:11.Experiments have shown that, incredibly, they remember where up
:11:11. > :11:18.to 90% are hidden. To do this, grey squirrels are deployed their
:11:18. > :11:21.remarkable spatial memory. The use landmarks like trees or bushes to
:11:22. > :11:26.remember their cash to more than five centimetres. In the use their
:11:26. > :11:30.acute sense of smell to lead them to the exact spell -- then they
:11:30. > :11:39.used their acute sense of smell to lead them to the exact spot. But
:11:39. > :11:45.there is a problem in the park. There are thieves about. Jays are a
:11:45. > :11:53.prime culprit. But it is not just birds to steal their stash. Our the
:11:53. > :11:57.squirrels are on the make, too. -- the squirrels. Why bother to find
:11:57. > :12:01.and story not when you can make someone else's? This pilfering is a
:12:01. > :12:07.serious business and it reduces the hoarder's food supply so ultimately
:12:08. > :12:15.can be a matter of life and death in a hard winter. Grey squirrels
:12:15. > :12:19.have become masters of deception. They scatter hoard, hiding nuts
:12:19. > :12:26.throughout their territory to spread the risk of all their stash
:12:26. > :12:33.being invaded in one go. They also pick up sports nuts and then rebury
:12:33. > :12:37.them in different places, throwing feeds off the scent. -- throwing
:12:37. > :12:42.thieves. If they are aware of and others will while they are hiding,
:12:42. > :12:46.they become even more secretive. They will turn their backs on the
:12:46. > :12:55.onlooker and sometimes dig fake calls, even concealing the not in
:12:56. > :13:01.their mouths, then Burry Inlet at a different location. -- bury it.
:13:01. > :13:07.For a grey squirrel, the local park is a world of theft and deception.
:13:07. > :13:10.These rodents will stop at nothing to find and protect their food. It
:13:10. > :13:14.is a strategy that has helped them to become one of our more
:13:14. > :13:24.successful mammals. The next time you visit the park, take the time
:13:24. > :13:26.
:13:26. > :13:31.to wander and watch these clever little creatures. They are clever
:13:31. > :13:37.little critters! And that is the new research. 3000 nuts, and they
:13:37. > :13:40.remember 90 % of them. I'm glad I'm not a grace will, I would not
:13:40. > :13:45.survive very long! The thing I really like about this is that this
:13:45. > :13:50.is an animal that is widespread across the UK. We have access to it
:13:50. > :13:53.and it is very interesting. Ordinary people like us can do the
:13:53. > :13:58.science and learn more about them, whether it is in the park or the
:13:58. > :14:02.garden. And there is more staff to learn, which is very exciting. We
:14:02. > :14:05.spoke to her friends at the British Trust for Ornithology and they said
:14:05. > :14:10.they had been a one-third increase in squirrels moving into gardens at
:14:10. > :14:15.this time of year already, and we think that is because the corn crop
:14:15. > :14:18.has failed. The squirrels will be coming into your garden. If you
:14:18. > :14:22.were not up to looking at them, protect your bird feeders because
:14:22. > :14:26.they will be all over them. There will be lots of acrobatics on the
:14:26. > :14:31.bird feeders! There are no grey squirrels appear but plenty of red
:14:31. > :14:35.squirrels. They also cash their food but they are not as good at it
:14:35. > :14:41.as the grey squirrels. They can remember where they buried their
:14:41. > :14:45.nuts 34 days after. But the grey squirrels, 64 days. They do not
:14:45. > :14:49.have as good a memory. That may explain why they do not survive as
:14:49. > :14:52.well as the grey squirrels. grey squirrels, when they move into
:14:52. > :14:57.the territory of the red squirrel, they will steal their food. When
:14:57. > :15:01.the red squirrels are in breeding conditions, because they have had
:15:01. > :15:05.their food stolen, they are not as heavy and cannot produce as many
:15:05. > :15:08.young. This is one of the ways that the grey squirrels in directly
:15:08. > :15:12.affect the population of the red squirrel by stealing their food
:15:12. > :15:18.because they have better memory. And appear, they are eating peas,
:15:18. > :15:25.pine cones. And the plenty of them. Studies have said it is about 115 a
:15:25. > :15:28.day, which works out to roughly 40,000 of these year. That is 2
:15:28. > :15:34.million seeds. Bet is a lot of dispersal going on by the red
:15:34. > :15:38.squirrels. -- that is a lot of dispersal. I did not realise you
:15:38. > :15:44.had a beautiful mind! Even the most familiar species, there is a lot to
:15:44. > :15:50.learn. Absolutely. Of course we are looking for other things. Small
:15:50. > :15:56.mammals are also storing food. We can show you some small mammals
:15:56. > :16:01.live on Autumnwatch. We have brought up from Springwatch, by
:16:01. > :16:11.popular demand, the mammal stump. There it is, in daylight. And we
:16:11. > :16:14.
:16:14. > :16:19.have already had some action Flight club there. There's a mouse
:16:19. > :16:24.and a vole. They tolerate each other in the end, because they
:16:24. > :16:28.realise this is a good place to have a nice snack. We have news now
:16:28. > :16:34.- we have the beesers live, so we'll cut to that now. This is one
:16:34. > :16:39.of the beavers outside of the lodge, somewhere near the dam and you can
:16:39. > :16:42.see there it's found a maul twig and it's gnawing at it. We think
:16:43. > :16:48.that it's -- small twig and it's gnawing at it. We think it's one of
:16:48. > :16:56.the small animals. What is amazing, Chris, this is quite near where we
:16:56. > :17:00.are standing. We are 150 metres away and we have our mics. We are
:17:00. > :17:04.relatively quiet. This is what they do at night. They are going out to
:17:04. > :17:10.feed and with all the leaves falling off the trees, what they're
:17:10. > :17:15.interested in is the bark. This one is gnawing at the bark and given
:17:15. > :17:20.that their digestion isn't very good, they'll have to eat all night
:17:21. > :17:26.long. This animal could be eating 2.5 kilogrammes of bark. That's a
:17:26. > :17:30.lot of bark. It's a heck of a lot. They are fascinating creatures.
:17:30. > :17:37.It's swimming. It's really exciting to have a great animal live on our
:17:37. > :17:42.first programme. Thank you, Mr Beaver. Absolutely fantastic, my
:17:42. > :17:47.colleague wants to beef up his image, so he's been down in the
:17:47. > :17:52.woods staking things out. He went out a couple of nights ago. The big
:17:52. > :17:58.question was would he be A Man For All Seasons or a bit of a midnight
:17:58. > :18:02.cowboy? The giant, redwood. These trees can grow into some of the
:18:02. > :18:09.biggest trees on Earth, but look at this - the bark is all soft and
:18:09. > :18:14.squishy. It's not what you would expect. This soft bark has allowed
:18:14. > :18:21.a curious relationship to develop between a giant tree and a very
:18:21. > :18:28.small bird, the tree creeper. This mouse-like bird creeps up the bark
:18:28. > :18:35.using the stepped tail for support. That curved bill allows it to probe
:18:35. > :18:40.into crevasses in search of prey such as insects, lavae and spiders.
:18:40. > :18:49.This tree was planted in 1880 and this behaviour was only noticed in
:18:49. > :18:54.1905. Here it is. You see this hole here, it's been dug out and there's
:18:54. > :18:59.another one here. In fact, the whole of this trunk is peppered
:18:59. > :19:02.with the little hens' eggs-size depressions, but to find out what's
:19:02. > :19:12.really going on, we'll have to wait a couple of hours and come back
:19:12. > :19:41.
:19:41. > :19:46.just as it gets dark. In this tree is a tree creeper fast asleep with
:19:46. > :19:51.his head buried in the bark. As far as I can see, we just have one tree
:19:51. > :19:57.creeper in this tree and they are quite territorial, but on occasion
:19:57. > :20:00.you can get ten or more all peppering the side of the tree. Not
:20:00. > :20:06.surprisingly, they tend to stay on the sheltered side, out of the
:20:06. > :20:12.worst of the weather. What I didn't know was they sort of fluff up
:20:12. > :20:17.their feathers. They look like a tiny, little hedgehog, and they're
:20:17. > :20:22.embedded in the bark. We have had a look at him actually in the little
:20:22. > :20:26.hole there. If you really want to see what's going on, we want one of
:20:26. > :20:31.these. This is a heat-sensitive camera and I'm just going to have a
:20:31. > :20:39.look. If we want to see it in even more detail, we don't want this
:20:39. > :20:47.little camera, we want the monster thermal camera. Lindsey McCrea
:20:47. > :20:53.gives us a hand. He's a wildlife cameraman. It's preening. While
:20:53. > :20:56.it's preening you can see hot air. It's opened itself up and it's
:20:56. > :21:01.letting the heat escape. When it's finished I bet it will tuck the
:21:01. > :21:08.head back in and it will go blue again. He's covered up again.
:21:08. > :21:11.covered up. That's brilliant. That's great. It's tucked its head
:21:11. > :21:17.under. All we can see is the breast of the bird or a little bit of
:21:17. > :21:20.breast. Just a crack of heat now. The light blue is the back. That is
:21:20. > :21:29.letting out hardly any heat at all. It makes perfect sense for him to
:21:29. > :21:34.be up there. OK, with we go live, straightaway, we have something
:21:34. > :21:38.live on the cameras? Look at that, it's a live pine marten. I didn't
:21:38. > :21:44.dare hope we would get that. never thought it would happen. Look
:21:44. > :21:48.at that. What an animal. It's pitch black. The light are infrared, so
:21:48. > :21:55.it can't see them there. It's just having a little bit to eat. Gosh,
:21:55. > :21:58.we are lucky. So lucky. Now, Martin, this one looks kind of slim and
:21:58. > :22:05.quite slight. The females are smaller than the males. And they
:22:05. > :22:10.look a little more chunky. It could be one of the females, because how
:22:10. > :22:14.many do we have in total? Five or six. There are a lot more than we
:22:14. > :22:18.imagined. We have had views of two them at the feeding stations and we
:22:18. > :22:25.can identify them as individuals, but look at that. You can see the
:22:25. > :22:30.narrow snout. It's got more prominent ears, more prominent than
:22:30. > :22:35.pole cats, but the only place you can see these is in Scotland. There
:22:35. > :22:40.are some in ales and Ireland, but most of England is devoid of pine
:22:40. > :22:45.martens. That's a fairly recent thing. They were even as far down
:22:45. > :22:50.as London a couple of hundred years ago. The worst time they had was
:22:50. > :22:53.from 1850s to the end of the First World War, when they were
:22:53. > :22:56.persecuted by gamekeepers and that's what drove them out. Given
:22:56. > :23:00.the chance, they are spreading and there is a chance that they will
:23:00. > :23:06.recover that ground, because although they spend more time up in
:23:06. > :23:12.the trees, in fact, they spend a lot of time feeding on the ground
:23:12. > :23:16.and their principal prey are small mammals, but at the moment they are
:23:16. > :23:20.licking out strawberry jam, but we're getting a great view. We have
:23:20. > :23:26.a way of trying to tell how - the difference between the polecats we
:23:26. > :23:31.have here. If we just look at this and leave that for a second. Look
:23:31. > :23:37.at this. If you want to tell the difference between poles can cats
:23:37. > :23:44.you can, because the patterns on the - Pine martens, mate. Did I say
:23:44. > :23:50.that?? You did, mate. I knew I would. They have different patterns
:23:50. > :23:57.on they will and that's the thing to look out for. Let's look now.
:23:57. > :24:03.Let's see if we can find a couple of hours and go back to hours.
:24:03. > :24:09.one is usefully named Spot. That was imaginative. Very. It's got one
:24:09. > :24:15.spot. That's a young female, I think, that one. Here's another one.
:24:15. > :24:19.Quite different. Dice. Why? I think it's because the spots are
:24:19. > :24:29.configured like that on a dice. haven't got the live camera. We'll
:24:29. > :24:29.
:24:29. > :24:33.go back and see. We think it's Dice. The thing is, all of you can watch
:24:33. > :24:37.them at home, so what we're hoping is that you'll get views which we
:24:37. > :24:42.may not, of their chest patterns and over the period of the next few
:24:42. > :24:47.days we'll identify a number of different individuals. Please be
:24:47. > :24:52.more imaginative with the names, though. Think of something a little
:24:52. > :25:00.more exciting. Shall we move on? have seen beavers. And the pine
:25:00. > :25:04.martens, or poles can cats. Right, countryside. -- polecats. Right,
:25:04. > :25:09.the countryside. This time of year, it's about enjoying the simple
:25:09. > :25:19.beauty of autumn and one of the best ways is just look - looking at
:25:19. > :25:52.
:25:52. > :25:55.the autumn colour. Gorgeous. The forests are one of the treasures of
:25:56. > :25:59.the UK and for anyone who is at all interested in natural history, the
:25:59. > :26:05.news over the past week or so has been deeply distressing and I'm
:26:05. > :26:10.talking about the ash trees. I'm sure that you've heard that they're
:26:10. > :26:15.under threat. There's a fungus that can kill them and in Denmark 90% of
:26:15. > :26:20.their ash trees have been killed by this fungus. It's turned up over
:26:20. > :26:26.here. We have 80 million trees. They are a prime feature of all our
:26:26. > :26:31.forests. Here's an ash tree. It's right here. It's a beautiful,
:26:31. > :26:35.mature three and it's about 350 years old. That's how you tell ash
:26:36. > :26:39.easily. The leaves, lots of little ones out of the side. They're easy
:26:39. > :26:46.to identify and identifying them is crucially important. What can we do,
:26:46. > :26:54.you and I, to try to help do something about this disease? Well,
:26:54. > :27:00.what you can do is go on to our website and there we have got lots
:27:00. > :27:03.of links to places and organisations who want to hear from
:27:03. > :27:10.you if you find an infected ash tree. What does it look like? Look
:27:10. > :27:14.at this. This is a young tree, it's most obvious on young trees, the
:27:14. > :27:19.death of the leaves, you can see them at the crown. That's the first
:27:19. > :27:24.thing that happens. As it spreads, gradually other leaves lower down
:27:24. > :27:27.start to die. Of course, this is a difficult time of year to identify
:27:27. > :27:32.it, because many of the leaves are falling off the ash trees, so we
:27:32. > :27:36.have only got about a couple of weeks to try to identify it. If you
:27:36. > :27:43.suspect you have got dead ash trees when you are out walking and look
:27:43. > :27:47.like that, please get on to the website. Let us know. There are
:27:47. > :27:52.links there that will take you to people who need to know. It's about
:27:52. > :27:55.all the creatures that live on them. The ones that eat the seeds and
:27:55. > :28:02.leaves and the birds that nest, kestrels and owls and even the
:28:02. > :28:08.small trees, which are used as posts. The impact on the ecology of
:28:08. > :28:17.the kunds could be deaf stating. -- countryside could be devastating.
:28:17. > :28:22.It's been three years since we went up to the island of Rum to see the
:28:22. > :28:26.deer. How could we forsake these animals? They are soaked in the
:28:26. > :28:36.stench of raging hormones. I'm talking about the struggle that is
:28:36. > :28:43.
:28:43. > :28:51.the red deer rut. One place, one time. One brutal challenge. Off the
:28:51. > :29:01.west coast of Scotland lie the island of Rum. A place of breath-
:29:01. > :29:07.
:29:07. > :29:17.taking beauty. And wild weather. It's home to the most explosive,
:29:17. > :29:22.
:29:22. > :29:27.autumnal wildlife spectacle of them all. It's the red deer rut. Nearly
:29:27. > :29:32.all the dominant stags of the last few years have gone. No-one knows
:29:32. > :29:42.what's going to happen, but whatever happens it will be an
:29:42. > :29:42.
:29:42. > :29:52.exhausting test of strength tactics and stamina. Win and you win the
:29:52. > :29:55.
:29:56. > :30:05.chance to mate and lose and you One stag is already making his
:30:06. > :30:10.
:30:10. > :30:17.presence felt. This is Mozart. He's nine years old. He's rutted before,
:30:17. > :30:27.but never amounted to much. He's hungry for action and on the
:30:27. > :30:42.
:30:42. > :30:47.Deer. The females assemble where Karl-Heinz are starting to come
:30:48. > :30:53.into season but they will only be receptive for a matter of hours. --
:30:53. > :30:59.V Hines. Mozart was a close to increase his chances of mating. He
:30:59. > :31:07.has already rounded up the large -- a large Param but he is surrounded
:31:07. > :31:17.by rival stags wanting exactly the same thing. It is going to take
:31:17. > :31:20.
:31:20. > :31:26.everything he has got to stay on top. On the other side of the river,
:31:26. > :31:31.a surprise contender. Cassius. At 12, he is technically past his
:31:31. > :31:41.prime but the one thing this old warrior does have his experience.
:31:41. > :31:42.
:31:42. > :31:49.Mozart, on the left, and Cassius, size each other up. By roaring and
:31:49. > :31:53.walking in parallel, they assess each other's strength. Cassius
:31:53. > :31:57.looks fired-up, but with a river between them, it is easy to be
:31:57. > :32:06.confident. If he wants to challenge Mozart, he will have to take the
:32:06. > :32:10.plunge and crossed to the other side. Mozart has his work cut out,
:32:10. > :32:20.protecting the Harron. The stags are now challenging him on all
:32:20. > :32:37.
:32:37. > :32:42.With antlers tipped like daggers, Mozart manages to fend off this
:32:42. > :32:52.attack. But when you're surrounded by enemies, there is no time to
:32:52. > :32:55.
:32:55. > :32:59.If you of Mozart's Hinds head off to the beach. Seaweed is nutrition
:32:59. > :33:09.alternative Wanderers no good grazing around. Mozart goes down to
:33:09. > :33:11.
:33:11. > :33:21.round them up. -- or when there is no good grazing around. Cassius
:33:21. > :33:21.
:33:21. > :33:31.makes his move. If one of the female's comes into season, Cassius
:33:31. > :33:56.
:33:56. > :34:06.Mozart sees the threat. Cassius For a rutting stag, confidence is
:34:06. > :34:09.
:34:09. > :34:17.the key. Right now, Cassius is not quite in the zone. Mozart's hard
:34:17. > :34:21.work is starting to pay off. The female is in heat. If he can hold
:34:22. > :34:31.on to this group for a few more days, he will have even more mating
:34:32. > :34:32.
:34:32. > :34:38.opportunities. But as more or females come into season, other,
:34:38. > :34:48.powerful stags will inexorably be drawn into battle. Including
:34:48. > :34:52.
:34:52. > :34:57.Cassius. How long will Mozart have the strength to hold on. --? It is
:34:57. > :35:01.dramatic stuff. It really is. Cassius was meant to be well past
:35:01. > :35:11.it but he is looking quite good. money is on Cassius because I would
:35:11. > :35:11.
:35:12. > :35:15.rather go for experience than figure. We will see what happens.
:35:15. > :35:20.One you see that film of them fighting, you do not get a proper
:35:20. > :35:26.idea of just how big those antlers are. -- when you see that film.
:35:26. > :35:32.These are quite heavy. astonishing thing is to think that
:35:32. > :35:39.they will grow every year afresh. Quite soon, the deer will drop the
:35:39. > :35:43.antlers and specialised cells will break down the junction here and
:35:44. > :35:47.they will simply drop off. And then in April next year, a little bump
:35:47. > :35:52.will start there and it will start to grow. And they grow at a
:35:53. > :35:57.phenomenal rate, up to 10 mm a day. It is the fastest growing bone in
:35:57. > :36:01.the mammal Kingdom and it turns into this epic shape, these amazing
:36:01. > :36:06.structures. They are really sharp and lethal. What is fascinating,
:36:06. > :36:10.each individual stack will maintain his own individual shape. When they
:36:11. > :36:14.grow, every time, once they reach maturity you can recognise them by
:36:14. > :36:20.the shape of their antlers. And if all of because they might break
:36:20. > :36:23.during rutting. Imagine that on your head. I could not be a grey
:36:23. > :36:31.squirrel and they could not be a red deer because that would give me
:36:31. > :36:34.a headache! We see lots of live action so far. The pine martens and
:36:34. > :36:44.there be for us. You know already that we have infra-red cameras on
:36:44. > :36:49.the first, which are just over that side. Historically, they would have
:36:49. > :36:54.been here but they were wiped out around 450 years ago mainly due to
:36:54. > :36:58.habitat loss and hunting. Then in to residents six as part of a
:36:58. > :37:05.demonstration project, a breeding pair were brought back. Here they
:37:05. > :37:10.are. But they are Boris and Lily. Lilly is the larger female on the
:37:10. > :37:15.right. Since 2006, they have had quite a few letters. Currently,
:37:15. > :37:21.there are eight of them on the site. We have already hand live action
:37:21. > :37:27.from them. -- Letters. We have lots of cameras around them. We have
:37:27. > :37:32.four cameras trained on various locations. Let us have a quick look.
:37:32. > :37:37.I thought I saw something swimming around earlier. Moving on to the
:37:37. > :37:46.next one. Nothing there. And there is the lodge. It is a massive pile,
:37:46. > :37:51.enormous. And this is the most exciting one. This is inside. And
:37:51. > :37:57.there is nothing there at the moment. It is honeycomb, the lodge.
:37:57. > :38:03.They might going there, they might not. We thought we might not get
:38:03. > :38:09.one in their at all. But we have already! This was just today. This
:38:09. > :38:14.is a youngster. We think this is Timber. It is difficult to see how
:38:14. > :38:19.big they are. It is probably the size of a Jack Russell. And that is
:38:19. > :38:24.one of the young from this year. Still lot of growing to do.
:38:24. > :38:28.they will stick together as a family. Periodically, he will kick
:38:28. > :38:32.the adult out. It is quite a soap opera. They are fascinating
:38:33. > :38:36.creatures. It is one thing to see them at night, but you get a real
:38:36. > :38:46.sense of their lodge and where they live, to do that you have to go out
:38:46. > :38:57.
:38:57. > :39:01.in the day. Earlier on, I joined The Lycia has been supervising the
:39:01. > :39:07.beaver project for three years. It must be fantastic having beavers to
:39:07. > :39:15.watch. It is really exciting. and Lily are the adults, and how
:39:15. > :39:19.many kits do they have? Two. this is their home? The first time
:39:19. > :39:25.I saw this, I was amazed at how big it was. That is a lot of work. How
:39:25. > :39:29.long as that taken them? About five years. Every year, they add to it.
:39:29. > :39:33.It is huge. It is. At this time of year, they're doing a lot of
:39:33. > :39:43.building. That is not just maintenance, but they eat the bark
:39:43. > :39:44.
:39:44. > :39:51.as well. Yes. They are vegetarians and they are after the bark. And it
:39:51. > :39:56.has loads of examples of that around. Look at this one. What is
:39:56. > :40:00.their favourite? Birch and willow. This is a birch tree. You receive a
:40:00. > :40:03.layer that contains the vessels. That is what takes the nutrients
:40:03. > :40:08.around a tree, and that is the sugary goodness. There just after
:40:08. > :40:13.that dark bit. When they are stockpiling, how do they transport
:40:13. > :40:17.that? Are when the tree is felled, they will take the branches from
:40:17. > :40:21.that to one area and build that up. When it is a nice size, they will
:40:21. > :40:26.sink it and pushed the sticks into the mud, so it does not break down.
:40:26. > :40:31.Over the winter they can come back and take the branches and the park.
:40:31. > :40:37.So it is an underwater larder. I had no idea they did that. And
:40:37. > :40:41.different beavers like different trees? They all tend to have their
:40:42. > :40:46.favourites. The birch and willows, most beavers will go for. They
:40:46. > :40:49.might have individual preferences. They are really fascinating
:40:49. > :40:54.creatures. I think most of us know very little about them but
:40:54. > :40:57.hopefully, during Autumnwatch, we will learn a lot more or because we
:40:57. > :41:01.have loads of cables and cameras and they have put a camera into one
:41:01. > :41:07.of the chambers. Fingers crossed we will capture some interesting
:41:07. > :41:10.behaviour. But there is no guarantee! Everyone must have had
:41:10. > :41:13.their fingers crossed because already we have had them live on
:41:14. > :41:18.the programme. We have not only been lucky enough to see them on
:41:18. > :41:24.the cameras at night, we have also seen them this morning in the
:41:24. > :41:28.daylight. This is quite unusual. Isn't that sweet? That is one of
:41:28. > :41:32.the young are, it is very difficult to tell which ones they are. That
:41:32. > :41:40.was one of the adults, with the young on its back. And this, we
:41:40. > :41:50.think, is the two-year-old. Not this year's it, but two years ago.
:41:50. > :41:50.
:41:50. > :41:59.-- kit. This is 845 am this morning, so the beginning of our day but the
:41:59. > :42:04.end of theirs. He is having a little snack before bedtime. I have
:42:04. > :42:09.a beavers skull here, which is a fantastic way to see the tools they
:42:09. > :42:15.are using. It is principally these two huge incisor teeth. You can see
:42:15. > :42:21.how long they are. From the front, you can see how broad they are.
:42:21. > :42:26.They grow continuously. But you can appreciate that this is a big road
:42:26. > :42:31.and when it comes to knowing. is an impressive set of teeth.
:42:31. > :42:37.below a set of teeth sharpened the upper ones? They do. And there are
:42:37. > :42:43.morlet at the back which to the grinding. Fantastic. -- molars at
:42:43. > :42:47.the back. We have been live on those cameras since Sunday, so we
:42:47. > :42:50.have seen a lot of that already. There is one magnificent bird of
:42:50. > :42:55.prey that seems to epitomise all that is most fierce and glorious
:42:55. > :42:59.about the Scottish Highlands, and it is the golden eagle. We went
:42:59. > :43:09.north, up to the Outer Hebrides, to see whether we could find one
:43:09. > :43:15.ourselves. When I was a lad, there was one bird I wanted to see above
:43:15. > :43:19.all else, the golden eagle. Or a family holiday when I was 14, in
:43:20. > :43:24.the Highlands, I finally got to see one. No more than a speck in the
:43:24. > :43:29.sky, but that was enough to spark off a lifelong love affair with
:43:29. > :43:36.this magnificent bird of prey. And I have now come to this wonderful
:43:36. > :43:39.landscape, North Uist, to find out more about the King of birds. North
:43:39. > :43:45.Uist is one of the best places in the country to see golden eagles,
:43:45. > :43:49.but what I really want to do his film their hunting behaviour. It is
:43:49. > :43:55.a huge challenge and it is rarely seen. I have enlisted the help of a
:43:55. > :44:00.crack team. I have a wildlife cameraman, Jesse Wilkinson, Eagle
:44:00. > :44:03.spotter Matt Wilson and local RSPB warden, Jamie. With their expertise
:44:03. > :44:08.and a little bit of luck, I am hoping to get to know a particular
:44:08. > :44:15.family of eagles to live here. An experienced pair, and their large,
:44:15. > :44:19.hungry, female chick. It does not take long to track them down. We
:44:19. > :44:25.have had to split up because we had so much distance to cover. I have
:44:25. > :44:33.seen all three from the distance. There is the female. And there is
:44:33. > :44:39.the youngster. And there is the lighter male. Much smaller. When
:44:39. > :44:47.they came up, the lapwings came out in a cloud. There is one in the air
:44:47. > :44:53.here. The a really main business. They have not fed today. They are
:44:53. > :45:00.loving this wind. They are using a lot of energy. They will be chasing
:45:00. > :45:05.rabbits, carrion, whatever they can find. Hopefully rabbits. She is
:45:05. > :45:13.hanging in the air. We are lucky because we have a whole family
:45:13. > :45:18.together. The juvenile, even though it is October, is with the adult
:45:18. > :45:22.pair, and she will stay with them until maybe even January time,
:45:22. > :45:27.before they get very territorial and kick her out. For now, she will
:45:27. > :45:32.stay with them and they will no wonder very far. That is the joy of
:45:32. > :45:35.North Uist. It is not maintenance, it is not difficult from -- to get
:45:35. > :45:45.from one valley to the next. You can follow them and get relatively
:45:45. > :45:47.
:45:47. > :45:52.$:/STARTFEED. We have seen them, but my mission is to film them
:45:52. > :45:59.hunting. They have all sorts of prey on the island, everything from
:45:59. > :46:05.rabbits to gulls and even other birds of prey, like the short-eared
:46:05. > :46:11.owls. To find out more about what they might be eating, I have a real
:46:11. > :46:16.treat in store. I've never seen an eagle close up, but I've been
:46:16. > :46:21.special permission to visit the family's old nest with Jamie, but I
:46:21. > :46:27.must admit, it's not a spectacular as I had imagined. Is this it? Well,
:46:27. > :46:32.I'm really excited about seeing an eagle nest, but I'm underwhelmed. I
:46:32. > :46:37.was expecting half a tonne in weight of twigs, on a life 100 foot
:46:37. > :46:41.high, but it's not that. This is pretty unique, the family nested on
:46:41. > :46:48.the ground like this, as there are no predators like foxes, stots or
:46:49. > :46:53.weasels on the island. It's a great -- stoats or weasels on the island.
:46:53. > :46:59.It's a great opportunity to see what they've been hunting. This is
:46:59. > :47:04.a breastbone from a goose. They've taken chunks out there. You will
:47:04. > :47:10.find this is a young otter. Would this be picked up alive or dead?
:47:10. > :47:16.Well, we don't know, but I would be surprised if eagles would try to
:47:16. > :47:20.attempt to take a young otter, because they're young and powerful.
:47:20. > :47:25.If there was an injured or dead cub they'd certainly take it. It's a
:47:25. > :47:32.bird at the top of the food chain. Lord and master of all it sees here.
:47:32. > :47:36.Absolutely. It's a top predator. That was a tantalising glimpse into
:47:36. > :47:42.their world, but I still want to see the eagles hunt for myself, so
:47:42. > :47:45.the quest continues. I've just had a phone call from Jessie. He's got
:47:45. > :47:55.a golden eagle on a carcass as we speak, so I'm heading over there
:47:55. > :47:56.
:47:56. > :48:05.now. It's definitely our male bird he's found. That's wonderful. Good
:48:05. > :48:08.stuff. Yes, it's all right. He's a quite confident bird. Powerful
:48:08. > :48:17.birds, even from this distance. You can see, it just looks like a body
:48:17. > :48:21.builder. It's so nice to see it. It's not a view you often get from
:48:21. > :48:31.golden eagles. A lovely view of the bird. It's very, very pale. Amazing.
:48:31. > :48:37.Beautiful thing. He's gone. He's gone, unfortunately. You see him in
:48:37. > :48:43.the air now. Classic eagle. Happy and full. That's right. Let's hope
:48:43. > :48:47.he hasn't overfed. Golden eagles hunting. This is going to be a
:48:47. > :48:51.little more gifl than I thought it would be. -- difficult than I
:48:51. > :48:55.thought it would be. I had high hopes. I've got some great views,
:48:55. > :49:00.but it's so frustrating. A feed like that could keep him going for
:49:00. > :49:05.three or four days and ruin my chances of eeing a hunt. My only
:49:05. > :49:10.hope is that both parents -- seeing a hunt. My only hope is that both
:49:10. > :49:14.par rents still need to hunt for the juvenile. Iolo will continue
:49:14. > :49:19.tomorrow. One thing you don't realise when you see a golden eagle
:49:19. > :49:26.is the wing span. If I stand up and put my arms out. It's bigger than
:49:27. > :49:34.that. It's much longer. It's two metres and 20 centimetres, which is
:49:34. > :49:39.7 .217 feet. Are you sure about that? Of course. That's it. It's
:49:39. > :49:43.like a flying door. Fabulous creature to see. Another bird of
:49:43. > :49:47.prey you can see is the osprey. It's a bird that we have featured
:49:47. > :49:53.on Springwatch in Wales, where there are precious view. In fact,
:49:53. > :49:58.there are only two breeding pairs. We featured this breeding fair and
:49:58. > :50:02.despite the odds, it managed to produce two chicks and one of them
:50:02. > :50:11.survived. Look at that little chick there. Looking very vulnerable, but
:50:11. > :50:16.where is it now? It's called Calan. Unbelievably, it's travelled 3,000
:50:16. > :50:18.miles to west Africa. Senegal to be precise. It left there at the
:50:19. > :50:24.beginning of September and arrived 12 days later and has been seen
:50:24. > :50:29.fishing in the river. A fantastic success story and hopefully in a
:50:29. > :50:32.couple of years' time the bird will be back. It will be a couple of
:50:32. > :50:35.years before it moves out of Africa. They are normally three years old,
:50:36. > :50:43.but that's what it's all about. It's about getting them back into
:50:43. > :50:49.Wales in numbers. That was one of the departed species, but there are
:50:49. > :50:56.a lot arriving here like this beauty. We have had an influx of
:50:56. > :51:01.bramblings. You will notice they are a little like a finch, but they
:51:01. > :51:07.are a little different. The projection is that an increased
:51:07. > :51:11.number will come over this winter. This is a redwing. They flood into
:51:11. > :51:14.this country hoping to feast on the berries. Another thought it
:51:14. > :51:19.Hurricane Sandy is swirling around the coast of America, so there's a
:51:19. > :51:28.chance we might again an American beauty. There has already been a
:51:28. > :51:32.few. Look out for these, little auks. Earlier this week there were
:51:32. > :51:39.over 4500 of these. I saw these in the summer because I was very
:51:39. > :51:42.fortunate to go up to the Arctic. I was up there for a project called
:51:42. > :51:46.Operation Iceberg. We went up there to try to understand how glaciers
:51:46. > :51:50.work. If you would like to understand it and see us all in
:51:50. > :51:55.action stay tuned, because it's on after this. More of Chris. Terrible
:51:55. > :52:01.plug. More of Chris now, actually. A couple of days ago he went to
:52:01. > :52:11.loch leave in, which is -- Loch Leven, to see a true autumn
:52:11. > :52:14.
:52:14. > :52:18.spectical, the arrival of very noisy pink-footed geese. It's
:52:18. > :52:24.7.10am. On mornings like this it's all about the anticipation, how
:52:24. > :52:32.geez will there be, will they fly overhead and will it be the
:52:32. > :52:37.spectacular we have been dreaming of all night? Fingers crossed. This
:52:37. > :52:40.cemetery on the edge of the loch is where I'm hoping to catch one of
:52:40. > :52:49.autumn's most impressive specticals. Joining me is Craig, the reserve
:52:49. > :52:56.officer here at the park. You can hear one of the pink-footed goose
:52:56. > :53:00.roosts. They come here for security at dark and at night and they'll
:53:00. > :53:08.lift up and away to feed on the surrounding land. How many do you
:53:08. > :53:13.have? At the last count we had about 15,600 geese. Wow. That
:53:13. > :53:16.sounds like a lot of geese and the fact is that pink foots are now
:53:16. > :53:20.doing rather well. In the last 50 years, there's been a ten-fold
:53:20. > :53:25.increase in their numbers, with nearly 300,000 of them now
:53:25. > :53:29.wintering here in the UK. They've been arriving here in their
:53:29. > :53:34.thousands over the last week. Many miles from their breeding grounds
:53:34. > :53:39.in Iceland and Greenland, but this is just the touchdown to feed up
:53:39. > :53:43.before they continue their journey further south to England. To really
:53:43. > :53:49.appreciate the geese, I wanted to see them in flight, so Craig took
:53:49. > :53:54.me further around the to one of their feeding grounds. They are
:53:54. > :54:04.reluctant to leave. You never know, we could see a large number at some
:54:04. > :54:06.
:54:06. > :54:16.point soon. Then, suddenly. Oh, wow, look at that. Oh, that's amazing.
:54:16. > :54:22.
:54:22. > :54:30.Look at that. Growing geese in front of the sky. How many do you
:54:30. > :54:36.think? I'd say MOT far off 10,000. Somewhere between 8 -- I'd say not
:54:36. > :54:43.far off 10,000. Somewhere between 8,000 or 10,000. I'm determined to
:54:43. > :54:47.take a photograph of that and make it into a 10,000-piece jigsaw and
:54:47. > :54:57.give it to someone I didn't like. The birds and the sky mixing is
:54:57. > :54:59.
:54:59. > :55:04.something to behold. The sound's amazing too. They seem to get vocal
:55:04. > :55:09.when they lift off. It helps them keep track of each other and stick
:55:09. > :55:14.in the family groups. They quickly they form into the classic V. The
:55:15. > :55:19.one at the front is doing all the hard work. Then he will move off
:55:19. > :55:23.and let someone else take the lead. There are few finer sights in
:55:23. > :55:27.Scotland at this time of year. It was amazing when they caught the
:55:27. > :55:34.sun. It's a long time ago we got up, but it was certainly worth it if
:55:34. > :55:38.the end. Absolutely. Worth the wait. Can I have one of those jigsaws?
:55:38. > :55:44.It's all yours, mate. I wouldn't give one to a friend. Keep you
:55:44. > :55:47.occupied for days, that's would. We have had so much live action on the
:55:47. > :55:51.cameras today. Some of it we were really hoping to get, but some has
:55:51. > :55:54.been a real surprise. You have heard of toad in the hole, but this
:55:54. > :55:59.is similar. It's toad in the beaver lodge. You are going to love this,
:55:59. > :56:05.Chris. Look at this. The toad is there on the top left and
:56:05. > :56:13.highlighted is anant that is crawlling along -- an ant that is
:56:13. > :56:16.crawlling along. Just watch the toad. Watch the ant. The toad
:56:16. > :56:22.somehow knows it's there. I say somehow, because this is in total
:56:22. > :56:27.darkness, but how did that happen? How did the toad get the ant on the
:56:27. > :56:37.tip of its tong in total darkness? It probably listened. Toads do have
:56:37. > :56:37.
:56:37. > :56:41.ears and it could smell it, but that's remarkable. I love that.
:56:41. > :56:48.looked for the beavers, but we saw something else just a few hours
:56:48. > :56:52.earlier. Look at this. I love it when the camera hunts around. Is it
:56:52. > :56:59.a beaver? No, it's moving too quickly. Look at that. It's a
:56:59. > :57:03.fabulous otter. We really were not expecting to see an otter.
:57:03. > :57:08.Hopefully we'll see lots of more surprises. I hope so. Glorious
:57:08. > :57:13.thing to see. Do we know there are otters around here? I think they
:57:13. > :57:19.would move up through the courses which is how they get if one part
:57:19. > :57:22.of the environment from the other. The beavers are daming and that's
:57:22. > :57:25.what the demonstration project is doing that we are working with here.
:57:25. > :57:28.It's designed to understand how beavers work in the environment,
:57:28. > :57:33.because in the end if they work well and everyone can be satisfied
:57:33. > :57:36.there are plans to re-introduce them into the wild. They are
:57:36. > :57:40.creating habitats for creatures like the otter, so there could be a
:57:40. > :57:43.good indication that beavers are doing a great job in terms of
:57:43. > :57:47.moving the landscape for an enrichment in terms of lots of
:57:47. > :57:54.other animals. Who would win if they had a fight? I was thinking
:57:54. > :57:58.the same thing. Do they get on? Tomorrow, we'll go back up to Rum
:57:58. > :58:06.for the next instalment of the glorious red deer rut. Who is going
:58:06. > :58:09.to come out on top? My macho mate is heading off to the damp woods on
:58:09. > :58:13.another steakout. Chris is going to the forest to look at the wildlife
:58:13. > :58:17.there and trying not to get his trouser grubby at any time. We'll
:58:17. > :58:23.see you tomorrow, but you can cary on watching all the live action on
:58:23. > :58:27.the red button and on the webcams, so keep watching the beavers and