Episode 3 Autumnwatch

It is the Highlands of Scotland. It is live and it is the best of

British wildlife for you this autumn. The pressure is on for many

of our animals as they prepare for tough times ahead. We have been

watching the wildlife 24 hours a day. Don't go anywhere. It is

Yes, hello and welcome to Autumnwatch. It is our third night

from the fabulous Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. We have been

up here and we have completely barred to this area with live

cameras and our objective is to get under the skin, into the personal

lives of the animals that live here, so we can get to know them as

individuals. We have been watching Beavis and pine martens and all

sorts of other things. -- beavers. There is lots more for you as well

as the pine martens. We go down at the River Tay on beaver patrol.

go to Norfolk for the incredible spectacle of thousands of Norfolk

birds. And I will be meeting some of Scotland's most specialist birds.

A last night it was quite nippy. You could almost say Parky. In a

light, it really was because the temperature dropped to minus 2.5

degrees. When we work up in the morning, the sun came up and the

The trees were dusted with frost. It was not frozen on the lake but

it was headed that way. It was a reminder that the weather is

changing and times are going to get much harder for the animals that we

are watching, as they prepare for the winter that is rapidly

approaching. I think it is warmer tonight, not minus two. Look at

that! You have six players on! You are wearing six of the local sheep!

How has the cold weather affected the animals? Are they out and about

and active at the moment? Let's look at the live cameras. Is there

anything? Before we came on air, literally 30 seconds ago, there was

a pine marten there. Let's just have a look. It could be sniffing

around. It was there just minutes ago. So frustrating. It does not

mean that it is not going to come back in the next hour. I have a

good feeling that it will come back. We have had a lot of action

throughout the night. Yes, we met a new character. This is Lily. She is

the adult female beaver that has been here with Boris, whom we have

seen before. We spotted her last night, doing to be called beaver

things, dragging that branch under water. -- typical of beaver things.

She will preserve the bark if things get tough. On the back, one

of her kittens from this year. Muscling around. He or she is

snoring on that. -- chewing on that. We have seen lots of that behaviour.

They are taking on as much weight as possible and they will store it

as fact, in their tails, in fact. I was talking a lot, and we will be

played that clip so that you can listen carefully to the sound of

the cheering. -- the sound of the At first I thought that was birds,

perhaps an owl. But listen and watch the little one. If you look

really carefully, you can see that the sound coincides with some

nouveau on the beaver's mouth. It is the sound of music for the

beaver. The youngsters will be whining, begging for food, up to

two years old. This particular sound is like a contact call.

Perhaps one of their terms of endearment. None of the Rangers

here has ever heard this before. Another first for Autumnwatch. The

sound of the beaver. The singing Viva! Only on Autumnwatch. --

singing at beaver! We have also got a camera in the lodge. We have seen

a beaver, the Tote, and a spider. And now we have got their little

vole. And what is that? This is really special. It is a water shrew.

That is very rare. I did not think you had them in Scotland. When I

checked my handbook of the British mammals, as you do! They come up to

the North of Scotland, typically on the coast, and up to the Arctic

Circle. But they are very tough. Yes. Edward says, in 16 07, a

ravening beast, pretending to be gentle and tame but it bites deep

and poisons deadly. Theatre! work. We have also been watching

the pine martens. We have been very interested in the fact that there

have been several individuals arriving. You can identify them by

looking at their neck. You can tell that we have been taxing our

imagination when it comes to naming the animals! And we noticed another

one last night. Spotless, a triumph when it comes to lament to! --

comes to naming them! Why are they all visiting the same feeding

station when they are normally territorial? They are still being a

bit like that because this one is scent marking. You can see

impressing his backside down. They are rubbing their necks on their

because they have got glance in their necks and on their bodies and

in their feet as well. Despite the fact they are sharing this place,

in terms of the food, they are staking their claim that the same

time. But I cannot believe that you mocked the name Spotless. Guess who

named it? Chris! I had only just got up. It is not like a matinee

name, from an epic drama. Let me tell you, tonight is an epic drama

with the red stags. This is what is It is early October. The atmosphere

is tense. The red deer rut is reaching its peak. In the last few

days, Lucius has become the dominant stag. But in the wings,

many other contenders are gathering. One of them is Cassius, and all the

stag -- more aged stag. Lucius will not give up without a serious fight.

Right now, Lucius is in total control. He has easily fended off

every challenge. But he can only fight for so long. With little time

to eat, they can lose as much as 20% of their body weight during

these fights. And it is not just the big boys giving them a headache.

The younger ones are also a This male is about for to five

years old. He would be a pushover in a straight fight. But his

strategy is to street -- sneak up, in the hopes of a quick liaison.

Lucius sees the threat. He is tireless in defence, but there is

little reward for all this effort. He has only mated once so far and

wild the ladies are not in season, On the other side of the river,

He curls his upper lip to taste the air. Cassius has sensed that one of

Lucius's women is on season. It is the motivation that he has been

waiting for. At last it is time to make his move. With an intruder

amongst the women, Lucius is on the warpath. There is no time for

preliminaries. It is game on. Cassius on the right, Lucius on the

Lucius appears so much stronger. But with a female on heat, there is

so much to fight for. Lucius is in trouble. It is a knockout blow. He

is wounded. Lucius is left with just a handful of the females that

he had. It is Cassius in charge now. Despite his age, or perhaps because

of it, he has timed his attack perfectly. Age has certainly not

dimmed his... Enthusiasm. Lucius is An injury like this would end of

the fight for most stags. But not this one. Throughout the afternoon,

he soldiers on, defending the few females that he has got. He might

be injured, but he is definitely With a resounding win against yet

another stag, he is still a contender. But he must be hurting.

Cassius tasted sweet success today. But there is definitely unfinished

business between these two stags. Only a stone's throw apart, a

rematch could be just around the corner. Will it Lucius have the

strength to take his revenge and win back what he wants? Now it is

getting serious! A cliffhanger. crucial thing for the stags, that

those antlers engage like that. am going to interrupt you and go

live to a pine marten. Yes! Look at that. Do we have any idea which

one? Dice, they are telling me that in my ear. How far away from where

we are standing now? The other side of the loch, so just 100 metres or

something. Gorgeous. There he is. Would she be caching? No. It's

early in the evening. You never know what might have led her to

leave. She's having a feast now. Those peanuts and jam there.

would be nice if another one turned up. Very interesting to see. It was

Dice that was there with Spot. two were being very tolerant.

were both females. We haven't seen two together, is a male and female

at the same time at the moment. That would be interesting. Dice and

Spotless that would be interesting to see together. Fantastic. These

are the images that we are getting live as you are watching. It's

always great to get that. It is. We always really want that. Will I go

back to the deer? You should. interrupted me! Theantlers have to

engage like that, really lock and then it's a titanic wrestling match.

If they go sideways it gets dangerous. Let's look at that fight

with Cassius and Lucius. Sideways, really bad! You can see

how dangerous it is. Run it backwards. You can just see there

is a moment there they come in. He slips sideways. In goes the point

of that antler. Really, really dangerous. Actually, if you look,

there is kasious on the right -- Cassius on the right. That point is

covered in blood. It has driven into the flank of Lucius. Martin,

that was quite a nasty blow. How many of those blows are fatal?

Actually less than you might expect. On Rum, where that study's been

going on n the last 40 years there have been 15 fatalities of stags,

as a direct result of fighting on the green. Less than would you

expect actually. Yeah, it is. But then you don't know, some will

exhaust themselves fighting and they may die because they can't get

through the winter. Whilst it's very exciting for us, it can be a

matter of life and death for these things and it's not only about the

injury, it's about that exhaustion and tomorrow we are going to find

out who's the last emperor, the top stag! It's not just red deer native

to this area. We had a surprise visitor on pine marten-cam. There

is a roe deer coming in. They've finished their rut. They're chilled

and relaxed at this time. You get to see it there again. You can see

the black teddy bear nose and that's how you can tell it's a roe

deer. They gather together in the winter, you can get 20 or so. Sorry,

I have just seen a bat! It's too cold for bats! You are getting

distracted there. On Twitter: Someone's been looking at a bird

table and noticed how the smallest birds want to fight everyone? We

have noticed a similar thing. Look at this.

Here are our bird feeders and they've been immensely busy. Here

is a feisty coal tit, next to a blue tit. He saw it off then. Watch

this. Brambling. Difficult one for me, not Chris. Here is the coal tit.

Look at it. Sees off a great tit. It's the Jack Russell of the bird

world. It's lovely to watch them on a bird feeder. There is a real

hierarchy. Here is the bully boy. Really quite dangerous for some of

these little birds. Watch this now. In comes a tit. I don't think he's

seen - oh! Look, a little fluff of feathers. Dangerous work. You don't

want to get too close to those on the bird bird table. He doesn't

want to share. It's not just conflict on the bird feeders. Look

at what we saw on the pine marten- cam. Here we have Jay enjoying some

of the nuts no doubt that we put out for the pine martens. Then what

comes along? He is minding his own business and one of the red

squirrels comes, and look at that. Completely chases the Jay off.

these animals are caching animals. We have spoken about the squirrels

and the Jays as well. We know the Jays will pinch the squirrels' food.

Whether there is a natural animosity between these species on

account of that, that might account for that adepression. We have been

watching -- that aggression. We have been watching the squirrels

and earlier in the week we said that red squirrels weren't as good

at remembering where they had hidden things as grey squirrels.

That's what it says in the handbook, I have to say. But we have been

contacted by the people at the University of Aberdeen and they

said a paper was published in 2001 which said they're just as good at

remembering but the problem is where you get Grays and reds, the

greys are better at stealing reds' food so they can remember allegedly,

there is disparity of view here. But we like that in signs and -- in

science and I am not afraid to say we got something wrong but at the

same time when science - it's constantly changing, that's what

makes it exciting. Also, take a look at this.

We have been looking at our pine martens and typically we have been

seeing them foraging for strawberry jam and peanuts. But this animal

looked like it was doing something a little bit more natural. Our

cameras have found it away from the feeding station and it's found

something down in the ground. Look at that.

Listen to that. Now, I think that what it's doing

is finding a squirrel's cache and it's digging up peanuts. If you

listen carefully, when it gets this nut out, to me that sounds like a

pine marten eating a peanut. From memory! You are an expert?! That is

what it sounds like. It's likely, I think. I was going to say, that if

you look at their diet through the year the pine martens do all sorts

of bizarre - honey, all sorts much they don't -- all sorts of things.

They have a Catholic diet, so I am not surprised. When it comes to

nature it's not always just about beautiful animals like the pine

marten or the greatest woodpecker, there is a beauty in the way all

those animals function together as a whole, in a community in an eco

system. One of the UK's most important, one of its rarest, but

certainly most exciting ecosystems Look at this. This is a Scots pine

tree. Normally this species lives for 150 years, exceptionally 300

but we think this tree might be 400 years old. It truly is a living

monument. It's a great part of our heritage and it has a haunting

beauty. It's cragged bark here and foal foliage. It was living when

there were wolves howling in this forest if it's 400 years old. It's

fundamentally important as the primal building block in one of the

UK's most exciting and important ecosystems, the Caledonian Forest.

What a thing. Look at that. Scots pine has a wide global

distribution. It grows in Spain, all the way up through Europe

across the top of signeria. What was unique when the ice retreated

from the UK after the last Ice Age it was the only conifer growing

here and in our strange oceanic climate, that gave birth to the

mythical great wood of the Caledonian Forest. Boy, did we

abuse this habitat. As soon as the Vikings arrived they started

burning it down. Things got worse in the 16th and 17th century. We

ran out of wood in England and in lowland Scotland. So they came up

here and started cutting all of this down to fuel the industrial

revolution. It got worse. We imported Canadian lumbermen and

they virtually felled a side. Saddest of all, between 1960 and

1990, when many of us were alive, 50% of what remain was cut down and

destroyed. What remains is 17,000 hectares, 37

blocks of this unique environment some as small as 150 trees but they

are absolute jewels in our landscape and they support a

Perhaps the most exciting bird that lives in Caledonian Forest is the

remarkable capercaillie. What is their link with the trees? Quite

simply, that they feed on the freshly growing shoots at the tips

Another specialist of the Caledonian Forest is the crested

tit. In the case of this species it's not about finding food here,

but nesting habitat. You see, it needs standing dead

pines that are well rotted so that it can excavate a nesting borough

into those. In fact, it's such a specialist of this woodland that if

you want to see a crested tit you have to come here to the Caledonian

Forest. They really are a bird of Those are the bird specialists.

What about mammals? You might think of pine marten and wild cat and

they do occur here, but they're not dependent directly on the pine

trees but there is a species that is and of course it's the red

squirrel. They really are a Scots pine cone specialist. They're

lighter than greys and as a consequence they can reach to the

end of the branches. And then get the rich rewards from the seeds

The Caledonian Forest isn't just a gathering of beautiful old trees,

it's a complex association of all of the species that live here. But

they are dependent upon those trees, these craggy old survivors showing

great courage to make a last stand here. So what of the future? Well,

there are plenty of problems. This area was overstocked with sheep for

a long time which prevented regeneration. These days, in many

places too many deer. Also they're not the fires there used to be and

fire was important when it came to maintaining these forests. It

burned away all of the ground level so that the little saplings could

find their way up through into the light. But I am optimistic because

we understand these processes and if we understand them, then we can

manage them. And look, regeneration is taking place. Perhaps these

Caledonian Forest of tomorrow. And There is a sting in the tail, you

know. That is that not all Caledonian Forest is the same.

There is what we call bio chemical variation between the west and east

and the trees are different. In the east they have thicker bark because

it was drier there and there were a lot more fires. Not like those in

the west which is much thinner because that's where there was a

lot more rain. Now we are doing a good job of putting it back,

Wisheartening because -- Wisheartening, -- which is

heartening. If you fancy a walk into the woods or looking at other

Go to the website and go to the bit that says "things to do" you can

put in your postcode and hopefully all sorts of exciting things will

appear on the screen by magic. you are really lucky, you might

come across one of these as our Bomb this is a female capercaillie

-- this is a female capercaillie, not like the male we saw.

They get up in there to eat those pine shoots having spent the summer

on the ground eating bilberrys. When you are matching these birds

on the TV it's getting a sense of scale. It's difficult to. Would you

bring in Jimmy, please. Jimmy belongs to Sir John our kind host

and he is 100 years old, actually, this male capercaillie here. To

give you an idea of scale, here is a 10p piece. You can see exactly

how big the capercaillie is compared to the 10p piece. Males

are significantly larger than females, 40% bigger. Females, they

probably weigh about 1.5 kilogrammes. A male like this, a

big male, over 3 kilogrammes much bird. That's enormous. Have you

seen one in the wild? I have I am being told that the beaver is

still there. We have got live beavers! Which one do we think this

is? Timber, one of the kittens. They go out on their own. They are

quite independent of their parents. That is one thing that we have

noticed. Looking for something nice to eat. Looking for a snack. Then

into the water and swimming away. Pat and in with the tail. That is

just across from where we are sitting. Tonight is the night, like

pine marten and live beaver. It is all happening! We have got the big

things, beavers, stags, capercaillie, but there are also

miniature things around here. One of the things that we see on all of

the trees around us, lichen. Within it, there is a hole miniature world.

The trees are coated with them. It is beautiful. Inside is a miniature

world. A little snail, a beetle, a harvest man. And a lovely millipede.

Absolutely beautiful. I was going to give you some serious love

tonight. For the lichen lovers, but there is not time! Maybe another

night we will talk about it. the little things are equally

important as the big things, because quite obviously the big

things are feeding on them. Those little invertebrates living in the

lichen are part of the community supporting the ecosystem. If you

take them away and make them inaccessible, you can get into all

sorts of trouble. This might have happened to one of our most common

The autumnal displays of starlings, surely one of the world's greatest

natural wonders? At this time of year they put on an amazing show as

they come together to roost. Watching these fast numbers, it

looks like we have got a thriving British population. But to be

honest, a lot of these birds are migrants coming from Europe to find

food over the winter. These displays are obscuring an

unsettling truth, the fact that the UK starlings are actually

disappearing. Back in the 1980s, things were very different. The

national population was about 20 million starlings. There were huge

roosts throughout the year, in the countryside and in the cities. They

were so successful that they were considered by some to be a past. --

a problem and there were some ingenious and not so ingenious

methods to get rid of them. Surveys have shown that the Starling

population has dropped by a staggering 80%. So what is causing

is potentially disastrous decline in one of our most iconic birds?

Researchers are starting to look in earnest at the life of starlings,

trying to find out exactly what is Like many animals, the first year

of the starling is particularly tough. When they fled, they have to

learn to survive without the help of their parents. They have to do

this after just a couple of weeks. They join flocks with other

starlings that provide protection from predators. These flocks mainly

feed on grasslands, and they probe the soil for invertebrates with

their strong beaks. It is surprisingly difficult for these

young birds. It takes time to learn how to find their food and to learn

the correct technique to get it out of the ground. It is also thought

that the way that we manage our grasslands could be a problem. But

what does that actually mean? Improved drainage could mean less

moisture in the topsoil. Soil compaction could make the service

harder and changing from permanent pasture to faster-growing grass

species that mean less exposed areas. -- could mean. Perhaps a

combination of these factors and even other factors could be

producing less food, and making it more difficult for the starlings to

find it and eat it. And when autumn descends, the pressure is really on,

as a migrant European starlings start to arrive. Then our young

birds have to compete with an even greater number of adults, and these

birds are more experienced at finding and getting the food that

is available. It is likely that some of these challenges might

explain the 50% reduction in the survival of young starlings in the

past 40 years. Spurred on by these drastic declines, the RSPB and

other organisations are beginning to do more research into the

complex issues that impact on our starlings and their food sources.

This is good news. If we can solve the mystery behind these declines,

then there is some hope that we can stop them. Our British starlings

will then play a big part in these That has to be my favourite autumn

spectacle, the starling. You can never tire of it. It is beatable.

absolutely stunning. I go to see one near me every night and tried

to take photographs and I fail! I always get entranced by them.

figures about their decline are always worrying. They are back

doubt by the RSPB garden bird watch, it and the results came in to say

that the number of Stalin's is down compared to any other time in 30

years. -- starlings. The average demand in most people's gardens has

gone down from 15 to three. I have noticed it. When I was a little

guilt there was always a starling on the bird feeder and now they are

much more rare. Now they cannot get hold of leather jackets, the larvae

of the daddy-longlegs. If the soil is compacted, they cannot get the

leather jackets out, which is a problem. And harvesting efficiency,

how good farmers are at taking groups of the land, has improved

dramatically, standing at 99.9%. That means that 99.9% of the corn,

for example, is removed, leaving just 0.1% for the birds, which is

not enough. It is good for farming and food prices but not for the

birds. Certainly. Let's bring it back to our family of beavers. We

have been enjoying them but there have been lots of questions. How

have they adapted to life on the loch? This is Boris, the adore Le -

- adult male, doing what he does. It is important for them to be

swimming. They use their webbed feet, which frees up the front paws

to carry their stash. That is different to the kittens. They are

six months old. They are doing some sort of doggy paddle. That is

probably because their back legs are not big enough yet? The wedding

does not seem to be big enough to push them through, or maybe they do

not have the technique. I don't know. We have a comment and this

comes from the blog. They were watching the beaver cameras at 3

o'clock in the morning, well done! They thought it was great to see

their human-like hands, full dexterity. They had a full face

Wash and did not forget to claim behind their ears. Their manual

dexterity is amazing. We can see them manipulating the sticks that

they are holding to remove the bark. This one is grooming, and on the

back foot, the second claw is divided into two, and they use it

to comb their hair. You can see how the front paws are holding things.

And here, in the water. This is what you were saying, one of the

adults able to hold it and be doing it in the water. They have the

capacity to close their guns behind their front teeth so that they can

chew in the water without the water going down their throat. That is a

very neat trick to have. And a question from Evelyn Wilson.

Beavers have small eyes, so do they have good eyesight? They do have

very small eyes and they do not have good eyesight. They tend to

use the other senses like their whiskers and they have a good sense

of smell. But the eyes are perfectly adapted for swimming.

They have a membrane, which is the third clear Eilidh, like us wearing

goggles, so that they can see under water. They also have a sphincter

that enables them to close their nose. Very well adapted to the

water. And the tale can be used to paddle, but it is also a fat

storage organ. It is good for thermoregulation. In the summertime

they pump lots of blood into the tail when they are hot. And in the

winter they can control the blood flow so that much less goes into

their tail and they can stop losing body heat. Another extraordinary

adaptation, their coach, very thick. We thought we would have tested. We

got our thermal camera out. This is as rehearsing in the heat of the

night, glowing. Then we found one of the beavers, on land. It is a

distance away. We waited until we saw one of the kittens swimming

across the water. You will notice that the only areas losing heat,

the eyes which cannot be covered in fur, and the ears. The ears are

particularly small because they do not want to lose heat through them.

The fur is remarkable, bring it insulation. 23,000 hairs per

centimetre. A remarkable set of adaptations for an aquatic

lifestyle. And the eyes and ears are higher up on their heads so

they stay out of the water when they are swimming. They can see,

smell, here or, all at the same time, like hippos, otters and

crocodiles. Any more?! We have some interesting footage here. They are

beavers. What is intriguing, not just the strange behaviour of the

one on the left, but also their location. This fitted was taken

much further South than here, Tayside. -- this fitted. There has

been the odd bead on the River Tay, but it appears there may be many

more than people thought. -- the odd beaver. We went off in a canoe

to find out more. On the River Tay, a group of believers seem to be

living wild and free. Some accidentally escaped, others

perhaps deliberately released. You have been studying them on this

river here, haven't you? To begin with people thought there was just

a handful, but you would beg to differ. How many do you think there

are on the river? Probably about 140-150. 140 beavers here? What

makes it so good? They really like slow flowing mature river systems.

Rivers passing through deciduous forest as well. At this time of

year, autumn, is that a good time to look for the beaver? Yes, you

will see activity at this time. They are preparing for winter,

preparing their lodge for winter. Covering it in moss. With so many

beavers and Tayside, it does not take long to find evidence of their

behaviour. That is a classic sign of beavers. Great chunks taken out

of it and it looks fresh as well. Yes, very fresh. Look at this!

Chippings as well. Yes, very fresh by the looks of it. Why do they do

that? There is not much of the Tory Left? They have felt the treat --

the tree, actually. It brings it down to their level. They have

brought it down to their level. They have been partially successful.

It has fallen badly, so they still cannot access it, so they have just

made do with this. There is a whole story here. And this one is epic,

enormous. It is a sycamore. look at this. My goodness! That is

just comedy beaver work! Like a sharpened pencil. This has to be

ridiculously fresh. Yes, by the looks of they are working on this

right now. They have been working on this the past couple of days.

And here they made a start and then they gave up, and then they started

again. With one this size, they might work intermittently for weeks

and weeks. This is a massive tree, and it is slightly unnerving to be

here because it is going to go pretty soon. It could do. A few

more chance and it will be gone. When beavers fell trees, the

technique is simple. Just get out The changes caused by felling has

benefits. The extra light and space encourages new growth and creates

diversity in the habitat. This one is quite an old one. They've given

up on it but it's going to go, isn't it? Yeah. This is good for

insects which feed on the dead wood and birds and woodpeckers and

smaller birds coming and they'll be feeding on insects and it creates

habitat. A good species of beetle found in wood like this. You want

want want to build a nest on this one! You wouldn't know when it was

going to go. We go further down stream to see

more evidence of beavers at work. You see all the sticks next to the

shore, that's what we call a feeding station. The beavers will

be felling some of the willow saplings around here and eating

them here. This is beaver snack bar really. Here are the snacks. Yeah,

this is their favourite habitat. These gravel bars we are on here

with lots of young willow here, it's full of young tender willow.

If we were here at night we would see them just... Away from the main

water course is where you will find the most notorious signs of beaver

activity. Dams. Look at that. That can't be, that's

all beavers have done that? Yes. But it's enormous! It stretches for

miles. How many beavers would have created this? A family group. This

is one of three drams -- dams here. Why do they need dams? They have

big food stores in winter which is their sustenance over the winter.

They store saplings. Under water here now? They use water as

protection against predators, to avoid traditionally - they do that

by diving under water and if they need a certain amount of water to

cover the lodge entrance to predators can't get in. This shows

the beavers can profoundly change the landscape and whilst their

behaviour has obvious benefits to the natural surroundings, their

overall impact remains to be seen. That is amazing. 140 beavers and

people thought thought -- there were only a few. The evidence of

what they're doing is dramatic. Let's remind ourselves again, this

isn't an alien invading the UK. It was here for thousands of years and

only sort of became extinct 400 years ago. Yes, the evidence is

very obvious and if you have seen anything like that we would really

Beavers have been seen in Kent and Devon, they're out there. We need

to find out exactly where they are. Go to the website. That will link

through to the official trial, we would love to know where the

beavers really are. They're on the loch behind us. It's not just

beavers we have seen on the loch, we have seen lovely cormorants.

In fact, we have seen quite a lot That one is doing what they do so

beautifully, that's a classic pose. They're the most extraordinary

animals. How can they fly and then also be so efficient under water?

They can catch fish. Look at the efficiency of this one. Look at

that! That's enormous! You don't think it's going to be able to get

it down. This is what they do. They kind of flick it before swallowing

it. It looks like it's about to sink. It was like a submarine.

Astonishing. You see more of them this time of year, they'll come

inland. I see a lot locally around me, making the fishermen annoyed!

As well as that we have seen something else quite close to us

and we have called this banana seals.

It's very close to us. Here is a common seal. They get into this

characteristic. That's classic. can see why they're banana seals.

They do that. Another one coming up. Look at it!

Beautiful balance. It looks impossible, doesn't it? Fantastic

that they do that. There is a reason they do that. This time of

year they're moulting. They haven't so much fur, they're not so well

insulated. They have to keep out of the water and keep nice and warm

until the fur comes back. Very important for them. They go to that

lovely banana. The coast is a great time at the moment to visit the

coast, because there tend to be less people around which gives you

a perfect opportunity to really appreciate the wildlife, the beauty,

and the space. In some areas true autumn spectacles. Cameraman rich

art Taylor -- Richard Taylor Jones went to Snettisham to bring us back

In this 24-hour world, we all need space.

Another way of feeling alive. Snettisham, a landscape defined by

space. A vast estuary. Rivers meeting the

Much of it washed down through channels cut by human hand.

Across this pancake place autumn arrives. Thousands of birds,

parcels of determination, travelled, fasted and spent. Turnstone, avocet

and so many more. And not prods and probes. Hunger

and hope. For this seemingly empty space, is full, but full of what?

People here can show us the answer. They too visit this expans. And

explore this space for food. An ancient art practised by few.

Cockles, an autumn harvest. Good food for birds and people alike.

Stranded, the cockles, the boat, wait for water to return and feed

As the tide pushes higher up the estuary, the space changes.

The restaurant is closed. Overrun by the sea, birds hustle

and hurry to escape the incoming flood.

A fury of wings, a knot of twists and turns.

A wall of sound. But where can they go to find the

space to rest? Here. Water has yet to meet the end

of the estuary. An abandoned monument to industry marks the

place. And it's here on tiny islands that

the feathered mass gathers, hoping to be safe in this place with so

little space. Squashed and squeezed on to parcels

of land, the flocks make for an uncomfortable beauty. Where an

anxious autumn ballet is performed. Anxious for good reason. Delicate

Hunted and hungry, the moment the They race back to space. Because in

their shrinking and expanding world of time and tide, they need space.

We all need space. Beautiful pictures. Absolutely

stunning. With the light behind them blurring in that line and then

that rolling thunder of all those birds. Fantastic. Knots are

migrants, of course. It's been a great week for migration. A desert

wheat here has shown up in Essex and Charlie Oliver has told us it's

the third one in 100 years. Lots down there enjoying that. I have

something to show you you might be interested in, this was sent in

from John. Look at this. This is quite astonishing. These are blue

tits. What are they doing? Well, they're leaving Sweden! They're all

coming out of that bush. Maybe it's Abba! No, seriously, you don't

normally see large flocks of blue tits like this on the move. Quite

clearly, this could tie in with the bramblings, the failing of the crop.

Some have been seen on Scottish islands in the last few days where

they've never normally recorded, it it could be those very blue tit

circumstances. -- tits. These are migrant thrushes. Here is a redwing

feeding on berries. The berries, the wild berries and the berries in

our gardens are extremely important to these birds. They're trying to

find out how important the berries we grow in our gardens are for them

and they would like your help in identifying that. If you go to our

Go on to the birds and berries survey, you can help find out how

important the berries in your garden are to migrant birds. One

other thing, when you are on the website you can download the quiz.

Tomorrow we are having a quiz. You can join in and download the paper

and put your answers on it from now. Get downloading that quiz. Madness

and mayhem with Unsprung. We have come to the end of the show.

have. Tomorrow I shall be going to Newport to meet some delightful

hedgehogs in a man's back garden in suburbia. Will Lucius make a

comeback? Or is it Cassius year to be monarch of the Glen? We will

look at how some creatures are preparing for winter. In this case

by changing colour. Gorgeous. After this there is another - an owl-

prowl and you will help out there. The cameras are live 24 hours a day.