Episode 1 Autumnwatch

We are alive in Lancashire for the autumn season's greatest spectacles

- vast flocks of starlings. Stately stags strutting out of the reeds,

what could be finer? We will be back with you for the next four nights

bringing you the best of Autumnwatch. We have these little

rarities, there are only 20 pairs of them - you are excited, and you?

Fantastic. I am going to be out and about. I am going to go into the

darkness and become Autumnwatch's life roving reporter. What could

possibly go wrong? Welcome, it is Autumnwatch.

Hello, and welcome to Autumnwatch, coming to you life from the RSPB

reserve here in the north-west of England. It is a fabulous reserve.

This is how I see it, you come in from school or college or work, you

have had your dinner made a cup of tea, and have settled on the sofa,

and we aim to offer you a great escape from these damp and dark

nights and bring you the finest spectacles of autumn - a dynamic and

dramatic season. It is a season of change which offers naturalists days

of glory. It offers the white life time of make or break. We decided to

choose a theme for our programme this year. We have chosen a familiar

one, migration. We will look at why, where and when migration takes

place. We will not provide the answers. I like that, it means there

is more to learn. Migration holds a lot of mystery for us. This is the

perfect place, Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. There are lots of migrating

birds coming here. It may be a dynamic time, autumn, but it can

also be unpredictable. It was quite mild last week, and then yesterday,

St Jude the storm hit many parts of the UK. I think wiki skipped it here

in the north-west, but it had a devastating impact in parts of the

South of England. -- I think we escaped it. How did it affect our

wildlife? Especially migrating birds. For many of them, it stopped

migration, but for how long? That is one thing we will be looking at. We

will be looking at how it has had any lasting impact. Coming up, some

fantastic night-time footage of some of the creatures here on the

reserve, including otters. We have got some very interesting behaviour.

By using a brand-new, state-of-the-art thermal camera, we

have managed to get these images of animals like red deer and Fox. That

is in pitch blackness, and it is so clear. This is military grade and it

is a great opportunity to use a life for the first time. We're hoping for

not only great pictures, but things we have not spotted before. That

would be fantastic. Let's go to the camera so we can see what it has

got. That is a view over the reserve. The bird you can see

slumbering in the drizzle is a swan. It looks dark, because that

means it is cold. Dark means cold, white means warm. We will have to

remind people it is in darkness, it is hard to believe. It is raining!

Martin, have you got stuck in the mud? We are ready to go. Migration

is one of the key themes on Autumnwatch. Just earlier this week,

some 30,000 starlings arrived here on the reserve. We are going to go

out right now and find out why they are here and what they are up to

right now. See you later. He is hardly making a speedy

getaway, the right thing to do on a nature reserve in the dark. But what

about this place, what is it about and what lesser? Take a look. We

have come to Leighton Moss RSPB reserve on the wild Lancashire

coast, to be at the heart of the autumn action. It is nestled in the

Silverdale area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is near

Morecambe Bay, the second largest area of mudflats in the UK. It is a

magnet for hundreds and thousands of wildfowl flying in from all over the

North. Some come to feed in the S jury, while others seek the safety

of the reedbeds. -- some come to feed in Morecambe Bay. But it is not

just the birds who are attracted here. There is plenty of other white

life, too, and now is a fantastic time to see this autumn spectacle.

-- plenty of other wildlife. We will be delving further into the

lives of these animals as they faced the challenges of autumn and the

coming winter. Leighton Moss is going to be our home for this series

of Autumnwatch. This is where we are going to shelter from the rain, this

fabulous barn. It is on a working farm not far from the reedbeds. We

have put some Autumnwatch magic in here, it has had a make over. We

have got our sofas, lots of autumn decor. It does look a bit rustic.

Where are we? Here is a map of the UK. We are up in the north-east.

This is the Lake District above us and this is Morecambe Bay. We are in

the north-west, sorry. Morecambe Bay is 340 square kilometres of

mudflats. The reserve is over here at Leighton Moss. We have 23 square

calamities of RSPB reserve, ten kilometres of which are reedbeds. It

has made this a Site Of Special Scientific Interest and it is not to

scale, but this is where we are. This is the causeway, where Martin

will be exploring the wetland area. This is the cafe, where 100,000

visitors a year pop in for some cake. I have to say, the staff

working in the cafe should be contenders for Great British Beg Off

-- Bake Off. Have you had the cake? I have. It is not just around the

reserve we have had cameras, but on Morecambe Bay in itself. It is a

fabulous place for wading birds. You have got the charismatic

oystercatcher and lots of migrant birds coming in as well. Why do they

come? For the mud. It is full of nutrients and we are going to be

taking a much closer look at that during the week. The beauty of

having these roving cameras and remote cameras is that you never

know what we will get. Last night we got this gem. Very interesting

behaviour from some arteries. -- otters. This is a young otter

minding its own business. Suddenly, it sees something and look around.

It starts calling. That is much bigger otter, giving it whack around

the face with its tail. It is like a dinosaur with a club on its tail,

that is what this otter is doing. But we suspect that is its father,

because if it was not it would be a bigger fight. This is likely this is

one of his last set of cards. Just look at the whiskers! This camera is

giving us interesting behaviour. So often you see otters sliding in and

out of the water. Then, something else happens. We see this beautiful

red deer stag on the bank. We will be looking at that more closely

tomorrow. We will bring you plenty more. What about migration itself?

Already, the reserve has had its numbers swollen by starlings. These

birds have come in from Scandinavia as it is beginning to get cold. Here

they are, lined up in their spotted winter coats. We think that

thousands of these birds arrived at Leighton Moss to provide quite a

spectacle. Martin has gone out to find out why they have come to the

reserve, and why now? To start to answer that, I have come down here

into the heart of the reserve. I am driving along this central road. We

are in the heart of the reedbeds. There is about ten square

kilometres, it is the biggest in the whole of the North West. This is the

secret to fry the starlings come here. The reeds are just outside the

car. They are tall and strong. That is why they have come down, there is

a safe refuge. A few days ago, I was lucky enough to go out and watch

what happened when the starlings come into these reedbeds. There is a

whole language around these Murray shins -- murmurations. They are

showing the other starlings, come to us. It is exciting watching them

coming in in dribs and drabs and then gradually filling out. It is

almost like smoke. Positively biblical. You can argue

that this if you like, but surely this has to be one of our greatest

British wildlife spectacles? I never, ever get tired of seeing

this. When they do drop Ben, they go

remarkably quickly. Once they have made the decision to rock in... Here

they come! Look at that! What a fantastic site that is. You

never get bored of seeing that. That raises a question - we have just

said that there are ten square kilometres here of reedbeds. Let's

walk amongst them. Oh, my Lord! It is very boggy. With ten square

kilometres, wide of the starlings, all 30,000, pouring too one small

area? If it was about ten foot wide, you could have hundreds of

starlings. Why do they do it? There is safety to numbers if they stick

together. What would happen if a predator came along and came amongst

the starlings flop? -- starling flock. Here is a marsh harrier

flying in. What will happen when it hits the flock of starlings? Here it

comes in amongst them safe from aerial predators, but look

at this. I am sinking in a bit! If you were a fox or a weasel or stoat,

would you want to come hunting in this? You wouldn't. It is a good

place for all those darlings to be. It is also a good place for

different animals, something really surprising. There are enormous red

deer here. There is a gigantic stab we will be following -- stag. We are

not quite sure what is going on. It is only coming into season for a

short period, he will have to look after them and be around them all

the time. We will keep following them.

We have got lights on here all around me. Let us turn the lights

off and find out what it is really like in the reedbeds. And my head

torch, I cannot find the switch exhibition mark it is completely

dark. This is what it would be like in the starling colony. With this

special camera we can look into the heart of the colony and see what is

going on. Look at this. Here are all the starlings, this was

a shock and surprise. We thought they all went in and settled down

and went to sleep. But they are not doing that, they are moving around.

The cameraman filmed this about midnight and they were still moving

around. It is pitch black, they are not clearly moving around very

accurately, they are bumping into each other. That camera will reveal

more and more about the curious things going on at night here at

Leighton Moss. Now, migration. What makes all of

these words move from one part of the planet and another? It comes

down to planetary astronomical physics. Could you be the son,

these? -- the Sun, please? Our planet spins on an axis like this

which gives us day and night. It also orbits the Sun, taking a year

to do so. It doesn't do that on a vertical axis, it is off-kilter by

23.5 degrees. The obliquity of the ecliptic. When the sun Acrobat Earth

is in an area like this and moves round, the UK and Europe would be

closer to the sun, it is not the distance, it is the incidence of the

light rays passing through the atmosphere and the day length. Nice

long days warming up the ground means a nice summer. When we reach

this side of the Sun we are tilted away from it, shorter days, less

time to warm the environment up and in the northern part of the region

we have our winter. As a consequence, if animals can move

they will do their very best to get out of the way and move further

south where it should be warmer and easier for them to survive will stop

is it break time now? Is that the end of the geography lesson?

Migration is a fascinating subject and the ability of animals to travel

huge distances every year never ceases to amaze. This time of year

so many species are on the move. Migration.

Every autumn billions of animals traverse the globe. The British

Isles are the epicentre for an astonishing number of migratory

species. From our smallest, to our largest. Migration has always

fascinated us. 2000 years ago Aristotle noticed the sudden

disappearance of birds from ancient Greece and believed they had

transmuted into Robins. We believed 250 years ago when autumn came

swallows hibernated at the bottom of legs. Now with advancing technology

we can follow where our migrants are coming from and going. GPS, radar,

with these we have trapped Arctic turns, 25,000 miles from pole to

pole. We have followed ospreys on the long pilgrimage from Wales to

west Africa. And we have monitored British basking sharks which turn up

in the Canary Islands. Even leatherback turtles across the

Atlantic can get to Britain, all the way from the Caribbean. Our

incredible migrants represent written all over the world. Some

follow the stars and the sun, some follow landmarks, others follow

their nose, literally smelling their way home. Our understanding of

migration has come a long way. The UK's unique global permission --

position gives us a front row seat for the most spectacular event.

All of those animals are on the move, but why are so many of them

interested in coming to the UK? Look at this. This map shows isobars.

They are lines across the map which indicate temperature. Isotherm is.

They indicate the average temperature during January. Look up

into Russia. Here it is ice cold. In Alexandria in Egypt's it is much

warmer. You might expect that because of Latitude. But the lines

are not straight, they wriggle around the UK. Indicating that here

to the left of the UK it is higher than zero degrees throughout

January. We are caught in this warm pocket. Why? It comes down to the

Gulf stream which comes up through here, arches up towards Iceland and

sweeps down the North Atlantic past Ireland. This maritime warmth heats

up the UK and makes it a very attractive destination for migrants,

the titular Lee from those coming from this direction, from the east

where it is considerably colder. But the storm this week changed that,

and things were far from all quiet on the Western front and we have had

birds blowing in from the Americas. We have had a yellow-rumped

warbler, this has turned up in Devon. We are interested in

migration we can all see. We will launch what we will call our

migration watch in conjunction with the RSPB and we want you to look out

for three particular birds. The first is the Redwing. It is easy to

identify, a member of the thrush family. You can see it's distinctive

eye stripe. They will come into your garden is to feed on berries. They

have a very characteristic call. It is the high-pitched sleep. -- --

seep. You need to go out at night, stand on the doorstep and listen.

They will move about night. It is a characteristic call. The next word

is that brambling. The colouring is quite different, that was a male. It

had an orange chest. The last bird is this beauty. It is the waxwing.

This winter there might be a few number. Some have arrived already,

mainly in the north-east. We would like you to look out for these

birds. If you see any of these three species let us know on the website.

Let us know if you find them. I think waxwing is my favourite. Those

birds are just arriving in the UK but some of the birds that bred here

in the spring have moved on including one of our stars from

previous programmes, Monty, the osprey. He arrived in Wales on his

own, but not for long. That was one of the many females trying to

attract his attention. They were fighting over him. In the end and

inexperienced first time reader caught his affections. -- breeder.

They laid their eggs late and left them unattended which meant they

were prone to attacks from birds like Luke Rowe there. Were they

doomed? What has happened since then?

Monty was up against it. Osprey normally hatch after 37 days but

still nothing. On the 27th of June the 1st hatchling on a female. Two

days later another. The chicks grew fast. Dad was

bringing home 30 fish every week, they quickly put on weight. After

five weeks the chicks were mature enough to be monitored by staff and

the two girls were named. With two beautiful chicks to raise

they were busier than ever. Dad kept the fish flowing. But what is so

alluring about his legs? The family repelled intruders flying overhead,

already on their way back to Africa. The constant reminder of how

behind they were in their development. But on the whole, life

was good. The fledgling 's were now feeding themselves, giving Monty a

well earned rest. He was close to notching up 500 fish this season.

Though he could still use a lesson in presentation. The chicks

new-found independence was the mother 's cue to leave. She began

her long journey to Senegal on the 31st of August. It was all down to

Monty now. He kept his girls fed for a few more weeks. By now other

British ospreys were already basking in the hot African Sun but as long

as his daughters still needed him he resisted the urge to leave. Finally,

on the 18th of September, the mother began her first ever migration to

West Africa. Two days later, the second made her move. Then dad

followed, 36 minutes behind. Who knows when they will be back? But

for now Monty's work was done. Two eggs, two girls, hatched two days

apart and now on their migration. Also two days apart. What an

incredible summer for Monty, and what an amazing, handsome dad.

He has got all the characteristics I like in Amman. -- in a male. Spiky

haired, bulging eyes, bloke who goes fishing the whole time. When you put

it like that! He is patient, attentive, he is a good father. He

flies off all winter. He has gone 3000 miles, to Senegal. Hopefully.

Why has he gone there? There is plenty of fish and plenty of

sunshine. The Gambia cub River runs down there and there are wonderful

wetlands. -- the Gambia River. We hope that Monty will come back. We

have had birds moving cells, but they have stopped with us. One group

which have either starlings. -- which have all the starlings. I can

hear all of the sounds of the waterfowl. We have found out why the

starlings come here. It is safety. Let's look at these reeds. These

leaves are quite flexible. When the wind blows, all of the leaves

line-up. It can bend around, but they do not break. The starlings are

able to roost on the same stem. There is a hierarchy. If you are at

the bottom, you will get pooed on. This is the colony. The black bits

are the starlings. The best place to be as high up but in the middle. The

most dominant birds will go there. They will squabble and fight. One of

the other advantages about being in the middle is that you keep warm.

You can see them fluffing up their feathers. A starling is six degrees

warmer than we are in body cabbage. That is the perfect place, in the

middle. Beautiful pictures in the heart of the roost. That is about

half a kilometre away. They are fairly safe, but not always.

Sometimes, predators will be on the prowl at night. We have filmed a

specialist night predator. It is a barn owl. Do you see that? He has

dropped a starling. The barn owl was coming in. It has learned how to

take the starlings. If you have got 30,000 small packages of meat, if

you can take advantage of it, you will. We know that they are

successful, because the RSPB has found these remains. Tragically,

those are starling skulls from inside the nest box of the barn owl.

Their pellets are full of nothing but starlings. These clever barn owl

's have adapted to the starlings. -- these clever barn owls. You to full

little birds. -- beautiful little birds. To appreciate the beauty of

the individual bird, we need to see one close-up. It would be handy if

we had one. We have! This is a bird that many people take for granted.

Look at those feathers, they are beautiful. They are stunning. Those

feathers have an important purpose. They malted in the autumn, so they

have a fresh coat of feathers to keep them warm. -- moulted. The

inner core of a starling's body only fluctuates by about four back

degrees -- four degrees during the day. They also employ other means of

containing body heat. Then what keeps their feet warm? May use a

counter current heat exchanger. -- they use. As the warm blood is

pumped down from their body and the warm blood goes back into it, it's

what's the heat, so they do not lose body heat. # it exchanges the heat.

They have what we call a high surface area to volume ratio. They

would be prone to losing lots of heat. These are trained birds. Lloyd

will be stuck around for Autumnwatch Unsprung on the red button and

online after the programme. To really appreciate wildlife, you have

to get out there and see it for rail. We came up with an idea which

made us have a closer look at the wildlife and plants. We had a

friendly but rather competitive Autumnwatch Challenge. Your

challenge is to find a plant, animal or part thereof beginning with each

letter of the word Autumnwatch, and hopefully take a photo or film it. I

am going to sit in the cafe and sit for 45 minutes and have hot

chocolate. Let's get going and let them talk. Where is the cafe? C,

cake! That is a silver moth. The Latin name begins with A. What a

place. This is five minutes from where we started. Look at all of

these limestone pavements. Some of these are 2000 years old. They

reckon some of them could be 5000 years old. That is a fantastic piece

of sculpture. The scientific name starts with T. Shall I take a photo?

It could really be useful if we could spell! Are there any older

trees? -- alder. No, we are not going to cheat and use T for trees.

There should be an award for quality of species. They will come up with

lots of Latin names. But we have got Latin names, too. Look at this,

hart's tongue. That is no good, it run away! The Latin name for

stinging nettle is urtica. This is like the cover of that Nik Kershaw

album. That is not in my collection. It was like this, only in black and

white. Woodlouse, perfect for W. It is the only type of crustacean that

does not need water to breed. We need A, M and two Us. Look at this

day? -- look at this algae. I do not like using Latin, but, some of these

are useful. This is Cal Parsley --, parsley, umbellifer. We are being

beaten by two Us. Sorted! Brilliant. I never saw you as a Nik Kershaw

fan. I do not know much about him. My sister had a magazine on the

sideboard one day and I happened to glance at it as I was walking past.

I like to give credit where it is due. We did win the challenge. ,

on, -- come on, we had two ewes. This again due can do your

Autumnwatch Challenge. You can use any word you like. -- this weekend,

you can do the Autumnwatch Challenge. Cheat if you cannot win!

Lots of you got out in the summer. Many of you joined the BBC's Summer

Of Wildlife Season. 46,000 of you did the Big Butterfly Count. We had

some amazing results. 46,000 people, 830,000 butterflies. We learned a

lot. The small tortiseshell, a species which has been struggling,

this summer it increased by 388%. Its close relative, the peacock, by

3500%. It shows you what you can do if you take part. Please get

involved. The storm, if you live in the South of England, has blown

loads of leaves of the trees but gardeners, do not rush out and sweep

them up. It would be pointless, there is more to come down and also,

they feed an army of amazing invertebrates.

Earthworms may be simple creatures, but they are pretty amazing. Living

a largely subterranean lifestyle, they have no need of eyes or ears

and rely on touch and taste to detect their world. They belong to a

group which translated means, little rings. Each of their segments is

encircled by muscle. These contract and relax in a concertina with,

propelling the animal foreword. In this way, the earthworm can achieve

top speeds. They can get up to 20 metres per hour! Earthworms are the

world's recycling heroes. They are biological re-processors that

transform dead plant matter into fertile humus. You can see soil

being created as it moves through the earthworm's body. When it comes

out the other end, the plant debris has become earth, enriched with

nutrients. They have been described as the intestine is of the soil. --

intestines of the soil. There is an abundance in autumn of plant

material for them to recycle. They have a specially adapted prehensile

head. They use this flexible appendage like a hand will stop --

like a hand. They drag leads into the ground to enable them to feed in

safety. By pulling the leaf at its tip the worm ensures it folds neatly

as it enters the soil. Underground the worm becomes a biological

piston. It forces life-giving air through the earth as it moves

creating tunnels as it goes. In one acre of woodland there may be

as many as 1 million worms, eating ten tonnes of leaves on the stems

and dead beats each year, and turning over 40 tonnes of soil.

Their industry will bury the majority of leaves that fall each

autumn and they replenish the soil with vital nutrients and in short

dead leaves don't go to waste. I give you the earthworm, the world 's

busiest recycler. Great recyclers, but with millions

of them in one a go, important in lots of food chains. The thrush,

blackbirds, dragging them out of the soil, they provide food for lots of

other animals. The Deer Hunter returns. That vehicle is packed with

electronic equipment. The sign came up saying key battery low, I thought

it was going to break down! Let's go live to our thermal camera. This is

a cormorant roost, we will be looking at it later. Those are all,

rents. -- Conrads -- cormorants. We have been watching another animal

out and about, it is this one, the badger. As you can see, they are

collecting leaflet, they are taking it down into their badger sets to

use it as bedding. -- they are collecting leaf litter. Talking of

badgers, I am sure it hasn't escaped your attention they remain in the

news. The debate continues about badges in the countryside. Many

people are still confused about what the problem actually is. What is it

about their biology, history and ecology that has got them into so

much trouble with humans? Martin went to Gloucestershire to see if he

could get some clarity. Badges of the UK's largest member of the

weasel family. They have roamed our landscape for half a million years,

living underground in a large family groups, heading out into the wilds

to forage. They eat everything from berries to birds eggs. These days

they rely mainly on earthworms. Places like rural Gloucestershire

with damp, fertile soil are ideal. From a badger macro was pointed view

this patchwork of fields and trees was perfect. -- from a badger's

point of view. The soil in the woods is soft enough for them to tunnel

into and make their underground homes. In fact, this area and others

like it in the south-west are so good there are more badgers here

than anywhere else. They are secretive, nocturnal creatures, you

would hardly know they were there. If you look closely their signs are

everywhere. I can see here badgers famed for their cleanliness and they

will drag out the bedding, take it out, let it dry out, and drag it

back down and have somewhere lovely to snuggle up and sleep. They don't

poo inside the set, they make a latrine. What is fascinating is you

can see it is full of bits of Apple. There has been a bumper apple crop.

They do eat a wide variety of things, but it is a carnival and

they have got the teeth and jaws to go with that -- carnivore.

It was their feisty nature and formidable armoury that first got

them into trouble with humans. In the past they were considered good

sport by some, an activity known as badger baiting. Patrick Bach is a

journalist and author who has spent years researching our changing

attitudes. Although it has been persecuted it was never classified

as a beast like or dear, why is that? Digging a badger from its home

was hard work so they were left alone. But whole villages went in

pursuit. It was a sport for working people, they would dig them up and

take them to the backyard of a pub, keep them alive for a couple of

months, bring it out of its box every night and set a different dog

against it and place bets on it. The verb to badger comes from our

relentless pursuit of this animal. Badger baiting was still a big thing

in the 60s and 70s. My grammar started watching them in the 1960s

-- my grandma. Only one of those was still occupied in 1973, all the rest

had been destroyed. It's ecology, its ability to fight, had got it

into trouble. Following a public outcry they were given legal

protection in 1973. As a result the UK became a much better place for

them, and their population rose. As we farmed cows, more and more

efficiently, creating short grass pasture, full of earthworms, we were

inadvertently farming badges as well. -- badgers. But then they came

into contact with a new threat, ovine to about Ulysses. -- bovine

debate Ulysses. Although it originated in cattle in 1971 badger

was discovered to be infected with it. Imagine I am a badger, this

would be a perfect place to find my favourite food, earthworms. It is

also where cattle like to graze. If a cow had bovine TB it might be

shedding the bacteria in its done, so either, and that would go into

the ground and bacteria can survive for weeks, months. They are bound to

come into contact with the badger. Their close oximetry -- close

proximity. Cattle found to be infected are slaughtered but once

bovine TB spreads into the wildlife population it is difficult to

control. An infected badger can pass the disease on to other animals, or

spread the bacteria over the past year once again, reinvent timber

cattle. Badgers are not the only carriers Ahmed dear -- the only

characters, but they are believed to be the major wildlife carrier back

to cattle. This is how badgers, by simply going about their daily

lives, once more have walked into trouble with humans. I wonder if any

animal has divided the British public as much as the badger does

today. Wildlife enthusiast are fascinated by them, captivated by

even a glimpse. But for others they are a threat to their livelihood, a

carrier of disease, little more than vermin. And yet they carry on doing

what they have done for tens of thousands of years, completely

unaware they have stepped right into the firing line.

They really are still in the firing line in Gloucestershire and Somerset

at the moment. It is a very emotive issue, very complicated, but if you

would like to know more about the science or see the debate from both

sides of the argument, or join in the debate and letters know your

opinion, go to the website. -- let us know. It is also the place to go

for other things, keeping an eye on the website and the social media is

a special member of the team. You are not just here for the website,

you are here for something else. I am presenting Autumnwatch Unsprung.

Loads of good stuff coming in already. Keep sending in your

images. Fantastic bit of murmuration art, the starlings are the big thing

at the moment. This is from Kenneth Barker. It looks like a bird. That

is fantastic. Have you got any murmurations that look like any

other creature? You are doing Autumnwatch Unsprung straight after

the show on the red button and online. Lots of ideas on what to do

if you get out and about. You will want to know what the weather is

like. The storm has been and gone, but it

was an extreme event. Symptomatic of what has been an energetic spell of

weather in the atmosphere. Mutually cheaply -- the very disturbed

atmosphere. Relatively mild conditions. Over the next few days

not as mild as it has been. Colder air coming from the north. Enough to

give some frost by night. Not particularly cold. No cold air near

our shores at the moment. Expect further spells of wind and rain.

Hopefully nothing coming as extreme as we have seen over the last few

days. To start the rest of the week it will be blustery, not

exceptionally so. Colder than it has been, some rain at times, no sign of

the wind coming in from the north and east for a sustained period to

aid the migration. What does this weather mean for

wildlife? It might affect the migration because we will not be

expecting too many birds from Scandinavia which typically at this

time of the year would be flooding in. They will not fly into a strong

headwind. There are other species who might take advantage, pink

footed geese and Hooper Swans have been seen arriving today. They have

been coming from Greenland, via Iceland, flying into the Atlantic

towards the UK with some of the north-westerly winds. They will use

that to carry them forward. The storm might have held it up for just

about a day, but migration will probably be underway towards the end

of the week from Scandinavia, maybe next week. Remember to look out for

those birds. While I was out there I heard geese flying over us. They

were out there. That is all we have got time for.

What have we got coming up tomorrow? Urban foxes with a

difference, they are carrying radio collars and they will tell us about

their behaviour and ecology. I go to Brighton to find out.

And we look at young Manx shearwaters starting their first

migration. And what was that fight all about? We will find out what was

going on. That might be it from us but Nick Baker is in the studio,

give us a wave. He is not going to be on BBC Two, he will be online and

on the red button doing Autumnwatch Unsprung. Press the red button now.

They're one, do it! We will see you tomorrow.