:00:21. > :00:30.A The deer are in rut and we will be showing you more of them later. And
:00:31. > :00:40.I am about to set sail to try to find one of the UK's most elusive
:00:41. > :00:57.birds. So all aboard - it's Autumnwatch!
:00:58. > :01:06.Yes, hello and welcome to Autumnwatch 2013. It is our second
:01:07. > :01:11.programme from the wonderful RSPB Leighton Moss reserve in the
:01:12. > :01:16.north-west. It is a fabulous reserve. 23 square kilometres, a
:01:17. > :01:26.great mix of habitats. Here we are looking don on it from the limestone
:01:27. > :01:32.crags. Our theme this year is migration. We have seen plentiest
:01:33. > :01:37.plenty of it. These oyster-catchers are wheeling in the sky and plenty
:01:38. > :01:43.of others already. The thing that strikes me about migration, it is
:01:44. > :01:49.still mysterious and it is very interesting, but it just looks
:01:50. > :01:58.great. All those swirling birds. You can just enjoy the moment. We have
:01:59. > :02:02.cameras all over the reserve and around Morecambe Bay and look into
:02:03. > :02:08.the lives of elusive animals. We have already seen some really
:02:09. > :02:12.interesting behaviour. We showed you some last night from the otters here
:02:13. > :02:19.and in case something else happens with them, we have put up a live
:02:20. > :02:27.otter cam and you can see... Oh look, we have a Herron on the otter
:02:28. > :02:34.cam. And what is interesting is that bird is feeding in darkness. This is
:02:35. > :02:38.an infrared cam RSPCA it is pitch black and the bird, it picked up
:02:39. > :02:45.some food and then wetted it before it swallowed it. How can it fish in
:02:46. > :02:49.the dark? There is a question. Because I have never seen them
:02:50. > :02:53.feeding in the dark. Maybe their eyes are adapted to see in low
:02:54. > :02:59.light, a bit like owls. You would be able to explore that by looking at
:03:00. > :03:05.the eye to see which type of cells are there. When it was picking up
:03:06. > :03:11.the food, it was doing it with accuracy. So it can see well. Later,
:03:12. > :03:15.maybe we will get you an otter. Now as we have said, the deer are not
:03:16. > :03:20.rutting, but they have certainly been swimming. This may take you by
:03:21. > :03:23.surprise, but they're actually very good swimmers and this beautiful
:03:24. > :03:29.stag has been in for a bathe and what do they do when they get wet?
:03:30. > :03:33.They shake themselves dry! It is a fantastic shot. We have not only
:03:34. > :03:38.been watching the deer in the night, but using another type of camera, a
:03:39. > :03:44.thermal camera to look at these animals at night. This is filmed in
:03:45. > :03:53.pitch black. This is our larger stag, we are calling our 14-pointer,
:03:54. > :03:59.on account of the points on his antler. He has a bit of a limp. He
:04:00. > :04:06.attending his haar recommend -- what recommend -- harem of hinds. We have
:04:07. > :04:10.been seeing that there is no rut. Would that suggest that maybe the
:04:11. > :04:16.rut's already happened? Well, historically they do rut earlier
:04:17. > :04:20.than this period here at Leighton Moss and it has been an unusual
:04:21. > :04:27.season there has been a massive amount of acorns. Where I am there
:04:28. > :04:31.is masses of acorn. This has spread the deer out and we think there was
:04:32. > :04:34.less conflict in this area. But there are plenty of other males out
:04:35. > :04:40.there. We have seen these couple of young males active out in the fields
:04:41. > :04:47.and they do spend the day on the Moss among the reeds. At night, they
:04:48. > :04:52.come into the open. These two are not rutting. This is a couple of
:04:53. > :05:02.young animals learning what antlers are about. They are locking together
:05:03. > :05:10.with those individual prongs. I think we are probably postruting and
:05:11. > :05:15.that animal has already serviced the hinds and so they will produce more
:05:16. > :05:23.deer next year. We will keep an eye opt one with the limp. Yes. They're
:05:24. > :05:27.elusive, because they're well dispersed across the reserve. We
:05:28. > :05:30.have dispersed Martin to another part of the reserve. But you know
:05:31. > :05:37.that boat he went in, I didn't realise it was that one. I made a
:05:38. > :05:42.bit of a hole. Shame! Thank you very much. Well we have bunged the hole.
:05:43. > :05:47.If you were to come here to Leyton Moss to the reserve you would find
:05:48. > :05:51.the whole place is covered in tracks, paths and walk ways through
:05:52. > :05:55.the actual reserve. If you want to get to the beating heart of this
:05:56. > :06:02.reserve, I think you have got to come out like we are on a boat. We
:06:03. > :06:06.are right out in the reed beds now. It is quite dark. We will come back.
:06:07. > :06:10.We are going to try an experiment. But first let's look what it looks
:06:11. > :06:40.like during the day. Here I am actually out in the lake,
:06:41. > :06:45.right out in the dyke. And the main dyke that I'm rowing on, trying to
:06:46. > :06:52.row on! Goes out behind me and goes all the way to the sea. That is the
:06:53. > :06:58.main drainage dyke. There is dykes on either side that are draining the
:06:59. > :07:03.fields. Here are all the reeds and in them will be flocks of starlings
:07:04. > :07:08.at night. The bearded tits will be there. And if we were really lucky,
:07:09. > :07:14.this is fresh water, it is full of fish and that of course is why the
:07:15. > :07:28.otters are here too. The abundance of fish attracts herons. Cormorants
:07:29. > :07:35.come here to feast. Egrets also visit in the hope of an easy meal.
:07:36. > :07:49.In the shallows water fowl make use of the rich fertile mud, full of
:07:50. > :07:55.weeds and animals. And all under the watchful eyes of marsh harriers,
:07:56. > :08:07.eager to pounce on unsuspecting prey. This watery world is alive
:08:08. > :08:12.with activity. It is fascinating to see Leighton Moss, I'm out in the
:08:13. > :08:15.middle of the reserve on a stormy evening. Very nice. I could sit here
:08:16. > :08:29.and soak it up. Right. Well it is all quiet now. We
:08:30. > :08:33.can have a little audio adventure. We are going to try to talk to a
:08:34. > :08:43.bird, a very shy bird that is the out we hope here in the rushes. It
:08:44. > :08:48.is the water rail. This bird was a star of Springwatch, a beautiful
:08:49. > :08:55.bird, a real reed specialist. When we saw it it had a nest and chicks
:08:56. > :09:01.under it as well. Beautiful chicks. I have lost the picture, I can't see
:09:02. > :09:06.it! Any way that was a water rail. There are water rail around us here.
:09:07. > :09:11.We know they're in the reserve. With the help of Gary, we have got a
:09:12. > :09:14.special microphone that can listen for the sound of them. But we have
:09:15. > :09:18.got to make them call back us to and that is what I'm going to try to do
:09:19. > :09:24.and play the sound of the water rail and see if they call back. But why
:09:25. > :09:31.would a water rail call to us? They're very territorial. They're
:09:32. > :09:38.territorial when they're nesting, but now they call. It is called
:09:39. > :09:44.charming. It is a nice like grunt, grunt, piglet squeal grunt! So we
:09:45. > :09:51.have got to listen for piglet squeals. I'm going to use this to
:09:52. > :09:58.play the sound. Are you ready, Gary? Give it a try. Here we go. Nothing.
:09:59. > :10:13.Come on. SOUND OF WATER RAIL. Is it behind us? I will try it once
:10:14. > :10:38.again just quickly. Drat did that sound pig-like to you?
:10:39. > :10:46.Keep listening, let us know if we can. We know they're out there and
:10:47. > :10:52.there are resident water rails here, but there are migratory ones that
:10:53. > :10:58.come from as far as Russia. Their wings are tiny, but they change gear
:10:59. > :11:08.and they can fly in. So we are here, we are trying to find birds that
:11:09. > :11:14.have arrived. We got it. I can't believe it. We got it. OK, we will
:11:15. > :11:22.carry on trying. That was one for real! I never dreamt we would. We
:11:23. > :11:30.are listening for birds that have arrived and we have been out to find
:11:31. > :11:34.a bird that is about to make a dramatic departure. I've come to a
:11:35. > :11:40.small island off the South West coast of Wales. I'm hoping to
:11:41. > :11:50.witness one of the most spectacular vents, the -- events, the mass
:11:51. > :11:56.fledgling of a amazing bird. A third of the Manx Shearwater population
:11:57. > :12:00.come here to breed. The adults have left. But what about the chicks? It
:12:01. > :12:09.may be hard to believe, but there could be as many as 200,000 Manx
:12:10. > :12:13.Shearwater chicks at this very moment. They're underground in the
:12:14. > :12:17.burrows. The reason they say out of day, is because of the large gulls
:12:18. > :12:24.patrolling the skies. To find out more, I'm meeting with my old friend
:12:25. > :12:35.Tim, who has dedicated his life to studying these birds. It is like
:12:36. > :12:44.Swiss cheese. Tim tracked several adult shear waters to pat Goan ya --
:12:45. > :12:51.Patagonia. A journey of 7,000 thousand miles. How old is this one?
:12:52. > :12:54.I think he is about 65 days. He or she is just starting to lose the
:12:55. > :13:02.remains of the down. His parents will have stopped feeding this bird
:13:03. > :13:08.and abandoned it and hopefully he has enough fat reserves to make the
:13:09. > :13:12.flight to South America. Many birds follow their parents, but this one
:13:13. > :13:17.will have to navigate to the far side of the globe alone. After the
:13:18. > :13:22.chick has been ringed and weighed, Tim carefully returns it to its
:13:23. > :13:28.burrow. It is late afternoon and the island is quiet. It is amazing to
:13:29. > :13:35.think just beneath my feed -- feet are thousands of hungry chicks
:13:36. > :13:40.waiting for the right conditions to leave. These chicks fledge over
:13:41. > :13:44.several nights. According to Tim, tonight is the night when it comes
:13:45. > :13:50.to a head. There is very little moon. So it will be very dark. They
:13:51. > :13:56.need this darkness to get off the island safely. Because they require
:13:57. > :14:02.the darkness, we won't be using torches, but using night vision.
:14:03. > :14:10.Timis taking -- Timis taking me to one of the highest points of island.
:14:11. > :14:25.It looked like I timed my visit to perfection. They are coming out.
:14:26. > :14:31.Look at that! Minute by minute, more and more emerged from underground.
:14:32. > :14:34.Since the adults left, the youngsters have been burning off
:14:35. > :14:38.their fat and developing their wing muscles. They are ready for their
:14:39. > :14:43.maiden flight. They need to get as high as possible to give them the
:14:44. > :14:51.best chance of making it off the island. A lot of birds climb up the
:14:52. > :14:58.rocks. You have actually got one on your head. I have never seen
:14:59. > :15:03.somebody look quite so foolish! Clearly ACS not as a threat but as
:15:04. > :15:13.an extension of the rock face. -- clearly they see us . First time I
:15:14. > :15:20.have ever been a climbing frame, it is a unique experience. Stop
:15:21. > :15:30.squabbling. Go on, up you go. Be gentle. With this modern camera
:15:31. > :15:34.technology it is easy to forget that neither we nor the shearwaters can't
:15:35. > :15:41.see anything at all but they are making their presence felt. This one
:15:42. > :15:44.has got very sharp claws. That is better. You have got more hair than
:15:45. > :15:54.I have. They are quite argumentative. The whole purpose of
:15:55. > :16:00.this is for these birds to gain height, to try to get the best
:16:01. > :16:04.possible vantage point for launching themselves off. They have to clear
:16:05. > :16:10.the vegetation, the rock, the breakers, to get out to the open sea
:16:11. > :16:16.before first light. If they can do that they have got a chance for
:16:17. > :16:22.survival. It is a huge transition for them, isn't it? It is. They will
:16:23. > :16:28.come back to breed in five years time, most of them, the ones that
:16:29. > :16:33.survive. For the next hour the procession of ego shearwaters stream
:16:34. > :16:37.over our bodies and take the plunge. -- eager. It may be a surreal
:16:38. > :16:40.experience for me but it is a crucial moment in the lives of these
:16:41. > :16:47.young birds. This might look quite comical but
:16:48. > :16:53.these are remarkable birds, leaving their burrows for the first time,
:16:54. > :16:58.launching themselves off out into the open ocean, they have no map,
:16:59. > :17:02.nobody to guide them, yet they will make it all the way down to southern
:17:03. > :17:12.Argentina. There goes one now. It is an amazing journey, for a remarkable
:17:13. > :17:19.word. Bird. That is a really harsh launch into
:17:20. > :17:23.independence. Imagine they were teenagers, left at home on their
:17:24. > :17:28.own, no food, not even a forwarding address and they are expected to get
:17:29. > :17:33.out in the middle of the night and throughout thousands of miles
:17:34. > :17:37.without any parental guidance. That is what happened to me, I
:17:38. > :17:43.bought myself a microwave. They are out there now, somewhere in the
:17:44. > :17:48.Atlantic, in the dark, in the sea. Can you imagine there's little birds
:17:49. > :17:51.out there? It is still a bit of a mystery where they go.
:17:52. > :17:55.It is thought they follow their parents and go to Brazil and
:17:56. > :18:01.Argentina. It is also thought they do not stop to feed, they go all
:18:02. > :18:09.that way on their reserve of fact. Incredible. That is like not eating
:18:10. > :18:14.all the way to shop for the microwave. Last night we launched
:18:15. > :18:20.our MigrationWatch in conjunction with the RSPB and ask you to look
:18:21. > :18:23.out for three types of birds, Red Wings, bramblings and waxwings full.
:18:24. > :18:31.We have had reports from the strangest of places. We have got one
:18:32. > :18:43.on an oil platform. And somebody else works here. This is the album
:18:44. > :18:58.break and he has been spotting redwings. -- Alba oil rig. We have
:18:59. > :19:03.got a map here. We have got the oil rigs out here, 130 miles into the
:19:04. > :19:08.North Sea. They are like our early warning system. A ramp the coast we
:19:09. > :19:29.have got our bird observatory 's -- around the coast. At spurn head, 92
:19:30. > :19:33.hoop this once. -- Cooper is ones. -- Hooper swans. Each one of these
:19:34. > :19:39.dots represent a different species. The yellow one is the waxwing. One
:19:40. > :19:46.of the spotted off the coast of Scotland. Another in the East
:19:47. > :19:51.Midlands, and the black ones, these are bramblings. These have moved
:19:52. > :19:58.inland already. They have moved away from the coast. Lastly, the
:19:59. > :20:02.redwings. They are all the way down into the West Country. They have
:20:03. > :20:11.found one in Ireland as well. Keep your spotting is coming in. --
:20:12. > :20:24.sightings. By the end of the week we would like
:20:25. > :20:29.to see a lot more reports. You know the storm has slowed a lot
:20:30. > :20:33.of them up? Does that mean in a few days time we will get masses of them
:20:34. > :20:41.and it will be a real article? We are thinking towards the end of the
:20:42. > :20:48.week. -- a real spectacle. The smaller birds will just wait. Then
:20:49. > :20:53.all of a sudden you get a full of them. They appear to drop out of the
:20:54. > :21:00.sky. That can be very exciting if conditions persist. The great week
:21:01. > :21:04.for bird-watchers. It is not just birds which migrate. Many other
:21:05. > :21:08.animals do including fish. For some fish the north-west is a hotspot. A
:21:09. > :21:14.couple of days ago one of our cameramen went to film on the River
:21:15. > :21:19.Kent. He was filming this lovely scenic shot when suddenly he spotted
:21:20. > :21:25.this. If you look closely, there is a salmon. They are migrating
:21:26. > :21:31.upstream. They have come from the North Atlantic, they have gone
:21:32. > :21:36.through the Irish Sea, into the river through Morecambe Bay. They
:21:37. > :21:41.have huge obstacles to cross. Just like the Manx shearwater they do
:21:42. > :21:47.that River migration without eating. Amazing. Why would you do all of
:21:48. > :21:52.that? You have got to have a good reason. They have gone there to
:21:53. > :21:59.breed. This is what it is all about, they go all the way up to the
:22:00. > :22:03.shallows. Here they form what is called a read. They are using the
:22:04. > :22:09.tales to move the pedals so they create a shallow depression --
:22:10. > :22:12.pebbles. The females deposit the eggs and the males fertilise them.
:22:13. > :22:17.There is plenty of water flowing through to keep the eggs well
:22:18. > :22:28.oxygenated and they lay lots of egg. -- eggs. One of the things we
:22:29. > :22:32.have spotted on the river is this. Whether they take salmon eggs I am
:22:33. > :22:38.not entirely sure, I wouldn't put it past them. One bird that takes
:22:39. > :22:46.salmon fry, developing fish, is this, designed, a lovely bird, a
:22:47. > :22:54.female. It appears beneath the surface looking out for its prey. It
:22:55. > :22:59.will dive down and catch fish. It has got is rated edge to its peak so
:23:00. > :23:11.it doesn't the grip. -- a so rated edge to its beak. Sometimes they
:23:12. > :23:16.make it back, but sometimes they get a second chance and breed again.
:23:17. > :23:21.Once they have hatched they stay in the river for two years, it go
:23:22. > :23:25.through a transformation. At that point they need to go from the
:23:26. > :23:30.freshwater, back to the sea water so they migrate back again. They do
:23:31. > :23:35.that through Morecambe Bay. Morecambe Bay is a remarkable place
:23:36. > :23:38.for wildlife, not just the salmon, but the wading birds as well. A
:23:39. > :23:46.couple of days ago I took my binoculars down there to really
:23:47. > :23:52.enjoyed the spectacle. -- enjoyed. Morecambe Bay is a magnet for wading
:23:53. > :23:57.birds from all over the world. Local ornithologist Pete Marsh is on hand
:23:58. > :24:02.to help me identify a few of the more common species. Oyster catchers
:24:03. > :24:17.are fairly easy, black and white, red eye, read beak. -- red. You may
:24:18. > :24:21.get one from the Faroe Islands, Iceland, North Scotland, and maybe
:24:22. > :24:27.one from the local river valleys. They will all get together in one
:24:28. > :24:44.flock at winter. The large tidal range at Morecambe exposes a vast
:24:45. > :25:02.mud off a. -- buffet. The grey and white birds, the big spectacle is
:25:03. > :25:04.when they get together. About 5500. 5500 birds in the sky doing their
:25:05. > :26:02.beautiful bird ballet. A beautiful spectacle but not one of
:26:03. > :26:10.nature 's most magnificent migratory machines. In the winter time they
:26:11. > :26:17.all move south. But where do ours come from? They start their summer
:26:18. > :26:22.in northern Canada, but when they start to move their go across to
:26:23. > :26:29.Greenland, some will stop in Iceland, and then they come down to
:26:30. > :26:34.the north-west covering this great distance. If I get read of a shred
:26:35. > :26:42.of this line, another group come from here, they pass through the UK,
:26:43. > :26:46.but they go down to Spain and Africa, and some of these go all the
:26:47. > :26:52.way down to South Africa. Even these are not the champions. The North
:26:53. > :26:57.American ones will come from the top of Canada, all the way down to the
:26:58. > :27:03.Caribbean, down to Argentina, and in the spring they go back up here to
:27:04. > :27:09.Delaware Bay before going back again. One of these make this
:27:10. > :27:17.journey in six days and six nights, 5000 miles, nonstop, in six days and
:27:18. > :27:24.six nights. One of these birds is 20 years old, it has been doing this
:27:25. > :27:27.journey, 16,500 miles every year, it has been doing it for 20 years, it
:27:28. > :27:36.has gone to the moon and halfway back. Unbelievable, they must be so
:27:37. > :27:50.fit. These little grey birds you were disparaging of. I love the way
:27:51. > :27:55.they flash. I love the murmuration. Mark has been on a slightly less
:27:56. > :28:06.epic journey. He has risked life and limb. Maybe just a pair of white
:28:07. > :28:11.socks. It is pretty epic out here. We were trying to see whether we
:28:12. > :28:19.could get the water rails to call back to us. We had about five. It
:28:20. > :28:23.does work. Gary has pointed out this isn't just for fun, the RSPB to
:28:24. > :28:27.monitor them like this during the summer, they are to be is to know
:28:28. > :28:32.whether it would work monitoring them in autumn as well. We will
:28:33. > :28:34.report back to them. We will try it one more time. Let's go for the
:28:35. > :28:50.piglike sound. Have I rewound it the wrong way? I
:28:51. > :28:53.have got the pause button on. This is live television X commission Mark
:28:54. > :29:18.Bash! Well we have been waiting we have
:29:19. > :29:34.heard a whole lot of different sounds, things like this. You
:29:35. > :29:51.probably heard that cute. -- coot. We have heard this. Coot We have
:29:52. > :29:57.heard this sound and a lot of you have been hearing this. A Tawney
:29:58. > :30:02.owl. Now this sound. A harsh sound. We heard that over there. Very
:30:03. > :30:13.harsh. And believe it or not, we have heard this. Red deer. But a
:30:14. > :30:21.sound we haven't heard is much more subtle. It's this. Kind of a
:30:22. > :30:27.Wittering sound. What do you think might be out here making that sound?
:30:28. > :30:34.Well we have got pictures of what made that sound. Yes that is an
:30:35. > :30:37.otter. This is a young otter. We filmed this. It is obviously
:30:38. > :30:42.slightly worried about something. Here comes the other otter and it
:30:43. > :30:47.slaps it in the face. We think that is the first time that behaviour has
:30:48. > :30:54.been seen. It is a kind of aggression. It is an adult on the
:30:55. > :31:00.left and a youngster, probably related on the right. It is UK
:31:01. > :31:07.Wittering -- it is Wittering all the time. The adult is feeding and it is
:31:08. > :31:17.huffing. You can hear it huffing. Remarkable close up pictures. The
:31:18. > :31:22.youngster still do that wickering. We think they must be related,
:31:23. > :31:28.because otters can be very aggressive to one another. This one
:31:29. > :31:34.is nervous. It wants to move in and feed. Extraordinary sound. And now
:31:35. > :31:42.it moves off. To the right. And then watch what happens on the left. Here
:31:43. > :31:48.is the adult still feeding. Here is something. More wickering. And
:31:49. > :31:55.another otter. That is three otters. Again it doesn't attack it. It runs
:31:56. > :32:01.away and now the two youngsters start to play here. Now the otters
:32:02. > :32:08.are just over there. They're not very far away tr me. That is where
:32:09. > :32:12.the otter camp is. That tail-slapping, we think that has
:32:13. > :32:16.never been seen before. No one has seen that. We will continue to get
:32:17. > :32:22.as many picture as we can. Chris, ever seen that before? I have never
:32:23. > :32:30.seen that and I have never heard it. Listening to the vocalisations that
:32:31. > :32:34.the otterses were making was extraordinary. This is a radio
:32:35. > :32:39.tracking device attached to a collar. When I was a teenager I
:32:40. > :32:46.would have given anything for one of these, my first snog, my ticket to
:32:47. > :32:53.the first Clash gig. These let you know where an animal is. This is
:32:54. > :32:57.state of the art and this gives us a fix on the animal wearing it in real
:32:58. > :33:04.time. So you can sit there with your tablet in the dry looking where the
:33:05. > :33:10.animal is. What better animal then for - therefore than to put this on
:33:11. > :33:18.the urban fox. We need to learn more about it so we can learn to live
:33:19. > :33:23.with it. Dr Dawn Scott from Brighton University is doing just that. To
:33:24. > :33:29.understand how the 21st Century fox is adapting to her urban
:33:30. > :33:33.environment, Dawn Scott is heading into the inner city part of
:33:34. > :33:38.Brighton. It is a great area for them. There is loads of takeaways
:33:39. > :33:43.and places they can get food. They coming and eating what people have
:33:44. > :33:49.left behind. I am sure there is food there in the middle of the night. To
:33:50. > :33:56.get a more complete picture of what is happening, Dawn's colleague is in
:33:57. > :34:03.the more open outskirts of Hove. This is quite a suburban area. There
:34:04. > :34:07.are nice big houses and quite a lot of space. The plan is to catch and
:34:08. > :34:13.collar two fox families to find out how they're adapting to these
:34:14. > :34:19.contrasting environments. They have already set up the traps. So the
:34:20. > :34:25.foxes get used to them. Now, to bait them. Can I come into your house. We
:34:26. > :34:29.will set this. It is about 6 o'clock at night and we will check it in six
:34:30. > :34:36.hours and then again in six hours. So we are Ute at -- out at midnight
:34:37. > :34:41.and again at 6 in the morning. It seems spin, but we know -- it seems
:34:42. > :34:49.simple, but we know how cunning foxes can be. Time to check the
:34:50. > :34:55.traps. We have a fox. We have a fox. Fantastic. Let's get the blanket and
:34:56. > :35:00.get it covered. It looks like a large adult male. So hopefully it is
:35:01. > :35:07.the dominant male of the area. You're a big lad. I think he is
:35:08. > :35:12.going to be a hefty fox. By collaring this large male, Dawn
:35:13. > :35:17.hopes to establish his range, his feeding habits and how he interacts
:35:18. > :35:22.with other foxes. Behaviour that is impossible to see first hand. She
:35:23. > :35:29.hopes this will help her understand how urban foxes and humans can
:35:30. > :35:32.coexist. This is one of the new detection collars. This will be a
:35:33. > :35:38.red band. The red is to tr inner city foxes. If we get a female, we
:35:39. > :35:46.will do red and another colour. This is the inner city red fox.
:35:47. > :35:51.This is the fist time this state of the art tracking technology has been
:35:52. > :36:06.used on any British animal. So this one in a male it going to be
:36:07. > :36:10.called silver. Once his matterment -- measurements have been taken,
:36:11. > :36:16.Silver is put back in the holding cage and given an anti-sedative. In
:36:17. > :36:21.this built up environment, Dawn is cautious. We want to make sure that
:36:22. > :36:26.he is not drowsy. We don't want him make up and run into a road or run
:36:27. > :36:31.into a wall and get injured. He has to be fully awake before we let him
:36:32. > :36:36.go. What we will be able to do is find out where he goes and when
:36:37. > :36:40.using the GPS in the collar and the detection system we will be able to
:36:41. > :36:45.find out which gardens he goes into and how long he spends in there. 40
:36:46. > :36:53.minutes later and it is time to let T silver -- to let Silver go. They
:36:54. > :36:58.aim to collar another seven foxes. We are going to follow the lives of
:36:59. > :37:04.the animals through winter and into spring to allow us to present a more
:37:05. > :37:11.detailed picture of urban foxes than we have ever been able to before.
:37:12. > :37:16.Fantastic. I'm so excited about this project. For a couple of reasons.
:37:17. > :37:21.First the technology, which is Astoningly -- astonishingly good and
:37:22. > :37:26.we are going to put the collars can on some more fox and follow them all
:37:27. > :37:31.the way through Autumnwatch and through Winter Watch and into
:37:32. > :37:35.Springwatch and so we should get to know them all. The more we learn,
:37:36. > :37:46.the better we will be able to live with these animals. Now the theme
:37:47. > :37:55.this searry -- searies is -- see Rhys is migration. You have sent in
:37:56. > :38:02.some picture. Here are some waders. Would make a good jigsaw. Give it to
:38:03. > :38:11.your grandmother at Christmas, you won't here from her until August.
:38:12. > :38:17.This is migrating godwins. And Paul sent this of pink-footed geese.
:38:18. > :38:21.Thank you for all those. Keep sending them in and go to the
:38:22. > :38:27.web-site if you want to know about things to do. Put your post code in
:38:28. > :38:33.and it will give you ideas, including places to go to see
:38:34. > :38:38.migrating birds. Now, I have often said all birds are equal, but some
:38:39. > :38:43.are more equal than others. Some are just a bit more special. Martin has
:38:44. > :38:48.been missing out on one of these special birds that is a specialist
:38:49. > :38:50.of these reed beds, so I took him out the other morning to make his
:38:51. > :39:03.dreams come true. I like this environment. You call
:39:04. > :39:08.them rushes or reeds. I call them reeds, at this time of year the
:39:09. > :39:15.seeds are very important for one very special species, the bearded
:39:16. > :39:20.reedling. Or bearded tit. Called the bearded tit, but they're not a
:39:21. > :39:25.member of the tit family. They're a member of the parrot bill. Might we
:39:26. > :39:30.see one? This is one of the best places to see them and today I feel
:39:31. > :39:34.confident. They're so good. Brace yourself. Is it what I think it
:39:35. > :39:44.might be. You're going to get very excited. Oh no clam Look at that! A
:39:45. > :39:52.male. They are so xatic. How can people say British burpeds are
:39:53. > :40:01.Dowdy. Look at that. It looks like a lady whose Mascara has run. Why are
:40:02. > :40:08.they picking up bits of grit. At this time of year, they're switching
:40:09. > :40:13.their diet from insects to feeding on seeds. To aid the process,
:40:14. > :40:24.they're taking grit into their guess ard to -- gizzard to help grinned up
:40:25. > :40:32.the -- grind up the seeds. They're quite vocal and they can be more an
:40:33. > :40:36.may wanted. They are not -- and more animated. Sometimes if there is a
:40:37. > :40:42.sufficient number of birds and they have had a good breeding season,
:40:43. > :40:47.they go through an eare uptive -- eruptive of movement. They fly all
:40:48. > :40:53.looking for more reeds, a portion of group and sometimes they will go
:40:54. > :40:59.great distances. They are partial migrants. We heard a funny, was that
:41:00. > :41:05.the pinging sound? The zinging, pinging call. Many times you can't
:41:06. > :41:09.see them, all you hear is this ping, ping call. I need that to keep in
:41:10. > :41:15.contact with each other. They can't see each other. It is a contact call
:41:16. > :41:24.and they do cantally -- continually. If you hear ping, ping. It is less
:41:25. > :41:28.electronic than that. More of a zing, zing sound. That sounds more
:41:29. > :41:34.electronic. But I know what you mean, mate. I had an inkling we
:41:35. > :41:38.might see a bearded tit today. So I wear this shirt and this top.
:41:39. > :41:43.Because it was the closest colours I could get. I was going to put some
:41:44. > :41:51.black down there as well. You have gone a bit droopy. It passed me by.
:41:52. > :42:01.I should have paid attention. I feel a fool now. I have come as like a
:42:02. > :42:10.water rail. A bit water railish. I'm bearded reedling. I have got the
:42:11. > :42:14.wrong gear on? What do you think? 7.9. It maybe the excitement of
:42:15. > :42:21.seeing it for the first time. But the beauty and the shading of the
:42:22. > :42:25.colours with the grey nape. We must finish there. You have wrapped that
:42:26. > :42:35.up beautifully. Thank you for my early morning treat. Oh, it was
:42:36. > :42:55.good. Where is he? Martin? Have you survived? How was Das Boot. You have
:42:56. > :43:02.got it. I never dreamt they would call back. I said I was talking
:43:03. > :43:05.about life tick. What is a life tick. It is when you see for the
:43:06. > :43:10.first time in your life a particular bird. That is a live tick. What I do
:43:11. > :43:17.it get my bird book. Here it is. This what is I have done. Here is
:43:18. > :43:22.the bearded tit and I have given it a tick. In the autumn of my years, I
:43:23. > :43:27.will think back to the golden days when I was birding and met you. I
:43:28. > :43:34.don't want to be a prophet of doom, but this could be the autumn of your
:43:35. > :43:47.years. Stop! I came themed as a bird. I will give you one guess.
:43:48. > :43:51.Megan skshgs a. -- Meganza. A lot of birds had rippings on their legs. I
:43:52. > :43:56.that has enabled us to identify individuals. This the work of John
:43:57. > :44:02.Wilson. This is a female. And this is a young male. Purple over blue.
:44:03. > :44:08.And they are a pair. They mate for life. Here they are. The young
:44:09. > :44:11.female and the young male. Love's young dream. They will remain
:44:12. > :44:17.together. This is the oldest beard tit on the reserve. She is four. She
:44:18. > :44:23.was ringed in 2009. And she actually had a partner in the first year of
:44:24. > :44:30.her life, a male. And he died. But this is her new partner. Was that a
:44:31. > :44:33.Sparrow hawk, mate? This is her new partner and they have been together
:44:34. > :44:40.for three years now and they have probably. Probably this will be the
:44:41. > :44:43.last year. Not because of the Sparrow hawk. They're in the autumn
:44:44. > :44:54.of their years. We know all the individual tits and their life
:44:55. > :45:08.history. You have been quite interested. -- Intrepid. You went to
:45:09. > :45:17.getting windswept on the beach with something rather blubbery. I have
:45:18. > :45:21.come to the north side of Morecambe Bay to Walney Island on a wild and
:45:22. > :45:28.windy day to see a rather unusual group of visitors. This group of
:45:29. > :45:31.seals has been growing steadily over the past few years. It is thought
:45:32. > :45:38.they originated from a breeding colony on the Isle of Man 66 miles
:45:39. > :45:43.away. Each individual seal can be identified by markings. In the last
:45:44. > :45:50.two years scientists have been trying to work out just what they
:45:51. > :45:56.are doing here. This is very curious, what is happening on this
:45:57. > :46:00.beach. These seals, grey seals, you can tell that because it was a
:46:01. > :46:05.straight line between the top of their head and the end of their
:46:06. > :46:09.nose. This time of year, we would expect them to be breeding, there
:46:10. > :46:16.would be pups on this beach. But there are no pups at all. What there
:46:17. > :46:28.are are some great big old balls, but many more youngsters. -- bulls.
:46:29. > :46:34.This is a sign of a teenage get-together. The youngsters have
:46:35. > :46:40.come to this beach to learn how to be grey seals, the males are
:46:41. > :46:43.squabbling, play fighting, and there is a bit of flirtation going on
:46:44. > :46:53.between the young males and the young females. And the big old
:46:54. > :46:57.bulls, I think they are too old to breed, they have come here to relax
:46:58. > :47:19.and keep a fatherly eye on the youngsters. The Latin name for the
:47:20. > :47:22.grey seal mains hook nosed sea pig. Mail grey seals don't get the chance
:47:23. > :47:26.to breed until they are ten years old. This playground sparring will
:47:27. > :47:32.give these youngsters the skills they need for later in life when
:47:33. > :47:44.they will fight for real, to then the chance to make. Thereafter to
:47:45. > :47:57.teenage lads, and that big old bull giving them some tips on etiquette.
:47:58. > :48:04.It is delightful to see the youngsters frolicking around in the
:48:05. > :48:08.surf. Is there anything more relaxed and relaxing than a sleepy grey
:48:09. > :48:28.seal? A blubbery seal. It was all very
:48:29. > :48:35.dental while I was there but after I left the cameramen stared it got a
:48:36. > :48:36.bit rougher -- very gentle. There is a female, she starts it. Look at
:48:37. > :48:56.that. She knows she started that. Look at
:48:57. > :49:03.her. Just a notch and a look. -- nonchalant. The reason they are
:49:04. > :49:08.fighting is they are thinking about mating with that female. The female
:49:09. > :49:13.comes ashore to do two things, also to give birth. At this time of
:49:14. > :49:19.year, 45% of the worlds population of grey seals give birth to 41,000
:49:20. > :49:27.pups around the UK. They come clad in this remarkable whitecoat --
:49:28. > :49:34.white coat. You might wonder why they are not camouflaged? We think
:49:35. > :49:38.it is so the males who get so charged up when they are fighting
:49:39. > :49:42.one another to fight with females, don't wrestle with the Cubs, so they
:49:43. > :49:53.stick out like sore thumbs. Other than that it could be they were
:49:54. > :49:55.further north giving birth on ice where they would have been
:49:56. > :50:10.camouflaged. We have got this picture of a grey seal pup born
:50:11. > :50:16.today. Excuse me! Some wildlife in the studio! Why do grey seals breed
:50:17. > :50:21.at this time of year? You would have thought spring would be better? When
:50:22. > :50:26.they come ashore they do not feed, they do not return to the sea. They
:50:27. > :50:31.are fasting. In order to take on enough weight they have to do that
:50:32. > :50:37.in the summer when there are food is interval -- when their food is
:50:38. > :50:43.plentiful. It is tough for the pups, but it suits the adults. So I have a
:50:44. > :50:49.quick look around the live camera. -- shall we have. The heroine is
:50:50. > :51:00.still there. It is difficult to realise it is so dark. How did it
:51:01. > :51:05.know that was there. We may see a lot of before the end of the show.
:51:06. > :51:09.We can only bring you the best of British wildlife because we have got
:51:10. > :51:13.fantastic wildlife cameramen who are passionate about their subjects. One
:51:14. > :51:20.of the best in the business is Jon Aitchison. He has filmed all over
:51:21. > :51:25.the world for programmes you have no doubt seen, Frozen Planet. Ask him
:51:26. > :51:28.where the best place to film wildlife and he says it is at home
:51:29. > :51:43.on the West Coast of Scotland, at the beginning of autumn.
:51:44. > :51:53.I have lived here a long time now. I love it here so much, for the
:51:54. > :51:55.inspiration. The fact the seasons change so visibly, almost
:51:56. > :52:00.day-to-day, especially in the autumn. It gives me some sort of
:52:01. > :52:04.anchor in the year, I know where I am.
:52:05. > :52:16.Sometimes the autumn can be so pure and still, we get these incredible
:52:17. > :52:21.mornings when the sea is calm, the sun rises, everything is perfect. It
:52:22. > :52:22.is like a little reminder of what the summer is like before the winter
:52:23. > :52:32.comes. The first of the leaves are changing
:52:33. > :52:37.colour already. The last of the butterflies soaking up a bit of
:52:38. > :52:44.warmth from the rocks. In the tree the Robins are starting to sink
:52:45. > :52:54.their autumn song, they are territorial, the only birds that
:52:55. > :52:58.sing in the autumn. There is a constant sense of movement, you can
:52:59. > :53:08.see in the sky clouds are moving, the wind is moving, the is changing.
:53:09. > :53:13.-- the temperature is changing. The autumn is properly established when
:53:14. > :53:19.the swallows start to gather on the wire like this. The young swallows
:53:20. > :53:25.stay in family groups when they leave the nest. It is a nice high
:53:26. > :53:30.place where the adults can find them easily, the adults are flying all
:53:31. > :53:37.the time searching for food. The young birds see them coming, and
:53:38. > :53:42.start calling. The young swallows, they have got to feed up, got to be
:53:43. > :53:49.ready for that gigantic, risky, unknown journey across the Sahara
:53:50. > :53:52.anti-South Africa. -- down to South Africa. They have got to practice
:53:53. > :54:04.flying and the adults encouraged them, they view them off the wires.
:54:05. > :54:09.-- lure. There are just some mornings when the birds line-up like
:54:10. > :54:22.this, there is just a sense that the journey might start any minute.
:54:23. > :54:32.Here is the group of swallows, the adults calling to the young birds,
:54:33. > :54:40.and they go into the upper space, the space where they are just little
:54:41. > :54:47.dots from the ground. And they are going out over the sea, that is them
:54:48. > :55:08.leaving Scotland and heading south. It is migration beginning.
:55:09. > :55:17.It is such a time of change. When the wind starts to switch around, a
:55:18. > :55:20.northerly wind sends the swallows north and brings the geese. You
:55:21. > :55:45.never know when they will come. I love it when the geese come. I
:55:46. > :55:53.hear them before I see them, usually. The sound of the mornings
:55:54. > :56:01.when the geese go over the house, it is a wonderful time.
:56:02. > :56:08.They are from the Arctic, they nest in Greenland. They only stop in
:56:09. > :56:15.Iceland, the only place on the weight varies. -- there is. -- on
:56:16. > :56:22.the way that never is. They followed the young birds on this evil is not
:56:23. > :56:29.the first land they see after Iceland is here. -- and the first
:56:30. > :56:41.land they see. We are just lucky in Britain that we
:56:42. > :56:45.get these two lots of migrants. We share them with Greenland for the
:56:46. > :56:54.geese, and we share the swallows with the Africans. It is a global
:56:55. > :56:57.thing. It is absolutely beautiful to see
:56:58. > :57:00.wildlife through the eyes of a cameraman who is passionate about
:57:01. > :57:04.the area he is filming. Take a look at this.
:57:05. > :57:09.We spotted this two-day, here, at Leighton Moss. It is a hummingbird
:57:10. > :57:17.hawk moth, and migrant from further south in Europe, that reads as it
:57:18. > :57:27.moves up to the north of Europe -- that breeds. Stunning. Sadly, we are
:57:28. > :57:34.coming to the end of our programme. We have been quite good. Getting
:57:35. > :57:40.those water rails, very good! What have we got tomorrow? I am going
:57:41. > :57:46.down to Brighton to meet the team researching these urban foxes to see
:57:47. > :57:50.just how good the high-tech collars. I meet a man doing remarkable
:57:51. > :57:55.research to try to help our beleaguered freshwater eels. And
:57:56. > :58:01.cameraman Jon Aitchison continues to bring is the beauty of wildlife in
:58:02. > :58:05.Scotland. That is it from Autumnwatch but if you want more
:58:06. > :58:08.stick around. Switch over to the Red Button or you can go online and you
:58:09. > :58:15.can seem it bacon with Autumnwatch extra. -- Nick Baker. We will be
:58:16. > :58:20.back from the beautiful Leighton Moss tomorrow. No doubt you will be
:58:21. > :58:27.interested. We have major into that now. -- Intrepid. We have made you
:58:28. > :58:31.into that. See you tomorrow. Goodbye.