:00:00. > :00:13.We're here in Lancashire, enjoying the UK's greatest autumn spectacles
:00:14. > :00:19.and some of the most magnificent creatures. We have new and exciting
:00:20. > :00:25.revelations from this thermal camera which explains this barn owl hunting
:00:26. > :00:32.behaviour. I will go down to the wildwoods - the deer are roaring,
:00:33. > :00:53.the owls are hooting. It can only mean one thing - it's Autumnwatch.
:00:54. > :01:05.Hello. Welcome to Autumnwatch 2013. We are here in the north-west of
:01:06. > :01:11.England, along with the express... Now then, we've had a fans ta tick
:01:12. > :01:19.week -- fantastic week. It was wet earlier in the week. Then last night
:01:20. > :01:24.there was a wind which almost blew you away. It almost blew my hat off
:01:25. > :01:29.it was so bad. Nevertheless, today it has cleared
:01:30. > :01:34.up. We've had a sunny day here and a fantastic evening and that paid
:01:35. > :01:41.dividends. Look at that! We have been looking every evening at 30,000
:01:42. > :01:43.starlings over the reed beds here. Tonight they put on this spectacular
:01:44. > :01:51.show. Look beneath that flock - that
:01:52. > :01:55.single bird - which think that is a sparrowhawk. It is that that is
:01:56. > :02:01.leading this flock to behave in such a way. All of those contractions and
:02:02. > :02:06.tightening - it is like the Battle of Britain up there! Stunning! It
:02:07. > :02:10.really is a beautiful bird ballet and it is something you can see
:02:11. > :02:14.every night here. They saved the best until last. Now, we have the
:02:15. > :02:20.whole reserve covered. I have to say, one of my favourite cameras is
:02:21. > :02:24.this one - it is our live otter cam. It never seems to fail. Every night
:02:25. > :02:29.we go to it and there is something there. It is our good old trusty
:02:30. > :02:36.heron. We have seen rats there even. There is interesting behaviour.
:02:37. > :02:39.Swimming deer. Now, we've had our cameramen out every night. In the
:02:40. > :02:44.last couple of days they have been bevering away and they filmed this!
:02:45. > :02:50.We have seen the lovely deer - our stag. Remember, the colder things
:02:51. > :02:55.are the whiter they are. There is a fox with his brush. That is nice and
:02:56. > :03:00.cool for him. Here is the beautiful taunny owl. Look at that -- tawny
:03:01. > :03:04.owl. Look at that. In fact they have been kicking off around us all
:03:05. > :03:11.nightlong. Noisy, hooting away. We are trying to get that live camera
:03:12. > :03:17.on a tawny owl now. Let's see if we have managed it! No, we haven't
:03:18. > :03:26.managed it! We can hear them all around us. This motivates me.ly
:03:27. > :03:41.leave you -- I will leave you now. I will go into the wildwood right now
:03:42. > :03:45.and see what I can find. We keep hearing a train. Is it going back
:03:46. > :03:50.and forth, do you think? Our theme has been migration. We have
:03:51. > :03:55.discovered how important Morecambe Bay mud flats are for migrating
:03:56. > :04:00.birds. Tens of thousands come here every year. We've had new arrivals
:04:01. > :04:04.this week, including pink-footed geese. What is interesting is they
:04:05. > :04:07.are arriving at night. Remember this is night-time cameras we are using.
:04:08. > :04:12.It is very dark there. They are coming in, not to feed on the mud
:04:13. > :04:18.flats like the other birds, they feed elsewhere, but for the safety
:04:19. > :04:21.of the mud. That is what they think. Maybe it is not that safe. This is
:04:22. > :04:26.what we caught on cameras last night. If you look, you can see
:04:27. > :04:31.something moving in the background and it is a fox. Quite unusual to
:04:32. > :04:38.see a fox on the mud flats. What is it doing? Well e, we think it has
:04:39. > :04:42.something in its mouth. Is it enjoying a midnight feast? Good
:04:43. > :04:47.place to go - plenty of birds. I am not sure it is the killing fields
:04:48. > :04:52.down there. You have all of those birds - tens of thousands, as you
:04:53. > :04:57.say, then you have disease, old age. You have natural mortality, so every
:04:58. > :05:02.night out there you'll get birds dying. There's nothing to hide
:05:03. > :05:07.behind, no means of sneaking up. It could be savaging. It is opportunity
:05:08. > :05:16.anies tick, isn't it? If I was a fox I would try my luck, quite frankly.
:05:17. > :05:21.It is not just boxes and birds we have been -- foxes and birds we have
:05:22. > :05:25.been enjoying, we have enjoyed the best of British wildlife. What is
:05:26. > :05:32.the best British mammal for you? Pine marten or fox. I will go fox.
:05:33. > :05:39.Do you want to know mine? Pygmy shrew.
:05:40. > :05:42.It is a dolphin. A charming woodland creature that is
:05:43. > :05:57.struggling to survive in the UK. It is no secret that one of the
:05:58. > :06:02.animals that sparked my life long passion for wildlife is the red
:06:03. > :06:09.squirrel. I will never forget my first glimpse of one when I was
:06:10. > :06:13.seven years old. With a bright coat and bushy tail, I think they are
:06:14. > :06:17.adorable. These days, however, seeing a red squirrel can be a
:06:18. > :06:22.challenge. That is not simply because they spend most of their
:06:23. > :06:27.time up in the trees. There are just not that many around. This is one of
:06:28. > :06:33.the very few places left in Wales where you will find reds and greys
:06:34. > :06:40.coexisting. The red is a much smaller animal
:06:41. > :06:48.than the grey squirrel. It's got this very, very bushy tail
:06:49. > :06:56.it uses for balance, it uses to keep itself warm.
:06:57. > :07:00.They spend a lot more time up in the branches. Of course, here we've been
:07:01. > :07:08.able to entice them out into the open here using hazelnuts.
:07:09. > :07:16.Here comes a grey squirrel now. When they are together you can see
:07:17. > :07:21.instantly they are two completely different animals. The grey is
:07:22. > :07:27.bigger, it is more bulky. The tail is far less bushy and of course the
:07:28. > :07:32.colour too. Since their introduction to this
:07:33. > :07:37.country in 1876, the North American greys have not of out competed the
:07:38. > :07:40.reds for food and territory, but they have brought disease. In doing
:07:41. > :07:46.so, they have pushed the red squirrel to the brink of extinction.
:07:47. > :07:51.However, in North Wales, on the Isle of Anglesey, it is the red squirrels
:07:52. > :08:04.currently on top. That is largely thanks to the efforts of one man.
:08:05. > :08:08.Craig Shuttleworth. He has used a two-pronged attack, releasing 60 red
:08:09. > :08:12.squirrels on to the island and removing all of the greys. Today
:08:13. > :08:21.sees the end of the reintroduction project. As it is close to my heart
:08:22. > :08:26.I am joining him. How many reds do you have on the island? We easily
:08:27. > :08:31.have 600 adult red squirrels N the autumn, with the young there could
:08:32. > :08:35.be thousands lurking around. That is an amazing tale when you consider
:08:36. > :08:40.where you were 15 years ago, because the island then had a handful. We
:08:41. > :08:45.had 40 then and thousands of greys. That must be lovely for you, isn't
:08:46. > :08:49.it? I never tire of seeing them. They are a fantastic creature. They
:08:50. > :08:55.should be here, back on the island - it is terrific. All of the squirrels
:08:56. > :08:59.that Craig has released over the years have come from captive
:09:00. > :09:03.breeding programmes. The three he's releasing today are no exception. In
:09:04. > :09:08.fact, they are from Norfolk, which was the home of Springwatch a few
:09:09. > :09:14.years ago. Two weeks ago, Craig moved them into
:09:15. > :09:19.this enclosure to prepare them for their new life in the wild.
:09:20. > :09:24.What happens now? Do they fly out? No, nothing happens!
:09:25. > :09:30.At the moment, they have gone into the nest box in the far corner. When
:09:31. > :09:34.we leave they will come back out and come on to the platform, which is on
:09:35. > :09:38.the inside here and be able to hop out. That is it. It is all in their
:09:39. > :09:41.own time. We don't force them to come out. We know from
:09:42. > :09:46.radio-collaring animals that that night they are back in the enclosure
:09:47. > :09:50.asleep in the boxes. It takes a few days for them to start to sleep
:09:51. > :09:56.elsewhere. We back off to give the squirrels some space.
:09:57. > :09:59.But, as we wait the wind starts to pick up. It seems increasingly
:10:00. > :10:06.unlikely that they'll come out today. I really want to see their
:10:07. > :10:13.first taste of freedom, so I set up a camera trap to try and capture it.
:10:14. > :10:18.Sure enough, at dawn the following morning something triggers the
:10:19. > :10:26.camera. Two of the three exploring their new world.
:10:27. > :10:32.Incredibly, despite being reared in captivity, the wild instincts of
:10:33. > :10:39.these red squirrels kick in straight away.
:10:40. > :10:46.And they immediately start collecting food for the winter. The
:10:47. > :10:52.final red squirrel reintroduction on Anglesey successfully completed.
:10:53. > :10:56.You know, Chris, I may have to reconsider, because having watched
:10:57. > :11:02.that film, I mean they are so cute anden entertaining to watch, I may
:11:03. > :11:06.have to join him and my favourite animal now might be a red squirrel.
:11:07. > :11:11.It is great to see them reintroduced. Is it the best thing
:11:12. > :11:17.to do? An interesting one. There's no doubt that red squirrels are a
:11:18. > :11:21.national treasure. We love them as a national treasure. These grey ones
:11:22. > :11:32.have this dreadful disease in them and they push them to the
:11:33. > :11:40.extremities. They survive in the Isle of Wight and Anglesey. There is
:11:41. > :11:43.a bridge here. It could let greys back on. All the money could be
:11:44. > :11:48.wasted. When it comes to conservation we need to debate and
:11:49. > :11:51.discuss, so we can creatively change some policies. I am not saying it
:11:52. > :11:55.was a bad idea putting them back on there. In the long-term we need a
:11:56. > :12:00.sustainable solution. There is one on its way. The wildlife arc trust
:12:01. > :12:05.have investigated a vaccine for red squirrels so they don't get the
:12:06. > :12:09.dreaded disease from the greys. If we develop that and get it in a
:12:10. > :12:13.field, then it would make all this redundant. We have to think long
:12:14. > :12:16.term. If you did not have projects like that that put them back you
:12:17. > :12:21.would not have the numbers left for when a new vaccine is discovered. I
:12:22. > :12:26.am not knocking the project. I am saying, let's think what we can best
:12:27. > :12:29.do with our money. It is not just red squirrels in the woods. If you
:12:30. > :12:36.go down to the woods tonight you may be in for a big surprise because you
:12:37. > :12:41.may spot the elusive and intrepid Martin.
:12:42. > :12:47.Yes, you might and it is spooky here. We keep hearing crashings of
:12:48. > :12:52.noise. We have heard roarings going on. The deer are around us. Let's
:12:53. > :12:59.remind ourselves of how beautiful the red deer here are. Here is a
:13:00. > :13:06.stag and he has the sound of starlings behind him. He is roaring
:13:07. > :13:10.a little bit. It is all part of the rut. He's sniffing their urine to
:13:11. > :13:15.see if they are in season. So, where I am here, there's all sorts of
:13:16. > :13:19.evidence of the deer being down here. Now, look at this. I don't
:13:20. > :13:23.know if you can see, they have been rubbing their antlers up and down
:13:24. > :13:28.here. They have been fraying this. And then, if you go to the end here,
:13:29. > :13:35.you can see they've been sort of bashing away at that with their apt
:13:36. > :13:41.lers too. -- antlers too. You can see it is all wet here. We
:13:42. > :13:47.think this is a wallow. So in the rut, the stag will come down, they
:13:48. > :13:52.will urinate and ebacklate in this wet area, roll around and get
:13:53. > :13:57.themselves covered in their own scent. That is part of the rut too.
:13:58. > :14:01.This is a deer highway. A superhighway. There are slots,
:14:02. > :14:07.footprints everywhere. The deer are moving out of the wood behind me,
:14:08. > :14:11.across here, down here - are you all right? Down here and across this
:14:12. > :14:16.little stream. We put a bridge here. And they are getting to... Watch
:14:17. > :14:20.out! They are getting to this fence. This is very interesting because
:14:21. > :14:25.they are coming out of the wood and then they got this fence. They want
:14:26. > :14:28.to get over there into the grass behind me.
:14:29. > :14:32.Now, you can see where we are. If you look over my shoulder, you can
:14:33. > :14:37.see that is the studio where Chris and Michaela are.
:14:38. > :14:40.We are very close here. This is the area that the deer go to. They have
:14:41. > :14:45.got to jump the fence. We were curious to see what happens when
:14:46. > :14:48.they do that. We got one of these trap cameras. You have probably seen
:14:49. > :14:51.these before and we rigged them down here and we watched what the deer
:14:52. > :15:02.did. They all go over together, over they
:15:03. > :15:07.go. They get in each other's way. It is quite dangerous and they might
:15:08. > :15:12.catch themselves in the fence. One of them looks as though they have a
:15:13. > :15:16.limp on the back leg. I think what happens is that they come to jump
:15:17. > :15:24.over a fence and occasionally they get a leg caught, and down they go,
:15:25. > :15:31.and they get trapped. My friend Angus and I went out and found a
:15:32. > :15:38.deer trapped by the back leg. We put a coat over its head and cut it free
:15:39. > :15:43.with some wire cutters. Anyway, they are trying to get here into the
:15:44. > :15:50.grass. Once they get into the grass, there is all sorts of interesting
:15:51. > :15:57.behaviour going on. You can see the loans stag there in the field. When
:15:58. > :16:01.they urinate and defecate it is quite obvious in the thermal camera.
:16:02. > :16:07.He is following the female around and sniffing. She is only in season
:16:08. > :16:14.for a matter of hours. If she was, he would mate with her, but she is
:16:15. > :16:22.not on this occasion. I think I just heard one roaring. The deer are
:16:23. > :16:25.moving from the words and leaping over the fence into the field. There
:16:26. > :16:31.are lots of other animals who are permanent residents in the words. We
:16:32. > :16:35.will find out about them later. I just want to clarify something. He
:16:36. > :16:41.is in the woods in the dark, and that is the exact spot where they
:16:42. > :16:50.saw the deer, the big stag with the massive antlers. Might he get 's
:16:51. > :16:54.beard? Unfortunately not! I think the rut is largely over and you
:16:55. > :16:58.would have to get very close to a stag that would get carried away. We
:16:59. > :17:05.have missed our chance to have him gored in the words. I am relieved by
:17:06. > :17:10.that. If you have been out walking in the countryside, you might have
:17:11. > :17:19.noticed the number of fruits there are. Everything from these
:17:20. > :17:23.conquers, plenty of berries, and a mass of acorns this year. There has
:17:24. > :17:26.been an abundance of fruit. It is not just that these fruits, there
:17:27. > :17:36.have been others as well. Why has this happened? We think that in the
:17:37. > :17:43.summer of 2012 it was nice, warm and moist. We then had a cold winter
:17:44. > :17:52.which caused lots of these trees and bushes to produce lots of flowers.
:17:53. > :17:58.This year we had a warm periods and this has led to an abundance of
:17:59. > :18:05.fruit, particularly acorns. There are so many acorns on the roads. The
:18:06. > :18:10.Jays and wood pigeons are having a fantastic time. It has been the best
:18:11. > :18:17.Autumn Bounty in the last decade. This is great news for birds and
:18:18. > :18:25.animals. Animals like these... You have a fox here. He is enjoying
:18:26. > :18:29.those blackberries. This is a relief for many animals because last year
:18:30. > :18:34.was not a good year. There is the squirrel with his nuts. He will be
:18:35. > :18:40.collecting those for the winter. There are hazelnuts and acorns as
:18:41. > :18:46.well. It has been great for apples and that is what this badger is
:18:47. > :18:51.eating. It is really good news for hibernating animals that really fuel
:18:52. > :18:59.up and it gets them through the winter. My dog nipples blackberries.
:19:00. > :19:04.Your dog is not a fox! Yes, I know. This will all go to good use. All of
:19:05. > :19:10.the birds will take advantage of these. We have embarked upon an
:19:11. > :19:17.exciting project with the University of Brighton. We have these radio
:19:18. > :19:23.collars and we have looked at foxes in the city of Brighton. Now we will
:19:24. > :19:29.move to the suburbs but before we go there let's meet the cast. First of
:19:30. > :19:33.all, we have this large fox. This photo was taken when he was having
:19:34. > :19:48.his collar fitted. This is a full adult male. Then we have this cup,
:19:49. > :19:54.-- cub. I went out with a professor to see how the suburban foxes were
:19:55. > :19:58.getting on. You might think that the suburban foxes have an easier life
:19:59. > :20:05.than their inner-city cousins. Armed with the latest tracking data, Dawn
:20:06. > :20:10.Scott is taking me to discover the key components. She knows they spend
:20:11. > :20:15.most of their days somewhere behind these houses. Now we hope to
:20:16. > :20:26.pinpoint exactly where they are hiding. Barbara and Irvin have
:20:27. > :20:29.confirmed that the foxes are regular visitors. You can see their
:20:30. > :20:37.footprints and they run all around the swimming pool. She quickly get a
:20:38. > :20:47.fix on their whereabouts. We are getting a strong signal just there.
:20:48. > :20:53.What you think? A few metres? A bit further than that. He is within 50
:20:54. > :20:58.metres of us. Her garden has ever think that the foxes could need.
:20:59. > :21:04.Barbara is not a fox fan. They come down to our vegetable patch and this
:21:05. > :21:09.year we planted carrots. They pulled all of the carrots up that they did
:21:10. > :21:14.not eat them. They threw them around. They are very naughty! They
:21:15. > :21:21.do make a lot of mess in the garden, and that is the biggest
:21:22. > :21:27.problem. She hasn't worked out that the foxes use a smaller range than
:21:28. > :21:32.their inner-city cousins. They move between far fewer hotspots. There
:21:33. > :21:37.was one garden that they visit every night. It is just across the road.
:21:38. > :21:50.The owners welcome the foxes with open arms. And a steady supply of
:21:51. > :21:55.food. Dorner suspects that the foxes are father and son but she needs
:21:56. > :22:10.visual proof and that is where our infrared camera comes in helpful. --
:22:11. > :22:15.Dawn. Once they are set, we get an update from the satellite collars.
:22:16. > :22:18.We know where they have been deceiving. They started off here
:22:19. > :22:23.where we picked them up with the receiver earlier. They have come
:22:24. > :22:29.down past this road. They have been in the garden tries. Have they? Yes.
:22:30. > :22:36.At the moment they are very close to us. I am envious of this data. It is
:22:37. > :22:41.absolutely fantastic. All of that collected in the last six hours,
:22:42. > :22:48.very precisely. I am confident if we leave quietly that our cameras will
:22:49. > :22:50.properly catch them. Hopefully, they will also get the data and the
:22:51. > :22:58.interaction between them, that would be brilliant to see. Hot chocolate
:22:59. > :23:05.for me! Maybe a biscuit! Knowing the foxes are close, we retreat into the
:23:06. > :23:13.House. Using an access point, the first box arrives in the garden. It
:23:14. > :23:17.is the young male. -- fox. Throughout the summer, he would have
:23:18. > :23:42.followed his father's every move, but now, around eight months old, he
:23:43. > :23:48.is foraging for himself. Autumn is the critical time for young foxes to
:23:49. > :23:52.bulk up. For this one to become a big and successful adult, he must
:23:53. > :23:58.eat as much as he can in the next few weeks. He needs to put on over a
:23:59. > :24:15.kilo to catch up with the adult foxes. This garden feast is a real
:24:16. > :24:21.boost to his chances. He cannot see and is operating in near darkness so
:24:22. > :24:30.his senses are working overtime to find food and avoids danger. The
:24:31. > :24:35.arrival of a second fox could spell trouble, but the submissive body
:24:36. > :24:47.language and a newcomer's nonchalance suggests that this is
:24:48. > :24:54.his father. He is clearly the top dog around here. The midnight feast
:24:55. > :25:01.is over. At this time of year, most cubs are chased out of their
:25:02. > :25:05.parents' territories. The best chance of survival is to keep his
:25:06. > :25:10.head down and stay as close to his father as possible. Only time will
:25:11. > :25:16.tell what will happen to our foxes. Thanks to our cameras and these
:25:17. > :25:24.tracking devices, we will be able to follow them every step of the way.
:25:25. > :25:27.tracking devices, we will be able to Dawn, it is a brilliant project and
:25:28. > :25:33.we are so excited about this. My first question is how are our foxes
:25:34. > :25:38.doing? I am pleased to say they are still alive and doing well. The two
:25:39. > :25:46.boxes you saw there are still together. I do not know what will
:25:47. > :25:53.happen in the next few months. The inner-city foxes, what is happening
:25:54. > :25:57.with those is that some of them have split off. They are looking at
:25:58. > :26:01.different territories. One of them is on his own. It will be
:26:02. > :26:05.interesting to see what happens in the next month if they all move
:26:06. > :26:14.about and whether they settle in territories. We have seen them being
:26:15. > :26:18.fed by people. I do not think we can stop that but what can we ask people
:26:19. > :26:23.to do more responsibly? If you do feed foxes then feed them small
:26:24. > :26:28.amounts and do not encourage them near the House. Feed them at the end
:26:29. > :26:33.of the garden. Do not feed them by hand. If you feed them by hand then
:26:34. > :26:38.they are becoming too tame and the likely to go out to people who do
:26:39. > :26:45.not foxes. Yes, they associate hands with food. If they see another hand
:26:46. > :26:53.then they might eat that. Do not feed by hand. When you hear of
:26:54. > :26:57.people being attacked by foxes, do you think that is foxes just
:26:58. > :27:02.nibbling hands because they think it is food? They are very
:27:03. > :27:09.opportunistic. If there is anything there then they will try with their
:27:10. > :27:16.mouth to see whether it is food. Your neighbours might not like
:27:17. > :27:23.foxes. If you love your foxes and want to protect them then they will
:27:24. > :27:29.get into trouble if they go and look for food in people's hands. The them
:27:30. > :27:34.sensibly. Top advice. We are coming back in winter, what are we likely
:27:35. > :27:41.to see with our foxes then? It will be exciting, we do not know. That is
:27:42. > :27:45.the interesting thing. We do not know who will be then who will not.
:27:46. > :27:50.There should be some breeding. We will have to wait and see what
:27:51. > :27:56.happens. I cannot wait. Dawn, thank you for coming in. We have been
:27:57. > :28:00.enjoying flocks of starlings here but it seems we are not the only
:28:01. > :28:06.ones. This is what we have seen in the daytime. On our thermal camera
:28:07. > :28:10.we were quite surprised to see so many flying at night. We thought
:28:11. > :28:18.maybe it was the fault of this barn owl. We saw it catching one of the
:28:19. > :28:22.starlings and then it dropped it. We wondered whether it would eat it.
:28:23. > :28:27.There is new evidence that solves that mystery. We know that the barn
:28:28. > :28:32.owl lives in the barn behind me and we know that because we have cameras
:28:33. > :28:40.in there. Those cameras, last night, captured this. Now, there is the
:28:41. > :28:45.nest box. The barn owl comes in. It clearly has something in its beak.
:28:46. > :28:52.It is not a mouse, it is a starlings. It has clearly caught a
:28:53. > :29:01.starlings. It then goes into the nest box. It was in there for over a
:29:02. > :29:08.minute. It pokes its head out and it has clearly eaten the birds because
:29:09. > :29:13.it is cleaning its beak. We wondered whether that was one thing because
:29:14. > :29:19.it would be unusual for a barn owl to eat birds like a starlings.
:29:20. > :29:25.Usually, they eat mammals like mice. We had a look in the nest box and we
:29:26. > :29:28.found the remains of lots of other birds. Clearly this is something
:29:29. > :29:34.that that barn owl is doing regularly. He has learned that
:29:35. > :29:39.behaviour. You can hardly blame him. There are 30,000 starlings in
:29:40. > :29:42.that roost so it is likely that that barn owl will continue to do that
:29:43. > :29:47.throughout the autumn and winter. One minute we are enjoying the
:29:48. > :29:52.spectacle, the next, the barn owl is eating some of it but it is all the
:29:53. > :30:01.cycle of life and that is exactly what Martin is looking at.
:30:02. > :30:04.It is spooky down here in the woods. Let's go from one predator to
:30:05. > :30:09.another. Let's talk about foxes. As Chris was saying, foxes didn't
:30:10. > :30:14.really come into our cities until the 1930s. Until then they were
:30:15. > :30:17.living in the wild. Rural foxes - country cousins. Of course that's
:30:18. > :30:24.what we have here in Leighton Moss. We have rural foxes. We have been
:30:25. > :30:29.filming them. Here is the fox, out at night, hunting. Again, you can
:30:30. > :30:33.see the tail surprisingly cold. He'll be looking, what will he be
:30:34. > :30:42.looking for? They have this wonderful way of hunting, foxes,
:30:43. > :30:48.looking, sniffing - there he is - bounce - going for his prey. Amazing
:30:49. > :30:53.pictures to see the fox hunting in the pitch black. The question is -
:30:54. > :30:57.what will the fox be looking for? Well, probably small rodents and
:30:58. > :31:02.there are lots and lots of small rodents here. We have been finding
:31:03. > :31:06.mice. There are voles. This looks like a wild mouse. Of course they
:31:07. > :31:12.are not always on the ground. They do go up quite high and this here
:31:13. > :31:17.looks like a rat. Curiously the rat's tail is cold. We
:31:18. > :31:22.notice that the mouse coming up now, the mouse's tail is warm. I don't
:31:23. > :31:28.know what that means! But, of course, these little rodents
:31:29. > :31:35.are like fast food for a host of predators, things like kestrels, the
:31:36. > :31:41.Harrier would have a go at them. And particularly they are food foor
:31:42. > :31:45.owls. And we -- food for owls. And we keep... Oh, there was one just
:31:46. > :31:51.then. I don't know if you heard that - a tawny owl is calling. They keep
:31:52. > :31:55.calling all around us. We have the camera set up - that live camera and
:31:56. > :32:00.we are hoping we might be able to see it. Let's have a look.
:32:01. > :32:04.No, there's nothing there. Nothing there now.
:32:05. > :32:09.Frustrating, because we can hear them all around us.
:32:10. > :32:16.We have been recording them here at Leighton Moss. Let's look at the
:32:17. > :32:22.tawn owl. A beautiful, beautiful -- tawn owl. A beautiful, beautiful
:32:23. > :32:27.colour - autumn colours. Fantastic eyes. Their eyesight is about the
:32:28. > :32:31.same as ours. What they have got is fantastic sense of hearing. Ten
:32:32. > :32:34.times better than ours. You can hear them at this time of
:32:35. > :32:40.year. They are calling all the time. You
:32:41. > :32:46.probably have heard them at home. There is another one.
:32:47. > :32:50.The pair, the male and female pair for life and they will defend a
:32:51. > :32:54.territory very, very hard this time of year, by calling. There they are
:32:55. > :32:58.again. So, that's what they are doing. Two
:32:59. > :33:02.things are happening this time of year - they are defending the
:33:03. > :33:06.territory against other owls and young owls, at this time of year,
:33:07. > :33:11.are starting to pair up. Here is an amazing fact - owls can tell each
:33:12. > :33:16.other's voices. Those hoots sound the same to us, but to an owl they
:33:17. > :33:21.know the individuals. Fascinating! Right, we have managed to film the
:33:22. > :33:26.owls hunting as well down here. Now, if you look there's a rabbit,
:33:27. > :33:32.taking its life in its hands because just before it is a tawny owl. But
:33:33. > :33:37.actually the adult rabbit is probably too big for the owl to
:33:38. > :33:43.take. A young rabbit would be prey. Owls have to listen to hunt, as I
:33:44. > :33:49.say. On a rainy night, it makes it impossible for them to hunt. If the
:33:50. > :33:55.rain is hitting leaves, they cannot hunt. Seems to have something there.
:33:56. > :34:00.Watch those talons. Great feathers all over its legs. It has gone down
:34:01. > :34:04.for something there. Not sure what it was. Takes off. Takes off and it
:34:05. > :34:10.drops something. I think it was going for a worm. It has just fed
:34:11. > :34:14.there. You can always tell if it has fed because it is just cleaning its
:34:15. > :34:20.beak. I am being told we might have a live owl. Threat's go to our live
:34:21. > :34:25.camera. Hats off to Lindsey! There is a live owl.
:34:26. > :34:29.Oh, live owl, with calling! You can't get better than that!
:34:30. > :34:40.That's exactly what we came down for. So, that it - other owls will
:34:41. > :34:44.be listening and they will be calling back to each other. I will
:34:45. > :34:51.go out of the woods now and head back to the studios. See you later.
:34:52. > :34:55.That's fantastic to get a live tawny owl. So many of you are hearing
:34:56. > :34:59.them. I have to tell you, it's not been a great year for them,
:35:00. > :35:05.especially compared to last year. Now, they haven't had a great
:35:06. > :35:09.breeding season, according to the BTO survey. It is thought it could
:35:10. > :35:15.be a much better year, next year in the spring. As we have been saying,
:35:16. > :35:22.there's been a bounty in the autumn of fruits and berries. It will be a
:35:23. > :35:26.good year for mammals. The tawny owls will catch them and fatten up
:35:27. > :35:31.before their breeding season starts in March. We know there are 20,000
:35:32. > :35:35.pairs in the UK. They are repeatedly surveyed. If you were watching
:35:36. > :35:44.Springwatch this year, you will know that we launched, in conjektion with
:35:45. > :35:49.the hark trust, our kestrel survey. I am pleased to show you some of the
:35:50. > :35:55.results here today. 40,000 people sent in their sightings of kestrels.
:35:56. > :35:58.They came from postmen and women. Fire men, maybe even fire women.
:35:59. > :36:04.This is the bird they were looking out for. It is very characteristic.
:36:05. > :36:11.Seen hovering alongside the road. When I was a kid it with us the most
:36:12. > :36:17.common rapture in the UK. We have not analysed all of the data yet,
:36:18. > :36:22.but we have processed some of it. This has produced a heat map. So,
:36:23. > :36:26.this is showing the concentration of the sightings. Clearly red is the
:36:27. > :36:33.greatest concentration and green. I want you to do something
:36:34. > :36:41.unconventional now. Squint at the map. There are very clear lines
:36:42. > :36:45.across it here. That is where kestrels are being spotted on the
:36:46. > :36:49.road. 57% of all of our sightings came from people driving their cars
:36:50. > :36:54.or passengers in their cars. This leads to a question. Does this mean
:36:55. > :36:57.we are spotting more when we are driving simply because we are
:36:58. > :37:03.looking for them? Does it mean there are more by roads because it is
:37:04. > :37:07.suitable habitat? Perhaps foraging - that requires a greater degree of
:37:08. > :37:12.investigation, of course. More work to be done. It is only by studying
:37:13. > :37:16.these animals and understanding what is leading to those reductions that
:37:17. > :37:22.we can do anything about it. Thank you for taking part in our survey.
:37:23. > :37:27.40,000 people, top result. Autumn provides us with fantastic
:37:28. > :37:32.spectacles and one is the red dear rut. The autumn rut has -- deer rut.
:37:33. > :37:37.The autumn rut has unexpected consequences. I met a man who is
:37:38. > :37:40.passionate about British deer. In fact he has studied them for the
:37:41. > :37:43.past 30 years. In the last ten he has focussed on a problem which
:37:44. > :37:49.affects not just the deer but us as well.
:37:50. > :37:59.I have come to Epping Forest, home to a large population of fallow
:38:00. > :38:05.deer. Well known to this doctor T they are a stunning herd. Very black
:38:06. > :38:10.in colour, aren'ted they? Yes. They certainly seem to be getting a
:38:11. > :38:15.little frisky. Certainly as the rut progresses they move into the female
:38:16. > :38:20.areas to try and establish territories where they can sort of
:38:21. > :38:23.dominate a group of females so. The big master buck will try and defend
:38:24. > :38:29.that. The younger bucks will keep moving around to see if they can
:38:30. > :38:36.actually get in on the act. Because of that, they move across a lot of
:38:37. > :38:42.the roads at this time of the year. These rutting deer present a serious
:38:43. > :38:52.hazard. That's what he has been studying.
:38:53. > :38:59.Surprisingly, he's found that even our busiest roads are magnets for
:39:00. > :39:05.deer. So, this to me does not look like
:39:06. > :39:11.ideal deer habitat. It looks like a noisy, horrible place. It does. If
:39:12. > :39:17.you look at this verge it is overgrown. It is lovely undergrowth
:39:18. > :39:21.for them to feed on. They are very undisturbed. Nobody goes in there.
:39:22. > :39:26.It is a surprisingly good place to hang out, particularly when you have
:39:27. > :39:31.an apple tree with all the fallen apples. Would they try and cross
:39:32. > :39:36.this road? This is the M 25! The busiest road in Europe! Once a
:39:37. > :39:47.female is on one side and females on the other -- -- and males on the
:39:48. > :39:52.other they will attempt to cross. Fld I guess this is the time of day.
:39:53. > :39:56.Look at that beautiful sunset. This is exactly when those accidents
:39:57. > :40:01.might happen. It is the worst time of day, just as it turns to dusk,
:40:02. > :40:06.early evening. The deer are at their most active. He has been gathering
:40:07. > :40:10.data and accident reports from across the country. In an attempt to
:40:11. > :40:16.understand the route of the problem. -- root of the problem. I just want
:40:17. > :40:22.to show you where they have caused a collision. That is shocking! That is
:40:23. > :40:26.really surprising! Over how many years is that? This is over the past
:40:27. > :40:33.five years. The south of England is intense. It is. How many accidents
:40:34. > :40:39.are there? Over all, we are estimating up to 74,000 deer hit
:40:40. > :40:45.every year. Those accidents will on average cause around 500 human
:40:46. > :40:48.injury accidents. Including 10-15 fatal accidents.
:40:49. > :40:53.He has found that the number of incidents is highest at this time of
:40:54. > :40:58.year, as the deer rut reaches its peek. Now that the -- peak. Now that
:40:59. > :41:02.the clocks have gone back the evening rush hour coincides with
:41:03. > :41:07.dusk. He believes the solution to this problem lies in identifying the
:41:08. > :41:11.hot spots and places where deer have natural highways.
:41:12. > :41:15.Green bridges such as this one already exist on the M 25.
:41:16. > :41:23.In the future, we could build more in the crucial areas, like the ones
:41:24. > :41:28.that have been successful in Europe. A more affordable solution involves
:41:29. > :41:33.erecting fencing to funnel deer through the existing bridges or
:41:34. > :41:38.through underpasses. So, do you think those measures were
:41:39. > :41:44.put into place you could solve the problem? Never be able to get rid of
:41:45. > :41:48.all deer accidents - 70,000 a year. I am sure we could possibly half
:41:49. > :41:53.them, but most of all it is making sure we do something and it is
:41:54. > :41:58.including raising public awareness, which is an important part of it.
:41:59. > :42:02.Well, I was completely shocked by those statistics. I had no idea
:42:03. > :42:06.there were that many accidents. If you think deer numbers are at their
:42:07. > :42:09.highest probably for the past 300 years. There's more traffic on the
:42:10. > :42:13.road than ever. But we can do our bit to help. If you see one of these
:42:14. > :42:20.signs, this warning sign with a deer on it, pay attention - slow down. We
:42:21. > :42:26.will save so many accidents and we will save so many deer. The biggest
:42:27. > :42:31.red deer in this country weigh up to 220kgs. If you hit that at 60 miles
:42:32. > :42:36.per hour, that will make a big dent in the car and maybe in you. It is
:42:37. > :42:40.sound advice for you and the deer of course. We have been talking about
:42:41. > :42:45.migration. A few odd birds have turned up here, things we didn't
:42:46. > :42:50.expect. Things like this glossy is by, which flew in over the reserve.
:42:51. > :42:57.Dropping in like one of the Dambusters. It is glossy, it is an
:42:58. > :43:01.ibis and rare. This is a long-tailed duck. Typically we would expect to
:43:02. > :43:05.find these on the north-east coast at this time of year. I don't think
:43:06. > :43:11.we get so many here on the north-west. That is a good spot,
:43:12. > :43:14.actually. It is to do with the wind? We will get a few like that. They
:43:15. > :43:17.have started to breed in this country. There seem to be a lot of
:43:18. > :43:27.them hanging around. It has gone blue now. Bad torch
:43:28. > :43:33.management! You saw the tawny owl. I said I'm
:43:34. > :43:39.proud - I mean I am proud of the team!
:43:40. > :43:42.Good job! I have some rather sad, bad news for you tonight. I have
:43:43. > :43:46.been rather busy going out and about. That means I am unable to
:43:47. > :43:51.host Unsprung. However, the good news is, somebody
:43:52. > :44:01.else whats agreed to take on this taxing job and here he is. Nick,
:44:02. > :44:08.come on! We have everything on the show tonight. We have a live fox. We
:44:09. > :44:17.have models made out of plastic bricks. I have made some migration
:44:18. > :44:25.notes as well. There is a humpback whale that has been cited off the
:44:26. > :44:36.coast. That has been found in the North Sea. We are expecting a
:44:37. > :44:45.goose, a barnacle goose. They have quite a few geese up there. It is
:44:46. > :44:49.quite a new thing. The good news is that the one that went missing has
:44:50. > :44:57.turned up in Spain, 900 miles off course. Loan off course? Possibly.
:44:58. > :45:04.Given a choice between the UK and Spain, I know where I would be
:45:05. > :45:10.going! Migration is our theme and it turns out that one of our greatest
:45:11. > :45:21.UK migrator is is something quite unusual, a creature that you might
:45:22. > :45:31.not expect. In terms of actual numbers, these silver moth is by far
:45:32. > :45:34.Britain's biggest migrator. They set off on an astonishing journey, a
:45:35. > :45:40.thousand kilometres down to the Mediterranean. How can an insect
:45:41. > :45:47.with an average life span of two weeks and weighing less than a 10th
:45:48. > :45:50.of a gram, manage that? That is exactly the question that the
:45:51. > :46:00.scientists here have been trying to answer. This Doctor is a leading
:46:01. > :46:06.entomologist who has been studying the silver moth for the last ten
:46:07. > :46:09.years. It is only recently that he has been able to unravel the
:46:10. > :46:14.mysteries surrounding their migration. I joined him to take a
:46:15. > :46:34.closer look at this globetrotting insect. There it is. That is the
:46:35. > :46:43.magical Silver Y. How many of them come to the UK and then go away
:46:44. > :46:48.every year? Shore. -- yes, that is right. We can have 1500 individuals
:46:49. > :46:53.arriving in the UK. They will breed over the summer and is we may get
:46:54. > :47:01.half a billion, even up to 700 million moths. 800 million of these!
:47:02. > :47:06.Why do they need to migrate? There are two strategies that the insect
:47:07. > :47:11.can take to deal with the cold winters. They can tough it out or
:47:12. > :47:18.they can leave and migrates to a warmer part of the world. How can it
:47:19. > :47:22.make such an epic journey, 1000 kilometres? As you know, studying
:47:23. > :47:28.insect migration is a challenge and in order for us to answer those
:47:29. > :47:37.questions we have two invent new technology. This radar has
:47:38. > :47:44.revolutionised the study of moth migration and has enabled this team
:47:45. > :47:51.to unravel the mystery of how the Silver Y achieve the impossible.
:47:52. > :47:58.Here it actually is. It is like something from Doctor Who. It works
:47:59. > :48:04.by sending a beam of radar vertically up into the sky. As the
:48:05. > :48:12.insects fly through the beam, signals are sent back to earth and
:48:13. > :48:18.are analysed in the laboratory. So this is the actual output, is it?
:48:19. > :48:23.This fuzzy line is the background noise. We are looking for a peek.
:48:24. > :48:27.There it is! That is an insect travelling through the beam. You
:48:28. > :48:34.will see a peak rise and then a fall. We will capture that signal
:48:35. > :48:39.and then analyse it in great detail. That signal will tell us the shape
:48:40. > :48:44.and size of the target that has flown overhead. It will allow us to
:48:45. > :48:54.distinguish whether it was an insect or not, and what type of insect it
:48:55. > :49:00.was. How did this system enable you to start to understand what was
:49:01. > :49:03.going on with Silver Y? We found the targets that we thought were
:49:04. > :49:09.representing the moths and then we looked at how migration intensity
:49:10. > :49:13.was changing. In the autumn, the surprising result we found was that
:49:14. > :49:18.the moths only migrated on nights when winds blew from the North which
:49:19. > :49:26.would give them the greatest assistance in their flight. How can
:49:27. > :49:30.they know where they are? They have a compass which determines which
:49:31. > :49:34.direction they can travel in. They can also assess the wind direction
:49:35. > :49:41.as well. They have a sensory mechanism. How fast can they go?
:49:42. > :49:47.Their average speed is 50 kilometres an hour. They can reach 80
:49:48. > :49:52.kilometres an hour. They are like little bullets! Yes. A typical moth
:49:53. > :49:59.will fly for eight hours during the night. Therefore, they can fly 300
:50:00. > :50:05.kilometres in a single night. They can do the whole trip in maybe three
:50:06. > :50:08.nights. Yes, that will get them to the Mediterranean if they have
:50:09. > :50:15.favourable wind direction. This is very well but how can you be certain
:50:16. > :50:20.that you are seeing the Silver Y up there? Like you, I need to be
:50:21. > :50:27.convinced as well and to answer the question we have a balloon which is
:50:28. > :50:38.up there and can sample items. It is not just any old blue. Essentially,
:50:39. > :50:45.it is a fishing net. -- any old balloon. You will actually be able
:50:46. > :50:50.to collect the Silver Y? Yes, if they are abundant enough to stop
:50:51. > :50:59.that will be the final confirmation that they are up there. Absolutely.
:51:00. > :51:03.I am going to let this out slowly and when it gets to an altitude of
:51:04. > :51:10.300 meter then we can knock it off and see what we catch. Moth
:51:11. > :51:15.trapping, coupled with a sophisticated radar, and a balloon,
:51:16. > :51:30.has solved a another migration mystery. I love science, me! Look at
:51:31. > :51:37.that! Did you catch any from the balloon? We did not. He does not
:51:38. > :51:42.need that many, it is only to confirm what the radar is showing.
:51:43. > :51:47.That radar, not only can it tell how long the object is but it can tell
:51:48. > :51:54.how wide it is and the frequency of the week. Amazing, but not as
:51:55. > :51:59.amazing as the moth itself. I cannot believe that the moth uses the wind
:52:00. > :52:04.to fly 1000 kilometres. I am going to celebrate that moth! It is a long
:52:05. > :52:10.distance legend. We have a leaderboard here and for me, the
:52:11. > :52:19.Silver Y is going at the top. You say that but earlier in the week we
:52:20. > :52:26.met the Shearwater. They were flying all that way and then they were not
:52:27. > :52:31.fed. I think your moth can migrate over there because this is up there.
:52:32. > :52:38.It has wings, though. That makes it easy. The eel only has-beens and it
:52:39. > :52:50.goes 3000 miles so that is going the top. Was about 64,000 kilometres?
:52:51. > :52:56.This ghost in the Arctic to the Antarctic. It is the longest
:52:57. > :53:00.migration in the world. When it gets down there, it goes through the
:53:01. > :53:06.South Atlantic and then goes around Antarctica and back then. To get all
:53:07. > :53:09.the way back round the other side is an amazing achievement. I have to
:53:10. > :53:18.take my hat off to that. Fair enough. Well, we have had some
:53:19. > :53:26.fantastic views of the authors. We have shared their lives. -- otter.
:53:27. > :53:34.Let's catch up with the otters one more time. This was last night, I
:53:35. > :53:40.think. This is a big dog otter. Look at that close up. I would not like
:53:41. > :53:46.to swim around in the freezing water all night, but he is dealt for it.
:53:47. > :53:52.We are calling this otter Scarface. He has a scar on his nose, problem
:53:53. > :53:57.from fighting. They will defend their territory from all comers. We
:53:58. > :54:08.have heard something. He has heard something with -- someone with a
:54:09. > :54:14.machine gun! He will take to the water and all of the fur goes down
:54:15. > :54:17.and makes a lovely waterproof coat, like a wet suit. He disappears like
:54:18. > :54:27.a goose. He goes into the dark water. You are getting poetic, are
:54:28. > :54:34.you not? That is beautiful! That camera has definitely delivered. We
:54:35. > :54:37.have talked about migration and we know how important the weather is
:54:38. > :54:43.for migration, especially wind. Let's talk about the weather
:54:44. > :54:47.forecast for the next few days. Hello. The figures are in and it
:54:48. > :54:53.looks like the UK has experienced one of it top ten warmest October is
:54:54. > :54:57.on record. Those leaves are coming under threat again in the coming
:54:58. > :55:01.days from strong winds, predominantly from the Atlantic.
:55:02. > :55:08.That will favour Atlantic migration rather than Scandinavian migration.
:55:09. > :55:11.There will be strong headwinds. It is not particularly cold,
:55:12. > :55:16.temperature wise. Monday will be one of the sunniest. We will start with
:55:17. > :55:21.a touch of frost on Monday and Tuesday. The frost will bring down
:55:22. > :55:26.some leaves and they will come under threat again as we head into Monday
:55:27. > :55:32.and Tuesday as the rain heads in. That summarises the weather as we go
:55:33. > :55:36.deeper into next week. It will often be windy, predominantly from the
:55:37. > :55:39.Atlantic. There will be spells of rain and some sunshine. It will feel
:55:40. > :55:42.cool in the wind had not particularly called for the time of
:55:43. > :55:47.year. I like it when the meteorologist gets ornithology
:55:48. > :55:57.goaled two. Top marks! What will this mean? They said that what they
:55:58. > :56:04.thought might happen was there might be a fourth. All of these brushes
:56:05. > :56:07.will build up in Scandinavia and then take advantage of weather
:56:08. > :56:14.window, perhaps on Monday, and they will come over to East Coast. We may
:56:15. > :56:18.get a few tomorrow. A few will have the bravery in the wings but we will
:56:19. > :56:23.get more later. Thank you for reporting the hen Harriers. The
:56:24. > :56:30.hotline had already got 65 reports this morning. Keep those coming in.
:56:31. > :56:37.The details are on our website. Are you going to do the map? Where is
:56:38. > :56:48.the map? We launched migration watch earlier this week and we asked you
:56:49. > :56:54.to spot the Red Wings. We had 633. Squadrons of these birds have been
:56:55. > :57:00.coming in. Absolute squadrons! We have come to the end of Autumnwatch
:57:01. > :57:05.2013 but we will be back and we will pad up for winter watch. We would
:57:06. > :57:09.bring you more from the urban foxes. We would like to thank the staff of
:57:10. > :57:17.the RSPB at Leighton Moss for welcoming us. Especially the ladies
:57:18. > :57:22.who work in the cafe! We will leave you with the highlights of
:57:23. > :57:26.Autumnwatch. Watch these and enjoy them but stay tuned for Unsprung
:57:27. > :57:32.which is coming next. See you then. Goodbye. Goodbye.