Autumnwatch Day Three Autumnwatch

If I'm honest with you, it is a little wet here at the moment, but

we won't let that dampen our spirits. Certainly not.

Tonight we discover how one of the UK's most charismatic raptors

is surviving in our cities, and begin to uncover

And high ahead, the geese honk and the curlew cries. It Autumnwatch!

Yes, hello and welcome to Autumnwatch 2015, coming to you from

the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve here at Caerlaverock. A

couple of minutes ago, we saw this. This is an our thermal camera, so

this is not looking at light or colour, it is looking at heat. You

can see the dark spots there are the eyes of a badger. Something dropped

out of its mouth! A bit of worm? Saliva. It is still relatively

early. I wouldn't mind betting it has gone out to where the geese have

been all day, having a sniff around. We have large numbers of geese,

12,000 on this part of the reserve, and natural mortality and disease

would suggest that every now and again, one could operate clogs

during the daytime, and that could represent a nice meal for the

badger. But if it comes across an earthworm, it will help itself to

that. Like pink spaghetti. But where are we? We are in south-western

Scotland on the Solway Firth, a fantastic race. Not just the

Caerlaverock reserve, RSPB, Scottish National Heritage also have reserves

here, and they protect a huge area of this low-lying land. It is mild

up here on the West Coast, ample, productive, and that accounts for

the fact that in winter, it attracts a vast number of waders and wild

file to the area. The barnacle geese a vast number of waders and wild

are one of the main attractions, and they arrive here in their thousands

from September. Over 40,000 this year, record number. They get into

quite a routine when they get it, and this is what we filmed last

night. Every night, the leave their feeding grounds, flying in flock

from 20 of them up to thousands. And they fly off to the mudflats where

they feel safe and protected, and that is where they stay for the

night. So that's where they overnight, but

morning? Well, they all come back again. They

morning? Well, they all come back feeding grounds, the salt marshes,

and one of the things they do is they clean. Fresh water, they need

to clean, and it is very important that the barnacle geese stay

to clean, and it is very important waterproofed. They do that in two

ways. They preen, and they use their preening gland to waterproof their

feathers. They also have interlocking feathers, there are hot

as at the end of their feathers, but it is important that the feathers

are clean for them to be able to do that. So it is the oil from the

preening that. So it is the oil from the

feathers that repels the water. That's when cleaned its bottom on

landing! A bit of a water-ski there. And it is a social time, you can

hear there is a lot of noise. A great thing to watch, and that is

what they'd you every morning. That is a flock, but let's look at one of

the individuals. Keep your eye on the middle there, and you will see

that this particular barnacle goose is auditioning for the circus.

Slightly embarrassed afterwards. You mentioned the individuals, but they

recognise each other by looking at each other's faces. They have that

very characteristic white panel either side of their head, but they

use them from display and facial recognition, because each one has a

different shape, and the amount of lack, the smudging that goes from

the beak up to the eye, means that when they are looking amongst one

another, they can tell each other apart, not just using that but also

sound. Because they each have eight unique call that they can produce

when they get lost, and they come here in family parties, they don't

want to get split up. If they'd, they wander through the flock

producing what scientists call the loud caw. They go through making

this call, and they reunite with their group. Imagine if you are now

witnessing a game of footy, and it is an international, about 40,000

people there, I go off to get a pasty, and as I get back, someone

scores a goal, and I shout, Michaela! Michaela! You are never

going to hear me, are you? I know your voice well, but I wouldn't be

able to hear it with that many people. But they can, and it is that

diagnostic. I'm not sure I believe that. How can they possibly tell the

difference? They all sound exactly the same! Are you questioning the

integrity of contemporary science? I want a reference. How do they tell?

They have recorded the geese under produced sonograms which show the

pattern of sand, and you can see that they are different. The extreme

examples, I reckon to the human ear we would hear a difference as well,

but obviously not in a flock of 40,000, that is the difference.

Remarkable bit of biology. Let's go live to Folly Pond and see what is

on there. There are some swans, I think they are mute swans. No, they

are whoopers! Slightly elegant in the beak, longer in the neck. It can

be tricky to tell. They are little late this year, and that is because

they have read a little later, and they have to wait for the cygnets to

put on enough weight to make this incredible journey, so they are all

a little late. Two new families turned up today, so they are still

coming in. Now, just over here behind us in our

studio in the barn, we have another camera setup. Let's go to it live

now. It is in the corner behind our sofa. And because Martin and

Michaela still so many peanuts, we thought they might attract a few

mice. And at five o'clock this morning, they did. The first mouse

came in. It is a little wood mouse, and you can see it has those are

very large ears. And it has got very big eyes, and even in black and even

in black-and-white, that means we can tell it is not a house mouse.

House mouse, smaller ears and eyes. You don't seem many house mice

around even in houses now as you do would mice. It has dashed off with

that peanut, it is going to cache that, and it will keep coming back.

And I've you have said that, we have a live one in our hedge can. This

camera is along a path in a hedge. That is very sweet. And owl will

just pop down and have a little snack there! Oh, Martin! Don't spoil

it. That is what is happening right in, right now. Remember I was at

that weir in the centre of Dumfries? This is a superb place to

set birds in the day, including the exotic and resigned. -- goosander.

They are remarkable fishing birds. I think this one has a huge sea trout.

In fact, the other goosanders spend more time trying to pinch food of

other goosanders than hunting for themselves. How is it going to

swallow that? It is nearly as big as that! This is where one animal tries

to steal food from another animal that has courted. It can't get it

down, it is a huge meal. And then a black backed gull comes in and puts

an end to proceedings. But it is fantastic, the weir, to see all this

wildlife. I love the goosander, too, very elegant. And a lot of locals go

down there with cameras to take beautiful stills. We are not sure if

this is an eel or a lamprey. There are three different species of

lamprey. There is a lot of energy in that photo. And look at this. Two

lovely little otters. That yellow leaf in the top left oils it a bit.

Sorry! We love all of your photographs, so please do keep them

coming in, on Facebook, on Twitter, on our website, and we will try to

get some of them out before we come off air tomorrow. A couple of weeks

ago, Martin went to the Isle of run to see if he could solve the mystery

of what rutting radio get up to after dark. The first night, he fell

asleep. How can he solve the mystery if he is snoring? Did you stay

awake, Martin? I did stay awake, and I sold some incredible mysteries.

Well, let's find out. The red Deer of Rum, and rutting is

in full swing. Crucially no one knows how much of their behaviour

goes on at night. And that is why I am here. Parked

right beside the rutting Green, my thermal cameras reveal the deer in

total darkness. And on this, my second night, it is all setup rather

nicely, with a familiar stag that on the scene. Here he is, back again,

Smooths is in charge, and he has an enormous harem here. I cannot

believe that he is going to hold onto these finds all night, --,

hinds, because there are other stags all around waiting to Stalin Jim.

Last night, Smooth was challenged by another stag, and I'm determined to

stay away tonight. He has gone a long way to turn the noses of the

hinds, who have gone up the hill, and he is turning back down. How

could he see that? He knew they were leaving, and he went and got them

back, and now they are back. Here years. Does he have amazing

nocturnal vision, or is he using smell and sound alone? Either way,

that was very successful. Well done, smooth. But while he keeps busy,

other stags are closing in on his hinds. An enemy from before is right

down on the green, he fought with Smooth in the daytime. And a much

younger stag is scattering the hinds, a troublemaker.

Anemones has seen him, and he is not having it. He is rushing, driving

him away. He has driven him away, coming right up close to us,

actually. And that as a youngster that has been causing so much

trouble. Anemone has just driven him off. These stags must be able to see

in the dark. It is incredible. Smooth is still nonstop rounding up

the hinds. This is a brand-new discovery. Even in the depths of

night, there is no rest for a stag with a harem. He sniffs each in

turn, checking for signs they are not coming into oestrus. Hello,

Anemone is back. Smooth has seen him. They are running at full tilt

in the darkness, over extremely rough ground. I can't believe I have

seen so much activity. Excuse me! Well, it has been a night

full of revelations here, but tomorrow night, I am going to move

locations to see what else we can discover. And we will bring you the

conclusion of Martin's discover. And we will bring you the

the Isle of Rum tomorrow. discover. And we will bring you the

Researchers had no idea that that amount of activity went on in the

dark. Let's take a look at it again, because there you have the stag,

Smooth. He chases off a rival, and that ground is really rough, and he

obviously can see what he is doing. So I guess the question is, how do

they see in the dark? Today, we spoke to a chap, Chris

Dickson, he is an animal Today, we spoke to a chap, Chris

ophthalmologists, and he told us a lot about dear. They have

ophthalmologists, and he told us a on the side of their head, so they

have panoramic vision. We have a field of view about 170 degrees,

there is is about 310. They have field of view about 170 degrees,

also got diagrammatic vision, so they don't see the same colour

ranges we do, they are sort of red green colour-blind, so in daylight,

their vision is nowhere near as good as ours, and something that we can

discern a 200 metres, they can only see at 20. But at night, their eyes

come into their own. I have a model of an eye here. They have a much

larger pupil on the front of the eye, and it is horizontal, which

means that it can open far more widely, letting in lots more light

through the lens into the back of the ICOM so more light, but then it

is down to the receptive cells at the back of the eye. There are two

types of these, rods which are sensitive to low light levels,

particularly good in the dark, and in deer, they have ten times the

number of those compare to the number of cones. Cones are the ones

that produce colour but are not sensitive, and we have 30 times the

number of cones rather than the rods. It suggests therefore that the

deer can see much better than us at night. But they have one truly great

trick up their sleeve or in their eye. It is this, and it is called

the tapetum lucidum. The light passes through those cells, and if

it misses any, it bounces back through the cells for a second

attempt. Therefore making the whole I a lot more sensitive. So it is

bigger, it has a bigger pupil, more of the light-sensitive cells that

work in low light levels, and they get to goes at it because of the

tapetum. And I can show you a tapetum now. Michaela has shifted

herself over to the other side of the yard, and she has a friend with

her, and I will shine this really bright torch on the pair of them.

Look at that. There is no eye showing coming back from Michaela,

but Midge the dog, you can see sparkling in the night. That is

because Midge is descended from Wolves, and they hunt in low light

levels. So having good lowlight vision is an asset, and it is

something that has been maintained in dogs as well. But it isn't just

dogs or predators that have this, lots of other animals, too. We have

been looking at them over the years on Springwatch. Otters, if you look

carefully. This one will spin round, and there you can see the tapetum.

And a badger, you can see both of these animals are very nocturnal, so

you would expect them to have the structures, and the rabbit as well.

It is being hunted, so it needs to be able to see the things hunting it

in return. But it is not just mammals that have them. Sometimes

you can see little tiny sparkles coming back on the path when you go

for a walk at night, and they can be from the tapetum in the eyes of

spiders. That is really interesting and explains why the red Deer

You do not need good vision to spot the wind farms around here, they are

noticeable. There is one right on the edge of the Solway Firth here

where we are. And we can see it. With hundreds of thousands of birds

flying to this part of Scotland in the autumn, do they affect incoming

flocks? They have been a problem for vultures and raptors in Spain with

many collisions. I was keen to find out what impact those turbines have,

if they have an impact on the birds here.

54% of the UK's wind turbines are up here in Scotland. Many of which are

near to Caerlaverock on the Solway Firth Soave a threat to migrating

wildfowl? The wildfowl and weapons to have mapped every wind farm in

the area and cross-referenced it with the flight paths of many

migrating wildfowl. Doctor Larry Griffin is spearheading the

research. But looks like a sketch, at! That is

easy. It gives you a sense of the transit. At migration time. That is

35, 50 whoopers ones. The research shows geese and swans fly along

specific routes, to allay along river valleys. By working closely

with the wind farms at the planning stage, the turbines can be placed

away from the main flight paths. It is clear you would not want one

right there. There were points you would say it

would be better if you do not at it there and maybe the hills to the

North of an area might be better for geese and swans. There are only a

couple of species we can comment on and the applications might not be

good for black grouse and raptors, species we do not have data for.

So the evidence suggests our Barnacle Geese and whoopers ones are

safer now but what about our birds of prey? The RSPB's Chris Rowley has

been assessing the impact on raptors since wind farms first arrived in

Scotland. What collisions have there been

here? Perry Green collisions across Southern Scotland. At least four hen

harrier collisions -- Peregrine Falklands. Whitetail eagle

collisions, it in 2014. I would have thought raptors with the amazing

eyesight they have would see these. They have fantastic eyesight but

their habits mean they are more vulnerable to turbines than you

would expect. Kestrels, they are a hovering species looking for small

voles and they do not look above, they were at the ground and they can

shift without taking their eye of the prey and they can be hit by a

turbine. More wind turbines will go up in Scotland so look into the

future, it is important to people making these decisions talk to

people like yourself with the data and the knowledge and the signs.

That is why we are here, to protect an environment, birds of prey are an

important part of that and geese also so it is important to gather to

work to see the turbines do not get put in the wrong places for

wildlife. The RSPB must support wind farms? We for renewable energy as a

solution to global warming and climate change and reducing CO2 at

emissions and wind farms are key to that. We are for them but in the

right places, wrong places, they will damage wildlife.

With Scotland's commitments to obtain 20% of energy from renewable

sources by 2020, over a thousand more wind turbines will be built and

so the positioning will continue to be of critical importance to our

birds, especially at migration time. It is sad to hear four hen harrier

is have been hit in those wind farms. A beta for bird we have

enjoyed often, most recently when we went up to Orkney, a very delicate

bird, beautiful bird. This spring, we heard about the loss of a reading

hen harrier in Lancashire which had been fitted with satellite tags,

four, and their movements were being monitored carefully by the RSPB. But

the signals suddenly stopped in suspicious circumstances. We

promised to update you and unfortunately, the body of those

harriers have still not been found, nobody has come forward with

information and leisure constabulary have said they are not currently

investigating further -- Lancashire. We have also got ripped ports that

if e-mail hen harrier had been shot in the Scottish lowlands in August

-- reports. It is illegal to shoot a protected species like a hen harrier

and the RSPB has said there is an ongoing police investigation and

nobody has been charged. If you want to know more, it is on the website.

From a raptor in big trouble to one that is doing rather better, David

Mundell investigates. This is Reading. Busy modern town.

It is rush-hour and thousands of people streaming from the

surrounding villages and countryside. But it is not just

people coming into town. In recent years, a large herd of prey has been

commuting in as well. The red kite. And I can see one now. At this time

of year, up to 400 come into Reading every day. But 25 years ago, there

were less than 100 kites in the entire country. A project has seen a

massive resurgence. Professor Mark Fellows from the University of

Reading is studying this growing phenomenon.

It is truly extraordinary. The phenomenon.

I have seen at once is 60 looking like

I have seen at once is 60 looking amazing. At this time of the

I have seen at once is 60 looking will you see

I have seen at once is 60 looking more, the young will disperse to

I have seen at once is 60 looking But there is not much later in

Reading today. Enough to support just 20

Reading today. Enough to support on? It is not roadkill, the

Reading today. Enough to support something else bringing them in. The

handset is surprising. In scale at least. According to Mark's study,

handset is surprising. In scale at one in 20 households feed the

kites, that is over 4,000 families. This garden is a typical red kite

food bank. Its owners, Dave and Christina, provide a regular meal.

Is that raw chicken? Yes, it is. We started a couple of years ago

Is that raw chicken? Yes, it is. We dividing the Sunday carcass from the

roast and it started. We dividing the Sunday carcass from the

encourage them much but we give them some meat. Dave has the perfect

place from which to watch this unusual words table. Now

place from which to watch this have to wait. -- bird table.

You have to wait. -- bird table.

a good have to wait. -- bird table.

arrives, it is a signal it is safe kites follow.

It kites follow.

the scene before it comes down. It is quite strange,

the scene before it comes down. It circle, he gets lower and lower. You

can see every twist of his Look at this! That is incredible!

Look at that! This is the first time I have

Look at that! This is the first time so it is just incredible to see

these wonderful birds so close. The these wonderful birds so close. The

agility and the speed and the size as they come down so low is just

incredible. I think when they get up close, that

is when you realise. In the air, I think when they get up close, that

they are just a silhouette. When they come down, it is just amazing.

The five foot wingspan is impressive but does attracting so

many big birds of prey and our gardens impact other animals? The

RSPB's Jeff has been looking into the evidence.

Kites look big but they are quite big for birds of prey. They are

opportunists and will look for any available food source but the main

force -- food source is scavenging, food that is already dead. Risks to

pets and children and garden birds is zero.

As for the kites, feeding and endangered species in autumn and

winter when natural food is scarce would seem beneficial. But could it

have a detrimental effect? In any situation where you feed wildlife,

there is a danger they could become a light upon it and with other

raptors, it has happened. But if you do not feed the right food, that

could cause direct damage to the kites and ill-health. If people feed

the right food and not too much and not to regulate, that will not cause

great damage. But if you feed poor quality food, bacon and sausages, a

lot of salt and additives, that is not great for the kites.

The return of the red kite is a huge conservation success. And the fact

that they've ring so much pleasure to so many people even in urban

areas is something I find truly inspiring -- the fact that they

bring. It is a great word, and it really is

a great conservation success story. From ten pairs in the 1930s to over

3,000 today. We have the only growing population of red kite

anywhere in Europe, the rest are shrinking, which is good. Something

to celebrate. It is not just read kites making the most of their lives

in the city and earlier in the week, Chris went to investigate badgers in

Brighton and we asked you to send in pictures of urban badgers you have

spotted and plenty of you did. This is from Cumbria, that one is

sitting on a fence! And this is from Belfast, this is interesting because

when we did a survey, we didn't have any sightings in Belfast, so we are

still adding to it. Barbra Hughes sent this one, this is a pole

dancing badger, that is from Wesley in the West Midlands. And this is

from Minehead in Somerset. It looks like he is watching out bread for

his badgers. That looks a little fast. You saw those animals all

going for what we call human food, so because we have access to those

animals down in Brighton, the ones Dawn was studying, so we thought we

did a trial of our own to see a city badgers have learned to eat human

food as opposed to their country cousins. So whilst I was down there,

I put natural and human foods out. We had mealworms, roast chicken, jam

sandwiches and fruit. What would the badgers go for? Would they go for

those human foods, the tasty chicken? They certainly did. Chicken

or jam Sam Wood is, the human foods, were top of their gender, and they

munched their way through those, and only when they finish those do they

ever go near the others. The first one this one takes is a jam

sandwich. They did then come back and finish off the mealworms and

fruit. But they always took the other stuff first. So to compare

that behaviour to Rowell badgers, we set up a similar experiment here

around the reserve. We put the same foods out for them. And this is what

happened on the first night. The badger took absolutely no notice of

any of the food, and the same thing on the second night, doesn't even

seem to notice that it is there. The third night, it is running in the

opposite direction. And then look what happens. Our experiment is

spoiled little by a domestic cat that comes in, taking a liking to

that chicken. It can't believe it's luck! It a lot. Do you know how many

times it came in? Eight times. Do not what that makes it? Octopussy!

The badger was watching the cat, and the cat would actually scare off the

badger, wouldn't it. Cats are dominant, then badgers, then foxes.

Cats don't have to much to worry about. It can definitely smell it is

there. But he still isn't taking any of the free food. In fact, he seems

a bit nervous of it. We almost wonder if even knows it is food.

Look at that, definitely sniffing, but it is nervous of it. And we did

that same experiment in another couple of areas around here where

they have a jazz, and the same thing, none of them took the free

meal. We did our best to be scientifically diligent, we did it

in a few areas. Dawn did it properly, eight sites, ten

recordings, all at the same time of night, rigidly controlled. But it

seems that those badgers in Brighton have learned to take the human food

because they know the benefits that would have, whereas up here because

these animals have never encountered that sort of food before, they can

undeniably smell it, but they haven't yet learned to take it, and

that is possibly why they are avoiding it. You might argue, why

didn't they come and take the fruit and mealworms, because that is

closer to the smell is a would normally have taken. Maybe it was

because of our smell on the bowl. We would have to repeat the experiment

with the same amount of integrity that Dawn uses. Interesting results,

though. Yes the fact that they completely refused what is a

fantastic food. Nobody refuses a free lunch, except Aja is at

Caerlaverock. So what are they eating? We have seen them sucking up

worms like spaghetti, so we send Martin at to look for some badger

poo. I think I might be able to help answer this mystery. I am at the

back of the Folly Pond, and if you can you can see the path up and

down, and there is another one back here. These are made by badgers, and

I think this footpath that I am walking along, they use that, too.

We know they do because we have found some badger scat along here.

We sent it to Swansea University and Warwick University to be analysed,

for them to get a deep analysis of what they are eating. But we have

also found one ourselves, and look at that. Identity now if you can

see, but there are bits of urged here inside this badger scat. We

have seen an Springwatch that badgers eat herds. Generally they

eat 25% of worms, 25% fruit, 25% serial and 25% insects. But when the

results of the scat that we sent to the universities came back, we were

in for a big surprise. Look at this. It doesn't look like much at first

sight, but if you look at the bottom, you can see a crab claw, and

above it is a carapace of crab. So the badgers

above it is a carapace of crab. So How on earth can that happen? What

we did is we have been filming out on the mudflats way down there, and

this is what we saw. Here is the badger moving around. And you can

see the badger is very opportunistic, looking for anything

they can possibly find. Bear in mind the tide will have come in and out

on the mudflats. Leaving behind creeks and pools, and the badger

could find anything, crabs or dead birds. They are scavengers. Now, Dr

Dan Foreman who did that analysis for us, he said there is nothing in

the literature about badgers eating crabs at all, so this is a first.

These Caerlaverock badgers are being opportunistic in their diet.

Fascinating stuff. Autumnwatch is mainly all about migration, and many

of our greatest migrator is were born way back in the lazy days of

summer. This is a tale about life and death.

Dawn breaks on the Skerries. Small islands just off the North Wales

coast line. Home to countless sea birds.

And they all flock here for one reason. To breed.

Yet, of all the wildlife living on this rugged coastline, it is the

common and Arctic terns that have the hardest time. It is late July,

and with autumn approaching, the chicks must grow up fast, because

they will have to travel the furthest of any UK bird on

migration. But 2015 has already been a tough year.

migration. But 2015 has already been early summer caused many nests to

fail. Chicks that have survived are younger and more vulnerable to

predators. Soaring over younger and more vulnerable to

cliffs, greater black backed gulls search for an easy meal. Working

together, adult terns drive off the attackers, and defend their chicks.

together, adult terns drive off the The juvenile chicks are still very

vulnerable, so their parents can't leave them alone

This time, brave parents have done enough. But

with their own chicks to raise, the gulls will be back. With danger

averted, there is time for the youngsters to fit in some flying

lessons, and essential skill to master if they are to survive the

journey to Antarctica this autumn. But all their practice might not be

enough to help them against the ultimate island raider, the

peregrine. This aerial assassin flies from the mainland twice a day,

timing his hunting does target the novice young terns of the colony. It

folds in its wings, and the hunt is on.

Terns choose to face the dangers of these islands for the rich and

plentiful sees that surround them. And learning to fish for their food

is another talent the juvenile is must get to grips with. But young

wings tire quickly, and taking a moment's rest can spell disaster.

Unfortunately, some terns will never escape these relentless predators.

Despite the relentless dangers these chicks face, this year, well over

2000 of them survived the summer, and their epic journey to Antarctica

has now begun. Look at that beautiful sunset. It

really is an epic journey, and I know we talk about it often, about

Arctic terns going from the Arctic to the Antarctic, but it still

baffles me how they do it. It is a small bird, four-month-old,

unaccompanied, over 34,000 kilometres, about 22,000 miles. I

know. Unbelievable, I'm completely overwhelmed how little bird can do

that. And then of course they come back again. The oldest Arctic terns

can get to 36 years old, you can cut your late distance it has flown in

its lifetime! You get easy with that, and I will talk about the fact

that there are a lot of other birds on the move of the moment, and we

rang round bird observatories, please is set up on the coast of the

country to monitor closely either through visible migration or

catching the birds, the movement of birds around the coast. Earlier in

the week in Portland Bill in Dorset, there were hundreds of Goldcrest

going through, numbers the likes of which they haven't seen since the

1980s. In Suffolk, not quite so active. Over here at Bardsey in

Wales, a tremendous event they Skyfall of finches. 9000 were

chaffinches. And then finally up here, the usual couple of thousand

field there's coming through, but also 966 blackbirds and 100 robins,

too. Lots of activity. Today, things were little slower. The best we

could come up with was Dungeness, where there were 1000 goldfinches.

You can keep your open for other garden birds that might be on the

move this year. Typically chaffinches. These are migrants, a

lot of them come from Scandinavia, as will Red Wings like this. And

birders will be hoping for a show of these things, waxwings, all the way

from Russia with Love, and aren't they special? Rest is to look for

them, supermarket car parks. They plant loads of trees that produce

berries. I have seen loads of them in supermarket car parks. I will be

off to the supermarket now, then do a bit of shopping and bird-watching

at the same time! We have other question about migrating birds. Will

back birds in my London garden migrate south?

They are largely resident and if things get tough, they might go to

the South Coast or occasionally Northern France. But in the winter,

lots of them come over from Germany, polling, Scandinavia and you can

sometimes tell them apart, they will be darker, and so is the bill, not

yellow bill of the resident blackbirds. And some might go as far

as North Africa. It is an exhausting business, migrating. Especially for

this little chap. Somebody sent this photograph in. This is a Goldcrest.

It has just arrived. It landed near Scarborough. It has fallen fast

asleep. You just don't know how long it has been out over the sea. Tiny

bird coming in from Scandinavia probably. And if the wind is against

them, they get caught out over the sea and the tails of the birds

landing on beaches, they are relatively common. And quite if you

get picked off by predators. Oh, no, really? Yes, you come all that

weight and a fox or something get to. They are the perfect target.

Keep sending in your photographs to Twitter and Facebook.

Yesterday, you were naming a swan. I was, we had a swan to name and we

picked the name which you chose, Obi-Wan Kenobi. And love is in the

air today. I feel like a swan ballet! This is upside down. That is

its mate. So love is in the air on the pond. And we have Obi-Wan Kenobi

hound and eight is in front. We thought he arrived single but

today, his mate has also arrived. And this is what they do when they

meet. A lot of wind flapping. It is really rather romantic. That one has

not got a name, we should name that as well. He is so pleased with

himself. We thought he was single because the mate had not been

spotted. They paired up last year and they spend the summer in Iceland

and they flew back, one in bit later than the other and they are back

together. Not successful yet but next year they might come back with

some young. Fantastic. Tomorrow morning, you can look at our

programmes on the red button with Autumnwatch extra which begins at

seven o'clock, you can join Richard Taylor Jones at eight o'clock. Brett

Westwood at one o'clock and Lindsey at four p.m.. The fine is -- the

cameras go off at 7:30 p.m.. Now, we do like to champion the

underdog. We have heard flying all over the pilot and deer with night

vision. What about the little guys? We have a beetle in this country

with the most unsavoury habits but the most extraordinary life cycle

because the adults look after the young.

But what happens to the fallen in this season of change?

A mouse lies unnoticed, but its parting won't be in vain, because

Yes, I give you the extraordinary sexton beetle.

This male is colourful and pretty, and he has a dark talent.

Chemo receptors on his antennae detected

the mouse's sulphurous bouquet from more than a kilometre away.

And he is not alone in catching this whiff of death.

So, before he can work his magic, he will have to fend

Like gladiators in the ring, they fight ferociously,

Triumphant, our male claims his prize.

And next on the scene is someone rather more welcome - a female.

And what's more, she's in the mood for love.

Now, sex on a corpse isn't everyone's idea of fun, but for

Over the next 24 hours, the couple will mate

and lay eggs many times over, but they do also have other work to do.

Transforming the body into a nursery.

Their secateur-like mandibles slice through the fur,

Antibacterial and antifungal secretions from their mouths

and their anus anoint the skin to slow the decay of the flesh.

Out in the open, this carrion bounty is at risk of being stolen,

Like miniature bulldozers, they plough the soil, and as if

Scattered singly through the soil are 20 eggs laid by the female.

Nearby, the stripped corpse no longer

Three days pass, and underground, new life is stirring.

A tiny ghostly spectre just four millimetres long.

It may be blind, but it knows exactly where to go.

Its siblings have hatched, too, and, drawn by the pungent scent,

When they arrive, the adults are waiting, which is

just as well, given that these hatchlings initially are completely

You see, they don't have functional mouthparts of their own.

The male and female masticate the flesh before tenderly feeding it

Surrounded by this banquet of decaying meat,

the saprophagous nestlings will soon begin to feast on their own.

Just three days later, and the young have tripled in size.

Now the pickings are slim on the once plump carcass,

so soon, these fattened youngsters will leave and pupate.

Then they will overwinter in the soil before emerging as adults next

New life has blossomed beneath the graves.

Oh, I do love a story with a happy ending.

I think it is the first time those eggs have ever been filmed hatching.

Wonderful story. Amazing. I am disappointed we have never seen

sexton beetles on CSI X might that is because criminal pathologists use

these beetles to see how long a corpse, often human, has been lying

in a spot. They look at the larvae and they measured the head cap sure,

the width of that, and it enables them to age the animals so they can

tell how long the body has been in that place. A range of beetles and

flies as well. So these animals are very useful to them and that part of

their science is very well-known because they have been studied for

that purpose other aspects, we are still grappling to understand. That

is phenomenal, really interesting. Dead good! I can see you as a doctor

of criminology delving into Retton flesh, you a doctor? -- rotten

flesh. No! I think you would enjoy it. We like a good experiment and we

like pie charts so we have at them together and we are doing a seed pie

chart experiment. We set it up yesterday and we put out three lots

of seeds, sunflower, oats and barley and we wanted to find out which the

garden birds prefer at this time of year.

The result was very surprising. They seem to go for the sunflower seeds

in the husks. He would not think they want because it takes a while

to get the husks of, the handling time is quite long. But at this,

they are all going for the sunflower seeds. A big surprise. Look at that.

There is another thing that we noticed and this will not be a

scientific breakthrough for anybody! That is that the greenfinch

dominated the table. As soon as they watch on them, they drove off the

other birds. They are like a bunch of blokes breezing into a R,

ordering themselves a round of drinks and they stay there all

night! # Aim. You cannot push your way

through to get a drink of your own. That is what they like. It makes

sense if they can dominate the food, they can feed more efficiently. That

is what this experiment is about, we hope to see which choices they make

to optimise their ability to get energy for as little return as

possible. So the result of our first

experiment is 100 sent off the sunflower seeds, 100%. -- 100%. You

do not often get a like that. Birds should go for the most energy, that

they have the least efforts to get. It is quite tricky. We have taken

that one step further, the experiment. This is what we have now

put out. We have put out sunflower seeds, sunflower hearts and peanuts.

What do you reckon? Martin? Peanuts, I think now, maximum energy.

Exactly, what do you reckon? I think the grenfinches will go for the

hearts so they do not have to remove the husks but the small birds that

cannot get in because of the grenfinches like the tits, they will

probably take away a peanut because it is that much bigger for each

journey so they will get more return. We will see tomorrow. We

will give you the results of that tomorrow. Quickly to live camera

now. This is what we recorded earlier. A little earlier. Ed barn

house hunting. Look at that! -- Abe Ban Powell. We filmed this, roughly.

Has it caught something? The barn owl? The end of the mouse we saw

earlier. Again, amazing night-time vision. It means the wonder of the

fields, hence the old poem. There you go, it was a poem, I do not know

where that came from. That is the end of the show, what have we got

tomorrow? Let's take a look. We will find out about a ground-breaking new

projects to help the UK's cutest mammal.

And I do finally solve the riddle of the deer in the night, it is

brand-new science. I do not care if the Martians land in the car park

because that is not a perch, it is big pedestal! It will be the world's

finest bird. Luckily, the world never dies so we will be back

tomorrow. Seven o'clock if you want to see this programme. Preceding

that tomorrow is Unsprung which is on at 7:30pm. You really do not want

to miss it, I've missed you, you really do not. See you!

I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

People lie, Danny. Are you threatening me?