:00:00. > :00:07.Autumn is clinging on by her fingertips,
:00:08. > :00:14.At last we can reveal the best bird in the country.
:00:15. > :00:16.We reveal an ingenious way to save the nation's cutest creature.
:00:17. > :00:24.And some incredible behaviour from one of our ocean giants.
:00:25. > :00:28.And I'm on the trail of a prehistoric monster.
:00:29. > :01:00.Watch out - it's Autumnwatch!
:01:01. > :01:10.Hello and welcome to Autumnwatch 2015. It is our last programme. We
:01:11. > :01:13.have had a great week, thousands of geese, live badgers, and later in
:01:14. > :01:18.the programme, the world's finest bird. But we haven't just been here
:01:19. > :01:21.at the reserve, we have been spreading ourselves through the
:01:22. > :01:29.environment and into the local town of Dumfries. Last night, our
:01:30. > :01:32.cameraman took in a firework display and got distracted, but then he was
:01:33. > :01:38.back on the job and he found this, hedgehog in a local park. It is the
:01:39. > :01:44.first time we have seen a hedgehog on a thermal camera, and this is
:01:45. > :01:47.interesting. It has no spines on its belly, so when it walks across the
:01:48. > :01:51.grass, it leaves a heat trail behind it. You might be worried about the
:01:52. > :01:58.hedgehog out at this time of year, but it is still very mild, so this
:01:59. > :02:02.animal is no doubt at and about trying to find a few last slugs and
:02:03. > :02:07.snails to put a bit more fat on before it finally gets round to
:02:08. > :02:12.hibernating stop so if you do still see hedgehogs in your garden, don't
:02:13. > :02:17.worry yet. Having said that, some of the might of snuggle down in
:02:18. > :02:20.bonfires already, so if you are having a bonfire party over the
:02:21. > :02:24.weekend, do check the bonfire before you liked it, really important for
:02:25. > :02:31.the hedgehogs. Now, guess what we saw this -
:02:32. > :02:35.Sunshine! The first time all week, I think, we have had such a beautiful
:02:36. > :02:40.sunrise. The starlings looked stunning on the wires looking so
:02:41. > :02:47.good in the light. All of the birds looked gorgeous in the rich colours.
:02:48. > :02:54.Whooper Swans, absolutely glorious. If Sir Peter Scott was still alive,
:02:55. > :02:58.he would be drawing that. He would be painting away. But it didn't
:02:59. > :03:10.last, the clouds came and so did the rain. This is the rain on
:03:11. > :03:16.Caerlaverock over one of the hides. This is a roe deer, the rain is
:03:17. > :03:20.great for Swans, ducks and geese, but the other birds looked
:03:21. > :03:23.bedraggled. This blackbird is certainly enjoying the worms it
:03:24. > :03:27.could pick up after the rain. Throughout the week, we have had
:03:28. > :03:32.live cameras here, our mouse camera in the barn, but we have also had a
:03:33. > :03:38.thermal camera active night, and this is what we saw just before the
:03:39. > :03:42.programme started. It might be difficult to identify given that it
:03:43. > :03:47.is in reverse colours, but that is a barn owl. We have seen it over the
:03:48. > :03:53.farmyard, that it is out there quartering the fields. Lots of rough
:03:54. > :03:56.grassland, which is what it needs to find its prey, and in fact we can
:03:57. > :04:04.cut from this, recorded just before the show, and we can go live to it
:04:05. > :04:08.now. It is on a fence post there. These animals are listening as well
:04:09. > :04:13.as just looking for their prey, and if it comes any closer, we will cut
:04:14. > :04:16.back to it live again. Tonight we are going to be talking about how
:04:17. > :04:20.different creatures prepare for the winter which is just around the
:04:21. > :04:24.corner. A lot of animals stock up for the winter, some will hibernate,
:04:25. > :04:30.others will decide to leave the cold behind and head south to a warmer
:04:31. > :04:37.climate. What would you do, Chris? I am not a hibernate. I find it hard
:04:38. > :04:42.enough to sleep as it is. I would be a migrator. I would migrate south to
:04:43. > :04:47.a warmer climate. Sometimes conservation doesn't get it right.
:04:48. > :04:51.If it did, there would be a lot more of some species around than there
:04:52. > :04:55.are. Sometimes we have to have a second go and work at a project
:04:56. > :04:59.until we get it right, and that is something I greatly admire, so I was
:05:00. > :05:04.very pleased a few weeks ago to take a look at the project which is
:05:05. > :05:10.definitely going to improve things for one of the ten's most
:05:11. > :05:15.charismatic rodents. I don't use this word often, but this creature
:05:16. > :05:18.is astonishingly cute. It is the wonderful Hazel dormouse, and it has
:05:19. > :05:25.an uphill struggle to credible ditty. If you are that good-looking,
:05:26. > :05:30.you have to be good at something else. And it is a valuable indicator
:05:31. > :05:35.to the health of our woodlands, and it spread seeds around. But it is
:05:36. > :05:39.also in big trouble. Because these lovely little animals have
:05:40. > :05:45.disappeared from no less than seven of our English counties. Primarily
:05:46. > :05:51.due to habitat fragmentation. Woodland once covered most of
:05:52. > :05:52.Britain, but now it is down to just 11%, and as our population
:05:53. > :06:13.increases, so does 11%, and as our population
:06:14. > :06:17.makes them vulnerable to predators. Agile climbers, their ankles rotate
:06:18. > :06:21.to help them grip the branches. Their long fluffy tail helps keep
:06:22. > :06:27.them balanced. They are also nocturnal, and here is where we have
:06:28. > :06:31.some new insights dad. Research at Manchester Metropolitan University
:06:32. > :06:34.has shown that dormice vibrate their whiskers in front of them to guide
:06:35. > :08:56.their foot placement in the dark. It's known as whisking. They
:08:57. > :09:08.All this the dormice. If it works, it is going to be worth it. Proving
:09:09. > :09:19.that bridges can work for arboreal small mammals. It is looking good.
:09:20. > :09:25.Misses the arm that raised the bridge. It is not exactly the golden
:09:26. > :09:29.gate or Clifton suspension Bridge, but it is a bridge of distinction.
:09:30. > :09:35.Is this the right time of year to be testing it? Absolutely, because that
:09:36. > :09:37.is when numbers are highest. You have juveniles dispersing, so they
:09:38. > :09:41.need to get out of the woodland where they have been born and use
:09:42. > :09:47.this to expand into new areas. So this is a fantastic time. What are
:09:48. > :09:53.the chances of it being used before we go live. This is wildlife, so who
:09:54. > :10:04.knows? We will keep an eye on it and see who uses it, it could be used by
:10:05. > :10:07.red squirrels, and also dormice. What a combination that would be,
:10:08. > :10:13.red squirrel and dormice, but we left on that very rainy day, I have
:10:14. > :10:17.to say. And we put some cameras up on the bridge. The big question was,
:10:18. > :10:21.would anything use it, and with the dormice use it? Yes, the first of
:10:22. > :10:26.the combination soon appeared, the red squirrel. We have the largest
:10:27. > :10:34.English population of red squirrels on the Isle of Wight, so that didn't
:10:35. > :10:40.surprise us. And on October 15, at 4:26am, a dormice ran across the
:10:41. > :10:47.bridge. Look at its little feet! And back again. So I am really excited
:10:48. > :10:53.about this, I have to say. It is fascinating to see you so excited
:10:54. > :10:58.about acute mammal. Chris Bridge was considerably cheaper than the
:10:59. > :11:02.others, and we proved that it is working. We have to prove that they
:11:03. > :11:06.are crossing it repeatedly and not doing it on the ground as well. We
:11:07. > :11:09.think they will probably be in the bridge. And then we can roll this
:11:10. > :11:12.out every time habitat becomes fragmented, and we will be in a
:11:13. > :11:17.better position to petition for people to spend the money now that
:11:18. > :11:22.we know works. Top work. Is that bridge a trial, or will it be up for
:11:23. > :11:25.ever? It is still up, and we will continue to trial it, no one imagine
:11:26. > :11:33.we will use it in other places. Bridging the gap of conservation. It
:11:34. > :11:36.wasn't a bridge too far. Top work. Normally in autumn, we have seen a
:11:37. > :11:39.lot of fantastic starling murmurations, and there is usually
:11:40. > :11:44.an incredible one quite near here at Gretna Green. I was hoping to a log
:11:45. > :11:50.off with Chris to see it, to witness the spectacle. But unfortunately,
:11:51. > :11:53.the eloping didn't happen, and neither did the spectacle! They
:11:54. > :11:58.haven't really been doing it this year. Yet. Well, they haven't been
:11:59. > :12:03.murmurations in, but they have been doing something rather interesting.
:12:04. > :12:07.Take a look at this. We are on a reserve that is also a working farm,
:12:08. > :12:10.just behind those buildings, the starlings have been hanging out.
:12:11. > :12:13.Listen to this. Normal starling sand. But then...
:12:14. > :12:27.WHISTLE What is that sound? It sounded like
:12:28. > :12:33.a curlew to me. Starlings are famed for being mimics. There is a story
:12:34. > :12:36.going way back of a starling that mimicked a referee's whistle and
:12:37. > :12:41.cause palaver at a game of football. But they will frequently
:12:42. > :12:43.mimic other birds, and after it did the curlew, the cameramen cottoned
:12:44. > :12:50.on to it, and we saw them doing this. He is a blackbird singing.
:12:51. > :13:10.It wasn't just blackbirds. They did wasn't. -- buzzard.
:13:11. > :13:21.And then the curlew again. That is the curlew.
:13:22. > :13:30.And that, unbelievably, is the starling doing a curlew. It is
:13:31. > :13:36.pretty good, isn't it? That is not unusual. Is. They have the
:13:37. > :13:40.physiological ability to do this. Not all birds can mimic those sorts
:13:41. > :13:45.of sounds or indeed the human voice, and it all comes down to the avian
:13:46. > :13:59.equivalent of the voice box. They have a particular Cyrix that can
:14:00. > :14:01.mimic various calls. There are birds that can steal food out from under
:14:02. > :14:08.the noses of other birds, because we think it is more likely that those
:14:09. > :14:12.with the greatest repertoire in terms of their songs seem to be more
:14:13. > :14:17.attractive to other birds, and those that seem longer with richer songs
:14:18. > :14:20.seem more attractive to the females. So it could be that they are
:14:21. > :14:23.practising to enhance themselves so that comes bring time they will be
:14:24. > :14:28.picked out of the bunch by the females. And once they learn a song,
:14:29. > :14:32.do they do it for ever? That is a good question. All we would know
:14:33. > :14:36.about that is from starlings being kept in captivity. Mozart had one, I
:14:37. > :14:45.can't remember if he did anything with it. But mynah birds, they have
:14:46. > :14:51.the ability to constantly repeat it. Those starlings we filmed,
:14:52. > :14:54.Martin has headed off in that direction, and he is going to delve
:14:55. > :15:08.into the mud on the train of one of Kello Brock -- Kala Caerlaverock's
:15:09. > :15:13.most interesting creatures, a prehistoric beast. Yes, and I want
:15:14. > :15:20.to tell you a story. Cast your mind back, let us go back in time to the
:15:21. > :15:27.14th of September 2004. Larry Griffin, the chief ecologist here,
:15:28. > :15:31.was standing in this very pool and what he was doing was looking for
:15:32. > :15:32.NAFTA jack toad tadpoles. But he was about to make an astonishing
:15:33. > :15:43.discovery. Fantastic! I will tell you what
:15:44. > :15:50.happened and it really is astonishing. He was doing kick
:15:51. > :15:55.sampling. You use your boot to waft water over in this case graphs. And
:15:56. > :15:59.any creatures washed over, the grass will act as a filter and the
:16:00. > :16:05.creatures are left behind. Larry looked down and on the grass were
:16:06. > :16:10.about 100 creatures he had never seen in his life. He's achieved
:16:11. > :16:17.ecologist and he knows wildlife. What were they? Here is one of them.
:16:18. > :16:24.See that? It is called a triops. What on earth is a triops? It's a
:16:25. > :16:32.prehistoric creature. It has been on planet Earth for about 360 million
:16:33. > :16:42.years. It predates dinosaurs by millions and millions of years. It
:16:43. > :16:45.is a survivor from a distant age. Triops are only known, they are
:16:46. > :16:52.terribly rare and they are only known from one Other Place in the
:16:53. > :16:56.UK, the new Forest. I am stuck! It was remarkable that he found them.
:16:57. > :17:03.What is the secret of their incredible longevity? One thing is
:17:04. > :17:09.the eggs. Their eggs are fantastically resistant to trying
:17:10. > :17:14.out and dying. They can survive incredibly high temperatures, they
:17:15. > :17:20.can survive being blown around, even being eaten and defecated, they are
:17:21. > :17:27.still viable. Triops X can still be viable and still hatch out after 27
:17:28. > :17:31.years! -- the eggs. When they do hatch out they begin to eat. They
:17:32. > :17:36.wolf down food and they grow quickly. Within two weeks they are
:17:37. > :17:42.adult sized. Look at those strange eyes they have. Very primitive. And
:17:43. > :17:52.they breathe through their feet, they are such strange creatures. And
:17:53. > :18:00.you can see that little bit on the end. They use those bits to balance
:18:01. > :18:07.in the water. When they are feeding themselves and growing, what do they
:18:08. > :18:10.feed on? Tiny creatures, daphnia. You may be studied them at school,
:18:11. > :18:15.they are in ponds everywhere and they have been around for ages. The
:18:16. > :18:21.triops get into the water and start wolfing down at the daphnia and grow
:18:22. > :18:25.and grow. But the daphnia are not defenceless. They do something
:18:26. > :18:31.extraordinary. When they smell the chemicals of the triops they produce
:18:32. > :18:35.this. A crown of thorns. See those white things? Imagine the triops
:18:36. > :18:46.trying to eat that, it would stick in its throat. The triops make the
:18:47. > :18:50.daphnia horny! Extraordinary bit of biology, predator and prey have been
:18:51. > :18:57.fighting one another, triops and daphnia for hundreds of millions of
:18:58. > :19:04.years. The triops, ladies and gentlemen, a most amazing denizen of
:19:05. > :19:08.Caerlaverock. I like triops. I used to keep them because I live near the
:19:09. > :19:12.new Forest. The trouble is, if you don't keep them separately you end
:19:13. > :19:17.up with one super one because they eat all the others. Is it the only
:19:18. > :19:25.other place you can find them in the UK? The only place. You would expect
:19:26. > :19:28.that, a lot of birds fly from one place to another, you would expect
:19:29. > :19:31.that the geese would love them, it could be that they are living in
:19:32. > :19:40.other sites and we just haven't found them. Incredible, they have
:19:41. > :19:45.been around forever. Not forever, only Diamonds Are Forever. We Must
:19:46. > :19:53.Not Think Of It As A Living Fossil. . It's that sort of body plan, that
:19:54. > :20:00.ecological niche, still working out as well as it was millions of years
:20:01. > :20:04.ago. It just goes to show that this reserve in Caerlaverock is unique.
:20:05. > :20:08.Yet it is not isolated, it is part of the system of reserves here all
:20:09. > :20:13.working habitat for wildlife. I went to one a couple of days ago that is
:20:14. > :20:19.just up the road. It's on the edge of the Solway Firth. A lovely
:20:20. > :20:23.Rutland area. Plenty of wildfowl judgment a lovely wetland area. We
:20:24. > :20:37.were lucky to see these rodeo skipping across the water. -- roe
:20:38. > :20:42.deer. We saw birds gorging themselves on the crops. This
:20:43. > :20:46.greenfinch on the rosehip and a male yellowhammer. We saw a lot of these
:20:47. > :20:54.little birds. This is a female. We saw tree sparrows, and linnets. Or
:20:55. > :20:58.making the most of the winter crops that have specially been planted for
:20:59. > :21:02.them. Some of you bird-watchers might get excited about this, this
:21:03. > :21:15.is the one with the yellow bill, it's very tricky to see. They nest
:21:16. > :21:21.on the moors, sometimes they will come down. They are not great
:21:22. > :21:25.looking but they are doing their job. It is interesting because all
:21:26. > :21:29.the birds are still out in the fields although many of you were
:21:30. > :21:33.last seen them in your garden. You might want to know what food they
:21:34. > :21:38.like to eat and we want to answer that question so we've been doing
:21:39. > :21:42.this experiment. A seed pie chart experiment to see which seeds they
:21:43. > :21:47.prefer at this time of the year. So we put out some flower seeds,
:21:48. > :21:51.sunflower hearts, and peanuts. This is the second part of this
:21:52. > :21:57.experiment. He reckoned that the tips would go for the peanuts. I
:21:58. > :22:10.thought the tips would take the peanuts and fly away. I thought the
:22:11. > :22:14.greenfinches would go for the husks. Because they would not need to
:22:15. > :22:32.remove the hearts, which make sense. Let's see what happened. The tips
:22:33. > :22:50.started coming in. It wasn't just bluetits. It was great tits as well.
:22:51. > :22:54.The greenfinches led me down because instead of going for the sunflower
:22:55. > :22:58.hearts they stayed and aid the complete sunflowers, even removing
:22:59. > :23:02.the husk which takes 5.5 seconds. If they had just gone for the hearts,
:23:03. > :23:09.it would only have taken 4.5 seconds. What on earth are the
:23:10. > :23:13.greenfinches doing? Let's look at the results. Surprising, as Chris
:23:14. > :23:19.said because 43% went for the sunflowers, 38% of all the birds
:23:20. > :23:25.went for the sunflower hearts and just 19% went for those protein fat
:23:26. > :23:31.rich peanuts. I like that. I like that. A I did not think you would
:23:32. > :23:37.like the bits of seed husk, they are missing are missing at a bit. Who
:23:38. > :23:42.would we point the finger at. The Goldfinger! At those naughty
:23:43. > :23:46.greenfinches. Why are they doing it? Because they are taking more time
:23:47. > :23:54.and expending more energy to remove that husk. I think it is because
:23:55. > :23:57.typically, they are fed those black sunflower seeds here at
:23:58. > :24:01.Caerlaverock. And the hearts were more expensive to buy so perhaps it
:24:02. > :24:05.is about buying the cheaper things to give them. These birds have not
:24:06. > :24:11.yet learned except for the one on the left. That one has copped on
:24:12. > :24:15.about it can get a quick fix and there is more instantly available
:24:16. > :24:19.calories in those hearts than taking all that time ticking off the husk.
:24:20. > :24:23.I'm not a gambler, not the kind of man you would find in Casino Ryle
:24:24. > :24:27.but I would say that after a couple of weeks if we carried on feeding
:24:28. > :24:32.the hearts and the sunflower seeds alongside each other, they would all
:24:33. > :24:36.be on the hearts. So the answer to the question, what do you feed your
:24:37. > :24:41.garden birds on, would be put out peanuts and sunflower hearts. There
:24:42. > :24:47.are more expensive. Axed a Mac you don't get the mess over your patio
:24:48. > :24:53.and you don't have to prove it. You hate that. I don't mind a bit of
:24:54. > :24:58.hoovering. But if they drop it everywhere you have to clean it up
:24:59. > :25:03.because it makes a soggy mess. Amazing how many people feed their
:25:04. > :25:08.garden birds. 50% of all households in the UK feed their birds. So many
:25:09. > :25:13.of us get pleasure from watching them. However, some visitors come
:25:14. > :25:19.into our home in the autumn that some people are not so fond of. If
:25:20. > :25:23.you are an arachnophobia this will not be your favourite Autumnwatch
:25:24. > :25:30.film. If you are a fan of spiders, like Nick Baker, you are in for a
:25:31. > :25:34.treat! Autumn for me is the time. It is. They festooned gardens and
:25:35. > :25:39.hedges with silky webs and invade our houses. You might find them in
:25:40. > :25:42.the bath tub or the kitchen sink. Why are there so many around at this
:25:43. > :25:46.time of year and what are they up to? Let's start with the one that
:25:47. > :25:52.makes the biggest web, often right on your doorstep. Whilst this is not
:25:53. > :25:57.the most common species, it is one of the most obvious, because the
:25:58. > :26:01.females at that time of year are a bit bigger -- at this time of year.
:26:02. > :26:09.This is a Garden orb spider. They feed on flying insects and the walls
:26:10. > :26:14.offer the perfect framework for them to build their webs. The first
:26:15. > :26:19.pieces of work others go fold lines, to work properly the web must be
:26:20. > :26:23.symmetrical so the force of prey is distributed evenly, minimising
:26:24. > :26:26.tales. So they add the radio threads, the bit that we are
:26:27. > :26:31.interested in, the bit that the spider uses this to make an
:26:32. > :26:35.effective snare is the sticky silk. That is what makes a web not only
:26:36. > :26:42.beautiful but turns it into a doily of death! Our homes don't just offer
:26:43. > :26:47.the ideal structural location, they are also the perfect place for
:26:48. > :26:53.potential prey asked Rosie flies and wasps are also attracted to our
:26:54. > :26:59.lights and warmth. -- as dozy flies and wasps are also attracted. As the
:27:00. > :27:06.tempo drops and third, many species seek shelter and the inside of our
:27:07. > :27:10.warm homes is the perfect retreat -- as the temperature drops outside. At
:27:11. > :27:17.this time of year, one in particular becomes obvious. Captain named, has
:27:18. > :27:23.spider. Look closely and you can see this as a male. I can tell because
:27:24. > :27:28.he has what looks like boxing gloves on the front of his head. They are
:27:29. > :27:32.effectively little turkey -based is full of sperm. These are the male
:27:33. > :27:40.spiders that are roaming, looking for females that will still be
:27:41. > :27:42.lurking behind the sofa or behind the TV. All these males are doing
:27:43. > :27:46.when they get stuck in the bath is, they get trapped when a looking for
:27:47. > :27:52.the females. I will leave this little fella on the steps so he can
:27:53. > :27:57.continue his quest for love. Go on. But this is a dangerous game because
:27:58. > :28:05.one of the commonest spiders in our homes actually feeds and has
:28:06. > :28:08.spiders. -- feeds on house spiders. Seller spiders, called
:28:09. > :28:20.daddy-longlegs and best known for their cobwebs. -- cellar spiders.
:28:21. > :28:24.When we turn on the heating the warm increases their metabolism and their
:28:25. > :28:30.appetite. They look flimsy but they tangle of web and fast acting venom
:28:31. > :28:34.could soon subdue a house spider. That might top autumnal domestic
:28:35. > :28:41.spider is the one whose notoriety exceeds all the others. It is the
:28:42. > :28:46.false widow spider. There are over six different species that have been
:28:47. > :28:51.recorded from the UK. Even in autumn, you might find females
:28:52. > :28:56.guarding their silky egg sacs because our centrally heated homes
:28:57. > :29:03.allow them to breed all year round. For squid spiders only arrived in
:29:04. > :29:06.Britain in the last 150 years. --. Widow spiders. Since then they have
:29:07. > :29:11.spread across the country, sometimes making headlines as they go. What's
:29:12. > :29:15.the fuzz about? Some people have been bitten by such a spider and
:29:16. > :29:20.have suffered various allergic reactions. Probably these people are
:29:21. > :29:27.allergic to spider venom. Only a handful of species have fangs tough
:29:28. > :29:32.enough to pierce human skin. So this badly named spider is no more likely
:29:33. > :29:37.to cause your harm than any other large species of spider you might
:29:38. > :29:41.find this autumn. There are 670 different species of spider in the
:29:42. > :29:44.UK and this time of year is one of the best times to watch them. And
:29:45. > :29:46.the good thing is that you don't even need to leave the house to
:29:47. > :29:59.enjoy them. I like that. That's a cheap weekend
:30:00. > :30:03.in! Ugen take the kids on a spider safari and tell them they are
:30:04. > :30:08.staying indoors! Hunt around the conservatory, behind the DVD player.
:30:09. > :30:15.Am I selling this to you? I like spiders. I am the one who has to
:30:16. > :30:22.remove them, my partner and son are quite scared. My mum says -- my son
:30:23. > :30:27.says, my mum can remove them because she is a spider China. After hearing
:30:28. > :30:32.your singing, there is still scope to expand your career! It is so
:30:33. > :30:36.mild, there are quite a few invertebrates that are still active
:30:37. > :30:45.as well. We have seen lots of spiders still spinning their webs.
:30:46. > :30:50.They are slightly incapacitated by the dew here.
:30:51. > :30:54.They are slightly incapacitated by insects which need to overwinter as
:30:55. > :30:57.They are slightly incapacitated by adults, and we know it has a
:30:58. > :31:02.terrible reputation, some people still think it strangles trees, and
:31:03. > :31:07.it doesn't. If you have Ivy in your garden, do leave it there, because
:31:08. > :31:13.those insects are reliant on it at this time of year. Hornets, wasps,
:31:14. > :31:17.flies, all those kinds of things. And these insects weren't really
:31:18. > :31:23.start to be less active until we have a frost. Let's have a look at
:31:24. > :31:29.some of your pictures. This is a shield bug, it is beautiful, still
:31:30. > :32:24.out and about. The next one is a red Admiral.
:32:25. > :32:25.out and about. The next one is a red late autumn one. So this insect will
:32:26. > :33:56.out and about. The next one is a red arrived the other day. This was a
:33:57. > :34:00.young one which has clearly not got the urge to head south yet. This
:34:01. > :34:06.again is something we are seeing an increasing amount of stock I have to
:34:07. > :34:08.tell you that in the winter of 2013/14, a swallow successfully
:34:09. > :34:15.overwintered, stayed in the UK for the entire winter in East Sussex.
:34:16. > :34:21.And last year, a couple of swallows survived overwinter on Jersey. So
:34:22. > :34:23.that begs the question, do you think the swallow that saves its energy
:34:24. > :34:29.and stays here will survive longer than the one that builds up its
:34:30. > :34:35.energy by flying huge distances? I don't. I think this is too risky
:34:36. > :34:39.strategy. But we are seeing changes in migration patterns due to climate
:34:40. > :34:45.stage. Another species called the black cap. And they used to nest in
:34:46. > :34:50.central Germany, go down through France, Spain, North Africa. A lot
:34:51. > :34:54.of them come to the UK where we are milder in the winter, and it is
:34:55. > :34:58.quicker for them to pop back in the spring, they get to the territory
:34:59. > :35:02.quicker, they are in better condition, they get better mates. So
:35:03. > :35:06.we are seeing changes in migration pattern already in our environment.
:35:07. > :35:09.It is really interesting, and if you have any unusual sightings, send
:35:10. > :35:17.them in and we will try and showed them before the end
:35:18. > :35:29.So, we know at this time of year, some birds migrate, but we know that
:35:30. > :35:33.some creatures copulate, and Martin has been all week on the island of
:35:34. > :35:39.Rum, and he wanted to see if the Stags copulate at night.
:35:40. > :35:43.Around the corner from where I spent the past two nights is a large sweep
:35:44. > :35:52.It's no cramped vehicle for me tonight.
:35:53. > :35:55.I can observe all the action right across the greens
:35:56. > :36:08.My mission is to discover whether fights like these happen at night.
:36:09. > :36:15.There are so many stags, so many hinds here in this area,
:36:16. > :36:22.we are bound to see some action here tonight.
:36:23. > :36:26.The groups of hinds - there are three distinct groups -
:36:27. > :36:29.have moved away, and the stags have gone with them.
:36:30. > :36:33.So the stags are not holding a physical territory, they are simply
:36:34. > :36:45.For all the bluster, it's the girls who are leading the boys around.
:36:46. > :36:52.The stag is following behind very closely.
:36:53. > :36:59.It's a bit far off, but is she coming into oestrus?
:37:00. > :37:01.Is this the moment I've been waiting for?
:37:02. > :37:07.I'm going to watch this very closely.
:37:08. > :37:25.Ali says that it's really hard to tell if a hind is coming
:37:26. > :37:35.And I'm no red deer expert, but I think this hind is stopping
:37:36. > :37:48.Mind you, so are the others at this time of night.
:37:49. > :38:17.OK, so we can say absolutely with certainty,
:38:18. > :38:20.they come into season at night, the hinds, and mating does occur.
:38:21. > :38:28.Which is why these males, these stags, are in attendance constantly,
:38:29. > :38:37.24 hours a day, even, and especially under the cover of darkness.
:38:38. > :38:41.There is definitely more activity now, more roaring.
:38:42. > :38:43.At last, we are going to see just how far
:38:44. > :38:49.If this is another stag, he's got to have been attracted
:38:50. > :39:17.That's a full-on fight in the darkness.
:39:18. > :39:20.Nobody knew if they did fight at night for sure,
:39:21. > :39:30.If one of them slips, that will be the end.
:39:31. > :39:40.That's the second question we have managed to answer.
:39:41. > :39:42.They fight at night, they mate at night.
:39:43. > :39:47.The rut does continue, clearly, 24 hours a day.
:39:48. > :39:52.I wish I had a glass of something to celebrate!
:39:53. > :39:59.It's been a wonderfully successful mission.
:40:00. > :40:03.We've witnessed some exceptional moments.
:40:04. > :40:05.We've revealed remarkable behaviour, and answered some of
:40:06. > :40:21.They're going to carry on doing this for days and days.
:40:22. > :40:39.Martin, well done. Not only did you manage to stay up eventually all
:40:40. > :40:45.night, but you actually find out some real science. We did, and of
:40:46. > :40:48.course we had no idea what went on and whether we would find anything
:40:49. > :40:52.out when we went up there, but it was really exciting to find that
:40:53. > :40:56.out, and we picked up the excitement from the scientists. Ali was
:40:57. > :41:00.overjoyed, and they have asked for all our thermal footage at night,
:41:01. > :41:05.because they are going to start a new project looking into what the
:41:06. > :41:12.dear do at night. Fantastic. It is good when you stay awake! I did!
:41:13. > :41:19.Anyway. That was very exciting. We have also had some thing very
:41:20. > :41:23.exciting just recently as well. One of our cameramen, Mark, went down to
:41:24. > :41:30.film these birds feeding on the berries, and this is what he saw. A
:41:31. > :41:40.hen harrier, a male hen harrier. Fabulous animal. Now, the good news
:41:41. > :41:44.is that this year in England, we had six successful nests and 18
:41:45. > :41:49.fledgling is, but it has been estimated that England could support
:41:50. > :41:56.300 pairs of hen harriers. As we said last night, five nests failed
:41:57. > :42:07.when the nests disappeared under suspicious circumstances. They were
:42:08. > :42:12.under observation by the RSPB, and let us hope that next spring brings
:42:13. > :42:18.better news for the hen harrier. It is a beautiful bird. And another
:42:19. > :42:22.bird that is, you sue them, but to get a really good site of them can
:42:23. > :42:28.be hard. It is the J, underestimated Frisbee Ooty. Look at that flash of
:42:29. > :42:40.blue-collar on the wing. This time of year they are making the most of
:42:41. > :42:48.whatever food they can catch. -- the jay is under estimated four its
:42:49. > :42:56.beauty. How many peanuts do you reckon? I think 20! Nine acorns, and
:42:57. > :43:06.they are adapted to carry them around. They can cache 11,000
:43:07. > :43:13.acorns. I think we can go not quite live, but look at this. This is what
:43:14. > :43:16.we saw just a few seconds ago. The swans in the foreground, and then in
:43:17. > :43:20.the background there, we have that badger, probably the same animal we
:43:21. > :43:26.saw earlier, still sniffing around out on that rough grassland. It is
:43:27. > :43:35.lovely to see it behind the Swans. There are 64 Swans, 88 yesterday. So
:43:36. > :43:39.the number went up from 40, then it has gone down a little as some of
:43:40. > :43:44.the move on. But fantastic to see that badger in the background. Now,
:43:45. > :43:53.you only live twice, so when an opportunity comes up, you have got
:43:54. > :43:56.to seize it. And last weekend, I was given an opportunity to take my
:43:57. > :44:02.colleague Martin here to see the world's best bird.
:44:03. > :44:15.Look at that! That is quite a slice you have got there, mate. I am going
:44:16. > :44:23.to eat it now. Not now. Over the years, I have taken you to see some
:44:24. > :44:33.pretty fine birds. Spoonbill, bittern, bearded tit. And the
:44:34. > :44:38.Harlequin duck. But today, the ultimate. All the planets have
:44:39. > :44:43.aligned in the ornithological heavens, because I am going to take
:44:44. > :44:47.you to set not the finest bird on earth in terms of the species, but
:44:48. > :45:00.the greatest bird on earth as an individual. Come on, let's go!
:45:01. > :45:06.I have brought you to see Mad Max. Mad Max? Two hours of car crash?
:45:07. > :45:22.No! Is this the best seat in the house?
:45:23. > :45:26.The best seat in the world! We've brought snacks. I can't help
:45:27. > :45:33.noticing that are a lot of tits and there, I have seen tits before, is
:45:34. > :45:41.that what we are here to see? No mate. I am not sure about the
:45:42. > :45:48.strength of this cubicle. Try to contain your excitement. It might
:45:49. > :45:50.explode. They very nervous. It is almost as if they know something is
:45:51. > :46:44.coming. Oh, yes! Fabulous! I am assuming
:46:45. > :46:59.that this is Mad Max? Can you hear all the birds? He's the master. The
:47:00. > :47:04.arena is empty. He is the Emperor. And he's an absolutely mint
:47:05. > :47:10.condition. He is six years old at least, that's really old Ross
:47:11. > :47:18.Barkley. That is why he is in such fantastic plumage. -- that is really
:47:19. > :47:23.old, for a sparrow. Orange cheek and chest. You just don't see many
:47:24. > :47:32.sparrowhawks that get into this condition. And his eyes are burning
:47:33. > :47:40.orange. I like his underpants as well. They are crispy clean! That is
:47:41. > :47:53.the best bird on planet Earth. Those legs! The killing part of that
:47:54. > :48:01.machine. Chris committee is slender. -- Chris, they'll slender. That is
:48:02. > :48:09.what makes them special, they are tiny fragile, ferocious, yet at the
:48:10. > :48:13.same time vulnerable. I sometimes CDs burrow Hawk at my bird table.
:48:14. > :48:21.You don't really see it, it's a blur and a puff of feathers. -- I
:48:22. > :48:27.sometimes see a sparrow hawk. They have a terrible beauty. It is a
:48:28. > :48:35.terrible beauty. This is the best bird I have ever seen. Really,
:48:36. > :48:54.Chris? I am not just saying that because you don't do that. And
:48:55. > :49:01.relax! SIGHING. Thank you very much for bringing me here. I don't know
:49:02. > :49:06.what to do, it's like when Armstrong got back from the moon, what did he
:49:07. > :49:12.do that weekend, have a pizza and a video? I am in the Armstrong
:49:13. > :49:17.position! Chris, are you all right I've got a first aid kit and a
:49:18. > :49:24.defibrillator or I can give you the kiss of life. Instant recovery!
:49:25. > :49:32.Martin, what can you save. It was gorgeous. Best bird ever. The great
:49:33. > :49:40.hornbill? Best bird. It was absolutely beautiful but I like a
:49:41. > :49:47.puffin. The world is not enough for Michaela Strachan! It was awesome.
:49:48. > :49:54.It was incredible. It was so, so good. Do you want to see something
:49:55. > :49:59.else incredible, this is fabulous, a creature we don't normally get to
:50:00. > :50:03.show you on Autumnwatch. The basking shark. We normally don't show it
:50:04. > :50:07.because at this time of your normally it is headed south. We
:50:08. > :50:14.don't know where they go but this is the second biggest fish in the
:50:15. > :50:17.world. At 212 metres long, weighing between five and seven tonnes. In
:50:18. > :50:22.the summer you can regularly see them around the West of Scotland.
:50:23. > :50:28.And the Irish Sea. Even down to Devon and Cornwall. You can see them
:50:29. > :50:35.when you stand on the cliffs down there. At this time of year,
:50:36. > :50:40.normally no sightings. Look at this one. Extraordinary footage. This has
:50:41. > :50:54.been sent in by Brenda Whelan, a climbing instructor at a really wild
:50:55. > :51:00.place. -- Bren Whelan. It's going to do that again. The breaching basking
:51:01. > :51:06.shark. It has rarely been seen and hardly ever been filmed. Bren Whelan
:51:07. > :51:10.saw them reaching 600 times in less than two weeks. It became so
:51:11. > :51:16.reliable that he could be addicted where they would come out of water.
:51:17. > :51:21.Really quite extraordinary footage. -- so reliable that he could predict
:51:22. > :51:30.where they could come out. Why would that animal use all that energy to
:51:31. > :51:35.propel itself out of the water? If you think of whales, they do it to
:51:36. > :51:43.get rid of parasites. Communication, maybe? It's got to be, some sort of
:51:44. > :51:48.display. The fact is that we don't know. We don't know where they go in
:51:49. > :51:52.the summer. What we must not underestimate is that these are
:51:53. > :51:56.powerful fish. When we saw them swimming slowly it is so they can
:51:57. > :52:01.demise the intake of the plankton they are eating. When they want to,
:52:02. > :52:05.they can put on a turn of speed -- they could optimise the intake. Once
:52:06. > :52:09.I sought one and they fled quickly through the water. I am not
:52:10. > :52:14.surprised that they can throw themselves out of the water, it is
:52:15. > :52:20.just why. We don't know where they go in the winter, Bren Whelan,
:52:21. > :52:27.fantastic footage, you the man with the Golden, thank you. -- you are
:52:28. > :52:34.the man with the Golden camera. You don't mean the man with the
:52:35. > :52:40.Golden... We asked you for your unusual sightings of autumn. We've
:52:41. > :52:43.got one here, they saw natterjack tadpoles on Friday, October two.
:52:44. > :52:50.What on earth were they doing? Extraordinary. Natterjack tadpoles.
:52:51. > :53:00.It has been unseasonably warm. I've won a T-shirt today. Rubbish. It is
:53:01. > :53:04.terribly hot, why do we need a fire! When is winter coming. I don't know
:53:05. > :53:11.but I know a man who does. Nick Miller at the BBC weather Centre. I
:53:12. > :53:15.don't know about winter, it feels we haven't started autumn. Things are
:53:16. > :53:20.changing now. Some things. High-pressure giving way to low
:53:21. > :53:24.pressure, the clubs off, we all thought rain today and tomorrow more
:53:25. > :53:27.wet weather. On the weekend low-pressure with rain for a time
:53:28. > :53:31.and later in the weekend and more lining up in the Atlantic. Wings
:53:32. > :53:37.gradually turning more challenging for the wildlife. But next week,
:53:38. > :53:41.even though temperatures fall a little it is still looking mild so
:53:42. > :53:46.the hedgehogs and the dormice may still be out before hibernating.
:53:47. > :53:49.Towards Iceland, cold, north-westerly wind, temperature is
:53:50. > :53:54.only coming down to what is normal so some of those would the Swans may
:53:55. > :54:00.stay put longer before heading here. -- those that Swans. Across the
:54:01. > :54:04.Baltic these are where some of the starlings will be coming from. There
:54:05. > :54:08.are strong headwinds, they may wait for a window of quietly weather
:54:09. > :54:12.before coming. Strong southerly winds sometimes bring migrant birds
:54:13. > :54:18.and moths our way, rare ones, so watch out. More changeable, wet and
:54:19. > :54:21.windy at times, drier spells bringing an increased risk of Frost,
:54:22. > :54:27.temperatures only calling to what is normal for this time of year. Bottom
:54:28. > :54:32.line, winter, not yet, autumn finery. Whatever the weather, get
:54:33. > :54:38.out there! Top advice, get out there! Our cameramen have been out
:54:39. > :54:52.there all week. This is unusual. This is a sniper. -- snipe. What is
:54:53. > :54:57.it doing? Some sort of display. It has twisted its tail around and
:54:58. > :55:04.cocked its head. Maybe it has been upset by a lapwing. I have been.
:55:05. > :55:12.Honestly. It has been watching Strictly and has decided to dance.
:55:13. > :55:17.We have been looking at the whooper Swans, look at this mute swan. The
:55:18. > :55:22.one looks as if it is water-skiing while attached to the one in the
:55:23. > :55:31.front. The first one looks like it hasn't noticed. Get off, leave me
:55:32. > :55:37.alone! Is getting a ride. It does eventually get off but that was
:55:38. > :55:42.quite comical. We've had a fabulous time, the sound of the birds all
:55:43. > :55:45.around us, huge flocks and we've met wonderful individual birds. We've
:55:46. > :55:52.been surrounded by the wildlife, literally. Lori is to seek these
:55:53. > :55:59.yellow billed Swans, so elegant -- glorious to see them. That one was
:56:00. > :56:05.not being elegant at all! And we've seen these huge flocks. The geese
:56:06. > :56:11.have been our constant companions. Even flying at night over our heads.
:56:12. > :56:17.It has been a great place to see these spectacles. I want to say a
:56:18. > :56:20.huge thank you to our hosts, the wildlife and wetland trust at
:56:21. > :56:24.Caerlaverock and their partners around Scotland. And everybody who
:56:25. > :56:27.has helped us around the country, we could not do it without you. And
:56:28. > :56:31.he'll fork watching and getting involved with photos and questions
:56:32. > :56:34.and all the stuff you have done online.
:56:35. > :56:35.and all the stuff you have done who feels sad when we are off the
:56:36. > :57:08.air, can I liked your rutting deer. Martin. I
:57:09. > :57:14.liked the dormouse, and the triops was fantastic, a living fossil. One
:57:15. > :57:17.thing is clear, there is a fantastic amount of wildlife in the British
:57:18. > :57:21.countryside and as Nick Miller said all you have to do is get out and
:57:22. > :57:22.enjoy it. That is what we would like to leave you with, the highlights
:57:23. > :59:30.along with the Live At The Apollo... ..is back.
:59:31. > :59:32.Yay! Yeah! Back for a brand-new...
:59:33. > :59:36...series...