Autumnwatch Day Four Autumnwatch

Autumn is clinging on by her fingertips,

At last we can reveal the best bird in the country.

We reveal an ingenious way to save the nation's cutest creature.

And some incredible behaviour from one of our ocean giants.

And I'm on the trail of a prehistoric monster.

Watch out - it's Autumnwatch!

Hello and welcome to Autumnwatch 2015. It is our last programme. We

have had a great week, thousands of geese, live badgers, and later in

the programme, the world's finest bird. But we haven't just been here

at the reserve, we have been spreading ourselves through the

environment and into the local town of Dumfries. Last night, our

cameraman took in a firework display and got distracted, but then he was

back on the job and he found this, hedgehog in a local park. It is the

first time we have seen a hedgehog on a thermal camera, and this is

interesting. It has no spines on its belly, so when it walks across the

grass, it leaves a heat trail behind it. You might be worried about the

hedgehog out at this time of year, but it is still very mild, so this

animal is no doubt at and about trying to find a few last slugs and

snails to put a bit more fat on before it finally gets round to

hibernating stop so if you do still see hedgehogs in your garden, don't

worry yet. Having said that, some of the might of snuggle down in

bonfires already, so if you are having a bonfire party over the

weekend, do check the bonfire before you liked it, really important for

the hedgehogs. Now, guess what we saw this -

Sunshine! The first time all week, I think, we have had such a beautiful

sunrise. The starlings looked stunning on the wires looking so

good in the light. All of the birds looked gorgeous in the rich colours.

Whooper Swans, absolutely glorious. If Sir Peter Scott was still alive,

he would be drawing that. He would be painting away. But it didn't

last, the clouds came and so did the rain. This is the rain on

Caerlaverock over one of the hides. This is a roe deer, the rain is

great for Swans, ducks and geese, but the other birds looked

bedraggled. This blackbird is certainly enjoying the worms it

could pick up after the rain. Throughout the week, we have had

live cameras here, our mouse camera in the barn, but we have also had a

thermal camera active night, and this is what we saw just before the

programme started. It might be difficult to identify given that it

is in reverse colours, but that is a barn owl. We have seen it over the

farmyard, that it is out there quartering the fields. Lots of rough

grassland, which is what it needs to find its prey, and in fact we can

cut from this, recorded just before the show, and we can go live to it

now. It is on a fence post there. These animals are listening as well

as just looking for their prey, and if it comes any closer, we will cut

back to it live again. Tonight we are going to be talking about how

different creatures prepare for the winter which is just around the

corner. A lot of animals stock up for the winter, some will hibernate,

others will decide to leave the cold behind and head south to a warmer

climate. What would you do, Chris? I am not a hibernate. I find it hard

enough to sleep as it is. I would be a migrator. I would migrate south to

a warmer climate. Sometimes conservation doesn't get it right.

If it did, there would be a lot more of some species around than there

are. Sometimes we have to have a second go and work at a project

until we get it right, and that is something I greatly admire, so I was

very pleased a few weeks ago to take a look at the project which is

definitely going to improve things for one of the ten's most

charismatic rodents. I don't use this word often, but this creature

is astonishingly cute. It is the wonderful Hazel dormouse, and it has

an uphill struggle to credible ditty. If you are that good-looking,

you have to be good at something else. And it is a valuable indicator

to the health of our woodlands, and it spread seeds around. But it is

also in big trouble. Because these lovely little animals have

disappeared from no less than seven of our English counties. Primarily

due to habitat fragmentation. Woodland once covered most of

Britain, but now it is down to just 11%, and as our population

increases, so does 11%, and as our population

makes them vulnerable to predators. Agile climbers, their ankles rotate

to help them grip the branches. Their long fluffy tail helps keep

them balanced. They are also nocturnal, and here is where we have

some new insights dad. Research at Manchester Metropolitan University

has shown that dormice vibrate their whiskers in front of them to guide

their foot placement in the dark. It's known as whisking. They

All this the dormice. If it works, it is going to be worth it. Proving

that bridges can work for arboreal small mammals. It is looking good.

Misses the arm that raised the bridge. It is not exactly the golden

gate or Clifton suspension Bridge, but it is a bridge of distinction.

Is this the right time of year to be testing it? Absolutely, because that

is when numbers are highest. You have juveniles dispersing, so they

need to get out of the woodland where they have been born and use

this to expand into new areas. So this is a fantastic time. What are

the chances of it being used before we go live. This is wildlife, so who

knows? We will keep an eye on it and see who uses it, it could be used by

red squirrels, and also dormice. What a combination that would be,

red squirrel and dormice, but we left on that very rainy day, I have

to say. And we put some cameras up on the bridge. The big question was,

would anything use it, and with the dormice use it? Yes, the first of

the combination soon appeared, the red squirrel. We have the largest

English population of red squirrels on the Isle of Wight, so that didn't

surprise us. And on October 15, at 4:26am, a dormice ran across the

bridge. Look at its little feet! And back again. So I am really excited

about this, I have to say. It is fascinating to see you so excited

about acute mammal. Chris Bridge was considerably cheaper than the

others, and we proved that it is working. We have to prove that they

are crossing it repeatedly and not doing it on the ground as well. We

think they will probably be in the bridge. And then we can roll this

out every time habitat becomes fragmented, and we will be in a

better position to petition for people to spend the money now that

we know works. Top work. Is that bridge a trial, or will it be up for

ever? It is still up, and we will continue to trial it, no one imagine

we will use it in other places. Bridging the gap of conservation. It

wasn't a bridge too far. Top work. Normally in autumn, we have seen a

lot of fantastic starling murmurations, and there is usually

an incredible one quite near here at Gretna Green. I was hoping to a log

off with Chris to see it, to witness the spectacle. But unfortunately,

the eloping didn't happen, and neither did the spectacle! They

haven't really been doing it this year. Yet. Well, they haven't been

murmurations in, but they have been doing something rather interesting.

Take a look at this. We are on a reserve that is also a working farm,

just behind those buildings, the starlings have been hanging out.

Listen to this. Normal starling sand. But then...

WHISTLE What is that sound? It sounded like

a curlew to me. Starlings are famed for being mimics. There is a story

going way back of a starling that mimicked a referee's whistle and

cause palaver at a game of football. But they will frequently

mimic other birds, and after it did the curlew, the cameramen cottoned

on to it, and we saw them doing this. He is a blackbird singing.

It wasn't just blackbirds. They did wasn't. -- buzzard.

And then the curlew again. That is the curlew.

And that, unbelievably, is the starling doing a curlew. It is

pretty good, isn't it? That is not unusual. Is. They have the

physiological ability to do this. Not all birds can mimic those sorts

of sounds or indeed the human voice, and it all comes down to the avian

equivalent of the voice box. They have a particular Cyrix that can

mimic various calls. There are birds that can steal food out from under

the noses of other birds, because we think it is more likely that those

with the greatest repertoire in terms of their songs seem to be more

attractive to other birds, and those that seem longer with richer songs

seem more attractive to the females. So it could be that they are

practising to enhance themselves so that comes bring time they will be

picked out of the bunch by the females. And once they learn a song,

do they do it for ever? That is a good question. All we would know

about that is from starlings being kept in captivity. Mozart had one, I

can't remember if he did anything with it. But mynah birds, they have

the ability to constantly repeat it. Those starlings we filmed,

Martin has headed off in that direction, and he is going to delve

into the mud on the train of one of Kello Brock -- Kala Caerlaverock's

most interesting creatures, a prehistoric beast. Yes, and I want

to tell you a story. Cast your mind back, let us go back in time to the

14th of September 2004. Larry Griffin, the chief ecologist here,

was standing in this very pool and what he was doing was looking for

NAFTA jack toad tadpoles. But he was about to make an astonishing

discovery. Fantastic! I will tell you what

happened and it really is astonishing. He was doing kick

sampling. You use your boot to waft water over in this case graphs. And

any creatures washed over, the grass will act as a filter and the

creatures are left behind. Larry looked down and on the grass were

about 100 creatures he had never seen in his life. He's achieved

ecologist and he knows wildlife. What were they? Here is one of them.

See that? It is called a triops. What on earth is a triops? It's a

prehistoric creature. It has been on planet Earth for about 360 million

years. It predates dinosaurs by millions and millions of years. It

is a survivor from a distant age. Triops are only known, they are

terribly rare and they are only known from one Other Place in the

UK, the new Forest. I am stuck! It was remarkable that he found them.

What is the secret of their incredible longevity? One thing is

the eggs. Their eggs are fantastically resistant to trying

out and dying. They can survive incredibly high temperatures, they

can survive being blown around, even being eaten and defecated, they are

still viable. Triops X can still be viable and still hatch out after 27

years! -- the eggs. When they do hatch out they begin to eat. They

wolf down food and they grow quickly. Within two weeks they are

adult sized. Look at those strange eyes they have. Very primitive. And

they breathe through their feet, they are such strange creatures. And

you can see that little bit on the end. They use those bits to balance

in the water. When they are feeding themselves and growing, what do they

feed on? Tiny creatures, daphnia. You may be studied them at school,

they are in ponds everywhere and they have been around for ages. The

triops get into the water and start wolfing down at the daphnia and grow

and grow. But the daphnia are not defenceless. They do something

extraordinary. When they smell the chemicals of the triops they produce

this. A crown of thorns. See those white things? Imagine the triops

trying to eat that, it would stick in its throat. The triops make the

daphnia horny! Extraordinary bit of biology, predator and prey have been

fighting one another, triops and daphnia for hundreds of millions of

years. The triops, ladies and gentlemen, a most amazing denizen of

Caerlaverock. I like triops. I used to keep them because I live near the

new Forest. The trouble is, if you don't keep them separately you end

up with one super one because they eat all the others. Is it the only

other place you can find them in the UK? The only place. You would expect

that, a lot of birds fly from one place to another, you would expect

that the geese would love them, it could be that they are living in

other sites and we just haven't found them. Incredible, they have

been around forever. Not forever, only Diamonds Are Forever. We Must

Not Think Of It As A Living Fossil. . It's that sort of body plan, that

ecological niche, still working out as well as it was millions of years

ago. It just goes to show that this reserve in Caerlaverock is unique.

Yet it is not isolated, it is part of the system of reserves here all

working habitat for wildlife. I went to one a couple of days ago that is

just up the road. It's on the edge of the Solway Firth. A lovely

Rutland area. Plenty of wildfowl judgment a lovely wetland area. We

were lucky to see these rodeo skipping across the water. -- roe

deer. We saw birds gorging themselves on the crops. This

greenfinch on the rosehip and a male yellowhammer. We saw a lot of these

little birds. This is a female. We saw tree sparrows, and linnets. Or

making the most of the winter crops that have specially been planted for

them. Some of you bird-watchers might get excited about this, this

is the one with the yellow bill, it's very tricky to see. They nest

on the moors, sometimes they will come down. They are not great

looking but they are doing their job. It is interesting because all

the birds are still out in the fields although many of you were

last seen them in your garden. You might want to know what food they

like to eat and we want to answer that question so we've been doing

this experiment. A seed pie chart experiment to see which seeds they

prefer at this time of the year. So we put out some flower seeds,

sunflower hearts, and peanuts. This is the second part of this

experiment. He reckoned that the tips would go for the peanuts. I

thought the tips would take the peanuts and fly away. I thought the

greenfinches would go for the husks. Because they would not need to

remove the hearts, which make sense. Let's see what happened. The tips

started coming in. It wasn't just bluetits. It was great tits as well.

The greenfinches led me down because instead of going for the sunflower

hearts they stayed and aid the complete sunflowers, even removing

the husk which takes 5.5 seconds. If they had just gone for the hearts,

it would only have taken 4.5 seconds. What on earth are the

greenfinches doing? Let's look at the results. Surprising, as Chris

said because 43% went for the sunflowers, 38% of all the birds

went for the sunflower hearts and just 19% went for those protein fat

rich peanuts. I like that. I like that. A I did not think you would

like the bits of seed husk, they are missing are missing at a bit. Who

would we point the finger at. The Goldfinger! At those naughty

greenfinches. Why are they doing it? Because they are taking more time

and expending more energy to remove that husk. I think it is because

typically, they are fed those black sunflower seeds here at

Caerlaverock. And the hearts were more expensive to buy so perhaps it

is about buying the cheaper things to give them. These birds have not

yet learned except for the one on the left. That one has copped on

about it can get a quick fix and there is more instantly available

calories in those hearts than taking all that time ticking off the husk.

I'm not a gambler, not the kind of man you would find in Casino Ryle

but I would say that after a couple of weeks if we carried on feeding

the hearts and the sunflower seeds alongside each other, they would all

be on the hearts. So the answer to the question, what do you feed your

garden birds on, would be put out peanuts and sunflower hearts. There

are more expensive. Axed a Mac you don't get the mess over your patio

and you don't have to prove it. You hate that. I don't mind a bit of

hoovering. But if they drop it everywhere you have to clean it up

because it makes a soggy mess. Amazing how many people feed their

garden birds. 50% of all households in the UK feed their birds. So many

of us get pleasure from watching them. However, some visitors come

into our home in the autumn that some people are not so fond of. If

you are an arachnophobia this will not be your favourite Autumnwatch

film. If you are a fan of spiders, like Nick Baker, you are in for a

treat! Autumn for me is the time. It is. They festooned gardens and

hedges with silky webs and invade our houses. You might find them in

the bath tub or the kitchen sink. Why are there so many around at this

time of year and what are they up to? Let's start with the one that

makes the biggest web, often right on your doorstep. Whilst this is not

the most common species, it is one of the most obvious, because the

females at that time of year are a bit bigger -- at this time of year.

This is a Garden orb spider. They feed on flying insects and the walls

offer the perfect framework for them to build their webs. The first

pieces of work others go fold lines, to work properly the web must be

symmetrical so the force of prey is distributed evenly, minimising

tales. So they add the radio threads, the bit that we are

interested in, the bit that the spider uses this to make an

effective snare is the sticky silk. That is what makes a web not only

beautiful but turns it into a doily of death! Our homes don't just offer

the ideal structural location, they are also the perfect place for

potential prey asked Rosie flies and wasps are also attracted to our

lights and warmth. -- as dozy flies and wasps are also attracted. As the

tempo drops and third, many species seek shelter and the inside of our

warm homes is the perfect retreat -- as the temperature drops outside. At

this time of year, one in particular becomes obvious. Captain named, has

spider. Look closely and you can see this as a male. I can tell because

he has what looks like boxing gloves on the front of his head. They are

effectively little turkey -based is full of sperm. These are the male

spiders that are roaming, looking for females that will still be

lurking behind the sofa or behind the TV. All these males are doing

when they get stuck in the bath is, they get trapped when a looking for

the females. I will leave this little fella on the steps so he can

continue his quest for love. Go on. But this is a dangerous game because

one of the commonest spiders in our homes actually feeds and has

spiders. -- feeds on house spiders. Seller spiders, called

daddy-longlegs and best known for their cobwebs. -- cellar spiders.

When we turn on the heating the warm increases their metabolism and their

appetite. They look flimsy but they tangle of web and fast acting venom

could soon subdue a house spider. That might top autumnal domestic

spider is the one whose notoriety exceeds all the others. It is the

false widow spider. There are over six different species that have been

recorded from the UK. Even in autumn, you might find females

guarding their silky egg sacs because our centrally heated homes

allow them to breed all year round. For squid spiders only arrived in

Britain in the last 150 years. --. Widow spiders. Since then they have

spread across the country, sometimes making headlines as they go. What's

the fuzz about? Some people have been bitten by such a spider and

have suffered various allergic reactions. Probably these people are

allergic to spider venom. Only a handful of species have fangs tough

enough to pierce human skin. So this badly named spider is no more likely

to cause your harm than any other large species of spider you might

find this autumn. There are 670 different species of spider in the

UK and this time of year is one of the best times to watch them. And

the good thing is that you don't even need to leave the house to

enjoy them. I like that. That's a cheap weekend

in! Ugen take the kids on a spider safari and tell them they are

staying indoors! Hunt around the conservatory, behind the DVD player.

Am I selling this to you? I like spiders. I am the one who has to

remove them, my partner and son are quite scared. My mum says -- my son

says, my mum can remove them because she is a spider China. After hearing

your singing, there is still scope to expand your career! It is so

mild, there are quite a few invertebrates that are still active

as well. We have seen lots of spiders still spinning their webs.

They are slightly incapacitated by the dew here.

They are slightly incapacitated by insects which need to overwinter as

They are slightly incapacitated by adults, and we know it has a

terrible reputation, some people still think it strangles trees, and

it doesn't. If you have Ivy in your garden, do leave it there, because

those insects are reliant on it at this time of year. Hornets, wasps,

flies, all those kinds of things. And these insects weren't really

start to be less active until we have a frost. Let's have a look at

some of your pictures. This is a shield bug, it is beautiful, still

out and about. The next one is a red Admiral.

out and about. The next one is a red late autumn one. So this insect will

out and about. The next one is a red arrived the other day. This was a

young one which has clearly not got the urge to head south yet. This

again is something we are seeing an increasing amount of stock I have to

tell you that in the winter of 2013/14, a swallow successfully

overwintered, stayed in the UK for the entire winter in East Sussex.

And last year, a couple of swallows survived overwinter on Jersey. So

that begs the question, do you think the swallow that saves its energy

and stays here will survive longer than the one that builds up its

energy by flying huge distances? I don't. I think this is too risky

strategy. But we are seeing changes in migration patterns due to climate

stage. Another species called the black cap. And they used to nest in

central Germany, go down through France, Spain, North Africa. A lot

of them come to the UK where we are milder in the winter, and it is

quicker for them to pop back in the spring, they get to the territory

quicker, they are in better condition, they get better mates. So

we are seeing changes in migration pattern already in our environment.

It is really interesting, and if you have any unusual sightings, send

them in and we will try and showed them before the end

So, we know at this time of year, some birds migrate, but we know that

some creatures copulate, and Martin has been all week on the island of

Rum, and he wanted to see if the Stags copulate at night.

Around the corner from where I spent the past two nights is a large sweep

It's no cramped vehicle for me tonight.

I can observe all the action right across the greens

My mission is to discover whether fights like these happen at night.

There are so many stags, so many hinds here in this area,

we are bound to see some action here tonight.

The groups of hinds - there are three distinct groups -

have moved away, and the stags have gone with them.

So the stags are not holding a physical territory, they are simply

For all the bluster, it's the girls who are leading the boys around.

The stag is following behind very closely.

It's a bit far off, but is she coming into oestrus?

Is this the moment I've been waiting for?

I'm going to watch this very closely.

Ali says that it's really hard to tell if a hind is coming

And I'm no red deer expert, but I think this hind is stopping

Mind you, so are the others at this time of night.

OK, so we can say absolutely with certainty,

they come into season at night, the hinds, and mating does occur.

Which is why these males, these stags, are in attendance constantly,

24 hours a day, even, and especially under the cover of darkness.

There is definitely more activity now, more roaring.

At last, we are going to see just how far

If this is another stag, he's got to have been attracted

That's a full-on fight in the darkness.

Nobody knew if they did fight at night for sure,

If one of them slips, that will be the end.

That's the second question we have managed to answer.

They fight at night, they mate at night.

The rut does continue, clearly, 24 hours a day.

I wish I had a glass of something to celebrate!

It's been a wonderfully successful mission.

We've witnessed some exceptional moments.

We've revealed remarkable behaviour, and answered some of

They're going to carry on doing this for days and days.

Martin, well done. Not only did you manage to stay up eventually all

night, but you actually find out some real science. We did, and of

course we had no idea what went on and whether we would find anything

out when we went up there, but it was really exciting to find that

out, and we picked up the excitement from the scientists. Ali was

overjoyed, and they have asked for all our thermal footage at night,

because they are going to start a new project looking into what the

dear do at night. Fantastic. It is good when you stay awake! I did!

Anyway. That was very exciting. We have also had some thing very

exciting just recently as well. One of our cameramen, Mark, went down to

film these birds feeding on the berries, and this is what he saw. A

hen harrier, a male hen harrier. Fabulous animal. Now, the good news

is that this year in England, we had six successful nests and 18

fledgling is, but it has been estimated that England could support

300 pairs of hen harriers. As we said last night, five nests failed

when the nests disappeared under suspicious circumstances. They were

under observation by the RSPB, and let us hope that next spring brings

better news for the hen harrier. It is a beautiful bird. And another

bird that is, you sue them, but to get a really good site of them can

be hard. It is the J, underestimated Frisbee Ooty. Look at that flash of

blue-collar on the wing. This time of year they are making the most of

whatever food they can catch. -- the jay is under estimated four its

beauty. How many peanuts do you reckon? I think 20! Nine acorns, and

they are adapted to carry them around. They can cache 11,000

acorns. I think we can go not quite live, but look at this. This is what

we saw just a few seconds ago. The swans in the foreground, and then in

the background there, we have that badger, probably the same animal we

saw earlier, still sniffing around out on that rough grassland. It is

lovely to see it behind the Swans. There are 64 Swans, 88 yesterday. So

the number went up from 40, then it has gone down a little as some of

the move on. But fantastic to see that badger in the background. Now,

you only live twice, so when an opportunity comes up, you have got

to seize it. And last weekend, I was given an opportunity to take my

colleague Martin here to see the world's best bird.

Look at that! That is quite a slice you have got there, mate. I am going

to eat it now. Not now. Over the years, I have taken you to see some

pretty fine birds. Spoonbill, bittern, bearded tit. And the

Harlequin duck. But today, the ultimate. All the planets have

aligned in the ornithological heavens, because I am going to take

you to set not the finest bird on earth in terms of the species, but

the greatest bird on earth as an individual. Come on, let's go!

I have brought you to see Mad Max. Mad Max? Two hours of car crash?

No! Is this the best seat in the house?

The best seat in the world! We've brought snacks. I can't help

noticing that are a lot of tits and there, I have seen tits before, is

that what we are here to see? No mate. I am not sure about the

strength of this cubicle. Try to contain your excitement. It might

explode. They very nervous. It is almost as if they know something is

coming. Oh, yes! Fabulous! I am assuming

that this is Mad Max? Can you hear all the birds? He's the master. The

arena is empty. He is the Emperor. And he's an absolutely mint

condition. He is six years old at least, that's really old Ross

Barkley. That is why he is in such fantastic plumage. -- that is really

old, for a sparrow. Orange cheek and chest. You just don't see many

sparrowhawks that get into this condition. And his eyes are burning

orange. I like his underpants as well. They are crispy clean! That is

the best bird on planet Earth. Those legs! The killing part of that

machine. Chris committee is slender. -- Chris, they'll slender. That is

what makes them special, they are tiny fragile, ferocious, yet at the

same time vulnerable. I sometimes CDs burrow Hawk at my bird table.

You don't really see it, it's a blur and a puff of feathers. -- I

sometimes see a sparrow hawk. They have a terrible beauty. It is a

terrible beauty. This is the best bird I have ever seen. Really,

Chris? I am not just saying that because you don't do that. And

relax! SIGHING. Thank you very much for bringing me here. I don't know

what to do, it's like when Armstrong got back from the moon, what did he

do that weekend, have a pizza and a video? I am in the Armstrong

position! Chris, are you all right I've got a first aid kit and a

defibrillator or I can give you the kiss of life. Instant recovery!

Martin, what can you save. It was gorgeous. Best bird ever. The great

hornbill? Best bird. It was absolutely beautiful but I like a

puffin. The world is not enough for Michaela Strachan! It was awesome.

It was incredible. It was so, so good. Do you want to see something

else incredible, this is fabulous, a creature we don't normally get to

show you on Autumnwatch. The basking shark. We normally don't show it

because at this time of your normally it is headed south. We

don't know where they go but this is the second biggest fish in the

world. At 212 metres long, weighing between five and seven tonnes. In

the summer you can regularly see them around the West of Scotland.

And the Irish Sea. Even down to Devon and Cornwall. You can see them

when you stand on the cliffs down there. At this time of year,

normally no sightings. Look at this one. Extraordinary footage. This has

been sent in by Brenda Whelan, a climbing instructor at a really wild

place. -- Bren Whelan. It's going to do that again. The breaching basking

shark. It has rarely been seen and hardly ever been filmed. Bren Whelan

saw them reaching 600 times in less than two weeks. It became so

reliable that he could be addicted where they would come out of water.

Really quite extraordinary footage. -- so reliable that he could predict

where they could come out. Why would that animal use all that energy to

propel itself out of the water? If you think of whales, they do it to

get rid of parasites. Communication, maybe? It's got to be, some sort of

display. The fact is that we don't know. We don't know where they go in

the summer. What we must not underestimate is that these are

powerful fish. When we saw them swimming slowly it is so they can

demise the intake of the plankton they are eating. When they want to,

they can put on a turn of speed -- they could optimise the intake. Once

I sought one and they fled quickly through the water. I am not

surprised that they can throw themselves out of the water, it is

just why. We don't know where they go in the winter, Bren Whelan,

fantastic footage, you the man with the Golden, thank you. -- you are

the man with the Golden camera. You don't mean the man with the

Golden... We asked you for your unusual sightings of autumn. We've

got one here, they saw natterjack tadpoles on Friday, October two.

What on earth were they doing? Extraordinary. Natterjack tadpoles.

It has been unseasonably warm. I've won a T-shirt today. Rubbish. It is

terribly hot, why do we need a fire! When is winter coming. I don't know

but I know a man who does. Nick Miller at the BBC weather Centre. I

don't know about winter, it feels we haven't started autumn. Things are

changing now. Some things. High-pressure giving way to low

pressure, the clubs off, we all thought rain today and tomorrow more

wet weather. On the weekend low-pressure with rain for a time

and later in the weekend and more lining up in the Atlantic. Wings

gradually turning more challenging for the wildlife. But next week,

even though temperatures fall a little it is still looking mild so

the hedgehogs and the dormice may still be out before hibernating.

Towards Iceland, cold, north-westerly wind, temperature is

only coming down to what is normal so some of those would the Swans may

stay put longer before heading here. -- those that Swans. Across the

Baltic these are where some of the starlings will be coming from. There

are strong headwinds, they may wait for a window of quietly weather

before coming. Strong southerly winds sometimes bring migrant birds

and moths our way, rare ones, so watch out. More changeable, wet and

windy at times, drier spells bringing an increased risk of Frost,

temperatures only calling to what is normal for this time of year. Bottom

line, winter, not yet, autumn finery. Whatever the weather, get

out there! Top advice, get out there! Our cameramen have been out

there all week. This is unusual. This is a sniper. -- snipe. What is

it doing? Some sort of display. It has twisted its tail around and

cocked its head. Maybe it has been upset by a lapwing. I have been.

Honestly. It has been watching Strictly and has decided to dance.

We have been looking at the whooper Swans, look at this mute swan. The

one looks as if it is water-skiing while attached to the one in the

front. The first one looks like it hasn't noticed. Get off, leave me

alone! Is getting a ride. It does eventually get off but that was

quite comical. We've had a fabulous time, the sound of the birds all

around us, huge flocks and we've met wonderful individual birds. We've

been surrounded by the wildlife, literally. Lori is to seek these

yellow billed Swans, so elegant -- glorious to see them. That one was

not being elegant at all! And we've seen these huge flocks. The geese

have been our constant companions. Even flying at night over our heads.

It has been a great place to see these spectacles. I want to say a

huge thank you to our hosts, the wildlife and wetland trust at

Caerlaverock and their partners around Scotland. And everybody who

has helped us around the country, we could not do it without you. And

he'll fork watching and getting involved with photos and questions

and all the stuff you have done online.

and all the stuff you have done who feels sad when we are off the

air, can I liked your rutting deer. Martin. I

liked the dormouse, and the triops was fantastic, a living fossil. One

thing is clear, there is a fantastic amount of wildlife in the British

countryside and as Nick Miller said all you have to do is get out and

enjoy it. That is what we would like to leave you with, the highlights

along with the Live At The Apollo... ..is back.

Yay! Yeah! Back for a brand-new...

..series...