:00:10. > :00:18.We are going live from the wilds of Dorset with these beautiful sika
:00:19. > :00:23.deer. And if you're sika cake, stick with us, because I can promise you
:00:24. > :00:31.we have a range of ingredients to whip you into a frenzy. Martin is
:00:32. > :00:34.rarely half baked, Michaela Strachan rarely has a soggy bottom. Stay with
:00:35. > :00:58.us for Autumnwatch. Hello and welcome back to
:00:59. > :01:03.Autumnwatch 2016. We're coming to you live from RSPB Arne in Dorset. A
:01:04. > :01:10.fabulous place to be. We've already had an amazing three days here. But
:01:11. > :01:15.where is Arne? You can see on the map, down on the coast, just west of
:01:16. > :01:21.Bournemouth, close to Poole Harbour. What makes this place special is it
:01:22. > :01:27.has a variety of habitats and it's surrounded by wetlands, and these
:01:28. > :01:33.attract thousands of overwintering waders at this time of year, egrets,
:01:34. > :01:37.oyster catchers, Lapwing. It makes this place is fantastic at this time
:01:38. > :01:45.of year. It's a tremendous place all round. You know what we do on our
:01:46. > :01:54.watches, we bug the place with cameras to allow us to investigate
:01:55. > :01:58.the animals. This is the deer-cam. This record is heat. You can see one
:01:59. > :02:04.of the sika deer. You can see the antlers, it's a stag, and the white
:02:05. > :02:08.is the hot part of the animal. They are rutting at this time of year, so
:02:09. > :02:13.if they get into a frenzy we will stick with them and show it live. We
:02:14. > :02:18.have been watching lots of activity out in the fields. This is the area
:02:19. > :02:22.where they have been rutting, in the fields, and every day we see them
:02:23. > :02:26.leaving when the light comes up in the morning. This is a natural
:02:27. > :02:30.behaviour. If there were predators around, but there are no natural
:02:31. > :02:34.predators here any more like wolves, but they would head off, and the
:02:35. > :02:38.males follow. This is the stag we have been watching this week.
:02:39. > :02:46.Following the females into the woods this morning. He has to do that,
:02:47. > :02:49.sticking with them through the night and waiting for them to come into
:02:50. > :02:53.season. Lots of other males like these guys in the trees, waiting for
:02:54. > :02:58.the opportunity if it arises. Very handsome animals at this time of
:02:59. > :03:03.year. Look at the shaggy rough they have developed for the rutting
:03:04. > :03:10.season. This is an older boy, maybe his days are over, chewing the cud
:03:11. > :03:15.to see if there's an opportunity. A younger stag dressing himself up,
:03:16. > :03:22.like many species of deer do. Deliberately going through the
:03:23. > :03:29.bracken and trying to hook onto its antlers. This is the boy we have
:03:30. > :03:31.been watching. Truly is a very handsome deer. There he is with his
:03:32. > :03:42.hinds. He is extremely handsome, as you
:03:43. > :03:46.say. We will see what action we have from him. It started out beautifully
:03:47. > :03:54.this morning after a cold night, so a lot of dew around meaning Chris
:03:55. > :03:59.and I were out looking at incredible spiders webs, they were everywhere.
:04:00. > :04:05.We could see them so well because of the dew. There are about 350
:04:06. > :04:10.different species in Arne. It was glorious. It was a glorious morning.
:04:11. > :04:16.Made more so by the fact the leaves have started to turn. The green is
:04:17. > :04:18.starting to leave them. Day length and temperature control the
:04:19. > :04:27.behaviour of the plans at this time of year. When it gets to a certain
:04:28. > :04:29.level it takes out the Green pigment from the leaves. We can see the
:04:30. > :04:33.other pigments like yellow and red, looking beautiful. We have noticed
:04:34. > :04:37.the changing colours at Arne this week. It's happening and it's
:04:38. > :04:41.beautiful. What about you, how is it looking across the country? How
:04:42. > :04:49.beautiful is your leaf colour this autumn? All the details to send them
:04:50. > :04:54.to us on the website. If you're watching last night he would know
:04:55. > :04:57.Martin went out onto the shoreline with a robotic spoonbill, fitted
:04:58. > :05:06.with cameras inside. We can have a look at it now. There it is looking
:05:07. > :05:09.rather lonely out on a spit of land. We can see the cameras inside the
:05:10. > :05:13.spoonbill, and there is the view over the spit, the artificial
:05:14. > :05:23.spoonbill to the right-hand side of the screen. Earlier this morning at
:05:24. > :05:29.4:22am we achieved success. The robotic spoonbill filmed three
:05:30. > :05:36.spoonbills in action. Using that extraordinary bill to save the
:05:37. > :05:41.water. We have also seen these Brent geese, dark bellied Brent geese
:05:42. > :05:44.flying over from North Europe and Russia, and a lot of them have
:05:45. > :05:48.arrived in the last few days. It's a beautiful sight to see. The light is
:05:49. > :05:58.lovely. Migration is taking place as we
:05:59. > :06:04.speak. Indeed, migration is taking place as we speak and listen. Martin
:06:05. > :06:09.is just outside here now. I'm rather envious because he's about to
:06:10. > :06:15.explore a new way of not seeing, but hearing migration. Martin... You're
:06:16. > :06:19.quite right, Chris. I want you all to imagine that when you were
:06:20. > :06:25.sleeping last night, all of us asleep, high up in the sky,
:06:26. > :06:30.hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of birds were migrating
:06:31. > :06:35.through the night sky. A sort of air traffic constantly going all night
:06:36. > :06:41.long. Fascinating to think of that one it's all quiet. Like that Jimi
:06:42. > :06:45.Hendrix song, Night Bird Flying Centre 'S Back. Do You Know It? They
:06:46. > :06:51.Are Moving Around, Wouldn't It Be Marvellous To Find Out What Species
:06:52. > :06:59.They Were. Up there in the dark, and believe it or not, we can. I'll
:07:00. > :07:05.explain how we do it in a second. But while these birds migrating in a
:07:06. > :07:09.dark? A number of reasons. The air right now tends to be really still
:07:10. > :07:15.so they don't have to use as much energy flapping on their migration.
:07:16. > :07:20.Another very good reason too. These birds could be easy prey through the
:07:21. > :07:25.day for predators. Down here in Arne we have seen some spectacular birds
:07:26. > :07:32.of prey. These are done when, a flock of dunlin. Suddenly a bird of
:07:33. > :07:40.prey comes hammering in. Let's wind back to see if it gets anything.
:07:41. > :07:49.It does hit a dunlin which falls into the water. Can it get out? It
:07:50. > :07:56.does get up, not too badly injured. The peregrine goes up into the sky,
:07:57. > :08:02.and has another go. But it misses. The brave little dunlin has got out.
:08:03. > :08:06.The peregrine is up again. A third goal, might be going for the same
:08:07. > :08:13.dunlin that hit the water. Chasing after it. Doesn't get it though. I'm
:08:14. > :08:21.pretty certain that was a juvenile peregrine, because an adult, I don't
:08:22. > :08:32.think that dunlin would have survived. Fantastic pictures. These
:08:33. > :08:38.birds are us are avoiding predators. Inside here you can see a parabolic
:08:39. > :08:48.microphone. If I put my hand, the sound changes. If I Russell, they
:08:49. > :08:54.are very sensitive. These bales of hay are blocking out the sound from
:08:55. > :08:59.all around the microphone. Paul and Magnus from sound approach. Good
:09:00. > :09:03.evening. What we are going to do, they will try tonight to record
:09:04. > :09:07.whatever comes from the microphone into this recording device. They
:09:08. > :09:13.will record what happens during the show. The birds whizzing above us,
:09:14. > :09:18.we hope during the programme, and Magnus will tell us what actually
:09:19. > :09:21.has flown by. We will retire and keep really quiet now while they
:09:22. > :09:27.start recording and when we come back we will see what we've got.
:09:28. > :09:33.Goodbye for now. It would be amazing to see what Martin can hear flying
:09:34. > :09:39.overhead. For most mammals, autumn isn't the ideal time of the year to
:09:40. > :09:44.start giving birth. The days are colder and shorter. The nights are
:09:45. > :09:53.long and it gets very stormy by the sea. But in autumn, grey seals start
:09:54. > :09:57.to pup. Plenty of colonies around the coastline but they don't.
:09:58. > :10:01.Pupping at the same time. They stagger around the coast. -- they
:10:02. > :10:08.don't start pupping at the same time. The Isles of Scilly in
:10:09. > :10:13.Cornwall, the first pup was seen in late August. It then fans across the
:10:14. > :10:21.country, along the coast of Scotland to the west and then down the other
:10:22. > :10:27.side in Northumberland. The last pups will be born on the east coast.
:10:28. > :10:31.Yesterday they saw their first bug in Lincolnshire and they are still
:10:32. > :10:35.waiting for the first in Norfolk. By the end of the week we should have
:10:36. > :10:42.quite a few seal pups around the coastline. It's very unpredictable
:10:43. > :10:47.weather at this time of year. So if you are going to start a family in
:10:48. > :10:48.autumn, then inevitably there are going to be some casualties, as I
:10:49. > :10:55.found out. Grey seals have one of the shortest
:10:56. > :11:02.periods of parental care of any mammal. Mothers abandon their pups
:11:03. > :11:07.after only 17 or 18 days and they are left to fend for themselves,
:11:08. > :11:11.sometimes in harsh weather. Not surprisingly, some of these find
:11:12. > :11:19.themselves in trouble. But for some of them, a lifeline. RSPCA West
:11:20. > :11:26.Hatch looks after all sorts of animals but this is the time of year
:11:27. > :11:36.when they get inundated with grey seal pups. This is Shredder, barely
:11:37. > :11:42.three weeks old. They named their rescued seal pups on a theme, and
:11:43. > :11:50.they have chosen 80s and 90s cartoons. They have chosen Ninja
:11:51. > :11:55.Turtles for this one. Shredder was rescued after she was washed into an
:11:56. > :12:03.area where it was difficult for her to get back to her mother or to the
:12:04. > :12:08.shore. She will have been fed exclusively on high-fat breast milk
:12:09. > :12:13.putting on two kilos per day. The crucial days they have with their
:12:14. > :12:19.mothers is about piling on as much blubber as they can. Shredder is a
:12:20. > :12:26.good weight but the rescue centre staff need to keep hydrated. She's
:12:27. > :12:30.very quick. She looks happier now! Once their mother leaves them, their
:12:31. > :12:34.life jacket of blubber will be the only thing they have two provide
:12:35. > :12:38.warmth and sustenance. It's a race for them to learn to feed themselves
:12:39. > :12:46.before their reserves run out. This is the riskiest time for a youngster
:12:47. > :12:50.in the wild. In fact, as we film, two more grey seal pups arrive.
:12:51. > :13:01.Hi, Dan. Hi, how are you. Dan has driven up from Cornwall with two
:13:02. > :13:05.rescued seal pups. How old are they? Three or four weeks old. They are
:13:06. > :13:11.both quite lean so they might have struggled to feed themselves over
:13:12. > :13:18.the last week or so. Once enrolled, they will embark on a two-month back
:13:19. > :13:21.to health rehabilitation programme. They are hardy little creatures. As
:13:22. > :13:28.cute and fluffy as they are, the grey seals are tough little things.
:13:29. > :13:32.Because the pups don't know how to feed on their own, the Centre acts
:13:33. > :13:37.as a kind of seal school teaching them how to look after themselves at
:13:38. > :13:43.key stages. When they have mastered tube feeding, they are onto solids.
:13:44. > :13:46.This is Zebedee, who was rescued at just two days old with the umbilical
:13:47. > :13:58.cord still attached. More advanced is little Dougal, who
:13:59. > :14:04.was found wounded three weeks ago. She is now nearly five weeks old and
:14:05. > :14:08.learning to feed herself. She gets her fish in a shallow bowl of water
:14:09. > :14:17.so they are easier for her to handle. Once they get to about six
:14:18. > :14:24.weeks old, the pups graduate to the outside pool.
:14:25. > :14:41.She is gorgeous, isn't she? Hello! Are you waiting for your breakfast?
:14:42. > :14:51.This is Cheetara from Thundercats, she will soon go into a deeper pool.
:14:52. > :14:54.When she has reached 40, 50 kilos and is confident in the water she
:14:55. > :15:01.will be in good enough condition to be released. These are the lucky
:15:02. > :15:04.ones. Here at West Hatch, 90% of the grey seal pups rescued will be
:15:05. > :15:11.successfully returned back to the wild.
:15:12. > :15:18.I'm pleased to report that all of those adorable seal pups are doing
:15:19. > :15:22.well and hopefully they will be able to going to the wild in the not too
:15:23. > :15:27.distant future. Over the next few weeks they will be rescuing more
:15:28. > :15:33.because we have 40% of the world population around our coastline,
:15:34. > :15:37.about 150,000 seals. Important to stress that if you see a seal pup
:15:38. > :15:39.left on its own on the beat it does not necessarily mean it needs
:15:40. > :15:46.rescuing because their mothers abandon then -- on the beach. They
:15:47. > :15:56.may be perfectly all right. Breaking news, let's go to Robo spoony. Look,
:15:57. > :16:02.we have a spoonbill live on the programme! We are particularly
:16:03. > :16:08.excited about this. Only in the last four years have their numbers grown
:16:09. > :16:12.here. They are up to 60 here now in Poole Harbour, which is a large
:16:13. > :16:19.number. It is not a common sight, so getting it live on Robo spoonbill on
:16:20. > :16:25.the programme is very exciting! Robo spoony is a potential mate and they
:16:26. > :16:33.may come over and caught and even go through the main process. Let's move
:16:34. > :16:36.on! Despite the antics of some of our species, Homo sapiens, we are
:16:37. > :16:41.the most intelligent of the animals we have on the planet. There are
:16:42. > :16:44.other bright animals such as elephants, dolphins and chimpanzees
:16:45. > :16:50.but we tend to look down on things like mice. But they can be quite
:16:51. > :16:55.bright and this week we've been testing the ability of mice here in
:16:56. > :16:58.Dorset to learn a route through a maze, offering different challenges
:16:59. > :17:10.every night. Let's see how far we have got with mice in our maze.
:17:11. > :17:13.Mouse Maze two, the squeekwell. The moustermind needed two days to solve
:17:14. > :17:20.the conundrum and complete the maze. A swift rotation meant that the
:17:21. > :17:24.route was the same. Total disorientation meant that landmarks
:17:25. > :17:28.were to blame. Our Tri Nations star was soon back on track. Was it a
:17:29. > :17:35.sense of smell or did something else give him the knack? Now, right is
:17:36. > :17:48.left and left is right. Can super mouse make it just one night? Look
:17:49. > :17:55.at that, he left his mark! Love it. How did the mice get an overnight?
:17:56. > :18:01.Let's have a look. We flipped the maze, they got confused. This mouse
:18:02. > :18:11.is clearly quite bemused. In 18 seconds, the exit it choosed! How
:18:12. > :18:24.long did it take to complete it? Well, about 93 seconds and it didn't
:18:25. > :18:30.cheat it. Seven goes later. Will it get it sussed? Yes, in just about
:18:31. > :18:36.eight seconds without a fuss. Did you like my poem? That was thought
:18:37. > :18:43.up last minute, I could have made it better! It did the trick. The mice
:18:44. > :18:46.are getting in there. This isn't hard, rigorous science but it is
:18:47. > :18:51.giving us an opportunity to look at how these animals learn a route. I'm
:18:52. > :18:56.going to go off here. -- I have a graph here. The red at the bottom is
:18:57. > :19:01.the first time we let them into the maze. We see that it takes them a
:19:02. > :19:07.few attempts to get the speed down, it first takes them around 90
:19:08. > :19:11.seconds but after ten seconds it takes -- can attempt it takes them
:19:12. > :19:16.around eight seconds. Then we spun it around to see if the external
:19:17. > :19:20.cues might confuse them and here is the graft. They had to relearn the
:19:21. > :19:25.route through the maze, no doubt and it took them longer. Then, we
:19:26. > :19:29.flipped it. The Greenline shows us they were going back to basics, they
:19:30. > :19:34.had to relearn the route through the maze. But look, they learned it much
:19:35. > :19:38.more quickly than when we twisted it, when we flipped it. I would
:19:39. > :19:44.postulate that it is because they have their minds into a learning
:19:45. > :19:48.mode, these mice know that there is a maze, nuts at the end of it and
:19:49. > :19:52.they have developed a method of learning, what we call working
:19:53. > :19:59.memory, to find a way through. We know this is something that can be
:20:00. > :20:06.improved if exercised, like you learning the way to the shop, after
:20:07. > :20:09.a few tightens you get better at it, so working memory seems to be
:20:10. > :20:14.something we are improving in these animals -- a few turns. They were
:20:15. > :20:18.not just learning the maze last night, there was a bit of an
:20:19. > :20:22.altercation. Take a look. This is the mouse who has got to the nuts
:20:23. > :20:26.and he is sauntering out but another one comes in and this one clearly
:20:27. > :20:31.knows the road. It does it very quickly, bumping into the second
:20:32. > :20:36.mouse and now they are battling, having a bit of a handbag fight,
:20:37. > :20:40.chasing each other out of the maze. Not happy to be sharing it. Look
:20:41. > :20:46.what happens, this one goes out of the maze in a record six seconds.
:20:47. > :20:51.Six seconds? Six seconds, remarkable. With the adrenaline
:20:52. > :20:55.pumping it is interesting that it only made one mistake when it was
:20:56. > :20:59.being pursued by the larger mouse. Under pressure it was still
:21:00. > :21:04.remembering the route out of the maze. Here is a thing, the mice are
:21:05. > :21:14.eating up to 20 times a day meaning that they have two poo quite a few
:21:15. > :21:23.times a day. How many times do you think a mouse has a wee? 3000 times!
:21:24. > :21:29.That is because weeing is not just about getting rid of the fluid
:21:30. > :21:40.waste. That is what you are paying a license fee for, folks! Recorded
:21:41. > :21:46.mouse wee! It is really good stuff. Inside it are no fewer than 1600
:21:47. > :21:50.chemicals and they have the ability to communicate a vast range of
:21:51. > :21:56.things to the mouse and other mice. And perhaps orientation is one of
:21:57. > :21:59.them. Perhaps it is leaving wee to leave a trail for when it was next
:22:00. > :22:06.coming in. Perhaps we should test that, Michaela. We are going to test
:22:07. > :22:10.the mice one step further because this is what we are going to do
:22:11. > :22:15.tonight. We are going to turn the maze vertically. Obviously that is
:22:16. > :22:20.going to challenge the mice, not just mentally, but physically as
:22:21. > :22:25.well. That's going to be really tricky for them. Don't you think?
:22:26. > :22:30.Well, I do but these mice have been doing so well when it comes to
:22:31. > :22:34.relearning the maze. We haven't cleaned it this time, we have left
:22:35. > :22:37.the wee there for them. Apps they are using sense trials on top of
:22:38. > :22:43.everything else. We will keep watching it. If we see any mice we
:22:44. > :22:47.will go to it live. We were out of this morning looking at spiders on
:22:48. > :22:53.the Heath, nearly 300 species are here but Gillian Burke has been out
:22:54. > :22:58.locally to find one of the currently's sexiest animals, one of
:22:59. > :23:08.the best spiders on earth. -- the country's sexiest.
:23:09. > :23:15.In 1980, a chance discovery was made right here. This tiny patch of land
:23:16. > :23:20.turned out to be the last refuge of eight species that was previously
:23:21. > :23:25.thought to be extinct. -- a species. Not seen in the UK since 1906, just
:23:26. > :23:34.seven individuals were found in an area the size of a tennis court. The
:23:35. > :23:37.tiny colony needed help. Thanks to heroic conservation efforts, I have
:23:38. > :23:49.a chance of meeting Britain's most elusive spider. The ladybird spider.
:23:50. > :23:53.The jewel in this heathland's round. -- Crown. Ian Hughes has dedicated
:23:54. > :23:59.the last 23 years of his life to saving this species, with his unique
:24:00. > :24:05.spider relocation programme. Hello, Ian. Hello, Gillian. Pleased to meet
:24:06. > :24:12.you. He collects individuals and moves them to form new breeding
:24:13. > :24:16.colonies. They may be one of the most distinctive UK spiders but
:24:17. > :24:21.because they spend almost their entire lives underground, they are
:24:22. > :24:26.virtually impossible to find. I'm looking for just a little bit of
:24:27. > :24:32.spider silk that will be stretched between the Moss. Hats off to Ian,
:24:33. > :24:43.this isn't very easy. Found one, Gillian. Right. OK, here we go.
:24:44. > :24:47.Gosh, that's it. Spectacular piece of work, isn't it? What is
:24:48. > :24:53.spectacular is that you found it, frankly! My goodness. You know what,
:24:54. > :25:00.respect to this man, respect. Thank you. That isn't easy defined. This
:25:01. > :25:09.is a large spider 's web so almost certainly a large female. Is that
:25:10. > :25:12.part of it? That is the winter web. It will have sealed the web over for
:25:13. > :25:16.the winter and in the spring it kicks it off. That is why looking in
:25:17. > :25:19.the autumn is important because they are getting ready to seal themselves
:25:20. > :25:27.in and you must get to them before. Yes. To save the species Ian Hass to
:25:28. > :25:32.gently dig the spider out of the borough which could be up to 20
:25:33. > :25:37.centimetres deep. Peel off the top of the web, the comfort blanket that
:25:38. > :25:42.goes in with her. She can smell hurt silk, she knows that it is home. If
:25:43. > :25:49.she is separate from that, it is a slow process getting settled in. It
:25:50. > :25:56.is a painstaking process as each and every spider is so precious.
:25:57. > :25:59.Ian gently blows the last of the soil away. Revealing the buried
:26:00. > :26:14.treasure. So, out she comes. Oh, my... I'm
:26:15. > :26:23.going to get the pot ready. She is ready. -- she's beautiful. You know,
:26:24. > :26:27.it is so nice when things are not just as good but even better than
:26:28. > :26:35.what I was expecting. She is absolutely stunning. She is this
:26:36. > :26:44.beautiful velvety, sleek midnight blue. Oh, absolutely amazing. After
:26:45. > :26:51.20 odd years, I'm still just as excited. Amazing, isn't it? I can
:26:52. > :26:55.see why you do this. At four years old, this large female is mature and
:26:56. > :27:01.with Ian's help is going to produce the next generation. OK, I think we
:27:02. > :27:08.should put in the pot. I think she's ready. There you go, lovely.
:27:09. > :27:13.Security blanket. Back at the base, he takes the spider's vital
:27:14. > :27:17.statistics before re-homing her with the rest of her web in this bottle.
:27:18. > :27:21.She will overwinter here with the other spiders he has collected
:27:22. > :27:26.before being released into a new secret location in spring. This
:27:27. > :27:32.method has increased numbers from just seven to over 2000. But for a
:27:33. > :27:40.healthy population unique females and males. This bottle contains a
:27:41. > :27:50.mature web ladybird spider. Would you like to see him? Would I? Yes!
:27:51. > :27:59.Here we go, then. You can take over from here, Gillian, if you want. Oh,
:28:00. > :28:06.he's just absolutely amazing. He knows that he is beautiful. My first
:28:07. > :28:15.and probably only male ladybird spider. There are people who have
:28:16. > :28:20.written books about spiders of the world and have never seen this. And
:28:21. > :28:28.I'm feeling a little emotional if I'm honest because this is... The
:28:29. > :28:33.rarest site. Ladybird spiders may still be painfully rare, but with
:28:34. > :28:39.people like Ian on their side, hopefully their future is secure.
:28:40. > :28:49.What an animal! Gillian, thanks for coming in. Thanks for having me. It
:28:50. > :28:53.is fantastic, you are a bit overcome. To be honest I was taken
:28:54. > :28:57.by surprise, the emotion. I had been caught up with the filming and what
:28:58. > :29:00.needed to be done that day. The moment when Ian finally got the
:29:01. > :29:06.ladybird spider out, I was completely blindsided with what an
:29:07. > :29:10.amazing thing it was. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Before we
:29:11. > :29:15.found that, Ian had shown me this book, the world of spiders, it is
:29:16. > :29:21.the spider Bible. There is a line that he read, talking about how in
:29:22. > :29:25.1958 when the book was published, they were not sure if there were any
:29:26. > :29:36.left in the UK and he read this line which said "If anybody finds a
:29:37. > :29:42.ladybird spider before I do, I will showed no resentment!" Ian said he
:29:43. > :29:47.had never seen this kind of exclamation so it shows what kind of
:29:48. > :29:52.holy grail it was. In 1980, Peter Merritt, who I was fortunate to
:29:53. > :29:58.know, found it. What a find. And now Ian has taken over nursing the
:29:59. > :30:00.population back to health. You have been out on ani looking at other
:30:01. > :30:20.spiders and you found a beauty. The first day we were filming on
:30:21. > :30:30.Arne, the first animal eyesore, I just about to put my foot down on
:30:31. > :30:36.some heathland, walking around, and my brain couldn't compute what I was
:30:37. > :30:41.seeing, it's a taste of how special Arne is. A stunning animal.
:30:42. > :30:44.Relatively new arrivals into the UK on the south coast, but they are
:30:45. > :30:51.spreading around the Thames now as well. Doing really well. This is a
:30:52. > :30:57.spider I like very much. But a leaf into the water. This is the raft
:30:58. > :31:02.spider. This is a female, out you go. Look at that. It's quite happy
:31:03. > :31:08.to be on the water, chasing it back to the leaf. These are
:31:09. > :31:12.extraordinary. They can go under the water, they can walk on the surface
:31:13. > :31:20.and they are ferociously predators. They are. I love the diversity of
:31:21. > :31:26.spiders. This spider actually uses the water instead of a web to find
:31:27. > :31:29.its prey. It lunges out when it feels vibrations on the water and
:31:30. > :31:37.catches its prey. They are fantastic predators. They even fish, they can
:31:38. > :31:41.catch small fish and tadpoles. I had one once that was about this size,
:31:42. > :31:46.put it in an ice cream tub and fed it, I stopped it from breeding but
:31:47. > :31:50.just let it and fed it. It was a monstrous spider. Just before I
:31:51. > :31:59.could photograph it it laid some eggs and tripled up. -- shrivelled
:32:00. > :32:02.up. What a shame. You have been all along the south coast in this
:32:03. > :32:07.region. Tomorrow night we have another treat. You can guess by now
:32:08. > :32:12.that I like the underdog and tomorrow is no exception. I will be
:32:13. > :32:15.looking at bats and there will be some real surprises. You will have
:32:16. > :32:21.to wait until tomorrow to find out. A surprise worth waiting for. Thank
:32:22. > :32:25.you for coming in and sharing your spider experiences, Gillian. I'm not
:32:26. > :32:30.that envious because I have seen those ladybird spiders and they are
:32:31. > :32:36.absolutely fantastic. Nick Taylor. I don't think I've seen anything like
:32:37. > :32:41.those ladybird spiders. You could go on a spider safari. But you have to
:32:42. > :32:46.be patient because they are difficult to find. Much easier to
:32:47. > :32:51.spot the sika deer here. We have been watching them all night on the
:32:52. > :32:58.live cameras, the thermal cameras. Is that a stag or hind? I can't tell
:32:59. > :33:02.from here, the head is down and its grazing. That's what they do at this
:33:03. > :33:07.time of night. We can see clearly it's a stag now as it's turned its
:33:08. > :33:13.head. Has to be alert all the time because it's waiting to mate. As
:33:14. > :33:17.Chris said earlier, the females are only in season for around 24 hours,
:33:18. > :33:29.so it has to be extremely patient. They are very vocal deer. They make
:33:30. > :33:41.lots of noise as we are sitting here. It's a very strange sound.
:33:42. > :33:45.It's the sound they make during the rutting season. It's a screeching
:33:46. > :33:50.sound that you can hear for up to a kilometre. They also make a short,
:33:51. > :33:58.sharp alarm sound, made by both males and females. They make a dozen
:33:59. > :34:03.vocal calls. Probably one of the most vocal deer in the UK. The Stags
:34:04. > :34:10.are just making a lot of noise. They also like to dress themselves up. We
:34:11. > :34:16.caught this one on our badger-cam looking extremely resplendent. Look
:34:17. > :34:22.at that! A nice bit of leafy headgear. Looking rather majestic,
:34:23. > :34:28.not silly at all! I quite like colourful, show we males, so I think
:34:29. > :34:33.he looks great. We want a bit of action from those Stags, so we will
:34:34. > :34:37.keep an eye on them. We all love the wild life, love watching it,
:34:38. > :34:42.learning about it, listening out for it, but some people just go that
:34:43. > :34:45.extra mile. Some people are so passionate that they put their lives
:34:46. > :34:59.on hold to protect an animal they really love.
:35:00. > :35:08.This year we've only had three hen harrier nests in the whole of
:35:09. > :35:15.England. This nest just has one chick out of five eggs so the job is
:35:16. > :35:23.to make sure the chick survives until adulthood. The chick is on the
:35:24. > :35:27.RSPB reserve in a remote part of northern Cumbria. It's being watched
:35:28. > :35:33.over by a dedicated team every minute of every hour, night and day,
:35:34. > :35:38.until it sledges. My name is Steve Garnett and I'm the morning warden.
:35:39. > :35:44.My name is Olivia and I work at the reservation. I live in Cheshire but
:35:45. > :35:49.commute up here to Cumbria. Olivia and Steve form part of a team based
:35:50. > :35:53.in this hot, about one kilometre from the nest, providing an ideal
:35:54. > :36:02.spot to keep eyes and ears on the hen harriers. -- in this hut. I'm in
:36:03. > :36:06.the hut, and I will be listening for the next couple of hours. We can
:36:07. > :36:14.hear her alarm calling from here, so if there is a fox or stoat
:36:15. > :36:21.approaching then we can do something. Foxes are easily scared
:36:22. > :36:25.away. But aid stoat, is different. We could easily scared a man away.
:36:26. > :36:31.Now we have to sit in the dark and try to stay awake. Unfortunately in
:36:32. > :36:35.the UK, hen harriers are the victims of illegal persecution. They are
:36:36. > :36:42.shot, poisoned, trapped, and their nests are destroyed.
:36:43. > :36:49.This particular nest faces a number of extra challenges. First, it's
:36:50. > :36:54.late in the year and there is less natural food available. On top of
:36:55. > :36:59.this, the mail is inexperienced and often disappears, leaving the female
:37:00. > :37:04.to find what food there is on her own. Under normal circumstances we
:37:05. > :37:09.wouldn't bother doing supplementary feeding for the birds, we would let
:37:10. > :37:12.nature take its course. The team is taking the extraordinary step of
:37:13. > :37:24.putting out food. It's still a bit frozen. But it under here, not on my
:37:25. > :37:28.bearskin! That should defrost it. Given the fact there are only seven
:37:29. > :37:31.or eight chicks in the whole of England this year, everyone is
:37:32. > :37:49.precious. That's why we are doing the supplementary feeding.
:37:50. > :37:57.One of the biggest challenges for the harriers and their human
:37:58. > :38:02.guardians is the Cumbrian climate. You might be sitting in glorious
:38:03. > :38:07.sunshine on the decking, and half an hour later it can be absolutely
:38:08. > :38:14.throwing it down. But it's all part of the experience, I think, of being
:38:15. > :38:18.out in the wild. Obviously, Sonny is better, but it's all enjoyable in a
:38:19. > :38:24.weird sort of way. -- obviously, sunshine is better.
:38:25. > :38:29.Here we are on a beautiful sunny day, a very pleasant evening. Bring
:38:30. > :38:48.back the bad weather! The midges are unbelievable. No
:38:49. > :38:53.matter how much reply and you put on, they are trying to land in my
:38:54. > :39:02.eyes. This is giving me some relief for a little while. -- no matter how
:39:03. > :39:09.much repellent. The sunshine also brings out flies which gather around
:39:10. > :39:13.the chick. At four weeks old he is having a satellite tag fitted.
:39:14. > :39:16.Hopefully we can watch the life of this chick. They play such an
:39:17. > :39:20.integral part at the beginning of its life, it will be exciting to see
:39:21. > :39:27.where the chick goes and what it does with its life. As the season
:39:28. > :39:32.draws to a close in September, Steve reflects on the team's remarkable
:39:33. > :39:40.efforts. Just thinking, it feels like it will be a very long season.
:39:41. > :39:44.Some of us have been out here since March waiting for the birds to come
:39:45. > :39:49.in. And here we are in the first week of September and the birds are
:39:50. > :39:51.up and flying. Any day now it could be gone and it will be something of
:39:52. > :40:04.a relief, I have to admit. Knowing there's so few of them, it
:40:05. > :40:09.feels a privilege to work with such a wonderful bird and hopefully make
:40:10. > :40:17.that difference. In a few years' time we might have more numbers
:40:18. > :40:31.again. To know we have achieved that would be great satisfaction.
:40:32. > :40:37.Amazing commitment, passionate people who have become custodians of
:40:38. > :40:42.our British wildlife. Hats off to them. Particularly in those
:40:43. > :40:47.conditions with all those midges. And that was a pink T-shirt Olivia
:40:48. > :40:52.had over her head, not Bridget Jones style giant pants. They're your
:40:53. > :40:57.pants! I've seen your pants lying around hotel rooms from time to
:40:58. > :41:02.time. You have definitely not seen my pants in my hotel room, thank you
:41:03. > :41:07.very much! The good news is that the tagged hen harrier is still alive
:41:08. > :41:12.and around the North Pennines. The RSPB say that out of three nests in
:41:13. > :41:16.England, seven chicks have successfully fledged. We are waiting
:41:17. > :41:21.to hear about numbers from Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. But
:41:22. > :41:26.they have hen harriers here. I think we had to reports of them being
:41:27. > :41:31.seen. And we just heard... A lot of people tweeting about something
:41:32. > :41:32.making a noise in the background and a few seconds ago we got a shot of
:41:33. > :41:50.it. It's not too far away from here,
:41:51. > :41:54.it's still calling. It might be calling to itself now. It can hear
:41:55. > :41:59.itself being played out here and is calling back! But we do have hen
:42:00. > :42:03.harriers around here as well. We haven't seen any ourselves but we
:42:04. > :42:08.have seen a close relative, the marsh harrier. This is a young bird,
:42:09. > :42:12.one of this year's youngsters. When I was a kid and getting into birds
:42:13. > :42:18.of prey, these were migrants, a lot of them went to France, some of them
:42:19. > :42:23.went as far as North Africa. But now the UK marsh harriers often stay in
:42:24. > :42:33.the UK, as this one will probably do. They are doing well here in
:42:34. > :42:39.Poole harbour. This used to be a hotspot. This is a cormorant. They
:42:40. > :42:44.sometimes come well away from the coast and we also get birds from the
:42:45. > :42:47.continent coming to Poole harbour. I saw some swallows a couple of days
:42:48. > :42:51.ago, these look like they are bathing and feeding. You might be
:42:52. > :42:56.surprised they are still around, it's late for them to fly off on
:42:57. > :43:01.migration, but they have had a late breeding season. It's been mild with
:43:02. > :43:07.lots of insects still around. So why hurry. Put off that long flight to
:43:08. > :43:11.South Africa! They have tried for a third brood, then they have to stick
:43:12. > :43:17.around and feed them, then they have to do set off late. It has been very
:43:18. > :43:21.mild. We know there are these birds around, the tawny owl is making lots
:43:22. > :43:29.of noise. What is Martin hearing on his parabolic? We are trying to
:43:30. > :43:32.record the sound of the night flying migrant birds as they go across us
:43:33. > :43:39.live in the programme. We have been doing that for the last 25 minutes.
:43:40. > :43:46.We will see what Magnus has managed to record. Anything above us?
:43:47. > :43:53.Actually we've had 11 Red Wings. You heard it 11! May be more than that.
:43:54. > :44:05.We heard 11. We might be able to see more on the sonogram. This one came
:44:06. > :44:15.over about 15 minutes ago... I couldn't really hear it, could we do
:44:16. > :44:21.it again. BIRD CALLS. A RED WING, A REALLY INTERESTING ONE. You can even
:44:22. > :44:23.hear that noise in the middle of the city, the red Wing. That's the
:44:24. > :44:44.sound. We have other ones as well. BIRD CALLS. That is a curlew that
:44:45. > :44:49.we've heard. We've been able to point the camera into the sky here.
:44:50. > :44:56.We pointed the thermal camera into the sky. There we go, a migrating
:44:57. > :45:05.birds. We've got another migrating bird as well. That looks like a duck
:45:06. > :45:08.to me. Of course they are difficult to identify. What Magnus and Paul
:45:09. > :45:14.are doing gives us a very clear identification. There is another way
:45:15. > :45:21.of identifying these birds, not just the sound, it is these sonograms
:45:22. > :45:24.here. It is the frequency against time, the frequency of the call
:45:25. > :45:34.against time. That is an individual signature. That is a red Wing. That
:45:35. > :45:38.is the sound of the redwing. This is very sensitive. Can we see the
:45:39. > :45:45.special one, please? One of the special ones. I love computers! If
:45:46. > :45:52.you look at the top, that is very difficult to see, there is a little
:45:53. > :45:58.Zig Zag. Magnus has compared it with a clearer version. That kind of
:45:59. > :46:09.frequency, what is it we are looking at? We think that is a waxwing. A
:46:10. > :46:14.beautiful waxwing. Glorious bird. When did you record it? That was
:46:15. > :46:19.nine minutes past midnight last night. They are here, they are
:46:20. > :46:28.coming! Waxwings are coming, folks. Other things that you might hear,
:46:29. > :46:35.such as this sound. TWEETING. I couldn't hear it, could you hear it?
:46:36. > :46:40.A blackbird. That's a blackbird. You may be surprised to hear that a
:46:41. > :46:44.blackbird is a migrator re-bird. They come from Scandinavia. They
:46:45. > :46:52.move up and down the country -- migrator reet bird. It may even come
:46:53. > :46:55.from Scandinavia. Anything else? There is something super spectacular
:46:56. > :47:09.that these guys have managed to record. TWEETING AND BELL RINGS.
:47:10. > :47:19.Biao Chai, bells, and what was that? This was at 2am. -- tweeting and
:47:20. > :47:25.bells. Normally you might see seven or eight of these. The average has
:47:26. > :47:30.been eight of them. How many did you see? My friends have been recording
:47:31. > :47:37.in August and September and they heard 31 times. 31 times with this
:47:38. > :47:43.equipment. Fantastic. I must interrupt, we have live deer.
:47:44. > :47:55.Something going on with the deer. Live deer mating. Sorry to
:47:56. > :48:05.interrupt, folks. He has been repeatedly mounting her. Here we go.
:48:06. > :48:13.This is absolutely live. She is allowing him to make. You can see
:48:14. > :48:19.that she must go along with him. If she walks off, he hasn't got a
:48:20. > :48:25.chance. He'll continue walking. Live mating! I never dream we could see
:48:26. > :48:31.that. Sorry, chaps. You don't have to have this wonderful equipment.
:48:32. > :48:37.What you can do, you can just use your hands. I do this in the garden
:48:38. > :48:41.and it really helps. If you're feeling Keane, go to the garage and
:48:42. > :48:47.get a couple of chocolate boxes and you can put them on like that. I
:48:48. > :48:54.know it looks ridiculous! But you can really hear. So get out now, get
:48:55. > :48:59.out in the night, go out in the garden and listen and you can share
:49:00. > :49:03.this extraordinary night-time phenomenon and of the night-time
:49:04. > :49:08.migrating birds. Brilliant. I'm going to carry on listening.
:49:09. > :49:14.Honestly, he looks quite ridiculous but what about the mating. To get
:49:15. > :49:20.that live on the air. Picking up everything that is red-hot.
:49:21. > :49:28.Fantastic. What a splendid mail. We have had one great treat, let's go
:49:29. > :49:34.live to the Carcass Cam. I'm so excited! Look at that, sandhoppers.
:49:35. > :49:42.These are absolutely fantastic little things. They are and reports,
:49:43. > :49:45.cross stations, spending the day up to 30 centimetres down in the sand
:49:46. > :49:54.and we are coming up to feast on the carcass -- cross stations. You know
:49:55. > :50:01.what I like about them? Hold on! They have asymmetrical antennae. You
:50:02. > :50:05.can see them! That's because they are normally lying on their side and
:50:06. > :50:10.the antennae on the ground sand of the sand is shorter than the one
:50:11. > :50:13.that waves in the air. They are on the carcass because they are eating
:50:14. > :50:16.it and what's interesting is that lots of things come to eat them and
:50:17. > :50:21.we have seen other things on the carcass. At night we had a mouse,
:50:22. > :50:31.this is a wood mouse. They will eat meat. In the daytime we have had
:50:32. > :50:36.these birds, insect of all, coming down. -- insect eaters. The buzzard
:50:37. > :50:43.came back. Probably the same one. And this buzzard was here for half
:50:44. > :50:51.an hour. You can see, look at the flies. Don't laugh! This is a great
:50:52. > :50:57.resource for all sorts of animals. I never thought I'd see that. What
:50:58. > :51:03.makes me laugh, it is a bit of a contrast to bake off, they get icing
:51:04. > :51:07.sugar and we get blood and blood! And now we have had sandhoppers
:51:08. > :51:14.live. This is what people pay for! Blubber on the beach, onto birds in
:51:15. > :51:19.the City. Over to David Linde, taking us on a tour of the City
:51:20. > :51:27.which has had a wildlife makeover. Sheffield, famous for the steel
:51:28. > :51:31.industry, snooker and shopping. During the Industrial Revolution,
:51:32. > :51:34.Sheffield became a powerhouse of production and although many of the
:51:35. > :51:40.larger steel works are shut, the City makes as much money from steel
:51:41. > :51:46.today as it has ever done. I'm just over one mile away from the centre
:51:47. > :51:51.Sheffield and this is a very industrial area, full of heavy
:51:52. > :51:54.industry. You might think to yourself, there's no life here, but
:51:55. > :51:57.all you need to do is look down at the river. That river is full of
:51:58. > :52:08.life. Sheffield's rivers are its
:52:09. > :52:15.lifeblood, forming corridors as you enter the City. 40 years ago, this
:52:16. > :52:19.river was biologically dead, polluted by local industry. But
:52:20. > :52:24.things have changed, a lot of work has gone into recreated habitats,
:52:25. > :52:30.mud banks, vegetation alongside the river. We have boulders. These are
:52:31. > :52:40.all improving the habitat and boosting biodiversity. Grey wagtail,
:52:41. > :52:44.two of them. Actively feeding on insects that must be emerging from
:52:45. > :52:52.the vegetation in the water. Lovely long tail counterbalancing the body.
:52:53. > :52:57.There seems to be a lot of food for them, a sign that the rivers are now
:52:58. > :53:02.healthy. Good in vertebral numbers are crucial for the flourishing
:53:03. > :53:06.ecosystem. -- in vertebrate. You don't have to be in the middle of
:53:07. > :53:11.nowhere to seek beautiful things, just open your eyes in an urban area
:53:12. > :53:17.and you'll be surprised. And to prove it I'm going to one of
:53:18. > :53:21.Britain's smallest nature reserves. This bit of land, tucked away behind
:53:22. > :53:26.busy road and some blocks of flats is a complete gem. Just over the
:53:27. > :53:43.size of a football pitch, Sally Shelley Bank and now it is autumn
:53:44. > :53:49.time and these frogs are fattening up to go for the winter which they
:53:50. > :53:53.spent, not in hibernation, but if the sun comes out and there is food,
:53:54. > :54:04.they will emerge. Hop along, my friend. This tiny pond supports over
:54:05. > :54:09.100 frogs. And plenty of birds and butterflies, so everyone can come
:54:10. > :54:13.and enjoy. Now I'm going in search of a species that few people have
:54:14. > :54:20.ever seen. It actually lives on the fabric of Sheffield's industrial
:54:21. > :54:25.past. It looks like a spider but it actually isn't, even though it is
:54:26. > :54:29.part of the spider family. In fact it is a brand-new species of giant
:54:30. > :54:34.harvest men, not even named yet and only discovered in Sheffield in July
:54:35. > :54:39.this year. Up close they are quite different from spiders, they are not
:54:40. > :54:46.venomous and don't have the gland. In web is. And the way that they
:54:47. > :54:50.move -- the gland for spinning webs. They tend to standstill until you
:54:51. > :54:55.try and touch them and then they sprint. A couple of centimetres. You
:54:56. > :54:59.can see how this one raises itself up, arching up and balancing its
:55:00. > :55:05.body. It looks quite strange, actually. This is a trick to confuse
:55:06. > :55:12.predators as it is harder to catch a moving target. And this second pair
:55:13. > :55:18.of legs feeling around. If I was one of these harvest men, my limbs would
:55:19. > :55:23.be 14 metres long. Imagine that, walking down the high street. I
:55:24. > :55:30.would be a spectacle! And this is a spectacle, wonderful creature.
:55:31. > :55:39.So, time to rethink Sheffield. It is one of the UK's greenest cities with
:55:40. > :55:44.over 250 green spaces, healthy rivers and new species to discover.
:55:45. > :55:49.Great news for wildlife and for urban naturalists.
:55:50. > :55:55.I love it when major reclaims its space, especially a post-industrial
:55:56. > :55:59.City like that, great to see wildlife coming back in force, I
:56:00. > :56:06.say. Martin, you are coming back in force. Quieten it down, so loud! I
:56:07. > :56:10.brought one of these things as well, it all works, it helps you listen to
:56:11. > :56:17.birds in the night. There you go. Ulick like Mickey Mouse! Keep it
:56:18. > :56:20.down! -- you look like Mickey Mouse. We have been catching up with our
:56:21. > :56:26.golden eagle chick we have been watching develop. Chris helped to
:56:27. > :56:29.put a tag on it and now it has fledged. We can follow it over the
:56:30. > :56:35.next six years and we haven't asking you to suggest names for the eagle.
:56:36. > :56:38.We were inundated with amazing suggestions but we have whittled it
:56:39. > :56:47.down to the top three and we want you to vote between them. I picked
:56:48. > :56:52.my favourite and Indic is Hermione -- it is Hermione. Fantastic name.
:56:53. > :57:00.It came from Robin Smith, nine years old, and it means messenger of God.
:57:01. > :57:09.I like Freya, another goddess, gold, flying and using a cape of feathers.
:57:10. > :57:13.I'm going for Highlander. Good name. Suggested by Pat and Matthew reed
:57:14. > :57:18.who sent a note rather than the Internet. I like Thailand and the
:57:19. > :57:31.film and because "There can be only one"! -- I like Highlander. Start
:57:32. > :57:36.voting now and voting will close in 24 hours. We will tell you tomorrow
:57:37. > :57:40.who has named the golden eagle chick and you can vote on the website. I'm
:57:41. > :57:46.interested to see. Let's go to the Mouse Maze! There is a mouse in
:57:47. > :57:54.there. I think he's going to have real problems. We've run out of
:57:55. > :57:58.time, you'll have to join us and see if the mouse solves the problem.
:57:59. > :58:04.Coming up tomorrow we have a fascinating ramble down the river
:58:05. > :58:10.Wye. As well as that, Gillian Burke is going to make some of the local
:58:11. > :58:16.residents. And we are going to have some exciting news, an update on the
:58:17. > :58:24.badgers -- going to meet. Take a look at Autumnwatch In A Nutshell.
:58:25. > :58:28.And tomorrow we will be back at our usual time. If you have an
:58:29. > :58:32.opportunity tonight, put a bucket on your head, go into the garden and
:58:33. > :58:34.listen to birds! By the time you wake up in the morning, your
:58:35. > :59:05.neighbours will have had you committed! Good night!
:59:06. > :59:06.WAVES LAP, WIND ROARS
:59:07. > :59:09.BIRDS SING, CRICKETS CHIRP