0:00:06 > 0:00:11I tell you what I want, what I really, really want, what I really,
0:00:11 > 0:00:17really want is a massive glorious dollop of fantastic autumnal natural
0:00:17 > 0:00:23history.It may be our final show but we are going to spice it up! We
0:00:23 > 0:00:31have...Batty spice.Foxy spice. Bunny spice.Old spice.
0:00:31 > 0:00:39Welcome to Autumnwatch.Zig-azig-a.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58Hello! Welcome to Autumnwatch 2017. Very sadly, the last show of the
0:00:58 > 0:01:04year. Coming to you live from the natural Trust Sherbourne Park estate
0:01:04 > 0:01:07in Gloucester. Our mission as ever is to bring you the very best of
0:01:07 > 0:01:12British wildlife throughout the course of the week and we started
0:01:12 > 0:01:18our shows with a mouse a badger, but let's go live now to a brown rat.
0:01:18 > 0:01:25Oh, yes!The tail of a brown rat even.Look, let's not diss the rat.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29It's a non-native species but we have to agree they're an important
0:01:29 > 0:01:34part of our ecosystems because so many things eat them. Foxes, owls,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39pole cats, all these other animals have become dependent upon them.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42They're not popular, they did spread the playing but it was a long time
0:01:42 > 0:01:46ago.We have to forgive them. Forgive and forget, that's what I
0:01:46 > 0:01:49say! It's not all about rats. During the day we have been watching one of
0:01:49 > 0:01:53the animals that might feed on them, our barn owls. This is the pair that
0:01:53 > 0:02:03were breeding here in springtime. They've been roosting outside.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07That's are definitely the adults. They've been spending most of their
0:02:07 > 0:02:10day ensuring their feathers are in tip-top condition for hunting at
0:02:10 > 0:02:15night. But look at that one on the left. You will see there is a small
0:02:15 > 0:02:22feather sticking out of its face. That is one of its stiff ear
0:02:22 > 0:02:23feathers that is moulting.There we go.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30I love that. I find that relaxing to watch and I love all the texture and
0:02:30 > 0:02:34colours. It's the sort of thing I would love to put up on the wall
0:02:34 > 0:02:39above my desk in the office and every time I am stressed look at it
0:02:39 > 0:02:44and the stress would disappear. Yeah!I am not selling that to you.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48In fact, it's better to go out and go for a walk as we said a couple of
0:02:48 > 0:02:51days ago. That will get rid of the stress. Let's try another one of our
0:02:51 > 0:02:55live cameras. I have to be honest we have not been successful...We just
0:02:55 > 0:03:00got a rat.Exactly, we have not been successful. Let's go to a live
0:03:00 > 0:03:05camera now. This is the garden-cam. Look at that, it's a bunch of
0:03:05 > 0:03:08apples.You say that, hold on, there is a slug on one there.How excite
0:03:08 > 0:03:15something that.That's a slug, live, on BBC Two and that's what we pay
0:03:15 > 0:03:19our licence fee for!Yeah. A slug on an apple. We can do better than
0:03:19 > 0:03:25that. We have had a lot of action on that camera. Yesterday we had a
0:03:25 > 0:03:30tawny owl. It was back last night perched on its favourite perch,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33which is the top of our camera. Interesting, then we started to
0:03:33 > 0:03:36rotate the camera and the owl took absolutely no notice. It was
0:03:36 > 0:03:47completely chilled. But this sort of reminds me of Chitty Chitty Bang
0:03:47 > 0:03:53Bang. # You would see a owl on a music box... This badger, this night
0:03:53 > 0:04:00looked like any old badger going to get some apples. But this is a
0:04:00 > 0:04:07comedy badger, Chris. Just stop and listen.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13Isn't that brilliant. That is just like someone eating an apple right
0:04:13 > 0:04:18by your ear. I find it highly irritating.Yeah. Or munching
0:04:18 > 0:04:23cornflakes first thing in the morning in a hotel sat opposite you.
0:04:23 > 0:04:29Or popcorn right next to you.
0:04:32 > 0:04:40I promise you, that was the noise it was making. Brilliant. Don't give me
0:04:40 > 0:04:43worms on apples, Chris, because a munching badger making a heck of a
0:04:43 > 0:04:48noise, that's what you pay your licence fee for!It's such a hpy
0:04:48 > 0:04:56badger.Brilliant, I love that. It's my highlight of the series.Martin.
0:04:56 > 0:05:03Chris, I am down here on the Sherbourne brook and the brook runs
0:05:03 > 0:05:07into the windrush river, very Wind in the Willows. It's beautiful here.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11It's here we have had an unexpected lot of wildlife throughout the whole
0:05:11 > 0:05:15of Autumnwatch. We have a live camera, the thermal camera looking
0:05:15 > 0:05:23up the river. Let's go live to that camera to see what we can see.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Now, you can see the birds there. Above the birds what do you think
0:05:28 > 0:05:34they are? They're bats. That's live now. We have seen something very
0:05:34 > 0:05:36interesting a few minutes ago up there.
0:05:36 > 0:05:42Here are the bats, a lot more bats. Then we saw this. An owl, a tawny
0:05:42 > 0:05:47owl, and it actually comes down and I think it's trying to hunt the
0:05:47 > 0:05:52bats. That is an amazing... I never dreamt
0:05:52 > 0:05:56that tawny owls would hunt bats live. So, there we go. The thermal
0:05:56 > 0:05:59camera reveals another bit of interesting natural history. During
0:05:59 > 0:06:08the day this brook is home to one of our most beautiful little birds.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11It's a grey wagtail. It's nearly always found in summer anyway near a
0:06:11 > 0:06:16river. You can just see it down there on the right side.
0:06:16 > 0:06:24Look at that beautiful lemon yellow bottom. Don't know why it's called
0:06:24 > 0:06:30grey wagtail, it's gorgeous. Here it is feeding. Typical behaviour.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35Actually saw them nesting down here in spring. Look at this in slow
0:06:35 > 0:06:42motion. Look at the agility. It leaps up, catching insects out of
0:06:42 > 0:06:48the air. It's lovely to see it. So graceful. A turn on a sixpence
0:06:48 > 0:06:56there. That's the grey wagtail. I am also down here, also at Sherbourne
0:06:56 > 0:07:01we have another sort of wagtail, these are less sort of exciting.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06They're more sort of black and white. But what they'll do is
0:07:06 > 0:07:11they'll migrate from here into our towns and cities. Quite often right
0:07:11 > 0:07:17in the middle of cities you might find a wagtail roost. I found one in
0:07:17 > 0:07:22the middle of Bristol. You may sometimes see a grey wagtail as well
0:07:22 > 0:07:29mixed in. Something to look out for. Let's go down...
0:07:29 > 0:07:33Most of the exciting stuff with that takes place about 20 metres from
0:07:33 > 0:07:39where I am now. Let's go live to it and see if anything's going on now.
0:07:39 > 0:07:51Anything going on? A few bats again. But it's very quiet, unlike last
0:07:51 > 0:07:54night, something very extraordinary happened there. Here we are. Same
0:07:54 > 0:08:00camera. Look at this. It's a deer, obviously. Look at that upside down
0:08:00 > 0:08:06black horseshoe on its bottom, that tells you it's a fallow deer.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Coming in there, probably having a bit of a drink. These would have
0:08:10 > 0:08:15been about 20 metres from where I am standing now, these super secretive
0:08:15 > 0:08:22deer. Lovely to see. This camera has shown us all sorts of things that we
0:08:22 > 0:08:26didn't expect down here. You can just see its legs. Remember,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30this is all in the pitch darkness. You see that deer just jump out, it
0:08:30 > 0:08:34is pitch black. How did it know where to jump? It obviously knew the
0:08:34 > 0:08:40way around. Now, earlier in the year I went to the bird fair, a big
0:08:40 > 0:08:43gathering of people interested in obviously birds and naturalists
0:08:43 > 0:08:48generally. One of my favourite bits is the art tents. They have tents
0:08:48 > 0:08:51full of artists and the way people interpret the natural world is
0:08:51 > 0:08:56fascinating. I went past one little bit of this and I was rooted to the
0:08:56 > 0:09:00spot. It was so beautiful! These delicate pictures of insects and I
0:09:00 > 0:09:04went in and got chatting to the bloke called Richard. It turned out
0:09:04 > 0:09:09we were making a film about him.
0:09:11 > 0:09:18My name's Richard Lewington and I am a wildlife illustrator, specialising
0:09:18 > 0:09:21mostly in insects, invertebrates, butterflies, moths, dragonflies and
0:09:21 > 0:09:24anything that crawls and flies, I do them.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29From an early age I used to go out with my dad looking at birds and
0:09:29 > 0:09:32butterflies and then I would immediately as soon as I got home I
0:09:32 > 0:09:37would start painting them and drawing them and sketching them.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I am Ian Lewington, I am a bird illustrator, I illustrate field
0:09:41 > 0:09:49guides. The passion for illustrating and birds was with my father from a
0:09:49 > 0:09:54young age, at four he used to take me on nature walks and I gravitated
0:09:54 > 0:09:57to birds, was inspired by my brother who was already a professional
0:09:57 > 0:10:00illustrator and I watched him and thought that seems a good job, I
0:10:00 > 0:10:05will have a go at doing that.We both do our own thing and we don't
0:10:05 > 0:10:11cross paths. I would never take on a book on birds and he would not be
0:10:11 > 0:10:17doing one on insects, I don't think. The interesting bird was first, I
0:10:17 > 0:10:21was interested in trains Wye have drawn trains, but I automatically
0:10:21 > 0:10:26wanted to draw what I was interested in.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30My earliest moment of my brother illustrating, when it was me I used
0:10:30 > 0:10:36to annoy him, he used to paint on the dining table while he was
0:10:36 > 0:10:39attempting to do something very detailed at one end of the table, I
0:10:39 > 0:10:43would be at the other end giving a little jog just to be an annoying
0:10:43 > 0:10:51younger brother.He used to irritate me and he doesn't any more.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56So you really need to see the bird in the field to produce something
0:10:56 > 0:11:00that's a good representation of the species. Just the process of
0:11:00 > 0:11:06attempting to draw something in the field makes you look a better
0:11:06 > 0:11:14observer.When I decide on a painting or illustration I usually
0:11:14 > 0:11:17try and accumulate as many references as I can. So, if I have
0:11:17 > 0:11:21caught something interesting in the moth trap, if I can take that into
0:11:21 > 0:11:28my room and paint it from life that's the best thing. To actually
0:11:28 > 0:11:33have a specimen in front of to you put under a microscope and count how
0:11:33 > 0:11:38many hairs on the tips of its antennao or whatever, it's always
0:11:38 > 0:11:45better to have that to reference. I think the basics when you are
0:11:45 > 0:11:52painting something is texture, form and colour. Using those three things
0:11:52 > 0:11:56you can really describe your subjects perfectly. If you take a
0:11:56 > 0:12:02ladybird which is shiny and almost metallic in some cases, creating
0:12:02 > 0:12:07those highlights and that form, compared to a dragonfly with its
0:12:07 > 0:12:13detailed wing formation or a moth with its dusty wings, you can kind
0:12:13 > 0:12:15of create textures and three dimensions when you are illustrating
0:12:15 > 0:12:23them. I think I have always been obsessed
0:12:23 > 0:12:29with being accurate in always and as I matured as a painter and
0:12:29 > 0:12:33illustrator and learned more about the anatomy of birds and how
0:12:33 > 0:12:38different feather tracks acted, the need to be accurate just grew. I
0:12:38 > 0:12:51think the most difficult to actually physically paint are the iridenses
0:12:51 > 0:12:55of Kingfisher, that's combining contrasts. I find birds with long
0:12:55 > 0:13:03legs and long necks the hardest to get, the formations, patterns
0:13:03 > 0:13:04around.
0:13:08 > 0:13:13My brother was certainly inspirational to me. As I grew up, I
0:13:13 > 0:13:17regarded illustrating for book publication as a normal job. Shall I
0:13:17 > 0:13:21become a policeman or a fireman or plumber or illustrator? It was
0:13:21 > 0:13:29normal. I didn't realise it was such a specialised and unique and sort of
0:13:29 > 0:13:31quite unusual occupation.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38Ian tells me I was his inspiration, but I don't know whether he is just
0:13:38 > 0:13:43saying that because he is my younger brother and he is scared of me. But
0:13:43 > 0:13:48I believe him. But he also inspires me. Some of the things I see of his
0:13:48 > 0:13:51are absolutely incredible and I couldn't do them.
0:13:51 > 0:13:59I wouldn't want to try. I don't consider myself an artist,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03because that implies some sort of imagination which I don't think I
0:14:03 > 0:14:08have any. Art is subjective, I consider myself an illustrator
0:14:08 > 0:14:12because I am trying to reproduce precisely what's there in front of
0:14:12 > 0:14:17me with nothing of me in it. I will never perfect nature. I am trying to
0:14:17 > 0:14:21get there as far as I can, but no, that's an impossibility, nature's
0:14:21 > 0:14:29perfect.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Not an artist? I beg to differ! If I had an ounce of that artistic
0:14:33 > 0:14:38talent! Extraordinary.I know, I've been looking at their work all my
0:14:38 > 0:14:42life, I've got this book, and Oldfield field guide I've got to
0:14:42 > 0:14:46butterflies of Europe which Richard illustrated. I poured through the
0:14:46 > 0:14:50first edition of this in 1981, enjoying all of his work.Fantastic
0:14:50 > 0:14:54stuff. You'll never look at and I debug the same way again the same
0:14:54 > 0:14:57way, you take the pictures for granted, so much work and effort and
0:14:57 > 0:15:01talent has gone into every single one.If you've been watching this
0:15:01 > 0:15:05week you will know we invited you to take part in an important piece of
0:15:05 > 0:15:11citizen science, sea bird watch. Sea birds are in trouble. Doing centres
0:15:11 > 0:15:16can be difficult. We asked you to go online and can sea birds on 61,000
0:15:16 > 0:15:20photographs which are posted on a website. You've done quite well. I
0:15:20 > 0:15:23was a bit disappointed last night with your endeavours but tonight I
0:15:23 > 0:15:35can champion them. 1600... 162,430 clicks. 137,068 birds have been
0:15:35 > 0:15:43performed by 16,693 people. The UK data, those photographs taken in the
0:15:43 > 0:15:49UK, is 85% complete. Overall, the whole set is now 58%. Not long to
0:15:49 > 0:16:00go. Top performers, Francis, 698 classifications. Marie Hanna: 444.
0:16:00 > 0:16:06Sue SJS 394. Let's hear it for them. Still more work to be done.
0:16:06 > 0:16:13Congratulations to this lot. Doesn't that warm the cockles of your heart.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16That is a school in Sheffield, the whole school got involved.The whole
0:16:16 > 0:16:22school?That is a teacher who loves wildlife, well done.Absolutely
0:16:22 > 0:16:28fantastic. Best of all, it's generating meaningful data. I've got
0:16:28 > 0:16:31some of that here. This has been produced from your analysis this
0:16:31 > 0:16:38week. It shows the peak of kittiwakes arriving at a colony in
0:16:38 > 0:16:43Ireland. The early part, hardly any, then they gradually arrive on the
0:16:43 > 0:16:47cliff, and leave at this time. Blue is the guillemots. During the mid
0:16:47 > 0:16:50winter period, some of the kittiwakes appear to come back to
0:16:50 > 0:16:56the economy. I wonder what they are doing that for. -- back to the
0:16:56 > 0:17:00colony. Those kittiwakes build numbers to this, the peak of the
0:17:00 > 0:17:03season, then drift off, whereas guillemots, hardly any, all of a
0:17:03 > 0:17:07sudden they are on the cliffs, all of a sudden, all gone. Same with the
0:17:07 > 0:17:13winter peak. It's this sort of data that will allow us to better inform
0:17:13 > 0:17:18our conservation efforts when it comes to these birds. 42% are left,
0:17:18 > 0:17:23come on, you can do it by the end of the week. Check out the website, BBC
0:17:23 > 0:17:24.co .uk slash Autumnwatch.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27the week. Check out the website, BBC .co .uk slash Autumnwatch.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33A lot of people are upset when the show finishes, they say it's only on
0:17:33 > 0:17:36for four nights. Tomorrow night between eight and nine, that is what
0:17:36 > 0:17:41you have to do, get on the website and click. Earlier in the week
0:17:41 > 0:17:44Gillian was in Bournemouth testing out urban foxes and their
0:17:44 > 0:17:50intelligence. She is with us tonight to give us an update.Yeah, if you
0:17:50 > 0:17:53were watching earlier in the week you would have seen we ran an
0:17:53 > 0:17:55experiment to test the problem-solving skills and
0:17:55 > 0:17:59intelligence of urban foxes. A few of them engaged with our fox box
0:17:59 > 0:18:06experiment. But there was one standout performer. Teardrop.Phase
0:18:06 > 0:18:14one... Would he even approach the experiment? Within hours, he quickly
0:18:14 > 0:18:23overcame his fear. Phase two. He learned to pull a string to get a
0:18:23 > 0:18:32tasty rewards. Again and again. Phase three, two strings, but only
0:18:32 > 0:18:42one reward. A problem he was soon solving 100% of the time.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54What do you reckon, Chris?Great stuff, wasn't it? I've been enjoying
0:18:54 > 0:18:58the work you are doing down there I have to say. Before we move on and
0:18:58 > 0:19:04we have a live fox. We can cut to it. Oh, it's just gone, it's just
0:19:04 > 0:19:09gone, isn't that the story of our lives? Let's move on. Teardrop was
0:19:09 > 0:19:16the star of the show. Why was it that particular Fox?Good question.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22Teardrop, we think, is male. A male born this spring. One of the things
0:19:22 > 0:19:27that happened at this time of year, autumn, is the sub adults start to
0:19:27 > 0:19:32disperse and leave the Natal territory. The males especially
0:19:32 > 0:19:35leave. The females sometimes stay but the males are the ones who go
0:19:35 > 0:19:41out in the world and they need to be bold and curious. These are the
0:19:41 > 0:19:44characteristics that Teardrop showed, this is why we think he was
0:19:44 > 0:19:48male and why he did so well with this experiment. The other
0:19:48 > 0:19:52interesting thing to note, none of the adult engaged with this
0:19:52 > 0:19:59experiment. You would expect adults to be set in the airways. The sub
0:19:59 > 0:20:03adults, like teenagers, will be more curious and experimental. As we
0:20:03 > 0:20:06started to build the complexity of the tests we gave Teardrop, he kept
0:20:06 > 0:20:12up. It was interesting. As we got to the final phase of the experiment,
0:20:12 > 0:20:17the Cross streams, something dogs can't do, we wondered whether
0:20:17 > 0:20:23Teardrop would cope, let's see what happened. Here is a cross string
0:20:23 > 0:20:27experiment. You see him give it ago, pulled out a string, like he's been
0:20:27 > 0:20:34doing through whole experiment, but he pulls at the wrong string. And
0:20:34 > 0:20:39doesn't get his food. He's back again. He tugs at the string, goes
0:20:39 > 0:20:45to the jamjar lead where the chicken would always be, but it isn't there.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51Then something really interesting happens. He goes past our cross, he
0:20:51 > 0:20:57bypasses the cross, and pulls at the right string, get his reward. Then
0:20:57 > 0:21:10does it again. And get his reward. Absolutely amazing. I mean, we were
0:21:10 > 0:21:15really excited by this. Because he didn't solve the experiment the way
0:21:15 > 0:21:21we thought he would. He did it his way.He used ingenuity.It's
0:21:21 > 0:21:26amazing. We watched, observed for several days after this. The more we
0:21:26 > 0:21:31watched him do this, the more we had to ask ourselves, was he actually
0:21:31 > 0:21:37learning? Let's see what happens next. Here he comes again, he has
0:21:37 > 0:21:42bypassed the cross, he's decided to do this each time. But it's not the
0:21:42 > 0:21:51right string. Here he comes again, does he get it right? Again, no, he
0:21:51 > 0:22:03doesn't. The more he tries, again, the wrong string. Really by this
0:22:03 > 0:22:07point you see he gets really frustrated with this experiment and
0:22:07 > 0:22:15trashes...I know how he feels can I get frustrated with certain computer
0:22:15 > 0:22:19games and I get frustrated and they end up on the floor when I can't get
0:22:19 > 0:22:22past level 20 seven.He had 17 attempts at this and failed 12
0:22:22 > 0:22:29times. The last nine attempts he failed eight times. So at this final
0:22:29 > 0:22:33phase of the experiment the cross strings, we had to accept it looked
0:22:33 > 0:22:38like he wasn't learning.A bridge too far. We were interested to know
0:22:38 > 0:22:44whether the Fox might be more intelligent, if you like, than the
0:22:44 > 0:22:48dog, because we know dogs can't do this. We know there is evidence from
0:22:48 > 0:22:54wild dogs that they are brighter. Dingoes are better at solving a
0:22:54 > 0:22:58second stage trial ban dogs. If you teach your dog to solve the puzzle,
0:22:58 > 0:23:04it solves it, then you enhance the puzzle so it can't solve it, instead
0:23:04 > 0:23:08of trying it, it'll turn and look to you because dogs have evolved to
0:23:08 > 0:23:13look to us to help them whereas dingoes, while in Australia, still
0:23:13 > 0:23:18have to solve it themselves. We know dogs can't use lateral thinking.
0:23:18 > 0:23:24They can learn a solution but what they can't do is use that solution
0:23:24 > 0:23:35is to creatively solve a different type of problem. Now we know.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Teardrop still has this amazing capacity to learn. What he was able
0:23:38 > 0:23:44to do was join the dots. With a straight line he could work his way
0:23:44 > 0:23:48back to the food reward but when we crossed it he couldn't build on that
0:23:48 > 0:23:57learning. Still, clever fox.Great to watch, urban foxes, beautiful.
0:23:57 > 0:24:03From urban foxes we go to a rather more peculiar life form. That can
0:24:03 > 0:24:05also make its home pretty much anywhere.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14This time of year, a walk in the woods can open the door to another
0:24:14 > 0:24:22kingdom. A kingdom of organisms that surge up from the underworld. The
0:24:22 > 0:24:30kingdom of fungi. Ruled by bizarre beings with a myriad of forms.
0:24:30 > 0:24:36Neither planned nor animal, the fungi branched out over one and a
0:24:36 > 0:24:45half billion years ago on their own. And in terms of variety, they
0:24:45 > 0:24:51outnumber plants by at least 10-1. And can be found right across the
0:24:51 > 0:24:56planet. So how have fungi infiltrated our world so
0:24:56 > 0:25:08successfully? Their secret weapon is their spores. Microscopic and in
0:25:08 > 0:25:15millions, the familiar parasol of a fungal fruiting body is actually an
0:25:15 > 0:25:19elevated launch pad. Mushrooming up from the soil to release its spores
0:25:19 > 0:25:28onto the wind. Some fungi fire their spores vertically. Whilst others,
0:25:28 > 0:25:36like both stars, use raindrops to propel their progeny into the air.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42Sting:s attract flies that carry their spores away. -- stink horns.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Spores seep and explode relentlessly through autumn in constant search
0:25:46 > 0:25:56for new areas to colonise. As they land, the spores send out feeding
0:25:56 > 0:26:03tubes. They lose a cocktail of enzymes to rot and digests
0:26:03 > 0:26:14putrefying organic matter. These grow and divide, creating a web of
0:26:14 > 0:26:22hungry fingers probing for sustenance. A living, creeping,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25recycling machine, hyphae.
0:26:28 > 0:26:34It is this a web of hyphae, not the mushrooms themselves, that form the
0:26:34 > 0:26:39mothership of the fungus. The mycelium. A living network under our
0:26:39 > 0:26:49feet. Concealed, it attaches itself to plant roots in an engulfing
0:26:49 > 0:26:54embrace, reaching out precious sugars. But in an unlikely alliance,
0:26:54 > 0:27:05the mycelium actually feeds the plant in return. Fungi trade
0:27:05 > 0:27:08nitrogen, phosphorus and water that the plants need is for energy rich
0:27:08 > 0:27:19sugar. This unique relationship is so important that 90% of our plans
0:27:19 > 0:27:25are utterly reliant on fungi for survival. By breaking down Deadwood,
0:27:25 > 0:27:31cleaning the soil, and recycling nutrients through the most intimate
0:27:31 > 0:27:40relationship with living plants, fungi are vital to life on Earth.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44Warm, wet, autumnal days are the best time to catch a glimpse of this
0:27:44 > 0:27:49overly underworld. Before the kingdom of the fungi retreats once
0:27:49 > 0:27:54more back into the earth from where it came.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Fungi are vital to life on earth yet a lot of people know so little about
0:28:02 > 0:28:07fungi. I think we need to start appreciating it. In fact this is a
0:28:07 > 0:28:13brilliant autumn to do that, it's an unusually long season for fungi,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16started early, it's still going, so you can go out in the woods and
0:28:16 > 0:28:21really enjoyed it. Many of you have and have sent photos. Let's have a
0:28:21 > 0:28:32look at them. No, this is a beefsteak fungus from wonder model.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37This is from James Emerson. Look at the texture.Wonderful, I've never
0:28:37 > 0:28:46seen those.That is your typical toadstool. You expect to have a
0:28:46 > 0:28:51little fairy sitting on the top of that. Fantastic. Get out and enjoy
0:28:51 > 0:28:54them, they are brilliant.The Cotswold fungus group have collected
0:28:54 > 0:28:58this tray we have in front of us, there is a great diversity of form.
0:28:58 > 0:29:06This is called dirty tale, a type of Brecon fungus. This is one of those
0:29:06 > 0:29:10fly agaric mushrooms. Those spots wash off in the rain. Lastly we have
0:29:10 > 0:29:15got this one, one of the sceptre species that has gone past its best.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19It is popular for people to go out and eat. We are concerned about over
0:29:19 > 0:29:24picking to eat. If you pick for your own pot it is fine but if you clean
0:29:24 > 0:29:27up entire woodlands to satisfy the restaurant trade and make pennies,
0:29:27 > 0:29:31maybe you should think twice because it'll have a negative impact on this
0:29:31 > 0:29:37fantastic group of organisms. That might be fabulous looking but this
0:29:37 > 0:29:40one is interesting.This is a honey fungus, I know it doesn't look like
0:29:40 > 0:29:47much. You find them in the UK. In Oregon, America, one was found where
0:29:47 > 0:29:51the mycelium which you saw in the film, that goes underneath the earth
0:29:51 > 0:29:59from tree to tree, spreads out, spread out 2.4 miles over an area of
0:29:59 > 0:30:053.7 square miles. And it's thought that is largest living organism on
0:30:05 > 0:30:12the planet. They think, they don't know, but they think it could be
0:30:12 > 0:30:158000 years old.Isn't that incredible? That is remarkable,
0:30:15 > 0:30:19isn't it?It doesn't look much there but that is really impressive in
0:30:19 > 0:30:24Oregon.From one extraordinary thing to another. Not Martin Hughes-Games,
0:30:24 > 0:30:30but the bat he's about to look for!
0:30:30 > 0:30:33You are quite right, I am down by the brook, trying to investigate
0:30:33 > 0:30:39bats. My mission to investigate the autumnal wildlife of Sherbourne
0:30:39 > 0:30:43continues, as Chris said we are batting. I have an extraordinary
0:30:43 > 0:30:49device here which is trying to pick up calls, it even tells us... Yes,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53it's picking up the calls of the bats behind me.It's even telling me
0:30:53 > 0:31:02what species they are.We have had three species so far. We have
0:31:02 > 0:31:06another one. Amazing. We are surrounded by bats. Let's have a
0:31:06 > 0:31:12look on the thermal camera to see if we can see the bats.
0:31:12 > 0:31:19Some in the distance. Again flitting over the water. Lots and lots of
0:31:19 > 0:31:20different species here.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28Batting is very exciting. What we did after Springwatch we managed to
0:31:28 > 0:31:34find a lesser horse
0:31:39 > 0:31:46Lesser horseshoe. Let's have a look inside a maternity roost of the
0:31:46 > 0:31:52lesser horseshoe bat. You can see there they are, quite a large group.
0:31:52 > 0:31:57It's likely these are all females. If you look really closely, where
0:31:57 > 0:32:01the wings are wrapped around the bodies there are other little wings
0:32:01 > 0:32:05there, that's because they have babies. They're all carrying babies
0:32:05 > 0:32:09close to their bodies. They're mammals so they'll be suckling those
0:32:09 > 0:32:14babies. Tiny baby bats. Twitching all the time, aren't they?
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Fascinating thing is when the bats start to grow up they stretch their
0:32:17 > 0:32:27wings and practise to fly. Of course they'll drop off if they... Mum
0:32:27 > 0:32:31holds on to them by their feet as they practise. The mother will have
0:32:31 > 0:32:36to hunt for food, she carefully makes sure the baby is attached to
0:32:36 > 0:32:43something like that beam and will then go off and start hunting. I am
0:32:43 > 0:32:48told that the little babies don't echo locating they'll have to learn.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53What a wonderful sight. That was early on in the summer when they had
0:32:53 > 0:32:59the typy babies in the maternity -- tiny babies in the maternity roost.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04As the babies started to grow up, we went back weeks later. It has got
0:33:04 > 0:33:07more crowded in there as you can see, obviously, because the babies
0:33:07 > 0:33:11are now almost indistinguishable from the adults. This is speeded up,
0:33:11 > 0:33:16but the question is how does an individual get back into the pack?
0:33:16 > 0:33:22Like penguins, it will just ease its way in there. Squeeze its way in to
0:33:22 > 0:33:26that snug warm little group. Here is a thing, if you are a bat and you
0:33:26 > 0:33:33are upside down, how do you go to the lavatory? This bat wants to have
0:33:33 > 0:33:40a poo, it's moved out of the crowd. It's a television first, folks! It's
0:33:40 > 0:33:46a lesser horseshoe bat pooing. It still feels it needs to go to the
0:33:46 > 0:33:51lavatory a bit more, a wee-wee. How does it do it? It's out of the pack.
0:33:51 > 0:33:58There it is. A lesser horseshoe bat weeing almost live on telly,
0:33:58 > 0:34:05brilliant stuff. Absolutely fascinating to go right inside the
0:34:05 > 0:34:10maternity roost. Bats change around all the time, the roost they'll
0:34:10 > 0:34:15spend in for the maternity will be different from the one they'll high
0:34:15 > 0:34:19bern Nate in later in the year. They move about, in fact the mothers will
0:34:19 > 0:34:26teach the young, the young will follow the mothers to suitable
0:34:26 > 0:34:30roosts, they learn where to go when it starts to get cold and winter
0:34:30 > 0:34:34comes. So those bats, most of them will have gone from there now but
0:34:34 > 0:34:38where are they now?
0:34:40 > 0:34:45I am about a mile away from the studio now, this is a limestone
0:34:45 > 0:34:50mine, and I wonder... Come on.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57Ow! It's pitch black in here. So we switch to infra-red light. Although
0:34:57 > 0:35:03we are licensed to enter the mine, we want to keep the disturbance to
0:35:03 > 0:35:16an absolute minimum. Oh, yes! We are in luck. There they are. A couple of
0:35:16 > 0:35:25lesser horseshoe bats. Like little hairy plums hanging on the ceiling.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29They send to stick together in family groups, but these are on
0:35:29 > 0:35:32their own so I suspect they're males and setting up a territory here.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36That's what happens, the males set up a small little territory. The
0:35:36 > 0:35:39females will fly in and will mate with one of the males or actually
0:35:39 > 0:35:45more than one of the males. Here is the fascinating thing, what makes
0:35:45 > 0:35:49that male more attractive than that male? Nobody knows. It could be that
0:35:49 > 0:35:54they produce some scent or it could be that they fly in an exciting way
0:35:54 > 0:35:58or even they kind of sing a song that the females find attractive.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03But that's what I love about science, there's always more to find
0:36:03 > 0:36:06out.
0:36:07 > 0:36:14So, we had seen a few bats. But now it was time to listen in to them as
0:36:14 > 0:36:18they began to wake up. This is absolutely fascinating.
0:36:18 > 0:36:24You can see this screen is changing all the time. That's because we have
0:36:24 > 0:36:28a microphone deep inside the cave here. It's beginning to record the
0:36:28 > 0:36:32echo location as the bats are starting to move around, it's
0:36:32 > 0:36:37getting darker, though. The echo location, you can see it happening.
0:36:37 > 0:36:47There it is, right up here. That's about 110kilohertz. Oh, look at that
0:36:47 > 0:36:52down there! That is echo location. But this
0:36:52 > 0:36:57flickering down here, that might be social calls. Bats don't just use
0:36:57 > 0:37:05sound to echo locate. They also talk to each other. Fascinating. Now,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08what sort of things might the bats be saying to each other? I have to
0:37:08 > 0:37:13tell you, this is right in the van guard of science. This is very
0:37:13 > 0:37:18actively being researched right now. It's quite difficult, it's an active
0:37:18 > 0:37:24area, we can't be definitive but with the help of Maggie Andrews and
0:37:24 > 0:37:27also Paul Hollywooden leech we think we can actually delve into the
0:37:27 > 0:37:32social world of bats. What we are going to do is play some recordings,
0:37:32 > 0:37:38they're slowed down 20 times. You are going to see a sonogram, a
0:37:38 > 0:37:42representation of that sound. First of all, we will play the sound of a
0:37:42 > 0:37:47bat just the regular echo location as a baseline. Listen to this.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56OK. So that's just the echo location. That's not what we are
0:37:56 > 0:38:01listening for. We are listening for the social calls. Listen to this
0:38:01 > 0:38:06call.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15That was recorded in our maternity roost, we recorded that and it's
0:38:15 > 0:38:20called a bellow call. Margaret told us that is an annoyed bat, angry
0:38:20 > 0:38:24aggressive sound. It could be a female saying you are standing on my
0:38:24 > 0:38:29foot or I don't like you, you are too close or clear off. That is
0:38:29 > 0:38:36undoubtedly an aggressive social call. This next one is not a
0:38:36 > 0:38:41horseshoe bat, it's and this is a distress call.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52That's a distress call. Why would a bat emit a distress call? Sometimes
0:38:52 > 0:38:57it's to warn other bats there is potentially a predator around or
0:38:57 > 0:39:01sometimes they'll get other bats to cluster around and help them. They
0:39:01 > 0:39:08can mob like birds mob a bird, a bird of prey. Also, sadly, sometimes
0:39:08 > 0:39:11a bat might get into your cold water tank and will emit the distress
0:39:11 > 0:39:15call. Other bats will join them. They'll get struck and they'll all
0:39:15 > 0:39:19die. That's a distress call. Finally, we don't know what this
0:39:19 > 0:39:23call is but we recorded it with our lesser horseshoe bats. Listen to
0:39:23 > 0:39:26this.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44Here it comes. What is that all about? Kind of
0:39:44 > 0:39:47sounds like whale song or something. This is right in the front line of
0:39:47 > 0:39:53bat research. So, probably in a few years we might be able to interpret
0:39:53 > 0:39:58that and talk bat back to bats. Fascinating stuff. Now, we are going
0:39:58 > 0:40:04to leave Sherbourne now and go up to Scotland to a beautiful but slightly
0:40:04 > 0:40:08unsettling film by cameraman Raymond Becen.
0:40:26 > 0:40:31Growing up in Orkney it was the first wild animal I learned to
0:40:31 > 0:40:38approach and photograph. I would spend hours on the cliff honing my
0:40:38 > 0:40:41film-making skills but trying to follow their graceful flight. As I
0:40:41 > 0:40:50did, I came to love these birds like no other.
0:40:50 > 0:41:02I love its heritage. Although the gull part is misleading, they are
0:41:02 > 0:41:12cousins of albatrosses. Albatrosses Their strong musky odour is
0:41:12 > 0:41:17unmistakable in the breeze. To me they're still stunning birds with
0:41:17 > 0:41:21biz around nostrils primed to catch the scent of pray across the open
0:41:21 > 0:41:29seas. -- prey. And their faithful too. They're
0:41:29 > 0:41:32wedded to one another, reaffirming bonds year after year.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Some of these pairs have been together for almost as long as I
0:41:35 > 0:41:42have been coming to these cliffs. I love listening to their courtship
0:41:42 > 0:41:50vocalisations, a mixture of cackling and chuckling calls.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55I have watched them feeding, and they'll take fish, squid, pretty
0:41:55 > 0:42:01much anything and everything is on their menu. They're real
0:42:01 > 0:42:04opportunists and over the years they've fared well alongside fishing
0:42:04 > 0:42:10vessels, following them for scraps and earning the nickname the flying
0:42:10 > 0:42:15dustbins of the ocean. This opportunism means each year the
0:42:15 > 0:42:21cliffs play host to 90,000 pairs.
0:42:22 > 0:42:28I have learned of a new relationship with humans that has serious
0:42:28 > 0:42:36side-effects. Plastic pollution. Now and then a
0:42:36 > 0:42:41dead one turns up on the shore in Orkney.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46And over the past decade I have been trying to find out more about what's
0:42:46 > 0:42:49killed my birds.
0:42:52 > 0:42:59My inquiries have led me to a doctor in the Netherlands who uses them for
0:42:59 > 0:43:04the health of the ecosystems. He tells me 93% of the North Sea have
0:43:04 > 0:43:07some form of plastic in their stomachs.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Amazingly, they can survive with what is the human equivalent of a
0:43:10 > 0:43:15lunchbox full of plastic inside them.
0:43:15 > 0:43:21Larger pieces block their stomachs, leading to starvation. Chemicals
0:43:21 > 0:43:31could also prove toxic. As well as some natural prey like
0:43:31 > 0:43:35squid beaks, the analysis shows the bird has three plastic fragments as
0:43:35 > 0:43:41well as foam in the stomach. Staggeringly, the average North Sea
0:43:41 > 0:43:46full mesh has 30 such particles, making this a relatively clean bird.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51Although it turns out that my bird didn't die from plastic in the
0:43:51 > 0:43:55stomach, it is still shocking to know that it is normal to find so
0:43:55 > 0:44:04much manmade debris inside these wild ocean wanderers.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11Back on Orkney I try to clean the local beach as much as I can. And
0:44:11 > 0:44:16whilst it can seem overwhelming with new plastic on each tide, I feel I
0:44:16 > 0:44:21have to try. It's relatively easy to clean up
0:44:21 > 0:44:24larger pieces but looking closer reveals a more difficult problem.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28Although I know there's been new legislation to reduce refuse at sea,
0:44:28 > 0:44:33the problem is that plastic doesn't so much break down as break up.
0:44:33 > 0:44:39It creates a kind of soup, tiny bits of plastic mixed in with the sand
0:44:39 > 0:44:45and organic matter, easier to see how it's mistaken for food.
0:44:45 > 0:44:52The crisis seems insurmountable but Jan told me there is hope. The
0:44:52 > 0:44:56massive plastics found now seems to be dropping in fulmers. Public
0:44:56 > 0:45:01awareness about this global issue is greater now than it's ever been but
0:45:01 > 0:45:03there is still a lot we can do as individuals to take responsibility
0:45:03 > 0:45:12for the use of our own plastic. My hope is that these Orkney fulmers
0:45:12 > 0:45:17will one day be plastic-free. For now, even small steps can help to
0:45:17 > 0:45:28making their environment a cleaner place.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33There is hope, but the problem is still shockingly bad. I mean there
0:45:33 > 0:45:37is absolutely no room for complacency. On average a dead
0:45:37 > 0:45:42fulmar in the North Sea has 30 pieces of plastic in its stomach.
0:45:42 > 0:45:490.31 g. If we scale that up to a human stomach, that is 31 grams of
0:45:49 > 0:45:56plastic. Which is that much. Imagine that in your stomach. We wouldn't
0:45:56 > 0:46:04stand a hope of surviving with that. That is average. The most found was
0:46:04 > 0:46:0820 grams and scaled up that is two kilograms of plastic. Imagine that,
0:46:08 > 0:46:17Chris. No room for complacency. This stuff takes for ever to break down.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21We're still making it come in fact since we started producing plastic
0:46:21 > 0:46:25we've produced 8.3 billion metric tonnes of non-biodegradable plastic
0:46:25 > 0:46:33and every year 8 million metric tonnes finds its way into the ocean.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36It is unjust into fulmar but albatrosses, kills chicks before
0:46:36 > 0:46:41they fledge, gets into whales and dolphins. Turtles, too. They swim
0:46:41 > 0:46:45around the sea, the plastic bag, think it's a jellyfish, eat it, they
0:46:45 > 0:46:50accumulate and it kills them. The plastics break down into
0:46:50 > 0:46:53micro-plastics and you can see how small these things are here. This is
0:46:53 > 0:46:59the head of a needle. Micro plastics are pieces of plastic smaller than
0:46:59 > 0:47:05five millimetres. Clothing fabrics washed out to sea when we wash
0:47:05 > 0:47:10clothes, paint dust, tire dust, microbeads, it all ends up there.
0:47:10 > 0:47:16Sadly it can become part of a food chain. Doctor Richard Kirby has sent
0:47:16 > 0:47:20us this. This is a mass of plankton and in amongst it you can see those
0:47:20 > 0:47:28red and blue fibres. That is plastic amongst the plankton. The plankton
0:47:28 > 0:47:33sometimes eat the plastic which is potentially fatal. Even if they pass
0:47:33 > 0:47:36it through it is a waste of energy because they are not getting
0:47:36 > 0:47:43sustenance. Even more insidiously, sometimes plastics in the sea are
0:47:43 > 0:47:47trapped, toxic chemicals stick to the plastic then get ingested and
0:47:47 > 0:47:52build-up in the body of the planktonic animals. They are tangled
0:47:52 > 0:47:59up in it. If not eating it, disabled by it. A very small fish eating a
0:47:59 > 0:48:03tiny piece of plastic. This is the bottom of the food chain. We know
0:48:03 > 0:48:08therefore plastic works its way up the food chain. Other staggering
0:48:08 > 0:48:12stats to leave you with. Every day when humpback whales feed on
0:48:12 > 0:48:18plankton they can ingest 300,000 pieces of micro-plastic. And if we
0:48:18 > 0:48:21eat fish ourselves during the course of the year we humans because we are
0:48:21 > 0:48:26at the top of the food chain can ingest 11,000 pieces of
0:48:26 > 0:48:32micro-plastic. So far there is no evidence, no scientific work being
0:48:32 > 0:48:39done, to understand what impact this has on human health.Shocking
0:48:39 > 0:48:45statistics. What can we do? We've already started to change habits.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Since the 5p thing was introduced on throwaway plastic bags in
0:48:49 > 0:48:51supermarkets we've dramatically reduced the amount of plastic bags
0:48:51 > 0:49:00we take by 83% since 2014. Fantastic.This year the government
0:49:00 > 0:49:07have declared they're planning to ban rents of micro-plastics in
0:49:07 > 0:49:10facial scrubs, that is really positive, but we can do so much
0:49:10 > 0:49:15more. We have to reduce the amount of single use plastic we consume.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20Things like plastic bottles, those things you clean your ears with,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24these are dreadful, these plastic straws, I see so many of them on the
0:49:24 > 0:49:28beach. Go to a beach and clean-up, these are things you can do, all
0:49:28 > 0:49:34ideas on our website. Go to the website. Very simple, you go along,
0:49:34 > 0:49:40click, click on the bit above, help our oceans. There are lots of ideas.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44Positive, practical ideas.We've got to remind you coming up on Sunday,
0:49:44 > 0:49:51BBC One, 8pm, blue planet two. Probably worth a watch, I don't
0:49:51 > 0:49:56know!This is worth a watch. Get your popcorn ready because this is
0:49:56 > 0:50:01the conclusion of yesterday's top third starring Martin Hughes-Games,
0:50:01 > 0:50:06Chris Packham, a swan and abuse. First up in the speed test was
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Maisie the goose who took one minute and 36 seconds to fly one mile of
0:50:09 > 0:50:17runway. Look at that!Keep going, Maisie, good girl.Now it is time
0:50:17 > 0:50:21for Earth are the swan, will she fly faster to stay in the competition
0:50:21 > 0:50:32for top bird??
0:50:38 > 0:50:41Look at that, what a magnificent sight, I love the sense of rhythm.
0:50:41 > 0:50:52And the head. Held gyroscopic Luso still in the air.A very powerful
0:50:52 > 0:50:55bird I'm slightly nervous, I must confess.
0:51:03 > 0:51:09Very obviously I've never been this close to a flying bird. Think of all
0:51:09 > 0:51:13the physiology going on inside that bird, it's lungs, its air sacs, all
0:51:13 > 0:51:17those muscles, the beautiful rotation of the wings which are so
0:51:17 > 0:51:25evident here.They're taking their time, 40 seconds. They're not going
0:51:25 > 0:51:34to make it here in a minute. Come on, swan, come on. Oh yes.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40This is going to be tight.The finishing line is in the site, come
0:51:40 > 0:51:48on.146, only ten seconds difference in it. Anyway, Chris will have to
0:51:48 > 0:51:53eat his hands now.Yes, difficult to read his face at this point.
0:51:53 > 0:52:00Slightly smug. Very smug. It's getting smug. In fact his face is
0:52:00 > 0:52:04getting so smug I'm going to have to put my goggles on to try and filter
0:52:04 > 0:52:09out some of the smugness.I want you to imagine there is a plate and a
0:52:09 > 0:52:15lovely wobbly slice of humble pie and it's ready for you to eat. It is
0:52:15 > 0:52:232-0 to the goose but only just, 1.40 six.1.40 six.Which surprises me,
0:52:23 > 0:52:28only ten seconds difference in such a heavy bird.It's marginal really.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33Such great thing to see.Normally they are up there are not right
0:52:33 > 0:52:39beside you. It's magical.You get a real sense of migrating with them, I
0:52:39 > 0:52:43almost felt like it is a wing man, I was there.Wing man? I see what
0:52:43 > 0:52:48you've done there, mate.The third and final test, agility. The bird
0:52:48 > 0:52:54that sticks closest of the car as it weaves down the runway wins. She's
0:52:54 > 0:53:01up for it.I'm up for it, she said, I'm up for it. Effortless, turning,
0:53:01 > 0:53:09easy.This is going to be hard to beat, mate.I think it will be a
0:53:09 > 0:53:15little bit.She's got following the line of the car perfectly.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18Impressive run from Maisie, now it is time for Ertha to weave her
0:53:18 > 0:53:28magic.Pretty good.Not bad.Not bad at all, I'm amazed. She can turn
0:53:28 > 0:53:39surprisingly well. Here we go... There is a bit of a lag. A bit of
0:53:39 > 0:53:48understeer on this one.She comes right over as well.Overshot but
0:53:48 > 0:53:59gone completely.That was a lag. Still magnificent, but a lag.Here
0:53:59 > 0:54:06we are, one last turn. Come on, Ertha.Come on, Ertha, you can do
0:54:06 > 0:54:14it.But grudgingly it looks like Martin's bird has won this test as
0:54:14 > 0:54:19well. I've got to confess I'm not a good loser. At all. I'm very, very
0:54:19 > 0:54:24bad loser. It doesn't matter, it was so enjoyable.It was a fantastic,
0:54:24 > 0:54:28being in the vehicle with the birds right next door, power of their
0:54:28 > 0:54:32wings, hitting you on the face.I loved the synergy of the movement
0:54:32 > 0:54:37and the rhythm they had.It made me exhausted just watching it mate,
0:54:37 > 0:54:42fabulous. However I have to say as it was 50p per test you owe me £1
0:54:42 > 0:54:5450.£1 50?£1 50, yeah.Take a cheque?Or a postal order, mate. So
0:54:54 > 0:54:59the top bird trophy goes to the goose. There is no denying both of
0:54:59 > 0:55:05these birds excel on their mammoth migration. Can you imagine a flying
0:55:05 > 0:55:09Fortress or Lancaster 's screaming over our heads and Lansdowne there
0:55:09 > 0:55:13with a puff of smoke.Do you know what, mate, that would take my
0:55:13 > 0:55:15breath away.
0:55:18 > 0:55:25Brilliant, love it.I won, mate, sorry, I won.I intend to pay my
0:55:25 > 0:55:32debt, I intend to pay you in harvest mice. 2p pieces, mate. Here we are.
0:55:32 > 0:55:38£1 50 of 2p pieces. I've got to tell you, those ones do fly at 8000
0:55:38 > 0:55:42metres in temperatures of -40 degrees.Impressive but that wasn't
0:55:42 > 0:55:45the test, you can't get out of it like that.When they leave Iceland
0:55:45 > 0:55:50it only takes them 12 hours to get the UK whereas it geese 15 hours.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55You're loser, loser.Give me the money, I'm going straight down to
0:55:55 > 0:56:02the local.Have you seen this? A heron and a weasel. Guess what
0:56:02 > 0:56:14happens next... It escapes.Did it, amazing.Look at this, this is
0:56:14 > 0:56:20fallow deer, stags ratting. How does it get it in the air like that?
0:56:20 > 0:56:24Absolutely extraordinary, thanks so much to everybody for sending in
0:56:24 > 0:56:29such amazing pictures. Really great, thank you for getting involved, we
0:56:29 > 0:56:32really appreciate it.That's about all we've got time for so to keep
0:56:32 > 0:56:36the spicy theme we started with, time to stop right now and thank you
0:56:36 > 0:56:41very much. So Young we've got to thank the National Trust Sherborne
0:56:41 > 0:56:47Park estate very much indeed, the farmers that let us come here and to
0:56:47 > 0:56:49the good people of Sherborne, we've driven through their village and
0:56:49 > 0:56:55made life interesting for them. We're back at the end of January for
0:56:55 > 0:56:58winter watch but in the meantime stay in touch online, the website
0:56:58 > 0:57:02and social media.We've had a great time, we hope you have too. We'll
0:57:02 > 0:57:08leave you with the highlights of Autumnwatch 2017. We'll be back for
0:57:08 > 0:57:11winter watch. See you then. Goodbye.
0:57:16 > 0:57:27I've lost my pipe! Welcome to Autumnwatch 2017.Open your eyes. Be
0:57:27 > 0:57:33ready to be amazed.It would literally take your breath away.I
0:57:33 > 0:57:46want to see him working.It's not twerking, is it?Defining the! This
0:57:46 > 0:57:55is so exciting.Look at this, amazing. Good girl, Maisie.
0:57:55 > 0:58:02Obviously I've never been this close to a flying bird.There's only one
0:58:02 > 0:58:07word for the harvest mouse. I know you hate it but it's cute.I'm
0:58:07 > 0:58:13introducing a ban on the C word.It is incredible to see them all
0:58:13 > 0:58:25together like this.The hedgehog's digging in. Like a rugby scrum.