:00:12. > :00:18.Tonight is going to be a wild wide. There's a hint of spaghetti western
:00:18. > :00:28.on the show. Wild horses should not drag you away. Welcome from
:00:28. > :01:00.
:01:00. > :01:03.Hello and welcome to Autumnwatch live, coming to from the National
:01:03. > :01:07.Arboretum in Westonbirt in Gloucestershire. If you have been
:01:07. > :01:11.watching for the last three weeks, you will know that every week, we
:01:11. > :01:15.go somewhere in the UK where we can sample the flavour and bring you
:01:15. > :01:19.the full glory of Britain's wildlife in the autumn. This week
:01:19. > :01:25.we have gone to a very special place. 53,000 kilometres of
:01:25. > :01:31.hedgerows, England's tallest tree, and four species of tree that grow
:01:31. > :01:39.there and nowhere else in the world. I feel I should get a pen and paper.
:01:39. > :01:42.Or shall we just badger on? Let's do that. Of course, we're going to
:01:42. > :01:47.be catching up with all of the badgers, to find out what has been
:01:47. > :01:52.happening in the set during the past week. We will be following our
:01:52. > :01:58.osprey chicks, their migration to Africa is full of obstacles, and
:01:58. > :02:04.not all of them will make it. And our special guest this week is very
:02:04. > :02:08.special indeed, the Exmoor enigma that is Johnny Kingdom. So, where
:02:08. > :02:11.is this amazing place that Chris was talking about? I shall give you
:02:11. > :02:21.a clue. If it is good enough for Johnny Kingdom, it is certainly
:02:21. > :02:24.
:02:24. > :02:34.This week, we are exploring Exmoor, one of the wonders of the West
:02:34. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:45.Country. It has got these rugged Moorlands, deeply wooded areas,
:02:45. > :02:50.idyllic little rivers flowing down to the sea. I will be exploring
:02:50. > :03:00.Exmoor's wonderful ancient woodland. It is full of magical and very
:03:00. > :03:09.special species. And what makes these unassuming looking animals
:03:09. > :03:12.one of nature's toughest creatures? I'm here to find out. When the
:03:12. > :03:20.moorland water has come down to meet the sea in autumn, there is no
:03:20. > :03:28.finer place to take a dip. A dip into some rock pools. Shall we go
:03:28. > :03:34.and get an ice cream? Cream tea? Maybe a pair of wellingtons.
:03:34. > :03:44.never did get that cream tea, did we, Chris? Sadly not. Without
:03:44. > :03:50.further ado, let's go and see our live badgers. Yes! We have got a
:03:50. > :03:59.female, do you think that's a female? Let's have a look. She's
:03:59. > :04:02.eating peanuts, very alert. She's outside the farm. This is Andrew
:04:02. > :04:07.Cooper's Farm, he has put cameras on the ground, we will have a look
:04:07. > :04:11.at those in the moment, but we have put cameras outside the farm as
:04:11. > :04:18.well. This has been a huge success, about 800,000 people have tuned in
:04:18. > :04:24.on the red button to watch our badgers. We could get to a million.
:04:24. > :04:29.We could. We have had people from Italy, Serbia, Canada, even
:04:29. > :04:34.Australia, have been watching them. Easy for the Australians, of course,
:04:34. > :04:38.because they do not have to stay up late, they can watch them at midday.
:04:38. > :04:44.Badgers do not just eat peanuts, and we will be coming back to what
:04:44. > :04:50.they eat later on. Also, let's go underground and see what happened
:04:50. > :04:56.during the week. A lot of mutual grooming goes on. I think this is
:04:56. > :05:06.probably a male and female. looks like a male on the left.
:05:06. > :05:09.
:05:09. > :05:19.do a lot of this, getting rather amorous. Just a little bit. You can
:05:19. > :05:21.
:05:21. > :05:25.hear them... A little bit of biting, that was a bit cruel. Do you know,
:05:25. > :05:33.Chris, 16 different sounds have been identified by scientists, made
:05:33. > :05:36.by badgers. And they have all got different names. I think it is
:05:36. > :05:40.worth saying that most of these sounds are quite low volume, you
:05:40. > :05:46.only hear them if you are close to the badgers. It is not like foxes,
:05:46. > :05:56.you can hear them kilometres away. You have got to be really close.
:05:56. > :05:56.
:05:56. > :06:04.They seem to be most noisy when they have got cubs in the spring.
:06:04. > :06:14.Anyway, Chris, over to you. Every week we like to have a little quiz,
:06:14. > :06:16.
:06:16. > :06:23.So listen very carefully to this, what is this sound? Creaky door!
:06:23. > :06:27.This one, I have to say, is pretty tricky. Not many people will ever
:06:27. > :06:34.have heard this. You might have to use some intuition to come up with
:06:34. > :06:39.the answer. We will probably give you a clue later on. But let us
:06:39. > :06:44.know if you think you know what it is. I have not eaten properly this
:06:44. > :06:47.evening! You said you were having problems with your stomach as well.
:06:47. > :06:51.Thank you very much for sharing that with everybody. This week,
:06:51. > :06:55.Chris and Martin have been to Exmoor to discover the habitat, but
:06:55. > :07:00.when a lot of people think of Exmoor, they think of one man in
:07:00. > :07:07.particular. In fact, to him, Exmoor is his kingdom, he's passionate
:07:07. > :07:17.about the place. And he has been filming it. So, let's see Exmoor
:07:17. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:30.through the eyes of this week's I never feel lonely on the moors.
:07:30. > :07:39.Because I'm with something that I really loved - animals. This time
:07:39. > :07:45.of year, autumn time, when the sun comes up, all over the cush -- all
:07:45. > :07:55.over the gorse bushes, you have got spider's webs, hundreds of them,
:07:55. > :08:04.
:08:04. > :08:13.with the light shining through. And Exmoor has got everything. At this
:08:13. > :08:17.time of year, you can see the swallows. Especially where I live,
:08:17. > :08:21.they seem to know when it this time, and then they have got that long
:08:21. > :08:27.journey home to Africa. I have been told, whether or not it is true, I
:08:27. > :08:37.don't know, that they sleep on the wing. How do they do that, all the
:08:37. > :08:39.
:08:39. > :08:48.way to Africa? Hard to believe, but The golden plover comes here, in
:08:48. > :08:55.flocks. I love the golden plover, the display they make in the skies.
:08:55. > :09:01.Very, very attractive bird. Of course, then you get the fieldfare,
:09:01. > :09:07.I shall never forget, once I picked out one bird, and warned of a
:09:07. > :09:17.sudden, I saw him get hold of a worm. He had warned about this
:09:17. > :09:21.
:09:21. > :09:27.September, October, if you get the rains at the right term, you know
:09:27. > :09:37.that the salmon will run. It is beautiful to watch. You can sit for
:09:37. > :09:37.
:09:37. > :09:47.hours and hours waiting for one to jump. They fight so hard to get up.
:09:47. > :09:50.My dad always said to me, a salmon from the sea is everybody's, so got
:09:50. > :10:00.on the moors and get one! That is what he used to say, and that is
:10:00. > :10:04.
:10:04. > :10:10.what I used to do. No poaching any I think the wild boar have about
:10:10. > :10:18.three litters every year. In the autumn you can still see tiny
:10:18. > :10:26.babies, born not that long ago. Once I went to my hide and I never
:10:26. > :10:36.got there. I film to them, it was beautiful to see. It could not
:10:36. > :10:41.
:10:41. > :10:51.To my feeling inside of me, there is no other place in the whole
:10:51. > :10:54.
:10:55. > :11:00.world like Exmoor. I just love this Doesn't it just makes you want to
:11:00. > :11:05.get in the car and head to Exmoor? He's so enthusiastic about it. But
:11:05. > :11:10.yes, swallows do sleep on the wing. It is incredible, how do they do
:11:10. > :11:15.it? It is not just swallows, lots of birds which migrate, mammals,
:11:15. > :11:20.like dolphins, which constantly swim. In simple terms, they have
:11:21. > :11:25.the capacity to shut off one side of their brain and use the other to
:11:25. > :11:31.control of the functions. They do this because every brain that we
:11:31. > :11:35.know of needs to rest. We do not understand exactly why, but it has
:11:35. > :11:40.got to take a chemical break to rebuild itself. So they shut down
:11:40. > :11:46.one side. The other half can get them to fly along. It is hard for
:11:46. > :11:49.us to get our heads around, isn't it? It is, I have tried. I think
:11:49. > :11:54.I'm working with about a quarter of my brain at the moment, to be
:11:54. > :12:04.honest. We have already introduced you to the Clint Eastwood of
:12:04. > :12:05.
:12:05. > :12:10.conservation. But what we did not realise was that we had our own
:12:10. > :12:20.horseless cowboy in our midst. Martin went up to Exmoor himself to
:12:20. > :12:21.
:12:21. > :12:27.Exmoor is looking beautiful today, but don't be fooled. When the rain
:12:27. > :12:33.lashes down, this is one of the harshest environments in the UK.
:12:33. > :12:40.Very few animals can live out here all year round. But amongst those
:12:40. > :12:45.animals is one intriguing survivor from a dim and distant past. Wild
:12:45. > :12:49.ponies have roamed Britain for at least 130,000 years. Exmoor ponies
:12:49. > :12:54.are thought to be the closest surviving breed from those
:12:54. > :13:00.prehistoric ancestors. I met up with an expert, who has been
:13:00. > :13:06.studying them for 30 years. So, what characteristics do they have
:13:06. > :13:09.which enable them to live in this environment? They are born with an
:13:09. > :13:14.arsenal of weapons to defend themselves against the elements.
:13:14. > :13:23.They grow a special winter coat, in two layers. Underneath, they have
:13:23. > :13:29.very soft, fine hair. That is if you like their thermal underwear.
:13:29. > :13:35.And then over the top, if you can see, their winter coats are growing.
:13:35. > :13:41.They have got greasy, long hairs on the outside, that is like their
:13:41. > :13:51.waxed jacket. It helps to get the rain off the body. They have got
:13:51. > :13:56.
:13:56. > :14:02.very small ears, and they have a toad eye, a ridge of fat. They have
:14:02. > :14:10.the forelock coming between the ears, the rain runs down there, and
:14:10. > :14:16.the rain is then channelled away from the eyes. Then they have got
:14:16. > :14:24.this tail, everything is about getting the water off the body.
:14:24. > :14:31.Another secret is that the ponies have evolved into superbly
:14:31. > :14:41.efficient grazers. Their grazing shapes the structure of the more.
:14:41. > :14:47.
:14:47. > :14:52.The ones that roam Exmoor 300-400. There are another 2,500 away from
:14:52. > :14:56.Exmoor, so a pretty rare animal. That is why they are on the
:14:56. > :15:01.endangered list. We have to work very hard to look after them. These
:15:01. > :15:07.ponies we are looking at, would you call them truly wild ponies? They
:15:07. > :15:12.are a bit of an enigma. All these ponies have owners, which is not
:15:12. > :15:15.the norm with a wild animal. They live out here all year around. They
:15:15. > :15:21.find their own food, shelter. Give them enough of the right habitat
:15:21. > :15:26.they don't need it at all. They are behaviour rally wild. Everything
:15:26. > :15:30.talks about being wild, yet they are owned. I like to think of them,
:15:30. > :15:35.they are essentially a part of a wild animal, part of the British
:15:35. > :15:39.fauna, but they are in a managed situation. Part of that process is
:15:39. > :15:44.the annual pony gather, when the herds are brought in off the moor
:15:44. > :15:51.to be counted and checked over. Good morning, everybody we will
:15:51. > :15:55.start at this end. I was invited to witness the largest herd in Exmoor.
:15:55. > :16:02.Push all the ponies back to the gate. Thank you all very much for
:16:02. > :16:12.coming. The gather of nearly 100 wild ponies is quite an operation.
:16:12. > :16:13.
:16:13. > :16:23.Nothing could be more redilant, this picture we are seeing now.
:16:23. > :16:25.
:16:25. > :16:30.Something which has been going on for hundreds of years.
:16:30. > :16:34.We've only just begun. Already we're in trouble. One group of
:16:34. > :16:43.ponies has split up and gone back to where we have come from. It may
:16:43. > :16:47.be a long day. There must have been 40 there. They
:16:47. > :16:57.managed to turn them around. They are heading in the right direction,
:16:57. > :17:02.
:17:02. > :17:12.at last. That's magnificent. Isn't it a sight. It kind of vibrated as
:17:12. > :17:21.
:17:21. > :17:31.So this is the end of the line now. We hope that all the ponies are
:17:31. > :17:36.
:17:36. > :17:46.going to appear down this lane at any moment now. It is very tense.
:17:46. > :17:47.
:17:47. > :17:52.Fantastic! There it is - you are privileged to see the end of the
:17:52. > :17:57.annual autumnal Exmoor pony gather - a bit of living history. A very
:17:57. > :18:02.tiny foal, with a very round mum. Another successful gather complete.
:18:02. > :18:05.The ponies will make the most of this lush grass for just a couple
:18:05. > :18:11.of days while they are inspected and marked, before being returned
:18:12. > :18:18.to the wilds of Exmoor. And we must say a massive thank you
:18:19. > :18:24.to Emma and David Wallace who allowed us to take part n a funny
:18:24. > :18:31.sort of way. I love the point where you see the ponies come over the
:18:31. > :18:38.morning. It made it feel like a spaghetti western. When you see all
:18:38. > :18:41.those ponies, numbers during World War II went down to 50. They nearly
:18:41. > :18:46.went extinct. It was very close. That was because people were very
:18:46. > :18:52.hungry and some of the ponies were carted off for meat. Now the
:18:52. > :18:57.numbers have built up. There are 300-350 on the moors. They've
:18:57. > :19:01.survived. A successful conservation story those things we should
:19:01. > :19:07.celebrate. They are useful because they are
:19:07. > :19:16.useful at grazing laning grass. They hell -- lank grass. They help
:19:16. > :19:20.with the bad undergrowth and new growth come. In Yorkshire they have
:19:20. > :19:29.40 of the ponies. Yorkshire pony lawn mowers!
:19:29. > :19:34.Shall we go back and have a look at some badgers. Any live badgers?
:19:34. > :19:41.we had them earlier. We did have them feeding. We saw her feeding on
:19:41. > :19:47.peanuts, didn't we. They don't just feed on peanuts. What's that fancy
:19:47. > :19:53.claws, the one earlier. We thought we could identify Fancy Claws.
:19:53. > :19:58.if you could see the claws. They all have massive claws. Many people
:19:58. > :20:05.on the messages hoped they would see her tonight. Yes, it definitely
:20:05. > :20:11.was Fancy Claws. Let's see what we filmed earlier in the orchard. This
:20:11. > :20:16.is a good advert for leaving apples out. There is a badger in the
:20:16. > :20:25.background. Many other things will eat them, red hornets, things like
:20:25. > :20:34.this. Later in the winner it is birds. Redwings and thrushes too.
:20:34. > :20:40.Any fallen apples you can leave beneath your tree. Is this badger
:20:40. > :20:48.hungry for fruit? Of course he goes. Of course they are of my vors.
:20:48. > :20:53.Chris, I have something exciting here. I have a pie chart. This is a
:20:53. > :20:59.chart showing what the badgers will be feeding on, it's from the Badger
:20:59. > :21:04.Trust, during autumn. Here we are. We've got earth worms. Pink for
:21:04. > :21:08.earth worms. We've got insects. 25% of these different things. What's
:21:08. > :21:14.interesting, if I can do this, that's what they are going to be
:21:14. > :21:22.feeding on later on in winter - an awful lot of earth worms. When it
:21:22. > :21:25.comes to badgers it is not a hit or miss affair. They are earth-worm
:21:25. > :21:32.specialist behaviour. The things is they are not always available to
:21:32. > :21:34.them. If it is too windy, if it's too dry, various conditions change
:21:34. > :21:39.in their territory they cannot access them. They have to be able
:21:39. > :21:42.to switch to feeding something else. If their ability to catch earth-
:21:42. > :21:47.worms drops below a certain threshold they will eat other
:21:47. > :21:51.things. The increase in mammals and birds in the winter time is
:21:51. > :22:01.possibly savaging. I was watching a set years ago where there were a
:22:01. > :22:06.lot of holly trees. It was a big roost. When I analysed the badger's
:22:06. > :22:11.poo. Which I did every Thursday night for four years. I found the
:22:11. > :22:18.remains of the redwings in there. They were taking them from savaging.
:22:18. > :22:26.It is nice to see a pie diai gram. After analysing all that poo, I
:22:26. > :22:30.could have brought them in. badger's stomach content were
:22:30. > :22:37.inspected, there were 200 worms. You can carry on watching those
:22:37. > :22:42.badgers, live, right up to Sunday between 5-11pm on red button. Let's
:22:42. > :22:50.crack the million. This is what our wildlife cameraman found on Exmoor.
:22:50. > :22:54.I know it is just a humble cha finch. Here's another on --
:22:54. > :22:57.chaffinch. Here's another on the ground. Look at where the flock has
:22:57. > :23:02.assembled. It is actually on the road. What I think is happening
:23:02. > :23:08.here is the birds are actually indirectly using the cars which
:23:08. > :23:14.drive over the masts to crack them open. That makes the colonel more
:23:14. > :23:20.accessible to them and cuts down the handling time, trying to remove
:23:20. > :23:26.the seed and then crack the outer shell. I think that is chaffinches
:23:26. > :23:33.foraging. If you were watching Springwatch you could have known we
:23:33. > :23:37.had drama with our dippers. They are widespread on Exmoor. There are
:23:37. > :23:42.483kms of river here. It is a wet place. In some places there are
:23:42. > :23:48.2,000 millimetres of rain every year in Exmoor, so these bumbleing
:23:48. > :23:53.broobgs are always bubbling, I have to say. It is -- brooks are always
:23:54. > :23:58.bubbling. I have to say. It is when the clouds lift up over the high
:23:58. > :24:04.moor, there they discharge their moisture. Lots and lots of rain.
:24:04. > :24:07.There is also ancient woodland there. When you get ancient
:24:07. > :24:17.woodland and rain, you get Britain's rainforest. A very
:24:17. > :24:21.special place. Take a look at this. The wet oak woodlands of Exmoor are
:24:21. > :24:25.a magical place to explore. Take the time to stop and look. There's
:24:25. > :24:32.so much to see here. Quite often it's the little things that keep
:24:32. > :24:40.this place alive that are actually missed.
:24:40. > :24:44.Lichens are often overlooked. This is a shame. They are unique and
:24:44. > :24:54.fascinating organisms, no roots, flowers, stems, leaves and they are
:24:54. > :25:00.successful too, you know. 1400 species in the UK.
:25:00. > :25:06.They are a mix of fungi and algae living together. The plant provides
:25:06. > :25:11.the food, the fungi the protection. Look at this. I don't know what
:25:11. > :25:15.type of lichen this is. In a way I don't need to know. What's
:25:15. > :25:21.important is developing an appreciation for the little things.
:25:21. > :25:23.In this case these lichens growing on here. If nothing more they are a
:25:23. > :25:28.beautiful colour and they feel great.
:25:28. > :25:37.Now, at this time of year, wood lands are a feast for the senses.
:25:37. > :25:44.It's not just what you can see and feel, it's also what you can smell.
:25:44. > :25:49.It's just so rich. So rich. Principally of course it's about
:25:49. > :25:53.decay. All this bracken tumbling over and breaking down. All the
:25:53. > :25:58.leaves coming off the trees. This rich little layer here. But of
:25:58. > :26:03.course it's also about the dampness and the warmth and moisture in the
:26:03. > :26:07.air, and together it produces a cocktail which is unique to this
:26:07. > :26:15.environment. That... I can recognise that anywhere in the
:26:15. > :26:19.world as the smell of English oak woodland in the autumn.
:26:19. > :26:27.It's not just the smell of woodland, it's actually the structure of it
:26:27. > :26:31.that builds the full picture. Look at that - that's a feast of all
:26:31. > :26:36.those limbs interlocking, interweaving. They are all
:26:36. > :26:40.providing surfaces for life. It's like a giant sponge, through which
:26:40. > :26:44.birds fly and over which squirrels scurry. It's just fantastic. That
:26:44. > :26:54.is what woodland is really all about. It's about all of this. It's
:26:54. > :27:01.
:27:01. > :27:04.about being in it, not on it. This is a pretty spairbl place and
:27:04. > :27:14.glistening in the sunshine -- special place and glistening in the
:27:14. > :27:19.
:27:19. > :27:24.Now, you're going to have to forgive me because I am going to
:27:24. > :27:29.seize the moment to champion the underdog. Lichens are finally on
:27:29. > :27:33.the agenda. Don't switch off. These things are a fascinating mix of
:27:34. > :27:39.algae and fungi. Clearly the algae gets the benefit of the algae
:27:39. > :27:43.because the algae is a plant and it's producing sugars through using
:27:43. > :27:48.sunlight. What does the algae get out of it? Well, we think it's the
:27:48. > :27:54.protection from the fungus. Some of these things can be extraordinary
:27:54. > :27:59.long lived and they come in a great range of forms. Look at this. Some
:27:59. > :28:07.are like this. The form is dependant on which are living
:28:07. > :28:11.together. These things can live for 3,000 years. The ones on Antarctica
:28:11. > :28:18.which think have lived 3,000 years. Sometimes they have been dried out.
:28:18. > :28:21.Years later, people have taken them out of these dusty drawers, added
:28:21. > :28:27.water and they have sprung back to life. Those which looked like
:28:27. > :28:32.patches of material, they are called lepros lichen, because they
:28:32. > :28:41.look like the skins of leopards. Very romantic in a very perverse
:28:41. > :28:45.way. We've had lichen sent into Flickr. This shows the fruiting
:28:45. > :28:51.bodies. The top of each of these, they are spores which are dispersed
:28:51. > :28:55.when the rain drops on them. Some other lichens are dispersed by
:28:55. > :28:59.birds, other animals, they break them off and they start to grow
:28:59. > :29:06.again. The fact is, as I said in the film, there are 1400 speciess
:29:06. > :29:11.in the UK. They were coating the trees in the wood. Clearly they
:29:11. > :29:15.play an important role in that community. Ladies and gentlemen,
:29:15. > :29:18.thank you very much - lichens. lot of people don't get into them
:29:18. > :29:22.because they don't understand them or know the name. That doesn't
:29:22. > :29:26.matter. You look at that photograph and it a Esso stunning that you can
:29:26. > :29:31.appreciate a lichen, even if you don't really understand it. They
:29:31. > :29:35.are all so difficult to identify. Sometimes you have to take their
:29:35. > :29:39.sexual apparatus, crush it under a microscope and only then can you
:29:39. > :29:44.identify it to species level. I appreciate that puts people off
:29:44. > :29:54.naming them. When it comes to wildlife it's all about naming, was
:29:54. > :30:06.
:30:06. > :30:11.How are they getting on? A lot of people are getting it wrong. One
:30:11. > :30:16.person thinks it might be an otter. One person thinks, it might be a
:30:16. > :30:22.porpoise. That's an interesting idea. Anyway, keep them coming in.
:30:22. > :30:28.Right, here we go. It is time for another one of those wonderful
:30:28. > :30:33.open-air laboratory surveys. This time, it is all about hedges. You
:30:33. > :30:39.might want to do this over the weekend, get out, have a bit of fun,
:30:39. > :30:45.and do some proper science. Let's see what we get in the pack? First
:30:45. > :30:49.of all, this magnifying glass. Measuring tape. All the
:30:49. > :30:56.instructions. You do four things. First of all, you measure out with
:30:56. > :31:06.your tape measure three metres of hedge. The first thing is, what
:31:06. > :31:11.type of hedge is it? Second - what fruit is in there? Thirdly, what
:31:11. > :31:17.creatures are in the hedge. You can use a tray or a bit of paper, and
:31:17. > :31:24.literally just sweep things in. Look at that, straightaway, a
:31:24. > :31:31.lovely spider. You use this bit - I love these - to identify the
:31:31. > :31:36.creatures. And then finally, you can get in the hedge and look for
:31:36. > :31:41.exciting holes made by mice and rabbits. Here's a brilliant bit.
:31:41. > :31:49.You sent the results in, and they are genuinely useful in scientific
:31:49. > :31:57.research about hedgerows. Those are great, those surveys. The packs are
:31:57. > :32:06.brilliant. Let's quickly go to the live badgers. Somebody just told me
:32:06. > :32:10.we had a badger. There it is! It is slipping. It does look a bit like a
:32:10. > :32:15.shadow. It could be the same one that we saw eating the peanuts.
:32:15. > :32:20.Then they go for a bit of this news, then go back out again. Let's move
:32:21. > :32:26.on. Autumn certainly is not a time to just have a Kip in the afternoon,
:32:26. > :32:31.because there are so many things to do. Very many of the big spectacles
:32:31. > :32:36.are easy for us to go and see. One of my favourites is one that you
:32:36. > :32:39.can see all over the UK, and in particular in Exmoor. Let's join
:32:39. > :32:49.Johnny Kingdom again for his reflections on one of the most
:32:49. > :32:53.
:32:53. > :33:03.Autumn time is my best time because the rutting season starts. That
:33:03. > :33:06.
:33:06. > :33:13.sound, which I can't do very well... I just wait for that sound. When
:33:13. > :33:22.the rut starts, it starts like this. You see a herd of, and there are
:33:22. > :33:27.young stags in there. Then finally, you will see a big stag arrive.
:33:27. > :33:36.Then, the small ones, they know that when that big man comes, there
:33:36. > :33:41.could be trouble. The big stag will come to the rut in top form, and he
:33:41. > :33:47.will lose more than half of his body weight chasing after them. You
:33:47. > :33:50.hear that sound all the time. He chases one this way, chases another
:33:50. > :33:57.one another way, no wonder he loses half his body weight. Then, the
:33:57. > :34:07.challenge comes. A big stack like himself, more or less the same size,
:34:07. > :34:10.
:34:10. > :34:19.they go to fight. They size each other up. They will look this way
:34:19. > :34:29.and that way, they walk together, roaring at the same time. All of a
:34:29. > :34:32.sudden, one of the will stop, the sudden, one of the will stop, the
:34:32. > :34:40.other one will do the same, then they will fight. Sometimes they
:34:40. > :34:50.will kill each other. You can hear the antlers crashing. I have seen
:34:50. > :34:53.
:34:53. > :35:03.all this. When he has won his flight, he will turn his lips up
:35:03. > :35:04.
:35:04. > :35:08.like that, sniffing the air. You will see the females trying to ride
:35:08. > :35:13.each other, telling the male they are ready. Telling him to get on
:35:13. > :35:18.with it, it only happens once a year. They will make several times
:35:18. > :35:27.before they get it right. Don't forget, one stag will take 30 or 40
:35:27. > :35:32.females. At very, very Lucky! He will know when the females are
:35:32. > :35:42.coming into season, because he can smell them. But that is not the
:35:42. > :35:55.
:35:55. > :36:05.only sign. They play, they Downs. She's splashing, look at that for a
:36:05. > :36:13.
:36:13. > :36:23.You can always tell the end of the rut. The big stag will live away
:36:23. > :36:26.from the rest of them. I'm saying to myself, how many more ruts am I
:36:26. > :36:36.to myself, how many more ruts am I going to see, at the age of 72? Not
:36:36. > :36:37.
:36:37. > :36:43.many. We have managed to bring him into the studio now. It is amazing
:36:43. > :36:49.to see your passion. You have obviously seen loads of red deer
:36:49. > :36:57.ruts. Have you ever seen a fatal one? Yes. Actually, not me, my who
:36:57. > :37:02.are. He came back one night and found two big stags, dead. On one
:37:02. > :37:07.of them, it was stuck in the neck, the other one, it was in the side
:37:07. > :37:11.of his body. These were two really big ones. They will fight to the
:37:11. > :37:16.death, and they will kill you as well. Especially if you go filming,
:37:16. > :37:20.like I do, be very careful. If he stamps his feet like that, he's
:37:20. > :37:26.telling you not to go any closer. This time of the year it is very,
:37:26. > :37:31.very dangerous. I have been up a tree for 2.5 hours, waiting for the
:37:31. > :37:38.stag to go away. Basically, you have to be careful. Do not go too
:37:38. > :37:45.close. You have got to use a bit of common sense. I have learnt now to
:37:45. > :37:50.weight behind a tree or something, and let them come to you. I know
:37:50. > :38:00.you have got a question which want to ask Chris. Chris, nice to meet
:38:00. > :38:05.
:38:05. > :38:11.you. October, late October, the calves are still circling,
:38:12. > :38:16.something is wrong... Yes. Some of them will go on to the end of July.
:38:16. > :38:20.This film looks like a bit of a problem child to me. You have got
:38:20. > :38:24.an animal which has still got spots on, meaning it is still quite young,
:38:25. > :38:29.so it is probably one of those which was born at the end of July.
:38:29. > :38:35.The problem is that the mother will not go into season if it is still
:38:35. > :38:39.producing milk for that calf, obviously. So, she may not be able
:38:39. > :38:43.to mother another calf this year. What this means in terms of the rut
:38:43. > :38:50.is that I guess it might be going on longer, is that what you have
:38:50. > :38:58.seen? Yes, last year we recorded a stag actually roaring at the
:38:58. > :39:02.beginning of December. I think that is very wrong. This year, I think
:39:02. > :39:07.the rut is going to go on and on and on. Every year, for the last
:39:07. > :39:11.few years, it has been extending all the time. You would have to
:39:11. > :39:18.make these observations over a series of years, because we do have
:39:18. > :39:25.unusual seasons. Take a look at this. This is some film shot by our
:39:25. > :39:35.Cameron and this week. See if you recognise any of these stags.
:39:35. > :39:36.
:39:36. > :39:41.I do. I know that stag. I can guarantee you that. That has been
:39:41. > :39:51.the main object of the rut. A lot of cameramen filming this massive
:39:51. > :39:52.
:39:52. > :39:57.stag. I know that one, it is an excellent piste. Pressure what we
:39:57. > :40:01.try and keep. We take out the oldies, they have got to be taken
:40:01. > :40:10.out, that is a natural thing to do. You have got to maintain a healthy
:40:10. > :40:15.population. Thanks ever so much for coming in. If you have got any
:40:15. > :40:21.questions for Johnny, please send them into us. If you are interested
:40:21. > :40:26.in seeing red deer, you can visit our website. There's a whole
:40:26. > :40:30.selection of sites where you can go and look at them. But bear in mind
:40:30. > :40:35.that at this time of year, these animals get wound up, the males
:40:35. > :40:38.have got one thing on their mind. A significant part of that is
:40:38. > :40:43.aggression towards other males. Do not get too close. And do not get
:40:43. > :40:50.too close with your dogs, either. Richmond Park is my favourite spot,
:40:50. > :40:54.you can get a nice cup of tea and a muffin in the van. You are obsessed
:40:54. > :41:00.with cups of tea! Anyway, it is time to catch up with our osprey
:41:00. > :41:08.chicks. We are following three of them, which were born in Wales. We
:41:08. > :41:16.tacked them, and we are watching their migration to Africa. Last
:41:16. > :41:21.week, we followed the eldest one, and he left Wales and went south,
:41:21. > :41:27.over the Bay of Biscay, rested here in Spain and then continued south.
:41:27. > :41:32.But what about his siblings? Well, one of them set off soon after, but
:41:32. > :41:36.unfortunately, he set off in that store we had just over a month ago,
:41:36. > :41:43.and instead of following his brother south, he drifted east,
:41:43. > :41:45.across the country to the coast of Essex. This is where there were
:41:45. > :41:52.restarted. The data coming from his satellite transmitter was showing
:41:52. > :41:59.that he was floating about five miles off the coast. This is at
:41:59. > :42:05.night, so he should have been roosting. So, what has happened to
:42:05. > :42:09.him? There was huge concern, because many people thought maybe
:42:09. > :42:16.he had not made it, maybe his satellite transmitter was floating
:42:16. > :42:20.in the ocean, and that's why it was moving. It was a night fraught with
:42:20. > :42:27.worry. During that night, some detective work was done, and they
:42:27. > :42:35.found this. This is an offshore wind farm, and it was in exactly
:42:35. > :42:40.the same space as our osprey. We think the transmitter was moving
:42:40. > :42:44.around because he was trying to find somewhere to roost, going from
:42:44. > :42:47.one platform to another. So there was huge relief, and even more
:42:48. > :42:55.relief the next morning, when the transmitter moved, and obviously,
:42:55. > :42:59.he was on his way, back on track, flying south. He did not actually
:42:59. > :43:09.go right down here, like his brother. He flew inland, into
:43:09. > :43:13.
:43:13. > :43:17.France. That's where we caught up When the ospreys come from the
:43:17. > :43:22.United Kingdom in the autumn, they can either come to Brittany and
:43:22. > :43:29.come across the Bay of Biscay, like one of ours did. Others crossed the
:43:29. > :43:39.hall of France, and then, at the southernmost extreme of France,
:43:39. > :43:42.they're coming up into the Pyrenees here. GPS data shows that since
:43:42. > :43:51.that first eventful night away from home, he has made good progress
:43:51. > :43:57.down through France. Will these mountains be his next big test?
:43:57. > :44:03.Every autumn, hundreds of thousands of migrating birds fly over the
:44:03. > :44:08.Pyrenees on their way south. 50,000 of them are channelled through the
:44:08. > :44:15.mountain passes to this point, making it a fantastic place to
:44:15. > :44:18.watch and study migration. But crossing these high mountains as a
:44:18. > :44:25.real challenge for the birds, and they need the best weather
:44:25. > :44:35.conditions to make it. It is only when the wind picks up and the mist
:44:35. > :44:50.
:44:50. > :44:57.clears that suddenly, the sky is There are marsh Harriers, kites and
:44:57. > :45:06.then suddenly.... Osprey. that's very high, isn't it? Yes.
:45:06. > :45:12.These birds are making the most of the back drafts. Ospreys have been
:45:12. > :45:18.recorded flying at an altitude of two kilometres over these mountains.
:45:18. > :45:24.They are flapping away. Two honey buzzards. Orn kolists have been
:45:24. > :45:29.studying bird migration here since the 1970s. Recording the birds
:45:29. > :45:39.which come down from all over northern Europe and Scandinavia.
:45:39. > :45:40.
:45:40. > :45:47.Which birds have you seen today? Buzzards. Sparrowhawk. And two
:45:47. > :45:52.Ospreys. We even spotted a short toed eagle,
:45:52. > :46:00.flying over with what appeared to be a snake in its bill. Sometimes
:46:00. > :46:05.we can see osprey crossing with a fish. Carrying his lunch with him.
:46:05. > :46:09.It's thrilling to see so many different species of raptor flying
:46:09. > :46:16.so high up over these mountains. This really is migration in action.
:46:16. > :46:20.I just hope the weather holds for him as he heads this way. It has
:46:20. > :46:29.been a stunning morning. Perfect weather and the birds have been
:46:29. > :46:33.coming over here. We've seen eight Ospreys. A really fantastic
:46:33. > :46:39.morning's migration. Don't you just love these osprey films? Roy did
:46:39. > :46:43.see lots of Ospreys that day. He didn't see Dilas. What is amazing
:46:43. > :46:49.is their paths did cross later. Not that Roy realised at the time. Roy
:46:49. > :46:54.set off in his car and he was driving towards Bayonne. He was
:46:54. > :47:04.flying the same way. His transmitter showed that look their
:47:04. > :47:10.
:47:10. > :47:19.paths crossed, probably at 3-4pm. We'll be catch ug -- catching up
:47:19. > :47:24.next week with the Ospreys. Exmoor has some excellent coastal woodland.
:47:24. > :47:29.Oak woodland. Pretty much what we might call pry malwoodland in the
:47:29. > :47:39.UK, Martin? Yes, what about the beaches themselves. Earlier this
:47:39. > :47:50.
:47:50. > :47:57.week Chris and I went to the beach What are you up to, great mate?
:47:57. > :48:04.Look at this, Chris. A few pence, a bit of clingfilm, an old ice cream
:48:04. > :48:11.tub and you open up with a world of wonder. It looks like a small telly,
:48:11. > :48:17.doesn't it? There's a lot to see. I'm going to show you another twibg
:48:17. > :48:22.which only cost a few pence. -- trick which only cost a few pence.
:48:23. > :48:30.This is a make-up mirror now look at the view you can get underneath.
:48:30. > :48:39.That is like being in an aquarium. It's a crab's eye view. Snake locks
:48:39. > :48:43.have up to 3 200 stinging tentacles which they use to -- 200 stinging
:48:43. > :48:51.tentacles which they use to catch their prey. These are full of
:48:51. > :48:55.prawns, others and the shy her mit crab. Now anything that has to live
:48:55. > :49:02.here will be super tough. For many hours, every day, it will be
:49:02. > :49:08.exposed T higher up the beach you are, the tougher it will be. You
:49:08. > :49:16.have probably seen these. This gets exposed at low tide. It shuts
:49:16. > :49:20.itselfen down. All the tentacles -- itself down. All the tentacles are
:49:20. > :49:26.shut now and it conserves water. The upper parts of the shore line
:49:26. > :49:34.are a hostile place. One of the toughest things on the beach is
:49:34. > :49:41.undeniably the limb pet. A cubic tonne of water, many tonnes of
:49:41. > :49:47.pressure are being forced down on these little mol luss. They can
:49:47. > :49:53.withstand that. They hold fast on the rock here. Never underestimate
:49:53. > :49:58.the limb pet. Chris, look at what we have caught here. A crab, a
:49:58. > :50:02.female. I like the architecture of these. I have to say. They are
:50:02. > :50:06.essentially so alien from us, aren't they? It is beautiful. Once
:50:06. > :50:14.you have examined your crab, put him back in the same rock pool.
:50:14. > :50:17.Exactly the same rock pool. This is an important environment. The
:50:17. > :50:23.biodiversity here is profound. This beach is healthy. It is teeming
:50:23. > :50:31.with life. We have only brushed the surface this afternoon.
:50:31. > :50:39.Martin, when you were young did your parents provision you can
:50:39. > :50:44.jamboree bags? Yes, they had Mojos and flying saucers. I remember them.
:50:44. > :50:51.You never knew what you would pull out. That is what a rock pool is
:50:51. > :50:55.like to me. There is such a mixture of life in there, full of life's
:50:55. > :51:02.flavours. When you go rockpooling, take care, think about the tide. We
:51:02. > :51:07.don't want you to get stuck out there. Also sensible footwear, so
:51:07. > :51:12.you don't slip over on the slippery rocks. Take a good guide with you.
:51:13. > :51:17.It's not important to name everything, but the separate groups
:51:17. > :51:24.are useful. Rock pool -- rockpooling is one of the amazing
:51:24. > :51:28.things to do. If they are on half term they can rock pool, look at
:51:29. > :51:32.the dears rutting, doing the hedge survey. If you do all these things
:51:32. > :51:41.you will want to know what the weather is going to be like. Let's
:51:41. > :51:43.find out and go live to the weather studio, to Alex. Will it stay mild
:51:43. > :51:47.studio, to Alex. Will it stay mild for us? Temperatures will be on the
:51:47. > :51:50.rise through the weekend. In terms of staying dry and sunny, well that
:51:51. > :51:54.depends which country you are in. For England and Wales, yes there
:51:54. > :51:58.should be plenty of sunshine to enjoy. Scotland and Northern
:51:58. > :52:02.Ireland a little less clear-cut. One thing is for sure, temperatures
:52:02. > :52:06.will be higher than they have been. Over the north, with much more
:52:06. > :52:11.cloud around, we'll stay above freezing. In the south, seven in
:52:11. > :52:16.London. In rural spots we will get closer to freezing. It will not be
:52:16. > :52:19.anything like as cold as it was on Thursday morning, when we had the
:52:19. > :52:24.first wide-spread frost. Saturday, England and Wales beautiful. A lot
:52:24. > :52:29.of sunshine here. It will cloud over in the west. A wet day for
:52:29. > :52:33.western Scotland and for Northern Ireland. 12-13 Celsius. Maybe 16
:52:33. > :52:38.Celsius across the south-east. They will be tempered somewhat by a
:52:38. > :52:42.breeze. Now the winds will be a big feature throughout the weekend,
:52:42. > :52:47.particularly picking up on Sunday. Blustery around the western coasts.
:52:47. > :52:50.Gusty on some of the beaches here for rock pools. Through central
:52:50. > :52:53.Scotland and Northern Ireland it could be a wet day on Sunday. For
:52:53. > :52:57.the majority across England and Wales no excuses to get out and
:52:57. > :53:02.about. Yes it will be blowy, but there should be sunshine. Look at
:53:02. > :53:05.the temperatures on Sunday, up as high as 19 Celsius. Much higher
:53:05. > :53:11.than they have been and that frosty morning we had on Thursday morning,
:53:11. > :53:15.well that is a thing of the past. Definitely warming up through the
:53:15. > :53:21.weekend. No excuse then not to go out and do some wildlifeing this
:53:21. > :53:24.weekend. I am going to be smug. Last week I predicted a migration
:53:24. > :53:31.spectacle coming over from Scandinavia. I can tell you that
:53:31. > :53:36.actually it happened. We had about 5,000 brown wings and 6,000
:53:36. > :53:41.redwings. Figures from our friends at the BTO. That was dependant on
:53:41. > :53:45.the wind direction. So, what are the winds going to offer us this
:53:45. > :53:49.weekend? Well, Chris, it's a complete switch around again. We
:53:49. > :53:53.have been talking about this for the past couple of weeks. We had
:53:53. > :53:58.cold winds, as I mentioned earlier. The cold northerly winds for much
:53:58. > :54:06.of the past few days. The winds will switch around. They will still
:54:06. > :54:10.be strong, but they are going to be coming up from the south. Bringing
:54:10. > :54:14.up the warmer air. That change in wind direction will probably have a
:54:14. > :54:19.significant impact. Thank you very much Alex. Indeed it
:54:19. > :54:23.will have a significant impact. We cannot see too many more animals
:54:23. > :54:27.coming over from Iceland. This weather from the south, the wind
:54:27. > :54:34.will pin all of these birds into Scandinavia. Those migrants will be
:54:34. > :54:38.hanging on. What we might see is a few finches aboveing over from
:54:38. > :54:45.France, Holland and Belgium. One thing we have seen which goes
:54:46. > :54:49.against the winds is some movement of bewick swans. We have had three
:54:49. > :54:53.reported in East Anglia last night. By the end of the winter we will
:54:53. > :54:57.expect 6,000 of these in the country. Including a few hundred
:54:57. > :55:00.down here at slim bridge, where we will visit in a few weeks' time.
:55:00. > :55:05.The winds driving the migration. You never know what might turn up,
:55:05. > :55:10.Martin. I have to tell you, I had a text from Helen in Shetland,
:55:10. > :55:15.something amazing has happened there. She said, "Magic myth and
:55:15. > :55:25.wonder could be condensed and kothed in feather it is in the
:55:25. > :55:34.throotd of this beauty. A -- throat of this beauty. A ruby throat. Look
:55:34. > :55:37.at that beauty." I have to do it. I can not hold myself back. The ferry
:55:37. > :55:41.now is full of birders trying to see it.
:55:41. > :55:51.Is that rare then? OK we have to resolve the quiz. Listen to this
:55:51. > :55:54.
:55:54. > :56:03.Not easy. It is a tricky one. the blog we got daurn and Gary got
:56:03. > :56:08.it -- Dawn and Gary got it right, Chris on twitter. What is it?
:56:08. > :56:13.It's a dreaming badger. That is so sweet.
:56:14. > :56:20.What do they dream of? And if you were watching the badger cam, in
:56:20. > :56:30.fact somebody was. He said "I heard it on the red button this week."
:56:30. > :56:38.What about that? Have we time for photos. Christine Winston.
:56:38. > :56:43.could have taken the leaves out. This beautiful photograph, what are
:56:43. > :56:47.they? The head is overlapping the wing there. You have to be very...:
:56:47. > :56:51.Be very careful about that. Take no notice of Chris and keep sending
:56:52. > :56:54.your photographs in because we love them. Indeed. Lots of pictures on
:56:54. > :56:57.the website already. Do keep the website already. Do keep
:56:57. > :57:01.sending them in D they don't always have to be top quality. It is
:57:01. > :57:11.interesting things that we are interested in too. If you have
:57:11. > :57:11.
:57:11. > :57:18.questions for Simon King, he'll stay here for -- for Johnnie, he'll
:57:18. > :57:24.stay here for Unsprung. Can I say I am going to be having an exciting
:57:24. > :57:30.time because I am going to be going up in a hot-air balloon. A hot-air
:57:30. > :57:36.balloon. Here I am. I am going to go up in a hot-air balloon and try
:57:36. > :57:43.and see the wonder of autumn - a bird's eye view, Chris. I am going
:57:43. > :57:48.to look at wildlife gardening by royal appointment. A visit to
:57:48. > :57:54.Highgrove. What about that? The royal robin. And we have got a new
:57:54. > :58:03.face to Autumnwatch, our guest presenter, she is bringing us a
:58:03. > :58:05.first and in-depth look at eels. That is what we have on the show
:58:05. > :58:09.next week. We've had live badgers on Autumnwatch, not once, but twice.
:58:09. > :58:12.Foraging peanuts and also sleeping and snoring and dreaming, which is
:58:12. > :58:18.pretty good. So, remember it will be a really nice weekend. Do try
:58:18. > :58:22.and get out. If you have kids take them. We have to get young people
:58:22. > :58:26.into touch with wildlife. Visit our website: