:00:15. > :00:23.It's Friday, it's 8.30, it's going to be a wonderfully colourful show.
:00:23. > :00:33.We have red grouse, red deer, hears and eagles. It's all the colours of
:00:33. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:08.Hello. Welcome to Autumnwatch Live, coming to you from the wild foul
:01:08. > :01:12.and wet land trust centre. Sadly, this is the last of the current
:01:12. > :01:15.series but I think we have a good programme. We are going to be
:01:15. > :01:23.talking about the weather, because we love to talk about the weather.
:01:23. > :01:27.We are going to be talking about how mild this autumn has been. It's
:01:27. > :01:36.Confused some wildlife. This was filmed a couple of days ago,
:01:36. > :01:42.ducklings in November. We will be catching up with our family of
:01:42. > :01:47.foxes at Pitsea landfill site. you are a regular viewer, you will
:01:47. > :01:51.know every week we have a guest prefrnter, this week we have Liz
:01:52. > :01:55.Bonnin. She has been up to the Caledonian forest. It is important
:01:55. > :02:01.we look after this forest. She has been looking at the difficult
:02:01. > :02:10.decisions we need to make to conserve it properly. Chris and I
:02:10. > :02:20.flew north to find out what was making this bizarre sound... And
:02:20. > :02:22.
:02:22. > :02:32.get a first glimpse of the winter The shy lands of Scotland are the
:02:32. > :02:33.
:02:33. > :02:37.least populated and wildest part of They experience our most extreme
:02:37. > :02:46.weather conditions and even this late in the year, the wildlife is
:02:46. > :02:52.surprisingly active. Lots of animals are grabbing the chance to
:02:53. > :03:02.feed up before winter. Some are turning white in preparation for
:03:03. > :03:04.
:03:04. > :03:14.the snow, but not everything is hunkering down. This lake has been
:03:14. > :03:17.
:03:18. > :03:23.full of spawning salmon. It may be late November, but one of our most
:03:23. > :03:27.speck lack tar birds is displaying as if it is the breeding season,
:03:27. > :03:32.the black grouse males are strutting their stuff, but what is
:03:32. > :03:42.fooling them into thinking it is spring. The highlands in autumn,
:03:42. > :03:48.full of mysteries. What a place. Fantastic. 3,800
:03:48. > :03:58.square kilometres, a national park, the cane gorms national park, 10%
:03:58. > :03:59.
:03:59. > :04:04.of that is above 800m. 25% of all endangered species in the UK live
:04:04. > :04:11.in this national park. But it has been a very unusual autumn and this
:04:12. > :04:18.has had an impact on The Cairngorms,. Above 600 metres here
:04:18. > :04:22.in the Cairngorms, trees can't grow. Here we are on the brink. But above
:04:22. > :04:30.this, the habitat in the UK is just about as close as you could get to
:04:30. > :04:36.the Arctic. The Arctic, what better place to go for a spot of sizzling
:04:36. > :04:39.skiing. Only one problem - there's no snow. You are going to struggle
:04:39. > :04:44.today. You wouldn't have done last year. Because last year there was
:04:44. > :04:48.more than two metres of snow here. As we reported earlier in the
:04:49. > :04:54.series, there was a sprinkling of snow here during October but it's
:04:54. > :04:57.long since melted. Not surprising because the average daily maximum
:04:57. > :05:03.temperatures are five degrees higher this year than last year.
:05:03. > :05:12.has had an impact on the wildlife. Some of the heather is still in
:05:13. > :05:17.flower now in November. Heather still in flour! That mildness meant
:05:17. > :05:23.some animals have been able to exploit food resources that they
:05:23. > :05:31.wouldn't normally be able to get at normally. You wouldn't normally
:05:31. > :05:36.expect to see bullfinches. My favourites. You wouldn't expect
:05:36. > :05:43.to see them on top of moors at this time of year. Are they all
:05:43. > :05:47.indigenous? We get a few migrants but the Scandinavian ones are
:05:47. > :05:52.bigger and brighter than the UK ones. When it gets harsh, they will
:05:52. > :05:57.move down and feed in the lowlands on berries and seeds. They are
:05:57. > :06:07.going to come to my garden and pinch the buds off my apple tree.
:06:07. > :06:16.That is what apple trees are for! Some creatures have a better idea
:06:17. > :06:22.of what to do. This is a mountain hare. It's gone into its white coat.
:06:22. > :06:27.At the moment because there is no snow, it's sticking out like a sore
:06:27. > :06:33.thumb. So it is making itself more noticeable to predators and they
:06:33. > :06:43.are around. Whilst we were up there this week seeing these hares, we
:06:43. > :06:50.saw these skirting overhead, golden eagles and mountain hares are a
:06:50. > :06:55.principal component of their diet. I can't understand how they survive.
:06:55. > :07:01.What's happening here is that the hare isn't responding to a coverage
:07:01. > :07:05.of snow and thinking I will go go white, it is responding to day
:07:05. > :07:10.length, so some years they get caught out and of few of them get
:07:10. > :07:15.caught. The weather has been strange in Scotland but it's been
:07:15. > :07:19.peculiar all over the country. are right, it has been peculiar and
:07:19. > :07:24.do we like to talk about it! It is a British past time to talk about
:07:24. > :07:31.the weather. I have to say, even myself, every day I can't help
:07:31. > :07:35.myself, I've gone "Oh, isn't it mild for this time of "!" We asked
:07:35. > :07:40.you to let us know your observations of that mild autumn
:07:40. > :07:46.and you certainly have. It was the best response in the series. You
:07:46. > :07:55.have been telling us about lady birds quite far north around, we
:07:55. > :08:05.have had lots of you tell us about bees and wasps. Butterflies, moths,
:08:05. > :08:08.
:08:08. > :08:14.ducklings, lots of flowers are still in flower. We have apple
:08:14. > :08:24.blossom in Slimbridge, Joe told us about that. Roses in Greenwich,
:08:24. > :08:25.
:08:25. > :08:31.down there, outside London. Fox gloves in Derbyshire. Yes, it has
:08:31. > :08:39.been a mild autumn. In fact, the latest we have heard from The Met
:08:39. > :08:43.Office has given us a graph, which they have given to Chris. It is a
:08:43. > :08:49.jolly good graph we have here. We have temperature up the side and
:08:49. > :08:53.time along the bottom. It starts on 1st September and the dotted line
:08:53. > :08:59.is the average temperature that is calculated. Until we get through to
:08:59. > :09:05.the beginning of October, given of November, it's pretty much hovering
:09:05. > :09:08.around the average but then it veers up here. What we have seen in
:09:08. > :09:11.November are temperatures well above the average. The average
:09:11. > :09:18.temperature for November, so far, because we have five days to go,
:09:18. > :09:28.has been nine degrees, 3.1 above the norm, and the highest ever is
:09:28. > :09:36.8.8, so this could end up being the warmest November. November is a
:09:36. > :09:41.transitional month, it often gets warm and gets cold at the end. The
:09:41. > :09:48.impact on your selection of species here is noticeable. I think because
:09:48. > :09:52.these are quite dramatic events, they hold a higher resonance with
:09:52. > :09:56.us. Viewers have told us. In terms of the grand scheme of things, I am
:09:56. > :10:01.not entirely sure it is going to have that much of an impact. Nature
:10:01. > :10:05.has the ability of soaking up these warm periods or cold periods.
:10:05. > :10:09.mentioned at the beginning of the show, some wildlife has been
:10:09. > :10:15.confused. Let's look at the ducklings we have had here at
:10:15. > :10:19.Slimbridge, just below the Flamingo pool. There are 10 ducklings
:10:19. > :10:23.swimming around. This is very unusual in November. They think
:10:23. > :10:27.it's it's spring. Wlas going to happen to them? They are going to
:10:27. > :10:33.have a tough time because they are relying on finding their own food.
:10:33. > :10:39.Whilst things have been mild, this is possibly a sign of not a second
:10:39. > :10:45.swim, but these birds responding to a forthcoming spring. It is mild so
:10:45. > :10:49.they have bred. Those Ducklings, if it freezes or gets cold they could
:10:49. > :10:58.be in trouble. They are already in trouble, because they are looking
:10:58. > :11:05.for food and they are food themselves. Shake, look at this.
:11:05. > :11:10.Little ducklings swimming around with mum and look at that, a black
:11:10. > :11:16.headed gul. It's quite a small gul and wasn't able to carry the
:11:16. > :11:26.duckling but look at how protective the adult is. The duckling has
:11:26. > :11:27.
:11:27. > :11:32.squampered off. This herring is far more capable of taking chicks.
:11:32. > :11:36.Fingers crossed for those ducklings. Whatever happens, that female will
:11:37. > :11:42.breed again in April and if she fails then she will breed again at
:11:42. > :11:49.the end of May. Time for our special guest, Liz Bonnin who we
:11:49. > :11:54.sent to The Cairngorms to cover an emotive issue.
:11:54. > :12:00.The British landscape gets no more dramatic and beautiful than in the
:12:00. > :12:05.highlands of Scotland. Its most valuable and important habitat is
:12:05. > :12:12.the Caledonian pine forest, a mix of trees, heather and all the
:12:12. > :12:17.animal species associated with it. But as beautiful as this place is,
:12:17. > :12:24.something is out of balance in this spectacular landscape. One animal
:12:24. > :12:29.is having a huge impact on all the other species here. I have come to
:12:29. > :12:36.The Cairngorms to find out about red deer. But I am not here just to
:12:36. > :12:41.admire them, I am here to find out about what the most controversial
:12:41. > :12:46.conservation issues today. Without natural predators like wolves and
:12:46. > :12:49.bears, deer numbers have steadily being growing in the highlands over
:12:49. > :12:54.hundreds of years. They belong here just as much as all the other
:12:54. > :12:59.animals, but humans have created an ecosystem with no natural method of
:12:59. > :13:05.controlling them. Now some people believe that the red deer
:13:05. > :13:08.population is so out of balance that it needs culling. It is an
:13:09. > :13:17.uncomfortable idea for most of us but it is the reality of what is
:13:17. > :13:21.happening here. I want to explore this and my
:13:21. > :13:29.journey starts on this estate with Derek from the Forestry Commission
:13:30. > :13:35.Scotland. He works at the sharp end of keeping deer numbers low. We are
:13:35. > :13:38.not just looking for red deer to get nice and close to them. If you
:13:38. > :13:44.get the chance, you are going to try and cull one today, is that
:13:45. > :13:49.right? Yes, we are going to go out stalking and get in on some deer
:13:49. > :13:53.and maybe shoot one. It goes without saying, I am a bit
:13:53. > :13:57.apprehensive about it, I have never experienced anything like it before.
:13:58. > :14:07.I do want to know why it is necessary, why you cull in these
:14:08. > :14:08.
:14:08. > :14:14.parts? We believe that there are too many deer. Six or seven years
:14:15. > :14:23.ago when we started to cull, this heather was moan right down to the
:14:23. > :14:28.moss because of the red deer. -- mown. The heather is just the tip
:14:28. > :14:33.of an ecological iceberg. Many species depend upon heather and
:14:33. > :14:41.then there is the precious Caledonian forest that can't
:14:41. > :14:45.regenerate because deer are eating all the young Saablings, it is --
:14:45. > :14:51.saplings. This is what motivates the Forestry Commission in Scotland
:14:51. > :14:56.to get people like Derek out on the moors. There are deer over here in
:14:56. > :15:04.front of us. We have to get into this position in order that we are
:15:04. > :15:12.downwind of the deer. Is wind wind crucial? Absolutely They can smell
:15:12. > :15:22.humans. Deer stalking is tough, even with Derek's expertise it
:15:22. > :15:37.
:15:37. > :15:41.takes five hours to track down what Closing In on this quarry, Derek
:15:42. > :15:45.prepares for the final stages of the stalk. As the gun comes out of
:15:45. > :15:50.its holder I am aware what I am about to witness is going to
:15:50. > :16:00.challenge me, but I have to be here to fully appreciate this key part
:16:00. > :16:18.
:16:18. > :16:28.The deer was killed instantly with a clean shot.
:16:28. > :16:32.
:16:32. > :16:35.I didn't see it go down. It's definitely down. Jeepers. This is
:16:35. > :16:39.undoubtedly one of the hardest things I have had to witness. I can
:16:39. > :16:45.certainly appreciate why some people believe humans shouldn't be
:16:45. > :16:49.killing animals for any reasons. But many now argue that this cull
:16:49. > :16:56.is necessary for the greater good of nature. To understand this, I
:16:56. > :17:03.need to see the negative effect the red deer are having on the precious
:17:03. > :17:09.Caledonian forest and the species that live there.
:17:09. > :17:12.It's not very nice but we do live in a landscape. If we want to
:17:12. > :17:18.maximise the benefit for all species, sometimes we have to take
:17:19. > :17:23.some very difficult decisions. That heather was down to the moss but
:17:23. > :17:29.now the heather has already bounced back. It is, well managed heather
:17:29. > :17:33.benefits another iconic Scottish animal, the red grouse. Chris and I
:17:33. > :17:43.braved the wilds of the Scottish wilderness in our quest to find out
:17:43. > :17:53.
:17:53. > :18:02.Let's look for animals! Not just any animals, Martin - the red
:18:02. > :18:11.grouse. They feed mostly on heather. They are a gorgeous russet colour,
:18:11. > :18:20.with red eyebrows. They are combs like you might find on a cockerel.
:18:20. > :18:27.There is a direct correlation between the amount of testosterone
:18:27. > :18:32.and the size of the wattles. As well as the lovely eyebrows, the
:18:32. > :18:39.males show off with spectacular display flights, calling out as
:18:39. > :18:45.they fly. This is all testosterone testosterone fuelled. These grouse
:18:45. > :18:50.have two peaks of testosterone in the year. A minor peak and then it
:18:50. > :18:56.drops off and in April they will have a resurgence of this hormone
:18:56. > :19:05.in their body. It is how they secure a fee tale that is going to
:19:05. > :19:15.stay with them and go through the breeding process. They shoot up,
:19:15. > :19:40.
:19:40. > :19:50.They might have a scrap there, Chris. One has gone up there.
:19:50. > :20:00.Thoughts of coffee and cake have gone out of my mind, until now!
:20:00. > :20:01.
:20:01. > :20:06.The red grouse, it is the essence of the Scottish autumn. It is.
:20:06. > :20:11.crucial question is, why are they going to all that trouble, all that
:20:11. > :20:15.showing off now when they are going to breed for months. It is about
:20:15. > :20:20.winter survival. When they are vocalising, they are driving other
:20:20. > :20:28.males out of the territory but it is also a love songs for the
:20:28. > :20:35.females. Sometimes the females will stay with them or move off.
:20:35. > :20:39.Whatever happens they drive all the other birds out of the area. So
:20:39. > :20:49.this behaviour is about having the best habitat to get through the
:20:49. > :20:52.winter and these birds go back and the females are making their choice.
:20:52. > :21:00.Very Intriguing things are going on in the rivers right now. Have a
:21:00. > :21:05.look at this. This was filmed much earlier on in one of the very first
:21:05. > :21:09.Autumnwatch programmes, fabulous salmon leaping up the water falls,
:21:09. > :21:14.coming from the sea, and now they are coming back to the rivers in
:21:14. > :21:18.which they were born. That was weeks ago, but now, Chris, what is
:21:18. > :21:23.going on so many weeks later? will come into the river and some
:21:23. > :21:27.will stay for a long period of time waiting for the right conditions
:21:27. > :21:33.for the spawning to occur. Fortunately when we were in the
:21:33. > :21:40.Cairngorms this week it was one of those times.
:21:40. > :21:45.This is a trib triof the river, one of the best salmon rivers in the UK.
:21:45. > :21:53.When our camera man heard the spawning had started, he grabbed
:21:53. > :21:58.his waders and got there as fast as he could with his underwater camera.
:21:58. > :22:02.The fish don't seem bothered about it. These salmon are now at the end
:22:02. > :22:08.of their journey. The males have turned a deep red colour and also
:22:08. > :22:15.developed a distinctive hook shaped mouth. But really it is the females
:22:15. > :22:20.who are the centre of attention. This is the male fish protecting
:22:20. > :22:25.his female. All the males congregate around a female waiting
:22:25. > :22:33.for the moment of egg-laying. But first she makes a nest in the
:22:33. > :22:39.gravel bed by striking her tail to dig a pit. The males are are
:22:39. > :22:44.jostling for position, to be in the right place at the right time.
:22:44. > :22:49.Whichever male is closest to her will have a chance to fertilise her
:22:49. > :22:56.eggs. For most of the salmon this will be their final journey as they
:22:56. > :23:04.put all their energies into the effort to spawn. They are really
:23:04. > :23:09.suffering from this fungus. They have not been eating. All the
:23:09. > :23:18.bloches of fungus are signs of their complete exhaustion and after
:23:18. > :23:23.spawning most will die in the very river where their own lifrs leisure
:23:23. > :23:28.lives began. It is this spawning which is the the be all and end all
:23:28. > :23:35.of this part of their lives. It's worked because this is what we find
:23:35. > :23:40.if we dive into the beds, beneath the gravel, the salmon eggs are
:23:40. > :23:44.developing. The little fish inside are waiting to hatch out. 95% of
:23:44. > :23:50.the eye dults die during this process and what we see when we
:23:50. > :23:56.look into the rivers is lots of fish carcasses floating down. This
:23:56. > :24:00.might strike you as sad but I have to say there is a beauty in it. The
:24:00. > :24:05.nutrients of these fish are going back into the ecosystem which
:24:05. > :24:09.allowed them to grow in the first place all those years ago. It is
:24:09. > :24:17.odd, I am sure you will agree, we can find a beauty in a dead salmon
:24:17. > :24:23.because it is part of a functional ecosystem. Perhaps only Chris could
:24:23. > :24:29.find beauty there! I am not sure I would call it
:24:29. > :24:34.beauty but I see his point. Time to catch up with our swans here. They
:24:34. > :24:42.are not the sort of swans we can see behind us. They are here all
:24:42. > :24:50.the year around. The bewick fly in each year. They come from Arctic
:24:50. > :24:55.Russia and they are very wild. So far there are 135 individuals here.
:24:55. > :25:01.It started very slowly. We had three, four weeks ago, now it is
:25:01. > :25:08.135, which is a lot more than this time last year. They are expecting
:25:08. > :25:12.about 400. We have seen family groups coming in and fighting for
:25:12. > :25:18.dominance but we have seen really interesting swans coming in. Look
:25:18. > :25:23.at these two. These two are divorcees. This is a a divorcee
:25:24. > :25:29.with its new partner. The rate of divorce among these swans is
:25:29. > :25:34.incredibly low. They have only seen it twice in 4,000 swans that have
:25:34. > :25:39.come here, 60 years. It does happen very occasionally. We think it is
:25:39. > :25:48.because if the pair doesn't breed successfully, they may separate,
:25:48. > :25:54.which is very sensible, because who knows which one is infertile.
:25:54. > :26:00.male of the divorced pair has a new partner, they haven't brought
:26:00. > :26:10.signets back. The female did bring signets back. She didn't want to be
:26:10. > :26:14.near the ex. They met and went their separate ways. I learnt
:26:14. > :26:21.something new this week at Slimbridge. We all like doing that.
:26:21. > :26:27.I learnt how to feed the swans. I actually had to go through training.
:26:27. > :26:33.I had to be taught how to look demure, when I was wheeling my
:26:33. > :26:43.barrow. Impossible! Then I had to learn the wrist action of checking
:26:43. > :26:44.
:26:44. > :26:52.the seed out. I did all right! James Lees has been feeding the
:26:52. > :26:57.swans here for 11 years. She's training me on what do do. They are
:26:57. > :27:01.notoriously aware of humans. This autumn will be the first time the
:27:01. > :27:07.signets have set eyes on people. I have to act just like their regular
:27:07. > :27:12.feeders or I might scare all the birds away. James will be watching
:27:12. > :27:18.my every move from the public observatory. We can see some birds
:27:18. > :27:28.moving. I don't know if this is a good sign but they are walking away
:27:28. > :27:35.
:27:35. > :27:41.from me. Soon ducks, geese and swans are eating out of my hand. At
:27:41. > :27:46.the moment, I am not frightening any of the swans. I could only be
:27:46. > :27:53.this close to these rare swaus because they have learned over many
:27:53. > :28:01.years that humans here are a trusted source of food. It is
:28:01. > :28:09.amazing, I am closer to a bewick swan that anybody else could be in
:28:09. > :28:13.the whole of Western Europe. Slimbridge has created a safe haven
:28:13. > :28:23.for these gorge jus winter visitors for 60 years. What a privilege to
:28:23. > :28:33.
:28:33. > :28:40.Loving it, Michaela. I didn't scare any off. When you come to my house,
:28:40. > :28:49.you are now permitted to feed my chickens. Thank you very much. I am
:28:49. > :28:54.one of only 21 people in 60 years who has fed those swans. They have
:28:54. > :28:58.taken 60 years to get those swans there, so it is really important
:28:58. > :29:03.nobody does scare them off. Thank you very much to Slimbridge for
:29:03. > :29:07.letting me do that. Thank you to Slimbridge for letting us be here
:29:07. > :29:11.for the last four weeks and thank you for all the work you do. Chris
:29:11. > :29:16.and I were lucky enough to see the red grouse but there is another
:29:16. > :29:22.sort of grouse, much, much rarer, the black grouse. I went out early
:29:22. > :29:32.one morning to see if I could see something that very few people have
:29:32. > :29:45.
:29:45. > :29:55.This place, The Cairngorms, is per ferment for the black grouse. They
:29:55. > :29:57.
:29:57. > :30:07.are not disturbed here. They eat heather and pine needles. Right on
:30:07. > :30:12.
:30:12. > :30:18.cue, is that strange call. It's almost owl-like. Fascinating, great
:30:18. > :30:28.flashes of white as these male male black grouse are starting to
:30:28. > :30:28.
:30:28. > :30:38.display to one another to try to work out who is top. It's called
:30:38. > :30:38.
:30:38. > :31:23.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 45 seconds
:31:23. > :31:29.It's a fantastic show. You might wonder why are the male black
:31:29. > :31:36.grouse showing off at this time of year. Because the main breeding
:31:36. > :31:39.season is in springtime. We are not sure why they do it. There are no
:31:40. > :31:49.females here. Females actively avoid male black grouse at this
:31:50. > :31:55.
:31:55. > :32:01.time of year, so it is all rather I am so jealous. I can barely bring
:32:01. > :32:06.myself to speak to you. Fantastic, it was amazing thing to see. They
:32:06. > :32:15.have been on some of those sites for 50 or 60 years, they come back
:32:15. > :32:19.to the same sites. The big question is, why do they do it? Black grouse
:32:19. > :32:24.do that every month of the year apart from July and they are
:32:24. > :32:28.sorting out a hierarchy. They are investing a lot of energy in this.
:32:28. > :32:32.The dominant males will probably go back to the best territories, so
:32:32. > :32:36.they srt it out on the ground and go back to the territories, these
:32:36. > :32:42.are the ones which are the ones best for food and breeding. It's
:32:42. > :32:50.about status. And here is a fact for you: when they do go back and
:32:50. > :32:58.mate, one male was seen to mount a stuffed female 56 times in 45
:32:58. > :33:05.minutes. What an achievement. I congratulate you on a beautiful
:33:05. > :33:13.fact! Also, you used to see black grouse, people in London could see
:33:13. > :33:20.them 30 30 milts out of central London, now they have gone. There
:33:20. > :33:25.are 5,000 males left. Habitat loss, human disturbance and the number of
:33:25. > :33:29.pheasants introduced into the environment, but that hasn't been
:33:29. > :33:33.tested, it is just one of those theories. A stunning bird. Let's go
:33:33. > :33:42.back to Liz Bonnin, she's had a tough look at management in the
:33:42. > :33:46.highlands but let's see if the management pays off.
:33:46. > :33:50.The speck lack tar Scottish Highlands are home to some of the
:33:50. > :33:54.rarest habitats and species in the UK. But it's claimed that this
:33:54. > :34:00.landscape is suffering because deer numbers have risen out of control
:34:00. > :34:09.as a result of humans eradicating their natural predators like wolves
:34:09. > :34:15.and and bears. Just how bad is this damage? I want to see with my own
:34:15. > :34:21.eyes andth best way to do this is from the air. We are going to take
:34:21. > :34:26.a quick photograph. Ian Hope monitors deer across the Highlands
:34:26. > :34:29.and he's come to this estate where I witnessed a cull. His research
:34:29. > :34:34.helps establish the effects deer numbers are having on the landscape.
:34:34. > :34:41.What we can do is look at some deer up here and I would expect that we
:34:41. > :34:46.should see some groups of about 40, 50, 60 deer altogether in herds.
:34:46. > :34:49.And that's not unusual up here. spot several large herds within
:34:49. > :34:55.minutes and it is clear the treeless landscape is under stress
:34:55. > :35:00.as a result. On the lower slopes, Ian shows me the dying remnants of
:35:00. > :35:07.the old Caledonian forests. For For many years those trees have not
:35:07. > :35:13.been able to establish a youninger - younger crop of trees below them
:35:13. > :35:18.because the deer can see them and eat them. It is very good food for
:35:18. > :35:23.deer. But deer managers have put in place a programme that has meant
:35:23. > :35:29.that impacts like deer being reduced and allowed the young
:35:29. > :35:32.seedlings to increase in height. We can see the woodland is much more
:35:32. > :35:38.dense here, there are more trees and not only that, can you see
:35:38. > :35:45.clear evidence of young trees coming up from the ground, coming
:35:46. > :35:55.up through the heather. It's easy to see from up here that high
:35:55. > :36:01.numbers of deer result in grazed and barren wars. But keeping deer
:36:01. > :36:04.numbers low on private land to allow regeneration is unusual. Most
:36:05. > :36:11.estates in the Highlands want high numbers of deer for their hunting
:36:11. > :36:18.business. The approach here is very different but manager Thomas thinks
:36:18. > :36:24.it's worth it. What did this place look like 20 years ago, compared to
:36:24. > :36:29.today? This area looked a bit like a golf course. All the grass didn't
:36:29. > :36:34.have a seed on it, it was well grazed. It looked like if you went
:36:34. > :36:40.into an area where where there was sheep, the whole estate was grazed
:36:40. > :36:43.down. But after culling the land where we are sitting is a a
:36:43. > :36:53.blossoming new wild habitat, full of heather and young trees that are
:36:53. > :37:06.
:37:06. > :37:14.growing into the Caledonian forest In the long-term the forest Thomas
:37:15. > :37:20.dreams of might become loam to Scotland's speck lack tar species.
:37:20. > :37:30.For a glimpse of that future my final stop is with the Forestry
:37:30. > :37:31.
:37:31. > :37:41.Commission of Scotland. We have got the most incredible treat. I never
:37:41. > :37:51.
:37:51. > :38:01.expected to get so close, look at He is a bit over-exsiteded. He is a
:38:01. > :38:02.
:38:02. > :38:11.rogue capier kailly He is a wonderful creature. He's been
:38:11. > :38:15.monitored. If there was ever an example of why these pine forests
:38:15. > :38:21.are incredibly important for Scottish wildlife, this is
:38:21. > :38:26.definitely it. Of course this is just one of so many species who
:38:26. > :38:31.rely on a healthy ecosystem. It's been a brief and at times difficult
:38:31. > :38:35.journey into a very emotive issue. But it's hard to avoid the
:38:35. > :38:41.conclusion that for the last scape as a whole, the numbers of one
:38:41. > :38:50.animal, red deer, do need to be controlled to benefit all of the
:38:50. > :39:00.other wildlife here in the Scottish Highlands. Liz is with us here at
:39:00. > :39:04.
:39:04. > :39:07.Slimbridge. She's managed to tear herself away. Let's talk about the
:39:07. > :39:12.red deer. You have shown that you need to understand the issue before
:39:12. > :39:15.you get too emotional about it and it is a very complex issue. It is a
:39:15. > :39:20.very complex issue as most conservation issues are these days
:39:20. > :39:24.because man has manipulated our landscape for so long there is no
:39:24. > :39:29.simple answer to anything. It was really hard to watch that culling,
:39:29. > :39:33.but, yes, it is a very important thing to understand why it is
:39:33. > :39:36.necessary to be done. You have to have been informed opinion? Yes, it
:39:36. > :39:40.is important to note it is not about getting rid of all the deer
:39:40. > :39:50.completely. They do play a vital role in the ecosystem in the
:39:50. > :39:51.
:39:51. > :39:56.highlands. If you got rid of the deer completely, the heather would
:39:56. > :40:01.be overgrown. It is about balance, everything in all ecosystems, it is
:40:01. > :40:04.about striking the right balance. Part of the reason we have to step
:40:04. > :40:09.in and manage them is because we have got rid of the predators.
:40:09. > :40:14.Could predators be introduced, could that be an answer? I lot of
:40:15. > :40:19.people were asking that, I was asking that, I hope you are not too
:40:19. > :40:25.naive to think you could bring the wolves and bears back and allow
:40:25. > :40:31.them to readdress the natural balance. But wolves disappeared 200
:40:31. > :40:36.years ago, lynx, 400 years ago because of us. To introduce the
:40:36. > :40:43.wolves now, with mass presence in the Hay lands, it would be a big
:40:43. > :40:49.problem. They have been talking about reintroducing wolves for
:40:50. > :40:53.decades. But wouldn't it be fantastic to have lynx. Justs to
:40:53. > :40:58.know they were back in the Highlands would be terrific. It is
:40:58. > :41:02.more of a realistic option but that is going to take take sometime.
:41:03. > :41:06.What about fencing? They have tried that. It is part of the management
:41:06. > :41:11.strategy up there, but fencing brings its own problems. If you
:41:11. > :41:16.fence off deer, you are going to have patches of unnatural over-
:41:16. > :41:21.grazed areas and overgrown areas, where the deer are separated. Birds
:41:21. > :41:27.will fly to fences, it kills the birds and it will separate out
:41:27. > :41:31.other wildlife as well. It is not a solution. Another complex side of
:41:31. > :41:38.this is the red deer are part of the economy, they bring in money as
:41:38. > :41:43.well. No question about it. You have You have written a detailed
:41:43. > :41:49.blog on the website. I spoke to so many people, it was a real learning
:41:49. > :41:54.experience, we have a lot of the interviews as well on the website
:41:54. > :41:56.next week. Every evening I would come back and write frantically
:41:57. > :42:03.because I found it a very, very interesting subject. You are
:42:03. > :42:10.sticking around for Unsprung. Let us know what you think. I am sure
:42:10. > :42:16.you have plenty of opinions about red deer management. Last week we
:42:16. > :42:21.saw a truly remarkable fight between two male foxes at Pitsea
:42:21. > :42:25.landfill. Remarkable because it is very rare to see that sort of thing,
:42:25. > :42:29.rare to see them fighting out in the open. But what happened next? I
:42:29. > :42:36.just had to find out myself, so I went down to get the very latest
:42:36. > :42:46.news. There are foxes everywhere here,
:42:46. > :42:56.look at this, here he comes: They have become so used to people. I
:42:56. > :42:59.
:42:59. > :43:04.have never had an experience like This is the new male that first
:43:04. > :43:10.appeared in midsummer. He will be hoping to breed with a Springwatch
:43:10. > :43:14.vixen next year, so he is doing all he can to win her over, including
:43:14. > :43:19.this submissive behaviour, even though he is much bigger than her.
:43:19. > :43:25.On the other hand he's been consistently aggressive to the
:43:25. > :43:35.vixen's three male cubs. He may be drying the cubs away before they
:43:35. > :43:39.grow big enough to be a threat. By early November there have been no
:43:39. > :43:42.sightings of the three male cubs for several weeks, even after dark
:43:42. > :43:52.and most of the site's large fox population come out to look for
:43:52. > :43:53.
:43:53. > :44:03.food. It's normal for male cubs to dispurse, often moving several
:44:03. > :44:07.
:44:08. > :44:17.miles away from where they were What about the remaining cub, the
:44:18. > :44:19.
:44:19. > :44:22.female? This is the Springwatch vixen. You can tell her from a
:44:22. > :44:28.small nick in her ear and she is with the female cub. On our
:44:28. > :44:32.previous visits this cub had been very shy, hiding away in the bushes
:44:32. > :44:39.but she's clearly gained confidence. She's developed a strong bond with
:44:39. > :44:44.her mother. This grooming is often a way of strengthening
:44:44. > :44:48.relationships between adults. The adult male is watching. This
:44:48. > :44:51.relationship could benefit him, too. Female cubs will often stay with
:44:51. > :44:55.their mother all the way through the next breeding season. They
:44:55. > :45:01.won't breed themselves but they will help raise the next litter,
:45:01. > :45:08.their younger brothers and sisters. Here is a real indication of the
:45:08. > :45:17.female cub's new found confidence. She comes right up behind the male.
:45:17. > :45:27.Shows all her teeth and she drives him off the hay bale.
:45:27. > :45:31.
:45:31. > :45:35.Look at the brush, he's magnificent. The Springwatch vixen has seen her
:45:35. > :45:39.four cubs through the start of adulthood and the new male has
:45:39. > :45:42.established himself as the dominant male in the area but he is going to
:45:42. > :45:52.have to wait until January before she is ready to mate again. There
:45:52. > :45:52.
:45:52. > :45:56.is no doubt 2012 will be another busy year for the Pitsea foxes.
:45:56. > :46:02.It's amazing to see them out in the open like that, it is a rarity. The
:46:02. > :46:07.only person I know who has ever had such good views was my aunty. Spem
:46:07. > :46:17.often hear them in cover but they don't get these sorts of views.
:46:17. > :46:19.
:46:19. > :46:25.you might hear them, not quite yet, but you might hear this very
:46:25. > :46:31.characteristic sound... (Fox sound) This is a vixen calling to the male.
:46:31. > :46:36.She is only in season for a few days. She She must mate then.
:46:36. > :46:41.is got to make sure they find her. She out in the woods and they
:46:41. > :46:44.produce a very raucous call. I have heard it myself. I believe the
:46:44. > :46:51.police have been called on occasion because they have thought someone
:46:51. > :46:56.has been done away with. The story in Pitsea is fascinating. I
:46:56. > :47:00.interviewed Sean tailor who manages the site for the owner there and
:47:00. > :47:04.that interview, not just the foxes, but all the other wildlife down
:47:04. > :47:08.there, it is all on the website. One of the best bits of my job is
:47:08. > :47:11.meeting other naturalists, who know more about something than I do,
:47:12. > :47:17.because for me one of the greatest treats is always having more to
:47:17. > :47:22.learn and getting to grips with it. Whilst we are up in Scotland this
:47:22. > :47:26.week I had a chance to meet meet just such a naturalist. Every now
:47:26. > :47:30.and again the opportunity arising to meet a renowned expert, someone
:47:30. > :47:40.with passion, knowledge and an incredible selection I could only
:47:40. > :47:41.
:47:41. > :47:46.dream of owning. Hello, Chris, come in. This is
:47:46. > :47:52.nine-year-old Jay from Perthshire. It is his bone bone collection I am
:47:52. > :47:57.here to see. What do you think? think wow, I have never seen so
:47:57. > :48:04.many skulls in one bedroom in all my life. How many skulls have you
:48:04. > :48:09.got here? I have about 100, I think, I'm not sure. That's impressive.
:48:09. > :48:15.What about bones, how many in total? 1,000. From different
:48:15. > :48:25.animals? Yes. Many of which you found yourself. Mostly all of them,
:48:25. > :48:25.
:48:25. > :48:32.yes. When I was nine I think I probably had about 6 or 7 skulls.,
:48:32. > :48:42.not many. On a skull count here, I have been thrashed! Which is your
:48:42. > :48:47.favourite British skull? The deer. Why? Because it's it's huge.
:48:47. > :48:53.you get it yourself? The local gamekeeper gave it to me as a
:48:53. > :48:59.present. I have spied a skull here, is it all right if I take it out?
:48:59. > :49:09.Yes. This is a very special skull. Yes. Tell me about it It is a
:49:09. > :49:16.
:49:16. > :49:21.puffin my friend gave to me. We swapped skulls. I gave her a seal,
:49:21. > :49:30.a pig. Sounds like a gar Dane. One of our viewers has sent a bone in,
:49:30. > :49:35.you look at that and I will read what she's written. Dear Chris and
:49:35. > :49:39.Martin, I enclose a bone which is possibly reptile. I found it on our
:49:39. > :49:46.farm years ago and haven't managed to have it positively identified. I
:49:47. > :49:56.am hopeful you can. From Daphne Ellis in Warwickshire. On a farm,
:49:56. > :50:06.she thinks it might be a reptile? Some kind of farm animal, a sternum.
:50:06. > :50:12.
:50:12. > :50:21.What makes you think that? Do you It is very similar, you have a
:50:21. > :50:28.pointy bit at one end. Yes. This could be sheep. Or some other kind
:50:28. > :50:37.of farm animal. I am thinking it could be a sheep. A sheep or a pig.
:50:37. > :50:42.Daphne Ellis, the expert has spoken, a sternum bone from a sheep or pig.
:50:42. > :50:48.Cool boy. What a remarkable young man. Instilled so much faith in me
:50:48. > :50:54.that there is a new generation of great British naturalists waiting
:50:54. > :50:59.out there. Thank you to all of you who have got in contact with the
:50:59. > :51:04.programme. You have been out on the message boards with pictures and a
:51:04. > :51:14.big thank you thank you you from us all. If you want to stay involved
:51:14. > :51:17.
:51:17. > :51:24.carry on watching our swan cams. We have been talking a lot about how
:51:24. > :51:34.mild the autumn is but tonight it feels as if it's got chilly. So is
:51:34. > :51:37.
:51:37. > :51:44.winter taking its hold. Let's find It is chilly out there. The weather
:51:44. > :51:48.has been blocked, we haven't had the normal westerly winds but it is
:51:48. > :51:52.changing now. A succession of fronts coming in through the
:51:52. > :51:57.weekend. You will know the tightness of the isobars meaning
:51:57. > :52:02.windy weather. There will be sunshine in between. A mixed sort
:52:02. > :52:06.of weekend, but rain clouds are looming across the north-west.
:52:06. > :52:10.Before that, it's quite chilly, but those temperatures will rise later
:52:11. > :52:15.in the night as the cloud increases and it turns properly wet across
:52:15. > :52:19.western Scotland. Through tomorrow, that wind will be a real feature, a
:52:19. > :52:25.very, very windy day across the northern part of the country. If
:52:26. > :52:30.you have plans for the outdoors across the north, be aware of that.
:52:30. > :52:36.Further south, a nice day, it will be milder tomorrow, but that won't
:52:36. > :52:43.last. We see the winds flicking to the north-west again. The skies
:52:43. > :52:49.brighten for Sunday, it's looking a beauty. Showers across Scotland
:52:50. > :52:54.will begin to turn wintry. Thank you very much. Over the last
:52:54. > :52:59.few weeks we have been talking very much about how cold it might be in
:52:59. > :53:05.Eastern Europe but what's been going on there.
:53:05. > :53:10.We have been promising this cold air coming in. Eastern Europe has
:53:10. > :53:17.finally got very cold, it is below freezing as is much of Russia.
:53:17. > :53:21.Let's go back to last year and remind ourselves. This time last
:53:21. > :53:27.year we had low pressure to the east, high to the west and that
:53:27. > :53:31.meant the winds were funelling down from the Arctic which caused the
:53:31. > :53:36.exceptionally cold weather we had last year. This year that cold air
:53:36. > :53:41.across Russia hasn't made it this far. It has been blocked by high
:53:41. > :53:46.pressure. That is the reverse of last year. We have had the warm
:53:46. > :53:56.winds coming up from the south. How warm has it been? We are set to
:53:56. > :53:59.
:53:59. > :54:05.have one of the warmest autumns on record. Remarkably warm or for some
:54:06. > :54:11.of us it's been a remarkably dry year as well. It's all back to
:54:11. > :54:15.normal now. The first days of December, windy and chilly. The
:54:15. > :54:20.last of the leaves will be blowing off the trees, I fancy. Thank you
:54:20. > :54:27.to everyone at the BBC Weather Centre for their help. Today I
:54:27. > :54:32.spoke to Paul at the BTO, about what might happen. He thought this
:54:32. > :54:41.mild south-westerly might stimulate movement from Scandinavian birds, a
:54:41. > :54:46.few more red wings coming over here. We have a comment from a lady on
:54:46. > :54:51.the website who has seen some in the Isle of Wight. We have been
:54:51. > :54:57.waiting for a Woodcock. We did have a good fall of Woodcock this week.
:54:57. > :55:02.Adult birds have been seen moving over to the East Coast of Britain.
:55:02. > :55:10.At last a good number of Woodcock coming through here. Up in Scotland,
:55:10. > :55:15.we went out and spotted a Woodcock at night, look at this.
:55:15. > :55:21.We have lost the pictures. That is a tragedy.
:55:21. > :55:27.I went out this morning, 7.03 to listen to the dawn chorus and saw
:55:27. > :55:31.like a ghost, sweeping around the tree tops, it was a Woodcock. My
:55:31. > :55:36.security light came on and I saw it 20 foot drift past me, photographs
:55:36. > :55:40.tomorrow. We cannot believe we are finishing on a Woodcock. We have
:55:40. > :55:46.come to the end of Autumnwatch, we are doing a Christmas special, look
:55:46. > :55:52.out for that and we have a special guest, Santa, take a look at how
:55:53. > :55:59.happy Santa looks. It's the beard. I social beards with being stern.
:55:59. > :56:03.We are also going to have a winter special for when it gets really,
:56:03. > :56:07.really cold. Hopefully we will meet you in the snow and ice. If you
:56:07. > :56:11.have suggestions for what you would like to see in the winter special,
:56:11. > :56:15.condact us, because there is time to respond. We hope that you have
:56:15. > :56:21.enjoyed this series of Autumnwatch. We have done our best to bring you
:56:21. > :56:27.the full flavour of autumn. And to feature the best of British
:56:27. > :56:32.wildlife. Autumnwatch Unsprung is coming up soon. We have some guests
:56:32. > :56:36.with two superstars coming on the programme. But before we go, we
:56:36. > :56:42.think it is best that we play you out with the highlights of this
:56:42. > :56:52.year's series. Here is the the very best, the greatest hits of
:56:52. > :56:55.
:56:55. > :56:59.Autumn has arrived! The leaves are turning.
:56:59. > :57:06.We are about to see some images which could easily lead to an
:57:06. > :57:16.excess of leg-rubbing. When this happens, you can get so carried
:57:16. > :57:36.
:57:36. > :57:43.away you can end up rubbing someone Look at that!
:57:43. > :57:53.You are just jealous you can't spet with spawning salmon. You haven't
:57:53. > :58:22.