Spring Waters! Countryfile Spring Diaries

Springtime, when the days lengthen and signs of change are everywhere.

There's not a corner of the British Isles that doesn't

warm to the arrival of spring.

It's our most extraordinary season for one big reason, it's a

time of astonishing growth and regeneration.

From pond life to bird life, from the scent of fresh blossom,

to your smallest mammals reawakening after months of hibernation.

We'll be bringing you the most remarkable stories of this

wonderful time of year.

Tales of survival, endurance and occasional indulgence.

Join us for this special week of programmes as we celebrate

the secrets of spring here on Countryfile Diaries.

Nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the coast

and springtime is one of the best times to visit our estuaries

and coastal areas as they come alive as havens for wildlife.

So, where better to base ourselves to take it all in than

one of our most beautiful national parks on the south coast of England?

The New Forest in Hampshire covers more than 200 square miles,

which is quite a small area in the great scheme of things

but it's got an incredible range of habitats.

From woodland down to the coastline, there's a profusion

of very flourishing ecosystems which burst into life when it's spring.

But the New Forest isn't alone in feeling the effects of the season.

I'll be joined by the Diaries team who have been scouring

the British Isles for signposts of spring.

Keeley's out in Hampshire learning how to help toads

with the Green Cross Code.

Come on, you. Stop dawdling. That's right, that's the way.

Smallholder Paul is giving his Victorian drainage pond

a wildlife makeover.

I'd be worried by all that duckweed you've got there.

While Margherita reports on the £1 million a day cost

of the floods to the people of Cumbria.

-You didn't think of giving up?

-No, never.

THEY LAUGH

But first, as our native flowers burst back into life,

it's hard to beat the beauty of springtime.

It's one of the glories of the British Isles

but not every sign of new life is welcome.

Down in the dells of Devon, Jules is on the trail of an interloper.

Britain is under attack.

A silent invasion is taking over our ponds and streams.

And this is the enemy.

The very pretty, very deadly,

and, frankly, very smelly American skunk cabbage.

When it comes to looks this plant is certainly deceiving.

It is, after all, very popular in many gardens across the UK

but it has now become so prolific in certain parts of our countryside

it is choking our waterways, leaving little room for our native wildlife.

The American skunk cabbage was introduced

here in 1901 as an ornamental plant for garden ponds.

But sightings of the skunk cabbage in the wild have

increased by 84% in 15 years.

It's now spread across the UK, dominating

waterways from the River Tweed in Scotland to the Lake District.

It's even found on Pen-y-Pass in Snowdonia.

If left to its own devices skunk cabbage could wipe out

the native flora around it.

But now it's in Devon and this army of volunteers are fighting back,

working hard determined to eradicate it from the streams on Dartmoor.

The battle is on to remove it before spring turns to summer and

the flower goes to seed, fuelling the spread of this noxious plant.

Community ecologist Chrissy Mason is leading the charge.

-Hi, Chrissie.

-Hi, Jules.

-Look at this lot.

It's a real hive of activity.

A race against time to get these out before they seed.

Absolutely, which is why we're here this time of year when the

plants are relatively small because they are going to get a lot bigger.

But I tell you what, you get a real sense of the smell

when you're really in amongst them like this in numbers.

That's why it's called skunk cabbage. It's because of the smell.

It's real, real strong garlic, onion-y smell.

How big would the plant get when it's fully matured?

You are looking at the leaves being about a metre tall.

-A metre?

-So, it does get large.

The problem is when it grows in dense stands,

it shades everything else out.

So, it just takes over at the cost of our native fauna and flora?

That's right. It outcompetes the native flora.

Let's see if we can get this one out.

-Gosh, it really is in there, isn't it?

-It really is embedded.

It doesn't want to go.

Come on.

-We've lost it.

-That's not what you want, is it?

That's not what we want, no.

-This is what we're aiming for.

-Spot the difference.

-Spot the difference.

What I now have to do is make sure I dig all of that root system out

and that nothing's left behind.

Any small bits of root,

any small bits of rhizome that float downstream,

it can be again be the source of another infestation further down.

Where did the outbreak come from?

If we follow the trail back upstream,

the answer may come from the man who owns this lovely spot.

Heathercombe Estate is a beautiful Victorian ornamental garden.

But recently, skunk cabbage has run riot.

The estate's owner is John Pike.

John, dare I ask, are you, at least, in part

responsible for the skunk cabbage being in this pretty area?

We are to some extent, yes.

My father planted the first skunk cabbages here probably

back in the 1980s.

Probably only one or two and for a long time they were fine

and didn't spread.

The last few years things have changed as far as they started

to spread rapidly so we realise now we must address the problem

and, I'm afraid, get rid of them all because they're too invasive.

I notice there are two distinct different varieties here.

You have both the Asian variety which has the white spathe

and also we have the American species with the yellow spathe.

And it's the American yellow ones that spread like mad.

Are you going to remove both varieties though?

No, I think we'll keep the Asian variety because the Asian

variety has not spread but we shall eliminate the American ones.

Easier said than done. They're not easy to get rid of, are they?

They're not easy. Digging them out is a big job.

It's going to take a lot of hard graft to reclaim our waterways.

Skunk cabbage has become such a threat the EU is now

clamping down on it.

From the 1st of January this year new regulations were introduced

to prevent this non-native species wreaking havoc in the countryside.

The plant that I've had real problems with in the past is

Japanese knotweed. Is this the new knotweed?

At the moment, no.

It's not as widespread as Japanese knotweed, but that is the worry.

Unless the actual problem is nipped in the bud,

we could be losing control.

For anyone who's got one at home, should they be worried about it?

People do grow it in their gardens.

At the moment, we're not asking people to get rid of the plant.

What we're saying is think of the plant as a pet.

So, be a responsible plant owner.

We're asking people to be plant-wise.

If you have it in your garden what we're asking people to do is

actually remove the seed head.

Don't, whatever you do, put it in your compost or your green bin.

-Don't spread it, yeah.

-Absolutely.

What you need to do is put the seed head into a plastic bag,

allow it to rot right down and then it goes in the bin.

Cos we don't want it spreading out into the open country.

-All right, then, we better keep going.

-Thank you.

-Should we give that one a go?

-Yep, we'll give that one a go.

And if you do spot any signs of skunk cabbage

across the countryside you can report it to the Environment Agency.

Keeping your eyes peeled when you're out

and about in the country can pay off in other ways.

Hundreds of thousands of wild birds

and animals are killed or injured on Britain's roads every year.

Keeley now reports on the battle to keep one

creature in particular safe from oncoming traffic.

These huge lakes on the edge of the New Forest are expecting

spring arrivals, and lots of them.

These creatures are waiting for that opportune moment to breed.

And luckily for these nocturnal migraters,

a helping hand is on its way.

Come nightfall and Teresa Baker

is keeping a close eye on the air temperature.

Monitoring moisture levels all from her home on the edge of the forest.

Perfect conditions would be six degrees and above, damp and raining.

I check all the time, ten times, even more sometimes.

All winter she's waited for this moment,

because timing is everything.

For Theresa, springtime means "toad time".

It's estimated that more than 20 tonnes of toads are killed

every year on the UK's roads during their spring migration.

So, tonight, I volunteered to help Theresa on one of her toad patrols

to find out why the common toad needs our help.

Theresa's toad patrol are ready for action during this annual migration.

It's their job to help the toads cross the road.

And that means a lot of late nights at this time of year

because it's under the cover of darkness that these

amphibians start their journey.

-Are we just looking for any little bumps in the road?

-Yes.

Theresa and her team work in shifts to patrol the road in their cars.

Is that one?

They look very similar to leaves, that's the problem we've got here.

That's the problem.

'With the help of the full beams, when a toad is spotted,

'they get out and safely move it to the other side.'

-That could be one.

-Oh, no. Another leaf. It's a leaf.

-Are you sure?

I'm sure, yes.

-There's a toad.

-Oh, yeah.

Right. Here we go.

-So, carefully scoop up, do we?

-Yes, just pick it up very gently.

Hello.

-OK.

-Just cover her face so that nothing hurts her face.

-OK, she's not camera-shy, is she?

-No, she's not.

Come on, then.

Right, this is my first toad rescue.

Come on, then.

Teresa, it's cold, it's wet.

Some people would call you crazy for doing this.

I think you probably have to be a little bit crazy

to come out on a night like this,

but it is worthwhile when you find them and you save them.

So, why are the toads crossing on this particular stretch?

Well, they are crossing the road to get to the Blashford Lakes to spawn

and then after they've spawned, they'll go back again.

And they've got a fair old journey to make, haven't they?

Yes, apparently a toad will go 3km,

4km, to get back to the lake where they were spawned.

The common toad spends ten months of the year on dry land hibernating.

Waking up in spring when the weather warms,

they'll crawl vast distances to reach their spawning ground.

They may not have eaten for six months,

but there's no time for stopping.

These toads are on a mission.

They know from memory where they started their life

and retrace their steps by smelling the air for direction.

Come on, you, stop dawdling. That's right. That's the way. Come on.

'Usually the males start their journey a few weeks ahead

'of the females with time to stake out a spot,

'only this year,

'the mild winter tricked the males into crossing months in advance.

'By late April, they're still waiting for the females to arrive...

'fashionably late, as always.'

Will that have an effect on numbers, do you think, if the male toads

have been waiting quite a long time for the females to join them?

No, I think they just wait patiently.

I don't think that worries them at all.

The night is not over for you yet, young lady.

Some very handsome toads over there, I hear. Come on.

Let's get you on your way.

'So far this year, Teresa and her team have saved nearly 400 toads.'

Excuse me. Do you not know your Highway TOAD?!

They are such endearing little creatures, aren't they?

-It's just lovely.

-Why is this so important?

You turn out on horrid nights. Why?

Really because it seems such a shame for these creatures

to be killed unnecessarily. They play a big part in the ecosystem.

Once you start picking them up and you see how sweet they are,

you can't help but love them. They are lovely little creatures.

They don't do any harm, they only do good,

so, yeah, I really enjoy doing it.

Good luck. There she goes.

It's thanks to the help of Teresa and 1,600 fellow volunteers

all around Britain that the common toad can continue to thrive.

Further north in the UK in Cumbria,

spring really couldn't have come too soon this year.

Last December, Storm Desmond wreaked havoc there,

causing more than £500 millions' worth of damage

right across the county.

Margherita now reports on a community that won't give in.

The Lake District - a watery landscape of countless lakes

and tarns and home to England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike.

Breathtaking vistas that bring in more than £1 billion

to the rural economy each year,

thanks to tourists who come here from around the world.

If you're a newbie to the Lakes

and you want to tackle a fell,

then this one, Catbells, is the one you're after.

The paths are really good for walkers, both young and old,

and for those of us who haven't been to the gym in a while.

Even on a grey spring day, the scenery is inspiring.

How incredible is that view? That is well worth the hike.

Around 16 million people visit the Lake District each year,

but today it's unseasonably quiet.

The hikers have been late this year.

Last December,

the UK was swamped by some of the worst flooding in decades.

Cumbria was hit hard.

The deluge of rain, 34 centimetres or 14 inches,

in 24 hours flooded large swathes of town and countryside.

Few could get in or out of the lakes

and tourists stayed away at an estimated cost of £1 million a day

to the local economy this spring.

Catbells, one of the most popular fell walks, suffered a series

of catastrophic landslides, making pathways impassable for walkers.

'Now, the challenge is how to bring this part of the lakes back

'to its sparkling best before the tourists arrive this summer?'

-Hi, Jessie.

-Hello, hello.

-Oh, it's busy here.

-Yeah.

'The answer - grit, determination and muscle power.'

Why does it need to get done now?

Why is it so important to get it done in the spring?

The reason we want to do it now is because we want our paths

to be as good as they can be

for when people come up and walk the fells in the summer.

If we don't do something about it now,

we'll just have a constant stream of damage that needs repairing.

-And you've got a lot of people helping.

-Yeah.

How much work needs to be done?

How much gravel are we talking about moving in here?

We've ordered 950 tonnes of gravel for this path,

so, I mean, it's a long, long path,

so it's going to take quite a few months of work

to get this up to the standard we need it to be.

-Do you need a hand?

-Yes, absolutely.

-Get cracking.

And how many hours have you already put in to working up here

-just to get to this kind of level?

-Three days, just on this section.

-A few hundred yards?

-Yeah.

-And how many more have we got to go?

Well, it's another 4km to Grange, isn't it?

Oh, I see, right.

That'll keep me busy for a bit, won't it?

It wasn't just pathways damaged by the floods.

Farmers lost land and livestock.

Altogether, we had 41 sheep missing.

They'll have gone down the river,

there's nowhere else for them to have gone.

It's thought that 2,000 sheep

and 100 cattle were lost to the raging rivers.

Sarah and Graham Chaplin-Brice's farm was cut off by the floods.

Their link to the outside world, the bridge,

buckled and the road across it was swept away.

The damage has been extreme.

We have seen these events over the years,

but we've never had to rebuild a bridge before.

The water was right up to the deck.

In fact, it was about a foot and a half above the deck of the bridge.

People from the footpath cannot get access through to us.

It's also the access for bringing in animal feed.

It makes life really difficult.

It's not just the bridge that they're rebuilding.

They're resurrecting their livelihood, too.

The arrival of spring heralds new hope in the form of new life.

It's lambing time on the farm.

-Can I give you a hand, Sarah?

-Yes, please.

-OK.

This must give you hope,

-seeing these beautiful little lambs arriving?

-Yes.

-Especially after the floods.

-It's wonderful, it really, really is...

-Wow.

-..because it's been a hard winter and now look what we've got -

beautiful, beautiful babies.

Every farm down the valley has suffered some damage,

in some form or other.

Miles of fencing gone, stone walls that have been stood

for hundreds of years just gone, just demolished.

-But you didn't think of giving up?

-No, never.

Cumbrian folk are a resilient bunch.

During the flood, the fences that bordered their land were levelled,

scattering their sheep far and wide.

Sarah's local community was on hand to help out.

We put a plea out on social media

and we had 40 volunteers come from all over the place and we cleared it

all up and as a result of it, we've got two stock-proof fields now.

Things are getting back to normal, aren't they?

Oh, I think so. I think so, yes.

The Cumbrian community has rallied round.

Paths have been restored and roads reopened.

There are signs that visitors are returning.

B&B owner Martin Lancaster believes the local tourist industry

will bounce back.

-How are things looking?

-The weather's improving.

The flowers are out, the daffodils look wonderful.

You can hear birds everywhere. The footpaths are open.

Yeah, there's a real positive vibe going on.

I think many of the businesses in town, people I talk to,

they're very confident that we're going to have a good season.

For these communities, it's been a long five months,

not just rebuilding homes and businesses,

but also their self-belief.

It's great to see how the people of Cumbria have pulled together

to overcome the flooding

and I, for one, can't wait to get back out on the mountains this year.

In Wiltshire, Paul is also rolling up his sleeves,

working on a springtime to-do list.

The loss of pond habitats means once-common species

have become a rarity.

So, Paul's doing his bit

by turning his much-neglected pond into a wildlife haven.

PAUL: This spring, I'm injecting new life into my Wiltshire smallholding.

I'm learning how to get the best from my land -

to provide food for the family,

but also be a haven for wildlife.

With our new bees busy building their hive,

it's reminded me of another bug haven in our garden.

This is our Victorian drainage pond - now, every spring,

we get a whole host of wildlife emerging from its murky waters.

We get damselflies and dragonflies, which flutter all around the garden,

much to the delight of Woof and the kids.

It's got potential, but it...it just looks a mess.

Garden ponds in Britain support two thirds of our freshwater species,

and yet, 50% of these amazing habitats have been lost

since the 20th century.

Mine is overgrown, overshadowed and in desperate need of some TLC.

So, to help me give my pond a makeover

and provide some top tips on maintaining a healthy pond,

I've called in Jeremy Biggs from the Freshwater Habitats Trust.

I'd be worried by all that duckweed you've got there.

I think there's probably a lot of organic material

built-up in the pond here. Often, when there's lots of duckweed,

it's a sign there's too many nutrients in the pond,

which is really a form of pollution

and getting those nutrients down as low as we can

-is really crucial for pond life.

-Right, let's test the water now.

-Come on, then, there's a shallow bit down here.

-OK.

I'm just going to get a bit of water

in this pot first of all. There we are.

Now we can use the test kit for pollutants that we're worried about.

OK. And this should change colour, should it?

Well, if there's any pollution here, it'll change colour.

And anyone can get these kits and test their own ponds?

-They can, yeah.

-The good news is that's perfectly clear!

The phosphate is really low.

It's right down at the natural levels that we should see

in waters not polluted by anything.

With all this organic matter in the pond, I'm a bit surprised by that.

I would've thought there might be more.

So, appearances can be deceiving.

Despite Jeremy's fears about my prolific duckweed,

it seems there might be hope for my pond yet.

What we need to do next is have a look at what's living in the pond.

-Oh, well, I've just the perfect person for that.

-Excellent.

And here he is. Jeremy, this is my son, Dylan,

who is our resident bug expert. I know you're our expert today,

but he loves anything to do with wildlife, don't you, Dylan?

When children and water are close together,

safety has to be paramount,

so I always keep a close eye on Dylan when he's near the pond.

-What do you think of these, Dylan?

-They look...really stupid.

They do, don't they? A bit ridiculous, but,

I'll tell you what, they'll keep us dry.

This is the fun bit.

Time to work out what lurks beneath the duckweed

in our 100-year-old pond.

Most animals are where there are plants growing in the water.

Go on, Dylan, you have a go through there.

-Ooh, look what I found.

-What have you got? Oh, wow! Look at that.

We've found a newt. Grab the tray.

There's a smooth newt, Dylan, look.

So, this is a female smooth newt.

You can tell because she's pretty plain on the top and if we very

gently turn her over, we'll see she's orange and spotty underneath.

-She's beautiful.

-Yes, it's an amazing little creature.

Let's see what animals we've got.

This is the common water slater, or water louse.

-Will the newts be feeding off them?

-They could eat those, yes.

Anything smaller than them, they'll eat.

And the other creatures that are very common here are these

-freshwater shrimps.

-Oh, I see them!

-Yeah!

-Oh, look at those, Dylan.

-I know!

-People might've heard of killer shrimps.

These are just ordinary, nice shrimps.

They're not native to this country, but they're not doing any harm.

And the other animal that there's quite a lot of in here

is this water snail. This is called the wandering snail.

-Do you know, I'm so surprised there's so much wildlife.

-Yeah.

Now we know who lives here, it's time to add some big rotting logs

and leafy pond plants to improve their habitat.

Go on, put that one in.

And as it's spring,

it'll provide somewhere for our newts to lay their eggs.

It's looking really good already.

And hopefully all these plants will spread out

from where we've been planting them now.

And join that shelf coming along there, around here.

These different types of pond plant

can provide an excellent varied habitat to attract newts.

They'll also absorb some the nutrients and lock them away,

to keep the water clean.

That's the plants sorted.

Next, I need to do something about our overgrown trees.

More light on the pond will warm the water

and help our new plants take root.

Dylan has been sent on a mission of his own,

to create a safe haven for our newts while they're out of the water.

-Dylan, have you made use of all those little offcuts?

-Yeah.

That is fantastic, isn't it? Look at that! It's brilliant.

That's absolutely brilliant.

You've got bits of old slate and rock and pipe and dead wood.

Lots of bugs in there. You know what you call this, don't you?

-Hibernacula.

-Hibernacula. In other words, it's a newt hotel!

There's lot of nooks and crannies, look, where the newts can hide

-from hedgehogs and the cats.

-Yeah.

-Other predators.

-Well, we've got some clearing up to do now.

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

With our overgrown trees stripped away, sunlight now streams down

on to our old pond for the first time in nearly 30 years,

allowing our new aquatic plants to stretch out their roots.

Who knows what else we might attract to our pond this spring?

-It looks a lot different, especially with the tree down.

-Yeah.

The good news is our pond wasn't as bad as we thought it was.

It can only get better, so we can attract even more wildlife

-with this habitat we've just planted up.

-Yeah.

-So it's a pond to be proud of, don't you think?

-Yeah.

-High five.

And I'm afraid that's all we've got time for today,

but please do try to join us

again tomorrow for our final edition of Countryfile Spring Diaries.