A Window on Summer! Countryfile Spring Diaries

Springtime, when the days lengthen,

and signs of change are everywhere.

LAMBS BLEAT

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 our 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.

And this is the finale, it's the last day that we'll be

unveiling the secrets of spring, here on Countryfile Diaries.

We've been here all week in the New Forest in Hampshire.

It's one of 14 National Parks in England, Scotland and Wales.

And, every year, it attracts 13 million visits from people

who want to experience its outstanding beauty and diversity.

Where better place for us to witness the wonders of spring?

From the carpet of bluebells in this ancient woodland,

to the 6,000 animals roaming the heathland with their new arrivals.

But as summer approaches,

the symphony of spring is reaching its crescendo.

The team will be filing their final report,

as spring sweeps across the British Isles.

Nearly seven million sea birds breed here in the UK every year.

But how do they know whose egg is whose? Margherita is on the case.

Each one is unique to the female.

So, it's a fingerprint on the egg that they recognise?

That's a perfect description, yeah.

Jules is trying his hand at cattle driving, western style.

-No lasso though?

-No.

-Is there a limit to the western thing?

There is so far. I'm working on it.

And Paul discovers some unexpected residents

on his Wiltshire smallholding.

Listen to him! This is it!

-He's gone right up to the camera!

-Yeah.

-That is brilliant.

But first, if you're unlucky enough to see spring

as the start of the sneezing season, you're not alone.

Around 18 million of us in the UK suffer from some kind of hay fever.

And Keeley's been finding out why hay fever is increasingly

getting up the nation's nose,

and what's being done to try and ease people's suffering.

It's estimated that a staggering one in four people in the UK

suffer from hay fever - sniffs, sneezes and itchy eyes.

It can be months of misery.

While many of us think of it as a summer problem,

the allergy season's actually a lot longer than you think.

Hay fever kicks off in spring.

These seasonal sniffles are caused by tree pollen,

rather than grass pollen which comes out in summer.

When spring arrives, the tree pollen is released into the air

and it's these airborne pollen grains

that get caught in our nose and eyes.

That's bad news for hay fever sufferers like Ruth Holroyd.

Although she loves this time of year in her garden, it comes at a price.

Would you say it has a big effect on your life?

Mm, yeah, it does. My eyes just drip all the time and stream,

and you can't see sometimes. It starts to blur my vision.

Where things touch my skin, I'll get a rash

and start itching it, you can't help it, can you?

I have to go in, strip off, shower,

and get all the pollen off me, off my hair.

You can't live a life and stay indoors,

and stay away from hay fever. You have to go out and live your life.

Ruth's not alone.

The charity Allergy UK says the number of sufferers

has doubled in the last 30 years.

But what I want to know is why?

It's a question that's at the forefront of many scientific minds.

One theory is with the expansion of green spaces in urban areas,

there's a push for plants that are pollen-producing problems.

Here, in Worcester, they've pledged to make the city greener.

Over the last few months, they've planted 2,000 new trees

in urban spaces just like this.

That's great news for the city and for green spaces,

but bad news if you suffer from allergies.

That's because many of these new trees

are preparing to pollinate in spring

and this is one of the main culprits, the silver birch.

Councils love the beautiful birch tree.

They're quick-growing, compact and easy to maintain

with bark that's conveniently resilient to traffic pollution.

They also don't drop fruit on the ground,

causing slip and trip hazards.

The only problem is, birch is one of the most potent pollens.

Affecting around four million of us, it's second only to grass.

Beverley Adams-Groom is from

the National Pollen Unit at Worcester University.

She's studying how the birch catkins release pollen

in relation to the weather.

-Hello, there, Bev!

-Hi.

Why is it that birch trees are such a problem?

A mature tree will produce millions of pollen grains.

These millions of tiny, light pollen grains can become

readily airborne, easily dispersed, get up people's noses very easily.

Not all trees are allergenic,

but birch pollen is the worst in the United Kingdom.

They don't seem to be producing very much today.

-It's probably too cold for them?

-It's too cold today.

I've put these in a warm environment where they will release pollen.

So, these yellow bits here, they're the pollen,

-that's what people are allergic to?

-That's right, yes.

So, you can see just one catkin produces

millions of these microscopic pollen grains.

If you think about how many catkins are on a tree like this

and they're all producing this pollen, you can just see

why people are allergic to it,

-what a problem it can be.

-Yes. Absolutely.

And why is it such a problem in urban areas?

If you've got a lot of high buildings,

they can trap the pollen within,

rather than becoming absorbed into the soil, or getting away.

Beverley is hoping her research will help predict

exactly when the birch catkin pollen is at its peak.

Eventually, we want to produce

really good quality pollen forecast models,

so we can learn much more about the severity of the season.

At the moment, the models are fairly basic.

When I give the weather forecast and I'm giving the pollen count,

I tend to give it when it's really high,

but I wouldn't mention the exact kind of pollen.

That would be really useful, I think, for people?

Very useful, yes, very useful indeed.

For many people, hay fever is the worst thing about spring.

But for some businesses, it can mean big bucks.

Whatever the cause, most people end up in the medicine aisle

at the local supermarket or chemist.

The hay fever remedy market is worth an astounding £117 million.

For most, these tablets, balms and sprays are the only weapon

in the battle against seasonal sneezes. Or are they?

Perhaps there's another more natural way

we can ease the springtime suffering at home.

Sheena Hume is a specialist allergy nurse,

with more than 20 years' experience.

She thinks she might be able to help Ruth with her pollen predicament.

Why have you chosen this variety?

I've chosen these because they're all considered to be low in pollen.

You've got lots of flowers in here, a bit of a surprise, isn't it?

This one, can you see it has trumpet-shaped flowers?

So, the bees have actually got to go looking for the pollen.

It's not in the air, like it would be with birch pollen.

Does that mean the pollen is less likely to affect me

and it's more hard to get out?

There's still pollen in there. The pollen is considered to be

more sticky and heavy, so it's less likely to become airborne.

Anything that attracts bees is also good for pollen sufferers.

So, I'd just have a little strap line that is,

"Bees without the wheeze and sneeze!"

One of Sheena's other top tips is to mow your lawn regularly

to keep it short.

Despite producing pollen in summer, it can be beneficial.

The pollen that lands on the grass will be absorbed as nature intended.

Whereas, if you've got lots of hard landscaping,

it just stays around and blows around.

I am quite excited about planting some different things and maybe

not having so many allergic reactions when I'm doing it.

So, how has the new pollen-free garden

affected Ruth compared to her usual spring suffering?

I wrote a poem, weirdly, which is called In March It Starts.

"The sniffs and smarts, my eyes are streaming,

"and I'm dreaming of winter and Arctic winds."

And I can't remember any more of the poem, but I need to rewrite it now!

Having spoken to Sheena

and realising that there are so many things I can do

that don't involve staying indoors and missing out on everything.

So, yeah, it's not all doom and gloom, and pollen and sneezing.

So, yeah.

By making a few simple changes in our own gardens, hopefully,

we can all manage the misery a little bit better

when the hay fever blues arrive.

Now, spring triggers a mammoth migration to our shores.

Almost seven million sea birds breed in the UK each year.

Margherita is in East Yorkshire to find out

why the coastline there is such a draw for them.

The white chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head

are a visual treat as far as the eye can see.

What makes this dramatic coastline extra special are the birds.

BIRDS CRY

No surprises, then, that this place, Bempton Cliffs Reserve,

has been nicknamed Sea Bird City. And you can see why.

It's the UK largest mainland sea bird colony and, every year,

in the spring, a quarter of a million birds come here to breed.

Species from guillemots to gannets, razorbills to puffins.

In fact, nearly all of Britain's cliff-nesting sea birds come here.

I'm meeting reserve manager Keith Clarkson...

Lovely to see you, Margherita.

..to see how numbers are faring now the birds have returned in spring.

Keith, this is just magnificent,

seeing all these sea birds in one place.

Are the numbers up this spring?

The numbers seem to be going up on many of the birds nesting here.

We've got huge numbers of kittiwakes

and the noise behind us is just, "Kittiwake, kittiwake, kittiwake!"

They're filling the air with the sound of their name, kittiwake.

KITTIWAKES CRY

We've got small numbers of guillemots and razorbills,

and we've got tucked in nooks and crannies

a few fulmars, and the herring gulls right on the top of the cliffs.

So, why do so many come back to this section of coastline?

These 300-foot cliffs have all these horizontal layers

and it creates perfect little nesting ledges for these birds

which are totally inaccessible to all the mammals

that would otherwise eat them - weasels, stoats, foxes, rats.

It makes the perfect sea bird city.

So, a nice property in a safe area to raise the family in!

That's it! Desirable residences.

But unless there's good quality food nearby, it would be hopeless.

What these sea birds are looking for is sand eels, sprats and small fish.

Fortunately, the North Sea has a larder full

for these birds to feast on.

Whilst ever that situation remains,

we can expect this colony to prosper.

With all they need on their doorstep,

the chalk cliffs are definitely hot property

when it comes to our returning sea birds.

But it's not just our feathered friends

who have an important job to do this spring.

Now they're back and nesting, it's the perfect time

for Keith and his team to undertake a spring census.

Today, it's all about the guillemots and the razorbills.

They're expecting to see 40,000 pairs of guillemots

on this spring survey.

To count them all seems impossible, but they do,

with the aid of photographs taken of the nest sites last year.

Keith can track who's moved in and who's moved out

of their cliffside abode.

Each year, we can come back and we can see

whether that bird on that nest territory is still there.

And the birds come back to exactly the same spot?

So, this is the same resident that's there now?

It's almost certainly the same bird,

because it's in exactly the same spot where it was last year

and the year before.

And we can follow them through

to the point where they lay their first egg,

and then the chick hatches and, at 18 days, 20 days after that,

the chick jumps and leaves the cliffs.

So, these razorbills seem to have quite a bit of space on the cliff.

And here, we've got... It looks a bit busier here.

-These are the guillemots?

-That's it, Margherita.

These are guillemots and they're all cramped together.

-There can be 100 guillemots all on one ledge.

-All laying one egg each?

All laying one egg.

There's no nest, they just lay directly onto the ledge.

It's quite incredible.

How do they know, when they've gone out to feed and come back,

-that that's their egg?

-Just by chance, I have a replica gannet egg!

It's a completely white egg.

-A guillemot egg, this is a typical guillemot egg.

-Oh, wow.

-This, again, a replica.

-My goodness!

But every guillemot egg is unique.

So, some are blue, some are white, some are brownish.

They've got these wonderful speckles and lines on them

and each one is unique to the female.

So, it's like a fingerprint on the egg that they recognise?

That's a perfect description, yeah.

And it means they absolutely can identify their own egg

amongst all the others,

and guard that egg and start incubating it again.

For every new spring chick that hatches in a nest

or out on one of these ledges, it's a real testament

to the importance of Bempton Cliffs as a safe haven for our sea birds.

Now, in the earlier part of the last century,

almost a million working horses were used regularly on farms.

Today, they're a much rarer sight.

But if you go to Dartmoor in spring, you might be lucky enough

to see horses being used in a very traditional way.

Here's Jules.

Well, today is the day of the annual cattle drive.

It's a really important moment in the farming diary.

Cattle that have spent the winter in sheds are now going to get moved

to their spring grazing, some 800 feet up on the top of the Dartmoor.

But to go where they're going, well, I'm going to have to swap

my trusty 4x4 for something a little more sure-footed.

Devon beef farmer Phil Heard is one of only a small number of farmers

in Britain keeping the tradition of cattle driving by horseback alive.

In late spring, Phil moves his herd of beef cattle

onto the high hills of Dartmoor.

Here they'll spend the summer months grazing across some

300 miles of the moor, making good use of poorer moorland grass.

Today, I'm joining him to move the first batch of cattle.

-Morning, Jules.

-How are you? Good to see you.

Good to see you, so... Hello.

We're hard at work getting ready for a big day in your year?

Yeah, this is what we've been waiting for all winter.

Spring growth, the cows are getting out doing what they do best,

which is grazing on Dartmoor.

Now, how many are we going to move out today?

-Today we've got just under 50.

-Yeah.

It's mainly Angus crosses.

They've been cooped up indoors for six, seven months.

I'm sure they will be very happy to get outside.

Now, I'm an experienced rider,

but I've never ridden cowboy-style in a deep saddle like this one.

-No lasso, then?

-No, no.

THEY CHUCKLE

There is a limit to the Western theme?

There is, so far. I'm working on it.

Any top tips then on riding Western?

-There's only one rule.

-Yeah.

-Don't fall off.

-Fine.

Oh! Gosh.

It does feel quite comfortable. Good boy.

With my instructions to stay at the rear, it appears the cattle

need no encouragement to leave the barn and head for the hills.

You must be delighted to cut down on the feed bill by getting them

-up on the moor.

-It's been a long time coming.

But it's not just a free meal the cows have up on Dartmoor.

The variety of grasses adds flavour to their meat

and helps shape the Dartmoor landscape.

These cattle are quiet and hardy,

well-suited for the tough conditions and the rough grazing.

What is it they say about Dartmoor, Phil? Four seasons in a day?

-It certainly is.

-Sunshine and now some sleet.

That's why I love living here.

Look at that view.

That is stunning.

What is it about Dartmoor, do you think,

that makes it do so well through the year,

because it doesn't look like particularly rich grazing?

You can't bring any animal and put it up here, it's not particularly rich grazing.

They need to be sort of born here and raised here

so they get immune to any of the ticks,

or any other parasites that might be in this type of grass.

For centuries, thousands of cattle have walked this ancient drovers' way,

once a main route, running through Devon and Cornwall.

So, this is it, Phil, the entrance to the moor proper.

This is the gate onto the common.

The grazing season starts on the 1st of May

and Phil's herd are the first to hit the common.

So, bringing them out of the farmyard is one thing, Phil,

but how do you go about rounding them

up with thousands of acres to choose from at the end of the summer?

Yeah, we go on the horses again.

We know where they're going to be. They usually stay in the same area.

Come the end of the summer, they're usually keen to come down again.

The grazing's deteriorated.

Such a prehistoric landscape this is, isn't it?

It hasn't changed for thousands of years, has it?

We're nearing the end of our six-mile journey.

We've just the rise up over the pass to go before we say

-goodbye to the cattle.

-Come back a bit, Mandi, back out a bit.

If you come over between me and Mandi again, Jules.

You know, Phil, when you get up here, you could be in the Midwest, couldn't you?

You certainly could, yeah.

You could be in Alberta, you could be in Montana.

-You could be anywhere.

-What a special place.

And, at the top of the pass, it's time to leave the cattle...

home on the range.

We'll come up and check them tomorrow

-and the next few days, just to make sure they settle down.

-Yeah.

I mean, it's particularly fresh today.

-Are they going to get a bit of a shock?

-Yeah.

Coming out of the shed to the cold uplands.

Yeah, they've been in a lovely, cosy, warm shed all winter.

Now they've come up onto subarctic Dartmoor.

It's the cattle that keep Dartmoor looking like it does.

I think a job well done.

-That deserves a trip to the saloon, doesn't it?

-I think it does.

-Are you buying?

-Yeah. Come on, cowboy.

Come on, boys. Come on, dogs.

PHIL WHISTLES

-KEELEY:

-The New Forest National Park is one of the best

places for witnessing wildlife in Britain.

It's home to nearly 100 different species of bird and nearly

half of them are ground-nesting, so I'd better watch out where I tread.

Spring is the start of their breeding season,

but being on the ground puts them in danger.

I'm joining Andy Page from the Forestry Commission.

It's his job to monitor ground-nesting birds.

-Hi, there, Andy.

-Hello.

-Hello, how are you doing?

-Pleased to meet you.

What are you looking for at the moment?

Well, this particular part of the forest is very

good for a really special bird for the New Forest, the woodlark.

It likes these very heavily grazed parts, so this is a perfect area.

These are much more typical places for the woodlark to be nesting.

You don't need a lot of cover.

He wants to show me one of their nests.

There's a little bit of cover, but not too much.

That's too much in there.

But these woodlarks are well camouflaged.

-This is a typical spot, here.

-OK.

-Another one there.

There are two or three places here.

This is a really nice spot,

but it will always be in this sparser vegetation.

-So it could be in something as simple as this?

-Yeah, have a look.

Is it there?

I'd like to say no, but I've not got a trained eye. You tell me.

I'll have a look.

Oh!

Oh, yes.

Oh, gosh. What am I looking at here, then?

You're looking at three woodlark

chicks, probably about ten days old.

-I could easily have tripped over that.

-You could.

-They're just out to the elements, aren't they? Exposed?

-Yeah.

They're going to be very vulnerable in a space like that.

Yes, but it's just the way this species has adapted to

utilise this particular environment.

But why, why would they want to be so exposed?

Actually, they use their cryptic colouring of the plumage to

give them that protection.

So, the female will sit very, very tight.

We could be stood here within a few feet of the female on the nest

and she wouldn't come off.

-She would be very well camouflaged.

-Very well camouflaged, yes.

I'm going to be really careful about...

Very paranoid about where I'm standing.

That's not a bad way to look at this.

If you keep on the really short and well-worn tracks, you're fine.

If you stray off into the vegetation,

-even the bracken areas, you could easily tread on them.

-Yes.

And your dogs, with their much more, their sense of smell

so heightened that they can detect these birds even though they've got a much reduced,

giving off a much reduced scent because they're incubating eggs.

-That's why you want people to keep them on a lead.

-It is, yes.

All this week we've been following Paul Martin

on his Wiltshire smallholding and he's been giving us

an insight into living the country life.

Today, it's the culmination of Paul's springtime to-do list.

My ambitious plan is to turn our country abode

into a self-sufficient smallholding.

We're transforming this place into a wildlife haven that will

fill our larders and put produce on our plates.

Over the course of this spring,

to investigate exactly what wildlife visits our land,

we've peppered the gardens,

the paddocks and even the pond with camera traps.

Time to see what they captured.

-Are you ready for this, Dylan?

-Yes.

This is pond cam, here we go.

I've not seen any of this, either.

-Look, there.

-Oh, my goodness! Wow.

I'm so chuffed.

That is incredible.

-Look at the newt, look at the newt.

-We're so lucky.

Yeah, this is our dirty, mucky pond.

Look, look, look.

-There's another one.

-Wow!

It's swimming up to see his friend.

-It's coming up.

-Isn't that brilliant.

-Yeah.

-You know the very far field...

-Yeah.

There's an animal track that's been quite beaten down

and I've a feeling that could be where the badgers are coming in.

-Shall we have a look?

-Yeah.

-It's a deer!

-Oh!

-It's a deer.

-It's gone right up to the camera.

-Yeah.

-Wow! It's sniffing it.

-How adorable.

-That is brilliant.

This spring, we've been planting seeds that will transform

our land later in the year, looking forward from spring to summer.

So, what have we learnt?

In early spring, I joined a band of smallholders looking to

play their part in bringing new life to the countryside.

I've not seen that before.

That really does sum up spring, doesn't it?

Do you see them in there? They look a lot bigger than what I remember!

There they go.

-They look very, very settled.

-They're grazing away.

-Yeah.

Mowing the lawn.

And, I have to say, the grass does look better than ever.

Each of our one-year-old Wiltshire Horns can eat up

to 2kg of grass and weeds per day.

With the sheep settling into life out in the fields,

I had a go at grafting my own heritage apple trees.

Fantastic.

With any luck, this will produce a nice big tree that you can plant out next year.

And planted the beginnings of my own traditional orchard.

With the saplings planted and the blossoms about to bloom,

Charlotte and I turned our attention to pollination.

-There's the Queen.

-She's a lot bigger, isn't she?

We installed our own beehive,

complete with its own living willow wall.

It's too early in the year to see the willow in all its glory,

but hopefully later on in the summer, that will be a

barrier full of leaves and shoots.

I'm chuffed to bits with that, it looks fantastic.

It's a lovely, creative addition to this area of woodland.

As the weather warms and the flowers start to fill the landscape,

and with the local bug life waking up to spring,

it was time to give the pond a makeover.

And it turned out to have a few surprises of its own.

-Oh, look what I found.

-Oh, wow, look at that. We found a newt.

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

With the overgrown trees stripped away,

sunlight now beams down onto our old pond.

I've even found a use for the prolific pond weed.

Now...this stuff makes brilliant compost.

It rots down really quickly.

It stops your compost heap from drying out.

Of course, it's full of nutrients for young seedlings.

So, all in all, we're tired but happy.

It's been brilliant fun giving our smallholding a makeover this spring.

I'm really excited about the variety of natural habitats

we now have dotted all over.

And we haven't even scratched the surface yet of what's possible here.

Who knows what the summer will bring.

And that's it, I'm afraid, from the Countryfile Spring Diaries

here in the New Forest in Hampshire,

and what a wonderful place it's been, hasn't it,

to explore the magic of springtime.

Well, the next stop, of course, is the summer,

but what kind of weather can we expect, Keeley?

Well, globally, some forecasters are saying it could be the warmest year

on record, but before you get too excited, I don't think we'll be

in our deck chairs all summer long.

-So, as always, we'll just have to wait and see.

-We will, I'm afraid.

-But, for now, goodbye.

-Bye-bye.

-Cheerio.