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For me, watching wildlife is one of life's greatest pleasures. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:05 | |
And my favourite place to do it is right here | 0:00:07 | 0:00:10 | |
in my beloved West Country. | 0:00:10 | 0:00:13 | |
This captivating corner of the British Isles... | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
There's six right underneath us. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:18 | |
..has a cast of creatures that's as awe-inspiring, | 0:00:18 | 0:00:22 | |
extraordinary and magical as any. | 0:00:22 | 0:00:25 | |
-Oh! Oh, come on! No way! -Brilliant. | 0:00:25 | 0:00:29 | |
I'm hoping to get as close as I can to as many as I can... | 0:00:29 | 0:00:33 | |
Right, I'm ready. | 0:00:33 | 0:00:34 | |
This is great, this is measuring an eel. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
Whoa, whoa, whoa. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
Ants! Off, off! Oh, there's one inside! | 0:00:38 | 0:00:41 | |
..with the help of a band of dedicated nature lovers. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:45 | |
Some of the patterns on the feathers, they're beautiful. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:48 | |
-Good spot. Look, look, look! Wonderful. -Oh, that's so cool. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:53 | |
There's one in my hair now, probably. | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
I'll share the thrill of the chase... | 0:00:55 | 0:00:58 | |
-Do you hear 'em? -I heard something. -Yeah. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:00 | |
-They're in there. -Yes. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
..the sheer joy of the encounter... | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
-Ah! She's so golden. -She's fast asleep. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:08 | |
It's OK. Shhh! | 0:01:08 | 0:01:10 | |
That's amazing. | 0:01:10 | 0:01:11 | |
..and I'll pitch in to help these local heroes | 0:01:12 | 0:01:16 | |
safeguard the future of our precious animals. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
Bye-bye. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:21 | |
There she goes. | 0:01:21 | 0:01:22 | |
Whoa-ho! | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
I can't believe that I've been living in the West Country | 0:01:26 | 0:01:28 | |
for so many years and I've never done this before. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
This will be a year-round adventure... | 0:01:31 | 0:01:34 | |
Straight ahead. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:35 | |
..as we explore the natural wonders of the UK's very own Wild West. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:41 | |
I'm on Dartmoor, among its famous great granite peaks, known as tors. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:59 | |
I love coming up here, it's one of the best views | 0:01:59 | 0:02:02 | |
in the whole of the South West | 0:02:02 | 0:02:04 | |
and one of the truly wild landscapes of Britain. | 0:02:04 | 0:02:06 | |
Dartmoor is the largest area of open moor in southern England. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:15 | |
The unbroken panoramas from these craggy, | 0:02:15 | 0:02:17 | |
granite summits are always breathtaking. | 0:02:17 | 0:02:19 | |
But there's another side of Dartmoor that, for me, | 0:02:21 | 0:02:23 | |
holds an even greater fascination. | 0:02:23 | 0:02:26 | |
In the steep river valleys, | 0:02:27 | 0:02:28 | |
much of the ancient woodland has stood for centuries. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
These atmospheric forests hold the key to | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
survival for many of Dartmoor's most engaging creatures. | 0:02:35 | 0:02:39 | |
And I'm hoping to meet some of them, | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
as I explore the secrets of Dartmoor's woodland world. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:45 | |
Dartmoor is in southern Devon | 0:02:47 | 0:02:49 | |
and measures 40km from north to south | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
and from east to west. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:54 | |
The River Dart that gives the moor its name rises here and runs | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
through ancient Hembury Woods near the town of Buckfastleigh. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:02 | |
The valleys of the River Taw, near the village of Belstone, | 0:03:02 | 0:03:05 | |
are also rich with native broadleaf woodlands. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:08 | |
My fascination with one creature that's brilliantly adapted to | 0:03:10 | 0:03:14 | |
life on Dartmoor begins about an hour away | 0:03:14 | 0:03:17 | |
from the National Park boundary | 0:03:17 | 0:03:19 | |
in a more domestic setting. | 0:03:19 | 0:03:21 | |
This is my garden, | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
where you'll often find me pottering around of a morning, | 0:03:24 | 0:03:27 | |
catering for the regulars at my bird table breakfast bar. | 0:03:27 | 0:03:32 | |
What am I going to give them this morning? | 0:03:36 | 0:03:40 | |
Same old, same old, I think. Fat balls, nyjer seed. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:44 | |
It's got to a point where, on most days, | 0:03:47 | 0:03:49 | |
the birds get their breakfast before I get my first cup of tea. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:53 | |
Which is a bit extreme. | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
That's because I like watching the birds | 0:03:56 | 0:03:58 | |
while I drink my first cup of tea. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:00 | |
OK. Right. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:04 | |
I've been feeding the birds in my garden for years. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:08 | |
All right, fellas? | 0:04:08 | 0:04:09 | |
Over time, I've learned how to attract a wide | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
variety of species by catering for their different tastes - | 0:04:12 | 0:04:16 | |
and it isn't just what they eat, it's how it's served. | 0:04:16 | 0:04:20 | |
There we go. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:26 | |
Who's coming for breakfast? | 0:04:28 | 0:04:30 | |
Straight onto the table. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
Oh, a little coal tit. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:34 | |
Lovely. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:35 | |
Ah, here's our nuthatch. He's a very confident fellow. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:39 | |
He usually gets what he wants | 0:04:39 | 0:04:41 | |
and barges the other birds out of the way. | 0:04:41 | 0:04:43 | |
I mean, you wouldn't want a stab from that sharp beak. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:46 | |
But I just love the way he moves. | 0:04:46 | 0:04:50 | |
Look at him. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:51 | |
I don't know how he does that. | 0:04:51 | 0:04:53 | |
It's like he's got glue on his feet. | 0:04:53 | 0:04:55 | |
Here comes the woodpecker. | 0:04:58 | 0:05:00 | |
I knew he'd turn up. | 0:05:00 | 0:05:02 | |
What a beauty. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:03 | |
Well, if you went on a bird-watching holiday in the tropics, | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
you'd be blown away to see birds that are this colourful, | 0:05:09 | 0:05:11 | |
but we so quickly forget that we've got them right here in the UK. | 0:05:11 | 0:05:15 | |
And recently, | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
I spotted a new addition to the line-up on my bird table. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
Seeing it has become the highlight of my morning routine. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:24 | |
I've even devised a special technique to watch it in comfort. | 0:05:26 | 0:05:30 | |
Here goes. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
With the help of a broken fishing rod, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:35 | |
I'm dangling a feeder full of fat balls | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
just outside my bedroom window | 0:05:37 | 0:05:39 | |
so I get to watch out for the new object of my avian affections | 0:05:39 | 0:05:43 | |
from a particularly comfortable perch. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:46 | |
There's really nothing better on a cold winter's morning | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
than sitting here all cosy | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
with my binoculars and my cup of tea, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
my bird feeders out, just waiting for the action. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:57 | |
Right on cue. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:06 | |
I knew she wouldn't be able to resist those fat balls for long. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:10 | |
This is the long-tailed tit. | 0:06:10 | 0:06:12 | |
That is very exciting. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
Such a beautiful thing. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:17 | |
I've had these bird feeders up here for years | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
and the first time I saw a long-tailed tit was just a few | 0:06:20 | 0:06:23 | |
months ago and this is only the third or fourth time. | 0:06:23 | 0:06:26 | |
Look at it. | 0:06:26 | 0:06:28 | |
It's such a beautiful bird. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:29 | |
It's like a little ball of fluff with that lovely long tail. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
It's only since they started coming here this year that I've had | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
a close look at them and I'm getting more and more intrigued. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:42 | |
When they're not here at the bird table, | 0:06:42 | 0:06:44 | |
I know very little about what they get up to. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
My new-found enthusiasm for the long-tailed tit | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
has led me to John Walters. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:54 | |
He's a walking encyclopaedia of all of Dartmoor's wildlife. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
And he's also particularly smitten with my new favourite bird. | 0:06:57 | 0:07:02 | |
In fact, John's passion is in a whole different league. | 0:07:02 | 0:07:05 | |
He's devoted decades of his life to understanding them. | 0:07:05 | 0:07:10 | |
I set the bird table up seven years ago, | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
but I didn't see a long-tailed tit until a few months ago. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
They're tiny little birds. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
They will eat fat, but they mainly eat insects. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
The long-tailed tit is nicknamed the "Flying Teaspoon" | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
on account of that tiny, round body and distinctive long tail. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:30 | |
It's one of the UK's smallest birds, weighing 8g, | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
barely more than a 10p piece. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:36 | |
They flock together in noisy gangs | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
and their sociable nature is the key to understanding them. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
Is there one particular flock that you've stayed with, | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
as it were, through thick and thin? Your loyal flock. | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
Well, this flock, that hopefully we'll see this evening roosting, | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
they're the ones that I watch the most. | 0:07:50 | 0:07:52 | |
Do you think they now know who you are and they just accept you? | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
-You're... You're John in the woods. -Oh, definitely. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:57 | |
They have got to know me, for certain, | 0:07:57 | 0:07:59 | |
because I can see that by their behaviour. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
And they don't mind if you bring a friend in from time to time? | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
No, not at all, they're completely used to that. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:07 | |
Winning the trust of these skittish little birds has taken | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
John hundreds of evenings over many years. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:14 | |
It's all down to a fascination with one very distinctive | 0:08:14 | 0:08:18 | |
feature of their family life. | 0:08:18 | 0:08:20 | |
So, there was a particular thing that you hoped to see, | 0:08:20 | 0:08:23 | |
it was like the Holy Grail of long-tailed tit-watching. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:26 | |
That's right, yeah. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:27 | |
Well, to survive the winter, they've got to all snuggle up | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
and keep warm at night and they have this, you know, this amazing | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
behaviour where they gather together at dusk and roost together. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
But then, you think, "Well, how on earth do you see this? | 0:08:36 | 0:08:39 | |
"It's almost impossible. Where do they go?" | 0:08:39 | 0:08:41 | |
But nothing's impossible in the end | 0:08:41 | 0:08:42 | |
and sometimes things like that find you. | 0:08:42 | 0:08:44 | |
And I just happened to be wandering down past a little hawthorn bush | 0:08:44 | 0:08:48 | |
with some ivy at dusk | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
and I just saw some long-tailed tits flick in there and I thought, "Wow. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
"They're actually going to roost in there. They are in there now." | 0:08:53 | 0:08:56 | |
And I sort of hardly dared to sort of look in there | 0:08:56 | 0:08:59 | |
in case I disturbed them. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:00 | |
How long was it from when you first decided to follow long-tailed tits | 0:09:00 | 0:09:04 | |
and you actually saw them in a roost? | 0:09:04 | 0:09:06 | |
-Well, it was probably about 10, 15 years. -No?! | 0:09:06 | 0:09:11 | |
You've got me all excited now, I hope it's going to happen. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
The way that long-tailed tits roost in winter is unlike any other bird | 0:09:14 | 0:09:19 | |
and something only a handful of people have ever seen. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
But after five years of following one family group, | 0:09:22 | 0:09:25 | |
John has been allowed into their secret world. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
Here we go. So, the flock are just up above us here, in this birch. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
-They like birch to feed in. -Oh, yeah, yeah. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
That's my first long-tailed tit off the bird table. That's fantastic. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:40 | |
It's very exciting, but they are right up in the tops of the trees. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:43 | |
Yeah, there's still a few here in the birch here. Um... | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
And that noise is very insistent now, isn't it? It's back in the... | 0:09:46 | 0:09:51 | |
-Yeah, up in... -Back, right in the top of that birch. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:54 | |
As night draws in, | 0:09:56 | 0:09:58 | |
the birds will stop foraging for insects in the tree tops | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
and find a more sheltered spot to settle for the cold night ahead. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:05 | |
I'm still not sure just how we're going to find | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
a handful of tiny birds in the whole of this wood in the dark, | 0:10:09 | 0:10:13 | |
but under John's guidance, we have a plan. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:15 | |
And after a bit of kit wrangling, one special twig | 0:10:17 | 0:10:21 | |
in one particular holly bush | 0:10:21 | 0:10:24 | |
is wired for picture and sound. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:26 | |
So, you're predicting that these birds are going to sit on this | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
exact twig that we've framed upon with our infrared camera? | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
I know it might seem ridiculous, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:35 | |
but they always come back to exactly the same twig each night. | 0:10:35 | 0:10:40 | |
It seems extraordinary that we can predict within, you know... | 0:10:40 | 0:10:43 | |
-I mean, this is, what, an eight-inch piece of twig? -That's right. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:47 | |
In the middle of a holly bush, of which there are thousands - | 0:10:47 | 0:10:51 | |
-same twig, same holly bush. -Every night, yeah, | 0:10:51 | 0:10:53 | |
they'll drop in and then two will drop onto that twig and start | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
to form the roost and then all the others will jump in one at a time. | 0:10:57 | 0:10:59 | |
Extraordinary. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
Yeah, there they are. | 0:11:06 | 0:11:07 | |
So they're up the back through here. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
You see them up the top there? | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
One's going across. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:14 | |
I can't see a thing except a mass of twigs. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:18 | |
And there goes one. See that? | 0:11:18 | 0:11:20 | |
-The roost. Ooh! -Here's one. Oh, there we go. -There we go. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
-So, there we go, there's one on the... -That's unbelievable! | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
-That's ridiculous. -And there we go. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
-Yeah, that's... -There's one up here. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:29 | |
Yeah, so, they're pretty well there. | 0:11:29 | 0:11:31 | |
They're just going to settle in, | 0:11:31 | 0:11:33 | |
so I think now we can get | 0:11:33 | 0:11:34 | |
the torch and just carefully go | 0:11:34 | 0:11:36 | |
and have a look in there. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:37 | |
Oh, really, even before there's more of them? | 0:11:37 | 0:11:39 | |
Oh, yeah, yeah, and we can hopefully | 0:11:39 | 0:11:41 | |
see them actually form the roost. | 0:11:41 | 0:11:42 | |
-Oh, fantastic. -They've got used to me doing this. -Can we do that? -Yes. | 0:11:42 | 0:11:45 | |
Have a look in there. Take the torch and walk carefully in. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
Thanks to John's persistence, this family of birds has become | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
quite accustomed to being in the spotlight. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
-Just stand here, there they are. -Oh, that's amazing! | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
There's a few others. Yeah, they'll all be in there. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:03 | |
I expect there'll be eight birds. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
There's been eight birds every night just in the last week. | 0:12:05 | 0:12:08 | |
I didn't know it was possible to establish this kind of trust | 0:12:09 | 0:12:13 | |
with wild birds in their natural habitat. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:17 | |
It's such a buzz. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:18 | |
The reward for John's infinite patience is a really intimate view | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
of this little family's unique bedtime routine. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
So, there's one trying to barge in between them. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
That's right, yeah, you see, the first... | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
The two birds form the roost | 0:12:32 | 0:12:33 | |
and then the other birds join the roost, one at a time. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:36 | |
There's one just had to move here. | 0:12:36 | 0:12:38 | |
Oh, yes, he's managed to get right in the middle. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:40 | |
Yeah, he gets right in there, he gets a nice, snug, warm spot. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:42 | |
Everyone has to shuffle along a little bit. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
-Yeah, they've all shuffled back. -Look a bit grumpy about it. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:46 | |
Is there a kind of pecking order? | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
Do the same birds end up in the middle every night? | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
Yeah, they won't go onto the outside. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:52 | |
The more dominant birds will always choose a snug, warm spot | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
in the middle of the roost. | 0:12:55 | 0:12:57 | |
Every winter's night, the same birds that have been together all day | 0:12:58 | 0:13:02 | |
huddle up - brothers, sisters, parents, uncles and aunts | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
share their body heat to stave off the cold. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
Cute as it looks, it's a tough survival strategy | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
favouring the dominant birds in the middle of the huddle. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
In harsh winters, getting pushed to the edges could be fatal. | 0:13:15 | 0:13:19 | |
Oh, they're having a bit of a tussle. | 0:13:19 | 0:13:21 | |
Yeah, you get a few scraps going on this time of year | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
as the birds are pairing up | 0:13:24 | 0:13:26 | |
and the hormones are getting going for the breeding season. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:30 | |
And so you get a few little disputes between them. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
So, would you say that roost is now settled, John? | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
It looks settled, yeah, because | 0:13:40 | 0:13:42 | |
the last bird's gone in, | 0:13:42 | 0:13:43 | |
which is the dominant bird in the flock. | 0:13:43 | 0:13:45 | |
They're all sort of snuggled up there. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:47 | |
And they'll remain there for the night. | 0:13:47 | 0:13:49 | |
It's the sweetest thing, isn't it? | 0:13:49 | 0:13:51 | |
It's beautiful. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:52 | |
Eight little tails all pointing out. | 0:13:55 | 0:13:57 | |
But the truth is, John, | 0:13:57 | 0:13:59 | |
it's only your incredible patience and stealth over years | 0:13:59 | 0:14:03 | |
has made it possible to see something like this. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:06 | |
Oh, not many people have seen it. Well, not this well. | 0:14:06 | 0:14:08 | |
You might see it, you know, off in the distance in a bit of scrub | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
somewhere, but to actually come in and get them this tame | 0:14:12 | 0:14:15 | |
so you can shine a torch on them and see all that behaviour | 0:14:15 | 0:14:17 | |
is probably unique. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:19 | |
And it's quite wonderful. It's been really, really special. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:23 | |
Yeah, well, I'm glad we got to see it, it's a | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
stunning thing to see, isn't it? | 0:14:25 | 0:14:26 | |
-Unbelievable. Thank you so much. -That's OK. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
For all wild inhabitants of this exposed moor, | 0:14:46 | 0:14:49 | |
the cold of winter presents a serious challenge. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:52 | |
While our long-tailed tits huddle together to fight the chill, | 0:14:52 | 0:14:56 | |
larger mammals, having fattened themselves up in the autumn, | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
restrict activity in winter to a minimum. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
But smaller creatures, who lose heat more quickly, | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
are living on a knife-edge. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:08 | |
So, for some, the best option is nature's ultimate winter shutdown - | 0:15:09 | 0:15:14 | |
hibernation. | 0:15:14 | 0:15:16 | |
Among them is a very tiny and very cute rodent, | 0:15:17 | 0:15:22 | |
whose big winter sleep defines its character - | 0:15:22 | 0:15:26 | |
the dormouse. | 0:15:26 | 0:15:27 | |
This rare woodland creature is thought to spend over | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
half its life asleep and even when it's awake, | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
it's hard to spot because it's mainly nocturnal. | 0:15:35 | 0:15:39 | |
During the summer, it forages on seeds, berries and insects. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
And in autumn, it feasts on hazelnuts to build up fat reserves | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
to see it through the long slumber ahead. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:49 | |
And it is, of course, its notable talent for kipping | 0:15:51 | 0:15:55 | |
that gives this mouse its name. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:57 | |
The "dor" in dormouse is from the French word "dormir" - to sleep. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:01 | |
But new research is challenging the dormouse's somnolent reputation. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:08 | |
I've come to a wood on the northern edge of the moor, | 0:16:08 | 0:16:11 | |
a stone's throw from the village of Belstone. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:13 | |
This is where Brazilian biologist Leo Gubert has been studying | 0:16:14 | 0:16:18 | |
the winter sleeping habits of dormice. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:21 | |
His work is helping us to understand | 0:16:21 | 0:16:23 | |
how to conserve this precious British mammal. | 0:16:23 | 0:16:27 | |
On every field trip, Leo's first task is to find his tiny subjects. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:33 | |
How's it going to work, | 0:16:33 | 0:16:35 | |
how are we going to find hibernating dormice here in this vast forest? | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
Well, this one we're looking for is the dormouse I've been following | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
since the end of October. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:44 | |
-So, we're looking for a specific dormouse? -Yes. -Not any old dormouse? | 0:16:44 | 0:16:48 | |
-No, no, no... -There's one... You're after an individual? -This is a... | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
Yeah, I treat it as a good friend of mine, actually. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:53 | |
Is the range of a dormouse such that you actually have to | 0:16:53 | 0:16:57 | |
look in quite a wide area? I mean, do they move around quite a bit? | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
They do, they tend to stay in an area of about 100 square metres, | 0:17:00 | 0:17:05 | |
but the problem is the density. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
-You tend to find, say, four to six per hectare, which is... -Ah. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:12 | |
-That's a needle in a haystack. -Yeah. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:14 | |
And maybe if you kind of get on your knees and start looking | 0:17:14 | 0:17:17 | |
on the woodland floor, maybe in a day or two you'll | 0:17:17 | 0:17:20 | |
find one, if you know what you're looking for and where to look. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:23 | |
-So, where are we heading next? -Uh, we're going down that way now, so... | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
-Great. -Yeah. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:27 | |
Across the country, dormouse numbers are in decline, | 0:17:29 | 0:17:33 | |
but Devon seems to be a stronghold. | 0:17:33 | 0:17:35 | |
Leo monitors the population here from year to year. | 0:17:35 | 0:17:39 | |
He knows these woods very well, | 0:17:39 | 0:17:41 | |
but to track down these tiny animals could take days | 0:17:41 | 0:17:44 | |
without the help of a rather handy gadget. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:47 | |
OK, Hugh, we are getting quite close to where the dormouse was last seen, | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
so I think I'll take my radio tracking equipment | 0:17:50 | 0:17:53 | |
and we can look for her. | 0:17:53 | 0:17:55 | |
OK. So, you could track all sorts of different things with this device? | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
-You can, yes. -Whatever you've managed to put the collar on. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:01 | |
-Yeah, as long as they are... -Animals big and small? | 0:18:01 | 0:18:04 | |
As tiny as a dormouse. | 0:18:04 | 0:18:05 | |
That must be close to the smallest thing | 0:18:05 | 0:18:07 | |
you can get a radio collar on, isn't it? | 0:18:07 | 0:18:09 | |
That's right, yeah. | 0:18:09 | 0:18:10 | |
If you raise that above your head. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:15 | |
-Like that is great, yeah. -So, we're tracking, are we? -We are. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:18 | |
-So, what sort of noise are we looking for that...? -It's a beep. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
-A little beep. -It goes, "Beep, beep." -OK. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:24 | |
-And the louder it gets, then the closer we... -OK. -..we are. | 0:18:24 | 0:18:28 | |
-Oh, am I allowed to...? -Yeah, you put that on your shoulder. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:33 | |
OK, great. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:34 | |
And we head that way. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:35 | |
Better not get tangled in branches. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:38 | |
-So keep moving from right to left. -Yeah? | 0:18:43 | 0:18:46 | |
-And try to pick up the signal. -That kind of thing? | 0:18:46 | 0:18:48 | |
It all feels like a bit of a long shot to me, but I'll give it a go. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:54 | |
-Ah. -Anything yet? -I think I heard the beep. A little click. -Excellent. | 0:18:54 | 0:18:58 | |
OK. Carry on. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:01 | |
-Can you hear anything? -Yes. -Oh, excellent. -There it is. -OK. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
BEEPING | 0:19:05 | 0:19:07 | |
-Yup. -Yeah? -Up ahead. -That's the only sound you want to hear | 0:19:07 | 0:19:10 | |
when you're holding that aerial. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:13 | |
Yeah, it's very exciting. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
Leo's been tracking one particular dormouse all winter. | 0:19:16 | 0:19:20 | |
-It seems to be stronger...that way. -That way. -So we're heading up? | 0:19:20 | 0:19:23 | |
We're heading up. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:24 | |
It's probably very simple for a dormouse. | 0:19:26 | 0:19:29 | |
Much easier for a dormouse. | 0:19:29 | 0:19:31 | |
Leo, I'm looking at this pile of leaves here. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:37 | |
I mean, it doesn't look particularly made, | 0:19:37 | 0:19:39 | |
but it's definitely a little pile. BEEPING CONTINUES | 0:19:39 | 0:19:41 | |
-Is that it, is it under there? -Yeah, we will have to start with that. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:44 | |
That could be it. Let's have a closer look. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:47 | |
It's super loud. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:48 | |
-This is what we're looking for. -That's incredible. | 0:19:48 | 0:19:51 | |
You can lift the whole nest from underneath, can you? | 0:19:51 | 0:19:53 | |
Yeah, they are very subtle. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
-Are you telling me there's a dormouse in there? -This is the one. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:58 | |
That's right. | 0:19:58 | 0:19:59 | |
And this is the sort of place they will look for a hibernation nest. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:03 | |
I'm just nervous that he's going to kind of wake up and shoot out. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:06 | |
No, I think he's fast asleep. | 0:20:06 | 0:20:08 | |
-Sometimes it takes up to half an hour for them to wake up. -Really? | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
Just cos they are so deep asleep, they shut down completely, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:15 | |
so they need to warm up gradually. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:18 | |
And us standing here chatting - in my case, rather over-excitedly - | 0:20:18 | 0:20:21 | |
that's not going to wake him up, either? | 0:20:21 | 0:20:23 | |
-No, not at the moment. -That was so exciting. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
I mean, and I haven't even seen the dormouse yet, my heart's thumping. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
-Excellent. -Um, it's a bit precarious here. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:32 | |
Should we move somewhere a bit safer for that operation? | 0:20:32 | 0:20:34 | |
If we move uphill somewhere flatter. So, yeah. OK. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
Dormice hibernate down in the leaf litter, | 0:20:37 | 0:20:40 | |
where the winter temperatures are less changeable, | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
so they can stay snug in their little leafy cocoons. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:45 | |
And there... | 0:20:47 | 0:20:48 | |
Oh, wow! That's incredible! | 0:20:48 | 0:20:50 | |
HUGH GASPS | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
Oh! | 0:20:52 | 0:20:53 | |
Leo has a special licence to study | 0:20:55 | 0:20:57 | |
and handle this protected species. | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
Today, he needs to fit a new | 0:21:00 | 0:21:01 | |
battery to the radio collar on this | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
very dozy mouse. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:06 | |
She's amazing. Such a thick, bushy | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
tail for such a tiny, little animal. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
That little tail curled right | 0:21:12 | 0:21:14 | |
over her head to tuck her in. | 0:21:14 | 0:21:15 | |
She's a perfect ball, isn't she? | 0:21:15 | 0:21:17 | |
-She's, uh... -Yeah! | 0:21:17 | 0:21:19 | |
I can't believe we're pulling the leaves | 0:21:19 | 0:21:21 | |
and exposing her like this, but she's fast asleep. | 0:21:21 | 0:21:25 | |
She looks in great shape. Are you happy with her condition? | 0:21:25 | 0:21:28 | |
Yeah, she had a lot of preparation before winter, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:31 | |
so she had to build up all the fat reserves | 0:21:31 | 0:21:34 | |
to kind of survive this long without food. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:37 | |
Um, and... Yeah, I think...I'm quite happy. | 0:21:37 | 0:21:40 | |
I'm quite anxious to weigh her and see how much... | 0:21:40 | 0:21:42 | |
OK, let's go to work. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:44 | |
Disturbing her as little as possible, | 0:21:47 | 0:21:48 | |
Leo takes off the miniature radio collar. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
15.5g. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
That's the weight of two 10p coins. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
And now we just adjust the collar. | 0:22:00 | 0:22:02 | |
And now I can see her beady, black eyes. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:04 | |
She has opened her eyes, so is she sort of waking up a little bit, Leo? | 0:22:04 | 0:22:07 | |
She's just... Yeah, she's slowly waking up. | 0:22:07 | 0:22:10 | |
I think it's quite mild today, it's 15 degrees, | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
so it's coming towards the end of the hibernation period. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
But waking up now, is there a danger that she'll stay awake, | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
that she'll think, "OK, it's time to get up"? | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
-As you can see, she's closing her eyes again, so... -OK. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:23 | |
OK, so she kind of wants to go back to sleep. | 0:22:23 | 0:22:25 | |
It may seem odd to go to such lengths to track a mouse that's | 0:22:27 | 0:22:31 | |
fast asleep, but that's where Leo's research has been so revealing. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:36 | |
He's discovered that dormice are much more active | 0:22:36 | 0:22:39 | |
during the winter months than we'd ever realised. | 0:22:39 | 0:22:43 | |
What role has this little mouse | 0:22:43 | 0:22:44 | |
been playing in your study? | 0:22:44 | 0:22:46 | |
Well, she's been... | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
She's quite an important one because she has changed nest three times | 0:22:48 | 0:22:52 | |
over the winter, which is something that we didn't know. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:56 | |
She stayed quite close and she crossed the river, | 0:22:56 | 0:22:58 | |
but then it wasn't really a problem for her because... | 0:22:58 | 0:23:01 | |
-She crossed the river? -Yes. -So she's been up over a tree branch | 0:23:01 | 0:23:03 | |
-and onto the other side of the river? -Over the winter, yes. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:06 | |
So she's been fully awake. | 0:23:06 | 0:23:07 | |
If she's actually crossed the river, she's properly scuttling around. | 0:23:07 | 0:23:10 | |
She did. That was... Yeah, that was just the day after the New Year. | 0:23:10 | 0:23:14 | |
I think it was the 2nd January the day she did that, yeah. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
And what would stimulate her, do you think, | 0:23:17 | 0:23:18 | |
to wake up and decide to move her nest right in the middle of winter? | 0:23:18 | 0:23:22 | |
Um, I think it's sometimes they need to evade predators or | 0:23:22 | 0:23:26 | |
sometimes the old nest is not as weathertight as it had been, | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
so they need to kind of... | 0:23:30 | 0:23:31 | |
-So the nest is maybe damaged and that's what's woken them up? -Yeah. | 0:23:31 | 0:23:35 | |
-Right, now I need to take her back. -OK. | 0:23:35 | 0:23:38 | |
She's got hibernation to go through. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
Sleep well. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:42 | |
Just amazing. | 0:23:46 | 0:23:47 | |
It's about the sweetest thing I've ever seen. | 0:23:49 | 0:23:52 | |
And in she goes. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:53 | |
As she's tucked back in, fast asleep, | 0:23:53 | 0:23:56 | |
it's hard to imagine that she'll be on the move any time soon. | 0:23:56 | 0:24:00 | |
Before we leave the site, Leo and I are going to rig up | 0:24:00 | 0:24:02 | |
a couple of these trail cameras, pointing at our dormouse nest. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:06 | |
If she does decide to move nests in the next few days, | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
we should be able to catch that on camera. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:11 | |
And just a couple of nights after our visit, | 0:24:14 | 0:24:17 | |
our automatic cameras are activated. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:20 | |
Our radio-tagged dormouse is on the move again. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:23 | |
Leo will be back in the summer when the hibernation is over | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
to find his dormouse again, | 0:24:28 | 0:24:30 | |
perhaps in one of his specially-prepared nest boxes. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:33 | |
In the depths of winter, Dartmoor's forest can seem strangely lifeless. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:45 | |
For most of the creatures that live here, | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
it's a matter of lying low until the weather warms. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:51 | |
And as spring breaks and the primroses begin to bloom, | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
it's as if an alarm clock has gone off. | 0:24:56 | 0:24:59 | |
Temperatures rise across the West Country | 0:24:59 | 0:25:01 | |
and life is starting to bustle again. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
The air becomes thick with insects. | 0:25:05 | 0:25:08 | |
Summer visitors, like the wood warbler, arrive from Africa | 0:25:08 | 0:25:12 | |
to feed and breed, | 0:25:12 | 0:25:13 | |
bumblebees get busy among the gorse and down on the ground, | 0:25:13 | 0:25:18 | |
one tiny animal is taking control of the forest floor. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:21 | |
The wood ant, the largest native ant species in the UK. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:27 | |
To take full advantage of the warming sun, | 0:25:27 | 0:25:30 | |
their huge nests are south-facing. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:33 | |
This is the hub of an ordered colony | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
with up to a quarter of a million ants. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
A colony can support as many as 100 queens, | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
who can live for 20 years. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
For the workers who tend them, life expectancy is just a few weeks. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:49 | |
Wood ants are voracious predators, | 0:25:49 | 0:25:51 | |
patrolling the forest to hunt for prey | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
like caterpillars or other ants. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
The search often leads into the canopy, | 0:26:00 | 0:26:04 | |
across streams | 0:26:04 | 0:26:07 | |
and around the forest floor in a search area that can | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
spread 25 metres from the nest. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:12 | |
Any prey they can subdue in their powerful jaws | 0:26:15 | 0:26:18 | |
is carried back to the nest and dragged within. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:22 | |
But in the forest ecosystem, ants are under attack themselves, | 0:26:24 | 0:26:28 | |
so the colony has some robust security arrangements. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
The first line of defence is their sharp and painful bite, | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
but wood ants also have a chemical weapon in their fight | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
against hungry predators... | 0:26:40 | 0:26:42 | |
Formic acid. | 0:26:42 | 0:26:44 | |
Aiming their abdomens skywards, | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
a volley of stinging jets of acid is often enough to deter predators. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:51 | |
At this time of year, there's an interesting opportunity for a | 0:26:53 | 0:26:56 | |
simple demonstration of the wood ants' impressive defence system. | 0:26:56 | 0:27:00 | |
Every spring, Dartmoor is blessed with some of the very best | 0:27:04 | 0:27:08 | |
bluebell fields in Devon. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:10 | |
So, I think I can pick just a few to attempt an experiment that | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
I heard about long ago, but have never tried for myself. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:19 | |
At the base of this tree is a wood ant nest | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
and the whole area around there is heaving. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
I want to find where the ants are at their thickest | 0:27:31 | 0:27:34 | |
because that's best for the experiment. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:37 | |
There's a lot of them there, look. Let's just bother them a bit. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:40 | |
The aim is to make the ants think my bluebells are a hostile predator, | 0:27:40 | 0:27:45 | |
triggering them to defend their nest with those jets of formic acid. | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
It's then, so I've been led to believe, | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
that a simple bit of chemistry has a striking effect. | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
I'll put one over here. If I bother them enough... | 0:27:55 | 0:27:59 | |
Come on, attack. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
Some of the ants seem to have worked out that the flowers are not | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
the real menace here. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
Oh! Ants! Off, off! | 0:28:06 | 0:28:08 | |
Oh, they're inside my trousers as well. Whoa! | 0:28:08 | 0:28:12 | |
I'm actually starting to get a smell... | 0:28:12 | 0:28:14 | |
..of vinegar, and then I can smell the formic acid now, | 0:28:16 | 0:28:19 | |
it's quite distinctive. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:20 | |
It's really quite like the vinegar in a chip shop | 0:28:20 | 0:28:23 | |
and if I brush the ants off my leg... | 0:28:23 | 0:28:26 | |
it's ending up on my fingers. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
So, they really are very effective at spraying this defence, | 0:28:28 | 0:28:33 | |
this formic acid out. | 0:28:33 | 0:28:34 | |
And they're getting it on me and it's having the desired effect, | 0:28:34 | 0:28:38 | |
cos it's certainly making me feel like getting away from here, | 0:28:38 | 0:28:41 | |
which is, I imagine, the object of the exercise, | 0:28:41 | 0:28:44 | |
as far as the ants are concerned. | 0:28:44 | 0:28:45 | |
But I'm not leaving till I've seen just what | 0:28:45 | 0:28:48 | |
they can do to my bluebells. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:49 | |
The theory is that the pigment that makes the petals blue will be | 0:28:52 | 0:28:56 | |
affected by the onslaught of formic acid, but only if enough ants | 0:28:56 | 0:29:01 | |
take exception to my offering of bluebells. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:03 | |
And I do believe it might actually be happening. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:08 | |
Look at that, look at the tips of the flowers there. | 0:29:08 | 0:29:11 | |
So, these two have both been attacked. | 0:29:11 | 0:29:13 | |
You can see the pink here on these flowers, | 0:29:13 | 0:29:16 | |
but it's even more distinctive on this one. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:19 | |
This was the one that got really mullered by the wood ants. | 0:29:19 | 0:29:22 | |
This is the unmolested flower, still that deep, classic bluebell blue. | 0:29:22 | 0:29:26 | |
By the power of the ants' formidable formic acid, | 0:29:26 | 0:29:30 | |
my bluebells have been transformed into pink bells. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:34 | |
Not that I really needed proof of the wood ants' | 0:29:34 | 0:29:37 | |
highly effective defences. | 0:29:37 | 0:29:39 | |
Aah! | 0:29:39 | 0:29:41 | |
The warming weather brings these woodlands alive with animal activity | 0:29:46 | 0:29:50 | |
and my guide to the night-time routine of the long-tailed tit, | 0:29:50 | 0:29:54 | |
John Walters, doesn't like to miss any of it. | 0:29:54 | 0:29:57 | |
John is a dedicated field naturalist, never happier than | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
when patrolling his local woods and adding to his exceptional | 0:30:02 | 0:30:06 | |
understanding of the wildlife here in his patch of the South West. | 0:30:06 | 0:30:10 | |
In fact, John is so intent on spending as much time as possible | 0:30:14 | 0:30:18 | |
with the wild inhabitants of the region, that he's done all he can | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
to make them feel at home in his own back garden, | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
in Buckfastleigh, south Devon. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
So, he's never more than a few steps away from a world | 0:30:31 | 0:30:35 | |
that's captivated him for as long as he can remember. | 0:30:35 | 0:30:37 | |
Ever since I was three years old, it's one of my earliest memories, | 0:30:41 | 0:30:45 | |
was of watching a glow-worm in our garden | 0:30:45 | 0:30:47 | |
on the South Downs in Hampshire | 0:30:47 | 0:30:49 | |
and finding slowworms in the garden. | 0:30:49 | 0:30:51 | |
I've been passionately interested ever since. | 0:30:51 | 0:30:54 | |
I track lots of bees | 0:30:54 | 0:30:55 | |
and one of my favourites is a little furrow bee and these | 0:30:55 | 0:30:58 | |
are solitary bees, the females make their nests in the ground, | 0:30:58 | 0:31:01 | |
but the males fly in late summer and they don't go into the nest. | 0:31:01 | 0:31:05 | |
For some reason, the females don't want them in the nests, | 0:31:05 | 0:31:07 | |
and so they boot them out, you know, | 0:31:07 | 0:31:09 | |
and they actually roost on flower heads and seeds. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:11 | |
So we leave all the seed heads here | 0:31:11 | 0:31:13 | |
and it's a sort of bachelor party. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:14 | |
And you can get up to 30 of these male bees. | 0:31:14 | 0:31:16 | |
They'll stay there for the night | 0:31:16 | 0:31:18 | |
and then they'll fly off again the next morning. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:21 | |
I've lived on Dartmoor for 20-odd years, 25 years now, | 0:31:28 | 0:31:31 | |
and it is one of my favourite places. | 0:31:31 | 0:31:34 | |
It's the place I know best. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:35 | |
As well as having a prodigious knowledge of natural history, | 0:31:35 | 0:31:39 | |
John also observes it with the appreciative eye of the artist. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:43 | |
Really, my love of drawing and painting comes from | 0:31:46 | 0:31:49 | |
my love of wildlife, so I've got to try and | 0:31:49 | 0:31:51 | |
capture the movement and life of my subjects on paper. | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
If I can, anyway. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:55 | |
For me, the reason I do all this is really just to observe. | 0:32:05 | 0:32:08 | |
I'm a field naturalist, so I love to be out in the wild, looking | 0:32:08 | 0:32:12 | |
at the wildlife, but having these - drawing and painting and taking | 0:32:12 | 0:32:17 | |
photographs - just gets me closer to the subjects, makes me really | 0:32:17 | 0:32:20 | |
look at them and really notice the beauty in the world around us. | 0:32:20 | 0:32:23 | |
John is also an amateur film-maker with a talent for catching | 0:32:25 | 0:32:29 | |
on camera revealing moments in the life of the creatures of Dartmoor. | 0:32:29 | 0:32:32 | |
Like this fat cuckoo chick | 0:32:36 | 0:32:38 | |
as it tricks its surrogate parent to feed it. | 0:32:38 | 0:32:41 | |
Or these male adders, squaring up in their dancing display. | 0:32:41 | 0:32:46 | |
And the astonishing potter wasp, | 0:32:46 | 0:32:48 | |
building tiny mud pots to hold its eggs. | 0:32:48 | 0:32:52 | |
And today, John's setting out to film a crucial moment | 0:32:52 | 0:32:55 | |
in the life of a creature with an impressive claim to fame. | 0:32:55 | 0:32:59 | |
It's a slug, but not the common or garden variety. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:03 | |
It's the world's largest slug, the ash-black. | 0:33:03 | 0:33:07 | |
It's capable of growing over 20cm and, for John, | 0:33:07 | 0:33:12 | |
the prospect of filming the extraordinary mating behaviour | 0:33:12 | 0:33:15 | |
of this mighty mollusc is irresistible. | 0:33:15 | 0:33:18 | |
Not many people have seen it, it's quite a nocturnal slug. | 0:33:18 | 0:33:21 | |
It could be anywhere in a woodland, | 0:33:21 | 0:33:22 | |
so the chances of being in the right place at the right time | 0:33:22 | 0:33:25 | |
to see it would be very slim, but I have a little trick up my sleeves | 0:33:25 | 0:33:29 | |
to hopefully enable us to see the mating behaviour. | 0:33:29 | 0:33:32 | |
The ash-black feeds mainly on fungus and lichen and this small | 0:33:34 | 0:33:39 | |
patch of woodland near the River Dart suits it perfectly. | 0:33:39 | 0:33:43 | |
It's midsummer, the height of the slug breeding season, | 0:33:43 | 0:33:47 | |
so John should be in the right place at the right time. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:50 | |
And this is an old, ancient woodland and nice and damp, | 0:33:50 | 0:33:55 | |
lots of mosses and ferns here. | 0:33:55 | 0:33:57 | |
A really good place for slugs. | 0:33:57 | 0:33:59 | |
The chances this evening are pretty good, I think. | 0:33:59 | 0:34:01 | |
There's lots of slugs that live in these woodlands | 0:34:01 | 0:34:03 | |
and if we search for long enough to... | 0:34:03 | 0:34:05 | |
And under bits of bark and bits of moss and places like that, we should | 0:34:05 | 0:34:08 | |
find enough and then hopefully we can either watch them or | 0:34:08 | 0:34:12 | |
set them up on a tree | 0:34:12 | 0:34:14 | |
and see if we can see their bizarre mating habits. | 0:34:14 | 0:34:17 | |
It may not be everyone's idea of an evening's entertainment, | 0:34:18 | 0:34:22 | |
but the chance to film something this strange will always | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
appeal to a dedicated wildlife cameraman. | 0:34:25 | 0:34:28 | |
So, our crew arrived to join the action. | 0:34:28 | 0:34:31 | |
And John has two more pairs of eyes to help with the search. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:34 | |
Ash-black slugs emerge to feed at night. | 0:34:34 | 0:34:38 | |
During the day, they lie low under large pieces of dead wood. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:42 | |
And John, Joseph and Si leave no log unturned. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:46 | |
These wet, mossy areas are ideal habitat. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:50 | |
But finding the world's biggest slug is not a pushover. | 0:34:50 | 0:34:54 | |
Especially if you've never encountered one before. | 0:34:54 | 0:34:57 | |
John, I think I'm... Well, I've found a slug. | 0:34:58 | 0:35:01 | |
It's got a slightly orange underbelly | 0:35:01 | 0:35:03 | |
and there's lots of mushrooms or fungi around here... | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
OK. Well, this is a good sort of spot to look. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
-Yeah, these have been munched, so... -Yeah, that one's half gone already. | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
Right, yeah, this is an Arion slug, so similar, but it's the sort | 0:35:12 | 0:35:17 | |
of place where you get these slugs, which are also eating the | 0:35:17 | 0:35:20 | |
mushrooms, then you're likely to get the ash-black slug as well, so... | 0:35:20 | 0:35:25 | |
Well, I haven't rolled it back yet, so shall we...? | 0:35:25 | 0:35:27 | |
Oh, yeah, well, let's have a look, yeah. Um, if we turn over here. | 0:35:27 | 0:35:30 | |
Now, here we go. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:31 | |
This is the ash-black slug and I can tell immediately it's one, | 0:35:31 | 0:35:34 | |
cos if we turn it over, you can see on the underside, | 0:35:34 | 0:35:38 | |
it's got a pale underside, but it's shaded on the edges. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:42 | |
And that's the only British slug that has that. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:46 | |
So, if you find a slug in the woods | 0:35:46 | 0:35:48 | |
and it's got a pale bottom like that with shaded edges to the foot, | 0:35:48 | 0:35:52 | |
then you know it's an ash-black slug. | 0:35:52 | 0:35:54 | |
It's got this lovely sort of tapering tail with... | 0:35:57 | 0:35:59 | |
-Almost a bit reptilian! -It is a bit, yeah. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:02 | |
I've got a certain fondness for these slugs, | 0:36:02 | 0:36:04 | |
they wouldn't attack your vegetables even if they came in your garden. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:07 | |
-Oh, really? -No. They much prefer rotting vegetation | 0:36:07 | 0:36:10 | |
and also mushrooms and toadstools, that's their favourite food. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:13 | |
Well, that kind of slug is a friend of mine. | 0:36:13 | 0:36:15 | |
It's not long before John has a handful of contenders | 0:36:16 | 0:36:20 | |
for tonight's romantic rendezvous. | 0:36:20 | 0:36:22 | |
Slugs are hermaphrodites, | 0:36:23 | 0:36:24 | |
so they are male and female at the same time, | 0:36:24 | 0:36:26 | |
but they do have to meet another slug to mate with them. | 0:36:26 | 0:36:29 | |
I mean, you could wander around the woods for hours at night | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
and you might be lucky and people have been lucky in seeing them, | 0:36:32 | 0:36:35 | |
but to stand a better chance, we've found a few slugs | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
and we're going to actually set them up on a branch | 0:36:39 | 0:36:42 | |
and then put them together and see if they will actually mate. | 0:36:42 | 0:36:46 | |
And if they do, our cameras will be poised to capture every detail. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:50 | |
These slugs are thought to mate just once a year, | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
so we can only hope that ours will find themselves in the mood tonight. | 0:36:54 | 0:36:58 | |
-OK, Simon, I've chosen the slugs... -Right. | 0:37:08 | 0:37:11 | |
..which I think are going to maybe mate with each other. | 0:37:11 | 0:37:14 | |
And what we're going to do is just pop them on here | 0:37:14 | 0:37:18 | |
and introduce them to one another. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:20 | |
And is there any kind of signs where they are clearly | 0:37:20 | 0:37:24 | |
interested in each other? | 0:37:24 | 0:37:25 | |
Well, if they start following each other around, that's the best sign. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:29 | |
This bit can take a while, they are slugs after all! | 0:37:29 | 0:37:32 | |
So, hopefully they'll take an interest in each other | 0:37:36 | 0:37:39 | |
and they'll want to mate. | 0:37:39 | 0:37:41 | |
But who knows what goes on inside the mind of a slug? | 0:37:41 | 0:37:44 | |
Or indeed what goes on in the minds of two men in a wood | 0:37:47 | 0:37:50 | |
waiting for slugs to mate! | 0:37:50 | 0:37:52 | |
Well, we've got a couple here, | 0:37:58 | 0:38:00 | |
which are sort of sliming around together, | 0:38:00 | 0:38:02 | |
so they may be interested in each other. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:05 | |
The slugs have their sex organs, | 0:38:05 | 0:38:07 | |
-they're actually in the side of their head. -Oh, right! | 0:38:07 | 0:38:11 | |
It's quite a strange thing, you know, | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
sort of like this huge sex organ which appears. | 0:38:13 | 0:38:18 | |
I don't know, it's quite hard... | 0:38:18 | 0:38:20 | |
Even when you do see it, it's hard to tell where it's come from, | 0:38:20 | 0:38:22 | |
and they wrap them round each other. | 0:38:22 | 0:38:24 | |
So, if we look for signs of that appearing. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:27 | |
Signs that I imagine would be hard to miss! | 0:38:27 | 0:38:31 | |
But so far, there's no indication that either slug is in the mood. | 0:38:31 | 0:38:36 | |
Warmth and damp are both vital, | 0:38:36 | 0:38:38 | |
so John does what he can to help create the right conditions. | 0:38:38 | 0:38:41 | |
After all, the night is still young. | 0:38:43 | 0:38:46 | |
Usually, I'd expect a little bit more activity by now. | 0:38:47 | 0:38:51 | |
Usually, you can tell if they're going to mate | 0:38:51 | 0:38:53 | |
because one of the slugs will lock on to the tail of another slug | 0:38:53 | 0:38:57 | |
and it will follow it along. But at the moment, | 0:38:57 | 0:38:59 | |
these slugs don't seem particularly interested in each other. | 0:38:59 | 0:39:02 | |
It's gone quite cold and I think now they've gone very inactive, | 0:39:02 | 0:39:06 | |
we haven't seen any movement for a little while, | 0:39:06 | 0:39:09 | |
so it doesn't look like they're going to do anything, unfortunately. | 0:39:09 | 0:39:12 | |
I've got to admit, I'm slightly disappointed. | 0:39:12 | 0:39:14 | |
I was really looking forward to seeing that. | 0:39:14 | 0:39:16 | |
I know, and it is an amazing thing to see, | 0:39:16 | 0:39:18 | |
but, you know, I think it's a little bit too cold tonight for them. | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
And usually these slugs are very active | 0:39:21 | 0:39:23 | |
and they're whizzing around all over the place, | 0:39:23 | 0:39:25 | |
and you're trying to stop them escaping, | 0:39:25 | 0:39:27 | |
but there's no problem with that this evening, is there? | 0:39:27 | 0:39:29 | |
No, they're just staying rock solid, aren't they? | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
John was certainly right that this is a very hard thing to witness. | 0:39:32 | 0:39:36 | |
It could have been the cold that killed their passion, | 0:39:37 | 0:39:40 | |
but there's a lot we just don't know about these mysterious molluscs. | 0:39:40 | 0:39:43 | |
Although John's never filmed this before, | 0:39:44 | 0:39:47 | |
he has taken stills of these secretive slugs mating. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:51 | |
And as his pictures show, when the mood does take them | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
and the slime starts to flow, it can all get pretty weird. | 0:39:55 | 0:40:00 | |
After they've circled each other | 0:40:00 | 0:40:02 | |
to confirm their interest in mating, | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
white organs start to emerge | 0:40:05 | 0:40:07 | |
from the sides of their heads. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:09 | |
These are their penises. | 0:40:09 | 0:40:11 | |
To mate, these hermaphrodites hang upside down. | 0:40:11 | 0:40:15 | |
They need the help of gravity | 0:40:15 | 0:40:17 | |
to fully extend those enormous sex organs, | 0:40:17 | 0:40:21 | |
which can be the length of their entire bodies. | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
Wrapping around each other in a slimy embrace, | 0:40:24 | 0:40:28 | |
their penises entwine in a double helix as they exchange sperm. | 0:40:28 | 0:40:33 | |
Then they'll slither off and lay around 200 eggs, | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
ready to produce the next generation of ash-black slugs. | 0:40:36 | 0:40:41 | |
It's high summer and in the woods of Dartmoor's Taw Valley, | 0:40:47 | 0:40:52 | |
Leo Gubert is back to catch up with his dormice. | 0:40:52 | 0:40:55 | |
Sadly, in England and Wales, | 0:40:55 | 0:40:57 | |
dormouse numbers have fallen by two-thirds in the last 20 years. | 0:40:57 | 0:41:01 | |
So strongholds like this are critical for them. | 0:41:01 | 0:41:04 | |
So, this is a fantastic habitat for dormice. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:09 | |
I mean, if you look at the trees and shrubs, | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
it's been here for a long time. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:12 | |
I mean, the moss here on the branch is a good indicator of that. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:16 | |
Of course, I can't wait to find out what happened to | 0:41:16 | 0:41:19 | |
the lovely little dormouse we met a few months ago. | 0:41:19 | 0:41:22 | |
By now, she should be wide awake and could even be rearing some | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
babies in one of Leo's purpose-built nest boxes. | 0:41:27 | 0:41:30 | |
The first place to check is the very same box that she bred in last year. | 0:41:30 | 0:41:35 | |
So, it'll be interesting to see what we find in that box. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
I hope this is a good one. | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
There's nest material there, but I see no movement. | 0:41:41 | 0:41:45 | |
No-one's at home, but that's not necessarily a bad sign. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:50 | |
They're all up in the canopy, I think, it's such a nice day today. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:54 | |
The nest boxes help the breeding success of the dormice | 0:41:54 | 0:41:57 | |
and tell Leo whether they're active in a given area. | 0:41:57 | 0:42:01 | |
Oh, now we've got a few leaves. | 0:42:01 | 0:42:03 | |
Leo's an old hand and he isn't giving up the hunt quite yet. | 0:42:04 | 0:42:09 | |
Now, the other ways that we can find evidence that dormice are present... | 0:42:09 | 0:42:14 | |
Oh, here. Look at that one. | 0:42:14 | 0:42:16 | |
You see, it's been freshly opened by a dormouse | 0:42:17 | 0:42:20 | |
and you can tell how the tooth marks on the nut | 0:42:20 | 0:42:23 | |
has been opened by dormice. | 0:42:23 | 0:42:24 | |
They tend to leave a very kind of round, even hole inside. | 0:42:24 | 0:42:28 | |
Yeah, I mean, you can see the dormouse just by, you know, | 0:42:28 | 0:42:31 | |
looking at the nut. | 0:42:31 | 0:42:32 | |
But this is a good sign, this is what I've been looking for. | 0:42:32 | 0:42:36 | |
The trail's getting warmer. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:38 | |
OK, we've got nest material in here, | 0:42:42 | 0:42:44 | |
so I'm going to take the box out and check inside my plastic bag. | 0:42:44 | 0:42:48 | |
Oop, there he comes. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:54 | |
It's a dormouse. | 0:42:54 | 0:42:55 | |
Not the adult female I met in the winter, but a good find. | 0:42:55 | 0:43:00 | |
It looks like a juvenile, this one. Let's have a quick look at him. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:03 | |
He's very lively. | 0:43:06 | 0:43:08 | |
The mouse goes into a small bag | 0:43:08 | 0:43:10 | |
so it can be weighed without a struggle. | 0:43:10 | 0:43:12 | |
We normally find juveniles. At this time of the year, they're just | 0:43:14 | 0:43:16 | |
still growing and putting on weight and developing for the winter. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:21 | |
This one is exactly 15g, which is what a juvenile that was | 0:43:21 | 0:43:26 | |
born kind of earlier in the summer should weigh. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:30 | |
And the other one of the main differences from other small mammals | 0:43:30 | 0:43:33 | |
is this beautiful furry tail here. | 0:43:33 | 0:43:35 | |
Now, some of the dormice in these woods, | 0:43:35 | 0:43:37 | |
they've been fitted with microchips, | 0:43:37 | 0:43:39 | |
which is another technique I'm using as part of my research. | 0:43:39 | 0:43:43 | |
Leo has microchipped all the dormice he's found | 0:43:45 | 0:43:48 | |
to help him track how they travel through the wood. | 0:43:48 | 0:43:51 | |
This is dormouse 6058785. | 0:43:53 | 0:43:58 | |
A thriving juvenile is always a good find | 0:44:00 | 0:44:04 | |
as it adds to the breeding population. | 0:44:04 | 0:44:06 | |
The summer survey is a particularly special time in Leo's | 0:44:06 | 0:44:10 | |
year-round study of the Dartmoor dormice. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:13 | |
Finding them is just so rewarding, you know? | 0:44:16 | 0:44:19 | |
Sometimes you come out and you don't find any. | 0:44:19 | 0:44:21 | |
You come out in the rain or you come out and get bitten by midges | 0:44:21 | 0:44:24 | |
or ticks, here on Dartmoor, even, but, yeah, it's worth it. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:28 | |
Thanks to Leo's painstaking work, | 0:44:30 | 0:44:32 | |
we know more about the secretive lives of these tiny mice | 0:44:32 | 0:44:35 | |
than ever before. | 0:44:35 | 0:44:37 | |
And it helps us to safeguard their future | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
in this vitally important Dartmoor woodland. | 0:44:40 | 0:44:42 | |
Spending time with wildlife watchers has shown me | 0:44:46 | 0:44:49 | |
that however persistent and patient you are, | 0:44:49 | 0:44:51 | |
it's impossible to predict what you're going to see or find. | 0:44:51 | 0:44:55 | |
After John showed me the long-tailed tit's winter roost, | 0:44:55 | 0:44:59 | |
he went on to stake out one of their nests in the hope that we | 0:44:59 | 0:45:03 | |
could watch their chicks grow over the summer. | 0:45:03 | 0:45:06 | |
So, I'm excited to come back | 0:45:06 | 0:45:07 | |
and catch the next chapter in the life of my new favourite bird. | 0:45:07 | 0:45:13 | |
But on the day before my visit, disaster has struck. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:17 | |
The nest has been raided. | 0:45:17 | 0:45:19 | |
So, what's happened to the nest, John? | 0:45:20 | 0:45:22 | |
Well, unfortunately, it's been predated, which, you know, | 0:45:22 | 0:45:26 | |
is something which happens. I almost expect it to happen | 0:45:26 | 0:45:29 | |
because it happens to about 60% of the nests. | 0:45:29 | 0:45:31 | |
-As many as that? -That's right. -More than half. -Yes. | 0:45:31 | 0:45:34 | |
-And who do you think the culprit is? -Well, either a jay or a squirrel. | 0:45:34 | 0:45:37 | |
-The nest has been ripped out and the chicks... -Not a magpie? | 0:45:37 | 0:45:40 | |
Well, there aren't many magpies here, | 0:45:40 | 0:45:42 | |
-so there are jays in the woods and squirrels around... -Right. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:44 | |
So they're the two most likely culprits. | 0:45:44 | 0:45:47 | |
Is there still a nest there for me to look at? | 0:45:47 | 0:45:49 | |
Yes, there's still a nest, yeah. It's quite... | 0:45:49 | 0:45:51 | |
-But not the nest it was? -Not the nest it was. -OK. | 0:45:51 | 0:45:53 | |
-Well, let's check it out anyway. -OK. | 0:45:53 | 0:45:55 | |
Despite being hidden in dense gorse, | 0:45:55 | 0:45:57 | |
our nest has provided a meal to some other hungry Dartmoor inhabitant. | 0:45:57 | 0:46:02 | |
Well, there you can see the feathers. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:04 | |
So, as soon as you get here, you know it's been predated. | 0:46:04 | 0:46:06 | |
And you'd been the day before and everything was right as rain? | 0:46:06 | 0:46:08 | |
Yeah, they were all looking good, actually, and I was thinking, | 0:46:08 | 0:46:11 | |
"These ones could be all right," because they'd got to that stage. | 0:46:11 | 0:46:14 | |
-They were probably about three or four days off fledging. -Really? | 0:46:14 | 0:46:18 | |
Do you think jays have a particular penchant for long-tailed tits? | 0:46:18 | 0:46:21 | |
Well, they really like... | 0:46:21 | 0:46:22 | |
Well, not just long-tailed tits, but young birds in nests. | 0:46:22 | 0:46:25 | |
And just like me when I'm trying to find a nest, | 0:46:25 | 0:46:27 | |
I look for birds carrying food - I'm sure they do as well, | 0:46:27 | 0:46:29 | |
follow them in and then take out all the young. | 0:46:29 | 0:46:34 | |
The adults will have got away. What will they do now? | 0:46:34 | 0:46:36 | |
Cos they have this amazing social behaviour that we saw when | 0:46:36 | 0:46:39 | |
they were roosting, it also applies to their breeding habits as well. | 0:46:39 | 0:46:42 | |
So if a pair's nest gets destroyed, they go off to their nearest | 0:46:42 | 0:46:46 | |
male relative's nest and then they help out there. | 0:46:46 | 0:46:50 | |
I watched one the other week with four adults | 0:46:50 | 0:46:53 | |
feeding the young in the nest. | 0:46:53 | 0:46:54 | |
-So, four adults feeding is twice as good as two. -Yeah, it would be. | 0:46:54 | 0:46:57 | |
Can we get a look at what's happened to this nest? | 0:46:57 | 0:47:00 | |
-Can we get a bit closer? -Yeah, I'll pick the nest out, actually. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:03 | |
Hang on. OK. | 0:47:03 | 0:47:06 | |
Here we go. | 0:47:07 | 0:47:08 | |
-You've interfered with the crime scene there, John. -Yes, yeah. | 0:47:08 | 0:47:11 | |
So, lots and lots of feathers. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:13 | |
But these are not the feathers of the birds that have been killed, | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
-these are part of the nest? -Oh, no. No, they are not. | 0:47:16 | 0:47:19 | |
No, this is part of the amazing construction of this nest. | 0:47:19 | 0:47:21 | |
It's actually lined with hundreds and hundreds of feathers. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:24 | |
There's a few pheasant feathers I can see in there, | 0:47:24 | 0:47:26 | |
wood pigeons, a robin there... | 0:47:26 | 0:47:29 | |
So, basically, the whole construction is feather and moss? | 0:47:29 | 0:47:31 | |
That's right. The actual outer construction, which is built first, | 0:47:31 | 0:47:36 | |
is made of spiders' webs, moss and lichen. | 0:47:36 | 0:47:39 | |
And the spiders' webs are sort of the glue then, they're | 0:47:39 | 0:47:41 | |
kind of really quite important for sticking it all together? | 0:47:41 | 0:47:44 | |
Oh, yeah, and it's an amazing construction. | 0:47:44 | 0:47:46 | |
It takes about two weeks to build this nest and the pair will | 0:47:46 | 0:47:48 | |
work together and they'll build it up slowly by collecting | 0:47:48 | 0:47:51 | |
spiders' webs, spinning it all in here and then adding bits of lichen. | 0:47:51 | 0:47:55 | |
But the amazing thing about this nest, because it's | 0:47:55 | 0:47:57 | |
made of spiders' webs - you see, pull it there like that - it can | 0:47:57 | 0:48:00 | |
actually expand to accommodate the big chicks when they're in there. | 0:48:00 | 0:48:03 | |
-It's a kind of Lycra nest. -That's right. It's an amazing construction. | 0:48:03 | 0:48:06 | |
John is not deterred by this setback. | 0:48:06 | 0:48:09 | |
He's already found another nest and guides us to the | 0:48:09 | 0:48:12 | |
perfect position to set up our camouflaged camera. | 0:48:12 | 0:48:16 | |
So, I'm still hoping to round off my experience of Dartmoor's | 0:48:16 | 0:48:20 | |
long-tailed tits with the moment when a new brood of chicks | 0:48:20 | 0:48:24 | |
leaves the nest for the very first time. | 0:48:24 | 0:48:27 | |
Ah, brilliant, it's just there! | 0:48:29 | 0:48:31 | |
God, that's such a good set-up. | 0:48:31 | 0:48:33 | |
-Lovely position, isn't it? Just about head height as well. -Ah! | 0:48:33 | 0:48:37 | |
It's a tiny... The nest looks even smaller than the one you showed me. | 0:48:37 | 0:48:40 | |
That's right, yeah. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:42 | |
About the same size, about the size of your hand, isn't it? | 0:48:42 | 0:48:44 | |
How long after the guys set the camera up do the birds come back? | 0:48:44 | 0:48:47 | |
-Well, almost immediately, they'll be coming... -Minutes? | 0:48:47 | 0:48:50 | |
-Yeah, within five minutes. -So this doesn't bother them at all? | 0:48:50 | 0:48:52 | |
No, they're not really... If it's not a classic predator | 0:48:52 | 0:48:55 | |
and it is just a bit of inanimate object, | 0:48:55 | 0:48:57 | |
they're not going to be frightened of it. | 0:48:57 | 0:48:58 | |
But we probably shouldn't hang around too long? | 0:48:58 | 0:49:00 | |
No, they would be a bit scared if we were here, so we better... | 0:49:00 | 0:49:03 | |
Well, it looks like a great set-up. Let's go and find the monitor. | 0:49:03 | 0:49:06 | |
Well, I found this one yesterday | 0:49:10 | 0:49:12 | |
and the chicks were quite big in there. | 0:49:12 | 0:49:14 | |
-They should fledge within two or three days, I think. -Oh, really? | 0:49:14 | 0:49:17 | |
So, we're lucky to get it just before they've left? | 0:49:17 | 0:49:20 | |
So, they've just got to hang in there for a couple more days | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
and beat the jays? | 0:49:23 | 0:49:24 | |
That's right and the adults here are pretty good, actually. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:26 | |
It took me a while to find them. | 0:49:26 | 0:49:28 | |
Just me sat here was... They were a bit | 0:49:28 | 0:49:31 | |
cagey about going down to the nest, which is a good sign. | 0:49:31 | 0:49:34 | |
They've spotted me, so they think, "Oh, let's let him walk away." | 0:49:34 | 0:49:38 | |
When I turned my back, they flipped down into the nest. | 0:49:38 | 0:49:41 | |
John's affinity with these beguiling birds offers me | 0:49:41 | 0:49:44 | |
another moment to savour. | 0:49:44 | 0:49:46 | |
Ooh, ooh, look! That's... Look, the young. They're sticking... | 0:49:48 | 0:49:52 | |
Is that because they've seen Mum or Dad on the way? | 0:49:52 | 0:49:55 | |
Because they lunged out there, two of them | 0:49:55 | 0:49:56 | |
lunged out with their great, gaping beaks open. | 0:49:56 | 0:49:59 | |
-Did you see that? -Yeah, they can hear the parents, probably. | 0:49:59 | 0:50:02 | |
Probably the parents are calling nearby and these | 0:50:02 | 0:50:04 | |
birds are close to fledging now, so they'll come right out of the nest. | 0:50:04 | 0:50:08 | |
Look, there they are again! Ooh, ooh, and she's in. Fantastic. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:11 | |
-Beautiful, isn't it? -That is amazing. | 0:50:11 | 0:50:14 | |
I didn't realise we were actually going to see the little ones | 0:50:14 | 0:50:17 | |
right up in the mouth of the nest there with their beaks gaping open. | 0:50:17 | 0:50:21 | |
-That's fantastic. -Well, we've caught this just right, | 0:50:21 | 0:50:23 | |
cos that just happens just a couple of days before they fledge. | 0:50:23 | 0:50:26 | |
Before that, they're tucked in, tight into the nest, | 0:50:26 | 0:50:29 | |
and they'd just come up to the entrance a bit. | 0:50:29 | 0:50:31 | |
But that's full now | 0:50:31 | 0:50:32 | |
and it's sort of expanding with that silk expansion system they've got. | 0:50:32 | 0:50:36 | |
-So... -But there will be other chicks, you know, deep down. | 0:50:36 | 0:50:38 | |
So, they're literally clambering on top of each other to get | 0:50:38 | 0:50:41 | |
-there first when the food comes? -That's right. | 0:50:41 | 0:50:43 | |
It's the one sticking its head out the furthest which is going to | 0:50:43 | 0:50:45 | |
get fed, so the ones down the bottom have got to | 0:50:45 | 0:50:48 | |
sort of work their way up and battle their way up to get some food. | 0:50:48 | 0:50:50 | |
-Ooh, there we go. -There we go, yeah. -Ooh! A big beakful of something. | 0:50:50 | 0:50:54 | |
Yeah, it's usually caterpillars and small flies and things like that. | 0:50:54 | 0:50:57 | |
Yeah, it looked caterpillary, actually. | 0:50:57 | 0:50:59 | |
And often the pair will come in together. So, there we go. | 0:50:59 | 0:51:01 | |
Look at that! That's a real mouthful of caterpillars! | 0:51:01 | 0:51:04 | |
Almost choking on it there, isn't it? | 0:51:04 | 0:51:05 | |
I think he got all three of those fat, green caterpillars. | 0:51:05 | 0:51:09 | |
-Yeah, that'll keep him going for a little while. -This is so great. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:12 | |
-You know, having seen them first on my bird table... -Mm. | 0:51:12 | 0:51:15 | |
-..and then at the beginning of the year in that beautiful roost... -Yes. | 0:51:15 | 0:51:18 | |
..and now right here in the wild, in their habitat, | 0:51:18 | 0:51:22 | |
-with a nest on the go, it's just fantastic. -Yeah, it's brilliant. | 0:51:22 | 0:51:25 | |
And this is probably the perfect day to see them. | 0:51:25 | 0:51:27 | |
And this is just going on all day now, | 0:51:27 | 0:51:29 | |
just cramming that fuel in to get them ready for their fledge? | 0:51:29 | 0:51:32 | |
That's right, yeah, these are really hungry chicks | 0:51:32 | 0:51:35 | |
and they're growing rapidly through the day. | 0:51:35 | 0:51:37 | |
So, by tomorrow they'll be even bigger than that and, yeah, they'll | 0:51:37 | 0:51:40 | |
probably be ready to go, so they need as much food as they can get. | 0:51:40 | 0:51:43 | |
And they'll all be ready at the same time? | 0:51:43 | 0:51:45 | |
Yeah, they've all been incubated. | 0:51:45 | 0:51:47 | |
Although the female will lay the eggs one at a time, she doesn't | 0:51:47 | 0:51:50 | |
start incubating them until she's laid the last one, so they will | 0:51:50 | 0:51:53 | |
all hatch on the same day and they will all fledge on the same day. | 0:51:53 | 0:51:56 | |
It's tantalising, cos they're obviously a day or so | 0:51:56 | 0:51:59 | |
away from absolutely making it, these guys. | 0:51:59 | 0:52:01 | |
Yeah, maybe even tomorrow morning, these birds, they're looking | 0:52:01 | 0:52:04 | |
like they might well go tomorrow, just looking at that today. | 0:52:04 | 0:52:06 | |
It makes me want to come back tomorrow | 0:52:06 | 0:52:08 | |
just to see if they do fledge, but I'm wondering, | 0:52:08 | 0:52:11 | |
maybe we can leave a camera set up here | 0:52:11 | 0:52:14 | |
and try and keep on this and get the footage of them actually fledging. | 0:52:14 | 0:52:17 | |
Yeah, that would be fantastic. | 0:52:17 | 0:52:18 | |
Yeah, we can leave a camera running on the nest | 0:52:18 | 0:52:21 | |
and hopefully see that magic moment when they all pile out. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:24 | |
I'd love to see it. | 0:52:24 | 0:52:25 | |
Time's run out for me and John today. | 0:52:28 | 0:52:31 | |
But the next morning, | 0:52:31 | 0:52:33 | |
the crew returned to the exact same spot to be our eyes on the nest. | 0:52:33 | 0:52:38 | |
It's a big relief to see the chicks still there. | 0:52:39 | 0:52:42 | |
There's no predicting exactly when they'll fledge | 0:52:42 | 0:52:44 | |
and there's only one thing for the crew to do - | 0:52:44 | 0:52:48 | |
settle in and wait. | 0:52:48 | 0:52:49 | |
For the next two days, | 0:52:52 | 0:52:54 | |
the parents and almost certainly other family members | 0:52:54 | 0:52:57 | |
keep up the unrelenting feeding routine, stuffing | 0:52:57 | 0:53:01 | |
those gaping mouths with a steady supply of fat, green caterpillars. | 0:53:01 | 0:53:05 | |
Feeding builds to a crescendo, as parents pack the chicks with as | 0:53:07 | 0:53:10 | |
much protein as possible, preparing them for their very first flight. | 0:53:10 | 0:53:15 | |
But as the adults come and go, there's something in | 0:53:18 | 0:53:21 | |
the parent birds' flight that we haven't seen before. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:24 | |
It's fleeting and hard to spot, | 0:53:31 | 0:53:34 | |
until we watch it in slow motion. | 0:53:34 | 0:53:37 | |
Then, this magical little performance | 0:53:41 | 0:53:43 | |
emerges in all its glory. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:44 | |
As they leave the nest, | 0:53:48 | 0:53:50 | |
the adults hover in mid-flight, | 0:53:50 | 0:53:52 | |
just like hummingbirds. | 0:53:52 | 0:53:54 | |
And as the day goes on, they perform the same trick again and again. | 0:53:54 | 0:53:59 | |
There's a couple of theories about what they might be up to. | 0:54:04 | 0:54:08 | |
One idea is that it's a signal, | 0:54:08 | 0:54:10 | |
calling the other adult birds in the extended family | 0:54:10 | 0:54:13 | |
to come and help with the feeding, | 0:54:13 | 0:54:16 | |
making a deliberate display of leaving the nest. | 0:54:16 | 0:54:18 | |
But John thinks the adults could be trying to entice the chicks | 0:54:21 | 0:54:25 | |
to make that first flight, hovering at the nest entrance | 0:54:25 | 0:54:28 | |
and giving them little chirps of encouragement. | 0:54:28 | 0:54:31 | |
Whatever it means, this charming display is one more reason to | 0:54:33 | 0:54:37 | |
marvel at these lovely little birds. | 0:54:37 | 0:54:39 | |
But even if they are being asked to leave the nest, for now, | 0:54:41 | 0:54:44 | |
these chicks have chosen to sit tight, which, as it turns out, | 0:54:44 | 0:54:49 | |
is a smart move. | 0:54:49 | 0:54:50 | |
THUNDER RUMBLES | 0:54:53 | 0:54:56 | |
As you can see, it's a lovely day up by the long-tailed tit nest! | 0:55:04 | 0:55:08 | |
The kit's all getting wet, | 0:55:08 | 0:55:10 | |
everything's covered with bin bags, um, except us. | 0:55:10 | 0:55:14 | |
Not a lot's going to happen today if this rain keeps up. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:18 | |
But whatever the weather, those chicks still need to be fed. | 0:55:22 | 0:55:26 | |
All day long, the bedraggled adults | 0:55:26 | 0:55:29 | |
keep up the round-the-clock deliveries. | 0:55:29 | 0:55:31 | |
They certainly aren't going to fledge | 0:55:38 | 0:55:40 | |
if the weather stays like this. | 0:55:40 | 0:55:41 | |
Our cameraman Matt's banking on a burst of sunshine | 0:55:42 | 0:55:45 | |
to bring out the chicks. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:47 | |
But one thing I know about Dartmoor is that even in late spring, | 0:55:47 | 0:55:51 | |
it can drizzle for days. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:53 | |
The parents are keeping up their impressive work-rate | 0:55:56 | 0:56:00 | |
and the chicks are scoffing the lot. | 0:56:00 | 0:56:02 | |
But sitting tight. | 0:56:02 | 0:56:03 | |
It's a lot of rain. | 0:56:06 | 0:56:08 | |
By day six, the nest is at bursting point. | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
They really can't stay in there much longer. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:18 | |
And finally, the weather breaks. | 0:56:18 | 0:56:22 | |
Thankfully, the rain's just stopped. | 0:56:23 | 0:56:26 | |
I haven't been able to see what the birds have been up to | 0:56:26 | 0:56:29 | |
for a good half an hour or so, so just checking the monitor here. | 0:56:29 | 0:56:33 | |
And thankfully, they're still on the nest. | 0:56:33 | 0:56:36 | |
At long last, one chick makes its move. | 0:56:43 | 0:56:46 | |
It's a short maiden flight, | 0:56:49 | 0:56:51 | |
but there's no going back. | 0:56:51 | 0:56:53 | |
And this fluffy-headed youngster is not alone for long. | 0:56:55 | 0:56:59 | |
And Matt and Joseph's six-day vigil is finally paying off, | 0:56:59 | 0:57:03 | |
as the chicks move out en masse. | 0:57:03 | 0:57:06 | |
One, two, three, four, | 0:57:06 | 0:57:10 | |
five, six, seven. | 0:57:10 | 0:57:14 | |
Seven chicks, all from the same tiny, but luckily, expandable nest. | 0:57:14 | 0:57:19 | |
These young birds will now join their family group, | 0:57:21 | 0:57:24 | |
flitting and foraging around the woods. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:26 | |
And when winter comes, they'll join their cousins, | 0:57:27 | 0:57:30 | |
uncles and aunties, huddled on a single branch. | 0:57:30 | 0:57:34 | |
Just like the group I saw at the beginning of the year. | 0:57:36 | 0:57:39 | |
And next time I see long-tailed tits on my garden feeders at home, | 0:57:41 | 0:57:45 | |
I'll know a whole lot more about what they've been up to | 0:57:45 | 0:57:48 | |
the rest of the time. | 0:57:48 | 0:57:50 | |
If you'd like to explore Britain's diverse landscapes in more detail | 0:57:55 | 0:58:00 | |
and find out how to create your own wildlife habitats, | 0:58:00 | 0:58:04 | |
The Open University has produced a free booklet with bookmarks. | 0:58:04 | 0:58:08 | |
Order your copy by calling... | 0:58:08 | 0:58:10 | |
..or go to... | 0:58:14 | 0:58:15 | |
..and follow the links to The Open University. | 0:58:19 | 0:58:22 |