Episode 4 Hugh's Wild West


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For me, watching wildlife is one of life's greatest pleasures.

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And my favourite place to do it is right here in my beloved West Country.

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This captivating corner of the British Isles...

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There's six right underneath us.

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..has a cast of creatures that's as awe-inspiring,

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extraordinary and magical as any.

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Oh, come on! No way!

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I'm hoping to get as close as I can to as many as I can...

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Right, I'm ready.

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This is great. This is measuring an eel.

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Off, off, off!

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There's one inside my...oh!

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..with the help of a band of dedicated nature lovers.

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Some of the patterns on the feathers, they're beautiful.

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Good spot. Look, look, look!

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-Wonderful.

-So cool.

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There's one in my hair now.

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I'll share the thrill of the chase...

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-Do you hear them?

-I heard something.

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Yeah, they're in there.

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Yes.

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..the sheer joy of the encounter...

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-She's so golden.

-She is fast asleep.

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That's amazing.

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..and I'll pitch in to help these local heroes

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safeguard the future of our precious animals.

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Bye-bye.

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There she goes.

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I can't believe that I've been living in the West Country

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for so many years and I've never done this before.

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This will be a year-round adventure...

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Straight ahead!

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..as we explore the natural wonders of the UK's very own Wild West.

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Today I'm in a part of south-west England that I should know pretty well.

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I'm right on my home patch, the Devon/Dorset border.

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I've lived around here for almost 20 years.

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But getting to know the local wildlife is a never-ending process...

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..and this area of the south-west is home to an enthralling cast of creatures,

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some of which I now think of as old friends,

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but some of the more elusive ones I still haven't met.

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This stretch of coast straddling Devon and Dorset is best known for

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the fossil beaches and beauty spots around Lyme Regis and Lulworth Cove,

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but there's plenty of interest just back from the sea

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along a ribbon of land that runs from the pretty river valleys

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above Exmouth and Sidmouth, past Lyme Regis

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to the tidal waterways of the Fleet near Weymouth.

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This is the River Otter.

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As you might expect, there are indeed otters here,

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and plenty more besides.

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What is truly surprising is that here, just a few miles from home,

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I have a chance to encounter a creature of the river

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that to me has always seemed exotic and far-flung.

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As a child I loved reading books about wild animals from far-off

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lands and dreaming that maybe one day I'd get to see them for myself.

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One creature that particularly fascinated me, with its toothy face,

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its leathery tail and its amazing ability to chop down trees,

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was the beaver.

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When I was a boy, beavers hadn't been seen in England

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for over 400 years.

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They were once widespread in the UK,

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but they were hunted to extinction for their fur,

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their meat and their powerful scent glands,

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which were used in perfumes and medicines.

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But in 2011,

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local wildlife watchers were amazed to find that beavers

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had made a surprise return right here in Devon.

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It's suspected they'd been accidentally released from captivity.

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However it happened, within a few years, they were seen to have young,

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known as kits. It soon became clear

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that these unlikely and unexpected arrivals

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had the potential to start a genuine beaver revival.

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I've still never actually seen one in the wild,

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which makes it incredibly exciting to know that there's

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a real possibility of seeing one right here on this river,

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on my home patch on the Devon/Dorset border.

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Of course, I'm not the only one who finds the idea of spotting a beaver

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in the wild very exciting.

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They're still not easy to see,

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but when the word gets around that beavers are out and about,

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it can attract quite a crowd,

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hoping to train their lenses on the River Otter's new celebrities.

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In my personal experience the furthest anybody's come

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was Western Australia, Perth and New Zealand,

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and people on holiday in Europe

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come in via Budleigh to see our beavers.

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I could not believe it,

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but that's fact.

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David White was one of the first to get the beaver bug.

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I retired to the area some eight years ago,

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and one day when I was down here I came across a very funny footprint.

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And I could think of everything it wasn't.

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A few months later, I'm walking along another part of the river

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and I hear a huge splash.

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A bit like I'd expect somebody who had thrown a pebble the size of

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a bag of sugar into the water.

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I thought, "What on earth made that?"

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Then, two and two together, it was a beaver's tail splashing.

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That is how I got interested in the beavers in the first place.

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Typically they may be nearly as large as a sack of potatoes.

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They whizz around so fast and they dive up and down,

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and pop up two yards away, ten yards away,

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and you really don't know whether you're looking at the same one or a different one.

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Having the only wild beavers in England right on his doorstep

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has made Dave

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something of an authority

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on how to get the best view.

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When I see them, the first thing really is to try and let it

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relax and settle down a bit.

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Some people tend to, "Oh, oh! Look, there's a beaver!"

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Point, lean forward.

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Hold back, ease away

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and the beaver relaxes a bit and it'll actually come closer to you,

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and you get a better look at it to see what it is doing.

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For one amateur wildlife photographer these newcomers

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on the river presented an opportunity not to be missed.

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German-born Sylvie Meller is building up a library of footage

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of the parents and their kits.

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But she'll never forget the first time she saw them.

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We were just sitting next to the river

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and it was the female swimming past us.

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There she was, and it was just goose bumps immediately.

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I was just hooked on them.

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-Straight away?

-Completely addicted.

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And I just had to come there now most weekends and see them

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and take pictures and film them.

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Sylvie's intimate footage of this tight-knit unit

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gives us an insight into beaver family life.

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Beavers mate for life, having up to four kits a year.

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The young then stay with the family until they're around two years old.

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So the beaver family is the nicest thing to watch, I guess?

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It is lovely to watch them.

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And of course when the kits are out the first time,

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to see the tiny little kits

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swimming around and playing with

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the parents and swimming on the back of the mother and the dad,

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that's just one of the most amazing moments.

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It's a beaver soap opera?

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It is, yeah. Each and every time it's something different.

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My parents always say, "Oh, you are going back to the river again,

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"isn't it always the same?"

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No, every time it's different. Every

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time something new's happening.

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I would absolutely love to see one,

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just being in the river and hanging out and doing beavery things.

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At the moment the best thing is to come early in the morning,

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just after sunrise, when it's just about getting light,

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to see them coming, swimming back to the lodge.

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-Thank you, Sylvie.

-You're welcome.

-I hope I have a bit of your luck.

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Yeah.

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It's still dark when I head back down to the river

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for my early-morning beaver stakeout.

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It's just before dawn and I'm back on the bridge where Sylvie says

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I've got the best chance of seeing the beavers on the move.

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It's still pretty dark, so I've got an infrared light here

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and a camera that picks that up.

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So even though I can't really see what's happening on the river yet,

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I can see here through the viewfinder.

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So if they do come down the river before it gets light,

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I should still be able to pick them up.

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It feels almost absurd to think a beaver might suddenly appear here

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on this Devon river, but that's probably what everyone

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who's seen one was thinking just before it happened.

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Just a glimpse would be a thrill.

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But wildlife watching is about putting in the hours,

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and being here on the river as the sun rises is a pleasure in itself.

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Having said that, I would like to see one.

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It has been a lovely morning,

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but sadly beaverless.

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So that's it for today.

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But I'm definitely coming back as soon as I can because

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I've definitely got beaver fever.

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I may not have seen one this time, but hearing from people who have,

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and seeing in their eyes the excitement that goes with it,

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I'm not giving up just yet.

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The past plight of our beavers is a good reminder of why

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our wildlife needs protection today.

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But conservation isn't a new idea,

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even if historically it's tended to favour only a select few species.

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One of those has been the subject of what must be the oldest

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continuous conservation project in the UK.

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I'm full of admiration for anyone who devotes the whole of their

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working lives to protecting the interests of our wildlife.

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But when that job comes with a heritage that is almost 1,000 years old,

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that's got to command some serious respect.

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This is the Fleet,

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a 13km-long saltwater lagoon

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created by the pebble bank of Chesil Beach.

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For centuries, this geographical anomaly has been a safe haven

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for a graceful resident with privileged royal connections.

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Abbotsbury Swannery is home to hundreds of these majestic birds.

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This is the world's one and only managed colony of mute swans.

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The job of looking after them goes back to the 14th century...

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..as does the title that goes with it -

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the Swanherd.

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The current incumbent is Swanherd Dave Wheeler.

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Let me see. Come on, girl.

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Good. One, two, three, four, five, six eggs for nest 29.

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The Fleet provides masses of food for waterfowl,

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and that's the attraction.

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The shallow lagoon has over 150 species of plant life,

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25 species of fish and plentiful molluscs,

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all of which contribute to this rich feeding ground

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for the omnivorous swans.

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In the winter, top count in recent years was very close to 1,400 swans.

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OK, OK.

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It's hard to explain why I love this place.

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I think there is a magic to it.

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It's not just swans, it's THE Swannery at Abbotsbury.

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There are so many different aspects to it, the job is so varied,

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we don't know what we'll be doing from one day to the next.

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That's good, that's good.

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I do remember one particular day that made me think,

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when my first job of the day happened to be to lift sewage pumps,

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clean them and reset them,

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my very next job was to pose with children,

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ballerinas in tutus, on the nesting site.

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There can't be any jobs with that kind of variety.

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The swannery was established here by Benedictine monks whose reasons

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for protecting these birds were somewhat different from ours today.

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We know that Benedictine monks founded a monastery in Abbotsbury

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as far back as the 1040s,

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and we know that they had a great interest in this place because,

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of course, they wanted to eat swan.

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And obviously, if they could increase survival rates

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there'd be more swan meat.

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Whatever the motive, the responsibilities of the Swanherd -

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to protect these birds and help their young to reach maturity

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on this beautiful piece of water - are the same as they've always been.

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It's a story of historical continuity

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that's surprising and somehow comforting.

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When we look in the archives,

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there are many mentions of keepers of swans here and swanherds,

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so the title may have changed a little over the years, but certainly

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they've been managed for many hundreds of years.

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It's almost as if these powerful birds sense the advantage

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to their young of this age-old human intervention.

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We have a colony of nesting swans, which is rather unusual,

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and they don't make good neighbours.

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They all want more territory,

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there's aggressive interaction between some pairs,

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and without our help, survival would not be so good.

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The swan colony is tended daily by Dave and his team

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but these are truly wild animals, free to come and go as they please.

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Clearly at nesting time, there's nowhere they'd rather be than here.

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I think the situation here,

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the swans and the swannery are extremely important.

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I think it's right and good that it's sustained.

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Scientifically it's unique. There is nowhere in the world

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where we can gain so much information about swans.

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It's May and the height of the hatching season.

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To gather the data they need on the year's new brood,

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Dave and his team must inspect each newly hatched cygnet.

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And with protective parent swans to contend with,

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this is the most dangerous job of the year.

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We sex and tag their cygnets when they're just a day old,

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so we're really asking to be thumped!

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Risky it may be, but it's all part of the job for Dave's deputy Swanherd, Steve Groves.

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My dad worked in a factory all his life on a lathe, so this is,

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you know, a job like this, yeah...

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..you do get a big kick out of it.

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Ready?

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One Swanherd did have his radius broken,

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and there has been one case, I believe, of cracked ribs here.

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One of my colleagues I did see knocked unconscious

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on the nesting site.

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A swan struck him on the head.

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It's a male.

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Cygnets are among the largest hatchlings of any British bird,

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but like all chicks they're vulnerable.

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Every year in the UK only about a third of all cygnets hatched anywhere

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make it to their first autumn, let alone get through their first winter.

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And usually we're on par with that.

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In this crowded colony the big risk to the cygnets is from other swans,

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protecting their patch, both on land and on water.

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It's a threat that all these cygnets will have to face pretty soon.

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They're almost ready to leave the nest.

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They usually leave the nest on...

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..sometimes day two, usually day three.

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So they may stay in there until tomorrow and then the parents

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will take them down to the nearest available water,

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which, if they're a really good pair, they've already got

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a bit of water in their territory.

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But I don't think this pair have.

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So they've got a journey now down to the Fleet Lagoon

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which means going through other swans' territory,

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and there's more chances that the cygnets will get predated

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or attacked by another swan,

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so they haven't got the best start in life,

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but obviously we're always around to look after them.

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Even in a 1,000-year-old colony,

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life is never easy for the swans of Abbotsbury.

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Last year we had a very good survival rate.

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It was nearly 50% that survived their first...up to autumn.

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But unfortunately, of course, last winter

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we had a bird flu outbreak and unfortunately a lot of

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those cygnets that made it didn't make it through the bird flu,

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so nature, like I say,

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just always makes sure that only the strongest survive.

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The cygnets have many trials ahead and Swanherd Dave has

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his biggest challenge of the year coming up too.

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In midsummer he'll oversee one of the country's most bizarre annual wildlife surveys.

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The rich tidal waters of the largely unchanging Fleet

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have always been an ideal home for the swans.

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But back from the sea, even the most

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idyllic landscapes of the West Country are shaped by man...

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And when that puts a species in decline,

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there's a good case to be made that it's down to us

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to offer a helping hand.

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If you can give them a secure place to live and breed,

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you can make a real difference.

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And if that place happens to be man-made and even centrally heated,

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well, some animals are just not going to have a problem with that.

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The stately homes of England attract visitors from all over the world.

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Some have been opened to the public

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or been converted into swanky hotels.

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But here in Dorset one former dwelling of the landed gentry

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has found a very different destiny.

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This rather forbidding structure was once the bustling kitchen block

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of Bryanston's 18th-century manor house.

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But since it was abandoned some new residents have taken over the place,

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and they only come out at night.

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For 30 years Colin Morris has been tending to their every need.

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Bats, including the rare greater horseshoe,

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were found to be in residence here in the 1950s,

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and since then the accommodation has had a number of upgrades.

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This roost has been studied by bat scientists since the 1950s.

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And over the years it had so many improvements here,

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just for the bats.

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It was one of the first places to have central heating put in

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for them, to keep them nice and warm and help the babies grow.

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We also had it reroofed just for the bats.

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They had all this money.

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It's probably the most expensive bat roost in the UK.

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So it's been known since then as the Horseshoe Hilton.

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The greater horseshoe bat is the largest of Britain's

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18 species of bats, but also one of the rarest.

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Its diet consists of moths and insects that it catches on the wing,

0:20:040:20:09

but numbers have been hit by the double whammy of habitat loss

0:20:090:20:13

and the widespread use of agricultural insecticides.

0:20:130:20:16

It's estimated that numbers have declined over 90% in the last 100 years.

0:20:180:20:23

It's disappeared completely from over half its former range

0:20:240:20:27

in the UK, and is now confined to south-west England and South Wales.

0:20:270:20:32

But projects like this are helping the horseshoes hang on in there,

0:20:330:20:37

and nowadays they can stay here all year round,

0:20:370:20:41

thanks to some major recent renovations.

0:20:410:20:44

So here we have the world's first cave ever dug in solid rock

0:20:460:20:49

for hibernating bats. We took out the back wall

0:20:490:20:53

of an internal fireplace and we dug a tunnel

0:20:530:20:57

approximately 12 metres long, twisted at the end,

0:20:570:21:00

so you get a pocket of warm air at the top

0:21:000:21:03

and a pocket of warm air at the bottom,

0:21:030:21:05

because bats roost at different temperatures throughout the winter.

0:21:050:21:09

And over one weekend we excavated nearly 40 tonnes of rock.

0:21:090:21:13

Prior to its excavation we only had perhaps 15 or 20 bats

0:21:140:21:18

hibernating here throughout the winter.

0:21:180:21:21

This winter, we had nearly 300 bats hibernating in there,

0:21:210:21:24

so a very successful site indeed.

0:21:240:21:26

Colin's purpose-built bat cave, or hibernaculum,

0:21:280:21:31

has clearly been a massive boost for the greater horseshoes,

0:21:310:21:35

providing them with a cosy place to sit out the worst of the winter chill.

0:21:350:21:39

In the spring, the pregnant females move back upstairs.

0:21:390:21:43

This is their maternity roost, a special mother-and-baby unit

0:21:430:21:47

where bats rear their young over the summer.

0:21:470:21:49

By July the mothers have given birth and must now leave their pups

0:21:490:21:53

to hunt for a few hours every evening.

0:21:530:21:56

Did I bring my camera?

0:21:560:21:57

For Colin and his team, it's the perfect time for a bat count.

0:21:570:22:00

Now, have we all got tally counters?

0:22:010:22:03

-I have.

-Bat detectors?

0:22:030:22:05

-Yeah.

-OK, well...

0:22:050:22:07

..the bats will be out in about ten minutes.

0:22:070:22:10

-If we settle down now and wait for the emergence, OK?

-That's fine.

0:22:100:22:14

Any problems, let me know.

0:22:140:22:16

The volunteers are equipped with some handy technology.

0:22:160:22:19

This is an ultrasonic bat detector.

0:22:190:22:21

It's one of the simplest bat detectors on the market.

0:22:210:22:23

This clever box of tricks allows them to hear the ultrasonic calls

0:22:240:22:28

made by each bat. These clicks are the echolocation

0:22:280:22:32

by which they navigate and hunt their prey.

0:22:320:22:36

-Okey dokey.

-You're sitting on the bat detector.

-I am.

0:22:360:22:39

-That's painful!

-Ooh!

0:22:390:22:43

Made my day, that did.

0:22:440:22:46

In the gloom of dusk, the bats begin to emerge.

0:22:480:22:51

And the team get busy with their bat detectors,

0:22:530:22:56

counting them click by click.

0:22:560:22:58

But click counting bats is trickier than you might think.

0:23:000:23:03

Some evenings are more difficult than others, because

0:23:050:23:07

these bats have a tendency to go in and out several times

0:23:070:23:11

before they go off to forage totally.

0:23:110:23:15

And what you've got to do is, if a bat goes back into the building...

0:23:170:23:20

..remember one bat's gone back in

0:23:210:23:23

and, when the next bat comes out,

0:23:230:23:26

you don't click it.

0:23:260:23:27

If I get 250 to 300 adults

0:23:270:23:32

and 150 to 170 babies,

0:23:320:23:35

I'll be very happy.

0:23:350:23:37

When the bats are all out, the team can compare their counts.

0:23:370:23:41

-344, good count.

-349. 349.

0:23:410:23:44

And the result is even better than Colin was expecting...

0:23:440:23:47

-350.

-Ooh, really? Really?

-Yeah.

0:23:470:23:50

..which raises hopes of an impressive brood inside.

0:23:500:23:54

Right, OK.

0:23:540:23:56

-Let's go and see how many babies we have.

-Yeah.

0:23:560:23:58

With all the mums now out hunting,

0:23:580:24:01

Colin quickly scrambles up to the attic to count the pups.

0:24:010:24:05

Oh, look.

0:24:060:24:07

There's a bat that's been born in the last day or two.

0:24:070:24:09

Greater horseshoe bats have been known to live for 30 years,

0:24:100:24:14

but they breed very, very slowly.

0:24:140:24:16

They might not give birth until they're three or four years old,

0:24:160:24:19

and perhaps they'll only have one baby every two years, which is why

0:24:190:24:23

they're sort of living on a knife-edge in this part of Europe.

0:24:230:24:26

They don't breed very fast.

0:24:260:24:27

Their survival rate isn't always as good as we'd hoped.

0:24:270:24:31

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten...

0:24:340:24:36

There's some very tiny bats up there,

0:24:360:24:38

which have been born in the last week,

0:24:380:24:40

so I'd estimate perhaps we'd have 170 babies in total this year.

0:24:400:24:45

For the horseshoe bat,

0:24:460:24:48

there's still a long way to go before they're out of danger,

0:24:480:24:51

but it's good to know that it's packed to the rafters

0:24:510:24:54

here at the Horseshoe Hilton.

0:24:540:24:55

I'm back on the River Otter on my continuing quest

0:25:080:25:12

to catch up with Devon's wild beavers.

0:25:120:25:14

Today, I'm joining Mark Elliott from Devon Wildlife Trust.

0:25:160:25:19

-You can see there's signs of...

-Yeah, another one down there.

0:25:190:25:22

Last year, a new pair of beavers were introduced

0:25:220:25:25

to prevent inbreeding, and Mark's been keeping a close watch

0:25:250:25:29

on their progress ever since.

0:25:290:25:31

I'm excited, and already the trail is pretty warm.

0:25:310:25:35

There's a tree down here, Mark. That's not beavers, is it?

0:25:350:25:38

-Yes, this is beavers.

-Is it? Oh! That is massive!

0:25:380:25:41

That's a Devon beaver?

0:25:420:25:44

-Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

-I've never seen anything like it!

0:25:440:25:47

You can see all the teeth marks all the way across here.

0:25:470:25:49

Oh, that's extraordinary!

0:25:490:25:51

A resident mammal felling trees here in Devon just seems really odd,

0:25:510:25:56

but wherever they are, beavers will be beavers.

0:25:560:25:59

And he wants this tree to come down.

0:25:590:26:01

Yeah, primarily so that he can reach the top branches.

0:26:010:26:04

So he's feeding on the top branches, or using the sticks

0:26:040:26:07

for lodge building, that sort of thing, but also,

0:26:070:26:11

because it's a willow tree, this will re-sprout,

0:26:110:26:13

so there will be lots of fresh, young growth come from this tree

0:26:130:26:16

next year, and that will then be food for beavers in future years.

0:26:160:26:20

A beaver's teeth are unusual,

0:26:260:26:28

as they'd need to be to gnaw through this much wood.

0:26:280:26:31

Unlike our teeth, they never stop growing.

0:26:310:26:34

What keeps them in check is all that chewing.

0:26:340:26:38

The front of the tooth is made from hard enamel,

0:26:380:26:40

backed by a slightly softer substance called dentine,

0:26:400:26:44

which is more easily worn away.

0:26:440:26:46

It's an ingenious arrangement

0:26:460:26:48

that makes a beaver's teeth self-sharpening.

0:26:480:26:51

The front layer of enamel

0:26:510:26:52

is especially tough because

0:26:520:26:54

it's so rich in iron,

0:26:540:26:55

which is very practical for wood chewing

0:26:550:26:58

but does lead to one rather striking

0:26:580:26:59

visual feature of mature beavers -

0:26:590:27:03

orange teeth.

0:27:030:27:04

So having felled a tree, they're going down the whole length of it.

0:27:050:27:08

-Yeah, all the way down.

-Whittling away, nibbling every stem.

0:27:080:27:11

And then this is bark stripping,

0:27:110:27:13

so they are feeding on the bark particularly.

0:27:130:27:15

You can see all the way, and this is fresh here,

0:27:150:27:18

so this is in the last few nights.

0:27:180:27:20

That wood, that is food.

0:27:200:27:21

There's some goodness in there that's being extracted.

0:27:210:27:24

The smaller stuff, so they're not really eating the wood.

0:27:240:27:27

They are feeding on the bark, particularly on the smaller twigs,

0:27:270:27:30

but then the branches, like these, will probably be in the lodge.

0:27:300:27:33

-It's astonishing that's going on in Devon.

-Yeah.

0:27:330:27:36

It's brilliant.

0:27:360:27:37

Sights like this haven't been seen here for centuries,

0:27:370:27:41

so a major part of Mark's work is to try and assess

0:27:410:27:44

what it could mean for the ecology of the area.

0:27:440:27:47

Looking at a tree like this down, it's absolutely unambiguous

0:27:470:27:51

that beavers are making an impact on the river.

0:27:510:27:54

They're changing things here. Is that a problem?

0:27:540:27:56

No, I don't think so.

0:27:560:27:58

These are all riverside willow trees.

0:27:580:28:00

They grow very quickly.

0:28:000:28:02

To be honest, they grow in response to this sort of activity.

0:28:020:28:05

This is a really natural process.

0:28:050:28:07

There will be lots of species that benefit from this sort of woody material.

0:28:070:28:11

But I think the other real benefits are going to be

0:28:110:28:14

where beavers are building dams.

0:28:140:28:16

And so you start to see flood risk benefits,

0:28:160:28:19

so the beavers are storing water up in the headwaters

0:28:190:28:22

and that reduces the speed of flow coming downstream.

0:28:220:28:24

But those ponds are also really important for amphibians

0:28:240:28:27

and for fish and a whole range of other wetland species.

0:28:270:28:30

So that's where the real benefits are,

0:28:300:28:32

it's when they start damming.

0:28:320:28:33

So they're doing all the other wildlife a favour here?

0:28:330:28:36

They're creating habitats for a whole range of species.

0:28:360:28:38

We call them keystone species because they create habitats for other things.

0:28:380:28:42

To keep track of this pilot population of beaver,

0:28:450:28:48

Mark and his team try to tag and microchip all new arrivals.

0:28:480:28:52

This could be my best chance to see a Devon beaver in the flesh.

0:28:530:28:57

But first, we have to catch one.

0:28:580:29:00

See how the traps are just through here.

0:29:000:29:03

Oh, yeah, I can see something the other side of that scrubby bit of willow.

0:29:030:29:07

It's quite an out-of-the-way place, this.

0:29:090:29:11

Yeah.

0:29:110:29:13

Do we bait first or set the trap first?

0:29:140:29:15

We'll bait first. Otherwise there's the risk of injury when you

0:29:150:29:18

-put the bait in.

-Oh, yeah, of course.

-So, yeah, what we're doing

0:29:180:29:21

is putting apples inside. And the plate in the middle

0:29:210:29:23

is what the beavers have to stand on.

0:29:230:29:25

So what we then do is bring the doors down onto those

0:29:250:29:29

-metal bars there.

-That's it.

0:29:290:29:31

That should hold it in place.

0:29:310:29:33

-OK.

-OK, so now that's set.

0:29:330:29:36

So if the beaver touches the plate...

0:29:360:29:38

-..that's what happens.

-Yeah.

0:29:390:29:41

You got me there! Is this trap

0:29:410:29:43

specifically designed for beavers or can it catch other critters?

0:29:430:29:46

This is specifically designed for beavers, yeah.

0:29:460:29:48

So the size and everything means that the beaver's tail is clear of

0:29:480:29:51

the falling door, it's been carefully worked out?

0:29:510:29:54

-Yeah.

-And that's set.

0:29:540:29:55

-That's now set.

-Great.

0:29:550:29:57

OK, so that's them set.

0:29:570:29:59

-When do you check them?

-First thing.

0:29:590:30:01

-Early doors.

-Yeah, we don't want to leave them too late.

0:30:010:30:03

So, first thing in the morning.

0:30:030:30:05

So far, Devon's beavers have eluded me,

0:30:090:30:12

but footage taken by dedicated local enthusiasts suggests that

0:30:120:30:17

the River Otter is very much to their liking.

0:30:170:30:20

Beavers are most active and most relaxed at night

0:30:230:30:27

when they leave their lodge to feed.

0:30:270:30:29

And there's plenty of family time, too.

0:30:310:30:33

The following morning, Mark and I are back to check the trap.

0:30:400:30:43

Do you think we'll be able to see whether the trap's been triggered

0:30:470:30:49

-from here, Mark?

-Yeah, it should be possible to see

0:30:490:30:52

-whether the door's down. It does look like...

-It's down.

0:30:520:30:54

Shall we see if we can see an animal in there?

0:30:540:30:57

There's something in the bottom right-hand corner?

0:30:580:31:01

Yes. Yes, I can see it!

0:31:010:31:03

-Yep.

-That's incredible. There's a beaver in there.

0:31:030:31:06

-These rhododendrons at least give you something to grab on to.

-Yeah.

0:31:070:31:10

It looks like I'm finally on my way to meeting one of the first beavers

0:31:100:31:14

living wild in England for four centuries...

0:31:140:31:17

Whoa! That's me.

0:31:180:31:19

..if I don't come a cropper first.

0:31:190:31:21

More brittle than I thought.

0:31:210:31:23

-You can see his tail.

-It's quite a long tail, isn't it?

0:31:330:31:36

Yeah, it's quite a small animal, though.

0:31:360:31:38

-It's...

-I think it's probably...

0:31:380:31:39

-That's a small animal?

-That's a small animal, yeah.

0:31:390:31:42

Looked pretty big to me, but then I've never seen a beaver before.

0:31:420:31:44

This is, I'd say, it's probably one of the youngsters from last year.

0:31:440:31:48

Handling the beaver is the job of zoologist Roisin and her assistant, Ed.

0:31:480:31:52

-Hi. Hugh. How are you?

-Hi. Roisin.

0:31:540:31:56

-Hi.

-Ed.

-Hi, Ed.

0:31:560:31:58

All right. You look like you've got what it takes to deal with a beaver.

0:31:580:32:01

-Hopefully.

-OK, show us how it's done.

0:32:010:32:03

Through her work with a similar project in Scotland,

0:32:030:32:06

Roisin has been handling British beavers for nearly ten years.

0:32:060:32:10

The job today is to assess the animal's condition,

0:32:120:32:15

take DNA samples and tag it for easy identification in the future.

0:32:150:32:20

To keep the beaver calm while all this is happening,

0:32:220:32:24

it's wrapped snugly in a bag.

0:32:240:32:26

This is a young animal, Mark.

0:32:260:32:28

Yeah, so this is probably one of last year's kits, by the looks

0:32:280:32:32

of it, so still it's a reasonable size, but it's not an adult.

0:32:320:32:35

My introduction to this beaver starts with a rear-end view.

0:32:350:32:39

An older animal will often have a scar or a cut in the tail

0:32:390:32:42

from fights, and that can be a really useful way

0:32:420:32:44

of identifying individuals if you haven't got ear tags in.

0:32:440:32:47

This is a lovely, perfect tail on a youngster.

0:32:470:32:50

-Yeah, it's really good condition.

-We've got a nice exit.

0:32:500:32:53

-Anything I can do to help?

-You could lift the tail.

0:32:530:32:55

That would be great. So, we don't want to bend it too far back.

0:32:550:32:57

-Sure.

-So about there.

-How's that?

-Yeah.

0:32:570:32:59

It feels a bit surreal to be handling this beaver before

0:32:590:33:02

I've even had a proper look at it.

0:33:020:33:04

Right, see, if you look at the very end of the anal gland...

0:33:040:33:06

-Yeah.

-..you'll see like a white...

-Slightly paler.

0:33:060:33:09

Yeah, and it's quite...

0:33:090:33:11

It's quite thick. So this is a female.

0:33:110:33:14

So that little white paste at the end of the anal glands,

0:33:140:33:17

-that tells you...

-So not this, but, yeah, that.

0:33:170:33:19

A tiny dot of white right on its... Almost like a pyramid,

0:33:190:33:22

-like a pointy nipple, that tells you it's a female.

-Yeah.

0:33:220:33:25

That's pretty good news, isn't it?

0:33:250:33:27

From the point of view of a growing population,

0:33:270:33:29

having another female in the tribe is good.

0:33:290:33:32

Yeah, so we know there were five kits born last year,

0:33:320:33:35

and we've caught two of them, so that's two females so far.

0:33:350:33:38

That smell is really lingering. It's really intense and, actually,

0:33:400:33:43

that smell is part of the reason for the beaver's downfall, isn't it,

0:33:430:33:46

because that was used for the scent industry?

0:33:460:33:49

Yeah, and it was believed to have medicinal properties as well, so you

0:33:490:33:52

-can smell it. It's quite pungent, it's very unique to beavers.

-Musky, really intense.

0:33:520:33:56

-Yeah.

-And it is something you kind of almost recognise

0:33:560:33:59

from the world of perfume, like sort of ambery stuff.

0:33:590:34:03

So that was probably the most intense part of this process.

0:34:030:34:06

Bit more gory part, yeah, yeah.

0:34:060:34:08

So now we know what sex it is, so we'll record that.

0:34:080:34:12

We want to microchip it and we want to put ear tags in as well.

0:34:120:34:16

-How's she doing there, Ed?

-She's lovely and calm, isn't she?

0:34:160:34:19

Yeah, she seems to be.

0:34:190:34:21

She's probably glad that the anal examination is over.

0:34:210:34:23

So really, I mean, this animal looks in good body condition.

0:34:250:34:28

As you can feel here, I mean, there's a good layer of fat on it.

0:34:280:34:32

-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah, and it's energetic.

0:34:320:34:35

-There's a lot of body there.

-Yeah.

0:34:350:34:36

-So beavers are largely stomach.

-Feels really well.

0:34:360:34:39

There's a lot of guts in there,

0:34:390:34:40

but there's a good layer of fat on the back.

0:34:400:34:42

Just feels super strong, a real powerhouse.

0:34:420:34:44

-And lift?

-And lift.

0:34:470:34:48

-What have you got?

-So that's ten kilos.

0:34:500:34:53

Ten kilos, bang on.

0:34:530:34:54

-Good size.

-Well done, girl.

0:34:540:34:57

We'll put her down.

0:34:570:34:58

And that's, what, about half full size?

0:34:580:35:00

We got her mum earlier on in the season last year and

0:35:000:35:04

-she was a good 25 kilos.

-Really?

-She's a big animal, so this is...

0:35:040:35:08

She's got a long way to go to be as big as Mum.

0:35:080:35:11

-It's a good, healthy size.

-Now she's getting very keen to get back.

0:35:110:35:14

We'll take her down, just near to the water,

0:35:140:35:16

and then we'll let her go.

0:35:160:35:18

-How does this look as a release spot, Roisin?

-Yeah, this is great.

0:35:180:35:20

She'll probably naturally go straight into the water.

0:35:200:35:23

If you just hold the bag corner...

0:35:230:35:24

-That's definitely the...

-Hopefully not the head.

0:35:240:35:27

-There's the head.

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:35:270:35:29

And she should sort herself out.

0:35:290:35:31

Come on, then.

0:35:310:35:33

Oh, here she goes. There she goes!

0:35:330:35:36

Wow. You get full sight of her now.

0:35:360:35:38

Wow! She didn't hang around.

0:35:380:35:41

How amazing.

0:35:410:35:42

My guess is that you won't catch her again.

0:35:420:35:45

-Maybe not, no.

-After everything she's been through.

0:35:450:35:47

-She'll have her night off.

-Albeit for very good reasons.

0:35:470:35:49

At last, I've met a Devon beaver,

0:35:490:35:52

and maybe one day I'll get to see her cruising down the river

0:35:520:35:56

with some kits of her own.

0:35:560:35:58

At Abbotsbury Swannery the breeding season is drawing to a close.

0:36:030:36:07

The young swans' perilous journey from their nest site

0:36:080:36:11

to the water's edge is behind them now.

0:36:110:36:14

Only half the cygnets have survived,

0:36:140:36:17

but those that did are well looked after by their parents

0:36:170:36:20

and have a good chance of making it through the winter.

0:36:200:36:24

Now it's time for Swanherd Dave to gear up for

0:36:260:36:29

the biggest day in the swannery calendar.

0:36:290:36:31

We don't want to hesitate.

0:36:310:36:33

We're going to go hand-in-hand.

0:36:330:36:34

When I say we, I mean you.

0:36:340:36:36

He's taking on a task that would be impossible without serious reinforcements.

0:36:380:36:42

But there are always plenty of volunteers willing to help.

0:36:450:36:48

Every two years, we have a mass round-up of the swans

0:36:480:36:52

that are not breeding. We always do it late July.

0:36:520:36:56

The idea is to catch them and check them

0:36:560:36:59

and make absolutely sure that they are well.

0:36:590:37:02

We have a team of vets present,

0:37:020:37:05

and every swan is carefully checked by vets.

0:37:050:37:07

The call for assistance with the biannual round-up

0:37:090:37:11

has produced a large crowd of eager amateur swanherds,

0:37:110:37:15

many of whom are regulars,

0:37:150:37:16

but Dave can't assume that they all know quite how this works.

0:37:160:37:20

So we're going to line up and we're going to be fairly quiet.

0:37:200:37:23

We're going to make a long line...

0:37:230:37:25

The round-up will provide important data for Dave.

0:37:250:37:28

We can take blood samples, we can weigh them, we can measure them,

0:37:280:37:32

we can ring them, and being able to identify each and every swan

0:37:320:37:36

enables us to study their nesting performance etc.

0:37:360:37:41

After a final pep talk...

0:37:410:37:43

It's not easy to wade in water with a little bit of silt underneath...

0:37:430:37:48

..it's time to get cracking.

0:37:480:37:49

..but we've got to go for it.

0:37:490:37:51

The wading and paddling human chain steadily herds the swans into a pen.

0:37:570:38:02

Timing this round-up for the swans' annual moult is critical.

0:38:070:38:11

There's a period of about six weeks while new feathers are growing

0:38:110:38:15

when the swans are effectively flightless.

0:38:150:38:18

And since an aerial escape is not an option,

0:38:190:38:22

the swans become surprisingly compliant to the amateur herders.

0:38:220:38:26

That's it, hold it there.

0:38:310:38:34

It might have looked pretty easy so far, but that was only the warm-up.

0:38:340:38:38

Now for phase two,

0:38:380:38:40

where the volunteers get hands-on with one of the world's largest waterfowl.

0:38:400:38:45

Deputy Swanherd Steve explains the rudiments of the procedure.

0:38:450:38:49

Well, the plan of action now is I'm going to start catching the swans.

0:38:490:38:52

They'll be given to carriers.

0:38:520:38:54

They'll go through the initial checkers,

0:38:540:38:56

which I'm going to be one of,

0:38:560:38:58

then there's some that's going to go through the stations with the vets,

0:38:580:39:02

and then they'll go through and be ringed and weighed

0:39:020:39:05

and then released, basically.

0:39:050:39:08

Sounds simple enough,

0:39:090:39:11

except for the small matter of carrying a bird that can weigh up

0:39:110:39:14

to 12 kilos and has a wingspan of over two metres.

0:39:140:39:17

If you hug a swan with the tummy pointing out,

0:39:170:39:21

the swan is helpless, the wings can't move,

0:39:210:39:24

and the feet stick out the front,

0:39:240:39:26

which is very convenient for any ringing.

0:39:260:39:28

But it's not just the feet that are worrying them,

0:39:280:39:31

and Dave can read their minds.

0:39:310:39:32

The head will be up there and, out of all those swans,

0:39:320:39:36

there's probably just one that might peck.

0:39:360:39:38

Under stormy summer skies,

0:39:410:39:43

the amateur swan wranglers queue up to take part

0:39:430:39:46

in what must be one of the most curious wildlife experiences

0:39:460:39:49

that Britain has to offer.

0:39:490:39:51

Y6203.

0:39:530:39:57

Yeah, so just came down for this.

0:39:570:39:59

But I live in Scotland now, so it's a long way to come.

0:39:590:40:02

It's just a great opportunity.

0:40:060:40:07

It's not something you get to do that much, obviously,

0:40:070:40:10

if you want to hold a swan. And it's a great community atmosphere.

0:40:100:40:12

Everybody comes down, you see the same faces every couple of years,

0:40:120:40:15

and it's a great place to bring friends as well.

0:40:150:40:17

I've just brought some friends for the first time. So, yeah.

0:40:170:40:20

Everyone seems to have taken to the task well but, amongst them all,

0:40:200:40:25

there's someone who I could only assume is a natural-born swan whisperer.

0:40:250:40:29

I went to a Women's Institute meeting in Weymouth,

0:40:290:40:34

where we lived at the time.

0:40:340:40:35

Sh-sh-sh-sh.

0:40:350:40:37

And Dave Wheeler, the Swanherd, came to give a talk,

0:40:370:40:42

and he mentioned volunteering, and I asked him about it then,

0:40:420:40:45

and he said, "Get in touch," so we did.

0:40:450:40:48

And they've closed the list now.

0:40:480:40:50

There's so many people want to volunteer that they've closed it.

0:40:500:40:54

So we were one of the last ones to get in, and I'm really pleased.

0:40:540:40:58

We love it.

0:40:580:40:59

Oh, well, I'll wait for some...

0:40:590:41:01

Ssh. OK, OK.

0:41:010:41:03

Ssh.

0:41:030:41:04

8.2.

0:41:040:41:05

About 75% of the way through.

0:41:050:41:08

Yeah, it's going pretty well.

0:41:080:41:10

No real problems.

0:41:100:41:11

A lot of scratches.

0:41:110:41:13

Yeah, arms are a bit knackered now.

0:41:130:41:15

But it's not too bad.

0:41:150:41:17

You're sort of used to it.

0:41:170:41:18

But thanks to all these lovely people helping out today,

0:41:180:41:21

they've made it a lot, lot easier.

0:41:210:41:23

In colonies of this size, any disease could be devastating,

0:41:230:41:27

so this regular checkup is vital.

0:41:270:41:30

The whole team work very hard to get this going and, if we do it right,

0:41:300:41:34

then it works smoothly and, yes, I'm really pleased.

0:41:340:41:38

When each swan has come through all of its checks,

0:41:380:41:41

it's handed to a volunteer with perhaps the best job of all.

0:41:410:41:45

I love to release them.

0:41:470:41:49

Yeah, it's great to see them go back out.

0:41:490:41:51

I do this every time.

0:41:510:41:53

Thank you.

0:41:530:41:55

Finally, the last swan reaches the weigh-in.

0:42:080:42:12

It's been a good day. It's been a good round-up.

0:42:120:42:14

This is our 19th round-up and it has been very successful.

0:42:140:42:17

Today, we processed 727, which is a good result.

0:42:170:42:22

The system works.

0:42:220:42:23

Well done.

0:42:230:42:25

-Thanks, Bethan. That's the last bird.

-Oh, thank you.

0:42:250:42:28

That's the last one.

0:42:310:42:32

It's been a far from average day at Abbotsbury,

0:42:400:42:44

for people and swans alike, but as evening draws in

0:42:440:42:48

everyone can start to get back to the regular routine.

0:42:480:42:51

I think, by tomorrow morning, they'll be here for breakfast

0:42:510:42:54

at 8:30 and no-one would ever believe that

0:42:540:42:56

we've rounded them all up and been handling every single one of them.

0:42:560:43:00

It's late summer on the River Otter.

0:43:110:43:13

And I'm ever hopeful for a sighting of a beaver.

0:43:170:43:20

But right now, something else has my attention.

0:43:240:43:27

This is absolutely fascinating.

0:43:270:43:28

There's half a dozen trout in there in this very shallow stretch

0:43:280:43:32

of the river, and I think we're seeing mating behaviour here.

0:43:320:43:36

One of the fish has rolled on its side,

0:43:360:43:38

and some of the fish are then flapping their tails

0:43:380:43:42

really quite vigorously,

0:43:420:43:44

as if they're just stirring up the bottom of the river.

0:43:440:43:48

They've dropped back here now. They're just here,

0:43:480:43:51

in the shadow, under the shadow of that tree.

0:43:510:43:54

One thing I've learned watching wildlife

0:43:540:43:57

is that what you think you see isn't always what's actually there.

0:43:570:44:00

Aha!

0:44:000:44:01

You can scratch everything I've just said,

0:44:010:44:03

because these are not trout,

0:44:030:44:05

they're mullets.

0:44:050:44:07

These are mullets.

0:44:070:44:09

I've been hallucinating trout, but now I can see

0:44:090:44:12

broad head, grey back,

0:44:120:44:14

silver sides, they're grey mullet...

0:44:140:44:16

..which I wasn't expecting to see,

0:44:170:44:19

because this is obviously fresh water, and mullet are sea fish.

0:44:190:44:23

Grey mullet spend most of their lives at sea and in estuaries,

0:44:240:44:27

but they are one of a few species happy to come upstream

0:44:270:44:31

on the high tide to feed in fresh water.

0:44:310:44:34

All that stuff I was saying about trout breeding behaviour,

0:44:340:44:37

total nonsense.

0:44:370:44:38

It's actually mullet feeding behaviour,

0:44:380:44:40

and that little sideways shimmy...

0:44:400:44:42

..is them just trying to...

0:44:440:44:45

..nuzzle that wide mouth into this riverbed

0:44:460:44:50

and find little crustaceans and things.

0:44:500:44:52

Beautiful fish.

0:44:540:44:55

And I wasn't expecting to see that today.

0:44:550:44:58

It's all happening here.

0:44:590:45:00

West Country rivers and streams come in many forms,

0:45:020:45:06

but the most distinctive must be the chalk streams.

0:45:060:45:08

These are typically wide and shallow, with beautiful,

0:45:100:45:12

clear water that rises from springs in the chalk hills.

0:45:120:45:17

There are only about 200 chalk streams in the whole world,

0:45:170:45:21

and England has more than three quarters of them.

0:45:210:45:23

One of the finest, in my not unbiased opinion,

0:45:240:45:27

is the River Frome in Dorset.

0:45:270:45:29

I've spent quite a bit of time in my life hanging around by rivers,

0:45:290:45:32

or even in them, and one thing I've found is that,

0:45:320:45:35

when you look really closely, the little stuff,

0:45:350:45:38

the tiny creatures, are every bit as fascinating as the fish,

0:45:380:45:41

the birds and mammals.

0:45:410:45:43

So it is absolutely no surprise to me that for some people

0:45:430:45:47

the invertebrate life of rivers can become a complete obsession.

0:45:470:45:51

Ewan Jones has managed to turn that obsession into a living.

0:45:530:45:57

As a river ecologist, based on the Frome,

0:45:570:45:59

he's in and out of the water almost every day.

0:45:590:46:02

I grew up next to a river.

0:46:020:46:04

I used to spend all my time paddling,

0:46:040:46:06

chasing fish, getting into trouble,

0:46:060:46:09

getting my shorts and shoes soaking wet.

0:46:090:46:12

I just found it really interesting.

0:46:120:46:15

I'm just a little boy at heart and I just enjoy mucking around in rivers

0:46:150:46:19

and finding the bugs to play with.

0:46:190:46:21

My wife calls me a professional pond dipper.

0:46:210:46:24

It's brilliant.

0:46:240:46:26

For all the boyish glee, Ewan's river dipping has a serious purpose.

0:46:300:46:34

From his riverside laboratory, he studies how life in the river

0:46:340:46:38

responds to changes in the environment.

0:46:380:46:41

I work with all kinds of rivers all across the country,

0:46:420:46:46

but I particularly like chalk rivers.

0:46:460:46:48

Because chalk rivers are fed by ground water,

0:46:480:46:51

they're much more stable than other rivers which are fed by rainwater.

0:46:510:46:55

They're very productive as well,

0:46:550:46:57

because the water's clear and also has nutrients in it as well.

0:46:570:47:01

There's lots of life going in, things growing in there,

0:47:010:47:03

the plants are really important and so are the algae,

0:47:030:47:06

and they are so diverse and unique.

0:47:060:47:10

At the heart of the precious chalk stream habitat

0:47:110:47:14

is all the small stuff that lives in the riverbed.

0:47:140:47:17

I'm doing what is known as a kick sample.

0:47:170:47:19

This is just where you kick the bed of the river just enough to

0:47:190:47:22

disturb it so that the animals drift down into the net.

0:47:220:47:26

I just want all the different types of invertebrate, the mayflies,

0:47:260:47:31

that emerge in the springtime, also the snails, the worms,

0:47:310:47:35

the other insects, everything,

0:47:350:47:37

just a sample of them so I can find out what's living in this river.

0:47:370:47:40

Freshwater invertebrates are vital food

0:47:460:47:49

for the river's fish and birdlife, but they also play a key role

0:47:490:47:53

in maintaining the quality of the water.

0:47:530:47:56

These caddisfly larvae help to break down organic matter

0:47:560:48:00

in the stream, like a living filter mechanism.

0:48:000:48:03

Well, this is just some of the animals

0:48:090:48:11

that we've caught in the river.

0:48:110:48:13

There's lots of shrimps jumping around.

0:48:130:48:16

I can see saucer bugs,

0:48:160:48:18

and there's a leech

0:48:180:48:21

and some caddisflies.

0:48:210:48:23

Ewan always keeps an eye out for one very special character

0:48:230:48:27

among the river's tinier residents.

0:48:270:48:29

Just looking through now, seeing if I can find a mayfly.

0:48:290:48:32

There we are.

0:48:330:48:35

That's the...

0:48:370:48:38

..a nymph of the mayfly.

0:48:400:48:43

He's an ugly-looking brute compared to the adult,

0:48:430:48:47

but an important stage in their life.

0:48:470:48:50

The mayfly nymph spends up to two years on the riverbed,

0:48:500:48:53

feeding on algae and plant life, before finally emerging

0:48:530:48:57

out of the water to spread its wings as an adult mayfly.

0:48:570:49:02

For Ewan, the mayfly provides important scientific data.

0:49:040:49:08

By acting as a tiny living time capsule,

0:49:080:49:11

the nymphs reveal information on the health of the river.

0:49:110:49:14

Mayflies are important because, along with all the other organisms,

0:49:140:49:19

they can tell us what's going on.

0:49:190:49:20

They kind of hold a bit of a memory.

0:49:200:49:23

Water moves through rivers so, if there's a problem,

0:49:230:49:26

so something ends up in the river that shouldn't be there,

0:49:260:49:30

as it moves downstream, if you were trying to detect it with chemistry,

0:49:300:49:33

you'd have to be there when that chunk of water passed by.

0:49:330:49:37

But by just looking at the invertebrates,

0:49:370:49:40

you can tell an awful lot of what's wrong with the site.

0:49:400:49:43

Ewan's lab work on the nymphs yields vital data for managing chalk streams.

0:49:440:49:49

But you have to get back to the river to witness

0:49:500:49:52

the culmination of the mayfly's amazing life cycle.

0:49:520:49:56

On a sunny day in late May,

0:49:570:49:59

there's a sense of anticipation here on the Frome.

0:49:590:50:02

The birds are ready and waiting...

0:50:020:50:04

..as the adult mayfly emerge and take to the wing...

0:50:060:50:09

..in their hundreds...

0:50:120:50:14

..and thousands.

0:50:160:50:18

For every one of them, today is their day in the sun.

0:50:180:50:23

The reason that the mayflies all come at once is partly because

0:50:230:50:27

they've not got long to live and they have to breed quickly,

0:50:270:50:31

and partly it's to swamp the predators.

0:50:310:50:34

So many things are coming to eat them,

0:50:340:50:36

they can't possibly eat all of them, so a few get through.

0:50:360:50:39

The threat comes from above...

0:50:410:50:43

..and below...

0:50:460:50:47

..but the mayfly just keep on coming.

0:50:490:50:52

On the water, there'll be insects all over it, and every time

0:50:530:50:56

you look in the air, there'll be something trying to eat them.

0:50:560:51:00

But whatever the risks that lie in wait, they have to seize the day.

0:51:000:51:05

This will be their only one as an adult.

0:51:050:51:08

And once on the wing, they have only hours to find a mate.

0:51:210:51:26

The males move to places where they can do a little dance

0:51:280:51:31

to try and attract the female in to reproduce,

0:51:310:51:35

because that's what it's all about for them.

0:51:350:51:37

For the mayfly of the Frome, love is in the air, literally,

0:51:440:51:49

as they mate in flight.

0:51:490:51:51

Every square metre must have a couple of hundred individuals

0:52:030:52:06

which all come popping out, and they just...

0:52:060:52:10

..constant supply of these beautiful insects coming out of the water.

0:52:100:52:16

But reproduction on the wing is a fleeting affair.

0:52:190:52:23

The males die soon after mating,

0:52:230:52:25

and the females after they've laid their eggs.

0:52:250:52:28

Every year, I make an effort to come and watch the mayflies emerging,

0:52:300:52:33

but just to get that opportunity to get down and sit somewhere quiet

0:52:330:52:37

by the river and watch it all going on.

0:52:370:52:39

It's amazing. Just so much life all happening at the same time.

0:52:390:52:44

The mayfly hatch is one of our great natural spectacles,

0:52:450:52:49

the definition of a day well spent.

0:52:490:52:51

Leaving Dorset and heading into Devon,

0:52:540:52:56

I'm returning to the River Otter,

0:52:560:52:58

the domain of the new bosses of the river, the beavers.

0:52:580:53:02

Despite several visits,

0:53:030:53:05

I haven't seen a beaver on the river since we tagged a young female

0:53:050:53:09

a few months back.

0:53:090:53:11

But our lucky cameraman did catch up with them early one summer morning,

0:53:110:53:15

looking as relaxed as ever.

0:53:150:53:17

I'm sure my moment will come but, for now,

0:53:240:53:27

I'm back with Mark for an update on our tagged young female.

0:53:270:53:30

And it seems he is determined to tease me

0:53:310:53:34

with fresh telltale signs of beaver activity.

0:53:340:53:38

-What's happening here, Mark?

-Well, we're looking at a scent mound here,

0:53:380:53:41

-this area here.

-That muddy patch?

0:53:410:53:44

-Yeah.

-With a few kind of grassy stalks matted into it?

0:53:440:53:47

Not quite as exciting as seeing a live beaver,

0:53:490:53:52

but I guess the whole point of a scent mound

0:53:520:53:54

is to be sniffed at, not necessarily seen.

0:53:540:53:57

That's beaver-made. I mean, I would never have spotted that.

0:53:580:54:01

That's something that... The beavers actually pushed that mud there.

0:54:010:54:05

It's been pushed up and it will be really strong-smelling.

0:54:050:54:08

Well, you've got an eye for detail that I don't have,

0:54:080:54:11

and obviously a bundle of knowledge.

0:54:110:54:13

This site, we think, is the boundary between two territories,

0:54:130:54:17

so we think what's going on is that this is marking behaviour

0:54:170:54:21

by the animals that live in the main river, and they're basically

0:54:210:54:25

saying to a pair of beavers that live up here that this is...

0:54:250:54:28

.."You come no further, this is the edge of our territory."

0:54:280:54:31

Oh, OK, just right here, under the bridge.

0:54:310:54:33

-Pretty much.

-So they've chosen an intersection to say, "That's it."

0:54:330:54:36

-Yeah.

-And the pair who've got the territory over here,

0:54:360:54:39

are they getting quite busy in this area? Are they making changes?

0:54:390:54:42

They're having quite a big impact. Let's have a look.

0:54:420:54:44

Ah!

0:54:490:54:51

So there's a little beaver dam.

0:54:510:54:52

Yeah. So it's only really sprung up in the last few weeks, really.

0:54:520:54:56

-You can see it's already impounding all this water here.

-Yeah.

0:54:560:54:59

And there is a regular trackway going across there into

0:54:590:55:01

that pond as well, so they're just creating this deeper water,

0:55:010:55:05

which means they can move up through here in relative safety.

0:55:050:55:09

So it's for the ease of movement that they like these

0:55:090:55:12

-long pools of slow water.

-And it's safety as well,

0:55:120:55:14

so they're really...they're looking for deeper water where they can

0:55:140:55:17

-escape if they feel threatened.

-They can hide under the water.

0:55:170:55:20

Yeah, get under the water and just disappear.

0:55:200:55:22

-Quite a nice piece of work, that, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

0:55:220:55:25

There's a lot of sediment in there as well so, as well as the sticks,

0:55:250:55:28

there's a lot of silt and mud that's being used to sort of bind all

0:55:280:55:31

-that together.

-And they pushed the mud and silt in there themselves?

0:55:310:55:35

They don't just put the sticks down and wait for the water to

0:55:350:55:37

-sort of jam it up with mud?

-No, they really do.

0:55:370:55:40

They dredge it up from the bottom and place it there.

0:55:400:55:42

It's just great that a creature that was engineering our rivers and

0:55:430:55:47

shaping our landscape centuries ago is back at work here in Devon.

0:55:470:55:51

By creating slow pools,

0:55:520:55:54

helping to control water levels and reducing the risk of floods,

0:55:540:55:58

the beavers are benefiting all kinds of aquatic wildlife,

0:55:580:56:02

from otters and water voles to fish and birds.

0:56:020:56:05

So do you know where you are?

0:56:070:56:09

Bend on the river.

0:56:100:56:11

-Is this where we trapped the beaver earlier in the year?

-Yeah.

0:56:130:56:17

And we then saw her again down in the estuary, a few weeks later.

0:56:170:56:21

Oh, really? So almost at the sea.

0:56:210:56:24

So, yeah, about three miles down from here.

0:56:240:56:26

OK. And what's she been doing over the summer? Do we know?

0:56:260:56:29

Well, we've got this amazing video that somebody sent in

0:56:290:56:33

of her 46km upstream...

0:56:330:56:36

-No!

-..at the top of the river.

0:56:360:56:39

So she'd obviously gone all the way up the main channel,

0:56:390:56:42

right up on the Somerset border...

0:56:420:56:44

So that's definitely her?

0:56:440:56:46

Definitely her. We gave her those bright orange ear tags.

0:56:460:56:49

The same one that...

0:56:490:56:51

The same one that I held and we released just here?

0:56:510:56:53

-Yeah.

-She's been 46km upriver.

0:56:530:56:56

Does that feel like it would have been a sort of solo adventure for her?

0:56:580:57:02

Was she seen with any other beavers?

0:57:020:57:04

She was on her own, and...

0:57:040:57:06

Seeing her all the way up there definitely indicates that

0:57:060:57:09

they're really exploring all of the river.

0:57:090:57:11

Populations are really doing well.

0:57:140:57:16

We think we've probably got about six territories on the river,

0:57:160:57:20

so maybe about 27 animals in total.

0:57:200:57:23

So they are really thriving, they are really doing very well.

0:57:230:57:26

That feels like a proper population of wild beavers here in Devon,

0:57:260:57:31

and like they're here to stay.

0:57:310:57:33

They're certainly getting...

0:57:330:57:34

They're showing that this river is really suitable for them.

0:57:340:57:37

-They are loving it, basically?

-They are, they're loving it.

0:57:370:57:39

-They really are loving it.

-Having a great time.

0:57:390:57:41

-So they should, it's a lovely river.

-It's perfect for them, it really is.

0:57:410:57:44

I've had a tantalising time trying to track these bashful beavers,

0:57:440:57:49

but the biggest thrill of all is just knowing that they are here.

0:57:490:57:52

And since I'm here too from time to time,

0:57:530:57:56

I'm sure that one of these days I'm bound to bump into one.

0:57:560:57:59

If you'd like to explore Britain's diverse landscapes in more detail

0:58:040:58:08

and find out how to create your own wildlife habitat,

0:58:080:58:12

the Open University has produced a free booklet with bookmarks.

0:58:120:58:16

Order your copy by calling...

0:58:170:58:18

Or go to the website and follow the links to the Open University.

0:58:240:58:30

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