Episode 6 Hugh's Wild West


Episode 6

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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,

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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. This is great, this is measuring an eel.

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Oh, oh, oh!

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Ants, off, off!

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There's one inside.

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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.

-It's so cool.

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There's one in my hair now, Poppy.

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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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DISTANT SQUEAL

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Yes.

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The sheer joy of the encounter.

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-She's so golden.

-She's fast asleep.

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It's OK. Shh.

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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. There she goes.

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Whoa-ho!

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I can't believe that I have been living

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in the West Country for so many years

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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

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Wild West.

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There can't be many places in Britain

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as timeless as this ancient woodland.

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The Forest of Dean

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is one of the great wooded landscapes of Britain

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and it is certainly one of the most atmospheric wild places I know.

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In the Dark Ages,

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this forest was protected as the hunting ground of England's Kings.

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And in modern Britain it's prized as an unspoiled wildlife refuge,

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providing shelter, food,

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cover, and camouflage for a multitude of amazing creatures.

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So I'm heading in, beneath the canopy,

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to find out much more about the secretive wildlife

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living deep in this forest.

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The Forest of Dean is set between two great tidal rivers,...

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..the Severn and the Wye,

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which straddle the border between England and Wales.

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Of all the creatures making a home in this forest,

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there is one that I'm absolutely determined to see.

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But it can be very elusive.

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So I've teamed up with a photographer

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who's well practised in tracking these imposing animals...

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..and capturing them on camera.

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This is the wild boar.

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And Robin's account of coming face-to-face with one

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for the first time has me bristling with anticipation.

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I was just frozen.

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Seeing this huge animal just walking up to me in the forest,

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stop, and stare at me.

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We exchanged a glance, sort of thing, and it was like,

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OK, I'm going to stay still and then she trotted off.

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For centuries, wild boar like this ran free in the Forest and, now,

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300 years after being hunted to extinction,

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this native breed is back.

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This looks like quite fresh rooting, here.

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We do have some wild boar footprints in here, too.

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-It's a footprint?

-Yeah.

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Robin is a local, born and bred here in the Dean,

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and he's thrilled the boar have returned.

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I remember the first time I saw them, I was just blown away.

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Yeah, it just love these beasts walking around the forest.

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The wild boar is the original pig,

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the forefather of our domestic porker.

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They are still bred in captivity for their meat.

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The boar's return to the wild began 20 years ago,

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when a few farmed animals escaped into the forest.

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Soon, they were joined by dozens more that were illegally released.

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Today, the Dean is thought to have around 1,200 wild boar,

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the largest population in the UK.

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But that doesn't make them easy to see.

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This is a shy creature

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whose every instinct is to keep well away from humans.

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The Forest of Dean is a very big place, Robin,

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why have we started here today?

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It's just somewhere that I've found boar in the past

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and I like to return because I know they have their breeds here.

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Robin likes to track alone, so today we are a bit of a crowd.

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There is actually five of us here today, these guys,

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as well as us two, and I'm already talking in a whisper,

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I'm sort of assuming that's the way to go.

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Yeah, we just need to respect that there are

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some big wild animals out in the forest and if we do see some,

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we need to just hold back a little bit.

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And big and wild - dangerous?

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There is no recorded incidents, as far as I'm aware,

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that anyone has been hospitalised or anything,

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but, you know, it is a wild animal,

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with any wild animal, you respect them.

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How easy is it going to be today?

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It's not easy to find them at all.

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I spend hours and hours, as often as I can, trying to find them.

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So, the honest truth is,

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we'll be quite lucky to even see a wild boar today.

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Oh, yeah. Definitely.

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I got the message, no aftershave, no deodorant,

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so I'm going home smelly tonight.

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-Yeah.

-I even backed off my rose scented moisturiser.

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-Did you?

-After my shave today, yes.

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So, if I get a sore face, it's all your fault.

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-Gutting.

-THEY CHUCKLE

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That could be nervous laughter, on my part, at least.

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After all, we are tracking a wild animal that can outweigh two men.

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Make sure you are behind us.

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For this first bit, make sure...

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And a boar that feels cornered could charge at intruders.

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Hopefully we will see a sow today.

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With litters of newborn piglets,

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we can expect the sows to be on high alert.

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Are they likely to be active, or resting?

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They're likely to be sleeping and just feeding.

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The piglets might be up.

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If I could just mention to everybody...

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If you smell like a farmyard sort of smell, let me know.

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-Because that means they're very close.

-OK.

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-I'm just going to point you towards this tree.

-Oh, that's boar.

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Yeah.

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So that's tusk marks.

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-Really? That's quite full-on, isn't?

-Yeah.

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-They've got a little bit of sap running on that now.

-Yeah.

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Really recent.

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I would say.

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-Still just crumbly.

-That's a thin trickle, looks very wet.

-Yeah.

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-Does that suggest to you super recent?

-Definitely.

-Last 24 hours?

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I would say so.

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-So, they can't be far away.

-Definitely not.

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WHISPERING: I get the sense that we're right in the heart of boar territory now.

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There is so much rooted-over ground here.

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It looks very freshly dug over.

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-That's a footprint, is it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

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Listen.

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-Piglets.

-Really?

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-Did you hear them?

-I heard something.

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Yeah, they're in there.

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DISTANT SQUEAL

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-Yes, yes.

-Piglets.

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I can hear it.

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I very much like to respect them.

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I wouldn't just go walking through that.

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This is the sort of thing I would do.

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I stay on the outskirts of places like this

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and hope they'll come out, maybe get my shot.

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-Do you mind if I just do my thing?

-No.

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Robin is just going to do his thing and go a little bit closer

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and just confirm that that is piglet noise,

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just in this thick conifer here.

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Definitely seems really tuned into the forest.

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He's hearing and seeing things that I am missing, but...

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..he's absolutely on it.

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We're right by the main road here.

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There we go. There they are, there they are.

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Wow! Fantastic.

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About ten piglets, they were just 15 yards away.

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They took us by surprise!

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We practically walked into them.

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Well, they just sort of trotted off into the conifers here.

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I'm not sure we got any of it on film.

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I don't really mind, cos I saw them really well.

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-Lost it.

-Sorry about that!

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Robin's instinct for where this litter was going to be today

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was absolutely bang on.

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That tantalising glimpse has only whetted my appetite.

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I'd love to get a clear sight of this sow and her piglets.

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So we stalk on, as stealthily as we can.

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But someone else is being stealthier still.

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Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

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-Hello.

-Nice to meet you.

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We've just had a close encounter with another enthusiast.

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We practically stood on him because he's very well camouflaged.

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It's actually really great to find somebody else here

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doing exactly what we are doing,

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just out of sheer passion and excitement about the wild boar here.

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I think he was up a little bit earlier than us.

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He has been on a long stakeout

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and it looks like he has got a great shot of the sow who was,

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just a few minutes before we came in, she was just here.

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Our fellow stalker's strategy is to stay put,

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letting the boar come to him.

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But with daylight running out,

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Robin and I decide to get back on the trail.

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I am hoping that with Robin's expertise

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and perhaps a bit of beginner's luck from me,

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we'll meet again with this fabulous family group of wild boar.

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For woodland animals, the dense canopy provides valued cover,

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shielding them from view, not only from the ground, but also from the sky.

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Most birds of prey, like this buzzard, hunt in the open.

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But in the arms race of survival,

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being able to hunt among the trees gives one exceptional hawk an edge.

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It is known as the phantom of the forest.

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Swooping on prey as if from nowhere.

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They would fly through the trees, chasing things through trees.

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They have no trouble flying through here,

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twisting and turning just to get through every gap that is there.

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This is the goshawk, the top predator in British woodland.

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Thanks to its broad wings and long tail,

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it can weave through the trees at speed.

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Powerful talons equip it perfectly to seize its prey in mid flight.

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The aerobatic agility of this specialised hunter

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first captivated Gerry Lewis 40 years ago,

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when goshawks were almost unknown here in the forest.

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I started bird ringing back in 1975

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and about three or four years afterwards,

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a friend of mine found the first, or what we thought was the first,

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goshawk to breed in the Forest of Dean

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and we kept following them ever since then.

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And, gradually, they built in numbers.

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The Forest of Dean, Wye Valley, is about as good as it gets

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for a goshawk in Britain.

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There are thought to be around 50 breeding pairs here.

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But this revival brings a threat.

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Across the UK, goshawks are scarce

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and their eggs are still targeted to be sold illegally to collectors.

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Gerry's work keeps tabs on numbers

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and will pick up any worrying trends.

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You know, you can study things for five years

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and you think you know everything, but you carry on for a lot longer

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and you'll learn a lot more things about it.

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I tried to get around about 40 nests,

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monitor about 40 nests a year.

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His goal this year is to ring every newborn chick,

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giving each a unique number

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that will help monitor their progress throughout their lives.

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Gerry's friend and helper is Peter,

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whose day job, conveniently, is a tree surgeon.

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Today, they have tracked a ringed female

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to the place where Gerry thinks she's built a nest.

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They are hoping to check whether she has laid a precious clutch of eggs.

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She's just called over there.

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HE IMITATES CALL

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She'll call again in a minute, I expect.

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Hi, over here, Pete. Pete, over here.

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See you've got a loader down on it.

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Once the nest site is confirmed,

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it is over to Peter to do what he does best.

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There she goes.

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-Just gone, hasn't she?

-Yeah.

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Now this dynamic duo need to move pretty fast.

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Until the eggs are hatched,

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the parents haven't fully invested in their young

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and they could abandon the nest.

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But with Peter and Gerry, the goshawks are in expert hands.

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Four, we have.

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Four?

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-Four.

-That's good.

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Four eggs is quite a good clutch size these days.

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When we first started, you were always getting fours and fives

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but the normal clutch size now is about three.

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So four is quite a good clutch.

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Peter's job is to make some quick measurements of each egg.

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Then, from 12 metres up, the results are relayed to Gerry,

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using a time-honoured technique.

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When they first establish, they will have big clutch sizes...

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Five, five, four.

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Five, five, four.

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Four, two, seven.

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Four, two, seven.

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Five, five, six.

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Five, five, six.

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And then when he weighs them, I can work out what the

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fresh weight will be...

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Four, two, seven.

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Four, two, seven.

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Then we'll know...

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Five, five, eight.

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Five, five, eight.

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The measurements need to be precise.

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They are used by Gerry

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in an ingenious bit of number crunching

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that tells him almost exactly when the chicks are due to hatch.

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So to work out how long they have been incubated for,

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you measure the length by the breadth squared,

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and then you multiply that by a conversion factor,

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which, for goshawk, I use 0.55.

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I'm not very good at keeping up with complicated calculations...

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..Which will be something higher than 56.

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..but clearly Gerry is a master of egg-related algorithms.

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That will relate to how long the egg has been incubated for.

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Happily, he's promised he'll let me know the crucial date

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so I can join him to check on the chicks when they are few weeks old.

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Must be quite well camouflaged.

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Are you looking for movement or...?

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Yeah, looking for movement, yeah.

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We're going on a boar hunt.

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Robin's on the trail of a sow with her brood of young piglets

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and I'm really hoping to get a better sight

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than the fleeting glimpse we caught earlier today.

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Nice.

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At this time of year, female boars and their young

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often group together in what's called a sounder.

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It's usually led by two or three sows,

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each with a recent litter of piglets.

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And the priority for these wily mums

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is keeping well away from prying eyes.

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I guess for the untrained eye, like mine,

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they could be quite easy to miss.

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Yeah, especially at this time of year,

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when the bracken's all orange

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and the piglets are orange.

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Robin seems to sense that we are getting close

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to the group we've been tracking.

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Think we'd better go in that way.

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OK, so, as I said, before we go any further,

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we're going to make sure we're quiet now.

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-OK.

-We're going to disappear into these trees.

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Our visibility isn't going to be great.

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So we're going to rely on our hearing, listen out for the piglets,

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maybe a grunt, and also the smell.

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This is extraordinary, swampy bit, looks really primordial, doesn't it?

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-Yeah.

-And they would come down here to get a bit of water

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-and a bit of mud?

-Yeah, of course,

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they'd wallow in this little bit just here.

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You can see that it's been used as a wallow.

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What have we got there?

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Some kind of animal fur.

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Do you think that's wild boar?

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-It could be.

-It could be deer, couldn't it?

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-Maybe.

-Is it quite soft?

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I would go with boar. Just from the colour, it's quite grey.

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The signs are all good.

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DISTANT SQUEAL

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That's piglets.

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DISTANT SQUEAL

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That's piglets.

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-Can you hear it now?

-I can hear it now, yeah.

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Hang on, hang on, I can see something.

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-Where are you looking?

-Straight ahead.

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SQUEALING

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-Just... They are just in here.

-Yeah.

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-Yeah.

-They are really close.

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It's quite deceiving. That sound does travel.

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-Yeah.

-But they are, yeah, you're right.

0:19:200:19:22

They are making a heck of a racket.

0:19:230:19:26

They are very close.

0:19:260:19:28

There's no doubt that we are now incredibly close to these animals.

0:19:290:19:33

The sudden downpour could actually work in our favour,

0:19:370:19:40

masking our final approach.

0:19:400:19:42

Oh, my God!

0:19:430:19:44

That's incredible!

0:19:490:19:50

She's stopping.

0:19:550:19:57

She doesn't seem to mind that we're here.

0:19:580:20:01

She's saying, "Who are you and why are you watching me?"

0:20:110:20:14

With the camera crew hanging back,

0:20:140:20:16

Robin and I are in a prime position to capture this impressive boar

0:20:160:20:20

on our cameras.

0:20:200:20:21

But then I spot something even more exciting.

0:20:210:20:25

And there's a load of piglets under the tree, too.

0:20:250:20:27

There's a whole load of piglets under the tree.

0:20:270:20:30

That is just brilliant.

0:20:300:20:32

That is crazy.

0:20:360:20:37

I just didn't expect us to see anything like this.

0:20:390:20:42

They are so relaxed.

0:20:430:20:45

They are just trotting off. All the piglets trotting away behind her.

0:20:490:20:52

I've seen more than I could have hoped for.

0:20:530:20:55

And filmed some great close-ups of the piglets

0:20:550:20:58

with the amazing digital zoom on my new little camcorder.

0:20:580:21:01

Or have I?

0:21:030:21:05

I'm really, really sorry to say that I wasn't running.

0:21:050:21:07

I'm feeling like a total idiot.

0:21:070:21:09

I was looking at it through the viewfinder

0:21:090:21:11

and I hadn't actually pressed record.

0:21:110:21:13

-But it was stunning.

-Yeah, it was awesome to see.

0:21:130:21:16

And those piglets were crawling all over each other...

0:21:160:21:18

-Yeah.

-That's what happens if you get an unprofessional, a rank amateur,

0:21:180:21:22

-with a camera in his hands.

-That's it.

0:21:220:21:24

It happens most of the time when I see them.

0:21:240:21:27

You just forget to press record or take a photo

0:21:270:21:29

because you are in awe of what you're seeing.

0:21:290:21:31

Not my finest moment as a budding wildlife cameraman

0:21:310:21:34

but I have an idea that might save my bacon.

0:21:340:21:37

Wild boar in the forest have habitual nests

0:21:380:21:41

where they return for shelter and family time.

0:21:410:21:44

So this could be our chance to capture

0:21:450:21:47

a very intimate home movie of this lovely group.

0:21:470:21:50

I have got a couple of these trail cameras.

0:21:500:21:53

How likely do you think it is, Robin, that

0:21:540:21:57

that same sounder of boar might come back to use this nest?

0:21:570:22:01

I would think it would be very likely, considering this habitat.

0:22:010:22:05

There's a couple of nests dotted around.

0:22:050:22:06

So they are surely going to come back and use this one.

0:22:060:22:10

'I'm hoping these automatic cameras can show us

0:22:110:22:13

'a side of the boar family we could never see with our own eyes.'

0:22:130:22:17

So, this one...

0:22:170:22:18

'For example, how the group behaves

0:22:180:22:20

'when not being watched by men with cameras.'

0:22:200:22:23

These are much cleverer than I am.

0:22:230:22:25

Right.

0:22:250:22:26

If that motion sensor is triggered, the camera will be on.

0:22:260:22:30

-And there is no idiot...

-That's good news.

0:22:300:22:32

..around to be responsible for not turning it on.

0:22:320:22:35

I can't believe I blew my chance to film those piglets.

0:22:370:22:40

But, luckily, Robin has captured a strikingly similar scene

0:22:420:22:46

on a previous visit.

0:22:460:22:47

Which perhaps shows just what I was so excited about.

0:22:470:22:51

I thought my chances of seeing wild boar today were, frankly, slim.

0:22:530:22:57

I mean, Robin gives his chances at 50-50

0:22:570:23:00

when he's out here on his own

0:23:000:23:03

and he's really stealthy.

0:23:030:23:04

He's got great field craft.

0:23:040:23:06

I'm clumping around with a camera team...

0:23:060:23:10

God bless you. But...

0:23:100:23:12

But we got it. We saw them twice,

0:23:120:23:14

and brilliantly, as well.

0:23:140:23:16

I feel like today I've seen a truly wild animal in a truly wild place.

0:23:170:23:22

And that's quite rare and quite special

0:23:220:23:25

in the UK.

0:23:250:23:26

That was a brilliant day, Robin.

0:23:270:23:29

Yeah, that's absolutely fine.

0:23:290:23:30

This forest is a great place to see some of Britain's

0:23:350:23:38

best loved woodland species.

0:23:380:23:40

Fallow deer browse in grassy clearings,

0:23:420:23:45

and at night the forest floor belongs to the badgers,

0:23:450:23:48

living in extensive underground sets that can be up to 100 years old.

0:23:480:23:52

The streams are a stronghold for the delightful dipper.

0:23:530:23:56

And the lakes are home to the once rare great crested grebe.

0:23:560:24:00

And there are curiosities here, too.

0:24:000:24:03

This is one of the best places in the UK

0:24:030:24:06

to see the tree nesting mandarin duck.

0:24:060:24:09

They are native to the Far East but since being introduced here

0:24:090:24:12

in the 1980s, they are thriving.

0:24:120:24:14

With so much to see here,

0:24:160:24:18

it's no surprise that the forest is also well-stocked

0:24:180:24:21

with resident wildlife enthusiasts.

0:24:210:24:24

In my year here,

0:24:250:24:26

I've met some of these devoted guardians of the forest's fauna.

0:24:260:24:30

One of the most remarkable must be Dr Stephanie Tyler

0:24:310:24:35

who I first met on one of her regular sorties

0:24:350:24:38

with ladder and wellies, keeping tabs on the dipper,

0:24:380:24:41

a bird she's been studying for most of her adult life.

0:24:410:24:46

I can't remember a time when I didn't love wildlife.

0:24:460:24:48

I think I was born with it.

0:24:480:24:50

Her devotion to dippers knows no bounds

0:24:510:24:54

but Steph has an insatiable curiosity about all wildlife.

0:24:540:24:58

Even after decades of research and field work,

0:24:580:25:02

her childlike wonder at every discovery burns as bright as ever.

0:25:020:25:07

I think from about the age of three I was just...

0:25:070:25:09

That was all I wanted to do was go out and look at wildlife,

0:25:090:25:12

whether it was wild flowers, or birds, or ladybirds, or whatever.

0:25:120:25:16

Today, we've dropped in on Stephanie in her own natural habitat.

0:25:190:25:23

You cut a flower off there.

0:25:240:25:25

Oh, well, nobody's perfect!

0:25:250:25:28

Steph and her husband Lindsay are both passionate nature lovers.

0:25:280:25:33

They live in a quiet corner of the lower Wye,

0:25:330:25:36

a stone's throw from Forest of Dean.

0:25:360:25:38

I remember planting all these shrubs.

0:25:380:25:40

It's an idyllic existence.

0:25:400:25:42

But life for this well travelled couple hasn't always been so serene.

0:25:420:25:47

In the mid-1970s,

0:25:470:25:49

Lindsay's work as a vet took the couple

0:25:490:25:51

and their young family to East Africa,

0:25:510:25:53

where they were caught in the middle of a civil war.

0:25:530:25:56

We were held hostage for eight months, yes.

0:25:580:26:01

It was a long time ago,

0:26:010:26:02

almost another life.

0:26:020:26:03

We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

0:26:030:26:06

And the children were small, they were just five and seven.

0:26:060:26:09

They assumed we were spies, British spies,

0:26:110:26:14

so they thought they'd keep us for a little while.

0:26:140:26:17

And we heard that they were demanding...

0:26:170:26:19

What was it? A million dollars?

0:26:190:26:20

A million pounds. Not nearly enough in my view.

0:26:200:26:23

-She's worth much more than that!

-Oh!

0:26:230:26:26

In captivity, living on meagre rations,

0:26:260:26:29

their love of wildlife provided some crumbs of comfort.

0:26:290:26:32

We were allowed to keep a bird book, so we did imaginary holidays.

0:26:320:26:36

We'd say, "Supposing we went to Turkey?"

0:26:360:26:39

And we'd get the bird book out and make a list of all the birds

0:26:390:26:43

that we could see in Turkey, or the Balkans, or Italy,

0:26:430:26:47

and so on.

0:26:470:26:48

But we eventually got out, and no lasting damage.

0:26:480:26:53

I think it put a perspective...

0:26:530:26:55

Whenever we're having a little local difficulty,

0:26:550:26:58

we think back to what it was like then.

0:26:580:27:01

We said, if ever we got out,

0:27:010:27:03

we'd just make sure that every day we'd make,

0:27:030:27:06

you know, live that day as if it was our last.

0:27:060:27:08

After eight months, they were released.

0:27:120:27:15

And ever since, Lindsay and Steph have been true to their word,

0:27:150:27:18

exploring the wild world around them at every opportunity.

0:27:180:27:23

They even find delight in a creature many of us would overlook.

0:27:230:27:26

The moth.

0:27:270:27:29

Having encouraged as many varieties to their garden as they can

0:27:290:27:33

with selective planting,

0:27:330:27:34

Lindsay and Steph spend many a long summer evening surveying

0:27:340:27:38

the multiplicity of moths to be found here

0:27:380:27:41

with the help of a home-made moth trap.

0:27:410:27:43

The moths are attracted by the light and then they come down through

0:27:450:27:49

this funnel.

0:27:490:27:50

And they then perch comfortably on these old egg boxes.

0:27:500:27:54

Moths are sensitive to environmental change.

0:27:560:27:59

So by keeping a track of their numbers,

0:27:590:28:01

we can learn a lot about the condition of the surrounding countryside.

0:28:010:28:06

But the real rewards of this weekly ritual

0:28:060:28:08

lie in something far simpler.

0:28:080:28:10

I think the joy of mothing

0:28:100:28:12

is being able to closely examine

0:28:120:28:15

some of the most beautiful things that you could imagine.

0:28:150:28:20

We still love our birds but when you can get a moth list, in one garden,

0:28:220:28:27

-of... What's the total now?

-It can be 80.

-Yeah.

0:28:270:28:30

80 species in a night.

0:28:300:28:32

Our friend across in the next valley,

0:28:320:28:34

he habitually catches more than us, for some reason.

0:28:340:28:38

Very annoying. Yes.

0:28:380:28:40

Spurred on by a bit of local competition,

0:28:400:28:43

hopes of a bumper haul are high.

0:28:430:28:46

On a good night, the boxes will be swarming with moths

0:28:460:28:50

and we take them out one at a time and pot them up.

0:28:500:28:53

Ready to go.

0:28:550:28:57

Most moths are nocturnal, coming out to feed after dark

0:28:570:29:00

when they're less likely to be seen by predators.

0:29:000:29:03

As the trap is left to gather its nightly haul,

0:29:030:29:06

Lindsay and Steph can exercise their competitive streak

0:29:060:29:09

with some other distractions.

0:29:090:29:11

I must see University Challenge.

0:29:110:29:14

What's the time?

0:29:140:29:15

BUZZER ON TV

0:29:150:29:16

-TV:

-Correct. Yes.

0:29:160:29:17

APPLAUSE ON TV

0:29:170:29:18

-TV:

-Ten points for this.

0:29:180:29:19

When it comes to watching wildlife,

0:29:280:29:30

this wooded wonderland has always had a lot going for it.

0:29:300:29:33

Its secluded setting has allowed it to stand largely undisturbed

0:29:350:29:40

for centuries.

0:29:400:29:41

Today, it's one of Britain's few remaining truly ancient woodlands.

0:29:420:29:47

And for the mighty oak,

0:29:480:29:50

this is one of the most important sites in the whole of Europe.

0:29:500:29:53

Individual trees here, like this enormous sessile oak,

0:29:540:29:58

date from the middle of the 17th century.

0:29:580:30:01

These majestic giants of the forest

0:30:030:30:05

make an instant impression for their sheer size.

0:30:050:30:08

But the role they play for wildlife

0:30:090:30:11

all begins at the opposite end of the scale.

0:30:110:30:14

Sometimes, when you're out looking for wildlife,

0:30:140:30:17

you just don't see the wood for the trees.

0:30:170:30:19

And, unless you are really paying attention and looking very closely,

0:30:200:30:24

you might miss something really interesting.

0:30:240:30:27

Like this little guy.

0:30:280:30:29

This is a member of an incredibly significant family of insects.

0:30:320:30:37

The beetles.

0:30:370:30:38

So far, we know of 400,000 types of beetle.

0:30:380:30:42

That's one fifth of all known plant and animal species on earth.

0:30:420:30:46

And the ancient trees of the Dean are crawling with them.

0:30:480:30:51

For some naturalists, there's enough fascination here to last a lifetime.

0:30:520:30:57

I spend a lot of time poking around in decaying wood

0:30:570:31:00

and looking at old trees.

0:31:000:31:02

And, yeah, I'm a specialist in beetles.

0:31:020:31:03

So this is what I spend a lot of my time doing.

0:31:030:31:06

Doctor Sarah Henschel is an entomologist

0:31:080:31:10

working to conserve Britain's precious bugs.

0:31:100:31:13

I've always loved bugs from an early age.

0:31:140:31:16

I think they're beautiful.

0:31:190:31:20

They are so fascinating and I'm always learning.

0:31:210:31:23

Today, Sarah's on the hunt for some of the specialist beetle species

0:31:250:31:29

that thrive here, to get a snapshot of how they're doing.

0:31:290:31:32

Of the 120 species on her creepy-crawly critical list,

0:31:330:31:37

more than a quarter live here in the West Country.

0:31:370:31:40

It's all down to the age and variety of the trees here.

0:31:400:31:43

Just one of the forest's large oaks alone

0:31:440:31:47

can support 300 species of invertebrates.

0:31:470:31:50

And the trees that Sarah is drawn to most of all

0:31:500:31:53

are the ones that might be considered past their best.

0:31:530:31:56

This tree is incredibly important

0:31:580:32:01

and its value comes along with age.

0:32:010:32:03

The older the tree, the gnarlier the tree, the more decay, the better.

0:32:030:32:09

That's a spider.

0:32:090:32:11

As an entomologist, this is the business end of things.

0:32:110:32:14

This is where the decaying wood is,

0:32:140:32:16

where the invertebrates are going to be.

0:32:160:32:18

Even though this tree is dead,

0:32:180:32:20

it's going to provide habitat for lots of difference species

0:32:200:32:23

for many years to come.

0:32:230:32:25

So the life of the oak and all the wildlife associated with it

0:32:250:32:29

can go on for decades and centuries,

0:32:290:32:31

even after it's fallen on the ground.

0:32:310:32:33

That is one just down there.

0:32:350:32:37

Found a little beetle larva,

0:32:380:32:39

it's properly going to be a click beetle larva,

0:32:390:32:41

which are specialists, loving this really lovely rotten, decaying wood.

0:32:410:32:46

The success of beetles is largely down

0:32:470:32:50

to their extraordinary ability to make food

0:32:500:32:52

from unpromising materials.

0:32:520:32:54

In the UK alone, there are over 700 types of beetle

0:32:550:32:59

that live on decaying wood.

0:32:590:33:01

The recovered nutrients are passed up through the food chain,

0:33:020:33:06

as beetles and their larvae are eaten in their millions

0:33:060:33:10

by birds and small mammals.

0:33:100:33:12

And the rich diversity of trees here in the Dean

0:33:120:33:15

make it home to some of our rarest beetles,

0:33:150:33:17

like this cardinal click beetle.

0:33:170:33:19

It's also one of the last known habitats

0:33:220:33:24

of a species that is perilously close to extinction.

0:33:240:33:27

The area's really important for a really rare beetle called Cosnard's net-winged beetle.

0:33:300:33:33

It's known from the Wye Gorge and Forest of Dean

0:33:330:33:37

and only one other location in the UK.

0:33:370:33:39

These are species that are all reliant on these old, mature,

0:33:420:33:46

ancient, and veteran trees.

0:33:460:33:47

Oak trees produce acorns on a cycle of feast or famine.

0:33:490:33:53

Quite often there are very few then, every four or five years,

0:33:530:33:56

they arrive in vast quantities in what's called a mast year.

0:33:560:34:00

Exactly how or why this rhythm works is a mystery

0:34:010:34:05

but, this year, the Dean has one of those occasional bumper harvests.

0:34:050:34:10

For Sarah, this abundance is an opportunity

0:34:100:34:13

to take stock of some bugs

0:34:130:34:15

for whom the acorn is a vital life-support system.

0:34:150:34:18

It's a job that calls for some specialist kit

0:34:190:34:21

that allows her to take a closer look into their tiny world.

0:34:210:34:25

So, I've set myself up a little outdoor lab to have a look at

0:34:250:34:30

what's living inside some of these acorns.

0:34:300:34:33

We've got a knopper gall here, which is really quite spectacular.

0:34:330:34:37

It's very, sort of, knobbly and bobbly

0:34:370:34:40

and a little tiny parasitic wasp has caused that.

0:34:400:34:44

The abnormality is triggered when the female wasp first lays its eggs.

0:34:440:34:48

A secretion from the wasp causes a chemical reaction in the acorn

0:34:520:34:56

that triggers this strange growth...

0:34:560:34:58

..providing the perfect home for the developing wasp larvae.

0:34:590:35:02

Another opportunity that arrives with a bumper crop of acorns

0:35:070:35:10

is to get an idea of the numbers

0:35:100:35:12

of one of the most highly adapted beetles in this forest.

0:35:120:35:17

And this one requires that technical assist

0:35:170:35:19

to spot the signs of its presence.

0:35:190:35:23

So you can see on the screen there, a tiny, tiny little hole.

0:35:240:35:28

And the culprit that's caused this

0:35:280:35:30

is something called the acorn weevil.

0:35:300:35:33

So, a type of beetle with a big long nose.

0:35:330:35:35

They use this nose to burrow into the acorns -

0:35:370:35:40

they've got little mouthparts on the end.

0:35:400:35:42

And then she lays an egg.

0:35:420:35:44

The egg is on the tree in the acorn,

0:35:440:35:47

growing into a big, juicy larva.

0:35:470:35:49

And as soon as these acorns drop to the ground,

0:35:490:35:51

that's the trigger for the larva to find its way out of the acorn.

0:35:510:35:55

Now, these holes are really, really tiny.

0:35:550:35:58

And the larva that we are looking for is quite a chunky beast.

0:35:580:36:01

So, there still might be one in there.

0:36:010:36:03

But to check we, basically, need to break the acorns open.

0:36:030:36:06

No.

0:36:100:36:11

No luck with that one.

0:36:130:36:14

I think this one's been and gone.

0:36:150:36:17

This one looks promising because it's nice and squidgy,

0:36:200:36:23

so it's obviously been chomping away and munching away inside.

0:36:230:36:27

All this little bits of black stuff, that's also a frass

0:36:280:36:31

that's the waste product of the larva.

0:36:310:36:33

Oh, here we go. Bingo.

0:36:350:36:37

Bingo. Right.

0:36:370:36:39

I'll just pop it under the scope.

0:36:400:36:41

He's quite lively.

0:36:440:36:45

They are incredibly mobile.

0:36:460:36:48

This one is making a bit of a break for freedom.

0:36:480:36:52

They don't look agile and mobile, but they've got lots of ridges

0:36:520:36:55

on their underside, which they use to move around.

0:36:550:36:58

And the reason why they have to be quick

0:36:580:37:00

is because once they have got out of their acorn,

0:37:000:37:02

they're really vulnerable to being predated by birds or rodents.

0:37:020:37:06

So they hatch out of their acorns

0:37:060:37:07

and they immediately burrow down into the leaf litter,

0:37:070:37:10

where they will remain for, maybe, a couple of years before

0:37:100:37:13

pupating and emerging into an adult.

0:37:130:37:15

The numbers here are fantastic.

0:37:170:37:19

We've found quite a lot of acorns and I'd say at least, sort of, 30%

0:37:190:37:23

have evidence of acorn weevil within them.

0:37:230:37:27

So, sites like this with lots of acorns, particularly in mast years,

0:37:270:37:30

they're going to be excellent for acorn weevil.

0:37:300:37:33

Sarah's finds are an indication of the continuing diversity

0:37:330:37:37

here in the Dean.

0:37:370:37:39

And that's good news because the bug life here will always

0:37:390:37:43

underpin the food chain of the forest's wild animals.

0:37:430:37:46

At the home of Steph Tyler and her husband Lindsay,

0:37:530:37:56

their garden moth trap has been working all night.

0:37:560:38:00

The time to collect and inspect their spoils is just before dawn.

0:38:000:38:04

Lindsay's still in bed.

0:38:050:38:07

We take it in turns to do it, and I drew the short straw today.

0:38:070:38:11

But we get up just before dawn because already you can hear

0:38:110:38:14

the robins singing, and as soon as it's dawn,

0:38:140:38:17

and the robins are active,

0:38:170:38:19

a lot of these moths would be taken as prey.

0:38:190:38:22

So we are trying to get there before the birds.

0:38:220:38:25

Poppy, no, leave it.

0:38:250:38:27

Poppy, no. Oh, God!

0:38:290:38:30

Oh, Poppy, I can do without that.

0:38:310:38:34

I'm so used to the dog on my back that it becomes second nature.

0:38:340:38:38

She's comfortable up there.

0:38:380:38:39

She's done that since she was a puppy, for some reason.

0:38:410:38:43

There's one in my hair now, Poppy.

0:38:460:38:48

Getting individual moths into inspection pots

0:38:490:38:51

is the best way to identify them,

0:38:510:38:53

but a few always make a break for freedom.

0:38:530:38:56

There's one to catch and another to catch

0:38:580:38:59

but they go against the window and we'll get them.

0:38:590:39:01

Oh, golly!

0:39:010:39:02

At first peek, it looks like the trap has delivered.

0:39:020:39:06

A good catch, actually. There's loads of moths.

0:39:070:39:10

Moths everywhere.

0:39:190:39:20

Another one gone.

0:39:220:39:23

With all the moths now safely in their pots,

0:39:280:39:30

Lindsay and Steph can get down to the part they love the best -

0:39:300:39:34

discovering what wonders the night has delivered.

0:39:340:39:37

I mean, it's like a lucky dip, if you like.

0:39:370:39:40

You never know what you're going to get.

0:39:400:39:42

This is pretty. This is called a blood vein...

0:39:430:39:46

Blood vein, darling?

0:39:480:39:50

There's simply

0:39:500:39:52

the excitement of the hunt.

0:39:520:39:54

What are we going to find?

0:39:540:39:56

Many of these moths are absolutely beautiful to look at.

0:39:570:40:01

You know, you open the trap and wow!

0:40:030:40:05

We've got something we don't know

0:40:050:40:07

or an old friend that we haven't had for a year.

0:40:070:40:10

That's a green carpet.

0:40:100:40:11

Setaceous Hebrew character.

0:40:130:40:15

Some amazing names.

0:40:150:40:17

A flame shoulder.

0:40:180:40:20

Mother-of-pearl.

0:40:210:40:22

Gosh, I'm not sure about that one.

0:40:240:40:25

It's exciting when you get something you can't recognise immediately

0:40:270:40:31

and have to pour through the books to find what it is.

0:40:310:40:33

There's never been a better time to be a naturalist.

0:40:360:40:39

The resources there are, in terms of identification guides,

0:40:390:40:44

stuff on the internet.

0:40:440:40:46

There are at least 2,500 moth varieties resident in the UK.

0:40:460:40:51

So even experts like Stephanie and Lindsay need a bit of help

0:40:510:40:55

identifying each one.

0:40:550:40:57

Moths rest up during the day

0:40:570:40:59

when their incredible wing patterns come into their own.

0:40:590:41:02

Each one is a specialised camouflage that allows them to sit

0:41:020:41:06

unseen on dead leaves, lichen, or tree bark.

0:41:060:41:09

Moths' wings are made of thousands of tiny scales,

0:41:100:41:14

overlapping like tiles on a roof.

0:41:140:41:16

Some of the moths, you want to get a good view of the underwing.

0:41:180:41:22

And this is one of the yellow underwings,

0:41:220:41:24

we'd like to check out which one it is.

0:41:240:41:27

So you can very carefully hold them and reveal the underwing like that.

0:41:270:41:32

If you handle them carefully,

0:41:320:41:34

they are surprisingly tough, these things.

0:41:340:41:37

And we will be able to release this one

0:41:370:41:39

and it will fly away quite happily.

0:41:390:41:41

Steph and Lindsay had been recording their moth data for six years,

0:41:500:41:55

feeding in valuable research

0:41:550:41:57

to several national moth monitoring schemes.

0:41:570:41:59

It was amazing.

0:42:040:42:05

I mean, we probably got a couple of hundred today, at least.

0:42:050:42:08

And we've got several species that are the first of the season for us.

0:42:080:42:12

But there's probably 400 or 500 around in the garden,

0:42:120:42:17

so we've a long way to go.

0:42:170:42:18

Right, these can all go.

0:42:200:42:21

Freedom.

0:42:240:42:25

For these two remarkably dedicated naturalists,

0:42:270:42:31

there's clearly no better task in their moth research

0:42:310:42:34

than releasing the subjects of their study.

0:42:340:42:36

But they'll be setting their trap again soon, same time next week.

0:42:400:42:45

Moth catching goes on right through the summer

0:42:490:42:52

but other events call for meticulous timing.

0:42:520:42:54

It's over a month since a clutch of goshawk eggs

0:42:560:42:58

were weighed and measured.

0:42:580:42:59

And after some careful calculations,

0:42:590:43:03

Gerry Lewis has picked today to return to the nest.

0:43:030:43:07

A busy time of year for you, then?

0:43:120:43:13

It is, yeah. This end of May,

0:43:130:43:16

beginning of June period is when it all happens, really.

0:43:160:43:18

I'm thrilled that Gerry has invited me

0:43:190:43:22

to help him ring the newly hatched chicks.

0:43:220:43:25

Not least because I've never seen a goshawk in the wild.

0:43:250:43:28

What's the plan this evening, Gerry?

0:43:300:43:32

Well, there's a nest just up in the wood on the left here.

0:43:320:43:36

And about three weeks ago, four weeks ago, Pete climbed up,

0:43:370:43:41

checked all the eggs and measured and weighed the eggs.

0:43:410:43:45

And from those measurements, I can work out approximately when they hatched.

0:43:450:43:49

So that we don't go back

0:43:490:43:50

to do chicks that are too small, or too big.

0:43:500:43:53

And these chicks should be about three weeks old now.

0:43:530:43:55

And how do you feel altogether

0:43:550:43:57

about the health of the goshawk population in the Forest of Dean?

0:43:570:44:00

It's good. Yeah, there's plenty of them.

0:44:000:44:02

Going in the right direction? Going up?

0:44:020:44:04

They have probably got to about the maximum number you could fit in now.

0:44:040:44:08

They may be doing well, but the phantoms of the forest

0:44:080:44:11

are never easy to spot.

0:44:110:44:13

And what's the noise I'm looking out for?

0:44:130:44:15

It's a sort of cackle, like a sparrow hawk,

0:44:150:44:18

but deeper and slower, like.

0:44:180:44:20

Can you do one for me?

0:44:200:44:21

HE IMITATES GOSHAWK CALL

0:44:210:44:22

We're on high alert, and it's not long before the goshawk mum

0:44:260:44:30

makes herself known.

0:44:300:44:31

BIRD CALLS

0:44:330:44:34

That's her.

0:44:340:44:35

-Further round?

-I can't hear her, but I can't see her.

0:44:380:44:40

Going through there. Coming back over here.

0:44:400:44:42

I see her, I see her.

0:44:420:44:44

-Yes.

-Yeah.

0:44:440:44:46

Beautiful. Look at that!

0:44:460:44:47

And I heard her before I saw her.

0:44:480:44:50

That's what you normally will do, yeah.

0:44:500:44:52

Yeah. That's why they call them, sort of, phantom of the forest

0:44:520:44:55

cos you hear it, but you hardly ever see it.

0:44:550:44:58

I have seen one now.

0:44:580:44:59

That's my first. That's really exciting.

0:44:590:45:01

And now I want to get a sight of those chicks.

0:45:030:45:05

But that's going to be more of a challenge.

0:45:050:45:08

Not for me, but for tree surgeon, Pete.

0:45:080:45:10

I'm just going to switch you on now, Pete.

0:45:160:45:18

OK. No worries.

0:45:180:45:19

I can't wait to see what it looks like from Pete Cam.

0:45:210:45:24

Good. Pete Cam. That's good.

0:45:240:45:26

-He's moving pretty quick.

-Yeah.

0:45:320:45:34

Pete has probably got the most difficult job out of everything.

0:45:390:45:43

In late spring, Pete weighed and measured four eggs in this nest

0:45:430:45:47

and we are about to find out how many chicks have survived.

0:45:470:45:51

Very nearly there.

0:45:510:45:53

He's just underneath the nest now.

0:45:530:45:54

BIRD CALL

0:45:540:45:55

Three, we have, Gerry.

0:46:040:46:05

-Three?

-Three.

0:46:060:46:08

For a goshawk nest, three chicks from four eggs

0:46:100:46:13

is an excellent success rate.

0:46:130:46:15

That's good news.

0:46:170:46:18

OK, Ger?

0:46:200:46:21

OK. Here they come.

0:46:220:46:23

The precious cargo is lowered down to our level

0:46:240:46:27

and now I can have my first-ever sight of a wild goshawk chick.

0:46:270:46:32

-So, that one...

-Blimey! Look at you!

0:46:320:46:34

That one has got big legs, big feet.

0:46:340:46:38

-Yeah.

-So, that one's a female.

0:46:380:46:40

They are quite chunky.

0:46:410:46:43

Yeah. Yeah.

0:46:430:46:44

That one looks the same.

0:46:460:46:48

Two females, you think, with the thick legs.

0:46:490:46:51

And this one is probably a male.

0:46:510:46:54

See? It's got a slightly smaller foot, slightly thinner leg.

0:46:540:46:57

Definitely. But why is that, then?

0:46:570:46:58

That's definitely smaller, but why?

0:46:580:47:00

The males are... In lots of birds of prey,

0:47:000:47:02

the males are smaller than the females.

0:47:020:47:04

So, that male will always be a smaller bird?

0:47:040:47:07

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And they have just started growing

0:47:070:47:10

their primary feathers, so they are just about coming up to three weeks.

0:47:100:47:14

You can really see how the feathers interlock here.

0:47:140:47:16

You've got this long stem with just a little bit of feather at the tip.

0:47:160:47:21

BIRD SQUEAKS

0:47:210:47:22

Noisy girl. They interlock. Long, short, long, short, long, short.

0:47:220:47:26

Nine millimetres.

0:47:280:47:29

Gerry needs to work fast to get the chicks' vital statistics.

0:47:310:47:35

That gives me a short moment to revel

0:47:350:47:37

in this rare face-to-face

0:47:370:47:39

with a wonderfully adapted woodland hunter.

0:47:390:47:42

The alertness in that eye somehow is quite intense.

0:47:430:47:48

We need to get these guys back in the nest as soon as we can,

0:47:490:47:53

so to make myself useful,

0:47:530:47:54

I'm getting a quick lesson in handling the chicks.

0:47:540:47:57

Keep some fingers on the legs to stop them thrashing about.

0:47:580:48:01

-Gotcha.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

0:48:010:48:03

And then I need to get at this...

0:48:030:48:05

At that leg.

0:48:050:48:06

-The other leg.

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:48:060:48:08

And then we're putting these rings on them,

0:48:080:48:11

so they're more easily identifiable

0:48:110:48:12

if they are ever seen again in the future

0:48:120:48:14

when they're breeding.

0:48:140:48:16

So, this gives the bird a really personal identity.

0:48:160:48:19

Yeah.

0:48:190:48:20

ABX.

0:48:240:48:25

Even though these goshawks are doing really well,

0:48:270:48:29

here in the Forest of Dean, this is a schedule one protected species.

0:48:290:48:33

Their numbers have been so low in the past that...

0:48:330:48:36

..they really have to be looked after.

0:48:370:48:39

-How are we doing, Gerry?

-OK.

0:48:400:48:42

-Do you want to put that one down and have this one now?

-Yeah.

0:48:420:48:45

You can only really conserve any species

0:48:450:48:48

if you understand what they are doing

0:48:480:48:51

and, by ringing these birds, you can understand where they move to,

0:48:510:48:55

how long they live for, where it's died,

0:48:550:48:57

how long it lived since it's dispersed.

0:48:570:49:00

Maybe the cause of death.

0:49:000:49:01

This lady has got one of her talons...

0:49:020:49:05

..just resting on my finger and I...

0:49:050:49:08

It's not piercing the skin but I can feel the power of it.

0:49:080:49:11

She has just got my finger with the tip of the talon.

0:49:110:49:14

And that's quite a...

0:49:140:49:16

That's quite a crunch she's putting on there.

0:49:160:49:19

It's a privilege and a treat to handle these incredible birds,

0:49:190:49:23

but the priority has to be returning them to the nest.

0:49:230:49:26

-All right, Pete?

-OK, mate.

0:49:260:49:29

And letting Pete get back down to earth.

0:49:290:49:33

-Get round this side a bit.

-Hello.

0:49:330:49:34

I'm sure you want to go back, don't you?

0:49:360:49:38

There we go.

0:49:380:49:40

In you go.

0:49:400:49:42

Up they go.

0:49:440:49:45

When people see a new species, they normally take us all for a pint.

0:49:480:49:52

Yes. I'm bang up for that, Gerry.

0:49:520:49:55

The chicks settle quickly back into their treetop home

0:49:550:49:59

and we can make our exit,

0:49:590:50:00

so the parent birds can return to their young.

0:50:000:50:03

-Thank you both so much.

-OK.

0:50:030:50:05

-Excellent.

-That was just great.

0:50:050:50:06

-No problem.

-Time for that pint.

0:50:060:50:08

Since being in the forest,

0:50:250:50:26

I've been on the trail of the majestic wild boar.

0:50:260:50:29

And you don't have to be here long to realise

0:50:300:50:33

that the return of this native animal

0:50:330:50:35

is contentious, to say the least.

0:50:350:50:37

It's all down to the way they forage for food.

0:50:390:50:42

Boars root out their food

0:50:430:50:45

by bulldozing through the soil with a powerful snout,

0:50:450:50:48

reinforced at the tip with thick discs of cartilage.

0:50:480:50:52

In the forest, this rooting helps to break down leaf litter

0:50:540:50:58

and promote new growth.

0:50:580:50:59

But when boar come into the villages and towns,

0:50:590:51:03

that bulldozed ground is a bit less welcome.

0:51:030:51:06

And, as numbers rise, boar sightings in towns are the more common.

0:51:070:51:11

It's the subject on everyone's lips here.

0:51:110:51:14

So it is something I can't just ignore.

0:51:140:51:16

And, here in Cinderford, I can see why it's such a hot topic

0:51:160:51:20

with boar damage appearing in playgrounds, public spaces,

0:51:200:51:24

and even the graveyard of the local church.

0:51:240:51:27

We think they are coming in over the wall, just over there, because...

0:51:270:51:31

Oh, I can see a bit of wall that's been a bit knocked down.

0:51:310:51:34

-Yes.

-Yeah.

0:51:340:51:36

For church warden Eve Smith,

0:51:360:51:38

boar damage like this is becoming an all-too-familiar sight.

0:51:380:51:42

I haven't got a problem with the boar, as such.

0:51:420:51:45

But not in here.

0:51:450:51:47

Not in the churchyard.

0:51:470:51:49

It's very upsetting for people when they come to visit their loved ones

0:51:490:51:54

and it's been disturbed.

0:51:540:51:56

Most of the land where the boar live is owned by the Forestry Commission.

0:51:570:52:01

So, the controversial task of controlling their population

0:52:010:52:05

falls to them.

0:52:050:52:06

So this clumpy stuff here, that's all boar activity.

0:52:080:52:11

The man who finds himself at the centre of this knotty issue

0:52:110:52:14

is Ian Harvey.

0:52:140:52:16

The general sort of public feeling is, they're OK,

0:52:160:52:20

but at a managed low number.

0:52:200:52:22

And when you say managed, you're talking about a cull,

0:52:220:52:25

which is of course killing boar, reducing the numbers.

0:52:250:52:28

And you're, kind of, caught in the middle.

0:52:280:52:30

That is your responsibility now.

0:52:300:52:32

It's certainly a... problematic aspect of the job.

0:52:330:52:39

Yeah, I mean it's not easy, is it?

0:52:390:52:41

You're caught in the middle of a really serious local debate.

0:52:410:52:45

Quite a contentious local issue.

0:52:450:52:48

Yeah, it is very contentious

0:52:480:52:50

and it does arouse strong feelings in people,

0:52:500:52:52

both for the animals and against the animals.

0:52:520:52:54

And I think this is something that often gets lost

0:52:540:52:57

in the wider discussion

0:52:570:52:58

is that this was a problem not of our making,

0:52:580:53:01

these animals were dumped on our ground.

0:53:010:53:04

Ian's been tasked

0:53:040:53:05

with reducing the number of the boar in the forest by two thirds.

0:53:050:53:09

That is a big challenge.

0:53:090:53:11

I want to put all of this to my boar tracking friend Robin.

0:53:140:53:17

As a local resident who's clearly enjoying the boar,

0:53:170:53:21

what does he think about bringing boar numbers down?

0:53:210:53:23

I've heard some strong opinions

0:53:240:53:26

about wild boar in the Forest of Dean.

0:53:260:53:29

Including, "get rid of the lot of them".

0:53:290:53:31

-Yeah.

-"Shoot the lot."

0:53:310:53:33

And on the other side,

0:53:330:53:35

-"don't touch a bristle on their hides, leave them be."

-Yeah.

0:53:350:53:38

I do kind of get a sense that there's sort of a consensus,

0:53:400:53:43

a sort of meeting in the middle, which is...

0:53:430:53:46

..they should be fine here in the forest.

0:53:470:53:50

But let's try and keep them in the forest

0:53:500:53:52

and probably bring the numbers down.

0:53:520:53:55

At the moment, I think the numbers aren't rocketing as much as people say.

0:53:550:53:58

They're getting pushed out into the towns and everything else,

0:53:580:54:01

but we have no natural predator.

0:54:010:54:02

Culling is the only method at the moment.

0:54:020:54:04

We want to coexist with the boar and it is not up to us,

0:54:040:54:07

we are no experts. We need help from the authorities.

0:54:070:54:10

This debate isn't going away

0:54:100:54:11

but neither is the excitement over the boars' revival,

0:54:110:54:15

as part of Britain's wildlife heritage.

0:54:150:54:18

-Set it up here.

-Yeah.

0:54:180:54:19

And we have another question we're eager to answer.

0:54:190:54:23

Did our trail cams get the intimate footage of our boar family at play

0:54:230:54:27

that we have been hoping for?

0:54:270:54:29

-You ready for this?

-Yeah.

-I haven't seen it either, Robin.

0:54:290:54:33

So I just don't know what's on here, but let's have a look.

0:54:330:54:37

Oh!

0:54:390:54:40

-That's just fantastic, isn't it?

-Amazing.

0:54:410:54:43

That's cool!

0:54:450:54:46

Some juveniles reaching their adult stage.

0:54:480:54:51

-That's a bigger one.

-Yeah.

0:54:530:54:54

It's almost like they are performing for the camera, isn't it?

0:54:560:55:00

And they all exit.

0:55:000:55:02

-See the piglets.

-Look at that!

0:55:020:55:04

A little trail of piglets.

0:55:050:55:07

-Amazing.

-That's awesome.

0:55:090:55:11

I wonder if those are the same ones that I had in my viewfinder

0:55:120:55:16

-when I wasn't...

-They definitely were.

0:55:160:55:18

And we also had a camera pointing straight into the nest.

0:55:190:55:22

Oh!

0:55:220:55:24

That's the nest. That's fantastic.

0:55:260:55:30

That's the shot I had in the mist and the rain,

0:55:300:55:32

all those piglets playing together.

0:55:320:55:34

-That's insane.

-Yeah.

0:55:340:55:36

These pictures of the whole group

0:55:370:55:39

confirm that this is a classic sounder.

0:55:390:55:41

With no males in sight

0:55:410:55:44

three sows share the responsibility for piglet care.

0:55:440:55:48

Our best efforts at a count put the number of young here at 16.

0:55:480:55:53

For me, that is quite something.

0:55:530:55:54

It doesn't get old. That one's looking straight at the camera.

0:55:540:55:58

-Totally.

-He knows we're here.

0:55:580:56:01

That's a really strange feeling,

0:56:010:56:03

being eyeballed through the screen by a little piglet.

0:56:030:56:06

Having a fight as well.

0:56:060:56:07

These are the kind of relaxed and intimate moments

0:56:090:56:11

we could never have seen in the field

0:56:110:56:14

once we'd been clocked by the sows.

0:56:140:56:16

They are so gregarious, aren't they?

0:56:170:56:19

-Yeah.

-They are really social, smart animals.

0:56:190:56:21

You just picked such a brilliant spot for us to put that camera.

0:56:240:56:27

Right on the money.

0:56:280:56:30

All that walking was worth it.

0:56:300:56:32

And here they come at night.

0:56:320:56:34

I don't see them at night really, so it's cool.

0:56:350:56:37

Just little piglets doing what pigs do.

0:56:390:56:42

I mean, looking at this,

0:56:420:56:45

you couldn't want to take these guys out of the forest.

0:56:450:56:48

Exactly.

0:56:480:56:50

Well, thank you so much for taking me to that place.

0:56:550:56:57

-That's fine.

-And showing us where to put the cameras

0:56:570:57:00

-to get those amazing shots.

-That's fine. I loved it.

0:57:000:57:02

-Thanks, Robin.

-No problem.

-I loved it too. Just brilliant.

0:57:020:57:05

The lively local discussion

0:57:120:57:13

about how best to live alongside the wild boar

0:57:130:57:16

is going to continue for some time.

0:57:160:57:19

As people work out how to control where they're going,

0:57:190:57:22

how best to keep the numbers down,

0:57:220:57:24

but the bottom line is,

0:57:240:57:26

the wild boar of the Forest of Dean are here to stay.

0:57:260:57:29

And that surely is a good thing.

0:57:290:57:31

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

0:57:560:58:01

and find out how to create your own wildlife habitats,

0:58:010:58:04

the Open University has produced a free booklet with bookmarks.

0:58:040:58:08

Order your copy by calling...

0:58:090:58:11

Or go to...

0:58:150:58:16

..and follow the links to the Open University.

0:58:200:58:22

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