0:00:07 > 0:00:11There are over 30 country parks in Wales.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Thousands of people visit them every year.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18Some are old estates of wealthy landlords.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Some are old industrial sites.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26The parks are usually close to towns and that's because they've been
0:00:26 > 0:00:29set aside for us to enjoy on our doorstep.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32But what I like about them most is that
0:00:32 > 0:00:34they're great places for wildlife.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38If you keep your eyes open, you'll see some great sights.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11There can't be many country parks that have a tramway
0:01:11 > 0:01:14running right through them, but this is one of the old trams
0:01:14 > 0:01:18that takes you right up to the summit of the Great Orme.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19This is the way to travel.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25The Great Orme is a magnificent limestone headland above Llandudno
0:01:25 > 0:01:26on the north Wales coast.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32It's been a popular tourist location since Victorian times.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Today, it has over 500,000 visitors each year.
0:01:39 > 0:01:40In addition to the tramway,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44you can get to the summit by road and cable car.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47If you're feeling fit, you could also walk to the summit.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Whatever route you'll take, you'll see fantastic views of Llandudno,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56the Conwy estuary and the north Wales coast.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The Orme is open, exposed land,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13and on a casual walk, you could quite easily miss that this
0:02:13 > 0:02:16is a special place for both its landscape and wildlife.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25There are lots of paths going up and down and crisscrossing the Orme
0:02:25 > 0:02:28and hundreds if not thousands of people
0:02:28 > 0:02:32walk on them every year and the vast majority of people just don't know
0:02:32 > 0:02:34what they're missing out on,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36because you walk this area in the middle of June
0:02:36 > 0:02:40and there's a little gem - a Great Orme speciality - here.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42And here's one just down here -
0:02:42 > 0:02:45this lovely little blue butterfly here.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47It's called a Silver-studded Blue.
0:02:47 > 0:02:48It's quite scarce,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52but what's fantastic about this is that on the Great Orme,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56there's a unique race of Silver-studded Blue.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59They're just a little bit different to all the other ones in the whole
0:02:59 > 0:03:02of the UK and on a really good, still day,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04you can see them everywhere -
0:03:04 > 0:03:07clouds of them. There he goes, fluttering about.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11But now, because of the wind, they're staying tucked down out of the way.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14And they're just beautiful. If he lands again... Go on.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17They've got this lovely deep purply-blue on top of the wings,
0:03:17 > 0:03:22then underneath, this pattern of orange dots and black dots
0:03:22 > 0:03:25and bits of silver. It is a cracking little butterfly.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Most of the Great Orme is a special area of conservation
0:03:36 > 0:03:39because it contains habitats and species like the Silver-studded Blue
0:03:39 > 0:03:40that are rare.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47It's also an important historical site.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51People have been living on the headland since the Stone Age.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57They've been mining copper here since the Bronze Age.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01It's actually thought to be the
0:04:01 > 0:04:04largest prehistoric mine so far discovered in the world.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Some of the mines were dug in caves formed in the limestone headland.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Archaeologist Sian Jones is taking me inside one of them.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24OK.
0:04:24 > 0:04:25How far in does this go?
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Quite a few metres beyond where we are going to just show you
0:04:29 > 0:04:33where the latest excavations were.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34And little William is used to it, is he?
0:04:34 > 0:04:37He is, yes. He goes with you everywhere, literally.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39He's definitely used to it.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41He's a little cave baby.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Good boy.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48Would this have housed early people here, or is this a mine?
0:04:48 > 0:04:50This is a mine.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Originally, it would have started as a cave overhang
0:04:53 > 0:04:55and they've extended it through -
0:04:55 > 0:04:59quite traditionally in the prehistoric way of mining is along,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02whereas a modern method of mining is shaft mining,
0:05:02 > 0:05:03where they go straight down.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06And all of this is to mine malachite,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08so a beautiful green copper,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12or possibly using it for pigment, maybe 5,000 years ago.
0:05:12 > 0:05:13So 5,000 years ago,
0:05:13 > 0:05:18that actually goes back before the time when they knew how to make
0:05:18 > 0:05:19copper, what it was used for.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Yes, before the metal ages. Yeah.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24We've got evidence of people living on the Great Orme,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27being buried on the Great Orme, going back 14,000 years.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Now, you've asked me to bring these in.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31What exactly are these two here?
0:05:31 > 0:05:35These are beautiful green bone tools
0:05:35 > 0:05:39that were found in the Great Orme mine, OK?
0:05:39 > 0:05:41See - William's holding it the right way. These are digging tools.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43These are cattle bones.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45These ones are only about 4,000 years old. Right.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48So that's right at the beginning of the Bronze Age?
0:05:48 > 0:05:49Yes, but they've taken on this
0:05:49 > 0:05:52beautiful green hue from the malachite.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55It's leached into the bone itself.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57And this, then - is that a rib?
0:05:57 > 0:05:59That's a rib bone, again of a cattle,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03and this is similar to the one that would have been discovered in here,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05in Badger's Cave.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09We have one that has two slices on it.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11It may have been actually used when it was butchered but some people
0:06:11 > 0:06:15are suggesting maybe it's a tally of some sort.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18I tell you what's really lovely as well - I saw them on the way in -
0:06:18 > 0:06:19we've got herald moths in here.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21See, there's one just above your head?
0:06:21 > 0:06:23And there are two more here.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25And these will come in in the autumn.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29They'll spend the winter here, and then go back out in spring.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33They'll overwinter...one has even got some drops of dew on it.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35They're a beautiful sort of rusty colour.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38They are, sort of burnished orange in colour. Yeah.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Do you know, I've come in here many, many times
0:06:40 > 0:06:41and I've never noticed them before.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43That's because you're looking for different things.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46You're looking at all the archaeology and what's here.
0:06:46 > 0:06:47I've got not a clue with that.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51I'm looking for the wildlife and finding herald moths.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Yes. There's something here for everyone really. Absolutely, yeah.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04During spring, the Great Orme is an important stopover point
0:07:04 > 0:07:07for migrating birds, so it's worthwhile getting up at dawn to
0:07:07 > 0:07:11scan the headland for any visitors that may have landed.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Alan Davies lives in Llandudno, just below the Orme,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20and regularly comes up here to see what's dropped in.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Nice morning, anyway, Alan.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25It's a perfect morning. These are the sort of mornings you want on the Orme.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27It's calm, a little bit of light breeze from the east,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30and that anticipation is what it's all about at this time of year.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33Coming out this morning, you see the wheatear on the wall down there now
0:07:33 > 0:07:35and that's a really good sign.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37You see a wheatear drop in and you think, if the wheatear's here,
0:07:37 > 0:07:39maybe there's going to be something else as well.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41There's quite a few wheatear, I think.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43Over there on the edge of the limestone over there.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46So all of those will be passing through on their way further north,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49will they, all these? That's the great thing about these birds,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51they just drop in. You never know how long they're going to stay.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53They might stay an hour, they might stay a week.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Perhaps some of these birds are even going to go as far north as Greenland.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58To think that a wheatear can fly from Africa to Greenland,
0:07:58 > 0:08:01stopping off here in north Wales to feed,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03it's just mind-boggling, really.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06That's the most exciting thing about this time of year.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Why here? Because it's a really well-known spot for birders to come,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13because it does attract so many migrants.
0:08:13 > 0:08:14Yeah. It's the geography really.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17You've seen how the Great Orme sticks out into the Irish Sea -
0:08:17 > 0:08:18you've got the coast on both sides.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Imagine you're a migrant flying over and you see that land sticking out
0:08:21 > 0:08:23into the sea and you think - "This is my chance!
0:08:23 > 0:08:27"Do I stop now and rest, or do I carry on over that Irish Sea?"
0:08:27 > 0:08:31A lot of birds think, "Let's drop down, have a rest, have a feed,"
0:08:31 > 0:08:33before they continue their migration further north again.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58I've come over to the eastern side of the park now
0:08:58 > 0:09:00and this is St Tudno's Church
0:09:00 > 0:09:03and it's from here that Llandudno gets its name.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08And the original church here dates back nearly 1,500 years
0:09:08 > 0:09:12and it's a lovely place to come because it's really quiet, really peaceful.
0:09:12 > 0:09:13It's also pretty good for migrant birds.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Quite a few migrant birds stop for a rest here and I've been told
0:09:17 > 0:09:20by a local birder that just up here there's a mistle thrush's nest,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22so I'll go and have a look at that, I think.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33The mistle thrush nest is just in that bush by the wall,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35the other side of those graves.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37I have to say, unusual for a mistle thrush,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41because every other nest I've ever seen has been quite high up
0:09:41 > 0:09:45in a tall tree but here, there aren't many tall trees so needs must
0:09:45 > 0:09:49and she's sitting really happily on eggs there while he's off.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52He'll be defending the nest if anything comes past,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55but at the moment, it's just a picture of serenity.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05The male has returned.
0:10:05 > 0:10:06It will attack any intruder that
0:10:06 > 0:10:09enters his territory, including people.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16This pair will stay together through the seasons
0:10:16 > 0:10:18and may well use this tree every year.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21She will do most of the incubating
0:10:21 > 0:10:24and with no present threat to his patch,
0:10:24 > 0:10:25what else do you do on a sunny day
0:10:25 > 0:10:28other than give yourself a good clean?
0:10:34 > 0:10:37The Great Orme is home to cashmere goats.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39The herd, which has roamed the Orme
0:10:39 > 0:10:41since the middle of the 19th century,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45is apparently descended from a pair of goats that were presented by the
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Shah of Persia to Queen Victoria shortly after her coronation.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54They are lovely creatures but they become a nuisance if their numbers
0:10:54 > 0:10:59become too high, so - believe it or not - they're taking contraceptives.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04Sally, the country park warden, is supplying them with a birth control.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06I make it, is it ten?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Yes, I think there are, yes.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10With just the one little one?
0:11:10 > 0:11:15That's right, yes. And she's with a nanny that isn't vaccinated with the
0:11:15 > 0:11:16contraceptive vaccine.
0:11:16 > 0:11:17I'd know if she was vaccinated -
0:11:17 > 0:11:20she'd be wearing ear tags in both ears.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23So you vaccinate some of these goats now just to control them,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25to make sure they're not producing any more young?
0:11:25 > 0:11:30Yes, that's the way we've adopted to manage the goat numbers.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32That's a good way to do it, isn't it?
0:11:32 > 0:11:36So we've got ten here. How many have you got on the whole of the Orme?
0:11:36 > 0:11:40The total population at the last count, including this year's kids,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42was 112.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Is that ideal for what you want, or
0:11:44 > 0:11:47would you want a few more or a few less?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Well, we've reached what we think is our ideal.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53We've reduced the population down from 220 -
0:11:53 > 0:11:56that was the highest number on the Orme back in the year 2000.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57It's gone down a lot, then.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Yeah. We've done that with a combination of contraceptive control
0:12:01 > 0:12:06and also relocating a few goats in small herds to other nature reserves
0:12:06 > 0:12:08for conservation grazing.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Well done, you. With the combination of the two, we've managed gradually,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13over the years, to bring it down
0:12:13 > 0:12:16to...around 100 is what we were aiming for.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19And one thing that's really obvious to me is that these goats here -
0:12:19 > 0:12:22they're very, very different, different looking goats,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25to the ones you get in the high mountains of north Wales.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Yeah, these are cashmere goats,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30so they're completely different to the goats of Snowdonia.
0:12:30 > 0:12:37Mostly pure white and introduced in the sort of late 1800s, we think,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40although there's no exact date for when they were introduced.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43And they have that lovely beard as well.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Yeah, yeah - nannies as well as... Even the women!
0:12:45 > 0:12:47..the billies, yeah!
0:12:47 > 0:12:49So these are all nannies, you say?
0:12:49 > 0:12:53They'll be in a herd together now. Yes. And the billies will be where?
0:12:53 > 0:12:56The billies will be in groups together in various places
0:12:56 > 0:12:59around the headland. I tell you the other big difference -
0:12:59 > 0:13:01the horns on these are nowhere near
0:13:01 > 0:13:04as big as the ones up in the high mountains. No, they are different.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07These are nanny goats, so they're always shorter.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11But a billy goat has quite impressive horns.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14Look at that! That's a horn from an eight-year-old billy.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Wow!
0:13:15 > 0:13:19That is massive. And that's eight years old, you say?
0:13:19 > 0:13:21Yeah. They say you can count. Is that one to there?
0:13:21 > 0:13:27Yeah. Two, three, four, five, six,
0:13:27 > 0:13:29seven, and then eight to the base, is it?
0:13:29 > 0:13:33That's right, yeah. Coming into its ninth year, this one? Yes. Wow!
0:13:33 > 0:13:35I know a lot of people like coming up here and seeing the goats.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39Look at them now. Beautiful weather, beautiful day,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42and what a fabulous backdrop - the whole of Llandudno behind them.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Yeah. Typical goats, they're right on the edge.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Right on the edge, especially nanny goats. They love being on the edge.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52It's where they can escape to and take their kids to safety
0:13:52 > 0:13:55if anything comes along. Dogs, people.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57That's fantastic. Lovely looking things.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14This is a very different part of the Great Orme.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16It's got a different feel to it.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Looking down over the bay and the pier and the Little Orme
0:14:19 > 0:14:21and the town itself over there and you've got this -
0:14:21 > 0:14:26this is the old Druid Circle from the 1963 National Eisteddfod.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29It's called the Happy Valley and it's a beautiful place.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32You've got woodland and you've got the gardens as well.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33It's a great place to come.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40The gardens are very different to
0:14:40 > 0:14:43the exposed open spaces on the summit.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45And Shirley is one of the gardeners
0:14:45 > 0:14:48who's responsible for keeping the Valley in check.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Hello there. Oh, hello.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59How are you? All right? I'm fine, thank you, Iolo.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Tell you what - you've got the best job in the world in this weather!
0:15:03 > 0:15:05I have got the best job and I'm working
0:15:05 > 0:15:07in the best office, aren't I?
0:15:07 > 0:15:09The best office to come to in the morning.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11You are indeed. It's a really,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14really nice mix and it looks cracking.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16It's the best time of year with all these flowers and the bees
0:15:16 > 0:15:19are everywhere as well. Now, the park itself,
0:15:19 > 0:15:23I saw a picture when I was in town a few years ago.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27I remember seeing a picture of some kind of event here in Victorian times,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and there were thousands here.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31Yes. So they must have held, what,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33open-air concerts and all kinds of things here?
0:15:33 > 0:15:37They did. As you come up to as is now the cafe,
0:15:37 > 0:15:41just on the bottom of the hill here, that used to be the theatre.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45And it forms a natural amphitheatre shape and they would have had all
0:15:45 > 0:15:49sorts of acts that we might laugh at now
0:15:49 > 0:15:54but back then it was really, really popular. Really popular.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58Today, the old theatre site has been transformed into these beautiful
0:15:58 > 0:16:01gardens but the relationship between Happy Valley and the Great Orme's
0:16:01 > 0:16:04famous goats is a bit testing.
0:16:04 > 0:16:10We've got a goat issue and the goats seem to like quite a lot of what
0:16:10 > 0:16:14we're planting. People either love or they hate the goats, don't they?
0:16:14 > 0:16:17In general, the public love them and they are cute.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21They come down with the babies but they do walk through and this is
0:16:21 > 0:16:25like a smorgasbord for them. This is their dinner table.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27So they will come down off the
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Great Orme in the night and they just help themselves.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33But we found out especially what we're planting,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35we're putting it in and they're coming in at night and they're
0:16:35 > 0:16:37defoliating quite a lot of it.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40So I'm having to take these hebes out because they're not going to do
0:16:40 > 0:16:43anything now for the summertime.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46These should be a lot of foliage, looking really good by now.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48So that's what's happened here?
0:16:48 > 0:16:51This is exactly what's happened here. Oh, wow!
0:16:51 > 0:16:54The plants have been completely chewed down.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57They chew the bark, they chew the foliage.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00So we've just got to go with it and find something they don't like.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03That's what we're aiming to do as well, I think, next time.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26This is interesting. I've come right up to the top end of Happy Valley
0:17:26 > 0:17:29and there's quite a few mature trees here
0:17:29 > 0:17:32and a pair of great spotted woodpeckers has bred in here
0:17:32 > 0:17:34somewhere but the chicks are out of the nest.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37I think they've got three chicks in all and what they're doing is,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41they've led them onto this rocky slope here and the adult is teaching
0:17:41 > 0:17:46the youngsters how to dig around in the soil for invertebrates.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49That's something you usually see in a bird like a green woodpecker.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51That will spend a lot of time on the floor.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55But great spotted woodpeckers spend nearly all of their time high up
0:17:55 > 0:17:59in trees and looking for grubs in dead branches, rotting wood,
0:17:59 > 0:18:00that kind of thing.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03But this parent has led the youngsters and is showing them,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06basically, how to find food in here.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09They're cracking little birds because they've got
0:18:09 > 0:18:12these bright red caps. They're lovely little things.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15They'll spend the next few weeks with the adults, learning.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Here we are. There's one moved up onto the rocks higher up, I think.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21They'll spend the next few weeks learning as much as they can
0:18:21 > 0:18:23from these adults - where to find food, where to look for food.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26And then they'll be kicked out after that.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45Sea birds nest on the steep cliffs of the Great Orme but they're very
0:18:45 > 0:18:47difficult to see from the headland itself.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52The best way of seeing them is from a boat.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Every year, there's an annual bird count by a team
0:18:55 > 0:18:58from the country park and I've joined them on this trip.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09The amazing thing is, you can't see much of this from the road
0:19:09 > 0:19:12or from the Orme itself - you've got to come onto the sea,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15and there are hundreds, hundreds of sea birds here.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Mainly guillemots, you've got razorbills, you've got kittiwakes,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21you've got cormorants as well, a few fulmars,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24and all just packed onto these sheer cliffs.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26You see from here just how tall some of these cliffs are.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29They've got to be about 250, 300 foot tall.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36These birds will probably start nesting on the cliffs here
0:19:36 > 0:19:39April time, mid-April maybe,
0:19:39 > 0:19:44and the last chicks will leave probably early to mid-July,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48so if you were to come here late July, August, it'll be dead.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50There will be hardly anything here at all.
0:19:50 > 0:19:51Maybe the odd gull and that's it.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56And I always love the way that nature divides things up.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00You've got one cliff and you've got maybe 1,000 birds on there but
0:20:00 > 0:20:02they've all got their little niche,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04they've all got their different little place.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07The guillemots, they'll be on the long ledges,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09maybe no more than the width of my hand,
0:20:09 > 0:20:10and you'll have them packed on there.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12Dozens, sometimes hundreds.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15Kittiwakes, then, they'll build a nest -
0:20:15 > 0:20:18they'll build a nest on the little knob or a
0:20:18 > 0:20:20little bit of rock jutting out.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22They'll stick the nest on there.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24And then cormorants - they need a little bit more space,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26they need wider ledges.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29So even though it looks like they're all packed on there,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33they've all got their own individual little place within that one cliff.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I've come right over to the western edge of the Orme now.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12You're looking out over the sea and the high mountains in the distance
0:21:12 > 0:21:16over there and this was a Coast Artillery School.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19You can see this is where the guns were pointing out to sea and the
0:21:19 > 0:21:22habitat here is very different from anywhere else on the Orme.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26A lot of cover, a lot of shrubs, a lot of bracken, a lot of gorse here.
0:21:26 > 0:21:27It's really good for rabbits.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31Signs of rabbits - I've seen a few walking down here, rabbit droppings,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34rabbit holes everywhere, and it's also a great place for stoats.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37I've been told that a stoat has been seen here regularly
0:21:37 > 0:21:40for the last few days so what I'm thinking of doing is,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44I'm going to sit myself down on this green bank over here -
0:21:44 > 0:21:46I'll sit there and I'll watch,
0:21:46 > 0:21:49because I'll have a view of all of this and the weather's perfect.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51The wind will be in my face, the sun is out,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and I'll be able to see, hopefully, if anything moves here.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56So I'll sit, I'll watch and I'll wait.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04The old site of the Second World War Artillery School
0:22:04 > 0:22:09is also a perfect place to see kestrels.
0:22:09 > 0:22:10They like to launch off the cliffs
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and hover in search of mice and lizards.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It's quite amazing to see how their heads stay perfectly still,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18irrespective of other body movements.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41There he is, there he is, there he is - on the wall, on the wall!
0:22:41 > 0:22:42He's just gone up on the wall with a bit of rabbit.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47He's just gone off. Wow, they're fast movers!
0:22:47 > 0:22:49It's brilliant.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52They're such cracking animals. They're not rare.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54They're quite widespread.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58But I don't see stoats that often and when you do, I tell you what,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00it really makes your day.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02I think what's happened - I'm not 100% sure -
0:23:02 > 0:23:05she's obviously killed recently - I think she killed yesterday -
0:23:05 > 0:23:08and she's got a cache somewhere, she's hidden it somewhere,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and she's coming to retrieve food from that cache.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15I suspect the cache might be in this little bush over here because she
0:23:15 > 0:23:19makes her way across the road and up onto that little wall and uses this
0:23:19 > 0:23:22cover here. What's interesting, I can track where she is,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26not because I can see her but because I can hear the small birds'
0:23:26 > 0:23:28alarm calling as she goes.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32But like a little clockwork toy, like a wind-up toy,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37you wind them up, put them down and off they go, busy all the time.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38Fantastic animals.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57(It's actually rubbing in the moss.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01(Really enjoying itself, having a bit of a scratch.)
0:24:17 > 0:24:18(Right in front of me!)
0:24:24 > 0:24:27And there are so few places I know of in the whole of Wales
0:24:27 > 0:24:32where you've got a good chance to sit down and watch stoats like this.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36It's such a rare thing. It's a real privilege.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Later, the stoat returned to kill another rabbit.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54The rabbit is at least three times the size of the stoat
0:24:54 > 0:24:57but that's no problem for this efficient predator.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02It's an incredibly strong animal.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07It'll hide this catch until it needs it.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15And while all this activity is taking place - others,
0:25:15 > 0:25:20unaware of the action, are picking blackberries and enjoying the view.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Autumn's a great time up on the Orme.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41There's something going on, it doesn't matter where you go now
0:25:41 > 0:25:44and I've come right up to the top to look for something
0:25:44 > 0:25:46which is pretty unique to here, really.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49It's the best place to see it in the whole of Wales -
0:25:49 > 0:25:50and that's the goat rut.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54There's a group of goats here - actually, they're all around me.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57I'm being surrounded by goats at the moment. There's some down here.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59But it's this lot here that I'm interested in,
0:25:59 > 0:25:59because you've got subordinate males.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01You see the heads and the horns there,
0:26:03 > 0:26:09there are three subordinate males and they're working out a hierarchy.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Every now and again they'll turn, they'll head-butt
0:26:12 > 0:26:16and I'm waiting to see whether we'll get a real, full-on, meaty rut -
0:26:16 > 0:26:21because the dominant male, he is down here with a couple of females.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25You can see him just over the horizon here.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28That's the dominant male down there and he's happy.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32He knows that he's not going to be challenged in any way this year,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34so he's concentrating on the two females.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37They're about to come into season and he's sticking close.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39He's quite loving with them, actually.
0:26:39 > 0:26:43But the real action is going to be, I suspect, over here.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50The subordinate males look as if they're playing a game of
0:26:50 > 0:26:51Ring a Ring o' Roses.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57The top goat looks on amusingly.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05You may think he's having a laugh,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08but he's actually sampling the air for pheromones
0:27:08 > 0:27:10to see if one of his females is receptive.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18Meanwhile, the threesome have had enough of the game.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20It's now down to serious business.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39From the look of this handbag fight,
0:27:39 > 0:27:43it's going to be a long time before they'll be challenging number one.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54What a great way to end my visit here to the Great Orme -
0:27:54 > 0:27:56in the company of the goats.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59They've given up the fighting for now.
0:27:59 > 0:28:00They've found an uneasy truce but
0:28:00 > 0:28:02I'm sure it will kick-off again soon.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06And as a naturalist, I always love coming up here.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08The rare butterflies, the migrant birds,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10there's always something to see.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13But even if you're not into your natural history,
0:28:13 > 0:28:16it's still a great place to come.
0:29:00 > 0:29:01I'm Hayley Pearce.
0:29:01 > 0:29:01I'm Hayley Pearce.