A Highland Haven Natural World


A Highland Haven

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'This isn't Patagonia or the Himalayas...

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'although you might think it was.

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'It's Scotland.

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'As a wildlife filmmaker,

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'I've been able to work in some amazing far-flung places.

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'But my greatest challenge yet

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'was to spend a year making a film

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'about the elusive creatures of the Highlands.

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'The most serious problem is usually the weather.

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'You can have day after day when the rain is horizontal.

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'And when the weather settles down, the midges can make your life hell.

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'And yet I love this place, like nowhere else on earth.'

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MIDGES HUM

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If you're patient enough and you really sit it out,

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you can see some amazing sights.

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And I think that's what makes me come back.

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It's got a charm to it, this place.

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It's not as if the wildlife is in your face,

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it's not as if you come bumping into great spectacles.

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'I've come to Loch Maree in the North West Highlands -

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'one of the remotest corners of Britain.

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'It's somewhere I know well from my childhood.

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'The loch is covered in magical, secretive little islands,

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'straight out of Swallows And Amazons.

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'It's a last refuge for some of Britain's rarest wildlife,

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'like black-throated divers...

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'..and sea eagles.

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'Now, I'm going to spend a year

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'following them in this barren landscape,

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'as they too struggle with the fickle weather to raise their young.

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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'Deep Atlantic depressions

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'can hit the west coast of Scotland at any time of year.

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'As clouds rise up the hills, they drop their rain.

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'The summits can get a little snow too, but not much.

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'This is the wettest place in Britain.

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'It can rain two days in every three.

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'Ruadh Stac Mor, the summit of Beinn Eighe, dominates this landscape.

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'You really don't want to get caught out on this hill

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'when a storm comes in.

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'The mountains, or hills as they're called here,

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'are some of the most dangerous and challenging in Britain.

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WIND HOWLS

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'The wind is so strong

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'that waterfalls can flow up as much as down.

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'Loch Maree below can fill like a basin

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'before draining quickly back to the sea.

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'This 14-mile-long freshwater loch is close to the sea,

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'and because of that it attracts some rather unusual wildlife.

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'In the spring,

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'this haunting noise can be heard echoing across the loch.

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HIGH-PITCHED WARBLE

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'It's a black-throated diver.

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'They come here to feast on the loch's abundant small fish.

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'They're surprisingly snake-like for a bird.

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'I love the white beaded necklace they wear under their chins.

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'And the chequered patterns on their backs are stunning.

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'These birds have come in from the sea to breed.

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'They like the shelter of these islands,

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'and are looking for a secluded spot to nest.

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'They may find solitude here,

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'but in this land of rain there's the constant risk of flooding.

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'In Britain they're incredibly rare -

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'just over 200 pairs -

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'but a few have always nested on this loch.

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'The islands attract other rare birds, although these are newcomers.

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'The white-tailed eagle, or sea eagle, lives here as well,

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'but they weren't here when I was a boy in the 1970s.

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'Extinct for a hundred years,

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'the eagles were recently reintroduced from Scandinavia.

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'This bird made the loch its home about ten years ago.

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'Such a presence.

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'It's like the return of a king.

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'Their eagle eyes don't miss much.

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'This one has found a dead deer by the water.

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'Red deer fatalities are common in early spring.

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'It's weeks and weeks of cold rain that does it.

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'More die here than anywhere else in Scotland.

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'But all the bodies

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'make it a great place for big scavengers like sea eagles.

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'A hooded crow close up looks quite large -

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'until you see it beside the sea eagle.

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'The hoodie is waiting for the eagle

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'to use its massive beak to break into the carcass.

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'There's an indescribable spirit to this place,

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'and there are sinister legends about the islands -

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'particularly this one, Isle Maree.

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'Ancient graves litter the forest floor.

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'Some date back to the Vikings.

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'I've heard it said that a burial on the island

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'would protect the graves from wolves,

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'which were once a problem on the mainland.

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EERIE HOWLING

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'I've never quite bought into that,

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'as I've seen wolves swimming far out into lakes in the Arctic.

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'But with legends of pagan worship and bull sacrifices

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'the island has a real chill, believe me.

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'The sea eagles don't seem to like the island either.

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'They've chosen to nest on an island thick with ancient pine trees.

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'They use the same nest year after year,

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'until it gets blown down by a winter storm.

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'There are two chicks, and they're both looking well.

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'It's now early May, and the last few weeks have been dry.

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'Eagle chicks are very vulnerable soon after hatching,

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'particularly here.

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'By this time last year,

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'both offspring had already died of pneumonia.

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'So far, both the chicks are doing well.

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'I just hope the weather will be kind to them.

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'The black-throated divers are sitting on eggs.

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'They've chosen to nest on a man-made raft

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'put out for them by the wardens of this reserve.

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'These floating beds can rise and fall with the water level,

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'which stops the nest drowning.

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'Other divers have chosen real islands.

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'You can see how low the water level is at the moment.

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'A bit of rain, and they'll be in trouble.

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'They can't lay far from the edge of the loch,

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'as they really struggle to walk on land.

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'They're just not built for it -

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'they're a sea bird, after all.

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'The eagles wouldn't want to be far from the coast, either.

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'That's where most of their food is coming from.

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'From the distinctive forked tail,

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'I'd say this is a mackerel going down.

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'The parents are doing well.

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'There seems no shortage of food.

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'But something is up with my divers.

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'Something's wrong.

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'Neither of them is sitting.

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'They're looking spooked. Heads down.

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'Have they deserted the nest?

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'I watch from a distance for hours, but they don't return.

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'One egg has been abandoned, and the other's missing.

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'It's a complete mystery.

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'Did something scare them?

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'I wonder if the low water helped a predator from the shore.

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'Or maybe an aerial nest robber like a raven.

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'But it seems odd they've only lost one egg.

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'Their chances of raising a family now look very slim.

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'Where IS the rain?

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'It's only May, and I've never seen this place look so dry.

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'These ptarmigan are acting strangely.

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'They should be on eggs, or with chicks.

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'But they're looking for water.

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'Normally they don't need to drink,

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'as there should be enough moisture in their diet of heather shoots.

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'This place typically gets a metre of rain in May.

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'But this year there hasn't yet been a drop.

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'It's the driest May on record.

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'Small fish are stranded in pools.

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'Some of them will need to get out to sea to grow.

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'The receding shoreline is exposing muds that are rich in insect life.

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'It's a good thing for birds that come here to feed.

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'Grey wagtail.

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'And ringed plover.

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'The beach nesting divers have done well.

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'They've just hatched two chicks.

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'Any rain will pose less danger to them now,

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'as even small chicks can swim.

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'I'm surprised to find the other pair still hanging out by the raft.

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'They've laid, again.

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'A second clutch of eggs -

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'but they're now a month behind the others.

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'It's so late in the season.

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'The odds are stacked against them, even if the eggs do hatch.

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'The strangely dry spring is over.

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'It's June, and rain-bearing clouds are piling in from the west.

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'This is more like the Highland weather I love and expect.

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'Small sea trout, called finnock, can now swim down river to sea.

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'The vital cycle that was damaged by the drought has now been fixed.

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'Something else moves in the rain-sodden ground.

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'They emerge into the drizzle in their millions.

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'The Highland midge.

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'They're on the wing from April until September,

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'but after these June rains they've hit their peak.

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'The males form swarms which the females visit to find a mate.

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'It's actually only the female midges that bite -

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'they need blood to get into breeding condition.

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'The only way to cope

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'is to realise that this whole ecosystem needs them.

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'They're just another part of this complex Celtic rainforest,

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'and many creatures feed on them or their larvae.

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'The peaty ground has softened with the rain and swollen the bogs.

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'Out of them emerges one of the jewels of summer,

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'and one that also eats midges -

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'dragonflies.

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'I've never seen them in greater numbers.

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'This place has more species than anywhere else in Scotland.

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'I remember being entranced by them as a boy.

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'I wanted to catch one and soak up its brilliance.

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'But of course I never got close.

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'What I didn't realise

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'was that this is one of the best places to see them in Britain.

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'They thrive here BECAUSE of the rain and the midges.

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'For anything that wants to escape the midges, the best route is up.

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'This is where the deer go.

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'There's a continual breeze -

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'but there's something else to worry about.

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'Golden eagles.

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'I had some amazing encounters with them.

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'Even though I find them a bit intimidating.

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'But for the deer,

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'they represent a real threat to the lives of their young.

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'The calves wisely stay close to Mum when an eagle is overhead.

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'For five days I watched the eagle circling over the newborn calves,

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'but I never saw a kill.

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'Although there are plenty of locals that have.

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'Back down at the loch, the divers are still sitting on eggs.

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'It's unusually late, but it can't be long before they hatch.

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'I barely recognise the eaglets,

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'yet it was only a couple of weeks since I saw them last.

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'Their flight feathers have grown,

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'and there's no down left on them at all.

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'They look as if they know

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'they should be doing SOMETHING with those huge wings.

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'And to see this tender side between them -

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'that's new for me.

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'It could have been another story.

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'A shortage of food early on can make the siblings fight.

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'The younger one usually dies, and may even be eaten.

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'But these two are more like friends.

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'The weather up here can get you down,

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'but on a beautiful evening like this you quickly forget.

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'The changing light is mesmerising.

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'Even a wet day can finish with a sunset of gold.

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'Dawn in late June,

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'and there's a flurry of activity at the diver raft.

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'The chicks have finally hatched.

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'The divers have done well to hatch this second clutch,

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'but there's still an awfully long way to go.

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'They need to work on their parenting skills.

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'That soft down isn't waterproof, and heavy rain can drown them.

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'They seem terribly fragile on such a big, windswept loch.

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'With a bird this rare, every chick counts.

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'These chicks are a month behind the other divers,

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'so there's no time to lose.

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'The loch is an important nursery for many species of fish,

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'and that's what makes it such a good nursery for the divers too.

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'The parents must keep the chicks well away from the mainland shore.

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'Pine martens work through the trees and along the edge of the loch,

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'looking for nestlings and fledglings.

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'They're highly intelligent predators, and miss nothing.

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WAVES RUSH

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'There's a storm coming in,

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'and the wind is rising already.

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'At this young age, the chicks are very vulnerable.

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'The waves are building, and they're bobbing around like corks.

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'They need to get out of the water before it gets any choppier.

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SHRILL CRIES

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ANXIOUS WARBLE

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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WIND HOWLS

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'Everything up here turns on the weather.

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'A sunny day can turn into a rainstorm within hours.

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'And all the Highland animals need to be able to respond.

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'There's one creature that has been WAITING for this rain.

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'They smell the fresh rain that's pouring off the peaty hills -

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'a smell they recognise in the estuary -

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'and they follow it up the river to the loch.

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'Salmon.

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'Some of these fish

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'might have been waiting for rain for a month or more.

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'Loch Maree's salmon and sea trout numbers

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'have crashed since I was a child.

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'It breaks my heart.

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'As a fishery it's a shadow of its former self.

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'Scientists are trying to work out what's gone wrong,

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'and how to reverse the decline.

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'Hopefully, they will.

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'July turns to August.

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'The young divers have grown -

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'but they're still vulnerable to bad weather.

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'That soft down still covers their backs.

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'They're still being fed by the adults,

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'and I haven't seen them try to dive yet.

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'It'll be several weeks more before they can fly.

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'Unlike the eagles, which could fledge at any time now.

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'A wind like this should encourage the youngsters.

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'It could be an exciting day.

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'The adults need only open their vast wings to the wind

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'to generate lift.

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'They've deliberately underfed the eaglets in the last few weeks,

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'otherwise the youngsters would have little reason to leave.

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'But it's the irresistible draw of the wind

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'that finally tempts it into the air.

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'They throw their feet up, begging for food.

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'Maybe they can tell that the adults have fed recently.

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'Perhaps the adults want to take the youngsters to a carcass.

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'What a moment for them -

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'seeing the islands below for the first time.

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'But the wind is still rising,

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'and one of the eaglets has been airborne for well over an hour.

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'It must be tired by now.

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'Like a broken kite, it suddenly swings out of control downwind.

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'A good recovery, but it still looks pretty shaky...

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'..compared to its mother's effortless mastery of the air.

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'It's TRYING to land,

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'but the thin top branches just can't hold its weight.

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'The adults stay on the wing, as if to support the youngster.

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'It finally descends into the leeward side of the tree,

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'and looks for a larger branch.

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'That's quite an introduction to flying.

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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'In the last 12 hours we've had everything -

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'sun, rain and now gale force winds.

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'That's the west coast of Scotland for you -

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'all the seasons in one day.

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'As we move towards the autumn equinox,

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'it'll become even more unstable...

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'..with cold, wet fronts driving in one after the other.

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'It's early September.

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'Divers are now on the wing.

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'Some have already left for the sea -

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'except my family, which is still out on the loch.

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'At least they're now learning how to fish.

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'Like the eagles, the adult divers are feeding their chicks less,

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'encouraging them to join them underwater.

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'I guess it's as big a step as flying was for the young eagles.

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URGENT CALL

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'Up in the hills, the ground is soaked through.

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'Hundreds of glinting burns bring the landscape to life,

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'and below, the rivers are swollen.

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'But the real power in this flood

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'is the effect it has on the Highland wildlife.

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'The loch has risen by three metres.

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'Salmon respond to this extra water,

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'and use it to get up the steeper, narrower sections.

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'They're gaining height all the time.

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'I'm hoping my young divers will soon manage to fly.

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'They're such big birds - the size of a goose.

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'But with short, narrow wings,

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'they have to run at speed to get any lift.

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'Not this time.

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'But spending hours quietly by the loch brings other surprises.

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'A good-looking stag

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'is heading for the shelter of the islands for the winter.

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'This is a rare moment to see.

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'Could this be it?

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'The first few flights of any bird are often ungainly,

0:39:530:39:57

'but once in the air, this diver looks surprisingly competent.

0:39:570:40:01

'As with the eagles,

0:40:160:40:18

'it's interesting to see how they cope with landing.

0:40:180:40:21

'This one left me speechless.

0:40:210:40:23

LOW, ECHOING HOWLING

0:41:040:41:06

'The weirdest of sounds is now echoing around the Highland glens.

0:41:140:41:18

'It's the autumn soundtrack to these hills.

0:41:230:41:26

'It's the red deer stags starting their rut.

0:41:300:41:34

RESONANT BELLOW

0:41:340:41:37

'They're sorting out who's who, and trying to impress the hinds.

0:41:370:41:41

'They're so wild and proud...

0:41:480:41:51

'although I think I'm more impressed than the hinds are.

0:41:510:41:54

BELLOWING CONTINUES

0:41:560:41:59

INSISTENT BELLOW

0:42:050:42:07

'Chasing can be dangerous over this treacherous ground.

0:42:180:42:22

'An injury now would probably result in a slow and uncomfortable death.

0:42:420:42:47

'By December, these hills are really cold and bleak.

0:42:580:43:03

'Most of the deer get off this high ground.

0:43:150:43:18

'Those that remain are always moving

0:43:190:43:21

'to shelter from the changing, cold, wet wind.

0:43:210:43:25

WIND HOWLS

0:43:260:43:28

'It feels dead up here.

0:43:500:43:51

'Even the crows are silent.

0:43:530:43:55

'But it's rare to come in from a walk on the hill disappointed -

0:44:040:44:08

'even in December, when it's this cold.

0:44:080:44:10

'Look carefully at the water, and you'll find new life stirring.

0:44:130:44:18

'The most unlikely burns are full of salmon.

0:44:320:44:36

'This is where they've been heading since midsummer.

0:44:360:44:39

'There's a real thrill in seeing such a big fish in a small stream.

0:44:480:44:53

'They needed all that rain to get up here.

0:44:540:44:57

'Now, the hen fish will lay in the gravel.

0:44:580:45:01

'Too much rain, and her eggs could wash away.

0:45:010:45:04

'Too little rain, and she wouldn't have got up here.

0:45:060:45:09

'Only in January does this part of the Highlands really feel empty.

0:45:200:45:25

'Now, all the creatures that summer brought into the loch

0:45:270:45:30

'have finally returned to the sea.

0:45:300:45:32

'The sea eagles, young and old, will range the coast,

0:45:340:45:38

'waiting for storms to bring them food.

0:45:380:45:41

'The divers have rafted together, and are now fishing the seabed.

0:45:450:45:50

'And as for me,

0:45:560:45:58

'my childhood love affair with the Highlands has been rekindled,

0:45:580:46:02

'with new memories added to old of wildness and weather.

0:46:020:46:07

'What a treat to spend time with such magnificent wildlife.

0:46:220:46:27

'Watching every drama of their lives played out right in front of me.

0:46:360:46:40

'There's something defiantly wild about this landscape.

0:47:170:47:21

'I watch the clouds that bring rain,

0:47:220:47:26

'and from it both life and death.

0:47:260:47:29

'I watch the rhythm of the loch as it ebbs and flows.

0:47:310:47:36

'It's this ever-changing weather that shapes all life here.

0:47:390:47:44

'And it makes ME feel alive too.

0:47:440:47:47

'That's what keeps me coming back.'

0:47:480:47:51

'I knew that making a film up here wouldn't be easy.

0:48:110:48:14

'Filming the eagles was relatively straightforward.

0:48:170:48:20

'But I had no idea just how difficult it would be

0:48:210:48:24

'to film two of the other animals I wanted -

0:48:240:48:28

'the diver...

0:48:280:48:29

'and the pine marten.

0:48:290:48:30

'To get close to the divers -

0:48:410:48:43

'an extremely rare and sensitive species -

0:48:430:48:46

'I'd need to work with Lorna, a local diver scientist.

0:48:460:48:50

'For the last few years,

0:48:550:48:57

'she's been studying these birds on the nest,

0:48:570:48:59

'so I thought it would be easy to find a good site.

0:48:590:49:02

'But there was a mystery, one that she was investigating.'

0:49:070:49:11

No, they are still out there, but I...

0:49:110:49:13

'Diver eggs were curiously vanishing.'

0:49:130:49:17

This pair's got one egg and they nested on a raft around there before.

0:49:170:49:22

And they failed and they've now moved to an island site.

0:49:220:49:24

It's the first time they've nested here.

0:49:240:49:26

-You've got a camera on them?

-We've got a camera on here.

0:49:260:49:29

Well, it is there. The egg's there still.

0:49:310:49:34

'We would need to work fast while the diver was off this egg.

0:49:340:49:38

'We wanted to install the remote camera as quickly as possible

0:49:390:49:43

'and get out of the area.

0:49:430:49:45

'Lorna has been using them to spy on nests

0:49:450:49:48

'and to reveal what's been taking the eggs.

0:49:480:49:51

'Anything that comes close to this egg will be caught on camera.'

0:49:510:49:55

Tilt it up slightly now, it's a bit too low to the ground.

0:49:550:49:59

That's fine.

0:49:590:50:00

That's probably fine.

0:50:000:50:01

'What on earth would it be?'

0:50:010:50:04

-Are we out of here now?

-Yep, that's us.

-Good.

0:50:040:50:07

'Lorna and I moved on to a nest

0:50:070:50:09

'where the eggs had gone only a few days before.

0:50:090:50:12

'Any egg losses for these rare birds

0:50:140:50:16

'are a serious cause for concern.

0:50:160:50:18

'But I was also beginning to realise that it was going to be difficult

0:50:180:50:22

'to choose a nest that I thought would succeed.

0:50:220:50:24

'Then there was the added risk of shore-based nests flooding.

0:50:260:50:30

'What had I taken on?

0:50:300:50:32

'A nest on a raft seemed the best bet.

0:50:370:50:40

'At least it wouldn't drown if the loch were to rise after heavy rain.'

0:50:400:50:43

It's a very good hide.

0:50:430:50:45

'We put up the filming hide nearby and I just crossed my fingers.

0:50:500:50:54

'In the meantime, I thought I'd stake out the pine martens.'

0:50:570:51:01

MIDGES HUM

0:51:010:51:04

'I've known them to den in these woods before

0:51:040:51:07

'and has no reason why they shouldn't still be here.

0:51:070:51:10

'But, after long days watching,

0:51:120:51:14

'I still had no more than the odd glimpse of a pine marten.

0:51:140:51:17

'We needed much more.

0:51:190:51:21

'And I certainly hadn't remembered the midges being as bad as this.'

0:51:210:51:25

The important thing is that I get some sightings

0:51:250:51:28

before I can expect a poor cameraman to sit out these midges too.

0:51:280:51:32

MIDGES HUM

0:51:320:51:34

'To make matters worse, at this crucial stage in May,

0:51:340:51:38

'Lorna rang to say that the divers on the raft had deserted their nest.

0:51:380:51:42

'One egg abandoned, the other gone -

0:51:440:51:47

'the adults weren't going to return.

0:51:470:51:49

'I thought they were going to be safe on the raft,

0:51:510:51:54

'and we were going to be filming a hatching.

0:51:540:51:56

'I had a cameraman arriving in a week's time.

0:51:590:52:02

'It was too late to find another nest.

0:52:070:52:10

'There was a slim chance they might re-lay on the same raft.

0:52:130:52:17

'And that was my only hope.'

0:52:170:52:19

We can't put in a hide at any other clutches,

0:52:200:52:24

-because that would disturb them.

-Yeah.

0:52:240:52:26

So I've got all my eggs in one basket.

0:52:260:52:28

All your eggs on one raft.

0:52:280:52:29

-Yeah, all my eggs on one raft.

-Literally.

0:52:290:52:33

Sometimes the birds can sit very, very tight,

0:52:330:52:36

so we always like to make sure the bird's off so we don't scare them up.

0:52:360:52:40

It's better to go in slow and let them slide off slowly into the water.

0:52:400:52:43

-You know she's off?

-Yeah.

0:52:430:52:45

'Lorna has seen the birds back near the raft.

0:52:450:52:49

'I'm just hoping this could mean they're nesting again.

0:52:490:52:53

'They have re-laid. What a relief!'

0:52:550:52:58

So you can see, she actually came and laid right underneath the camera

0:52:580:53:01

when she laid second time.

0:53:010:53:03

'We just have to hope for more luck this time.

0:53:050:53:08

'But we were back in business, at least with the divers.

0:53:080:53:11

'I was back to the pine martens,

0:53:130:53:15

'determined that they weren't going to beat me.'

0:53:150:53:18

It makes me think that, all the time,

0:53:180:53:20

there are eyes looking at me.

0:53:200:53:21

The eyes of a pine marten. It knows I'm here.

0:53:210:53:24

'I really needed to find a den.

0:53:250:53:28

'To find that,

0:53:280:53:30

'I would need to establish a clear pattern of movements.

0:53:300:53:33

'A friend of mine and I built a simple phone-triggering device.

0:53:330:53:37

'I baited the inside with something I know they can't resist -

0:53:400:53:44

'a jam sandwich.'

0:53:440:53:46

The hope is that the pine marten will scurry along,

0:53:460:53:50

smell the jam sandwich in here and push that aside,

0:53:500:53:53

as a pine marten might.

0:53:530:53:54

And sniff and go, "Hmm."

0:53:550:53:57

Now, already, that's been set off.

0:53:570:54:00

-PHONE RINGS

-PineMarten1 has called.

0:54:000:54:02

That's perfect.

0:54:030:54:05

'Clever?

0:54:050:54:06

'I know how cunning pine martens can be -

0:54:060:54:09

'you have to play them at their own game.

0:54:090:54:11

'Back on the loch,

0:54:150:54:16

'our divers on the raft were thankfully still on their eggs.

0:54:160:54:20

'Over time, Lorna has been gathering some really interesting evidence

0:54:210:54:25

'from the remote cameras.

0:54:250:54:26

'I couldn't wait to go through it with her

0:54:280:54:30

'and see who the likely egg thieves might be.'

0:54:300:54:32

-That looks to me like an otter.

-Yeah.

-That is definitely an otter.

0:54:320:54:35

-So it's walked over the egg, has it?

-That's its tail.

0:54:350:54:38

I would say it's passed slightly to the side of it. More or less.

0:54:380:54:41

-It hasn't eaten the egg.

-So it's ignored the egg.

0:54:410:54:44

I even wondered there if it's sniffing

0:54:440:54:46

where the adult bird's been sitting for a long time,

0:54:460:54:48

so I wasn't quite sure what was going on there at all.

0:54:480:54:52

'Otters were clearly coming onto the raft,

0:54:520:54:55

'but if they weren't actually taking the eggs, what was?

0:54:550:54:58

'There was one visitor that I would never have suspected.'

0:55:000:55:04

-A big bound, isn't it?

-As if it's trying to catch it.

0:55:040:55:06

-Is that a pine marten to you?

-Absolutely.

0:55:060:55:08

-These are very distinct ears.

-Yeah.

0:55:080:55:11

-And then this is it moving around, I think taking the first egg.

-Yes.

0:55:110:55:15

People knew that pine martens lived on the island already,

0:55:150:55:19

and they've known that historically,

0:55:190:55:20

but somehow we hadn't really thought

0:55:200:55:22

the pine Martin was going to be there.

0:55:220:55:24

It's absolutely intriguing - without the camera trap,

0:55:240:55:26

you really would have said everything was the otter.

0:55:260:55:29

-Absolutely.

-But it's not, it's a pine marten.

0:55:290:55:33

'I was really surprised.

0:55:330:55:34

'How could the pine marten know that there were eggs on the raft,

0:55:340:55:39

'let alone swim out there and back with an egg?

0:55:390:55:42

'That's a shot for another film.

0:55:420:55:43

'They are so clever.

0:55:440:55:46

'If they find the new eggs on our raft, everything's lost.

0:55:470:55:51

'These pine martens are putting me under real pressure.

0:55:520:55:55

'And, to add insult to injury,

0:55:550:55:58

'they've now started raiding my house.'

0:55:580:56:01

In the last few nights,

0:56:010:56:02

we've suspected something's been coming into this kitchen.

0:56:020:56:05

So we have been leaving out a few jam sandwiches

0:56:050:56:07

and if you look at them, well, they've been taken off the table

0:56:070:56:10

and all the jam's been licked off, so I have to say I think it's...

0:56:100:56:14

Look at all these muddy prints, too, I think it's pretty likely

0:56:140:56:17

that the pine marten is coming in here. And, um...

0:56:170:56:20

It's getting up to the window, right up here, jumping down.

0:56:210:56:24

It's slightly ironic that, there we are, out in the woods,

0:56:240:56:27

setting these ridiculous phone traps

0:56:270:56:29

to try and work out their movements -

0:56:290:56:30

"They're so elusive, they're so intelligent!

0:56:300:56:33

"We can't see them, we don't get the better of them."

0:56:330:56:35

And yet here, now, suddenly, we've got a pine marten

0:56:350:56:37

coming in from the wild, into the cottage,

0:56:370:56:39

taking food from the kitchen and out again.

0:56:390:56:42

It's like a robber. We didn't hear anything.

0:56:420:56:44

Look at these marks down here.

0:56:440:56:46

Look at that!

0:56:460:56:47

These are the scratch marks.

0:56:470:56:49

It's actually had a really good dig.

0:56:490:56:51

It's like we're chasing each other.

0:56:510:56:53

'Well, the only slight consolation

0:56:580:57:01

'is that, if the pine marten is busy raiding my kitchen,

0:57:010:57:04

'she might be leaving the diver eggs alone.

0:57:040:57:07

'To my relief, the diver eggs did finally hatch

0:57:120:57:15

'and we filmed them through to adulthood.

0:57:150:57:18

'I was lucky.

0:57:180:57:20

'I had achieved one of my goals.

0:57:200:57:22

'But the pine marten?

0:57:230:57:25

'It got the better of us.

0:57:250:57:27

'I reckon it was always there,

0:57:280:57:30

'but she had nearly always seen us before we saw her.

0:57:300:57:34

'Just for fun,

0:57:360:57:37

'we did manage to capture our midnight thief on camera.

0:57:370:57:41

'And it turned out to be the only significant footage we ever got.

0:57:410:57:45

'That's just the way it is

0:57:490:57:50

'when you're making a film about wild animals.

0:57:500:57:53

'Despite your best efforts,

0:57:530:57:55

'there are stories that work out

0:57:550:57:57

'and those that just...get away.'

0:57:570:58:00

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0:58:240:58:27

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