:00:17. > :00:25.APPLAUSE Thank you very much, thank you very
:00:26. > :00:29.much indeed and welcome to the final Unsprung of 2017, coming to you from
:00:30. > :00:35.the beautiful Sherborne Park estate in Gloucestershire. Fantastic time
:00:36. > :00:40.here, for Unsprung and Springwatch too courtesy of the National Trust.
:00:41. > :00:45.Tonight's programme is not life so you cannot contribute but we have
:00:46. > :00:49.the usual mixture of science, photography, a bit of art and some
:00:50. > :00:57.fantastic guests. It's my pleasure to welcome Sam West, director and
:00:58. > :01:04.star of stage and screen and also a very serious birder, very, with a
:01:05. > :01:10.big list. Also joining us tonight, Brett Westwood. Our naturalist in
:01:11. > :01:14.residence, one of the greatest I've met and the man who has done 40
:01:15. > :01:22.hours of live TV in the last three weeks. Is that more than scratch
:01:23. > :01:27.mark I think it might be, yeah. -- is that more than us? What a great
:01:28. > :01:31.evening to be outside. A little bit nippy. Many of you have been in
:01:32. > :01:37.touch to say you have enjoyed Springwatch and that you are missing
:01:38. > :01:41.it already. Max Little says that it is a joy, one of my favourite things
:01:42. > :01:46.to watch, makes me want to change jobs and get out into the fields. We
:01:47. > :01:53.have hit the mark there. We had a fabulous Unsprung for you tonight.
:01:54. > :01:57.That is the first time I have blown that! We don't have a quiz for you
:01:58. > :02:02.but we asked you earlier in the week if you could identify the animals in
:02:03. > :02:08.our theme when we do Fantastical Beasts. There are seven animals.
:02:09. > :02:16.This is what it sounds like. THEME PLAYS. I haven't got any yet, I can
:02:17. > :02:22.barely hear it. It is a jangle of weird animals mashed together. Eva
:02:23. > :02:28.Green, John Gammon and Cashman got a few of them but we haven't seen
:02:29. > :02:32.anybody getting all seven of them. They work Fox, muntjac deer, sage
:02:33. > :02:37.grouse, Red Deer, stoat, wild boar and humpback whale. I would have it
:02:38. > :02:44.in my trousers if anyone had got all of those! -- I would have eaten my
:02:45. > :02:49.trousers. Well done for taking part and having a go. Another fantastical
:02:50. > :02:55.sighting we had in May was this picture, Chris. Have a look. An
:02:56. > :02:58.albatross, that has to be unusual. Black browed albatross, should be in
:02:59. > :03:02.the southern hemisphere although we have had them in the North before.
:03:03. > :03:07.There was one that spent a lot of time in Shetland. Nice to see that
:03:08. > :03:13.flying past. After we finished Springwatch last year, the day after
:03:14. > :03:17.we left Minsmere, that bird past the beach. That was taken at Brampton,
:03:18. > :03:26.and then it back down again. Unusual on this side of the planet. Well
:03:27. > :03:32.done to Joe for seeing it. The RSPB are doing some citizen science,
:03:33. > :03:36.looking at why pufflings are declining. Have a look at this
:03:37. > :03:43.picture, it has come from Lee Smith. We also have a puffin in flight.
:03:44. > :03:49.Look at that, Chris. Yes, yes it is. That's great. Get in touch if you
:03:50. > :03:55.see a puffing with a fish in its mouth. Diplomacy! Thanks, let's move
:03:56. > :03:57.on to our guests. Let's hear it for Sam.
:03:58. > :04:03.APPLAUSE Sam, thanks for coming in. Thanks
:04:04. > :04:07.for inviting me. We know you from stage and screen but we don't know
:04:08. > :04:12.you as a birder. Your interest is very keen, how did it start? Apart
:04:13. > :04:16.from dabbling as a teenager it started from having a hard job, used
:04:17. > :04:19.to run the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and I woke up most
:04:20. > :04:25.mornings thinking, I can't do this and it was the first time I had
:04:26. > :04:28.lived near anything while. I would drive west into the Derbyshire
:04:29. > :04:37.grouse moors and try and identify what was flying past. How old were
:04:38. > :04:41.you? I was 40. So you came late. I did, and then a baby came which made
:04:42. > :04:50.me realise that, I don't know, there is something about it that... We
:04:51. > :04:53.aren't... Man! Is it that you get outside and then you can switch off
:04:54. > :05:01.and engage with something completely different? There's something about
:05:02. > :05:06.having... You are painting the world with your human problems and then
:05:07. > :05:10.seeing a kestrel and suddenly the world is orchestral and you are
:05:11. > :05:15.released. Yeah. Can't do any better than that. You can disconnect from
:05:16. > :05:17.everything and focus intently on something that is quintessentially
:05:18. > :05:23.more beautiful than everything else. Exactly, well put. We have a picture
:05:24. > :05:30.here, you came late to birding but you were earlier into rats, quite
:05:31. > :05:36.clearly! You are snogging one! Kissing a pet rat. They were baby
:05:37. > :05:40.substitutes as well. They are wonderful creatures, I love them.
:05:41. > :05:45.They used to come when I called them. Today you have been out and
:05:46. > :05:56.about, never without your binoculars. Extensions of my hand!
:05:57. > :06:06.We saw yellowhammer. Corn bunting as well. A 90% decline since 1975. That
:06:07. > :06:09.is shocking. We have tried to cover the declines in Springwatch, talking
:06:10. > :06:15.about the pragmatic reality of how we shape the landscape and how these
:06:16. > :06:18.birds survive. One thing that serious birder 's always do is keep
:06:19. > :06:23.a notebook and sketchbook. We have some of your sketches and I think
:06:24. > :06:32.they are pretty good, very good. I love this spring bill. It is one of
:06:33. > :06:36.ten. This is not on my British list. I'm excited! This is after a half
:06:37. > :06:48.now await, a harrier with its that the boa. That is my 350th bird. Did
:06:49. > :06:56.you see that they had a male this year? This is from Kent, taken from
:06:57. > :07:01.a photograph. I'm not very good at drawing but I'm working on it. These
:07:02. > :07:08.are good drawings! That is a warbler singing last week on leads, near the
:07:09. > :07:15.air of. Singing in full throated ease -- in Leeds. These are waxwings
:07:16. > :07:20.where I live in Islington. That is about half the number present, there
:07:21. > :07:24.were about 30. They one of these birds that we love to love. Are they
:07:25. > :07:30.in your top ten? Absolutely, always a good day and always good for
:07:31. > :07:35.non-birders, if you want to fire somebody up, if you say they are on
:07:36. > :07:40.the corner of your road. And they do come to supermarket car parks. In
:07:41. > :07:46.large numbers. I took this one last week. Started with its wings folded
:07:47. > :07:54.and then it turned. It was taken on my phone through my boding
:07:55. > :07:59.telescope. -- birding telescope. So it is wild life in general, then?
:08:00. > :08:05.I'm not very good on dragonflies and butterflies but I'm a keen beginner.
:08:06. > :08:11.Absolutely fantastic stuff. What next in terms of birding? Any trips?
:08:12. > :08:15.Do you go abroad? I'm lucky that my work takes me, I've done some
:08:16. > :08:18.terrible films in South Africa for instance but my South African list
:08:19. > :08:26.is better than my British one! I should take the jobs where the birds
:08:27. > :08:38.are good. Everyone is to know -- wants to know, what is your British
:08:39. > :08:43.list? As of this week, 359, I got a specific tern a few days ago. I'm
:08:44. > :08:47.impressed, absolutely fantastic. We will come back to you in a little
:08:48. > :08:54.while. Lindsey. Hello, Chris, I have a prop. This is the photo from last
:08:55. > :08:58.night. I have a great job, because with the digital team I look at the
:08:59. > :09:03.videos and photos and comments and questions you send in. They are
:09:04. > :09:08.brilliant and this one really went from a photo file into a photo win.
:09:09. > :09:14.You gave this eight because it is a bird poo that looks like a bird. It
:09:15. > :09:18.has the head and the tile, something dribbling but apart from that it
:09:19. > :09:25.looks like a sparrowhawk. Well done, Ken McDonald. The attention to
:09:26. > :09:27.detail is amazing but in the production meeting you said you
:09:28. > :09:31.would like to challenge me to have a go at doing this ourselves because
:09:32. > :09:35.you thought we could do it so I have brought you some paint, a
:09:36. > :09:44.paintbrush, your own piece of paper and let's see who can do the best
:09:45. > :09:55.poo art. So I'm going to splatter this now. I have seen that bird on
:09:56. > :10:05.the side of the M25! Go on, then. I have some good practice. Here we go.
:10:06. > :10:08.It's a dragonfly, look at that! You can't stop altering your work.
:10:09. > :10:14.Unbelievable. I'm going to do mine with my finger. I don't think we can
:10:15. > :10:19.compete. This is the best one we have had, thank you. We get many
:10:20. > :10:20.fantastic pictures, our Flickr site is unbelievable. Here are some of
:10:21. > :11:02.the best. Ending with that cuckoo. You said
:11:03. > :11:09.that was one of the best we've had. Takes the biscuit. Sensational.
:11:10. > :11:14.Pictures can touch the emotions but then so can words and an Unsprung we
:11:15. > :11:17.have been celebrating unsung heroes and we have a special gentleman with
:11:18. > :11:24.us tonight who has a very special way with words. Dara is 13 and lives
:11:25. > :11:30.in Northern Ireland. In the last year he has started writing a blog
:11:31. > :11:35.about his love of nature, changing his life and touching thousands of
:11:36. > :11:40.others. As soon as I was a toddler, my mum and dad thought I was
:11:41. > :11:46.eccentric. Kids my age walked away confused and bewildered. When I was
:11:47. > :11:51.a bit older I realised why. Why was diagnosed with Aspergers on the
:11:52. > :11:58.autistic spectrum, a different way of looking at the world and of
:11:59. > :12:03.being. My obsession with nature and science helped me to deal with my
:12:04. > :12:09.anxiety, isolation, inner feelings I couldn't understand. Dara's blogs
:12:10. > :12:16.are inspired by his weekly walks into nature with his family. Oh,
:12:17. > :12:30.Heron! There is another bird. They are beautiful. It has the big head,
:12:31. > :12:34.showing "Look at my big head, I'm amazing!" Dara write down everything
:12:35. > :12:40.he sees and he channelled his passion for nature into his blog
:12:41. > :12:45.allowing him to express himself in ways that are normally very
:12:46. > :12:49.difficult for him. I can't have conversations unless I completely
:12:50. > :12:55.know the person before having that conversation and even then I find it
:12:56. > :13:03.hard. I can talk to the screen without a care in the world of what
:13:04. > :13:14.I put in it but I don't know what to say to humans. I told him he needs
:13:15. > :13:20.to relax. Just be yourself. Myself isn't really relaxed, is it? Dara's
:13:21. > :13:24.blog now has followers from nearly 30 countries from across the globe.
:13:25. > :13:29.It's just amazing that I've done this and I'm like, wow, people are
:13:30. > :13:33.interested in what I'm trying to say! Before this blog I was going
:13:34. > :13:40.like this, does anybody care about nature? I started my blog and I was
:13:41. > :13:45.going Wye, there are a lot of people who like it's just like me! -- I was
:13:46. > :13:48.going Wye. He would say that something wasn't good enough and I
:13:49. > :13:54.would say that if I wrote something I'd be very pleased, and I am an
:13:55. > :13:59.adult. And some of the terms of phrase, how did you even come up
:14:00. > :14:05.with that? And I am thinking, how did I think of that? Dara's use of
:14:06. > :14:10.language in describing the natural world is remarkable, inspiring
:14:11. > :14:15.countless others, young and old. The natural world to me is full of
:14:16. > :14:19.wonder and fascination. It seems to me that when kids reach a certain
:14:20. > :14:26.age the curiosity seems to fade. I would urge young people, especially
:14:27. > :14:35.if the natural world gives joy and knowledge, to keep the interest
:14:36. > :14:38.going. Nature and wildlife are wonders, their ability to teach us
:14:39. > :14:44.so much about the world is limitless. Let's come together in
:14:45. > :14:48.our love for nature and so that we are proud of wildlife watching and
:14:49. > :14:54.we won't ever stop. APPLAUSE
:14:55. > :15:01.What Annie 's oration or young person and I'm delighted to say that
:15:02. > :15:07.Dara and his family are with us -- what an inspirational young person.
:15:08. > :15:10.There you go. Thank you so much. Not only are you a Wildlife Hero, you're
:15:11. > :15:25.a hero of mine. Let's shake hands. Fantastic. Absolutely wonderful,
:15:26. > :15:28.such a great story. You have been so great at getting in touch across the
:15:29. > :15:32.three weeks of Springwatch and I have got some statistics for you. I
:15:33. > :15:40.have been doing my research. Over the last three weeks, we have had
:15:41. > :15:45.over 60,000 uses of the hash tag Springwatch and in terms of viewing
:15:46. > :15:49.the live cameras, we have had the equivalent of 617 days worth of
:15:50. > :15:54.viewing, not including the red button, unbelievable. I have now
:15:55. > :15:59.made this quite wonderful graph, you can see that we have gone off the
:16:00. > :16:08.scale in terms of people getting in touch. That is a pretty basic graph!
:16:09. > :16:13.We have had some imaginative grass. We even had one with the little tail
:16:14. > :16:16.of a stoat. You are a wonderful person, Lindsey, but you have to
:16:17. > :16:23.work on your grass! These do keep in touch over the summer, we are here
:16:24. > :16:33.at and you have seen the website. If you want to head to it, it is just
:16:34. > :16:36.on the BBC Springwatch page. Sometimes I ensconced myself in a
:16:37. > :16:41.small tent with a celebrity, who is it going to be today?
:16:42. > :16:44.This year, the Hide Share has gone mobile. And anyone could be hiding
:16:45. > :16:59.inside. So who is next? Today, my hide has
:17:00. > :17:01.gone all high society. I pitched it in this fantastic garden that once
:17:02. > :17:06.belonged to the great Noel Coward and the current resident has a
:17:07. > :17:12.polish and for mad dogs and Englishmen, so let's tell them to
:17:13. > :17:20.today's private lives. I am in the glorious back garden of... Julian
:17:21. > :17:26.Clary. Ensconced in April it all. There are not many people I would
:17:27. > :17:34.squat in a nylon igloo for, Chris! I am very flattered! This would have
:17:35. > :17:40.been a place in the 1930s, Julian, in a nice, warm, summer's evening...
:17:41. > :17:47.The lawn would have been busy. Yes, there would have been a party here
:17:48. > :17:50.with people like Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Katharine Hepburn.
:17:51. > :17:58.Katharine Hepburn! Sometimes, if you half close your eyes, you can
:17:59. > :18:04.imagine them. Yes. You are into gardening? Well, I am into telling
:18:05. > :18:08.my garden what to do in the garden! He does a good job, even told him to
:18:09. > :18:14.do the right things, it is very picturesque. It is just a sort of
:18:15. > :18:19.Haven. Yes, I haven for animals, a lot of nectar which is great for
:18:20. > :18:25.insects. Bird box and bird feeders, you diligent telling those? Tell
:18:26. > :18:32.other people to them, there are a lot of stuff involved to keep me
:18:33. > :18:36.happy! Goodness me! I grew up in Teddington and my father lived in
:18:37. > :18:40.Norfolk so the sore holidays, it was rustic. And he had a big garden much
:18:41. > :18:48.like this and so that is what I tried to recreate. He put me on
:18:49. > :18:54.Observer of birds. I had that! Yes, I did learn a bit and my attention
:18:55. > :19:00.span does not last very long. Oh, that is nice, I will go and put some
:19:01. > :19:07.make-up on! I am looking around, what we see in the garden? Yes, tell
:19:08. > :19:11.me what you can see. I can hear swallows singing. They arrived the
:19:12. > :19:15.other day. They are on the TV aerial. They will come into the
:19:16. > :19:20.house and fly around. They are marvellous. I would love to be a
:19:21. > :19:23.swallow for five minutes. They come from Southern Africa and they would
:19:24. > :19:32.take flies from your morning, any Beatles. They time that a rival when
:19:33. > :19:35.the flies are hatching. They do. But it is now becoming so mild that for
:19:36. > :19:41.the first time last year, the swallows overwintered in the UK and
:19:42. > :19:48.this big. Problems sinking. I love problems. And a goldfinch. And a
:19:49. > :19:53.magpie. I do not like the magpie. I know they are only doing their thing
:19:54. > :19:58.but I had lovely black birds nesting over their and they were very busy
:19:59. > :20:04.feeding their young and a magpie came along and the blackbirds
:20:05. > :20:11.clearly were no more. But the magpies need food as well. Yes,
:20:12. > :20:16.whatever! You have got a good garden in terms of structure and a lot of
:20:17. > :20:20.nectar. But if I am going to be critical, and I always am, there is
:20:21. > :20:25.a bit too much lawn. I know, I was thinking that the other day. The
:20:26. > :20:28.plants have been pushed around the edge and I should be brave and have
:20:29. > :20:32.a big something in the middle. And a pond, that would be nice for
:20:33. > :20:38.wildlife. But I am worried about the dog falling in it. A shallow pond.
:20:39. > :20:42.You could dig up some of the lawn and plant some wild flowers. It is
:20:43. > :20:46.low maintenance and you cut it once a year and it looks stunning, full
:20:47. > :20:51.of butterflies and bees, you name it. Wild flowers and a pond,
:20:52. > :20:58.anything else? I would plant more trees and maybe some birch trees
:20:59. > :21:02.that grow very quickly. I will turn my entire life into being of service
:21:03. > :21:09.to birds! In my garden. Because you told me to! Excellent, excellent,
:21:10. > :21:15.noting the degree of influence. Increase the staff by two problems.
:21:16. > :21:19.And get some nature Conservatives in here and let me know when there is a
:21:20. > :21:22.position for official bird-watcher and I can swan around in the garden
:21:23. > :21:28.and point things out. APPLAUSE. And that in many ways to
:21:29. > :21:36.encourage wildlife into your garden, you can build a pond, go on a beach
:21:37. > :21:39.clean, just basically do everything. Join Morris has said, how come we
:21:40. > :21:46.never see Chris putting the hide back in its bag? I have done on
:21:47. > :21:50.numerous occasions. It is only me that can fold the wretched thing and
:21:51. > :21:52.put it away! I thought it might because you could not fold it
:21:53. > :21:59.because they are impossible, they take one second to put up and one
:22:00. > :22:06.hour to take it down. An expert showed me. Very good. I love a bit
:22:07. > :22:09.of snail male and I have got this from concerned Keith Simpson who
:22:10. > :22:13.says, I am not getting the usual birds in my bird table despite using
:22:14. > :22:18.the best quality seeds. Could any member of the team give me a clue as
:22:19. > :22:23.to the reason for this? Excellent programme, by the way. And he
:22:24. > :22:30.included this picture, any ideas? Can I have that? Look at this, it is
:22:31. > :22:35.a cat in the bird table! It is quite literally a cat amongst the pigeons
:22:36. > :22:40.and the starlings and the bluetit and the benches and everything. What
:22:41. > :22:42.can I suggest? Reposition your bird table out of the way of the
:22:43. > :22:50.wonderful cat that you have got living there. And you need a
:22:51. > :22:56.Fantastical Beast. You need a cat owl which was my pioneering and
:22:57. > :23:01.asked to call beast, it dwells in suburbia and it only eats domestic
:23:02. > :23:09.cats. I know! There is a fan, do you want one as well? Hands up who would
:23:10. > :23:17.like a cat-owl! Not that popular! Three people. Shall we move onto
:23:18. > :23:20.Fantastical Beasts? Let's do that. Some, you have got to come up with
:23:21. > :23:25.an animal which is potentially viable and has an ecology and
:23:26. > :23:28.physiology and might exist at some stage in the future and could play a
:23:29. > :23:36.productive role in the ecology of the UK, like a cat owl. What have
:23:37. > :23:40.you come up with? We are a proud nation with a proud history and at
:23:41. > :23:43.times of division, it is important we look back for our inspiration as
:23:44. > :23:51.well as forward. With that in mind, I would like to present for your
:23:52. > :23:58.approval the recently rediscovered species, the second world Second
:23:59. > :24:02.WWarbler. It is hard to catch their irrepressible and cheeky energy. It
:24:03. > :24:09.is stocky, between a bullfinch and a bald dog. It has a Latin name. That
:24:10. > :24:15.stands for ten headed, strong or brave one. At first glance, it seems
:24:16. > :24:18.to be a black cap, it is a tin helmet. It is very easy to be an air
:24:19. > :24:24.raid warden when you can actually fly. You have a blue cap and
:24:25. > :24:30.Redwings. And a white this. And I noticed the cigar. These are the
:24:31. > :24:37.normal nesting materials, a cigar and a little gas mask. We have all
:24:38. > :24:41.known the pleasure of listening to nightingales at dusk and the Second
:24:42. > :24:47.World Warbler also sings at night and the song is even lovelier,
:24:48. > :24:54.listen to this. SIREN. And it is joined by a second
:24:55. > :25:00.and they make a chorus together. I can really see it taking off! Yes,
:25:01. > :25:03.it had better take off and scramble into the skies, to be honest with
:25:04. > :25:07.you. We like the Second World Warbler!
:25:08. > :25:13.Thank you, Sam. APPLAUSE. Brett Westwood, you are
:25:14. > :25:19.our resident naturalist, you have done 40 hours in the red button, it
:25:20. > :25:21.has been great. I have enjoyed it, it is tiring and fascinating and
:25:22. > :25:29.really revealing. And I highlight? The highlight was when the two
:25:30. > :25:34.Peregrine parents that the two chicks together from above,
:25:35. > :25:40.simultaneously, and we knew they had accepted the foster chick, there was
:25:41. > :25:44.a lump in my throat. It was quite a rescue. And Sherborne? It is
:25:45. > :25:48.fantastic, I love the rolling landscape and the flower Richfield
:25:49. > :25:56.borders which are wonderful and you do not see anything like it. Walking
:25:57. > :25:59.is like tuning a radio and you are chewed into a new wave birdsong and
:26:00. > :26:05.sounds, and there butterflies everywhere. An astonishing place.
:26:06. > :26:09.Would you mind accompanying me over to the Fantastical Beasts board? We
:26:10. > :26:14.will take the Second World Warbler withers. It is time to pronounce
:26:15. > :26:19.judgment and I would like you to share your favourites. I like them
:26:20. > :26:25.all and it amazes me how inventive people are. We have got Botticelli
:26:26. > :26:34.and Rubin and everybody here. And Pollock over there! I think they are
:26:35. > :26:37.really different and look at the different styles. I am not sure
:26:38. > :26:42.about evolutionary if they would survive a very long and I worry
:26:43. > :26:47.about what they would inhabit. Pick a winner. This is really difficult,
:26:48. > :26:51.especially with some over there. It is very good but I will go for
:26:52. > :26:58.something simple and clean, the top one. Deborah Medon. I'm going to
:26:59. > :27:04.demote Stephanie Cole and Sam by the looks of it, and I will move Sue
:27:05. > :27:09.Perkins into second place, and we are sadly running out of time. We
:27:10. > :27:14.have had a great time. Come over here, Dara. Sam, thank you very much
:27:15. > :27:16.for coming along. We hope you have enjoyed it, hope to see you again
:27:17. > :27:25.next year and don't forget Autumnwatch!
:27:26. > :27:32.APPLAUSE. Never clapped at the beginning, it
:27:33. > :27:36.might be rubbish! I am really enjoying this weather. I love damp
:27:37. > :27:42.weather. I love the outdoors, as extreme as it is. Quite wonderful,
:27:43. > :27:50.the kestrel that they have made. Your life will be enriched by a
:27:51. > :28:01.cacophony of sound! This is a dead bat, that is what you pay your
:28:02. > :28:04.licence fee for, seriously! As any questions you would possibly like
:28:05. > :28:10.the answer to. Graham says, is Chris Packham wearing that jumper for a
:28:11. > :28:15.bet? Magpies need food as well. Yes, whatever! This is my favourite, it
:28:16. > :28:19.is a poo... In the shape of a bird. You are the
:28:20. > :28:32.only person I know looking after them so you are an Unsprung Hero.
:28:33. > :28:43.It is food -- it food is dong. Caple. Can you imagine what is
:28:44. > :28:47.inside here? A Flindow, a fly that can open its own windows.
:28:48. > :28:53.I say, ladies and gentlemen. It has some charm. Is that a
:28:54. > :28:56.company? I am trying to find a compliment.
:28:57. > :28:57.Thank you very much! That is all we have got time for, goodbye!
:28:58. > :29:01.APPLAUSE.