:00:09. > :00:19.It's 8pm. It's bank holiday Monday. We're live and we're about to bring
:00:19. > :00:20.
:00:20. > :00:30.you real wildlife in real time. Welcome to Springwatch. I'm not
:00:30. > :01:00.
:01:00. > :01:04.Hello, good evening or should that be (in Welsh) I need to thank Jill
:01:04. > :01:09.for their Welsh lessons and apologies if my accent was a bit
:01:09. > :01:12.dodgy. I'm not going to apologise in any way for where we are. Look
:01:13. > :01:18.at this, this is our new base. This is where we're going to be for the
:01:18. > :01:28.next three weeks, bringing you live pictures and it is absolutely
:01:28. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :01:39.gorgeous. We're on the coast of west Wales on the banks of the Dyfi
:01:39. > :01:39.
:01:40. > :01:49.River where it meets cardigan Bay. This is Springwatch's new home of
:01:49. > :01:59.the RSPB reserve at Ynys-hir. There are ancient oak woodland, meadows,
:01:59. > :02:01.
:02:02. > :02:05.wetlands, and salt marsh. It's all just begging to be explored. It is
:02:05. > :02:10.undenyably beautiful. It has a spectacular range of habitat. All
:02:10. > :02:15.these habitats mean this place has a fantastic biodiversity. What is
:02:15. > :02:19.that? It's a design for life. It's the number of different living
:02:19. > :02:24.things, living in any given place and time. There is so much here for
:02:24. > :02:28.us to see. Our job, of course, is to show it all to you. How will we
:02:28. > :02:32.do it? We have a pretty good team. Of course, we've got the whole
:02:32. > :02:36.place bugged. Plenty of cameras in nest boxes, revealing all the
:02:36. > :02:40.action inside. Our wildlife cameramen are out and about, seing
:02:40. > :02:43.what they can find, fabulous wood peckers here. Some of the cameras
:02:44. > :02:48.have been placed for mods, revealing the insights of birds
:02:48. > :02:52.like herons. Fingers crossed we might even see rare mammals.
:02:52. > :02:56.Whatever, we have a great range of stars for you, some very attractive
:02:56. > :03:00.little birds and of course, larger species too. And some, like this
:03:00. > :03:05.buzzard, are certainly going to be feeding some others to their young,
:03:05. > :03:12.potential bad guys. What we can promise you on Springwatch is real
:03:12. > :03:17.drama, a real soap op ra. For me Springwatch is all about you
:03:17. > :03:21.wha. Has your spring been like? We'd like to hear from you, your
:03:21. > :03:25.questions, photos and videos. Get in contact with us on the web. You
:03:25. > :03:35.can tweet us now. We're ot Twitter now! So modern. Listen to them, the
:03:35. > :03:41.old folks. Look at that. Glorious. We have a new patio. Barbeque.
:03:41. > :03:49.Quick. I know, and only a few days ago this was a shed for tractors,
:03:49. > :03:54.now transformed into Springwatch's new home. New sofa. We have all our
:03:54. > :04:00.monitors up and running. Don't get too close. We have got something on
:04:00. > :04:05.those cameras. Lots of wood. Not short of wood. Kate, Kate. Oh, yes.
:04:05. > :04:14.Very important piece of kit here. This giant screen is our link to
:04:14. > :04:17.our wildlife man of the week. He is Charlie Hamilton-James.
:04:17. > :04:25.Thanks guys G to be back on Springwatch. I'm loving your new
:04:25. > :04:28.location down in Wales. But I'm not jealous. Because look at this: This
:04:28. > :04:33.is the Knapdale Forest. This is classic Scottish landscape, right
:04:33. > :04:40.in the heart of argyle. All the classic Scottish animals are here.
:04:40. > :04:47.Including the midges. I've come to see one very special one. I've come
:04:47. > :04:53.here specifically to see it. It is the beaver. It's the subject of the
:04:53. > :04:58.first reintroduction of a mammal to Britain ever. Over the next week,
:04:58. > :05:03.we're going bring you more detailed footage of these creatures than
:05:03. > :05:08.anyone has ever got before. Join me later and I shall reveal all.
:05:08. > :05:11.Thank you Charlie. Now some people have said to me, spring has come so
:05:11. > :05:16.early this year that by the time you start Springwatch you may not
:05:16. > :05:20.have any birds to show anyone. Do we look like fools? Don't answer
:05:20. > :05:27.that. But we wouldn't let you down. Not only have we got some birds to
:05:27. > :05:32.show you, we are going to start our first show with a first for
:05:32. > :05:34.Springwatch. Let's go live to nest one and there it is. That's the
:05:34. > :05:38.exterior. Who would be nesting in exterior. Who would be nesting in
:05:38. > :05:43.this box? It looks like an average box. But the birds in it, I've got
:05:43. > :05:47.to tell you, are absolute stunners. Let's look inside. There are
:05:47. > :05:51.youngsters in there, six little youngsters, we'll tease you for a
:05:51. > :05:55.moment. They look like robins. do, but a clue, when you saw that
:05:55. > :06:01.youngster at the back there, spreading its tail feathers, you're
:06:01. > :06:11.getting a little bit of colour. Any guesses? Six chicks in that nest,
:06:11. > :06:15.they are red starts. They are stunning birds. SubSaharan migrants.
:06:15. > :06:18.They arrive in the summer. The best place for them is Wales. Most of
:06:18. > :06:22.the UK population north of the line from the Severn to the Humber.
:06:22. > :06:28.We're in the heartland here. Let's look at the male. This thing scores
:06:28. > :06:34.well I don't know, 6.5 at least. It's a very beautiful bird. You can
:06:34. > :06:38.see the female a little bit duller, though I'm told she has a lovely
:06:38. > :06:42.personality. Both birds are being very atentive parents. They're
:06:42. > :06:47.feeding at about 54 times an hour at the moment. Both adults involved
:06:48. > :06:52.in that. Yeah, they R the male there taking out a faecal sack.
:06:52. > :06:58.We've seen it with the species on Springwatch before. The blue tits
:06:58. > :07:03.and things like that, they have to keep the nest nice and clean on the
:07:03. > :07:09.inside. All doing very well. Typically for Springwatch, we have
:07:09. > :07:13.our story developers who monitor those little cameras, which you can
:07:13. > :07:19.do too, viate web. Our story developers caught something unusual
:07:19. > :07:22.on camera. Have a look at this. So bear in mind that, there we are,
:07:22. > :07:26.the camera looks like it's not working terribly well. It had just
:07:26. > :07:30.been set up. That's why it's juddery. It's producing a pellet.
:07:30. > :07:35.As it comes out, look carefully, because the end of it appears to
:07:35. > :07:42.have what we thought was a bird's beak in it. If you saw, can we see
:07:42. > :07:47.it again? Look at it carefully there, you can see the curved piece.
:07:48. > :07:53.We were thinking, could it be a treecreeper, what on earth could it
:07:53. > :07:57.be? Surely no adult bird is going to be feeding something like a red
:07:57. > :08:00.start some sort of... We were in there for ages looking. We noted
:08:00. > :08:04.what should have been the top mandible was shorter than the
:08:04. > :08:08.bottom one. That ruled out a beak. I thought, this has to be
:08:08. > :08:12.vegetation, that the youngster has swallowed by accident and is
:08:12. > :08:17.regurgitating. It proved my theory was correct actually. Look at this.
:08:17. > :08:24.This is what we saw today. The male is coming in. Look carefully, you
:08:24. > :08:28.can see a green caterpillar, look what's left behind. It's shaking it
:08:28. > :08:34.out. Watch carefully second time round. There's the green
:08:34. > :08:39.caterpillar in the mouth and as it leaves, look there's a twig left in
:08:39. > :08:43.the mouth of the youngster. seems what the male has done is
:08:43. > :08:46.plucked a caterpillar out of the vegetation to feed the chicks, but
:08:46. > :08:50.unwittingly brought a bit of vegetation, whatever that
:08:50. > :08:54.caterpillar was sitting on with, it and fed it to the chick at the same
:08:54. > :08:59.time. In that case the chick managed to get rid of it. In the
:08:59. > :09:05.case of the other chick, producing a pel the was a natural thing to do.
:09:05. > :09:09.They are eating a lot of insects with tougher outer bodies. They
:09:09. > :09:14.have to produce pellets. We have been watching those all day. I have
:09:14. > :09:22.come up with a graph here... Chris, we've been on air five minutes. We
:09:22. > :09:29.can't do grafts. Really, no! Let's do another really beautiful bird.
:09:29. > :09:36.Look, no! Look at this. It is pied flycatcher. What would you rather
:09:36. > :09:40.have, graph or pied flycatcher? It's a stunner. We haven't seen one
:09:41. > :09:45.of these since 2006. If you were watching back then, you'll remember
:09:45. > :09:50.we uncovered this fantastic story of a male, that black and white
:09:50. > :09:59.bird, but it was a cheater. It seemed to have any number of nests.
:09:59. > :10:02.We actually named it Casanova in honour of it's frankly
:10:02. > :10:05.dishonourable behaviour. They are polyterritorial. It's not unusual
:10:05. > :10:09.for males to actually be servicing more than one female, although
:10:09. > :10:13.there are down sides for that male as you'll find out. Of course, it's
:10:13. > :10:17.not just these birds, our wildlife camera crew have been away from the
:10:17. > :10:24.nest cams looking for what they can find. Earlier they found this bird.
:10:25. > :10:29.Let's cut live to the nest tree. There it is! Perfect. This is live
:10:29. > :10:33.pictures of a young great spotted woodpecker. The adults have been
:10:33. > :10:38.trying to tease their brood out all day long. We were really worried
:10:38. > :10:42.because this is, again, a first for us. We've never had a greater
:10:42. > :10:48.spotted woodpecker nest on our mini cams before. Earlier today, well,
:10:48. > :10:52.this started to happen. We were watching the nest, eagle eyed, or
:10:52. > :10:58.woodpecker-eyed. The adult comes in. Now tip for you, this is the female.
:10:58. > :11:05.She has no red on the back of her neck. You can see that the, all the
:11:05. > :11:10.chicks... One went out there. That was 10.30am. All of them have the
:11:10. > :11:13.red cap. Yes and the male has the red on the back of its head. It's
:11:13. > :11:19.teasing that chick. Then we see, it's moving back down the tree. So
:11:19. > :11:27.a lot of noise. To encourage this chick to come out. It's feeding it
:11:27. > :11:30.there. There it goes. That came out at 11.12am. We thought oh, no, a
:11:30. > :11:34.first for Springwatch and they're not even going to hang around for
:11:34. > :11:37.the first show. But only two have fledged. We don't know how many are
:11:37. > :11:43.in there. We know that there's at least one more because we just saw
:11:43. > :11:47.it live. Is it still there, shall we have a look. There it is. Still
:11:47. > :11:52.peeping. What my concern is, Chris, that we've got two out of the nest,
:11:52. > :11:55.we've got maybe only one left in the nest. They have up to six young.
:11:55. > :11:59.That would be quite common. There could be another three in there for
:11:59. > :12:03.all we know. Doesn't that mean that the parents responsibilities will
:12:03. > :12:08.be split. Are they going to be looking after the fledglings or the
:12:08. > :12:12.chicks in the nest? Both. Given it's just day one, the fledglings
:12:12. > :12:18.won't have moved too far from that nest. They will attend them. Their
:12:18. > :12:24.job is to coax them out. Sometimes they're really reluctant to leave.
:12:24. > :12:27.Sometimes they spend hours, teasing them, go up to the hole, offer the
:12:27. > :12:31.food and then the youngster hangs out and it goes back in again. It
:12:31. > :12:38.can be really entertaining. Something to look out for on the
:12:38. > :12:43.web kams. Can you do that by going to bbc.co.uk/Springwatch. We've had
:12:43. > :12:48.a complaint. Not already. We've only been on air for four minutes.
:12:48. > :12:57.It was on the blog. Jennie is complaining, she says our birds,
:12:57. > :13:01.why are they so dull. All British birds are basically brown. Jennie!
:13:01. > :13:06.Stick with us girl. You'll see there's nothing dull about British
:13:06. > :13:10.birds. Have you actually got a colour telly. No disrespect. What
:13:10. > :13:14.about this spring then. We've had a number of stats actually which I
:13:14. > :13:20.put together here if I can find them. I can tell you about this A
:13:20. > :13:24.it's been 3.7% warmer than normal. It's been the warmest April since
:13:24. > :13:28.1910. In central England it's been the warmest April for 350 years.
:13:28. > :13:34.The highest temperature, stay awake, the highest temperature 27.8.
:13:34. > :13:40.That's pretty amazing that. Was in Surrey. In terms of sunshine, 150%
:13:40. > :13:44.more sunshine than the last sunnyest April. No, we know where
:13:44. > :13:49.we are with spring. Rainfall, most places only 10% of the rainfall.
:13:49. > :13:53.There we are. It has been an extraordinary spring. What has been
:13:53. > :13:58.lovely is that our cameramen have been here since before spring
:13:58. > :14:02.started. We can show you how spring developed here at this beautiful
:14:02. > :14:08.RSPB reserve. This is what it looked like if February, exactly
:14:08. > :14:13.the same place, this month. Look at this, the woodland here.
:14:13. > :14:20.It's transformed by the onset of spring. It really is a magical time
:14:20. > :14:24.of year. It's a lfl time of year. - - lovely time of year.
:14:24. > :14:30.We'd like to hear about your spring. If you've been taking photographs
:14:30. > :14:36.please send them in. And we pinched an idea from our
:14:36. > :14:42.unsprung programme, we're going to give a quiz. This magnificent
:14:42. > :14:46.feather, almost completed surrounded by midges, what is this
:14:46. > :14:53.feather? Get on the message board or get on tweet and tell us what it
:14:53. > :14:56.is, please. I will get some clues. This is a large flight feather,
:14:56. > :15:03.from a large bird. What you have to imagine is a little group of these
:15:03. > :15:07.together, acting as fingers out on the edge of the wing. Now, every
:15:07. > :15:10.week, we're going to be joined by a guest naturalist of great repute.
:15:10. > :15:15.They're going to be not here in Wales with us, but other locations
:15:16. > :15:19.across the country. This week we are going up here to Scotland to
:15:19. > :15:24.argyleshire. I love the detail of this. Look at this, we're going
:15:24. > :15:27.precisely to there. There we're going to be joined by the
:15:27. > :15:31.incomparable Charlie Hamilton-James. Charlie, we've got a lot of midges
:15:31. > :15:38.down here, mate, I'm sure you've probably got more than us.
:15:38. > :15:41.Got a lot more. Thanks guys. I'm exceptionally privileged to be part
:15:41. > :15:46.of the Springwatch adventure team. Because we've been given
:15:46. > :15:51.unrestricted ak stos one of the most controversial and
:15:51. > :15:55.consevenation projects happening in Britain today. The Scottish beaver
:15:55. > :15:58.trial. It's a project that's been set up to see whether we should be
:15:58. > :16:04.releasing beavers back into the wild in Britain. They've been
:16:04. > :16:09.extinct here for 400 years. But two years ago, a few groups of them
:16:09. > :16:13.were released onto remote lochs here. As you can see, they've
:16:13. > :16:18.already been getting to work. There aren't many animals in the
:16:18. > :16:23.world that can do this to a tree. So, our job on Springwatch this
:16:23. > :16:29.year, is to reacquaint you with an animal that used to be familiar to
:16:29. > :16:39.us all. But first, here's a taster of what these Springwatch adventure
:16:39. > :16:40.
:16:40. > :16:45.This is the hottest, dryest spring on record in Britain, but not here.
:16:45. > :16:50.We've lost power in the house. We have no edit suite and I'm supposed
:16:50. > :16:54.to be filming beavers. Thankfully the storms didn't last long and
:16:54. > :16:57.filming beavers is exactly what we've been doing, as well as
:16:57. > :17:00.hearing the local debate that surrounds them. It brings a lot of
:17:00. > :17:04.people to the area. I know it's a trial and there are mixed feelings,
:17:04. > :17:08.but people are coming to see the beavers. It's another dimension,
:17:08. > :17:13.something that people can see and enjoy. This farm has never had
:17:13. > :17:17.beavers and as far as I'm concerned, it never will. To bring you the
:17:17. > :17:20.story of British beavers we've brought the Springwatch adventure
:17:20. > :17:30.team and all the kit to the heart of argyle to cover the story from
:17:30. > :17:57.
:17:57. > :18:01.It's not just filming beavers, we want to investigate the response of
:18:01. > :18:06.animals and people to these new creatures living in this project
:18:06. > :18:11.area. Where do we start? Us modern Britons don't know the beaver.
:18:11. > :18:16.We've got to get to know the beast. So, I went out with the Scottish
:18:16. > :18:26.beaver trial to see if I could see a beaver for the first time and
:18:26. > :18:30.
:18:30. > :18:34.It's not until the light begins to fade that beavers become active.
:18:35. > :18:43.They're largely nocturnal, so just before night fall is the best time
:18:43. > :18:50.to spot one. It's not long before I I can't quite believe I'm looking
:18:50. > :18:59.at a new species of animal to Britain. It's right there. It's
:18:59. > :19:04.just incredible. I've spent my whole life in Britain filming
:19:04. > :19:11.animals and suddenly there's this enormous new one. Yeah, they're
:19:11. > :19:15.large mammals. A fully grown adult could be up to a metre long, a good
:19:15. > :19:19.20-30 kilos. What are they doing here? We've imported animals from
:19:19. > :19:21.Norway as part of this trial reintroduction. It's not a full-
:19:21. > :19:24.scale reintroduction. We're trialling it in the Scottish
:19:24. > :19:27.environment. We have license to release up to four families of
:19:27. > :19:31.beavers. It's a five-year scientific trial. We're going to
:19:31. > :19:36.see how they get on in the Scottish environment and looking at how they
:19:36. > :19:40.interact with the woodlands and other creatures and the socio-
:19:40. > :19:44.economics effects on this ira. They're not fenced, these are
:19:44. > :19:49.totally wild animals? Yeah, they're wild. We have a responsibility, we
:19:49. > :19:52.monitor their health and how they're get ago long. So you know
:19:52. > :19:56.each animal individually, who they are. You know everything about them.
:19:56. > :20:01.We know everything about them. They're well monitored animals.
:20:01. > :20:11.They have ear tags on. They're microchipped. So basically, they're
:20:11. > :20:16.beavers on parole. Well, yes! Hopefully with a good outcome.
:20:16. > :20:20.Well that was quite a moment for me. But for some avid followers of
:20:20. > :20:23.British wildlife television, you're thinking, I've seen it before. And
:20:23. > :20:27.we have. This story's been covered before. We've seen beavers floating
:20:27. > :20:32.around. I know Chris has seen them here before. Hold on, what happened
:20:32. > :20:36.next has never been seen before. In fact, most of what we've filmed
:20:36. > :20:43.here this week has never been filmed before. So, come back later
:20:43. > :20:48.and we'll give you some more. You see, Charlie, you think that
:20:48. > :20:54.everyone wants to see beavers, but this is another Springwatch first,
:20:54. > :21:02.chickens. Excellent. I've come down to the edge of one of the wetland
:21:02. > :21:06.areas at this RSPB reserve. I'm with Lynsey Mccree, you're one of
:21:06. > :21:09.our cameramen. Do some camera work. What have you been filming out here.
:21:09. > :21:14.Is there anything in particular going on? It's been teeming with
:21:14. > :21:18.life this week. Has it? Down at the moment, there's a lot of house
:21:18. > :21:22.Martins and sand Martins. They're making the most, we are being
:21:22. > :21:29.besieged by midges. We could do with them over here eating. They're
:21:29. > :21:35.obviously feeding over the lake. We have horses in the background there.
:21:35. > :21:41.Oh, duck scoot ing across the surface. A young mallard actually.
:21:41. > :21:46.Just bit horse. You've been with Springwatch for a number of years,
:21:46. > :21:53.how are you finding our new home? It's stunning, heaving with life.
:21:53. > :21:58.Fully the -- actually the first morning we are here I watched three
:21:58. > :22:05.otters, a mum and two cubs, but I didn't have any kit with me.
:22:05. > :22:09.schoolboy error. We haven't just got our manned cameras like Lynsey
:22:09. > :22:15.with his camera here. Would you mind just going over, this is one
:22:15. > :22:23.of our other remote cameras. We've called it rather imaginetively,
:22:23. > :22:26.marsh cam. Can we see anything on that at the moment? It's a
:22:26. > :22:32.that at the moment? It's a beautiful view. We have swans there.
:22:32. > :22:36.That's another camera that we will be keeping an eye on. We've got a
:22:36. > :22:40.camera set up on another part of the reserve having a lock at this
:22:40. > :22:45.rather lovely bird. Let's go to it live. There it is. You can see, can
:22:46. > :22:49.you see it? Can we go in a bit closer to just to see beautiful
:22:49. > :22:54.bright orange, almost sword-like bill. Turn round. There you are.
:22:54. > :22:59.That's nice. Little bit more maybe. It is of course an oystercatcher.
:22:59. > :23:04.You can see the handsome black and white plumage. Just to give you an
:23:04. > :23:09.idea of where that is actually nesting, let's cut to another view
:23:09. > :23:13.of the nest. You can see the camera up there and it's pulling out to
:23:13. > :23:18.reveal that the oystercatcher has actually nested on top of a wall.
:23:18. > :23:22.It's eight feet above the ground. Now we tend to think of them as
:23:22. > :23:26.ground-nesting birds. What they will do is find any sort of nest
:23:26. > :23:31.site where the eggs are really beautifully camouflaged. They've
:23:31. > :23:34.even been known to nest on the top of gravely roofs in towns. Now,
:23:34. > :23:38.let's introduce you to the adult birds a bit better. Here's some
:23:38. > :23:43.footage that we took earlier. You can see here's one of the adult
:23:43. > :23:49.birds coming in. We get a really nice view of her two eggs. That's a
:23:49. > :23:52.typical clutch for an oystercatcher. You can see how beautifully
:23:52. > :23:57.camouflaged they are amongst the stones of the wall. Now that could
:23:57. > :24:01.be she or he. Have a look at the other adult coming in. This bird is
:24:01. > :24:07.giving a little bit of cause for concern. He or she is limping
:24:07. > :24:12.rather. Now that might be the male at the back. He has a slightly
:24:12. > :24:17.stubbier bill which is the only way you can tell the male from the
:24:17. > :24:22.female. Both birds with incubate the eggs. The eggs should be fine.
:24:22. > :24:26.But, that limping bird could get predated because it's not in great
:24:26. > :24:29.shape F that happens we will lose the eggs. So already programme one,
:24:29. > :24:35.we're on the edge of our seats keeping an eye on those oyster
:24:35. > :24:39.catchers. But we have had all sorts of other lovely life. This area in
:24:39. > :24:46.front of me has been teeming with life. Have a look at some of the
:24:46. > :24:52.things that we've seen earlier today. Some Canada geese there with
:24:52. > :24:56.their youngsters. Just youngsters everywhere, cygnets, swans and
:24:56. > :25:00.their cygnets. Lovely shot of mall ardz with these huge families. They
:25:00. > :25:04.have such huge broods. Now something's panicked these ducks.
:25:04. > :25:14.We looked above usually something in the sky and what is it? A
:25:14. > :25:19.buzzard. Now, Chris, were those ducklings right to panic? I think
:25:19. > :25:25.they certainly were, Kate. I think they certainly were. Do you reckon?
:25:25. > :25:29.Yeah, of course. Buzzards, are they magnificent hunters like eagles and
:25:29. > :25:33.sparrowhawks. Wherever I see them they're eating worms. They will eat
:25:33. > :25:37.worms. They're often seen in fields. Groups of up to 40 will go aworming.
:25:37. > :25:41.Sometimes you'll see them dancing up and down on the soil. This is to
:25:41. > :25:46.bring the worms to the surface. They will eat them. They are an
:25:46. > :25:51.active predator. They have very broad tastes. They're Britain's
:25:51. > :25:56.commonest rap tore now and Wales is a strong hold. We have a nest to
:25:56. > :26:01.cut to now. Here it is, up in an oak tree. There's the adult bird
:26:01. > :26:04.there as well. Mum or dad do you think? Difficult to say. He or she
:26:04. > :26:08.has got one chick in the nest at the moment, about two-and-a-half
:26:08. > :26:13.weeks old. So although it looks downy there, when it stands up you
:26:13. > :26:16.can see there's quite a bit of feathering on the back. Is that
:26:16. > :26:20.normal? How many chicks would you expect them to have? That's
:26:20. > :26:25.interesting, they will lay clutches up to four eggs. They're one of
:26:25. > :26:29.these birds designed to lay extra eggs, hatch extra young so that if
:26:29. > :26:33.food runs short they've got a survival strategy where they will
:26:33. > :26:36.weed them down. This nest did have two eggs but only one has hatched.
:26:36. > :26:40.We have been following them really closely over the last few days to
:26:40. > :26:44.see what they've been up to. Look at this, this is going to
:26:44. > :26:54.illustrate the range of prey that these animals can take. Here we
:26:54. > :27:02.have a mole. I thought they were distasteful to nearly everything.
:27:02. > :27:07.Not normally eaten. Not trouble for rap tores and owls. That's a vole
:27:07. > :27:11.Chris. That's a shrew I think. going down in one. You've got to
:27:11. > :27:19.admire that. I've never tried it. It's quite a faet.
:27:20. > :27:24.-- feat. Lots of mammals but should the ducklings be frightened. They
:27:24. > :27:29.have a broad diet. They will go for frogs, worms and birds are on the
:27:29. > :27:35.aJen da. We saw this earlier. This is a small bird and you can see if
:27:35. > :27:40.you look at the head which... that's a bit gruesome. That's a
:27:40. > :27:45.young moor hen. It can't get it down, like me trying to swalle a
:27:45. > :27:51.golf ball. You haven't tried that have you? Not recently. Here's the
:27:51. > :27:58.answer to the inquiry. That is a mallard duckling. I'm afraid it is.
:27:58. > :28:03.Would it have actively hunted that? There's plenty of them. They're all
:28:03. > :28:07.together in one place. They're not going to move far to. A buzzard
:28:07. > :28:14.that duckling is a bird burger. Why so sad, it's part of life Martin.
:28:14. > :28:20.Of course. Let's move on shall we. I must learn to be not so pragmatic.
:28:20. > :28:25.You're hard, man. This feather, could it have been something that
:28:25. > :28:28.we have just been seeing. Becky, have people been... Yes they V
:28:29. > :28:35.have people been... Yes they V thank you very much. Jill Eccles on
:28:35. > :28:40.Twitter, Lynsey Cook thought it was a buzzard. It's not. Keep them
:28:40. > :28:46.coming in. It's something else. By the way, we're trending on Twitter.
:28:46. > :28:50.What does that mean? It's important. Springwatch is not just about the
:28:50. > :28:53.wildlife, it's about the people who enjoy the wildlife. All the viewers
:28:53. > :28:57.at home, but also some great naturalists. We have been
:28:57. > :29:00.privileged Chris and I to meet fantastic naturalists, British
:29:00. > :29:08.naturalists. We've been out in the field over the last few weeks and
:29:08. > :29:13.we met up with them. I met Sylvia Sheldon, a lady who's
:29:13. > :29:18.been studying adders for 30 years. Richard everybodying natterjack
:29:18. > :29:25.toad man, helping the hot hatches of the toad world to thrive on his
:29:25. > :29:31.farm. Matt Hamilton is a student film maker who reveals the beauty
:29:31. > :29:37.near his home in Hampshire. Charlie Elder manages to get his hands on a
:29:37. > :29:44.fantastic finch. That's incredible. Ron Ho skins,
:29:44. > :29:51.potentially the saviour of our honey bees. Astonishing. And Mickey
:29:51. > :29:55.Smith, surfer, the human fish. Totally mind blowing experience
:29:55. > :29:59.catching wave was dolphins. Can you tell she loves riding waves. She
:29:59. > :30:07.can't fig it out, because we're obviously nowhere near as good as
:30:08. > :30:12.she is. What a treat. We'll catch up with
:30:12. > :30:19.those characters over the next couple of weeks to. Kick us off
:30:19. > :30:22.those mark Everard, a lifelong angler. He has written a little
:30:22. > :30:32.book about little fishes. He's going back to his first fishy
:30:32. > :30:34.
:30:34. > :30:39.I think the first memories of nature are just deeply stay with us
:30:39. > :30:43.forever. I first remember being around rivers from the age of about
:30:43. > :30:53.one and I've never been far from them. Certainly some of my best
:30:53. > :30:56.memories are of fish when I was really, really little. I suppose
:30:56. > :31:00.it's natural that what you reach your teens or early 20s or whatever
:31:00. > :31:03.and you get interested in cars and all the other things, you kind of
:31:03. > :31:08.tend to think well, I'm just into big fish now. There's that macho
:31:08. > :31:12.thing. You get a bit older and you think, actually the little guys are
:31:12. > :31:18.just wonderful. It's these little guys that keep
:31:18. > :31:26.the world ticking. They keep food webs linked up and they tell us
:31:26. > :31:30.that rivers are healthy. Minnows are the barometer of the river.
:31:31. > :31:36.Where minnows thrive water quality is good. Kingfishers eat them,
:31:36. > :31:40.other fish eat them. They eat shrimps, insects and they keep the
:31:40. > :31:45.engine of the ecosystem going F you run out of minnows, you probably
:31:45. > :31:49.run out of minnows, you probably run out of river health as well.
:31:49. > :31:54.They're one of the most curious fish you'll ever meet. If I was
:31:54. > :32:00.that small and everything wanted to eat me, I don't think I'd be as
:32:00. > :32:05.curious. They are irrepressible. Normally they're silvery with a
:32:05. > :32:10.black line down them. These are females here. The males turn into
:32:10. > :32:14.some of the most vivid staids. -- shade. This is what happens in the
:32:14. > :32:18.spring, they're in spawning livery. This beautiful black chin strap,
:32:18. > :32:23.gold on the sides, emerald and other colours in between. Whereas
:32:23. > :32:28.the females, retain the winter colour and every now and again
:32:28. > :32:32.those shows get together and spawn on the stones. Then they'll
:32:32. > :32:37.separate again. They'll carry on all summer, through to July. Anyone
:32:37. > :32:41.can walk along the river and spot minnows. If there are minnows there
:32:41. > :32:47.They're generally displaying themselves in the edge If you've
:32:47. > :32:52.got a net, got a mino trap, you can catch them as well.
:32:52. > :32:57.One of the amazing things about the bull head, these guys, is that they
:32:57. > :33:00.can live the whole of their lives under the same stone. To me there's
:33:00. > :33:06.something slightly frogy about them with their big wide mouth and their
:33:06. > :33:10.little eyes at the top of their head. Bullheads are difficult to
:33:10. > :33:15.see normally. They don't venture out much fromer their stones, even
:33:15. > :33:25.by night. The best way is to go into a streamy bit of river and
:33:25. > :33:30.turn over stones and that's when put it back exactly where you found
:33:30. > :33:38.it and put the stone that you turned over exactly where it was,
:33:38. > :33:42.because that's its home. It will be totally disorient ed without it.
:33:42. > :33:46.The stickle back was the first fish I ever caught with cotton and worms
:33:46. > :33:52.tied to it. There's something about the face of
:33:52. > :33:56.a stickle back that always reminds me of the knight in a chess set.
:33:56. > :34:02.There's a pointy, slightly horsey face and the big eyes. They swim
:34:02. > :34:06.around with a stiff body and fast moving fins in a stop, start way.
:34:06. > :34:10.That's because they're armoured. Across their body are great big
:34:11. > :34:16.scales which are effectively armour. It makes them tough, robust fish.
:34:16. > :34:20.But they're also new men because it's the males that brood the eggs.
:34:20. > :34:25.They form nests out of weed, typically out of vegetation and
:34:25. > :34:34.twigs and whatever, glued together with secretions from the kidneys.
:34:34. > :34:41.Into them they lure a female with a characteristic zig zag dance. Once
:34:41. > :34:45.the females have laid the eggs, they'll drive them off and then,
:34:45. > :34:50.he's got his nest, and the eggs, he fans fresh water through the nest
:34:50. > :34:53.to brood the young until they're able to fend for themselves.
:34:53. > :34:57.They're wonderful parents, wonderful fathers, should I say.
:34:57. > :35:02.They've all got such different characters. The stickle backs live
:35:02. > :35:09.in the still water on the edge. They're territorial, the males are.
:35:09. > :35:12.Even the minos, here's some females and males, they have different
:35:12. > :35:15.personalities. They're so important in the ecosystems. They're so
:35:16. > :35:25.important also because we lose something of ourselves if we lose
:35:26. > :35:26.
:35:26. > :35:31.our fascination with the tidlers What a lovely film. It's such a
:35:31. > :35:37.crime just to dismiss wildlife because it's little or it's
:35:37. > :35:42.overfamiliar. Those minnows are every bit as exotic and exciting as
:35:42. > :35:44.something you might find in a coral reef. Someone that I don't need to
:35:44. > :35:53.persuade of British river life is Charlie Hamilton-James who loves
:35:53. > :35:58.the river, don't you? I do-a river. And I love a minnow. It's nice to
:35:58. > :36:02.see a man championing the mighty minnow. At this time of year, when
:36:02. > :36:08.they're in those colours, the vivid reds and that streak of turquoise
:36:08. > :36:15.down them, they really are stunning. I'm going to stop wittering on. I'm
:36:15. > :36:24.in nap Dale working with a Scottish beaver trial to reacquaint you with
:36:24. > :36:28.an animal which was once skinningished. This is a beaver
:36:28. > :36:33.pelt. It's surprisingly big. The reason this is so valuable to
:36:33. > :36:38.people, and the reason they were hunted is because it's very warm.
:36:38. > :36:42.You see these thick guard hairs. Underneath this soft, warm fur, now
:36:42. > :36:45.that is very valuable to people. Because 400 years ago people wanted
:36:45. > :36:49.to be warm. Now the funny thing about beavers is that people
:36:49. > :36:53.thought they were very clever because they built dams and chopped
:36:53. > :36:57.down trees and managed their landscape. So they had thought that
:36:57. > :37:01.if they made hats out of them and wore this intelligent animal on
:37:01. > :37:04.their head, it would make them very intelligent. There's a certain
:37:04. > :37:08.irony in that. Beaver hunting is back in Britain now. The other
:37:08. > :37:18.night we went out with the Scottish beaver trial to see if we could
:37:18. > :37:30.
:37:30. > :37:34.into the night hunting beaver and I can't go with them because there's
:37:34. > :37:38.no room in the boat. It's so frustrating. There's nothing I can
:37:38. > :37:44.do about it. I'm stuck here. I will wait and hope that they actually
:37:45. > :37:49.get one. The technique they're using to find
:37:49. > :37:54.the beavers is a simple one. Using powerful torchs they scan the loch
:37:54. > :38:04.hoping to pick up one of the reflective tags attached to the
:38:04. > :38:20.
:38:20. > :38:30.beaver's ears. When One Shows up, because on that boat they've got a
:38:30. > :38:43.
:38:43. > :38:47.It's massive! Do you want to scan it? Hold the button down.
:38:47. > :38:51.We know that's Frank. Each beaver that's been released here has been
:38:51. > :38:54.chipped, just like your pet dogs and cats. So that when the team
:38:54. > :39:02.catch and scan them, they know which animals they're getting
:39:02. > :39:05.information about. Why are we doing all this? We aim to trap each
:39:05. > :39:10.individual at least once a year. We'll check its health and body
:39:10. > :39:16.condition. We also take some samples for veterinary testing, if
:39:16. > :39:21.we need to and replace any missing tags. He has an ear tag. Yeah, I
:39:21. > :39:31.see his tag there. Would you like to take the tail length.
:39:31. > :39:31.
:39:31. > :39:38.privileged to measure Frank's tail. You'd think he was a plait pus. --
:39:38. > :39:44.platypus. 295 mm. What is this telling us so far? In car an teen
:39:44. > :39:51.we lost a wee bit of body condition. Since the release they're all
:39:51. > :39:54.putting on weight. He's in good condition. Good condition.
:39:54. > :40:00.Watch all this going on and you realise this isn't a case of just
:40:00. > :40:06.chucking some beavers out and hoping they do well. These guys are
:40:06. > :40:10.really covering every single aspect of this. How he's coping with this
:40:10. > :40:15.environment, is he in good health? They need to know everything if
:40:15. > :40:23.this trial's going to work. The research is over within a matter of
:40:23. > :40:33.minutes. Then Frank is free to go about his beavery business.
:40:33. > :40:39.
:40:39. > :40:44.there. But it has to be serious research if we're going to find out
:40:44. > :40:45.how and if beavers should be how and if beavers should be
:40:45. > :40:49.reintroduced to Britain. Another problem for the scientists
:40:49. > :40:53.here is observing beavers. They're very secretive. They're nocturnal
:40:53. > :40:56.and difficult to see. So the Springwatch crew rolled into town
:40:56. > :41:00.and we brought with us all sorts of gadgets and gizmos, so that
:41:00. > :41:05.hopefully we'll be able to reveal the hidden lives of these secret
:41:05. > :41:09.animals and get them doing all the things that you think beavers do,
:41:09. > :41:16.chopping down trees and make doms and lodges Albuery that stuff. We
:41:16. > :41:20.have astonishing footage. Come back later and have a look at some of it.
:41:20. > :41:23.Thank you Charlie. We'll be doing that. Beavers are one thing, but
:41:23. > :41:27.there is another British mammal which is far more widespread. OK,
:41:27. > :41:31.it's a bit shy and it's nocturnal. It's also, at the moment, at the
:41:31. > :41:37.centre of a long-running controversy. It has to be one of
:41:37. > :41:42.the perennial stars of Springwatch. It is of course, the one and obl,
:41:42. > :41:47.let's cut to badger cam. Looking a bit dark. It is becoming more and
:41:47. > :41:52.more dusky outside. But we haven't just invested in one badger cam oh,
:41:52. > :41:56.no. We have a second one. And here it is. You can see the wider view
:41:56. > :42:02.of the set there. But is that the only one? No, I think we have a
:42:02. > :42:05.third badger cam. We do. Optimism. We are not putting all our eggs in
:42:05. > :42:09.We are not putting all our eggs in one badger cam basket. Can we
:42:09. > :42:12.direct the camera? Can we pan to the right and zoom in on the soil
:42:12. > :42:20.that's obviously at the mouth of that hole. What you'll see is that
:42:20. > :42:25.there's a lot of leaf litter there, a lot of detritus. If there th was
:42:25. > :42:28.a very active set with cubs, it would be scraped away. Are you
:42:28. > :42:33.saying that basically it's a complete waste of time, there are
:42:33. > :42:37.no badgers in that set? I wouldn't bet on a badger. I'm in the a
:42:37. > :42:42.gambling man. Nothing's happening, have a look at this... Oh, doubters
:42:42. > :42:52.amongst you. Look, look. There's a chaff finch. No wait, there's more.
:42:52. > :42:53.
:42:53. > :43:00.Squirrels. OK. Nice. And after dark, gone to infrared, mouse. Wait for
:43:00. > :43:08.it. Look at that. That's difficult to
:43:09. > :43:13.see, it must be a tawny owl. would say it is a tawny oil. Hold
:43:13. > :43:18.on, a glimpse. What do you think? It's quite difficult that one. I'm
:43:18. > :43:23.going to say tawny owl. OK I'll give you a point for tawny owl.
:43:23. > :43:26.may not be a badger, it's not say we won't see badgers. Can you keep
:43:26. > :43:34.an eye on those cameras. They will go, when it gets darker, they will
:43:34. > :43:37.go to black and white. They will go to infrared. Have a look on
:43:37. > :43:42.bbc.co.uk/Springwatch. Can you keep an eye on those badger cams. You
:43:42. > :43:44.can see if the owl reappears and can see if the owl reappears and
:43:44. > :43:50.keep an eye on our other nests as well. For those of you who love
:43:50. > :43:54.owls and think, hmm, Springwatch hasn't had any owls live on air for
:43:54. > :43:58.some time, watch tomorrow. That's all I'll say. If you want my
:43:58. > :44:01.advice and have you anything that you can, cross it. If you want to
:44:01. > :44:05.see those badgers you might need to. Of course, there's more than
:44:05. > :44:11.badgers here. There are a wealth of other mammals. These are the sorts
:44:11. > :44:14.of things that our camera mn are looking for. Fox cubs, in the a
:44:14. > :44:19.looking for. Fox cubs, in the a finer sight. Fantastic. Stoats,
:44:19. > :44:23.look at this. Always entertaining. Top value. Ferocious Karin vorz of
:44:23. > :44:27.course. There's lots of rabbits here. And water voles. Wouldn't
:44:27. > :44:34.that be lovely. You mentioned with Lynsey that otters are about.
:44:35. > :44:39.did mention that. Mark Yates said there are otters about. That brings
:44:39. > :44:43.us to... The challenge. challenge. We all get on very well.
:44:43. > :44:47.But there is a competitive streak. We thought we'd get one of these
:44:47. > :44:51.remote cameras that you can buy, and each one would set it up and
:44:51. > :45:01.try to get a photograph of one of the mammals that lives on the site.
:45:01. > :45:07.
:45:07. > :45:11.in fact. To win the war, I have to find an otter and to do that I've
:45:11. > :45:20.come to an area of the reserve known as the wet modo, which sounds
:45:20. > :45:29.like quite a good place, if you're an otter.
:45:29. > :45:36.Maybe a weasel would be better? Long, slim body, yes. Summer coat,
:45:36. > :45:46.edge of ears white. I don't like to try too hard. After all, why would
:45:46. > :45:46.
:45:46. > :45:51.I? It's in the bag. Oh, nice! Mark Yates, otter
:45:51. > :45:57.cameraman extraordinaire said that if I came down here to the end of
:45:57. > :46:07.this bit of water, I would see something that looks like an otter
:46:07. > :46:11.
:46:11. > :46:15.footprint. Four very distinct toes. OK, this is a long shot Stoats and
:46:15. > :46:19.weezels, will we get a photo of them. Imagine the prize if I do.
:46:19. > :46:26.See there, that could be the same tree! It's perfect.
:46:26. > :46:31.I've got this in the bag. Chris and Martin, you don't stand a
:46:31. > :46:34.chance. My philosophy is when it comes to
:46:34. > :46:44.wildlife photography, it doesn't matter how hard you try, it's
:46:44. > :46:56.
:46:56. > :47:00.results that count. I suppose I'd OK. You are so smart! We set up
:47:00. > :47:05.those cameras just a couple of days ago. We've got our first results in.
:47:05. > :47:15.Do you want to see mine first. You will remember that I set up my
:47:15. > :47:19.camera just at the edge of that camera just at the edge of that
:47:19. > :47:25.water. I caught a pair of mallards, walking through. It's a start.
:47:25. > :47:33.They're watery. This one, beautiful picture I think you'll find, top
:47:33. > :47:37.bird. Lovely. And just wait for it... The otter? I'm waiting for
:47:37. > :47:40.the otter? Nearly... Look. A squirrel's tail. What's wrong with
:47:40. > :47:47.that. That's brilliant. Look how sharp that is. It's well framed.
:47:47. > :47:49.You'd love that sort of photograph. That is some kind of nothingness.
:47:49. > :47:56.didn't get my animal initially. I got something quite scary.
:47:56. > :48:03.LAUGHTER I was testing it. Is that it?
:48:03. > :48:08.how did you get on? It's a start. We're going to let them go on. I've
:48:08. > :48:15.got something else to show you. Let's lock at yours. Are you ready?
:48:15. > :48:23.Let's see. Look at that! Beautiful. Absolutely
:48:23. > :48:28.beautiful. I despair. What about that then? Couple of squirrels.
:48:28. > :48:32.put it under a bird feeder. That's so cheating. What about this
:48:33. > :48:37.squirrel I'm teaching to pole dance. It's got a great future. I did get
:48:37. > :48:42.a bit of luck. It happened right at the end. I did just manage to...
:48:42. > :48:48.That's a lie. You cut that out... That happens all the time. This
:48:48. > :48:53.will run and run. Both of you are horrible cheats. Shall we do this?
:48:53. > :48:57.I think we should. Becky, the feather, please may we have a look
:48:57. > :49:01.and see. Thank you very much. A lot of people responding? Yes.
:49:01. > :49:06.Brilliant. Most people got it brong. They thought it was an osprey or a
:49:06. > :49:14.heron, Debbie thought it was an osprey, kite springer on the blog
:49:14. > :49:21.thought it was a heron. Correct answers, Trystan, and Ron Lag were
:49:21. > :49:24.right, a receipt kite feather. done to you. That brings us to the
:49:24. > :49:31.next brand new first for Springwatch. Have a look at this
:49:31. > :49:35.lovely lady. This is, of course, a red kite, an
:49:35. > :49:41.iconic bird for Wales. She's nesting just a little way away from
:49:41. > :49:45.the reserve. And thanks to the Welsh kite trust, who've been just
:49:45. > :49:51.so helpful, we can get this amazing access and beautiful pictures.
:49:51. > :49:56.She's got just one chick. The red is just beginning to come through
:49:56. > :50:03.on the down. It's about two-and-a- half weeks old. Absolutely glorious.
:50:04. > :50:07.I think you can just... A classic kite's nest. It really is. A big
:50:07. > :50:11.tangle of material in the oak tree there. Lovely view that we've got
:50:11. > :50:15.down onto it. How do you tell the difference between male and female
:50:15. > :50:18.red kites? The male is generally a bit paler, age is difficult,
:50:18. > :50:27.because males... We have both of them on this next bit of film. See
:50:27. > :50:31.if you can see. The chick is scruffy. No, it's not.
:50:31. > :50:35.There we are. This is the female. would suggest. So it's likely that
:50:36. > :50:39.the male is collecting the food, passing it to the female close to
:50:39. > :50:42.the nest and then she's bringing it in and breaking it up for the
:50:42. > :50:47.youngster. It's still a time when the youngster might be picking at
:50:47. > :50:51.the food but it can't successfully eat it for itself. She's being very
:50:51. > :50:57.atentive tearing up what a rabbit there. Oh, here's the male.
:50:58. > :51:01.Bringing in a stick by the looks of things. Is that the male being
:51:01. > :51:05.absolutely rubbish, why is he bringing in a stick to the nest?
:51:05. > :51:09.It's not a terribly well made nest. They tend to disintegrate through
:51:09. > :51:13.the breeding process. I suppose running repairs. Bit of DIY.
:51:13. > :51:18.like dad doing something on the roof, just hope he doesn't fall off
:51:18. > :51:23.like mine used to. Fantastic to see. And of course, they are the result
:51:23. > :51:26.of a fantastic reintroduction project. The kites hung on here but
:51:26. > :51:32.they've supplemented their numbers through reintroductions. When it
:51:32. > :51:36.comes to reintroductions our top ibic -- topic of the day is beavers.
:51:36. > :51:41.Charlie, the midges down here, I don't want to go on about, that
:51:41. > :51:51.I've been savaged. I've lost pints. I think it's a lot worse here,
:51:51. > :51:55.Chris! Welcome back to Knadale. We're here trying to film the first
:51:55. > :52:01.reintroduction of beavers to Britain. We've seen them floating
:52:02. > :52:06.around in the daytime, caught one in the net. Behind me, this is
:52:06. > :52:09.Frank and his family's handiwork. The beaver researchers here they
:52:09. > :52:13.study and tag every single one of these trees that's felled as part
:52:13. > :52:20.of their resarch here. But they've never actually seen a tree felled.
:52:20. > :52:23.So, we set ourselves a mission, can we film a beaver felling a tree?
:52:23. > :52:29.You'd think it would be easy, but it's not. Because take a look
:52:29. > :52:39.around me. There are thousands of trees here. So which do you choose?
:52:39. > :52:44.
:52:44. > :52:50.Which do you point your lens at? I shirt, I found a tree no beaver
:52:50. > :52:57.would be able to resist. Just like we have our favourite foods,
:52:57. > :53:01.beavers have their favourites. What I've got here is a great big aspen
:53:01. > :53:07.sprig, which they just love. We're going to stick it in here. I'm
:53:07. > :53:17.going to sit over there all night and see if we can get the shot of
:53:17. > :53:46.
:53:46. > :53:49.Hopefully, when they get out of bed, they'll be able to smell this aspen,
:53:49. > :53:53.which we can't smell at all. It doesn't smell of anything to me. It
:53:53. > :53:58.smells of leaves. They apparently can distinguish this from all the
:53:58. > :54:02.other trees in the area. Because there isn't any Aspen in this
:54:02. > :54:09.immediate area, hopefully they'll come straight for it. It could be a
:54:09. > :54:15.long wait, but I think it's worth a So, did I get the beaver? Well, I
:54:15. > :54:20.waited. I got cold. I got bored. I got tired and I got nothing. But
:54:20. > :54:24.being Springwatch, we weren't daunted. We sent specialist
:54:24. > :54:34.wildlife cameraman into the hide and he sat there until 1am and just
:54:34. > :54:37.
:54:37. > :54:43.this guy is called Christian. You can see he's amongst our kit having
:54:43. > :54:48.a good old sniff around. Our scent, the camera crew's scent is probably
:54:48. > :54:51.still there. He's being a bit cautious. Then look, he locks onto
:54:51. > :54:55.our tree trunk that we stuck in. There it is, stuck into the mud
:54:55. > :54:59.there. The first thing he does look, have
:55:00. > :55:04.a good sniff. He's trying to work out what he can about that trunk.
:55:04. > :55:07.He's reading all the information off it like a barcode. He's
:55:07. > :55:10.stretching as high as he can, probably getting a sniff of the
:55:10. > :55:15.leaves. Everything is too high. He won't stretch high enough. He will
:55:15. > :55:22.have to chop this tree down to get to the yummy leaves up there.
:55:22. > :55:28.No, don't go! No, no. He's started sniffing another branch. Come back.
:55:28. > :55:31.Come on, come back. Yes, come on.
:55:31. > :55:35.That's lovely. It's your favourite. Look at that. He's having another
:55:35. > :55:45.sniff, a little taste. No, that's not a taste, that's a bite. He's
:55:45. > :55:52.
:55:52. > :55:55.He's getting stuck in now. We've sped this up so you can see
:55:55. > :56:00.it. He's going for it. He's going to strip that bark around the tree
:56:00. > :56:05.and then go for the wood inside. He's really going for it, look.
:56:05. > :56:12.He's chopping in. He's using an angle of 135 degrees from the
:56:12. > :56:20.bottom and 45 degrees from the top. That's the optimum angles for
:56:20. > :56:25.cutting down a tree trunk. If you fancy trying to cut down a tree
:56:25. > :56:31.with your teeth at home. He's showing you how. He's stopped and
:56:31. > :56:36.listening. If that tree trunk falls on him, it could crush him and kill
:56:36. > :56:44.him. He has to get out of the way. He reckons it's safe. He's back in
:56:44. > :56:48.again. He's nearly through it. I wonder how far he will get. So,
:56:48. > :56:51.will Christian fell the tree? Or will Christian get squashed? We've
:56:51. > :56:59.run out of time today. So you'll have to come back tomorrow to find
:56:59. > :57:05.out. Thank you Charlie. Of course, more
:57:05. > :57:10.on -- of Charlie, no he's enough as he is, but more from Charlie
:57:10. > :57:14.through the week. We've just had the most enormous thunder storm.
:57:14. > :57:22.And the train. We love to have your photographs and videos too, like
:57:22. > :57:29.this one sent in by Katie Frampton. She had a surprise guest at a hot
:57:29. > :57:32.cross bun picnic. A black adder. that unusual? They're relatively
:57:32. > :57:36.rare. Can you always tell adders they always have a zig zag running
:57:36. > :57:41.down their back. Even if they're black. They're not very good at
:57:41. > :57:45.riding bikes. They don't usually steal them. We want lots of photos
:57:45. > :57:49.and lots of film from you. Of course our webcams are going to be
:57:49. > :57:56.up and running all night or most of the night. You can keep an eye on
:57:56. > :57:59.that. And you can make contact with us by going to bbc.co.uk
:57:59. > :58:03.Springwatch. Now that was the first show. We have plenty for you for
:58:03. > :58:09.the second. We certainly have. Adders are on the menu tomorrow as
:58:09. > :58:15.I meet a lady who's been studying femme for 30 years. I promised owls
:58:15. > :58:19.and we will bring you owls. We have barn owls right here on the RSPB
:58:19. > :58:24.reserve. We'll bring you those live. We're going up into the tree tops