:00:15. > :00:22.Where do you get tales of incredible journeys? What happens
:00:22. > :00:32.when a little bird takes a mouthful to pick? A what did we see deep in
:00:32. > :00:58.
:00:58. > :01:02.the woods last night? Find out on Hello, and welcome to Springwatch,
:01:02. > :01:09.coming to live from Wales. This evening we have Ben sconced
:01:09. > :01:15.ourselves in the rich woods of the RSPB's beautiful reserve. We have
:01:15. > :01:18.all the ingredients to promise you a top show, the best of British
:01:18. > :01:24.wildlife in real time. The we will be looking at one of our favourite
:01:24. > :01:30.little birds, dippers. How have they been getting on? And we are
:01:30. > :01:35.going to be bringing you news of these little babes in the ward. Did
:01:35. > :01:41.they survive the night? Our nest hang earth coming over from last
:01:41. > :01:50.night was this - wood warblers. The big question was what they or would
:01:50. > :02:00.they not fled to the lest -- the nest. Shall we have a quiz. There
:02:00. > :02:02.
:02:02. > :02:12.must be something round here. that do? What a spot of good luck.
:02:12. > :02:13.
:02:13. > :02:19.Here is the quiz. What British animal did this come from? Get your
:02:19. > :02:27.answers in now, live on the web, on Twitter or Facebook. 10 programmes
:02:27. > :02:37.in, you are getting brilliant! Just look - it has very big guys. And
:02:37. > :02:37.
:02:37. > :02:41.something else that has big guys is Louis in Essex. A welcome to
:02:41. > :02:45.landfill live coming to you from Essex. We are making our way down
:02:46. > :02:49.from the active part of the landfill, and tonight is a mammal
:02:49. > :02:53.extravaganza because we are going to bring you a fox watching
:02:53. > :02:58.experience to remember, and we are also looking for Britain's fastest
:02:58. > :03:03.declining mammal. I am also going to show you what that is about - a
:03:03. > :03:07.green industry taking place on landfill.
:03:07. > :03:13.When queue. If you have been watching the programme over the
:03:13. > :03:20.last couple of weeks, you will know we have been watching warblers. We
:03:20. > :03:24.had grasshopper warblers, they left, but we also had other warblers
:03:24. > :03:30.which were doing terribly well. The adults had been very busy bringing
:03:30. > :03:34.a wealth of food up to 80 times an hour. Let's refresh our memories of
:03:34. > :03:39.just how active they were. We were talking about a brood bursting out
:03:40. > :03:45.of the nest. And sometimes bursting, and not being able to get out what
:03:45. > :03:49.they should out of the nest. It was unfortunate, but what I loved about
:03:49. > :03:53.this scene yesterday was that you can see just how those chicks are
:03:53. > :04:00.growing up, and that wonderful distinctive yellow stripe around
:04:00. > :04:05.their eyes has developed. It is already there, matching the adults.
:04:05. > :04:10.It is quite a cramped interior at this stage. They are hanging on for
:04:10. > :04:14.exactly the right time to go, making sure they have enough food.
:04:14. > :04:19.I think it was a slightly more adventurous exit than the
:04:19. > :04:23.grasshopper warblers, which scuttled off into the grass. Yes,
:04:23. > :04:27.they just decided to sit somewhere different! Of course we were
:04:27. > :04:34.keeping a very close eye on those wood warblers, and this morning
:04:34. > :04:40.this is what the story developer has caught on camera. At 8 o'clock,
:04:40. > :04:45.the first one took the plunge and flew the nest. Then, just
:04:45. > :04:49.afterwards, this mysterious shadow appeared in the corner of the frame.
:04:49. > :04:56.You can see the chicks have noticed it, they don't look overly
:04:56. > :05:01.concerned, but what is it? It is a blue tit. Clearly no threat to
:05:01. > :05:05.those chicks, but it was perhaps enough to encourage them out and
:05:06. > :05:15.the second chick left very soon after the blue tit left. Followed
:05:15. > :05:22.swiftly by the third, then let's have the 4th. We have one more to
:05:22. > :05:29.go, and there it goes. All out in a very energetic fashion, Chris. As
:05:29. > :05:34.we said, nothing like those grasshopper warblers, a much more
:05:34. > :05:40.decisive exit. The grasshopper warblers had been in the nest for
:05:40. > :05:43.11 days, these had been in for 15 so they were that much bigger. When
:05:43. > :05:51.we sent our cameraman out to find out what had happened to these
:05:51. > :05:56.birds - after all, they may not have made it - he observed this. He
:05:56. > :06:04.found the birds not on the ground, but already right up in the trees.
:06:04. > :06:09.Presumably because they have had that little bit longer in the nest,
:06:09. > :06:17.their flight feathers and their wings are looking almost as fully
:06:17. > :06:21.developed as an adult's wings, they were able to fly up into the can't
:06:21. > :06:24.be out of harm's way. Lookout its tail. The wing feathers are there
:06:24. > :06:27.tail. The wing feathers are there but the tail is still very short. I
:06:27. > :06:31.think this is because they don't want to develop the tale too much
:06:31. > :06:37.in such cramped space with the jostling going on because it might
:06:37. > :06:45.be damaged. I think they are putting their resources into their
:06:45. > :06:49.wing feathers, and it is now they will be growing their tails.
:06:49. > :06:57.Growing the tale is very important because these birds will not just
:06:57. > :07:02.be having a lovely lazy summer holiday. They are migratory species.
:07:02. > :07:07.What happens - do they migrate with the adults? The next few weeks they
:07:07. > :07:14.will be very busy. They have got to forage for themselves, the adults
:07:14. > :07:19.will feed them less and less. That will be possibly in another week to
:07:19. > :07:22.10 days. Then it is about putting on body weight because through
:07:22. > :07:27.until August there is a conspicuous migration when it comes to wood
:07:27. > :07:33.warblers. They kind of drift out of the UK and hang out in northern
:07:33. > :07:39.Italy, down through Spain, put on more weight before they make the
:07:39. > :07:44.leap to their wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa. Sierra Leone,
:07:44. > :07:47.through Niger, the top of Uganda, through to sit down. It is a
:07:47. > :07:52.phenomenal journey and now it is all about building up muscle
:07:52. > :07:56.strength and body weight. Do we know whether those little chicks
:07:56. > :08:01.that have been born in this ward, after that migration will they
:08:02. > :08:06.return? I don't know that but there has been a study going on here in
:08:06. > :08:11.these wards for the last few years. I wouldn't mind betting they do
:08:11. > :08:16.come back, although I have read reports of wood warblers turning up
:08:16. > :08:20.in other parts of the country, even southern Scotland. We will check it
:08:20. > :08:25.out. Those of you who have a very good memory may say hang on a
:08:25. > :08:29.second, there was wood warblers, I am sure they had six chicks but
:08:30. > :08:35.only five left, so what is going on? I will tell you - nature
:08:35. > :08:40.doesn't like hanging about. Look at this. One chick for some reason
:08:41. > :08:46.didn't make it. It was found in the nest, but you can see it moving.
:08:46. > :08:50.Not because it is alive, but because it is being recycled by one
:08:50. > :08:57.of nature's most extraordinary creatures, it is a beetle and I
:08:57. > :09:07.happen to know what is your favourite. It is, by a long way.
:09:07. > :09:08.
:09:08. > :09:12.This is the Sexton or burying beetles. The males are tracked the
:09:12. > :09:16.females, the females lay their eggs on it, but then they stick with the
:09:16. > :09:21.eggs and a kind of power over the top of them until they hatch. Then
:09:21. > :09:26.they still stick with them because when the young hatch, they don't
:09:26. > :09:30.have functional mouth parts for the first two growth stages of their
:09:30. > :09:35.development so the adult beetles tulle up the decaying meat and
:09:35. > :09:41.feeds it to the developing larvae, showing parents will care. How
:09:41. > :09:47.fabulous is that? If I were a dead wood warbler, I would want to be
:09:47. > :09:53.recycled by one of those Beatles. Let's remind you of a very dramatic
:09:53. > :09:58.story which we witnessed yesterday. This was the nest of friends which
:09:58. > :10:02.was raided by a at jay. The jay went round the back of the nest and
:10:02. > :10:06.started removing some of the nesting material, and with it one
:10:06. > :10:10.of the chicks. It forced out the five remaining tricks and they have
:10:10. > :10:16.left earlier than they would have done naturally. They ended up
:10:16. > :10:23.hidden in the undergrowth just below the tree in which they were
:10:23. > :10:28.nesting. We wondered if they had any chance of surviving the night,
:10:28. > :10:31.because Jays are very clever birds. We sent our cameraman out on a
:10:31. > :10:35.mission to see if they were still there this morning. He spotted the
:10:35. > :10:40.adult bird with food so we thought that was a good sign. As it turned
:10:40. > :10:47.out, we were right. The chicks had survived and he found all five of
:10:47. > :10:51.them in the undergrowth. When we saw them last night, I thought life
:10:51. > :10:56.become a landslide frankly, a downhill slope but they seem to be
:10:56. > :11:00.OK at the moment. I have got to stick up for the jape at this stage.
:11:01. > :11:05.They typically only predate eggs and young birds during their own
:11:05. > :11:10.breeding season. Through the rest of the season they eat
:11:10. > :11:15.invertebrates and acorns in the wintertime. They are not all bad.
:11:15. > :11:22.Martin has a film coming up later in the programme about another
:11:22. > :11:32.member of this family, the magpie. Enough from us, let's move on to
:11:32. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:37.the guest naturalist this week and see where she is. She is in a
:11:37. > :11:43.landfill site, and I have got to say we have a very fine evening up
:11:43. > :11:47.in Wales. Is the weather beautiful for you down there? It has been a
:11:47. > :11:51.scorcher all day, so much so I had to put my sunglasses on. We are
:11:51. > :11:55.still on a mission to find out how landfill can contribute to wildlife
:11:55. > :12:00.conservation of the 21st century. Yesterday we found out landfill is
:12:00. > :12:04.not just about dumping rubbish, it also provides food and shelter for
:12:04. > :12:09.wild animals and we got a glimpse of those foxes. More about them
:12:09. > :12:17.later on, but you might be wondering what the noise is about.
:12:17. > :12:22.Shaun Taylor is over here, the site manager here. What is this? We have
:12:23. > :12:28.over 1000 wells in the landfill. All that gas is brought down to
:12:28. > :12:31.this compound here. What do you turn the gas into here? It is
:12:31. > :12:37.turned into electricity and then we have installed a cable that runs
:12:37. > :12:44.out of the front of the site, and then it is turned into electricity
:12:44. > :12:50.and taken off-site. How many homes do you provide electricity for?
:12:50. > :12:55.to 20,000 homes. How long will it last for? We expect to create
:12:55. > :13:03.electricity here for up to 50 years. Thank you. It is great to see how
:13:03. > :13:07.the strains of the modern world can be put to use. Remember those foxes
:13:07. > :13:15.yesterday that the cameras caught shots off over the spring? We
:13:15. > :13:19.decided it was time to get a little bit more up close and personal.
:13:19. > :13:24.Phil is an ecologist who works with the company that runs this site. As
:13:24. > :13:28.part of his work, he photographs foxes here and has studied them for
:13:28. > :13:32.30 years. I am hoping his long- standing relationship with them can
:13:32. > :13:37.help me and the adventure team have a close encounter we will not
:13:37. > :13:45.forget. How are we going to do this? How can we approach the foxes
:13:45. > :13:51.carefully? We are going to walk up to the bank here, and sit there and
:13:51. > :13:55.wait until they come out basically. This obviously helps. We feed them
:13:55. > :13:59.bits of pork to encourage them to come to the camera. I know what is
:13:59. > :14:03.a great incentive for them to come out, but does that mean we can
:14:03. > :14:10.bring the whole group? What is the maximum we can bring near to the
:14:10. > :14:16.foxes? We will just start with the two of us. Can they creep forward
:14:16. > :14:24.eventually? Yes. We will go ahead and see how it goes. Ready? Let's
:14:24. > :14:28.do this. OK. This isn't just for fun. We want to know how likely it
:14:28. > :14:34.is that we can film the foxes live at the end of the week. Call it
:14:34. > :14:40.field research, if you like. It soon becomes apparent that getting
:14:40. > :14:50.a film crew close to foxes here really isn't a problem. When I say
:14:50. > :15:03.
:15:03. > :15:07.So pretty. That's a cub chasing away an adult. He is bold as brass.
:15:08. > :15:15.How did these foxes become so tame in the first place? There were a
:15:15. > :15:20.crew of earth movers here, big truckers, you know, they never ate
:15:20. > :15:24.their crusts, right. They just threw their crusts where they were
:15:24. > :15:29.eating on site. There were two cubs like this, who were pretty bold,
:15:29. > :15:35.they started coming. What happens is, the foxes learn from each other.
:15:35. > :15:40.They watch what other foxes do and they learn. If one sees another one
:15:40. > :15:45.getting food, then it must be able to think, well, maybe I could do
:15:46. > :15:50.that as well. What are your thoughts about feeding the foxes?
:15:50. > :15:54.Feeding foxes, I think, is extremely controversial. I've got
:15:54. > :15:58.no problems with people feeding foxes, you need to think it through.
:15:59. > :16:02.If you are feeding foxs in your garden, then you need to think
:16:02. > :16:07.really about what your neighbours might think about that. On a site
:16:07. > :16:11.like this, then, I think, there's no harm in it. The population, you
:16:12. > :16:19.know, isn't sustainable without the food source up on the landfill,
:16:19. > :16:23.perhaps, without the handouts from people like me. There are more
:16:23. > :16:27.foxes per square mile here at the landfill than there are anywhere
:16:27. > :16:35.else in Britain. Being so tame, there really couldn't be a better
:16:35. > :16:45.place to try and get a film crew an intimate encounter. We succeeded
:16:45. > :16:48.
:16:48. > :16:52.today, they're all around the crew, take a look. So beautiful. Safe to
:16:52. > :16:56.say, that was a fairly successful afternoon. I didn't think we were
:16:56. > :17:06.going to see so many foxes altogether. Now, the big challenge
:17:06. > :17:08.
:17:09. > :17:12.is to bring all of that to you, I still cannot believe that
:17:12. > :17:15.actually happened. I want to bring those foxes to you in the best
:17:15. > :17:21.possible way that we can. That does mean bringing them to you live. So,
:17:21. > :17:30.bear with us. We will do our best. By the end of the week we will be
:17:30. > :17:35.able to do just that. Thank you very much, Liz. Amazing to see all
:17:35. > :17:41.those foxes. Densely in the whole of the UK? Amazing. Beautiful
:17:41. > :17:46.animals too. Hold a torch to a tiger me the fox. Stunning creature.
:17:46. > :17:51.Shall we look at some of our foxes? Let's do that. This was yesterday
:17:51. > :17:56.night. Young, surprised to see such youngsters. Late in the year like,
:17:56. > :18:01.this they must have been late. It's difficult to age them. I would say
:18:01. > :18:06.they are probably about 12 weeks old. Maybe a little bit older, 12-
:18:06. > :18:11.15 weeks old. They are still quite young for this time of year. What
:18:11. > :18:18.surprised me, they seemed to be going into that badger's sett.
:18:18. > :18:23.Shall we look? Yes. This is what we got last night. I had said that, if
:18:23. > :18:30.I ever find that another badger turns up on the at the sett I will
:18:30. > :18:36.eat my coat. It did. Highlighted behind the foliage. It goes down
:18:36. > :18:42.one of the holes. Half an hour later, this wasn't immediately,
:18:42. > :18:47.carrying food and goes down the same hole. There is co-habituation
:18:47. > :18:55.going on here. It amazes me they will live side by side like this?
:18:55. > :18:59.They get something out of. It the badger Escude ka vaited a fine
:18:59. > :19:04.living space. Here they have luxury accommodation, lots of chambers.
:19:04. > :19:09.Well cleaned out. Foxs are famous for bringing lots of carrying and
:19:09. > :19:18.food back to the den area. I wouldn't mind betting that the
:19:18. > :19:25.badgers might scavenge some of this. Both are benefiting? Badger is top
:19:25. > :19:30.dog. Stronger jaws and powerful teeth. So the badger will come off
:19:30. > :19:36.top. Would win. Definitely. Now a little bird that is loved by anyone,
:19:36. > :19:40.the dipper. Let's look. This was filmed by Lindsay again. This was
:19:40. > :19:45.filmed but the deluge on Sunday. He is learning his craft, he or she.
:19:45. > :19:49.He has to learn to hundred hunt under the water, hasn't he? He has
:19:49. > :19:54.to do it pretty quickly. After they fledge they can become independent
:19:54. > :19:59.from the parents in just a week. Parents still here now. I think
:19:59. > :20:09.that's the male. The male will sometimes continue to feed. It's
:20:09. > :20:16.funny you say that, I think that is comctly -- exactly what will happen.
:20:16. > :20:20.A big pause. He hand it to the youngster. The female may have
:20:20. > :20:25.started another clutch of eggs. They will have up to three in the
:20:25. > :20:29.season. That was before the deluge. They were doing very well. Over the
:20:29. > :20:34.course of the weekend we had a tremendous amount of rain. The
:20:34. > :20:38.river where the dippers are living went into full spate. They can't
:20:38. > :20:45.hunt in that? They say that. In the less turbulent parts the adults
:20:45. > :20:50.would do well. The youngster is no fool. It hasn't been able to learn
:20:50. > :21:00.how to hunt blow the surface. It is picking around on themoss. Walking
:21:00. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:06.around on the rocks. They have extremely dense plumage. They can
:21:06. > :21:10.slow their heartbeat down when they go blow the water. They have strong
:21:10. > :21:16.legs. These are fantastic under water creatures. We have to say
:21:16. > :21:20.that. You would never guess it. What about the skull? Shall we do
:21:20. > :21:24.the skull? I think so. Where is it? Here is the skull. Answers have
:21:24. > :21:30.been coming in thick and fast. Would you hold it for me, Becky,
:21:30. > :21:35.please, thank you very much. Some people got it wrong. Lucy and Crazy
:21:36. > :21:43.Blue think it's a sheep. Show him the teeth. Facebook, Debbie thinks
:21:43. > :21:53.it's an otter. Interesting. Not quite there yet, I'd say. This is
:21:53. > :21:57.
:21:57. > :22:02.the largest mamalion carnivore you will find in the UK. You will
:22:03. > :22:08.notice that Martin managed to tempt me away for a boy's weekend.he
:22:08. > :22:15.crammed me into the side car of a motorcycle. He kept trying to go
:22:15. > :22:22.faster. I managed to slow him down. He tempted me to a port hole that
:22:22. > :22:32.led to a beautiful place. You know, I have to say, I've been rather
:22:32. > :22:35.
:22:36. > :22:39.impressed with Martin's boys' weekends so far. I've seen seals,
:22:40. > :22:47.and a species of dipper that I've never seen before and, frankly, I
:22:47. > :22:57.never want to see again. Barking, barking, barringing mad. Now, he's
:22:57. > :22:57.
:22:57. > :23:07.taken me off-roading. I don't think my bum's going to take any more!
:23:07. > :23:12.Honestly! Honestly, what am I doing? I have to stop you now.
:23:12. > :23:22.Before we go through this doorway, I might almost call it a, "port
:23:22. > :23:35.
:23:35. > :23:40.hole". We have seen a few cormorants. It's the middle of
:23:40. > :23:46.their breeding season. It gives us a great opportunity to have a great
:23:46. > :23:51.look at these splendid seabirds. Local expert, Chris Sharp, has been
:23:51. > :23:56.monitoring the colony. Hi, Chris. How do. Nice to see you. What is
:23:56. > :24:01.going on? It's quite quiet it at the moment. Birds are sitting tight
:24:01. > :24:07.on eggs. Birds are flying to-and- fro with nesting material. The male
:24:07. > :24:12.does all the work of building the nest. Pretty much. She just lays.
:24:12. > :24:18.Takes her time and makes the decision and decides if he's the
:24:18. > :24:25.right one. Extraordinary colours on them. They have electric green eyes.
:24:25. > :24:30.Yellow under neath the bill. I like their backs, burnish green and
:24:30. > :24:34.bronze like armour. They rfplt you can see the plates of the armour in
:24:34. > :24:44.the black. I haven't seen that before until we got this close.
:24:44. > :24:45.
:24:45. > :24:49.Stunning birds. They are very hot. Basically, they pant because,
:24:49. > :24:54.obviously, birds can't sweat. The thing, is they have interesting
:24:54. > :24:58.displays, don't they, they flip their wings back and tip all their
:24:58. > :25:01.way back to their tail? Yes. Occasionally still now there is
:25:01. > :25:05.demonstrating going on, pair bonding and showing off,
:25:05. > :25:10.effectively, attracting the mate. Securing the partnership for the
:25:10. > :25:18.season. I imagine they are not good flyers. Do the cormorants who live
:25:18. > :25:25.they move further afield No, they move further afield. Birds have
:25:25. > :25:30.been found dead on the A30 in Devon. Not very good drivers. They got
:25:30. > :25:33.down to Devon and up into Scotland? Absolutely. I will no idea they do
:25:33. > :25:37.that. They use inland water bodies. They go to fresh water as well
:25:37. > :25:41.asthma rein. On that account, they will often be seen far from water
:25:41. > :25:45.as they move from the coast to reservoirs and things like this. I
:25:45. > :25:51.had them flying over the house. They are a long way from water.
:25:51. > :25:58.They are hopping from one food resource to another? Yes. High,
:25:58. > :26:02.good at gliding. Powerful flyers. They fly like geese. They are
:26:02. > :26:06.staggeringly beautiful. I could watch them all day. It's
:26:06. > :26:12.wonderfully peaceful up here on these cliffs. What a great weekend
:26:12. > :26:17.I've had. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself. More importantingly, has
:26:17. > :26:25.Chris? I've had a fantastic time. Great. It's a fantastic place.
:26:25. > :26:35.People were very friendly. The landscape is stunning. Highlight,
:26:35. > :26:37.
:26:37. > :26:41.it will go to the should haves. What have you got lined up for me
:26:41. > :26:47.have something lined up, there is one thing I can assure you, there
:26:47. > :26:53.will be no camping. No camping or reckless driving. I have been
:26:53. > :26:58.driven by the seat of my pants. lent out. I was getting good at the
:26:58. > :27:04.leaning. Just for a moment, a tiny moment, I thought you had become a
:27:04. > :27:09.bit rugged. Not me me. Wait until you see tomorrow. Everything ends
:27:09. > :27:17.up more domesticated, we end up in a gallery. He will become civilised
:27:17. > :27:24.by the end of my boys' day out. These are our buzzard chicks. Two
:27:24. > :27:28.extremely well fed, well cared for chicks. Doing that astonishing bird
:27:28. > :27:33.of prey transformation, changing from little Downey things, the
:27:33. > :27:36.adult feathers are emerging. That is their second down coat
:27:37. > :27:42.disappearing fast. Their contour feat feathers are coming through.
:27:43. > :27:47.When they stand up they have their primaries and the stump of their
:27:47. > :27:51.teal tail. An amaids mazing transformation. We have seen some
:27:52. > :27:57.very good parenting. Perhaps this little chick bit off something
:27:57. > :28:02.rather more than he can chew. The leg of a rabbit. It seems to be set
:28:02. > :28:08.at a right angle. Uncompromising one, as you can see the chick
:28:08. > :28:11.thought too. Many people saw this on the webcams over the weekend and
:28:11. > :28:15.were concerned the chick was choking. Yes. No need to be
:28:15. > :28:20.concerned. They have adapted over millions of years to swallow large
:28:20. > :28:24.items of prey. Their throats, as such, have changed. Their windpipe
:28:24. > :28:29.as such a stiff covering of cartilage it's almost like a boney
:28:29. > :28:32.tube, when you look at it. It does manage to get it down. It doesn't
:28:32. > :28:37.look very happy afterwards. It's like calling for the heart burn
:28:37. > :28:45.pills, definitely. I had an Indian at the weekend, I did the same
:28:45. > :28:49.thing at the end of it, I have to say. Their throat has a series of
:28:49. > :28:53.very powerful longer muscles which crush and compress the thing as it
:28:53. > :29:00.is going down the throat before it gets to the gizzard. No worries. If
:29:00. > :29:02.it were to shobg choke it would recourage Tate it or and try again
:29:02. > :29:07.or give up hope altogether. Sometimes there are eating things
:29:07. > :29:13.that, sadly for me, are easier to get down. We have seen, during the
:29:13. > :29:17.course of making the programme, a whole stash, every time I look at
:29:17. > :29:22.the buzzard nest there was another grass snake. It's only five that
:29:22. > :29:27.they have eaten. This is all today. You know, they were bringing in
:29:27. > :29:33.grass snakes. This adult was bringing in grass snakes, it seemed,
:29:34. > :29:40.throughout this morning. She must have fond one of those bundles.
:29:40. > :29:46.Those knots of snakes. She must have thought, "I will have that one
:29:46. > :29:50."requesting. They develop what we call a, "search image" they can
:29:50. > :29:54.find the prey more easily than if the process was random. Once they
:29:54. > :30:00.found, it they are easy to catch, they are going back for more and
:30:00. > :30:05.more and more. Let's move or over here. This is where our snake cam
:30:05. > :30:10.is set up. You can see the camera here. It's set up on this compost
:30:10. > :30:14.heap. It has seen a tremendous amount of activity. Before we see
:30:15. > :30:20.what we caught on snake cam this morning, let's just have a look at
:30:20. > :30:24.where this compost heap is and why it is good for grass snakes. One of
:30:24. > :30:29.the reasons they are attracted to it is that it's out in the open.
:30:29. > :30:39.It's not boxed in. Boxed in compost heaps, in plastic, no good for
:30:39. > :30:41.
:30:41. > :30:47.Enough light coming in so it really does warm-up during the day.
:30:47. > :30:51.doesn't get too much sun, but this rotting vegetation is fermenting,
:30:51. > :30:56.which is generating heap. The reason the snakes have come here is
:30:56. > :31:01.to lay their eggs, this is like a natural incubator. If we came back
:31:01. > :31:05.in a couple of months' time, there could be as many as 200 eggs in
:31:05. > :31:10.there. Let's see what we caught on camera this morning because it was
:31:10. > :31:15.a beautifully warm day and the snakes were basking in the sunshine.
:31:15. > :31:20.Quite active as well, and we saw snakes moving about on the compost
:31:20. > :31:26.heap, but also leaving the compost heap altogether. Presumably, are
:31:26. > :31:31.they going off to hunt? At a think they are. May have laid their eggs
:31:31. > :31:35.and now they're moving off to hunt. Laying eggs is a very energetic
:31:35. > :31:40.exercise. These snakes will get some meals in them before they
:31:40. > :31:44.hibernate for the winter so that is what we are seeing them do now. The
:31:44. > :31:49.activity over the next few weeks I think we'll go down. If you have a
:31:49. > :31:53.garden pond and you have ever seen a grass snake, make a corner of
:31:53. > :32:00.your garden a place to dump your grass cuttings and they might stay
:32:00. > :32:08.to breed. We had another sighting of the great creature here on the
:32:08. > :32:13.reserve today. Again, thanks to the sunshine, and it was this little
:32:13. > :32:18.dinosaur, a common lizard. Look at this, they seem to be crawling
:32:18. > :32:22.along the wood and lifting up their feet. You have seen that with
:32:22. > :32:26.lizards in Africa in the desert, lifting their feet to cope with the
:32:26. > :32:31.hot sand - do you think that is what is happening here? It could be
:32:31. > :32:34.a display, but it was a very hot day. Those pieces of wood will be
:32:34. > :32:38.scorching so I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't similar
:32:38. > :32:44.behaviour. It is a bit like us walking on to the baking hot sandy
:32:44. > :32:49.beach. Some people put sandals on, I stick to my boots because I don't
:32:50. > :32:54.like sand between my toes. Let's go back to Liz at the landfill site.
:32:54. > :32:59.I'm sure you have some pretty rugged footwear on down there. I
:32:59. > :33:09.her got all the gear, the boots, the jacket, the hard hat, it is
:33:09. > :33:14.under control. Below me, that gas generation plant, using carbon
:33:14. > :33:23.dioxide generated from the landfill. I looked at another by-product of
:33:23. > :33:28.landfill earlier on. Again, not the first thing I would have expected
:33:28. > :33:32.to see at a landfill site - what is this? We are probably getting on
:33:32. > :33:36.for half a mile away from the tip face which we saw today.
:33:36. > :33:46.Nevertheless, this is part of the landfill site which we have to
:33:46. > :33:48.
:33:48. > :33:51.control. What we have here is best described by, if the bin man
:33:51. > :33:56.doesn't come for a couple of weeks, when he finally does come you drag
:33:56. > :34:00.the backs out and the liquid that drops out of the backs, that is
:34:00. > :34:05.what we have here - the breaking down of the waist, and it is a
:34:05. > :34:10.liquid that you get on landfill. can imagine that is a lot on a
:34:10. > :34:15.landfill site. The two is also the rain fall because any rain that
:34:15. > :34:21.hits the site, we have to control that as well. That comes from the
:34:21. > :34:29.waist. Yes, so that permeates through, and we have a ditch that
:34:29. > :34:33.runs all round the site. Eventually it ends up in these two lagoons.
:34:33. > :34:39.we have a very watery world around the land deal, but can anything
:34:39. > :34:45.live in this? It is looking fairly murky, but it is quite toxic as
:34:45. > :34:49.well. It has a lot of ammonia and no oxygen in it whatsoever so it is
:34:49. > :34:53.bad news for anything it wants to live in it, but there are a lot of
:34:53. > :34:57.reed beds surrounding these ditches and they are an important part of
:34:57. > :35:02.this land fell because they are part of a natural filtering system
:35:02. > :35:09.that cleans up this stuff. Within those reed beds, the bird life get
:35:09. > :35:14.very interesting. Cuckoos love to lay their eggs in reed warblers
:35:14. > :35:22.nests. They are such an attraction that we have more than just this
:35:22. > :35:28.one here. Look at the posture, the lowered wings and the wagging tail
:35:28. > :35:32.are a threat to another male working nearby. Both want to claim
:35:32. > :35:39.this territory, knowing it will be very attractive to a female looking
:35:39. > :35:49.to lay her eggs in a warbler nest. The cuckoo is clearly agitated, and
:35:49. > :35:52.
:35:52. > :35:56.just watch as he looks down to avoid a dive bomb by the other male.
:35:56. > :36:06.We watched this fighting go on for several minutes and it turned into
:36:06. > :36:09.
:36:09. > :36:14.With cuckoos in steep decline across the UK, it was a real coup
:36:14. > :36:18.to get not one but two birds on camera, and really encouraging to
:36:18. > :36:26.know they seem to be doing very well in this unusual part of wild
:36:26. > :36:31.Essex. It was a big surprise to find one of Britain's most
:36:31. > :36:35.endangered birds here. It is a land fill that just keeps giving and
:36:35. > :36:45.there is even more wild life to come from those ditches a little
:36:45. > :36:46.
:36:46. > :36:50.bit later on. Thank you, Liz. Martin, I know has got a bit of
:36:50. > :36:57.cocoon news for us in a bit, but hold on because I want to share
:36:57. > :37:01.with you one of my favourite birds and it is this one. It is the red
:37:02. > :37:08.kite, and these were filmed - thank you to everyone at the Forestry
:37:08. > :37:13.Commission of Wales. This was just for me, I have to confess. I said
:37:13. > :37:17.we haven't seen enough of these birds and they are so beautiful,
:37:17. > :37:23.particularly in flight. Those long fingers of their flight feathers
:37:23. > :37:28.and that incredibly easy to spot tale which just allows them to be
:37:28. > :37:33.so acrobatic in flight. That was just for me, that is it. You
:37:33. > :37:37.obviously want to know about the red kite chick. It has grown up
:37:37. > :37:45.quite substantially since we last caught up with it, and so today it
:37:45. > :37:51.was a big stage in its little life. Tony Cross went up to the nest to
:37:52. > :38:01.ring the bird, he was doing this and as you can see he is attaching
:38:02. > :38:02.
:38:02. > :38:07.attack to its wing. That is the right hand wing and I believe the
:38:07. > :38:11.letter stands for Springwatch. Tagging birds is very important for
:38:11. > :38:17.general research, but for anybody visiting this area of Wales, it
:38:17. > :38:22.allows them a very good chance of identifying our very chick. It does
:38:22. > :38:27.indeed. With the wing tack, they are highly visible. If the bird is
:38:27. > :38:35.perched, you will be able to see that. It is important, if you get
:38:35. > :38:39.records, to send them into the appropriate organisations.
:38:39. > :38:44.probably will stick around because they do tend to stay in the area
:38:44. > :38:50.where they were born. They do, they move away but then they come back
:38:50. > :38:55.to this area. He gives a problem when they are reintroduced because
:38:55. > :39:02.they are not spreading quickly. There are better birds in my humble
:39:02. > :39:07.opinion however. I have a crazy love for one called the woodcock.
:39:07. > :39:11.Last winter, I was fortunate to meet the scientist called Andrew
:39:11. > :39:17.who works for the game conservation and wildlife trust, and he went out
:39:17. > :39:23.in the night, court a woodcock, and I was able to hold the bird whilst
:39:23. > :39:28.he attached a data logger to the bird. He then released this bird
:39:29. > :39:32.and it disappeared into the night. What was it all about? The 74%
:39:32. > :39:37.decline in would Cox had been measured, they are now on the Amber
:39:37. > :39:41.List and we want to find out more about them. Andrew caught another
:39:41. > :39:48.bird in Cornwall, and in the springtime it flew all the way
:39:48. > :39:55.across to Austria, then it flew across to part of southern Russia,
:39:56. > :40:02.and then by 23rd April it had returned to the south of Moscow
:40:02. > :40:09.where it bred. It then came down to part of the Ukraine, across to
:40:09. > :40:14.Belgium where it stayed only for a fleeting visit. It then moved to
:40:14. > :40:21.Kent, before going back to Cornwall where the data logger was recovered.
:40:21. > :40:29.This was a journey of 9179 kilometres. I used: it is because
:40:29. > :40:32.most of it was across the modern world. That was 5702 miles. An
:40:32. > :40:39.incredible piece of technology telling us so much about these
:40:39. > :40:44.birds. It is not the only piece of gadgetry helping us through this.
:40:44. > :40:49.can talk your technology. We saw some fantastic pictures of cuckoos
:40:49. > :40:55.from Liz, but what about our cuckoos. They had been tagged with
:40:55. > :41:00.a very special Tracker. This is where they were yesterday. Slightly
:41:00. > :41:08.bad news for me, but first of all - remember they had been named after
:41:08. > :41:16.Chris and myself - Chris is down here and almost ready to make the
:41:16. > :41:20.jump. That is how I feel! I was ready to move north. It was like
:41:20. > :41:26.this on the Isle of Man, always moving in one direction. But this
:41:26. > :41:31.one has gone further south. What I love about this is that you get the
:41:31. > :41:38.data and then that tracker switches itself off and it takes 48 hours to
:41:38. > :41:44.recharge the batteries, then we get another dose of data. We can follow
:41:44. > :41:49.this on our website. We have had only one winning recovery from sub-
:41:49. > :41:59.Saharan. In a few months' time we will have so much data, it is so
:41:59. > :42:00.
:42:00. > :42:07.exciting. Now, the quiz. Correct on the website, Nicola, Louise on
:42:07. > :42:16.Facebook - it is a grey seal. To all of you who thought it was a
:42:16. > :42:21.badger, here is a badger. A lot smaller. There are badgers this big
:42:21. > :42:25.out at night, I wouldn't be walking...! It is now time for
:42:25. > :42:31.another Springwatch investigation, into a bird which court controversy,
:42:31. > :42:36.one which we all have an opinion on. Magpies. None of us likes to see a
:42:36. > :42:42.little trick being killed in the back garden by a magpie. But do
:42:42. > :42:52.they have any overall effect on our songbird numbers? Should we kill
:42:52. > :42:54.
:42:54. > :42:58.Magpies, like the rest of the crow family, are known for their
:42:58. > :43:02.intelligence and adaptability, but there is no getting away from it -
:43:02. > :43:07.they are also unpopular with many people because they raid nests
:43:07. > :43:11.taking eggs and chicks. Magpie numbers have doubled since the
:43:11. > :43:19.1970s, whilst many farmland and garden birds have suffered dramatic
:43:19. > :43:28.declines. So, is there a link? Are magpies responsible? I am going to
:43:28. > :43:33.ask the experts, first up the RSPB. Here is the crucial question - do
:43:33. > :43:43.magpies make any difference at all to overall survival rates for
:43:43. > :43:47.
:43:48. > :43:52.garden songbirds? No. That is great, how can you say that? My pies have
:43:52. > :43:57.lived alongside songbirds for millennia and songbirds can deal
:43:57. > :44:01.with the present. Their strategy is to have lots of youngsters. They
:44:01. > :44:05.are masters of probability. They know that having lots of youngsters
:44:05. > :44:12.means they can cope with the presence of predators. Simple as
:44:12. > :44:18.that. That seems pretty clear cut but there are still many people
:44:18. > :44:24.culling magpies. I am here to one of them from the Conservation Trust,
:44:24. > :44:32.who trains people to use these traps. There is the catching half,
:44:32. > :44:36.and that is the half where the decoy bird lives. How does this
:44:36. > :44:41.work? We put this out in the countryside,
:44:42. > :44:48.and the crow or a magpie comes to trace the intruder away. In the
:44:48. > :44:51.process, they get themselves caught in one of these catches. So it
:44:51. > :44:58.lands on that and it is nailed in there. The captured birds are
:44:58. > :45:05.killed but Mike is convinced Colin magpies is necessary. We are
:45:06. > :45:10.confident that this is important in mushing populations of -- managing
:45:10. > :45:14.populations. Your main focus will be on game birds which you are
:45:14. > :45:24.breeding for shooting round here, but are you also concerned with the
:45:24. > :45:28.
:45:28. > :45:33.I don't know how important the control might be in relation to the
:45:33. > :45:39.other species. It turned out to be more complicated than I thought
:45:39. > :45:45.this question, now I'm about to go to the BTO, the headquarters of the
:45:45. > :45:50.British Trust for orntholing. If we are going to clet clarity, it's
:45:50. > :45:54.going to be here. The BTO undertook some very, very detailed research.
:45:54. > :46:03.Here is the paper. Can you summarise, what were the results of
:46:03. > :46:08.that research? We looked at 3 0 song bird species and seven
:46:08. > :46:17.predator species, both predators on adult birds, sparrowhawks and
:46:17. > :46:20.kestrels and predators of eggs and nestlingings. There were very few
:46:20. > :46:24.significant relationships between the growth in the predator
:46:24. > :46:26.population and decline in the song population and decline in the song
:46:26. > :46:32.bird population. The bottom line, from this evidence, seems to be
:46:32. > :46:40.that magpies, which is what we started off looking into, probably
:46:40. > :46:44.have little or no affect on overall countrywide population of our song
:46:44. > :46:50.birds? That is right. Another organisation isn't convinced that
:46:50. > :46:55.it can be dismissed entirely. don't pretend it's the major factor
:46:55. > :46:59.necessarily because habitat, nest site, food supply is probably as
:46:59. > :47:05.important, if not more important. It's an important factor which
:47:05. > :47:12.hasn't been looked at thoroughly. That's really tricky. There's paper
:47:12. > :47:16.after paper, this is 21 different organisations, all of them are
:47:16. > :47:23.coming up with the same, the principle cause of song bird
:47:23. > :47:27.decline is more about changes in land use use. More likely to be, is
:47:27. > :47:32.that actual? Even though song bird survival aren't yet satisfied
:47:32. > :47:39.nearly all the papers I have read conclude that song bird declines
:47:39. > :47:47.are duh to habitat issues. It seems it can be a problem at local level.
:47:47. > :47:52.Even the RSPB control magpies and crows on some of their reserves.
:47:52. > :47:55.Some occasions the bird populations have fallen to such an extent duh
:47:55. > :48:00.to changes in habitat that a predator can be the final straw.
:48:00. > :48:04.You are talking about a small isolated population that is on
:48:04. > :48:09.their knees. There we look to reduce the potential impact. I have
:48:09. > :48:14.spoken to the experts. One thing is clear, unlike the magpie itself,
:48:14. > :48:19.this issue is far from black-and- white. I still think there is an
:48:19. > :48:24.overwhelming weight of evidence to show that magpies have no overall
:48:24. > :48:29.effect on our song bird populations. Last night I was at home, looked
:48:29. > :48:34.out the window, at the nest box, a magpie flu in and sat on the branch
:48:34. > :48:39.next to. It I knew what was going through that magpie's head, it was
:48:39. > :48:43.checking it out. I was outraged. I would have rushed out and knead fly
:48:43. > :48:53.away. I stopped and thought, it doesn't matter how much I know, my
:48:53. > :48:59.
:48:59. > :49:03.I have to say, I agree with Martin. It's one of those issues use. You
:49:03. > :49:10.know magpies are doing it to survive. Every bird has a right to
:49:10. > :49:16.survive, it doesn't make it ease wrer when you see a magpie raiding
:49:16. > :49:20.the rest in the garden. Under dogs I'm a fan of magpie and nature
:49:20. > :49:27.finding its own balance. This debate could go on and on, it will
:49:27. > :49:31.do. You can join our message boards. Take a bg a look at this piece of
:49:31. > :49:35.Take a bg a look at this piece of film that has been sent in this is
:49:36. > :49:40.a sparrowhawk chased off of its eggs by a crow. The crow then comes
:49:40. > :49:46.in, the hawk grabs hold of it and pulse it away. It comes back for a
:49:46. > :49:50.second attempt. When you think it's about to peck, in comes the female
:49:50. > :49:57.sparrowhawk again. A great tussle takes place. It's very brave of her.
:49:57. > :50:01.She is smaller and lighter than that crow. She is. She is trying to
:50:01. > :50:07.protect her resource. Neither seem to want to give up. There is a sad
:50:07. > :50:14.end to this story. We don't see it here, the crow came back. They are
:50:14. > :50:19.so persistent. It came back and was seen pecking out the sparrowhawk
:50:19. > :50:22.eggs. They have a place in the grand scheme of things. He is
:50:22. > :50:30.absolutely heartbroken. Another bird we have been following, since
:50:30. > :50:37.we have been here on site, is the osprey. It's not actually on this
:50:37. > :50:43.reserve. It's a kilometer down the estuary. It's part of the Osprey
:50:43. > :50:48.Project. It is incredibly exciting. This is the first time that ospreys
:50:48. > :50:54.have nested here in Wales for 400 years. That is four centuries. She
:50:54. > :50:58.hatched out three chicks. We were worried initially. This is a first
:50:58. > :51:02.time mum. She didn't seem to be getting feeding very right. Chris,
:51:02. > :51:05.we can see, not only are they catching fantastic prey, this
:51:05. > :51:10.estuary is full of fish, particularly at the moment, after
:51:10. > :51:14.all that rain, sea trot and salmon running up the estuary, those
:51:14. > :51:19.chicks are doing really well indeed. Productive waters here. We are
:51:19. > :51:25.running short of time. Liz down there in Essex, are the Pitsea
:51:25. > :51:34.waterways proving fruitful too? They really are, Chris. Not just
:51:34. > :51:41.the Riverways, the ditchs as well. They form part of a water treatment
:51:41. > :51:46.system. When it's clean enough it returns back to the Thames. Within
:51:46. > :51:54.the ditchs we found cuckoos, rumour has it that a special little mammal
:51:54. > :52:01.is lurking in amongst the reeds as When you are tracking wildlife you
:52:01. > :52:06.have to know what signs to look out for. This rare mammal makes its
:52:06. > :52:09.small burrows around four to eight centimetres in die amateur on the
:52:10. > :52:14.bank's edge. If the burrow is inhas been ated there may be a grazed
:52:14. > :52:19.area around the entrance. The animal I'm looking for is the
:52:19. > :52:24.elusive water vole. It might be the UK's fastest declining mammal,
:52:24. > :52:28.there is plenty of evidence of there is plenty of evidence of
:52:28. > :52:34.their presence here. This is really interesting, classic tell-tale
:52:34. > :52:40.signs of water vole activity. This is one of the favourite food of the
:52:40. > :52:45.water vole. All around here are nice broken munched on pieces.
:52:45. > :52:51.Small piles of cut rushs are good clues, to be 100% sure it's a water
:52:52. > :52:58.vole look for the tell-tale 45 degree cuts to the stems. Niche
:52:58. > :53:03.areas, full of scat, mark breeding territories with droppings around
:53:03. > :53:07.eight to ten millimetres lock long with a distinctive green colour
:53:07. > :53:11.when you crush them. That is, definitely, definitely very fresh.
:53:11. > :53:21.Which means there's lots of water vole activity here. Time to get the
:53:21. > :53:24.
:53:24. > :53:30.traps all over this area. I'm going to put some bait down, in the form
:53:30. > :53:35.to put some bait down, in the form of apples, let's see what we get.
:53:35. > :53:40.So all the signs were there. We had our cameras set up, everything was
:53:40. > :53:44.looking rosy am we were putting apples out there it attract the
:53:44. > :53:54.water voles. There is another well- known rodent who is partial to
:53:54. > :53:54.
:53:54. > :53:58.coming up to the bank, what is it? It's furry, it's a mammal. Look at
:53:58. > :54:05.the tail. It's very long, it has no fur on it. Those ears are fairly
:54:05. > :54:09.obvious, they are protrudeing, the nose is long. That is a brown rat.
:54:09. > :54:13.Look at what it's trying to do. It's trying to get into the water.
:54:13. > :54:17.That is why it's often confused with the water vole, like the vole,
:54:17. > :54:21.with the water vole, like the vole, it likes water, it likes to swim.
:54:21. > :54:25.Yes. No real surprise there. Where ever you find water voles you tend
:54:25. > :54:29.to find brown vat rats. You will find it happens all the time. So
:54:29. > :54:34.did we give up? I tell you something, the Springwatch
:54:34. > :54:37.adventure team never gives up. It's a mantra of ours. Take a look at
:54:37. > :54:42.a mantra of ours. Take a look at this. Now, it may have taken them a
:54:42. > :54:46.few days, our specialist camera man, Sam, I think, has got what we are
:54:46. > :54:52.looking for. Where did you get these images? Earlier this morning.
:54:52. > :54:59.R Look at that. You can see it coming out of the hole there.
:54:59. > :55:09.Devine. A little water vole face poking its head out. Ah! That is
:55:09. > :55:10.
:55:10. > :55:18.the apple we baited. Finally. cute is that? Excellent. Such a
:55:18. > :55:23.result. So glad to see that. It's very clearly a water vole, not a
:55:23. > :55:29.brown rat. Look at that rounded blunt nose and orange teeth and the
:55:29. > :55:35.lack of protrudeing ears, all a dead givaway. How many days did it
:55:35. > :55:41.take you to get that? About three. That is good footage here. How
:55:41. > :55:51.gorgeous is that? Brilliant. Good job, well done, Sam. That is lovely
:55:51. > :55:52.
:55:52. > :55:58.to see. Our ditchs do have lots of ammonia can live in them. Insects
:55:58. > :56:03.living in it because they can get oxygen from the air. Mammals are
:56:03. > :56:07.living around the water at PH, it's not really toxic. The bacterial
:56:07. > :56:12.load would be our problem with our humans. We couldn't handle that.
:56:12. > :56:17.Mammals are tougher than that. The wildlife here is tougher. Water
:56:17. > :56:20.voles can live around this area. That is good news. They are the
:56:20. > :56:28.UK's fastest declining mammal. Great to see them making a home
:56:28. > :56:32.Great to see them making a home So where are we so far with our
:56:32. > :56:36.landfill adventure? We have seen how we throwaway far too much
:56:36. > :56:43.rubbish. We have seen how it provides food and shelter for
:56:43. > :56:48.wildlife. We have seen how the landfill produces gases leechate.
:56:48. > :56:52.We will see how the land is giving back to nature. We are also going
:56:52. > :56:57.to laugh in the face of fear because we are taking on the curse
:56:58. > :57:03.of Springwatch Badger watching. We will see you tomorrow. Liz, you are
:57:03. > :57:11.one brave girl, I can tell you. If you get badgers, we will be
:57:11. > :57:19.extremely happy. Can I say thank you to ab ris with University for
:57:19. > :57:23.the loan of this skull. Let's go to our herons. Yesterday both were off
:57:23. > :57:27.our herons. Yesterday both were off the nest. Now the two are back.
:57:27. > :57:32.Maybe being attended by their parents from time to time. If I was
:57:32. > :57:36.a heron I would head back there too, frankly. Have a look at our
:57:36. > :57:42.oystercatcher. Let's go to it live now. The reason that I want you to
:57:42. > :57:45.look at this bird. You are thinking, "Kate, it never really does
:57:45. > :57:51.anything" tfplts has been behaving Audley. I think those eggs are
:57:51. > :57:55.about to hatch. Keep an eye on them. I might be completely wrong. Never
:57:55. > :57:59.in a million years. Bbc.co.uk/springwatch. Now
:57:59. > :58:04.tomorrow? Tomorrow, after three weeks we get to grips with some
:58:04. > :58:11.plants. I meet astonishing orchids. Chris and I leave the Isle of Man
:58:11. > :58:17.and go somewhere else to continue our adventure. Four! Why play golf