:00:10. > :00:14.On the show tonight, we've got some beautiful plants that pretend
:00:14. > :00:19.they're animals. We've got a buzzard being an umbrella. And a
:00:19. > :00:29.barn owl that's turned into a serial killer. Sounds surreal, but
:00:29. > :00:55.
:00:55. > :01:05.Hell will, and welcome to Springwatch. Now, in 1962, the
:01:05. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:10.legend who is Bob Dylan released A Hard Rain's going To Fall, and Bob,
:01:10. > :01:14.today you got it right because it has been absolutely pouring here in
:01:14. > :01:17.Wales. We have prevailed, though, to bring you the very best in
:01:17. > :01:23.British wildlife. Remember, it's real wildlife in realtime. What
:01:23. > :01:28.have we got coming up? I took a jaunt. I went down to the beach to
:01:28. > :01:31.see some glamorous babes. Very gorgeous they are, too, but not as
:01:31. > :01:37.gorgeous as these. Why have butterflies when you can have
:01:37. > :01:41.moths? Chris and I leave the rugged shores of the Isle of Man to sample
:01:41. > :01:46.the delights of Newcastle. Newcastle, a top place for some
:01:46. > :01:50.culture later on, and of course, our guest presenter this week is
:01:50. > :01:56.down in Essex. It's going very well, thank you very much, Chris. All
:01:56. > :02:01.this week we're finding out how landfill has all the makings of a
:02:01. > :02:05.21st century wildlife haven. Tonight we're on some of the
:02:05. > :02:08.restored wild land. And we're going to find out if the curse of the
:02:08. > :02:14.Springwatch badger has followed me to Essex. You don't want to miss
:02:14. > :02:21.that. See you in a bit. Thank you very much, Liz. What do you mean
:02:21. > :02:25."the curse of the Springwatch badgers"? Right. Is traditional, we
:02:25. > :02:35.have a quiz for you tonight. It's a tough one. It's a sound quiz. Have
:02:35. > :02:45.a listen to these three sounds. This is the first one. (Whooo!)
:02:45. > :02:49.
:02:49. > :02:56.That's the croon - no, it's not. Here's the second sound. ( Wheee-
:02:56. > :03:02.eee) What do you think? A pop concert? And here's a tricky one.
:03:02. > :03:05.(Bump, bump, bump) What are those sounds, what's making them? What
:03:05. > :03:09.links them all together? We're going to hear them later. You can
:03:09. > :03:15.get your texts in now. Go to the web, go to Twitter and go to our
:03:15. > :03:21.Facebook site. I'll get it right in the end. He's very young, really.
:03:21. > :03:24.He just does his old foggie bit. Questions for Unsprung? Yes, if you
:03:24. > :03:32.have any questions we might be able to answer, please send those in as
:03:32. > :03:38.well. Should I clear off? Yes. have a little bit of trouble with
:03:38. > :03:42.the leopard. It's all going terribly well. It would be going
:03:42. > :03:45.great if he wasn't joking. If you were watching yesterday you might
:03:46. > :03:50.have seen I made a slightly brave prediction because we have been
:03:50. > :03:53.watching these birds called oystercatcher s. They have been
:03:53. > :03:59.hanging around a little bit, then last night, I saw this bit of
:03:59. > :04:02.behaviour. They seem to get this - this could be the male or female -
:04:02. > :04:07.getting a little bit kind of twitchy on that nest, just wouldn't
:04:07. > :04:13.settle, kept looking at the eggs, settling down again, then going, no,
:04:13. > :04:18.I'm just not right. I just wondered, could they possibly be hatching?
:04:18. > :04:22.Now, we have been watching these birds throughout the entire series
:04:22. > :04:27.of Springwatch, and I thought, how perfect would it be if they hatched
:04:27. > :04:31.on... But you're not a gambling woman, are you? I'm not a gambling
:04:31. > :04:35.woman, but I just thought it would be a lovely treat for you, our dear
:04:35. > :04:45.viewers, if they hatched on the penultimate show. So let's go to
:04:45. > :04:45.
:04:45. > :04:49.them live. And there are the eggs, very much intact. Unequivocal proof
:04:49. > :04:56.that on this occasion it proved wise not to be gambling woman.
:04:56. > :04:59.did. If I am not mistaken, I know it's not a badger but those are
:04:59. > :05:03.oystercatcher eggs. They are. But there is still one day left. It
:05:03. > :05:09.could still do that. Don't do that. Don't shake your head. I am
:05:09. > :05:12.counting. We have come down to this lovely lane to show you that barn.
:05:12. > :05:16.You may think there is nothing special about that barn, but
:05:16. > :05:20.believe me it is. The residents are very special - it is our barn owls.
:05:20. > :05:23.As you have seen if you have been watching the whole series, the barn
:05:23. > :05:28.owl parents have been doing an amazing job keeping their four
:05:28. > :05:38.chicks very well supplied with food indeed, but on Monday night, they
:05:38. > :05:38.
:05:38. > :06:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 52 seconds
:06:31. > :06:39.Absolutely astonishing - 20 voles and three slew -- shrwe they
:06:39. > :06:44.brought in on a single night. great work for the cat on the
:06:44. > :06:48.banjo! LAUGHTER This is heartening because last year our barn owls had
:06:48. > :06:54.particularly poor breeding seasons on account of the fact there aren't
:06:54. > :06:59.that many voles out there. They are largely dependent on field voles,
:06:59. > :07:03.80% of their diet, and the population rises and falls in a
:07:03. > :07:10.cyclical fashion. Every ten years it switches between three and four
:07:10. > :07:14.years. If they're breeding at the peak, it super-produce these
:07:14. > :07:19.animals. If these young get out of the nest early enough, there is
:07:19. > :07:22.some chance these parents might even have another clutch with this
:07:22. > :07:25.super-abundance of prey. Really? Yeah. They also have been storing
:07:25. > :07:30.them. Take a look at this. This is what we were watching last night
:07:30. > :07:34.when we were watching our barn owls. One of these chicks has a small
:07:34. > :07:38.mammal, I should is a, and one of the others pinches it, but there is
:07:38. > :07:41.very little concern about this because within the box there, we
:07:41. > :07:46.have noticed there is a cache of small mammals. Again, this is
:07:46. > :07:52.typical of these sorts of raptors. We saw it with our kestrels. We did,
:07:52. > :07:56.a kestrel had a store of food on the edge of one of the branches on
:07:56. > :08:02.the tree where they were nesting. They store them in the barn. They
:08:02. > :08:07.may well have another spot where they're sticking them into, a
:08:07. > :08:11.crevice like the kestrel. We saw that cache raided by a jackdaw. So
:08:11. > :08:15.they're cunning about where they put them. Of course, at the moment
:08:15. > :08:20.we're seeing those chicks go through a fantastic growth phase.
:08:20. > :08:26.Shall we go to them? Let's go live. These are live pictures, and as you
:08:26. > :08:30.can see, they really are growing very fast, Chris, but not as fast
:08:30. > :08:34.as our buzzard chicks. They're still very downy. They haven't
:08:34. > :08:38.started to feather up. If we could zoom in a little bit more, we might
:08:38. > :08:42.be able to see there are some adult feathers just beginning to emerge.
:08:42. > :08:47.When we see their wings stretching, you can see their flight feathers
:08:47. > :08:51.there. Another thing you can notice is their facial disk - the stiff
:08:51. > :08:56.feathers that form the outer part of the ear - that that catchs the
:08:56. > :09:01.sound, which is essential to them because as adults, when they listen,
:09:01. > :09:07.that's how they find their prey. It's a long process. They'll be in
:09:07. > :09:13.the nest up to ten weeks, will be jumping out of it, then coming back
:09:13. > :09:17.for more. The buzzards are out there open in a tree where they're
:09:17. > :09:22.relatively vulnerable. These things are quite sca safely ensconced in
:09:22. > :09:27.the barn. If you're out in the open, it's a problem. If you were
:09:27. > :09:37.watching yesterday, we were watching aest in of wrens and as we
:09:37. > :09:39.
:09:39. > :09:45.were beginning to watch, there was an attack from a predator. Our
:09:45. > :09:49.cameraman went to see if they were doing OK. They had all survived
:09:49. > :09:54.their first night in the wild. We were worried the rain might take
:09:54. > :09:58.its toll. As you can see, they're in the woods, a great spot, Pete,
:09:58. > :10:02.well done for finding them. The adult is very much in evidence. But
:10:03. > :10:07.look at this - a little chick actually catching food for itself,
:10:07. > :10:10.so I think we can feel cautiously optimistic those wren chicks are
:10:10. > :10:15.doing OK. It was a small reward, but it was that instinct to peck at
:10:15. > :10:18.things that are moving that'll make it work for them. They'll still be
:10:18. > :10:21.dependent on the parents from somewhere between nine and 18 days.
:10:21. > :10:24.If you have been watching the series or our programmes this week,
:10:24. > :10:30.you'll know we have a guest natural joins us so we can enjoy another
:10:30. > :10:35.part of the country. This time it's Liz Bonnen. Where has she been? If
:10:35. > :10:38.we zoom into the south-east, we can find her in Essex on the Pitsea
:10:38. > :10:43.landfill site. Where exactly are you on that landfill site this
:10:43. > :10:46.evening? Very glad you asked me that, Chris, because I happen to
:10:46. > :10:52.have my trusty site map with me. Every picnic should have one as
:10:52. > :10:57.well as a lot of rain - nice. Remember on Monday we were here at
:10:57. > :11:00.the top - the active part of the site. Then we moved down here to
:11:00. > :11:05.where the gas generation plant is. Today, though, we've gone all the
:11:05. > :11:08.way up here to a very interesting part of the site. This is restored
:11:08. > :11:12.land. This is where nature has reclaimed some of the landfill.
:11:12. > :11:15.Before we get into that, we need to rewind just a little bit because
:11:15. > :11:22.our wildlife cameramen have only gone back to the active part of the
:11:22. > :11:28.site to get us some footage you absolutely must see. Now, take a
:11:28. > :11:31.look at this. This is a very common sight at the top of the landfill -
:11:31. > :11:37.a beautiful vixen getting some food, but just behind her and a little
:11:37. > :11:41.bit to the left - any minute now - is another fox. It's a vixen as
:11:41. > :11:47.well. Now, she spots the camera, and then it looks like she wants a
:11:47. > :11:51.bit of that action, so check this out. Her ears are pinned back. This
:11:51. > :11:55.is a sure sign a scrap may be about to happen. When you get into a
:11:55. > :11:59.fight, you want your ears out of the way. You don't want them torn
:11:59. > :12:04.off, looks around again before she goes in for a bit of a tiff. This
:12:04. > :12:09.isn't a full-on fight. They're not using teeth. They're just using
:12:09. > :12:13.paws, but they're really going for it now, and watch what happens. The
:12:13. > :12:16.second vixen turns the first around and gains the upper ground here.
:12:16. > :12:21.She's in slightly better body condition. She's clearly the
:12:21. > :12:25.dominant female. It's not over quite yet because look at what
:12:25. > :12:29.happens right here. There is a bit of a flagging tail action by the
:12:29. > :12:35.first vixen. This, again, is a sign these guys know each other. It's
:12:35. > :12:38.quite possible this is a mother and daughter pair. But there is a last
:12:39. > :12:48.little scrap here just to assert that vixen number two is indeed the
:12:49. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:53.And it's just that high density of foxes here at Pitsea that's
:12:53. > :12:57.allowing us to get an insight into all of their social interactions
:12:57. > :13:00.and behaviours, beautiful stuff there. Walking through here, it's
:13:00. > :13:05.kind of hard to believe this was once active landfill, but there are
:13:05. > :13:14.hundreds of acres like this around Pitsea, and it's really rich in
:13:14. > :13:18.biodiversity, so much so that the site was awarded the Wildlife Trust
:13:18. > :13:22.Biodiversity Benchmark, but how do we go about finding the wildlife in
:13:22. > :13:29.so much land? One man has been studying this land for many years.
:13:30. > :13:34.We met him yesterday with the foxes. His name is Phil Shah. He's a
:13:34. > :13:44.wildlife oecology. We met him. His wildlife feeding stations are
:13:44. > :13:48.
:13:48. > :13:54.allowing us an amazing insight into Well, this set-up here is mainly
:13:54. > :14:01.for woodpeckers, so I'm trying to photograph the green woodpeckers
:14:01. > :14:04.here, but the others as well. green woodpeckers are wood feeders,
:14:05. > :14:10.but you're not interested in getting them on the ground, are
:14:10. > :14:16.you? No, I want to get them against a nice sky background on an active
:14:16. > :14:24.perch. How do you go about training the bird to feed up here instead of
:14:24. > :14:29.where he's used to? It's a long, boring tale, but it involved making
:14:29. > :14:34.piles of sand to mimic ant hills, then finding vertical logs with
:14:34. > :14:40.holes in like this. How long did it take them to learn to feed up here?
:14:40. > :14:46.Altogether, I have been trying to get green woodpeckers to perch here
:14:46. > :14:52.for five years. Five years! Phil puts some meal worms into a neatly
:14:52. > :14:56.drilled hole in the trunk. With a tasty breakfast on offer, we
:14:56. > :15:02.retreat to the hide and wait. The green woodpeckers don't immediately
:15:02. > :15:07.make an appearance, but there is plenty of activity to keep us
:15:07. > :15:12.occupied. The bird is flying past - I'm like... That was a jay.
:15:12. > :15:18.Beautiful, two jays. What are birds like these and the woodpeckers
:15:18. > :15:22.doing on a landfill site? It's because of the trees we have here
:15:22. > :15:27.now. These trees had been planted 20, 25 years ago and now are
:15:27. > :15:31.getting quite big, so obviously the habitat is being created, and the
:15:31. > :15:41.wildlife has moved in to exploit it. Wonderful. Well, you wouldn't think
:15:41. > :15:47.
:15:47. > :15:57.it was landfill. No. You really Here it is. It has just come in.
:15:57. > :16:06.Where, where? Look at that! That is beautiful. It has clearly found a
:16:06. > :16:14.mealworm. It normally looks for insects on the ground, right?
:16:14. > :16:24.They specialise in eating ants. Woodpeckers are mainly a tree
:16:24. > :16:27.feeding species. I am presuming the green woodpecker feeds on the
:16:27. > :16:32.ground as an adaptation to find food sources that other birds are
:16:33. > :16:42.not using? Yes, that is right. Years of hard training has worked a
:16:42. > :16:50.treat. He is feeding happily. A beautiful sight. Really special
:16:50. > :16:54.shots of those ground-feeding birds. And in. In -- an important point to
:16:54. > :17:00.make is that you must never get them to depend on the food that you
:17:00. > :17:06.attack them with. Phil does not do that here. Chris, I bet you would
:17:06. > :17:10.like to get your camera down here, wouldn't you? I am rather a fan of
:17:10. > :17:17.the green woodpecker, I have to say. I always think of them as a rather
:17:17. > :17:26.hard bird with a sense of attitude that you might want to capture. And
:17:26. > :17:29.it is your favourite Pooh, if I remember correctly. Top poo! If you
:17:29. > :17:31.have been watching our barn owls with us over the last couple of
:17:31. > :17:36.weeks, you will know they had a couple of unwelcome visitors in
:17:36. > :17:41.there. On the webcam, you may have seen other things visiting them,
:17:41. > :17:47.too. It has not just been big mammals sticking their nose in.
:17:47. > :17:55.Throughout the evening, lots of moths have come in. Look at this
:17:55. > :17:59.little owl. Moths coming in, this is perfect food for bats and other
:17:59. > :18:06.nocturnal animals. We had a number coming in and catching things. It
:18:07. > :18:14.is spectacular stuff. It really is a great aerial display. It appears
:18:14. > :18:24.to catch it in its wing. Some species do that. they are flying
:18:24. > :18:34.very fast and I must admit the images are not perfect. We send the
:18:34. > :18:39.
:18:39. > :18:42.images of the find out what species it might be.
:18:42. > :18:47.This is international year of the bat. That might have gone over your
:18:47. > :18:53.head, but it certainly has not now. It is a global initiative with all
:18:53. > :19:03.sorts of partners. The UN are one of the leading partners. What is it
:19:03. > :19:08.about? Is it it -- it is about raising awareness. You cannot catch
:19:08. > :19:13.them or handle them, but you can take part in a survey that has been
:19:13. > :19:16.put together by the Bat Conservation Trust. It is a survey
:19:16. > :19:21.that encourages you to going to your garden or a place where you
:19:21. > :19:25.might have seen bats and record them and the direction of their
:19:25. > :19:29.flight at sunset and sunrise. I would advocate that you go for the
:19:29. > :19:37.sunset, because the sun rise at this time of year means a very
:19:37. > :19:40.early alarm call. If we know where they are, then we can go about
:19:40. > :19:46.looking after them and protecting them. If you would like to find out
:19:46. > :19:52.more about the survey, go to our website for all the details. I have
:19:52. > :20:02.to apologise, I was sprightly distracted looking at the
:20:02. > :20:05.
:20:05. > :20:08.oystercatchers. -- slightly distracted. The reason we have bad
:20:08. > :20:12.series because of the moths. I thought it was too good an
:20:12. > :20:16.opportunity to miss looking at some of these amazing creatures, so I
:20:16. > :20:25.joined forces with Russell Jones, who is the reserve manager here. He
:20:25. > :20:30.kindly set up a trap for us last night. You can see him doing that.
:20:30. > :20:40.The plan was that I would get up very early in the morning and join
:20:40. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:48.him to see what had been attracted to that light.
:20:48. > :20:58.Do you think it was a good night last night? I hope so. There is a
:20:58. > :21:00.
:21:00. > :21:09.big one down there. That is one of my favourites. They tend to be a
:21:09. > :21:19.bit flighty because it is getting warmer. Isn't that just beautiful?
:21:19. > :21:19.
:21:19. > :21:24.That is an elegant hawk-moth, isn't it? Yes. -- elephant hawk-moth.
:21:24. > :21:28.This one trembling, does that mean it is about to take off? Yes. It
:21:28. > :21:38.has decided not to do it any more. It has decided to stick around for
:21:38. > :21:38.
:21:38. > :21:43.a bit. It is a method of warming up. What is it that makes this a good
:21:43. > :21:53.place for Marks? It is because of the habitat we have. We have a bit
:21:53. > :21:54.
:21:54. > :22:00.of heathland, but of more land -- a bit of moorland. Some of species
:22:00. > :22:06.need to feed on a particular tree, for example, whereas others will
:22:06. > :22:12.feed on lots of different things. Some moths you get in quite
:22:12. > :22:17.specific habitat and others in quite varied habitats. A moth is
:22:17. > :22:21.the same, really, as a bird - each one has its own part of the
:22:21. > :22:29.ecosystem that it inhabits. without the moths, you would not
:22:29. > :22:36.have the caterpillars and so forth. Everyone thinks they are brown and
:22:36. > :22:46.boring, but they are not. If you had to choose, moths or birds?
:22:46. > :22:51.
:22:51. > :22:55.couldn't. Birds go quiet in August, moths are there. When you think you
:22:55. > :22:58.can put your binoculars down, get your moth trap out. That is a good
:22:58. > :23:02.tip. A lovely way to spend an hour in
:23:02. > :23:09.the morning. What is fantastic is that you just see such a huge range
:23:09. > :23:13.of species so easily. About 800 species, in all shapes and colours,
:23:13. > :23:17.of course. You do not need an expensive moth trap like that, you
:23:17. > :23:22.can do it in your own garden. If you have an outside security alarm,
:23:22. > :23:26.leave it on all night and perhaps pin a white sheet round the outside
:23:26. > :23:30.to reflect the light and that will attract some of the species. The
:23:30. > :23:34.other thing you can try his moth sugaring. You get a saucepan out
:23:34. > :23:42.and make a mixture with all sorts of ingredients, alcohol being one
:23:42. > :23:50.of them. You either painted on a tree or on a wall -- paint it on a
:23:50. > :23:55.tree, and occasionally they will come in. Sometimes you get nothing,
:23:55. > :23:59.sometimes you are covered. I was invited for a weekend away.
:23:59. > :24:09.It was rough and ready, some parts of it were sordid. I thought I
:24:09. > :24:17.
:24:17. > :24:20.would get my revenge by taking my This weekend, I am going to
:24:20. > :24:26.introduce Martin to a new form of wildlife watching, one of which
:24:26. > :24:30.does not involve horrible discomfort, camping. One where you
:24:30. > :24:35.can wear your city clothes and not get mud all over them, or one where
:24:35. > :24:45.you can have a rich mix of culture and wildlife at the same time. Yes,
:24:45. > :24:55.this is Chris's idea of a great weekend away. I must say, Chris is
:24:55. > :24:56.
:24:56. > :25:00.looking very dapper today. I am not sure it is the right to clothes for
:25:00. > :25:03.wildlife watching. Why are we going to an art gallery? Right now, I am
:25:03. > :25:12.more keen to see the living, breathing animals that he has
:25:12. > :25:16.promised me. That is a bleak scene. I think Martin is enjoying his but
:25:16. > :25:22.I think he will of what is waiting upstairs for him. Brace yourself
:25:22. > :25:32.for some of the finest art that nature can offer. This is beautiful,
:25:32. > :25:35.
:25:35. > :25:40.look at that. Kitty when Kevin, just dozens of them -- Kitty wake
:25:40. > :25:46.heaven. They are very tolerant as long as you stay within your own
:25:46. > :25:53.space. Up it is a brilliant place to watch their behaviour, not just
:25:53. > :25:56.if you're a student of art but a student of zoology, too. How on
:25:56. > :26:02.earth did they come and ten miles up straight and think this was a
:26:02. > :26:06.good place to be? I think, possibly, when this was a much busier port,
:26:06. > :26:11.they would have followed the ships. Anything dumping fish or anything
:26:11. > :26:15.of other side, they would have been curious and followed them. It found
:26:15. > :26:19.these man-made edifice is as perfect replicas of a cliff. They
:26:19. > :26:25.are bringing in, what, seaweed? They must be collecting it on the
:26:25. > :26:29.shore. They are flying up the river with it. They will bat together to
:26:29. > :26:33.produce a nest with a deep cut to hold normally between one and three
:26:33. > :26:37.eggs which are being laid at the moment. I also notice that when
:26:37. > :26:43.they bring the material and they are using their feet to traded down.
:26:43. > :26:53.While it is still wet I guess it is the key. They squabble a lot, don't
:26:53. > :27:02.
:27:02. > :27:10.they? -- it is sticky. They do a lot of preening. The pair bond can
:27:10. > :27:15.appear to be very affectionate. They are fighting. Bodies, they are
:27:15. > :27:25.not. That is interesting because it is even more difficult because they
:27:25. > :27:25.
:27:25. > :27:35.are on a ledge. It is brilliant, nature sharing an art space like
:27:35. > :27:41.
:27:41. > :27:50.this. Everything in there is refined towards perfection, and
:27:50. > :27:55.nature is as close to perfection as we can get. The other thing that is
:27:55. > :28:05.great about seeing them here is that there is a fantastic cafe.
:28:05. > :28:11.
:28:11. > :28:21.is into the cafe thing now - All of which proves that you can
:28:21. > :28:29.
:28:29. > :28:36.have your cake the wake -- kittewake and eat it!
:28:36. > :28:46.We have been following the fortune of one buzzard nest that has a
:28:46. > :28:52.chicken at. It was a busy day down here at Ynys-hir. That is the check
:28:52. > :28:58.on the left - hard to tell it from the adult now. Mum was giving it a
:28:58. > :29:08.little bit of Shelter. She was looking like she was saying, come
:29:08. > :29:09.
:29:09. > :29:14.on, you are bigger than that. The chick is saying, you love is
:29:14. > :29:19.not enough on its own, I need shelter. When birds are young they
:29:19. > :29:22.do not have that waterproofing in their feathers. Presumably, this is
:29:22. > :29:27.quite an important thing for the mother to keep doing in weather
:29:27. > :29:30.like this. If the down gets waterlogged and cold, it is putting
:29:30. > :29:40.resources into staying warm and not producing more feathers. It makes
:29:40. > :30:01.
:30:01. > :30:05.sense. Let us call lie live to see how it is doing. -- let us go there.
:30:05. > :30:09.Here is something interesting. You do not see this often. This will go
:30:09. > :30:13.down in the archives of pain for this buzzard. Birds cannot afford
:30:13. > :30:19.this buzzard. Birds cannot afford to crash, their fragile. You can
:30:19. > :30:25.see the squirrel hanging down from its feet and it just does not get
:30:25. > :30:35.enough lift. The school is quite big and heavy. It crashes into the
:30:35. > :30:36.
:30:36. > :30:40.side. We can tell you everything is We have another buzzard nest with
:30:40. > :30:44.two chicks in, and their mother brought them in something a little
:30:44. > :30:54.bit more difficult to handle. Here she comes with a frog - watch this
:30:54. > :30:55.
:30:55. > :31:01.closely - whee! Frog mates leap for freedom - whee! It's doing a Bruce
:31:01. > :31:05.Willis. It's trying to die hard - unfortunately, it does! The buzzard
:31:05. > :31:09.brings it back to the nest - honestly. Very much enjoying those
:31:09. > :31:13.frogs. If we go back to the other buzzards... It's not the only
:31:13. > :31:19.amphibian taking a punishing. This is unusual. This is our young bird
:31:19. > :31:23.here. If you look closely in its Talins, it's actually eating a toad.
:31:23. > :31:29.You'll recognise the under side of the toad with its spotted surface.
:31:29. > :31:33.Toads aren't normally eaten by these animals. I was going to say,
:31:33. > :31:38.they're known for being toxic. That's right. They have a gland in
:31:38. > :31:46.their skin that can produce in our species quite serious toxins.
:31:47. > :31:51.You'll find foxes won't eat them. Badgers won't eat them. Some
:31:51. > :31:54.species will eat them. Martin loves a toad. What have you got? I do.
:31:54. > :32:00.It's not unusual to see a toad now and again, but when I see what's
:32:00. > :32:03.going on here, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa! I have never seen anything like this.
:32:03. > :32:07.There are toads absolutely everywhere, and early on, you may
:32:07. > :32:12.remember, I went down to the water's edge and find a look what's
:32:12. > :32:16.going on there. It's like a plague. There were tens of thousands of
:32:16. > :32:19.tiny little toadlets all down by the water's edge, quite
:32:19. > :32:24.extraordinary. In fact, we have just picked up a few just in front
:32:24. > :32:28.of the studio. Have a look at that. There they with. They're absolutely
:32:28. > :32:31.everywhere. In fact, Chris, Kate and I are having to step care any.
:32:31. > :32:34.We're treading on them everywhere. We're trying to get them out of the
:32:34. > :32:38.way. I have never seen anything like this at all. What's going on?
:32:38. > :32:41.They seem to be moving in the same direction. They're moving away from
:32:41. > :32:44.the pond. I think what's happening is you have a huge number of
:32:44. > :32:48.animals messaging. They don't want to compete for resources, so the
:32:48. > :32:51.first thing they're doing is moving apart. That's what they're doing by
:32:51. > :32:55.moving away from the pond so they can find their own food. The other
:32:55. > :32:58.thing is, food won't come to them so as long as they're moving up
:32:58. > :33:01.through the wood and through the grass, there is every chance
:33:01. > :33:05.they'll bump into something small and edible. That's perhaps how
:33:05. > :33:09.they're finding their food. Perhaps there is two parts to this strategy.
:33:09. > :33:12.I have to say, I have just made that up off the top of my head!
:33:12. > :33:16.LAUGHTER So if anyone out there can think of another reason... I have
:33:17. > :33:21.just done an experiment with this piece of wood. I put one of the
:33:21. > :33:26.toadlets on this, it went that way, turned the piece of wood around,
:33:26. > :33:33.the toad turned around. I did that five times. They've got a compass
:33:33. > :33:36.in their head. (That's not science, mate.) Don't knock him! I think
:33:37. > :33:41.it's time we should head back to Essex and to Liz. What other
:33:41. > :33:46.wonderful wildlife gems have you got down there, Liz? I have a few
:33:46. > :33:50.more up my sleeve, Kate. That's because Phil Shaw is giving us
:33:50. > :33:55.access to wildlife it's taken him years to study and get the best out
:33:55. > :34:05.of. First, it was the green woodpeckers. Now he's only gone and
:34:05. > :34:05.
:34:05. > :34:08.given our wildlife cameraman another exceptional opportunity.
:34:09. > :34:13.Whereabouts are we with relation to the main bit of the site? We're
:34:13. > :34:18.down on the southern boundary now. This is a very old part of the site.
:34:18. > :34:23.It's unusual in that it's dominated by hemlock. Hemlock is particularly
:34:23. > :34:31.good for white throats. You may hear them singing in the background,
:34:32. > :34:38.but this site is good for stone chats. A very creative one it is
:34:38. > :34:42.too. Why have you built it this way? I am feeding the stone chats,
:34:42. > :34:46.attracting them to the camera position. I am putting in wax worms,
:34:46. > :34:51.and they'll perch on whatever is highest around here, so most of the
:34:51. > :34:57.time they'll come and perch on this rose bush here. So if we place the
:34:57. > :35:02.wax worms in there, do you reckon our cameraman will get some good
:35:03. > :35:08.shots of the birds? You'll get some outstanding shots. Let's do it.
:35:08. > :35:14.While Phil and I bait the feeder, our specialist wildlife cameraman,
:35:14. > :35:18.Ian, gets into position. Within minutes, the first stone chats
:35:18. > :35:22.arrive. This is male with a dark head, handsome russet chest and
:35:22. > :35:27.striking white collars, and here you can see a female joining him,
:35:27. > :35:34.distinguished by her eye stripe. The male seems to give way to her
:35:34. > :35:40.here, but as she gets her fill, he darts back in for more wax worm.
:35:40. > :35:44.Amazingly, Phil's found that the white throats, usually very wary
:35:44. > :35:49.birds, are making the most of the free food on offer. I'm not sure
:35:49. > :35:56.anyone has got white throats visiting a feeder like this - quite
:35:56. > :36:00.a unique site. -- sight. So birds are thriving on the restored land,
:36:00. > :36:04.but what about other animals? Well, there happens to be another big
:36:04. > :36:07.clue over here to a notorious character on Springwatch because
:36:07. > :36:13.this happens to be a badger set. Now, this landfill dates back to
:36:13. > :36:18.the '40s and '50s, so it's mostly made up of pottery, ceramics and
:36:18. > :36:22.glass, also coal fire glass, which is great for badgers because it
:36:22. > :36:26.means this substrate is easily drainable. It's granular and easy
:36:26. > :36:31.to dig it in, so if a badger sat here, it's highly likely there are
:36:31. > :36:35.other sets in this older part of the landfill. Now, we know that on
:36:35. > :36:40.Springwatch, we don't have an easy time filming badgers, OK? I know
:36:40. > :36:44.that in Wales, we're having problems, again, getting them on
:36:44. > :36:50.film this year, but we have Phil Shaw. He is our secret weapon, and
:36:50. > :36:54.only a couple of days ago, he said to me, "Liz, I can get you badgers
:36:54. > :37:01.on Springwatch."S "It's Springwatch," I said. "There is no
:37:01. > :37:07.way." "I am going to get you badgers," he said. "Are you sure?"
:37:07. > :37:12.I said. "I'm sure," he said. You get the idea. So Phil, where is the
:37:12. > :37:16.badger set? The badger set is here. We're almost on top of it, but the
:37:16. > :37:20.main set is just in the trees here. In there? In there. Wow. And have
:37:20. > :37:24.you seen the badgers come out into this clearing? Oh, yes. They come
:37:24. > :37:28.out every night. Excellent. So I need to ask, then - what is this
:37:28. > :37:34.wire for? Well, what I'm trying to do here is to photograph the
:37:34. > :37:41.badgers. OK. And I've got a number of props to help me do that. A zip
:37:41. > :37:44.wire?! What are these for? Well, badgers normally travel with their
:37:44. > :37:49.face close to the ground, and that doesn't make for a very attractive
:37:49. > :37:54.photograph, really, so what I do is actually put some peanut butter
:37:54. > :37:58.sandwiches on the end of these wires. Nice. It raises their heads.
:37:58. > :38:03.They smell it, then they take it. Have you actually measured how high
:38:03. > :38:07.they can actually jump up for the sandwich? No, I haven't. I don't
:38:07. > :38:15.think that's known scientifically. I think we need to find out
:38:15. > :38:18.scientifically this evening. No pen at the ready, see what happens.
:38:18. > :38:25.Good stuff. You have studied these badgers for years now, haven't you?
:38:25. > :38:31.A long time. So you know their habits well. This year, I think
:38:31. > :38:35.I've seen eight badgers out here at once. So it was all looking good -
:38:35. > :38:40.nightly visits for the last 14 years - eight badgers all at once.
:38:40. > :38:46.How could we possibly fail? But of course, Phil and I hadn't taken
:38:46. > :38:54.into account the Springwatch curse when it comes to badger watching.
:38:54. > :38:58.It just doesn't seem like tonight They'll definitely come out, but
:38:58. > :39:04.maybe they're just watching for us to leave. It's always the way with
:39:04. > :39:08.wildlife. The curse of the Springwatch badgers had followed me
:39:08. > :39:14.to Essex. I can't believe it. It was the first time in 14 years that
:39:14. > :39:19.they hadn't shown up for Phil. So did we give up? Have I mentioned
:39:19. > :39:24.that the Springwatch adventure team nevergies up? I have? Well, we went
:39:24. > :39:29.back the following night, and I personally believe that the term
:39:29. > :39:33."TV gold" was invented for what happened next. See you soon. She's
:39:33. > :39:39.teasing us. She's teasing us, but they never give up, those guys, do
:39:39. > :39:44.they? They never do. What shall we do? I know - Britain's warmiest
:39:44. > :39:47.bird nest. We're in the third year in our attempt to find this year's
:39:47. > :39:51.warmiest bird nest, and you have been sending in some entries, some
:39:51. > :40:01.stills, which we can have a look at. Kate, if you would... When I see a
:40:01. > :40:06.photo like this, it can't but make This was sent in - I think it's
:40:06. > :40:11.Rochywil? As you can see, it's a Robin and has made its nest in a
:40:11. > :40:16.boot. You can't get mad when people are sending in pictures like this
:40:16. > :40:21.one, sent in of a moorhen underneath a fountain. I love that
:40:21. > :40:28.one. It's like the hen wanted an en suite bathroom. Do you think that
:40:28. > :40:33.goes on every night? To get some peace and quiet! This is from Alex,
:40:33. > :40:37.13-year-old Alex. Looks quite normal - until you notice it's
:40:37. > :40:43.actually in a shop. Do you think when they go to sell that, they'll
:40:43. > :40:52.have to put one careful owner on it? LAUGHTER Please keep them
:40:52. > :40:59.coming in. We want more footage of barmy bird nests. Are we going to
:40:59. > :41:03.reveal the entry tomorrow? Yeah. We have one here - from "punked-up
:41:03. > :41:09.poodle packer 3" - strangely familiar! LAUGHTER Let's have a
:41:09. > :41:13.look at this. It's a great tit nest there, and in a way, sensibly, it's
:41:13. > :41:23.made its nest in the middle of a beehive, so I guess it's very well
:41:23. > :41:28.
:41:28. > :41:36.protected in there. No predators will have a go. By the way that guy
:41:36. > :41:45.looked... Can't place him. wasn't an active hive, but they
:41:45. > :41:53.will visit bees and pick them off, so maybe by the end of those birds'
:41:53. > :42:00.nesting pictures they'll be sick to death of bees. Don't let that
:42:00. > :42:09.poodle packer win. Our sound quiz, let's hear the first one -
:42:09. > :42:15.(Wee-ee) The second one -
:42:15. > :42:21.( Whirring noise) And the third one -
:42:21. > :42:26.(Deep thumps) Up until week three, I am afraid we
:42:26. > :42:30.hadn't done any plants, and I thought this was a serious
:42:30. > :42:40.oversight, so yesterday I headed down to the local nature reserve
:42:40. > :42:43.
:42:43. > :42:53.Oh, I love a day out at the seaside. But I've come here for an elicit
:42:53. > :42:54.
:42:54. > :43:04.rendezvous with some glamorous Orchids are some of my favourite
:43:04. > :43:05.
:43:05. > :43:11.flowers, and this is the best place Big moment - look at this -
:43:11. > :43:16.southern marsh orchid, the leopard marsh variety defined by these
:43:16. > :43:23.lovely little leopard spots on the leaves here, but it's a robust,
:43:23. > :43:27.thick, full, brightly coloured flowering spike. It's designed to
:43:27. > :43:32.attract bumblebees. They come and cross-pollinate this species, but
:43:32. > :43:40.it's a con. They're drawn here by the colour and the form of these
:43:41. > :43:46.flowers, but when they get here and try, there is no nectar there at
:43:46. > :43:52.all. It's a ripoff from the insect's point of view, but they
:43:52. > :43:56.can't resist it. Deceitful. But you know, there is an even more devious
:43:56. > :44:03.flower here. I must prostrate myself before great beauty. Look at
:44:03. > :44:07.this - so glamorous - the bee orchid, but not only glamorous,
:44:07. > :44:12.equally fascinating. This plant has evolved to attract a specific
:44:12. > :44:19.species of bee to pollinate it. How does it do it? Well, firstly, this
:44:19. > :44:24.part of it here, the part we call the la bellum, has formed to look
:44:24. > :44:29.exactly like the body of a female bee. Then it's got this shiny bit
:44:29. > :44:33.here we call the speck lum. That, we think, is meant to represent the
:44:33. > :44:38.shiny wings of the insect, but how does it get the males to arrive
:44:38. > :44:43.there? Unbelievably, it releases a cocktail of chemicals from the edge
:44:43. > :44:47.of the lip here which exactly mimic those released by virgin female
:44:47. > :44:52.bees, so when the males emerge first, which they do, they throng
:44:53. > :44:59.to these flowers, and it gets them so excited, they practise what we
:44:59. > :45:02.call pseudocopulation. They try to cop late with the plant. Only this
:45:02. > :45:08.species is not only mimicking an insect, it's not using the insects
:45:08. > :45:13.because this is a south-pollinated. It's the only one of the species in
:45:13. > :45:17.Europe which is south pollinated - remarkable science. Also, there is
:45:17. > :45:22.an intrinsic romance for me here because the plant is producing a
:45:22. > :45:32.chemical exactly the same as an animal. It's a triumph of evolution,
:45:32. > :45:40.
:45:40. > :45:47.an absolute triumph - just makes What are you doing?! Pseudo
:45:47. > :45:51.copulation. Idiot! In a hall much to Bob Dylan, as I move over here,
:45:51. > :45:56.I will be dropping these lovely pictures of these orchids. We have
:45:56. > :46:00.very little time to senior -- to see any more of them. Unfortunately,
:46:00. > :46:10.from my point of view, we have to go to Les in Essex. Any more badger
:46:10. > :46:28.
:46:28. > :46:35.news? -- Liz. Let us put this myth of the cast to
:46:35. > :46:45.rest. It was the second day and we thought we should give up. But just
:46:45. > :46:47.
:46:47. > :46:56.as the sun was setting, look at this. Yes, yes, yes! He is going
:46:56. > :47:00.straight for it. I have to say, you set up is very cool because you see
:47:00. > :47:07.another aspect of them that you do not usually see, a nice big stretch.
:47:07. > :47:14.It is beautiful to watch. He is taking it to his pals. He may well
:47:14. > :47:24.do. Here is a different one. obviously like crunchy peanut
:47:24. > :47:27.
:47:27. > :47:34.butter. He is trying to follow it and swipe it down. It is the most
:47:34. > :47:40.adorable thing. That is a little bit of luck, isn't it? We had done
:47:40. > :47:48.it, but it was not quite over. There was one last treat in store -
:47:48. > :47:53.a badger cub. How old is that? will have been born in February, so
:47:53. > :47:58.it will be about four months old. Is that around the age that they
:47:58. > :48:06.start venturing out with their parents? They will come out of the
:48:06. > :48:13.set entrance at a younger age, but venturing any distance, I never see
:48:13. > :48:19.them until the beginning of June. Is that the first time you have
:48:19. > :48:29.seen the cubs out here? Be it is the first time they have been out
:48:29. > :48:31.
:48:31. > :48:37.this year, I am pretty sure of it. The peanut butter sandwich
:48:37. > :48:47.experiment was a bit of a disaster. I have to say, though, three
:48:47. > :48:50.
:48:50. > :48:56.badgers including a cub, that is a result.
:48:56. > :49:04.Unbelievable stuff, wasn't it? So you know, fill only feeds peanut
:49:04. > :49:09.butter sandwiches very occasionally to the badgers. Mostly they forage
:49:09. > :49:13.for earthworms. The question still remains - how high can a badger
:49:13. > :49:20.rate? Our cameraman went back the following night and got us one last
:49:20. > :49:24.shot. Here he comes. He has spotted a peanut butter sandwich and he
:49:24. > :49:31.reaches for it. This might look a little bit unusual but it is not
:49:31. > :49:35.unusual for badgers, they do reach for berries on bushes, snails on
:49:35. > :49:43.tree trunks. They are very agile it is just that we do not see it very
:49:43. > :49:49.often. Let us rewind for a second, because this gives us the perfect
:49:49. > :49:54.opportunity to measure how high a badger can reach. There he goes,
:49:54. > :50:02.number one is not too shabby. Number two is not quite as high.
:50:02. > :50:12.The average male badger measures around 75 centimetres in line. Add
:50:12. > :50:15.
:50:15. > :50:24.the hind legs and the claws. Badgers are not stupid. After a
:50:24. > :50:32.couple of attempts, this fella decides he is going to go for
:50:32. > :50:39.another sand which. Badgers can smell 600 times better than us
:50:39. > :50:46.humans. He takes a bite out of that one then moves along. Is he going
:50:46. > :50:50.to bite it? Will he take a swipe? He is getting lazy and moving to
:50:50. > :50:55.the lowest one on the wire. It is swinging around him, he keeps his
:50:55. > :51:04.eye on it. He takes a swipe, he takes a chunk. Come on, you can do
:51:04. > :51:13.it! He follows it, he follows it, and he swipes at it. There you go!
:51:13. > :51:16.Mission accomplished. And off he goes.
:51:16. > :51:20.Phil's inventive way of getting badgers to do unusual stuff, stuff
:51:20. > :51:26.we do not see very often, is brilliant. We get to see another
:51:26. > :51:33.aspect of these fantastic animals. One last thing from the adventure
:51:33. > :51:39.team, Richard Taylor Jones went to explore another unusual place to
:51:39. > :51:49.find wildlife. Not a landfill site but a golf course. Take a look at
:51:49. > :51:53.this. Golf courses cover more of the UK
:51:53. > :51:59.than all of the RSPB's Nature Reserve put together, so we did not
:51:59. > :52:09.be great if they were all natural enough for nature? With their
:52:09. > :52:10.
:52:10. > :52:17.pesticide, pea-green fairways and manicured greens, they are not
:52:17. > :52:25.normally thought of as places for wildlife. To find dated it is true,
:52:25. > :52:35.I have come to my local courses on the Kent coast. -- to find out if
:52:35. > :52:36.
:52:36. > :52:43.it is true. Good morning. Many animals around this morning? I
:52:43. > :52:51.thought I might find some skylarks. Over there. You might be lucky.
:52:51. > :53:00.Thank you. Literally a minute ago, there was nothing. Then suddenly
:53:00. > :53:06.there is just a live with skylarks singing. -- the air. It is lovely,
:53:06. > :53:16.really, because skylarks have really struggled over the last few
:53:16. > :53:21.
:53:21. > :53:24.really struggled over the last few decades. Their numbers have crashed.
:53:24. > :53:32.A little bird against a white background, it doesn't matter when
:53:32. > :53:38.you have a song like that. This is a territorial dispute. He is saying,
:53:38. > :53:43.this is my patch, go back to your patch. Golf courses often get
:53:43. > :53:48.blamed for ripping up good habitat, yet clearly this is good skylark
:53:48. > :53:54.habitat. I think the reason is that you have the rough areas where the
:53:54. > :53:59.birds like to nest next to the very short fairways and greens, which
:53:59. > :54:02.are ideal skylark landing pad, really. It is sort of accidental
:54:02. > :54:11.nature. The golf course and the people who run it did not plan to
:54:11. > :54:20.have skylarks here, but they have. The result is that we have skylarks
:54:20. > :54:26.everywhere. Sorry, I got distracted by another bird. There you go, a
:54:26. > :54:36.female hen harrier. Well I never! I was not expecting to see a career
:54:36. > :54:41.
:54:41. > :54:44.on the golf course. -- Harrier. I sound surprise that all this
:54:44. > :54:49.while life but I should not be. These golf courses are amongst the
:54:49. > :54:57.best that in British for nature, classified as Special Areas of
:54:57. > :55:01.Conservation. The man who looks after the wildlife here is with me.
:55:01. > :55:11.A lot of clubs are now taking on the responsibility of managing
:55:11. > :55:20.
:55:20. > :55:25.That brings about a much wider experience to those who play. 60%
:55:25. > :55:28.of courses could be potentially important wildlife habitats.
:55:28. > :55:36.courses here are flourishing. Another striking example of that is
:55:36. > :55:42.just a few yards away. I had been walking along the 7th green and I
:55:42. > :55:47.have been met by this delightful host of deep purple green winged
:55:47. > :55:50.orchid. Look at them, they are beatable, and thriving on the very
:55:50. > :55:56.sandy soil that the golf course is built on. Stunning, absolutely
:55:56. > :56:02.stunning. Just imagine if all golf courses could be like this.
:56:02. > :56:08.Throughout the UK, we are looking at something like 3,200 golf
:56:08. > :56:12.courses, occupy ing of or 150,000 hectares of land. We need more
:56:12. > :56:16.courses to recognise the importance of managing for wildlife as well as
:56:16. > :56:23.managing for golf. That is my role in life, to try and raise that
:56:23. > :56:26.awareness. Bob shows that this can be done. I really do hope that more
:56:26. > :56:36.golf courses become aware of the wildlife that surrounds them. After
:56:36. > :56:37.
:56:37. > :56:47.all, golf has long relied on grazing rabbits to keep the grass
:56:47. > :56:52.short on the fairways. Golf used to need rabbits. In today's world,
:56:52. > :56:57.rabbits need golf. We have had a question from Neil
:56:57. > :57:02.Hopkins, who lives just down the road. He sent us a photograph. Here
:57:02. > :57:11.it is. It does not look spectacular but let us see it at night. It is,
:57:11. > :57:16.of course, a glow worm. It is a type of beetle, isn't it Chris?
:57:16. > :57:20.glows to attract females. He has not seen any others for more
:57:20. > :57:24.than two years. To have any chance of attracting
:57:24. > :57:29.glow-worms to your garden, you need an open patch where they can
:57:29. > :57:32.display, some shrubbery, because they feed on snails. Do not worry
:57:32. > :57:36.if you do not see them every year because they take a few years to
:57:36. > :57:41.mature. Tonight, there is a great event. It
:57:41. > :57:49.is a lunar eclipse. You may not get to see it because it is very cloudy,
:57:49. > :57:53.but it is going to happen just before 9:30pm. I would like to bet
:57:53. > :58:01.that if you do not see this one you will not catch the next one in the
:58:01. > :58:05.UK which is in 2141. The culture vultures are out and
:58:05. > :58:11.about in Newcastle on our next programme. And we will be bringing
:58:11. > :58:18.you more Tords, of the natterjack toad variety. We will actually also