:01:51. > :01:56.It's all action in the woods, what is going on here?
:01:56. > :02:03.It's time to reveal the winner of this year's birds nest competition.
:02:03. > :02:09.Can they beat last year's winners? That was a tough one to beat.
:02:09. > :02:19.this week we have been joined by our guest naturalist who is down in
:02:19. > :02:57.
:02:57. > :03:01.Essex. How are you doing today, It is, of course, our oystercatcher,
:03:01. > :03:06.she's been behaving a little bit strangely and I did hope and wonder
:03:06. > :03:11.that it may be because - don't shake your head, I can see you - it
:03:11. > :03:21.may be that her eggs were about to hatch and yesterday she was doing
:03:21. > :03:27.
:03:27. > :03:31.this, which was really strange. have to admit there was something
:03:31. > :03:41.going on there. Look at this, Chris, she was picking up little bits of
:03:41. > :03:42.
:03:42. > :03:44.stone or slate from the wall as if What would she be doing? My mantra
:03:44. > :03:49.is there's a reason for everything in nature. Nothing is going to
:03:49. > :03:52.waste any time doing anything, I know you might think it's menial
:03:52. > :03:58.lifting up a tiny stone, but there's going to be a reason. I
:03:58. > :04:03.have come up with a theory, it's that she's bored, absolutely bored
:04:03. > :04:08.senseless. It's the best I can come up with. She's so desperate for her
:04:08. > :04:13.eggs to hatch that she's taken to picking up pebbles and chucking
:04:13. > :04:17.them on her back. They place them around the edge of the nest. I
:04:17. > :04:21.think she's possibly doing that and getting it a little bit wrong.
:04:21. > :04:26.you might be wrong. They might have hatched. Let's go to her live. They
:04:26. > :04:30.haven't, though. Sadly. She is sitting firmly on those two eggs.
:04:30. > :04:34.You did concede that this sort of slightly odd behaviour might be an
:04:34. > :04:38.indication that they're hearing the pipping of the chicks inside the
:04:38. > :04:42.eggs. Before they hatch the adult birds can hear the chicks inside
:04:42. > :04:45.the eggs, an for a few days and we think that we know where they were
:04:45. > :04:50.laid and that they might hatch at theened of this week or sometime
:04:50. > :04:54.over the the weekend so you are right, she could be listening to
:04:54. > :04:58.those, and he, and that's what's leading to this behaviour. Because
:04:58. > :05:02.they are behaving differently but I am afraid, they didn't come out.
:05:02. > :05:07.they didn't. One bird we have definitely enjoyed some real
:05:07. > :05:11.success with and it's been great to watch are our herons, let's go live
:05:11. > :05:16.to the nest. I know it's an empty nest, but this is bringing me, well,
:05:16. > :05:19.more joy than Katrina has this evening. This proves is they
:05:19. > :05:24.fledged successfully. It really does. It's amazing timing because
:05:24. > :05:29.this is the first time at this time of evening we have gone live to the
:05:29. > :05:34.heron nest and seen no herons. We have been following them all over
:05:34. > :05:39.the three weeks we have been on air and when we first met them - they
:05:39. > :05:47.haven't changed in size much. They were still hunched grumpy looking,
:05:47. > :05:51.but very much dependent on the adults. Adults coming in and they
:05:51. > :05:56.were pulling down the bills to feed them. Now it seems they're an
:05:56. > :06:00.hunting. They're learning to hunt. We have been watching them and you
:06:00. > :06:03.see them pecking at things all the time. They don't always get it
:06:03. > :06:07.right. The adults today have been out in front of us and we captured
:06:07. > :06:11.them on the marsh-cam. A couple of times they were in there
:06:11. > :06:17.successfully catching eels. The technique is simple. They stand
:06:17. > :06:20.still. Presumably the fish were slow-moving. They twist them around
:06:20. > :06:25.and go down head first. youngsters will continue learning
:06:25. > :06:29.from the adults and how long will it be before they're fully
:06:29. > :06:34.independent do you think? It can be 80 days. Even then they might hang
:06:34. > :06:38.around a family group. Eventually the young will disperse and they go
:06:38. > :06:42.quite a distance away, up to 80 kilometres at least and in any
:06:42. > :06:47.direction. Sometimes towards the south west although they don't
:06:47. > :06:53.migrate in this country. Other parts of Europe they migrate.
:06:53. > :07:03.bird you introduced us to yesterday has also been seen on the reserve
:07:03. > :07:06.
:07:06. > :07:16.today taking full advantage. Look at this. What made us laugh about
:07:16. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:26.these is that the heron is standing There are two strategies. One is
:07:26. > :07:30.sit and wait, the other is expend energy, so it has to get more of a
:07:30. > :07:38.return. You would expect it to catch more fish. Let's go live to
:07:38. > :07:47.the buzzards. They have been tremendously entertaining. These
:07:47. > :07:53.two are quite dozy. They have had a great variety of food. These ones
:07:53. > :07:57.are maturing nicely. I am very confident they will survive. The
:07:57. > :08:05.younger of the two has got to a size where it is unlikely they will
:08:05. > :08:09.push out of the nest. There was a lot of bullying earlier on. Now
:08:09. > :08:15.they seem to have caught up with the bigger ones. They seem to be
:08:15. > :08:25.doing very well. There was something that a lot all of us that
:08:25. > :08:31.
:08:31. > :08:35.happened earlier today. Have a This was happening somewhere in the
:08:35. > :08:39.vicinity of the buzzard nest. The camera is having a pan around to
:08:39. > :08:46.see if he could spot what is making that is spitting noises and setting
:08:46. > :08:54.of the crows, which it seemed to upset as well. There is a real
:08:54. > :08:58.I think that some of the food that the buzzards are not eating, they
:08:58. > :09:03.picked the bones, they left some of the larger parts, the youngsters,
:09:03. > :09:13.it could be falling off the nest underneath it. The sound we heard
:09:13. > :09:14.
:09:14. > :09:22.is undoubtably foxes. They could be fighting over some food and that
:09:22. > :09:28.might explain the presence of the Crow. Every week we have been very
:09:28. > :09:35.fortunate to be joined by a guest naturalistic. We have had Charlie
:09:35. > :09:42.Hamilton James, this week it has been lose. Where is she? We are up
:09:42. > :09:47.there. If we zoomed out you can see we are in West Wales but if we zoom
:09:47. > :09:56.back into the south-east, of England, in Essex, weekend Liz is
:09:56. > :10:02.on that landfill site. We presume you are having a very nice evening?
:10:02. > :10:09.Very nice. We do get a cacophony of Fox sounds every evening as well
:10:09. > :10:14.which we are laughing. All week, we have been filming the wildlife
:10:14. > :10:19.making a living alongside human landscape and down there is part of
:10:19. > :10:24.the restored land. It dates back to the 1970s, the last time this part
:10:24. > :10:28.of the site was active. It is also where I had an amazing Fox
:10:28. > :10:33.encounter and it is where we will try to bring you live foxes on
:10:33. > :10:39.Springwatch. Let's turn our attention to the active part. We
:10:40. > :10:46.throw out 57 million tonnes of waste in the UK every year. That is
:10:46. > :10:50.more than any other EU country. In 2018, we are going to run out of
:10:50. > :10:54.space in landfill, that is just seven years' time. The government
:10:54. > :10:59.is working on increasing the amount we recycle so it restricts the
:10:59. > :11:03.amount of waste that gets to landfill. It is also looking on
:11:03. > :11:08.more biodegradable waste being put to composting and turning waste
:11:09. > :11:14.into energy. But we need more solutions and we need them fast.
:11:14. > :11:18.Ultimately we need to change our attitude. Until drastic changes are
:11:18. > :11:24.made to our throwaway culture, animals are going to continue to
:11:24. > :11:30.try to make a living alongside all of our discarded rubbish. Some
:11:30. > :11:35.species are doing fairly well with that option. We showed yesterday
:11:35. > :11:38.that wildlife was driving alongside a golf course. What about
:11:38. > :11:42.brownfield sites? They are interesting because they are made
:11:42. > :11:48.by man and then we abandon it and then wildlife moods in and does
:11:48. > :11:54.very well without any help from us whatsoever. Do you remember it says
:11:54. > :12:04.Henshaw from a couple of nights ago? -- Sarah Henshaw? She loves
:12:04. > :12:16.
:12:16. > :12:24.brownfield sites. She showed us one I have always been into cultivation
:12:24. > :12:29.and barks. I have about 1400 species of in vertebrate recorded
:12:29. > :12:35.on this side which puts it in the top three sides in the whole of the
:12:35. > :12:43.UK. -- sites. It has been. Britain's rainforest for
:12:43. > :12:46.invertebrates. When you think about the UK's riches wildlife sites, if
:12:46. > :12:56.you ask the general public, they may think of ancient woodlands,
:12:56. > :12:57.
:12:57. > :13:03.meadows, wetlands. They wouldn't necessarily think about places like
:13:03. > :13:09.this but this is one of the best sites in the whole of the UK. Can
:13:09. > :13:15.be Wick has an interesting history. Historically it was coastal grazing
:13:15. > :13:20.marsh and then in the 60s, two meetings of drudging was put in the
:13:20. > :13:25.site to prepare it for an oil refinery. The oil refinery never
:13:25. > :13:32.actually happened and in 19 SEP- 23, it was abandoned and it has been
:13:32. > :13:37.abandoned since then -- and in 1973, it was abandoned. I like brownfield
:13:37. > :13:42.sites because they are a bit of a diamond in the rough. At first look,
:13:42. > :13:46.they look messy and untidy but if you look a little bit closer, they
:13:46. > :13:56.are real special places which wildlife has taken hold of and
:13:56. > :14:03.
:14:03. > :14:09.I have been working in invertebrate Conservation for two years ago
:14:10. > :14:13.worked for a wildlife charity. When the first survey of this area was
:14:13. > :14:19.done in 2000, we found three species which we thought were
:14:19. > :14:28.extinct and that includes the can be beetle, only found at this site
:14:28. > :14:33.and no where else. -- can feed The ground is not just good for
:14:33. > :14:39.invertebrates, it is also good for amphibians and reptiles. For
:14:39. > :14:49.example, we have basking adders. Common lizards are common all
:14:49. > :14:53.
:14:53. > :14:59.Brownfield sites don't just support native wildlife. They also support
:14:59. > :15:09.alien species. It is the wild flowers which are particularly
:15:09. > :15:10.
:15:10. > :15:20.important for the bumblebee This is an excellent example of
:15:20. > :15:34.
:15:34. > :15:39.what can happen on a site when The Land Trust, along with the RSPB
:15:39. > :15:44.and "By Clive" are planning to make this the first brownfield site
:15:44. > :15:48.reserve in the area. That is not just for the amazing what life but
:15:48. > :15:53.the people of Canvey Island to win joined appreciate the wildlife on
:15:53. > :15:56.their doorstep. Brownfield sites, fast becoming a very important
:15:56. > :16:02.wildlife habitat in this country and proves that nature once again
:16:02. > :16:08.can be very resilient and adaptable. Let's take a look at some of our
:16:08. > :16:13.cameras on the restored land. Any foxes? No. We will endeavour to get
:16:13. > :16:23.you wild foxes by the end of the show live on Springwatch. See you
:16:23. > :16:28.
:16:28. > :16:35.Thank you! We have come to the place that we call heron point.
:16:35. > :16:39.Something happened at the buzzard nest today. Let's have a look. You
:16:39. > :16:44.can see in an earlier rain shower, the adult was sheltering those two
:16:44. > :16:49.chicks from the rain but look, as we all comes in, the adult gives it
:16:49. > :16:53.quite a beady look but does not go for it. I think it is preoccupied
:16:53. > :16:59.with brooding the chicks in the rain but the squirrel, potentially
:16:59. > :17:03.dicing with death. Once an animal knows a predator is looking at it,
:17:03. > :17:08.the predator is at a disadvantage because it hasn't got the element
:17:08. > :17:13.of surprise. It was dicing with death because it seems for buzzard
:17:13. > :17:18.families, the squirrel is very high up on their list of favourite foods.
:17:18. > :17:24.Here is and adult bringing in a school for the two little chicks
:17:24. > :17:29.which they attack him to with relish -- bringing in a squirrel.
:17:29. > :17:38.grey squirrels have been brought him in both of the nests. They are
:17:38. > :17:41.good, rich meat for the youngsters. They are quite heavy. I was going
:17:41. > :17:44.to say there must be quite difficult for the buzzards to get
:17:44. > :17:53.because they are big and agile and I imagine they would fight like
:17:53. > :17:57.hell. If this will all those above that is coming, it will get it. But
:17:57. > :18:03.the buzzards are capable of catching things up to 500 grams,
:18:03. > :18:09.considerably larger than a squirrel. Let's go to this... It almost looks
:18:09. > :18:16.like an adult bird. A couple of weeks ago, it was still covered
:18:16. > :18:19.with lots of doubt. There is no doubt on visible at all. It will be
:18:19. > :18:25.out of their nest within the next couple of weeks and it will then
:18:25. > :18:29.hang around with the adults up to four and a half months. Presumably,
:18:29. > :18:33.it is real tactics that they need to learn to be able to feed
:18:33. > :18:38.themselves. The adults will continue to feed them as well. They
:18:38. > :18:43.make a terrible noise. If you hear that call repeatedly, it is the
:18:43. > :18:46.youngster, they go out begging for a couple of months. But this one
:18:46. > :18:51.has been preparing for the moment when it will leave the nest. A lot
:18:51. > :18:55.of wings flapping. Looking like it almost wants to take off. Do you
:18:55. > :19:00.think it is thinking about a maiden flight? I think it is building up
:19:00. > :19:10.its flight muscles. It is exercising. It is learning the
:19:10. > :19:11.
:19:11. > :19:14.mechanics of flying, hanging on to Also thing it's been doing is
:19:14. > :19:18.practising grabbing things. Obviously, the prey there well and
:19:18. > :19:24.truly dead, but as you say it looks like it's practising pouncing,
:19:24. > :19:30.using its talons to pin down that prey. It's there, all the instinct
:19:30. > :19:34.is there. You see its tail there, well down. Well developed.
:19:34. > :19:37.Presumably, for its fledgeling to be successful it needs to keep
:19:37. > :19:47.exercising, it needs to be as fit and strong as possible. Exercise is
:19:47. > :20:00.
:20:00. > :20:05.Mo, that's enough of that. It's the Olympics next year and I am
:20:06. > :20:09.considering two strategies. One, I could lay back, relax, eat a few
:20:09. > :20:13.chocolates and enjoy the action on the big screen. Or two, I could
:20:13. > :20:17.spend more time on the exercise bike. I will never be as fit as the
:20:17. > :20:21.athletes winning but at least I will get into the spirit of things.
:20:21. > :20:26.But what about wildlife when it comes to health and fitness? It
:20:26. > :20:31.might surprise you to know that birds will actually exercise. Young
:20:31. > :20:34.birds and migrants spent more time flapping their wings to build up
:20:34. > :20:39.muscles before the big day. But they're also involved in doping
:20:39. > :20:45.scandals. Scientists have discovered that sandpipers will
:20:45. > :20:49.concentrate by feeding on shrimps which are rich in emega three and
:20:49. > :20:53.when this chemical gets into their muscles it greatly enhances their
:20:53. > :20:57.ability to use oxygen. So, they make it to their wintering grounds
:20:57. > :21:03.but they'd fail a drugs test. It's not just birds that use chemicals
:21:03. > :21:05.either. Bees when they're out foraging will collect pine pine
:21:05. > :21:09.resins which they turn into a compound which they line the
:21:09. > :21:15.complete inside of their nest with as a sterilising agent. You might
:21:15. > :21:23.remember last year those blue tits that were bringing mint into one of
:21:23. > :21:28.the nests. Kind teuss have determined this has anti-terial
:21:28. > :21:30.properties. The chemicals in plants are thought to have anti-pesticidal
:21:31. > :21:35.qualities to keep the number of parasites down, which is a
:21:35. > :21:39.brilliant idea, of course. I have got a brilliant idea of my own, and
:21:39. > :21:42.that is when I am working on this theory that chocolate has lots of
:21:42. > :21:46.very important chemical qualities in it so I think the best thing to
:21:46. > :21:56.do throughout the course of the Olympics is to get masses of it or
:21:56. > :21:59.
:21:59. > :22:04.maybe get some mint in. Or Minty There will be more top sporting
:22:04. > :22:08.tips from Professor Packham in Autumnwatch later in the year. It's
:22:08. > :22:12.time to catch up with one of my favourite animals on Springwatch.
:22:12. > :22:17.How my going to tpwet up here! That's the little owlsment we were
:22:17. > :22:21.lucky enough to have caught up with a project by Emily and she managed
:22:21. > :22:28.to get cameras inside the little owls' nest giving us that
:22:29. > :22:32.privileged view. So, let's have a look inside the nest. This is how
:22:32. > :22:37.we left our little owls last time. This is the very latest that we
:22:37. > :22:44.have had from Emily. They look fabulous.
:22:44. > :22:47.During there was a children's show called The Flumps. All four of them
:22:47. > :22:51.have grown up, they're looking magnificent and they're almost
:22:51. > :23:01.ready to go out and branch, I think. They're almost ready to leave that
:23:01. > :23:02.
:23:02. > :23:06.nest and Emily had to ring these owllets. There they are. Four
:23:06. > :23:10.little owllets, so that's a very happy ending to our owl story.
:23:10. > :23:14.Thank you, Emily. Happy ending. We have also had a happy beginning
:23:14. > :23:18.here. If you have been watching the show you will know up stream from
:23:18. > :23:24.here the first Ospreys to nest in this part of Wales have done so for
:23:24. > :23:34.more than 400 years. Now, Ospreys move back to Wales in 2004, and
:23:34. > :23:53.
:23:53. > :23:58.they began to nest in the north, The good news is, as Chris said, we
:23:59. > :24:02.have Ospreys nesting just a kilometre along the Estuary from
:24:02. > :24:07.here. We have been following their fortunes. There are three chicks in
:24:07. > :24:13.this nest. The adults both in attendance and bringing in plenty
:24:13. > :24:17.of food, including... This looks dangerous! A rather alive mullet.
:24:17. > :24:27.The chick close toast the camera has sense -- closest to the camera
:24:27. > :24:27.
:24:27. > :24:34.has has taken refuge. What's really scary, Amir, who has been
:24:34. > :24:43.monitoring these birds, was poised rushing out to go in one - in case
:24:43. > :24:47.one of them got butted out of the nest by this fish. Poor little
:24:47. > :24:52.thing. We were worried initially because these are the first - this
:24:52. > :24:55.is the first time these adults have bred and they were having
:24:55. > :24:59.difficulty fighting -- feeding the chicks, you can see no difficulty
:24:59. > :25:09.catching fish and those chicks are thriving. Would you help me do a
:25:09. > :25:14.little experiment? Put your hand out flat. Do you know, Kate, I
:25:14. > :25:17.think they're going to be OK! That's not science either. Look,
:25:17. > :25:23.take that because I have a present for you. Look, you will be very
:25:24. > :25:32.impressed. This was sent by Amir, and it's a breakdown of what they
:25:32. > :25:37.have been feeding on and mostly it is mullet. 53%. 28% sea trout. 9%
:25:37. > :25:42.flounder and a few other fish. A healthy diet, I would say. I am
:25:42. > :25:47.pleased with that and pleased with your enthusiasm. I too have a bar
:25:47. > :25:54.chart. This is other statistics. In week one we had two, in week two,
:25:55. > :25:58.we had two. But this week we have had a fantastic three statistical
:25:58. > :26:04.representations bar charts, diagrams... I think that could be a
:26:04. > :26:10.bar chart too far. You can't throw that down, Kate.
:26:10. > :26:15.The shame of Kate Humble. It's not war. But it's the end of love.
:26:15. > :26:22.Tantrums, kids kids! It's just us now. Let's talk about toads one
:26:22. > :26:25.final time. We saw all those tiny little toadlets around here and
:26:25. > :26:35.they're all common toads but there's another sort of toad, much
:26:35. > :26:39.
:26:39. > :26:45.rarer, it's fast, it's flashy. Let's have a look.
:26:45. > :26:50.I have come here to Cumbria on this blustery day to meet Richard Irvine.
:26:50. > :26:53.When Richard started farming here he would go out at night and hear
:26:53. > :27:02.the most bizarre sounds. It took him ten years to find out what was
:27:02. > :27:09.making those sounds. It turned out to be something rather special.
:27:09. > :27:13.They're nocturnal animals. In the spring they congregate around the
:27:13. > :27:16.breeding ponds. When you approach the noise they're making you can
:27:16. > :27:21.find them, and there they were. Something we hadn't seen before. I
:27:21. > :27:25.didn't realise it was anything special, so it's a real joy.
:27:25. > :27:34.What is this special animal? I have come out with Richard to uncover
:27:34. > :27:44.the mystery. Loads! Loads of them! Have a look.
:27:44. > :27:49.
:27:49. > :27:52.Look at that. They're beautiful. This is a natterjack toad and you
:27:52. > :27:59.can tell it is because they have this bright yellow stripe down
:27:59. > :28:09.their back and a common toad would never have that. My friend Chris
:28:09. > :28:09.
:28:09. > :28:13.Packham, calls these the Lamborghini of theam fibian --
:28:13. > :28:18.amphibian world. Look at the back legs. They are very short. They
:28:18. > :28:23.would be no use to the French. Richard! How long could they live
:28:23. > :28:26.to potentially? Teenagers, 14, 15. They are pretty rare, aren't they?
:28:27. > :28:31.Very rare. There's about 50 sites in the country where they are.
:28:31. > :28:35.do they need to be successful? the sites that do exist, all seem
:28:35. > :28:42.to be on the coast and I think that's probably because it stops
:28:42. > :28:45.the encroachment of the common toad, the competition. Natterjacks are in
:28:45. > :28:51.trouble. Their numbers have declined all over the country. But
:28:51. > :28:55.Cumbria is a stronghold with over 50% of the population living here.
:28:55. > :29:01.On Richard's farm he does everything he can to help these
:29:01. > :29:04.increasingly rare animals thrive. Grazing sheep help produce short
:29:04. > :29:08.grass runways for that's Lamborghini legs to run around in
:29:08. > :29:13.and find food. And by digging shallow pools he has created
:29:13. > :29:18.perfect breeding habitats. But to have the full natterjack experience
:29:18. > :29:24.I need to come back at night and discover them more or less the same
:29:24. > :29:28.way Richard did 30 years ago. Here we are, Richard, on a chilly
:29:28. > :29:33.Cumbrian night. Too cold, I am afraid. It's quiet at the moment.
:29:33. > :29:39.What do we do, wait and hope? and it will happen, I am sure. If
:29:39. > :29:44.you shine your torch on these ponds you will probably see a toad's head
:29:44. > :29:49.sticking up. We are listening out for, if it does happen, it's the
:29:49. > :29:54.males? It's only the males that call, yeah. They'll be down here
:29:54. > :29:58.every night. Can you hear that one? One will start up and then another
:29:58. > :30:06.one will join in. Before you know where you are, you will have a
:30:06. > :30:12.whole gang. That's exactly what's happening.
:30:12. > :30:18.That's absolutely bizarre. Chilly Cumbrian evening, it sounds
:30:18. > :30:26.like we are in the pooling tropics, doesn't it? Absolutely. Think you
:30:26. > :30:30.are in Africa. Or the rainforest. It's a lovely sound. We reckon they
:30:30. > :30:33.travel three miles from here. Natterjacks are the livelyest
:30:33. > :30:43.amphibians we have in Europe and the call is made by their voicebox
:30:43. > :30:45.
:30:45. > :30:49.and the balloon-like pouch helps I am staggered that such a tiny
:30:49. > :30:56.creature can make such a dim! Do you think the female can tell the
:30:56. > :31:04.difference? There must be something about the quality of the sound that
:31:04. > :31:10.is an indicator of how tough and fit he is! The it has completely
:31:10. > :31:20.stopped now. There is an eerie silence and the wind blowing about
:31:20. > :31:24.
:31:24. > :31:31.our ears. The tropics have left us, Made it! The few knew what we had
:31:31. > :31:35.just done! We have had some fascinating and beautiful birds and
:31:35. > :31:41.my favourites had been the Pied flycatchers, a typical small bird
:31:41. > :31:46.of these wonderful woodlands. There of 38,000 pairs in the UK and we
:31:46. > :31:50.have seen a couple of nests failed here this year but Malcolm Burgess
:31:51. > :31:55.has told us it has been quite a good year. The males have a right
:31:55. > :32:01.up to eight days earlier and their first lie in was the earliest since
:32:01. > :32:07.1955. The clutch size was higher and they had been fledging 4.24
:32:07. > :32:10.young per nest. Some of the young birds will move out of woodland and
:32:10. > :32:16.into farmland and then by mid-July and August, they will start to
:32:16. > :32:21.migrate. They will make the jump all the way down to Congo and
:32:21. > :32:27.Guinea. What a bird! There is a bird you have been missing and it
:32:27. > :32:32.is the blue tit. We often see blue tits on Springwatch. Have they been
:32:32. > :32:37.affected this spring? They are laying 10 days earlier than they
:32:37. > :32:47.were in 1968. Not a huge difference this year than previous years but
:32:47. > :32:49.
:32:49. > :32:53.most of the blue tits had laid by 27th May before we were on air.
:32:53. > :32:59.They too were making use of the caterpillar bonanza that allowed
:32:59. > :33:03.the Pied flycatchers that nested only to be successful.
:33:03. > :33:09.blackbirds are in real trouble. Their weight has dropped, then
:33:09. > :33:13.nests have failed, the X haven't hatched, all sorts of problems for
:33:13. > :33:19.the blackbirds. -- the eggs. Open up the compost if you can so they
:33:19. > :33:24.can have some food. It is all because the rain didn't come. There
:33:24. > :33:29.we know were Ms. Let's switch from birds to what I think has been the
:33:29. > :33:33.stars of this series. We never expected we would come across grass
:33:33. > :33:38.snakes but that compost heap provided us with a rare insight
:33:38. > :33:43.into this creature's ecology. These are mainly females that have turned
:33:43. > :33:49.up to deposit their eggs. One treat would be to be here in July and
:33:49. > :33:55.August and see the youngsters come out. I think we will throw down the
:33:55. > :34:01.gauntlet to our wildlife cameramen. If our wildlife camera men fancy a
:34:01. > :34:09.trip back here in August and September... I am just getting in
:34:09. > :34:16.my ear, we can cut live to would last camp. That is a highlight,
:34:16. > :34:22.Chris! Two woodlice moving! They are moving! You see, you were
:34:22. > :34:26.waiting for live foxes, and we have got woodlice. It is now time from
:34:26. > :34:36.our final wildlife adventure and after a little snack and cake,
:34:36. > :34:40.
:34:40. > :34:43.Chris said he wanted to take me Superb. With a belly full of fine
:34:43. > :34:50.tea and carrot cake, I think it is time to show Martin the woodlands
:34:50. > :34:54.that Newcastle has to offer. Just outside the city is Gosford Park
:34:54. > :34:58.nature reserve. Top place. I am very conscious of the fact
:34:58. > :35:04.that we very often neglect plants on Springwatch. People often
:35:04. > :35:14.complain. Justifiably because they are fascinating and beautiful.
:35:14. > :35:16.
:35:16. > :35:22.These are gorgeous. The way they unravelled... It is called Sir...
:35:22. > :35:30.That is known as the closure. The design of the Bishop's one is based
:35:30. > :35:35.upon the firm. I have never heard such stuff! Second year, botany, at
:35:35. > :35:42.Reading University. I have been waiting years to tell you that!
:35:42. > :35:52.have brought you here to show you a terrific, a genuine atrophied. --
:35:52. > :35:55.
:35:55. > :35:59.-- triffid. It is actually an orchid, my favourite plant! It is
:35:59. > :36:07.something I had been hunting for years and I must prostrate myself
:36:07. > :36:12.before this magnificent specimen! It is in Slough! -- flower! The
:36:12. > :36:16.reason it is so rare is because it relies on a specific fungus that is
:36:16. > :36:20.in itself only found near Rottenberg trees. It doesn't
:36:20. > :36:30.photosynthesise, it gets all its nutrients from its fungal root part
:36:30. > :36:34.
:36:34. > :36:40.This is about as exotic as orchids get. To come across it now is a
:36:40. > :36:45.lifetime's challenge realised. It is a dream come true. I will not
:36:45. > :36:50.forget this. Amazing. But now it is getting late. The light is fading
:36:50. > :36:56.and with it, nature's somnolence symphony of the evening sound. What
:36:56. > :37:01.more could Chris often the? The Orchid was fantastic, thank you.
:37:01. > :37:09.Splendid. But the evening is drawing on. This is the gloaming.
:37:09. > :37:13.Should we not hail our host? can't waste the gloaming. You never
:37:13. > :37:18.know when the next gloaming will come and it is at this time that
:37:18. > :37:23.one of our most exciting batss emerges and over there in that tree
:37:23. > :37:30.there are three holes. You can see one, a woodpecker holes. These are
:37:30. > :37:38.used by a very large, active colony of batss. I will teach you a fine
:37:38. > :37:45.art. The fine art of bad stoning. am vegetarian, I am sorry. Do you
:37:45. > :37:51.just love it at them? It is a tradition. As kids, we were always
:37:51. > :37:54.out stoning bats. All you do, you take the stone and place it there
:37:54. > :38:00.in between your thumb and forefinger so you can flick it
:38:00. > :38:03.upwards, and you hold it ready for a bat to come over. The objective
:38:03. > :38:08.obviously is not to hit the bat with the stone but to attempt it.
:38:08. > :38:14.If you have about flying past, you can judge its so you flick it up in
:38:14. > :38:18.front of it so that the stone falls back as close to you as possible.
:38:18. > :38:23.The batss will respond thinking they were large airborne insects, a
:38:23. > :38:28.beetle perhaps, and they would swoop down. The winner is the one
:38:28. > :38:34.that can get the bat to swoop closest to them. It works! That
:38:34. > :38:44.stoning. I have never heard of it. I want to do it. Armed with a bag
:38:44. > :38:49.
:38:49. > :38:56.of stones, we waited for the bats That is classic... They are really
:38:56. > :39:02.big. I would be surprised if there were not 30 or 40 in there. In that
:39:02. > :39:08.tree?! The time was now. The gloaming had transmogrified into
:39:08. > :39:18.darkness. Perfect conditions for that stoning. I lost my hat in the
:39:18. > :39:26.
:39:26. > :39:33.These are not big enough to be the nocturnal bats. These feed on much
:39:33. > :39:43.smaller insects. This to them would be like throwing an oven-ready
:39:43. > :39:48.
:39:48. > :39:53.Yes! Look at that! Right in front of us! The sport of it! Honestly,
:39:53. > :40:03.is there anything more satisfying and stoning aback to of an evening?
:40:03. > :40:04.
:40:04. > :40:14.Look at that! -- stoning a bat of an evening? Loop the loop! Yes!!
:40:14. > :40:15.
:40:15. > :40:22.really did turn around! I believe in that stoning. -- that stoning.
:40:22. > :40:30.That is a song title! Can we go? One More! We will be here all night.
:40:30. > :40:38.I think we have got the knack! Come on! What is he like? You don't get
:40:38. > :40:47.a chance like this every night. Welcome back to Springwatch life. -
:40:47. > :40:51.- live. Three foxes... Playing... Please don't go. This is fantastic.
:40:51. > :40:56.They have been giving us such a display right here on the grass. It
:40:56. > :41:00.has been absolutely wonderful. We have done it, kind of. There is a
:41:00. > :41:04.brave little fellow that is hanging around and hopefully he will come
:41:04. > :41:09.back. The rain has been threatening, it has been nerve-racking, but
:41:09. > :41:13.there you have it, foxes! The reason why there is a high charge
:41:13. > :41:18.of doing this live in the first place is because there is a very
:41:18. > :41:23.high density of foxes here and it is all because of all the food they
:41:23. > :41:29.can get at the land fill. That very much changes their territories and
:41:29. > :41:32.how they interact. First of all the density here is really high. We
:41:32. > :41:36.have 50 territories on this site. The territories themselves are not
:41:36. > :41:41.as big as usual as they would be in the wild because the foxes don't
:41:41. > :41:48.have to forage as far afield to get their food and the territories
:41:48. > :41:52.overlap a little bit. When it comes to family groups, this is my
:41:52. > :41:56.favourite by the way, we have been watching him all afternoon and a
:41:56. > :42:01.handful in love with him, but family groups a very different as
:42:01. > :42:06.well. Sometimes you get foxes that remain there that would usually
:42:06. > :42:11.disburse in the wild. For example, an old fox that was the dominant
:42:11. > :42:18.fox earlier on or younger foxes. This date in the group and they
:42:18. > :42:26.help feed this year's cups -- the base date in the group. There are a
:42:27. > :42:31.lot of encounters happening which changes the interaction. It has
:42:31. > :42:36.been a fairly unusual week so we wanted to also find out where that
:42:36. > :42:41.urbanisation ever affect wildlife detrimentally so we headed to
:42:41. > :42:44.Southend on Sea, we hung out with Essex boy racers and we did a
:42:45. > :42:54.little experiment to find out whether snails are affected by a
:42:55. > :43:18.
:43:18. > :43:21.We humans affect wildlife in lots of different ways. One of the most
:43:21. > :43:26.obvious being the amount of traffic absolutely everywhere. One
:43:26. > :43:31.scientist is looking into how that traffic is affecting one particular
:43:31. > :43:39.species. This male. These lot know how to get the most out of their
:43:39. > :43:42.motors so we will enlist their help -- snails. This is Dr Rupert
:43:42. > :43:50.Marshall from Aberystwyth University. What exactly is going
:43:50. > :43:55.We have a speaker capable of putting out large sounds. Down the
:43:55. > :43:59.bottom, snails. One from the middle of the city and once on the
:43:59. > :44:04.countryside. What we will do is put the snails on top of the platform
:44:04. > :44:07.and see how they behave and what we expect to see is that the one from
:44:07. > :44:14.the City will carry on cruising around when we start playing loud
:44:14. > :44:24.music. But the roof of snails should stay in its shell or shrink
:44:24. > :44:30.
:44:30. > :44:40.back into its shell -- that rural You have got the country bumpkin.
:44:40. > :44:46.
:44:46. > :44:50.Graham, turn up your speaker. BASS. The city boy is out. Even the
:44:50. > :44:57.platform is moving on top of the speaker. That is how loud the base
:44:57. > :45:06.is. He seems to be OK. He is moving. Nothing going on with the other one,
:45:06. > :45:09.If he spent his life in the middle of a field we should not be
:45:09. > :45:17.surprised he is apprehensive to come out to the sound of this.
:45:17. > :45:21.is thus telling us about snails? shows that some species are capable
:45:21. > :45:26.of adapting to urban life. The noise of the buses and the cars and
:45:26. > :45:30.everything, the City snell was happy with it, but the country one
:45:30. > :45:35.was not used to it. What is the advantage of the snails being able
:45:35. > :45:38.to stay out in spite of the noise? If they do not stay out and they go
:45:38. > :45:42.into their shells all the time, they will never eat and they will
:45:43. > :45:46.stays more. They need to come out. The shrinking violets on the
:45:46. > :45:53.countryside, when they come into the city, they will not do very
:45:53. > :45:56.well. It is all about survival. is. I guess you could look at all
:45:56. > :46:02.different types of species and how urbanisation is affecting their
:46:02. > :46:08.behaviour. Absolutely. Building a car park and a railway line, we are
:46:08. > :46:18.always affecting our environment. It has been a blast, excuse the pun.
:46:18. > :46:27.
:46:27. > :46:31.He is not feeling it! It is the Welcome back. Is that a sight for
:46:31. > :46:36.sore eyes? We have really been enjoying watching the different
:46:36. > :46:40.personality types. Some of these are bold as brass, others extremely
:46:40. > :46:46.shy and really - you couldn't describe them as tame and it's
:46:46. > :46:51.beautiful to watch that. Stunning animals. Come back to us soon and
:46:51. > :46:54.we will try and get you more tpbgses -- foxes.
:46:54. > :47:01.Amazing live pictures of foxes, I never thought they'd do it. It's
:47:01. > :47:05.now time to start the build-up to our winner of Britain's Barmiest
:47:05. > :47:15.Bird's Nest. Before we do that, we have noticed something very, very
:47:15. > :47:45.
:47:45. > :47:55.Come on, Martin. Here is the moment. Britain's Barmiest Bird's Nest.
:47:55. > :47:56.
:47:56. > :48:02.Let's start with a runner-up, it's from James. Have a look at this.
:48:02. > :48:11.Where is it? It's in front of the electrical shop. What on earth is
:48:11. > :48:15.on the telly! No way! You said they get a bit bored, clearly watching
:48:15. > :48:22.Springwatch is a perfect way to spend your incubation time. Here is
:48:22. > :48:28.the winner from Pauline Hocking. Have a look at what Pauline sent us.
:48:28. > :48:35.Look closely. This is a fairground in South End and this is the
:48:35. > :48:41.rollercoaster. Look in the middle of that loop. No No way! It's a
:48:41. > :48:46.crow and it's not just landed there, it has its nest. Every time they
:48:46. > :48:50.come around the crow has to leave the nest for fear of having its
:48:50. > :48:55.head lopped off. Thank you very much indeed. That's a worthy winner
:48:55. > :49:05.this year. Congratulations, Pauline. Of course, we always love to hear
:49:05. > :49:09.
:49:09. > :49:13.from you and our website will be up If you are not confident about
:49:13. > :49:23.being online there is the First Click campaign, all you do is
:49:23. > :49:26.
:49:26. > :49:32.They will tell you where there is a bebeginner's computer course close
:49:32. > :49:35.to you and there will be no excuse. The stars for most people this year
:49:35. > :49:45.were our barn owls. Let's go live to our barn owls now to see how
:49:45. > :49:51.
:49:51. > :49:55.they're getting on. They've been They're all busy sleeping. The real
:49:55. > :50:05.star of all of these was a little baby barn owl you called Bob. Here
:50:05. > :50:05.
:50:05. > :51:07.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 61 seconds
:51:07. > :51:11.Fantastic. Here's to you, Bob, thank you for being a star. But
:51:11. > :51:16.without further ado we should head back to Essex to Liz and see if
:51:16. > :51:20.she's any more live foxes. It looks like she has.
:51:20. > :51:23.Yeah, we do. The adults getting ever closer and
:51:23. > :51:28.it's usually the adults that are much more wary but what's
:51:28. > :51:32.interesting is within the fox cubs one sibling is very brave and is
:51:32. > :51:36.going to get more food when the truckers that do feed the foxes
:51:36. > :51:42.occasionally do feed them, but it can also be a disadvantage because
:51:42. > :51:45.the braver cubs tend to wander further away, they're courageous
:51:45. > :51:50.and tend to get into trouble, whether it's encroaching on another
:51:50. > :51:55.male fox's territory or, unfortunately, with traffic. It's
:51:55. > :51:59.usually the shier sibling that shadows his mother that will end up
:51:59. > :52:02.doing well and often times inher its the territory. Beautiful
:52:02. > :52:06.interactions this evening on a gorgeous evening here. Something
:52:06. > :52:13.else really wonderful happened, another surprise that was offered
:52:13. > :52:16.up to us here. Gary, our soundman, specialist soundman, I hasten to
:52:16. > :52:26.add, was setting up a couple of nights ago and he heard something
:52:26. > :52:28.
:52:28. > :52:32.rather wonderful in the trees. Look When I first heard these these
:52:32. > :52:39.doves, we sat on the edge of the grass and I became aware of the
:52:39. > :52:44.fact I could hear turtle doves. It's like a really warm cooing,
:52:44. > :52:51.it's a little bit like a lullaby. It's become incredibly rare in
:52:51. > :52:55.Britain. I think since the 1970s their numbers are down by 89%. I
:52:55. > :53:00.genuinely couldn't believe that I was hearing turtle doves. For two
:53:00. > :53:08.years now I have pursued this bird, so I went to all the classic
:53:08. > :53:11.British places, farmland in Norfolk, Wiltshire, and I have not really
:53:11. > :53:21.got good recordings. The last place I expected to find these birds
:53:21. > :53:22.
:53:22. > :53:25.would be on a landfill site in Essex. I guess why it's so great
:53:25. > :53:29.for these birds is because of the regeneration, there's scrub for
:53:29. > :53:36.them to nest in and areas of regeneration and wild flowers which
:53:36. > :53:44.is basically the food. Because these birds are hunted so
:53:44. > :53:48.much on their migration route they have a real% real persecution
:53:48. > :53:56.complex. They're not that easy to see. An you will hear them and
:53:56. > :54:00.never see them. Honestly, this place has given us
:54:00. > :54:05.so many surprises this week. It's been a wonderful experience.
:54:05. > :54:08.Another wonderful reminder of how resilient, how resourceful,
:54:08. > :54:18.adaptable wildlife can be, despite the challenges that we throw at it.
:54:18. > :54:55.
:54:55. > :54:59.Here is a little reminder of what It's been a wonderful week. A big
:54:59. > :55:03.thank you to Shaun Taylor and all the team here, they've been amazing
:55:03. > :55:08.and a massive thank you to Phil Shaw for allowing us to have this
:55:08. > :55:16.experience with the foxes. Lots of love. Thank you and good night.
:55:16. > :55:21.Thank you, Liz. Bye. What a fantastic job. Thank you so much.
:55:21. > :55:26.Now, she had such a fantastic time. Our live cameras are about to be
:55:26. > :55:36.switched off, which one would you like to look at before we do?
:55:36. > :55:38.
:55:38. > :55:47.contest, for the younger viewer. I hope these, tickling the palm of a
:55:47. > :55:53.youngster this summer will seed a lifelong interest. I would like to
:55:53. > :55:58.see Buzzard-cam. I shall miss them. Feathers are coming. I am wondering,
:55:58. > :56:04.have our herons come back to the nest for a final goodbye? They
:56:04. > :56:09.have! Brilliant. Well, as I said, sadly, our webcams will be turned
:56:09. > :56:19.off now, but our website will keep going and you can continue to
:56:19. > :56:19.
:56:19. > :56:22.follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. We would love your ideas
:56:22. > :56:26.for Autumnwatch. Have you somewhere brilliant we should film? Let us
:56:26. > :56:29.know via the website. Sadly, I can't be with us for Autumnwatch,
:56:30. > :56:34.so I am going to leave new the extremely capable, if not slightly
:56:34. > :56:38.mad hands of these two. I will be back in the spring and I think we
:56:38. > :56:42.all agree this is the place to come back to. I have another message,
:56:42. > :56:46.look you have seen us enjoying all of this fabulous wildlife. Now it's
:56:46. > :56:49.your turn. Get out there, enjoy it for yourself. If you want top tips
:56:49. > :56:53.go to that website, that will still be running and you know that you
:56:54. > :56:58.can get all the way close up to British wildlife and help look
:56:58. > :57:08.after it. Time to end on a highlight. Now a Welsh icon, the
:57:08. > :57:20.
:57:20. > :57:30.way you have never seen it before. It's not usual. To be loved.
:57:30. > :57:32.
:57:32. > :57:42.anyone. When I see you hanging about with anyone. It's not unusual.
:57:42. > :57:42.
:57:42. > :57:47.To see me cry. I wanna die. It's not unusual to go out. At any time.
:57:47. > :57:52.When I see. You. Out and about. It's such a crime.
:57:52. > :57:57.If you should ever want to be loved by anyone.
:57:57. > :58:07.It's not unusual. It happens. day.
:58:07. > :58:31.
:58:31. > :58:36.No matter. What you say. It's not unusual to be mad with
:58:36. > :58:42.anyone. It's not unusual to be sad with