Episode 12 Springwatch


Episode 12

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It's all action in the woods, what is going on here?

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It's time to reveal the winner of this year's birds nest competition.

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Can they beat last year's winners? That was a tough one to beat.

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this week we have been joined by our guest naturalist who is down in

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Essex. How are you doing today, It is, of course, our oystercatcher,

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she's been behaving a little bit strangely and I did hope and wonder

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that it may be because - don't shake your head, I can see you - it

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may be that her eggs were about to hatch and yesterday she was doing

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this, which was really strange. have to admit there was something

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going on there. Look at this, Chris, she was picking up little bits of

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stone or slate from the wall as if What would she be doing? My mantra

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is there's a reason for everything in nature. Nothing is going to

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waste any time doing anything, I know you might think it's menial

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lifting up a tiny stone, but there's going to be a reason. I

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have come up with a theory, it's that she's bored, absolutely bored

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senseless. It's the best I can come up with. She's so desperate for her

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eggs to hatch that she's taken to picking up pebbles and chucking

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them on her back. They place them around the edge of the nest. I

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think she's possibly doing that and getting it a little bit wrong.

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you might be wrong. They might have hatched. Let's go to her live. They

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haven't, though. Sadly. She is sitting firmly on those two eggs.

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You did concede that this sort of slightly odd behaviour might be an

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indication that they're hearing the pipping of the chicks inside the

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eggs. Before they hatch the adult birds can hear the chicks inside

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the eggs, an for a few days and we think that we know where they were

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laid and that they might hatch at theened of this week or sometime

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over the the weekend so you are right, she could be listening to

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those, and he, and that's what's leading to this behaviour. Because

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they are behaving differently but I am afraid, they didn't come out.

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they didn't. One bird we have definitely enjoyed some real

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success with and it's been great to watch are our herons, let's go live

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to the nest. I know it's an empty nest, but this is bringing me, well,

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more joy than Katrina has this evening. This proves is they

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fledged successfully. It really does. It's amazing timing because

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this is the first time at this time of evening we have gone live to the

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heron nest and seen no herons. We have been following them all over

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the three weeks we have been on air and when we first met them - they

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haven't changed in size much. They were still hunched grumpy looking,

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but very much dependent on the adults. Adults coming in and they

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were pulling down the bills to feed them. Now it seems they're an

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hunting. They're learning to hunt. We have been watching them and you

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see them pecking at things all the time. They don't always get it

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right. The adults today have been out in front of us and we captured

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them on the marsh-cam. A couple of times they were in there

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successfully catching eels. The technique is simple. They stand

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still. Presumably the fish were slow-moving. They twist them around

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and go down head first. youngsters will continue learning

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from the adults and how long will it be before they're fully

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independent do you think? It can be 80 days. Even then they might hang

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around a family group. Eventually the young will disperse and they go

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quite a distance away, up to 80 kilometres at least and in any

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direction. Sometimes towards the south west although they don't

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migrate in this country. Other parts of Europe they migrate.

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bird you introduced us to yesterday has also been seen on the reserve

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today taking full advantage. Look at this. What made us laugh about

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these is that the heron is standing There are two strategies. One is

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sit and wait, the other is expend energy, so it has to get more of a

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return. You would expect it to catch more fish. Let's go live to

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the buzzards. They have been tremendously entertaining. These

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two are quite dozy. They have had a great variety of food. These ones

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are maturing nicely. I am very confident they will survive. The

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younger of the two has got to a size where it is unlikely they will

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push out of the nest. There was a lot of bullying earlier on. Now

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they seem to have caught up with the bigger ones. They seem to be

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doing very well. There was something that a lot all of us that

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happened earlier today. Have a This was happening somewhere in the

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vicinity of the buzzard nest. The camera is having a pan around to

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see if he could spot what is making that is spitting noises and setting

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of the crows, which it seemed to upset as well. There is a real

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I think that some of the food that the buzzards are not eating, they

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picked the bones, they left some of the larger parts, the youngsters,

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it could be falling off the nest underneath it. The sound we heard

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is undoubtably foxes. They could be fighting over some food and that

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might explain the presence of the Crow. Every week we have been very

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fortunate to be joined by a guest naturalistic. We have had Charlie

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Hamilton James, this week it has been lose. Where is she? We are up

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there. If we zoomed out you can see we are in West Wales but if we zoom

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back into the south-east, of England, in Essex, weekend Liz is

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on that landfill site. We presume you are having a very nice evening?

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Very nice. We do get a cacophony of Fox sounds every evening as well

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which we are laughing. All week, we have been filming the wildlife

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making a living alongside human landscape and down there is part of

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the restored land. It dates back to the 1970s, the last time this part

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of the site was active. It is also where I had an amazing Fox

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encounter and it is where we will try to bring you live foxes on

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Springwatch. Let's turn our attention to the active part. We

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throw out 57 million tonnes of waste in the UK every year. That is

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more than any other EU country. In 2018, we are going to run out of

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space in landfill, that is just seven years' time. The government

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is working on increasing the amount we recycle so it restricts the

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amount of waste that gets to landfill. It is also looking on

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more biodegradable waste being put to composting and turning waste

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into energy. But we need more solutions and we need them fast.

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Ultimately we need to change our attitude. Until drastic changes are

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made to our throwaway culture, animals are going to continue to

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try to make a living alongside all of our discarded rubbish. Some

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species are doing fairly well with that option. We showed yesterday

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that wildlife was driving alongside a golf course. What about

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brownfield sites? They are interesting because they are made

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by man and then we abandon it and then wildlife moods in and does

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very well without any help from us whatsoever. Do you remember it says

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Henshaw from a couple of nights ago? -- Sarah Henshaw? She loves

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brownfield sites. She showed us one I have always been into cultivation

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and barks. I have about 1400 species of in vertebrate recorded

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on this side which puts it in the top three sides in the whole of the

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UK. -- sites. It has been. Britain's rainforest for

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invertebrates. When you think about the UK's riches wildlife sites, if

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you ask the general public, they may think of ancient woodlands,

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meadows, wetlands. They wouldn't necessarily think about places like

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this but this is one of the best sites in the whole of the UK. Can

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be Wick has an interesting history. Historically it was coastal grazing

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marsh and then in the 60s, two meetings of drudging was put in the

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site to prepare it for an oil refinery. The oil refinery never

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actually happened and in 19 SEP- 23, it was abandoned and it has been

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abandoned since then -- and in 1973, it was abandoned. I like brownfield

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sites because they are a bit of a diamond in the rough. At first look,

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they look messy and untidy but if you look a little bit closer, they

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are real special places which wildlife has taken hold of and

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I have been working in invertebrate Conservation for two years ago

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worked for a wildlife charity. When the first survey of this area was

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done in 2000, we found three species which we thought were

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extinct and that includes the can be beetle, only found at this site

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and no where else. -- can feed The ground is not just good for

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invertebrates, it is also good for amphibians and reptiles. For

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example, we have basking adders. Common lizards are common all

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Brownfield sites don't just support native wildlife. They also support

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alien species. It is the wild flowers which are particularly

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important for the bumblebee This is an excellent example of

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what can happen on a site when The Land Trust, along with the RSPB

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and "By Clive" are planning to make this the first brownfield site

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reserve in the area. That is not just for the amazing what life but

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the people of Canvey Island to win joined appreciate the wildlife on

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their doorstep. Brownfield sites, fast becoming a very important

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wildlife habitat in this country and proves that nature once again

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can be very resilient and adaptable. Let's take a look at some of our

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cameras on the restored land. Any foxes? No. We will endeavour to get

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you wild foxes by the end of the show live on Springwatch. See you

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Thank you! We have come to the place that we call heron point.

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Something happened at the buzzard nest today. Let's have a look. You

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can see in an earlier rain shower, the adult was sheltering those two

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chicks from the rain but look, as we all comes in, the adult gives it

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quite a beady look but does not go for it. I think it is preoccupied

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with brooding the chicks in the rain but the squirrel, potentially

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dicing with death. Once an animal knows a predator is looking at it,

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the predator is at a disadvantage because it hasn't got the element

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of surprise. It was dicing with death because it seems for buzzard

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families, the squirrel is very high up on their list of favourite foods.

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Here is and adult bringing in a school for the two little chicks

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which they attack him to with relish -- bringing in a squirrel.

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grey squirrels have been brought him in both of the nests. They are

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good, rich meat for the youngsters. They are quite heavy. I was going

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to say there must be quite difficult for the buzzards to get

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because they are big and agile and I imagine they would fight like

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hell. If this will all those above that is coming, it will get it. But

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the buzzards are capable of catching things up to 500 grams,

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considerably larger than a squirrel. Let's go to this... It almost looks

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like an adult bird. A couple of weeks ago, it was still covered

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with lots of doubt. There is no doubt on visible at all. It will be

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out of their nest within the next couple of weeks and it will then

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hang around with the adults up to four and a half months. Presumably,

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it is real tactics that they need to learn to be able to feed

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themselves. The adults will continue to feed them as well. They

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make a terrible noise. If you hear that call repeatedly, it is the

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youngster, they go out begging for a couple of months. But this one

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has been preparing for the moment when it will leave the nest. A lot

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of wings flapping. Looking like it almost wants to take off. Do you

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think it is thinking about a maiden flight? I think it is building up

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its flight muscles. It is exercising. It is learning the

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mechanics of flying, hanging on to Also thing it's been doing is

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practising grabbing things. Obviously, the prey there well and

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truly dead, but as you say it looks like it's practising pouncing,

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using its talons to pin down that prey. It's there, all the instinct

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is there. You see its tail there, well down. Well developed.

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Presumably, for its fledgeling to be successful it needs to keep

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exercising, it needs to be as fit and strong as possible. Exercise is

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Mo, that's enough of that. It's the Olympics next year and I am

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considering two strategies. One, I could lay back, relax, eat a few

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chocolates and enjoy the action on the big screen. Or two, I could

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spend more time on the exercise bike. I will never be as fit as the

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athletes winning but at least I will get into the spirit of things.

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But what about wildlife when it comes to health and fitness? It

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might surprise you to know that birds will actually exercise. Young

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birds and migrants spent more time flapping their wings to build up

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muscles before the big day. But they're also involved in doping

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scandals. Scientists have discovered that sandpipers will

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concentrate by feeding on shrimps which are rich in emega three and

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when this chemical gets into their muscles it greatly enhances their

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ability to use oxygen. So, they make it to their wintering grounds

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but they'd fail a drugs test. It's not just birds that use chemicals

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either. Bees when they're out foraging will collect pine pine

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resins which they turn into a compound which they line the

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complete inside of their nest with as a sterilising agent. You might

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remember last year those blue tits that were bringing mint into one of

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the nests. Kind teuss have determined this has anti-terial

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properties. The chemicals in plants are thought to have anti-pesticidal

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qualities to keep the number of parasites down, which is a

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brilliant idea, of course. I have got a brilliant idea of my own, and

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that is when I am working on this theory that chocolate has lots of

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very important chemical qualities in it so I think the best thing to

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do throughout the course of the Olympics is to get masses of it or

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maybe get some mint in. Or Minty There will be more top sporting

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tips from Professor Packham in Autumnwatch later in the year. It's

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time to catch up with one of my favourite animals on Springwatch.

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How my going to tpwet up here! That's the little owlsment we were

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lucky enough to have caught up with a project by Emily and she managed

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to get cameras inside the little owls' nest giving us that

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privileged view. So, let's have a look inside the nest. This is how

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we left our little owls last time. This is the very latest that we

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have had from Emily. They look fabulous.

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During there was a children's show called The Flumps. All four of them

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have grown up, they're looking magnificent and they're almost

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ready to go out and branch, I think. They're almost ready to leave that

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nest and Emily had to ring these owllets. There they are. Four

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little owllets, so that's a very happy ending to our owl story.

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Thank you, Emily. Happy ending. We have also had a happy beginning

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here. If you have been watching the show you will know up stream from

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here the first Ospreys to nest in this part of Wales have done so for

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more than 400 years. Now, Ospreys move back to Wales in 2004, and

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they began to nest in the north, The good news is, as Chris said, we

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have Ospreys nesting just a kilometre along the Estuary from

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here. We have been following their fortunes. There are three chicks in

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this nest. The adults both in attendance and bringing in plenty

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of food, including... This looks dangerous! A rather alive mullet.

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The chick close toast the camera has sense -- closest to the camera

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has has taken refuge. What's really scary, Amir, who has been

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monitoring these birds, was poised rushing out to go in one - in case

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one of them got butted out of the nest by this fish. Poor little

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thing. We were worried initially because these are the first - this

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is the first time these adults have bred and they were having

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difficulty fighting -- feeding the chicks, you can see no difficulty

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catching fish and those chicks are thriving. Would you help me do a

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little experiment? Put your hand out flat. Do you know, Kate, I

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think they're going to be OK! That's not science either. Look,

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take that because I have a present for you. Look, you will be very

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impressed. This was sent by Amir, and it's a breakdown of what they

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have been feeding on and mostly it is mullet. 53%. 28% sea trout. 9%

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flounder and a few other fish. A healthy diet, I would say. I am

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pleased with that and pleased with your enthusiasm. I too have a bar

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chart. This is other statistics. In week one we had two, in week two,

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we had two. But this week we have had a fantastic three statistical

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representations bar charts, diagrams... I think that could be a

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bar chart too far. You can't throw that down, Kate.

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The shame of Kate Humble. It's not war. But it's the end of love.

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Tantrums, kids kids! It's just us now. Let's talk about toads one

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final time. We saw all those tiny little toadlets around here and

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they're all common toads but there's another sort of toad, much

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rarer, it's fast, it's flashy. Let's have a look.

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I have come here to Cumbria on this blustery day to meet Richard Irvine.

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When Richard started farming here he would go out at night and hear

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the most bizarre sounds. It took him ten years to find out what was

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making those sounds. It turned out to be something rather special.

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They're nocturnal animals. In the spring they congregate around the

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breeding ponds. When you approach the noise they're making you can

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find them, and there they were. Something we hadn't seen before. I

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didn't realise it was anything special, so it's a real joy.

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What is this special animal? I have come out with Richard to uncover

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the mystery. Loads! Loads of them! Have a look.

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Look at that. They're beautiful. This is a natterjack toad and you

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can tell it is because they have this bright yellow stripe down

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their back and a common toad would never have that. My friend Chris

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Packham, calls these the Lamborghini of theam fibian --

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amphibian world. Look at the back legs. They are very short. They

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would be no use to the French. Richard! How long could they live

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to potentially? Teenagers, 14, 15. They are pretty rare, aren't they?

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Very rare. There's about 50 sites in the country where they are.

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do they need to be successful? the sites that do exist, all seem

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to be on the coast and I think that's probably because it stops

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the encroachment of the common toad, the competition. Natterjacks are in

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trouble. Their numbers have declined all over the country. But

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Cumbria is a stronghold with over 50% of the population living here.

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On Richard's farm he does everything he can to help these

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increasingly rare animals thrive. Grazing sheep help produce short

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grass runways for that's Lamborghini legs to run around in

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and find food. And by digging shallow pools he has created

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perfect breeding habitats. But to have the full natterjack experience

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I need to come back at night and discover them more or less the same

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way Richard did 30 years ago. Here we are, Richard, on a chilly

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Cumbrian night. Too cold, I am afraid. It's quiet at the moment.

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What do we do, wait and hope? and it will happen, I am sure. If

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you shine your torch on these ponds you will probably see a toad's head

:29:39.:29:44.

sticking up. We are listening out for, if it does happen, it's the

:29:44.:29:49.

males? It's only the males that call, yeah. They'll be down here

:29:49.:29:54.

every night. Can you hear that one? One will start up and then another

:29:54.:29:58.

one will join in. Before you know where you are, you will have a

:29:58.:30:06.

whole gang. That's exactly what's happening.

:30:06.:30:12.

That's absolutely bizarre. Chilly Cumbrian evening, it sounds

:30:12.:30:18.

like we are in the pooling tropics, doesn't it? Absolutely. Think you

:30:18.:30:26.

are in Africa. Or the rainforest. It's a lovely sound. We reckon they

:30:26.:30:30.

travel three miles from here. Natterjacks are the livelyest

:30:30.:30:33.

amphibians we have in Europe and the call is made by their voicebox

:30:33.:30:43.
:30:43.:30:45.

and the balloon-like pouch helps I am staggered that such a tiny

:30:45.:30:49.

creature can make such a dim! Do you think the female can tell the

:30:49.:30:56.

difference? There must be something about the quality of the sound that

:30:56.:31:04.

is an indicator of how tough and fit he is! The it has completely

:31:04.:31:10.

stopped now. There is an eerie silence and the wind blowing about

:31:10.:31:20.
:31:20.:31:24.

our ears. The tropics have left us, Made it! The few knew what we had

:31:24.:31:31.

just done! We have had some fascinating and beautiful birds and

:31:31.:31:35.

my favourites had been the Pied flycatchers, a typical small bird

:31:35.:31:41.

of these wonderful woodlands. There of 38,000 pairs in the UK and we

:31:41.:31:46.

have seen a couple of nests failed here this year but Malcolm Burgess

:31:46.:31:50.

has told us it has been quite a good year. The males have a right

:31:51.:31:55.

up to eight days earlier and their first lie in was the earliest since

:31:55.:32:01.

1955. The clutch size was higher and they had been fledging 4.24

:32:01.:32:07.

young per nest. Some of the young birds will move out of woodland and

:32:07.:32:10.

into farmland and then by mid-July and August, they will start to

:32:10.:32:16.

migrate. They will make the jump all the way down to Congo and

:32:16.:32:21.

Guinea. What a bird! There is a bird you have been missing and it

:32:21.:32:27.

is the blue tit. We often see blue tits on Springwatch. Have they been

:32:27.:32:32.

affected this spring? They are laying 10 days earlier than they

:32:32.:32:37.

were in 1968. Not a huge difference this year than previous years but

:32:37.:32:47.
:32:47.:32:49.

most of the blue tits had laid by 27th May before we were on air.

:32:49.:32:53.

They too were making use of the caterpillar bonanza that allowed

:32:53.:32:59.

the Pied flycatchers that nested only to be successful.

:32:59.:33:03.

blackbirds are in real trouble. Their weight has dropped, then

:33:03.:33:09.

nests have failed, the X haven't hatched, all sorts of problems for

:33:09.:33:13.

the blackbirds. -- the eggs. Open up the compost if you can so they

:33:13.:33:19.

can have some food. It is all because the rain didn't come. There

:33:19.:33:24.

we know were Ms. Let's switch from birds to what I think has been the

:33:24.:33:29.

stars of this series. We never expected we would come across grass

:33:29.:33:33.

snakes but that compost heap provided us with a rare insight

:33:33.:33:38.

into this creature's ecology. These are mainly females that have turned

:33:38.:33:43.

up to deposit their eggs. One treat would be to be here in July and

:33:43.:33:49.

August and see the youngsters come out. I think we will throw down the

:33:49.:33:55.

gauntlet to our wildlife cameramen. If our wildlife camera men fancy a

:33:55.:34:01.

trip back here in August and September... I am just getting in

:34:01.:34:09.

my ear, we can cut live to would last camp. That is a highlight,

:34:09.:34:16.

Chris! Two woodlice moving! They are moving! You see, you were

:34:16.:34:22.

waiting for live foxes, and we have got woodlice. It is now time from

:34:22.:34:26.

our final wildlife adventure and after a little snack and cake,

:34:26.:34:36.
:34:36.:34:40.

Chris said he wanted to take me Superb. With a belly full of fine

:34:40.:34:43.

tea and carrot cake, I think it is time to show Martin the woodlands

:34:43.:34:50.

that Newcastle has to offer. Just outside the city is Gosford Park

:34:50.:34:54.

nature reserve. Top place. I am very conscious of the fact

:34:54.:34:58.

that we very often neglect plants on Springwatch. People often

:34:58.:35:04.

complain. Justifiably because they are fascinating and beautiful.

:35:04.:35:14.
:35:14.:35:16.

These are gorgeous. The way they unravelled... It is called Sir...

:35:16.:35:22.

That is known as the closure. The design of the Bishop's one is based

:35:22.:35:30.

upon the firm. I have never heard such stuff! Second year, botany, at

:35:30.:35:35.

Reading University. I have been waiting years to tell you that!

:35:35.:35:42.

have brought you here to show you a terrific, a genuine atrophied. --

:35:42.:35:52.
:35:52.:35:55.

-- triffid. It is actually an orchid, my favourite plant! It is

:35:55.:35:59.

something I had been hunting for years and I must prostrate myself

:35:59.:36:07.

before this magnificent specimen! It is in Slough! -- flower! The

:36:07.:36:12.

reason it is so rare is because it relies on a specific fungus that is

:36:12.:36:16.

in itself only found near Rottenberg trees. It doesn't

:36:16.:36:20.

photosynthesise, it gets all its nutrients from its fungal root part

:36:20.:36:30.
:36:30.:36:34.

This is about as exotic as orchids get. To come across it now is a

:36:34.:36:40.

lifetime's challenge realised. It is a dream come true. I will not

:36:40.:36:45.

forget this. Amazing. But now it is getting late. The light is fading

:36:45.:36:50.

and with it, nature's somnolence symphony of the evening sound. What

:36:50.:36:56.

more could Chris often the? The Orchid was fantastic, thank you.

:36:56.:37:01.

Splendid. But the evening is drawing on. This is the gloaming.

:37:01.:37:09.

Should we not hail our host? can't waste the gloaming. You never

:37:09.:37:13.

know when the next gloaming will come and it is at this time that

:37:13.:37:18.

one of our most exciting batss emerges and over there in that tree

:37:18.:37:23.

there are three holes. You can see one, a woodpecker holes. These are

:37:23.:37:30.

used by a very large, active colony of batss. I will teach you a fine

:37:30.:37:38.

art. The fine art of bad stoning. am vegetarian, I am sorry. Do you

:37:38.:37:45.

just love it at them? It is a tradition. As kids, we were always

:37:45.:37:51.

out stoning bats. All you do, you take the stone and place it there

:37:51.:37:54.

in between your thumb and forefinger so you can flick it

:37:54.:38:00.

upwards, and you hold it ready for a bat to come over. The objective

:38:00.:38:03.

obviously is not to hit the bat with the stone but to attempt it.

:38:03.:38:08.

If you have about flying past, you can judge its so you flick it up in

:38:08.:38:14.

front of it so that the stone falls back as close to you as possible.

:38:14.:38:18.

The batss will respond thinking they were large airborne insects, a

:38:18.:38:23.

beetle perhaps, and they would swoop down. The winner is the one

:38:23.:38:28.

that can get the bat to swoop closest to them. It works! That

:38:28.:38:34.

stoning. I have never heard of it. I want to do it. Armed with a bag

:38:34.:38:44.
:38:44.:38:49.

of stones, we waited for the bats That is classic... They are really

:38:49.:38:56.

big. I would be surprised if there were not 30 or 40 in there. In that

:38:56.:39:02.

tree?! The time was now. The gloaming had transmogrified into

:39:02.:39:08.

darkness. Perfect conditions for that stoning. I lost my hat in the

:39:08.:39:18.
:39:18.:39:26.

These are not big enough to be the nocturnal bats. These feed on much

:39:26.:39:33.

smaller insects. This to them would be like throwing an oven-ready

:39:33.:39:43.
:39:43.:39:48.

Yes! Look at that! Right in front of us! The sport of it! Honestly,

:39:48.:39:53.

is there anything more satisfying and stoning aback to of an evening?

:39:53.:40:03.
:40:03.:40:04.

Look at that! -- stoning a bat of an evening? Loop the loop! Yes!!

:40:04.:40:14.
:40:14.:40:15.

really did turn around! I believe in that stoning. -- that stoning.

:40:15.:40:22.

That is a song title! Can we go? One More! We will be here all night.

:40:22.:40:30.

I think we have got the knack! Come on! What is he like? You don't get

:40:30.:40:38.

a chance like this every night. Welcome back to Springwatch life. -

:40:38.:40:47.

- live. Three foxes... Playing... Please don't go. This is fantastic.

:40:47.:40:51.

They have been giving us such a display right here on the grass. It

:40:51.:40:56.

has been absolutely wonderful. We have done it, kind of. There is a

:40:56.:41:00.

brave little fellow that is hanging around and hopefully he will come

:41:00.:41:04.

back. The rain has been threatening, it has been nerve-racking, but

:41:04.:41:09.

there you have it, foxes! The reason why there is a high charge

:41:09.:41:13.

of doing this live in the first place is because there is a very

:41:13.:41:18.

high density of foxes here and it is all because of all the food they

:41:18.:41:23.

can get at the land fill. That very much changes their territories and

:41:23.:41:29.

how they interact. First of all the density here is really high. We

:41:29.:41:32.

have 50 territories on this site. The territories themselves are not

:41:32.:41:36.

as big as usual as they would be in the wild because the foxes don't

:41:36.:41:41.

have to forage as far afield to get their food and the territories

:41:41.:41:48.

overlap a little bit. When it comes to family groups, this is my

:41:48.:41:52.

favourite by the way, we have been watching him all afternoon and a

:41:52.:41:56.

handful in love with him, but family groups a very different as

:41:56.:42:01.

well. Sometimes you get foxes that remain there that would usually

:42:01.:42:06.

disburse in the wild. For example, an old fox that was the dominant

:42:06.:42:11.

fox earlier on or younger foxes. This date in the group and they

:42:11.:42:18.

help feed this year's cups -- the base date in the group. There are a

:42:18.:42:26.

lot of encounters happening which changes the interaction. It has

:42:27.:42:31.

been a fairly unusual week so we wanted to also find out where that

:42:31.:42:36.

urbanisation ever affect wildlife detrimentally so we headed to

:42:36.:42:41.

Southend on Sea, we hung out with Essex boy racers and we did a

:42:41.:42:44.

little experiment to find out whether snails are affected by a

:42:45.:42:54.
:42:55.:43:18.

We humans affect wildlife in lots of different ways. One of the most

:43:18.:43:21.

obvious being the amount of traffic absolutely everywhere. One

:43:21.:43:26.

scientist is looking into how that traffic is affecting one particular

:43:26.:43:31.

species. This male. These lot know how to get the most out of their

:43:31.:43:39.

motors so we will enlist their help -- snails. This is Dr Rupert

:43:39.:43:42.

Marshall from Aberystwyth University. What exactly is going

:43:42.:43:50.

We have a speaker capable of putting out large sounds. Down the

:43:50.:43:55.

bottom, snails. One from the middle of the city and once on the

:43:55.:43:59.

countryside. What we will do is put the snails on top of the platform

:43:59.:44:04.

and see how they behave and what we expect to see is that the one from

:44:04.:44:07.

the City will carry on cruising around when we start playing loud

:44:07.:44:14.

music. But the roof of snails should stay in its shell or shrink

:44:14.:44:24.
:44:24.:44:30.

back into its shell -- that rural You have got the country bumpkin.

:44:30.:44:40.
:44:40.:44:46.

Graham, turn up your speaker. BASS. The city boy is out. Even the

:44:46.:44:50.

platform is moving on top of the speaker. That is how loud the base

:44:50.:44:57.

is. He seems to be OK. He is moving. Nothing going on with the other one,

:44:57.:45:06.

If he spent his life in the middle of a field we should not be

:45:06.:45:09.

surprised he is apprehensive to come out to the sound of this.

:45:09.:45:17.

is thus telling us about snails? shows that some species are capable

:45:17.:45:21.

of adapting to urban life. The noise of the buses and the cars and

:45:21.:45:26.

everything, the City snell was happy with it, but the country one

:45:26.:45:30.

was not used to it. What is the advantage of the snails being able

:45:30.:45:35.

to stay out in spite of the noise? If they do not stay out and they go

:45:35.:45:38.

into their shells all the time, they will never eat and they will

:45:38.:45:42.

stays more. They need to come out. The shrinking violets on the

:45:43.:45:46.

countryside, when they come into the city, they will not do very

:45:46.:45:53.

well. It is all about survival. is. I guess you could look at all

:45:53.:45:56.

different types of species and how urbanisation is affecting their

:45:56.:46:02.

behaviour. Absolutely. Building a car park and a railway line, we are

:46:02.:46:08.

always affecting our environment. It has been a blast, excuse the pun.

:46:08.:46:18.
:46:18.:46:27.

He is not feeling it! It is the Welcome back. Is that a sight for

:46:27.:46:31.

sore eyes? We have really been enjoying watching the different

:46:31.:46:36.

personality types. Some of these are bold as brass, others extremely

:46:36.:46:40.

shy and really - you couldn't describe them as tame and it's

:46:40.:46:46.

beautiful to watch that. Stunning animals. Come back to us soon and

:46:46.:46:51.

we will try and get you more tpbgses -- foxes.

:46:51.:46:54.

Amazing live pictures of foxes, I never thought they'd do it. It's

:46:54.:47:01.

now time to start the build-up to our winner of Britain's Barmiest

:47:01.:47:05.

Bird's Nest. Before we do that, we have noticed something very, very

:47:05.:47:15.
:47:15.:47:45.

Come on, Martin. Here is the moment. Britain's Barmiest Bird's Nest.

:47:45.:47:55.
:47:55.:47:56.

Let's start with a runner-up, it's from James. Have a look at this.

:47:56.:48:02.

Where is it? It's in front of the electrical shop. What on earth is

:48:02.:48:11.

on the telly! No way! You said they get a bit bored, clearly watching

:48:11.:48:15.

Springwatch is a perfect way to spend your incubation time. Here is

:48:15.:48:22.

the winner from Pauline Hocking. Have a look at what Pauline sent us.

:48:22.:48:28.

Look closely. This is a fairground in South End and this is the

:48:28.:48:35.

rollercoaster. Look in the middle of that loop. No No way! It's a

:48:35.:48:41.

crow and it's not just landed there, it has its nest. Every time they

:48:41.:48:46.

come around the crow has to leave the nest for fear of having its

:48:46.:48:50.

head lopped off. Thank you very much indeed. That's a worthy winner

:48:50.:48:55.

this year. Congratulations, Pauline. Of course, we always love to hear

:48:55.:49:05.
:49:05.:49:09.

from you and our website will be up If you are not confident about

:49:09.:49:13.

being online there is the First Click campaign, all you do is

:49:13.:49:23.
:49:23.:49:26.

They will tell you where there is a bebeginner's computer course close

:49:26.:49:32.

to you and there will be no excuse. The stars for most people this year

:49:32.:49:35.

were our barn owls. Let's go live to our barn owls now to see how

:49:35.:49:45.
:49:45.:49:51.

they're getting on. They've been They're all busy sleeping. The real

:49:51.:49:55.

star of all of these was a little baby barn owl you called Bob. Here

:49:55.:50:05.
:50:05.:50:05.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 61 seconds

:50:05.:51:07.

Fantastic. Here's to you, Bob, thank you for being a star. But

:51:07.:51:11.

without further ado we should head back to Essex to Liz and see if

:51:11.:51:16.

she's any more live foxes. It looks like she has.

:51:16.:51:20.

Yeah, we do. The adults getting ever closer and

:51:20.:51:23.

it's usually the adults that are much more wary but what's

:51:23.:51:28.

interesting is within the fox cubs one sibling is very brave and is

:51:28.:51:32.

going to get more food when the truckers that do feed the foxes

:51:32.:51:36.

occasionally do feed them, but it can also be a disadvantage because

:51:36.:51:42.

the braver cubs tend to wander further away, they're courageous

:51:42.:51:45.

and tend to get into trouble, whether it's encroaching on another

:51:45.:51:50.

male fox's territory or, unfortunately, with traffic. It's

:51:50.:51:55.

usually the shier sibling that shadows his mother that will end up

:51:55.:51:59.

doing well and often times inher its the territory. Beautiful

:51:59.:52:02.

interactions this evening on a gorgeous evening here. Something

:52:02.:52:06.

else really wonderful happened, another surprise that was offered

:52:06.:52:13.

up to us here. Gary, our soundman, specialist soundman, I hasten to

:52:13.:52:16.

add, was setting up a couple of nights ago and he heard something

:52:16.:52:26.
:52:26.:52:28.

rather wonderful in the trees. Look When I first heard these these

:52:28.:52:32.

doves, we sat on the edge of the grass and I became aware of the

:52:32.:52:39.

fact I could hear turtle doves. It's like a really warm cooing,

:52:39.:52:44.

it's a little bit like a lullaby. It's become incredibly rare in

:52:44.:52:51.

Britain. I think since the 1970s their numbers are down by 89%. I

:52:51.:52:55.

genuinely couldn't believe that I was hearing turtle doves. For two

:52:55.:53:00.

years now I have pursued this bird, so I went to all the classic

:53:00.:53:08.

British places, farmland in Norfolk, Wiltshire, and I have not really

:53:08.:53:11.

got good recordings. The last place I expected to find these birds

:53:11.:53:21.
:53:21.:53:22.

would be on a landfill site in Essex. I guess why it's so great

:53:22.:53:25.

for these birds is because of the regeneration, there's scrub for

:53:25.:53:29.

them to nest in and areas of regeneration and wild flowers which

:53:29.:53:36.

is basically the food. Because these birds are hunted so

:53:36.:53:44.

much on their migration route they have a real% real persecution

:53:44.:53:48.

complex. They're not that easy to see. An you will hear them and

:53:48.:53:56.

never see them. Honestly, this place has given us

:53:56.:54:00.

so many surprises this week. It's been a wonderful experience.

:54:00.:54:05.

Another wonderful reminder of how resilient, how resourceful,

:54:05.:54:08.

adaptable wildlife can be, despite the challenges that we throw at it.

:54:08.:54:18.
:54:18.:54:55.

Here is a little reminder of what It's been a wonderful week. A big

:54:55.:54:59.

thank you to Shaun Taylor and all the team here, they've been amazing

:54:59.:55:03.

and a massive thank you to Phil Shaw for allowing us to have this

:55:03.:55:08.

experience with the foxes. Lots of love. Thank you and good night.

:55:08.:55:16.

Thank you, Liz. Bye. What a fantastic job. Thank you so much.

:55:16.:55:21.

Now, she had such a fantastic time. Our live cameras are about to be

:55:21.:55:26.

switched off, which one would you like to look at before we do?

:55:26.:55:36.
:55:36.:55:38.

contest, for the younger viewer. I hope these, tickling the palm of a

:55:38.:55:47.

youngster this summer will seed a lifelong interest. I would like to

:55:47.:55:53.

see Buzzard-cam. I shall miss them. Feathers are coming. I am wondering,

:55:53.:55:58.

have our herons come back to the nest for a final goodbye? They

:55:58.:56:04.

have! Brilliant. Well, as I said, sadly, our webcams will be turned

:56:04.:56:09.

off now, but our website will keep going and you can continue to

:56:09.:56:19.
:56:19.:56:19.

follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. We would love your ideas

:56:19.:56:22.

for Autumnwatch. Have you somewhere brilliant we should film? Let us

:56:22.:56:26.

know via the website. Sadly, I can't be with us for Autumnwatch,

:56:26.:56:29.

so I am going to leave new the extremely capable, if not slightly

:56:30.:56:34.

mad hands of these two. I will be back in the spring and I think we

:56:34.:56:38.

all agree this is the place to come back to. I have another message,

:56:38.:56:42.

look you have seen us enjoying all of this fabulous wildlife. Now it's

:56:42.:56:46.

your turn. Get out there, enjoy it for yourself. If you want top tips

:56:46.:56:49.

go to that website, that will still be running and you know that you

:56:49.:56:53.

can get all the way close up to British wildlife and help look

:56:54.:56:58.

after it. Time to end on a highlight. Now a Welsh icon, the

:56:58.:57:08.
:57:08.:57:20.

way you have never seen it before. It's not usual. To be loved.

:57:20.:57:30.
:57:30.:57:32.

anyone. When I see you hanging about with anyone. It's not unusual.

:57:32.:57:42.
:57:42.:57:42.

To see me cry. I wanna die. It's not unusual to go out. At any time.

:57:42.:57:47.

When I see. You. Out and about. It's such a crime.

:57:47.:57:52.

If you should ever want to be loved by anyone.

:57:52.:57:57.

It's not unusual. It happens. day.

:57:57.:58:07.
:58:07.:58:31.

No matter. What you say. It's not unusual to be mad with

:58:31.:58:36.

anyone. It's not unusual to be sad with

:58:36.:58:42.

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