:00:11. > :00:15.We don't need to hold auditions. know that our stars will be wild,
:00:15. > :00:21.unpredictable and enchanting to watch. They sing and dance, some of
:00:21. > :00:31.them can turn their heads to almost 360 degrees. This is Britain's
:00:31. > :01:00.
:01:00. > :01:04.great wildlife, live and uncut. Hello and welcome to Springwatch
:01:04. > :01:08.coming to you live from the beautiful reserve in Wales. We were
:01:08. > :01:12.hoping to see the sun. There will be no chance of that. What we can
:01:12. > :01:16.promise you is real wildlife in real time and lots of it.
:01:16. > :01:20.absolutely, can. If you have been watching over the last couple of
:01:20. > :01:24.days you will remember this delightful little family. It is our
:01:24. > :01:28.great spotted woodpeckers. Three had fledged while we were on air
:01:28. > :01:36.yesterday. Two left, or are there three, or are there four? Who knows.
:01:36. > :01:41.Wait to find out. We will be investigating the psephology of one
:01:41. > :01:46.of the largest mammals to visit our shores. A sperm whale stranded
:01:46. > :01:52.itself in Kent, we went to investigate. I love that word.
:01:52. > :01:56.a big word. A proper word for a proper animal. We would love to
:01:56. > :02:00.introduce you to a brand new family to Springwatch. Here she is. Let's
:02:00. > :02:04.to Springwatch. Here she is. Let's have a look at her. A delightful
:02:04. > :02:09.little bird. Well, what's she sitting on in that nest you will
:02:09. > :02:13.find out in a few moments. We want to try and do something with some
:02:13. > :02:17.of the 48,000 photographs that you have already sent into the
:02:17. > :02:23.Springwatch Flicker site much we will ask you to vote on them. We
:02:23. > :02:28.have selected six of our favourites. If they have to vote on 4,000 that
:02:28. > :02:33.will take a bit of time. I got it wrong. These are the photographs we
:02:34. > :02:39.have selected. You can now vote. Come on to the website. Look at
:02:39. > :02:43.that. There is an action theme going on. A badger on the air.
:02:43. > :02:49.the website, or you can tweet us or use our brand new Facebook site and
:02:49. > :02:56.tell us which of those was your favourite. Can I vote? You are,
:02:56. > :03:00.absolutely - He can't vote. Also tonight, we will have our
:03:00. > :03:05.first unsprung. What is unsprung? We answer your questions, look at
:03:05. > :03:09.your photographs and some of your videos. You make it sound like it's
:03:09. > :03:14.well planned. To be honest, that is the programme right now, I kid you
:03:14. > :03:24.not. Can I leave you and flesh it out? We will join you in an hour.
:03:24. > :03:26.That would be good. See you later. Let's go north to Scotland to see
:03:26. > :03:32.Charlie Hamilton Jones investigating his beefrs. Good to
:03:32. > :03:38.be back. We have a fascinating show tonight. We will look at the
:03:38. > :03:43.response of people and animals to beavers being back in Britain. Kate,
:03:43. > :03:49.no doubt that is, at the moment, a very controversial debate. I'm keen
:03:49. > :03:53.to see what Charlie finds out there. It has been busy down here. It has.
:03:53. > :04:01.Let's go to our great spotted woodpeckers. Yesterday, we watched
:04:01. > :04:05.as three of these, absolutely, delightful chicks were persuaded
:04:05. > :04:09.out of the nest, one, two, here is the third. We knew there was a
:04:09. > :04:15.fourth in the nest, it stuck it's head out in a convenient way. This
:04:15. > :04:20.morning, as you can see, the adult was tempting it out. There was a
:04:20. > :04:24.fifth, fantastic. So, we watched as the adult, you can see there,
:04:24. > :04:32.tempting it out with food. Was it going to fledge? Lots of calling
:04:32. > :04:37.and noise. There it went. Chris, five chicks fledged. How many can a
:04:37. > :04:42.great spotted woodpecker lay? or seven wasn't common. There was
:04:42. > :04:46.every chance there could be another woodpecker in there. Let's go live
:04:46. > :04:54.to the nest. There isn't. There is not another chick in. There I can't
:04:54. > :05:00.blame them. They have been in there 20 to 24 days. It's a small chamber.
:05:00. > :05:04.It's been smelly and Mesicy in the last couple of days. Where are they
:05:04. > :05:09.now? Our cameraman has been following them all day. They are
:05:09. > :05:16.being fed by the adults. We will shut up for two seconds. Have a
:05:16. > :05:20.listen. There is so much noise, Chris, from those fledglings,
:05:20. > :05:24.calling, constantly calling the parents. The parents calling. I
:05:24. > :05:28.would have thought that was a disastrous strategy. I thought the
:05:28. > :05:32.whole point was that they got out of the nest and hid and kept as
:05:32. > :05:38.quiet as possible. You would think so? If you are walking in the woods
:05:38. > :05:45.and you hear this you know you have a fledged group of woodpeckers
:05:45. > :05:50.there, they make noise. The hawks will hear it and come and farm the
:05:50. > :05:56.woodpeckers one by one and take them away. The adults will fight
:05:56. > :06:00.off predator fs they come in. Nevertheless, woodpecker ferss
:06:00. > :06:05.goshawk, I don't think so. We have all five at the moment. Don't
:06:05. > :06:10.despair. Let's meet our new family. This is a beautiful, beautiful
:06:10. > :06:14.little bird. One I'm particularly excited about. We have had them on
:06:14. > :06:20.Springwatch before, only once, it was a very long time ago. Can we go
:06:20. > :06:23.inside the nest. Don't tease them any longer. There she is. She is a
:06:23. > :06:26.pied flycatcher. She's not giving us her best view at the moment.
:06:26. > :06:32.us her best view at the moment. There she is From the top. I can
:06:32. > :06:37.tell you, that she laid six eggs. Four of them have hatched. And,
:06:37. > :06:41.Chris, before we go to the chicks, Chris, before we go to the chicks,
:06:41. > :06:47.can we look at the bird. Take a look at the male. This is what I
:06:47. > :06:52.call a stonker. What a stunning little bird. These are sub-Saharan
:06:52. > :06:57.migrants. They spent the winner in the Congo. They have flown 6,500
:06:57. > :07:00.kilometers back here. They migrate at night. They get here around 19th
:07:00. > :07:04.April. When they arrive they take up their territories in the
:07:04. > :07:09.woodlands. The oldest males get here fist first. They advertise
:07:09. > :07:13.themselves to females. The females choose the male. Normally, they
:07:13. > :07:20.will look at three or four before they make their decisions. They are
:07:20. > :07:24.striking little birds and typical of these really productivity Welsh
:07:24. > :07:30.oak woodlands. Which is why we haven't seem them before. Not many
:07:30. > :07:34.around Norfolk area. No. Plenty around here. We feel very, very
:07:34. > :07:37.lucky we can bring you privileged lucky we can bring you privileged
:07:37. > :07:42.views like these. This was early days. We didn't even have the light
:07:42. > :07:46.on the nest. You can see beautifully there six eggs, and we
:07:47. > :07:52.watched, absolutely entranced, as they began to hatch. She was coming
:07:52. > :07:56.in, brooding them as they hatched. We are seeing the exact moment it's
:07:56. > :08:00.emerging from the egg. She was behaving like the perfect mum. She
:08:00. > :08:05.would come in, remove those eggshells. Why is that so
:08:05. > :08:09.important? If they fell out of the hole, prams knocked out, and
:08:09. > :08:15.dropped outside the nest hole they are a sure sign to a predator there
:08:15. > :08:22.is a hatch brood inside much she will carry them 100 meters before
:08:22. > :08:28.she drop them. They will eat them sometimes to recover the calcium.
:08:28. > :08:31.We will look at a brood here of four youngsters. Four, is that
:08:31. > :08:35.four youngsters. Four, is that decent? Yes, it is. Many of the
:08:35. > :08:41.others have fledged. This is a clutch has been re-laid or there
:08:41. > :08:47.might be something else going on. In the past, you have had unusual
:08:47. > :08:50.behaviour? Our story developers who watch the cameras almost 24-hours
:08:50. > :08:56.aday have noticed a certain bit of behaviour. Have a look at this.
:08:56. > :09:04.Both BT on Monday, there's the male, pops out of the box, has a look
:09:04. > :09:05.around. He disappears. Nothing unusual about that. Might be
:09:05. > :09:09.unusual about that. Might be collecting food. The female
:09:09. > :09:17.continues to come back to the nest. No sign of the male. There is no
:09:17. > :09:22.sign. He could have nipped in and we misted him. It's female, female,
:09:22. > :09:26.not much sign of the male. looked into the box, as if to say,
:09:26. > :09:32."everything all right"? He was off again. You may remember, if you
:09:32. > :09:39.have a brilliant memory, what happened the last time we had pied
:09:39. > :09:43.flycatchers on the programme. The males, well, they can behave badly,
:09:43. > :09:48.can't they? We will not make a snap can't they? We will not make a snap
:09:48. > :09:51.judgements. We will keep watching this nest. Let's have another look
:09:51. > :10:01.this nest. Let's have another look at them. You can keep watching it
:10:01. > :10:01.
:10:01. > :10:07.We loo keep an eye on it and see what story emerges. I think, Kate,
:10:07. > :10:12.you will find it happens all the time with those pied flycatchers.
:10:12. > :10:16.The prediction of the Packham. Dangerous, given last night. Each
:10:16. > :10:21.week we will be joined by a guest Prenter. Each one of them a great
:10:21. > :10:26.naturalist. This week we are joined by Charlie Hamilton-James. He is up
:10:26. > :10:31.in Scotland in Argyllshire, just about here. If we zoom in we can
:10:31. > :10:34.get his precise location. I like satellite tracking our Prenters.
:10:34. > :10:38.satellite tracking our Prenters. Here he is. He's on the side of
:10:38. > :10:48.this loch. The reason you are up there is that you are looking and
:10:48. > :10:58.
:10:58. > :11:05.exploring the habits of our Take a look at this. This is a
:11:05. > :11:10.small loch, created by this dam, built by the beavers. Now, that is
:11:10. > :11:15.a monster dam. It's a real feat of engineering, by anyone's standards.
:11:15. > :11:25.Not everyone is as excited about it as I am, the idea you can flood the
:11:25. > :11:30.landscape. Some people have concerns. I met a guy who had a few.
:11:30. > :11:36.I can advisualise this blue bell wood being swamped. This farm has
:11:36. > :11:42.never had beavers, as fas far as I'm concerned, it never will.
:11:42. > :11:45.clear that not everyone is as - think it's a favour of having
:11:45. > :11:51.beavers back in Britain. There could be a business opportunity in
:11:51. > :12:01.there. 56% of tourism in Britain involves some kind of wildlife
:12:01. > :12:05.
:12:05. > :12:12.watching. In rural areas, that I'm on my way to meet Lynn bruise
:12:12. > :12:17.who run as local B&B. She thinks beavers could help herpes. She has
:12:17. > :12:27.one iconic animal bringing in the bunters. I have come along to grab
:12:27. > :12:31.
:12:31. > :12:36.a glimps. Gsh glimpse. You will show me video footage. This will
:12:36. > :12:41.eclipse anything we can get. Yep. Look at. That did this happen by
:12:41. > :12:45.mistake that she started coming here. Did you see her and encourage
:12:45. > :12:49.her in? We bought the bird table because we expected red squirrel.
:12:50. > :12:54.We noticed the food we were putting out was clearing over night, which
:12:54. > :13:03.wasn't bird behaviour. We came out from the kitchen and we noticed it
:13:03. > :13:13.was a py Martin. It's a unique selling point. That is one of the
:13:13. > :13:15.
:13:15. > :13:21.two babies from last year, feeding on rasins. Pie Martins normally eat
:13:21. > :13:26.small birds and mammals. They also like Lynn's home baking. That's it.
:13:27. > :13:32.That is all you do. That is feeding them. What is that?Muffin Left over
:13:32. > :13:39.from breakfast this morning. guess now we just wait? We just
:13:39. > :13:46.wait. She will come soon. Soon, how long is soon? Is that - How long is
:13:46. > :13:50.a piece of string. I have only seen one before. It ran out in front of
:13:50. > :13:56.my car. I almost ran it over. Hopefully, today I will get a
:13:56. > :14:02.better view. Yeah, I can see her. She comes at least once a day.
:14:02. > :14:10.Every day? Every day. She's bigger than I imagined. About the size of
:14:10. > :14:14.a small cat. She is. It's really windy. She gets skitish when it's
:14:15. > :14:24.windy. She can't hear what is going on around her so well. She looks
:14:24. > :14:28.nervous. She is sitting right under car. Do you get lots of people
:14:28. > :14:33.coming up specifically to see her? Yes, many do. We have people who
:14:33. > :14:36.come back time and time again, they want a second look. Do you think
:14:36. > :14:41.beavers will do the same thing? imagine so. Many people have come
:14:41. > :14:46.here to stay here who are keen of seeing the beavers. Have they?
:14:46. > :14:56.have had to come back because they didn't see them first time. It will,
:14:56. > :14:56.
:14:56. > :15:02.hopefully, keep them coming back again. It's another dimension to
:15:02. > :15:07.things people can see and enjoy. I'm chuffed cos I saw a pine Martin.
:15:07. > :15:17.It was under a car. It was alive under a car. It was. She was
:15:17. > :15:19.
:15:19. > :15:25.stunning. She came out the other There you go, a pine marten
:15:25. > :15:29.benefiting local tourism. Could a beaver do the same? Beavers don't
:15:29. > :15:34.just possibly benefit people. They also benefit animals, and there is
:15:34. > :15:44.one that is very close to my heart. Come back in a bit and we'll meet
:15:44. > :15:44.
:15:44. > :15:49.I don't want to tell Charlie, beavers are OK, but pine martens!
:15:49. > :15:53.know. Did you remember when we were in the Cairngorms filming? They are
:15:53. > :15:58.just magnificent creatures. We look forward to hearing more from
:15:58. > :16:02.Charlie later in the programme. Now then, I think it is about time we
:16:02. > :16:08.went over to another family that we introduced you to yesterday. They
:16:08. > :16:14.were miff sent. They are big. They are leggy. They are grey and they
:16:15. > :16:20.are herons. Here they are, live pictures of a heronry, a real coup
:16:20. > :16:26.for our mini camera team. Two youngsters here, Chris. They also
:16:26. > :16:30.look like fully-grown adults. we are not entirely sure how old
:16:30. > :16:34.they are. I'm going to guess 45 days. They do spend quite a long
:16:34. > :16:37.time in the nest, but they are doing what they should be doing,
:16:37. > :16:43.preening, making sure their feathers are coming through
:16:43. > :16:47.correctly. They were in the throes of fledging. They one of those
:16:47. > :16:54.birds, like birds of prey, that take their time fledging? They will
:16:54. > :17:00.leave the nest, come back, hop to another tree, and then come back?
:17:00. > :17:05.When the herons are reliant on the adults they rely on regurgitation.
:17:05. > :17:10.At the moment they were very nestcentric. We've been watching
:17:10. > :17:13.them over the last few days. It has been windy up here and they've been
:17:13. > :17:17.exercising their wings as it has been blowing. That's fantastic.
:17:17. > :17:25.Wouldn't you love to be able to do that? I wouldn't like to be trying
:17:25. > :17:32.at the top of that tree. No, but look at the size of that wingspan.
:17:32. > :17:37.Nearly 2 metres. About 1 metre 95. The feathers are almost through.
:17:37. > :17:42.They typically leave around the 50 day mark. That one dismered
:17:42. > :17:49.completely! And then gravity saves him or her. You can't tell them
:17:49. > :17:52.apart at this stage. It is difficult to tell female and male
:17:52. > :17:57.herons anyway. When they leave the nest they will probably come back
:17:57. > :18:01.for a time before they disperse to the south and west. You mentioned
:18:01. > :18:07.feeding and it is quite a sight to behold. We've got various time
:18:07. > :18:12.where is the chicks have been fed by the adults on camera. This is a
:18:12. > :18:14.particularly extraordinary view I think. This is where the chicks...
:18:14. > :18:19.think. This is where the chicks... This is typical, they drag the beak
:18:19. > :18:25.down of the adult to try and encourage the adult to regurgitate.
:18:26. > :18:30.To ensure that it ends up in the nest. That's a whacking great fish.
:18:30. > :18:37.It is, but Chris, I know you are not a gambling man, but if you were
:18:37. > :18:42.to put money on it, could you identify that fish? Not given that
:18:42. > :18:48.blurry view. Luckily though, we have a story developer who, like
:18:48. > :18:54.our team of story developers who watch our cameras all the time, who
:18:54. > :19:00.clearly has a slightly unnatural knowledge of fish, his name is
:19:00. > :19:05.Robert McDougall Davies and he gave us notes on the stuff that he had
:19:05. > :19:09.seen yesterday. Listen to this. loving this. Between fish came in
:19:09. > :19:15.we slowed down the footage and I was able to identify the fact that
:19:15. > :19:19.it was a brown trout. Because of the position of the fins, and,
:19:19. > :19:29.crucially, the colour of the fish. I can't even see the fins on that
:19:29. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:37.fish. But anyway yellow hue to the belly showed that it was brown
:19:37. > :19:42.trout. It is called a slob trout, but slob trout is usually more gold
:19:42. > :19:44.no-one appearance. The interesting thing here is that it tells us that
:19:44. > :19:49.the heron almost certainly caught that trout in fresh water rather
:19:49. > :19:59.than in the estuary. And heed that the stream that runs past our site
:19:59. > :20:01.
:20:01. > :20:07.contains trout, and in brackets, "I've seen them." Frankly if I had
:20:07. > :20:14.a hat I would take it off to him. knew you would be impressed, so I
:20:14. > :20:18.took it upon hie to award himself with the honour of the geek. And
:20:18. > :20:28.here is the photograph of him with his award. Robert, thank you very,
:20:28. > :20:29.
:20:29. > :20:39.very much indeed stkphrflt Good on you, I -- good on you, I say.
:20:39. > :20:40.
:20:40. > :20:45.Does it swallow the fish? I bet it does, because they have a wide gape.
:20:45. > :20:50.That young heron gets that brown trout right down its throat. Will
:20:50. > :20:54.they feed that trout in the same way that we've seen with
:20:54. > :20:59.kingfishers, where we go down the same direction of the scales?
:20:59. > :21:03.Headfirst. Because of the direction of the scales they don't want it to
:21:03. > :21:06.go straight down, so they switch it round so it goes headfirst. We've
:21:06. > :21:11.had one tremendous geek. I think it is time for another, because when
:21:11. > :21:16.you think about it, you've got to eat these greasy, slimey fish. If
:21:16. > :21:26.you are a heron, how do you stop that mess ruining your plumage?
:21:26. > :21:30.
:21:31. > :21:35.When it comes to staying clean we've got things off to a fine art
:21:35. > :21:40.Our kitchens we have dishwashers. And when it comes to our personal
:21:40. > :21:43.plumage a range of gels and lotions which do the trick. But what if you
:21:43. > :21:48.which do the trick. But what if you are a bird? Like this rather
:21:48. > :21:52.magnificent Drake. When we think of feathers we think of the contour
:21:52. > :21:57.feathers which give the bird its form. Then its flight feathers,
:21:57. > :22:03.which allow it to fly. But there is another important group of feathers
:22:04. > :22:10.called the plumules or down feathers. Some of them have
:22:10. > :22:13.ratchets but radiating off that is a lot of soft, flexible, insulating
:22:13. > :22:23.material. This is all about keeping the birds warm. You will know that
:22:23. > :22:24.
:22:24. > :22:29.if you have a feather-filled duvet or kues. But what if you want a
:22:29. > :22:35.fish supper? The likelihood is you will get that oil over your
:22:35. > :22:39.feathers. What are you going to do about it? If you are a heron, you
:22:39. > :22:44.have specialised down, powder down. They grow it on their chest and
:22:44. > :22:49.backs, and when they preen it the barbs turn into a scaley dust, a
:22:49. > :22:58.bit like talcum. It is there to be preened in all over the body, where
:22:58. > :23:02.the oil is, so it soaks it up into a coing a lated mess -- coagulated
:23:02. > :23:10.mass. If you are a heron you've come up with a solution and it
:23:10. > :23:15.comes in the form of the centre toe, which is pectinated, which means it
:23:15. > :23:19.has a comb on it, so you can comb that coagulated mass of powder down
:23:19. > :23:23.and fish oil out of your plumage. Fantastic. What's the point of
:23:24. > :23:33.being a human? I would much rather be a bird, and if I were to be a
:23:34. > :23:42.
:23:42. > :23:44.bird I might choose to be a Drake's Let's look at this. These are our
:23:44. > :23:48.Let's look at this. These are our herons preening.
:23:48. > :23:56.They were absolutely doing... have their powder on their chest.
:23:56. > :24:01.What I'm wondering, one of our viewers might know, are their toes
:24:01. > :24:07.already pectinated? Let us know on the message board. From herons to
:24:07. > :24:11.something smaller, perhaps a little brighter. This is the time of year
:24:11. > :24:21.to celebrate one of our most beguiling insects. Bask in the
:24:21. > :24:31.
:24:31. > :24:38.the emergence of a true British treasure. Symbolic. Objects of
:24:38. > :24:43.fascination. Inspiration for artists. And adorning our
:24:43. > :24:53.countryside with colour. Seeing your first butterfly gives you the
:24:53. > :24:59.sense that spring has arrived. And the warm days of summer lie ahead.
:24:59. > :25:05.I look forward immensely to seeing each new species of butterfly every
:25:05. > :25:09.season, because we have spring butterflies and high-summer
:25:09. > :25:13.butterflies and late-summer butterflies. And its reacquainting
:25:13. > :25:18.and strengthening of relationships with old friends. And there is
:25:18. > :25:22.plenty to get to know. We have over 50 species of butterflys in the UK
:25:23. > :25:28.and they've been living alongside us for thousands of years in our
:25:28. > :25:33.woodlands, field margins, parks and gardens. But butterflies aren't
:25:33. > :25:38.just pretty faces. Oh, no, their private lives can be complex and
:25:38. > :25:45.fascinating. Take the large blue for example. The caterpillars hatch
:25:45. > :25:50.out and feed on wild thyme. But then they trick a species of ant
:25:50. > :25:53.into taking them into their nest underground and here they eat the
:25:54. > :26:03.ant's own grubs before emerging again the following year. You've
:26:04. > :26:07.
:26:07. > :26:15.got to agree, butterflies are butterflies have been in serious
:26:15. > :26:19.trouble. And the statistics are fairly sobering. It is really bad
:26:20. > :26:23.news for British butterflies. Over the past three decades or so three
:26:23. > :26:27.quarters of our butterfly species have declinds. It is a massive loss
:26:27. > :26:32.of many different species. Five species have become extinct in
:26:32. > :26:36.Britain completely and many others are threatened with extinction.
:26:36. > :26:43.understand why our butterflies are suffering we have to uncover their
:26:43. > :26:48.complex and fascinating lives. To do that we have to start at the
:26:48. > :26:56.beginning. Female butterflies are notoriously picky about exactly
:26:56. > :27:00.where they lay their eggs. Some butterflies only breed on a single
:27:00. > :27:07.species of plant, white Admiral for example only breeds on honeysuckle.
:27:07. > :27:13.But most of them breed on plants from a single family. Purple
:27:13. > :27:18.Emperor breeds on a type of willow. They are choosy, these butterflies,
:27:18. > :27:23.and that makes them sensitive. As soon as that plants has gone they
:27:23. > :27:26.become extinct in that place. They lead fast lives, so they respond
:27:26. > :27:31.quickly to these change. And the reason they are so fussy? It is
:27:31. > :27:36.because of these. The key to a butterfly's success is getting the
:27:36. > :27:40.right food plants for their hungry catter pillers, and unfortunately
:27:40. > :27:43.these plants have been disappearing from our countryside. The big
:27:43. > :27:47.problem that our British butterflies have faced is the loss
:27:47. > :27:52.of traditional ways that we manage our farmland and our forests. They
:27:52. > :27:57.are now increasingly restricted to small pockets of habitat, small I
:27:57. > :28:00.flands a sea of otherwise inhospitable terrain. It might be
:28:00. > :28:06.intensive farmland, housing, roads and so on. They really need to be
:28:06. > :28:09.able to move through if landscape. But with that landscape changing so
:28:09. > :28:16.fast and such specific and different needs, it is no wonder
:28:16. > :28:21.that they found it difficult to cope. But there's a simple solution
:28:21. > :28:26.to their complex problem. Understand the species and then
:28:26. > :28:29.make space for its needs. We are lucky we know a lot about
:28:29. > :28:35.butterflies in brings probably more than any other country in the world.
:28:35. > :28:41.They respond so quickly to change. We can reverse some of these
:28:41. > :28:46.declines. The perfect example is the heath fritillary. Its food
:28:46. > :28:50.plant, common wow weed, grows in sunny woodland grades. When
:28:51. > :28:56.traditional forestly methods stopped, the clearings covered over
:28:56. > :29:02.and the butterflies came close to extinction. But by changing back to
:29:02. > :29:07.the original practices, in Kent the heath fritillary is thriving once
:29:07. > :29:13.again. It's not all bad news for butterflies, by in means. The truth
:29:13. > :29:17.is they pliv in a different dimension to us and their
:29:17. > :29:22.populations yo-yo up and down depending on weather cycles and
:29:22. > :29:32.what's happening to their habitats. They can boom or bust. We want to
:29:32. > :29:45.
:29:45. > :29:50.They always make you smile a butterfly. They certainly do. There
:29:50. > :29:57.was an under current of bad news for butterflies. This year started
:29:57. > :30:01.well for some species. Orange tips and holly blues have been in
:30:01. > :30:07.abundance. We had this dry and warm spring. That might have killed some
:30:07. > :30:13.of the fungal inflections and some of the parasites. It might change
:30:13. > :30:19.now. If it's so dry, then the bramble flowers, which are coming
:30:19. > :30:23.out, an an essential nectar source might dry out and not do terrible
:30:23. > :30:27.well. It could be a mixed season. It will be interesting to find out.
:30:27. > :30:32.Interesting to see how Martin is coming on with the programme. How
:30:32. > :30:38.is it going? Thank you. We are getting ready for Unsprung, have a
:30:38. > :30:42.look at this. Can you see that? Amazing skeleton. We always have a
:30:42. > :30:49.really fantastic guest on on Unsprung, the programme after the
:30:49. > :30:54.main one. Come on in, if you would, here is tonight's guest, Ben. Thank
:30:54. > :31:01.you for coming along. Look at this. This is a, sort of, what would you
:31:01. > :31:05.call it, Ben, a season that you have cheat created? Yes. This is a
:31:05. > :31:11.season. What can we see her, please? An adult male fox here,
:31:11. > :31:19.with a tiny rat under neath. It's the bit before the rat - Highly
:31:19. > :31:25.drama. It's pouncing in skeletal form on to the rat we will find out
:31:25. > :31:31.why and how he does it and whether he has a sense of smell, later on.
:31:31. > :31:37.Don't forget that picturemontage. Let's look at the action pictures
:31:37. > :31:41.we have selected. We would like you, please, during the programme and
:31:41. > :31:46.into Unsprung later to vote for your favourite of these action
:31:46. > :31:56.photographs. Brilliant. Back to Kate and Chris. Thank you, very
:31:56. > :31:58.
:31:58. > :32:02.much, indeed. Just something. The ever lasting shame. It must be
:32:02. > :32:06.relinquished. That was only last night. And, it may, may I remind
:32:06. > :32:13.you, we will a conversation about one of our characters yesterday,
:32:13. > :32:20.live on air. We talked about the red star chicks and you said
:32:20. > :32:26.Thursday. What day is it today? slipped my mind. It's Wednesday.
:32:26. > :32:33.This is the scene that greeted us in our red stark nest today. There
:32:33. > :32:40.we are, six chicks. One leaps into the hole, does it go? Oh, I would
:32:40. > :32:47.say that was a fledgling. It fell out accidentally. Hang on. Is it
:32:47. > :32:53.going for food? No, I think, maybe, it likes the great out doors. Two
:32:53. > :32:59.of our red starks have fledged. On Wednesday! When I predicted they
:32:59. > :33:04.would go. Yes, all right. Sorry. The smugness, it's's raid ating
:33:04. > :33:14.like heat. Three-bar fire alongside me. It's true. Can we go live there
:33:14. > :33:15.
:33:15. > :33:19.to see if there's any left. There they are. Four of them still in
:33:19. > :33:24.there. I don't think they will go this evening. They have, as we have
:33:24. > :33:28.been talking to Martin, jumping up and peeping out of the hole. It's
:33:28. > :33:32.hung they're is thriving them. It tempts them to leave. It would be
:33:32. > :33:38.unwise to leave at this time in the evening. I think they will probably
:33:38. > :33:45.stay there until tomorrow. What's my opinion worth?! What's Lovejoyly
:33:45. > :33:51.about looking at them is you see the colour that gives it its name,
:33:51. > :33:55.that real red in the tail. Pretty little chicks. If I were you I
:33:55. > :34:00.would keep an eye on them early tomorrow morning. Chris, one of the
:34:01. > :34:05.things we noticed about watching these birds is just how often they
:34:05. > :34:11.have been fed. Both adults have done an excellent job. Have a look
:34:11. > :34:14.at their development over the last three days. So, we've got the
:34:14. > :34:19.three days. So, we've got the adults coming in and out. There's
:34:19. > :34:23.the male. Such a handsome bird, and the female. They are really busy.
:34:23. > :34:28.Coming in at least every two minutes for an hour. Certainly, in
:34:28. > :34:32.the middle of the day. Bringing in a great range of prey. Look at the
:34:32. > :34:37.young. It's a test month to the richness of this environment.
:34:37. > :34:41.is what I was going to say. It's not like they are going outside and
:34:41. > :34:47.picking up ready-made foods. They have to find their prey and catch
:34:47. > :34:53.it. The prey doesn't want to be found. A lot of it is camouflaged
:34:53. > :34:59.and mobile and active. There must be so much active insect food out
:34:59. > :35:03.there. You know what, Mr Packham would quite like a graph to show
:35:03. > :35:06.would quite like a graph to show the feeding rates. It's not unusual
:35:06. > :35:09.to see me cry. I'm so pleased to to see me cry. I'm so pleased to
:35:10. > :35:11.see this. This is comparing the feeding rates between the male in
:35:11. > :35:15.feeding rates between the male in blue and the female. Throughout the
:35:15. > :35:20.course of the day, morning, afternoon and evening, the male is
:35:20. > :35:25.feeding almost twice as much as the female. More feeding, of course, by
:35:25. > :35:30.both sexes in the middle of the day. It's warmer with more insects about.
:35:30. > :35:33.What a graph. If this is how much they are feeding, what are they
:35:33. > :35:40.they are feeding, what are they feeding on? Let's have a look at
:35:40. > :35:45.this. We've got the footage of them being fed. And, there we go. Now,
:35:45. > :35:51.you can see, it does seem to be a you can see, it does seem to be a
:35:51. > :35:55.huge variety of winged and squiggy and more winged and long-legged.
:35:55. > :36:00.All sorts of things, Chris. sorts of insects coming in there.
:36:00. > :36:07.Our story developers have been keeping a keen note and a skilful
:36:07. > :36:11.eye on a tricky thing to spot. That was a very large going down the
:36:11. > :36:21.throat there. A mixture of insects which they have been recording, all
:36:21. > :36:26.
:36:26. > :36:33.of the an animals seen brought in. I have the world's first fly pied
:36:33. > :36:37.programme. Bottrill What surprises me are the number of winged insects.
:36:37. > :36:42.Could it be that the redstarts are competing with the pied
:36:42. > :36:47.flycatchers? Are they feeding on something different? We will keep
:36:47. > :36:52.our eyes peels to find out. Let's head back to Scotland to see what
:36:52. > :36:58.head back to Scotland to see what Charlie has for us. Welcome back.
:36:58. > :37:05.Tonight, we are discussing the debate surrounding the re-
:37:05. > :37:10.introduction of beavers to Britain. But first, let's indulge ourselves
:37:10. > :37:15.in beaver magic. I'm canoeing my way around a beaver loch. A loch
:37:15. > :37:19.created by beavers when they made this dam here. Now, with all this
:37:19. > :37:29.water trying to get out of the dam, how do they maintain it? How do
:37:29. > :37:33.
:37:33. > :37:38.they keep that dam in tip-top the area from all these ripples by
:37:38. > :37:41.the dam. There's one. He looks nervous. He is having a sniff.
:37:41. > :37:50.These beavers are cautious because there is the scent of a cameraman
:37:50. > :37:54.in the air. Yes, loo rook look at. That that is classic nervous beaver
:37:54. > :37:57.behaviour. That is a tail snap. That is what they do to warn other
:37:57. > :38:04.beavers there might be something dangerous around. It looks like
:38:04. > :38:09.it's relaxing that one. It is. OK, that is a classic more relacked
:38:09. > :38:12.beaver role. You can see a bubble trail by the tree. That is the dam
:38:12. > :38:17.on the right at the back, where that tree is growing up. What is
:38:17. > :38:22.this guy doing? Look at that. Amazing. He has come ashore with a
:38:22. > :38:28.load of mud. He has collected it from the bottom of the lake. He is
:38:28. > :38:33.piling it onto the dam. Putting his whole body weight behind it. Not
:38:33. > :38:39.all beavers build dam. Only two of the four beaver groups in Knapdale
:38:39. > :38:43.have built dams. If you have plenty of food there is no point. It takes
:38:43. > :38:47.huge time and energy. They only really need to build them when they
:38:47. > :38:51.need to. This dam needs constant maintenance. Look at. That they are
:38:51. > :38:56.maintaining it, building it. The more they build it, the more stuff
:38:56. > :39:00.they are taking out of the bom bottom of the lakes, the deeper the
:39:00. > :39:06.bottom of the lakes, the deeper the lake is getting. Now, he's off.
:39:06. > :39:10.Pretty cool stuff, isn't it? But it gets cooler. We had our cameras out
:39:10. > :39:16.on this dam for four nights. You have just seen some of the best
:39:16. > :39:24.stuff that we got. But, there was one thing that happened, another
:39:24. > :39:30.animal appeared. Have a look at dark. We are right here, exactly
:39:30. > :39:37.this spot on the loch. It's getting out of the water. Running up the
:39:37. > :39:40.dam. What is it? It's an otter. So, the otter has come out of the
:39:40. > :39:45.beaver loch and over the beaver dam and heading off into the night.
:39:45. > :39:50.Then, later on, the otter returns. It's swimming past here. Having a
:39:50. > :39:54.look at the camera. He can smell the cameraman. Otters more nervous
:39:54. > :39:57.of people than beavers. He is not going to hang around. Instead, he
:39:57. > :40:04.going to hang around. Instead, he will head off into the loch. So, if
:40:04. > :40:09.you saw a beaver and an otter, how would you be able to spot the
:40:09. > :40:15.would you be able to spot the difference. Top -- It has ears
:40:15. > :40:20.poking up and eyes pointing forward. The beaver on the left low, flat
:40:20. > :40:26.head. Eyes on the side. When the otter is swimming along, the
:40:26. > :40:31.otter's whole back of its body is out of the water. You can see there,
:40:31. > :40:36.it's head, its tail, everything. When the beaver is swimming along
:40:36. > :40:40.its head and shoulders. Otters spend more time time under water
:40:40. > :40:43.than beavers. Beavers generally swim around on the surface. Those
:40:43. > :40:50.swim around on the surface. Those are the key differences. So, why
:40:50. > :40:53.are the otters using this lake great created by the beavers? It's
:40:53. > :40:57.simple. They are full of fish. The beavers are helping the otters
:40:57. > :41:04.because they are creating a place for oters to catch fish. Simple,
:41:04. > :41:07.isn't it? No, because nothing in nature is ever simple. Some fish
:41:07. > :41:11.might not benefit from beavers being back in the landscape,
:41:11. > :41:15.blocking up rivers. Come back to us in a bit. That is another bit of
:41:15. > :41:21.the debate that we will look at next. Thank you very much, Charlie.
:41:21. > :41:27.Now, it's closing in a bit, to be honest with you, this evening.
:41:27. > :41:30.Let's cut live to our buzzard's nest to see what is happening over
:41:30. > :41:36.nest to see what is happening over there? She is doing what I thought
:41:36. > :41:41.she might be doing. She is doing a good job of brooding her single
:41:42. > :41:47.youngsters. We can't see it at all. We can't see it now. We have lovely
:41:47. > :41:53.footage of her feeding this youngster. Which is thriving in
:41:53. > :41:59.front of our eyes. We had grass snake yesterday. We have a frog
:41:59. > :42:05.there. Is that rabbit? That's a grey squirrel. It is, I can see the
:42:05. > :42:13.tail. That might please some people seeing a grey squirrel going down
:42:13. > :42:17.the inside of a buzzard. Well, now, that, surely, Chris, pose as
:42:17. > :42:25.problem. We have been following the fortunes of another bird of that
:42:25. > :42:34.isn't nesting on the reserve. It's a little way away. It's an iconic
:42:34. > :42:38.bird for whales, -- Wales it's the red kite. The Red Kite Trust have
:42:38. > :42:43.given given us access to film this. A magnificent bird. She has a
:42:43. > :42:47.single chick. She is feeding rabbit. Do we now have a situation where we
:42:47. > :42:51.have kites and buzzards, potentially, out competing each
:42:51. > :42:56.other? Competing for the same resource? An interesting question.
:42:56. > :43:00.It's difficult to answer. We had a period when both the kites were low
:43:00. > :43:06.in number, and the buzzards were in number, and the buzzards were
:43:06. > :43:11.low in number too. Buzzards sunk through persecution and misuse of
:43:11. > :43:15.pesticides. They have bounce bounced back. Kites have been re-
:43:15. > :43:20.introduced they are commoner than they were. We will have to wait to
:43:20. > :43:23.find out. Both of our birds have one chick. This has to be test
:43:23. > :43:31.month to the amount of food that is out there for them to eat, perhaps
:43:31. > :43:35.the number of rabbits. The adult will need to build up its reserves
:43:35. > :43:40.to produce a clutch. If there is wunge in each there are a lot of
:43:40. > :43:47.competition or not enough rabbits to go around. Good point. A story
:43:47. > :43:50.to watch. From the skies to our seas. We do have some absolutely
:43:50. > :43:55.wonderful biodiversity in the seas around Britain. Sadly, it's
:43:55. > :44:04.wildlife that we tend not to take much notice of until it gives us a
:44:04. > :44:11.surprise. On the 3rd March this year, at 7.30 am, coastguards were
:44:11. > :44:15.alerted to something unusual in the water in Kent. I have never seen
:44:15. > :44:19.anything like this before. When I saw the tide was going out, I
:44:19. > :44:23.thought, I must come down and take the opportunity to take a look.
:44:23. > :44:27.Incredible sight. It makes you feel insignificant, looking at something
:44:27. > :44:34.like that. As the water receded, it revealed what had washed up on the
:44:34. > :44:39.beach that morning. The locals couldn't believe it. Everyone was
:44:39. > :44:46.quite shocked, weren't they? They have been texting and phoning
:44:46. > :44:51.people. To see this, it's amazing. It's so sad. It was identified as a
:44:51. > :45:01.sperm whale, nearly 14 meters long. What was it doing there? How did it
:45:01. > :45:04.
:45:04. > :45:08.It may surprise you to know that sperm whales aren't foreign
:45:08. > :45:15.visitors to our waters. In fact in northern Europe the greatest number
:45:15. > :45:21.of sperm whale records came from the British Isles. They were the
:45:21. > :45:26.largest of the toothed whale family. Maems can grow to 18 metres --
:45:26. > :45:33.males can grow to 18 metres. They can dive to 100m, and remain
:45:33. > :45:37.can dive to 100m, and remain submerged for up to two hours. The
:45:37. > :45:45.Pegwell whale is a mystery, and its appearance raised interest not just
:45:45. > :45:47.from the general public but from a team of specialist researchers.
:45:47. > :45:54.team of specialist researchers. Today we had a phone call on the
:45:54. > :45:57.way into work, one of my colleagues, to say there's a stranded sperm
:45:58. > :46:01.whale on the beach in Pegwell bay, which took me by surprise and the
:46:01. > :46:08.rest of the passengers on my train when I started talking about it.
:46:08. > :46:15.This is our day job really. We help to co-ordinate a Defra-funded
:46:15. > :46:20.research programme to identify strandings around the UK of
:46:20. > :46:26.dolphins, whales and porpoises. We think this is a juvenile. Just to
:46:26. > :46:34.put into it context, every year around the coast of the UK there
:46:34. > :46:40.are 500 strandings of citations. Each year there are five or six
:46:40. > :46:45.sperm whale strandings in the UK. We are here to examine the animal
:46:45. > :46:49.and find out what may have happened to it. Around our shores sperm
:46:49. > :46:57.whales are generally found around the north coast of Scotland. But
:46:57. > :47:00.one wrong turn south can lead to disaster. We see commonly
:47:00. > :47:05.strandings of sperm whales around the East Coast of the UK. They seem
:47:05. > :47:11.to lose their way. Once in the North Sea, which is shallow, they
:47:11. > :47:15.can't feed. They can't get food into their diet and become
:47:15. > :47:20.dehydrated and go downhill quickly. Although it is ufts for this
:47:20. > :47:24.individual, it is a tragedy that this animal has died, we can learn
:47:25. > :47:30.a lot about them. We can learn more about their biology, their ecology,
:47:31. > :47:40.what they have been feeding on. That feeds into conservation of the
:47:41. > :47:41.
:47:41. > :47:47.species per se. By sampling skin for genetics and blubber for marine
:47:47. > :47:51.contaminants Rob and his team can learn a great deal in just one day.
:47:51. > :47:57.Sperm whales spend very little time at the surface. Revealing only a
:47:57. > :48:04.fraction of their lives, as they stay mostly at depth, feeding on
:48:04. > :48:08.squid. So strandings provide an amazing opportunity for research.
:48:08. > :48:12.One sperm whale tooth. Obviously quite a gory process but it is
:48:12. > :48:18.important for us to get the tooth, because we can age the animal,
:48:18. > :48:25.count the growth rings, like you would with a tree, the annual
:48:25. > :48:28.growth rings, and this gives as accurate assessment of the age, how
:48:28. > :48:34.many contaminants has it absorbed over its life span, so it is
:48:34. > :48:41.important to get this, albeit a messy procedure. The Pegwell whale
:48:41. > :48:47.will now be taken for a full autopsy to find out why it ended up
:48:47. > :48:51.on this beach in Kent. Thank for joining us this evening.
:48:51. > :48:57.Let's kick off with an important question. Broadly speaking, what
:48:57. > :49:05.have you managed to discover so far about that whale? We had a juvenile
:49:05. > :49:10.male sperm whale which strand, probably alive, on the bases of the
:49:10. > :49:15.post mortem. There was no evidence of feeding. Starvation effectively.
:49:15. > :49:19.Because they get all their fluid from their diet, it was dehydrated.
:49:19. > :49:23.Unfortunately the animal got lost and went the wrong way and
:49:23. > :49:29.eventually stranded. Can we look at the tooth, in its less gory state.
:49:29. > :49:33.This is the one you removed? This is from another animal, from 2003.
:49:33. > :49:40.We were prepping the other one. was fascinated sen you said you can
:49:40. > :49:44.age the animal from its tooth. Does it mean the tooth that it has from
:49:44. > :49:48.when they are born they have all their lives? That's right. The same
:49:48. > :49:54.set of teeth can last their life span. We can count the annual
:49:54. > :49:58.growth rings and see how old the animal is. It is a lengthy,
:49:58. > :50:04.laborious process. And there's been another stranding, at Redcar.
:50:04. > :50:07.You've been up there already. You've had a busy 24 hours. We had
:50:07. > :50:13.another stranded sperm whale yesterday. What was interesting for
:50:13. > :50:20.me personally was the similarity of the one in Kent. A similar animal,
:50:20. > :50:27.a 14-metre male, probably juvenile. No evidence of recent ingestion of
:50:27. > :50:33.prey, staining in the intestinal tract which showed it had not eaten
:50:33. > :50:38.for some time. If they go the wrong way in the North Sea, it is a
:50:38. > :50:43.ticking clock for them. Both these strandings have been males. That's
:50:43. > :50:47.right. And both of them you think have got lost. Why the males, first
:50:47. > :50:53.of all? We only ever get males in the UK, there seems to be an
:50:53. > :51:01.element of population structuring, so we seem to have juvenile males
:51:01. > :51:05.hanging around off the Continental shelf. We have matriarchal
:51:05. > :51:10.societies and bachelor pods, so we only get male strandings. What
:51:10. > :51:17.causes them to come into the North Sea? We don't know. Wood cuttings
:51:17. > :51:23.from the 16th century show strandings all around the North Sea
:51:23. > :51:28.coasts, so this will carry on happening. What we don't know about
:51:28. > :51:32.them. These animals are living out there, they are large mammals and
:51:32. > :51:36.so many of their physiology we don't understand yet. Absolutely.
:51:36. > :51:41.It keeps Rob in a job! It does. Every case is different and
:51:41. > :51:47.interesting. There is so much more to learn about them. Sperm whales
:51:47. > :51:52.spend 90% of their time underwater. Every time an animal strands we can
:51:52. > :51:57.learn so much about them, and help improve their conservation status.
:51:57. > :52:02.Thank you so much for coming along. We are going to head back north to
:52:02. > :52:07.hear the rest of the fascinating beaver argument. Charlie.
:52:07. > :52:10.Welcome back to the big beaver debate did. Now, tonight we are
:52:11. > :52:14.looking at the positives and the negatives of reintroducing the
:52:14. > :52:19.beavers back into Britain. We've seen the otter and we've seen how
:52:20. > :52:24.it can benefit by having beavers around. Beavers create lakes, fish
:52:24. > :52:30.like lakes, and otters eat fish. But, there might be a problem,
:52:30. > :52:34.because not all fish benefit from this. Some fish are migratory. Fish
:52:34. > :52:38.like salmon and sea trout, and they may not like all these dams put up
:52:38. > :52:48.in their way. So the other day I went to meet an expert on these
:52:48. > :52:59.
:52:59. > :53:03.things to see what le had to say effects that beavers are going to
:53:03. > :53:09.have on fish trying to migrate up the rivers? The main problem is the
:53:09. > :53:14.building of these dams, which create obstacles to fish migration.
:53:14. > :53:19.Salmon and tea trout need to have access to the upper rivers in order
:53:19. > :53:23.to spawn. And indeed we spend a lot of time and money removing
:53:23. > :53:27.obstacles that were created by man. We fence off livestock, encourage
:53:27. > :53:32.tree growth. The problem with beavers that whilst we've been
:53:32. > :53:35.planting trees and removing obstacles, they remove trees and
:53:35. > :53:39.build obstacles, so it's the obstacle issue that's the prints
:53:39. > :53:43.pal concern. Not only is Andrew worried about
:53:43. > :53:47.the disruption that beaver dams might cause to migrating fish, he's
:53:47. > :53:52.concerned about what happens when beaver numbers start to increase.
:53:52. > :53:56.We don't have any of the top predators that would control beaver
:53:56. > :54:00.populations. We are looking perhaps some years into the future when
:54:00. > :54:09.these populations might become well established. It is going to be, how
:54:09. > :54:13.does one manage to population in the absence of top predators. We
:54:13. > :54:16.need to make sure all the risks have been assessed and then make an
:54:16. > :54:22.informed decision. Let's look at the different aspects of this
:54:22. > :54:26.debate and try and sum it up. We met Robin Malcolm, a farmer and
:54:26. > :54:30.landowner. He's worried that beavers on his land could cause
:54:30. > :54:34.problems by flooding it. We've problems by flooding it. We've
:54:34. > :54:39.looked at otters. They can benefit from fish and the ponds created by
:54:39. > :54:44.beavers create habitat for otters. And then we met Andrew, a fish
:54:44. > :54:49.expert, who said they could cause problems for migratory fish,
:54:49. > :54:53.including salmon and sea trout. But let's not forget Lynn, the B&B
:54:53. > :54:57.owner, who thinks they could be good for business. What do we do
:54:57. > :55:02.with this information? Don't we need someone who has thought about
:55:02. > :55:11.it all? We have. We've got Simon Jones, project manager of the
:55:11. > :55:15.Scottish Beaver Trial. Her is what he has to say about it. I'm mon,
:55:15. > :55:20.we've had a little taste of this debate about whether beavers should
:55:20. > :55:24.be back in Britain. But is there any overriding thought we can take
:55:24. > :55:29.from the whole bigger debate? It is perfectly understandable that
:55:30. > :55:34.people are going to have concerns about the return of the beaver. The
:55:34. > :55:37.main thing to really force home is the fact that this is a trial.
:55:37. > :55:41.There are many organisations involved to try and produce the
:55:41. > :55:49.science and the information that we need. So as well as the trial
:55:49. > :55:53.partners, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the
:55:53. > :55:57.Forestry Commission. It is monitored by Scottish heritage who
:55:57. > :56:01.will answer to the Scottish Government. It is a monitored trial
:56:01. > :56:05.process that will run for five years and hopefully provide us with
:56:05. > :56:10.answers. These are your beavers, in a sense, your babies. You don't
:56:10. > :56:14.really want to see them go at the end of the trial, surely? You've
:56:14. > :56:18.invested so much of your time into getting them here. Exactly, and
:56:18. > :56:22.with many other people and organisations as well. And I'm sure
:56:22. > :56:27.many local people and people nationally don't want to see these
:56:27. > :56:35.animals go. We know that the beaver has many benefit for wildlife. The
:56:35. > :56:39.loch behind us was produced by beavers. We've seen the amphibians
:56:39. > :56:42.and dragonflies. It is not just about the beaver but what it does
:56:43. > :56:46.for our native wild life. That said, we know there's a cost of living
:56:46. > :56:50.with beavers which we have to accept and be upfront about it.
:56:50. > :56:55.They may occasionally build dam where is we don't want them to or
:56:55. > :56:58.fell trees where we don't want them to. At the end of the day the
:56:58. > :57:03.Scottish people and Government have to examine the benefits of living
:57:03. > :57:08.with the beaver, and the costs, to decide whether we should live with
:57:08. > :57:11.this animal again. Personally I think we can, but time will tell.
:57:11. > :57:16.hope you enjoyed that debate as much as you enjoyed the beavers.
:57:16. > :57:22.What have we got for you tomorrow? I've been set the ultimate
:57:22. > :57:27.challenge - can we bring you live pictures of live beavers here on
:57:27. > :57:33.these lochs in Knapdale? That's the big question. Will they be out, or
:57:33. > :57:39.will they be in bed? You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out.
:57:39. > :57:43.Thank you Charlie. Kate, to beaver or not to beaver?
:57:43. > :57:46.would say owl. Let's look at our owls, which we haven't seen. The
:57:46. > :57:51.adult there with her gorgeous chicks. And while you are looking
:57:51. > :57:57.at that, you can keep on eye on them by going to our webcams on
:57:57. > :58:02.bbc.co.uk/springwatch. What have we got tomorrow? Tomorrow
:58:02. > :58:08.Matt Hamilton has made a beautiful film about the mayflies on a river
:58:08. > :58:12.in haimpshire. It is stunning. we will have everybody's prickly,
:58:12. > :58:19.spiky friend, the hedgehog, and answer some of your questions about
:58:19. > :58:25.this little animal. I'm throth to mention it, but will or -- I'm loth