:00:15. > :00:19.Hello and welcome to tonight's Springwatch. We're here in Ynys Hir
:00:19. > :00:27.with the glorious backdrop of the Welsh hills behind us. Coming up
:00:27. > :00:32.tonight. Our barn owls have come all over adventurous. We see a cub
:00:32. > :00:36.otter in broad daylight. High drama from our inner-city peregrine
:00:36. > :00:41.family. They're on the edge. We'll be keeping a live eye on our
:00:41. > :00:51.ospreys of course. All of this, and so much more, we can bring you the
:00:51. > :01:09.
:01:09. > :01:17.best of British wildlife. Don't be A welcome to Springwatch coming to
:01:17. > :01:24.you live tonight from a rather damp but dramatic, RSPB reserve on the
:01:24. > :01:30.west coast of Wales. We're south of the mountains of Snowdonia, and the
:01:30. > :01:33.twinkling waters of the ocean. like that romantic start. We can
:01:33. > :01:36.promise romantic elements to tonight's show. Before any of that,
:01:36. > :01:44.let's go to the activity that's taking place in the barn that's
:01:44. > :01:48.just over there, live to our barn owls. I would expect them to be not
:01:48. > :01:53.very much. Because they should at this time of the evening, if
:01:53. > :01:59.anything be waking up and becoming active, after conserveing their
:01:59. > :02:05.energy all day. This is a frenzied start, a bit of wing-flaping going
:02:05. > :02:10.on. You will notice there's two of them, and you know we have four.
:02:10. > :02:14.And that's because, we're moving around and there are the other two.
:02:14. > :02:19.They've gone exploring a bit. One of our owls is noticeably larger
:02:19. > :02:26.than the others. That's not surprising, because the adults,
:02:26. > :02:32.female, lays her eggs, on average two or three days apart. As they
:02:32. > :02:36.match, they get bigger and smaller. I'm thinking, hang on to yourself,
:02:36. > :02:42.because it is not time to fledge, we think there's a few more days to
:02:42. > :02:48.go. They've been busy, lots of jumping about, and that larger bird
:02:48. > :02:53.is doing a lot of wing-flaping there. When do you think they might
:02:53. > :02:56.go? The magic number is 56 days, and then they're ready to go. That
:02:56. > :03:01.doesn't mean he will leave and fly out of the barn, because he will
:03:01. > :03:06.have to wait the youngest of the owls to get to a similar state,
:03:06. > :03:09.because the animals will keep going back to the barn. But they have
:03:09. > :03:15.become a lot more adventurous, moving around. You've seen already,
:03:15. > :03:19.the birds had moved into the cafity, and this happened earlier today,
:03:19. > :03:25.very early this morning, they moved off in the cafity. Something has
:03:25. > :03:29.caught the attention of the bird, that's the largest, he got down on
:03:29. > :03:35.the lower part of its chest and legs, but its curiosity was
:03:35. > :03:41.followed by another one, two have climbed in there. I don't blame
:03:41. > :03:48.them, the nesting platform must be messy and stinky. Here is the
:03:48. > :03:52.female coming back, in with food, so the two there get a meal. The
:03:52. > :03:57.two that have secreted themselves will not get a meal, unless they do
:03:57. > :04:01.a lot of hising, to call the female towards them. She's gone there, she
:04:01. > :04:07.went in there, and gave that one what is it, a wood mouse, you can
:04:07. > :04:12.see the large eyes, which make it character skhree a wood mouse.
:04:12. > :04:17.That's interesting, so they can't go one, by one, they have to wait
:04:17. > :04:23.and the whole family go at the same time. The older birds will become
:04:23. > :04:28.more active and they may get flying going, but they won't leave the
:04:28. > :04:35.barn area, at this stage we're not looking at the adults, the adult is
:04:35. > :04:41.keeping all out of their way, as the wing flaping would be annoying.
:04:41. > :04:47.The adults would be in attendance. Will we look at our pied fly
:04:47. > :04:52.catchers. Let's go live, there they are, snuggleed up, looking nice and
:04:52. > :04:57.cozy and grown up actually now. There's no adult in there at the
:04:57. > :05:03.moment. They're starting to lose their gumy look. They certainly are.
:05:03. > :05:06.They look like they could be ready to fledge pretty soon. Let's remind
:05:06. > :05:11.ourselves, generally about the pied fly catchers, because they're not a
:05:11. > :05:18.common bird. Here is the male, looking magnificent in a bit of a
:05:18. > :05:24.suit. They're 40% of the entire British population here is in Wales.
:05:25. > :05:29.Here is a female, a beak full of food there. They didn't do at all
:05:29. > :05:33.well here. There's their nesting hole, a secure place in there.
:05:33. > :05:39.Now, ladies and gentlemen, toif tell you, that I'm afraid to say,
:05:39. > :05:43.the pied fly catch Cher male particularly is a bit of bounder,
:05:43. > :05:47.I'm afraid. He's not altogether, a sort of one-lady man. What he does
:05:47. > :05:52.is when he arrives here, and migration ends, he comes here, he
:05:52. > :05:57.establishs a territory, he pairs up with a female, when she lays her
:05:57. > :06:01.eggs, and starts incubating, he goes off and establishs another
:06:01. > :06:05.territory, up to three-and-a-half kilometres away and tries to seduce
:06:06. > :06:10.a second female. Now that's not really very good. Why does he have
:06:11. > :06:15.to go quite so far away to do that? Well the first female, he is a good
:06:15. > :06:21.father for the first female, he will come back and bring food, but
:06:21. > :06:27.for the second female, if the first one is doing well, he will ignore
:06:27. > :06:32.her. It is not a good policy to show the second female that he is
:06:32. > :06:36.attached, but that's why he does it. He box a novel male because of the
:06:36. > :06:40.distance. The female that is looking around the male's territory,
:06:40. > :06:47.he listens to new song, it is the taste of the exotic, these ones
:06:47. > :06:55.that move further from the original Second at the males. How common is
:06:55. > :07:00.that? 30%. Between 2-39%, I know, I looked it up. Do you think our pied
:07:00. > :07:05.fly catchers will do that? That's fascinating and we can answer it.
:07:05. > :07:10.Here's our male, and here is the female. And we've been counting how
:07:10. > :07:14.oven the male is coming in the nest to feed the chicks. Incredibly,
:07:14. > :07:19.today, there's the female again, I'm happy to report to you, that
:07:19. > :07:24.the male, here he is coming in, has come in, 60 times in one hour. Now
:07:24. > :07:31.there's absolutely no way, that our male, here he is, looking handsome
:07:31. > :07:37.could be possibly be, how shall I say it, serving another female. He
:07:37. > :07:41.is a one-lady's man. Thoroughly good news. But it is OK, if it is
:07:41. > :07:48.in birds, if it is natural behaviour, not so good when it is
:07:48. > :07:54.the human species, doing that. On wards. Let take a look at a bird
:07:54. > :07:57.that is monogamous, and that's our tree creatures, we introduced you
:07:57. > :08:04.yesterday. This is where they're nesting in the hollow of an old
:08:04. > :08:06.tree. Is there anything in there? I tree. Is there anything in there? I
:08:06. > :08:11.think, yes, we can see the tail. That's an adult in there.
:08:11. > :08:16.But, we don't know how many chicks are in there. But we can take a
:08:16. > :08:24.closer look at that nest. I love that nest, it is very small, you
:08:24. > :08:28.don't realise how small that is. Let's go live, to our goldcrest,
:08:28. > :08:33.we've been watching these birds over the course of the weekend, for
:08:33. > :08:37.them, it is no game, just staying alive is really tricky. Here we
:08:37. > :08:43.have probably the female, brooding on the nest. We have been looking
:08:43. > :08:49.intently to see how many young that he has in that nest. We know she
:08:49. > :08:55.had nine eggs, we saw them carrying away egg shells, so there's more
:08:55. > :08:59.than one of those has hatched, but it is difficult to see, but we'll
:08:59. > :09:05.definitely catch up. All snuggleed in and lovely and
:09:05. > :09:10.warm. Gorgeous. Live on tonight's programme, we have another popular
:09:10. > :09:13.Welsh resident, Lolo Williams. He's not far away from where we're
:09:13. > :09:21.standing, he is on another part of the reserve, which is the other
:09:21. > :09:28.side of the train tracks, somewhere in that direction
:09:28. > :09:31.Yes indeed, I am at the Dovey Estuary, the mouth of the river,
:09:31. > :09:38.where it empties into cardigan bay. It is a beautiful day and glorious
:09:39. > :09:48.evening out here. Across the waters there, that is the village, Aber
:09:48. > :09:53.Dovey, this is different to anything we've seen so far, from
:09:53. > :09:57.the reserve. The Dovey, wash it is down from the Welsh mountains, all
:09:57. > :10:04.sorts of knew treents and minerals, it meets the sea water here,
:10:04. > :10:10.bringing with it, billions of microscopic plankton and they fall
:10:10. > :10:18.to the ground and it is this mud, that provides food for the millions
:10:18. > :10:26.of birds, waders and wild foul that visit ourestries. This brings back
:10:26. > :10:33.fond memories, ice cream, bucket and spade and sandwiches full of
:10:33. > :10:43.sand. We've been reliving childhood memories. And how to start but with
:10:43. > :11:09.
:11:09. > :11:13.Chris, I brought you here, this is one of my favourite places. I've
:11:14. > :11:23.been coming here since I was a small child. It used to be the
:11:23. > :11:27.school picnic here. It is called the Velvet Bottom. Only you where
:11:28. > :11:33.the picnics would be organised in a place called that. We crack out the
:11:33. > :11:38.hard boiled eggs, and this area is fameed for two things, one mining,
:11:38. > :11:43.the Romans came here and mineed led and silver and the other thing,
:11:43. > :11:48.which is what we're interested in is adders. Excellent. Beautiful
:11:48. > :11:55.things. Shall we go addering. used to go out snakeing, Saturday
:11:55. > :12:01.morning was snakeing time. Grass snakes was my favourites. How do
:12:01. > :12:06.you find adders? Well firstly, you have to tread very carefully, in a
:12:06. > :12:11.soft afoot. Because they don't have ears, so you can speak as loudly as
:12:11. > :12:18.you like, but, they do, obviously feel vibrations through their body
:12:18. > :12:24.which is in contact with the ground. Martin I will ask you a question, I
:12:24. > :12:32.put the thermometer where the adders are, what do you think the
:12:32. > :12:40.25 It's ten degrees warmer down there. Put your hand T feels snug.
:12:40. > :12:50.It is cozy, and that's why the snakes can be active on days which
:12:50. > :12:52.
:12:52. > :12:56.feel cold to us. See where the logs, go to the end, there.
:12:56. > :13:03.That's a male because it is small, the female is bigger than the male?
:13:03. > :13:13.Also the males have the silvery, very pale green body. And, the
:13:13. > :13:22.females have a browner base, as a general rule. That Chris, is what I
:13:22. > :13:27.would dream of seeing as a child. Down here, there's a female adder,
:13:27. > :13:34.that's snuck off into a hole. have to be patient sometimes
:13:34. > :13:41.haven't you. Beautiful. It is a special day when
:13:41. > :13:48.you see a adder, I can remember all the days I've seen adders. What a
:13:48. > :13:53.treat, a male and female adder. But to find Chris's favourite, we need
:13:53. > :13:57.to head somewhere down, we're looking for grass snakes. I believe
:13:57. > :14:03.the British record is six foot three inches. Now that's big. This
:14:03. > :14:09.is grass snake heaven. Look at it, this is where they love it.
:14:09. > :14:19.There's one thing I should have told you, welling tonnes. Not brand
:14:19. > :14:21.
:14:21. > :14:25.new fancy boots. You got your brand new fancy boots are on today.
:14:25. > :14:33.Unlike adders they secret themselves more in the vegation.
:14:33. > :14:41.You will see them curled up in the open, but, very oven they're in
:14:41. > :14:47.here. Well done. Good shot. I will try and do, is get hold of the vent
:14:47. > :14:55.there. It is excreting.
:14:55. > :15:01.Catch a whiff. It is part of their defendant strategy. When I was a
:15:01. > :15:06.kid, my mother would say wash that terrible smell off of your hands, I
:15:07. > :15:12.would pretend to run them under the tap, and under the covers I would
:15:12. > :15:18.smell the grass snakes, such was my love for the reptiles. But that is,
:15:18. > :15:24.one of Britain's most beautiful animals.
:15:24. > :15:28.A round pupil, unlike the slit pupil, and the characteristic
:15:28. > :15:37.yellow collar on the back of the head. You should never confuse
:15:37. > :15:43.these, and perfectly harmless.. So you have to handle them carefully.
:15:44. > :15:49.If you catch one, let him go in the same place because it has territory
:15:49. > :15:56.I think it is hard, but if you love something, let it go.
:15:56. > :16:04.Down it goes. Can you imagine, being a child and not having
:16:04. > :16:10.handleed a grass snake, not being able to smell that? Yes I can
:16:10. > :16:20.imagine it. That's what it is all about. That smell has transported
:16:20. > :16:21.
:16:21. > :16:26.I bet you were a noughty child, Chris, not listening to your mother
:16:27. > :16:32.and not washing your hands? didn't on that account. It was all
:16:32. > :16:39.about contact with animals. It is changed now, I want to look at them.
:16:39. > :16:45.I remember being at the zoo, a giraffe reached over, and it leaned
:16:45. > :16:53.down and wrapped its tongue around my face, she packed me off and said
:16:53. > :16:58.go wash your face, I turned on the tap, I looked at myself, turned it
:16:58. > :17:02.off and left it. It infects young people. How far, when it comes to
:17:02. > :17:06.snakes, just a word of caution, there is one species, smooth snake,
:17:06. > :17:11.which is protected so you need a license to pick up the animals.
:17:11. > :17:15.Grass snakes you have to be gentle with them and the adders, obviously
:17:15. > :17:21.they're a venomous and feed on animals, which means if they sting
:17:21. > :17:25.you you will react to it. So it is better to watch them from a safe
:17:25. > :17:29.distance. Rest assured, boys keep swinging, we're back tomorrow,
:17:29. > :17:33.we're after stickel backs and badgers as well. That film shows it
:17:33. > :17:37.is really important to encourage your children to get out into
:17:37. > :17:41.nature. Get them away from technology every so oven and
:17:41. > :17:47.reconnect them back into the wild. Can I tell you something, I have
:17:47. > :17:53.connected with the wild, because a Midge has gone into my eye, it's
:17:53. > :17:58.gone in my eyes. I love them but they are abundant. Shall we go live
:17:58. > :18:02.to our treecreepers, they're not eating enough Midges for you,
:18:02. > :18:09.they're taking mainly spiders and grubs off the sides of the trees. I
:18:09. > :18:19.don't think there's an adult in there now. But did we see a beak
:18:19. > :18:24.
:18:24. > :18:30.peek out. We don't know how many are in there at the moment. That's
:18:30. > :18:34.a sensible place to be, it has a motor around it, which is a good
:18:34. > :18:39.defence, like squirrels and mice, not woodpeckers of course. It is a
:18:40. > :18:44.small nest, it's squeezed in there, behind the bark, and the bark is
:18:45. > :18:50.flakey, it looks like it will fall offment That's typical. About 60%
:18:50. > :18:55.of them nest behind bark, it has to be flakey for them to get in behind
:18:55. > :19:01.them. But we noticed them moving when the young are jumping about.
:19:01. > :19:06.One of the nestwatchers, notice one fall out. They're active. After 12
:19:06. > :19:10.days, they should be scram bring around the nesting chamber. 15 days,
:19:10. > :19:15.they will come out and become more adventureous, above the water, no
:19:15. > :19:21.chance of a slippage, but treecreepers, very, good at
:19:21. > :19:26.clinging on to the tree. This one is moving along, underneath a more
:19:26. > :19:31.zontate branch, so you would expect it to be flying forwards, but it
:19:31. > :19:37.never opens the wings, it is doing this, by scooting itself forward,
:19:37. > :19:43.using the legs, but almost always resting on its tail. And the tail
:19:43. > :19:46.is a very important organ for the birds. It is stiff and long, longer
:19:46. > :19:53.than woodpeckers tails, but every time it stops on the tree, it leans
:19:53. > :19:58.on the tail, that means it is not expending any energy, or grasps the
:19:58. > :20:04.bark, it is merely clinging to it. So, the secret for the treecreeper
:20:05. > :20:10.is actually having claws of the right size and shape and spaceing
:20:10. > :20:15.and having the stiff tail. That means it can conserve a lot of
:20:15. > :20:23.energy, so it is perfectly designed little woodland creature. It is
:20:23. > :20:28.like the Spider-Man of the bird world? Spiderman. I was sniffing
:20:28. > :20:33.grass snakes, not reading DC come mix, I'm vaguely familiar with this
:20:33. > :20:39.human. We don't know how many chicks our treecreeper has, but we
:20:39. > :20:43.have had a clue every so oven, but when they perk up, they're bigger
:20:43. > :20:47.than I thought they were going to be. We saw four of them, so there's
:20:47. > :20:52.at least four, so they could be fledge soon. They are big. You see
:20:52. > :20:55.one adult come in there, both adults are doing the feeding and
:20:55. > :21:02.then, you see something interesting, one comes out, the other goes in
:21:02. > :21:06.with a nice bit of food. You can almost, look, one comes in, shakes
:21:06. > :21:10.a little bit. That shivering, they typically do that, when they're
:21:10. > :21:16.feeding, and left the nest. Did you see that, there was a squabble with
:21:16. > :21:26.the two adults, as they came out of the nest. Here it is again, in
:21:26. > :21:30.
:21:30. > :21:35.slower motion, I don't think this is an intruding adult. One has a
:21:35. > :21:40.faecal sac. They're monogamous, it is a bit of domestic. We showed you
:21:40. > :21:44.this last week, it was so special, this is another brood of
:21:44. > :21:49.kingfishers, which fledged where else, these are the young and
:21:49. > :21:53.huddling together, on the lichen and they're very difficult to spot.
:21:53. > :21:57.The adult come in with food and only then do they reveal their
:21:57. > :22:01.beaks and mouths which make them bird-like, and when I have to say,
:22:01. > :22:08.when I was talking about this last week, I thought it was something
:22:08. > :22:15.which was rarely recorded. Subsequent to that, I have been
:22:15. > :22:20.doing scientific reading, in eastern Russia, and there it is
:22:20. > :22:24.recorded quite oven. They're so well camouflaged there. They would
:22:24. > :22:29.freeze if anything kind of kaptture came by. You know, I've said
:22:29. > :22:34.they're like the spiderman of the bird world, whereas Martin thinks
:22:34. > :22:40.they look like mice. Well they do a bit, when you see them whizzing
:22:40. > :22:44.around trunks of trees, I have mistaken them for mice, but they're
:22:44. > :22:48.beautiful little birds. Now, all of Springwatch we've been asking for
:22:48. > :22:52.your help to track down the illusive Welsh mine part tin, we
:22:52. > :23:01.know there are pine martens in Scotland but declared extinct in
:23:01. > :23:08.Wales, in 1994. Let's just remind yourselves what a pine marten looks
:23:08. > :23:13.like, a large animal with a bushy tail N the past, they were second
:23:13. > :23:20.most common carnivore, after the weasel, but second rarest, now
:23:20. > :23:27.after the Scottish wild cat. To your surprise, and Vincent wildlife
:23:27. > :23:32.surprise, we're helping them, you sent us, 70 sightings here in Wales,
:23:32. > :23:40.which are a great surprise to me, because it is vanishing rare. We
:23:40. > :23:44.have put them on the map. This is where we are, at Inis here, it is
:23:44. > :23:51.amazing, because there's been a lot of sightings, now, obviously we
:23:51. > :23:56.don't know how many of those are real, genuine 100% sightings, but
:23:56. > :24:01.they're credible enough for the Wildlife Trust to look into them
:24:01. > :24:06.further. There are a few clumps, around Cardiff, I'm more dubious
:24:06. > :24:12.about. It could be a night out and then you see a domestic cat. But
:24:12. > :24:18.this area, there's a good sighting here, so this is where we sent our
:24:19. > :24:24.camera team to put a camera trap, which is a camera that goes off if
:24:24. > :24:29.there's movement. Did we find anything? We have the inevitable
:24:29. > :24:39.qirl of course and a couple of female black birds hoping around.
:24:39. > :24:47.We've got a glowing-eyed, DC comics type mouse. Lovely to see, a very
:24:47. > :24:52.damp, needs to go to the hairdresser, badger. Nice to see
:24:52. > :24:58.though. Did we get any more exciting, maybe, let's take a look?
:24:58. > :25:07.Look at this, something comes in. Does it have a yellow bib, no. Does
:25:07. > :25:12.it have a bushy tail? Not really. Is it a pine marten? No. It is a
:25:12. > :25:16.polecat unfortunately. But easy to get them muddled up. Well I think
:25:16. > :25:19.we'll probably have to leave this for Springwatch. We will keep it
:25:19. > :25:25.for Springwatch. We will keep it going on the website. If you could
:25:25. > :25:35.get a photograph of one that would nail it and prove it in Wales,
:25:35. > :25:36.
:25:36. > :25:41.please send them into it us. Right, where are we going now, Chris.
:25:42. > :25:46.sure a few of you, that snake nifing is odd, but it is about
:25:46. > :25:51.using all my sense toss feel nature, that's what it comes down to,
:25:51. > :25:58.typically we use our eyes but should expand the art of listening.
:25:58. > :26:08.So instead of looking listen to this symphony of our woodland birds
:26:08. > :26:41.
:26:41. > :26:46.ABSOLUTELY Fantastic, sometimes it is not individual things it is
:26:46. > :26:51.about the bigger picture and sense of place, something you have to
:26:51. > :26:56.feel. One of our wildlife cameraman was task today going to an unusual
:26:56. > :27:06.place in Kent to capture that sense of place. I hope you think that
:27:06. > :27:18.
:27:18. > :27:28.I came here before, and it stuck. I came here before, and it stuck.
:27:28. > :27:29.
:27:29. > :27:38.The southern most tip of Kent. Dungeness. A coast, and a
:27:38. > :27:45.countryside in one. 40 square kilometres of pebbles. A unique
:27:45. > :27:52.natural environment, frameed by human decay. Energy is what I'm
:27:52. > :27:56.here to capture. Not the nuclear power, that
:27:56. > :28:06.stretches everywhere, but nature's energy. For me, it is what this
:28:06. > :28:11.
:28:11. > :28:18.The energy of the sea met Dungeness, decades, hundreds and thousands of
:28:18. > :28:25.years of water, moulding this southern bump of Britain. Creating
:28:25. > :28:32.our greatest shingle fallen. Waves washing, crashing, an unwelcomeing
:28:32. > :28:42.shingle, changing the sea to stone. Each resulting stoney ridge,
:28:42. > :28:43.
:28:43. > :28:53.ripling across the landscape. Left as a marker of a storm ed long past.
:28:53. > :28:54.
:28:54. > :29:01.But what suss step nans can be gained from stone. How do plants
:29:01. > :29:09.survive here? Many species have thick, hairy waxy leaves, defensive
:29:09. > :29:16.barriers that allow Lilley slap ration, as the wind whips across
:29:16. > :29:26.the flat pancake landscape. The leafy walls are tough for hungry
:29:26. > :29:31.
:29:31. > :29:41.jaws to chew. But one animal here has the teeth to match. The brown
:29:41. > :29:41.
:29:41. > :29:47.hair. - hare, normally found on fields, they're chasing each other
:29:47. > :29:57.here in spring, just like anywhere else. When it rests the natural
:29:57. > :29:58.
:29:58. > :30:03.rise and fall of the stones, provide shelter, a weird sight for
:30:03. > :30:13.a weird place. Sound energy is most obvious at
:30:13. > :30:16.
:30:16. > :30:22.what are known as the listening ears of Dungeness. Long, round,
:30:22. > :30:25.flatter. Three attempts of evolveing a way of hear enemy
:30:25. > :30:31.fighters approaching the English Channel, but never used because
:30:31. > :30:36.radar was invented. The ears defunct the art of listening at
:30:36. > :30:39.this place belongs to marsh Harriers that hunt the surrounding
:30:39. > :30:45.gravel pits. Their hearing is a vital tool to hunt amongst the
:30:45. > :30:55.reeds, and during the spring the male will give the kill to his mate,
:30:55. > :31:16.
:31:16. > :31:26.Even if the sun falls from the sky, darkness cannot hide the beauty I
:31:26. > :31:30.
:31:30. > :31:36.see in this place. The lights of the nuclear power station glow, the
:31:36. > :31:43.bright aura, reflected by the natural nuclear fusion from the
:31:43. > :31:53.heavens. Pin pricks of energy from the stars, burning bright and sharp.
:31:53. > :31:55.
:31:55. > :32:03.And with a turning of the moon, the stars and the Earth, a year passes.
:32:03. > :32:11.And 600,000 people, visit this national nature and RSPB reserve.
:32:11. > :32:17.So if you come, if you choose to join the throng, wonder, stare and
:32:17. > :32:27.wonder, then understand how your energy impacts this energy-
:32:27. > :32:32.
:32:32. > :32:37.Poetic beauty in a bleak landscape, absolutely stunning.
:32:37. > :32:42.Now, one of nature's wonders that never ceases to amaze and impress
:32:42. > :32:49.most of us, is the metamorphosis sis, cat per pillar into a
:32:49. > :32:55.butterfly, this is the time of year, when many emerge. We set ourselves
:32:55. > :32:58.a challenge, to capture that moment live, for you to see, when the
:32:58. > :33:08.butterfly comes out of the chrysalis.
:33:08. > :33:08.
:33:08. > :33:15.We've got three, Lee, small tortoise shell, and this is a
:33:15. > :33:21.pointed lady. What we're hoping, is one of these will turn into one of
:33:21. > :33:25.these. This is the adult painted lady, and it is a migratory
:33:25. > :33:29.butterfly, it breeds through Europe to the UK and we had a massive
:33:29. > :33:33.influx of them a couple of years ago, they were everywhere.
:33:33. > :33:37.Obviously, these aren't doing very much when you look at them like
:33:37. > :33:41.this. If you look at them closely, you can see a little bit of
:33:41. > :33:46.movement. This is what we've already seen, it is absolutely
:33:46. > :33:52.beautiful when you really look at it. There is a tiny bit of movement
:33:52. > :33:57.there, the chrysalis, dissolves the soupy mixture and reorganises they
:33:57. > :34:04.feel into a butterfly. It is like having a Lego car, takeing it apart
:34:04. > :34:08.and puting it back into a Lego aeroplane, accept more scientific.
:34:08. > :34:12.It is very difficult to judge exactly when these are going to go
:34:12. > :34:17.through the magic moment of become ago butterfly. Hopefully we'll
:34:18. > :34:22.capture it. Chris and Martin, what do you think our chances are of
:34:22. > :34:28.getting that moment? Great if we did. I tell you one thing, if you
:34:28. > :34:34.can show that to a child, you catch that imagination and fuel a
:34:34. > :34:38.lifetime interest in nature, it is magical. We've come here, because
:34:38. > :34:44.this is the osprey nest we've been watching. Let's go live. There was
:34:44. > :34:48.a drama over the weekend. There was a massive drama, unfortunately in
:34:48. > :34:53.the terrible weather conditions, we lost one of the two remaining
:34:53. > :34:59.chicks, and the other one, the osprey project had to intervene, it
:34:59. > :35:03.warmed it up and fed it, and pop it had back in the nest. I hope, Chris,
:35:04. > :35:11.that chick is actually in the nest, doing well. Let's see what happened
:35:11. > :35:18.in the last 4 hours. Looking much bigger, in fact, much healthier,
:35:18. > :35:22.and getting well fed. It is great to see, getting well fed, look at
:35:22. > :35:32.that. Don't they look reptileian. Fierce looking animal. It is doing
:35:32. > :35:33.
:35:33. > :35:41.well, which is a great story. Proactive intervention there, but
:35:41. > :35:46.if we could play devil's advocate, we spend a lot of volunteer hours
:35:46. > :35:51.and cash in the breeding of birds, yet it is common all over Americas
:35:51. > :36:01.and Africa, too. It is very true, but surely this is an inspirational
:36:01. > :36:07.bird, lovely to see, amongst its landscape and it used to be here.
:36:07. > :36:11.We exterminateed them, there is an element of guilt, but they are an
:36:11. > :36:15.apex predator in this ecosystem, if they're not here, playing the role,
:36:15. > :36:21.the ecosystem isn't complete. That means it won't be as healthy as it
:36:21. > :36:26.could be, we need those ospreys. That's why we think they're worth
:36:26. > :36:30.every single penny and how are spent on them. One thing we learnt
:36:30. > :36:39.about them, is they're not feeding in the fresh water but the way down
:36:39. > :36:47.there, down by the coast. The W osprey project have found them
:36:47. > :36:51.feeding on flounder, and that's where Lolo is. Yes, I might only be
:36:51. > :36:56.four miles away, but it is a different world down here. You, at
:36:56. > :37:00.the Springwatch studio are shrouded by dark cloud, we are basking in
:37:01. > :37:06.the glorious evening sunshine, and we're keeping our eyes open, if
:37:06. > :37:11.we're very lucky, we might see an osprey fishing. They are spending a
:37:11. > :37:15.lot of time hunting and fishing down on the estuary, on mullet,
:37:15. > :37:19.flatfish and on sea trout too. Most bird watchers think it is June, no
:37:19. > :37:24.point looking for birds on the estuary, but that's where they'd be
:37:24. > :37:34.wrong. First thing this morning, we sent our cameraman down here and
:37:34. > :37:37.
:37:37. > :37:43.this is what we saw. Heron was the first bird, and egret, and bar-
:37:43. > :37:50.tailed God wit. The wonderful thing is it is not one habitat but a
:37:50. > :37:54.whole mixture of them. Thuf thrift in the salt mash marsh, oister
:37:54. > :37:58.catchers, there and I imagine the chicks will be hiding in amongst
:37:58. > :38:04.the thrift. The other parent bird keeping a close eye open. This is
:38:04. > :38:09.the interesting thing, these are sand ilgs, usually winter visitors,
:38:09. > :38:15.but there's a flock here in breeding plume Madge. The wardens
:38:15. > :38:18.have never seen them here in June. What are they doing, we've several
:38:18. > :38:23.other waders passing through that should be in the high Artic. Why?
:38:23. > :38:28.Are they on the way up, will they make it, and is it happening
:38:28. > :38:38.elsewhere in the UK? We don't know. Not all sea birds make their way to
:38:38. > :38:45.the far north. We are famous for our breeding orcs and we had great
:38:45. > :38:49.news from the only colony breeding Turns, sandwich turns.
:38:49. > :38:56.We went there yesterday. Cam lone bay is isolated by a shingle bank
:38:56. > :39:02.and it is the only place in Wales where you see sandwich Turns, they
:39:02. > :39:06.are interspersed with black gills and the Artic turns and the
:39:06. > :39:12.wonderful news is the colony has gone from strength to strength. We
:39:12. > :39:17.have 2,000 breeding pairs, no problem at all. We are bring fish
:39:17. > :39:22.in, sprats, all sorts of small fish, there's the adult bird with a black
:39:22. > :39:28.beak and yellow tip. Of the last couple of weeks, the eggs are
:39:28. > :39:33.hatching, so the chickss are out and feeding extremely well. We
:39:33. > :39:39.cannotity find an osprey. But it doesn't matter, I have a treat. A
:39:39. > :39:49.few weeks ago, I went to the west coast of Scotland to fulfil a
:39:49. > :40:02.
:40:02. > :40:12.I've come to the isle of Mul, to find a second biggest fish in the
:40:12. > :40:21.
:40:21. > :40:28.world. It can weigh ten tonnes. A basking shark. Its life sickle and
:40:28. > :40:35.movements have long been a mystery. Every spring, these mighty animals
:40:35. > :40:40.appear as if from nowhere. The sharks arrive in Cornwall on the
:40:40. > :40:50.south coast and then appear further north. Finally, around mid-May,
:40:50. > :40:56.they reach Scotland. I've only ever seen a basking shark once before,
:40:56. > :41:02.and that was in 1976, I was 13 years old in Cornwall and I swam
:41:02. > :41:09.out, and all of a sudden this fin appears, and the film Jaws had been
:41:09. > :41:16.out for a couple of months, everyone on the sand was shouting
:41:16. > :41:22.get out. But I saw the fin, and thought it was a basking shark and
:41:22. > :41:28.it passed by me. Ever since then, I wanted to get back in the water and
:41:28. > :41:33.swim with them. My chances of seeing these gentle giants are
:41:33. > :41:39.better now than decades. They were hunted for oil as recently since
:41:39. > :41:49.1995, and since that stopped their numbers have increased. They drone
:41:49. > :41:57.here for one reason - to feed. See what we've got. What happens is at
:41:57. > :42:01.the spring sunshine warms up the water, and that encourages
:42:01. > :42:09.microscopic algae, that provide food for little animals, and these
:42:09. > :42:17.are packed pull if of protein, so that's what fuels these monsters.
:42:17. > :42:23.To gather enough of this food, the sharks use their gills to filter an
:42:23. > :42:29.Olympic swimming pool's amount of water every hour. As the waters
:42:29. > :42:32.around Mull are a hot spot for plankton, they offer me my best
:42:32. > :42:38.chance to get close to this fish. Here it comes, right in front of
:42:38. > :42:43.the boat now. One of them is huge. One of them have got to be, five
:42:43. > :42:46.metre - plus. We've hit something of a hot spot
:42:46. > :42:52.here. Exactly Howard many animals, I
:42:52. > :42:58.don't know, three, four. There's another one out here now. Here we
:42:58. > :43:04.are, come here, just crossing in front of the boat now. It seems
:43:04. > :43:08.incredible, that we have so much to learn about this vast, carries
:43:08. > :43:13.matic creature. For years, many people thought that basking sharks
:43:13. > :43:20.dropped to the ocean floor to hieb betterate in the winter, but recent
:43:20. > :43:24.research has shown they travel vast distances, and basking shark taged
:43:24. > :43:29.off the Isle of Man was found to Newfoundland on the other side of
:43:29. > :43:32.the Atlantic. More research is needed and that something, I can
:43:32. > :43:36.help with. Because they're concentrated just around the coast
:43:36. > :43:41.here, gives scientists a perfect opportunity to study them and find
:43:41. > :43:47.out more about them to help in the conservation. Although you can find
:43:47. > :43:50.individuals by markings, by far the best way is to get in the water and
:43:50. > :43:57.photograph them, because they have individual markings, like finger
:43:57. > :44:07.prients. So, armed with my camera, it is time for me to see these
:44:07. > :44:28.
:44:28. > :44:33.giants underwater for the very That came right in for me. Although
:44:33. > :44:39.my head was saying it is perfectly safe, my heart was booming. But I
:44:39. > :44:45.have hopefully good pictures though. These photos will add to an
:44:45. > :44:53.increasing bank of data that builds a clearer picture of the lives of
:44:53. > :44:59.our largest and enigmatic animals. Jumping in with a six metre shark
:44:59. > :45:09.wouldn't top most people's wish list, but for me, this is a
:45:09. > :45:12.
:45:12. > :45:18.Fabulous, animals. I'm a fan of sharks, I swam with them off
:45:18. > :45:23.Cornwall but it is great to see they're doing so well off Mull
:45:23. > :45:30.there was something in the film I wanted to show you again. See if
:45:30. > :45:36.you watch it, underneath the shark, see if you can spot two fish
:45:37. > :45:42.hanging on to the shark. They're Lampreys, they're bigger than you
:45:42. > :45:49.think, and, up until recently, they thought that's what they were doing,
:45:49. > :45:54.but it's now proved, sucking blood. They are para sights and we knew
:45:54. > :46:00.they sucked the blood of other fish, the fact they're pulled along is a
:46:01. > :46:05.bonus, which means the protein they put into growth. They leave as tiny
:46:05. > :46:11.lava, but in three years they've up to three kilograms in weight. We
:46:11. > :46:15.spot one, down in the estuary, this animal had disconnected from the
:46:15. > :46:21.marine host, and navigating back upstream to spawn. If it was a
:46:21. > :46:26.female, it could lay up to 100,000 eggs, the lava are peculiar little
:46:26. > :46:31.things, they stay in the river there between five and seven years
:46:31. > :46:36.and develop their eyes and gut after about four years, so it is a
:46:36. > :46:42.trimive group of fish, but to find one and film it like this, was a
:46:42. > :46:46.real treat and join it up with the basking sharks. Extraordinary. But
:46:46. > :46:53.let go to something small, our goldcrest nest this. Is the
:46:53. > :47:00.smallest bird in the UK. Weighs the same as a ten pence piece. When I
:47:00. > :47:05.see this nest, I want to sing "I want to five". This is the bird
:47:05. > :47:09.that survived the bird. They're not busy, there, but they have been
:47:09. > :47:13.busy. We saw them bringing in food. The question is who is having the
:47:13. > :47:17.food? Because here you can see the spwird trying to pass it into the
:47:17. > :47:23.bottom of the nest, where there should be a chick, but presumably
:47:23. > :47:29.the female comes back here, and takes the food from, presumably the
:47:29. > :47:35.male. He would be seen feeding here, but what about the youngster, if
:47:35. > :47:40.there is one or more? We've been trying to look carefully, there's a
:47:40. > :47:46.little head there. There's definitely one. The Feeding rate is
:47:46. > :47:52.very low. Our nestwatchers, say there's not that much activity
:47:52. > :47:57.there, which could indicate one or two chicks. But, however many,
:47:57. > :48:04.they're active and strong. Here, look at this one, he's definitely
:48:04. > :48:09.getting food, that chick. There were nine eggs, but possibly, only
:48:09. > :48:16.one chick. But as Chris said it is looking strong. Maybe others got
:48:16. > :48:22.affected by the storm. Great bird to spot. Martin, have you spoted
:48:22. > :48:26.any birds. I'm not sure yet. We'll have a look at it. 12.5 million
:48:26. > :48:31.have bird feeders at home and what a delight they are. I have mine in
:48:31. > :48:35.the kitchen, right by the sink, so I can have my hands in the sink. My
:48:35. > :48:40.feed is modest. Not like the one we've got here. Let's go live to
:48:40. > :48:44.our bird feeder, and inevitably, there's absolutely nothing on it at
:48:45. > :48:48.all. But that doesn't matter, because all this week, we've been
:48:49. > :48:55.using high speed camera, a camera that slows things down, immensely,
:48:55. > :48:59.to have a look at this wildlife here, and reveal it in fresh and
:48:59. > :49:04.exciting ways. Just yesterday, we put the camera on the bird feeder.
:49:04. > :49:09.Have a look. This is normal speed, this is what you or I would see in
:49:09. > :49:15.the garden. Coming in, and feeding and moving around. Now look, as we
:49:15. > :49:21.slow it right down, here is a female come in and watch the threat
:49:21. > :49:27.displays. There's the male, really aggressive, that wings flareing out,
:49:27. > :49:33.seeing her off. So the vocalising, clearly to threaten each other.
:49:33. > :49:39.Again, we've all seen this, there's a hierarchy of birds, that try and
:49:39. > :49:45.displace each other, to get the food. Watch this, this one flips
:49:45. > :49:52.and threatings another bird using his feet likealons, I've never seen
:49:52. > :49:56.this before. Now have a look, here on the feeder, might is right. The
:49:56. > :50:02.bigger ones displace the little ones, a green Finch comes in and
:50:02. > :50:06.the other backs right off. There is definitely a hierarchy on them. You
:50:06. > :50:12.have the little tits on the bottom, and then it gradually goes up to
:50:12. > :50:17.the finches and the nuthatch seems to see everyone off. The woodpecker,
:50:17. > :50:25.everyone goes when he or she turns up. But now have a look the bird's
:50:25. > :50:34.flight in show motion. Look at this chaff fin - chaffinch coming in,
:50:34. > :50:39.she flaps the wings and hovers, look at the size of the wings,
:50:39. > :50:45.magnificent display. She's going to try and land now, and not so good,
:50:45. > :50:55.she completely messes that up. Now there are about 23 million
:50:55. > :50:56.
:50:56. > :51:03.gardenness the - in the UK and this is a serious habitat for our
:51:03. > :51:13.wildlife. But wildlife of a different type is turning up in the
:51:13. > :51:13.
:51:13. > :51:18.It is amazing to see this young otter family so relaxed and happy
:51:18. > :51:25.in broad daylight. It gives me the rare opportunity to witness the
:51:25. > :51:32.relationship between the two cubs. They'll be fishing themselves these
:51:32. > :51:36.cubs, but they'll rely on mum to catch things like eel for them and
:51:36. > :51:41.faster fish, because they still haven't got her hunting skills. It
:51:41. > :51:48.is going to be another few months until they are old enough and wise
:51:48. > :51:53.enough to go off on their own. Over the next few weeks, she'll wane
:51:53. > :52:00.them off her milk and in the coming months, she'll share fewer of her
:52:00. > :52:05.kill. For now, she's still a full time mum.Frustrating that in this
:52:05. > :52:08.murky water, I just can't see what they're hunting. And, how they're
:52:09. > :52:13.hunting it. But, I have a theory, as to why
:52:13. > :52:23.they're so active in the day, based on what I filmed last September,
:52:23. > :52:29.
:52:29. > :52:33.I think the otters here are taking advantage of an abundance of small
:52:33. > :52:41.nocturnal fish called bull heads that hide under stones during the
:52:41. > :52:47.day. Overturning stones and catching the sleepy fish is easy
:52:47. > :52:57.work for an otter. It is just the sort of fishing habit that mux
:52:57. > :53:01.
:53:01. > :53:11.-- mum. What's interesting now, is that mum's left the cubs, in the
:53:11. > :53:13.
:53:13. > :53:17.bushes, and gone off fishing on her own. Hear her whisling now. The
:53:17. > :53:23.cubs are constantly calling and letting her know where they are,
:53:23. > :53:28.but that sound, it's a high pitched whistle, just is designed to cut
:53:28. > :53:34.through noise, especially on rivers, but even against all the traffic on
:53:34. > :53:40.the dual carriageway here. Just cutting straight through it. Mum
:53:41. > :53:45.returns to reassure the cubs and is back off fishing.
:53:45. > :53:55.She's doing a great job raising her cubs, relaxed and full of fish,
:53:55. > :53:57.
:53:57. > :54:00.these cubs have plenty of time to play. Look at that! It is so nice
:54:00. > :54:10.when they relax from fishing and start playing like that.
:54:10. > :54:14.
:54:14. > :54:24.It is so rare to see it. This is classic mammals learning the skills
:54:24. > :54:32.
:54:32. > :54:35.of fighting by playing. In just a few months from now,
:54:35. > :54:38.these cubs will be fully independent and will need to be
:54:39. > :54:45.able to defend themselves. It is essential, if it they're going to
:54:45. > :54:50.establish their own territories, and protect their families. These
:54:50. > :55:00.cubs have had a great start in life. They're part of a new generation,
:55:00. > :55:03.
:55:03. > :55:13.confident enough to mess about in To get them playing like that is a
:55:13. > :55:15.
:55:15. > :55:20.Well, we'll have more tales from the river bank tomorrow. And
:55:20. > :55:26.Charlie will be joining us here in the studio, so we can promise more
:55:26. > :55:35.otters. Last week we introduced you to a fascinating family of
:55:35. > :55:40.peregrines that were nesting on top of the the church steepel in Bath.
:55:40. > :55:45.There were two healthy looking chicks, a male and female. As the
:55:45. > :55:49.wind picked up, he was precariously balancing on the edge. He is not
:55:49. > :55:54.ready to fledge, he is not really to leave the nest and fly, but he's
:55:54. > :55:59.having a good go at exercising, but that is the drop that he is he got
:55:59. > :56:05.if he does fall out. It is quite a drop isn't it? Yesterday,
:56:05. > :56:10.inevitably, we got a call, and this is what happened. There's the
:56:10. > :56:16.church, there's the nest, there's one bird in the nest. One chick.
:56:16. > :56:21.Where on earth was the other one? This is the park, downably the
:56:21. > :56:28.church, and there is the young peregrine, sitting there, he's
:56:28. > :56:33.foolishly, overexerted himself and this is Mike Rogers, taking his
:56:33. > :56:41.life in his hands, because thealons are sharp, the plan is what to do
:56:42. > :56:47.now, and poor Mike makes his way up the ladders, bravely and with a
:56:47. > :56:53.little push, it's back in the nest. Please, do not do that again. And
:56:53. > :57:02.there he is, safe in the nest. You would think, now, I learnt my
:57:02. > :57:12.lesson now, not a bit, right away. You can tell it's the male. He gets,
:57:12. > :57:16.precariously, oh... You silly man, what are you thinking of! The
:57:16. > :57:24.problem is, here they are, on a natural edifice, it is like to have
:57:24. > :57:31.a nest box, if they were on a cliff, as soon the young left it would
:57:31. > :57:37.have a cliff face to find, if it doesn't find on a perch, the one
:57:37. > :57:44.way is down, sometimes the man-made boxes are not as good. It wouldn't
:57:44. > :57:48.go thumping down the ground. flap furiously, but it would lose
:57:49. > :57:54.altitude. To the lady who found him thank you. Apparently the chicks
:57:54. > :57:58.did that three or four times, so they didn't learn their less lesson.
:57:58. > :58:02.But that's all we have time for, we will be back tomorrow, we will
:58:02. > :58:12.bring you more otters, Charlie goes out at night to look for the
:58:12. > :58:18.families of otters. Let us go quickly to the little nest, nothing
:58:18. > :58:24.there. The beautiful gannets, Roy Denis joins us of the plight of the
:58:24. > :58:29.astonishing sea birds. Let's leave you with the live barn owls. If you