:00:13. > :00:18.Hello and welcome to what will be a very wild and wet Springwatch. But
:00:18. > :00:23.don't worry, we still have plenty of drama. Chris and Martin are
:00:23. > :00:26.reliving their childhood adventures and going badger-watching. One of
:00:26. > :00:33.our peregrine chicks goes for a swim. Yeah, it's out of the nest
:00:33. > :00:43.again! We will be checking up on our family of fox cubs, those
:00:43. > :00:59.
:00:59. > :01:03.beauties from Potters Bar. Stay Yes, hello, welcome and I would
:01:03. > :01:07.like to say good evening to Springwatch but as you can look
:01:07. > :01:11.around us you will realise I would be exaggerating. It's not that good
:01:11. > :01:18.an evening but I can guarantee it's going to be informative and
:01:18. > :01:22.entertaining. Yesterday when we left you our piedflycatcher had
:01:22. > :01:24.partially fled. Six had left the nest but there was one remaining
:01:24. > :01:29.and we were wondering what would happen to this little bird.
:01:29. > :01:35.Overnight it died. I think I have a theory as to why that might be the
:01:35. > :01:38.case. The temperature dropped to 9C last night and previously it had
:01:38. > :01:43.all the warmth of its six nest mates to keep it nice and warm
:01:43. > :01:48.through the night. Last night, without them, on its own, it was
:01:48. > :01:51.shivering and I think it got too cold. This morning the adults were
:01:51. > :01:56.busy feeding the other fledglings outside the nest and that one was
:01:56. > :02:00.left on its own. But that's not a disaster. We have to think of this
:02:00. > :02:04.as the positive that it is, they've got six of these little birds out
:02:04. > :02:14.of the nest and they're being well attended by the parents. Six out of
:02:14. > :02:25.
:02:26. > :02:31.seven is really good. This year there have been 47 broods
:02:32. > :02:37.of piedflycatcher. It sounds sad, but I can guarantee
:02:37. > :02:41.that is a positive result. Yesterday we saw our first barn owl
:02:41. > :02:45.fledge, television first? Have we seen that before? It wasn't a very
:02:45. > :02:47.elegant fledgling. In fact, it dropped like a stone. Let's go live
:02:47. > :02:52.to the barn owl and see if we can see it.
:02:52. > :03:02.I am in the sure whether it's there. We will be returning to that later
:03:02. > :03:02.
:03:02. > :03:06.in the show. Now, I have some breaking news. Our little sandpiper,
:03:06. > :03:10.our little star that's been sitting on that nest with four eggs since
:03:10. > :03:15.the beginning of the series, I predicted probably those eggs would
:03:15. > :03:24.never hatch. That it was too late now. Let's have a look at our
:03:24. > :03:30.I am pleased to tell you that I was wrong! The eggs have hatched.
:03:30. > :03:34.Obviously, the weather has taken a turn for the worst and the adult is
:03:34. > :03:39.sitting on those little chicks. Let's look at what happened today
:03:39. > :03:44.because that's when it happened. There we go, making a lot of
:03:44. > :03:51.movement and what is underneath? A little chick!
:03:51. > :03:55.Can you imagine the excitement when we saw that? The train comes. The
:03:55. > :04:00.adult goes back, sits down again and moves around a lot.
:04:01. > :04:05.And there is a second chick. The adult is taking the egg away
:04:05. > :04:09.from the nest so that predators don't know where the nest is. Then
:04:09. > :04:15.there is a third one that seems to have tumbled out of the nest. There
:04:15. > :04:20.was a slight panic with the nest- watchers, but no need, the adult
:04:20. > :04:30.comes back. Sits on the chick, two of the
:04:30. > :04:33.
:04:33. > :04:40.chicks. The third one moves under All three of them are getting under
:04:40. > :04:44.the warmth of those feathers. The train comes past then.
:04:44. > :04:49.The adult still gets off the nest and the three little chicks are
:04:49. > :04:53.looking Absolutely Fabulous. As I say, what a star? Been with her
:04:53. > :04:58.since the beginning and delivers at the end. We are so chuffed. Superb.
:04:58. > :05:01.At this point we were going to give you a simple update on our
:05:02. > :05:06.goldcrest nest but strange things have been going on just in the last
:05:06. > :05:10.few hours. Let's go live to the nest. There she is. All looks well.
:05:10. > :05:15.It looks like one of the parents is sitting there on the nest.
:05:15. > :05:20.But actually, it's not sitting on a chick. Just three hours ago this
:05:20. > :05:23.happened. Have a look. First of all, the chick is getting
:05:23. > :05:28.fed. It still looks sort of pink. It's ten days old and I would
:05:28. > :05:32.expect more feathers on it. The parent gets in there and then I am
:05:32. > :05:41.afraid, she is sitting down. The chick starts to appear and then
:05:41. > :05:45.starts to behave slightly oddly. It's as if it's irritating to her
:05:45. > :05:51.and disaster, yes, it got kicked out and she literally, she gave it
:05:51. > :05:56.a push. It looked that way. She did. Why, though, is the reason? Was it
:05:56. > :06:00.just she was being irritated with it fidgeting? Or was it that she
:06:00. > :06:04.realised that chick wasn't developing naturally and normally?
:06:04. > :06:10.Because at ten days with eyes still closed and no feathers, it wasn't
:06:10. > :06:13.like a normal goldcrest chick. Intuitively, did she know she
:06:13. > :06:17.didn't need to protect it? Could they be first-time parents and not
:06:18. > :06:21.very good having to learn the ropes? The nest is a bit on the
:06:21. > :06:24.tilt and normally they're made with a Dome over the top, perhaps they
:06:24. > :06:28.are inexperienced parents. The reason she's still there is there
:06:29. > :06:32.are unhatched eggs still in the nest and I think the incubation
:06:32. > :06:35.urge has come back and she's sitting on those eggs now. That's
:06:35. > :06:40.why she hasn't left the scene completely. Sad. From the smallest
:06:40. > :06:44.to the biggest and one of my favourite, the white-tailed sea
:06:44. > :06:54.eagle and we are lucky enough to see them again in Britain up in
:06:54. > :07:06.
:07:06. > :07:13.Scotland. We sent Iolo Williams to This is A sea Loch on the west
:07:13. > :07:19.coast of the Isle of Mull. There are wildlife everywhere. All sorts
:07:19. > :07:26.of gulls. In recent years, one other animal's made this loch and
:07:26. > :07:35.this island its home. The white-tailed eagle. With a wing
:07:35. > :07:39.span of eight feet, it's our largest bird. Nicknamed the Flying
:07:39. > :07:46.bando. There are new developments to the story of the white-tailed
:07:46. > :07:52.eagle. First of all, let's meet the bird.
:07:52. > :08:01.Its favourite food brings it in. Here we go, here we go!
:08:01. > :08:10.Wow! Did you see that? They just take the fish off the top
:08:10. > :08:13.of the water. Incredible. Effortless.
:08:13. > :08:22.White-tailed eagles have followed fishing boats for centuries, so
:08:22. > :08:31.this is perfectly natural behaviour. Wow!
:08:31. > :08:38.Huge wings! The wing beat. Here it comes,
:08:38. > :08:45.talons are out and off it goes. That's the first time I have ever
:08:45. > :08:49.seen a white-tailed sea eagle fishing, that's a first for me.
:08:49. > :08:53.If the eagles are hungry enough they'll eat it in flight but
:08:53. > :09:03.usually they carry their prey to a convenient perch or back to the
:09:03. > :09:03.
:09:03. > :09:09.nest. That's where I am heading with RSPB Scotland's Mull officer,
:09:09. > :09:15.Dave. After hunting and poisoning drove
:09:15. > :09:18.the white-taeugled eagle to extinction in the early 1900s an
:09:18. > :09:23.ambitious reintroduction project began on the west coast in the
:09:23. > :09:33.1970s. Dave tells me that there are 14 nesting pairs on Mull this year,
:09:33. > :09:40.
:09:40. > :09:46.up from 11 last year. It makes it a Every now and again a head about
:09:46. > :09:52.jump up, that's the chick. There he is! I can see him, yeah. Oh, wow.
:09:52. > :09:58.Have a look there. Quite often white-tailed eagles are
:09:58. > :10:02.better in a way than golden eagles, golden often raises one. They seem
:10:02. > :10:06.less aggressive in the nest. They have had trauma over the years. One
:10:06. > :10:11.of the chicks got to fledgling time, three months old, we thought it had
:10:11. > :10:14.fledged but it hadn't. It had fallen. So lots of things can go
:10:14. > :10:18.wrong, right from now up to the point of fledgling.
:10:18. > :10:21.These chicks are now three weeks old and need to be fed every 20
:10:21. > :10:31.minutes or so. The parents are kept busy bringing
:10:31. > :10:31.
:10:31. > :10:36.in the catch of the day. They go from this tiny little - to
:10:36. > :10:41.a full-sized eagle in ten weeks. Phenomenonal.
:10:41. > :10:51.The chicks on Mull show what conservation can achieve. There's
:10:51. > :10:52.
:10:52. > :10:55.exciting news on a chick that In 2008 a young eagle called Mara
:10:55. > :11:02.was fitted with a satellite transmitter. Over the last four
:11:02. > :11:09.years he's flown as far as Rum and Skye looking for food, territory
:11:09. > :11:15.and a mate. And this year he's found one.
:11:15. > :11:19.He finally settled on the mainland, not far from Mull, but the surprise
:11:20. > :11:25.is his choice of mate, a female brought over from Norway and
:11:25. > :11:28.released on the other side of Scotland.
:11:28. > :11:32.If Mara and his mate breed successfully it means the two
:11:32. > :11:37.populations, east and west coast, finally become one and it also
:11:37. > :11:45.means that the story of the white- tailed eagle in Scotland has come
:11:45. > :11:47.full circle. Iolo has joined us in the studio. I
:11:47. > :11:50.love sea eagles and you never get tired of seeing them do that
:11:50. > :11:54.fishing and they hit the water and go up again. It's absolutely
:11:54. > :11:57.fantastic. I tell you what, when you are on the back of a boat and
:11:57. > :12:02.they're that close, that's when you realise just how big they are.
:12:02. > :12:05.They're enormous. They're doing really well this year. They are.
:12:05. > :12:10.It's yet another record year in Scotland. They have 60 pairs this
:12:10. > :12:14.year. They are spreading constantly. The hope is in the end they'll fill
:12:14. > :12:19.up Scotland and move south. It would be wonderful to have them
:12:19. > :12:22.here on the Estuary. It's obviously a great success story as far as
:12:22. > :12:26.reintroducing birds go. It's going on for a few more years, is it?
:12:26. > :12:32.this is the final year now. Of course they've been doing it for
:12:32. > :12:37.over 40 years on the west coast. Since 2007 on the east coast then,
:12:37. > :12:43.and they're in Norway at the moment getting the latest batch of birds
:12:43. > :12:47.over. Then, they believe that with 60 pairs that population can now
:12:47. > :12:52.sustain itself. So, that's fantastic news. It's 40 years of
:12:52. > :12:59.hard work. Was Mara and his partner successful in the end?
:12:59. > :13:04.Unfortunately, not. Mara is a Mull bird and his partner is from the
:13:04. > :13:07.east coast. Finally both those populations have come together, but
:13:07. > :13:11.they were young birds, they were both four years old and usually
:13:11. > :13:15.white-tailed eagles breed for the first time at five. They proved to
:13:15. > :13:20.be very good, very caring parents, but the eggs didn't hatch. But
:13:20. > :13:23.everybody is really hopeful that next year, fingers crossed, they
:13:24. > :13:28.will pair up and they will rear young. Why is that significant to
:13:28. > :13:34.have a bird from Mull pairing up with a bird from the east coast of
:13:34. > :13:38.Scotland? You go back hundreds of years and it was a white-spread
:13:38. > :13:42.bird, it became extinct 100 years ago, they were first very
:13:42. > :13:47.introduced 40 years on the west coast and six years ago on to the
:13:47. > :13:51.east coast. The fact that those two populations have joined up means
:13:51. > :13:56.that there's - there aren't two distinct populations, it's one big
:13:56. > :14:02.Scottish population now. It is a milestone. I have to say, you have
:14:02. > :14:07.had a good time on Springwatch this year. He's done sharks, pike, the
:14:07. > :14:11.birds here, we went to look at the wildlife together. One of the ones
:14:11. > :14:14.that went down well was the peregrines in Bath. You have an
:14:14. > :14:18.update for us, it provided us with comedy the other day. It did. One
:14:18. > :14:25.of the birds jumped out and we have some more footage from yesterday
:14:25. > :14:29.and it's the same troublesome male again. Looking out, exercising his
:14:29. > :14:33.wings and lo and behold, what happened? As his sister looked on,
:14:34. > :14:38.look, off he goes, any anyone mow. He went off again. Initially,
:14:38. > :14:42.that's mum looking on, initially to a tree nearby. This tall tree. He
:14:43. > :14:47.was mobbed by gulls there. That sent him, unfortunately, into the
:14:47. > :14:51.river. Doing the butterfly there for the Olympics! He could usually
:14:51. > :14:54.get out by himself but there is a steep wall there. Luckily there
:14:54. > :14:59.were peregrine watchers on the far shore and they picked it up and
:14:59. > :15:04.handed it on to Mike Rogers from the trust. Mike then thought the
:15:04. > :15:08.best bit is don't put it back in the box. Let's put it back on flats
:15:08. > :15:12.opposite. A A flat roof and he could stretch his wings without
:15:12. > :15:18.jumping off. They were hopeful it would be there for a day or two.
:15:18. > :15:22.The parents, of course, would see it and feed it. But, look, running
:15:22. > :15:26.around there, scampering along. Wasn't happy with that roof and
:15:26. > :15:32.thought I am going to move on. He jumped off, yet again. That was the
:15:32. > :15:36.last we saw of him. The female is still in there but I heard she
:15:36. > :15:42.looks like she is ready to go any time. If anyone knows where DR is,
:15:42. > :15:51.please, please, can we have our grin -- peregrine back? He is
:15:51. > :15:58.looking good, looking strongage he If you do find a peregrine chick,
:15:58. > :16:02.get in touch with the Hawk and Owl Trust. The RSPB would probably be
:16:02. > :16:08.the best. We've had a roller coaster ride, our hearts have been
:16:08. > :16:14.in our throats but it's good news in the end. I like the fact that
:16:14. > :16:21.you've had brought us good news Iolo, you can come again. This is
:16:21. > :16:28.just the beginning for many of our birds, insects and reptiles.
:16:28. > :16:31.Earlier on we managed to get a camera inside a bat ma temporaryity
:16:32. > :16:41.roost. They were lesser horseshoe bats. We were able to see the
:16:41. > :16:46.females in there. Let's remind ourselves. -- bat maternity roost.
:16:46. > :16:51.It is very important for them to keep warm so that the baby can come
:16:51. > :16:57.to full term as it were. I was hoping against hope we might see
:16:57. > :17:07.them give birth, but we didn't. However, I think we can probably
:17:07. > :17:14.see what a lesser horseshoe bat baby does look like. Excuse me, my
:17:14. > :17:20.friend has given me, watch out for this, Chris, a photograph. This is
:17:20. > :17:26.probably only a couple of hours old. What a beautiful little thing it is,
:17:26. > :17:29.Chris. That's a baby horseshoe bat. Isn't that gorgeous? Across the
:17:29. > :17:33.universe I've never seen anything quite so unusual. You can't
:17:33. > :17:39.describe that as beautiful, Martin. You really can't. It's
:17:39. > :17:44.extraordinary and quirky but maybe not beautiful. Two quick things.
:17:45. > :17:53.That baby bat is about the third the weight of its mother. They give
:17:53. > :17:58.birth to enormous babies. That's massive. A quick question. This is
:17:59. > :18:04.from Samuel Rothschild on Facebook. How do bats give birth if they hang
:18:04. > :18:10.upside down? Some bats reverse themselves and they catch the baby
:18:10. > :18:14.in a membrane down by their tail. Horseshoe bats don't. They don't
:18:14. > :18:20.have that membrane. They do actually give birth up side down
:18:20. > :18:25.and they clasp the baby in their wings as they give birth. Superb. I
:18:25. > :18:35.am going to tell you something but don't reel back astonishment. A bat
:18:35. > :18:36.
:18:36. > :18:40.is a liminist.. It is an animal which in folklore is caught between
:18:41. > :18:45.two worlds. It is neither a mammal nor a bird. This is where the bat
:18:45. > :18:49.appears in so much folklore. In many parts of the world, Caribbean,
:18:49. > :18:55.Europe, America, they were thought of as being nasty things. Strangely
:18:55. > :19:02.in China they are bearers of happiness and joy. This leads me to
:19:02. > :19:08.a poem Martin. This sums up this attitude. Written by Ogden Nash.
:19:08. > :19:14.Myself I rather like the bat. It's not a mouse, it's not a rat. It has
:19:14. > :19:20.no feathers yet it has wings. It is quite inaudible when it sings. It
:19:20. > :19:24.zigzags through the evening air and Neverland on ladies' hair, a fact
:19:24. > :19:29.which men spend their lives attempting to convince their wives.
:19:29. > :19:34.Delivered with the aplomb of a cracked actor. What about that?
:19:34. > :19:37.Fantastic. It it is not just the bats which are helping to give
:19:37. > :19:41.birth. Some of our birds who've currently failed in their attempts
:19:41. > :19:47.are thinking about having another go. We know this because they've
:19:47. > :19:52.already starting singing. Our sedge warblers were washed out in the
:19:52. > :19:58.floods here last weekend, but the male is singing. Our Black Caps
:19:58. > :20:04.lost their nests to weasels but the males are singing. Even the wood
:20:04. > :20:07.warbler, what a bird. Our wood warblers have been out in the woods
:20:07. > :20:13.singing. The males wouldn't sing unless they were trying to attract
:20:13. > :20:19.a female. The I wouldn't betting that some of those birds have a
:20:19. > :20:23.clutch of eggs already. Let's talk about another sort of egg. They
:20:23. > :20:28.haven't been laid yet but they are about to be. Let's look live at our
:20:28. > :20:34.compost heap. No snakes, no grass snakes to be seen there now, but we
:20:34. > :20:41.know that it is nice and warm in there due to the decomposition in
:20:41. > :20:46.the heap. Let's look at what it is like when the snakes are around.
:20:46. > :20:50.Fabulous grass snakes. These are about to start laying their eggs.
:20:51. > :20:56.That's how they reproduce. It can depends how old the grass snake is.
:20:56. > :21:03.The number of eggs she will end up laying. A young grass snake might
:21:03. > :21:13.lay up to 15 eggs but could lay up to 40. Shis is a slow worm. They
:21:13. > :21:18.give birth to live young, six to 12. They are a gorgeous gold colour.
:21:18. > :21:22.you find one they are one of the most exquisite things you can find
:21:22. > :21:27.in the British countryside. Michaela. What I love about spring
:21:27. > :21:30.is it brings new life. There is loads of little miracles going on.
:21:31. > :21:35.It is a time of new beginnings. One of the most magical has to be
:21:35. > :21:41.seeing a butterfly come out of a chrysalis. We showed you that
:21:41. > :21:47.yesterday filmed in our studio here. There are all sorts of magic ic
:21:47. > :21:52.things going non-there, but how does a caterpillar become a
:21:53. > :21:58.chrysalis? This is what we filmed earlier today. The caterpillar
:21:58. > :22:06.anchors itself using its hind legs, makes a J shape and begins the
:22:06. > :22:12.process of met for to sis. It grows -- metamorphosis. When it is
:22:12. > :22:22.complete the old caterpillar skin splits and is pushed up by lots of
:22:22. > :22:23.
:22:23. > :22:27.wriggling. That skin shilves up, falls off -- shrivels up and leaves
:22:27. > :22:32.the chrysalis to harden. If that is something you haven't seen before
:22:32. > :22:37.it is extraordinary to watch. It leaves that beautiful chrysalis. In
:22:37. > :22:42.fact chrysalis comes from the Greek word for gold. In that shot you can
:22:42. > :22:47.see why they gave it that name. After that the butterfly comes out
:22:47. > :22:52.of the chrysalis. It then drys off and flies off. We filmed that in
:22:52. > :22:57.slow motion. This is the actual butterfly that
:22:57. > :23:04.came out of the chrysalis yesterday. It is a painted lady and there it
:23:04. > :23:10.is in slow motion flying off. It is absolutely stunning. A real magical
:23:10. > :23:15.thing to film. It is a great way to spend time watching met morn sis
:23:15. > :23:20.but an easier way to spend time watching wildlife is watching birds
:23:20. > :23:25.on a garden feeder. That's what Martin is doing right now.
:23:25. > :23:31.I am, buts not exactly perfect conditions for it. Let's go live to
:23:31. > :23:37.our feeder. As expected there is nothing on it. The birds are tucked
:23:37. > :23:41.away, hiding away somewhere trying to keep out of the rain. But let's
:23:41. > :23:45.have a look something that happened earlier today. This is fascinating.
:23:45. > :23:50.Here are the feeders and look at this. Thisna is a sparrowhawk and
:23:50. > :23:56.it is trying to get at a bird inside. It is hard to see whether
:23:56. > :24:04.it got it. The sparrowhawk comes in. The bird is trying to get away.
:24:04. > :24:09.It's a little bit gruesome. Inside that protective cage, and the
:24:09. > :24:13.sparrowhawk, the tallons go in and it grabs that little bird.
:24:13. > :24:17.They are the most spectacular predators. If you get them in your
:24:17. > :24:22.garden this is a wonderful sign, because it means your garden is
:24:22. > :24:29.full of little birds, or it wouldn't bother. Look at the siskin
:24:29. > :24:36.here on the right-hand side. Bang! That's exactly, I've seen that in
:24:36. > :24:41.my garden so many times. A blur and a puff of feathers. The siskin sees
:24:41. > :24:48.its nemesis arriving. You can just see the siskin's trapped in the
:24:48. > :24:52.sparrowhawk's tallons. Fantastic footage there. If you see
:24:52. > :24:57.a sparrowhawk in the garden it is a great sign, because they won't both
:24:57. > :25:02.tore come in unless there are loads of birds around your feeders. We
:25:03. > :25:08.put our high-speed camera on this feeder to look at the pecking order.
:25:08. > :25:12.There's a very of the pecking order on the afford. The little tits are
:25:12. > :25:16.knocked off first of all. This siskin is fairly low-down. That was
:25:17. > :25:22.an adult male seeing off a female. And here is a greenfinch and the
:25:22. > :25:28.siskin givers way. Here is the dominant bird on most people's
:25:28. > :25:33.garden feeders, the great spotted wood specker -- woodpecker. They
:25:33. > :25:39.are quite an intimidating bird. The only one that ever seems to stand
:25:39. > :25:44.up to the greater spotted is a nut hatch. They are so fisty. I'm going
:25:44. > :25:50.rename this area into a wrestling ring. This is near to the mammal
:25:50. > :25:55.stump, there is fighting going on there and on the bird afford but
:25:55. > :26:05.also underneath the bird feeder. This is what you call a squirrel
:26:05. > :26:07.
:26:07. > :26:11.scrap. Flying through the air. Some of the
:26:11. > :26:17.fight moves are really impressive, as he flys in to attack his
:26:18. > :26:26.opponent. That is Matrix for real isn't it. Tails are going
:26:27. > :26:36.everywhere. Fantastically agile. The won't comes in and tries to get
:26:36. > :26:41.rid of the aggressor. It tumbles to the floor, pins him down. You can
:26:41. > :26:46.only see that in slow motion, because it probably took seconds in
:26:46. > :26:55.real life. All in squirrel wrerstling. Shall we try to go to
:26:55. > :27:02.our live marsh cam and see what we can see? Fantastic! Water hasn't
:27:02. > :27:06.got in the works. We've got swans and cygnets. Haven't they grown?
:27:06. > :27:10.They really have. Michaela, I have to ask you, this is a little
:27:10. > :27:15.question for you. I've just discovered this today. Why do you
:27:15. > :27:19.think the cygnets are grey? Something to do with camouflage
:27:19. > :27:24.maybe? What it is is that they are very territorial, swans, and those
:27:24. > :27:29.adults will not let anything else come into the territory. They
:27:29. > :27:32.particularly dislike anything white. When those cygnets grow up and get
:27:32. > :27:37.their adult feathers, the white feathers come through, they will
:27:37. > :27:42.drive them off. It has been shown if the cygnets, the grey protects
:27:42. > :27:47.them from being attacked by their own parents. Really? It is a
:27:47. > :27:53.defensive fluff. Isn't that maize? It wouldn't work very well if they
:27:53. > :27:59.killed their own. Shall we go quickly to see our tree creeper
:27:59. > :28:03.nest? Everyone is in there nice and hunkered down. But earlier today we
:28:04. > :28:08.did see that greater spotted woodpecker and we think it might
:28:08. > :28:13.have taken one of the chicks. We can't be sure, but happily it
:28:13. > :28:18.hasn't come back. There was an awful lot going on today. Non-stop
:28:18. > :28:22.action. Now, all this week we've been enjoying a family of otters
:28:22. > :28:26.filmed by Charlie Hamilton James on a river near to where he lives.
:28:26. > :28:35.He's had a life-long passion for otters. It started when he was a
:28:35. > :28:45.teenager on a trip to the Schett lands.
:28:45. > :29:18.
:29:18. > :29:25.I saw my first otter when I was 16. I had gone to Shetland just to see
:29:25. > :29:35.otters. I didn't have a job. I didn't have a mortgage. I didn't
:29:35. > :29:35.
:29:35. > :29:45.have a phone. So I was kind of free of responsibility. My head was free.
:29:45. > :29:53.
:29:54. > :29:57.But now it is not like that. Now my Back then I choose solitude. I
:29:57. > :30:05.should have been down the pub getting hammered and chasing girls
:30:05. > :30:13.with my mates. But instead I was walking along a barren, cold, empty
:30:13. > :30:23.coastline looking for otters. I am not really sure what it is
:30:23. > :30:25.
:30:25. > :30:32.about otters, I just love them so I still get a massive kick every
:30:32. > :30:42.time I see one. I can't do anything but just stare at it. It's a very
:30:42. > :30:52.
:30:52. > :30:57.It's very weird feeling you get when you immerse yourself,
:30:57. > :31:05.particularly your head, under water, because all the sounds and
:31:05. > :31:13.experiences you are having above the water just immediately vanish.
:31:13. > :31:19.Then when you see something that's as secretive and as special as a
:31:19. > :31:28.wild otter swimming you really are seeing something that you shouldn't
:31:28. > :31:38.be looking at. And that to me is a totally
:31:38. > :31:48.
:31:48. > :31:52.When I approach them in the water, I don't know what they think I am.
:31:52. > :31:57.I guess they must think I am a seal, because it's just a head bobbing
:31:57. > :32:01.around to them. None of them will ever have seen a human swimming
:32:01. > :32:11.around in their sea, because they don't do that in Shetland very
:32:11. > :32:15.
:32:15. > :32:25.often. They must just think I am a When I am watching an otter I just
:32:25. > :33:05.
:33:05. > :33:11.focus on the otter. To me, that's What always gets me is this amazing
:33:11. > :33:16.feeling when I let my head back out and I just had this unbelievably
:33:17. > :33:26.special experience and then I am back to normal life and I can't
:33:27. > :33:30.
:33:30. > :33:37.possibly ever explain just how There's nothing quite as special as
:33:37. > :33:40.watching otters. They dip under the water and you see that traeufl of
:33:40. > :33:45.bubbles and they come back to the surface and the light light catches
:33:45. > :33:49.in their eye like a little diamond. Dogs and their relatives are my
:33:49. > :33:51.favourite animals, I am I am sure they're one of yours, too. Let's
:33:51. > :33:55.look at our foxes, they were looking at this family in programme
:33:55. > :34:00.one but we have been back this week to see how they've been getting on.
:34:00. > :34:04.There were an extraordinary number. 11, all in one group. We finally
:34:04. > :34:10.figured out there were two females that had given birth to this large
:34:11. > :34:15.litter. They've been back, as you can see the cubs have made great
:34:15. > :34:19.focus. They're still very playful, jumping about in the garden. What a
:34:19. > :34:24.spring that family have had. They've been very careful not to
:34:24. > :34:28.disturb the animals but they've certainly been enjoying them. The
:34:28. > :34:32.animals have enjoyed their company, too. They've been putting food out
:34:32. > :34:38.for them, doing it properly, not feeding them by hand. Here one of
:34:38. > :34:43.the adults is taking that food. Of course, in a few months' time
:34:43. > :34:50.this group is going to split up and certainly by Christmas around 60%
:34:50. > :34:54.of all of the males would have left. Look at this. This is a highlight.
:34:54. > :35:00.One of the family's children watching a little fox cub just a
:35:00. > :35:10.few metres away. She can't resist opening the door. That childhood
:35:10. > :35:11.
:35:11. > :35:15.curiosity. Look at the fox, equally Look at that! That has got to seal
:35:15. > :35:18.a lifelong interest in natural history. That sort of encounter.
:35:18. > :35:22.Another British favourite, though, it's got to be the barn owls. Let's
:35:22. > :35:27.go to them live. There they are. They've moved off
:35:27. > :35:31.the nesting platform. They're into the gap between the roof and
:35:31. > :35:37.brickwork. We saw they were in there for much of last night. Then,
:35:37. > :35:40.whilst we were on air, we were lucky enough to see one of them,
:35:40. > :35:45.not quite fledgling but taking a first jump. It was the largest of
:35:45. > :35:48.them. It moved to the front of the platform and this is its depar ture.
:35:48. > :35:52.We were able to find it. It didn't go far. It jumped to a lower raft
:35:52. > :35:57.in the barn and stayed there for about five hours and then it was
:35:57. > :36:02.keen to get back. Quite a struggle.
:36:02. > :36:12.Clinging on there. Eventually, it came to its senses and took an
:36:12. > :36:13.
:36:13. > :36:17.Look at that. You see how well developed the wings are there. It
:36:17. > :36:20.wants to be back with the rest of its nest mates because that's where
:36:20. > :36:23.the adults are bringing the food. Last night they were getting plenty
:36:23. > :36:27.of it, I have to say. The adult brought in a bird. In black and
:36:27. > :36:33.white it's difficult to identify but our nest nest-watchers think it
:36:33. > :36:37.was a warbler. One of the smaller chicks made short work of it. Look
:36:37. > :36:42.at that. Please don't try that at home!
:36:42. > :36:46.What's going to happen to these owls? Well, after about 66 days
:36:46. > :36:49.they'll be out there and they'll be exploring further away from the
:36:49. > :36:52.barn. After three and a half months they'll be looking for their own
:36:52. > :36:56.territory, they'll be driven out by it's parents and have to find
:36:56. > :37:00.somewhere to live. They don't normally go very far. Maybe 20
:37:01. > :37:05.kilometres at most. It's not only about finding their own territory,
:37:05. > :37:08.it's about finding their own place in this community. They've to
:37:08. > :37:11.integrate with all the other life here. That means forming
:37:11. > :37:15.connections. We have seen some of those connections, I mean, you know,
:37:15. > :37:20.these birds have been eating the rodents which have been active in
:37:20. > :37:23.our stump. You see here, to make this place work things have to be
:37:23. > :37:29.joined up. Some of those relationships are extraordinarily
:37:29. > :37:34.beautiful. That's why we made a TV series about it. It's called
:37:34. > :37:38.Secrets of Our Living Planet. It's all about ecology and shows
:37:38. > :37:43.sometimes it's not the individual species that are beautiful, it's
:37:43. > :37:47.the way that they all work together. It's how life works.
:37:47. > :37:52.BBC2, 8.00pm, try and catch that. Martin.
:37:52. > :37:56.Thank you, Chris. I am here with a great friend of Springwatch, Lloyd
:37:56. > :37:59.and Ashleigh. Ashleigh and Lloyd are going to help us try to
:37:59. > :38:04.understand a very, very important thing that all our birds are about
:38:04. > :38:10.to do here, they're all about to moult. You may notice the birds
:38:10. > :38:12.around your bird table when they finish nesting, the adults, their
:38:12. > :38:17.feathers look awful. They're falling to bits. They have to shed
:38:17. > :38:24.them, moult and start all over again. That is pretty much what
:38:24. > :38:27.Ashleigh, who is a kestrel, the sort of bird you see bide The --
:38:27. > :38:33.beside the motorway, he is going through his moult. How does it
:38:33. > :38:37.work? Ashleigh being a bird of prey, like a majority of birds, it's very
:38:37. > :38:42.important he can still fly to catch food and to feed. What he does is
:38:42. > :38:47.he moults two main flight feathers on each wing at a time, in a
:38:47. > :38:51.sequence from the centre outwards. When one is halfway down, that
:38:51. > :38:57.triggers the adjacent tpet tore push the old one out. -- feather to
:38:57. > :39:01.push the old one out. He loses them two at a time. Same with the tail?
:39:01. > :39:05.When the wings are halfway done, then he will start his tail from
:39:06. > :39:09.the centre outwards, either way two at a time. The crucial thing for
:39:09. > :39:13.him is that he's got to be able to maintain his ability to fly and
:39:13. > :39:17.catch his prey. Exactly. He is looking slightly more scruffy than
:39:17. > :39:20.I have seen him before. You are right. That's what he is doing.
:39:20. > :39:25.That's exactly what happens to many of our garden birds as well. You
:39:25. > :39:28.might notice suddenly people say where have all the black birds gone,
:39:28. > :39:31.where are the Robins? They're going through what Ashleigh does,
:39:31. > :39:36.shedding feathers, losing the ability to fly well and they'll go
:39:36. > :39:40.and hide in a wood and you won't see them. That's one way of doing
:39:40. > :39:47.it. There is another way, much more radical. And that's what's going on
:39:48. > :39:52.here. The geese. Many water fowl, what
:39:52. > :39:55.they do, is they shed flight feathers completely and these geese,
:39:55. > :39:59.if I have it right, have completely lost the ability to fly now. They
:39:59. > :40:04.can in the fly. They cannot. They lose all their flight feathers
:40:04. > :40:07.within about a two-day period, lasts about eight weeks of being
:40:07. > :40:11.flightless. If you think about it for them in the wild they want to
:40:11. > :40:14.go somewhere really safe. They might be on an island, they're
:40:15. > :40:23.always going to have water nearby for safety. That's how they'll be
:40:23. > :40:29.able to protect themselves, find somewhere isolated or even roost on
:40:29. > :40:34.the water. If there's not an island they'll roost on the water. They
:40:34. > :40:38.look relaxed tonight. They are. That's Maisie. That's it. That's
:40:38. > :40:42.how it works. You can either do what Ashleigh is doing, if you are
:40:42. > :40:50.a bird, and gradually shed those feathers. Or you can go the whole
:40:50. > :40:53.hog like water fowl and shed the whole lot. Absolutely fascinating.
:40:53. > :40:57.Many of the birds have finished breeding in the woods or some
:40:57. > :41:00.having a second go, they've another big task. They've got to get
:41:00. > :41:05.themselves into tip-top condition to migrate all the way back to
:41:05. > :41:08.Africa. No simple task. Our red starts, for instance, they're still
:41:08. > :41:13.out there busily feeding their young. But as soon as they finish
:41:13. > :41:16.that, they will moult and make sure that they're capable of this flight,
:41:16. > :41:22.even the young birds which have left with their baby feathers will
:41:22. > :41:26.have a complete new set by the time they head off in September back to
:41:26. > :41:31.Africa. Same with our pied flycatchers. Here is where they're
:41:31. > :41:36.going. Our red starts are going from Wales down here, to the
:41:36. > :41:39.central part of west Africa. That's pretty much the same for our
:41:39. > :41:45.pied flycatchers too, they have a quick stop in France to fuel up.
:41:45. > :41:48.That could be a distance of between 4,000 and 6,000 kilometres. It's
:41:48. > :41:54.absolutely incredible to think those birds will be doing that
:41:54. > :41:59.journey so soon. I know. In fact, they're not -- they're not the only
:41:59. > :42:02.ones, our common sandpiper will also be doing a long journey. What
:42:02. > :42:06.amazes thee about this bird, it's not exactly been in training for a
:42:06. > :42:11.flight like that. How is it fit enough to be able to fly all the
:42:11. > :42:15.way down to Africa? Frankly, it isn't at the moment. It's used up a
:42:15. > :42:20.lot of reserves to lay eggs and then sit there incubating them, not
:42:20. > :42:26.feeding as efficiently. But they've the capacity to take on weight,
:42:26. > :42:29.energy very quickly. In ten days they can put on 30 grams and that
:42:30. > :42:35.will get the sandpiper down here to north Africa in one go. Then
:42:35. > :42:39.they'll go down to other places in west Africa to to spend the winner.
:42:39. > :42:44.-- winter. Although a few have started wintering in the UK. What
:42:44. > :42:48.about our ospreys? They're long distance migrants, too. Our young
:42:48. > :42:57.ospreys currently being well brooded there, but they've a lot of
:42:57. > :43:05.growing to do. Look at this. Here is our osprey when it first hatched.
:43:05. > :43:15.Tiny, downy little bird. Here it is now looking somewhat stronger and
:43:15. > :43:15.
:43:15. > :43:20.It's unbelievable the difference in size. It's getting total protein
:43:20. > :43:24.every day. It's able to put all of that into growth. It's being well
:43:24. > :43:30.brooded. Last year we put satellite tags, very exciting, on our ospreys.
:43:30. > :43:34.We know that they go all the way down to Senegal for the winter.
:43:34. > :43:39.Breaking news! Let's look at the sandpiper. Just as we were talking,
:43:39. > :43:42.look, is that the fourth chick? No, that must be one of the others. We
:43:42. > :43:46.think the fourth chick has now hatched.
:43:46. > :43:52.I guess we really want the adult to come and sit and keep those chicks
:43:52. > :43:55.warm. These have dried off, so these must be the ones that hatched
:43:56. > :44:00.earlier. Look, they're getting active already. Look at the length
:44:00. > :44:04.of their legs. They won't stay in this nest very long. Just in the
:44:04. > :44:08.back you can see the wet chick and that's the one that's just emerged
:44:08. > :44:14.from the egg. When that one dries off, what the
:44:14. > :44:24.parent will do is lead these four chicks, hopefully together, to the
:44:24. > :44:24.
:44:24. > :44:27.nearest patch of marsh so they can I am so excited! Will they do that
:44:27. > :44:31.tonight, even though it's chilly? would rather hope on this rainy,
:44:31. > :44:34.wet evening that those sandpiper parents sit on these and brood them
:44:34. > :44:38.overnight. I really, really hope that it's clear and not wet
:44:38. > :44:43.tomorrow. Then they'll lead them away from that nest somewhere they
:44:43. > :44:47.can start to find food. They'll still some reserves in their body.
:44:47. > :44:51.Look the adult has come back now. They're doing a good job. What I
:44:51. > :44:56.think is so funny is when we first introduced the sandpiper we thought
:44:56. > :45:00.it was slightly crazy, because it's decided to build a nest by the
:45:00. > :45:03.train track. But now look. It's calling now. That's probably
:45:03. > :45:07.calling to keep those youngsters close to it. It doesn't want them
:45:07. > :45:17.wandering too far away where they could get spotted by a predator.
:45:17. > :45:19.
:45:19. > :45:23.We all know that Chris's knowledge of birds is like an encyclopedia,
:45:23. > :45:28.but he also has a good knowledge of badgers. He studied them for five
:45:28. > :45:38.years. He took Martin for a trip down memory lane to do a spot of
:45:38. > :46:01.
:46:01. > :46:08.Martin, look at these historical documents. Every good adventure
:46:08. > :46:16.starts with a map. These are maps of the badger setts I was studying
:46:16. > :46:22.in the New Forest in the 1980s. Each own of those is a sett that I
:46:22. > :46:27.went to every Sunday and sometimes during the week during the ages of
:46:27. > :46:31.17-23. Great work, Chris. Marvellous. Didn't get out a great
:46:31. > :46:36.deal, did you? Did you have a girlfriend at the time? She was
:46:36. > :46:43.black and white and spent most of the time underground. What's this
:46:43. > :46:48.here? This is a path. I'm going to treat you to a little visit to B26.
:46:48. > :46:53.It's one of my favourite badger setts and I'm hoping that the
:46:53. > :46:57.badgers will come out in daylight. Obviously poodles and badgers don't
:46:57. > :47:05.mix, so the boys are going to have an evening in on their own. Look,
:47:05. > :47:12.mate, we are nearly at the infamous B26. I'm going to read you a little
:47:12. > :47:19.from my notebook. Are you going to give me the history of B26? Of this
:47:19. > :47:24.particular sett. It says Thursday 9th July, 1981. Badger megaday.
:47:25. > :47:29.There were four cubs and then a boar. I got four shots from my
:47:29. > :47:36.camera and one cub sniffed my boot without fright. Ate all of the nuts
:47:36. > :47:40.and left at 8.37pm. You loved your badgering didn't you? That's the
:47:40. > :47:44.first photograph I ever took of a wild badger. That's when badgers
:47:44. > :47:51.were in black and white. Shall we do some badgering for ourselves
:47:51. > :47:56.now? Listen, before we do, that I have to warn you of the three per
:47:56. > :48:02.irls of badgering. Number one, bracken. When it comes up and fully
:48:02. > :48:08.opens, all of it is leaves and you can see nothing. The second great
:48:08. > :48:14.Persil this - a biting midge. They are infuriating, because you can't
:48:14. > :48:18.move. If we move the badgers might see us? Put the gloves on so your
:48:18. > :48:24.hands are less obvious. You can wipe midges off the face. There is
:48:24. > :48:30.only one thing worse than the biting midge - wind. It are carry
:48:30. > :48:33.your wind on to the sett, so weuals approach from down-wind. You asked
:48:33. > :48:38.me to bring matches is. This associated with my wind? Gin deed.
:48:38. > :48:42.You strike the match, blow it -- indeed. You strike the match and
:48:42. > :48:52.you blow it out. See the smoke? That's the direction we've come
:48:52. > :49:00.from. I just heard a woodpecker. Chris, before we go in, here is a
:49:00. > :49:04.little poem. OK. Snuffle from the Holt within. The written route of
:49:04. > :49:12.blackthorn. They stretch, they snort, they sniff the air, then sit
:49:12. > :49:18.down to plan the night's affair. That's very good. It is isn't it?
:49:18. > :49:25.We'll see them planning the night's affair. Have you got a fine
:49:25. > :49:30.designer hat to wear? I knew you would forget something. Come on,
:49:30. > :49:40.let's go. Chris, I haven't done this since I
:49:40. > :49:43.
:49:43. > :49:47.was 14. Have you not? No. It takes me right back. One of the great
:49:47. > :49:57.things about badgering is that you always think you're going to see
:49:57. > :50:18.
:50:18. > :50:23.When they first come out, they are very, very sensitive, so the one
:50:23. > :50:28.time you can't move is when they first stick their noses out.
:50:28. > :50:38.Eventually the whole body comes out. You've got to stay stock still,
:50:38. > :50:39.
:50:39. > :50:49.barely breathe. Do they always have a really good scratch like this?
:50:49. > :51:00.
:51:00. > :51:04.Yes, it's the first thing they do I have completely forgotten how
:51:04. > :51:10.exciting badgering can be. I haven't done it for a long time.
:51:10. > :51:20.I'm going to do it again. Very exciting. Nothing beats badgering.
:51:20. > :51:22.
:51:22. > :51:28.Thank you. So, badger watching, pond dipping,
:51:28. > :51:33.fossil hunting and snake sniffing - you guys have done it all. You
:51:33. > :51:43.completely relived your childhood? It was lovely. If you would like
:51:43. > :51:47.
:51:47. > :51:52.ideas, go to our things to do bit And take your kids with them. Let
:51:52. > :51:57.them sniff snakes. And take your camera as well and get some great
:51:57. > :52:05.footage. Loads of you have already and you've sent it to us. Look at
:52:05. > :52:10.this one. This is from Gavin Jenkins. It's
:52:10. > :52:15.stoats playing in his garden. He hasn't told us where his garden is
:52:15. > :52:21.unfortunately, but they are having a riot royal frolic-around. What a
:52:21. > :52:26.thing to see out of your kitchen window! It certainly is. I don't
:52:26. > :52:33.think I've seen a stoat in the wild, so to see three of them in your
:52:33. > :52:42.garden is quite a treat. Geoffrey Willetts from Newport sent us this
:52:42. > :52:45.clip - a grass snake who has taken refuge near the moorhens. The snake
:52:45. > :52:51.is giving a good account of itself. It made its way off and later he
:52:51. > :52:56.went back and found chicks in the nest, so it hadn't eaten them all.
:52:56. > :53:04.Yesterday we saw cormorants on the nest but nothing like Colin Black
:53:04. > :53:09.saw. He sent us this. Look at the size of that fish supper!
:53:09. > :53:14.It's almost the same size as the cormorant. As it goes down, the
:53:14. > :53:20.cormorant gradually sinks. I honestly didn't think he would get
:53:20. > :53:27.it down. Will he swallow it, or she? Incredibly, yes. And down it
:53:27. > :53:33.goes. Submerged! How did it swallow that? That's absolutely brilliant.
:53:33. > :53:39.Thank you for all the footage you have sent us. You've sent us some
:53:39. > :53:45.great photos. We've each chosen our favourite on a theme. Mine is the
:53:45. > :53:55.aaah theme. Little peregrine chicks peeking out
:53:55. > :54:06.
:54:06. > :54:16.Massive aaah factor. Mine are slightly more violent.
:54:16. > :54:34.
:54:34. > :54:44.A hobby snatching a may fly. 1950s postcard from Bognor Regis.
:54:44. > :54:51.
:54:51. > :54:56.We had lots of truly fabulous pictures. I hope you enjoyed
:54:56. > :55:00.looking at them. At the certainly have. Shall we look at our live
:55:00. > :55:08.cameras. It's the last time we'll be able to see them. Which one
:55:08. > :55:13.shall we go to first? Sandpiper. It's good that the adult has come
:55:13. > :55:19.back on that nest, because she or he will really have to keep them
:55:19. > :55:24.warm tonight. They won't stay there long, will they Chris? Surely
:55:24. > :55:26.overnight she won't leave them now. I doubt it. That one has to dry off.
:55:26. > :55:34.I doubt it. That one has to dry off. I think that's it. That's the
:55:34. > :55:44.wetter of them. That's the one that's just hatched. Look how warm
:55:44. > :55:48.
:55:49. > :55:53.the feathers are. I would like to What do we look at next? Let's go
:55:53. > :55:59.What do we look at next? Let's go to our barn owls.
:55:59. > :56:03.Four of them. They are all in that crack. Their facial disks are fully
:56:03. > :56:07.functional. Rocking from side to side, listening to what's going on
:56:07. > :56:10.in that barn. They'll be there for another couple of weeks and then
:56:10. > :56:17.they'll be exploring the countryside. The parents are going
:56:17. > :56:21.to have a job hunting tonight. It's pouring with rain. They have been
:56:21. > :56:27.really entertaining. What about the osprey. There's a view of the chick
:56:27. > :56:31.we can take. How it has grown! Look at that. They took us on a roller
:56:31. > :56:37.coaster of emotion this is series. There is one healthy chick there
:56:37. > :56:39.that's looking good. It looks absolutely stuffed. Superb. What a
:56:39. > :56:43.spring we have had. It's been extraordinary in terms of its
:56:43. > :56:47.weather. We started off with that drought and then we had a
:56:48. > :56:52.tremendous amount of rain. This has had an impact on our wildlife. No
:56:52. > :56:57.doubt there's been a few losers, but we've had some winners too. You
:56:58. > :57:04.can watch the webcams for another half-hour. We would like to end by
:57:04. > :57:09.saying a massive thanks to the RSPB here at Ynys-hir. Thank you guys.
:57:09. > :57:13.We are going to be back for a special called Summer watch in
:57:13. > :57:20.August, and Autumnwatch will be back in the autumn. Chris will be
:57:20. > :57:23.starting his new series on BBC Two at 8 o'clock on Sunday. Thank you
:57:23. > :57:27.very much and thank you so much for all the questions and photographs,