:00:15. > :00:19.Good evening. Welcome to the RSPB's beautiful reverve here in Ynis Hir
:00:19. > :00:25.Reserve. We're live and we have to show it is absolutely packed with
:00:25. > :00:30.wildlife. What is happening with the Osprey nest, is there two
:00:30. > :00:36.checks under the adult or three? What about our kingfishers,
:00:36. > :00:40.yesterday we saw the female lay eggs, will they hatch? On the show,
:00:40. > :00:48.your garden pond as you've never seen or heard it before. The big
:00:48. > :00:58.question about the little guy. Is the nuthatch still with us, to find
:00:58. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:19.Hello and welcome to tonight's live Springwatch. I'm afraid we've lost
:01:19. > :01:25.the sunshine this evening, instead it is a cloudy, grey and dull. But
:01:25. > :01:28.that's certainly not a description of tonight's show. It will be
:01:28. > :01:36.inspirational. Headline story, which is our nuthatch, family of
:01:36. > :01:43.six, with the little runt, did it get through to day three? Let's
:01:43. > :01:47.take a look at the life camera. Yes, runty survived. You can see him in
:01:47. > :01:52.runty survived. You can see him in the left hand corner. Not only did
:01:52. > :01:59.he survive, but he's done quite well today. Take a look at this,
:01:59. > :02:02.that we saw earlier, we noticed that runty has been trodden on by
:02:02. > :02:07.the siblings, not being able to get through. But mum comes in, straight
:02:07. > :02:13.to the hole and feeds him. Off she goes again, obviously a worry he's
:02:13. > :02:18.not fed as much as the others. He's gone to the back, mum comes in,
:02:18. > :02:24.will it be the others, he pokes his head out and takes food for a
:02:24. > :02:29.second time. So he's doing well. is hanging on in there. Will it be
:02:29. > :02:33.a sunny outcome. Our other big story is the Ospreys. Let's go to
:02:33. > :02:38.the Osprey nest live. Yesterday, we saw that two checks hatched out.
:02:38. > :02:43.But the question was the third egg, But the question was the third egg,
:02:43. > :02:48.would it hatch out. There's a check peeping out, it is colder there
:02:48. > :02:55.today, so they'll need to keep warm. We don't know about the third egg,
:02:55. > :03:00.but let's have a look at what is going on in the nest. It's all been
:03:00. > :03:04.going remarkably well. Those are crucial times. They have to
:03:04. > :03:08.delicately take the food proffered by the mum. They're growing up. But
:03:08. > :03:13.we still don't know what happened to that third egg. Maybe we'll find
:03:13. > :03:19.out during the show. Now we have a new nest. Let's go live to the new
:03:19. > :03:23.nest, look at this, you can see the wing of a bird in this nest. It is
:03:23. > :03:28.on the ground. It is a species which is typical of this part of
:03:28. > :03:35.the world. It is a woodwarbler. Not a good view here there, but here is
:03:35. > :03:44.a good one, a splendid little bird. One of the most attractive little
:03:44. > :03:50.warblers we've got in the country. It has beautiful green and brown
:03:50. > :03:54.colouring, we think we have six eggs and six chicks. It is cloudy
:03:54. > :03:57.and temperature dropped, but we've been bathed in sunshine the last
:03:57. > :04:03.few days. And I went out on the reserve over the weekend, one of
:04:03. > :04:09.the things that astounded me was the amount of dragonflies I saw.
:04:09. > :04:14.They're in abundance, particularly the four-spoted chaseer and broad
:04:14. > :04:18.bodied chaseer. She's been reading books again. Take them away from
:04:18. > :04:28.her. They are fascinating, they look like humming birds almost.
:04:28. > :04:58.
:04:58. > :05:03.They're wonderful. Take a look at Gorgeous, aren't they. Do you know
:05:03. > :05:07.there are 20 species you can find on the reserve, out of 23 in the UK.
:05:07. > :05:12.That's a lot. This far north and west, when most species are
:05:12. > :05:19.concentrated in the south and east, that's a good total for here.
:05:19. > :05:25.They're remarkable animals, but now we are see more remarkable,
:05:25. > :05:35.something I can guarantee you've never heard before. It is a
:05:35. > :05:36.
:05:36. > :05:42.crackling sound. Listen carefully. Now the crackling was in time to
:05:42. > :05:48.the pumping of its abdomen. That was the sound of a dragonfly
:05:48. > :05:51.breathing. They don't breathe in a conventional way, because they
:05:51. > :05:58.don't transport oxygen around their bodies using a blood system. So how
:05:58. > :06:03.do they do it? They have tiny hill holes in their abdomen, and when
:06:03. > :06:08.they call them this. Is a dying gram, we call them officercals,
:06:08. > :06:12.they have the ability to open and close. Perhaps the sound was the
:06:12. > :06:15.opening and closing of the opening and closing of the
:06:15. > :06:20.officercal or flexing of the hard abdomen. So the air goes in through
:06:20. > :06:28.the holes, and it then passes into a network of tubes, so if they have
:06:28. > :06:31.the officercal here, it passes into trachea, and they break down to
:06:31. > :06:36.ever smaller diameter, and they put their way through the body of the
:06:36. > :06:42.insect, so each one of the tubes eventually, leads to a clump of
:06:42. > :06:47.cells. It is there, that the oxygen is exchanged. No lungs, no blood,
:06:47. > :06:51.simply tubes, getting it into the body of the insect. Of course, this
:06:51. > :06:58.is essentially a primitive way to organise oxygen distribution. It
:06:58. > :07:03.does leave them with some & caps. One of them is size, Martin. It is
:07:03. > :07:11.because it limits to the size of the insect. I know what you're
:07:11. > :07:14.thinking, you're thinking hang on, in Dinosaur age, 330 million years
:07:15. > :07:21.ago, weren't there giant dragonflies, of course you're right.
:07:21. > :07:31.Here is one of your size of dragonflies, and this is the size,
:07:31. > :07:38.
:07:38. > :07:43.actual size of the carbon Downing Street niferous dragonflies, the
:07:43. > :07:48.reason why they got so big was there was oxygen in the air, 35% in
:07:48. > :07:54.the air, now there's 21% and that allowed the insect to get huge. I
:07:54. > :08:01.wish I'd been there, can you imagine, huge. Flying around, they
:08:01. > :08:07.would be Nicking those swans off the surface of the lake. Shall we
:08:07. > :08:13.have a look. The marsh camera is behind us. Oh
:08:13. > :08:18.and they are. Are they all there though? There's one, there was
:08:18. > :08:23.three cygnets, there's an adult. Sometimes they hide behind. And I
:08:23. > :08:26.noticed there's one that stays with one adult and two a little further
:08:26. > :08:31.away. Let see what they looked like
:08:31. > :08:37.earlier this morning, because look at that, bathed in pink glorious
:08:38. > :08:41.light. And there are two, so we've gone from one to two, is the third
:08:41. > :08:46.still there. Yes. Is that surprising, Chris, that there are
:08:46. > :08:51.three of them? They lose a lot of them, principally to foxes when
:08:51. > :08:56.they're roosting overnight. As they've only got three, it is
:08:56. > :09:00.easier to look after three than six. So perhaps that increased their
:09:00. > :09:06.chances. It is something that we think is a sweet thing, but when it
:09:06. > :09:12.comes to cuteness, the cygnets are put in a hat by our foxs, look at
:09:12. > :09:22.these they are delightful and we've been following a family of 11 cubs,
:09:22. > :09:24.
:09:24. > :09:30.in Potters Bar. I could watch that all night long. But who has been
:09:30. > :09:34.watching it, our life camera, it is unusual to have a litter of 11 cubs,
:09:34. > :09:41.we only want to know what is going on down there, so we've been
:09:41. > :09:48.following them closely. Take a look at this. The fox cubs are now about
:09:48. > :09:53.seven weeks old. They still feed on milk from mum but starting to eat
:09:53. > :09:59.on solid food so they're on the lookout for potential snacks. They
:09:59. > :10:08.bite on branches to strengthen their jaws and gums. Just like your
:10:08. > :10:18.dog, unpleasant as it seems, foxes will eat faeces as they can contain
:10:18. > :10:20.
:10:20. > :10:30.The cubs are also learning about potential prey. By sizeing up this
:10:30. > :10:40.
:10:41. > :10:50.Clearly they haven't mastered it yet, but in a matter of a few weeks,
:10:51. > :10:55.
:10:55. > :10:58.these cubs may be relying on their The cubs practice these skills in
:10:58. > :11:05.their play with one another. Improving their aim by pounceing
:11:05. > :11:15.and honing their reactions and reflexes. They oven fight open-
:11:15. > :11:23.
:11:23. > :11:28.mouthed as biting is an invitation Now these cubs are in excellent
:11:28. > :11:38.condition. So how, is just one mother feeding all of them? All 11
:11:38. > :11:38.
:11:38. > :11:43.of these cubs? And then it becomes clear. There's not one, but two
:11:43. > :11:52.vixens and the smaller one on the left appears to be less dominant
:11:52. > :11:58.than the larger one on the right. That's exactly the question I want
:11:58. > :12:02.to ask you Chris, what is going on? Well we got two females there, I
:12:02. > :12:08.think. Let's slow it down. The animal on the right is the animal
:12:08. > :12:14.there most of the time. This other one comes in, now they do open
:12:14. > :12:18.mouth to one another, they clearly know one another. But the animal on
:12:18. > :12:24.the left, its ears go down, and it goes into submissive behaviour to
:12:24. > :12:32.the one on the right. The one on the royalty runs away, but I would
:12:32. > :12:37.say it is baefier and older. So, I would postulate that is perhaps the
:12:37. > :12:40.female that's given a the other animal coming in, is likely to be a
:12:40. > :12:44.daughter from a previous year, because they will stay. Neither of
:12:44. > :12:49.the cubs or the other one were aggressive or worried about it.
:12:49. > :12:54.do you know the other one is a female? We couldn't see physically,
:12:54. > :12:58.but it is unusual for dog foxes to stay with the adults over the
:12:58. > :13:01.course of the winter. So it is likely that it is going to be a
:13:01. > :13:09.female. It is clear, whatever it was, it wasn't a threat? It wasn't
:13:09. > :13:13.a threat at all. We have a question here, from Twitter, could they be
:13:13. > :13:17.two related fox families? Let's take a look at the size of the
:13:17. > :13:23.foxes, because that might help us? It is difficult. They're all over
:13:23. > :13:28.the place, they're 11 of them, they're boisterous, but we looked
:13:28. > :13:32.through the material we have, and they all appear to be exactly the
:13:32. > :13:37.same size. So, again, that doesn't necessarily mean they've all come
:13:37. > :13:41.from one litter, because there could have been two litters born
:13:41. > :13:45.pretty much statement. But foxes will sometimes have large litters,
:13:45. > :13:51.normally between five and seven, but ten isn't that unusual, and
:13:51. > :13:54.litters of 1 have been seen before. The female has eight nipples, but
:13:54. > :13:58.that won't restrict how much she can suckel because they will take
:13:59. > :14:03.turns. It could be there are one litter or two pulled together. To
:14:03. > :14:09.verify that, we need to see the other female suckling them.
:14:09. > :14:14.Chris, if they are one family, what are the chances of all 11 getting
:14:14. > :14:18.to a-year-old? They've got that helper. Presumably the dog fox is
:14:18. > :14:22.there bringing in food as well. They look healthy, if there's
:14:22. > :14:26.plenty of food, perhaps people feeding them, there's a good chance
:14:26. > :14:32.they might get through. The older they get, and as soon as they start
:14:32. > :14:36.to move out from the area, the mortality does go up. But,
:14:36. > :14:40.nevertheless to see 11 together is an amazing treat. We are going to
:14:40. > :14:43.stay with that. Our cameramen are still looking at them, and putting
:14:43. > :14:49.the pieces of this jigsaw together, so we can determine what is going
:14:49. > :14:54.on S it one or two litters, have they been pooled, we'll find out.
:14:54. > :14:58.Martin has been finding out how you get closeup shots of the litter
:14:58. > :15:01.creatures, particularly in your garden, but if you want that
:15:01. > :15:06.stonking shot, sometimes you have to go in a more controlled
:15:06. > :15:16.environment. Yes, you're absolutely right. All
:15:16. > :15:17.
:15:17. > :15:21.this week we've been lucky enough to have ewe ewe ewe one of the -
:15:21. > :15:27.Alastair, one of the best cameramen, sometimes you have to control the
:15:27. > :15:32.environment, come inside, why is that? Well this very scene is a
:15:32. > :15:37.perfect case in point. We started filming it this morning, beautiful
:15:37. > :15:42.sunshine, quiet, then the wind got up, clouds came, and it doesn't
:15:42. > :15:47.take very much wind to make my life completely impossible. So we moved
:15:47. > :15:56.a few steps sideways, came in this room, and continueed the scene, and
:15:57. > :16:01.it was amazingly successful, very nice day. Now we're getting an an
:16:01. > :16:06.incredibly great view of green fly. But when you see them like that, it
:16:06. > :16:11.is extraordinary. Just to give an idea how delicate Alastair's
:16:11. > :16:16.equipment is. I'm going to tap my food on the floor, watch this, the
:16:16. > :16:24.whole scene wobbles. This sort of thing can take you how ares and
:16:24. > :16:29.days to film, can't it? Yes, macro is one of the most determining
:16:29. > :16:34.things in patience and time. Uch been filming for things in the pond
:16:35. > :16:43.for us. Can we have a look at some things. It looks like a stickel
:16:43. > :16:48.back. Stickel back, but one is unfamiliar to me, because it is a
:16:48. > :16:58.tense bien, so you can see, this isn't a frog, is it? It is a
:16:58. > :16:59.
:16:59. > :17:03.institute. Hard to tell when you're so close. - Nute, one you get in
:17:04. > :17:08.your pond. I get them in my pond, but the things you find in your
:17:08. > :17:14.garden, are common place, scenes like this become exotic. Totally
:17:14. > :17:20.true, it is one of the things I was excited about as a kid, you can
:17:20. > :17:25.visit a different planet in your own garden. That's a perfect cue
:17:25. > :17:30.for me, let us go into the garden where Alastair has been filming.
:17:30. > :17:35.Come with me. Here we can, around the wooden buildings and you can
:17:35. > :17:39.see there, that's the main studio with the doors shut. Let's go in
:17:39. > :17:43.the garden. Here in the garden, what could possibly be here in the
:17:43. > :17:47.garden. Good Lord, it is my great mate, Chris Packham. Hello Chris.
:17:47. > :17:55.This is the pond that Alastair's been filming in. What have you
:17:55. > :18:02.seen? It goes to prove what an oasis what a great pond can be.
:18:02. > :18:09.There's masses of things, whirly beement, pond skateerss and other
:18:09. > :18:13.things, not just the pictures but great sound, this is a sound man's
:18:13. > :18:17.equipment. There are only a couple of these in the country. It is a
:18:17. > :18:23.hydrophone, because you dip it in the water, but they've been working
:18:23. > :18:28.together. Gary and Alastair, let's have a look at them at work. Here
:18:28. > :18:36.is Alastair, rigging up his extraordinary come employee kaited
:18:36. > :18:41.little gem. And Gary, our star sound recorder, going in the water.
:18:41. > :18:45.With a bit of luck, we can combine the pictures and sound and take a
:18:45. > :18:55.trip ourselves, plungeing into the very pond. Another world. That you
:18:55. > :18:55.
:18:55. > :19:41.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 45 seconds
:19:41. > :19:48.might have in your own garden, but Amazing, what it was, I tell you
:19:48. > :19:54.what it was, it was one of those water Beatles, 350 species, it
:19:54. > :19:59.climbed on to the hydrophone, while beneath the surface and that
:19:59. > :20:04.buzzing sounds was the muscles vibrateing warming up. It didn't
:20:04. > :20:10.want to climb out and not be able to be active because it flies
:20:10. > :20:15.straightaway. It didn't want to be caught on the surface, by a preed
:20:15. > :20:20.predator, when it got to fifth tkpwreer, it took off through the
:20:20. > :20:23.surface of the water. The most remarkable thing is, when we're
:20:23. > :20:29.pond-diping when we're kids, you pull that out and you don't think
:20:29. > :20:38.there's a sound world down there as well as those species, amazing
:20:38. > :20:48.stuff. Can we stand up a bit. knees are killing me. I forgot his
:20:48. > :20:52.age, if you get slippers out of the caravan. Pond skateers can fly and
:20:52. > :20:59.regularly colonise ponds, they're ferocious predators. They skate
:20:59. > :21:08.across the surface of the water, they have hairs on the surface of
:21:08. > :21:14.their legs. It's got something. It is injecting it into a fly in the
:21:14. > :21:20.abdomen, squirting enzymes into a soup and then sucking it out, you
:21:20. > :21:26.can see the abdomen shrinking as the suess are are sucked out. Do
:21:26. > :21:33.you know what, I enjoyed seeing the juices sucked out of the abdomen,
:21:33. > :21:40.can we see that again. Watch carefully, the tip of the abdomen.
:21:40. > :21:47.It is shrinking. Eventually, it will be nothing more than a dry
:21:47. > :21:52.husk floating across the surface of the water. I'm tkphraed we're large.
:21:52. > :21:57.If you kneel down and change your scale, it changes the world
:21:57. > :22:04.completely. There are tigers, down there. Moving on, if you want to
:22:04. > :22:08.keep up with the pond, we have our pond cam over there, and that is
:22:08. > :22:13.producing live pictures, you can follow on the web, particularly
:22:13. > :22:18.dourg the day time you can follow on. Moving on, we had a tweet
:22:18. > :22:23.question, from Sue, if Mrs Kingfisher doesn't start
:22:23. > :22:27.incubateing eggs until all of them are laid, how come the first eggs
:22:27. > :22:31.don't die? This is interesting. This is cold tauper, and my
:22:31. > :22:36.chickens do the same thing. What at the do, is lay the eggs, they can't
:22:36. > :22:42.lay them all at once, that's an awful lot of output of energy, they
:22:42. > :22:46.lay them, one by one, over a period of days, and the eggs go into a
:22:46. > :22:51.sort of suspended animation. Nothing happens at all. They sit
:22:51. > :22:55.there, they're perfectly OK, but only when the adult sits down and
:22:55. > :23:01.starts to incubate and warm the eggs does development begin and
:23:01. > :23:05.that's how they do it. And it bricks us neatly to the update from
:23:05. > :23:10.your kingfishers, you will know that Charlie the cameraman has been
:23:10. > :23:20.following the lives of the beautiful birds on a river near his
:23:20. > :23:24.
:23:24. > :23:29.house. They just laid eggs, here is So far, our Kingfisher pair have
:23:30. > :23:33.done brilliantly. They've laid seven pure white eggs and set about
:23:34. > :23:39.incubateing them. But I know the next stage is the most dangerous
:23:39. > :23:44.for the family. Once hatched, the first 2 hours of
:23:44. > :23:52.a young chick's life is the most crucial. Tiny, naked, weak, they
:23:52. > :23:59.have to be kept warm, and fed every hour or so. They have seven eggs
:23:59. > :24:03.but unlikely that any more than two or three will survive to adulthood.
:24:03. > :24:08.The more mature female is doing most of the incubateing. It is
:24:08. > :24:18.clear she's in charge. As the male waits outside, she calls from
:24:18. > :24:19.
:24:19. > :24:24.within the nest, to let him know she wants to swap over.
:24:24. > :24:29.It is wonderful to efficiency drop on them interacting in the nest. To
:24:29. > :24:38.them it is pitch black and they seem to feel their way around with
:24:38. > :24:43.their beaks. They now incubate the eggs for three weeks. Unfortunately
:24:43. > :24:50.I have to leave the river to film for another project. But our pair
:24:50. > :24:56.will be closely watched over by the Springwatch team. First thing one
:24:56. > :25:05.morning, just after dawn, the male sitting on the nest.
:25:05. > :25:09.He gets up to move. They've hatched. Two, tiny chicks are already out,
:25:09. > :25:14.naked, blind and one still half in naked, blind and one still half in
:25:14. > :25:21.the egg. They seem healthy and active, but why is the male just
:25:21. > :25:29.left them, they're so vulnerable at this age? It is a relief when the
:25:29. > :25:35.female returned with some food, the chicks must be fed straightaway.
:25:35. > :25:45.When they're this small a chick requires tiny fish, anything larger
:25:45. > :26:05.
:26:05. > :26:15.it is a bit of a struggle, but the chicks hatch. And both the adults
:26:15. > :26:28.
:26:28. > :26:38.work for the parents and now they'll be rushed off their feet
:26:38. > :26:45.
:26:45. > :26:55.have hatched. These first fish are just the start of the 2,000 or so
:26:55. > :26:56.
:26:56. > :27:00.the chicks will require before they fledge. The young male bird is
:27:00. > :27:09.causing concern. He's less experienced than his mate and seems
:27:09. > :27:18.only to be bringing in really large fish. Then, he nearly pulls one of
:27:18. > :27:23.the chicks completely out of the nest. The chicks seem strong and
:27:23. > :27:32.have made it through the first 24 hours, the most vital period in
:27:32. > :27:36.their young lives. But then conditions on the river
:27:36. > :27:43.change dramatically. It is mid- April.
:27:44. > :27:49.The wetest April on record. If the river floods, it seriously
:27:49. > :27:54.threatens the nest, the whole bank could be washed away. What's more
:27:54. > :28:01.the kingfishers now have seven hungry mouths to feed. The adults
:28:01. > :28:09.have to keep hunting, but if the water becomes murky and churned up,
:28:09. > :28:14.how will they see the fish? The rain just keeps coming. Well it
:28:14. > :28:17.certainly tense, and I don't know about you, but I'm emotionally
:28:17. > :28:21.about you, but I'm emotionally attached to those chicks. We know
:28:21. > :28:28.it didn't stop raining for weeks, but did that affect the nest, we'll
:28:28. > :28:35.find out tomorrow. If I was to sell real estate to a ground nesting
:28:35. > :28:40.bird would this be a good spot by the railway track? There's good
:28:40. > :28:45.habitats, you wouldn't get disturbances from dogs or people.
:28:45. > :28:51.But the be be noisy and the danger of the trains, but believe it or
:28:51. > :28:55.not, just about 200 metres up the track on the corner, is where a
:28:55. > :29:00.couple of sand pipers chose to couple of sand pipers chose to
:29:00. > :29:07.build their nest. We're lucky, Network Rail let us put cameras
:29:07. > :29:13.there, so we'll see them live now. There's a sand piper, the adult on
:29:13. > :29:17.the nest, being a wadeer you would expect the birds to nest on pebbles
:29:17. > :29:21.near water, but instead they've chosen stones. It is near to water
:29:21. > :29:25.but only two metres were the track! Now, apart from the noise,
:29:25. > :29:30.obviously it is not going to be the safest place to be, when the trains
:29:30. > :29:35.come by. But, what about the chicks? They're sitting on four
:29:35. > :29:39.eggs, they haven't hatched yet, we don't think. But what about when
:29:39. > :29:44.they fledge, what are the chances of them wandering on the track when
:29:44. > :29:48.a train comes. It is obviously not a safe place to be. There's one
:29:48. > :29:53.train that comes every hour down this track. Let me tell you, it is
:29:53. > :29:57.an absolutely beautiful bit of railway. It goes all the way along
:29:58. > :30:02.the coast, to Snowdonia. It is absolutely gorgeous. But, how does
:30:02. > :30:07.it affect the nest when the train comes by. We might find out before
:30:07. > :30:17.the end of the programme, because believe it or not, the next train
:30:17. > :30:19.
:30:19. > :30:25.is due, about, 8.55, so if it comes past, we will be able to see how it
:30:25. > :30:29.affects the nest. I would see the Mall lard coming down, the vintage
:30:29. > :30:34.locomotive. But rest assured, if the train turns up and we're still
:30:34. > :30:41.on air, we will see what happens to the sand pipers. I'll show them,
:30:41. > :30:46.here is where Michaela is, and the sand pipers are further towards the
:30:46. > :30:51.coast. I will put them on the train line. Super little birds, really
:30:51. > :30:56.are. The railway line, I've watched foxes on railway lines, they love
:30:56. > :31:02.being on railway lines. They chp them down, that could be the
:31:02. > :31:08.biggest danger, perhaps foxes. Barn owls let us go live to our
:31:08. > :31:13.barn owls and let us have a look at them. Just sitting there, it is
:31:13. > :31:20.cooled down, that looks cosy but its had a cooled down. They're
:31:20. > :31:26.hising, they haven't stopped hising, but but presumably, they snulinged
:31:26. > :31:31.together, because it has cooled down. They don't want to waste any
:31:31. > :31:41.energy, staying warm, they want to put that into growth, and growing
:31:41. > :31:43.
:31:43. > :31:48.their feathers, and digesting their food. They're snulinged up together.
:31:48. > :31:58.Earlier in the day, it was different. Look down the throat of
:31:58. > :31:59.
:31:59. > :32:06.an owl. Wow! Now, this obviously, it must have been hot, because
:32:06. > :32:16.they're doing this, debut lateing, you can see from the throat, it is
:32:16. > :32:21.vascular area, to stay cool. We don't know what they were singing.
:32:21. > :32:26.But also, we noticed as well, that the little chicks were doing
:32:26. > :32:32.peculiar stunts, have a look at this. Wing stretching, you can see
:32:32. > :32:37.the feathers coming through. But then this little one shuffles down
:32:37. > :32:41.on its back side. I think it is stretching its legs and wings
:32:41. > :32:48.behind it, but it makes it look ungamely. They've been juching
:32:48. > :32:51.about as well. Learning to use their limbs more effectively. You
:32:51. > :32:58.could see that maybe they're learning to pounce, but they've a
:32:58. > :33:03.lot more practice to do. Here we go, at the moment they're
:33:03. > :33:07.rubbish. They are. But they're very slow developing. Their speed of
:33:07. > :33:15.life at this time is pretty slow. They will be in the nest for more
:33:15. > :33:20.time. It is remarkable to think that those terribly ungainly,
:33:20. > :33:30.clumsy things will turn into the gorgeous acknowledge row bats of
:33:30. > :33:36.the air, and slipping over the fields. They do look clumsy. Ix see
:33:36. > :33:43.how quickly I shifted out of that. I could have landed on your lap.
:33:43. > :33:47.They're different sizes because they've applied a different
:33:47. > :33:50.incubation strategy. They all hatch at the same time, with barn owls
:33:50. > :33:55.they start incubateing when they lay a couple of eggs, so they may
:33:55. > :34:00.up to six, and this means you get young, which can be over a week in
:34:00. > :34:04.difference, in terms of their age. They want big strong ones, they're
:34:04. > :34:08.going to get most of the food. This is a means of controlling the fact
:34:08. > :34:14.they've got to get something out of the nest. The binge strong ones
:34:14. > :34:21.will survive, the smaller ones can%ish or be eaten by the larger
:34:21. > :34:28.owls. It is a strategy in cases where there's a fluctuating ability
:34:28. > :34:36.of prey. That's different from our nuthatchs, we do still have one.
:34:36. > :34:41.Let's cut live, there is our little runt at the front. He's trampled on.
:34:41. > :34:46.He's looking dazed, because he's trampled on by all of the other
:34:46. > :34:52.birds. They look ready to go. looks like a rugby scrum, they're
:34:52. > :34:57.on top of him. He is keeping hiss end up, he's childrening away, and
:34:57. > :35:03.near the entrance hole. So there's a good chance, that food comes in,
:35:03. > :35:07.he might get it. I think I can see a positive thing here for runting,
:35:07. > :35:10.if it these other birds fledge, and that adult continues to come back
:35:10. > :35:15.to the box, he will get an increasing large amount of the food.
:35:15. > :35:24.So if they quickly get out of the nest and clear off, which is what
:35:24. > :35:29.they do. He might get more food. He's trying to swallow the nest.
:35:30. > :35:36.That is not good. It isn't good, because they're curious at this age.
:35:36. > :35:43.They're testing what is edible and what isn't. Let's not see a bird
:35:43. > :35:53.choke live on BBC Two. It is trying to get it in hiss stomach. Even
:35:53. > :35:53.
:35:54. > :36:00.runty is joining in, get did out. It is trying to put it down.
:36:00. > :36:06.other one wants a go now. Just don't give it to runty. Thank
:36:06. > :36:11.goodness for that. It looks like the mother has come in and taken it
:36:11. > :36:19.They're so well developed, they're getting too difficult to tell apart
:36:19. > :36:23.from an adult. Let's move on. Let's take a look at our life
:36:23. > :36:28.woodwarblers. They're new and exciting, she's brooding which they
:36:28. > :36:33.will do for a while yet. We think they're three days old, so they'll
:36:33. > :36:40.be there for another ten days. And they feed them on insects and
:36:40. > :36:45.spiders. Both parents can feed them, you cannot tell the difference from
:36:45. > :36:50.the adults unless they're singing. But that's not the best view in the
:36:50. > :36:58.world. It is difficult to see where the nest is. Have a look at this,
:36:58. > :37:04.it gives us jee og fee. Beautiful bird. That is beautiful, and you
:37:04. > :37:11.can see it is on top of the trees and then it flies down and goes
:37:12. > :37:17.into its nest. Made out of leaves, and dried grass and it is right on
:37:17. > :37:25.the floor. What is this other one doing? I reckon that could be the
:37:25. > :37:28.female and that's been begging for food from the male. She's still
:37:28. > :37:34.going through the behaviour she was doing up to the point of hatching.
:37:34. > :37:41.Can I tell you something about the nuthatchs, efpb's rooting for runty.
:37:41. > :37:51.I came in here, and all the crew were sitting watching the monitors,
:37:51. > :37:51.
:37:51. > :37:55.saying "go on runty" and as the mother was feeding him, they said
:37:55. > :38:00."yes!" It is like England, everyone wants him to do well, but little
:38:00. > :38:06.chance for him to get to the final. That's going to get them going on
:38:06. > :38:14.Twitter. Now moving on, I have the good fortune to live close to one
:38:14. > :38:19.of the most magical mysterious placeness the UK, the Somerset
:38:19. > :38:26.levels. And it turns out Richard tailor Jones has a burning passion
:38:26. > :38:36.for this place. So much so, he went down to make a film all about the
:38:36. > :38:48.
:38:48. > :38:56.Lat din, so matsata. Land of the summer people. The summer set
:38:56. > :39:06.levels. A landscape made by nature, controlled by humans. The watery
:39:06. > :39:11.
:39:12. > :39:21.world, fighting for a balance, And it is that balance that
:39:22. > :39:22.
:39:22. > :39:32.intrigues me most. Farmers fields are everywhere. But they're not as
:39:32. > :39:35.
:39:35. > :39:40.nature intended. Reed bed, marsh and wed wood is the levels natural
:39:41. > :39:50.state. And after decades, centuries of absence, that landscape is
:39:51. > :39:57.
:39:57. > :40:04.slowly returning. Bringing back a balance. But how? Peat is what this
:40:04. > :40:11.land is made of, it's become a valuable commodity, stolen black
:40:11. > :40:19.Earth gold from level ground. Industry, has left this landscape
:40:19. > :40:28.with deep scars. Peat extraction is a controversial issue.
:40:28. > :40:38.Yet in this unique case a positive has come out of the damage.
:40:38. > :40:42.
:40:42. > :40:46.Cloneising reeds, improved wildlife habitat. Now, once a rare and
:40:46. > :40:54.endangered bird are wherever. Booming fills the air as they strut
:40:54. > :40:59.their careful journey through the old peat works. They enjoy the
:40:59. > :41:09.return of the levels to the forgotten reed beds and marsh. A
:41:09. > :41:24.
:41:24. > :41:34.And not just bittens benefiting, now row deer abundant. Damn zel
:41:34. > :41:34.
:41:34. > :41:44.flies nurishing. Barn owls too. Finally, her address for the
:41:44. > :41:46.
:41:46. > :41:52.imbalance of the past. The nuerpbl result of the peat's impact on this
:41:53. > :41:57.place is an accident. But sometimes, accidents are not enough. Balance
:41:57. > :42:07.needs to be actively returned, conservation, needs to build
:42:07. > :42:08.
:42:09. > :42:15.bridges to the past. And, so it has. Cranes, stately, grand and rugby
:42:15. > :42:22.leagueel, once again fly above the levels. A conscious attempt by
:42:22. > :42:32.humans to help nature by breeding and releasing captive birds into
:42:32. > :42:46.
:42:46. > :42:50.A great white egret towering above the Lilley tkpwret. A couldn't
:42:50. > :42:57.tental bird usually of warmer climbs but now starting to visit
:42:57. > :43:06.our shores. And this year, there is a pair with a secret reed bed nest
:43:06. > :43:13.site. A partner swaps incubateing duties and leaves to hunt. The pair
:43:13. > :43:23.are breeding. In Britain. Never known before, never seen before.
:43:23. > :43:38.
:43:38. > :43:47.Another change to the balance of this place. And one made by nature
:43:47. > :43:57.alone. The summer set levels a landscape where humans and wildlife
:43:57. > :43:59.
:43:59. > :44:04.ensure that nothing is ever level for long. The Somerset levels is a
:44:04. > :44:10.special place, but Richard is here with us live. That's really
:44:10. > :44:16.exciting, isn't it? I have feeling privileged to be the first to film
:44:16. > :44:21.it. They're impressive, they're big this high? As big as a heron,
:44:21. > :44:26.because they're white they stand out and seem bigger. That female, I
:44:26. > :44:33.notice its ring, we must know something about it? She was born in
:44:33. > :44:40.France, in 2009, she flew, came to Wales, Lancashire, Gloucestershire,
:44:40. > :44:46.settled where I filmed her in 2010, early springtime. They're a rare
:44:46. > :44:53.migrant, you don't see them oven, why do you think they've chosen
:44:53. > :44:57.here? The fact is there are huge area of reed beds, and you have the
:44:57. > :45:02.huge area of perfecting nest bed and great for food, two things they
:45:02. > :45:07.need, couldn't be better. You have breaking news? I have breaking news,
:45:07. > :45:12.the female has been on her own for three years, this spring, male
:45:12. > :45:16.turned up, it appeared they were nesting, but all we could say was
:45:16. > :45:19.they appeared to be nesting, there was no sign of nests or eggs. But
:45:19. > :45:25.researchers rung up today to talk to the guys down there, and they
:45:25. > :45:31.have seen a chick. So it is official we have a brand new bird
:45:31. > :45:35.on the British species breeding list. Is it one chick? One chick
:45:35. > :45:40.but suspect there are more. they're here, do you think they'll
:45:40. > :45:45.stay? Every chance they will. They're colonial breeders, so the
:45:45. > :45:51.chicks do well, they may attract in other birds, and who knows, we
:45:51. > :45:57.could have a large colony of breeders. It could be attracting
:45:57. > :46:06.every birder in the country? Now it is on Springwatch, it will.
:46:06. > :46:12.have booming bittens, marsh Harriers, and now this. That's
:46:12. > :46:18.exciting event. In terms of birds, we have influx of new heron
:46:18. > :46:22.breeders, last year we had purple herons, but coming up next, a
:46:22. > :46:29.species we're lucky to bring you live. Just down from where our main
:46:29. > :46:36.base is, a beautiful spot by the river. And there, you can find
:46:36. > :46:41.dovey Furness, built in 1755, it was smelting iron-or-,borough it is
:46:41. > :46:46.perfectly situated to attract interesting animals. What is
:46:46. > :46:51.inside? Lesser horseshoe bats. This is a picture we got today. You can
:46:51. > :46:56.see them, they're beautiful little things, smallest bats, about six
:46:56. > :47:01.centimetres long. This is shot in infrared, it is dark in there. In
:47:01. > :47:06.colour, the bats would be a lovely, rich buff colour, and wings would
:47:06. > :47:11.be completely black. They're about 15,000 bats in the UK. Most of them
:47:11. > :47:16.are here in the west. Let's go live now to see what is inside our roof
:47:16. > :47:21.space and have a look around. They move around within the building.
:47:21. > :47:26.They choose certain places at certain times, depending on the
:47:26. > :47:31.temperature there. Barn owls want to be in the warmest place so they
:47:31. > :47:35.don't waste energy staying warm. They've clearly moved to the sole
:47:35. > :47:39.Lariam, because there's none of them in this part of the building,
:47:39. > :47:44.which is pretty annoying because they've been there all day. However
:47:44. > :47:49.what, we can do is show you a close up picture of one of the bats. They
:47:49. > :47:54.are extraordinary, we have two of the type of bats in the UK, greater
:47:54. > :47:59.and lesser horseshoe. You can see the nose, it has the horseshoe
:47:59. > :48:06.shape, and extraordinary organ, what are they doing with it?
:48:06. > :48:09.They're useing it for echo location. Most bats produce the sound from
:48:09. > :48:14.their mouthing and capture it with their ears and create an
:48:14. > :48:19.environment. This species projects the sound out of its mouth but
:48:19. > :48:22.captures it in the knows, as a sequence, it is like having a Mega
:48:22. > :48:28.phone strapped to the fronted of your face. You are shouting out
:48:28. > :48:32.loud, not through your mouth, that was a mistake, they shout out
:48:32. > :48:36.through the nose but capture the sound back in the nose. They're
:48:36. > :48:44.wandering around, it is not difficult for me, because I saw my
:48:44. > :48:49.father doing a brilliant impression when my puppy, itchy and scratchy
:48:49. > :48:55.pooed on the carpet. He was like a man with a Mega phone on hiss face,
:48:55. > :49:02.I can tell you. What is happening with your live birds. Ospreys,
:49:02. > :49:06.they're both on the nest. I've been watching them, but to see
:49:06. > :49:11.underneath, to see what happened to the other one. But, I can't see,
:49:11. > :49:16.I've been watching and watching, but can't see whether the egg has
:49:16. > :49:25.hatched. It is likely to have cracked and piping by now. When did
:49:25. > :49:31.the other two hatch, two days ago I think. How long does it have?
:49:31. > :49:37.Tifplt can take 24 hours for this species to hatch. But I tried to
:49:37. > :49:46.find out how long it took the eggs to hatch once it started to emerge.
:49:46. > :49:51.Like the bluetit, once it started, through to the penguin, but I
:49:51. > :49:56.couldn't find out the answer. tell you another thing I'd love to
:49:56. > :50:01.know, is the train going to come? I have been looking at the timetable.
:50:01. > :50:05.And I can tell you, that 94% accurate in terms of their timing.
:50:05. > :50:11.It was, running a minute late, but at the start of the programme our
:50:11. > :50:16.train was on time. So it should be here, within four to two minutes
:50:16. > :50:20.before the end of the programme! Let's go live to the sand pipers,
:50:20. > :50:27.to see if they're on the nest at the moment. Look at that, that's
:50:27. > :50:32.stunning. We don't know whether it is male or female. Lovely eye ring
:50:32. > :50:36.there, sometimes they're feeding at night. Depending on the time.
:50:36. > :50:41.is the only breeding pair, on the reserve at the moment and that's
:50:41. > :50:45.the spot they chose. The whole reserve and that's the spot by the
:50:46. > :50:50.railway track. But the thing is it is quiet there. I know it is noisy
:50:50. > :50:55.with the train, no people or dogs, and those are the things that
:50:55. > :51:05.wading brirdz concerned about. Let's have pine marten action.
:51:05. > :51:07.
:51:07. > :51:17.Yesterday Martin was in Wales and investigating a pine marten but did
:51:17. > :51:26.
:51:26. > :51:31.There's still a healthy population of pinemartens here in the Scottish
:51:31. > :51:38.forests. So this is probably my best chance to see one in the wild.
:51:38. > :51:45.But, it's wildlife, there are no guarantees. I've come to the agas
:51:45. > :51:52.field centre in Inverness, a place well known for pinemartens. David
:51:52. > :51:56.is a ranger and shows me why this is such a good habitat for them.
:51:56. > :52:01.This area, would be really good dening for pinemartens, you have
:52:01. > :52:05.the exposed root systems from the old dead trees. This cragy face,
:52:05. > :52:10.there will be caves and hide aways, that a pinemarten will be able to
:52:10. > :52:19.use. Will are also field signs to look out for.
:52:19. > :52:24.Wow. What is in this poo, we have beetle bits. Bone. Actually a
:52:24. > :52:29.sizeable bone. I happen to know, that's an old one, but you have
:52:30. > :52:37.something magical in your pocket haven't you? I do. They always day,
:52:37. > :52:44.here is fresh poo and they say pinemarten poo has a sweet smell,
:52:44. > :52:52.smells of flowers, so now we can do a test? What do you think of that?
:52:53. > :53:02.Oh, OK, it is sweet. Compared to a fox, it is sweeter. How it's calmed
:53:03. > :53:03.
:53:03. > :53:06.down a bit. Again, beautiful, lovely shiny beetle bits in there.
:53:06. > :53:14.Pinemartens eat everything from Beatles and seeds to small mammals,
:53:15. > :53:21.birds, berries, and honey. Martin this, is another thing I want to
:53:21. > :53:28.show you, down here, we actually have, a pinemarten footprint.
:53:28. > :53:33.That's a good one, the back pad there, and four pads there. And the
:53:33. > :53:40.claw marks are really obvious. Prominent claw marks. We've seen
:53:40. > :53:48.the tracks, skats, and potential den sites, may we see a pinemarten?
:53:48. > :53:55.I hope we k My best chance of seeing a wild pinemarten is to wait
:53:56. > :54:00.for them to come to me. We'll coax them in, with a tried and tested
:54:00. > :54:10.combination, peanuts and jam. Pinemartens have exceptional
:54:10. > :54:13.
:54:13. > :54:23.hearing. So we'll have to stay There, in the shadows, something's
:54:23. > :54:25.
:54:25. > :54:35.We wait another two hours before anything else emerges from the
:54:35. > :54:48.
:54:48. > :54:57.What a beautiful animal. Stunning aren't they. And not different from
:54:57. > :55:03.stoats and weasels, the long tail. Incredible though it might seem,
:55:03. > :55:11.we're actually looking at the second rarest carnivore in the UK.
:55:11. > :55:19.After the wild cat, it's got those claws for the body size that's
:55:19. > :55:24.large feet. The thing is, the ears, so lightly coloured and it has
:55:24. > :55:34.little spots. That's helpful for us, because it means we can identify
:55:34. > :55:36.
:55:36. > :55:42.the individuals, because they have unique spot markings on their bib s.
:55:42. > :55:48.That's an adult called spots, appropriately, we think it is an
:55:48. > :55:58.adult male. One minute it wasn't there, and next it was there. It
:55:58. > :56:14.
:56:14. > :56:19.just appeared by magic. Exqisity Absolutely fantastic experience for
:56:19. > :56:27.me. We're terribly excited because we think the train is arriving.
:56:27. > :56:33.train is in vision. We can see the train approaching. The sand piper
:56:33. > :56:43.has just jumped out. That's how close the train is to the nest. But
:56:43. > :56:51.
:56:51. > :56:56.we have recorded the sand piper Is she going to get back again.
:56:56. > :57:03.am slightly surprised that having a train passing every hour, that
:57:03. > :57:08.sincere still freaking her out. Perhaps she enjoys the living a bit
:57:08. > :57:13.dangerously. Is she going to every hour juch out? Can I just quickly
:57:13. > :57:19.say, to all the people in Wales who actually gave us reports of
:57:19. > :57:24.pinemartens, we asked you for your reports, and over 40 of you, this
:57:24. > :57:31.is 40 people have got in contact. Please keep getting in contact.
:57:31. > :57:39.What we'd love now are pictures or videos, because that would be
:57:39. > :57:43.conclusive, thank you. People also wanted to see Lord Lew can and
:57:44. > :57:52.Shergar, but we want evidence. What are you saying, our audience gives
:57:52. > :57:59.us wrong information, how rude. 40 people since yesterday.
:57:59. > :58:03.astonishing. Live nests. OK, woodwarbler, she's
:58:03. > :58:10.peeping out. Looking gorgeous in the light.
:58:10. > :58:18.We did see a little chick just peeped up, didn't he? Beautiful big
:58:18. > :58:24.eye, which is endearing. Have we see the chicks yet? One just popped
:58:24. > :58:28.up. They are keeping cozy and warm. Oh look, how cute. What a lovely
:58:28. > :58:33.end to the programme I have to say. The train was on time, and we don't
:58:33. > :58:37.want to be late finishing. Tomorrow we will abfind out about how are
:58:37. > :58:42.Kingfisher family. They're doing well, but is that rain going to
:58:42. > :58:47.affect the nest? What will happen in your nuthatches? Will runty make
:58:47. > :58:52.it, or will he become a future legend? After this programme, Chris
:58:52. > :58:58.will be on red button, Ellen talking about the nests we're