Episode 3 Springwatch

Good evening. Welcome to the RSPB's beautiful reverve here in Ynis Hir

Reserve. We're live and we have to show it is absolutely packed with

wildlife. What is happening with the Osprey nest, is there two

checks under the adult or three? What about our kingfishers,

yesterday we saw the female lay eggs, will they hatch? On the show,

your garden pond as you've never seen or heard it before. The big

question about the little guy. Is the nuthatch still with us, to find

Hello and welcome to tonight's live Springwatch. I'm afraid we've lost

the sunshine this evening, instead it is a cloudy, grey and dull. But

that's certainly not a description of tonight's show. It will be

inspirational. Headline story, which is our nuthatch, family of

six, with the little runt, did it get through to day three? Let's

take a look at the life camera. Yes, runty survived. You can see him in

runty survived. You can see him in the left hand corner. Not only did

he survive, but he's done quite well today. Take a look at this,

that we saw earlier, we noticed that runty has been trodden on by

the siblings, not being able to get through. But mum comes in, straight

to the hole and feeds him. Off she goes again, obviously a worry he's

not fed as much as the others. He's gone to the back, mum comes in,

will it be the others, he pokes his head out and takes food for a

second time. So he's doing well. is hanging on in there. Will it be

a sunny outcome. Our other big story is the Ospreys. Let's go to

the Osprey nest live. Yesterday, we saw that two checks hatched out.

But the question was the third egg, But the question was the third egg,

would it hatch out. There's a check peeping out, it is colder there

today, so they'll need to keep warm. We don't know about the third egg,

but let's have a look at what is going on in the nest. It's all been

going remarkably well. Those are crucial times. They have to

delicately take the food proffered by the mum. They're growing up. But

we still don't know what happened to that third egg. Maybe we'll find

out during the show. Now we have a new nest. Let's go live to the new

nest, look at this, you can see the wing of a bird in this nest. It is

on the ground. It is a species which is typical of this part of

the world. It is a woodwarbler. Not a good view here there, but here is

a good one, a splendid little bird. One of the most attractive little

warblers we've got in the country. It has beautiful green and brown

colouring, we think we have six eggs and six chicks. It is cloudy

and temperature dropped, but we've been bathed in sunshine the last

few days. And I went out on the reserve over the weekend, one of

the things that astounded me was the amount of dragonflies I saw.

They're in abundance, particularly the four-spoted chaseer and broad

bodied chaseer. She's been reading books again. Take them away from

her. They are fascinating, they look like humming birds almost.

They're wonderful. Take a look at Gorgeous, aren't they. Do you know

there are 20 species you can find on the reserve, out of 23 in the UK.

That's a lot. This far north and west, when most species are

concentrated in the south and east, that's a good total for here.

They're remarkable animals, but now we are see more remarkable,

something I can guarantee you've never heard before. It is a

crackling sound. Listen carefully. Now the crackling was in time to

the pumping of its abdomen. That was the sound of a dragonfly

breathing. They don't breathe in a conventional way, because they

don't transport oxygen around their bodies using a blood system. So how

do they do it? They have tiny hill holes in their abdomen, and when

they call them this. Is a dying gram, we call them officercals,

they have the ability to open and close. Perhaps the sound was the

opening and closing of the opening and closing of the

officercal or flexing of the hard abdomen. So the air goes in through

the holes, and it then passes into a network of tubes, so if they have

the officercal here, it passes into trachea, and they break down to

ever smaller diameter, and they put their way through the body of the

insect, so each one of the tubes eventually, leads to a clump of

cells. It is there, that the oxygen is exchanged. No lungs, no blood,

simply tubes, getting it into the body of the insect. Of course, this

is essentially a primitive way to organise oxygen distribution. It

does leave them with some & caps. One of them is size, Martin. It is

because it limits to the size of the insect. I know what you're

thinking, you're thinking hang on, in Dinosaur age, 330 million years

ago, weren't there giant dragonflies, of course you're right.

Here is one of your size of dragonflies, and this is the size,

actual size of the carbon Downing Street niferous dragonflies, the

reason why they got so big was there was oxygen in the air, 35% in

the air, now there's 21% and that allowed the insect to get huge. I

wish I'd been there, can you imagine, huge. Flying around, they

would be Nicking those swans off the surface of the lake. Shall we

have a look. The marsh camera is behind us. Oh

and they are. Are they all there though? There's one, there was

three cygnets, there's an adult. Sometimes they hide behind. And I

noticed there's one that stays with one adult and two a little further

away. Let see what they looked like

earlier this morning, because look at that, bathed in pink glorious

light. And there are two, so we've gone from one to two, is the third

still there. Yes. Is that surprising, Chris, that there are

three of them? They lose a lot of them, principally to foxes when

they're roosting overnight. As they've only got three, it is

easier to look after three than six. So perhaps that increased their

chances. It is something that we think is a sweet thing, but when it

comes to cuteness, the cygnets are put in a hat by our foxs, look at

these they are delightful and we've been following a family of 11 cubs,

in Potters Bar. I could watch that all night long. But who has been

watching it, our life camera, it is unusual to have a litter of 11 cubs,

we only want to know what is going on down there, so we've been

following them closely. Take a look at this. The fox cubs are now about

seven weeks old. They still feed on milk from mum but starting to eat

on solid food so they're on the lookout for potential snacks. They

bite on branches to strengthen their jaws and gums. Just like your

dog, unpleasant as it seems, foxes will eat faeces as they can contain

The cubs are also learning about potential prey. By sizeing up this

Clearly they haven't mastered it yet, but in a matter of a few weeks,

these cubs may be relying on their The cubs practice these skills in

their play with one another. Improving their aim by pounceing

and honing their reactions and reflexes. They oven fight open-

mouthed as biting is an invitation Now these cubs are in excellent

condition. So how, is just one mother feeding all of them? All 11

of these cubs? And then it becomes clear. There's not one, but two

vixens and the smaller one on the left appears to be less dominant

than the larger one on the right. That's exactly the question I want

to ask you Chris, what is going on? Well we got two females there, I

think. Let's slow it down. The animal on the right is the animal

there most of the time. This other one comes in, now they do open

mouth to one another, they clearly know one another. But the animal on

the left, its ears go down, and it goes into submissive behaviour to

the one on the right. The one on the royalty runs away, but I would

say it is baefier and older. So, I would postulate that is perhaps the

female that's given a the other animal coming in, is likely to be a

daughter from a previous year, because they will stay. Neither of

the cubs or the other one were aggressive or worried about it.

do you know the other one is a female? We couldn't see physically,

but it is unusual for dog foxes to stay with the adults over the

course of the winter. So it is likely that it is going to be a

female. It is clear, whatever it was, it wasn't a threat? It wasn't

a threat at all. We have a question here, from Twitter, could they be

two related fox families? Let's take a look at the size of the

foxes, because that might help us? It is difficult. They're all over

the place, they're 11 of them, they're boisterous, but we looked

through the material we have, and they all appear to be exactly the

same size. So, again, that doesn't necessarily mean they've all come

from one litter, because there could have been two litters born

pretty much statement. But foxes will sometimes have large litters,

normally between five and seven, but ten isn't that unusual, and

litters of 1 have been seen before. The female has eight nipples, but

that won't restrict how much she can suckel because they will take

turns. It could be there are one litter or two pulled together. To

verify that, we need to see the other female suckling them.

Chris, if they are one family, what are the chances of all 11 getting

to a-year-old? They've got that helper. Presumably the dog fox is

there bringing in food as well. They look healthy, if there's

plenty of food, perhaps people feeding them, there's a good chance

they might get through. The older they get, and as soon as they start

to move out from the area, the mortality does go up. But,

nevertheless to see 11 together is an amazing treat. We are going to

stay with that. Our cameramen are still looking at them, and putting

the pieces of this jigsaw together, so we can determine what is going

on S it one or two litters, have they been pooled, we'll find out.

Martin has been finding out how you get closeup shots of the litter

creatures, particularly in your garden, but if you want that

stonking shot, sometimes you have to go in a more controlled

environment. Yes, you're absolutely right. All

this week we've been lucky enough to have ewe ewe ewe one of the -

Alastair, one of the best cameramen, sometimes you have to control the

environment, come inside, why is that? Well this very scene is a

perfect case in point. We started filming it this morning, beautiful

sunshine, quiet, then the wind got up, clouds came, and it doesn't

take very much wind to make my life completely impossible. So we moved

a few steps sideways, came in this room, and continueed the scene, and

it was amazingly successful, very nice day. Now we're getting an an

incredibly great view of green fly. But when you see them like that, it

is extraordinary. Just to give an idea how delicate Alastair's

equipment is. I'm going to tap my food on the floor, watch this, the

whole scene wobbles. This sort of thing can take you how ares and

days to film, can't it? Yes, macro is one of the most determining

things in patience and time. Uch been filming for things in the pond

for us. Can we have a look at some things. It looks like a stickel

back. Stickel back, but one is unfamiliar to me, because it is a

tense bien, so you can see, this isn't a frog, is it? It is a

institute. Hard to tell when you're so close. - Nute, one you get in

your pond. I get them in my pond, but the things you find in your

garden, are common place, scenes like this become exotic. Totally

true, it is one of the things I was excited about as a kid, you can

visit a different planet in your own garden. That's a perfect cue

for me, let us go into the garden where Alastair has been filming.

Come with me. Here we can, around the wooden buildings and you can

see there, that's the main studio with the doors shut. Let's go in

the garden. Here in the garden, what could possibly be here in the

garden. Good Lord, it is my great mate, Chris Packham. Hello Chris.

This is the pond that Alastair's been filming in. What have you

seen? It goes to prove what an oasis what a great pond can be.

There's masses of things, whirly beement, pond skateerss and other

things, not just the pictures but great sound, this is a sound man's

equipment. There are only a couple of these in the country. It is a

hydrophone, because you dip it in the water, but they've been working

together. Gary and Alastair, let's have a look at them at work. Here

is Alastair, rigging up his extraordinary come employee kaited

little gem. And Gary, our star sound recorder, going in the water.

With a bit of luck, we can combine the pictures and sound and take a

trip ourselves, plungeing into the very pond. Another world. That you

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 45 seconds

might have in your own garden, but Amazing, what it was, I tell you

what it was, it was one of those water Beatles, 350 species, it

climbed on to the hydrophone, while beneath the surface and that

buzzing sounds was the muscles vibrateing warming up. It didn't

want to climb out and not be able to be active because it flies

straightaway. It didn't want to be caught on the surface, by a preed

predator, when it got to fifth tkpwreer, it took off through the

surface of the water. The most remarkable thing is, when we're

pond-diping when we're kids, you pull that out and you don't think

there's a sound world down there as well as those species, amazing

stuff. Can we stand up a bit. knees are killing me. I forgot his

age, if you get slippers out of the caravan. Pond skateers can fly and

regularly colonise ponds, they're ferocious predators. They skate

across the surface of the water, they have hairs on the surface of

their legs. It's got something. It is injecting it into a fly in the

abdomen, squirting enzymes into a soup and then sucking it out, you

can see the abdomen shrinking as the suess are are sucked out. Do

you know what, I enjoyed seeing the juices sucked out of the abdomen,

can we see that again. Watch carefully, the tip of the abdomen.

It is shrinking. Eventually, it will be nothing more than a dry

husk floating across the surface of the water. I'm tkphraed we're large.

If you kneel down and change your scale, it changes the world

completely. There are tigers, down there. Moving on, if you want to

keep up with the pond, we have our pond cam over there, and that is

producing live pictures, you can follow on the web, particularly

dourg the day time you can follow on. Moving on, we had a tweet

question, from Sue, if Mrs Kingfisher doesn't start

incubateing eggs until all of them are laid, how come the first eggs

don't die? This is interesting. This is cold tauper, and my

chickens do the same thing. What at the do, is lay the eggs, they can't

lay them all at once, that's an awful lot of output of energy, they

lay them, one by one, over a period of days, and the eggs go into a

sort of suspended animation. Nothing happens at all. They sit

there, they're perfectly OK, but only when the adult sits down and

starts to incubate and warm the eggs does development begin and

that's how they do it. And it bricks us neatly to the update from

your kingfishers, you will know that Charlie the cameraman has been

following the lives of the beautiful birds on a river near his

house. They just laid eggs, here is So far, our Kingfisher pair have

done brilliantly. They've laid seven pure white eggs and set about

incubateing them. But I know the next stage is the most dangerous

for the family. Once hatched, the first 2 hours of

a young chick's life is the most crucial. Tiny, naked, weak, they

have to be kept warm, and fed every hour or so. They have seven eggs

but unlikely that any more than two or three will survive to adulthood.

The more mature female is doing most of the incubateing. It is

clear she's in charge. As the male waits outside, she calls from

within the nest, to let him know she wants to swap over.

It is wonderful to efficiency drop on them interacting in the nest. To

them it is pitch black and they seem to feel their way around with

their beaks. They now incubate the eggs for three weeks. Unfortunately

I have to leave the river to film for another project. But our pair

will be closely watched over by the Springwatch team. First thing one

morning, just after dawn, the male sitting on the nest.

He gets up to move. They've hatched. Two, tiny chicks are already out,

naked, blind and one still half in naked, blind and one still half in

the egg. They seem healthy and active, but why is the male just

left them, they're so vulnerable at this age? It is a relief when the

female returned with some food, the chicks must be fed straightaway.

When they're this small a chick requires tiny fish, anything larger

it is a bit of a struggle, but the chicks hatch. And both the adults

work for the parents and now they'll be rushed off their feet

have hatched. These first fish are just the start of the 2,000 or so

the chicks will require before they fledge. The young male bird is

causing concern. He's less experienced than his mate and seems

only to be bringing in really large fish. Then, he nearly pulls one of

the chicks completely out of the nest. The chicks seem strong and

have made it through the first 24 hours, the most vital period in

their young lives. But then conditions on the river

change dramatically. It is mid- April.

The wetest April on record. If the river floods, it seriously

threatens the nest, the whole bank could be washed away. What's more

the kingfishers now have seven hungry mouths to feed. The adults

have to keep hunting, but if the water becomes murky and churned up,

how will they see the fish? The rain just keeps coming. Well it

certainly tense, and I don't know about you, but I'm emotionally

about you, but I'm emotionally attached to those chicks. We know

it didn't stop raining for weeks, but did that affect the nest, we'll

find out tomorrow. If I was to sell real estate to a ground nesting

bird would this be a good spot by the railway track? There's good

habitats, you wouldn't get disturbances from dogs or people.

But the be be noisy and the danger of the trains, but believe it or

not, just about 200 metres up the track on the corner, is where a

couple of sand pipers chose to couple of sand pipers chose to

build their nest. We're lucky, Network Rail let us put cameras

there, so we'll see them live now. There's a sand piper, the adult on

the nest, being a wadeer you would expect the birds to nest on pebbles

near water, but instead they've chosen stones. It is near to water

but only two metres were the track! Now, apart from the noise,

obviously it is not going to be the safest place to be, when the trains

come by. But, what about the chicks? They're sitting on four

eggs, they haven't hatched yet, we don't think. But what about when

they fledge, what are the chances of them wandering on the track when

a train comes. It is obviously not a safe place to be. There's one

train that comes every hour down this track. Let me tell you, it is

an absolutely beautiful bit of railway. It goes all the way along

the coast, to Snowdonia. It is absolutely gorgeous. But, how does

it affect the nest when the train comes by. We might find out before

the end of the programme, because believe it or not, the next train

is due, about, 8.55, so if it comes past, we will be able to see how it

affects the nest. I would see the Mall lard coming down, the vintage

locomotive. But rest assured, if the train turns up and we're still

on air, we will see what happens to the sand pipers. I'll show them,

here is where Michaela is, and the sand pipers are further towards the

coast. I will put them on the train line. Super little birds, really

are. The railway line, I've watched foxes on railway lines, they love

being on railway lines. They chp them down, that could be the

biggest danger, perhaps foxes. Barn owls let us go live to our

barn owls and let us have a look at them. Just sitting there, it is

cooled down, that looks cosy but its had a cooled down. They're

hising, they haven't stopped hising, but but presumably, they snulinged

together, because it has cooled down. They don't want to waste any

energy, staying warm, they want to put that into growth, and growing

their feathers, and digesting their food. They're snulinged up together.

Earlier in the day, it was different. Look down the throat of

an owl. Wow! Now, this obviously, it must have been hot, because

they're doing this, debut lateing, you can see from the throat, it is

vascular area, to stay cool. We don't know what they were singing.

But also, we noticed as well, that the little chicks were doing

peculiar stunts, have a look at this. Wing stretching, you can see

the feathers coming through. But then this little one shuffles down

on its back side. I think it is stretching its legs and wings

behind it, but it makes it look ungamely. They've been juching

about as well. Learning to use their limbs more effectively. You

could see that maybe they're learning to pounce, but they've a

lot more practice to do. Here we go, at the moment they're

rubbish. They are. But they're very slow developing. Their speed of

life at this time is pretty slow. They will be in the nest for more

time. It is remarkable to think that those terribly ungainly,

clumsy things will turn into the gorgeous acknowledge row bats of

the air, and slipping over the fields. They do look clumsy. Ix see

how quickly I shifted out of that. I could have landed on your lap.

They're different sizes because they've applied a different

incubation strategy. They all hatch at the same time, with barn owls

they start incubateing when they lay a couple of eggs, so they may

up to six, and this means you get young, which can be over a week in

difference, in terms of their age. They want big strong ones, they're

going to get most of the food. This is a means of controlling the fact

they've got to get something out of the nest. The binge strong ones

will survive, the smaller ones can%ish or be eaten by the larger

owls. It is a strategy in cases where there's a fluctuating ability

of prey. That's different from our nuthatchs, we do still have one.

Let's cut live, there is our little runt at the front. He's trampled on.

He's looking dazed, because he's trampled on by all of the other

birds. They look ready to go. looks like a rugby scrum, they're

on top of him. He is keeping hiss end up, he's childrening away, and

near the entrance hole. So there's a good chance, that food comes in,

he might get it. I think I can see a positive thing here for runting,

if it these other birds fledge, and that adult continues to come back

to the box, he will get an increasing large amount of the food.

So if they quickly get out of the nest and clear off, which is what

they do. He might get more food. He's trying to swallow the nest.

That is not good. It isn't good, because they're curious at this age.

They're testing what is edible and what isn't. Let's not see a bird

choke live on BBC Two. It is trying to get it in hiss stomach. Even

runty is joining in, get did out. It is trying to put it down.

other one wants a go now. Just don't give it to runty. Thank

goodness for that. It looks like the mother has come in and taken it

They're so well developed, they're getting too difficult to tell apart

from an adult. Let's move on. Let's take a look at our life

woodwarblers. They're new and exciting, she's brooding which they

will do for a while yet. We think they're three days old, so they'll

be there for another ten days. And they feed them on insects and

spiders. Both parents can feed them, you cannot tell the difference from

the adults unless they're singing. But that's not the best view in the

world. It is difficult to see where the nest is. Have a look at this,

it gives us jee og fee. Beautiful bird. That is beautiful, and you

can see it is on top of the trees and then it flies down and goes

into its nest. Made out of leaves, and dried grass and it is right on

the floor. What is this other one doing? I reckon that could be the

female and that's been begging for food from the male. She's still

going through the behaviour she was doing up to the point of hatching.

Can I tell you something about the nuthatchs, efpb's rooting for runty.

I came in here, and all the crew were sitting watching the monitors,

saying "go on runty" and as the mother was feeding him, they said

"yes!" It is like England, everyone wants him to do well, but little

chance for him to get to the final. That's going to get them going on

Twitter. Now moving on, I have the good fortune to live close to one

of the most magical mysterious placeness the UK, the Somerset

levels. And it turns out Richard tailor Jones has a burning passion

for this place. So much so, he went down to make a film all about the

Lat din, so matsata. Land of the summer people. The summer set

levels. A landscape made by nature, controlled by humans. The watery

world, fighting for a balance, And it is that balance that

intrigues me most. Farmers fields are everywhere. But they're not as

nature intended. Reed bed, marsh and wed wood is the levels natural

state. And after decades, centuries of absence, that landscape is

slowly returning. Bringing back a balance. But how? Peat is what this

land is made of, it's become a valuable commodity, stolen black

Earth gold from level ground. Industry, has left this landscape

with deep scars. Peat extraction is a controversial issue.

Yet in this unique case a positive has come out of the damage.

Cloneising reeds, improved wildlife habitat. Now, once a rare and

endangered bird are wherever. Booming fills the air as they strut

their careful journey through the old peat works. They enjoy the

return of the levels to the forgotten reed beds and marsh. A

And not just bittens benefiting, now row deer abundant. Damn zel

flies nurishing. Barn owls too. Finally, her address for the

imbalance of the past. The nuerpbl result of the peat's impact on this

place is an accident. But sometimes, accidents are not enough. Balance

needs to be actively returned, conservation, needs to build

bridges to the past. And, so it has. Cranes, stately, grand and rugby

leagueel, once again fly above the levels. A conscious attempt by

humans to help nature by breeding and releasing captive birds into

A great white egret towering above the Lilley tkpwret. A couldn't

tental bird usually of warmer climbs but now starting to visit

our shores. And this year, there is a pair with a secret reed bed nest

site. A partner swaps incubateing duties and leaves to hunt. The pair

are breeding. In Britain. Never known before, never seen before.

Another change to the balance of this place. And one made by nature

alone. The summer set levels a landscape where humans and wildlife

ensure that nothing is ever level for long. The Somerset levels is a

special place, but Richard is here with us live. That's really

exciting, isn't it? I have feeling privileged to be the first to film

it. They're impressive, they're big this high? As big as a heron,

because they're white they stand out and seem bigger. That female, I

notice its ring, we must know something about it? She was born in

France, in 2009, she flew, came to Wales, Lancashire, Gloucestershire,

settled where I filmed her in 2010, early springtime. They're a rare

migrant, you don't see them oven, why do you think they've chosen

here? The fact is there are huge area of reed beds, and you have the

huge area of perfecting nest bed and great for food, two things they

need, couldn't be better. You have breaking news? I have breaking news,

the female has been on her own for three years, this spring, male

turned up, it appeared they were nesting, but all we could say was

they appeared to be nesting, there was no sign of nests or eggs. But

researchers rung up today to talk to the guys down there, and they

have seen a chick. So it is official we have a brand new bird

on the British species breeding list. Is it one chick? One chick

but suspect there are more. they're here, do you think they'll

stay? Every chance they will. They're colonial breeders, so the

chicks do well, they may attract in other birds, and who knows, we

could have a large colony of breeders. It could be attracting

every birder in the country? Now it is on Springwatch, it will.

have booming bittens, marsh Harriers, and now this. That's

exciting event. In terms of birds, we have influx of new heron

breeders, last year we had purple herons, but coming up next, a

species we're lucky to bring you live. Just down from where our main

base is, a beautiful spot by the river. And there, you can find

dovey Furness, built in 1755, it was smelting iron-or-,borough it is

perfectly situated to attract interesting animals. What is

inside? Lesser horseshoe bats. This is a picture we got today. You can

see them, they're beautiful little things, smallest bats, about six

centimetres long. This is shot in infrared, it is dark in there. In

colour, the bats would be a lovely, rich buff colour, and wings would

be completely black. They're about 15,000 bats in the UK. Most of them

are here in the west. Let's go live now to see what is inside our roof

space and have a look around. They move around within the building.

They choose certain places at certain times, depending on the

temperature there. Barn owls want to be in the warmest place so they

don't waste energy staying warm. They've clearly moved to the sole

Lariam, because there's none of them in this part of the building,

which is pretty annoying because they've been there all day. However

what, we can do is show you a close up picture of one of the bats. They

are extraordinary, we have two of the type of bats in the UK, greater

and lesser horseshoe. You can see the nose, it has the horseshoe

shape, and extraordinary organ, what are they doing with it?

They're useing it for echo location. Most bats produce the sound from

their mouthing and capture it with their ears and create an

environment. This species projects the sound out of its mouth but

captures it in the knows, as a sequence, it is like having a Mega

phone strapped to the fronted of your face. You are shouting out

loud, not through your mouth, that was a mistake, they shout out

through the nose but capture the sound back in the nose. They're

wandering around, it is not difficult for me, because I saw my

father doing a brilliant impression when my puppy, itchy and scratchy

pooed on the carpet. He was like a man with a Mega phone on hiss face,

I can tell you. What is happening with your live birds. Ospreys,

they're both on the nest. I've been watching them, but to see

underneath, to see what happened to the other one. But, I can't see,

I've been watching and watching, but can't see whether the egg has

hatched. It is likely to have cracked and piping by now. When did

the other two hatch, two days ago I think. How long does it have?

Tifplt can take 24 hours for this species to hatch. But I tried to

find out how long it took the eggs to hatch once it started to emerge.

Like the bluetit, once it started, through to the penguin, but I

couldn't find out the answer. tell you another thing I'd love to

know, is the train going to come? I have been looking at the timetable.

And I can tell you, that 94% accurate in terms of their timing.

It was, running a minute late, but at the start of the programme our

train was on time. So it should be here, within four to two minutes

before the end of the programme! Let's go live to the sand pipers,

to see if they're on the nest at the moment. Look at that, that's

stunning. We don't know whether it is male or female. Lovely eye ring

there, sometimes they're feeding at night. Depending on the time.

is the only breeding pair, on the reserve at the moment and that's

the spot they chose. The whole reserve and that's the spot by the

railway track. But the thing is it is quiet there. I know it is noisy

with the train, no people or dogs, and those are the things that

wading brirdz concerned about. Let's have pine marten action.

Yesterday Martin was in Wales and investigating a pine marten but did

There's still a healthy population of pinemartens here in the Scottish

forests. So this is probably my best chance to see one in the wild.

But, it's wildlife, there are no guarantees. I've come to the agas

field centre in Inverness, a place well known for pinemartens. David

is a ranger and shows me why this is such a good habitat for them.

This area, would be really good dening for pinemartens, you have

the exposed root systems from the old dead trees. This cragy face,

there will be caves and hide aways, that a pinemarten will be able to

use. Will are also field signs to look out for.

Wow. What is in this poo, we have beetle bits. Bone. Actually a

sizeable bone. I happen to know, that's an old one, but you have

something magical in your pocket haven't you? I do. They always day,

here is fresh poo and they say pinemarten poo has a sweet smell,

smells of flowers, so now we can do a test? What do you think of that?

Oh, OK, it is sweet. Compared to a fox, it is sweeter. How it's calmed

down a bit. Again, beautiful, lovely shiny beetle bits in there.

Pinemartens eat everything from Beatles and seeds to small mammals,

birds, berries, and honey. Martin this, is another thing I want to

show you, down here, we actually have, a pinemarten footprint.

That's a good one, the back pad there, and four pads there. And the

claw marks are really obvious. Prominent claw marks. We've seen

the tracks, skats, and potential den sites, may we see a pinemarten?

I hope we k My best chance of seeing a wild pinemarten is to wait

for them to come to me. We'll coax them in, with a tried and tested

combination, peanuts and jam. Pinemartens have exceptional

hearing. So we'll have to stay There, in the shadows, something's

We wait another two hours before anything else emerges from the

What a beautiful animal. Stunning aren't they. And not different from

stoats and weasels, the long tail. Incredible though it might seem,

we're actually looking at the second rarest carnivore in the UK.

After the wild cat, it's got those claws for the body size that's

large feet. The thing is, the ears, so lightly coloured and it has

little spots. That's helpful for us, because it means we can identify

the individuals, because they have unique spot markings on their bib s.

That's an adult called spots, appropriately, we think it is an

adult male. One minute it wasn't there, and next it was there. It

just appeared by magic. Exqisity Absolutely fantastic experience for

me. We're terribly excited because we think the train is arriving.

train is in vision. We can see the train approaching. The sand piper

has just jumped out. That's how close the train is to the nest. But

we have recorded the sand piper Is she going to get back again.

am slightly surprised that having a train passing every hour, that

sincere still freaking her out. Perhaps she enjoys the living a bit

dangerously. Is she going to every hour juch out? Can I just quickly

say, to all the people in Wales who actually gave us reports of

pinemartens, we asked you for your reports, and over 40 of you, this

is 40 people have got in contact. Please keep getting in contact.

What we'd love now are pictures or videos, because that would be

conclusive, thank you. People also wanted to see Lord Lew can and

Shergar, but we want evidence. What are you saying, our audience gives

us wrong information, how rude. 40 people since yesterday.

astonishing. Live nests. OK, woodwarbler, she's

peeping out. Looking gorgeous in the light.

We did see a little chick just peeped up, didn't he? Beautiful big

eye, which is endearing. Have we see the chicks yet? One just popped

up. They are keeping cozy and warm. Oh look, how cute. What a lovely

end to the programme I have to say. The train was on time, and we don't

want to be late finishing. Tomorrow we will abfind out about how are

Kingfisher family. They're doing well, but is that rain going to

affect the nest? What will happen in your nuthatches? Will runty make

it, or will he become a future legend? After this programme, Chris

will be on red button, Ellen talking about the nests we're