:00:14. > :00:17.The bank holiday is nearly over but fear not because the Springwatch
:00:17. > :00:21.team is going to make sure that a long weekend finishes on a high
:00:21. > :00:26.note. We have another hour of the very best of British wildlife and I
:00:26. > :00:32.can guarantee that you are going to be enthralled. We have a brand new
:00:32. > :00:37.nest, a little beauty. But to build it? There is dramatic developments
:00:37. > :00:44.for our high-rise Peregrine Falcons. And our family of a walls are
:00:44. > :00:54.getting bigger by the day. All this and so much more. -- barn owls.
:00:54. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:18.Yes, welcome to the woods. The famous images Woods, here at the
:01:18. > :01:22.RSPB reserve and Wales. It is programme two of weak two and if
:01:22. > :01:27.you wish us yesterday you will know that we had lots of action. First
:01:27. > :01:33.late, to the chaffinches. Yesterday, the birds began to fledge. They are
:01:33. > :01:37.fidgety, so we were not surprised to see them go. By the end of the
:01:37. > :01:43.afternoon, one had taken the plunge, and then a little later, another
:01:43. > :01:47.one jumped out. Let us go live to the nest now to see how many are
:01:47. > :01:52.left. Not surprisingly, there are none. They left earlier today. Take
:01:52. > :01:58.a look at this. There was a lot of wing exercising going on, which you
:01:58. > :02:03.might predict. First thing in the morning, it was nice and warm. One
:02:03. > :02:06.of the birds came back as if to tempt his nest mates out. And then,
:02:06. > :02:11.tempt his nest mates out. And then, eventually, the first one took the
:02:11. > :02:17.plunge at 12:20pm, leaving just one. And after that energetic exit, this
:02:17. > :02:24.one and made a rather ignominious tumble. But we must not mock it,
:02:24. > :02:28.because this is a successful fledgling. Leaving the nest empty.
:02:28. > :02:31.The Mail comes back with some food. This was shortly after the last
:02:31. > :02:34.This was shortly after the last ones had left. He has been coming
:02:34. > :02:38.to that spot every day for the last two weeks and he will now be
:02:38. > :02:43.listening out for a particular call which the young will be making to
:02:43. > :02:47.guarantee that he finds them and gives them the food. Now that they
:02:47. > :02:51.are out, will be dispersed and look for their own territory? Not yet.
:02:51. > :02:54.They will not all be huddled up, they will have spread themselves
:02:54. > :02:59.out of they were going to deep cover, as deep as possible so that
:02:59. > :03:02.they will be secure. In there, they will stay for the next three weeks.
:03:02. > :03:07.After a couple of weeks, they will start to feed for themselves and
:03:07. > :03:11.only then will they disperse. By then, the adults will probably have
:03:11. > :03:19.another clutch of eggs. With one group of chicks successfully
:03:19. > :03:22.Fletching, it is the perfect time to introduce you to a new bird.
:03:22. > :03:30.This is a fabulous little bird, the smallest breeding bird in the UK.
:03:30. > :03:38.It weighs the same as a 10p piece. Can you guess what it is? Let's
:03:38. > :03:42.look at it live. Is it in there? You can see it, just about. You
:03:42. > :03:50.cannot see why it is called a goldcrest. Can you see the gold on
:03:50. > :03:55.the top of its head? It is a fantastic net, made of moss, stuck
:03:55. > :03:59.together with spiders webs. -- fantastic nest. It is spongy and
:03:59. > :04:03.very cosy. It is difficult to tell the difference between a female and
:04:03. > :04:10.male in that shot but look at this footage that the two earlier. There
:04:10. > :04:14.is the male, look at that. You can tell when it erects its crest, that
:04:15. > :04:20.flash of orange shows that it is the male. Four that has to be worth
:04:20. > :04:27.seeing again. That was fantastic. How about this for Air & Style,
:04:27. > :04:30.David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust if ever I have seen it. -- a hairstyle.
:04:30. > :04:37.put a camera on this Nestor a couple of days ago and it had nine
:04:37. > :04:45.eggs in it. The get the size of the X. That is it. Absolutely tiny.
:04:45. > :04:49.Just imagine the size of the checks that come out of an egg that small.
:04:49. > :04:51.Take a look at this. This is what happened earlier today. There is
:04:51. > :04:58.happened earlier today. There is one of the adults, sitting on the
:04:58. > :05:01.mast. We do not know whether it is an egg or cheques at this stage.
:05:01. > :05:08.That adult gets off and the other one comes back, and look. It has
:05:08. > :05:15.got food in its peak. Clearly, some of the cheques, or all of them,
:05:16. > :05:21.have hatched. Amazingly, we have not seen the chicks yet. It is a
:05:21. > :05:27.very deep nest and the chicks are obviously hunkered down. They must
:05:27. > :05:30.be small. And the reason it is so deep, they build these nests right
:05:30. > :05:38.on the end of the branches, so it makes it difficult for predators to
:05:38. > :05:40.get to them. The end of the branch close around a lot so if they do
:05:40. > :05:46.not want the eggs to fall-out, they build a deep Cup. You can barely
:05:46. > :05:50.see them when they're in it. But we might get a chance to see them
:05:50. > :06:00.during the programme. We have not yet seen the cheques. And they
:06:00. > :06:03.hatched this morning. It is amazing, we have not seen it yet. Every week,
:06:03. > :06:07.we are following a charismatic British animal in great detail,
:06:07. > :06:12.looking at its breeding behaviour in particular. This week, the
:06:12. > :06:17.Peregrine Falcons. This is a very unusual family. Their nesting on a
:06:17. > :06:23.church in Bath and what is strange, almost bizarre, is that there are
:06:23. > :06:26.three adults testing the nest. Two parents, the normal parents, and we
:06:27. > :06:36.think it is the son from last year helping out but not doing very well.
:06:37. > :06:44.
:06:44. > :06:48.The good this. -- have a look at The male and female have a nest on
:06:48. > :06:55.St John's Church. They have been joined by a young male, their own
:06:56. > :07:05.from last year. He has started to incubate the eggs but he is clumsy.
:07:05. > :07:09.Will this put them in danger? It is early April. The juvenile is
:07:09. > :07:14.helping to incubate the eggs but he is inexperienced and it shows.
:07:14. > :07:24.Parts of the egg are clearly still visible. This church tower is
:07:24. > :07:24.
:07:24. > :07:28.exposed to the elements and the eggs may not keep warm enough.
:07:28. > :07:38.There are also signs of tension. When the female arrives, the
:07:38. > :07:43.
:07:43. > :07:53.youngster led to takeover. -- lets But when the adult male arrives,
:07:53. > :07:54.
:07:54. > :07:58.the juvenile refuses to leave. And there is a bit of a stand-off. The
:07:58. > :08:02.Mail immediately flies off and meets with the female. Mating
:08:02. > :08:09.normally stops as soon as the female has laid the final leg, so
:08:09. > :08:19.perhaps he is feeling threatened. - - the final leg. This behaviour
:08:19. > :08:24.
:08:24. > :08:30.underlines how one usual this It is now 35 days since the eggs
:08:30. > :08:36.were laid and they are overdue to hatch. After a dry start to the
:08:36. > :08:44.spring, the heavens opened. The temperature plummets, and the
:08:44. > :08:53.timing could not be worse. These birds have no choice but to sit it
:08:53. > :09:02.out. And tried their hardest to keep their eggs warm and dry. The
:09:02. > :09:07.rain is so bad that water gets into the camera. Two days later, still
:09:07. > :09:13.nothing. Could he XP infertile or damaged? Are they too cold,
:09:13. > :09:23.especially with the juvenile not incubating them properly? Then, the
:09:23. > :09:28.
:09:28. > :09:33.female starts to fidget, and The danger is not over. The Czechs
:09:33. > :09:40.seem to be hatching into a pool of cold water. Their tiny and damp,
:09:40. > :09:48.and vulnerable. There are reports from all around the UK although a
:09:48. > :09:54.peregrine chicks dying in this weather. -- or of other Peregrine.
:09:54. > :09:58.Eventually, two chicks emerge. 1 egg remains. The female tries to
:09:58. > :10:03.keep them all warm, but for the first few hours, they can survive
:10:03. > :10:13.on the internal food store from the yolk sac. But this cold and wet
:10:13. > :10:14.
:10:14. > :10:24.weather will weaken them quickly. The male peers. He seems bemused.
:10:24. > :10:37.
:10:37. > :10:41.In fact, he seems more interested Finally, he settles over them. As
:10:41. > :10:51.if they don't have enough difficulties, they are then prodded
:10:51. > :11:01.
:11:01. > :11:04.As he leaves, there is movement in the third egg, but frankly, these
:11:04. > :11:10.chicks are in trouble. It looks desperate and the camera is
:11:10. > :11:15.succumbing to the weather. An hour or so later, the juvenile bird
:11:15. > :11:20.brings in a pigeon. He is trying to help and an adult would not bring a
:11:20. > :11:25.whole bird to two tiny checks. The female leads, probably to remove
:11:25. > :11:31.the wings and prepare it properly. Police two of the Czechs have
:11:31. > :11:36.fluffed up. This down will give them some protection. -- at least
:11:36. > :11:39.two. It is hard to see if there is a third behind them. Then the
:11:39. > :11:49.waterlogged camera gives up, leaving us wondering how many of
:11:49. > :11:51.
:11:51. > :11:58.Born into a puddle of water, how about that? We will pick up on that
:11:58. > :12:00.later. Nor are good. I am surprised they hatched. When the war there --
:12:00. > :12:05.when the weather turned nasty, the young bird was not doing a
:12:05. > :12:11.brilliant job of incubating it. Here is the female, and she is
:12:11. > :12:17.accomplished. She is made to do this. She is larger, completely
:12:17. > :12:21.covering the X. Her wings are down on the ground. -- eggs. The young
:12:21. > :12:27.bird is smaller and trying but he is not getting those eggs into the
:12:27. > :12:31.right position. Ideally, he wants two either side of his breastbone.
:12:31. > :12:35.It is there that his brood patches are. These are areas of skin which
:12:35. > :12:41.are rich and blood vessels, designed to transfer heat from the
:12:41. > :12:45.body of the birds to the eggs. Here, he is not even covering bx. That
:12:45. > :12:51.may or may look a little bit of eggshell, but if it is really cold,
:12:51. > :12:55.it will make a difference in the development of that egg. They were
:12:55. > :13:00.low and away certain amount of cooling but not too much. When I
:13:00. > :13:06.pick up my breeding chickens, you can feel that patch, all warm on
:13:06. > :13:09.the chest of the bird. Warm and humid and lovely. Also, they have
:13:09. > :13:14.to turn those eggs as well. It is important that they keep turning
:13:14. > :13:19.them around to stop membrane sticking to the side of the egg. We
:13:19. > :13:24.don't often talk about that. birds to it. Peregrine Falcons are
:13:24. > :13:27.not particularly accomplished. Even the female, she nudges them and
:13:27. > :13:32.they rolled around, but because there are frequent changes between
:13:32. > :13:35.the male and female, it is then that they probably get turned.
:13:35. > :13:39.Peregrines are one of the best birds in Britain. If you were
:13:39. > :13:44.watching last week and yesterday he will know that we are also covering
:13:44. > :13:48.another one of those species. They are living over there in that barn.
:13:48. > :13:53.It is three or 400 metres behind us in a quieter part of the reserve.
:13:53. > :14:00.In the roof, they have chosen to make their nest. Obviously, it is
:14:00. > :14:06.our barn owls. Let us cut live and see what they're up to. They are in
:14:06. > :14:10.a hovel in the corner. That is what we would expect. This is the sleepy
:14:10. > :14:16.time of day. Later in the evening, the adults will be out hunting. We
:14:16. > :14:22.have seen that the chicks are nocturnal already. At the moment,
:14:22. > :14:27.it is about staying warm. They are 40 days old, almost exactly. They
:14:27. > :14:33.are due to fledge at 60 days. We might see one of those actually
:14:33. > :14:37.leave that comfortable mast before the end of Springwatch. --
:14:37. > :14:40.comfortable nest. We up the war Ching the food brought in to these
:14:40. > :14:44.birds because the food is large and the cameras are giving us could
:14:44. > :14:48.images. But this was quite unusual because the young are there a
:14:48. > :14:56.couple of nights ago, waiting expectantly, when the adults come
:14:56. > :14:59.back, with, look what it has got in its food. It is a bird, it is a
:14:59. > :15:04.pipit. When we looked at it, it enabled us to tell the difference
:15:04. > :15:14.between a medal pipit and a tree pipit, which has a very long towel.
:15:14. > :15:15.
:15:15. > :15:20.Careful observation enabled us to identify what it was. How is an --
:15:20. > :15:24.a barn owl catching a pipit? imagine they roost on the ground at
:15:24. > :15:29.night. To be honest, they often run around on the ground like mice. You
:15:29. > :15:33.can imagine the Barrmill moving backwards and forwards, spooking
:15:33. > :15:38.the pipit, and before it knows what has happened, the will is upon it
:15:38. > :15:45.and it has caught it. Although uncomfortable, it was eventually
:15:45. > :15:50.swallowed by one of those And it would have heard nothing
:15:50. > :15:56.about that. Also last night, these parents are providing their chicks
:15:56. > :16:02.with enormous amounts of food. Between 10:30pm and midnight, we
:16:02. > :16:12.filmed what was coming in. See if you can work out what it is
:16:12. > :16:17.
:16:17. > :16:21.bringing in. It has got to be a bowl. That look like another one. I
:16:21. > :16:30.thought they didn't eat shrews? I thought they thought they were
:16:30. > :16:40.distasteful. When we look closely at the nest, it is just full of the
:16:40. > :16:41.
:16:41. > :16:45.carcasses of mice, voles, all sorts of things. It is a smorgasbord! A
:16:45. > :16:53.smorgasbord of shrews! That is because they are cashing them in
:16:53. > :16:56.the nest. Eight times, they came in. Four bowls,, one I don't --
:16:56. > :17:00.unidentified animal, and through the rest of the night, they have
:17:00. > :17:06.brought in 10 other mammals, I'm sure not all of those were eaten
:17:06. > :17:11.last night, some probably stored in the nest. Shall we have a close-up
:17:11. > :17:15.at their faces? A lot of you have noticed this extraordinary disc.
:17:15. > :17:19.Early in their development, even before their major flight feathers
:17:19. > :17:24.come through, they are developing this facial disc, because of this
:17:24. > :17:29.is the equivalent of this part of a heart here, it is a listening
:17:29. > :17:37.device to capture sound, channels are down into a couple of huge ears.
:17:37. > :17:41.Wouldn't it be great if we had a real barn owl? Good Lord! I have
:17:41. > :17:46.seen you pulling rabbits out of hats before! That is remarkable.
:17:46. > :17:49.you can see on her face. Whereabouts are the ears? They are
:17:49. > :17:53.underneath all of these rather stiff feathers which form the
:17:53. > :17:58.facial disc. It is typically heart shaped, although they can control
:17:58. > :18:03.the shape of those Fagan -- feathers and adjust them to ensure
:18:03. > :18:08.they capture the maximum amount of sound. They want to capture high-
:18:08. > :18:14.frequency sounds, made by small mammals. If I can get her to look
:18:14. > :18:19.round, these feathers are very soft, these feathers are much harder. She
:18:19. > :18:25.has two ears, one at the top here and one at the bottom here. This
:18:25. > :18:29.might offset between them means she can judge the distance of sound,
:18:29. > :18:38.not using the horizontal plane, but the vertical plane. Look at the
:18:38. > :18:47.size of the disc relative to the bird. Probably about 35 square
:18:47. > :18:50.centimetres of beer on a bird the size of a -- and year. They go out
:18:50. > :18:55.there listening, scientists have don't experiment could put them in
:18:55. > :19:00.dark rooms and found they can still catch their prey by just using
:19:00. > :19:07.their ears. Remarkable bird. Michaela, would you like a go?
:19:07. > :19:11.where did you get it from? That was awfully clever. Some of our birds
:19:11. > :19:16.it really seemed to grab the limelight. Our common sandpiper is
:19:16. > :19:22.one of those. It is not so much the limelight as the train a light,
:19:22. > :19:28.because it has decided to nest in a perilous nest, right by the edge of
:19:28. > :19:32.the Railtrack. There is the sandpiper. Sitting on their nest,
:19:32. > :19:37.as we have seen in the last few days, whenever a train comes past,
:19:37. > :19:42.the sandpiper get staff and runs away. Yesterday we saw it getting
:19:42. > :19:46.really close to a train. In fact yesterday we were really concerned
:19:46. > :19:53.that it wasn't going to come back to the nest, but fortunately, it
:19:53. > :19:58.has. This is the good news. That is the train going past. What does the
:19:58. > :20:04.sandpiper do? It stayed on the nest. That didn't happen just once, it
:20:05. > :20:09.happened a couple of times. I have to say, we have been a bit naughty,
:20:09. > :20:16.we have kept calling the sandpiper she, but we really don't know if it
:20:16. > :20:21.is he or she. That is the adult birds. It seems to be doing very
:20:21. > :20:25.well, and fingers crossed the eggs will hatch. Maybe today, may be
:20:25. > :20:30.tomorrow. But it doesn't seem like the sandpiper is the only crazy
:20:30. > :20:35.bird that has chosen a ridiculous place to nest. Some of you have
:20:35. > :20:43.sent pictures in. If you think the sandpiper is close to the Railtrack,
:20:43. > :20:48.just take a look at this herring gull. That is crazily close to the
:20:48. > :20:54.train track! I can't believe how close it has got. Maybe it is the
:20:54. > :20:59.warmth of the train or something. Let's look at another one. This is
:20:59. > :21:05.a blackbird on a stroma. It has even got its chicks there,
:21:05. > :21:11.balancing a way. And we have got a third one, this is quite tricky to
:21:11. > :21:18.work out what it is. It is a blue tip in an army tank barrel,
:21:18. > :21:27.restoration work on a 1965 vehicle has had to stop after these birds
:21:27. > :21:37.nested in the barrel of a gun. Keep them coming in. We want to see more
:21:37. > :21:41.
:21:41. > :21:44.This year we gave one of our regular cameraman at the task of
:21:44. > :21:48.building three films that reflected the beauty of iconic British
:21:48. > :21:58.landscapes. For today's film, he chose a stunning landscape near to
:21:58. > :22:15.
:22:15. > :22:22.The White Cliffs of Dover. A symbol Standing 300 ft tall, stretching
:22:22. > :22:27.eight miles along our southern coast, at these bastions of
:22:27. > :22:37.Britishness beam across the British Channel. They dazzle and shift in
:22:37. > :22:43.
:22:43. > :22:49.colour, with time. And for me, time Chalk, the cliff's rocky building
:22:49. > :22:58.block, is made from the skeletons of tiny marine animals, crashed and
:22:58. > :23:05.pushed together, layer upon layer, moulded in the furnace of time. And
:23:05. > :23:10.as a result, travelling down this monumental graveyard allows you to
:23:10. > :23:14.Borwick -- a voyage back through history. At the bottom of the
:23:14. > :23:24.cliffs, millions of years have passed, and flint fossils can be
:23:24. > :23:26.
:23:26. > :23:33.Stretching out from the butt of the cliffs, low spring tides reveal
:23:33. > :23:42.unusual and rare chalk Rees. -- reefs. This ephemeral landscape is
:23:42. > :23:48.dominated by the daily pressure and poured the moon. They live by the
:23:48. > :23:57.waters ebb and flow. Delicate and Emily's hand their tentacles lays
:23:57. > :24:07.leaf through the water, microscopic food drifting into their grasp. A
:24:07. > :24:08.
:24:08. > :24:18.prawn hides. He could be the next Even an occasional lobster looks in
:24:18. > :24:23.the briefest, looking for bodies to scavenge, whose time is up. From
:24:23. > :24:29.talk Reeves to ancient chalk grasslands, the cliffs's green
:24:29. > :24:37.canopy, home to rare plants like the striking spider orchid, and
:24:37. > :24:42.with them, ponies. While continental horses can be brought
:24:42. > :24:52.to browse and Greece the clifftop valleys, a relic of the past
:24:52. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :24:59.introduced by us for conservation Without them, as the years pass,
:24:59. > :25:08.the delicate flowers would become choked by scrub, drowned in bramble
:25:08. > :25:17.and Bush. The chivvying and chomping of this animal, a very
:25:17. > :25:22.human intervention on to stop the march of animal time. The ponies
:25:22. > :25:29.are a recent addition to this landscape. But humans have left a
:25:29. > :25:34.mark on the cliffs in many, more obvious ways. Medieval castles,
:25:34. > :25:38.Roman houses, and beneath them, most intriguingly for me, a
:25:38. > :25:45.labyrinth of wartime tunnels, honeycomb of their way through the
:25:45. > :25:55.chalk. Inside the stock, forgotten passages, stalactites have started
:25:55. > :25:55.
:25:55. > :26:02.to form as water drips relentlessly through the cliffs. Custodians of
:26:02. > :26:06.these natural sculptures arcade spiders. In the permanent dark, the
:26:06. > :26:13.passing of time and played out side makes no difference to these
:26:13. > :26:20.hunters. They wait for the likes of would like to succumb to their
:26:20. > :26:30.delicate touch. -- woodlice. Slowly, these historical human monuments
:26:30. > :26:36.begin to fade into the landscape. Reclaimed by nature. As time passes
:26:36. > :26:46.onwards, it is a reminder to me that the White Cliffs will keep
:26:46. > :26:46.
:26:46. > :26:54.standing, long after I finish Gorgeous light on a dramatic
:26:54. > :26:58.landscape. It makes me want to sing! Don't worry, that is all I am
:26:58. > :27:04.doing. You sing that song made famous by Vera Lynn, and then you
:27:04. > :27:10.think, Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover? We have blue tips,
:27:10. > :27:15.but not Bluebirds. It is an American bird, and that song was
:27:15. > :27:24.written by an American songwriter, who had no idea we didn't have
:27:24. > :27:29.Bluebirds here. Quite frankly, why let the facts get in the wake of a
:27:29. > :27:33.good song? Any young Americans out there, get yourself some bird books
:27:33. > :27:39.before you come over here and start writing songs that our national
:27:39. > :27:46.inspiration! But we will stick with the Bluebirds. Last week we were
:27:46. > :27:49.treated to an extraordinary set of film. The kingfishers are one of
:27:49. > :27:55.that Britain's most popular birds. But we also saw some beautiful
:27:55. > :28:03.behaviour. The Mail on the right is passing a fish to the female to
:28:03. > :28:07.seal their Bond. What about that? Well, very luckily, we have found
:28:07. > :28:15.we have got some kingfishers here on the river that is running down
:28:15. > :28:21.behind us. So we have been out looking for them. And nice Clear
:28:21. > :28:27.Stream, just enough bank for them to have laid and nest. There it is,
:28:27. > :28:32.you can just see the whole. The camera men have been diligent,
:28:32. > :28:42.filming both of the adults coming in. Just look at that. Absolutely
:28:42. > :28:45.
:28:45. > :28:49.There is one of the birds, going in and out of the nesting hole.
:28:49. > :28:55.Absolutely fantastic little thing. There is the pair together. Top
:28:55. > :29:02.left and bottom right. Ferriter an old Victorian poet who wrote, as
:29:02. > :29:05.kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame. He was inspired by that
:29:05. > :29:12.explosion of blue that you always see when they died down the river.
:29:12. > :29:16.It normally catches you unaware. is one of those birds that
:29:16. > :29:24.definitely captures the inspiration Of People. But we were wondering if
:29:24. > :29:29.those two birds had chicks yet. There is positive evidence. One of
:29:29. > :29:37.the adults with a fish in its beak, with the head pointing out, it goes
:29:37. > :29:41.into the hole, which is good news - - evidence. Is it to prove?
:29:41. > :29:47.comes out without the fish, and it is pointing the right way, to go
:29:47. > :29:54.down into the throat of the chicks. It is a pretty big fish, which in
:29:54. > :29:58.debate they must be quite big to swallow it. -- intimates. It goes
:29:59. > :30:04.in, and it tumbles out backwards. What has happened there? Why is it
:30:04. > :30:08.doing that? It is backing down the hall, having to turn around, and
:30:08. > :30:14.then throwing itself into the water. This all makes perfect sense and
:30:14. > :30:19.explains that there are possibly large young in the nest. It has to
:30:19. > :30:26.back down, because now the nesting chamber is so full of pain birds
:30:26. > :30:30.that it cannot go in -- baby birds. The other thing is, if there were
:30:30. > :30:36.lots of little kingfishers, the slope of the whole is designed so
:30:36. > :30:40.it channels all of the excrement out, so as the bird is having to
:30:40. > :30:47.scramble up, it is getting that all over it pressed further. The first
:30:47. > :30:51.thing he does when it comes out is it wants to clean it off. Sure fire
:30:51. > :31:01.signs we have got young in that kingfisher's nest. Charming
:31:01. > :31:01.
:31:01. > :31:05.Yesterday was not a good day for our blue tits. Six of them perished
:31:05. > :31:11.in the nest. Let's not look at the negative, let's look at the
:31:11. > :31:19.positive. We have four left and the good news is that one of them
:31:19. > :31:24.fledged. There we have the nest. We have the addled going in and you
:31:24. > :31:29.can see the four live chicks. You can see the dead ones as well. Then
:31:29. > :31:34.a brave little one pops its head out. But a beautiful shot. Thinking
:31:34. > :31:41.about it, shall I go? No, I will hang around. They huddle up, and
:31:41. > :31:47.another one hopes on. It looks like it is going to fit through the hall.
:31:48. > :31:54.Is it going to get enough courage to go out? It is looking, and
:31:54. > :32:01.offered dollars. That is one out of four that has successfully fledged.
:32:01. > :32:07.D know what, the more successful fledglings, 88%, that was the
:32:07. > :32:13.record. That is the highest. That would have been eight out of 10, we
:32:13. > :32:17.have 40% which is average. It is. The objective is to get young out
:32:17. > :32:22.of it and now they have to keep them alive until they mature. They
:32:22. > :32:25.are on a good footing. I know what is sad that we have lost some but
:32:25. > :32:30.they're still in a winning position. We're going to move from one
:32:30. > :32:36.exciting bird to another exciting birds to the most exciting bird.
:32:36. > :32:40.Live two-hour redstarts. This is the exterior of the nest. -- to
:32:40. > :32:46.hour. Typically, they would use holes but they are using an
:32:46. > :32:50.artificial box. We have some slippy youngsters, seven in their at the
:32:50. > :32:54.moment. They are cuddled up nicely. We think they are possibly going to
:32:54. > :32:58.be leaving in the next few days. But I have to say, they have not
:32:58. > :33:03.grown as much in the last couple of days as I thought they might.
:33:03. > :33:10.are not very active. It is last thing in the evening and the amount
:33:10. > :33:14.of insects being brought in will drop off. Actually what, when they
:33:14. > :33:24.get out of this nest, when they mature, let us see a real birds.
:33:24. > :33:25.
:33:25. > :33:32.Yes, oh yes. What a beauty. needless to say, Chris is a fan.
:33:32. > :33:35.They are stunning. They have been taking lots of insect prey. There
:33:35. > :33:41.have been plenty of caterpillars, and moths and butterflies. They
:33:41. > :33:49.have not been many of those on the wing today. You can clearly see
:33:49. > :33:55.that the bird's tales are red, but when will the bird -- adults get
:33:55. > :34:00.the red breasts? I was thought they would keep that until after they
:34:01. > :34:04.had migrated back to Africa, but when I checked earlier, I found
:34:04. > :34:08.that in fact six or seven weeks after they get out of the nest,
:34:08. > :34:12.they go through their Moult. Even then you can tell the difference
:34:12. > :34:19.between the males and the females. By the time they leave us, you are
:34:19. > :34:24.looking at a young males or females. Anyway, let us look at where they
:34:24. > :34:32.are on the map. The redstarts are here, and the goldcrests were here.
:34:32. > :34:38.The Kingfishers are on the river. And we are here, sat comfortably.
:34:38. > :34:44.I'm standing up. And where is Martin? He is off the map, always
:34:44. > :34:49.off the map. Let us say that he is down here. Are you OK? I am fine.
:34:49. > :34:53.I'm here for a reason. All throughout the series, we have been
:34:53. > :34:57.seeing how specialist cameras can take us way beyond our senses and
:34:57. > :35:03.see wildlife in completely different ways. We are about to
:35:03. > :35:06.turn some of that technology on one of my favourite animals, bats. We
:35:06. > :35:13.have a live camera in a batch roost and actually, if you see that
:35:13. > :35:18.building over there, the building just behind it is where the live
:35:18. > :35:22.cameras are. Let's go and look live and bat roost. There is nothing
:35:22. > :35:25.there but that is extremely interesting because we have noticed
:35:25. > :35:31.that the bass move around that building throughout the day,
:35:31. > :35:41.optimising the temperatures. -- bats. Let us remind ourselves what
:35:41. > :35:42.
:35:42. > :35:49.kind of that these are. The here they are, hanging up like bats do.
:35:49. > :35:53.These are lesser horseshoe bats, about the size of a bomb. -- a plum.
:35:54. > :35:59.They spend a lot of time preening. In winter, they will be any
:35:59. > :36:05.different roost. But this place is there summer roost. It is also the
:36:05. > :36:09.maternity roost where they are going to give birth later on. Let
:36:09. > :36:16.us throw some technology at it and have a look at what went on last
:36:16. > :36:20.night. Here is the team, Gary the sound man. We had an infra-red
:36:20. > :36:27.camera and a thermal camera which will pick up heat differences, and
:36:27. > :36:32.also a bat detector which allows us to here the cries of the lesser
:36:32. > :36:37.horseshoe. They sound like aliens. Here are the bats starting to come
:36:38. > :36:42.out early in the evening. They do this strange thing, light sampling.
:36:42. > :36:46.What are they doing? Some people think they're coming out to chick
:36:46. > :36:51.whether it is time to go out. Others think they are resetting
:36:51. > :36:56.their biological clock. I think our thermal camera shows us what is
:36:56. > :37:03.really going on. The temperature, you can see it is very raw and, the
:37:03. > :37:08.bat first, but during the day the temperature can vary enormously.
:37:08. > :37:12.And as they come out at night, they need to warm-up. These bats are
:37:12. > :37:20.flying in and out, getting the muscles up to temperature ready for
:37:20. > :37:25.the evening. A fantastic. One other thing we have noticed, also to do
:37:25. > :37:32.with temperature, is happening during the day. Have a look at this.
:37:32. > :37:36.Most of the bats inside the roost will be pregnant females. It is
:37:36. > :37:41.critical for them to maintain their body temperature. The temperature
:37:41. > :37:45.of the males could drop way down, but the females want to give birth,
:37:45. > :37:48.they want teachers to develop so they can give birth as quickly as
:37:48. > :37:55.possible and have the biggest chance of growing in the summer.
:37:55. > :38:00.They cluster together to keep warm. Fascinating. Bats are really
:38:00. > :38:03.sensitive to temperature. We will be coming back and following them
:38:03. > :38:13.throughout the rest of Springwatch and we might even get a berth but I
:38:13. > :38:15.
:38:15. > :38:19.doubt it. It is a little too late. We are down by the bird for Easter
:38:19. > :38:26.-- feeder and we have had a fiesta of mammal activity down here
:38:26. > :38:29.involving some scurrilous quarrels. Take a look at this. These birds
:38:29. > :38:33.look splendid but the squirrels like the sunflower seeds, which
:38:33. > :38:38.probably taste splendid, because this one has thrown itself a great
:38:38. > :38:45.distance on to there, sending the birds scattering. Here they are.
:38:45. > :38:55.This is beneath the feeder. You can see there is a battle going on.
:38:55. > :38:56.
:38:56. > :39:01.This is a gladiatorial arena. off my nuts! This is a scene that
:39:01. > :39:06.many people will have seen. And the pheasant comes in, thinking it
:39:06. > :39:12.might get a share. But the squirrels had other ideas. I would
:39:12. > :39:19.have put money on the pheasant. you see that? One of them pushed to
:39:19. > :39:25.the other one off. Listen to it as it falls, a dull thud as it hits
:39:25. > :39:29.the turf. A day a sway a a a expect them to be on our nuts. It always
:39:29. > :39:34.provide some comedy. But don't worry, the squirrels don't always
:39:34. > :39:43.win. Sometimes the birds get their own back. This is part two. There
:39:43. > :39:47.is the squirrels. It has a unique way of attacking this will. The
:39:47. > :39:53.crow is an intelligent bird but watch how the squirrel uses its
:39:53. > :40:01.tail as a threat. The Crow is biting its bomb and this will is
:40:01. > :40:05.still eating nuts. It doesn't care. -- the squirrels. The they're both
:40:06. > :40:12.tenacious. Anything on it now? Not de the squirrels. Have we got
:40:12. > :40:19.something in our mammals stump? What is that? Send your answers
:40:19. > :40:28.into the website! I'm going to have to say that is a vole. I was wrong,
:40:28. > :40:32.it was a mouse. It is a ball. look like another one was coming in.
:40:33. > :40:41.-- bowlfuls someone might have seen a handbag fight. It is having a
:40:41. > :40:45.great feast. No wonder it is always full. Do you think the barn owls
:40:45. > :40:49.have made some visits? I would be on a takeaway mission if I was a
:40:49. > :40:54.barn owl. Next week we should put different food in there and see if
:40:54. > :40:58.the wood mice prefer a different diet. Let's do some science. I will
:40:58. > :41:02.bring some things in, raisins, things like that. We will look
:41:02. > :41:06.forward to that. Have you ever wondered how birds got their names?
:41:06. > :41:16.Sometimes it is not as obvious as you might think. Here is Bill Oddie
:41:16. > :41:20.
:41:20. > :41:26.giving us an insight into one of our most common garden birds.
:41:26. > :41:33.Just a Wren. Actually, it really upsets me. The word is disappoints
:41:33. > :41:39.me, when bird watchers say things like, just a Wren even the common
:41:39. > :41:49.us of birds have interesting things about them. -- most common. For
:41:49. > :41:53.
:41:54. > :42:01.example, how did they get their It is a bird. And it is black. So
:42:01. > :42:05.what shall we call it? I know, blackbird. Simple as that. Actually,
:42:05. > :42:12.it is not as simple as that, because if you think about it,
:42:12. > :42:16.there are lots of blackbirds. Perukes, crows, all sorts, but
:42:16. > :42:25.backing the 18th century, all of those birds like that were known as
:42:25. > :42:35.foal. It was only the smaller birds that were called birds, so this was
:42:35. > :42:36.
:42:36. > :42:40.the only true blackbird. Why was there not a black hole? # Blackbird
:42:40. > :42:45.singing in the dead of night... Blackbirds belong to the thrush
:42:45. > :42:51.family. Along with their cousins, the song thrusts and the missal
:42:51. > :43:00.thrush. And even the red-breasted Robin is a member of the thrush
:43:00. > :43:08.family. Blackbirds are now one of the most common garden birds, with
:43:08. > :43:13.over 5 million breeding pairs. But it was not always that way. In
:43:13. > :43:18.times gone by, blackbirds were almost exclusively woodland birds,
:43:18. > :43:24.but then the fact is that. Britain was covered in woodland. Then all
:43:24. > :43:29.the trees were cleared and it became flat, featureless farmland.
:43:29. > :43:38.That did not suit the blackbirds. This is the irony, it was only when
:43:38. > :43:45.urbanisation began to spread that you go parks and gardens and walls,
:43:45. > :43:55.all of that quintessential black bird habitat. -- you got parks. If
:43:55. > :43:56.
:43:56. > :44:01.they are now very familiar sight and a very familiar sound. In fact,
:44:01. > :44:07.blackbird song has been voted as the bird song most likely to calm
:44:07. > :44:14.us down. It is therapeutic and it raises people's spirits. And
:44:14. > :44:17.relieves press. That is human beings, of course. -- relieves
:44:17. > :44:27.stress. The same survey decided that black-headed gulls were number
:44:27. > :44:28.
:44:28. > :44:38.three. And that sounds like, waah! But the blackbird is genuinely
:44:38. > :44:38.
:44:38. > :44:42.lovely. It is a conspicuous song, and loud. Apparently, it is not
:44:42. > :44:47.loud enough because in order to combat the sounds of the city in
:44:47. > :44:56.recent years, urban blackbirds have had to turn up before you and even
:44:57. > :45:01.raised their pitch. -- turn up the volume. Here is a statistic that is
:45:01. > :45:05.a pleasant surprise. You may think that you have got to just one pair
:45:05. > :45:15.of blackbirds that come and go into your garden but chances are it is
:45:15. > :45:15.
:45:15. > :45:21.actually 20 or 30 different birds It is really nice to end on a
:45:21. > :45:27.positive note, because the fact is, there are now 10 times as many
:45:27. > :45:31.blackbirds in the towns as there are in the countryside. And another
:45:31. > :45:41.thing, the ones that live in the towns live a lot longer than the
:45:41. > :45:44.
:45:44. > :45:52.Quite a good bird, a top bloke! Be just too aloof to that study, it
:45:52. > :45:57.has been conducted by a guy called David Leach, and he has ringgit 250
:45:57. > :46:02.blackbirds in his mother's back garden. He has but coloured rings
:46:02. > :46:07.on them so they can be identified as individuals. He has gone home
:46:07. > :46:11.and left his mum and all of her neighbours still identify the birds,
:46:11. > :46:15.what a brilliant scientific breakthrough! If only my mum had
:46:15. > :46:20.been out looking for badges, I might be a different person. He has
:46:20. > :46:24.found that despite the fact you think there is only a pair in the
:46:24. > :46:28.garden, sometimes at there may be 90 birds visiting, because urban
:46:29. > :46:36.areas are so rich in food, we can sustain these extraordinarily high
:46:36. > :46:42.densities. I can also tell you that another study has been looking at
:46:42. > :46:47.the fact that blackbirds are still moving into urban areas. The first
:46:47. > :46:52.colonised in Germany in 1820, and in some places, they are still a
:46:52. > :46:58.countryside of bird. Amazing to think there might be that many in
:46:58. > :47:04.your garden. They all look the same to us, blackbirds are very
:47:04. > :47:08.different, however. But amazing. haven't looked at how live pond
:47:08. > :47:13.camera, we are now going to turn it around to look at the pond. There
:47:13. > :47:19.is not much on it at the moment, but when it gets colder, it tends
:47:19. > :47:28.to be a bit quieter. At the weekend, when it was warmer, seems a long
:47:28. > :47:33.time ago! We did have some fabulous dragonflies on how pond. They are
:47:33. > :47:40.splendid animals. Evolved a long time ago, ferocious predators, they
:47:40. > :47:44.can fly faster than 30 mph. Look at this shot, you can see this animal
:47:44. > :47:50.eating a small fly it that it has captured, but what is unusual is
:47:50. > :47:55.they have three pairs of legs. You can see the rear pair, but the
:47:55. > :48:00.forelegs, it folds them up behind the head. Then it is munching away
:48:00. > :48:05.at that fly, it must have specialised mouth parts. If you
:48:05. > :48:09.look carefully, look at the hairs on the legs, when they are hunting,
:48:09. > :48:15.they know what all of them behind it down behind dead body, hold them
:48:15. > :48:18.in a symmetrical pattern so it forms a basket so when you see them
:48:18. > :48:23.swooping backwards and forwards, they are using that basket to catch
:48:23. > :48:26.those flies which they transfer to their mouth. You know what I love
:48:26. > :48:31.about an animal like a dragonfly is you take it for granted, but you
:48:31. > :48:37.look at it closer, it is absolutely fascinating. On the programme so
:48:37. > :48:43.far we have given you lots of good news, we have had blue tips and
:48:43. > :48:49.fledging, but I'm afraid to say, it is not all been good news.
:48:49. > :48:54.afraid it hasn't. You may remember how beautiful family of wood
:48:54. > :48:59.warblers, let's remind ourselves of them. They built a gorgeous nest
:48:59. > :49:03.down on the ground. It was all going well, six chicks in there,
:49:03. > :49:12.mum and dad were coming in, feeding them regularly. Things were looking
:49:12. > :49:15.good. They are a lovely little bird, glorious song there. But
:49:15. > :49:25.unfortunately, last night, all that changed, because a predator got
:49:25. > :49:28.
:49:28. > :49:34.Grant to see, it was a domestic cat, and it made short work of the nest
:49:34. > :49:40.and all the chicks. Many have you saw that on the Web cam and it
:49:40. > :49:49.caused consternation, and all of us will have strong opinions about the
:49:49. > :49:53.impact cats are now wildlife. -- on how wildlife. On Thursday, we will
:49:53. > :49:59.show you some very innovative research that is going on at
:49:59. > :50:05.Reading University. Some curious research. Be managed to fit live
:50:05. > :50:10.cameras to Catt, and it should be able to see what they are up to and
:50:10. > :50:19.what they are hunting. We hope that with that research, we can get a
:50:19. > :50:24.clearer idea of the overall impact of domestic cats on out what life.
:50:24. > :50:29.-- wildlife. We have been following hour family of peregrines come when
:50:29. > :50:37.we left them, it was pouring with rain, and one of our cameras had
:50:37. > :50:42.gone down. Things could only get better. It is 11th May. The weather
:50:42. > :50:46.has improved and our cameras up and running again. The adult male and
:50:46. > :50:56.his son from last year are perched high on a expire. But what about
:50:56. > :50:58.
:50:58. > :51:02.The female is feeding prey to her two chicks. Sadly, the third Chick
:51:02. > :51:09.didn't make it through the terrible weather, but these two look fit and
:51:09. > :51:14.well. At this age, they need about 100 grams of meat a day, so the
:51:14. > :51:20.pressure is on the adults. To feed themselves and the chicks, they are
:51:20. > :51:28.going to need to catch several birds a day. This isn't the best
:51:28. > :51:36.time to be a pigeon. Normally, the male bird does most of the hunting,
:51:36. > :51:42.while the female protects the But in this unusual family, things
:51:42. > :51:46.are different. The juvenile male is hunting a large share of the food.
:51:46. > :51:56.Having three adults to look after them is a real advantage for these
:51:56. > :52:08.
:52:08. > :52:11.A week later and the chicks are visibly growing. They have
:52:11. > :52:17.developed a second, thicker layer of down, so they don't need to be
:52:17. > :52:23.brooded by their mother on warmer days. Judging by the remains of
:52:23. > :52:30.prey, they are still getting plenty of food. They are also starting to
:52:30. > :52:40.practise grasping things in their talents. But for now, the mother
:52:40. > :52:45.
:52:45. > :52:48.In the late afternoon, the temperature drops. After the final
:52:49. > :52:57.feed, the female stays at the nest to brood could cheques for the
:52:57. > :53:00.night. -- brewed the chicks. It won't be long until these checks
:53:00. > :53:06.face the most Peronist event of their lives, taking to the air for
:53:06. > :53:16.the first time. -- perilous to stop but for now, as they settle for the
:53:16. > :53:21.night, things are looking up for It is amazing to see what
:53:21. > :53:25.difference two weeks make when you are filming, not only for the
:53:25. > :53:32.weather, but only the size of the cheques! They were so tiny and
:53:32. > :53:40.vulnerable. What are they going to be like now? Tomorrow, we will be
:53:40. > :53:47.catching up with them live, we will get an update from Bath. From one
:53:47. > :53:52.fabulous bird of prey to another, let's check out our ospreys, live a.
:53:53. > :54:00.We know we have two held the chicks under there, sadly, we did lose
:54:00. > :54:08.another one -- healthy. I'm trying to identify that fish. It could be
:54:08. > :54:12.a mullet. It could be a grey mullet. We have been looking at these
:54:12. > :54:20.ospreys, and we have been seeing them bringing in a whole range of
:54:20. > :54:27.food. Look at this. They have been diligent in recording these
:54:27. > :54:37.pictures. That was a flounder. That looks like a mullet or a bass. I
:54:37. > :54:42.think that is a seat trout. That one could be rainbow trout. I have
:54:42. > :54:48.to say, they have done such a good job at identifying the fish that
:54:48. > :54:58.they have produced for us apply a diagram. This is what they have
:54:58. > :54:59.
:54:59. > :55:06.What we are seen it is that the vast majority of food that the
:55:06. > :55:10.ospreys are taking come from the sea. So they're not using the
:55:10. > :55:13.freshwater habitats, they seem to be flying downstream, out to sea,
:55:13. > :55:17.and catching the fish, which is possibly why we haven't seen them
:55:17. > :55:22.hunting around here. Which is a shame, because it is fabulous when
:55:22. > :55:29.you see them Hunter. Astonishing to think they can see the fish down
:55:29. > :55:35.there. Shall we talk about moles? Are we not going to have a look at
:55:35. > :55:44.this? Look at this. This was earlier on. This was when the
:55:44. > :55:52.chicks were just eggs. They have done a bit of DIY. Oh my goodness!
:55:52. > :56:02.That is a bit close to the Egg! What a crazy adult bird that is.
:56:02. > :56:03.
:56:03. > :56:10.Perilously close. Fortunately, the eggs are OK. What is going on?! It
:56:10. > :56:16.is giving Bielczyk a battering. School of hard knocks! It has left
:56:17. > :56:21.it on top of the bird. They have got to be rough and tough to
:56:21. > :56:25.survive that. They're always trying to build up the strength of the
:56:25. > :56:30.nest, so they had a material to it. Let's hope to do it and little more
:56:30. > :56:38.gently! That was a day or so, and we do know that the chicks are
:56:38. > :56:44.fine! Right, moles. We saw that amazing footage, there has been a
:56:44. > :56:52.lot of love it for Malta. You have been sending us lots of lovely
:56:52. > :57:02.pictures, and this a fascinating footage. This is normal speed. That
:57:02. > :57:03.
:57:03. > :57:08.is a maul in fear. It looks like it has lasted car keys! -- lost its
:57:09. > :57:12.car keys. A fat is a young one, it is very rare to see a mile above
:57:12. > :57:17.ground. That is because the parents kicked them out of their tunnel
:57:17. > :57:23.system, and that is a very dangerous time, in the summer. You
:57:23. > :57:30.have got some figures for us. buzzard to take them in the daytime.
:57:30. > :57:35.But tawny owls absolutely hammer them at night. Up to 40% of a tawny
:57:35. > :57:45.owl's diet in June can be moles. Shall we take a look at some of our
:57:45. > :57:51.live cameras? We have got a wood mouse, loving the grape. It has
:57:51. > :57:59.been busy in there this evening. You can see where it is situated in
:57:59. > :58:08.the shot. It is swinging around in the wind. There is a bird on there
:58:08. > :58:18.now. That really is being blown around. A mouse fight! Handbags,
:58:18. > :58:18.
:58:18. > :58:26.again. It is my great! Keep your eyes on the live cameras, you will
:58:26. > :58:31.be able to continue watching those We will be back tomorrow, we will
:58:31. > :58:39.show you an animal you might think you know well. But do we know it so
:58:39. > :58:44.well? We will take an in-depth look at the world of the bunny. This is
:58:45. > :58:48.the blue tips nest, they haven't gone yet. Tomorrow, we will have to
:58:48. > :58:56.live link-up with an art peregrines in Bath, catching up with that
:58:56. > :58:59.story. We will be following all the rest of our characters, the