Episode 10 Springwatch

and it's live. We are coming to you with the usual cocktail of

ornithological enlightenment, a cascade of drama. For instance, will

outwork willow warblers... They've actually fledged. We will be

discovering the truth behind our outcast rabbits. We will be

uncovering the secret lives of our you live from Ynys-hir in Wales. Do

you think it was the ornithological enlightenment I couldn't grasp? It

could have been. For the last week or so it has been very sunny and

nice here. But the weather has changed. When we got up this

morning, the clouds had darkened, a mist was rolling in over this

beautiful reserve. Only about two and a half minutes ago rain was

falling on our heads, so I think it's set to turn. Soulful of doom

and gloom! It's been an interesting day for the weather, but has it been

an interesting day for our fledgeling chicks? Of course it has!

Would you like to say willow That's because our chicks fledged.

It was quite an interesting sledging. Have a look at this. This

is the adult coming in and feeding the chicks. Then one pops out. It

loses its nerve and quickly gets backing. Over an hour later, at

852, two brave it. One gets back in but one is very bold and flies off.

At nine o'clock, another one leaves. Four little chicks left. Two minutes

later, one pops back in, so now there are five chicks in the nest.

At 9:08am, another one pops back in. It squeezes in. The final feed for

one of them. It flies off. But will it fly back? No, it looks like he's

the leader. After a few false starts, all of them fledge. The

adults will carry on feeding them for a couple of weeks. Once they've

stretch their wings a bit, they will try and find a high spot to be out

of danger and into safety. They'll be wanting to get quite high in the

bushes, to stay out of the reach of ground predators. You will know that

one of our central dramas was around the jackdaw nest. We've got one nest

with two youngsters in it. Let's go to it now. We've been really worried

about these, they've been persistently attacked by a couple of

intruders. But they are sleeping safely in their nestbox for the time

being. In truth, I think they are now big enough to repel those

intruder attacks, it's just a question of when they will fledge.

But we were also looking at the second jackdaw nest. There was only

one chick in this nest. Let's go to it now. There's a parent outside.

Perfect timing! There it is having a nice speed. It's a much bigger

chick. Initially, we thought that this bird had escaped any sort of

attack from intruders. So it had, to begin with. But then the worst

happened. Have a look at this. There are the adults outside, but these

are intruders. In they came and had a right old go at the poor chick.

Mum or dad comes in and immediately defends the chick and get the

intruder into a grass, a vice like grip. You can see the Talon of the

parent. If you've ever had a crow on your arm, I can tell you they really

can... It's like Reservoir jackdaws in there! We noticed a curious

thing. They've been taking out the nesting material from this nest. The

parents come back and see them off, but they are not deterred. Now they

are taking the twigs out. They are taking it away to another nest very

nearby. You can just see it in the background. They've been filling

material but no eggs, no chicks. think that's what it's all been

about, the acquisition of a good nesting site. This pair of got no

intention of reading, they are just building up that nest. Their

intention is to use it next year. They will guard this throughout the

rest of the season, disappear through the winter, but they will be

back early next year to claim their space. I've been watching that

single chick. I reckon it's ready to go. It's gone up to the nest hole

box plenty of times and looked out. It is strong and flapping. Both

parents looking after one chick. We will be keeping an eye on all of our

lives, as throughout the programme. if you go to our website.

Yesterday, we introduced due to a pair of gulls living on a rooftop in

Bristol City centre. They'd built a nest but the female had rejected the

male's advances. So did he eventually managed to impress her

enough, or were all his effort is a nest but the female had rejected the

male's advances. So did he eventually managed to impress her

across the city, gulls settling down to raise a family. This tower block

is home to a particular pair of herring goals. So far, the male's

advances have been shunned. He needs to prove that he will be a good

provider for their future family. A few days later, the male returns

from a foraging trip. The female is eager to see what he's brought back.

preludes to mating. And it finally has the desired effect. By mid

April, it is a scene playing out all over the city. Buildings like our

herring goal's tower block our prime nesting locations. In the opposite

corner to the herring gulls, another pair have arrived. They have

characteristic yellow legs and dark backs. Gulls are very territorial

about their nest sites. The only way to successfully share this space is

to get to know the neighbours. The males parallel walk to establish the

boundaries between their own patches. These two pairs probably

know each other from previous years. So after the posturing is over, they

settled down in their own corners of the roof. The lesser black backed

nest has survived the winter intact, so it just need a few finishing

touches. And it's not long before the male also starts wooing his

partner with food. By the end of April there is a welcome arrival in

the herring gull nest. Two beautiful X. If all goes to plan they will

hatch in four weeks. But the eggs must be kept at just the right

temperature on the exposed roof. Too cold and they want to develop. Too

hot and they will cook. The male will do some of the brooding, but

it's the female who puts in the longest shift. Across the city,

gulls are going about their daily routines. In the docks, the morning

communal bath is under way. Gulls are meticulously clean birds,

bathing frequently to keep their feathers in perfect condition. It is

the perfect antidote to a long stint sitting on the nest. Back on the

roof, the herring gull pair are having to deal with every spring

extreme. In the midday sun the female is finding it hot work.

Whilst the male has retreated to the shade. Then a spring storm arrives

and temperatures plummet. There is no shelter up here and the eggs need

to be protected day and night. It's going to be a long and uncomfortable

wait. It's really good to see those gulls doing so well. Some species,

such as lesser black backed, are amber listed. It's not just in

Bristol. They are also increasing in Birmingham, Manchester and London.

Calling out above the rooftops as well. That lovely, piercing call. It

really bring something of the seaside into the city. Do you know

what it reminds me of? It reminds me of a gulls night out in Bristol I

once had. I was going to a barn dance. Now we can have a look at our

life on camera. Just behind the gate are two rabbits. You may remember

last week that we saw those two rabbits before. We were wondering

whether they were outcasts. Social outcasts. Let's take a look at them.

That's what we speculated, because we only really saw these two. Well,

it appears we were totally wrong because since then, on our webcams,

we've seen plenty of rabbits around the barn. There are some adults and

young rabbits as well. There's some interesting research from Diana

Bell, who was looking at the ratio of male to female kids. When they

first come out of the warrant it is fairly equal. But very soon the male

numbers drop off. It's thought the male rabbits are bolder, they go

away from the Warren and they are much easier prey, so they get

predated. The females are the dominant force in the Warren

anyway. They are the ones that rule the roost. You've heard of Usain

Bolt, have you heard of bunny bolt? This is one speedy rabbit! What

speed do you think that is? 40mph? Is that your final answer? Yes.We

tried to work it out. Look at this. We sent one of our team out to the

see how far the rabbit was running. It was 13. 9 meters. We timed the

rabbit, 1. 77 seconds. If you do GCSE maths that means it was going

at 28 kilometers an hour or 17. 7 miles per hour. You were totally

wrong. I would have been totally wrong if I had not known that. Usain

Bolt has topped 27mph. Foxes can speed along at about 42mph. They

will always get their bunny. It's not just the rabbits down by the

barn. The barn is famed for its barn owls. We have kept an eye on them.

We haven't got cameras on their nest. They have been active. They

have laid a clutch of eggs in there. They laid them three weeks late this

year, that we are not able to watch the young. Here is one of our owls

with what looks to be a shrew in it is mouth. Plenty of small mammals.

We have been watching those small mammals. Let us go live to the

interior of our Rodriguez. Never have you seen so much bait laid for

small animals. Let us look at what has been going on. Here is the

Exeteror. It's a log with a camera. It's dark inside. Look at this.

Strutting down the Broadway of our midnight log is a pygmy shrew.

tiny. It has a different nose structure. That is what tells me

it's a pygmy shrew not a common shrew. This bruiser came in. Too

much of a temptation. The grey squirrels came in and starting

eating all the bait. I will be surprised if there is none left by

the morning. Can't believe his luck! Let us check out our little wren. I

think this nest is adorable. It's a real shame that the adult isn't

there. It's a real picture. It peaks its head out of that nest.

Difficult to see into as it's a domed nest. It has a cover over it.

The most I have seen is four youngsters. They have sometimes six

or seven eggs. There could be a couple more. Poke their heads out.

Have a few days to go. It will be a couple more days before they go at

least. If we look at our marsh cam live and see if anything is on that.

Predictably we have swans. No cygnets. They don't appear to have

bred. Why that is, I'm not sure. In previous years they have done. They

could be just having a year off. Who could blame them? I must say. Let us

look at our woodpecker live? There we are. The female has come in to

feed the chicks. Calling as it flew away, having an argument. We will

look Attwood peckers later. Back to our marsh, not only does it provide

us with pretty pictures, it's an important habitat here at Ynys-hir.

It has a host of animals that rely on it. We thought we would take a

closer look at this special timeless. Yet, this is a man-made

habitat, created by raising the water level 13 years ago. At the

start of the millennium. The marsh is now home to a wonderful variety

of life a thriving watery ecosystem. During the spring everything is

breathing here. All this new life requires suss sten nans. It's here

in abundance for those who know where to look. The water birds find

much of their food under the surface. The coots are taking

advantage of the insect larvae which is a rich food source for their

young. A moorhen plucks tag poles from beneath the water. -- tadpoles.

Freshwater like this provides a nursery for developing amphibians

like tadpoles and insects. Many species, include including midges

straddle both worlds, developing below the surface until they emerge

and take to the wing. Then they make an easy meal for migrants like

require heavily on aqat ya -- aquatic plants for food -- aquatic.

An otter, from the nearby river, swims into the marsh. Otters will

hunt water fowl, particular particularly the young. They are not

the only predators that hunt eels in birds take their broods back into

the shelter of the reeds, where they has just begun. Now, this could end

really badly. I'm not just looking at the marsh, I'm in the marsh. I

have been doing pond dipping. It smells delicious down here! In that

film... Whoops we saw those wild fowl eating tadpoles. What sort were

they eating? Believe it or not, you can tell the difference. We have

been filming them in micro world. The frog tadpoles have a golden

sheen on them. Here they are, gleaming. You can see the legs

starting to develop. Toad tadpoles look completely different. They are

much darker, they haven't got that golden sheen. Adult toads are toxic.

The tadpoles also have toxins in them as well. Even the eggs have

toxins in them. Now you can tell the difference between tadpoles. We have

been watching the magical process taking place, the change from a

tadpole into an adult frog or toad. Here it comes. Here's the tadpole.

The most obvious thing that you notice, always used to do this as a

kid, is that the legs and arms start to appear. That son the outside. The

things happening inside are more fascinating. The cartilage of the

tadpole is turning into the bone of the frog. The long intestines of the

vegetarian tadpole are turning into the short intestine of the adult

frog. The entire underer water apparatus are turning into air

breathing lungs. An astonishing transformation. You can watch it at

home. There are lots of other things you can do in a delicious pond like

this. There is lot of suggestions in the summer of wildlife booklet. You

without falling over. Down on the marsh we have, of course, I'm

syncing in, we have ducks, particularly mallard. We have been

filming the Mall lard. Let us go live to our mallard in the farmyard.

Here she is sitting there. There she is. Now, I'm convinced that those

eggs, I don't know how much she has under there, are going to hatch out.

We will see them doing the long march from the farmyard down to the

river, which is 400 meters away from where she is. She has been a little

tiny bit edgy today. Hopefully, they may hatch out before, oops, before

we leave Springwatch. So, colour. Let us think about those ducks? The

duck colour is very striking. The female is a sort of brown colour,

but the male is much more striking. Here is the female. The male in

front. Look at the dramatic difference. They is so dressy. Now,

how does nature manage to come up with such amaze amazing colours, and

why does nature come up with them? Chris has been investigating. Here

biggest showoffs in the animal kingdom, they dazzle us with all the

colours of the rainbow, but a bird's colour obviously didn't evolve to

delight our eyes. It's part of an evolutionary master plan. So what

creates these colours? Well, it's all down to the play of light. You

see feathers are made of a protein similar to what we find in our hair

and nails. They absorb some wave lengths of light but reflect others.

It's the reflected light which reaches our eyes. When no light is

reflected we see black. When all wave lengths are reflected, we see

white. The breast feathers of the a robin contain pigments that absorb

every wave length of light, except red. There are two main pigments

involved. The birds acquire them from eating plant material. They

create the orange and yellows seen in birds like goldfinches. Then

colours from blacks to browns to pale yellows. Combinations of these

act like an artists mixing palette to produce a range of other hugs as

well. Mel anyone strengthens feathers explaining the black wing

tips of birds like gannets where extra durability is very important.

There are some colour that is we see that are not produced by pigments.

We call these structural colours. They are generated as a result of

the form of the feather itself. For instance, the dazzling blue of the

kingfisher is one such structural colour. Created as a result of tiny

air pockets trapped in the kertin that scatter blue wave lengths on

impact. When it's layered, patterns are generated randomly then we see

the shimmer, typical of star lings and magpies. So now the key question

- why are birds coloured in the first place? The most spectacular

birds are often exhibitionists, males looking to get noticed. The

kaleidoscope of colour, decorating a male pheasants, is a visual show of

health to the females. Being bold and bright makes a bird an obvious

target. A fit and healthy male can be this showy and escape the

attentions of predators. Females want to the mate with the fittest

male around. The fittest are the showiest. Over millennia, female

choice has driven these males to become even more ornate. More often

than not, female birds look completely different. This is an

example of sexual die mother fillsism the females often look drab

and for a very good reason. They need to keep a low profile whilst

incubating their eggs. Birds like this are coloured for a cam flag.

Rarely, the roles are reversed. In red neck, the females are the

showier, they fight for the attention of the male, who are dull

in comparison. They are responsible for incubating the eggs and rearing

the offspring. In many other species the sexes often look identical. In

monotonous species, the females are looking for parental skills and

family support from the males, rather than just flamboyance.

here, the males haven't been selected to look any different. But

perhaps the biggest surprise of all is what the birds see themselves.

Their world is even more vibrant than ours. Many birds, like

starlings, see more colours than us. They can see into the ultraviolet

range. When they rotate their feathers, they reflect different

wavelengths depending on the angle, making them iridescence. So although

these birds look spectacular to us, they may look even more spectacular

to each other. What about you, do you like a colourful bird? Yes!I

prefer mine black and white. Really? But the starling is a perfect

example of a bird many others take for granted. If you look at it

closely, it's very beautiful. Stunning things. They are fantastic.

Talking of colourful birds, let's have a look again at our

woodpeckers. The chick was just poking his little head out.

Yesterday, we were talking about the fact that our nest watchers have

been very diligently watching that nest and have noticed there are four

different chicks. They were telling me that they've noticed it because

the red feathers on their head a very different. And they really are.

Take a look. Here comes the parent. One pokes its head out. You can see

the red feathers. That is chick 1-macro. You see how different

chicks two is. It only has a few red feathers. That's chicks free. Check

four is rather splendidly bred. You can see they are all individuals.

You can tell. I thought the differences would be really subtle

but they are not, they are quite obvious. All credit to our nest

reporters. What's happening with our stonechats? These birds are not up

in the woods, they are down the other side by the marsh. Let's see

what they've been up to. They've got two Young in the nest. These young

are about 12 or 13 days old now. The female disappeared for a day

yesterday, but she's now back beating them, 20 of insects. The

male is coming in to. They can hang around in the nest for up to 17 days

if they don't get disturbed. These birds at the moment don't look as

though they are going anywhere, when they are getting so much attention

from both parents. A little bit of stretching there, but I think that's

more eager to get the food than anything else. The stonechat is an

onomatopoeic name. It sounds like the call that the bird makes. Let's

get two stones and bang them together, you can replicate that

sound. I don't think that sounds like it at all. Two 10p is. Listen.

That sounds far more like it. to agree with you. But they are not

called 10p chats, are they? They are called stonechat! Let's hear again.

All right then. 10p chat from now on. Let's go live to them now. They

are being fed right now by the male. If he just backs off, you will

see... They are still quite small. They've been growing very slowly.

Compared to the speed of the willow warblers. The stonechats have been

very slow in their development. Which is surprisingly cos there are

only two of them. It doesn't seem like our stonechats are going to

fledge in the next couple of days, but I reckon our redstarts will. You

can't believe how much these chicks have grown. This is what they looked

like on Thursday. What a difference a few days make. This is them today.

They look like completely different chicks. Look at that wing flapping!

These birds are really ready to go. You can even see the red on their

tail. Unlike the stonechats they are very well named. Let's see if they

are going to the entrance of the squashed. One hasn't gone already,

has it? There's the parent coming back in. There are eight chicks in

there, which is quite remarkable. They bred at exactly the right time.

They bread when the weather got a bit warmer, so there was plenty of

food available. When you've got eight hungry mouths to feed, that's

a jolly good job. Let's take a look of what they've been feeding on. In

comes the female and then the male takes over. We've noticed that the

male and female don't like to be in the nestbox together. They've been

feeding mainly on caterpillars. A few winged insects as well. It's

amazing that because they hatched at the right time, all eight chicks

have survived. If they had hatched when it had been a bit colder, it

would have been unlikely to still have eight little mouths to feed.

Our diligent nest watchers have been keeping an account of how many times

the adults have been visiting each nest. We have a bar chart which

shows the number of visits per hour per chick. If you look down here,

where are our redstarts? That amazing. Eight chicks in there and

that's per chick. 40 visits an hour. The woodpecker is at the bottom.

We've had to guess the number of chicks in there. On average, we are

looking at about three or four visits per chick per hour. The other

thing they've been looking at its this. The type of prey that has been

brought in. They've separated it into two easy categories,

Caterpillar and flying insects. The vast majority of the food for the

redstarts, nearly 75% of it, is caterpillars. Compared to the willow

warbler, when it is even more of that. This is because the willow

warblers are taking caterpillars of the trees. Not taking as much in the

air or on the ground. The great spotted woodpecker, a lot more

caterpillars. It is very simple science. You can be doing this by

looking out of your window at your nestbox. This science can sometimes

be really valuable, and it's important that we amateurs keep it

up. When I was a kid I used to go out looking for birds nest at the

time, counting the nest, making little maps, filling in the nest

record cards. Sadly, not so many people are doing it these days, but

looking for birds nest with my best mate, Joe. To be honest, we weren't

very good at it. That's not surprising because finding birds

nests requires some really skilful, subtle field craft. We are going to

try and find some nests today. To do that, although I know the basics, we

are going to need some help. I'm in Norfolk, at the British trust for

ornithologist reserve. They have devised a code of conduct to follow

when -- making sure the birds are not disturbed when searching for

nests. David Leach is on hand to show me how to safely explore the

secretive world of nesting birds. Looking for birds nests, it's got a

bit of a bad reputation in some peoples minds. I think that's

right. There's certainly a stigma attached to egg collecting being the

reason people go near nests. There's also a real concern about birds

deserting if they nest is approached. Actually, that's if we

are trying to dispel. The whole focus of the birds is to reduce

those chicks at the end of the nesting cycle. Unless there is an

incredibly powerful reason, which is the fear that she herself will be

predated, the female is not going to desert that nest. Shall we go

nesting? Let's go nesting!When you are looking for nests, you have to

spend time just watching. Lots of time. Look in places where birds are

likely to be nesting. There is a thick cover of dense vegetation. If

the female is sitting tight on eggs, she won't be easy to spot. So you

can use your ears, too. I've just heard the really distinctive contact

call of the chiffchaff. That suggests there is a female

incubating at the moment. She make that call when she comes off the

eggs. She makes it quite incessantly. Tweet, tweet, tweet.

That literally tells you she's got eggs. Tells us the species, the

stage of the nest and hopefully will tell us where that nest is. It's

basically one of the only species where you might be able to find the

nest without ever actually seeing the bird at all. Shall we have a

quick look? We are looking in the tangle around here. This is exactly

the sort of... Did you see her then? She shot off the nest. If you are

standing where I am now... You can just see where she came out from.

You can see straight into the nest. Can you see how many eggs are there?

At least four from here. They usually have five to seven.

never have found that in a million years! Having come to the eggs, it's

important that we move away and allow the female back to brood and

keep them warm. So we found the nest by tuning into the behaviour of the

bird. It's given us a fascinating glimpse into a hidden world. There

are many questions we need to answer about nests. How many are

abandoned, how many predated, laying dates dash and these are questions

that can only be answered by reawakening the ancient art of nest

binding. Those first skills are known as cold searching and watching

back. The next technique Dave wants to show me is tapping off. That is a

bit more hands-on. What you are trying to do is simulate the

movement of a large animal, say a deer or something like that. So you

are not working it to frighten her off the nest, it's much more gentle.

Exactly. You are mimicking the approach. You are listening for the

little flick of wings. She won't fly out of the bush but she maybe will

flake off a foot away from the nest, so she can watch what's going on.

May I have a practice? Like that? And then listen. Then you just move

I didn't see what it was. fact... Look. There is nesting

there. That is undisputedly a dunnock's nest. Touch the eggs very

softly. They are warm. I didn't quite do it right. She wasn't meant

to fly off, but we did find the nest. It's not an exact science, it

can't be perfect always. Nest binding is a delightful way to spend

a few hours. To me, this kind of field craft is more like an art

form. But it's really important because it only by monitoring and

collecting data on nests that we can get a true picture of the health of

our nation 's birds. I'm down here in the marshy area, about a mile

away from the main production area. This would be a perfect place to do

a bit of bird nesting. The whole reason for doing that bird nesting

is to gather information. The British trust for ornithology, who

are driving the initiative, told me today that they've only got around

650 nest recorders in the whole of the UK. That, folks, isn't enough,

so they really need your help, particularly with garden birds as

well. If you feel like helping, go will link you through and teach you,

show you how to go out bird nesting without disturbing the birds

themselves. We've been doing it here, of course, on all of our

nests. These are the recording cards you get. That's our water rail one,

we've got buzzards and so on. We'll be sending all of these off to the

question. From Debbie: I saw two bees feeding on a rhododendron bush

one had yellow patches on its legs the other had bright orange, were

they two different species of bee? They weren't. We can show you what

is going on. Look at the pouches on their legs, white one, yellow one,

even another one comes up it has pink. Those bees are gathering

pollen from different plants. That accounts for the different colour.

They are all the same species. They They are all the same species. They

are all in the nest. This has so much of that pollen it can't quite

squeeze into the nest itself. That is what is going on with those

different colours. They have special cones on their legs to catch that

pollen from the plants they visit. We have been watching the nest very,

very carefully overnight. The bees have done a curious thing. Here is

the nest, speeded up. As darkness fell the bees sealed up the holes

around the nest. The outer lining of the nest, they seal it up

completely. Morning time, they open it back up. What they are doing

clearly is keeping it nice and warm in there overnight. In the morning,

they are opening it back up. It's, clearly, a sort of, air conditioning

system to keep the nest nice and warm. We can go live to the nest and

have a look. Here is the nest. I'm always looking for the Queen. She is

much, much bigger than those workers. The Queen controls

everything by produce producing fer moans. They stop development of

Queens and eggs. They have a profound effect on the whole colony.

What she will do she will stop producing it and new queens will be

produced. You might remember, you might have heard according to

physics bees should not be able to fly. That was based on research by

German scientists in the 1930s. It wasn't until 2009 when a scientists

in Oxford thought he had solved the whole conundrum. We have been

filming them with our high-speed camera. We can show you what is

going on. Here are the bees in ultra slow motion flying off. Yes, the

wings are very, very small. They are not very good at aero dynamically at

all. Look at the size of the body? It's absolutely massive. It's packed

with muscle. Of course, they are using very high energy, high-octane

fuel, nectar. What is happening, those bees are overcoming the

problem of their little wings by having enormously powerful muscular.

Like having a formula 1 car with tiny little wheels. Brilliant. We

have restreeld with our high-speed cameras. Now back to Chris and

Michaela. Nice to see an insect on our cameras rather than a midge.

had one in my eye, now I can't see. Besides that. I had them up my nose

and ears, you don't want to know where we have had them? The bees is

a live camera we introduced you to yesterday. We introduced you to the

songthrush. Let us look at it live. They are four chicks, two to three

days old. You can see it perfectly little nest in the slubery. What has

it been doing over the last 24-hours? Well, what you expect, a

lot of feeding. We presume this is the female. The male comes in with

food, she gets off. If you listen closely, you can hear a little bit

of calling. I presume that is the male. It's pretty difficult to tell

the two the apart. A lot of feeding going on there. They have a long way

to go those chicks. They are only a couple of days old. Delightful

birds. They are not the only spotted thrush that we have here at this

time of year. Look at this, we spotted a mistle. This is larger

than the songthrush. If you have a large garden you will find them.

They feed in different places on slightly different things as well. I

suppose many people might think they are quite similar. We have a simple

ID guide to separate them. Here are the two: Mistral tlush is larger

with more separated spots on its feathers. The song is the best way

of separating them. They will sing in springtime, in the most

horrendous weather. The song thrush will wait until later year. Do you

know another name for them? Marvis. In Shakespeare's time, apparently!

Let us catch up with our urban gulls. We left the female looking

soggy and braving the elements sitting on her eggs on the nest, but

gull family have been waiting four weeks for their two eggs to hatch.

On the exposed rooftop they have experienced all weathers, from

sweltering sunshine to rain and even hale. They proved to be dedicated

parents. They simply hunker down agitated. The male wants to incubate

the eggs, but the female just won't budge. Perhaps, she knows something

reveals tiny cracks appearing in the eggs. She can hear the chicks

so they patiently continues to wait. Then, the rain clouds roll in. Not

of movement. Unlike other chicks, which hatch naked and helpless, the

young gulls have a covering of camouflage down and their eyes are

wide open. They immediately start to appetites, setting their parents a

new challenge. Fortunately, the city below offers a steady supply of

leftovers. Although, one hungry chick doesn't quite know how to

the safety of the nest and their mother's warmth to sleep and digest

weather can turn bad, it can also improve. Now, the chicks decide to

continue to grow, the adults must bring in the most constant stream of

their parents beak which stimulates them to recourage Tate a meal. Gulls

enjoy a wide diet and will eat insects, fish, and even small

mammals. But are chicks favourite food -- our chicks' favourite food

seems to be worms. Until now the herring gull chicks haven't had a

care in the world, but this may not last because they are no longer

alone in the nursery. On the other side their neighbours, the lesser

black backed gulls also now have mouths to feed. They have hatched

three eggs which look very similar to the herring gull chicks and are

just as demanding. For now, both pairs seem occupied with keeping

their families fed. In the coming days, the herring gull chicks will

grow in confidence and begin to move further from the nest. They will be

in danger of straying into black backed territory. These protect

protected -- protective parents will not tolerate trespasser, however

secret lives up above the city, above shops, garages, all that urban

mess, just up there all of that sun folding. Fantastic. Good strategy

that is why they are doing so well. No ground predators. No foxes. They

have the peregrines to worry about when they fledge. This has been sent

in from Tony and this is a Black-headed gull. If you can see it

has a black-headed gull chick and a moorhen chick. What is going on

there? Tom Clare sent us film of it as well. Here is the same

black-headed gull feeding both of its chicks and the moorhen. What

happened here is that the gull invaded a moorhen nest with one egg

in it. The gull laid its eggs and incubated them and they hatched out.

It is thinking that that moorhen chick is one of its own chicks that

is why it looked after it. It fedded it for 10 days. It would have been

fascinating to find out what happened in the end. Sadly, one of

the chicks and the moorhen were predated. That is a shame. We will

do more gulls tomorrow. We will have an update on our urban gulls.

we go around our live cameras. Excuse my attire. The blackbirds.

They look like they are ready to go, don't they? Lovely. Beautiful. That

is all we have time for, isn't it, I think? Are our redstarts going to

go? Are they going to go, that is the cliff-hanger tonight. I thought

they would go today. Look like autumn leaves ready to fly out of

the nest. Do join us tomorrow we will look at the island of Lundy and

all of the life online and on sea. And the habitat creation done here

at Ynys-hir to attract new species of birds like this nightjar. You can

find us on the red button or online you can go there for Springwatch

extra right now. We are on tomorrow at 7. 15pm for an extra special long