Episode 11 Springwatch

It is Springwatch and we are live, and it is our penultimate show, but

we have masses to pack in. Like a trip to the romantic island of Lundy

off the North Devon coast. We will bring you the latest chapter in our

seagull saga. Iolo Williams will be joining us from the seagull's home

in Bristol. We will keep you updated on our feathered star cast. Did the

redstarts fly the nest? Or did they decide to enjoy the security of the

nest box for another day. They said they wanted more. They

did. We are giving you almost 15 minutes more. Welcome to a

superspecial slightly extended I don't know where she gets that

energy from. If I had half of that I could probably rule the world.

Welcome to Springwatch coming to you from the RSPB reserve at Ynys-hir in

Wales. We have had a mixture of weather, we have had sunshine, we

have had showers, tonight, it is threatening to rain, I have to say,

but whatever happens, it won't dampen our spirits. We have had the

woods bugged here. We have been sticking our noses into the species

of animals. We have great action tonight, and we are saving more for

tomorrow. Not only am I full of energy, I am full of positive

attitude. It is not going to rain in the next hour and 15 minutes. We

have a lot to pack in tonight. We have a little bit of drama, a

spattering of science and a sprin ing willing of beauty. Mix that up,

what do you get? A trifle.Among the other things you get top naturalist

Nick Baber, he is live tonight to inspire us to get involved with the

BBC's Summer of Wildlife. Today it has not been Springwatch it has been

fledge watch. All the birds here have been fledging or threatening to

fledge. It has been like a departure lounge. We haven't been able to keep

up. One that has been keeping us on tenterhooks has been the redstarts.

Let us go live to the nest. There it is on the outside. And inside...

is on the outside. And inside... Absolutely nothing. I have to tell

you that this has happened in the last few minutes. It all started

last night, when we came off air, let us remind oust, let us go back a

bit to the 1 June. Here were the chick, eight of them. There is the

male. Now they were really ready to go out. Exercising those wings. We

didn't see them leave. They were threatening to. Last night, the

parents were still going in. The chicks were going, having a look out

of the nest hole. The parents seem to be urging them

to come out. Offering them titbit, come out, come out. Very odd,

because we thought they would wait until the morning. But they didn't.

There goes the first one. We thought, are they all going to

come out now? The parents coming back, come on, come out. Little bit

difficult this, because when they do come out, here comes the second. Two

minutes later. They should go up into a tree. Don't go down on to the

ground. It is starting to get, another one, starting to get dark

now. Hard for us to see and record what is going on. Here we are,

nearly 9.30. That went downwards, not so good. This one stood on his

brothers and sisters, looked out. But did not go. So we ended up with

a very curious situation there, with four out and four in. It is really

surprising, that they went at that time of night. That is exactly what

our great tits did, which is unusual behaviour, isn't it. It is. Since we

have been watching our nest on Springwatch we find that these types

of birds flergely in the morning, and this morning I read through the

scientific literature, not much work has been done but in American

sparrow, which have been studied more intensetively most fledge

between 6.30 and 12.30 midday. Most of the brood leaves within a two

hour her youed. Which makes sense, you want them to be together so it

is easy for the adults to feed them. The morning our cameramen went down

to see what was going on. Here we are, I don't know how they managed

to do this. Here are the chick, they found them in among the trees there.

The parents are going to have to feed them. Here comes the parent.

This chick is doing the sensible thing. It sup on a branch. Out of

harm's way. This is not so good. We have seen grass snake, weasels

coming in down there. This one also is down on the ground, in a

sheltered spot. They should get up. This one tries to get up. He has the

right idea but it hasn't got the wing power yet. Here is dad, coming

down, to carry on feeding them. So there we are, in a very curious

situation. We have got four still in the box, four out of the box. So

what was going to happen? This the very latest information. The last

four still inside the box, come on mum says, get out. I am not going to

spend the time feeding you in here. It is time to go out into the big

wide world. There goings one. No that was mum coming out. Here comes

a chick. Waiting. Quite late lunchtime. They haven't read the

literature, Chris. Second one. Sixth one rather. Seventh. Look how late

this is getting. We have been trying to follow this all day. This is,

just hours ago, a couple of hours ago.

And the last one is out. There it is. Empty nest and we have been

following, here they are, out again, we got this footage just minutes

before we came on air. The parents are feeding them. What a

wonderful success story this is. There is a little chick. Watch what

this chick does in a second. Look at that little tail.

Typical, adult redstart behaviour, in that tiny little chick.

Brilliant. Fantastic all eight of them successfully fledged. Which is

a huge number, really for redstarts. What triggers them to fledge?

question. We think it is physiological. There is blood

components which trigger it. But it is their wing length. They seem to

sense when the wings are long enough they might be able to fly. Other

studies have shown the heavier they are when they leap out of the box,

the greater chance of survival that they have. One last thing, which we

have only reKently discovered. The BTO let us know this today, another

study has shown if they fledge early, they have a greater chance of

survival. Why is that?That is a good question. We don't have the

answer. More work needs to be done. That is very odd. Of course it has

been a fledge then here. Not just the redstarts, let us go live to

black birds. Typically they will fledge after 13.6 days. These black

birds are in their 14th day, so at the moment they are running eight

hours late. They have been up, they have been jumping about today, but

they have returned to the nest. They are hanging on. They will hang on

some times for a few more days but if they are disturbed, they might

leave slightly earlier. We hope of course they won't get disturbed. Let

us go live to the woodpecker, they are involved in this fledge athen.

One of the youngsters has its head out. They typically fledge after 24

days, that is how old we think they are. The parents have to work very

hard to coke these chicks out. -- coax. What they typically do is

land, go up to the entrance, offer the youngsters a titbit, an insect

of choice and back down the trunk and theems out. To get the lot out

can take a whole day. If today is a fledging airport, the jaw Dawes are

also in the waiting room. Ready to depart. I reckon they should be

flying out too. Let us look at the single jackdaw. That is the nest

box, in the barn. And this jackdaw is looking amazingly fit and strong,

and really rather old, and should be flying out of that box any time now.

It is about four to five weeks old, so, keep your eye on the jackdaws as

well. Could be busy with those little departure birds taking off.

Now, since Monday we have been following the fortunes of two pairs

of gulls that are nesting on a rooftop in Bristol. Well, Iolo joins

us live from the city centre to give us an update.

Welcome to to Bristol. We have been dodging rain storms for the last two

hour, it is dry now. From the balcony, a lovely view, the old

docks, and for the last couple of days we have been following a family

of herring gulls here on Springwatch. The nest is up on top

of that travel blue building you can see. We have a camera there -- tall.

We can go live to the camera. We can see what is going on. The chicks are

huddled down on the nest. I am not surprised because we have had heavy

rain, they were preening but they have given up the ghost. If you were

watching yesterday, you will know that the chicks have started to

wander out of that nest. Of course the older and the bolder they get,

the further they wander. Often, that High above the hustle and bustle of

the city, the drama has continued to unfold.

The herring gull chicks are two weeks old, and growing in size and

confidence. On the other side of the roof, their

neighbours brood of three, the hers black back chicks are also keen to

explore. -- hers. The territory of both

families is marked by a distinct but invisible boundary. This is

something the chicks are struggling to understand.

The sight and smell of a tasty more sell is enough to tempt one of the

black backed chicks into herring gull territory.

The tiny trespasser treats to his parents' side of the roof unscathed

but the incursion doesn't go unnoticed by the herring gulls.

It prompts a flurry of territorial BIRDS CRY THE LONG CALL MEANS KEEP

OUT. Spreading your wings makes you look bigger.

And sitting down may be a way of calming the situation, without

either of the birds losing face. All this helps to avert a real

fight. It is rare that encounters like this

result in serious injury. With so many gulls raising their

families on roofs across the city, it is just as well they have a way

of settling disputes peacefully. Gull, they are quarrel some birds

but we are lucky, the two pairs on the roof behind me, they have nested

together that the site for several year, so they kind of know each

other, they tolerate each other. Come with me, I have a couple of

props, don't worry, these are dead gull, given to us by Bristol museum.

These are full adult, it is easy to distinguish between them. Look at

the colour on the back. This the herring gull. The back is a light

blue grey colour. If we are go over to the lesser black back gull. It is

darker, slaty grey back. The herring gull, it is a big bird. You are

talking about a five feet, a metre and a half wing span. There is

something I wanted to show you, that we filmed the other day. Have a look

at this. These are the two herring gull chick, they are in bright

sunshine here now. They are only two weeks old, but despite that, they

are exercising their wings, they are making sure the big flight muscles

are developing. They will be in that nest for another four week, they

won't fledge until they are six weeks old, but they are already

exercising the wing, and this is happening all over Bristol, and when

you think there are over 2,000 pairs here, that is incredible and later

on, I will look at how, what is fundamentally a seaside bird has

become so successful in a human decline in bird species what is a

pleasure it is to see a group of birds surviving inspite of us,

living in our environment and blooming. Let us go live to our

wrens. You see, we think this little chicks in here are about 13 days

old. They typically will only fledge early at 14. More typically, 15, 16

days old. If you look at their beaks they look quite young. The a adults

have been bringing in food to them. The female is the principal adult

involved in this. It would be rare for the male to be feed feeding

them. He has probably found another female somewhere. She is doing

brooding today. Tidying up. It could be another couple of days before

they go. Lovely to see her working, building that nest. The wrens will

be going all around here looking for small tiny little insects to feed to

those chicks. They might have been looking for an insect that we have

been exploring in micro world. In the past week there has been cuckoo

spit. It looks like someone has been spitting on the plants around you.

In the old days they thought cuckoos came out of cuckoo spit. They were

chumps. How could they think that? We have been exploring it. There is

the cuckoo spit. You have seen it around. What is inside? It is

actually the nimph of a froghopper. It's tiny. To protect itself it

plugs its mouth parts into the plant. It absorbs the fluid going up

into the plant. The sap. It starts to blow bubbles out of its bottom.

Just filling the zap moving through its body with air bubbles. That is

it his little bottom. The spit protects it in two ways. It stop it

is drying out. It's distasteful to predators. That is how big it is.

Kids don't try that at home. Don't try that at home. What amazing

footage. They have done, very, very well. Incredible.Now, the

froghopper itself, the adult that one turns into, is one of nature's

Olympians. It can leap far, far higher than a flea. We have managed

to film it leaping. Don't blink. Have a look at this. Here is a

froghopper, the adult. And that it was actually leaping. Hang on. A

scientists in Cambridge has filmed that in slow motion. Look at that.

That leaps in one Milly second. We blink it takes us 400 Milly seconds

to blink. When they are joined together, the poor male at the back

is taken for a Don't ride. That the a home either? They leap incredibly

fast, they experience 400 g as they leap. Someone, an astro not -- ahs

row nought will experience 5g. reason they create the foam is to

were text the nymph it's distasteful. Have you tried it?

I would like to. We will find some and do it. We have been looking at a

group of bees. They are in one of our birdboxes. They are buff-tailed

bumblebees. They seem to be constantly removing and then

replacing the envelope which covers the cells. If you look into the

centre there, this means we can now see the Queen. The leader of this

colony of bees. You can see those little round cells. These

buff-tailed bees are essential pollinators in the environment here.

They are large insects. They will be busy first thing in the morning and

last thing at night. They are a group of insects, the bumblebees, we

are quite worried about in terms of their numbers. We have been watching

them now for the last few days. We noticed all sorts of things

happening. The colony is expanding. Look to the top of your screen. This

bee looks paler. Its stripes are not yellow, they are in fact white. This

is what we call a callow. It means it's a freshly emerged bee. You see

it in wasps, hornetings and bees. After a couple of day it is will

turn yellow. Its wings will harden. It will tend the nest or forage.

When they go out to forage they have a favourite plant these group of

bumblebees, the foxglove. Look at this. There are plenty of foxgloves

growing close to our nestbox. They are frequently being visited by our

bees. The flowers are very obvious to the bees. They are nice and tall.

They stand up to a meter-and-a-half tall. There is a good chance they

will get pollinated, even if the weather is bad and the bees can't

get out. They are purple in colour which means it's easy for the bees

to spot them. What we have got here is an extraordinary example of a

plant and an insect working together. Here is a cross sectional

view of the foxglove flower. It has a massive lip down here, it's

perfect for the bee to land upon. There are a number of small hairs

here. Now, the large bumblebee will brush straight through those, it

will stop smaller insects getting into the flower and pinching all the

next Article. The flower wants the bee to go up this tunnel, following

this line of spots, which increase in their density up here, it reaches

down into here with its tongue. By which stage, essentially, these here

are touching the back of the bee. So, the reward for the bee is the

next Article. The reward for the plant is the fact it puts pollen

onto the back of the bee. A fantastic piece of evolution. I feel

a time for a cultural interlude. Fox are poisonious. In old days people

used to take it if they had seizures. Someone who took it

regularly, we see pictures of foxgloves in his pick too turs is

van golf. We think it inspired his yellow period. One of the side

effects is see seeing has around starry light. There are other

animals that are much more difficult. We have been down to Nick

Baker's wood to explore. If there is one habitat that postively screams

spring at this time of year, then it is the woodland. Everything is on

the spray except for the mammals. Mammals are difficult to see. They

are doing a bit of spring cleaning. That means a lot of the holes in

which they live are much more obvious. Here are some of the top

mammal holes that you might encounter when you are out on a

woodland walk. One resident mammal you are likely to see signs of is

the badger. They live in a complex lap Brit of under grount tunnels

known as a sett. They can have as many as 40 openings. This is a

badger hole. It is clearly active. 30cms across, it is badger-shaped.

The other give away sign is a huge pile of soil surround being the

holes no. Other British animal shifts rocks that big when they are

excavating. That is clearly the work of a badger. All the signs tell me

badgers live here. There is one sure fire test. A trick I learnt off a

Native American. You lick your hand, then you press it on the soil in the

mouth of the burrow. Usually what happens, there is one there. A

badger hair. It's clearly a badger hair because the hair is

fundamentally white. In the middle of that hair is a band of black.

That is what makes a badger look grey. There you are. It ticks all

those boxes. Right. This is quite a familiar sight along the edge of a

foot path or a bank. This place is riddled with quite large runs. These

are rabbit holes, the collective for rabbit holes is a rabbit warn, this

is it. -- warren. The size of the hole is a give away. Much smaller

than a badger. Same short of shape, I guess, 8-15cms across. There is

one other telling sign to look for. Right down here, you can see these

are rabbit droppings. Rabbits are territorial. This is like a little

sensory signpost for these animals. This tells me, without doubt, these

holes belong to rabbits. Badger and rabbit holes are not too hard to

identify. When it comes to foxes it's not quite so straight-forward.

Foxes are opportunists and sometimes they inhabit someone else's burrow.

Now, this is a bit of a confusing hole. It doesn't have a soil heap

outside of it, it could have been a badger at some point. There is a

whiff of fox here. It's tricky to get across on camera. If it smells

strong and pud gent it's almost certainly fox. To confirm who lives

in this hole, I deploy a little technology. Right. Let us see what

we get. What did you get? A squirrel. Everybody gets squirrels?

We normally get squirrels. We got a result. We got a fox. You got a fox?

It explains the smell. We thought he would go down the bank into the

hole. He looked around slowly and walked off. At night he comes back.

He is going to go in the hole this time, he doesn't do that either. The

jury is still out. That could be his hole. Good tracking skills. You

smelt there was a fox. There was. That is what you got on the camera.

It's not an exact science. You have to feel your way round. I have been

looking for signs in our local patch. All these holes, woodpecker

holes, they are getting the grubs out. What are the smaller holes?

It's like woodworm. This is great. Like woodworm a beetle comes along

and lays its egg under the bark, this grubb chews away underneath the

surface of the wood, digesting the wood. As he chews away, then... We

have some footage of one there. is it. Not high action. It's slow

process. Digesting wood is tricky, hard work. He is like a piece of

blown-glass sculpture. That transparent skin. He doesn't need

pigments because he is in the wood. He doesn't need camouflage. Wouldn't

life be amacing if we were transparent. You could see what you

had for dinner. Like telling a story with wood. Track animals whether it

is badgers or rabbits, it's all here. You string them together and

you get a story. It's amazing what you can find if you take time to

look. It's something you can do as part of summer of wildlife. Look

more tips. One thing to look for signs of wildlife, another to create

habitats for wildlife. It's one thing that the RSPB here at Ynys-hir

are particularly good at. For example, the raised bog where we

filmed our nesting birds this series that was a bog makeover on a massive

scale. Martin went out to find out Ynys-hir. It's a tremendously

important habitat. Just to give you some idea, the birds we have had

cameras on, the stonechat, the willow warbler, the reed bunting,

and the water rail have all nested here. That's just the birds.

Unfortunately, over the last couple of hundred of years we have lost

over 90% of our low land raised bog. Drained and used for agriculture or

dug up for peat. This 10 hectares here is very, very precious. If you

had come here 30 years ago, it wouldn't have looked anything like

this. Until just a few years ago, the bog was hidden under a dense

thick et of rhododendrons. They all but blocked out the sun. Little

native flora could grow here. The bog habitat had all but disappeared.

RSPB area manager, Squires had a master plan. How would this area

have looked say 30 years ago? Completely different. I mean the

thing was it was... Looked from the outside like a woodland, like a pine

plantation with very dense rhododendron. It was so dense you

couldn't walk through into it at all. The only way was either on your

hands or knees or lying flat, so crawling your way through like a

snake. He was determined to clear the plants and return the area to

its original habitat. With funding from the Country side Council for

Wales and the Forestry Commission plus help from hundreds of

volunteers they started work. But they faced some serious challenges.

Especially, when it came to the heaval ril machinery they brought

Across here it got about to just about here, and then sunk.

It has lain here ever since. All that remains of the giant ex

excavation, so the whole thing is still buried underneath here.

Fascinating. It also gives you an idea of how deep it S We measured it

as six metres of peat. So there is a wet soup of peat.

Raising the water levels of the area was crucial to revive that

underlying peat, and make the bog a haven for plants and animals once

more. Dick is especially keen to show me

one particular plant, called bog Rosemary.

It was this that originally inspired him to undertake this massive

restoration project. I remember some in this area. There

is some there too. Look. It is inconspicuous. But it does look a

bit like Rosemary too. There.There it is. That is what set this whole

thing. So apart from the Rosemary, apart from the bird species we are

busy filming, what other types of wildlife do you get here, particular

to the raised bog? It is a fantastic place, some spes Jives I didn't

dream of coming back to this area, like nightjars.

-- species. It is not just the nightjars that have returned. This

So, it must be immensely satisfying to you, to look round now and see

this, as it is. It is. What a fantastic place we have created. We

have so proud and pleaded with it. It is amazing to think what it was

looking like recently. -- pleased. Ten years ago it was a dense pine

plantation. Springwatch will be much the poorer without your work, we

wouldn't have all those birds' nests. Can you lead the way please.

I am slightly nervous of the bog. A massive hats off to Dick and his

team. What a tremendous achievement that is. We can't underestimate the

value of Yvonnes tiers in conservation, without their work

that couldn't have happened. Now the area is home to a mass of different

bird species. The thing about conservation, many people think it

is about leaving nature to take its own course, that is a nice idea, but

unless we manage it, we can't sculpt all of the different habitats we

need to support the life of tree pipits, meadow pipit, reed

buantings, so in this one small area now, because we have intervened and

put in hard worker, we have grasshopper warblers and white

throat, so we have to work hard at this. It cost a lot love money and

effort from the volunteers. Top work. Top work and not only have

they got those birds, they have something very special. We filmed

it, here it is. Up in the tree, unusual to see it up so conspicuous

as this. It is a nightjar. This is a nocturnal bird. They fly

and hunt at night. Generally, they are well camouflaged. They normally

stay round a tree. So it is odd to see it up there.

I am told, I think they haven't seen a nightjar there for 20 year, so

part of that amazing work they have done. So the nightjar, the bill, the

beak, in those pictures looks fairly normal but it is enormous in fact.

Their head is a massive mouth and a couple of massive eye, you mention

they come out at night. They are after moths and flying insects and

they have a massive gape they will use to catch them as they are flying

hawk like over the ground. Wouldn't it be brilliant if they stayed here

to breed? Brilliant. We are going to go to the live

stonechat s. I am am losing track a bit tonight. Let us go live to the

last of our birds that is nesting on that bog. That is the stonechat s.

All the others have gone. Let, there they are. The chicks there.

That is two of them. All stripy. Now they still look to me fairly sort of

underdeveloped but they have done pretty well. 14 days old. Yeah, and

they can leave at this time. I mean, they will stay for another three

days in some nest, but they are on the ground. They are a species that

can leave before they can fly, and make their way through the grass,

but there we are. Let us go live to our song thrushes. Live to our song

thrushes. Oh. OK. Live to the black birds. We

have a change of plan. It is all happening you see. What are they

doing? One has hopped out of the nest. You see, one of the others.

is going. That looks like it might be going. Here in this particular

area, nay have a choice, I think, Martin o, of being able to explore,

we can see the nest looks empty. Can we pan down an see if we can see the

nest. The nest is empty. They have fledged live. They have gone back in

again. They haven't fledged live. They are going. They are going.They

are going as we watch. If that is empty that means the other two have

gone. Look at that. It is almost as if

they can't make up their mind. They have been there all that time. It is

nice and cosy. It is home to them, but they have to go. They want to go

but they can't. They are doing it in the evening. What is interesting

about black birds, when they leave the nest, the female will look after

one half of the brood, and the male will look after the other half of

the brood. And they stay separate. Until the female starts another

clutch, and then the male will look after all of them and they will do

that for 20 days. Look at that! It's gone. Perfect timing. Shall we move

on. Live fledging. The fledgeathon has produced. Let us go back to

Bristol, back to the gull, and find out what Iolo is up to.

-- gulls. They really should rename Bristol

and call it gull city. On a crept national survey they found more

breeding pairs in this city than any other in the whole of Great Britain

and Northern Ireland. We have a nest exam on a herring gull nest. Let us

go over there, because they are doing something interesting. They

huddle down at the nest, but earlier on one of them popped out and they

were huddled round a vent where it was warm. It is nice to see them

doing well. The lesser Ngola Bakaed gulls are doing well. What is

pulling these birds into our cities? -- the black backed gulls. Gulls.

The sight and sound of the seaside. And among our most familiar birds.

But despite their seeming abundance, the number of gulls living on our

coast has plummeted in cent decades. -- recent. The reasons why, are not

yet clear. But where they are still thriving,

is in our towns and cities. If I had been stood up here looking

out over Bristol 45 years ago, I wouldn't have seen a single nesting

pair of gulls, but now, there are over 2,500 breeding pairs. So why

are our urban gulls doing well, when their country Couzins are in

decline? -- cousins. Could the answer lie in

our throw away culture? To find out more, I am paying a

visit to our gull families. These gulls would be on the sixth

floor wouldn't they! Look how high up we are here. You can tell we have

gulls, look at that. Whitewash all over the window. Let us go through

Cameraman Ian has been watching and filming the two pairs of nesting

gulls since the breeding season began, sick weeks ago.

-- six weeks' ago. We have a camera rout side Ian can operate and he can

watch everything and record everything on this monitor.

So the nest, the bird is just up here now.

Here we are. So that is just above our window, isn't it. That is right.

So what have the adult gulls been feeding chicks? It started off to be

mostly regurgitated worms but over the last week it has been the

majority of take away food, street trash, chickens, ham sandwich.

look at that. Oh. Are those chips? Yes, a big bowl of

chips. There is seven or eight chips in there! As I expected both sets of

parents are taking full advantage of the plentiful supply of food,

provided by the city streets. But their chicks are not just eating

junk food. Among the take aways, there are plenty of nutritious meals

on offer. While the herring gulls seem to have a preference for worms,

the black back parents have found a supply of freshwater fish.

Both of which provide their growing chicks with a rich source of

protein. So it looks like urban gulls are

finding a huge variety of food in and round the city.

These birds are incredibly adaptable and there are so many opportunities

now in urban areas and the gulls are learning to take advantage of them.

Well, apologies to anyone who is eating, because I am going to talk

about one of the great adaptations that gulls have, and that is

regurgitation, it might not be appeal appealing to think about

regurgitating food for children to eat, but that is what gulls do. Have

a look at this. Here she is, the chicks are pecking at the beak, she

regurgitates a whole ham sandwich. It means they can go vast distance,

they can fill their crop, they can fly back, then they can feed the

youngsters and they feed very well. On the whole, they are eating waste

that we throw away. It is not always good food for them. They need

natural food as well, and I was going to have this ham sandwich, but

to be honest, I don't think I can face it now. The food we throw away,

excuse me, is often high in salt, high in fat, so they also need

natural food. They need the vitamins and minerals in there, look at this.

This is the lesser black backed gulls on the roof and she is

bringing back a few fish. And they are clever birds, because what they

do is they build up a mental map of everything that is round them. Not

just in Bristol, but in the surrounding countryside too, so in

that way, they know, no matter what time of day it is, what time of the

week it is, they know the areas where there is plenty of food.

But is it just food that is drawing them in or is there something else?

Well, that is what I will be looking at later on.

Iolo, that is definitely enough to put anyone off their dinner,

especially if you were planning on fish and chips. Enjoy it! It is an

amazing strategy for survival. It it is why I am glad we don't have to do

it. From birds you can see on the rooftops to one you can see in and

round the river. We sent Nick off to look at the wealth of wildlife you

can find round the river here at Ynys-hir. But not only to find it,

but to show us what to look for, and but to show us what to look for, and

also, show us how to enjoy it. Exploring your local river you could

start by getting local advice. I began by meeting up with Springwatch

cameraman Ian. What you up to? Because I am fascinated by rivers I

got given the river as my area of patrol. My species are dippers and

kingfishers. For someone who spend their life next to a river, how do

you encourage others who may be haven't done this or wouldn't know

where to start? What could they do? Maybe stop for a moment, like we are

and sit down and take it all in, things will start to come alive. If

you want to see a kingfisher listen to their vocalisation. They double

whistle in flight. You will hear that, if you turn you will see them,

dart past, that blue electric pulse of happiness.

So there is an expert tip on how to spot and listen out for kingfishers.

But it is not just all about the birds. Looking for what they eat

opens up the whole ecosystem to explore.

On the river, the birds are after fish and a whole variety of insect

larvae and caddisflies and dragonfly, they are masters of the

skies and keep themselves well hidden so finding them presents a

challenge. Put yourself in the position of a

river creature, you have all the dippers and kingfishers up and down

the river. You don't want to be seen by them, so the best play for you to

be is under a rock. So turn over some of the rocks, and have a poke

round, see if you can see anything. It doesn't matter if you can't put a

name to the creature, enjoy them being there, look into their world.

feet wet. Be careful, it's slippy. feet wet. Be careful, it's slippy.

We place the net downstream then we move a few stones out of the way.

Any creature caught out will drift with the current into your net. You

are using the current to your benefit. Sometimes, just seeing is

enough. This under water viewer can help you do this. I have made this

rather quickly out of Springwatch office bin, that I cut the bottom

office bin, that I cut the bottom out of. I got plastic, with -- which

I taped to the bin. It's like looking into an aquarium. If you

want to really know the river, you have to get into it. In a cold

mountain stream that means changing into a wetsuit. All over the country

just below the surface of our rivers there is a whole new world to

explore. So get out there and find I got out of the water left in my

wet pants, I had left my towel at home. What a sight. What did you

see? Trout and minowws, pretty fish. Amazing what you can find in rivers

and streams. You don't need to have to be near a mountain stream. This

is a stream in the middle of Grantham. Look at what was found.

These are all familiar sights to any 10-year-old that has dreamed of

seeing fish. Get in the water. Those are the eggs, those are the

Fishguarding the eggs. Wonderful behaviour. Brilliant stuff. This is

beautiful. This is an indicator of really clean water. These were

prizes. When I used to go pond dipping this was it. Look at the

minowws, these are breeding colours. This is a scene with so much going

on. You have a perch, a can of larger. He ate a dragonfly.

Brilliant stuff. Those are things you would expect to find in any

river or stream? As long as it is reasonably clean, yes, you will find

all these things everywhere. We don't look under the surface enough.

We don't see fish enough on telly. I'm really pleased. If you look in

river and streams take care, don't go in deep ones. You don't need a

camera or a mask or snorkel or one of those buckets you tried to make.

What? All you need is a pond and a bit of equipment. This is what we

found in our pond earlier on, it is a stickleback. Is the fish. The best

fish in Britain. Look at it. This is a male. In the springtime it has a

red throat. He has beautiful blue eyes. Fantastic colour that.They

get up to great stuff. He builds a nest for the female. He guards the

female. He attacks other males that are red. You can see all this in any

pond near you. Brilliant stuff. tend to be sizist, don't we? It's a

little fish but, but really interesting. Big personality.It's

fantastic the way you get people so enthused about looking for wildlife.

Nick has taken his daughter out many times pond dipping. Yes. She

absolutely loves this. This is all real. It isn't put on for the

camera. She loves this. We shot this for Springwatch in the Afternoon.

Try stopping her. She always says, "daddy, can we go pond dipping?"

It's a great bonding experience. If you don't have kids of your own take

your grandkids, hide behind them and enjoy pond dipping. It's a brilliant

thing to do with your kids. On our website we have an ID of creature

you might find while pond dipping. Really good thing. There are so many

ways you can enjoy and engage with wildlife whether on your local patch

or further afield. Cameraman Richard Taylor-Jones showed us how to enjoy

the beauty of wild places. Today, we go on a special journey to a special

island in the Bristol channel the nation. A nation of islands. In this

unique and special place, there is one island I love, Lundy. For me,

it's Britain in miniature. A journey around this landscape, watching its

wildlife, is like a journey discovering what, I believe, is the

our greatest natural assets. Granite cliffs acting as seabird cities.

It's early spring and the birds are just beginning to gather here to

breed. Razorbills. Guillemots. Fullmars. Puffins. Fusing together

in this feathered metropolis, reflecting our own concrete cities,

reflecting our own concrete cities, far from this wild place. Above the

loud cliffs wander feral goats. These billies, rugged and tough, are

willing to fight. They will scrap and brawl and will have a bashed

head or two, but of course fights don't dominate Lundy. The plenty of

time to relax too. Like so many places, the pub is the centre of

Lundy's human world. But not the only important building on the

island. We have been building and shaping the countryside for

centuries. None more so than with our ancient dry stonewalls. Home to

natures ancient or beganisms. -- organisms. Miniature sculptures. A

fusion of a fungus and algae that thrive in this clean sea air. So

much to enjoy on this journey. So much more to see. Lundy's calmer

eastern shores offer us a glimpse of childhood. Rock pooling days by the

seaside. The creature here, some of the best you might find. --

creatures. A sea hare browses. Delicate comb jellies pulsate.

Strawberry anemones search for suss stand nens. Sadly, of course, the

British weather must always turn on a day on the beach -- suss ten nens.

Rock pools are covered by the in coming tide and land by an in coming

fog. So out to sea it is. -- sustenance. Home to some serious sea

going vessels. Greyseals, so cumbersome and ungainly on land,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 64 seconds

the marine. So much to share, so much to enjoy. So much to remind us

of why Britain is great. And now, at journey's end, through the fog, my

mind is clear. This Lundy island, these British isles are the home and

the land I love. Lundy really is a very beautiful place even when it's

foggy and misty. Now, not everyone though can get out to an island like

lundy, most of us can get to a beach. There is a lot more to do at

a beach other than eat an ice-cream and make sandcastles, as I found out

last weekend when I went to the nearby beach of Aberdovey with a

marine biologist. I have never been crabbing before. No. This is the

best thing on the beach. Do you do it? You need to have bait. This is

great, squid. It comes from the sea. Nice and smelly as well. Lovely.

Great for attracting the crabs crabs. You put them in the mesh

bags. You you then just lower it been at least five minutes. W-very

something. You have to be careful they don't pinch you? There is it a

way I recommend people to pick them up. Thumb one side, the finger the

other side. The these are shore crabs? Yes. You will commonly find

them around the British sea shore. With the male it has a pointed

triangle under here. The female has a more rounded section. If you think

of a lobster with a long lobster tail. That is the lobster tail, but

curled underneath. That is the abdomen of the crab Do they get

stressed? They don't like it very much. Look after them while doing

this and put them back carefully. can't believe I have never been

crabbing before. I'm a convert. It's a great thing to do with your

family. The best places to do it with beaches with piers or harbour

walls or rocks and stones. Can you find details of where to crab on our

website: it's all part of summer of wildlife, to get you out there and

enjoy the wildlife in the countryside. Chris, I bet you have

been crabbing before, haven't you? #6r7b8g9s I certainly have and

enjoyed it too. This is a television first. Don't eat the nymph. Is it

bitter? It is not too bad. It wouldn't put me off eating the whole

lot if I wasn't vegetarian. You are not going to do that. Has it got an

aftertaste? A bit. We should go forth with to the woodpecker, let us

go live to the woodpeckers. See what is happening. I can hear

them. Can you?They are calling from inside the hole. They have been

popping in and out all night. Do you think, Chris, shall we look at what

has been going on. Yes.Let us look at what was going on earlier in the

day. Here they are.Parents coming. Chicks coming out to the nest being

fed. Do you think they will use this nest hole again? They don't. Other

birds might use them. You might get something like a nuthatch going in,

they will reduce the size of the hole with mud and you will get other

animals using it like wasps and hornets. Not small birds like

bluetits or great tits, if they go in there the woodpeckers will eat

them. Do you like them? I do. Do you? It is funny your taste change.

Rock the Casbah used to be my favourite Clash song. Now it is

another one. Our nest watchers have been recording the activity patterns

of the mammals that visit this. Let us see what they have been looking

at. What they found, here it is, between the hours of six in the

morning and 10pm at night, they are looking at voles and slews active

there. From ten at night to four in the morning. -- shrews, these are

seeing these animal, the wood mice, there seems to be an activity split

there. Does that surs price you? you read my paper, I have come to

the same conclusion. Have you read it? I enjoyed the bit where Mole and

Ratty went on the river. That is a different one! If they were eating

the same food resource they separated themselves in time. They

avoided conflict. So many of the animals featured rely on woods to

nest in. It makes you realise how important woodland is, but our

woodlands are constantly changing and some of that change is due to

disease. I mean think back to Dutch elm disease, changed the woodlands

in the UK forever. Now the concern is about ash trees. It has been a

year since we discover discovered ash dieback disease. It is still a

threat and it is still spreading. Let us look at this ash tree. This

is a healthy looking ash tree. I am pleased to say. But this is what an

ash tree looks like, that has the die back disease. These are the

signs to look for. Dead or dying tops of trees. You can

see that there. Dark wilting leaves. They are going

to turn black. You can see those on that picture. Large brown diamond

shape lesions, on the bark. We need to get a better idea of how far the

disease has spread. That is where you can help. So look out for the

health of your ash tree, a reminder of what to look out for is on the

website and where to send the find, but there is a bit of positive news,

it hasn't spread as quickly as they thought it might, and they are

hoping that they will be able to find a tree that has resistance to

it. Let us hope so. It is a lovely tree. It has a lovely Latin name. It

is time to go back to Bristol and the gulls and Iolo.

Urban gull, they are the Marmite of the bird world. You love them your

don't. But all the birds have done is take advantage of our

wastefullness, but the question is, is it just food that is bringing

them into our towns and cities? Well, to answer that we will go live

to our herring gull nest cam, which is up on top of that tall building

over there, let us look at see what is going on there now. There is one

of the chick, they are very mobile again. Healthy looking chick, so

they should be too, because they are six storeys up there, out of the way

of urban fox, of cat, of dogs, of cars. -- foxes. They are doing

really really well. The breeding success is far hiring than it is in

their rural cousins. So, these gulls, they have plenty of food.

There are precious few predators but there is one other factors look

round me, on the floor, we have cobbled streets. It could be

tarmacked. Behind me brick and mortar, I have glass, metal and all

of that means in urban areas it is a degree or two warmer than in the

surrounding countryside, and that means that urban gull, they can if

they want to, they can start breeding earlier and the breeding

season can extend a lot later, they have several advantages over their

rural cousin, I wanted to find out more. I am getting into this gull

business. If you want to know about Gavin -- urban Gills there is only

one man you can go and see. -- gulls.

Peter Rock is the leading expert oner Gavin gulls and is based here

in Bristol. -- urban gulls. In the last 30 years he has caught and

ringed 7,000 different birds. Allowing him to monitor their

breeding habits. I have brought you here to look at

one particular bird. Right.A very old one. And just on cue, there he

is. The one on the chimney look. can see. He has a ring on.

24-year-old. 24-year-old? So you ringed that? Yes, in 1989.As a

chick. As a chick, yes. If you look down into the right, see there are

chick, there is two or three chick, these guys here are raising three

chicks, between them. Every year. He is 24-year-old. He has been breeding

for 20 years. So this bird may have reared as many as 60 chicks.

It is not unusual for gulls to live for more than 20 years, and some can

reach 30. Within cities, the survival rate of

their offspring maybe as high as 90%.

-- may be. It is no wonder that urban living is proving so popular.

The same story is occurring all over the country. All over the country.

And not just here in Britain, all over the western sea board of

continental Europe all round the Mediterranean, the great lakes in

US, Canada, Australia, you name it. Urban gulls will take over the

world! So the gulls are moving in because

it is a great environment for them to rear their young. Right, tell you

what, let us go over to the live camera one last time. Let us see

what is going on up there, on the roof. There we are. Look at them.

Looking very happy, preening away there. Do you know what? There are

estimated over 2,000 pairs of gulls nesting here in Bristol. Say they

rear two to three young each. At the end of the summer that could mean

5,000 newly fledged young flying over the roofs here in Bristol. That

is an incredible number, and the chicks will hang round for a few

money, it is only in the winter really they move away. The herring

gulls usually to the coast. The lesser black backed gulls may go to

southern Europe and North Africa. What is fascinating is that urban

and rural gulls are two separate populations, they do not mix at all.

And, well, do you know it is a funny thing, you either love these birds

or you don't. I have a grudging respect for them. Whether you like

it or not the birds are here to stay. I have grown so fond of them,

when we go off air in a moment I am going to share a kebab with my new

found best friends! Superb. Big thank to Iolo Williams,

man who will share a kebab with a gull. It is fledge watch so we

should have a quick look life at our birds, see if any are ready to

fledge. Let us look at the song thrush. Definitely not ready to

fledge. They have a long way to go, those little chicks, Also a long way

go is the Mall lard. There she is. Is she going to go. I keep saying

she is. I think she might, might let us down. You have respect for the

Mall lard? Look at the endurance she is putting in there.

A quick look at the stonechat, they could go. They are in the waiting

room at the fledging airport. are, duty free. They are nodding

off. It is not just our birds that have been fledging. Viewers have

been sending in birds which have fledged in their gardens. I like

this one. This is a Starling adult feeding a youngster, this is from...

Sorry Greg Coin. This is a Robin, which is very

sweet. It looks a bit wet. Andy, river behind, and stretching its

wing. Look that the. I love that. This is a young coal tit. He looks

so grumpy. It is already not happy. This is from Daniel.

It is a crabby coal tit. This is from Alan. It says log tail tit. But

I think it's a long tail tit. that the peregrine chick. Jamie

skipper. Which birds will fledge tomorrow?

Who can tell, let us go to the woodpeckers, have a look, there is

the chick. That is live. They have got to go. They will be tempted out

by the parents and then of course, don't forget our jackdaws as well.

There they are, filling the nest, they have to go.

Coming up we have a film about large white butterflies. Now don't think

pest in the lettuce patch, they are fantastic.

Well, it is our last show of the series tomorrow. We will be back at