:00:19. > :00:23.coming to you live from Wales, where we are unfurling the secret lives of
:00:23. > :00:27.our cast of characters, and to night, we've got a new family for
:00:27. > :00:31.you. As always, we will be celebrating the best of our UK's
:00:31. > :00:35.wildlife, and we will be taking a rather beautiful look at orchards.
:00:35. > :00:40.And looking at a whole host of animals there that are hard at work.
:00:40. > :00:45.And we will bring you right up to date with belated dramas, like this,
:00:45. > :00:55.our buzzards. Last night, we left them battling the wind on cold. What
:00:55. > :01:13.
:01:13. > :01:19.will happen? Find out with us on Springwatch first for the series. Do
:01:19. > :01:24.you know why? It is not raining! Sun has just come out just this
:01:24. > :01:31.second! We are coming to you live from the very beautiful RSPB reserve
:01:31. > :01:37.in Wales. There is 700 hectares. It is a pretty big place and home to a
:01:37. > :01:45.variety of habitats, including moorland, woodland and grassland. We
:01:45. > :01:46.will keep you up-to-date on the post daily dramas of wildlife characters.
:01:47. > :01:50.And it will be especially interesting this year because we
:01:50. > :01:54.will be monitoring the effects of the appalling weather on our
:01:54. > :01:59.wildlife through the series. promised you a new family and we are
:01:59. > :02:05.not going to hold back. Let's go live straightaway. Here it is. It
:02:05. > :02:10.doesn't look much, does it, nestled down in the grass? But you can see
:02:10. > :02:17.the chicks, who hatched just a couple of days ago. What are they?
:02:17. > :02:23.That is the question. Let's reveal all. They are meadow pipits. It is
:02:23. > :02:29.edible brown bird, and underweight -- underrated bird, closely related
:02:29. > :02:35.to the work tale, and it is a bird of open country. It likes moorland
:02:35. > :02:37.and grassland and woodland edges, but not woodlands themselves. You
:02:37. > :02:47.can see the long tail with those characteristic white outer
:02:47. > :02:51.tailfeathers. Sadly, the state of nature, we were mentioning that
:02:51. > :02:55.report last week, and these birds have declined by 25% over the UK,
:02:55. > :02:58.which is a shame because they play an important role in many
:02:58. > :03:08.communities. They are eaten by predators such as Merlin's. But they
:03:08. > :03:11.
:03:11. > :03:18.are also flooded by cookies. They act as a parasite and lay their eggs
:03:18. > :03:23.in their nests. Let's have a look at what they have been up to today.
:03:23. > :03:27.These are the adults feeding them plenty of insects. They eat few
:03:27. > :03:30.seeds in the winter and get all of their food from the ground. They are
:03:30. > :03:34.a walking bird and they walk across the ground to find that food.
:03:34. > :03:40.Because it has been a bit nippy today, you can see that presumably
:03:40. > :03:46.the female is brooding the young. Another bird comes in with a beak
:03:47. > :03:50.full of insects. Crane flies and possibly a wasp. And in the process
:03:50. > :03:56.of poking around, that one masks the other bird depositing the food into
:03:56. > :04:01.their mouths. They are vulnerable on the ground. But the nest is very
:04:01. > :04:08.well hidden. We will be following them over the next couple of weeks.
:04:08. > :04:12.It is nice to see some live birds that are not soggy and wet! Yes, it
:04:12. > :04:16.is delightful! Tonight, you get more bang for your buck on Springwatch. I
:04:16. > :04:22.allowed to say that? Because after the main programme at 8:30pm, we are
:04:23. > :04:26.going to have Unsprung, where we answer your questions and notice
:04:26. > :04:36.your observations on British wildlife. And tonight we have a baby
:04:36. > :04:40.
:04:40. > :04:46.deer coming in. Baby dear -- a baby dear? Great! To get into interactive
:04:46. > :04:56.mood, we have a question... A quiz for you now. This is how it works.
:04:56. > :05:07.
:05:07. > :05:14.Listen to this sound but -- sound... Those are different sorts
:05:14. > :05:23.of crows. There three different calls and we want you to tell us
:05:23. > :05:27.which bird is making which call. This is it wants a game. -- once
:05:27. > :05:32.again. I thought it was quite easy to begin with but now I'm beginning
:05:32. > :05:37.to think it was a bit difficult! If you think you know the answer, get
:05:37. > :05:43.in touch. The website address is below. If you are on Twitter, use
:05:43. > :05:48.the hash tag and Springwatch. have had 20 of tweets and comments
:05:48. > :05:52.after the programme last night. -- plenty. Lots of you talking about
:05:52. > :06:00.the Osprey soap opera. So we thought it was only fair to keep you updated
:06:00. > :06:10.with the latest drama. It has been a dramatic breeding
:06:10. > :06:18.
:06:18. > :06:26.down with his third mate of the season, a massive female. But they
:06:26. > :06:30.are leaving it very late to breed this year. Unusually, she is still
:06:30. > :06:40.catching fish for herself. Females normally rely on the mails to bring
:06:40. > :06:40.
:06:40. > :06:46.food wants -- once the breeding season begins. But this is what she
:06:46. > :06:50.has brought to the nest. Things begin to look up when she brings in
:06:50. > :07:00.soft nesting material, a sure sign she is beginning to get Rudy and
:07:00. > :07:06.
:07:06. > :07:14.mother Courage and site -- encouraging sign that she might lay
:07:14. > :07:20.eggs soon. There is no doubt that they are committed to each other as
:07:20. > :07:30.they mantle to cut -- detect their nest. But still no eggs. The other
:07:30. > :07:36.
:07:36. > :07:40.three weeks since they paired up, she lays a single egg. She steps
:07:40. > :07:50.carefully around the precious egg but when the crows start to pester
:07:50. > :08:00.
:08:00. > :08:07.intruders... But she leaves the nest unprotected. Could this crow have
:08:07. > :08:13.cracked the vulnerable egg? Three days after the first egg, she lays
:08:13. > :08:17.her second. It's great news, but this pair have got a real challenge
:08:17. > :08:22.ahead. Will these eggs hatch in time? Will this first time mum learn
:08:22. > :08:29.to protect them better? And even if they hatch successfully, the chicks
:08:29. > :08:33.will need to grow big enough to migrate to Africa by autumn.
:08:33. > :08:39.A little hole like that. If it has prompted the interior membrane,
:08:39. > :08:43.infection can get in. But my chickens had holes and they have
:08:43. > :08:49.still hatched out. There is no way of knowing, is there, of how big
:08:49. > :08:53.that hole is? Fingers crossed it will hatch. More drama, and take a
:08:54. > :08:59.look at what happened yesterday with the ospreys. There is our female,
:08:59. > :09:04.our young mum, sitting on the nest, protecting her two eggs. And then
:09:04. > :09:09.she gets up. Something is obviously coming in. That is not Monty, it is
:09:09. > :09:16.an intruder, and this happens a lot. But she is quite clumsy. She is
:09:16. > :09:21.stepping all over the eggs. She is still learning what to do. There is
:09:21. > :09:25.a big difference there. If you are watching carefully, as you said, she
:09:25. > :09:29.folded her talons in and they walk around on their fists if they are
:09:29. > :09:34.turning their eggs or anything like that. But in the blind panic she was
:09:34. > :09:39.jumping around with her talons out and she could easily puncture one of
:09:39. > :09:44.her own eggs if she is not careful. That is a first-time mum habit.
:09:44. > :09:51.will certainly keep you updated with that drama. And we had drama without
:09:51. > :09:58.jackdaws. We have a nest box with two young chicks. Now, remember,
:09:58. > :10:03.these are intruders, not the pairs. This in true debt is attacking those
:10:03. > :10:10.chicks. It is very aggressive. It is packing them and stamping on them.
:10:10. > :10:16.Ashley this intruder. Then what happens? One of the pair of birds
:10:16. > :10:20.comes back and chases them off. That is what we showed last night. What
:10:20. > :10:27.has happened since? Fortunately, it has not been quite such a lot of
:10:27. > :10:30.hassle. No aggression at all. Let's have a look live to see how the
:10:30. > :10:40.chicks are. Because we were concerned about them and it was an
:10:40. > :10:44.
:10:44. > :10:48.attack. But they look pretty and healthy. And their feathers
:10:48. > :10:54.growing pretty rapidly. Every day they are more and more feathered.
:10:54. > :10:58.These are quite large and robust birds. Take a look at this as well.
:10:58. > :11:02.Because the actual parents are constantly reasserting their pair
:11:02. > :11:06.bond. Because jackdaws are one of those birds which truly mate for
:11:06. > :11:10.life. Once they have found a mate, normally in their second year, they
:11:10. > :11:20.will stick with them all the way through their lives. If one of them
:11:20. > :11:23.dies, female jackdaws normally find high-ranking males to pair up with,
:11:23. > :11:27.so if a higher ranking male dies and you are the mate, you lose your
:11:27. > :11:32.ranking and you have to find a lower ranking mail if you are lucky enough
:11:32. > :11:35.to find one at all. But all that beautiful posturing - we see quite a
:11:35. > :11:42.lot of that in the crows, and it is something you can watch for
:11:42. > :11:46.yourselves. Like in the book King Solomon's Ring, , all about watching
:11:46. > :11:52.jackdaws and their behaviour. just say that everything seems to
:11:52. > :12:00.have calmed down now with the jackdaws. We don't write the
:12:00. > :12:04.scripts. They do! And anything could happen. Many of you have got in
:12:04. > :12:07.contact to report unusual behaviour and animals behaving in inventive
:12:07. > :12:17.and Strangeways in response to this very unusual spring we've been
:12:17. > :12:27.having. -- strange ways. I went down to the seaside to investigate one
:12:27. > :12:32.
:12:32. > :12:36.Beautiful! Beautiful but slightly smelly! Yet these great piles of
:12:37. > :12:41.decomposing seaweed are a crucial resource for a host of wildlife.
:12:41. > :12:47.Now, whereas you or I might give it a miss on our way down to the
:12:47. > :12:51.beach, the strand line here is a really rich habitat. And in fact, on
:12:51. > :12:55.strand line is all around the country this spring, some very
:12:55. > :13:00.curious things have been going on. And this year, it is not just our
:13:00. > :13:05.usual coastal birds like goals and work tales that have been seen on
:13:05. > :13:15.the beach. There have also been sightings of garden birds. Robbins,
:13:15. > :13:21.friends. So what are they doing down here? To unravel the mystery, marine
:13:21. > :13:26.biologist Meyer is rooting around in the rotting seaweed. Heaps of
:13:26. > :13:31.rotting vegetation. It really is! You can see on the surface, and when
:13:31. > :13:37.we peel back, take a look at this... It is absolutely packed. You
:13:37. > :13:44.can see already we have sand hoppers... And look, a whole load of
:13:44. > :13:50.maggots. Look at that! And it is so warm here! Yes, and it is not the
:13:50. > :13:56.sun warming this, it is the rotting he week -- rotting seaweed which is
:13:57. > :14:00.rotting to create this microclimate for these insects and animals to
:14:00. > :14:09.grow. Sheltered under the layer of seaweed, the maggots can breed all
:14:09. > :14:13.year round. I have a thermometer... Of course you have! So we can see
:14:13. > :14:17.exactly what the temperature is. This green one measures the
:14:17. > :14:22.temperature of the air and we can stick this probe into the seaweed.
:14:22. > :14:29.Already we can see this is going up to 19... In the aerial temperature
:14:29. > :14:33.is 13. So we have an additional six degrees. So I suppose this year it
:14:33. > :14:40.has been so freezing cold inland, there's nothing going on.
:14:40. > :14:43.Absolutely. Here, we have managed to maintain this warm temperature from
:14:43. > :14:47.all this lovely rotting seaweed. the mystery this year of these
:14:47. > :14:55.curious birds that have come down, you have solved it, because they are
:14:55. > :15:02.coming down to feed on these invertebrates. That's right.A few
:15:02. > :15:07.moments later we were joined by a wren-mac. We believe this is the
:15:07. > :15:14.first time one has been seen here on the beach. It may even be building a
:15:14. > :15:24.nest on the bank. It is certainly feasting on all these flying
:15:24. > :15:25.
:15:25. > :15:35.beetles. To get a closer look at the wealth of life, we put down some
:15:35. > :15:44.
:15:44. > :15:51.markers. Look at that! That is a lot of sand hoppers! Look at so much
:15:51. > :16:00.biology is going on here. There are not many places on land you would
:16:00. > :16:09.find quite so many invertebrates. Sand hoppers are crustaceans that
:16:09. > :16:12.leap. They also navigate using the sun and the moon. The total biomass
:16:12. > :16:17.on this beach must be astronomical. In this small area we have got
:16:17. > :16:27.hundreds. Multiply that over the strand line and it is astronomic.
:16:27. > :16:28.
:16:28. > :16:37.You can see why so many birds come here to feed. While people may want
:16:37. > :16:45.to tidy it up, it would be a disaster, wouldn't it? This mobile
:16:45. > :16:54.restaurant feeds so many creatures. This year it has become a J Lifeline
:16:54. > :17:04.for a lot of our favourite birds. really has. It just goes to show
:17:04. > :17:09.
:17:09. > :17:17.that it is the animals that adapt well. It reminds us that we should
:17:18. > :17:25.leave debris on the beaches because it provides habitat. Can you see the
:17:25. > :17:30.beaches of Malibu with all of the celebrities on the sand with rotting
:17:30. > :17:34.seaweed behind them? Then just leave some of it! We are going to be
:17:34. > :17:43.looking at how wildlife is coping with the late spring. Let us know
:17:43. > :17:52.what you have noticed about the beautiful rebels all around. Send
:17:52. > :18:02.all of your comments to the website. That is also the place to go if you
:18:02. > :18:07.want to continue watching on the live cameras once you -- we have
:18:07. > :18:14.gone off air. This looks like a natural lake but just 13 years ago
:18:14. > :18:23.this was artificial grassland. The RSPB have done a fantastic job. It
:18:23. > :18:26.is now full of life. We have got a live camera on it. We have also got
:18:26. > :18:33.a cameraman getting all sorts of interesting wildlife. I think we
:18:33. > :18:37.might have something on the camera at the moment. Let's have a look. It
:18:37. > :18:47.is always a beautiful sight, isn't it? Always beautiful. It does not
:18:47. > :18:48.
:18:48. > :18:52.have any cygnets. This time last year, we had cygnets. This is one of
:18:52. > :18:55.our favourite animals that we have been lucky enough to catch. It is an
:18:55. > :18:59.otter. We have seen them here in the last couple of years on
:18:59. > :19:06.Springwatch, but this one has turned up in daylight, which is always a
:19:06. > :19:10.treat. This is one of the few species that are doing really well
:19:11. > :19:16.here at the moment. They have spread back into all of the English
:19:16. > :19:20.counties. They always do well in Scotland and Wales. It is always a
:19:20. > :19:27.treat to see them. Otters are not a major threat to wetland birds
:19:27. > :19:32.although they will take them opportunistically. Yes, they will
:19:32. > :19:39.do, especially ones which are nesting close. Typically, their diet
:19:39. > :19:47.is fish. A bigger threat is a weasel. We have lots of nesting
:19:47. > :19:56.birds around the wetland area. We saw this last night. This is our
:19:56. > :20:01.family of chicks and the weasel got all of them. It could be a problem
:20:01. > :20:09.for some of our other families. We have got lots around the wetland
:20:09. > :20:17.area. Let's have a look at the reed bunting's -- hunting s. They are not
:20:17. > :20:26.far away. They have got a strategy for survival. Let's have a look at
:20:26. > :20:31.this. This is one of the little chicks fledging. They fledge really
:20:31. > :20:39.early. That is part of their survival strategy. They fledge after
:20:39. > :20:42.nine or ten days, which is three or four days before they can try. It is
:20:42. > :20:47.death or glory. They have got to get out of the way of the predators. In
:20:47. > :20:53.order to do that, they fledge early and disperse. When we saw the weasel
:20:53. > :21:03.coming, all of the chicks were in one basket and it just kept going
:21:03. > :21:08.
:21:08. > :21:13.back. In the case of these birds, it might just find one. I am concerned
:21:13. > :21:23.about the chick that did come out, surely it is more obvious for a
:21:23. > :21:23.
:21:23. > :21:30.predator? Let's have a look at the nest. How many are in there now?
:21:30. > :21:33.This is the reed bunting. Let's get as close as we can. I have a
:21:33. > :21:39.suspicion they may have all gone. We only saw one leaving through the
:21:39. > :21:46.front. That would be typical. It looks empty to me. I think all of
:21:46. > :21:50.those youngsters have gone into the thick grass and they have probably
:21:50. > :21:53.spread themselves out over a few metres. They are not going to go far
:21:53. > :21:58.because the adults will study to find them when they come back. They
:21:58. > :22:03.might even go back into the nest overnight, or they may stay
:22:03. > :22:11.separate. We will have to see what happens. Another nest very close is
:22:11. > :22:15.the water rail. This is quite a precarious nest. Again, a weasel
:22:15. > :22:22.could come in. What I have noticed is one of the adults is never really
:22:22. > :22:27.off the nest. There is always one protecting the nest. I suppose a
:22:27. > :22:31.weasel could take the adults, there is nothing to stop that happening.
:22:31. > :22:36.This story developers have been watching. The longest they have seen
:22:36. > :22:39.either the male or the female away from the nest is eight minutes. They
:22:39. > :22:47.are typically only awake for 20 seconds that they are sitting tight,
:22:47. > :22:53.which is perfect. You can see how difficult they would be to be spot.
:22:53. > :23:00.They are not difficult to hear, they are very noisy birds. This is a
:23:00. > :23:10.unique opportunity to listen to some of their calls. Listen to this will
:23:10. > :23:21.
:23:21. > :23:25.gives a little groan, and then goes back to sleep. We think this is a
:23:25. > :23:35.contact call between the female and the mail, that the other bird was
:23:35. > :23:36.
:23:36. > :23:39.close to the nest. There are seven calls listed, but it turns out it
:23:39. > :23:49.has been heard before, as has this one. This is the one you would
:23:49. > :23:54.
:23:54. > :24:02.typically hear if you went out listening for a water rail. Sounds
:24:02. > :24:07.like a squealing pig, doesn't it? is a fantastic noise. What you
:24:07. > :24:17.cannot appreciate is how noisy it is. They do call our lot at night.
:24:17. > :24:18.
:24:18. > :24:28.You will soon detect whether there is a water rail there. You can hear
:24:28. > :24:35.their call. We call it shining. I am not sure where the word comes from.
:24:35. > :24:40.If you know, let us know. Is it a surprise that they make so much
:24:40. > :24:50.noise when they are sitting on the nest? Calling from the nest and
:24:50. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:06.making all of the noise is slightly unusual. Flooding is also a problem.
:25:06. > :25:12.The terrible weather last year played havoc for the people and the
:25:12. > :25:15.wildlife. Earlier I went down to the river that feeds this march to see
:25:15. > :25:20.the long-term damage of those floods.
:25:20. > :25:25.This is the river that runs through the reserve. It divides amazing
:25:25. > :25:29.habitats for the wildlife. It is also the river that last year rose
:25:29. > :25:33.so high that it burst its banks after a weekend of torrential rain,
:25:33. > :25:41.causing mayhem and destruction not only for us and the wildlife, but
:25:41. > :25:47.also for the river system itself. It was a year later that it was a very
:25:47. > :25:52.different river. Just look at this. This was caused by last year's
:25:52. > :26:02.floods. The water was so high that it caused the whole side of the bank
:26:02. > :26:07.
:26:07. > :26:14.to collapse. Floods do not just destroy, they also create. Birds are
:26:14. > :26:21.taking advantage of the breed left by the flood. We are just behind the
:26:21. > :26:26.course, where the river came up. This female blackbird has woven
:26:26. > :26:32.herself quite a delicious little nest. She is currently sitting on
:26:32. > :26:42.Aix. How many? And Mike the last time I looked she had three, she may
:26:42. > :26:47.have another. Further upstream, a rain has also built a nest. But Ian
:26:47. > :26:52.wants to show me the home of an iconic river bird that for the full
:26:52. > :27:00.force of nature. It is the Kingfisher. Ian has a special
:27:00. > :27:10.license that allows us to take a special look. This is where the link
:27:10. > :27:22.
:27:22. > :27:32.was filmed last year. Last year, a mink killed all of the chicks in the
:27:32. > :27:38.nest. Is this a sensible place to nest? It is a bit low. A good
:27:38. > :27:48.Kingfisher nest should be 6.5 feet off the ground. The rats could go
:27:48. > :27:52.in, straight to the Dominic Bradley mink -- straight to where the mink
:27:52. > :27:59.went. Some birds are still at the mercy of the river. Let's hope we do
:27:59. > :28:06.not have a repeat of last year 's torrential weather. My fingers are
:28:06. > :28:09.crossed. We do not want to see it repeated. Despite the fact that a
:28:09. > :28:15.Kingfisher was flying across it does not look like they are going to be
:28:15. > :28:19.used this year. Those birds were using all of the flotsam and jets in
:28:19. > :28:23.to make a nest and birds will use all sorts of materials to form a
:28:23. > :28:33.nest. It is probably easier to have a list of things they do not use.
:28:33. > :28:36.
:28:36. > :28:46.They do not use corrugated irony! They use all sorts of natural
:28:46. > :28:49.
:28:49. > :28:55.materials. We spotted this mail wren earlier. They make up to five nests
:28:55. > :29:00.to attract a female. He has hidden his nest very cleverly in this bank.
:29:00. > :29:08.You can just make out some of the mosque. When the nest is chosen by
:29:08. > :29:13.the female it is lined with fine grasses and is much softer inside.
:29:13. > :29:23.This siskin is not going to find a softer cop because it is going to
:29:23. > :29:27.
:29:27. > :29:33.use this fleece to lying its nest. Let's go live to the jackdaws. It is
:29:33. > :29:38.not just siskins who have monopolised the fleece, there is a
:29:38. > :29:44.whole pile. Jackdaws will add all sorts of things into their nest. You
:29:44. > :29:54.can see plastic and tweaks and all sorts of unnatural material.
:29:54. > :29:56.
:29:56. > :30:02.Jackdaws are famous for bringing in twinkling materials. You will have
:30:02. > :30:07.to test them - put some outside the nest! They don't just use discarded
:30:07. > :30:16.bits of animals either. Look at this photo. She says a holidaymaker saw
:30:16. > :30:20.the jackdaws and came running to the door to tell her that the pony was
:30:20. > :30:23.being pecked by the jackdaws! But if their willpower site is there, they
:30:23. > :30:33.will peck at those while taking nesting material from the live
:30:33. > :30:35.
:30:35. > :30:41.horse! -- but if there are parasites there. A photo like that is great
:30:41. > :30:45.because it tells a story. You can take fantastic spectacle photographs
:30:45. > :30:50.and photos that tell stories, and that is exactly what we are
:30:50. > :31:00.encouraging you to do as part of the BBC some of wildlife. We want you to
:31:00. > :31:01.
:31:01. > :31:05.see it, snap it and share it. You can do that by going to our website.
:31:05. > :31:12.There's also lots of details on the website about how to take good
:31:12. > :31:16.wildlife photos as well. Another thing on there is a guide as to how
:31:16. > :31:22.to feed wildlife. This is really important. Not just birds but also
:31:22. > :31:27.is of wildlife - mammals, insects with nectar. That sort of thing.
:31:27. > :31:31.Let's go live to our feeders. I didn't expect to see too much there
:31:31. > :31:35.at this time of night. Principally, because many birds have groups of
:31:35. > :31:41.young, and at this time of year they will concentrate on insects because
:31:41. > :31:46.they want the protein. However, we have seen birds on the feeder
:31:46. > :31:52.earlier today. And we have some adult birds having a quick snack in
:31:52. > :31:56.between gathering all of those insects. And up here, look, there's
:31:56. > :32:02.a great tit. It is snacking on the seeds before it nips off and carries
:32:02. > :32:06.on, presumably, feeding its young. If these are non-breeding birds or
:32:06. > :32:11.birds who have failed, they might spend more time at the feeder. But
:32:11. > :32:21.this is what we expect to see at this time of year. A lot more birds
:32:21. > :32:28.with invertebrate food. Song thrush with worms. Let's have a quick read
:32:28. > :32:36.cap about corvid conundrum. There three different sorts of birds
:32:37. > :32:43.singing here. -- a quick re-cap. If you know what those birds are and
:32:43. > :32:50.the order in which they are making those sounds, send us an email or a
:32:50. > :32:54.message on Twitter. Springwatch is a celebration of wildlife but
:32:54. > :33:04.sometimes wildlife and beauty can be found working hand-in-hand in
:33:04. > :33:08.
:33:08. > :33:18.surprising places, as our cameraman Britain is an industrious nation.
:33:18. > :33:19.
:33:19. > :33:27.Built on a willingness to work. And in Somerset, there is an ancient
:33:27. > :33:37.tradition centuries-old of working the land for apples. Whose golden
:33:37. > :33:39.
:33:39. > :33:49.drink has long sustained our busy trees, the lines of wooden workers,
:33:49. > :33:58.I have come to find our British wildlife. Because it works here two.
:33:58. > :34:08.-- too. Roe deer come to graze. The Orchard hedgerow offering a tasty
:34:08. > :34:20.
:34:20. > :34:28.insistent. It must eat and eat and eat to satisfy its hunger. There's
:34:28. > :34:35.little goodness in its leafy diet. But finally, after the longest of
:34:35. > :34:45.winters, sustenance will arrive in the Orchard. The warmth of spring.
:34:45. > :35:07.
:35:07. > :35:17.year there will be autumn fruit. It is a beautiful promise but it comes
:35:17. > :35:52.
:35:52. > :35:58.Shipped in to pollinate the their harvest. They take nectar and
:35:58. > :36:01.move pollen between the blooms, helping to fertilise them. And in
:36:01. > :36:11.their hives, they are working to build their comb and attend to their
:36:11. > :36:21.young. Only disrupted by a dance. A waggle dance. To show where a new
:36:21. > :36:28.
:36:28. > :36:34.bounty has been found out amongst Orchard, too. Less celebrated than
:36:34. > :36:44.the honey bee, but still doing an important job. Bumblebees fly in
:36:44. > :36:57.
:36:57. > :37:07.colder weather. They fly in wetter moths, oddly named nocturnal flyers,
:37:07. > :37:08.
:37:08. > :37:18.work in the Orchard, too? Some of us in trying to find out. -- are
:37:18. > :37:34.
:37:34. > :37:44.character. The cloud drab. They are here but are they playing their part
:37:44. > :37:44.
:37:44. > :37:54.in pollinating? The truth is, not even the experts know. They need
:37:54. > :38:18.
:38:18. > :38:26.it's not just the insects who live here. But birds, too. And amongst
:38:26. > :38:32.the blossoms, blue tips. Just as some insects are the Orchard's
:38:32. > :38:38.friends, others are not. And the blue tit of the Orchard's pest
:38:38. > :38:45.control company, bouncing through the bowels. They peck and pick for
:38:45. > :38:52.insects with precision. And take the odd blossom or two for their time.
:38:52. > :38:58.And as they leave, off to work their next tree, in a quest to help the
:38:58. > :39:08.nation's dreams of drink come true, I, too, must take my leave. My
:39:08. > :39:21.
:39:21. > :39:27.thirst for nature... Well and truly beauty in nature but sometimes you
:39:27. > :39:33.have just got to stop, take the time and really appreciate it. Absolutely
:39:33. > :39:37.stunning. Now, still to come onto night's programme, what's now
:39:37. > :39:45.altered chicks' menu? It is something eight at a bit surprise
:39:45. > :39:52.in? -- our buzzard chicks' menu? Martin will be getting his knees
:39:52. > :39:56.dirty as he takes a look at the creatures of the undergrowth.
:39:56. > :40:01.good stuff. Now, we are continuing to explore the reserve and you can
:40:01. > :40:08.see the saltmarsh stretched out behind us. I was meeting one of the
:40:08. > :40:13.locals the other day and set -- they said this was called lovers rock!
:40:13. > :40:17.Oh! OK! We have come down here because there is some woodland
:40:17. > :40:20.behind us and you have been in there and seemed the bluebells are still
:40:20. > :40:26.in flower. They are way behind but they are not the only things that
:40:26. > :40:31.are behind. We have our great tits and they seem to have been doing
:40:31. > :40:36.pretty well. They are nesting. The chicks are looking healthy. What do
:40:36. > :40:40.you reckon, Chris? When are they going to be ready? Well, they have
:40:40. > :40:43.grown considerably in the last few days and you can see their pin
:40:43. > :40:48.feathers and primary flight feathers, which are covered in this
:40:48. > :40:52.waxy sheath, so, yes, they are still huddled together because it is a
:40:52. > :40:57.cool evening but they are being fed well and five of them have survived
:40:57. > :41:04.and are all looking good. Yes, we were worried that one might not be
:41:05. > :41:11.being fed twice a much and we had comments on Twitter about that.
:41:11. > :41:15.Literally over there, 100 metres over there, is our buzzard nest.
:41:15. > :41:20.Let's go live to it now. If you were watching last night you will know we
:41:20. > :41:24.were looking at potentially the most miserable buzzard in Christendom, as
:41:24. > :41:29.it had spent the whole day getting soaking wet in order to properly
:41:29. > :41:35.brewed its young! But here, look, a far more content and attractive
:41:35. > :41:40.looking buzzard. And quite a lot of bitty on the buzzard nest. A lot of
:41:40. > :41:46.different prey food being brought in. -- a lot of activity. And that
:41:46. > :41:52.is a mole. It is not what you would expect a buzzard to be feeding its
:41:52. > :41:56.young? No, it isn't, because moles spend their years being free of
:41:56. > :42:02.predation by remaining below the ground. Only a few youngsters come
:42:02. > :42:05.above the ground in August, so that is interesting. But look at this.
:42:05. > :42:11.This is an eel. And it is quite amusing because it doesn't seem to
:42:11. > :42:15.know exactly what to do with it! not surprised! They probably don't
:42:15. > :42:20.catch to many of them! And that is showing a real sense of opportunity
:42:20. > :42:25.when it comes to diet. But I have got a theory. It is this. We have
:42:25. > :42:28.seen the meeting lots of frogs and it has been very rainy. It is likely
:42:28. > :42:32.these amphibians would have been reactive and so the buzzards would
:42:32. > :42:36.have taken more of them. Then the mole. If it had been flooded, that
:42:36. > :42:40.might have driven the mole up out of the ground onto the surface, and
:42:40. > :42:45.therefore the buzzards might have caught it, and lastly, the eels.
:42:45. > :42:49.Now, these animals will spend large amounts of time and travel long
:42:49. > :42:52.distances out of the water but only when it is flooded or damp. So I
:42:52. > :42:58.think these things we are seeing in the buzzard's diet all to do with
:42:58. > :43:02.the weather. It is basically to do with the situation and they have
:43:02. > :43:08.taken full advantage, which means they will be successful, hopefully.
:43:08. > :43:18.Definitely. But a key component of any woodland is its deadwood. And we
:43:18. > :43:18.
:43:18. > :43:22.have used some of this to form our rodent patch. It is an old, dead
:43:22. > :43:30.blog. But deadwood is very important. As Martin knows, don't
:43:30. > :43:35.you? Yes, I do. Here I am in the beautiful open woods. But I am going
:43:35. > :43:42.to go into microworld. These bluebells are so late for this time
:43:42. > :43:48.of year. The wood is full of rotting wood, and that is a terribly
:43:48. > :43:52.important habitat. Let's quickly go back to the rodent house. Which is
:43:52. > :43:59.essentially rotting wood. In the year last night, we recorded this.
:43:59. > :44:05.Do you see that Beatle? It is a violet ground beetle and it is a
:44:05. > :44:11.tremendous predator. It has fearsome jaws. I was told it was eating a
:44:11. > :44:16.woodlouse. It is so definitely not eating a woodlouse at all! It is
:44:16. > :44:23.eating a seed, which is very curious, but, member, I was out in a
:44:23. > :44:33.god in and heard a squelching noise and I found a violet ground beetle.
:44:33. > :44:39.
:44:39. > :44:44.Let's have a closer look at one. I over... Sorry, mate! Can you see the
:44:44. > :44:50.beautiful colour underneath? That violet colour. Let's have a look. We
:44:50. > :44:56.have been filming it in the studio. There it is moving along. On rotten
:44:56. > :45:05.wood - important to see. And look at the antennae, detecting allsorts of
:45:05. > :45:10.smells and things. That is a door beetle. Lovely things. Now,
:45:10. > :45:17.beetles, look upon. This is one of this -- most successful designs on
:45:17. > :45:21.earth. The great biologist JB holding was asked, what could be
:45:21. > :45:28.inferred by the creator about studying his works? And he said, God
:45:28. > :45:34.had an inordinate fondness for Beatles! -- beetles. And that is
:45:34. > :45:38.because a quarter of the species on the planet are beetles. We have
:45:38. > :45:43.400,000 in the UK like this alone. And one of the reasons they are so
:45:43. > :45:48.successful is they live in different adult areas. The larvae of many
:45:48. > :45:54.beetles will live in rotting wood. It is a terribly important habitat.
:45:54. > :46:02.There's nothing in here Bob... Ooh, a centipede! But there is a beetle
:46:02. > :46:07.lava. Completely and utterly different. Munching its way through.
:46:07. > :46:17.And they are very important because they break down the wood and help
:46:17. > :46:17.
:46:17. > :46:27.recycle all the nutrients in the garden. Another reason they are so
:46:27. > :46:27.
:46:28. > :46:33.successful, the adults have another trick up their sleeves. This is a
:46:33. > :46:40.longhorned beetle, for obvious reasons. It is very protected, very
:46:40. > :46:50.are plated. It has fantastic sensory systems. It has another wonderful
:46:50. > :46:52.
:46:52. > :46:57.trick that makes Beatles so successful. Those cases on the back
:46:57. > :47:07.are actually modified wings. What else can do? This wonderful trick.
:47:07. > :47:09.
:47:09. > :47:15.Here it goes... They can fly, they can disperse over enormous areas.
:47:16. > :47:25.They are fabulously successful creatures. And now, one animal that
:47:26. > :47:31.
:47:31. > :47:39.was successful but now it seems to be in trouble.
:47:39. > :47:46.Last night I ride around the few people I know who bird watch and
:47:46. > :47:53.asking if they knew if there was any work I could see a kestrel. There
:47:53. > :47:57.was nothing on my patch, not a single pair of kestrels in my area.
:47:57. > :48:02.To me, this is almost unthinkable. They used to be an most common bird
:48:02. > :48:10.of prey. My childhood was completely defined by these wonderful birds. I
:48:10. > :48:14.have been obsessed with them since I was a teenager. Finding might first
:48:14. > :48:24.kestrel's nest at 14 was one of the greatest moments of my life. I
:48:24. > :48:24.
:48:24. > :48:31.remember the day, it was 6th of June. It says in my diary, I found
:48:31. > :48:38.it! I heard the young birds screaming. I watched at least three
:48:38. > :48:44.birds. I was so excited about finding a nest that I was torn
:48:44. > :48:51.between staying there and watching the birds, or cycling furiously home
:48:51. > :49:00.to tell my dad about my trophy find. I plumped for the latter and I
:49:00. > :49:10.remember cycling on my chopper singing Seasons In The Sun and then
:49:10. > :49:13.getting home, running up the driveway, saying, dad! I have found
:49:13. > :49:19.my first kestrel's nest! I know exactly where the tree is. Sometimes
:49:19. > :49:29.I take over -- fly over it when I take off from Southampton airport.
:49:29. > :49:30.
:49:30. > :49:38.Every time, my heart misses a beat. Ted Hughes wrote, effortlessly, at
:49:38. > :49:46.height, Hanks is still five. I think that describes them perfectly. They
:49:46. > :49:54.hover effortlessly, even in high winds, by constantly making small
:49:54. > :49:58.adjustments. They can keep their head and eyes constantly steady.
:49:58. > :50:03.They had a wide range of animals including lizards, beetles and
:50:03. > :50:10.worms. Their main food is the sealed phone. They are fantastic predators
:50:10. > :50:19.and even now I take every opportunity to get close to one.
:50:19. > :50:25.When I was 14 I got my first pet kestrel. It was the absolute
:50:25. > :50:31.epicentre of my adolescent life. I loved that bird dearly. I got it on
:50:31. > :50:39.June 20 1975 and sadly on December six that year, it died. It was
:50:39. > :50:43.heartbreaking. I still remember those days, taking it out to a patch
:50:43. > :50:52.of wasteland behind my house and flying it. This pretty little bird
:50:52. > :51:01.is a two-year-old male kestrel. You can tell it is a meal, it has eight
:51:01. > :51:08.slate who -- a slate blue head and tail. They are used to just grasping
:51:08. > :51:13.hold of their prey. They are not a killing, constricting bird. They
:51:13. > :51:18.would usually kill with a pinch to the back of the neck once they have
:51:18. > :51:25.grabbed hold of their prey. I can remember being in the back-seat of
:51:25. > :51:29.my dad 's old Vauxhall and I always the kestrels hovering alongside the
:51:29. > :51:33.road. Many people took them for granted but sadly, in the time it
:51:33. > :51:39.has taken me to grow up, the population of this bird has
:51:39. > :51:45.collapsed. They have gone down by 30% in the last 25 years, perhaps
:51:45. > :51:51.more. It has become a species of conservation concern. The cause of
:51:51. > :52:01.the kestrels decline is a mystery. One factor could be a lack of
:52:01. > :52:01.
:52:01. > :52:06.natural nest sites. Last autumn, a host of volunteers put up 70 nest
:52:06. > :52:14.boxes across Hampshire, Wiltshire and Surrey. They are hoping to
:52:15. > :52:17.discover if putting boxes across the country could help kestrels recover.
:52:17. > :52:24.There are other theories as to why the birds are in trouble. Some
:52:24. > :52:29.people think it is an increase in the number of buzzards, that they
:52:29. > :52:33.are competing for food. Others think it is the intensification of
:52:33. > :52:39.agriculture, too many pesticides for too long. One thing is for sure, the
:52:39. > :52:44.last couple of harsh winters will not have helped. The message it
:52:44. > :52:47.really sense to me is that we can never afford complacency when it
:52:47. > :52:57.comes to conservation because what is a common bird today could be a
:52:57. > :52:57.
:52:57. > :53:01.rarity tomorrow. It is so true. You used to take that
:53:01. > :53:05.completely for granted, the kestrel hovering as you were driving along
:53:05. > :53:09.the motorway. We asked one of our cameramen to go and get a shot of
:53:09. > :53:14.the kestrel on the reserve but he could not find one. There is
:53:14. > :53:18.something we can do, isn't there? The key to conservation is that you
:53:18. > :53:24.have to know what has happened to the population and where it is. We
:53:25. > :53:33.are pleased to team up with the Hawk Conservancy Trust for the kestrel
:53:33. > :53:36.survey. We want you to report all of your kestrel sightings over the next
:53:37. > :53:41.couple of weeks. We want to know where you have seen them, so you can
:53:41. > :53:46.give us a postcode. We want to know the time and place and we also want
:53:46. > :53:49.to know what you and eight were doing. If you are eating a sandwich
:53:49. > :53:54.we would like to know, if the kestrel was eating a sandwich it
:53:54. > :54:01.would be very interesting! We want to reduce a map by the end of the
:54:01. > :54:07.series so we can see if there are any kestrel hotspots and also, where
:54:07. > :54:13.they have disappeared, so we can see if putting up nest boxes would make
:54:13. > :54:20.a difference. Please fill in the report on our website. Can you do an
:54:20. > :54:30.impersonation of a kestrel? You mean sit like one? No, make a kestrel
:54:30. > :54:32.
:54:32. > :54:36.sound. Of course not.Martin, can you? That is not bad!They make a
:54:36. > :54:46.very shrill sound. Barn owl is make a very different sound. Can you do
:54:46. > :54:48.
:54:48. > :54:58.that one? That is pretty good! Here is the barn owl on the reserve. They
:54:58. > :55:08.
:55:08. > :55:09.tend to be very noisy birds. It is a sort of shriek. They make a great
:55:09. > :55:19.range of sounds, everything from high-pitched squeals to all of the
:55:19. > :55:20.
:55:20. > :55:30.hisses will stop -- hisses. This is what we saw earlier on. This is a
:55:30. > :55:32.
:55:32. > :55:39.bit unusual. The squirrel is chased in by the barn owl, and then comes
:55:39. > :55:46.out, looking agitated. It is a little bit too big to be prey.
:55:46. > :55:53.would be a little bit big. But the barn owl would give a good account
:55:53. > :56:01.of itself, keeping the squirrel away from its nest. Let's hear the corvid
:56:01. > :56:11.mash up once again for the quiz. A lot of you were close, but only a
:56:11. > :56:13.
:56:14. > :56:23.few were bang on. It was, the first one was... Let's hear it. Sounds
:56:24. > :56:25.
:56:25. > :56:35.like a magpie, doesn't it? The second was... That was a wreck. --
:56:35. > :56:35.
:56:35. > :56:42.rook. The third was a raven. There will be more quizzes after the show
:56:42. > :56:48.in Unsprung. We will be answering all of your questions and having a
:56:49. > :56:52.good time. For those of you who enjoy the baby rabbit yesterday, I
:56:52. > :56:59.thought you might enjoy this. This is very close to the production
:57:00. > :57:09.village. We saw this in the middle of the day, a hare, which is unusual
:57:10. > :57:16.
:57:16. > :57:25.and fabulous to get on camera. I am not sure we have seen it this late,
:57:25. > :57:35.but that was a hare a couple of days ago. Duncan Richardson said this in.
:57:35. > :57:45.We will speak to him later in the show. We are almost at the end of
:57:45. > :57:45.
:57:45. > :57:49.the programme. Tomorrow, Iolo Williams is going to see one of the
:57:49. > :57:56.best raptors we have in the UK, the hen Harrier. It is in a precarious
:57:56. > :58:01.position. We will be keeping our eye on the live cameras, will there be
:58:01. > :58:08.more jeopardy with the jackdaws? We do not know what is going to
:58:08. > :58:14.happen, nature writes the script. And with the weasel prowling around,
:58:14. > :58:19.what will happen to the reed bunting and meadow pipit nests? Will the
:58:19. > :58:27.weasel have an unfortunate ending for them. We are back tomorrow at