Episode 3 Springwatch


Episode 3

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coming to you live from Wales, where we are unfurling the secret lives of

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our cast of characters, and to night, we've got a new family for

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you. As always, we will be celebrating the best of our UK's

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wildlife, and we will be taking a rather beautiful look at orchards.

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And looking at a whole host of animals there that are hard at work.

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And we will bring you right up to date with belated dramas, like this,

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our buzzards. Last night, we left them battling the wind on cold. What

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will happen? Find out with us on Springwatch first for the series. Do

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you know why? It is not raining! Sun has just come out just this

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second! We are coming to you live from the very beautiful RSPB reserve

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in Wales. There is 700 hectares. It is a pretty big place and home to a

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variety of habitats, including moorland, woodland and grassland. We

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will keep you up-to-date on the post daily dramas of wildlife characters.

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And it will be especially interesting this year because we

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will be monitoring the effects of the appalling weather on our

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wildlife through the series. promised you a new family and we are

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not going to hold back. Let's go live straightaway. Here it is. It

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doesn't look much, does it, nestled down in the grass? But you can see

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the chicks, who hatched just a couple of days ago. What are they?

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That is the question. Let's reveal all. They are meadow pipits. It is

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edible brown bird, and underweight -- underrated bird, closely related

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to the work tale, and it is a bird of open country. It likes moorland

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and grassland and woodland edges, but not woodlands themselves. You

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can see the long tail with those characteristic white outer

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tailfeathers. Sadly, the state of nature, we were mentioning that

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report last week, and these birds have declined by 25% over the UK,

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which is a shame because they play an important role in many

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communities. They are eaten by predators such as Merlin's. But they

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are also flooded by cookies. They act as a parasite and lay their eggs

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in their nests. Let's have a look at what they have been up to today.

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These are the adults feeding them plenty of insects. They eat few

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seeds in the winter and get all of their food from the ground. They are

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a walking bird and they walk across the ground to find that food.

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Because it has been a bit nippy today, you can see that presumably

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the female is brooding the young. Another bird comes in with a beak

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full of insects. Crane flies and possibly a wasp. And in the process

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of poking around, that one masks the other bird depositing the food into

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their mouths. They are vulnerable on the ground. But the nest is very

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well hidden. We will be following them over the next couple of weeks.

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It is nice to see some live birds that are not soggy and wet! Yes, it

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is delightful! Tonight, you get more bang for your buck on Springwatch. I

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allowed to say that? Because after the main programme at 8:30pm, we are

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going to have Unsprung, where we answer your questions and notice

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your observations on British wildlife. And tonight we have a baby

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deer coming in. Baby dear -- a baby dear? Great! To get into interactive

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mood, we have a question... A quiz for you now. This is how it works.

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Listen to this sound but -- sound... Those are different sorts

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of crows. There three different calls and we want you to tell us

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which bird is making which call. This is it wants a game. -- once

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again. I thought it was quite easy to begin with but now I'm beginning

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to think it was a bit difficult! If you think you know the answer, get

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in touch. The website address is below. If you are on Twitter, use

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the hash tag and Springwatch. have had 20 of tweets and comments

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after the programme last night. -- plenty. Lots of you talking about

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the Osprey soap opera. So we thought it was only fair to keep you updated

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with the latest drama. It has been a dramatic breeding

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down with his third mate of the season, a massive female. But they

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are leaving it very late to breed this year. Unusually, she is still

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catching fish for herself. Females normally rely on the mails to bring

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food wants -- once the breeding season begins. But this is what she

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has brought to the nest. Things begin to look up when she brings in

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soft nesting material, a sure sign she is beginning to get Rudy and

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mother Courage and site -- encouraging sign that she might lay

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eggs soon. There is no doubt that they are committed to each other as

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they mantle to cut -- detect their nest. But still no eggs. The other

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three weeks since they paired up, she lays a single egg. She steps

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carefully around the precious egg but when the crows start to pester

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intruders... But she leaves the nest unprotected. Could this crow have

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cracked the vulnerable egg? Three days after the first egg, she lays

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her second. It's great news, but this pair have got a real challenge

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ahead. Will these eggs hatch in time? Will this first time mum learn

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to protect them better? And even if they hatch successfully, the chicks

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will need to grow big enough to migrate to Africa by autumn.

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A little hole like that. If it has prompted the interior membrane,

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infection can get in. But my chickens had holes and they have

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still hatched out. There is no way of knowing, is there, of how big

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that hole is? Fingers crossed it will hatch. More drama, and take a

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look at what happened yesterday with the ospreys. There is our female,

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our young mum, sitting on the nest, protecting her two eggs. And then

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she gets up. Something is obviously coming in. That is not Monty, it is

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an intruder, and this happens a lot. But she is quite clumsy. She is

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stepping all over the eggs. She is still learning what to do. There is

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a big difference there. If you are watching carefully, as you said, she

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folded her talons in and they walk around on their fists if they are

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turning their eggs or anything like that. But in the blind panic she was

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jumping around with her talons out and she could easily puncture one of

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her own eggs if she is not careful. That is a first-time mum habit.

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will certainly keep you updated with that drama. And we had drama without

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jackdaws. We have a nest box with two young chicks. Now, remember,

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these are intruders, not the pairs. This in true debt is attacking those

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chicks. It is very aggressive. It is packing them and stamping on them.

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Ashley this intruder. Then what happens? One of the pair of birds

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comes back and chases them off. That is what we showed last night. What

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has happened since? Fortunately, it has not been quite such a lot of

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hassle. No aggression at all. Let's have a look live to see how the

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chicks are. Because we were concerned about them and it was an

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attack. But they look pretty and healthy. And their feathers

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growing pretty rapidly. Every day they are more and more feathered.

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These are quite large and robust birds. Take a look at this as well.

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Because the actual parents are constantly reasserting their pair

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bond. Because jackdaws are one of those birds which truly mate for

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life. Once they have found a mate, normally in their second year, they

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will stick with them all the way through their lives. If one of them

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dies, female jackdaws normally find high-ranking males to pair up with,

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so if a higher ranking male dies and you are the mate, you lose your

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ranking and you have to find a lower ranking mail if you are lucky enough

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to find one at all. But all that beautiful posturing - we see quite a

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lot of that in the crows, and it is something you can watch for

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yourselves. Like in the book King Solomon's Ring, , all about watching

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jackdaws and their behaviour. just say that everything seems to

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have calmed down now with the jackdaws. We don't write the

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scripts. They do! And anything could happen. Many of you have got in

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contact to report unusual behaviour and animals behaving in inventive

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and Strangeways in response to this very unusual spring we've been

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having. -- strange ways. I went down to the seaside to investigate one

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Beautiful! Beautiful but slightly smelly! Yet these great piles of

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decomposing seaweed are a crucial resource for a host of wildlife.

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Now, whereas you or I might give it a miss on our way down to the

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beach, the strand line here is a really rich habitat. And in fact, on

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strand line is all around the country this spring, some very

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curious things have been going on. And this year, it is not just our

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usual coastal birds like goals and work tales that have been seen on

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the beach. There have also been sightings of garden birds. Robbins,

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friends. So what are they doing down here? To unravel the mystery, marine

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biologist Meyer is rooting around in the rotting seaweed. Heaps of

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rotting vegetation. It really is! You can see on the surface, and when

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we peel back, take a look at this... It is absolutely packed. You

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can see already we have sand hoppers... And look, a whole load of

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maggots. Look at that! And it is so warm here! Yes, and it is not the

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sun warming this, it is the rotting he week -- rotting seaweed which is

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rotting to create this microclimate for these insects and animals to

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grow. Sheltered under the layer of seaweed, the maggots can breed all

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year round. I have a thermometer... Of course you have! So we can see

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exactly what the temperature is. This green one measures the

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temperature of the air and we can stick this probe into the seaweed.

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Already we can see this is going up to 19... In the aerial temperature

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is 13. So we have an additional six degrees. So I suppose this year it

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has been so freezing cold inland, there's nothing going on.

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Absolutely. Here, we have managed to maintain this warm temperature from

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all this lovely rotting seaweed. the mystery this year of these

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curious birds that have come down, you have solved it, because they are

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coming down to feed on these invertebrates. That's right.A few

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moments later we were joined by a wren-mac. We believe this is the

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first time one has been seen here on the beach. It may even be building a

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nest on the bank. It is certainly feasting on all these flying

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beetles. To get a closer look at the wealth of life, we put down some

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markers. Look at that! That is a lot of sand hoppers! Look at so much

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biology is going on here. There are not many places on land you would

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find quite so many invertebrates. Sand hoppers are crustaceans that

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leap. They also navigate using the sun and the moon. The total biomass

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on this beach must be astronomical. In this small area we have got

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hundreds. Multiply that over the strand line and it is astronomic.

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You can see why so many birds come here to feed. While people may want

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to tidy it up, it would be a disaster, wouldn't it? This mobile

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restaurant feeds so many creatures. This year it has become a J Lifeline

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for a lot of our favourite birds. really has. It just goes to show

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that it is the animals that adapt well. It reminds us that we should

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leave debris on the beaches because it provides habitat. Can you see the

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beaches of Malibu with all of the celebrities on the sand with rotting

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seaweed behind them? Then just leave some of it! We are going to be

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looking at how wildlife is coping with the late spring. Let us know

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what you have noticed about the beautiful rebels all around. Send

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all of your comments to the website. That is also the place to go if you

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want to continue watching on the live cameras once you -- we have

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gone off air. This looks like a natural lake but just 13 years ago

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this was artificial grassland. The RSPB have done a fantastic job. It

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is now full of life. We have got a live camera on it. We have also got

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a cameraman getting all sorts of interesting wildlife. I think we

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might have something on the camera at the moment. Let's have a look. It

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is always a beautiful sight, isn't it? Always beautiful. It does not

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have any cygnets. This time last year, we had cygnets. This is one of

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our favourite animals that we have been lucky enough to catch. It is an

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otter. We have seen them here in the last couple of years on

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Springwatch, but this one has turned up in daylight, which is always a

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treat. This is one of the few species that are doing really well

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here at the moment. They have spread back into all of the English

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counties. They always do well in Scotland and Wales. It is always a

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treat to see them. Otters are not a major threat to wetland birds

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although they will take them opportunistically. Yes, they will

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do, especially ones which are nesting close. Typically, their diet

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is fish. A bigger threat is a weasel. We have lots of nesting

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birds around the wetland area. We saw this last night. This is our

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family of chicks and the weasel got all of them. It could be a problem

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for some of our other families. We have got lots around the wetland

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area. Let's have a look at the reed bunting's -- hunting s. They are not

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far away. They have got a strategy for survival. Let's have a look at

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this. This is one of the little chicks fledging. They fledge really

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early. That is part of their survival strategy. They fledge after

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nine or ten days, which is three or four days before they can try. It is

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death or glory. They have got to get out of the way of the predators. In

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order to do that, they fledge early and disperse. When we saw the weasel

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coming, all of the chicks were in one basket and it just kept going

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back. In the case of these birds, it might just find one. I am concerned

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about the chick that did come out, surely it is more obvious for a

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predator? Let's have a look at the nest. How many are in there now?

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This is the reed bunting. Let's get as close as we can. I have a

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suspicion they may have all gone. We only saw one leaving through the

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front. That would be typical. It looks empty to me. I think all of

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those youngsters have gone into the thick grass and they have probably

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spread themselves out over a few metres. They are not going to go far

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because the adults will study to find them when they come back. They

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might even go back into the nest overnight, or they may stay

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separate. We will have to see what happens. Another nest very close is

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the water rail. This is quite a precarious nest. Again, a weasel

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could come in. What I have noticed is one of the adults is never really

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off the nest. There is always one protecting the nest. I suppose a

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weasel could take the adults, there is nothing to stop that happening.

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This story developers have been watching. The longest they have seen

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either the male or the female away from the nest is eight minutes. They

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are typically only awake for 20 seconds that they are sitting tight,

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which is perfect. You can see how difficult they would be to be spot.

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They are not difficult to hear, they are very noisy birds. This is a

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unique opportunity to listen to some of their calls. Listen to this will

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gives a little groan, and then goes back to sleep. We think this is a

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contact call between the female and the mail, that the other bird was

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close to the nest. There are seven calls listed, but it turns out it

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has been heard before, as has this one. This is the one you would

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typically hear if you went out listening for a water rail. Sounds

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like a squealing pig, doesn't it? is a fantastic noise. What you

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cannot appreciate is how noisy it is. They do call our lot at night.

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You will soon detect whether there is a water rail there. You can hear

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their call. We call it shining. I am not sure where the word comes from.

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If you know, let us know. Is it a surprise that they make so much

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noise when they are sitting on the nest? Calling from the nest and

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making all of the noise is slightly unusual. Flooding is also a problem.

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The terrible weather last year played havoc for the people and the

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wildlife. Earlier I went down to the river that feeds this march to see

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the long-term damage of those floods.

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This is the river that runs through the reserve. It divides amazing

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habitats for the wildlife. It is also the river that last year rose

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so high that it burst its banks after a weekend of torrential rain,

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causing mayhem and destruction not only for us and the wildlife, but

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also for the river system itself. It was a year later that it was a very

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different river. Just look at this. This was caused by last year's

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floods. The water was so high that it caused the whole side of the bank

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to collapse. Floods do not just destroy, they also create. Birds are

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taking advantage of the breed left by the flood. We are just behind the

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course, where the river came up. This female blackbird has woven

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herself quite a delicious little nest. She is currently sitting on

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Aix. How many? And Mike the last time I looked she had three, she may

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have another. Further upstream, a rain has also built a nest. But Ian

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wants to show me the home of an iconic river bird that for the full

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force of nature. It is the Kingfisher. Ian has a special

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license that allows us to take a special look. This is where the link

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was filmed last year. Last year, a mink killed all of the chicks in the

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nest. Is this a sensible place to nest? It is a bit low. A good

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Kingfisher nest should be 6.5 feet off the ground. The rats could go

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in, straight to the Dominic Bradley mink -- straight to where the mink

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went. Some birds are still at the mercy of the river. Let's hope we do

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not have a repeat of last year 's torrential weather. My fingers are

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crossed. We do not want to see it repeated. Despite the fact that a

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Kingfisher was flying across it does not look like they are going to be

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used this year. Those birds were using all of the flotsam and jets in

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to make a nest and birds will use all sorts of materials to form a

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nest. It is probably easier to have a list of things they do not use.

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They do not use corrugated irony! They use all sorts of natural

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materials. We spotted this mail wren earlier. They make up to five nests

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to attract a female. He has hidden his nest very cleverly in this bank.

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You can just make out some of the mosque. When the nest is chosen by

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the female it is lined with fine grasses and is much softer inside.

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This siskin is not going to find a softer cop because it is going to

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use this fleece to lying its nest. Let's go live to the jackdaws. It is

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not just siskins who have monopolised the fleece, there is a

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whole pile. Jackdaws will add all sorts of things into their nest. You

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can see plastic and tweaks and all sorts of unnatural material.

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Jackdaws are famous for bringing in twinkling materials. You will have

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to test them - put some outside the nest! They don't just use discarded

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bits of animals either. Look at this photo. She says a holidaymaker saw

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the jackdaws and came running to the door to tell her that the pony was

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being pecked by the jackdaws! But if their willpower site is there, they

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will peck at those while taking nesting material from the live

:30:23.:30:33.
:30:33.:30:35.

horse! -- but if there are parasites there. A photo like that is great

:30:35.:30:41.

because it tells a story. You can take fantastic spectacle photographs

:30:41.:30:45.

and photos that tell stories, and that is exactly what we are

:30:45.:30:50.

encouraging you to do as part of the BBC some of wildlife. We want you to

:30:50.:31:00.
:31:00.:31:01.

see it, snap it and share it. You can do that by going to our website.

:31:01.:31:05.

There's also lots of details on the website about how to take good

:31:05.:31:12.

wildlife photos as well. Another thing on there is a guide as to how

:31:12.:31:16.

to feed wildlife. This is really important. Not just birds but also

:31:16.:31:22.

is of wildlife - mammals, insects with nectar. That sort of thing.

:31:22.:31:27.

Let's go live to our feeders. I didn't expect to see too much there

:31:27.:31:31.

at this time of night. Principally, because many birds have groups of

:31:31.:31:35.

young, and at this time of year they will concentrate on insects because

:31:35.:31:41.

they want the protein. However, we have seen birds on the feeder

:31:41.:31:46.

earlier today. And we have some adult birds having a quick snack in

:31:46.:31:52.

between gathering all of those insects. And up here, look, there's

:31:52.:31:56.

a great tit. It is snacking on the seeds before it nips off and carries

:31:56.:32:02.

on, presumably, feeding its young. If these are non-breeding birds or

:32:02.:32:06.

birds who have failed, they might spend more time at the feeder. But

:32:06.:32:11.

this is what we expect to see at this time of year. A lot more birds

:32:11.:32:21.

with invertebrate food. Song thrush with worms. Let's have a quick read

:32:21.:32:28.

cap about corvid conundrum. There three different sorts of birds

:32:28.:32:36.

singing here. -- a quick re-cap. If you know what those birds are and

:32:37.:32:43.

the order in which they are making those sounds, send us an email or a

:32:43.:32:50.

message on Twitter. Springwatch is a celebration of wildlife but

:32:50.:32:54.

sometimes wildlife and beauty can be found working hand-in-hand in

:32:54.:33:04.
:33:04.:33:08.

surprising places, as our cameraman Britain is an industrious nation.

:33:08.:33:18.
:33:18.:33:19.

Built on a willingness to work. And in Somerset, there is an ancient

:33:19.:33:27.

tradition centuries-old of working the land for apples. Whose golden

:33:27.:33:37.
:33:37.:33:39.

drink has long sustained our busy trees, the lines of wooden workers,

:33:39.:33:49.

I have come to find our British wildlife. Because it works here two.

:33:49.:33:58.

-- too. Roe deer come to graze. The Orchard hedgerow offering a tasty

:33:58.:34:08.
:34:08.:34:20.

insistent. It must eat and eat and eat to satisfy its hunger. There's

:34:20.:34:28.

little goodness in its leafy diet. But finally, after the longest of

:34:28.:34:35.

winters, sustenance will arrive in the Orchard. The warmth of spring.

:34:35.:34:45.
:34:45.:35:07.

year there will be autumn fruit. It is a beautiful promise but it comes

:35:07.:35:17.
:35:17.:35:52.

Shipped in to pollinate the their harvest. They take nectar and

:35:52.:35:58.

move pollen between the blooms, helping to fertilise them. And in

:35:58.:36:01.

their hives, they are working to build their comb and attend to their

:36:01.:36:11.

young. Only disrupted by a dance. A waggle dance. To show where a new

:36:11.:36:21.
:36:21.:36:28.

bounty has been found out amongst Orchard, too. Less celebrated than

:36:28.:36:34.

the honey bee, but still doing an important job. Bumblebees fly in

:36:34.:36:44.
:36:44.:36:57.

colder weather. They fly in wetter moths, oddly named nocturnal flyers,

:36:57.:37:07.
:37:07.:37:08.

work in the Orchard, too? Some of us in trying to find out. -- are

:37:08.:37:18.
:37:18.:37:34.

character. The cloud drab. They are here but are they playing their part

:37:34.:37:44.
:37:44.:37:44.

in pollinating? The truth is, not even the experts know. They need

:37:44.:37:54.
:37:54.:38:18.

it's not just the insects who live here. But birds, too. And amongst

:38:18.:38:26.

the blossoms, blue tips. Just as some insects are the Orchard's

:38:26.:38:32.

friends, others are not. And the blue tit of the Orchard's pest

:38:32.:38:38.

control company, bouncing through the bowels. They peck and pick for

:38:38.:38:45.

insects with precision. And take the odd blossom or two for their time.

:38:45.:38:52.

And as they leave, off to work their next tree, in a quest to help the

:38:52.:38:58.

nation's dreams of drink come true, I, too, must take my leave. My

:38:58.:39:08.
:39:08.:39:21.

thirst for nature... Well and truly beauty in nature but sometimes you

:39:21.:39:27.

have just got to stop, take the time and really appreciate it. Absolutely

:39:27.:39:33.

stunning. Now, still to come onto night's programme, what's now

:39:33.:39:37.

altered chicks' menu? It is something eight at a bit surprise

:39:37.:39:45.

in? -- our buzzard chicks' menu? Martin will be getting his knees

:39:45.:39:52.

dirty as he takes a look at the creatures of the undergrowth.

:39:52.:39:56.

good stuff. Now, we are continuing to explore the reserve and you can

:39:56.:40:01.

see the saltmarsh stretched out behind us. I was meeting one of the

:40:01.:40:08.

locals the other day and set -- they said this was called lovers rock!

:40:08.:40:13.

Oh! OK! We have come down here because there is some woodland

:40:13.:40:17.

behind us and you have been in there and seemed the bluebells are still

:40:17.:40:20.

in flower. They are way behind but they are not the only things that

:40:20.:40:26.

are behind. We have our great tits and they seem to have been doing

:40:26.:40:31.

pretty well. They are nesting. The chicks are looking healthy. What do

:40:31.:40:36.

you reckon, Chris? When are they going to be ready? Well, they have

:40:36.:40:40.

grown considerably in the last few days and you can see their pin

:40:40.:40:43.

feathers and primary flight feathers, which are covered in this

:40:43.:40:48.

waxy sheath, so, yes, they are still huddled together because it is a

:40:48.:40:52.

cool evening but they are being fed well and five of them have survived

:40:52.:40:57.

and are all looking good. Yes, we were worried that one might not be

:40:57.:41:04.

being fed twice a much and we had comments on Twitter about that.

:41:05.:41:11.

Literally over there, 100 metres over there, is our buzzard nest.

:41:11.:41:15.

Let's go live to it now. If you were watching last night you will know we

:41:15.:41:20.

were looking at potentially the most miserable buzzard in Christendom, as

:41:20.:41:24.

it had spent the whole day getting soaking wet in order to properly

:41:24.:41:29.

brewed its young! But here, look, a far more content and attractive

:41:29.:41:35.

looking buzzard. And quite a lot of bitty on the buzzard nest. A lot of

:41:35.:41:40.

different prey food being brought in. -- a lot of activity. And that

:41:40.:41:46.

is a mole. It is not what you would expect a buzzard to be feeding its

:41:46.:41:52.

young? No, it isn't, because moles spend their years being free of

:41:52.:41:56.

predation by remaining below the ground. Only a few youngsters come

:41:56.:42:02.

above the ground in August, so that is interesting. But look at this.

:42:02.:42:05.

This is an eel. And it is quite amusing because it doesn't seem to

:42:05.:42:11.

know exactly what to do with it! not surprised! They probably don't

:42:11.:42:15.

catch to many of them! And that is showing a real sense of opportunity

:42:15.:42:20.

when it comes to diet. But I have got a theory. It is this. We have

:42:20.:42:25.

seen the meeting lots of frogs and it has been very rainy. It is likely

:42:25.:42:28.

these amphibians would have been reactive and so the buzzards would

:42:28.:42:32.

have taken more of them. Then the mole. If it had been flooded, that

:42:32.:42:36.

might have driven the mole up out of the ground onto the surface, and

:42:36.:42:40.

therefore the buzzards might have caught it, and lastly, the eels.

:42:40.:42:45.

Now, these animals will spend large amounts of time and travel long

:42:45.:42:49.

distances out of the water but only when it is flooded or damp. So I

:42:49.:42:52.

think these things we are seeing in the buzzard's diet all to do with

:42:52.:42:58.

the weather. It is basically to do with the situation and they have

:42:58.:43:02.

taken full advantage, which means they will be successful, hopefully.

:43:02.:43:08.

Definitely. But a key component of any woodland is its deadwood. And we

:43:08.:43:18.
:43:18.:43:18.

have used some of this to form our rodent patch. It is an old, dead

:43:18.:43:22.

blog. But deadwood is very important. As Martin knows, don't

:43:22.:43:30.

you? Yes, I do. Here I am in the beautiful open woods. But I am going

:43:30.:43:35.

to go into microworld. These bluebells are so late for this time

:43:35.:43:42.

of year. The wood is full of rotting wood, and that is a terribly

:43:42.:43:48.

important habitat. Let's quickly go back to the rodent house. Which is

:43:48.:43:52.

essentially rotting wood. In the year last night, we recorded this.

:43:52.:43:59.

Do you see that Beatle? It is a violet ground beetle and it is a

:43:59.:44:05.

tremendous predator. It has fearsome jaws. I was told it was eating a

:44:05.:44:11.

woodlouse. It is so definitely not eating a woodlouse at all! It is

:44:11.:44:16.

eating a seed, which is very curious, but, member, I was out in a

:44:16.:44:23.

god in and heard a squelching noise and I found a violet ground beetle.

:44:23.:44:33.
:44:33.:44:39.

Let's have a closer look at one. I over... Sorry, mate! Can you see the

:44:39.:44:44.

beautiful colour underneath? That violet colour. Let's have a look. We

:44:44.:44:50.

have been filming it in the studio. There it is moving along. On rotten

:44:50.:44:56.

wood - important to see. And look at the antennae, detecting allsorts of

:44:56.:45:05.

smells and things. That is a door beetle. Lovely things. Now,

:45:05.:45:10.

beetles, look upon. This is one of this -- most successful designs on

:45:10.:45:17.

earth. The great biologist JB holding was asked, what could be

:45:17.:45:21.

inferred by the creator about studying his works? And he said, God

:45:21.:45:28.

had an inordinate fondness for Beatles! -- beetles. And that is

:45:28.:45:34.

because a quarter of the species on the planet are beetles. We have

:45:34.:45:38.

400,000 in the UK like this alone. And one of the reasons they are so

:45:38.:45:43.

successful is they live in different adult areas. The larvae of many

:45:43.:45:48.

beetles will live in rotting wood. It is a terribly important habitat.

:45:48.:45:54.

There's nothing in here Bob... Ooh, a centipede! But there is a beetle

:45:54.:46:02.

lava. Completely and utterly different. Munching its way through.

:46:02.:46:07.

And they are very important because they break down the wood and help

:46:07.:46:17.
:46:17.:46:17.

recycle all the nutrients in the garden. Another reason they are so

:46:17.:46:27.
:46:27.:46:27.

successful, the adults have another trick up their sleeves. This is a

:46:28.:46:33.

longhorned beetle, for obvious reasons. It is very protected, very

:46:33.:46:40.

are plated. It has fantastic sensory systems. It has another wonderful

:46:40.:46:50.
:46:50.:46:52.

trick that makes Beatles so successful. Those cases on the back

:46:52.:46:57.

are actually modified wings. What else can do? This wonderful trick.

:46:57.:47:07.
:47:07.:47:09.

Here it goes... They can fly, they can disperse over enormous areas.

:47:09.:47:15.

They are fabulously successful creatures. And now, one animal that

:47:16.:47:25.
:47:26.:47:31.

was successful but now it seems to be in trouble.

:47:31.:47:39.

Last night I ride around the few people I know who bird watch and

:47:39.:47:46.

asking if they knew if there was any work I could see a kestrel. There

:47:46.:47:53.

was nothing on my patch, not a single pair of kestrels in my area.

:47:53.:47:57.

To me, this is almost unthinkable. They used to be an most common bird

:47:57.:48:02.

of prey. My childhood was completely defined by these wonderful birds. I

:48:02.:48:10.

have been obsessed with them since I was a teenager. Finding might first

:48:10.:48:14.

kestrel's nest at 14 was one of the greatest moments of my life. I

:48:14.:48:24.
:48:24.:48:24.

remember the day, it was 6th of June. It says in my diary, I found

:48:24.:48:31.

it! I heard the young birds screaming. I watched at least three

:48:31.:48:38.

birds. I was so excited about finding a nest that I was torn

:48:38.:48:44.

between staying there and watching the birds, or cycling furiously home

:48:44.:48:51.

to tell my dad about my trophy find. I plumped for the latter and I

:48:51.:49:00.

remember cycling on my chopper singing Seasons In The Sun and then

:49:00.:49:10.

getting home, running up the driveway, saying, dad! I have found

:49:10.:49:13.

my first kestrel's nest! I know exactly where the tree is. Sometimes

:49:13.:49:19.

I take over -- fly over it when I take off from Southampton airport.

:49:19.:49:29.
:49:29.:49:30.

Every time, my heart misses a beat. Ted Hughes wrote, effortlessly, at

:49:30.:49:38.

height, Hanks is still five. I think that describes them perfectly. They

:49:38.:49:46.

hover effortlessly, even in high winds, by constantly making small

:49:46.:49:54.

adjustments. They can keep their head and eyes constantly steady.

:49:54.:49:58.

They had a wide range of animals including lizards, beetles and

:49:58.:50:03.

worms. Their main food is the sealed phone. They are fantastic predators

:50:03.:50:10.

and even now I take every opportunity to get close to one.

:50:10.:50:19.

When I was 14 I got my first pet kestrel. It was the absolute

:50:19.:50:25.

epicentre of my adolescent life. I loved that bird dearly. I got it on

:50:25.:50:31.

June 20 1975 and sadly on December six that year, it died. It was

:50:31.:50:39.

heartbreaking. I still remember those days, taking it out to a patch

:50:39.:50:43.

of wasteland behind my house and flying it. This pretty little bird

:50:43.:50:52.

is a two-year-old male kestrel. You can tell it is a meal, it has eight

:50:52.:51:01.

slate who -- a slate blue head and tail. They are used to just grasping

:51:01.:51:08.

hold of their prey. They are not a killing, constricting bird. They

:51:08.:51:13.

would usually kill with a pinch to the back of the neck once they have

:51:13.:51:18.

grabbed hold of their prey. I can remember being in the back-seat of

:51:18.:51:25.

my dad 's old Vauxhall and I always the kestrels hovering alongside the

:51:25.:51:29.

road. Many people took them for granted but sadly, in the time it

:51:29.:51:33.

has taken me to grow up, the population of this bird has

:51:33.:51:39.

collapsed. They have gone down by 30% in the last 25 years, perhaps

:51:39.:51:45.

more. It has become a species of conservation concern. The cause of

:51:45.:51:51.

the kestrels decline is a mystery. One factor could be a lack of

:51:51.:52:01.
:52:01.:52:01.

natural nest sites. Last autumn, a host of volunteers put up 70 nest

:52:01.:52:06.

boxes across Hampshire, Wiltshire and Surrey. They are hoping to

:52:06.:52:14.

discover if putting boxes across the country could help kestrels recover.

:52:15.:52:17.

There are other theories as to why the birds are in trouble. Some

:52:17.:52:24.

people think it is an increase in the number of buzzards, that they

:52:24.:52:29.

are competing for food. Others think it is the intensification of

:52:29.:52:33.

agriculture, too many pesticides for too long. One thing is for sure, the

:52:33.:52:39.

last couple of harsh winters will not have helped. The message it

:52:39.:52:44.

really sense to me is that we can never afford complacency when it

:52:44.:52:47.

comes to conservation because what is a common bird today could be a

:52:47.:52:57.
:52:57.:52:57.

rarity tomorrow. It is so true. You used to take that

:52:57.:53:01.

completely for granted, the kestrel hovering as you were driving along

:53:01.:53:05.

the motorway. We asked one of our cameramen to go and get a shot of

:53:05.:53:09.

the kestrel on the reserve but he could not find one. There is

:53:09.:53:14.

something we can do, isn't there? The key to conservation is that you

:53:14.:53:18.

have to know what has happened to the population and where it is. We

:53:18.:53:24.

are pleased to team up with the Hawk Conservancy Trust for the kestrel

:53:25.:53:33.

survey. We want you to report all of your kestrel sightings over the next

:53:33.:53:36.

couple of weeks. We want to know where you have seen them, so you can

:53:37.:53:41.

give us a postcode. We want to know the time and place and we also want

:53:41.:53:46.

to know what you and eight were doing. If you are eating a sandwich

:53:46.:53:49.

we would like to know, if the kestrel was eating a sandwich it

:53:49.:53:54.

would be very interesting! We want to reduce a map by the end of the

:53:54.:54:01.

series so we can see if there are any kestrel hotspots and also, where

:54:01.:54:07.

they have disappeared, so we can see if putting up nest boxes would make

:54:07.:54:13.

a difference. Please fill in the report on our website. Can you do an

:54:13.:54:20.

impersonation of a kestrel? You mean sit like one? No, make a kestrel

:54:20.:54:30.
:54:30.:54:32.

sound. Of course not.Martin, can you? That is not bad!They make a

:54:32.:54:36.

very shrill sound. Barn owl is make a very different sound. Can you do

:54:36.:54:46.
:54:46.:54:48.

that one? That is pretty good! Here is the barn owl on the reserve. They

:54:48.:54:58.
:54:58.:55:08.

tend to be very noisy birds. It is a sort of shriek. They make a great

:55:08.:55:09.

range of sounds, everything from high-pitched squeals to all of the

:55:09.:55:19.
:55:19.:55:20.

hisses will stop -- hisses. This is what we saw earlier on. This is a

:55:20.:55:30.
:55:30.:55:32.

bit unusual. The squirrel is chased in by the barn owl, and then comes

:55:32.:55:39.

out, looking agitated. It is a little bit too big to be prey.

:55:39.:55:46.

would be a little bit big. But the barn owl would give a good account

:55:46.:55:53.

of itself, keeping the squirrel away from its nest. Let's hear the corvid

:55:53.:56:01.

mash up once again for the quiz. A lot of you were close, but only a

:56:01.:56:11.
:56:11.:56:13.

few were bang on. It was, the first one was... Let's hear it. Sounds

:56:14.:56:23.
:56:24.:56:25.

like a magpie, doesn't it? The second was... That was a wreck. --

:56:25.:56:35.
:56:35.:56:35.

rook. The third was a raven. There will be more quizzes after the show

:56:35.:56:42.

in Unsprung. We will be answering all of your questions and having a

:56:42.:56:48.

good time. For those of you who enjoy the baby rabbit yesterday, I

:56:49.:56:52.

thought you might enjoy this. This is very close to the production

:56:52.:56:59.

village. We saw this in the middle of the day, a hare, which is unusual

:57:00.:57:09.
:57:10.:57:16.

and fabulous to get on camera. I am not sure we have seen it this late,

:57:16.:57:25.

but that was a hare a couple of days ago. Duncan Richardson said this in.

:57:25.:57:35.

We will speak to him later in the show. We are almost at the end of

:57:35.:57:45.
:57:45.:57:45.

the programme. Tomorrow, Iolo Williams is going to see one of the

:57:45.:57:49.

best raptors we have in the UK, the hen Harrier. It is in a precarious

:57:49.:57:56.

position. We will be keeping our eye on the live cameras, will there be

:57:56.:58:01.

more jeopardy with the jackdaws? We do not know what is going to

:58:01.:58:08.

happen, nature writes the script. And with the weasel prowling around,

:58:08.:58:14.

what will happen to the reed bunting and meadow pipit nests? Will the

:58:14.:58:19.

weasel have an unfortunate ending for them. We are back tomorrow at

:58:19.:58:27.

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