Episode 6 Springwatch

on this sunny evening, and we have got plenty of drama, and a species

new to Springwatch, the stone chap. We will bring you some fabulous

mammals and one of my favourites, bottlenose dolphins. They will take

a close-up look at one of the UK's rarest words, the enigmatic and

acrobatic chough. Welcome, it is from the beautiful RSPB reserve

here. It is a super sunny evening, there are 13 or 14 clouds in the

sky, that is the limit, it is fantastic! The weather is set to be

fair for the remainder of the week, fingers crossed. It has been a

beautiful day, and it is easy to think that that makes spring a

distant memory. But this time last week, we were standing in the

pouring rain. That was Tuesday. And Monday. But it was a late spring,

and it has been the coldest spring for 50 years. That has affected many

of our animals, including birds. Especially nesting birds. Let's

catch up with one of them, the great tips. That is how we left the checks

on Thursday. What a difference a few days makes. This was then yesterday.

Unbelievable, how much they have grown. A lot of flapping of wings, a

lot of stretching. One of the slightly bigger ones has been going

to the entrance of the nest quite a lot, so we were predicting they

would fledge. Have they? Let's take a look at the nest live. No, they

haven't. They are still there. They are looking very strong and healthy,

a lot of activity going on. My prediction is tomorrow. They are

still getting plenty of food. There are only five of them, when they

leave the nest, the survival rate is much higher now that few of them are

leaving the nest. They too well once they get out. Tomorrow, possibly. We

have got another new bird tonight, but go live to its nest. It is on

the side of a tree, it is a domed nest, it is well hidden in amongst

the Ivy. You can see the female bird peeping out, it is a Wren. How she

goes. There is a brood of young in there, she has been feeding them all

day. They are a small, familiar bird, but they have got a big voice,

they produce a complex trilling sound that can be heard over a

kilometre away, and they pump the song out at 92 decibel is. They are

city Rockers, they pump out the volume from the hedgerow, they

really do. The male ones make between five and eight nests and

tempt the females in. She lined the nest and lays the X, then she brings

up the junk whilst the mail tents and other female into one of his

nest. It is easy to forget how small it is, because we have got close-up

cameras on them. They are doing really well at the moment, but

sadly, one of our birds is not doing quite so well. Let's go live to the

blackbirds best. The female is quietly, but you might be able to

see there are not quite so many as before. Let's catch up on what

happened. They were looking great, they were being fed. Terrific amount

of food being brought in. There were five of them to begin with, but they

have hatched at different times, which is unusual. This is what we

saw at 5:20am. That is the mother taking out one of the chicks that

had died. Very sad, but very good nest hygiene, because the mother

needs to take any chick that dies out, because it might attract flies

or predators. Why did that one pass away? It was the smallest. They

hatched asynchronously, and the others would have been bigger. One

disappears like that, there will be more food for the others, so it is

fingers crossed for the others. will be keeping an eye on the life

cameras through the programme. If anything dramatic happens, we will

cut into it. We will try to bring it and day on the red button and on the

website. Let's have a quiz. We have been in the studio, filming. Try and

tell us what this is. It looks like a space alien. It looks odd. What a

face! Only a mother could love it! If you think you know what it is,

get in touch on the Internet, on Facebook or on Twitter. From one of

my least favourite creatures to one of my favourites, bottlenose

dolphins. We went up to Scotland to find out why a group of them had

chosen a surprising area to hang out I am in the heart of Aberdeen, and

thanks to the oil and gas industry, this harbour is one of the busiest

in the country full --. I am told it is a great place to see one of our

favourite marine mammals, the bottlenose dolphin, but what are

they doing here? I am hoping to find out. It seems extraordinary that

there are dolphins swimming in these waters. Aberdeen has had a lively

fishing industry for centuries, but since the discovery of North Sea

oil, this sport has grown and grown. Nowadays, the votes servicing the

rigs form a steady flow of traffic. boats, all of the people, the hustle

and bustle, I thought they had got it wrong, but I am surrounded by

them! Here we are, here is one. They are wonderful animals. When you see

one, it puts a smile on your face. Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm,

temperate seas worldwide, but those living off Scotland's coast have

ventured further north than any others. To deal with the colder

temperatures, they grow much bigger. A thick layer of blubber helps

insulate them from the cold. Some of the animals grow to nearly four

metres long. It is amazing to find such big mammals living in such a

human environment. It is unbelievable, you have got the

harbour wall, the docks, the city of Aberdeen, and these waters, they are

alive with bottlenose dolphins. There must be 50 or 60 animals here.

Why are they venturing into this busy harbour? Biologist David Luiz

so is part of a research team from the University of Aberdeen that is

studying them. We are starting to understand what is going on, it is

interesting. They are part of the larger north-east Scotland

population, which is just shy of 200 animals. They go all the way down to

Newcastle. That dolphin there was in Newcastle three months ago. We can

take pictures of them and recognise individuals. By photographing the

dolphins, David and his colleague can analyse any distinguishing

features on their dorsal fins. Previous injuries, differences in

colour and shape or help them identify individual dolphins and

plot their movement down the coast. Taking photographs is not the only

way that David can build a clearer picture of what is going on. Using a

special underwater microphone, he can eavesdrop on the dolphins.

you hear anything? Absolutely, lots going on right now. All of the

clicking is essential for navigating these busy waters. We have got 20

dolphins around, and every one of them uses this to say. Using

echolocation, they listened for the echo of their calls as a way of

measuring the position of any obstacles, which is vital in a busy

shipping area. But there is something else going on as well.

high-pitched squeaking noise. Yes, a whistling. It is incredible. That is

their own language. That is right, it is communication. The whistles

might seem random, but dolphins all have their own unique sound. It

helps them identify each other. The dolphins in Aberdeen harbour are

socialising. How does that work with all of the ships coming past? Rust

interfere with their acoustic indication. When you talk in a noisy

room, sometimes you speak louder, sometimes you repeat yourself. It is

the same principle. They will first saw, and it will be repeated.

this reveals is that these dolphins are not just travelling through the

harbour, they are hanging around and talking to each other. That is

despite the fact they are having to shout to make themselves heard above

the noise. But what has brought them here? To find out, I will need to

get a better view of what is going Do you think that those dolphins

could evolve to be slightly deaf? They did a study on the mice on the

Underground, that is what might have hear the announcement? ! It was

because of the constant loud noises? I do not know. Dolphins are

different, their hearing is acute, seven or eight times better than

ours, we hear to 20,000 hertz, but they can hear up to 150,000. It is a

noisy place, all of the propellers, everything, they are probably

filtering out the sounds. When I am at home, I do not hear my dogs

barking. People living next door to railway lines do not hear them. That

is what they must be doing, because sound is such an important part of

their world, they could not exist there unless they could cope with

the acoustic intrusions. They have adapted. Let's check up with the

jackdaws, it has been a gym addict story. As you know, the resident

chicks have been attacked by intruders regularly. What happened

over the last 24 hours? There has been a bit of respite. The intruders

have been in a queue times but the attacks have been less brutal, and

both chicks have been fighting back. That is the parent bird scaring them

off. Let's think about what the parents must be going through. Every

time they leave the chicks, they are vulnerable. But they have to keep

believing them to get food. They are four weeks old, they will not fledge

until they are at least five weeks old, so they have got another week

of possibly being attacked, but the parents have to keep going out and

getting food for them. There has been another interesting turn of

events. Those are not the parents, those are the intruders. Look at

what they are doing. They are bringing in nesting material, they

are not attacking the chicks. They look like they are almost trying to

move in. Just outside the barn where the nest box is, these are the same

two birds, the same intruders, the Bonnie and Clyde pair, they are

still looking around, prospecting for another nest site. There are

instinctive find a nest is so strong, if they cannot use the nest

box, they feel compelled to find somewhere else. This backs up our

theory. These attacks have been constant. We postulated that the

birds coming in are lower down in the social hierarchy in this group

of jackdaws, that they don't have a nest, that nest sites are in short

supply and they're desperate to get one. The fact that they're adding

material before they even own it and then constantly looking into every

nook and cranny for a nest seems to back up that theory. It's a bit rude

to move in when someone's already in there. You think they'd wait till

the end of the season and occupy it. If they could turf them out they

could stay in the box. They would stake their claim through to the

beginning of the winter and then nip back in next year. Too late this

year, though. Yes this year. But not too late to onning piet space.

look at them live. They're sleeping but they are doing quite well. We've

been watching them throughout the day. They're strong and quite

healthy. They're getting fed regularly. At the moment, they're

doing all right. Fingers crossed. They may have another week or so to

go. Let's hope that those attacks don't get worse. The other thing is

it's quite a shallow nest. One thing that leads it a lot of jackdaw

deaths is that they fledge too early. Typically they prefer deeper

nests. That box is shallow. We will have to keep our eye on them. At the

top of the show we promised you a species new to Springwatch. We never

showed you a nest like this. It's on the ground and made of grass. There

is a brood of youngsters in there. They have been busy all day to-ing

and fro-ing. They are resting quitely at this time. They are a

delightful little birds. This is the female. Less brightly coloured than

the male. She spends more time on the nest and needs to be well

camouflaged. He is a show off. He has very bright orange colouring.

And a distinctive white colour. Globally speaking, this is a hugely

successful species. Can you find them all across Europe, all across

Asia, all the way into Japan and right the way down through Africa as

far as South Africa. Birds of open country don't need water, they can

be in quiet dry places. Nest on the ground and their nests are very well

hidden. Very handsome bird.The female. They are insect ivores. In

the winter when they go to the coast they take a few seeds. I have to say

that between 2005, 2010 they declined by about 60% in this

country. It's been the hard winters. But these things can have up to four

broods a year so they can bounce back quickly. Let's look at some of

our live cameras. The water rail? There it is. Sitting on the nest.

Martin was saying yesterday that the water rail was making such

interesting nices that he -- noises that he thought maybe it was

communicating with the chicks that were about to hatch. Clearly he was

wrong. Do make a low vocalisation. Birds do communicate with their eggs

once they start pipping inside the egg. On this occasion she must have

been communicating with the male. Because she's still incubating full

on. I have a feeling that the water rail might be like last year's

sandpiper, that we keep saying they're going to hatch and they

hatch on the last day of the series. I hope they do. That would be a

highlight. So want to see the young. Let's look at the marsh cam live. Is

there anything on it? Not at the moment. That looks pretty. Look at

the light on there. It's a bit of a Constable. It just needs an old

wagon and that would be great. Perhaps a rusty Cortina. More of a

Banksy than a Constable if that were the case. We have seen a lot of the

grey heron. Over the last few days we have such amazing footage of it

that we thought we'd put it all together and have a real close-up

look at what is a really special the largest avian predators are

returning ready for another day's hunting. Herons are opportunistic

They're happy to see fish, amphibians, insects, small mammals

and even water birds on the menu. Luckily for those ducklings, this

heron seems intent on fishing. Standing a metre tall, the grey

heron cuts a majestic figure as it their long neck which sprysingly has

the same number of vertebrae as other birds. But in herons the sixth

vertebrae is mootified enabling the neck to kink into a characteristic S

shape. From this posture the neck unfurlz

in a powerful, lightning-quick in a powerful, lightning-quick

in a powerful, lightning-quick Herons are visual predators.

Forward-facing eyes give them acute vision and allow them to strike with

you notice the way the heron flicked its head from side to side for the

final strike. Come with me. We are now down by the marsh area. That's

the lovely area. That's where the heron has been the we've seen otters

and all sorts out there. We have been filming other things with the

heron. Look at what it's been up to today - washing him or herself. Like

all birds they have to keep their feathers in tip-top condition. They

get right under the water. Oh, look at that! I've never seen one go in

quite so deeply as that. They have to dry out beautifully. Herons to me

always look like grumpy old Dickensian gentlemen with a too

tight waist coat. They always look a bit fierce. They have scary eyes.

Michaela was saying that they have a very Catholic diet, they eat all

sorts of things. But I've never seen one eat this. Here say photograph

from Kay. It is eating a mole. How on earth did it find a mole?

Fascinating. This marsh looks as though it's been there forever, but

it hasn't. It was actually created by the RSPB here just 13 years ago.

Now it's teeming with life. Things that we love to see down there and

also there are some things that we don't like to see. Look at the crew

here behind me. There's a clue. You can smile chaps.

Notice the hair nets. We have been eat an live by midges here. That

brings us neatly to that quiz. I asked you - what a funny little

creature was. J -- jules you got it right. Let's remind ourselves what

it was. Here it is. The strange, science

fiction looking thing. It is a midge larvae. The midges have been driving

us crazy. We thought, come on, let us just explore their life because

they are fascinating creatures. So this is what we have gone into

macroworld and all of this is filmed in there.

Now this is the larvae. The eggs are laid under water and they hatch into

this strange looking creature. You can see it's feeding there. These

are only about eight millimetres long. They are quite predatory too.

Here they are, rising up towards the surface. This is moving into the

next stage of their life cycle. A bit like butt irflies they go into a

-- butterflies, they go into a pupa stage. This floats up to the surface

of the water. Look at that one on the right, it looks like an alien

face. Here is the moment of emergence. This is the adult midge

coming out of that pupal case which is under water. This took about two

minutes in total. We've speeded it up. Watch its feet as they come out

there. They will just touch the surface of the water but it won't

sink in because the surface tension is too great. So it can walk on the

surface of the water. They have been causing us so much misery. This is a

mass hatch going on. That's the sort of thing that you may see on lakes

and rivers around you, that mass hatch. Of course, they're irritating

for us, but this is a vital food resource for lots and lots of

wildlife. We've seen this going on here, last week, when it was wet and

rainy, huge numbers of swallows sweeping low over the water, because

there's a hatch of midges going on. They're emerging from the surface

and the agile swallows sweep over the water, grabbing them, picking

them off the surface, or just as they're hatching out. That's

something you may well have seen in rivers and lakes around you.

Gorgeous sight. They're a very important food resource.ive always

wonder with swallows, if they're catching flies and beetles, doesn't

it hurt their mouths? Chris probably knows. Not just birds feeding onning

midges. Other -- on midges. Other creatures too, like this.

Dragonflies. Yesterday we looked at the dragon fly larvae, hugely

predatory under water. This has climbed up this stem of grass and

it's hatched out. The adult has emerged. Here it is. It's a four

spotted chaser. Again, incredibly prolific predator. They fly around

and grab those midges from out of the air in their legs and munch them

in the sky. Here's a damsel fly. Can you tell the difference, the damsel

fly holds its wings over its back, whereas the dragon fly sticks them

out at 90 degrees. Very interesting things midges. Everything has its

place. Now, let's look now at another watery animal, that's very

close to all our hearts, but one It's been a long time coming this

year, but spring has finally arrived on the river Derwent. Already the

first signs of new life have appeared. A family of mallard

nation's most popular and familiar birds. They could even be one of the

first wild animals many people will meet. But there's more to this

tranquil scene than first meets the eye. Because the secret to the

mallard's success is much more dramatic and even sinister than

might be imagined. These ducks have chosen a particularly prestigious

location as their home, Chatsworth House is set in the heart of the

Peak District in Derbyshire. It's here that a three-year study has

helped uncover the hidden world of widespread water bird. It's thought

that there are more than 100,000 pairs breeding here. They're highly

adaptable birds which thrive in ponds, lakes, rivers and wetlands.

In fact, their main habitat requirement seems to be the chance

to get their feet wet. Another key to their success is a

Another key to their success is a very broad diet. They eat -- they

dabble under water using their beaks to feel their way around and filter

to feel their way around and filter to feel their way around and filter

to feel their way around and filter out plant and animal matter. It is

vital to keep waterproof, and they have an intricate feather structure

and by rubbing their plumage with oil from a gland on their room.

allows any water to run off their back. The counterfeiters underneath

stay completely dry. One of the most striking things about ten is their

sexual dimorphism. The males and females look very different. Their

plumage is so different, they were once thought to be separate species.

Females want to pair up with the most colourful males because it is a

sign of vitality. The fittest males are also the first to come into

breeding plumage, giving them a head start in the season. This pair have

been happily paired up for a few months. Their courtship today is

simple. A bit of head bobbing. But mating on the water has its

challenges. This looks like a straightforward duck meat strake

situation, but looks can be deceptive, because male mallards

have a darker side. A Drake will often sneak away from his partner on

the off chance of another mating. Nearby, a kind of males have not

paired up this year. Pumped full of testosterone and looking for any

opportunity to make, they will even resort to extreme methods to secure

a partner. Unattached females are the most vulnerable targets. This

one has already hatched ducklings, but now she is on her own as male

birds do not help raise the youngsters. The male birds have

Whilst trying to avoid her tissue was, she is forced to leave her

vulnerable ducklings alone and unprotected. With so many males, she

simply does not stand a chance. They persist until they get a chance to

make. Also eventually, she does make it back to her ducklings. So why do

these males perform this seemingly extreme behaviour? Because they have

to sit and integrate their eggs, female mallards suffer a much higher

mortality than males, there are not simple -- there are simply not

enough to go around, so not all males are monogamous, there will

always be spares, and extra pair copulation is their only option to

get their genes into the next generation. This strategy persists,

so it must work. Certainly for the extra pair, and for the species as a

whole, which is one of the commonest wildfowl all across the world. As --

as spring turns into summer, the ducklings grow up, and calm returns

again. The next time you feed the ducks, remember the one secret to

their success is more complex than you might imagine.

What that film shows is that you cannot be in any way

anthropomorphic, you cannot project our morals onto them, it is just the

same with the jackdaw, you have got to be able to see clearly what is

going on. You have got to analyse it in that way, a dispassionate way.

Mallards are very common, they are perfect to get to grips with

behaviour. You can pop down to the local park and see what they are up

to, like this. When you are feeding bread or grain to your local

mallards, the male ones will do this at the end, they rise up, they flap

their wings and waggle their backside, and sometimes they will

dip their peak into the water. Why? There has got to be a reason. It is

a status thing, they show their fit this, and many species of duck do

that. Let's go live, because we have got some live ducklings that have

already hatched. There they are. They have just gone behind the

reeds, we could not count them. Any familiar species like this which

allow you to get close to them, it means it is a perfect opportunity to

understand its behaviour, but they dispassionate. And empathetic. I

will work on that! You are such a scientist! Let's have a look at the

live cameras, with the female mallards sitting on Aix. She is very

well camouflaged. She has been sitting on the nest all day. This is

yesterday. Yesterday, it was quite hot, and it is sheltered. The sun is

shining on it, and you can see she is hot. Our nest watchers have been

watching them, and they said some days she does not go off the nest

all day. Other days, like now, she goes off the nest sometimes for half

an hour, or at the most, a couple of hours. So the day she does not go

off, does she not drink or eat? normally go off every day. They

cover the eggs over, and they go to water to drink, perhaps feed, have a

clean, and go to the toilet. She does have to leave. The male one has

gone. They are hanging out, so she has to do the duties. Before she

starts to Lady X, it is about taking on as much body fat as possible,

because she knows she has to get through a lean time. She does not

want to leave the nest too much, because the eggs are vulnerable.

is not quite so bad when it is warm, but on a cold day, they will lose

some heat, and it is about incubating them. She hides them

well. Very well. Let's check up on another bird, the dipper. This is

where the family are nesting, a beautiful sight, the waterfall.

week, we were not sure how many chicks were in there. There are two

little beaks poking out. The adult is feeding them very well, a

mouthful of food. I love the white paper that it has. You can see it

bobbing away. It takes the food into the nest. If you look closely, there

are four little beaks sticking out, so there are at least four chicks.

It looks like... Will you say they will fledge tomorrow? Yes. There is

a fledging frenzy going on tomorrow! It will be a busy day if

that is the case! Let's go to the redstarts. In one of our nest boxes.

We have got eight chicks in this box, a good clutch. They have all

hatched. The adults have been very busy, taking in food. Lots of

caterpillars, a 40% decline in larger moth species, which means

caterpillars, but the redstarts are not having much trouble. This is a

massive caterpillar. Do you think any of them will be able to swallow

it? They will, it has gone down. The female has been bringing in plenty

of food as well, a mixture of invertebrates. There seems to be

lots of caterpillars. These words time the hatching perfectly. All of

the young chicks appeared as soon as the weather got good. Lots of

insects active in the warm weather, so they are doing well at the

moment. All of them going strong. The female gets a bit agitated when

the male one arrives. She makes a sharp screaming call and dashes out.

Why is that? I do not know, but they do not like each other! I will

research that. Welcome to my poetry corner, we need a bit of culture!

John wrote the fire tale about redstarts. While in a quiet mood,

and inward stirrer of shadowed melody, but on the rotten tree, the

old Hedger returns, and chops the grain to stop the gap close by, the

home where her blue eggs in safety life. Lovely. I have got a bit of

cramp in my leg, I need to stretch! Absolute Philistine! From one

fantastic bird to another iconic bird of Wales, a denizen of

Anglesey, just up the road. This is South Stack, where the

cliffs are a bustling seabird metropolis. Whilst guillemots crowd

the ledges, deep inside, it is a rare member of the crow family.

These quirky Corvettes are chuffed, which, unlike any other crow, have

read beaks and legs. This family is one of only a handful living here.

They are closely monitored and protect it. This nest camera offers

a rare insight is chuffed is always nest in caves, mineshaft or crevices

hidden away from prying eyes. They breed once they are three years old

and have clutch sizes of between three and five eggs. This nest has

four FM, all of whom appeared to be doing well. With their wings, they

are masters of the air. The distinctive call can be heard as

They live life on the edge. They restrict themselves to the perfect

combination of a habitat with mild temperatures and short, grassy

areas. As well as the Tufts here, and like to take advantage of the

well manicured clifftop lawns. Such areas are essential, as they feed on

insect larvae. Their curved bill is the perfect tool for plucking out

leather jackets or crane fly larvae. The recent cold winter has been

tough for the chuffed. But the signs are that numbers are only slightly

down on last year. That is good news for this enigmatic and rather

special bird. When I was a kid, I used to go out

nesting. This bloke called Nigel called them by a different name.

That game was first written down in the 1300s, and by 1643, it was only

then that they added the F sound to chough. It is supposed to sound like

the call. We should pronounce them the original name. Nigel would be

chuffed! Do you remember we were talking about woodpeckers and how

they were taking into nest boxes, even if they were reinforced? We

have got a photo here from Pat. Caught in the act after she had

taken precautions. This was the culprit paying a visit after he had

taken the chicks, checking to see if he had left anything. It has gone in

there like a bank robber. The metal plate has made no difference. You

need a carbon fibre, bullet-proof nest box, as available on my

website! It is a shame for the chicks! But the woodpeckers have got

to eat as well. Do not be anthropomorphic, be pragmatic and

scientific. I will work on that! This is the great spotted

woodpecker. woodpecker.

Listen! Yes, they're all down in. There I'm glad I'm not. It's a mess

in there, I can tell you. There could be as many as six chicks.

They've been in there for days. The adults are no longer taking their

faecal sacks out. You know what that means. They are climbing on top of

one another. There will be bits of food. It's not good. As soon as they

k, they scramble up to the whole and stick -- hole and stick their heads

out for fresh air. When they're making that hole, there's a lot of

sawdust that comes out and they purposely push a little bit of it

inside the hole to soak up any of the poo. Makes sense.Makes it a bit

cleaner. I am sure it's pretty revolting. They've been busy today,

the male and female have been in and out of here all day. In the

summertime, although they're wood peckers, they sometimes spend less

time pecking into wood, this is the male on his way out here, and more

of the time using that bill as a sort of set of forceps to prize in

and under the bark looking for insect larvae. There's the female

that's gone in there as well. stunning bird to see. It's great

when you see it on your bird feeders. Let's look at our bird

feeders live. There's nothing going on there at the moment. A squirrel!

At the bottom. You're unlikely to see birds at this time. There has

been a lot of action on our live feeder cam and many of you have been

enjoying that online and on the red button. There he is, the celebrity

of the bird feeder. In tip top condition. Look how smart that bird

is. You know, when those chicks hatch, they may well be brought to

this feeder because that's what they do. They bring the chicks along. If

you're lucky you might see some. These are siskins. There is a

juvenile on the left making the most of that feeder. Then there we have a

gold finch. Beautiful bird. Yeah. A bit overdressed. The thing is that

bird may well be feeding on those seeds because they feed their young

by regurgitation. It might be going back to its nest and regurgitating

some of that food into the nestlings' mouths. Typically, at

this time of the year, many birds won't be on the feeders they will be

looking for insects. It's still important to feed any animals coming

into the garden. There are tips on how to do that in our booklet, which

you can download from our website. There's a link to that on our home

page. Or collect one of these if you go to one of the many events that

summer of wildlife are hosting. I'm in there and it's me giving the tips

on how to feed your garden animals. You know what, it's not only a great

thing to do for the wildlife, but it's a great way to learn more about

wildlife in your garden. Fantastic. Outside your child's bedroom window,

feeder, now or by Monday. Let's go live to our meadow pip its.

Look at that. There are all the young punks in the nest. Look at

those hair cuts. A bit sleepy at this time of day. They have been

busy. The nest is in the open. They're very much a bird of open

moorland. Here they are just one day old. Look at how quickly they've

grown. Oh, my goodness.Look at that. It's very well hidden this

nest and the adults approach it stealthily. They don't fly straight

in giving the whereabouts away. They land on the ground some distance

away and then walk to it. They've been bringing in a great range of

invert brat prey to these animals. See the way it sneaks out there,

they are tremendously well hidden. Another thing that's been well

hidden simply because it's nocturnal are many of the mammals here. Martin

has been trying to combat that elusive nature of these animals by

setting up his camera traps. I have, but before I go any further,

I've just heard a sound I haven't heard for years. There's a cook coo

calling just over on the hills there.

Wonderful place this. Yeah, you're right. We have lots of birds on

Springwatch, but we try our hardest to bring you some mammals as well.

To that end, I've been setting up mammal camera traps all around here.

What is a camera trap? You probably have one at home. They're a little

box with a camera in it and it's box with a camera in it and it's

triggered when an animal passes by. Did we catch anything? I had high

hopes. No. It's a blackbird. Now it's a thrush.

Could we get a mammal? No, we got a Great Tit.

At last, it's a mammal! It's a squirrel and he does another pass

just running past us to show us how fast he can run. I was hoping for

something more exciting, possibly something like this.

Hares. We have hares here. What a fantastic animal. They're different

from rabbits. Rabbits are social. They live in groups. Hares tend to

be more solitary. They lie in a field. They make a depression,

called a form, and they will stay in that during the day. They rely on

eye sight. If a hare sees a threat and it can get up to speed, it can

outroughen any British predator. -- out run any British predator.

Another thing with hares, they have black tips to their ears and their

tails are a bit black too. A rabbit has that white scutt that sticks

out. Hares, beautiful things. Let us go immediately to the rodent -

orium. There's nothing in there at the moment. We have seen action in

there. Here is a scru. It's an insectivore but it should eat animal

food but it's eating a nut. This is a shrew here and a mouse. The mouse

is eating as it should be, nuts and things. Remember it's pitch black in

there. They always seem to be squabbling over the food. They

should just shake pause and agree to differ and have a good feed, both of

them. Now lots of you have been, well not lots, some of you have been

asking, OK it's all very well, but how do you tell the difference

between mice, voles, shrews? What's an easy guide? Here's our simple

guide to small mammals. Here is a vole. Quite small ears,

quite little eyes and a short tail. On the left, that's a mouse, much

bigger ears, sort of sticky out bulging eyes and a long tail and

down at the bottom, that's a shrew. Quite different. It's got a great

big, long snout sticking out. I used to trap them when I was at

university and be aware that shrews bite like fury. Any way, from some

very small animals, mammals to a very, very big wet mammal. Yes it's

time to go back to the adventures in The busy port of Aberdeen never

seems to sleep. So it's a real surprise to find a large population

of dolphins seemingly thriving amongst all these ships. They've got

the whole of our coastline to play with, so why are they hanging around

here? We've got bottlenose dolphins in the heart of Aberdeen here.

far I've had wonderful views. Wouldn't it be great to get that

much closer to them to find out exactly what's going on. I've got a

helicopter is fitted with a small camera, perfect for getting an

aerial view of what's going on in the harbour. I can see everything

that the camera can see on this monitor. It's superb. Absolutely

superb. These dolphins are tough. They're used to riding shoulder to

shoaled wear trawlers and container boats. Nevertheless, there's a good

reason for using this kit. The big advantage of this is that it's

small, fairly quiet and so it won't disturb the animals in any way. The

helicopter gives me a great Birds Eye view of the harbour and it

reveals that the dolphins are congregating in one particular area.

From up here, the transition between the brown, fresh water that spills

out of the River Dee and the blue of the North Sea is clearly visible.

The dolphins seem to be focussing all their attention on this

boundary. And this suggests they're here for one thing: It's the spring

salmon run. At this time of year, the Scottish coast sees a huge rise

in the numbers of Atlantic salmon. The salmon return from the open sea

on an extraordinary journey, travelling up stream to spawn in the

rivers of their birth. Scotland's bottlenose dolphins follow the great

migration, hunting the salmon as they move down the coastline. In

Aberdeen the salmon encounter a bottleneck. They must pass through

the narrow mouth of the harbour before continuing their journey up

the River Dee. The dolphins have learned that this

harbour offers rich pickings and especially in spring. It's the

migrating salmon that are drawing them in. Working in teams, the

dolphins use the harbour walls to herd the salmon together. The

junction between the fresh water and the sea acts like an additional

barrier helping their echolocation to focus in on the fish. Tail slaps

and jumps are thought to be used as a way of communicating hunting

strategy. Aberdeen's dolphins are dapting to live with the noise and

traffic of this busy harbour to make fact that the bottlenose dolphins

aren't just doing well, they are thriving, despite all of these huge

ships, the small boats, all the human activity, and for me, well,

it's been a rare privilege to spend time close up and personal with

dolphins in Aberdeen. It's not just us who can see them, you can as

well. If you would like to do that, check out how you can do it and

where around the coast on our website under "thingedz to do".

That's part of summer in wildlife to encourage you to get out and enjoy

what the Cannes trip has to offer. There let's look around the live

cameras. First to our grasshopper warbler. We haven't seen this bird

today. There, presumably, the female, brooding the young. It's

beginning to get cooler here now. We've moved the camera so you can

look out offer the nest and see out. Look at that. I think they're

underrated as a bird. They might be small and brown, but they're

delicately marked and with a great song. Now stonechats, let's see if

she's brooding as well. Yes. Look at that. Lovely eye ring on that bird,

the female brooding her chicks. Those are quite large chicks as

well. She'll be keeping those on overnight. At night they all hunker

down. They look so snuggly. They do. Here, the water rails there. She has

just been off, still got eggs. Still eggs. Prediction wasn't that good

then. Building up the nest. They've been doing that the whole time. The

nest has been built up and up. Now to the great tits, live, because oh,

no! They have fledged. It's happened! This is a crazy time of

night for them to fledge. Is going night for them to fledge. Is going

on. It's going to go!We're seeing them fledge live. I think we'll have

to show this again tomorrow. There's only one left. Going to go.That was

going to be our cliffhanger for tomorrow. It's happened. There will

be a lot more of that tomorrow and, I'm really distracted. It's gone.

It's gone. And catching up with the jackdaws as well. And with Kate, a

lady following the antics in her garden in the last couple of years.

She's attracting mammals now. We're featuring a film about nests where

you get extraordinary mammals. back at the earlier time of 7. 30pm

tomorrow and Unsprung at 8. 30pm. After that go over to the red button