:00:00. > :00:09.It's Tuesday night. It's BBC Two, it's 8
:00:10. > :00:13.It's Tuesday night. It's BBC Two, congrach late you on tuning in to
:00:14. > :00:17.watch the very best of British wildlife -- congratulate you.
:00:18. > :00:20.Tonight, we'll feature some Springwatch favourites, otters on
:00:21. > :00:24.the West Coast of Scotland and a star character that's flown a London
:00:25. > :00:28.way to be part of Springwatch, Monty the osprey.
:00:29. > :00:33.I'm going to be meeting those icons of spring, the swallows.
:00:34. > :00:37.But right now, the larks on the wing, the snails on the thorn and
:00:38. > :00:59.all's right with the world. It's Springwatch.
:01:00. > :01:07.Hello. Welcome to Springwatch 2014, on a beautiful evening up here at
:01:08. > :01:10.the RSPB Minsmere reserve on the Suffolk coast. It's our third week
:01:11. > :01:15.and we have been having a fantastic time. Lots of drama, lots of new
:01:16. > :01:20.science, even the occasional bar chart and pie diagram, I have to
:01:21. > :01:26.say. Let's take a look at where we are. One of the best nature reserves
:01:27. > :01:31.in the world I beg to suggest. Famous for its reed beds, bearded
:01:32. > :01:36.tits, harriers, open water, the famous scrape can its avocets, the
:01:37. > :01:39.body of open water, the North Sea on the beach, it has heath lands too,
:01:40. > :01:44.plenty of woodland and amongst all of these we have scattered our
:01:45. > :01:48.cameras so that we can bring intimate insights into the private
:01:49. > :01:52.lives of the birds and other creatures that live here, even the
:01:53. > :01:58.little reed warblers hiding down in the reeds.
:01:59. > :02:03.We have certainly had plenty of drama. We had one particularly
:02:04. > :02:10.nail-biting drama that we showed you last night when an adder pre-dated
:02:11. > :02:15.our goldfinch nest. It managed to get one chick but one got away. But
:02:16. > :02:19.is it still alive? It was at the end of the show last night but let's see
:02:20. > :02:24.if it survived until today. This is the nest live and there it is! Not
:02:25. > :02:31.only sit alive, it's looking well and healthy. Although, I say it's a
:02:32. > :02:37.lucky chick, not so lucky to be in that revolting nest. No, but it's
:02:38. > :02:42.only a few more days. It's flapping vigorously, its fledging is
:02:43. > :02:47.imminent. It's looking strong with its wing flap, the parents are still
:02:48. > :02:51.coming in and feeding it. They are very attentive with the feeding but
:02:52. > :02:55.not so attentive with the housekeeping. It was a remarkable
:02:56. > :02:59.drama, keep your eyes on that though, because as you say, could
:03:00. > :03:06.fledge today, tomorrow, Thursday. The adder didn't make it way back.
:03:07. > :03:15.Predators often identify a source of food. Another nest that we have been
:03:16. > :03:21.looking at is down here in the woods, a favourite of everyone's.
:03:22. > :03:25.Young Grub, the all theny owl. On Friday, he surprised us by leaving
:03:26. > :03:34.the nest. We didn't think he was up to it, but he branched -- tawny owl.
:03:35. > :03:38.After about 25 days, they'll jump about. It will be another ten days
:03:39. > :03:43.before they get the power of flight. But we wondered where he was. They
:03:44. > :03:48.are difficult to find with moving around at night so we lost him. We
:03:49. > :03:52.thought yeed use the thermal camera at night when he's easy to spot and
:03:53. > :03:56.that dark spot that you can see on the left hand side there that you
:03:57. > :04:00.can see is the young grub. He's joined by one of the parents, we
:04:01. > :04:04.think the female, and she brought him another tasty meal, I jest, of
:04:05. > :04:10.slug! This young owl's had a few rodent,
:04:11. > :04:15.birds, bluetit, moorhen, but he's had a tremendous number of slugs.
:04:16. > :04:20.This is leading us to wonder whether this is a young inexperienced
:04:21. > :04:24.female. She's not that adept at catching a proper diet for the young
:04:25. > :04:30.chick. There's also only one and typically in a tawny owl clutch or
:04:31. > :04:35.brood, we'd expect three or four. It could be a young, inexperienced
:04:36. > :04:40.female. The cost of eating the slugs is grim. They don't have much
:04:41. > :04:43.protein. We have seen Grub have other interesting things,
:04:44. > :04:46.particularly the slow worm. It's mainly grubs, not much protein but
:04:47. > :04:51.it means his face has been covered in slime which is why we gave him
:04:52. > :04:54.the name of Grub. That's caused us to be really concerned about him on
:04:55. > :05:01.Sunday because, if we take a closer look at that face, you can see it's
:05:02. > :05:08.absolutely covered in flies all eating that slug juice and no doubt
:05:09. > :05:14.laying their eggs in that face on his feathers and what is going to
:05:15. > :05:18.happen when they hatch? As time goes by, he'll moult that down and his
:05:19. > :05:24.proper facial disk will become apparent. I think that with any luck
:05:25. > :05:29.the flies have cleaned up some of the slug use -- slug juice, the
:05:30. > :05:33.slime and if they have laid eggs, he'll moult that up. He's climbed
:05:34. > :05:37.further up into the tree after being low on Sunday. He's got further up
:05:38. > :05:41.and the female is still providing him with food, although it's mainly
:05:42. > :05:47.slugs. So he's not going to have a beard of maggots then or something?
:05:48. > :05:52.! That would be so disgusting. He looked much better yesterday when we
:05:53. > :05:57.saw him. He's looking healthier. And there is another nest we have been
:05:58. > :06:02.watching closely. It's a tree tenement, Jackdaws and green wood
:06:03. > :06:02.peckers have taken up close residence.
:06:03. > :06:10.tenement, Jackdaws and green wood peckers have taken up close The hole
:06:11. > :06:13.is probably last year's hole. These birds are boisterous, argumentative
:06:14. > :06:17.types and, throughout the time we have been watching them, look at the
:06:18. > :06:21.woodpecker, they have been niggling one another the whole time. Over the
:06:22. > :06:27.weekend, we saw this, the first of our woodpecker chicks emerged from
:06:28. > :06:32.the nest. It's the bird in the centre, shorter tail, greyer head.
:06:33. > :06:38.After the first one came out, we saw another four coming out.
:06:39. > :06:42.Tried to spoil the party. But what the wood peckers do, the adults is,
:06:43. > :06:46.they come up to the entrance hole and tease the youngsters out by
:06:47. > :06:49.offering them food. You saw it there, pulling the beak away and the
:06:50. > :06:53.youngsters eventually pop out because they are hungry. Look at the
:06:54. > :06:59.last one. Just out of the hole. Look at the way it moves across the
:07:00. > :07:04.outside of that bark, perfectly like a woodpecker with its first few
:07:05. > :07:09.hops. Amazing to see five come out. And how many were left in there? At
:07:10. > :07:15.least another two. If you watch carefully, here comes the beak of
:07:16. > :07:18.one of the wood peckers and, as it withdraws it, the adult turning away
:07:19. > :07:21.so it can't have the food you will note, there's the Head of Another.
:07:22. > :07:28.So five are out and there were two in there. At least seven. There
:07:29. > :07:34.could be more. Is that an unusually large clutch for wood peckers? Five
:07:35. > :07:39.to seven is what it says in birds of the western Arctic. The first ones
:07:40. > :07:43.left four days ago, let's go live and see if there are any still in
:07:44. > :07:48.there now. Nothing moving there at the moment.
:07:49. > :07:50.Five minutes ago there was one peeking its head out. Probably two.
:07:51. > :07:52.So there's peeking its head out. Probably two.
:07:53. > :07:55.some time wes peeking its head out. Probably two.
:07:56. > :07:57.staying in the hole for up to a peeking its head out. Probably two.
:07:58. > :08:00.hanger than their siblings. The can peeking its head out. Probably two.
:08:01. > :08:03.give the adults a problem, particularly if those which have
:08:04. > :08:06.fledged are scattered throughout the wood because they have to find them
:08:07. > :08:10.and continue to go back to the hole to feed them. Clearly it's a
:08:11. > :08:15.strategy that works because green wood peckers are doing well.
:08:16. > :08:19.Goldfinches and wood peckers could fledge in the next day or so. Keep
:08:20. > :08:24.your eyes peeled on the live cameras. In week one, we saw a lot
:08:25. > :08:27.of kittiwakes around the reserve and they were clearly nesting because
:08:28. > :08:34.they were collecting mud for the nests and mating on this scrape.
:08:35. > :08:38.It's confused us because they are the only gull that exclusively nests
:08:39. > :08:41.on cliff edges and, around this coastline, there aren't too many of
:08:42. > :08:48.those. So where were they nesting? It was a mystery that I wanted to
:08:49. > :08:51.Seoul. -- Seoul. The blag-legged kittiwake is widespread and found in
:08:52. > :08:58.coastal areas throughout the kittiwake is widespread and found in
:08:59. > :09:01.northern hemisphere. Kittiwake gulls spend most of their team at sea and
:09:02. > :09:05.come into land during the summer breeding season which is right now.
:09:06. > :09:09.That explains why our kittiwakes will have been collecting nesting
:09:10. > :09:13.material. But I doesn't solve the mystery of where they were taking it
:09:14. > :09:17.to. Kittiwakes nest in colonies on
:09:18. > :09:26.narrow Lens on sea cliffs around the coast. -- narrow ledges.
:09:27. > :09:32.The only cliffs and Minsmere are these which are constantly eroding
:09:33. > :09:38.so they are more suitable to sand martens. If you have a close look,
:09:39. > :09:42.you can see the sand martens nest holes and you can hear them as well.
:09:43. > :09:52.These cliffs aren't the answer to our little mystery then.
:09:53. > :10:00.But, we know that kittiwake also rest on man-made structures that
:10:01. > :10:03.provide bridges and oil rigs and we have had a tip-off that the
:10:04. > :10:08.kittiwakes here that are collecting mud off the scrape behind me here
:10:09. > :10:13.are probably nesting on one of the largest man-made structures in the
:10:14. > :10:17.area which is just over there. Sizewell is a nuclear power station
:10:18. > :10:24.and, over the years, it's become home to various breeding birds. For
:10:25. > :10:27.the kittiwakes, it seems to be the offshore rigs associated with their
:10:28. > :10:31.cooling system that act as artificial cliffs. Wildlife
:10:32. > :10:36.cameraman Mark Yates has been tracking them down.
:10:37. > :10:41.Hi, Mark. The mystery's been solved. Yes, they're here. This is where
:10:42. > :10:46.they are. Let's have a look. That is a perfect ledge. How many do you
:10:47. > :10:49.reckon there are? There must be 00 there if they are using the front
:10:50. > :10:57.and the back. We can only see one side here.
:10:58. > :11:02.Are they on eggs or chicks? -- 200. Most of the birds have been sat on
:11:03. > :11:08.the nests so I don't think they have hatched yet. Have you seen them
:11:09. > :11:13.bring the mud in? No. Seen them carrying see weed so the mud must be
:11:14. > :11:19.helping stick the see weed together. Most of the nests look well built
:11:20. > :11:24.now. I've seen a couple of other birds as well but mostly kittiwakes?
:11:25. > :11:28.Yes. I don't know whether they are waiting for the chicks to hatch so
:11:29. > :11:36.they might have a little snack. You can hear that kittiwake as well.
:11:37. > :11:42.That's where they get their name from. Yes. Really good.
:11:43. > :11:49.Mark, you have filmed kittiwakes before. Ever filmed them on a
:11:50. > :11:52.structure like this? No, never. Normally where I come from in
:11:53. > :11:55.Cornwall they rest on cliffs and you have to get to boat to go and see
:11:56. > :11:59.them. I got up this morning and managed to get the sun rise behind
:12:00. > :12:01.them because you never get the opportunity to do that when they are
:12:02. > :12:38.nesting on a cliff. I'm down here on the beach, this
:12:39. > :12:45.beautiful evening. There behind me is Sizewell. I think it's got a sort
:12:46. > :12:51.of austere beauty about it, rather brutal. There to the left you can
:12:52. > :12:54.see the outflow Towers where the kittiwakes were. It's good news
:12:55. > :13:00.because we filmed the kittiwakes yesterday. Here they are. They are
:13:01. > :13:03.in real trouble around the country, but not here. They've done well
:13:04. > :13:07.because there are the chicks, you can see them. It's very hot
:13:08. > :13:14.yesterday when this was filmed and they are trying to cool themselves
:13:15. > :13:19.down. They are saying, "it ain't half hot, mum" to the mum there, and
:13:20. > :13:22.it's cooling them down. Wonderful to see those kittiwakes doing really,
:13:23. > :13:25.really well. We are down on the beach. These dunes have a life
:13:26. > :13:31.history of their own. Let's go through it. So we go along here and
:13:32. > :13:38.the sand blows up and then it's stabilised by grasses. Let's carry
:13:39. > :13:44.on up to the mature dune. This is the grey dune here, a nice backside
:13:45. > :13:48.shot! Up here, there's a whole community of wildlife living on the
:13:49. > :13:55.grey dune and he's interesting is, if you come over here, this is what
:13:56. > :14:00.we are looking for. Can you see down there there's a spider's web down
:14:01. > :14:05.there. Now, that's a special sort of spider, a labyrinth spider and I'm
:14:06. > :14:08.going to try and tease her out. We haven't tried this before. She's
:14:09. > :14:22.very sensitive. what a labyrinth spider actually
:14:23. > :14:26.looks like. Here she is. She's about 18 millimetres long. Look at those
:14:27. > :14:34.fangs at the front. You can see those eyes there as well. They're
:14:35. > :14:38.covered in hairs, really sensitive to any vibration. That's what her
:14:39. > :14:43.life is all about. She can pick up different vibrations. It means
:14:44. > :14:48.different things to her, different vibrations mean different things. I
:14:49. > :14:53.have my own chart tonight. If the vibrations don't here about 10
:14:54. > :14:58.kilahertz, that's the wind on her web. If it's down here, though, sort
:14:59. > :15:05.of 40, 50, that's a struggling insect, just their legs. This one
:15:06. > :15:09.here, around 200, that's insect wings buzzing. She can read the
:15:10. > :15:14.vibrations in her nest and know exactly what's touching the web.
:15:15. > :15:18.What is there down here? If you can look, there's lots and lots of tiny
:15:19. > :15:22.little baby grasshoppers, all leaping around here. There's dozens
:15:23. > :15:29.of them actually. If one of those grasshoppers was to fall into that
:15:30. > :15:33.web, it would be bad news. Here's the grasshopper. That's a youngster.
:15:34. > :15:38.It's landed just where it didn't want to go. And here the spider.
:15:39. > :15:42.She's picking up on that vibration and she's out. She doesn't want to
:15:43. > :15:48.hold onto it, because it might kick her. It's small, so what she does is
:15:49. > :15:54.dashes in and impail it's with those fangs, there they are and injects
:15:55. > :16:00.venom into that poor, little grasshopper. Here she goes again.
:16:01. > :16:05.It's light lightning. Quite cowardly going in and letting it go. She will
:16:06. > :16:13.retreat and let that venom do its work and paralyse that little
:16:14. > :16:19.grasshopper. She'll drag it back. As well as the venom she's injecting
:16:20. > :16:27.enzymes. They break down its tissues. Eventually, she'll start to
:16:28. > :16:32.suck out the juice from that grasshopper. She'll use the same
:16:33. > :16:33.fangs like straws, you can see her now, she's sucking out grasshopper
:16:34. > :16:40.soup from that. It's a grim now, she's sucking out grasshopper
:16:41. > :16:45.being a little grasshopper down here. We notice something curious,
:16:46. > :16:49.you might have seen it, when she tried to drag the prey away, it
:16:50. > :16:55.drops a leg. As it went away, a tried to drag the prey away, it
:16:56. > :17:00.came off. Now that wasn't entirely by accident. The grasshopper has the
:17:01. > :17:05.amazing ability to actually shed its limbs, by nervous control. It has a
:17:06. > :17:10.muscle around the limb. If it wants to it just cuts it off. Lots of
:17:11. > :17:15.insects can do that, crabs as well. That's a defence mechanism. If they
:17:16. > :17:18.shed a limb, the predator might grab hold of that limb and leave it
:17:19. > :17:23.alone. In the case of that grasshopper, it didn't work. We saw
:17:24. > :17:31.another curious thing there. It moves so fast, the spider, this is
:17:32. > :17:36.it at normal speed. It's like a superhero. We can't actually slow it
:17:37. > :17:41.down enough to see what's happening. It's just frame by frame. It just
:17:42. > :17:47.leaps straight across. It's missed its prey. The weird thing is what
:17:48. > :17:53.she does when she goes back into the nest. Does she walk backwards? No,
:17:54. > :17:58.she won't. She actually does a somersault. She rolls her body back
:17:59. > :18:02.into the nest. Absolutely bizarre. You would never see that if we
:18:03. > :18:05.hadn't slow today down. We will leave this glorious evening down on
:18:06. > :18:12.the coast and whiz all the way up to the West Coast of Scotland, to the
:18:13. > :18:23.fabulous Island of Mull to explore the wildlife.
:18:24. > :18:32.The North West coast of mull, this wonderfully rich marine environment
:18:33. > :18:43.is home to a diverse wildlife. We've been following a female otter and
:18:44. > :18:46.her cub. The cub's nearly a year old now, so his mother has been teaching
:18:47. > :19:06.him how to fish for himself. And he's not the only one making the
:19:07. > :19:15.most of this seafood feast. Unfortunately, crabs aren't really
:19:16. > :19:16.enough for a growing cub. Still hungry, he pinches his mother's
:19:17. > :19:43.catch. Then, in the distance, something
:19:44. > :19:54.disturbs the peace. A dog otter swims across the far side of the
:19:55. > :20:02.bay. Is he looking for a mate? Soon, this female will leave her cub to go
:20:03. > :20:13.and start another family. It may well be that time is coming soon.
:20:14. > :20:17.Just a few miles inland our white tailed eagle chick is growing fast.
:20:18. > :20:32.He's six weeks old now and starting to lose his downy feathers. He needs
:20:33. > :20:36.a lot of food, which keeps his parents very busy. With a chick
:20:37. > :20:42.growing in streng, the female spends less time at the nest. But when she
:20:43. > :20:51.heads off into the plantation, the local buzzards won't leave her
:20:52. > :20:58.alone. Irritated by its presence, she tries to flick the buzzard away.
:20:59. > :21:02.Despite her size advantage, she's wary of really going for it. There's
:21:03. > :21:11.a risk the buzzard might get a lucky shot and actually cause some damage.
:21:12. > :21:16.Back at the nest, the chick is testing his muscles. It's still
:21:17. > :21:19.another five or six weeks before he thinks about pledging, but he needs
:21:20. > :21:29.to start building up strength ready for that big moment.
:21:30. > :21:34.-- fledging. Mull is a magical island and lovely to catch up with
:21:35. > :21:37.the family of otters and white tailed eagles again. There was
:21:38. > :21:41.something interesting in that film. We often see large birds of prey,
:21:42. > :21:45.like eagles, being mobbed like other birds, whether it be buzzards,
:21:46. > :21:49.ravens or seagulls. The birds of prey have to balance attacking the
:21:50. > :21:54.bird back with making sure they don't get injured. But have a look
:21:55. > :21:59.at this: This is Sula being attacked by the local buzzards. She goes over
:22:00. > :22:04.on her back and she appears to be hitting the buzzard away with her
:22:05. > :22:09.wing, swatting it like a fly. Let's have a look at that, slow it down.
:22:10. > :22:17.The wing actually makes contact with the buzzard and she flicks it away.
:22:18. > :22:20.I had a word with the RSPB Mull officer, one of the world's experts,
:22:21. > :22:24.and he said he's never seen that kind of thing before. So we might
:22:25. > :22:30.just have filmed some new behaviour there. I'll be looking at white
:22:31. > :22:33.tailed eagles again tomorrow, a very special family, that has a
:22:34. > :22:39.connection with Springwatch going back ten years.
:22:40. > :22:43.That was absolutely amazing. White tailed eagle karate. Do you think it
:22:44. > :22:47.was a fluke or practice move? I think it might have been flukey.
:22:48. > :22:51.I've seen them turn on their back to grab things. If buzzards attack
:22:52. > :22:56.them, just because they're big doesn't mean they're not quick. They
:22:57. > :22:59.will flip over and grab things. It might have been an artefact. It was
:23:00. > :23:04.trying to grab the buzzard. Who knows. It worked. It looked
:23:05. > :23:12.brilliant, though. Cubing coos are what we call -- cuckoos are
:23:13. > :23:17.parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds' nest so they rear their
:23:18. > :23:22.young. We found an egg in a reed warbler's nest. We found a reed
:23:23. > :23:29.warbler's nest here. On the left, you can see our reed warbler. On the
:23:30. > :23:34.right, that nest with the cuckoo egg in. It's hatched. Its immediate duty
:23:35. > :23:38.is to turf out the other eggs. That's to ensure it gets all the
:23:39. > :23:41.food for itself. Our reed warblers have hatched. They're serviced by
:23:42. > :23:46.the parents. Look at the relative growth going on here. Quite clearly,
:23:47. > :23:50.you could argue that the cuckoo is getting four times as much food and
:23:51. > :24:02.therefore it's growing four times as big. It's growing into a bit a
:24:03. > :24:07.monster. We nicknamed it cuckoozilla. It continued to grow.
:24:08. > :24:11.We sent a cameraman to a reserve to see what it looked like yesterday.
:24:12. > :24:15.It's huge! It's absolutely enormous. Look at the size of it. There's no
:24:16. > :24:23.way it's ever going to get into that nest again. The parents are coming
:24:24. > :24:27.back and feeding it regularly. Lots of people have said this, why don't
:24:28. > :24:32.the foster parents of the cuckoo get suspicious of the size and colouring
:24:33. > :24:35.of their chick as it grows? Clearly it looks completely different to
:24:36. > :24:39.themselves. It does, if they had a chance to stop and think about, it
:24:40. > :24:43.they might suss that out. The problem is, it's offering them
:24:44. > :24:49.something called super stimuli. It's that massive orange mouth. We too
:24:50. > :24:54.are victims of this. We like things that are big. We like big cars, big
:24:55. > :24:58.things. We're drawn to those sorts of things. Here, every time those
:24:59. > :25:02.adults come back, it opens that mouth, they stick the food in and
:25:03. > :25:05.they must feed, must feed. Brace yourself, I'm going to tell you
:25:06. > :25:11.something simply fascinating now. Have you got a bar chart? I haven't,
:25:12. > :25:16.sadly got a chart. Listen, it's worth listening to. Each young reed
:25:17. > :25:20.warbler chick on average weighs about 11. 3 grams when it fledges.
:25:21. > :25:25.There are four on average in a brood. If you multiply that you get
:25:26. > :25:30.to 45 grams. That will be the total weight of reed warbler chicks
:25:31. > :25:36.leaving a nest when the assaults had finished feeding them. The cuckoo,
:25:37. > :25:42.when it leaves the nest, weighs up to 100 grams. It weighs twice as
:25:43. > :25:45.much as the reed warblers together. How does it put on all that weight?
:25:46. > :25:49.The super stimuli, the How does it put on all that weight?
:25:50. > :25:55.them spurs the adults on and when it's a freshly emerged youngster, it
:25:56. > :26:00.makes a louder noise than the young reed warblers and that encourages
:26:01. > :26:03.the adults to feed it more and more. When it's bigger, its gape is
:26:04. > :26:07.massive. That encourages them to feed it more than they would their
:26:08. > :26:13.own young. So as a consequence, it's able to bulk up in just 17 or 18
:26:14. > :26:18.days, big enough to leave the nest. You've got to feel so sorry for
:26:19. > :26:24.those adults, haven't you? They don't even sit on top of it. You do,
:26:25. > :26:28.but I've got to admire the cuckoo. It's a remarkable animal. Not only
:26:29. > :26:32.at the nesting stage, but also when it comes to migration. If you were
:26:33. > :26:37.watching our first week, you know we followed Chris the cuckoo. This is a
:26:38. > :26:42.four-year-old bird that's been backwards and forwards from the UK
:26:43. > :26:47.to Africa. We went out to Africa. We miss today. There -- we missed it
:26:48. > :26:50.there. We found him in Norfolk. He's moved 200 metres from where he was
:26:51. > :26:56.when we found him. What's equally exciting is that the British trust
:26:57. > :26:59.of ornithology, who are satellite tracking these birds, have 24 of
:27:00. > :27:03.them marked and they've marked an extra 16. If you go to our website,
:27:04. > :27:07.you can link to their website. Over the forth coming months, you can
:27:08. > :27:10.follow these birds' remarkable journey across Europe, across the
:27:11. > :27:14.Mediterranean, down to the Congo basin and hopefully, next spring,
:27:15. > :27:19.into west Africa and back here. So check that out.
:27:20. > :27:26.Bbc.co.uk/Springwatch link to the BTO. Brilliant stuff. I put a allite
:27:27. > :27:30.tracker on Martin. -- a little satellite tracker on Martin. If you
:27:31. > :27:33.look behind us, that white dome there, he's around there on the
:27:34. > :27:36.beach. I've actually moved away from the
:27:37. > :27:41.beach. I don't know if you can see, if you look down that water you can
:27:42. > :27:46.see they've been blown away, but there's lots of insects and in the
:27:47. > :27:55.sky, around me, I can hear the kitering of -- chittering of swat
:27:56. > :27:59.lows. It's not -- swallows. I saw my first swallow on April 8. We haven't
:28:00. > :28:06.featured them on Springwatch yet. That is about to change. Let's
:28:07. > :28:11.remind ourselves what it looks like. A graceful bird, very elegant. It
:28:12. > :28:18.has a coppery chin there, that throat. Long tail streamers. That's
:28:19. > :28:22.nothing to them. They come to us 6,000 miles from South Africa,
:28:23. > :28:26.almost impossible to imagine. They live for about two years, three
:28:27. > :28:34.years maybe. The oldest one ever was just 11. That's swallows. I am down
:28:35. > :28:40.here on what they call the sluice. This is what the RSPB use to control
:28:41. > :28:45.the water level here. If you come over here, you can see just behind
:28:46. > :28:50.me, there's the scrape there. They can control the water level on the
:28:51. > :28:55.scrape from here on the sluice. There's something fascinating about
:28:56. > :29:00.this sluice because it seems to be a magnet for the swallows. They keep
:29:01. > :29:11.flitting in and out, why? What is it about this sluice that makes it so
:29:12. > :29:15.attractive? Look over here. Five minutes ago they were whizzing out
:29:16. > :29:18.of here. There's all these tunnels leading off here and they are flying
:29:19. > :29:26.in and picking up the insects and feeding but not all of them are
:29:27. > :29:31.threeing out again. Some are staying there and nesting rite under my feet
:29:32. > :29:35.here. We can go live now to a camera underneath. I don't know how the
:29:36. > :29:39.camera boys got in there and put that in. That is our swallow's nest.
:29:40. > :29:43.These chicks are getting on now. We think they are not going to be here
:29:44. > :29:50.for much longer. They'll probably go in the next couple of days. There
:29:51. > :29:54.are five chicks here. Let's have a look at what has been going on the
:29:55. > :29:59.next couple of days underneath the bridge. The parents have been coming
:30:00. > :30:03.in, very diligent feeding them. They are taking parasites out the nest as
:30:04. > :30:08.well I think. The male tends to be the first to arrive and he'll scout
:30:09. > :30:15.out and the female does most of the building work. They'll stick
:30:16. > :30:20.together there. Wonderful, being fed. They may have
:30:21. > :30:36.three broods so they can be very successful. Having a good old preen.
:30:37. > :30:40.We'll keep a good eye on the nest. They have long, long tail streamers.
:30:41. > :30:45.They are not just there for show. The females will choose a male with
:30:46. > :30:50.long streamers. The reason for that is, they are quite energetic to grow
:30:51. > :30:55.so he must be quite a fit bird, but also they grow longer and longer as
:30:56. > :30:59.they get older. An older bird may be more experienced. He's probably
:31:00. > :31:04.managed to nest before so that's a good bird to choose for the female.
:31:05. > :31:09.Beautiful birds. Very, very elegant. Putting the
:31:10. > :31:12.cameras in often gives us amazing insights into the lives of the
:31:13. > :31:17.birds. Our cameras have given us insights also into the badgers.
:31:18. > :31:25.We have seen badgers doing some very unusual things. We have seen them
:31:26. > :31:29.climbing trees. With a lot of noise! Like junior bears. We have seen them
:31:30. > :31:34.swimming with the night cameras, across at night With a thermal
:31:35. > :31:43.camera. They have been eating their usual food, which is worms. About
:31:44. > :31:46.60% of badgers' diet is worms. Little bits of spaghetti leaf.
:31:47. > :31:51.Shockingly, seeing the badger get on to the scrape over the weekend and
:31:52. > :31:54.they are opportunistic, they'll feed on anything they can and of course,
:31:55. > :32:03.that badger's probably got cubs to feed as well. But it was distressing
:32:04. > :32:07.to see that. But that's badgers top side.
:32:08. > :32:12.Wouldn't it be wonderful to go underground and see what they are
:32:13. > :32:19.doing underground. Colin Tony Martin tickle came across to help us see
:32:20. > :32:26.underneath -- Colin Tickle. He got underground with some large yellow
:32:27. > :32:33.lawnmower! Talk us through this? It's a ground penetrating device. It
:32:34. > :32:39.goes into the ground. It hits a pipe or a feature, reflects a signal back
:32:40. > :32:44.which reflects on the screen. So you are confident if there are any
:32:45. > :32:52.tunnels, we can notice them? Yes. Can I push? You may, yes. Oh, no,
:32:53. > :32:57.not in the hands of an amateur! There is a definite entrance to a
:32:58. > :32:59.tunnel here. And this's another over there so if we go between the two.
:33:00. > :33:12.Push it over here... So on the screen we have the make-up
:33:13. > :33:18.of a tunnel. That's where you would expect it to be. So this tunnel cuts
:33:19. > :33:24.across over here. What I would like to know. They are the tunnels, how
:33:25. > :33:30.do we find the chambers? We have to push this backwards and forwards for
:33:31. > :33:34.the whole area, sorry, YOU' VE got to push this. I see a challenge for
:33:35. > :33:38.myself because there are two entrances in the middle of the
:33:39. > :33:44.brambles. And that's my job? Exactly. You do the outside, I'll do
:33:45. > :33:50.the brambles. I find it hard enough to push it up the hill!
:33:51. > :33:54.Nice to see her finally doing something, Colin, honestly, sits
:33:55. > :34:00.around on the sofa going on about wildlife. I'm not deaf you know.
:34:01. > :34:05.You've deviated. I've done it. What did you see, anything on the screen?
:34:06. > :34:09.If my calculations are right, I think probably where they spend most
:34:10. > :34:11.of their time, is the area that I didn't do right in the middle. What,
:34:12. > :34:19.in the brambles? Yes. I'm getting lots of lovely data on
:34:20. > :34:32.my screen here. OK, look at this. Seriously. Oh,
:34:33. > :34:36.look at that! I know. There are loads of tunnels underneath. We have
:34:37. > :34:43.of the our hyperbole. One, two, three, four, five, six. The problem,
:34:44. > :34:46.is we need to process all this data through no doubt complicated
:34:47. > :34:50.expensive software to map it correctly. I was genuinely very
:34:51. > :34:54.excited about this. I've been watching badgers for years and have
:34:55. > :35:00.stood on the sets, looked at the ground and wanted to know what was
:35:01. > :35:04.going on down there. We tried to use the ground-penetrating software on a
:35:05. > :35:09.previous occasion but the ground was - I'll deep with this in a minute,
:35:10. > :35:13.it's a sensitive touch screen - the ground was completely water logged.
:35:14. > :35:19.But here, we have got much better sandy soil and we got some fabulous
:35:20. > :35:28.results didn't we? Where is it? Springwatch. Original radar. There
:35:29. > :35:35.we are. Beautiful. Now it's quite complicated to see the blue lines
:35:36. > :35:38.represent the grid where we pushed that yellow ground-penetrated radar
:35:39. > :35:42.device. And the tunnels and the Chambers are represented underneath.
:35:43. > :35:48.But looking at it from on top, you can't see very much. So with no
:35:49. > :35:53.expense spared, we produced a 3D revolving graphic of the spiny set.
:35:54. > :35:58.Just take a look at this. You can see the three Chambers there and the
:35:59. > :36:04.tunnels that link them. The tunnels are about 80 centimetres beneath the
:36:05. > :36:09.surface. The Chambers are about 1.2 to 1.5 metres down, quite shallow.
:36:10. > :36:14.We typically find this in sandy soils. The likelihood is that what's
:36:15. > :36:19.happened here is that the badgers have excavated an old rabbit warren.
:36:20. > :36:23.If we call this one up here and I can expand it, this is one of the
:36:24. > :36:27.views and you will see that there is an odd piece of tunnel here which
:36:28. > :36:35.doesn't seem to connect to anything. What we think is happening here is
:36:36. > :36:38.that this would naturally be connected to this other chamber here
:36:39. > :36:41.and probably go up through the roots here. It could be that it's
:36:42. > :36:47.collapsed and that the radar didn't pick it up. There's another area too
:36:48. > :36:53.if you look at this one here. Let's have a draw on here if I can, nice
:36:54. > :36:56.and bold red. This tunnel ends. But what we think would probably happen
:36:57. > :37:00.is that it would come up through the roots of the trees because in areas
:37:01. > :37:08.where the soil isn't particularly firm, what we see is badgers using
:37:09. > :37:10.the roots of trees to provide some structural stability to the entrance
:37:11. > :37:14.because that's where it would get wet and be in danger of collapse.
:37:15. > :37:18.This doesn't represent all of the spiny sets. Some was hidden
:37:19. > :37:21.underneath bramble and Bracken and we didn't want to disturb it too
:37:22. > :37:27.much. I think we have learned a bit about the way the badgers are living
:37:28. > :37:34.in these shallow soils. But, that's the structure, what are the badgers
:37:35. > :37:39.doing when they are down there? Recent work at Oxford University has
:37:40. > :37:43.shown that badgers spend up to 70% of their lives underground in the
:37:44. > :37:48.set. But rather than spend all night hunting and then all day in one
:37:49. > :37:52.chamber asleep, rather predictably, we found they are a lot more fidgety
:37:53. > :37:57.and sometimes can move up to 19 times during the course of a day,
:37:58. > :38:03.sometimes males will follow females around the set. Other occasions,
:38:04. > :38:07.when they come back to the set at night, they'll go down, perhaps have
:38:08. > :38:10.a little nap like this in one of the tunnels, rather than go into the
:38:11. > :38:15.core of the set. Nice to see some young badgers
:38:16. > :38:19.loving their life underground there. I think there's still a lot more to
:38:20. > :38:22.learn when it comes to the habits of badgers underground but there's the
:38:23. > :38:26.radar worked this time and we've got some idea as to the structure of our
:38:27. > :38:31.set which is just out there. It was really interesting to see just how
:38:32. > :38:35.shallow it was. Yes. Fantastic. Over the last few years, we have been
:38:36. > :38:42.following the fortunes of an osprey called Monty. Monty last year
:38:43. > :38:47.mateded with a female called Glesley, and after a bit of a Rocky
:38:48. > :38:52.start, they successfully brought up two female chicks. Glesley then left
:38:53. > :38:58.for her long flight to Africa at the end of August. Monty turned out to
:38:59. > :39:04.be a real superdad and stayed to feed his two girls. Only once they
:39:05. > :39:09.left a few weeks later did Monty leave to start his journey.
:39:10. > :39:14.Now, they have spent the winter thousands of miles away in Senegal
:39:15. > :39:20.in west Africa. Then in about February, March, the adults started
:39:21. > :39:24.to make their way back to their nesting site in the estuary in
:39:25. > :39:35.Midwest Wales. Did they both make it? Let's find out.
:39:36. > :39:42.It's early spring and Glesley and Monty's nest has been dormant for
:39:43. > :39:47.months. On 29th March, a female osprey known only by her leg rings
:39:48. > :39:50.arrives, she's flown back after wintering in Africa. With so few
:39:51. > :39:54.nesting sites available, ospreys will often try to take over a vacant
:39:55. > :40:03.nest. This one is prime real estate.
:40:04. > :40:10.The nest and the female have not gone unnoticed. A male attempts to
:40:11. > :40:17.meat with blue 24. She clearly plans to remain here for the breeding
:40:18. > :40:23.season. This may signal the end of Monty and Glesley's occupation of
:40:24. > :40:30.the site. Sex days later and the male has
:40:31. > :40:36.moved on. Then, another appears. It's Monty. After an absence of
:40:37. > :40:43.exactly 200 days, he's returned to reclaim his territory.
:40:44. > :40:55.He quickly begins nest building to get it ready for the breeding
:40:56. > :40:58.season. But who will be his mate? With no sign of Glesley, blue 24
:40:59. > :41:14.tries to secure his affections. Blue 24 is vying for Monty's
:41:15. > :41:23.affections. And maybing herself quite at home.
:41:24. > :41:27.When Glesley finally returns, she's surprised to find a rival in her
:41:28. > :41:32.nest. -- making herself quite at home. The
:41:33. > :41:35.females extend their wings, a defensive behaviour known as
:41:36. > :41:37.mantling. But neither is going to give up the site or Monty without a
:41:38. > :41:51.fight. Blue 24 launches a series of aeriel
:41:52. > :41:56.attacks as the battle begins in earnest.
:41:57. > :42:16.With a top speed of 80mph and razor sharp tall Londons designed to rip
:42:17. > :42:21.flesh, an osprey is not -- tallons. Blue 24 is left winded on the
:42:22. > :42:29.ground. But is determined to fight on.
:42:30. > :42:39.Then, Monty enters the dispute. He's taking sides.
:42:40. > :42:48.With Glesley. . His intervention tips the scales and
:42:49. > :42:53.the interloper retreats. By mid-April, with no sign of blue
:42:54. > :42:58.24, a sense of order returns to the nest.
:42:59. > :43:01.With her home secure, Monty mates with Glesley for the first time this
:43:02. > :43:06.season. Hopefully, this will be the
:43:07. > :43:12.beginning of another successful year for Monty and Glesley.
:43:13. > :43:17.What a drama that was. It was like hand bags at dawn, but thanks very
:43:18. > :43:22.much the Montgomerieshire Wildlife Trust who filmed that for us. He
:43:23. > :43:24.does it for me! Monty? He's like the Brad Pitt of the osprey world.
:43:25. > :43:29.There's something about him, Brad Pitt of the osprey world.
:43:30. > :43:34.eyes, the look! They are tatty. Weird feet, you know, toes going
:43:35. > :43:40.both ways, Spikey blue feet. Ospreys don't do it for me at all. You You
:43:41. > :43:47.can't be serious. You can find them all over the world, colonising but I
:43:48. > :43:54.wouldn't go out with one, there's absolutely no way at all I would go
:43:55. > :43:59.out with an osprey. Last week, we started looking at a small warbler
:44:00. > :44:04.that was nesting down in our brambles, the whitethroat. They were
:44:05. > :44:10.feeding their young and one of the things we saw them feeding was a
:44:11. > :44:18.very large moth. Slightly big for the chicks to actually eat. I think
:44:19. > :44:22.we have got that clip. They've come in. They're insectivores.
:44:23. > :44:26.we have got that clip. They've come in. They're insectivores. The adult
:44:27. > :44:33.is too ambitious. This is a fox moth.
:44:34. > :44:42.It won't go down the chick's throat. The chick is trying, the adult is
:44:43. > :44:47.trying. That's like trying to swallow a cardboard box. It's not
:44:48. > :44:50.going to work. Let's go live to the whitethroats to see how they're
:44:51. > :44:55.doing. They're not doing. Because they've done. Frankly, they fledged
:44:56. > :44:59.today. It was quite good. We had five to start with. One sadly
:45:00. > :45:04.disappeared. We don't know what happened, might have fallen out.
:45:05. > :45:08.There was rumour that it disappeared whilst the adder was attacking the
:45:09. > :45:11.goldfinches. There were four left and this morning they started to
:45:12. > :45:17.tentatively fledge out of the nest. What's interesting is that the white
:45:18. > :45:22.throat fledges early, after just ten days, these birds are leaving the
:45:23. > :45:28.nest. Typically, we see other small birds of this size leaving after 14
:45:29. > :45:33.days, maybe even 15, 16 days. Eventually, they all disappeared
:45:34. > :45:37.into the cover of the brambles. They're not fully flighted yet. They
:45:38. > :45:42.are able to hop around. There you can see that the nest is empty. One
:45:43. > :45:50.other interesting thing, the fledging success of whitethroats is
:45:51. > :45:56.extraordinarily high. 80% to 90% of those nests manage to get the young
:45:57. > :46:00.out, as opposed to -- as opposed to the goldfinches that struggle at
:46:01. > :46:05.25%. That's an incredible success rate. It could be they're leaving
:46:06. > :46:08.earlier. It's difficult to assess chick survival. They're difficult to
:46:09. > :46:11.watch. But there's a very distinct difference between the two
:46:12. > :46:18.strategies these animals are using. Good to see the whitethroats
:46:19. > :46:22.succeeding. Then they'll migrate. Of course they will. Yes by July they
:46:23. > :46:27.will be going back to south-western Africa, which is where we went to
:46:28. > :46:32.see our cuckoos. We saw whitethroats when we were down there. They're
:46:33. > :46:36.sharing that space. In the past the journey has had its toll. In the 70s
:46:37. > :46:39.the population took an amazing dip when there were droughts in
:46:40. > :46:44.south-west Africa. They've recovered now and the population is building
:46:45. > :46:48.up again. So many animals migrate to and from our shores. If you'd like
:46:49. > :46:59.to know more about migrating animals, check out the I Wonder
:47:00. > :47:03.guide. Find out all about that on our website, bbc.co.uk/Springwatch.
:47:04. > :47:07.It's a fascinating subject. It's extraordinary, lots to learn. Oh,
:47:08. > :47:10.hello! I popped back. Have you buzzed in to tell us something
:47:11. > :47:17.interesting. Very good, I like that one. Yesterday we launched another
:47:18. > :47:21.nest, not a bird's nest, a bee's nest. We can go to it live now. You
:47:22. > :47:26.can see that much larger one, that will be the Queen, I think. What
:47:27. > :47:30.will have happened, let's look now, yeah, it is. What will have
:47:31. > :47:34.happened, you can see the Queen there. She's much bigger. She is the
:47:35. > :47:41.only bee that will have survived the winter. She will have set off early
:47:42. > :47:45.in the year to build the nest on her own. Now she's managing to surround
:47:46. > :47:49.herself with workers. They'll take over the duties and she'll just
:47:50. > :47:53.start to lay eggs and do nothing else as the workers support her. We
:47:54. > :47:58.notice something interesting going on last night, have a look down in
:47:59. > :48:02.the bottom right-hand corner. There's a pewa there -- pupa there
:48:03. > :48:06.and it's about to hatch. I thought they did the hatching all on their
:48:07. > :48:10.own, broke out, look - the other workers are going down to help. This
:48:11. > :48:14.is speeded up. That took about 20 minutes. They're nibbling off the
:48:15. > :48:18.top of that. They must have been able to hear or something that it
:48:19. > :48:24.was about to emerge. Here it comes. A brand new worker to support the
:48:25. > :48:28.queen. You can see how much bigger she is than the workers. And out it
:48:29. > :48:35.comes. There it is. All shiny and new. Isn't that lovely. It is. I had
:48:36. > :48:39.hornets in my bedroom once. Of course you did, mate. I cut the
:48:40. > :48:44.paper off it, and the grubs were inside the cells like that bumble
:48:45. > :48:47.bee. When they were at the right stage to come out, they would come
:48:48. > :48:54.to the surface and scratch with their mouth parts on the surface and
:48:55. > :48:59.the other or nets would help get -- hornets would help get them out.
:49:00. > :49:05.They helped? They cut them out and took off and flew out the window.
:49:06. > :49:19.The insect world is amazing. It will be a fascinating live camera. What?
:49:20. > :49:24.The hor net nest in my bedroom? No! Last week you we saw the ring necked
:49:25. > :49:34.parakeet. Not everyone is such a fan of this bird.
:49:35. > :49:41.People have a love-hate relationship with the ring necked
:49:42. > :49:47.What intrigues me is how they flourish, how do they do so well in
:49:48. > :49:55.environments that they're not made for.
:49:56. > :49:59.Probably one of the reasons why they're so successful is because
:50:00. > :50:17.people feed them. They'll eat all of your food. They
:50:18. > :50:27.dominate bird feeders. They come in large numbers.
:50:28. > :50:33.You might expect a Great Tit or blue tit, it's common to see parakeets
:50:34. > :50:48.fighting over a bird feeder around here.
:50:49. > :50:56.We don't know whether they're having any impact on our native Flora or
:50:57. > :51:04.fauna. Very little research has been done. There is the potential for
:51:05. > :51:08.impact. My concern about them would be whether or not they displace the
:51:09. > :51:19.wildlife, like wood peckers, in the woodlands here. They are secondary
:51:20. > :51:23.cavity nesters, meaning they don't make their own holes. They nest in
:51:24. > :51:27.holes or cavities that are already there. They really like old
:51:28. > :51:31.woodpecker holes and they re-use them. They nest in them more than
:51:32. > :51:39.one year, not necessarily the same family, but they re-use them.
:51:40. > :51:46.It's not just the trees that they nest in. They will find any hole to
:51:47. > :51:57.nest in, so any loft space, any brick that's loose, they will get in
:51:58. > :52:06.there and make their home there. You either love them or you hate them.
:52:07. > :52:13.Chris versus the touch screen. Where are the parakeets? Let's look.
:52:14. > :52:18.They're not in the North Sea, as it's trying to Kate. -- indicate.
:52:19. > :52:22.They're very much around Greater London here, there are a few in the
:52:23. > :52:23.Thames Estuary in east Kent. Over the years they've started to spread
:52:24. > :52:27.out. There the years they've started to spread
:52:28. > :52:31.Birmingham. And a few in Liverpool as well. Now debate rages a bit when
:52:32. > :52:37.they first arrived here, certainly by the late 60s and they were first
:52:38. > :52:41.breeding down here in Kent in 1971. The interesting thing is that
:52:42. > :52:46.although the population is increasing by about 30% every year,
:52:47. > :52:49.its distribution seasoned expanding. The density of birds is increasing,
:52:50. > :52:53.particularly in the Greater London area, here. But they're not
:52:54. > :52:56.spreading out very much. Occasionally you get sightings
:52:57. > :53:01.across the rest of the UK. Even some up in Scotland. But it's an increase
:53:02. > :53:08.in density not dispersion that we see. We also asked to you help out
:53:09. > :53:14.with Hazel Jackson's feathers. She obviously doesn't have feathers, she
:53:15. > :53:18.might peel off her coat and she has lovely green feathers behind her or
:53:19. > :53:27.primaries, I don't know. That wasn't a euphemism either. It's useful I
:53:28. > :53:33.didn't mention her undertail coverts either! We want to you collect the
:53:34. > :53:39.feathers if you're in the Greater London area. Put them in an envelope
:53:40. > :53:43.and sent them to Hazel Jackson. I'm Alan Partridge, I think! You've lost
:53:44. > :53:51.it. This parakeet has couldon aislesed your It has jacket. . Where
:53:52. > :53:56.has it gone? A little kissing session before. Hello love. We ought
:53:57. > :53:59.to point out when he goes out socially, he always wears that red
:54:00. > :54:06.coat there. He's about ten weeks old. We say he, we don't know if
:54:07. > :54:11.he's a girl or boy. He's beautiful. He hasn't yet developed the ring
:54:12. > :54:14.around his neck. He seems to be enjoying Hello, don't himself. Bite
:54:15. > :54:19.me too hard, if you do. Let's talk about the origins, though. You were
:54:20. > :54:26.saying that when you go to India, you can always hear them. It's the
:54:27. > :54:32.sound of Delhi. You hear these ring-necked parakeets screeching.
:54:33. > :54:36.It's bizarre to go to somewhere like Richmond Park, it sounds familiar.
:54:37. > :54:40.It's the sound of the British Empire. People are surprised they
:54:41. > :54:44.can survive here because they think that they're from warm countries.
:54:45. > :54:47.They're from the foot hills of the Himalayas. They're not used to
:54:48. > :54:52.frost, though. They suffer from frostbite on their toes. Martin...
:54:53. > :54:57.Sorry, I'm getting carried away here. It was me and Monty getting it
:54:58. > :55:03.on and now you! I think we're in love. Very cute. I hope it's a girl.
:55:04. > :55:08.Is it urban myth about how they actually came to this country? Did
:55:09. > :55:14.they escape from a film set, the African ghen 1951, that's what they
:55:15. > :55:20.say -- Queen. They didn't breed until 61, what were they doing
:55:21. > :55:24.between 51 and 71 They were just hiding, clearly not. The second one
:55:25. > :55:31.that Jimi Hendrix came here and released them, he went to Karen by
:55:32. > :55:36.Street, he -- Carnaby Street... To improve the purple haze over London.
:55:37. > :55:41.Lovely idea. I think actually that it's just like our parakeet here,
:55:42. > :55:51.they were a lot of pets that got released. Let's ask the audience.
:55:52. > :55:56.Perhaps your grandmother have an ary around -- avary in London and let
:55:57. > :56:00.the parakeets loose. Let us know. Over the last few weeks, we've had
:56:01. > :56:03.dramatic scenes of life and death. But that's what spring is about.
:56:04. > :56:07.It's about mating. It's about birds. It's about building nests. It's
:56:08. > :57:06.about survival. It's basically a time of renewal.
:57:07. > :57:14.Beautiful. Gorgeous. What are you looking at me like that. Still
:57:15. > :57:20.thinking about the undertail coverts and apologising to Hazel later Let's
:57:21. > :57:26.lock at our live -- look at our live cameras. This is the bittern cam.
:57:27. > :57:30.Gone to sleep. We might hear snoring. Is that the adult or just
:57:31. > :57:34.the youngsters? That looks like the youngsters. I don't think the adult
:57:35. > :57:39.is there at the moment. She's not there. They're still coming back to
:57:40. > :57:46.the nest. They've still coming back. Coming up tomorrow, what have we
:57:47. > :57:51.got? We've got itchy and scratchy, it's the white-tailed eagles. We're
:57:52. > :57:55.looking at the name sakes of my poodles. We catch up with our
:57:56. > :57:59.incredibly adventurous bittern chicks. Look at that. They're
:58:00. > :58:07.grasping the reeds now, just like mum. There's exciting news of a new
:58:08. > :58:10.arrival to the UK, the continental swallow-tail butterfly. What a
:58:11. > :58:15.beauty. Of course, unsprung will be coming straight after us on the red
:58:16. > :58:19.button and online with Nick Baker. Make sure you tune into that by
:58:20. > :58:24.pressing the red button. We will see you tomorrow at 8pm. Lots of live
:58:25. > :58:27.cameras we'll be looking at. See you then. BBC Two. From us, bye-bye for
:58:28. > :58:29.now.