:00:08. > :00:15.It is Wednesday. And the most important sporting event for four
:00:16. > :00:19.years has not just started. But our wildlife squad is fully fit and we
:00:20. > :00:26.have plenty of support waiting on the bench. A returning Springwatch
:00:27. > :00:31.star slithers into the limelight yet again bringing drama with it. For
:00:32. > :00:34.the next 70 minutes we will be sharing our lives with some of our
:00:35. > :00:57.beautiful British wildlife. It is Springwatch.
:00:58. > :01:06.Yes, hello and welcome to the ultimate Springwatch of 2014, coming
:01:07. > :01:13.to you live from the beautiful RSPB reserve at Minismere won the Suffolk
:01:14. > :01:18.coast. What a place it is. This is just part of the Suffolk coast and
:01:19. > :01:23.Heath area of outstanding natural beauty. There you can see Minismere.
:01:24. > :01:27.Another important habitat we have here is the sandy lowland heath
:01:28. > :01:34.managed by the National trust and also the Suffolk wildlife trust.
:01:35. > :01:39.This is an important habitat for a unique Guild of species which
:01:40. > :01:44.prosper here and nowhere else. It is a beautiful place for a special
:01:45. > :01:52.group of animals. Sandy lowland heath is one of the most spectacular
:01:53. > :01:57.habitats. It is rarer than tropical rainforests. Is it really? That is
:01:58. > :02:01.an amazing fact to start the show with. I am going to tell you that we
:02:02. > :02:07.have 24 hours left to make the most of our fantastic cast of animal
:02:08. > :02:12.characters. Some have left us already. Some have not made it and
:02:13. > :02:17.others have stuck around much longer than anticipated. They seem to be
:02:18. > :02:25.making the most of their profile and enjoying the limelight. Particularly
:02:26. > :02:30.our family of bitterns. They might be the stars of Springwatch. There
:02:31. > :02:35.is their nest in the reeds and they are looking very chilled and
:02:36. > :02:39.relaxed. Still doing it for me after three weeks. Still amazing that they
:02:40. > :02:41.are doing it for anyone because we thought they would semi-fletch at
:02:42. > :02:46.the weekend and we thought they would have gone by now but they are
:02:47. > :02:50.still here. We will tell you more about that later. It has undeniably
:02:51. > :02:58.been an extraordinary treat that we were able to get our cameras on the
:02:59. > :03:02.bittern nest but sometimes it is the unplanned things which can be even
:03:03. > :03:08.more surprising. Earlier in this series, we saw a snake attending the
:03:09. > :03:12.nest of goldfinches. And I'd had climbed up and positioned itself to
:03:13. > :03:18.strike at one of the chicks and it dragged it out. This was a surprise.
:03:19. > :03:24.We know adders feed on small animals and on the ground, not at chest
:03:25. > :03:28.height in the brambles. It was a remarkable observation. Let me tell
:03:29. > :03:34.you that we were going to launch a new nest today. It was the nest of
:03:35. > :03:39.quite a common garden species, a blackbird. This blackbird is nesting
:03:40. > :03:43.quite low down in the scrub. It has four chicks about a week and a half
:03:44. > :03:49.old. The adult female disappeared a couple of days ago and the adult
:03:50. > :04:12.male is a super dad. He has been very attentive and is feeding the
:04:13. > :04:14.chicks extremely well. He's about to really earn his stripes. Look at
:04:15. > :04:17.this. This is what we saw yesterday. Three of the chicks have burst from
:04:18. > :04:30.the nest. The male is agitated. You can see the approach of an adder.
:04:31. > :04:36.Another one pops the nest. This is a female snake. It is a different one
:04:37. > :04:42.to the other. The adult male is like super dad. He comes in and attacks
:04:43. > :04:49.the adder. You can see the chick comes across the screen. It has
:04:50. > :04:57.fangs out and jaws open wide. There is the little one coming back. It is
:04:58. > :05:02.chaos in there. It is not a case of predation. This is the snake looking
:05:03. > :05:08.after itself. It is being attacked by the adult blackbird. It is having
:05:09. > :05:12.a sniff. It probably smelt the chicks and was curious as to what
:05:13. > :05:18.they were. But it has got itself into some trouble because the male
:05:19. > :05:24.blackbird was defending the nest extremely vigorously. Rattlesnakes
:05:25. > :05:34.can strike at 14 metres per second. I am not sure how fast adders can
:05:35. > :05:40.strike. In the end, the blackbird drives the snake off with a final
:05:41. > :05:48.flourish. I think the adder got more than she bargained for. Good night
:05:49. > :05:55.Sweetheart, off it goes. What an amazing observation. Incredible. To
:05:56. > :06:02.see one I do predation is amazing for a series. To see two, I know it
:06:03. > :06:06.was not successful. Over the last couple of days it has been extremely
:06:07. > :06:11.hot here. You might think snakes like it hot but not as hot as it has
:06:12. > :06:15.been. If it is 15 degrees in the air, on the ground it can be 40
:06:16. > :06:19.degrees which is way too hot for these reptiles. One theory as they
:06:20. > :06:22.have been going into the bushes to get away from the sun and the heat
:06:23. > :06:26.and that is why they are hunting there aren't coming across these
:06:27. > :06:32.birds' nests as well as the small mammals. Let's have a look at the
:06:33. > :06:38.blackbird best live. It is empty. The chicks did not come back. The
:06:39. > :06:43.reason is probably because they were due to fledge anyway. Their chances
:06:44. > :06:47.of survival are pretty high. They have super dad looking after them.
:06:48. > :06:52.They would have scattered into the vegetation and he will be feeding
:06:53. > :06:59.them and the snake I would imagine has long gone. Martin is out and
:07:00. > :07:04.about as usual. Where has he gone? About two miles north. Yes, I am on
:07:05. > :07:09.Dunwich Heath managed by the National trust. This is heath land.
:07:10. > :07:15.Our is to explore the specialised wildlife. If you look over there
:07:16. > :07:23.that is where Minismere is about two miles away. Over here, we have got
:07:24. > :07:27.our special lies heath camera. We can go to live and see what we have
:07:28. > :07:33.got. It is panning about the heathlands. Nothing out and about
:07:34. > :07:36.right now but we will keep watching throughout the programme because we
:07:37. > :07:42.have seen some very interesting creatures. Last night, just after we
:07:43. > :07:52.came off air, that camera was panning around and saw this. Two
:07:53. > :07:56.young little fox cubs. All over the country, at this time of year, the
:07:57. > :08:01.cubs will be emerging in towns and the country. Chris doesn't let me
:08:02. > :08:10.say they are playing! It looks like it but he is right. All this playing
:08:11. > :08:15.about has a purpose. These two are starting to establish some kind of
:08:16. > :08:21.hierarchy, bouncing off each other, bumping. Look at that, I am the
:08:22. > :08:30.boss. They look in superb condition and they look gorgeous, that russet
:08:31. > :08:35.ground -- russet brown against the green of the heathland. They have
:08:36. > :08:38.got to learn to do that characteristic jumping thing they do
:08:39. > :08:46.when they leap up into the air and bounced down onto a vole or a mouse.
:08:47. > :08:52.I love that. It is a specialised technique. It takes them a while to
:08:53. > :08:57.get proficient at doing that. Fantastic. We will keep an eye on
:08:58. > :09:01.the heath camera just in case. The news keeps coming. We got some
:09:02. > :09:05.interesting news earlier in the spring, down on the south coast,
:09:06. > :09:14.something odd was going on. We sent agent Packham to investigate.
:09:15. > :09:21.This street in Sussex has a secret. And I am on a covert mission to
:09:22. > :09:32.investigate the murder of an exotic Lady and the hidden treasure that
:09:33. > :09:37.she left behind. Amanda, tell me the story from the
:09:38. > :09:47.very start. What was happening, when and how the whole thing unfolded. I
:09:48. > :09:52.was doing a bit of artwork actually. I wanted a butterfly. I found an old
:09:53. > :09:56.book in our house with a swallowtail. It was the first
:09:57. > :10:03.picture in the book. I had drawn half of it and my eyes were hurting.
:10:04. > :10:08.I went out to see where Poppy, the cat was. She was in the process of
:10:09. > :10:12.catching a swallowtail. Say you were drawing one, the first time you had
:10:13. > :10:19.drawn one and half way through the process you see your cat catching a
:10:20. > :10:26.real one in the garden. Yes, I came to rescue it but it was a bit
:10:27. > :10:32.damaged unfortunately. This is the scene of a great crime. You have got
:10:33. > :10:41.the insect here. Oh deer, look at that. But let's be positive.
:10:42. > :10:46.Although Poppy the cat murdered the butterfly it had essentially done
:10:47. > :10:52.its duty, it had laid some eggs. You No sometime in September we saw some
:10:53. > :10:58.amazing caterpillars, eight in total. We contacted somebody from
:10:59. > :11:03.the butterfly conservation trust. He became animated and then you
:11:04. > :11:09.realised what a to fly gold mine you had in your garden. Michael quickly
:11:10. > :11:12.identified the remains of the continental swallowtail butterfly.
:11:13. > :11:19.Our British swallowtail is confined to Norfolk so this European vagrant
:11:20. > :11:24.was quite a remarkable discovery. The British version is a darker
:11:25. > :11:31.yellow with a narrow thorax and it only lays its eggs on milk parsley.
:11:32. > :11:36.However, the continent to list but less fussy, laying its eggs on a
:11:37. > :11:41.wider variety of plants such as the fennel in Amanda's garden. When you
:11:42. > :11:49.got the phone call from Amanda, you probably didn't sleep, did you? I
:11:50. > :11:53.was very excited. I said to Amanda the key thing is we have to find out
:11:54. > :11:57.where they keep eight. But they all dropped to the ground pretty much
:11:58. > :12:02.the same morning. Amanda was following one up the garden but then
:12:03. > :12:10.there was another one. Sometimes they will go down. These
:12:11. > :12:15.swallowtails could really move. She got her neighbours involved to make
:12:16. > :12:19.sure they did not lose any. But amazingly, they chased them and we
:12:20. > :12:24.know where everyone of the caterpillars has gone. You have got
:12:25. > :12:30.some in a box over here. This green one looks like a little jewel. It is
:12:31. > :12:36.a fantastic colour, very vivid. This is exciting times. Yes, we could see
:12:37. > :12:41.the emergence of these swallowtails. It will be the first known an urgent
:12:42. > :12:47.of the continental swallowtail in England. The best place for Poppy
:12:48. > :12:57.the cat in my mind for the next three weeks might be in Tasmania.
:12:58. > :13:02.It looks so innocent, doesn't it? But I think Amanda might have taken
:13:03. > :13:07.your advice and sent Poppy the cat to Tasmania because look what
:13:08. > :13:12.happened on May the 17th. This is the chrysalis. If you look closely,
:13:13. > :13:17.it starts to fidget a bit which means something is going to happen.
:13:18. > :13:24.Then we have emerging continental swallowtail butterfly. You can see
:13:25. > :13:30.it is drying its wings there. It is hardening up before it is ready to
:13:31. > :13:32.fly off. That is the first documented emergence of a
:13:33. > :13:39.continental swallowtail in Britain ever, we think. Absolutely amazing.
:13:40. > :13:44.We think five out of eight of those have emerged now. Those are the ones
:13:45. > :13:48.we knew about in that garden. There could have been plenty more out in
:13:49. > :13:53.the countryside. Already this year we have had reports of continental
:13:54. > :13:57.swallowtails in Devon, Dorset and Hampshire as well. It could be these
:13:58. > :14:01.insects are the vanguard of an invasion of butterflies coming over
:14:02. > :14:18.to the UK. But, as we saw in the film, we do have our own
:14:19. > :14:20.swallowtail. It is a subspecies of swallowtail and it is formed by
:14:21. > :14:22.geographical isolation. It has been stuck here in Britain since the land
:14:23. > :14:25.bridge to continental Europe closed. That is why it is slightly darker.
:14:26. > :14:28.It has got itself into a bit of a botanical bottleneck because it only
:14:29. > :14:31.feeds on milk parsley, nothing else. It is very difficult to keep Mark
:14:32. > :14:38.parsley going and therefore to keep the butterfly going. The question
:14:39. > :14:44.is, does it matter if we lose it? If it is such a specialist, it needs
:14:45. > :14:49.open firm, milk parsley, is it really sustainable? That is like
:14:50. > :14:53.opening a very dangerous can of worms because I made comments about
:14:54. > :14:57.the panda asking if it was sustainable and I never heard the
:14:58. > :15:00.last of it! In some ways yes, because it is a valuable subspecies
:15:01. > :15:03.but in the long term we have to think that nature is dynamic and
:15:04. > :15:12.fluid and if the other swallowtails come here, they would end up into
:15:13. > :15:15.breeding with the UK subspecies and therefore, dilutes it and change it.
:15:16. > :15:19.Sometimes I do not think we can be that precious and we have to focus
:15:20. > :15:25.on conserving things we can achieve. In the meantime, I think we have to
:15:26. > :15:31.focus on looking after the species we can. And Michael Blincoe who you
:15:32. > :15:37.saw in the film will be talking online when we have finished and he
:15:38. > :15:42.will ask you if you have seen any solid tiles. I wonder if Martin has
:15:43. > :15:48.seen any? I guess he has not gone far enough North.
:15:49. > :15:53.We will explore the wildlife here. Before we do, come up here a second,
:15:54. > :15:58.look at this. A bit of cultural history. Can you see that trench
:15:59. > :16:03.there. The Heath has been used, by the army, it was used in World War
:16:04. > :16:07.II, to train, to see how we could defend ourselves against German
:16:08. > :16:15.tanks. Those sort of ditches were some way to find out, how can we get
:16:16. > :16:19.our tanks across. Here is how they did that? See that load of twigs,
:16:20. > :16:24.put them on the ground and rode over it. The fantastic. Sort of cultural
:16:25. > :16:29.history all around us as well. We are here to look for the animals.
:16:30. > :16:33.This habitat here is fantastic for repitiles. We have already seen
:16:34. > :16:43.adders in the programme. Let us have a look at another reptile. --
:16:44. > :16:50.reptiles. Hello. Oh, dear. Here it is. The what a gorgeous tiny little
:16:51. > :16:56.animal. This is a baby grass snake. It has the yellow collar around its
:16:57. > :17:00.neck. It's calm this one. They can grow to be four or five feet long.
:17:01. > :17:06.This has a lot of growing to do. It has the yellow collar, it hasn't the
:17:07. > :17:11.zig-zag. If you see a snake that is more than two foot long it will be a
:17:12. > :17:16.grass snake. Adders don't grow much bigger than that. It's like a living
:17:17. > :17:21.jewel. The let us put them back. These will be released. They were
:17:22. > :17:24.found in a site where there was going fob building. They will be
:17:25. > :17:32.released, not here, but in a safe place. Now, look at this. If you are
:17:33. > :17:37.very lucky, if you are digging in a compost heap, you might find one of
:17:38. > :17:42.these. I will look into the difference between the breeding
:17:43. > :17:48.strategies of a grass snakes and adders. Grass snakes lay eggs. You
:17:49. > :17:52.can see one here. Here's the grass snake. Here is the egg actually
:17:53. > :17:57.coming out. They will bury the eggs in maybe a compost heap, somewhere
:17:58. > :18:05.warm where vegetation is fermenting, they need heat to help the eggs to
:18:06. > :18:09.hatch out. Amazing shots. I've never seen any in my compost heap, I wish
:18:10. > :18:14.I could. That is how grass snakes do it, by laying eggs. Adders do it
:18:15. > :18:21.completely differently. They give birth to live young. In fact, when
:18:22. > :18:27.they come out the young they have a membrane around them. The they soon
:18:28. > :18:33.break out of that. Perfect little replicas of their mum come out. They
:18:34. > :18:39.develop, the baby adders develop inside their mother, unlike the
:18:40. > :18:45.grass snakes. That has a profound impact on how far, north and south,
:18:46. > :18:50.the two different snakes can go. Because grass snakes, they need the
:18:51. > :18:58.warmth. They can't go so far north. Adders, they are astonishing, they
:18:59. > :19:04.can go above the Arctic Circle because of their breeding strategy.
:19:05. > :19:11.Let us look at one more snake. You are screaming at me at home. It is
:19:12. > :19:15.not a snake. It's a slow worm. It's a legless lizard. Beautiful things.
:19:16. > :19:20.In fact, there are a few characters that still let you know it is a
:19:21. > :19:25.lizard. If you look inside it has shoulder blades there. Even a pelvis
:19:26. > :19:29.down the back. No arms and legs. There are a few other things. If you
:19:30. > :19:36.look closely at the slow warm, it tells you it is not a snake, it is a
:19:37. > :19:40.lizard. Look at its head. Here it is. Watch the tongue. It's forked a
:19:41. > :19:45.little bit, but nothing like the tongue of a snake. Quite a big
:19:46. > :19:51.tongue, isn't it? Look at the eyes now. A snake can't blink. It has to
:19:52. > :19:57.have its eyes open all the time. There, you saw it blink. It has a
:19:58. > :20:06.membrane that goes across. Let us look at that again. There we go.
:20:07. > :20:13.They also have those round pupils as well. Adders have pupils like your
:20:14. > :20:18.cat has. So has an adder. That is not very good. I love the slow worm.
:20:19. > :20:26.I get them in the garden. I went outside one night and saw one eating
:20:27. > :20:32.my slugs. Slow worms are great, the gardener's friend. We have lots of
:20:33. > :20:40.repitiles, we have some very special birds -- reptiles. This bird here,
:20:41. > :20:49.it's the Dartford warbler, this is a special at here. -- speciality here.
:20:50. > :20:54.They are very rare. They are susceptible to harsh winters. In
:20:55. > :21:00.1973 they were reduced to 11 pairs as it was a harsh winter. They are
:21:01. > :21:05.doing well here. Like a junior roadrunner. They generally eat
:21:06. > :21:09.insects. The crucial thing about them is that they cannot migrate.
:21:10. > :21:14.They have to stay here, unlike so many of our birds. They need this
:21:15. > :21:21.habitat. The natural trust manage the habitat for the Dartford
:21:22. > :21:29.warblers. They have low grass. It is full of little insects. Low heathers
:21:30. > :21:33.like this, grasshoppers, perfect for warblers. They want to nest in
:21:34. > :21:36.something like this. What they also need is, if the winter comes, they
:21:37. > :21:44.need somewhere to hideaway, get in there. Even if it snows they can
:21:45. > :21:49.find spiders to feed on. That is the beautiful Dartford warbler. I have
:21:50. > :21:53.forgotten where I'm going now! Another animal that you sometimes
:21:54. > :22:01.see here. We have never seen one. It will be the hen harrier. That is
:22:02. > :22:06.another specialist up here. We asked our wildlife cameraman to film hen
:22:07. > :22:15.harriers in the north. All you will see here he filmed in just 24-hours.
:22:16. > :22:20.As another day dawns, the wildlife of the upland stirs. A ghost-like
:22:21. > :22:34.form skirts the ridge. It's a male hen harrier. His pale
:22:35. > :22:43.grey wings, tipped with black, flash as he swoops by.
:22:44. > :22:52.It's early spring, and our male needs to find a mate. He'll have to
:22:53. > :23:02.work hard to catch a female's eye in this vast, wild land. Hattie, a
:23:03. > :23:06.young female, lives on this moor. She is much browner than the male.
:23:07. > :23:20.She was fitted with a satellite tracker last year. This is her first
:23:21. > :23:22.breeding season. But our male knows how to woo a lady. He dances for
:23:23. > :23:33.her. In a spectacular courtship display,
:23:34. > :23:38.known as skydancing, a male hen harrier will repeatedly soar, then
:23:39. > :24:03.tumble through the sky, showing off his aerial abilities.
:24:04. > :24:12.Our male is interrupted by an intruder, a buzzard. The harrier is
:24:13. > :24:17.much smaller, but it doesn't stop him from picking a fight.
:24:18. > :24:29.Even though the buzzard poses no real threat.
:24:30. > :24:35.The show of strength seems to be doing the trick. Hattie even helps
:24:36. > :24:53.our male ward off the buzzard. The intruder has had enough, and
:24:54. > :25:04.heads off to find a more peaceful part of the moor.
:25:05. > :25:18.The male has won Hattie over, she begins to build a nest.
:25:19. > :25:25.Hen harriers are ground-nesting birds, working together, they
:25:26. > :25:32.collect twigs and grasses in a shallow depression in the heather.
:25:33. > :25:36.Here, they can begin to build the foundations for the next generation
:25:37. > :25:45.of one of our most endangered birds of prey.
:25:46. > :25:53.I wish that human courtship involved a beautiful dance like that. I think
:25:54. > :25:56.I would quite like it. I said "beautiful", Chris, that is just
:25:57. > :26:07.weird! Stop it. You are freaking me out. The good news is, that Hattieh
:26:08. > :26:10.five eggs and all the chicks hatched successfully, as you can see in the
:26:11. > :26:17.photo there. That is brilliant news. Up in Scotland they reckon there is
:26:18. > :26:23.just over 500 hen harrier pairs, those chicks will help to boost the
:26:24. > :26:27.numbers up in Scotland. Natural England plans to put satellite tags
:26:28. > :26:34.on this year's chicks we hope to follow them and we will bring you an
:26:35. > :26:38.update on Often Watch. They are a beautiful fees species, they should
:26:39. > :26:43.be breeding all over the UK. We seem to think of them now as a bird of
:26:44. > :26:46.moorland they could nest absolutely everywhere. When you see them flying
:26:47. > :26:52.around, they look stunning. They could be flying over the south of
:26:53. > :26:57.England. We've calculated that 300 pairs of them could be nesting in
:26:58. > :27:01.England. Last year, no young were raised by hen harriers at all. At
:27:02. > :27:07.the moment, there are three nests, some with young and some with eggs.
:27:08. > :27:14.What is the problem here? The problem is persecution of raptors,
:27:15. > :27:19.it's not just hen harriers. On the black isle in Scotland no fewer than
:27:20. > :27:24.22 birds of prey were illegally poisoned. They were red kites, birds
:27:25. > :27:30.like this. They were buzzards too. We are taking this very seriously.
:27:31. > :27:35.The RSPB have currently got a ?27,000 reward for any information
:27:36. > :27:41.that leads to a successful prosecution in this instance. You
:27:42. > :27:46.know, the other day I was recounting a story, when I was a kid I asked my
:27:47. > :27:52.dad, begged my dad, do bring me here to see what could be the last pair
:27:53. > :28:01.of marsh harriers breeding. He drove from Southampton to bring me up here
:28:02. > :28:07.in Minsmere. What if there is a kid begging his dad to drive him to
:28:08. > :28:12.Scotland to see a hen harrier. Lineker, 1990 to Robson it means -
:28:13. > :28:17.think about it. You can think about it, you can help, particularly when
:28:18. > :28:21.it comes to hen harriers. The RSPB have a hen harrier hot-line. What we
:28:22. > :28:26.would like you to do is con be tact us, via our website,
:28:27. > :28:33.bbc.co.u/springwatch, and let us know if you see a hen harrier. By
:28:34. > :28:41.mapping them they can monitor them. If we can monitor them we might be
:28:42. > :28:45.able to look after them. -- contact. We should have a hot-line for
:28:46. > :28:52.Martin. He has spread himself around this area quite a lot during this
:28:53. > :28:56.series, hasn't he? He certainly has. Maybe people could ring in - Or
:28:57. > :29:03.satellite track him. I don't know where he goes all the time, to be
:29:04. > :29:12.honest. He has strange habits! Let us have another look round this
:29:13. > :29:18.heathland. It is good for reptiles and it's managed for some rare
:29:19. > :29:21.birds. We have seen one of the biggest creatures, red deer. It is
:29:22. > :29:28.an interesting time of year for the red deer. These young stags are
:29:29. > :29:35.growing their antlers, they shred them in winter and have to grow them
:29:36. > :29:40.from scratch again. You can see the soft velvet surrounding them. That
:29:41. > :29:46.provides the blood and nutrients to grow the antlers. It's the fasting
:29:47. > :29:52.known growing tissue of any mammal at all. They can grow up to an inch
:29:53. > :29:56.a day. It's a fascinating to think those stags, they are eating
:29:57. > :30:00.peacefully together at the moment, in autumn they will be mortal
:30:01. > :30:15.enemies and at one another. at night and that is when it gets
:30:16. > :30:22.really interesting. All sorts of secrets are revealed. We did not
:30:23. > :30:33.know if we would be able to film the carbs. This is an infrared camera.
:30:34. > :30:39.It is pitch black. Here is a young cast trying to suckle its young. The
:30:40. > :30:44.mother will hide it away during the day. She will only suckle at two or
:30:45. > :30:53.three times, keeping it completely hidden. You can see it has got some
:30:54. > :31:01.spotty camouflage on there to keep it hidden away. It is a little bit
:31:02. > :31:14.unsteady on its pins there. Fantastic pictures. Wonderful to see
:31:15. > :31:19.the deer. By the way, this car here, this is where all our transmission
:31:20. > :31:23.is coming from. You can see all the aerials and there is a little man in
:31:24. > :31:28.there making it all happen for us. As well as the deer, this is a
:31:29. > :31:33.wonderful place at night for some magical birds. Let me set this up
:31:34. > :31:37.for you. We think we have discovered something brand-new here. There is a
:31:38. > :31:41.little tiny bird here called they would laugh. It says on the books
:31:42. > :31:48.they will go up and sing for two or three minutes. -- a wood lark. We
:31:49. > :31:54.went out with our thermal camera and our sound recordist, Gary. We found
:31:55. > :32:00.something completely different. There is Gary with his parabolic
:32:01. > :32:06.listening. Here is the wood lark. Remember, it is completely dark. If
:32:07. > :32:15.you were out here on the heathlands you would hear it. This bird is
:32:16. > :32:20.displaying. It is a male and it is trying to show how strong and tough
:32:21. > :32:27.it is to any female who might be in the dark. What we discovered was it
:32:28. > :32:34.did not sing for two or three minutes. That little bird song for
:32:35. > :32:41.two hours, showing just how tough and strong it was. Let's see what
:32:42. > :32:47.the adult looks like. There it is. That is what it looks like in the
:32:48. > :32:54.daytime, but nondescript bird better night it has a magical song. This
:32:55. > :32:59.one is a real speciality of the heathlands up here, the nightjar.
:33:00. > :33:06.This is with our thermal camera. You would never see anything if you were
:33:07. > :33:13.standing here. The song is called sharing. The mail is making the
:33:14. > :33:18.sound showing off to the female. He can make 48 notes per second and
:33:19. > :33:20.change the pitch. She is picking up something about his song which makes
:33:21. > :33:39.him more attractive. That was an attempted mating. Gary
:33:40. > :33:45.the sound recordist says he thinks the sound changes tone as he comes
:33:46. > :33:49.in towards the mating. We have been following the story of the enormous
:33:50. > :33:53.white tailed eagles up on the island of Mull. The first time we saw them
:33:54. > :34:01.was on the very first Springwatch ten years ago. In that programme, we
:34:02. > :34:05.ringed a little chip. After we had run it the chick disappeared off the
:34:06. > :34:07.radar and we thought it was gone. But Iolo Williams has some very good
:34:08. > :34:23.news. I am heading to a secret location on
:34:24. > :34:28.the west of Scotland to catch up with an old Springwatch favourite.
:34:29. > :34:33.Leading us there is Dave Sexton. After white tailed eagles
:34:34. > :34:36.disappeared from the UK, Dave has toiled for nearly 30 years to help
:34:37. > :34:44.these birds regained their rightful place here. We are going in search
:34:45. > :34:51.of a very special bird, aren't we? A very special bird indeed. He is
:34:52. > :35:00.known as Ichi and he was the first chick that Springwatch featured in
:35:01. > :35:07.2005. Itchy and scratchy were the stars of the first series. Half of
:35:08. > :35:15.all the white tailed eagles do not make it through to being parents pet
:35:16. > :35:24.Ichi's story was different. He fledged in July of 2000 is five. --
:35:25. > :35:32.2005. You have not seen him for ten years? We know he has been seen in
:35:33. > :35:44.the area. We hope he has got a chick but we will not know that until we
:35:45. > :35:48.get there. I just want to see him. It is a chick I have held my arms
:35:49. > :35:56.and now we will be doing it to his chip. It has come full circle. We
:35:57. > :36:01.land a safe distance from the nest but Itchy and his partner are
:36:02. > :36:06.nowhere to be seen. We have to move fast to minimise disruption to the
:36:07. > :36:14.family's routine. We have got to be really quick from now on in. In a
:36:15. > :36:22.cloud of midges, the team of licensed rumours and climbers get to
:36:23. > :36:26.work. We want to discover if Itchy has fathered any chicks. See eagles
:36:27. > :36:31.choose high vantage points for their massive nests and this is no
:36:32. > :36:41.exception. A good 20 metres up the Scots pine. Then Dave spots an adult
:36:42. > :36:48.eagle through the trees. A female, yes? I cannot see it had. It is so
:36:49. > :36:53.hard to get a view. They are both there. There is Itchy. I can see the
:36:54. > :37:15.pound. -- tag. Fantastic. He has come back. Wonderful! Ten
:37:16. > :37:27.years on and he has still got his tag. Look at him. He looks all grown
:37:28. > :37:31.up. He does look all grown up with his resplendent white tail. What a
:37:32. > :37:35.difference from being scruffy looking to growing up to being this
:37:36. > :37:47.enormous eagle. I just cannot believe it.
:37:48. > :37:56.Meanwhile, the nest climb continues. White tailed eagle nests can be two
:37:57. > :37:59.metres across and three metres deep. Climber Justin finds a chick. Itchy
:38:00. > :38:11.has a daughter. Justin carefully places her in a bag
:38:12. > :38:32.and lowers it to the ground. That is good. That is the chick
:38:33. > :38:37.down. Yes, safe and sound. Hello. How old do you think this chick is?
:38:38. > :38:42.About five weeks. The grade down is coming out and the new brown
:38:43. > :38:49.feathers are coming through. It has another five or six weeks before it
:38:50. > :38:55.is fully grown. I cannot get over how enormous it is. Defeat our
:38:56. > :38:59.nearly fully grown. They will get better at moving and grabbing prey.
:39:00. > :39:02.In another couple of weeks she will be grabbing prey and starting to
:39:03. > :39:09.pull at it herself. The parents will still be feeding but for the moment
:39:10. > :39:14.she is totally dependent on Itchy and his mate. Saw this weighing and
:39:15. > :39:18.measuring it is a chance to make sure she is in good health? Yes,
:39:19. > :39:27.there is a pretty good chance she will go on to take her first flight.
:39:28. > :39:34.She is an absolute beauty. The chick, ringed and weighed, Justin
:39:35. > :39:41.returns her to the nest, allowing this magnificent pair of birds to
:39:42. > :39:45.get back to their parenting duties. Itchy has played his part in
:39:46. > :39:48.fathering the next generation of Scottish born see eagles meaning
:39:49. > :39:56.this incredible species is one stage closer to a full UK recovery.
:39:57. > :40:04.What a fabulous bird. It has to be one of my favourites. It must be
:40:05. > :40:08.amazing for days to catch up with Itchy after ten years. Iolo will be
:40:09. > :40:13.joining us tomorrow. He is heading down from the West Coast of
:40:14. > :40:19.Scotland. I am sure he will be covered image by its! Now, let's
:40:20. > :40:25.talk badgers. We have had cameras on a couple of sets of archers ats.
:40:26. > :40:31.They have been shyer than expected but we have seen them and all five
:40:32. > :40:36.of the Cubs. Here are two of them. This one has been building his part
:40:37. > :40:41.up a little bit and rather over enjoying the camera! We have asked
:40:42. > :40:46.many questions about the badgers and one of them is what they are eating.
:40:47. > :40:52.We know the sandy soil is not a earthworm rich. We know they also
:40:53. > :40:58.read small chicks and eggs. What exactly are they eating? To find
:40:59. > :41:03.that out we need a bag of to and someone who is prepared to analyse
:41:04. > :41:10.it. It is a beautiful gift. I accept it. It is fantastic. That is a
:41:11. > :41:18.moment of smug conceit because we are about to analyse agger done live
:41:19. > :41:24.on BBC Two. It is a highlight, folks! Even my family might be
:41:25. > :41:27.slightly proud. We have this magnificent microscope here. If I
:41:28. > :41:33.had one of these and I was seven or eight, or even 53, I would be really
:41:34. > :41:45.pleased. And we have a sample we prepared earlier. Not literally! It
:41:46. > :41:51.is a sample of badger done. That is the win case of a beetle which the
:41:52. > :41:56.badgers have eaten. When I was a teenager I looked at badger to every
:41:57. > :42:01.Thursday night for five years and I learned Dutch amend this amount from
:42:02. > :42:10.it. At last it is paying dividends. Take a look at this. When they feed
:42:11. > :42:14.they ingest vegetable material. This is an oak leaf. I can tell you the
:42:15. > :42:22.badger has been foraging in oak woodland. Then we can look deeper.
:42:23. > :42:28.It has been eating beetles. But if you look further with some different
:42:29. > :42:33.samples, you will find hair. Under the microscope of an expert we would
:42:34. > :42:38.be able to identify this to species level, we would know whether it was
:42:39. > :42:43.rabbit or fold. And there is also a vertebra there, a bone, it could be
:42:44. > :42:49.from a bird or a mammal. The other thing we have to look for is this, a
:42:50. > :42:54.little bristle which are earthworms have won the side of their bodies to
:42:55. > :42:54.stop them slipping backwards through their tunnels.
:42:55. > :43:00.stop them slipping backwards through their When we sample badger to we
:43:01. > :43:06.count these. This will tell us how many worms the badgers are eating.
:43:07. > :43:15.We do not need a microscope like this to analyse dong. You can get an
:43:16. > :43:19.inexpensive magnifying glass and have masses of fun on your own
:43:20. > :43:23.kitchen table or your own dining table and I strongly advocate that,
:43:24. > :43:33.I really do! I can see my mother rushing out to get magnifying glass.
:43:34. > :43:43.It is not too smelly. If you freeze it before you analyse it it keeps
:43:44. > :43:47.the smell down. This is one meal I'm looking at here. Have you to get
:43:48. > :43:52.lots of samples. That is why I did it for five years every Thursday
:43:53. > :43:58.night. No Top of the Pops for me, I can tell you. This is a pie chart of
:43:59. > :44:02.the average over the UK of what badgers are eating. I have made it
:44:03. > :44:12.nice and colourful. It has my own design here. 51%. You are gone too
:44:13. > :44:26.far! Don't be so rude. 51% earthworms. Just 5% birds. Our
:44:27. > :44:31.badgers eaten chicks and eggs, that is unusual they are opportunistic.
:44:32. > :44:36.If the worms aren't about they will turn to something else. That is what
:44:37. > :44:43.you learn from looking at poo live on BBC Two. It's predictable we
:44:44. > :44:47.would have a pie chart, it's surprising I'm holding it up and
:44:48. > :44:51.being proud of it! What is unpredictable and very surprising is
:44:52. > :45:02.the amount of adder action we've had on the series. What are you doing?
:45:03. > :45:10.I'm liking the pie chart. We have seen adder predation. There seems to
:45:11. > :45:16.be a lot of adder action - you are totally putting me off! Chris came
:45:17. > :45:25.here in April with Martin after he had an adder spotter tip-off. Stop
:45:26. > :45:30.it! In early spring adders emerge from their winter hibernation
:45:31. > :45:35.looking for the chance to breed. As mince mean is a bit of a hotspot for
:45:36. > :45:45.this increasingly rare reptile, Chris and I thought we would try our
:45:46. > :45:53.luck at finding some. Skin! Quite big. Yeah, and fresh. Still soft.
:45:54. > :45:58.It's from a female. It's a big adder. She has only just shed this.
:45:59. > :46:06.If it was in the sun, it would dry out really quickly. She is around
:46:07. > :46:12.here somewhere. The first one we spot is a male. Look at that. It's
:46:13. > :46:21.beautiful. They are just gleaming. Do you think that male has just shed
:46:22. > :46:26.as well? I think he's minty, spark ling, shining and completely He
:46:27. > :46:33.wasn't fresh. The only one. We were soon surrounded by male adders. One
:46:34. > :46:41.has gone off that way. Look at that. Moving so fast all the time, Chris.
:46:42. > :46:50.I know. So quick. They are all around us, Chris. I know! I know!
:46:51. > :46:54.Martin, Martin! Look at that. A female and a male. The colour of
:46:55. > :46:59.adders varies from one individual to another. Females tend to be brownie
:47:00. > :47:05.red, the males are striking black-and-white. What on earth do
:47:06. > :47:17.you think is going on here? We have male and female? My theory is there
:47:18. > :47:24.is a female adder here that has recently shred. Shed. They emerge,
:47:25. > :47:31.feed then they molt and then they mate. We have got, what, two, three,
:47:32. > :47:35.males here. Yeah. All looking for that one female? I think so. Wanting
:47:36. > :47:41.to mate with her? I think that is what is going on. Normally, when you
:47:42. > :47:47.see an adder, you are not looking for it, you disturb it you see it
:47:48. > :47:51.wriggling away. You catch one basking. This is brilliant. We can
:47:52. > :47:57.watch their behaviour. We are not annoying them. They don't know we
:47:58. > :48:04.are here. They seem oblivious. One has gone in six inches from my boot.
:48:05. > :48:08.You are fine. He is spreading his body onto the ground, both to get
:48:09. > :48:13.the rays of the sun and the warmth from the ground. You frequently see
:48:14. > :48:21.them do this. They stretch the rib cage right apart like that. Lizards
:48:22. > :48:28.do it too. He is worn out, wants to recharge his solar batteries. When I
:48:29. > :48:34.was a kid I was out after adders, every weekend when it was sunny. Had
:48:35. > :48:39.to look for adders, catch adders, bring them home. Put them on top of
:48:40. > :48:44.the TV. One gave birth on top of the TV. It was Saturday afternoon, when
:48:45. > :48:50.the horseracing was on. Eight young adders. It was a top moment for me,
:48:51. > :48:55.not sure about my parents. Poor mum and dad! These males clearly had one
:48:56. > :48:59.thing on their minds. A few days later we capture this. A male adder
:49:00. > :49:11.finally getting his girl. After some gentle sniffing, he
:49:12. > :49:17.quivers against her to entice her to mate. Female adders only breed every
:49:18. > :49:25.couple of years, but this male is in luck. She's receptive and accepts
:49:26. > :49:29.his advances. Adder mating is a prolonged affair. The pair will stay
:49:30. > :49:35.together for as long as two hours before eventually going their
:49:36. > :49:39.separate ways. The young develop inside their mother, over the
:49:40. > :49:43.spring, and in late summer, she'll give birth to around eight tiny
:49:44. > :49:51.babies, each a perfect minuture of their mum. Fantastic. That was a
:49:52. > :49:56.great little ramble, to be quite honest with you. It looked it. We
:49:57. > :50:01.enjoyed ourselves much we watched the animals behaving naturally. They
:50:02. > :50:06.didn't know we were there. They slithered around. Great to observe
:50:07. > :50:14.them like that. It's been a surprise how much of a star the adder has
:50:15. > :50:19.become. You come to mince mean and expect bitterns, but the adders have
:50:20. > :50:22.performed. Let us look at our family of bitterns. Let us see if the
:50:23. > :50:29.chicks are still there. They are still there, they are still
:50:30. > :50:33.sleeping. Oh, listen! Is that the bittern making that noise? Is I
:50:34. > :50:36.cannot see them moving. That is something else behind the camera. I
:50:37. > :50:40.think you are right. I don't think it's near the camera. It would have
:50:41. > :50:44.woken the bitterns up. That must be coming from somewhere else. You
:50:45. > :50:52.don't think they are dreaming. That is them dreaming - It's a nightmare!
:50:53. > :50:55.We are really surprised that there is -- those bittern chicks are still
:50:56. > :50:58.there. We have been saying they are going to fledge. This happened
:50:59. > :51:05.yesterday. The two chicks are doing what they have seen the parent bird
:51:06. > :51:09.do. Climbing up on the reeds, enjoying the sunshine. Looking at
:51:10. > :51:11.the world outside the nest. Look at the claws gripping on. That is
:51:12. > :51:16.exactly what they are designed to do. Having a good explore. They have
:51:17. > :51:27.basically been leaving the nest quite a lot recently. Then, today,
:51:28. > :51:33.we thought this one was on the roll to semi fledge. . It leaves. In the
:51:34. > :51:37.right hand corner the mother comes in to say - off you go. My mum would
:51:38. > :51:41.talk about something, I would walk out of the room, I was told I was
:51:42. > :51:46.being rude. That is what the bitterns are doing. You do it to me
:51:47. > :51:50.sometimes as well? Fair enough! We thought they were semi fledging.
:51:51. > :51:54.They were going to leave the nest. They won't fly yet. They will wonder
:51:55. > :52:00.around the reed being fed by their mother. They are 24-days old now. So
:52:01. > :52:04.we were - look, there is the mother flying off. We have seen a lot of
:52:05. > :52:09.bitterns flying over here and a lot of people come from all over the UK
:52:10. > :52:12.to enjoy that sight. A few hours later, both of the bitterns came
:52:13. > :52:17.back to the nest. That seems to have become a little bit of a pattern.
:52:18. > :52:21.Yeah, the seconds one is coming in now. The reason they are coming back
:52:22. > :52:24.is that is because the parents come with food. At the moment, at least,
:52:25. > :52:31.they are going back there so that they can be fed via regurgitation.
:52:32. > :52:36.You have to be honest sometimes. We have exaggerated a little. We
:52:37. > :52:41.bragged here on Springwatch we were showing you the bitterns nest for
:52:42. > :52:45.the first time. We had a letter from Chris who says" the sequence on the
:52:46. > :52:56.bittern at the nest showed viewers something never seen before on film.
:52:57. > :53:00.I had a hide on a bittern's nest 56 years ago. Of course with the
:53:01. > :53:04.equipment available to me the quality of digital picture taken now
:53:05. > :53:12.exceeds anything I could have achieved. Five teams of cameramen
:53:13. > :53:18.working for weeks before Springwatch started, not to mention the budget"
:53:19. > :53:22.I have to tell you it's not that great "I venture the opinion that
:53:23. > :53:30.our pioneering achievement was a match and much harder work. I have
:53:31. > :53:35.now just turned 87, I'm still taking wildlife pick turts - just." Chris,
:53:36. > :53:42.we salute you. What a top bloke. 56 years ago he was doing what we were
:53:43. > :53:48.doing. It wasn't live. It was on a black-and-white camera, wasn't it?
:53:49. > :53:54.Pioneer, Chris Mine. He has rained on our parade? Well he has and he
:53:55. > :53:58.hasn't. Credit where credit is due. Martin introduced us to a newest
:53:59. > :54:07.under the tunnel bit of the sluice behind us here. It was swallows, let
:54:08. > :54:10.us look at it live. This nest looks really precarious. It has a few
:54:11. > :54:14.chicks in there. It looks like they will fall out. We have been watching
:54:15. > :54:20.them closely. They are phenomenonal feeders. Look at that. Mother is
:54:21. > :54:27.coming in. They do 70 feeds per hour on average. Just in half an hour, 37
:54:28. > :54:31.feeds were recorded. The feed lasts just half a second. Amazing.
:54:32. > :54:37.Incredible. The other amazing thing we have learnt, that is that when
:54:38. > :54:40.they are 16-days old the adults can identify the sex of their
:54:41. > :54:43.youngsters. They know whether they are male or females, while they are
:54:44. > :54:47.still in the nest. There is some evidence to suggest they can
:54:48. > :54:52.therefore preferentially feed them. When they leave the nest it's an
:54:53. > :54:58.equal sex ratio. After two years there were more surviving male
:54:59. > :55:03.swallows than females we think it could be to do with preferential
:55:04. > :55:10.feeding two years before when at the nestling stage. Sexist swallows
:55:11. > :55:13.aren't they? They must be. There must be an adaptive advantage for
:55:14. > :55:17.that. They must be choosing to feed the males better quality food than
:55:18. > :55:20.the females. They are doing that. The subtlies of nature, you can
:55:21. > :55:24.never under estimate it. When it comes to wanting to advance an
:55:25. > :55:28.understanding of nature what you need is a life-long curiousity and
:55:29. > :55:33.the ability to look at something in a child-like way. In a fundamental
:55:34. > :55:38.way. Sometimes it helps to go back to basics. Here is a simple question
:55:39. > :55:40.- what are flowers for? How does the relationship that they have with
:55:41. > :55:56.insects actually work? Darwin popularised the study of
:55:57. > :56:03.insect pollination. He realised it's all about mutualism. When an insect
:56:04. > :56:09.visits a flower, both benefit. Insects are after fast-food, sweet
:56:10. > :56:20.nectar. Meanwhile, the plants need a bit of help with their reproduction.
:56:21. > :56:26.They have got to get male pollen to the stigma of another plant. Because
:56:27. > :56:33.plants can't move, insects are the perfect match makers. To lure
:56:34. > :56:43.pollinators in, plants have perfected the art of self promotion.
:56:44. > :56:49.Rule one, smell good. Insects antennae are covered with super
:56:50. > :56:56.sensitive receptors which detect chemical compounds released by the
:56:57. > :57:03.flower. These result in the smells that we love. Some insects like
:57:04. > :57:09.different smells. For flies it's the sent of urine. The Lords and Ladies
:57:10. > :57:19.plant is happy to oblige. Rule two, look the part. Moody blues, deep
:57:20. > :57:24.purples and simple reds. These vivid hues may look beautiful to us,
:57:25. > :57:32.through a bee's eyes, another world is revealed. Monochrome petals
:57:33. > :57:41.transform into striking UV nectar guides. Rule three, reward your
:57:42. > :57:45.visitors. Nectar is a watery mix of sugars, it is easy to make and it's
:57:46. > :57:57.high-octane fuel for frequent flyers. Pollen is a more
:57:58. > :58:08.nutritionious mix. Perfect for raising lard have you back at the
:58:09. > :58:16.nest. -- larvae back at the nest. Every year, pollinators contribute
:58:17. > :58:20.almost ?500m to the UK economy. It's more than about money. Insect
:58:21. > :58:25.pollination has been taking place since the time of the dinosaurs it
:58:26. > :58:31.has given rise to an incredible diversity. It seems that foreevery
:58:32. > :58:35.different flower there are matching insects. Without pollination, who
:58:36. > :58:43.knows what life on earth would look like today.
:58:44. > :58:51.It is said if bees become extinct the human race, as we know it, would
:58:52. > :59:00.probably follow within 20 years. That is a sobering thought? Who said
:59:01. > :59:05.that? I thought it was Einstein. It's a general saying. Pollinating
:59:06. > :59:11.insect numbers have declined dramatically. The main reason for
:59:12. > :59:17.that is Agra culture. We have lost 97% of our flower rich grasslands
:59:18. > :59:22.since the 1930s, that is a huge decline. We can do something to
:59:23. > :59:32.help. Councils are doing things to help, they are mowing verges later
:59:33. > :59:37.to allow them to grow. If you have a lawn in your garden put a little bit
:59:38. > :59:42.aside. Set it the aside. Don't mow it. Look at this picture. You can do
:59:43. > :59:46.it at any age, clearly. This is Tom and Henry. They set aside a little
:59:47. > :59:53.bit. They have their diggers there. Then, have a see what wildflowers
:59:54. > :59:56.grow. Get an ID kit from Plantlife and let them know what is growing.
:59:57. > :00:24.All the information for that is on our website. Bbc.co.u/springwatch
:00:25. > :00:28.Tom and Henry, I expect on that patch of grass, they will get plenty
:00:29. > :00:32.of bees. I was worried about the Queen earlier, she seemed to be
:00:33. > :00:40.slowing down. We can hear them buzzing. They are building pots of
:00:41. > :00:44.honey. Above the Queen and they are storing food. It goes through stages
:00:45. > :00:51.this nest. The begin with she has eight workers are now she has more.
:00:52. > :01:00.In might build up to 400. We can have a listen. It is an incredible
:01:01. > :01:06.noise. It has gone a bit quieter. Can I tell you something, my friend
:01:07. > :01:11.Chris Timmins has bees. He said listen to the hives. The first one
:01:12. > :01:17.was quite quiet, then the next one was a bit quieter but then one was
:01:18. > :01:24.really loud. He said those are aggressive. You can tell from the
:01:25. > :01:28.bars how quiet or calm they are. There is 24 hours to continue
:01:29. > :01:31.watching that live camera and our other cameras that you can still
:01:32. > :01:36.stay in contact with Springwatch even when the cameras are turned
:01:37. > :01:40.off. You can join that by joining Twitter and Facebook and you can do
:01:41. > :01:44.that through our website. We will have general updates, we will tell
:01:45. > :01:49.you about surveys and other news as well. Do you know how many people
:01:50. > :01:58.have joined our Twitter and Facebook since the series started three weeks
:01:59. > :02:03.ago? 24,000! Thank you. Do join us. One thing we have been keeping an
:02:04. > :02:09.eye on is the great crane project. This is going on down in the
:02:10. > :02:13.wildlife and wetlands trust in Slimbridge. They have been trying to
:02:14. > :02:19.bring back cranes to the south-west of England. Let's see their two
:02:20. > :02:25.heroes. There is Christine and the mail is called Monty like our osprey
:02:26. > :02:32.but nothing like an osprey. That is Monty the crane. Last do they tried
:02:33. > :02:33.to breed but they were not successful. Let's find out what
:02:34. > :02:46.happened this year. Early spring in Slimbridge and sound
:02:47. > :02:58.like no other echoes across the mudflats.
:02:59. > :03:07.Christine and her partner Monty are back.
:03:08. > :03:11.They check out last year's failed nest but will they try to breed
:03:12. > :03:22.again? Cranes danced to renew their bonds
:03:23. > :03:28.and even the rain cannot dampen the pair's spirits. Christine and Monty
:03:29. > :04:21.begin their unique ungainly tango. The couple begin the process of
:04:22. > :04:22.rebuilding their nest, painstakingly gathering huge quantities of
:04:23. > :04:45.material. It is made April. Christine is
:04:46. > :04:47.spending most of her time sitting in the reeds. She must be incubating
:04:48. > :05:08.one or possibly two eggs. A month later, as Christine and
:05:09. > :05:20.Monty forage close to the nest, something stirs at their feet.
:05:21. > :05:25.Not one but two beautiful chicks, taking their first steps amongst the
:05:26. > :05:35.buttercups. The precious youngsters are dwarfed
:05:36. > :05:56.by their towering parents. It is early days. We'll very young
:05:57. > :06:06.parents be able to protect them? Harsh weather and predators will be
:06:07. > :06:10.constant threats. Gorgeous little animals, beautiful
:06:11. > :06:14.chicks, but sadly they did not make it this year. But all is not lost
:06:15. > :06:19.because those cranes are very long-lived birds. They can live up
:06:20. > :06:23.to 20 years. Christine and Monty are only about four years old so they
:06:24. > :06:28.will, in all probability, try to nest again and maybe next time they
:06:29. > :06:31.will be successful. They are not the only cranes in the country.
:06:32. > :06:37.The East of England has had them since the early 1980s. They have
:06:38. > :06:41.spread out. Some have got as far as North Yorkshire. Lots have moved
:06:42. > :06:45.inland into the Fens and some have bred in the south of England so we
:06:46. > :06:49.have a growing crane population across the UK. What else have we got
:06:50. > :06:56.here on the reserve? One thing we have got our these which is the type
:06:57. > :07:04.of pony looking gorgeous. The stallions are bit of a handful. Only
:07:05. > :07:11.fools would go near them. Only fools. And horses like this are
:07:12. > :07:16.valuable conservation tool. There are great at maintaining the
:07:17. > :07:21.marches. Just going back to the cranes, they were doing a beautiful
:07:22. > :07:27.dance. I think you could learn a lot from our cranes. It was stunning.
:07:28. > :07:38.You men could learn a lot from animals. Never enough, is it? Dung
:07:39. > :07:42.analysis, worthless. Don't go away because immediately after the show
:07:43. > :07:48.it will be Unsprung and tonight, a man called Michael Link oh will be
:07:49. > :07:53.looking at butterflies in depth including those beautiful
:07:54. > :07:57.swallowtails. Tomorrow, we will be back at eight o'clock and yellow
:07:58. > :08:02.Williams will be joining us then to give us the latest update from
:08:03. > :08:07.Scotland. Butterflies are one thing and ospreys are another. Tomorrow,
:08:08. > :08:13.we will be joining Michaela's favourite bird, Monty, as he tries
:08:14. > :08:18.to get his genes into the next generation. And we will be looking
:08:19. > :08:31.at grubby faced Rob, the enormous cuckoo. And bitterns who have got
:08:32. > :08:37.talent. And we will be back at eight o'clock tomorrow. Goodbye.