:00:09. > :00:16.If you think it is all over, it is not yet, because there's another
:00:17. > :00:22.full 90 minutes to go. We'll be celebrating and relishing our
:00:23. > :00:27.remaining star players and enjoying the encore of spring as it melts
:00:28. > :00:29.into summer. So put away that whistle, because right now it's
:00:30. > :00:55.Springwatch! Hello and welcome to the very final
:00:56. > :01:01.Springwatch of 2014, coming to you on a beautiful evening here at the
:01:02. > :01:07.RSPB Minsmere on the coast of Suffolk. We've been here in the last
:01:08. > :01:13.three weeks. Mince mere is part of the Suffolk coast and heath area of
:01:14. > :01:22.outstanding beauty, a network of reserves looked after by all sorts
:01:23. > :01:26.of agencies. Aside from a wealth of habitats and extraordinary variation
:01:27. > :01:32.of species, it is a beautiful part of the country do be based. I urge
:01:33. > :01:36.you to get in your car, whatever form of transport you have, and come
:01:37. > :01:40.here. We've had a fantastic three weeks
:01:41. > :01:46.here. We've got far more than we ever expected on our live cameras.
:01:47. > :01:53.We've got the adary predation, the badger predation. I think we went
:01:54. > :01:58.just a little bit bittern fantastic. We'll see that later. Overnight
:01:59. > :02:03.we've had fleeting glimpse of this mother and calf red deer, but it is
:02:04. > :02:08.suckling. It is days old, this calf. And this we got in the day, which is
:02:09. > :02:13.extraordinary. When they were this young, the mother will hide them
:02:14. > :02:18.away in long grasses or bushes and only come back to feed the calf a
:02:19. > :02:25.couple of times a day. So it doesn't draw attention to it. So to see them
:02:26. > :02:31.out and about like this on our badger cam in the daytime is a real
:02:32. > :02:37.treat. That is a major Bambi shot, just days old. In fact that badger
:02:38. > :02:43.camera is just behind us in the woods, so I reckon that calf is
:02:44. > :02:48.probably hidden in the bushes 100m from here. Probably less, hunkered
:02:49. > :02:53.down in those bushes waiting for things to quieten down before the
:02:54. > :03:02.mother comes back. Fascinating. Now we are going to go to one of the
:03:03. > :03:06.smallest animals, these are the buff fill bumblebees. The Queen is
:03:07. > :03:14.controlling the nest, she's the big one. She emits pheromones and stops
:03:15. > :03:19.the others, the females, from prosecution eggs of her own. The
:03:20. > :03:23.Queen is in control and is getting bigger and businesser while we are
:03:24. > :03:30.watching a. A lot of people watching the nest have been saying, when do
:03:31. > :03:34.the bees take a rest? It is fascinating, because the bees can
:03:35. > :03:40.switch between high-energy behaviour and low-energy behaviour. If they
:03:41. > :03:43.are foraging for nectar, that's high energy. If they are a bit tired,
:03:44. > :03:48.they will do a bit of housework around the nest, that's low energy.
:03:49. > :03:55.If they are really tired they will have a little power nap. That sounds
:03:56. > :03:58.like a good idea. Not just yet. If you've been watching the programmes
:03:59. > :04:02.over the last couple of weeks, you will know we've been following the
:04:03. > :04:09.fortunes of a number of nesting birds to see how well they fared
:04:10. > :04:16.when it came to fledging. We saw the bluetits go and the whitethroats as
:04:17. > :04:21.well. One species didn't want to leave - our Greenwood peckers. On
:04:22. > :04:26.Saturday five of them came out, leaving two more in the hole. They
:04:27. > :04:33.only emerged this morning. As soon as they are out they are showing
:04:34. > :04:37.their bolshy spirit. One of the jackdaws came to have a quick peep
:04:38. > :04:42.and the youngster stood up for itself. Typically the birds hop off
:04:43. > :04:46.the tree and they are straight into the business. To the manor born, you
:04:47. > :04:51.might say, as they are leaping up and down. But this last one - that
:04:52. > :04:56.didn't happen the way it should. It fell out of the tree! The jackdaws
:04:57. > :05:08.are naturally curious birds, they are just having a sniff around.
:05:09. > :05:15.There's no more mischief to be had, the bird has left. You may have seen
:05:16. > :05:19.a goldfinch or a greenfinch, but have you seen a hawfinch? They are
:05:20. > :05:25.Britain's biggest finch but they are in decline. I went to the Forest of
:05:26. > :05:34.Dean to join the RSPB to find out what's going on.
:05:35. > :05:42.I'm halfway up a tree in the I would valley. - ensure the Wye valley, but
:05:43. > :05:47.I'm not just mucking around. This is proper science. Let's hope this
:05:48. > :05:53.takes my weight. It does. Thank goodness for that. To find a out
:05:54. > :05:57.what I'm up to, let's roll back the clock to 7. 30am when our day
:05:58. > :06:04.started on the forest floor. This team from the RSPB, led by Will
:06:05. > :06:09.Kirby, are studying one of our most elusive birds. They've only just
:06:10. > :06:14.arrived. We've been here ten minutes. I can't believe it. It is
:06:15. > :06:21.Britain's biggest finch, the hawfinch. They are beautiful aren't
:06:22. > :06:27.they? Gorgeous feathers. Until the 1950s, these birds were considered a
:06:28. > :06:31.pest, but now there could be as few as 500 breeding pairs left in the
:06:32. > :06:37.UK. No-one is sure why they've declined. The team ring and monitor
:06:38. > :06:45.as many birds as possible. This handsome fellow is a male. At that
:06:46. > :06:52.massive parrot-like bill. And also on the side of the head, a great big
:06:53. > :06:57.bulging area with all the muscles needed to use that bill and crunch
:06:58. > :07:03.open cherry stones. Feisty little things aren't they? Some are worse
:07:04. > :07:09.than others. They do give you a bit of a peck. They've got strong beaks.
:07:10. > :07:22.I can confirm this by personal experience. Yes, thank you! I've got
:07:23. > :07:27.a few little mementos there, that's going to bleed. Never mind, it is
:07:28. > :07:32.all part of the job. The project is hoping to discover just why our
:07:33. > :07:40.hawfinches are in such trouble. But only the females can really help the
:07:41. > :07:46.team. This is very exciting. Hopefully a female finch. Here she
:07:47. > :07:50.goes. As well as being ringed they are fitted with tiny radio
:07:51. > :07:56.transmitters. He's already got a radio tag. A Oh look! There's the
:07:57. > :08:03.antenna. As soon as she moults it will drop off. So it is not there
:08:04. > :08:07.forever. No. Once she is tagged the researchers can follow the female
:08:08. > :08:17.back to her nest. These are high up in the trees, so they are incredibly
:08:18. > :08:26.hard to spot from the ground. Yes, it is clear now. This is great. We
:08:27. > :08:30.are still getting a signal, even after all that, so she's back on the
:08:31. > :08:36.nest? It is almost impossible to find the nest without a tag on it,
:08:37. > :08:44.but the radio tagged birds will come back and check she is on the nest
:08:45. > :08:49.and we know everything is OK and we haven't caused undue disturbance to
:08:50. > :08:54.them. Will and his team have found 12 nests, but to really understand
:08:55. > :09:01.what's going on, they need to get a bird's-eye view, so here I am up the
:09:02. > :09:07.tree. I can see the nest just above me. The team is licenced to send
:09:08. > :09:11.finders like me up into the canopy. My years of rope training are
:09:12. > :09:20.finally paying off. There they are, there are the chicks. Here we go.
:09:21. > :09:27.Isn't that fantastic? Look at you looking at me! Hello loves. I must
:09:28. > :09:32.be as quick as I can now. We are hoping this camera will open a
:09:33. > :09:36.window into the secretive world of the hawfinch. Sorry, loves. I will
:09:37. > :09:41.be as quick as I possibly can confirm A spy in the nest could
:09:42. > :09:49.provide the team with vital clues and solve the mystery of the
:09:50. > :09:52.hawfinches' decline. Food shortages, predators attacking the nest - they
:09:53. > :09:57.are both thought to be part of the problem. Left a bit, Martin. Is that
:09:58. > :10:04.better? Yes. Getting evidence of what the chicks are being Ed fed or
:10:05. > :10:09.what might be feeding on them will be valuable pieces to solving the
:10:10. > :10:14.puzzle. I must get out and leave those little chicks. What a
:10:15. > :10:19.privilege. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be sharing
:10:20. > :10:24.some quality time with the nest of four hawfinch chicks, and helping do
:10:25. > :10:32.a little bit of scientific research. Bye-bye.
:10:33. > :10:37.I'm very pleased to tell you that the chicks in that nest I was with
:10:38. > :10:41.have all fledged successfully. And six of the nests they were studying
:10:42. > :10:45.have fledged. Another six unfortunately have failed. Three of
:10:46. > :10:53.them because probably bad weather, and one of them because of this.
:10:54. > :10:59.Here are the chicks. That, I'm afraid, is a goshawk, and she is
:11:00. > :11:05.opening her wings over the nest. When she leaves, I'm afraid there
:11:06. > :11:11.isn't going to be much left in it. Empty nest. An amazing picture but
:11:12. > :11:17.hopefully that research should tell us why the hawfinches are
:11:18. > :11:19.struggling. If do find if ethey nest colonially they are better at
:11:20. > :11:25.keeping predators away. That's the thought. We'll have to find out.
:11:26. > :11:29.If you were watching our bluetits earlier in our series and their
:11:30. > :11:33.fledging process, is you will have noticed there were quite a few
:11:34. > :11:38.parasites in there. We were wondering about the parasite load of
:11:39. > :11:44.this nest. Here you can see a flea, spotted by the adult. It picks it
:11:45. > :11:48.up, doesn't eat it, but flies outside to dispose of that. When the
:11:49. > :11:54.chicks had fledged, I couldn't resist going to the box and
:11:55. > :12:00.recovering that nest, and dropping it into a sealable bag. I posted it
:12:01. > :12:05.to Stuart Hine at the British Museum of natural history in London and I
:12:06. > :12:08.asked him if he would be so kind to look into the nest and see what he
:12:09. > :12:15.could fievenltd Did you send sit first or second class, mate? It will
:12:16. > :12:19.get there. You can't e-mail a nest. This is what he discovered. 250 in
:12:20. > :12:25.total. I can't believe they found so many. Houseflies, beets, fleas,
:12:26. > :12:34.bugs, all sorts of things. Fantastic. Do you now how they got
:12:35. > :12:41.them? Three muslin baxcts beneath it a beaker of water with 80% ethanol.
:12:42. > :12:44.As the nests began to dry out, the larvae got uncomfortable, so they
:12:45. > :12:48.moved down to the bottom of the muslin bag and fell into the mixture
:12:49. > :12:53.of ethanol, which preserved them. We can see them now. That's the little
:12:54. > :13:00.collection that came out of that one nest. A mixture of species in there.
:13:01. > :13:04.Firstly we've got lots of these, lesser housefly and scuttle fly
:13:05. > :13:12.larvae. These are pretty interesting things, but look at this. Lots of
:13:13. > :13:16.hister and rove beetles. Those are eating the fly larvae. And then the
:13:17. > :13:23.beetle larvae, because they are breeding in here. Some of them are
:13:24. > :13:29.eating the larvae, and then you've got the all-partner parasites. This
:13:30. > :13:35.is a flea. And we found a single tick in there as well. These animals
:13:36. > :13:41.would have been feeding on the blood of the nestlings and the adult birds
:13:42. > :13:44.whilst they were in the nest. A pertinent point, mate, there is a
:13:45. > :13:52.whole ecology in the nest. I love that. Shall we do it? Nest box
:13:53. > :13:57.ecology. What have we got here? The scuttle fly and the lesser housefly
:13:58. > :14:05.larvae, feeding principally on the poo left behind, or any eggs left in
:14:06. > :14:10.the nest by the bluetit. Then you've got the rove beetles feeding on the
:14:11. > :14:15.larvae, and they too are feeding on the fly larvae. On this side you've
:14:16. > :14:19.got the fleas sucking the blood of both the youngsters and the adult
:14:20. > :14:23.tit. And this tick probably attaching itself to either this bird
:14:24. > :14:29.or any other that then comes into the nest to prospect it as a nesting
:14:30. > :14:33.environment. So we really do have a whole ecology taking place in that
:14:34. > :14:38.nest. Fascinating. Can you imagine Stuart and the team there huddled
:14:39. > :14:43.over their microscopes with little teasers. I love the idea of that.
:14:44. > :14:51.You don't get that skill out of books, it takes years. We salute you
:14:52. > :14:56.Stuart and thank you for you and your team for that. Imagine if there
:14:57. > :15:02.were 250 creatures in that little nest, what community would there be
:15:03. > :15:07.in an osprey nest? Huge. Very expensive to post it. Can you pay
:15:08. > :15:11.that? I paid for the bluetit. The OK, I will. We can brake up into
:15:12. > :15:20.bits. We Knight need a courier! It is time to see Monty and Glesney.
:15:21. > :15:25.-- might need a courier. It is the beginning of May and visitors flock
:15:26. > :15:30.to the observatory. It's been a season of high drama for the
:15:31. > :15:36.ospreys. Last year's breeding pair have had a female interloper, Blue
:15:37. > :15:45.24, who has been constantly but thing in on their relationship. In
:15:46. > :15:53.the end Monty fought off Blue 24, choosing Glsne as his mate. It
:15:54. > :16:00.wasn't long before their relationship was sealed. On the 2nd
:16:01. > :16:08.of May, Glesney lays an egg. Four days later, she lays a second.
:16:09. > :16:19.Once again, Monty proves to be an attentive father. Incubating eggs,
:16:20. > :16:22.come rain or shine. But Blew 24 is still in the area and is more
:16:23. > :16:30.dangerous than ever. She returns to the nest, still determined to make
:16:31. > :16:31.it her own. In all the confusion there is a real danger the eggs
:16:32. > :16:50.could be damaged. Then, last Saturday, a crack
:16:51. > :17:10.appears. Monty and Glesney's first chick starts to emerge.
:17:11. > :17:18.Monty guards the chick until its mother returns. This is Glesney's
:17:19. > :17:35.first glimpse of her new offspring. She approaches with the utmost
:17:36. > :17:44.care, clenching her razor sharp talons.
:17:45. > :17:51.Both parents get to work, delicately feeding tiny bits of fish. The
:17:52. > :17:57.second egg could hatch any moment, so they'll have to keep a watchful
:17:58. > :17:59.eye. Let's hope this year will be as successful as the last for our
:18:00. > :18:10.perfect osprey parents. Perfect parents and Monty is the
:18:11. > :18:18.perfect male osprey. I've always been a big fan of his! But we have
:18:19. > :18:21.an update. Just from yesterday. If you have a look, Glesney with
:18:22. > :18:26.sitting on the nest getting fidgety because the second egg is nipping,
:18:27. > :18:31.which means the chick is ready to come out. It takes quite a long
:18:32. > :18:37.time, anything up to 24 hours. Pushing out and eventually the
:18:38. > :18:42.second chick, healthy chick, comes out. Obviously Monty will now have
:18:43. > :18:46.to fish to feed two chicks. He will have to do a lot of fishing because
:18:47. > :18:50.those chicks have to grow quickly. They only have two or three months
:18:51. > :18:54.before they will migrate to Senegal. After their parents, not usually
:18:55. > :18:58.with their parents. But it is incredible, isn't it, to see the at
:18:59. > :19:03.that size, a brand-new chick and soon they will be big, healthy
:19:04. > :19:08.looking ospreys that will fly thousands of miles to western
:19:09. > :19:13.Africa. Amazing. We have been following migrants of another kind,
:19:14. > :19:16.cuckoozilla. I went all the way to Ghana to try to find Chris the
:19:17. > :19:21.cuckoo and I failed, I found him up the road in Norfolk but just up the
:19:22. > :19:26.road we also found a cuckoo egg in a reed warbler's nest and we have been
:19:27. > :19:30.following its fortunes. It hatched and immediately started its
:19:31. > :19:35.diabolical duty. Feeding furiously by the parents, it rapidly objected
:19:36. > :19:40.all the reed warbler's eggs out, so it could enjoy the feast of food
:19:41. > :19:45.that they were bringing. Not spread amongst the brood, but eating a
:19:46. > :19:51.whole lot. Look how rapidly cuckoozilla was growing! Look at
:19:52. > :19:55.this. Oh, look at that, well held. Let's hope Joe Hart's hands are fine
:19:56. > :19:59.as that in the forthcoming games, particularly against Italy in the
:20:00. > :20:05.dying moments! You might need really firm hands. Is he the goalkeeper?
:20:06. > :20:09.Anyway, shall we see how big cuckoozilla is today? We sent a
:20:10. > :20:14.cameraman up to the nest to see and it is even bigger. This is quite
:20:15. > :20:18.interesting. Look at the way it is begging for food. Look at the size
:20:19. > :20:23.of the poor adult, tiny behind cuckoozilla! Sort of lifting that
:20:24. > :20:29.wing up, but again, it is due to fledge at any point. Again, around
:20:30. > :20:36.September it will probably be on its way on its huge migration to the
:20:37. > :20:40.Congo. Amazing, isn't it? Incredible. These birds that can't
:20:41. > :20:45.fly now will be flying thousands of miles. Astonishing. It will fledge
:20:46. > :20:50.in the next couple of days. Not fully flighted. It will flap about
:20:51. > :20:53.to another post, and in a couple of days it will start flying and
:20:54. > :20:59.chasing the adult reed warblers about, begging for masses of food.
:21:00. > :21:03.Incredible. We also found some reed warblers, not of the road but just
:21:04. > :21:09.down here, behind us. We have been following the fortunes of this
:21:10. > :21:13.brood. This has been a typical reed warbler brood. Here are some live
:21:14. > :21:17.pictures now. You can see they are growing very well. The feathers are
:21:18. > :21:23.coming through. They have a few more days before they fledge. We will not
:21:24. > :21:26.see these leave I am afraid. You can watch them on the webcams until the
:21:27. > :21:31.end of the programme, probably until the end of the evening. Just like
:21:32. > :21:34.you were saying, Michaela, with the ospreys and the cuckoos, these
:21:35. > :21:40.little birds will leave the nest, they will feed up furiously out here
:21:41. > :21:44.on the reed beds on Read aphids out to Africa. While I was looking for
:21:45. > :21:48.Chris the cuckoo, we caught some reed warblers so they are going to
:21:49. > :21:52.the same place. The website, I would like to push you to the website if I
:21:53. > :22:00.may. We would like you to join our online community. You will see how
:22:01. > :22:04.to join up at Facebook and Twitter and our Facebook account. Since the
:22:05. > :22:08.start of the series, 31,019 of you have joined up. The reason is that
:22:09. > :22:12.we will be online throughout the summer. We would like to continue to
:22:13. > :22:17.hear from you, everything you see, anything you find, get in contact
:22:18. > :22:22.with us. It is amazing because Springwatch has been going ten
:22:23. > :22:25.years. Think back to ten years, we were not using on the programme
:22:26. > :22:29.Twitter or Facebook and now it has become a big part of our series and
:22:30. > :22:34.the best way to keep in contact with you. And the best way to keep in
:22:35. > :22:39.contact with you. So to find out what those changes are, who better
:22:40. > :22:40.to ask to explain everything than one of the pioneers of Springwatch,
:22:41. > :22:50.Bill Oddie. Being an island nation I suppose we
:22:51. > :22:55.are pretty familiar with the concept of arrivals and departures.
:22:56. > :22:59.Certainly during the last ten years when it comes to wildlife there have
:23:00. > :23:06.been plenty of both. The thing that affects that is almost certainly,
:23:07. > :23:10.yes, the weather. It is not always easy to believe, but it is the fact
:23:11. > :23:14.that our screens -- our springs and summers are getting warmer. This
:23:15. > :23:22.might be the reason that more continental species are crossing
:23:23. > :23:26.over the Channel to live in the UK. Each year it seems there is a new
:23:27. > :23:32.one. First of all it was a little egrets, which are now all over the
:23:33. > :23:36.place, great white herons are beginning to spread. Spoonbills,
:23:37. > :23:39.quite a number breeding. Some beautiful butterflies, all of which
:23:40. > :23:46.are now breeding in Britain. And I absolutely guarantee there will be
:23:47. > :23:51.more. So those are species that have arrived here of their own accord
:23:52. > :23:56.voluntarily. But there are other species which we have chosen to
:23:57. > :24:00.wilfully reintroduced. And many of those have settled down very nicely
:24:01. > :24:07.indeed. The question is, mind you, how far are we going to go back? You
:24:08. > :24:11.know, I mean, they used to be sabre toothed tigers and mammoths and they
:24:12. > :24:21.used to be hippos in Britain! It is true! Know, maybe not. -- no, maybe
:24:22. > :24:25.not. Our reintroduction of birds of prey have proved particularly
:24:26. > :24:29.successful. I remember when I was a kid there was literally maybe two or
:24:30. > :24:33.three pairs of red kites down in deepest Wales. There was only one
:24:34. > :24:38.pair of ospreys breeding up in Scotland. Then foreign stock of both
:24:39. > :24:42.has been introduced and every year the population grows and grows and
:24:43. > :24:49.grows. There is now something like 1600 pairs of kites across the
:24:50. > :24:52.country. And the same applies to see eagles. The places like the
:24:53. > :24:56.Hebrides, you probably nouse stand a better chance of seeing a sea eagle
:24:57. > :25:02.and a seagull, especially because the sea eagles have taken to eating
:25:03. > :25:09.all the seagulls' food, namely the fish thrown to them by tourists and
:25:10. > :25:14.of course TV presenters. Iolo. That is the first time I've ever seen a
:25:15. > :25:18.white tailed sea eagle fishing. But I guess that the top of the
:25:19. > :25:26.reintroduction bill has to be the cranes. Four years ago the great
:25:27. > :25:28.train project including various partners began an ambitious
:25:29. > :25:43.programme of egg incubation and chick rearing.
:25:44. > :25:57.So summarised of their own accord, others have been reintroduced. But
:25:58. > :26:01.they are all welcome. The arrivals. Sadly though, there are some
:26:02. > :26:09.creatures and some of them are amongst our favourites, but are
:26:10. > :26:13.heading for departures. Recent declines have been seen in our
:26:14. > :26:19.farmland birds and our water and wetland birds are down by 17%. In an
:26:20. > :26:26.ever increasingly busy Britain there is very little one could call
:26:27. > :26:31.genuinely untouched wild habitat and it seems our wildlife is suffering
:26:32. > :26:37.for that. I do believe we are coming to a stage where frankly there is
:26:38. > :26:42.virtually no genuinely wild countryside which isn't managed, but
:26:43. > :26:45.is just there for the wildlife and has a really healthy wildlife
:26:46. > :26:51.population. The pressure on the habitat, the land, call it what you
:26:52. > :26:55.will, is enormous. But that doesn't mean we can't attract and look after
:26:56. > :27:02.the wildlife. The secret is creation rather than conservation. By that, I
:27:03. > :27:05.mean places that have been custom-built for wildlife. Places
:27:06. > :27:12.like Minsmere, for example, like the wetland Centre in London. I have
:27:13. > :27:16.heard people say that is not real country though, it is almost
:27:17. > :27:21.cheating. But it really isn't. It doesn't make these places
:27:22. > :27:27.artificial. It makes them more productive. It is a case of build it
:27:28. > :27:34.and they will come and the fact of the matter is, they have built it
:27:35. > :27:38.and they have come. I do believe that during the last ten years one
:27:39. > :27:43.of the most important and indeed encouraging things that we have
:27:44. > :27:49.learned is that we human beings have the knowledge and also have the
:27:50. > :27:53.willpower to help wildlife. We are absolutely essential to this
:27:54. > :27:57.process. On the other hand, we do know that wildlife will continue to
:27:58. > :27:59.need our help so the question is what is going to happen in the next
:28:00. > :28:08.ten years? A poignant question from the great
:28:09. > :28:11.man there. I think personally we haven't extraordinary arsenal of
:28:12. > :28:15.abilities and technologies to make a difference and since we have been
:28:16. > :28:18.here at Minsmere we have been celebrating the fact the RSPB have
:28:19. > :28:23.been managing this patch of land since 1947. It is not just here.
:28:24. > :28:29.Just over there, 15 years ago, the land looked like this. It was an
:28:30. > :28:32.agricultural carrot field, but the RSPB have transformed it into just
:28:33. > :28:37.that amount of time into Lakenheath then. It is already a habitat where
:28:38. > :28:43.there are cranes, Marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits breeding,
:28:44. > :28:46.just like here at Minsmere. It is not just the RSPB. Other
:28:47. > :28:51.conservation agencies have been doing the same. The Derbyshire
:28:52. > :28:57.wildlife trust have taken this old Coke Works, an industrial site, and
:28:58. > :29:01.turned into a wildlife utopia. We do have the ability to transform the
:29:02. > :29:06.landscape. The trouble is we are talking about relatively small
:29:07. > :29:11.areas. 86% of the UK's land area is given over to farming. Some of that
:29:12. > :29:16.farming, not all, is intensive. This is having a negative impact on our
:29:17. > :29:21.biodiversity. We have lost 40 million birds from the farm
:29:22. > :29:25.landscape in the last 20 years. But we have got to be pragmatic about
:29:26. > :29:29.this. The farmers are out there growing food for you and I to eat.
:29:30. > :29:32.We have got to support them and make sure they are able to do that in an
:29:33. > :29:37.economically sustainable way. But also in a way that preserves that
:29:38. > :29:40.countryside for the future. Populations of our animals are
:29:41. > :29:44.constantly fluctuating and some of them seem to be doing very, very
:29:45. > :29:49.well with no human intervention at all. For instance, ravens. I used to
:29:50. > :29:54.have to go to Snowdonia to see a raven. Now, they are all over the
:29:55. > :30:03.place. Here is a jade, I have noticed them coming into town is
:30:04. > :30:07.more and more. -- jay. Peregrine falcons, there is hardly a city that
:30:08. > :30:11.does not have a pair. Badgers seem to be creeping into our towns as
:30:12. > :30:15.well. But some animals have increased to levels where they are
:30:16. > :30:20.starting to damage the habitat. When that happens we have to consider
:30:21. > :30:23.management. I think there are an awful lot of people who can sit back
:30:24. > :30:28.and think conservation is someone else's job, that they can solve the
:30:29. > :30:33.problem, but we can all do our bit. There are 16 million gardens in the
:30:34. > :30:38.UK. But the great thing is, half the adults in the UK help by feeding
:30:39. > :30:44.their garden birds. They spend hundreds of millions of pounds on
:30:45. > :30:49.bird seeds and feeders, and that means that numbers of some birds
:30:50. > :30:57.have gone up. Blue tips, 4%. Great tips, 23%, and the greater spotted
:30:58. > :30:59.woodpecker bike 53%. But gardens are such an important resource. If you
:31:00. > :31:04.put all the gardens together, the area they cover is bigger than all
:31:05. > :31:08.the National nature reserves. It is as big as Oxfordshire. We really do
:31:09. > :31:12.have to use this resource for wildlife. Brilliant but everyone is
:31:13. > :31:16.feeding their birds, but we can all do just that little bit more. We can
:31:17. > :31:23.help insects, we can plant suitable flowers. There are so many things we
:31:24. > :31:26.can do. Let's decide right now on the last show of this Springwatch,
:31:27. > :31:33.this series, to do something extra in your garden. There are lots of
:31:34. > :31:36.ideas on our website. When you think of mammals that have increased in
:31:37. > :31:39.numbers, we think of deer. We have seen plenty of deer here at
:31:40. > :31:45.Minsmere, the red deer in ridiculous. Iolo Williams went up to
:31:46. > :31:59.the West Coast of Scotland to see deer for himself.
:32:00. > :32:05.Mark, prepares his kit. Assisting him today is Andy Malcolm, a man
:32:06. > :32:10.with 20 years experience in these hills. But I'm hoping this is going
:32:11. > :32:15.to be my secret weapon. Our mission today: To get close to one of
:32:16. > :32:23.Scotland's most iconic animals. We are off to stalk some deer. Well,
:32:24. > :32:27.Andy, getting up early I can understand, if you are looking
:32:28. > :32:34.forewildlife, but why all this tweed? Because you look great, Iolo.
:32:35. > :32:40.You silver-tongued devil, you. No, it is comfort. It is camouflage. I
:32:41. > :32:48.said wear what you are comfortable in, so we are all comfortable in
:32:49. > :32:55.tweeds. You lead on, I will follow. It is not just about looking dapper.
:32:56. > :33:00.Tweed is traditional highland camouflage and the colour depends on
:33:01. > :33:07.where you are from. Down here on the wet West Coast we're using green. We
:33:08. > :33:11.are also relaying on Andy's deer stalking skills to get us close
:33:12. > :33:24.enough to film these beautiful animals. Four hinds. Red deer are
:33:25. > :33:30.big animals. Very alert, very spooked, as if they knew we were
:33:31. > :33:36.here long before we came over the brow of the hill. Their ears and
:33:37. > :33:40.noses were twitching. It is their smell and hearing. They can turn
:33:41. > :33:44.round at one or two kilometres. You wonder how on earth they've seen or
:33:45. > :33:48.smelt you and there they are looking straight at you. Amazing animals.
:33:49. > :33:53.When you are stalking deer, the direction of the wind is one of the
:33:54. > :33:57.most important things. Absolutely. You can't hope to approach anything
:33:58. > :34:01.with the wind at your back. So the wind needs to be right in your face?
:34:02. > :34:06.It is not always possible but you want to begin a stalk with the wind
:34:07. > :34:13.to you. If you don't get it right, you'll just be watching backsides
:34:14. > :34:22.all day running away from you. There are two native species of deer in
:34:23. > :34:26.Scotland - red and roe At this time of year they are having their young.
:34:27. > :34:33.That's what we would love to film, and then... There's an eagle, a
:34:34. > :34:40.golden eagle on the skyline. You are right. Two of them. That's a bit of
:34:41. > :34:46.a bonus, two golden Eagles here as well. Her huge birds and they are
:34:47. > :34:51.struggling to get a lift this early in the morning. If we hadn't put
:34:52. > :34:56.them up the, I think they would sit until the sun was up, and they get
:34:57. > :35:11.these thermals, but as it's a, it is a lots of effort for them. -- but as
:35:12. > :35:18.it is. Over the hill we find a group of young ro oh, bucks rutting are.
:35:19. > :35:23.These yearlings are too young to be serious contend terse, but they're
:35:24. > :35:34.raring to give it a go. Breaking up the fun, a buck chases young guns
:35:35. > :35:58.off his territory. We keep going on our mission to find some calves.
:35:59. > :36:03.a hind, a calf and a yearling. With ideal conditions how can you get,
:36:04. > :36:13.how close can you get to a deer like that? I wouldn't like to be closer
:36:14. > :36:18.than 150-odd metres. And Mark gets his shot. It's lovely to see this
:36:19. > :36:23.beautiful red deer calf with its spots. He's probably just over a
:36:24. > :36:30.week old and already he's quick on his feet and full of life. Which he
:36:31. > :36:36.needs to be if he's going to survive in this tough environment.
:36:37. > :36:44.I think Iolo looked rather dapper? His tweed. He is joining us now.
:36:45. > :36:49.Where is he? Oh, my word! Hello Michaela, how are you? I thought
:36:50. > :36:58.standards had dropped rather, so I thought I would raise them again. I
:36:59. > :37:06.had better be careful how I sit! You are looking lovely. Last night was a
:37:07. > :37:11.midge fest. It was, but I'm lucky I don't get bitten. The estate and
:37:12. > :37:17.everybody there gave us a lovely welcome. Deer stalking Britons in
:37:18. > :37:23.revenue and keeps deer numbers down. It is a fine balance. You said you
:37:24. > :37:29.were going in search of the Scottish wildcat, rarer than a tiger now. Did
:37:30. > :37:37.you have any luck? Yes, we had a ten-off early on. A lady called Jean
:37:38. > :37:42.Haworth phoned us to say she had a wildcat coming into her garden. This
:37:43. > :37:47.is the cat and we thought, is that or is it not a wildcat? Immediately
:37:48. > :37:53.afterwards we had another tip-off and a chap called Euan put us out.
:37:54. > :37:58.We put some bait out. Eventually the cat came, it took a long time. And
:37:59. > :38:03.it was there up on the wall. Again, is that a wildcat? Yes really
:38:04. > :38:07.weren't sure whether either of them were, because the wildcat is
:38:08. > :38:11.supposed to have this broad face. It is supposed to have a very thick,
:38:12. > :38:15.blunt tail. It is supposed to have rings on it, and a black end. The
:38:16. > :38:23.difficulty is they will breed with domestic cats. If you have a hybrid,
:38:24. > :38:27.this is a true wildcat. I guess it is easy to tell the difference
:38:28. > :38:31.between a true wildcat and a domestic cat, but when they are
:38:32. > :38:35.cross listen breed, when they are hybrids, it is difficult. It is
:38:36. > :38:40.difficult. And domestic cats are descended from the African wildcat
:38:41. > :38:44.and the Scottish cat is descended from the north European wild cut.
:38:45. > :38:50.But they will interbreed. That's the difficulty. There's a project
:38:51. > :38:55.starting now to look for true, genetically true wild cad. Are there
:38:56. > :39:00.any left? We really don't know. To try and find if there are, we'll see
:39:01. > :39:05.what measures need to be taken. And we don't know the numbers? We have
:39:06. > :39:11.no idea. If anybody out there knows of a wildcat anywhere, please phone.
:39:12. > :39:16.There is a link on our website to this new wildcat project. We can
:39:17. > :39:23.pass those on and in maybe five years we'll have a much betteride -
:39:24. > :39:28.bbc.co.uk/springwatch. You are looking very smart. You would be
:39:29. > :39:33.extremely lucky to find a wildcat in your garden, but if you have a large
:39:34. > :39:37.garden pond you might be lucky to see a stickleback in your water.
:39:38. > :39:43.They have remarkable mating habits. If you are a male stickleback with
:39:44. > :39:50.blue eyes and a ruddy complexion, you have a better chance of getting
:39:51. > :39:58.a mate. It's springtime in the garden. While
:39:59. > :40:11.the kids have all the time in the world, it's another story in the
:40:12. > :40:19.pond. Here, the race is on to breed. A male three-spined stickleback. His
:40:20. > :40:23.bright blue eyes and blood red belly signal that he's in the mood for
:40:24. > :40:30.love. But first there's work to be done. He needs to build a nest. Male
:40:31. > :40:38.sticklebacks are the ultimate modern men and take sole responsibility for
:40:39. > :40:47.this task. A discarded plant pot is the base he needs. Pondweed and leaf
:40:48. > :40:57.debris abound. They're the perfect nest-building materials. The pond is
:40:58. > :41:07.full of new life. Tiny water fleas call Daphnia bloom in the rising
:41:08. > :41:17.temperatures. These scavenge for algae. While the stickleback works,
:41:18. > :41:26.a mayfly larvae looks on. His hard graft is almost done. He releases
:41:27. > :41:34.spiggin, a gluey secretion from his kidneys, and cements the vegetation.
:41:35. > :41:48.Job done. A female observes from the shadows. She's fat with eggs. But
:41:49. > :41:54.even so, he fails to woo her. Luckily, she's not the only female
:41:55. > :42:09.in the pond. The next one looks more keen. Mouth open and spines erect,
:42:10. > :42:15.he dances around her. With her head raised, she signals that she's
:42:16. > :42:26.ready. He shows her the tunnel in which she needs to spawn. Then she
:42:27. > :42:32.laze an enormous clutch of as many as 200 eggs. A well-constructed nest
:42:33. > :42:51.is crucial to keep the eggs together. Once he's fertilised the
:42:52. > :43:05.eggs, the affair is over. But he'll stay close by to guard the nest.
:43:06. > :43:25.After ten days, the eggs are almost ready to hatch. The male has kept
:43:26. > :43:37.his vigil. He fans continuously, driving oxygen-rich water over the
:43:38. > :43:55.eggs. Finally, his hard work pays off. Almost unrecognisable as fish,
:43:56. > :44:01.these tiny babies are still attached to their yolk sacs. They will stay
:44:02. > :44:11.within the nest for the next few days, gradually morphing into tiny
:44:12. > :44:12.fry. Our male will remain an attentive father until his offspring
:44:13. > :44:15.leave the nest. attentive father until his offspring
:44:16. > :44:22.leave After that, his job is done. Now the fry must fend for
:44:23. > :44:26.themselves. So, don't forget the super-dad hard at work in your pond
:44:27. > :44:36.when you're relaxing in your garden this spring.
:44:37. > :44:45.What a fascinating little fish. But the male, blue eyes, ruddy
:44:46. > :44:52.complexion, but do you have plenty of spiggin? I'm always producing
:44:53. > :44:58.plenty of that. This Sunday is Father's Day. If any father deserves
:44:59. > :45:05.a card, it is that little stickle back. Josh and Alexander? Let's
:45:06. > :45:10.carry on. Sticklebacks. How are we going to do the junction from
:45:11. > :45:17.sticklebacks to swallows? We've got a live camera over there, two miles.
:45:18. > :45:24.I'm really mucking this up. There's an amazing swallow nest the sluice.
:45:25. > :45:33.They've all calmed down. They've been fed and are having a power nap.
:45:34. > :45:37.We have been watching the swallows and the parents have been busy
:45:38. > :45:41.feeding them up. They are almost ready to go, those chicks. That is
:45:42. > :45:45.not falling out, that is exercising the muscles for the massive journey
:45:46. > :45:50.ahead of them back to Africa. They will go at any moment. It looks a
:45:51. > :45:56.little flimsy, doesn't it? It does, I am amazed they all squeezed in.
:45:57. > :45:59.Before they go, they need to feed up and get plenty of insects. If the
:46:00. > :46:03.weather stays like this there should be plenty of insects around. But I
:46:04. > :46:09.know a weather forecaster, so to find out the weather, let's go live
:46:10. > :46:14.to Nick Miller. It is not just the humans enjoying
:46:15. > :46:19.the weather but the birds and the insects and these guys, the midges.
:46:20. > :46:23.They love it dry and warm and they come out of the water. This is
:46:24. > :46:27.perfect for them. But of course the swallows will be waiting. They love
:46:28. > :46:32.midges. The weather, not quite so perfect for the weekend. High
:46:33. > :46:35.pressure has settled things out. A bit of rain across Northern Ireland
:46:36. > :46:39.and Scotland tomorrow. For the weekend we bring a lot of cloud in
:46:40. > :46:43.from East and much lower temperatures down the eastern side
:46:44. > :46:47.of the UK. I am not saying since Springwatch has been at Minsmere the
:46:48. > :46:51.team has created a lot of hot air. I would not be so rude. Let's call it
:46:52. > :46:55.the Springwatch microclimate. You pack up and go home tomorrow and
:46:56. > :46:59.look what happens to the temperature at the weekend. Much lower, but it
:47:00. > :47:03.will come up again. The trend looking further ahead into June is
:47:04. > :47:07.high-pressure to stay close by. Fairly settled weather. Reasonably
:47:08. > :47:12.warm. It may turn more unsettled at the end of the month. If Springwatch
:47:13. > :47:16.has inspired you to go out and explore the wildlife near you, I am
:47:17. > :47:20.glad to say the weather is not going to get in your way.
:47:21. > :47:26.It sounds fantastic, thank you very much indeed. A few days ago we asked
:47:27. > :47:31.you to keep your eyes open for barn owls to help the barn owl Trust to
:47:32. > :47:38.run a survey this summer. Getting contacts with us through the
:47:39. > :47:42.website. Already, 1591 have done that and we have come up with a map
:47:43. > :47:47.of your sightings. You can see that it follows the pattern that we
:47:48. > :47:51.typically seen with barn owls. The highest densities are around here in
:47:52. > :47:56.Suffolk and Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Left in Scotland.
:47:57. > :48:00.Notable absences around Greater London and Birmingham. A great range
:48:01. > :48:04.of sightings. Some came from the West Country inside old mines. Some
:48:05. > :48:09.in water towers. One was spotted here, at the Hancox. The Vicar of
:48:10. > :48:16.Diddley spotted one here, I am not sure we can trust that! You should
:48:17. > :48:20.not drink and bird at the same time. We are pleased to see so many of you
:48:21. > :48:24.joining and and putting in a better picture of where the barn owls.
:48:25. > :48:27.There has not been a survey for ten years. It will continue running.
:48:28. > :48:32.Join our website if you see a barn owl and let us know. Thank you for
:48:33. > :48:38.everyone who did let us know. We get so excited by the numbers who
:48:39. > :48:43.respond. Brilliant. Enjoyed barn owls on past Springwatch is. We have
:48:44. > :48:48.not had one this time but we have been enjoying a tawny owl chicks. We
:48:49. > :48:53.called it Grubby, because its mother kept feeding it these slugs and it
:48:54. > :48:57.got a grubby face. It also got the slow worm it was having huge
:48:58. > :49:03.difficulties in swallowing. As Chris kept saying, it was like a living
:49:04. > :49:10.endoscope. There is another slug. It makes me laugh, his face. It is
:49:11. > :49:14.like, I have had enough! We then saw Grubby trying to branch, which is a
:49:15. > :49:20.semi-fledge. Not so successful there. Give it another go and falls
:49:21. > :49:25.down. Watch this, a first attempt. It looks like it plummeted to the
:49:26. > :49:28.ground, but it didn't, it branched, it went on a branch. We were
:49:29. > :49:33.concerned about it because its face was absolutely covered in those
:49:34. > :49:37.flies. We were all worried. It seemed to clean up a bit and look a
:49:38. > :49:45.bit better and not looking too bad now. We had to find out one last
:49:46. > :49:51.time how Rub was so we asked Mark Yates, the cameraman. He is about 12
:49:52. > :49:55.metres up in the trees and his mum is never far away. She is in the
:49:56. > :50:01.tree, close to him, keeping guard. Things are looking good for Grub.
:50:02. > :50:05.There are still a lot of flies on him. That is typical, I remember
:50:06. > :50:10.going to raptors's nests and they are covered in flies and it does not
:50:11. > :50:17.do them any harm. I am pleased to see -- say that BRIC has -- that
:50:18. > :50:23.Grub has risen like a Phoenix. There is one species that we like to set
:50:24. > :50:24.our cameras out for so we can catch them live. Let's go live to the
:50:25. > :50:40.badger cameras. It hasn't been a tremendous success,
:50:41. > :50:44.the live badgers, during this series! That is not to say we
:50:45. > :50:51.haven't enjoyed some remarkable badger behaviour. Down on the scrape
:50:52. > :50:59.we saw the badgers feeding. Here, on our avocets, they had swum out to
:51:00. > :51:01.the island and then this animal, backwards and forwards doing exactly
:51:02. > :51:06.what any opportunistic omnivores like this would do. Finding all the
:51:07. > :51:11.other nests. This is a black headed goal. Eventually, it cleared out all
:51:12. > :51:17.the eggs, all the young, bar one of them. Then look at this, remarkable.
:51:18. > :51:20.It is a badger doggy paddle. Obviously this was quite
:51:21. > :51:24.distressing. We like the birds. But there is also the case we have
:51:25. > :51:27.learned a lot about the badgers. Not just badgers in general but these
:51:28. > :51:31.badgers, perhaps that one individual. The knowledge we have
:51:32. > :51:35.will allow the RSPB to modify the way they look after this reserve and
:51:36. > :51:39.hopefully protect those birds and at the same time cater for the badger.
:51:40. > :51:42.It takes all sorts to make the ecology of the place go round. If
:51:43. > :51:46.you were distressed by some of the pictures, think of the bigger
:51:47. > :51:53.picture. A badger has to eat as well. Life goes on. We filmed the
:51:54. > :52:02.scrape this morning. This is a week later and it seems like calm has
:52:03. > :52:07.returned. These are shoveller checks. We were delighted to see
:52:08. > :52:13.them. This is an avocet pair, giving it another go. They are having
:52:14. > :52:29.another rip brood. -- another brood. They are laying an egg. Another
:52:30. > :52:35.black headed gull is also nesting. Sometimes, animals give it another
:52:36. > :52:38.go. The scrape has been full of drama for us but the greatest star,
:52:39. > :52:48.the most magnificent of them all, has been, let's see.
:52:49. > :52:53.In ten years of Springwatch we have had hopeful. We have had strong
:52:54. > :53:01.contenders. We have had pushy parents. We are all about finding
:53:02. > :53:06.talent, not -- but not just any talent. We have to find great
:53:07. > :53:10.talent. The talent was fantastic. Unbelievable. But there was one
:53:11. > :53:24.which clearly rose above all the rest. Yes. It is bittern has got
:53:25. > :53:29.talent. This year we brought the auditions to Suffolk and we were not
:53:30. > :53:32.disappointed. There was one outstanding act from the word go,
:53:33. > :53:40.which caught everyone's attention. The bitterns. When we first saw our
:53:41. > :53:48.burgeoning stars, they had a few, well, issues. One hadn't patched.
:53:49. > :53:53.One died shortly later. And then mum decided to make a meal of the
:53:54. > :54:01.situation. And waste not, want not, the eggs soon followed. But after a
:54:02. > :54:09.shaky start the bitterns began to show their true talents. But which
:54:10. > :54:15.talent was it that got the judges most excited? Was it the ability to
:54:16. > :54:23.swallow giant fish? What about the wobble dams, as they learned to find
:54:24. > :54:30.their feet? -- dance. Or how about swimming? I mean, a bird, swimming!
:54:31. > :54:33.Fantastic! The bitterns were still keen to impress the judges,
:54:34. > :54:38.continuing to display a variety of new talents. Only occasionally
:54:39. > :54:44.checking to see that we were still watching. But the one talent that
:54:45. > :54:57.had the judges on their feet was undoubtedly the room. -- boom. So
:54:58. > :55:03.for the winners of Britain's got talent, 4150 -- for one final season
:55:04. > :55:20.I give you the incredible boom of the beat thing dad. Bittern Booms.
:55:21. > :55:24.Fantastic. Pass me the protective gloves for this. For one last time,
:55:25. > :55:29.folks, we will be able to go live to the bitterns -- the bitterns. Just
:55:30. > :55:35.make sure I don't damage my trousers, oh, yes, let's go live to
:55:36. > :55:40.the bitterns now. Live to the bitterns! Oh, look at them,
:55:41. > :55:43.hunkering down there. All joking aside, this has been an
:55:44. > :55:48.extraordinary view of an extremely shy bird. We have been able to see
:55:49. > :55:52.things that we probably have seen for the very first time. All that
:55:53. > :55:57.regurgitation, the young, the Savic -- the semi-fledging coming back.
:55:58. > :56:04.They have put on a show. To see a bird like this, where there are 11
:56:05. > :56:07.booming males, in Minsmere, you all you see is them flying across the
:56:08. > :56:11.reeds and dropping in. But we have dropped in with them and exposed
:56:12. > :56:16.their secret life and it has been a joy. Bitterns have done it for us
:56:17. > :56:20.but for some of you, the adders did it. Ross Jones says it is the
:56:21. > :56:24.adders, their favourite, beautiful creatures, looking like they are
:56:25. > :56:29.having great success this year. This is what we saw. It was extraordinary
:56:30. > :56:34.behaviour to see. It was the predation of the Goldfinch. By the
:56:35. > :56:40.adder. Amazing. Amazing stuff, superb. We saw a lot of adders when
:56:41. > :56:44.we came up here moving around but we never thought we would see them
:56:45. > :56:48.predating the birds. Typically they are emptying small mammals' nests,
:56:49. > :56:56.perhaps the heat drove them into the bushes. Talk about variety. Adders
:56:57. > :57:02.to bitterns. It has been absolutely amazing. We can see the avocets
:57:03. > :57:06.before we go, fantastic birds. Look at this. These are the two that led
:57:07. > :57:11.their chicks to safety before the badger came out there. This was
:57:12. > :57:15.fantastic. We have had a brilliant time, I have to say. We would not
:57:16. > :57:20.have had such a great time without the help of the RSPB staff here, who
:57:21. > :57:23.have extended amazing hospitality and help. We would also like to
:57:24. > :57:27.thank the other conservation agencies, our partners, particularly
:57:28. > :57:31.people like the British Trust for Ornithology. Thank you very much
:57:32. > :57:36.indeed. Don't go anywhere, immediately after this programme it
:57:37. > :57:43.will be Unsprung, starring two of our greatest hits, Lloyd book and
:57:44. > :57:47.Bram the Raven. We will be back later in the year for Autumnwatch
:57:48. > :57:50.but until then, here are some highlights from this series. Here is
:57:51. > :57:56.the best of Springwatch 2014. Bye-bye.
:57:57. > :59:44.I just try and do the best I can for them while they're with me.
:59:45. > :59:45.What's the hardest thing about being a foster parent?
:59:46. > :59:49.You're constantly trying to build the elusive trust.