Episode 12 Springwatch

If you think it is all over, it is not yet, because there's another

full 90 minutes to go. We'll be celebrating and relishing our

remaining star players and enjoying the encore of spring as it melts

into summer. So put away that whistle, because right now it's

Springwatch! Hello and welcome to the very final

Springwatch of 2014, coming to you on a beautiful evening here at the

RSPB Minsmere on the coast of Suffolk. We've been here in the last

three weeks. Mince mere is part of the Suffolk coast and heath area of

outstanding beauty, a network of reserves looked after by all sorts

of agencies. Aside from a wealth of habitats and extraordinary variation

of species, it is a beautiful part of the country do be based. I urge

you to get in your car, whatever form of transport you have, and come

here. We've had a fantastic three weeks

here. We've got far more than we ever expected on our live cameras.

We've got the adary predation, the badger predation. I think we went

just a little bit bittern fantastic. We'll see that later. Overnight

we've had fleeting glimpse of this mother and calf red deer, but it is

suckling. It is days old, this calf. And this we got in the day, which is

extraordinary. When they were this young, the mother will hide them

away in long grasses or bushes and only come back to feed the calf a

couple of times a day. So it doesn't draw attention to it. So to see them

out and about like this on our badger cam in the daytime is a real

treat. That is a major Bambi shot, just days old. In fact that badger

camera is just behind us in the woods, so I reckon that calf is

probably hidden in the bushes 100m from here. Probably less, hunkered

down in those bushes waiting for things to quieten down before the

mother comes back. Fascinating. Now we are going to go to one of the

smallest animals, these are the buff fill bumblebees. The Queen is

controlling the nest, she's the big one. She emits pheromones and stops

the others, the females, from prosecution eggs of her own. The

Queen is in control and is getting bigger and businesser while we are

watching a. A lot of people watching the nest have been saying, when do

the bees take a rest? It is fascinating, because the bees can

switch between high-energy behaviour and low-energy behaviour. If they

are foraging for nectar, that's high energy. If they are a bit tired,

they will do a bit of housework around the nest, that's low energy.

If they are really tired they will have a little power nap. That sounds

like a good idea. Not just yet. If you've been watching the programmes

over the last couple of weeks, you will know we've been following the

fortunes of a number of nesting birds to see how well they fared

when it came to fledging. We saw the bluetits go and the whitethroats as

well. One species didn't want to leave - our Greenwood peckers. On

Saturday five of them came out, leaving two more in the hole. They

only emerged this morning. As soon as they are out they are showing

their bolshy spirit. One of the jackdaws came to have a quick peep

and the youngster stood up for itself. Typically the birds hop off

the tree and they are straight into the business. To the manor born, you

might say, as they are leaping up and down. But this last one - that

didn't happen the way it should. It fell out of the tree! The jackdaws

are naturally curious birds, they are just having a sniff around.

There's no more mischief to be had, the bird has left. You may have seen

a goldfinch or a greenfinch, but have you seen a hawfinch? They are

Britain's biggest finch but they are in decline. I went to the Forest of

Dean to join the RSPB to find out what's going on.

I'm halfway up a tree in the I would valley. - ensure the Wye valley, but

I'm not just mucking around. This is proper science. Let's hope this

takes my weight. It does. Thank goodness for that. To find a out

what I'm up to, let's roll back the clock to 7. 30am when our day

started on the forest floor. This team from the RSPB, led by Will

Kirby, are studying one of our most elusive birds. They've only just

arrived. We've been here ten minutes. I can't believe it. It is

Britain's biggest finch, the hawfinch. They are beautiful aren't

they? Gorgeous feathers. Until the 1950s, these birds were considered a

pest, but now there could be as few as 500 breeding pairs left in the

UK. No-one is sure why they've declined. The team ring and monitor

as many birds as possible. This handsome fellow is a male. At that

massive parrot-like bill. And also on the side of the head, a great big

bulging area with all the muscles needed to use that bill and crunch

open cherry stones. Feisty little things aren't they? Some are worse

than others. They do give you a bit of a peck. They've got strong beaks.

I can confirm this by personal experience. Yes, thank you! I've got

a few little mementos there, that's going to bleed. Never mind, it is

all part of the job. The project is hoping to discover just why our

hawfinches are in such trouble. But only the females can really help the

team. This is very exciting. Hopefully a female finch. Here she

goes. As well as being ringed they are fitted with tiny radio

transmitters. He's already got a radio tag. A Oh look! There's the

antenna. As soon as she moults it will drop off. So it is not there

forever. No. Once she is tagged the researchers can follow the female

back to her nest. These are high up in the trees, so they are incredibly

hard to spot from the ground. Yes, it is clear now. This is great. We

are still getting a signal, even after all that, so she's back on the

nest? It is almost impossible to find the nest without a tag on it,

but the radio tagged birds will come back and check she is on the nest

and we know everything is OK and we haven't caused undue disturbance to

them. Will and his team have found 12 nests, but to really understand

what's going on, they need to get a bird's-eye view, so here I am up the

tree. I can see the nest just above me. The team is licenced to send

finders like me up into the canopy. My years of rope training are

finally paying off. There they are, there are the chicks. Here we go.

Isn't that fantastic? Look at you looking at me! Hello loves. I must

be as quick as I can now. We are hoping this camera will open a

window into the secretive world of the hawfinch. Sorry, loves. I will

be as quick as I possibly can confirm A spy in the nest could

provide the team with vital clues and solve the mystery of the

hawfinches' decline. Food shortages, predators attacking the nest - they

are both thought to be part of the problem. Left a bit, Martin. Is that

better? Yes. Getting evidence of what the chicks are being Ed fed or

what might be feeding on them will be valuable pieces to solving the

puzzle. I must get out and leave those little chicks. What a

privilege. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be sharing

some quality time with the nest of four hawfinch chicks, and helping do

a little bit of scientific research. Bye-bye.

I'm very pleased to tell you that the chicks in that nest I was with

have all fledged successfully. And six of the nests they were studying

have fledged. Another six unfortunately have failed. Three of

them because probably bad weather, and one of them because of this.

Here are the chicks. That, I'm afraid, is a goshawk, and she is

opening her wings over the nest. When she leaves, I'm afraid there

isn't going to be much left in it. Empty nest. An amazing picture but

hopefully that research should tell us why the hawfinches are

struggling. If do find if ethey nest colonially they are better at

keeping predators away. That's the thought. We'll have to find out.

If you were watching our bluetits earlier in our series and their

fledging process, is you will have noticed there were quite a few

parasites in there. We were wondering about the parasite load of

this nest. Here you can see a flea, spotted by the adult. It picks it

up, doesn't eat it, but flies outside to dispose of that. When the

chicks had fledged, I couldn't resist going to the box and

recovering that nest, and dropping it into a sealable bag. I posted it

to Stuart Hine at the British Museum of natural history in London and I

asked him if he would be so kind to look into the nest and see what he

could fievenltd Did you send sit first or second class, mate? It will

get there. You can't e-mail a nest. This is what he discovered. 250 in

total. I can't believe they found so many. Houseflies, beets, fleas,

bugs, all sorts of things. Fantastic. Do you now how they got

them? Three muslin baxcts beneath it a beaker of water with 80% ethanol.

As the nests began to dry out, the larvae got uncomfortable, so they

moved down to the bottom of the muslin bag and fell into the mixture

of ethanol, which preserved them. We can see them now. That's the little

collection that came out of that one nest. A mixture of species in there.

Firstly we've got lots of these, lesser housefly and scuttle fly

larvae. These are pretty interesting things, but look at this. Lots of

hister and rove beetles. Those are eating the fly larvae. And then the

beetle larvae, because they are breeding in here. Some of them are

eating the larvae, and then you've got the all-partner parasites. This

is a flea. And we found a single tick in there as well. These animals

would have been feeding on the blood of the nestlings and the adult birds

whilst they were in the nest. A pertinent point, mate, there is a

whole ecology in the nest. I love that. Shall we do it? Nest box

ecology. What have we got here? The scuttle fly and the lesser housefly

larvae, feeding principally on the poo left behind, or any eggs left in

the nest by the bluetit. Then you've got the rove beetles feeding on the

larvae, and they too are feeding on the fly larvae. On this side you've

got the fleas sucking the blood of both the youngsters and the adult

tit. And this tick probably attaching itself to either this bird

or any other that then comes into the nest to prospect it as a nesting

environment. So we really do have a whole ecology taking place in that

nest. Fascinating. Can you imagine Stuart and the team there huddled

over their microscopes with little teasers. I love the idea of that.

You don't get that skill out of books, it takes years. We salute you

Stuart and thank you for you and your team for that. Imagine if there

were 250 creatures in that little nest, what community would there be

in an osprey nest? Huge. Very expensive to post it. Can you pay

that? I paid for the bluetit. The OK, I will. We can brake up into

bits. We Knight need a courier! It is time to see Monty and Glesney.

-- might need a courier. It is the beginning of May and visitors flock

to the observatory. It's been a season of high drama for the

ospreys. Last year's breeding pair have had a female interloper, Blue

24, who has been constantly but thing in on their relationship. In

the end Monty fought off Blue 24, choosing Glsne as his mate. It

wasn't long before their relationship was sealed. On the 2nd

of May, Glesney lays an egg. Four days later, she lays a second.

Once again, Monty proves to be an attentive father. Incubating eggs,

come rain or shine. But Blew 24 is still in the area and is more

dangerous than ever. She returns to the nest, still determined to make

it her own. In all the confusion there is a real danger the eggs

could be damaged. Then, last Saturday, a crack

appears. Monty and Glesney's first chick starts to emerge.

Monty guards the chick until its mother returns. This is Glesney's

first glimpse of her new offspring. She approaches with the utmost

care, clenching her razor sharp talons.

Both parents get to work, delicately feeding tiny bits of fish. The

second egg could hatch any moment, so they'll have to keep a watchful

eye. Let's hope this year will be as successful as the last for our

perfect osprey parents. Perfect parents and Monty is the

perfect male osprey. I've always been a big fan of his! But we have

an update. Just from yesterday. If you have a look, Glesney with

sitting on the nest getting fidgety because the second egg is nipping,

which means the chick is ready to come out. It takes quite a long

time, anything up to 24 hours. Pushing out and eventually the

second chick, healthy chick, comes out. Obviously Monty will now have

to fish to feed two chicks. He will have to do a lot of fishing because

those chicks have to grow quickly. They only have two or three months

before they will migrate to Senegal. After their parents, not usually

with their parents. But it is incredible, isn't it, to see the at

that size, a brand-new chick and soon they will be big, healthy

looking ospreys that will fly thousands of miles to western

Africa. Amazing. We have been following migrants of another kind,

cuckoozilla. I went all the way to Ghana to try to find Chris the

cuckoo and I failed, I found him up the road in Norfolk but just up the

road we also found a cuckoo egg in a reed warbler's nest and we have been

following its fortunes. It hatched and immediately started its

diabolical duty. Feeding furiously by the parents, it rapidly objected

all the reed warbler's eggs out, so it could enjoy the feast of food

that they were bringing. Not spread amongst the brood, but eating a

whole lot. Look how rapidly cuckoozilla was growing! Look at

this. Oh, look at that, well held. Let's hope Joe Hart's hands are fine

as that in the forthcoming games, particularly against Italy in the

dying moments! You might need really firm hands. Is he the goalkeeper?

Anyway, shall we see how big cuckoozilla is today? We sent a

cameraman up to the nest to see and it is even bigger. This is quite

interesting. Look at the way it is begging for food. Look at the size

of the poor adult, tiny behind cuckoozilla! Sort of lifting that

wing up, but again, it is due to fledge at any point. Again, around

September it will probably be on its way on its huge migration to the

Congo. Amazing, isn't it? Incredible. These birds that can't

fly now will be flying thousands of miles. Astonishing. It will fledge

in the next couple of days. Not fully flighted. It will flap about

to another post, and in a couple of days it will start flying and

chasing the adult reed warblers about, begging for masses of food.

Incredible. We also found some reed warblers, not of the road but just

down here, behind us. We have been following the fortunes of this

brood. This has been a typical reed warbler brood. Here are some live

pictures now. You can see they are growing very well. The feathers are

coming through. They have a few more days before they fledge. We will not

see these leave I am afraid. You can watch them on the webcams until the

end of the programme, probably until the end of the evening. Just like

you were saying, Michaela, with the ospreys and the cuckoos, these

little birds will leave the nest, they will feed up furiously out here

on the reed beds on Read aphids out to Africa. While I was looking for

Chris the cuckoo, we caught some reed warblers so they are going to

the same place. The website, I would like to push you to the website if I

may. We would like you to join our online community. You will see how

to join up at Facebook and Twitter and our Facebook account. Since the

start of the series, 31,019 of you have joined up. The reason is that

we will be online throughout the summer. We would like to continue to

hear from you, everything you see, anything you find, get in contact

with us. It is amazing because Springwatch has been going ten

years. Think back to ten years, we were not using on the programme

Twitter or Facebook and now it has become a big part of our series and

the best way to keep in contact with you. And the best way to keep in

contact with you. So to find out what those changes are, who better

to ask to explain everything than one of the pioneers of Springwatch,

Bill Oddie. Being an island nation I suppose we

are pretty familiar with the concept of arrivals and departures.

Certainly during the last ten years when it comes to wildlife there have

been plenty of both. The thing that affects that is almost certainly,

yes, the weather. It is not always easy to believe, but it is the fact

that our screens -- our springs and summers are getting warmer. This

might be the reason that more continental species are crossing

over the Channel to live in the UK. Each year it seems there is a new

one. First of all it was a little egrets, which are now all over the

place, great white herons are beginning to spread. Spoonbills,

quite a number breeding. Some beautiful butterflies, all of which

are now breeding in Britain. And I absolutely guarantee there will be

more. So those are species that have arrived here of their own accord

voluntarily. But there are other species which we have chosen to

wilfully reintroduced. And many of those have settled down very nicely

indeed. The question is, mind you, how far are we going to go back? You

know, I mean, they used to be sabre toothed tigers and mammoths and they

used to be hippos in Britain! It is true! Know, maybe not. -- no, maybe

not. Our reintroduction of birds of prey have proved particularly

successful. I remember when I was a kid there was literally maybe two or

three pairs of red kites down in deepest Wales. There was only one

pair of ospreys breeding up in Scotland. Then foreign stock of both

has been introduced and every year the population grows and grows and

grows. There is now something like 1600 pairs of kites across the

country. And the same applies to see eagles. The places like the

Hebrides, you probably nouse stand a better chance of seeing a sea eagle

and a seagull, especially because the sea eagles have taken to eating

all the seagulls' food, namely the fish thrown to them by tourists and

of course TV presenters. Iolo. That is the first time I've ever seen a

white tailed sea eagle fishing. But I guess that the top of the

reintroduction bill has to be the cranes. Four years ago the great

train project including various partners began an ambitious

programme of egg incubation and chick rearing.

So summarised of their own accord, others have been reintroduced. But

they are all welcome. The arrivals. Sadly though, there are some

creatures and some of them are amongst our favourites, but are

heading for departures. Recent declines have been seen in our

farmland birds and our water and wetland birds are down by 17%. In an

ever increasingly busy Britain there is very little one could call

genuinely untouched wild habitat and it seems our wildlife is suffering

for that. I do believe we are coming to a stage where frankly there is

virtually no genuinely wild countryside which isn't managed, but

is just there for the wildlife and has a really healthy wildlife

population. The pressure on the habitat, the land, call it what you

will, is enormous. But that doesn't mean we can't attract and look after

the wildlife. The secret is creation rather than conservation. By that, I

mean places that have been custom-built for wildlife. Places

like Minsmere, for example, like the wetland Centre in London. I have

heard people say that is not real country though, it is almost

cheating. But it really isn't. It doesn't make these places

artificial. It makes them more productive. It is a case of build it

and they will come and the fact of the matter is, they have built it

and they have come. I do believe that during the last ten years one

of the most important and indeed encouraging things that we have

learned is that we human beings have the knowledge and also have the

willpower to help wildlife. We are absolutely essential to this

process. On the other hand, we do know that wildlife will continue to

need our help so the question is what is going to happen in the next

ten years? A poignant question from the great

man there. I think personally we haven't extraordinary arsenal of

abilities and technologies to make a difference and since we have been

here at Minsmere we have been celebrating the fact the RSPB have

been managing this patch of land since 1947. It is not just here.

Just over there, 15 years ago, the land looked like this. It was an

agricultural carrot field, but the RSPB have transformed it into just

that amount of time into Lakenheath then. It is already a habitat where

there are cranes, Marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits breeding,

just like here at Minsmere. It is not just the RSPB. Other

conservation agencies have been doing the same. The Derbyshire

wildlife trust have taken this old Coke Works, an industrial site, and

turned into a wildlife utopia. We do have the ability to transform the

landscape. The trouble is we are talking about relatively small

areas. 86% of the UK's land area is given over to farming. Some of that

farming, not all, is intensive. This is having a negative impact on our

biodiversity. We have lost 40 million birds from the farm

landscape in the last 20 years. But we have got to be pragmatic about

this. The farmers are out there growing food for you and I to eat.

We have got to support them and make sure they are able to do that in an

economically sustainable way. But also in a way that preserves that

countryside for the future. Populations of our animals are

constantly fluctuating and some of them seem to be doing very, very

well with no human intervention at all. For instance, ravens. I used to

have to go to Snowdonia to see a raven. Now, they are all over the

place. Here is a jade, I have noticed them coming into town is

more and more. -- jay. Peregrine falcons, there is hardly a city that

does not have a pair. Badgers seem to be creeping into our towns as

well. But some animals have increased to levels where they are

starting to damage the habitat. When that happens we have to consider

management. I think there are an awful lot of people who can sit back

and think conservation is someone else's job, that they can solve the

problem, but we can all do our bit. There are 16 million gardens in the

UK. But the great thing is, half the adults in the UK help by feeding

their garden birds. They spend hundreds of millions of pounds on

bird seeds and feeders, and that means that numbers of some birds

have gone up. Blue tips, 4%. Great tips, 23%, and the greater spotted

woodpecker bike 53%. But gardens are such an important resource. If you

put all the gardens together, the area they cover is bigger than all

the National nature reserves. It is as big as Oxfordshire. We really do

have to use this resource for wildlife. Brilliant but everyone is

feeding their birds, but we can all do just that little bit more. We can

help insects, we can plant suitable flowers. There are so many things we

can do. Let's decide right now on the last show of this Springwatch,

this series, to do something extra in your garden. There are lots of

ideas on our website. When you think of mammals that have increased in

numbers, we think of deer. We have seen plenty of deer here at

Minsmere, the red deer in ridiculous. Iolo Williams went up to

the West Coast of Scotland to see deer for himself.

Mark, prepares his kit. Assisting him today is Andy Malcolm, a man

with 20 years experience in these hills. But I'm hoping this is going

to be my secret weapon. Our mission today: To get close to one of

Scotland's most iconic animals. We are off to stalk some deer. Well,

Andy, getting up early I can understand, if you are looking

forewildlife, but why all this tweed? Because you look great, Iolo.

You silver-tongued devil, you. No, it is comfort. It is camouflage. I

said wear what you are comfortable in, so we are all comfortable in

tweeds. You lead on, I will follow. It is not just about looking dapper.

Tweed is traditional highland camouflage and the colour depends on

where you are from. Down here on the wet West Coast we're using green. We

are also relaying on Andy's deer stalking skills to get us close

enough to film these beautiful animals. Four hinds. Red deer are

big animals. Very alert, very spooked, as if they knew we were

here long before we came over the brow of the hill. Their ears and

noses were twitching. It is their smell and hearing. They can turn

round at one or two kilometres. You wonder how on earth they've seen or

smelt you and there they are looking straight at you. Amazing animals.

When you are stalking deer, the direction of the wind is one of the

most important things. Absolutely. You can't hope to approach anything

with the wind at your back. So the wind needs to be right in your face?

It is not always possible but you want to begin a stalk with the wind

to you. If you don't get it right, you'll just be watching backsides

all day running away from you. There are two native species of deer in

Scotland - red and roe At this time of year they are having their young.

That's what we would love to film, and then... There's an eagle, a

golden eagle on the skyline. You are right. Two of them. That's a bit of

a bonus, two golden Eagles here as well. Her huge birds and they are

struggling to get a lift this early in the morning. If we hadn't put

them up the, I think they would sit until the sun was up, and they get

these thermals, but as it's a, it is a lots of effort for them. -- but as

it is. Over the hill we find a group of young ro oh, bucks rutting are.

These yearlings are too young to be serious contend terse, but they're

raring to give it a go. Breaking up the fun, a buck chases young guns

off his territory. We keep going on our mission to find some calves.

a hind, a calf and a yearling. With ideal conditions how can you get,

how close can you get to a deer like that? I wouldn't like to be closer

than 150-odd metres. And Mark gets his shot. It's lovely to see this

beautiful red deer calf with its spots. He's probably just over a

week old and already he's quick on his feet and full of life. Which he

needs to be if he's going to survive in this tough environment.

I think Iolo looked rather dapper? His tweed. He is joining us now.

Where is he? Oh, my word! Hello Michaela, how are you? I thought

standards had dropped rather, so I thought I would raise them again. I

had better be careful how I sit! You are looking lovely. Last night was a

midge fest. It was, but I'm lucky I don't get bitten. The estate and

everybody there gave us a lovely welcome. Deer stalking Britons in

revenue and keeps deer numbers down. It is a fine balance. You said you

were going in search of the Scottish wildcat, rarer than a tiger now. Did

you have any luck? Yes, we had a ten-off early on. A lady called Jean

Haworth phoned us to say she had a wildcat coming into her garden. This

is the cat and we thought, is that or is it not a wildcat? Immediately

afterwards we had another tip-off and a chap called Euan put us out.

We put some bait out. Eventually the cat came, it took a long time. And

it was there up on the wall. Again, is that a wildcat? Yes really

weren't sure whether either of them were, because the wildcat is

supposed to have this broad face. It is supposed to have a very thick,

blunt tail. It is supposed to have rings on it, and a black end. The

difficulty is they will breed with domestic cats. If you have a hybrid,

this is a true wildcat. I guess it is easy to tell the difference

between a true wildcat and a domestic cat, but when they are

cross listen breed, when they are hybrids, it is difficult. It is

difficult. And domestic cats are descended from the African wildcat

and the Scottish cat is descended from the north European wild cut.

But they will interbreed. That's the difficulty. There's a project

starting now to look for true, genetically true wild cad. Are there

any left? We really don't know. To try and find if there are, we'll see

what measures need to be taken. And we don't know the numbers? We have

no idea. If anybody out there knows of a wildcat anywhere, please phone.

There is a link on our website to this new wildcat project. We can

pass those on and in maybe five years we'll have a much betteride -

bbc.co.uk/springwatch. You are looking very smart. You would be

extremely lucky to find a wildcat in your garden, but if you have a large

garden pond you might be lucky to see a stickleback in your water.

They have remarkable mating habits. If you are a male stickleback with

blue eyes and a ruddy complexion, you have a better chance of getting

a mate. It's springtime in the garden. While

the kids have all the time in the world, it's another story in the

pond. Here, the race is on to breed. A male three-spined stickleback. His

bright blue eyes and blood red belly signal that he's in the mood for

love. But first there's work to be done. He needs to build a nest. Male

sticklebacks are the ultimate modern men and take sole responsibility for

this task. A discarded plant pot is the base he needs. Pondweed and leaf

debris abound. They're the perfect nest-building materials. The pond is

full of new life. Tiny water fleas call Daphnia bloom in the rising

temperatures. These scavenge for algae. While the stickleback works,

a mayfly larvae looks on. His hard graft is almost done. He releases

spiggin, a gluey secretion from his kidneys, and cements the vegetation.

Job done. A female observes from the shadows. She's fat with eggs. But

even so, he fails to woo her. Luckily, she's not the only female

in the pond. The next one looks more keen. Mouth open and spines erect,

he dances around her. With her head raised, she signals that she's

ready. He shows her the tunnel in which she needs to spawn. Then she

laze an enormous clutch of as many as 200 eggs. A well-constructed nest

is crucial to keep the eggs together. Once he's fertilised the

eggs, the affair is over. But he'll stay close by to guard the nest.

After ten days, the eggs are almost ready to hatch. The male has kept

his vigil. He fans continuously, driving oxygen-rich water over the

eggs. Finally, his hard work pays off. Almost unrecognisable as fish,

these tiny babies are still attached to their yolk sacs. They will stay

within the nest for the next few days, gradually morphing into tiny

fry. Our male will remain an attentive father until his offspring

leave the nest. attentive father until his offspring

leave After that, his job is done. Now the fry must fend for

themselves. So, don't forget the super-dad hard at work in your pond

when you're relaxing in your garden this spring.

What a fascinating little fish. But the male, blue eyes, ruddy

complexion, but do you have plenty of spiggin? I'm always producing

plenty of that. This Sunday is Father's Day. If any father deserves

a card, it is that little stickle back. Josh and Alexander? Let's

carry on. Sticklebacks. How are we going to do the junction from

sticklebacks to swallows? We've got a live camera over there, two miles.

I'm really mucking this up. There's an amazing swallow nest the sluice.

They've all calmed down. They've been fed and are having a power nap.

We have been watching the swallows and the parents have been busy

feeding them up. They are almost ready to go, those chicks. That is

not falling out, that is exercising the muscles for the massive journey

ahead of them back to Africa. They will go at any moment. It looks a

little flimsy, doesn't it? It does, I am amazed they all squeezed in.

Before they go, they need to feed up and get plenty of insects. If the

weather stays like this there should be plenty of insects around. But I

know a weather forecaster, so to find out the weather, let's go live

to Nick Miller. It is not just the humans enjoying

the weather but the birds and the insects and these guys, the midges.

They love it dry and warm and they come out of the water. This is

perfect for them. But of course the swallows will be waiting. They love

midges. The weather, not quite so perfect for the weekend. High

pressure has settled things out. A bit of rain across Northern Ireland

and Scotland tomorrow. For the weekend we bring a lot of cloud in

from East and much lower temperatures down the eastern side

of the UK. I am not saying since Springwatch has been at Minsmere the

team has created a lot of hot air. I would not be so rude. Let's call it

the Springwatch microclimate. You pack up and go home tomorrow and

look what happens to the temperature at the weekend. Much lower, but it

will come up again. The trend looking further ahead into June is

high-pressure to stay close by. Fairly settled weather. Reasonably

warm. It may turn more unsettled at the end of the month. If Springwatch

has inspired you to go out and explore the wildlife near you, I am

glad to say the weather is not going to get in your way.

It sounds fantastic, thank you very much indeed. A few days ago we asked

you to keep your eyes open for barn owls to help the barn owl Trust to

run a survey this summer. Getting contacts with us through the

website. Already, 1591 have done that and we have come up with a map

of your sightings. You can see that it follows the pattern that we

typically seen with barn owls. The highest densities are around here in

Suffolk and Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Left in Scotland.

Notable absences around Greater London and Birmingham. A great range

of sightings. Some came from the West Country inside old mines. Some

in water towers. One was spotted here, at the Hancox. The Vicar of

Diddley spotted one here, I am not sure we can trust that! You should

not drink and bird at the same time. We are pleased to see so many of you

joining and and putting in a better picture of where the barn owls.

There has not been a survey for ten years. It will continue running.

Join our website if you see a barn owl and let us know. Thank you for

everyone who did let us know. We get so excited by the numbers who

respond. Brilliant. Enjoyed barn owls on past Springwatch is. We have

not had one this time but we have been enjoying a tawny owl chicks. We

called it Grubby, because its mother kept feeding it these slugs and it

got a grubby face. It also got the slow worm it was having huge

difficulties in swallowing. As Chris kept saying, it was like a living

endoscope. There is another slug. It makes me laugh, his face. It is

like, I have had enough! We then saw Grubby trying to branch, which is a

semi-fledge. Not so successful there. Give it another go and falls

down. Watch this, a first attempt. It looks like it plummeted to the

ground, but it didn't, it branched, it went on a branch. We were

concerned about it because its face was absolutely covered in those

flies. We were all worried. It seemed to clean up a bit and look a

bit better and not looking too bad now. We had to find out one last

time how Rub was so we asked Mark Yates, the cameraman. He is about 12

metres up in the trees and his mum is never far away. She is in the

tree, close to him, keeping guard. Things are looking good for Grub.

There are still a lot of flies on him. That is typical, I remember

going to raptors's nests and they are covered in flies and it does not

do them any harm. I am pleased to see -- say that BRIC has -- that

Grub has risen like a Phoenix. There is one species that we like to set

our cameras out for so we can catch them live. Let's go live to the

badger cameras. It hasn't been a tremendous success,

the live badgers, during this series! That is not to say we

haven't enjoyed some remarkable badger behaviour. Down on the scrape

we saw the badgers feeding. Here, on our avocets, they had swum out to

the island and then this animal, backwards and forwards doing exactly

what any opportunistic omnivores like this would do. Finding all the

other nests. This is a black headed goal. Eventually, it cleared out all

the eggs, all the young, bar one of them. Then look at this, remarkable.

It is a badger doggy paddle. Obviously this was quite

distressing. We like the birds. But there is also the case we have

learned a lot about the badgers. Not just badgers in general but these

badgers, perhaps that one individual. The knowledge we have

will allow the RSPB to modify the way they look after this reserve and

hopefully protect those birds and at the same time cater for the badger.

It takes all sorts to make the ecology of the place go round. If

you were distressed by some of the pictures, think of the bigger

picture. A badger has to eat as well. Life goes on. We filmed the

scrape this morning. This is a week later and it seems like calm has

returned. These are shoveller checks. We were delighted to see

them. This is an avocet pair, giving it another go. They are having

another rip brood. -- another brood. They are laying an egg. Another

black headed gull is also nesting. Sometimes, animals give it another

go. The scrape has been full of drama for us but the greatest star,

the most magnificent of them all, has been, let's see.

In ten years of Springwatch we have had hopeful. We have had strong

contenders. We have had pushy parents. We are all about finding

talent, not -- but not just any talent. We have to find great

talent. The talent was fantastic. Unbelievable. But there was one

which clearly rose above all the rest. Yes. It is bittern has got

talent. This year we brought the auditions to Suffolk and we were not

disappointed. There was one outstanding act from the word go,

which caught everyone's attention. The bitterns. When we first saw our

burgeoning stars, they had a few, well, issues. One hadn't patched.

One died shortly later. And then mum decided to make a meal of the

situation. And waste not, want not, the eggs soon followed. But after a

shaky start the bitterns began to show their true talents. But which

talent was it that got the judges most excited? Was it the ability to

swallow giant fish? What about the wobble dams, as they learned to find

their feet? -- dance. Or how about swimming? I mean, a bird, swimming!

Fantastic! The bitterns were still keen to impress the judges,

continuing to display a variety of new talents. Only occasionally

checking to see that we were still watching. But the one talent that

had the judges on their feet was undoubtedly the room. -- boom. So

for the winners of Britain's got talent, 4150 -- for one final season

I give you the incredible boom of the beat thing dad. Bittern Booms.

Fantastic. Pass me the protective gloves for this. For one last time,

folks, we will be able to go live to the bitterns -- the bitterns. Just

make sure I don't damage my trousers, oh, yes, let's go live to

the bitterns now. Live to the bitterns! Oh, look at them,

hunkering down there. All joking aside, this has been an

extraordinary view of an extremely shy bird. We have been able to see

things that we probably have seen for the very first time. All that

regurgitation, the young, the Savic -- the semi-fledging coming back.

They have put on a show. To see a bird like this, where there are 11

booming males, in Minsmere, you all you see is them flying across the

reeds and dropping in. But we have dropped in with them and exposed

their secret life and it has been a joy. Bitterns have done it for us

but for some of you, the adders did it. Ross Jones says it is the

adders, their favourite, beautiful creatures, looking like they are

having great success this year. This is what we saw. It was extraordinary

behaviour to see. It was the predation of the Goldfinch. By the

adder. Amazing. Amazing stuff, superb. We saw a lot of adders when

we came up here moving around but we never thought we would see them

predating the birds. Typically they are emptying small mammals' nests,

perhaps the heat drove them into the bushes. Talk about variety. Adders

to bitterns. It has been absolutely amazing. We can see the avocets

before we go, fantastic birds. Look at this. These are the two that led

their chicks to safety before the badger came out there. This was

fantastic. We have had a brilliant time, I have to say. We would not

have had such a great time without the help of the RSPB staff here, who

have extended amazing hospitality and help. We would also like to

thank the other conservation agencies, our partners, particularly

people like the British Trust for Ornithology. Thank you very much

indeed. Don't go anywhere, immediately after this programme it

will be Unsprung, starring two of our greatest hits, Lloyd book and

Bram the Raven. We will be back later in the year for Autumnwatch

but until then, here are some highlights from this series. Here is

the best of Springwatch 2014. Bye-bye.

I just try and do the best I can for them while they're with me.

What's the hardest thing about being a foster parent?

You're constantly trying to build the elusive trust.