:00:00. > :00:10.It might be wet, but it's certainly wonderful. The RSPB's Minsmere
:00:11. > :00:13.reserve is bursting with life. Our spirits are up. We have only just
:00:14. > :00:20.begun and we are already getting to know our animal characters. From the
:00:21. > :00:25.feisty fox on the grassy plains, to the Audrey Hepburn of the bird
:00:26. > :00:32.world, the gorgeous avocet. Tonight, we are bringing you an
:00:33. > :00:37.ornothological enigma. What a bird! For me, it is tales of the
:00:38. > :00:44.unexpected. I'm going down to the reed bed to immerse myself in - it
:00:45. > :01:03.is wild, it is wet, it is Springwatch!
:01:04. > :01:10.Hello and welcome to Springwatch 2014. Programme two coming to you
:01:11. > :01:15.from the wonderful RSPB Minsmere reserve, not only one of the finest
:01:16. > :01:20.reserves in the country, but I dare to suggest one of the best nature
:01:21. > :01:24.reserves in the world. Why are we here? To uncover more of its secrets
:01:25. > :01:30.and surprises and a lot of new science, that is our mission. Let's
:01:31. > :01:34.look at the site. Here it is. 1,000 hectares of a specially-sculpted
:01:35. > :01:39.landscape. The RSPB have been working on it since 1947. It has got
:01:40. > :01:44.beach, dunes, all of that reed bed you can see there snaking away into
:01:45. > :01:49.the heart of Suffolk. Alongside it, woodland, grassland, it really is a
:01:50. > :01:54.tremendous place to be. Look, I'm not a bloke who minces his words.
:01:55. > :01:58.Can you take some advice? If you have any friends who are not
:01:59. > :02:02.watching this, tell them to turn over now! We have one of the most
:02:03. > :02:06.magnificent programmes coming up tonight. If the kids have gone to
:02:07. > :02:12.bed, get them up, drag them downstairs. We have stuff tonight
:02:13. > :02:16.that will burst your brain! It is an exciting and dynamic new location
:02:17. > :02:20.and it brings us a wonderful new cast of characters. What I love
:02:21. > :02:24.about Springwatch is we never know how the live dramas are going to
:02:25. > :02:28.unfold and which of those animal characters are going to be this
:02:29. > :02:33.series stars. We have already got a contender. It is from last night. It
:02:34. > :02:38.is our badger. Our climbing badger, that is doing a jolly good
:02:39. > :02:51.impression of a bear. This is really unusual behaviour. I would say that
:02:52. > :02:56.is Badger's Got Talent! I love it. I like the sound it is making. It's
:02:57. > :03:03.been a bit damp here today. Just a bit! It has been thrashing it down!
:03:04. > :03:09.Never mind. Never mind about us. What has that meant for our animals
:03:10. > :03:14.here? Well, here is the rain. Birds have got some defence. They have a
:03:15. > :03:18.preen gland and they can cover their feathers with oil. You can see how
:03:19. > :03:22.those droplets are sitting up on the avocet. The deer, they have guard
:03:23. > :03:29.hairs, they will be protected a little bit. The poor rabbit. Aww! It
:03:30. > :03:35.doesn't look like it's got any protection at all. It's soaked! Not
:03:36. > :03:42.a happy bunny! If you want to keep out the rain, you want to be inside,
:03:43. > :03:46.like those chicks. They will have to come out the next
:03:47. > :03:53.couple of days. They would be fools to fly out today! Who would be out
:03:54. > :03:57.in this? All this water, it is going down, draining down there to the
:03:58. > :04:03.reed beds. Down in those reed beds is arguably one of the most
:04:04. > :04:06.exciting, thrilling, thunderous birds that we have ever had on
:04:07. > :04:11.Springwatch. It is down there in the reed beds. I am going to go down
:04:12. > :04:16.there now and try to explore its watery world. Will you excuse me?
:04:17. > :04:21.Good luck! Now, he's gone, we might as well get cosy! Let's go straight
:04:22. > :04:26.in. You will know that one of the avocets' nests was in danger of
:04:27. > :04:32.being immersed. It had chosen a precarious spot in the middle of a
:04:33. > :04:42.rapidly-rising lagoon. Well, last night, parts of East Anglia had 2.
:04:43. > :04:45.-- 2.5 centimetres of water. Let's see what happened. It's just as
:04:46. > :04:50.predicted. The water continued to rise. It is quite interesting to see
:04:51. > :04:54.that the bird is doing what it has probably been doing for a few days,
:04:55. > :04:58.looking for more nest material to raise the level of the nest. They
:04:59. > :05:01.will do this if water comes up. A typical avocet nest is 2.5
:05:02. > :05:06.centimetres high. They will build them up to 15 centimetres if the
:05:07. > :05:10.material is available. But very sadly, by the look of it, the
:05:11. > :05:15.material wasn't available and now that those eggs are half immersed in
:05:16. > :05:19.water, they are chilled and the chances of her raising 2.4 children
:05:20. > :05:24.have gone! Shame. It is a shame. Real shame. What about our one now?
:05:25. > :05:30.We have another nest. Look at this one. This one has chosen a slightly
:05:31. > :05:35.higher nesting point. And it's about 15 or 20 centimetres up. This one
:05:36. > :05:38.will be secure. Both adults have been diligent today in the rain in
:05:39. > :05:43.terms of their incubation, not letting those eggs chill. As Martin
:05:44. > :05:50.was saying, you can see the effects of the preen gland, how waterproof
:05:51. > :05:54.this bird is. I'm looking at this, this could be a male. The only way
:05:55. > :05:59.of telling the difference between a male and female avocet is the length
:06:00. > :06:03.and curve of the bill. If they are not side by side, it can be
:06:04. > :06:08.difficult. That looks like a long, curvy bill. It looks like a better
:06:09. > :06:11.place to nest. Do you think the other pair were an inexperienced
:06:12. > :06:15.pair that chose the wrong location? They could be. When you looked at
:06:16. > :06:19.it, it was already surrounded by water so they had chosen the highest
:06:20. > :06:26.point. It might well be, as you suggest, they were inexperienced,
:06:27. > :06:31.not able to choose - they are quite territorial. You could be right. The
:06:32. > :06:36.rain has proved a challenge for some of our birds, but for some of our
:06:37. > :06:40.mammals, it's been a bonanza of food. Especially for one of our
:06:41. > :06:46.badgers. This is quite interesting. This is the first time we have seen
:06:47. > :06:51.a badger in the warren sett since we put our Springwatch cameras up. It
:06:52. > :06:57.is very wet. But that fur is thick, it is clearly foraging for food.
:06:58. > :07:03.What's interesting is what is the food? As we found out yesterday, the
:07:04. > :07:06.soil here is very sandy, which isn't good for earthworms, which is what
:07:07. > :07:12.you would expect the badger to be eating. The rain has certainly
:07:13. > :07:19.brought lots of food out. There's a mouse hopping by. Badgers will catch
:07:20. > :07:25.mice, so that could be on the menu. Frogs, a lot of them out in the
:07:26. > :07:32.rain. Also, a tasty snack for badgers. Newts. It is quite a rich
:07:33. > :07:38.diet that they have here. Those are all things that that badger might be
:07:39. > :07:42.enjoying. Yes, they can eat all sorts of things. If they can't get
:07:43. > :07:45.hold of those worms, that is. With the rain that we have had, that
:07:46. > :07:50.might be bringing the few worms that are here to the surface. They are
:07:51. > :07:54.not going to pass over a frog. It is not just the badgers that are
:07:55. > :08:02.enjoying a bounty of food. Out on the Minsmere grasslands, there is
:08:03. > :08:06.also a drama that's been going on. This is fascinating to watch. This
:08:07. > :08:12.is the waterhole which brings a lot of creatures down, especially some
:08:13. > :08:19.of the rabbits. Look at this. This is a fox. He's spotted something.
:08:20. > :08:22.Keep your eye on the left-hand side of the screen.
:08:23. > :08:33.You can see the rabbit. The fox trying to get it, run, rabbit, run!
:08:34. > :08:38.The rabbit gets away. The fox is using its eyes and ears. Now, it is
:08:39. > :08:45.following the scent of that rabbit down there. It can't see these
:08:46. > :08:49.rabbits through the gorse. It's got to be listening for them. Look at
:08:50. > :08:55.the ears going backwards and forwards. Then you can see it is
:08:56. > :08:59.looking around, where's the rabbit gone? Listening again. Look at the
:09:00. > :09:13.ears twitching. The nose sniffing. It was not going to give up. It was
:09:14. > :09:16.going to get its dinner. The cameraman watched that for 20
:09:17. > :09:23.minutes. Then it leapt in. Look what it has come out with. It caught the
:09:24. > :09:28.rabbit. Caught the rabbit. If you look closely, it's limping, which is
:09:29. > :09:33.hardly surprising... Jumping in-and-out of gorse bushes! One of
:09:34. > :09:41.those thorns has gone in its paw. Who knows, is it going to eat it?
:09:42. > :09:46.Well, that's a good question. Dog foxes will do that, too. I'm a bit
:09:47. > :09:51.worried now, it's got a thorn in its foot. The balance between predatory
:09:52. > :09:54.and prey is so fine that a limp might be enough to stop you from
:09:55. > :09:57.catching enough rabbits. That fox will have to chew that thorn out.
:09:58. > :10:03.Last night, at the end of the programme, I announced that today we
:10:04. > :10:09.were going to have a special species. It was a bit too much. I
:10:10. > :10:13.induced a birth in Birmingham and a dog started barking in Kent and
:10:14. > :10:18.hasn't stopped! I was tremendously excited about a bird that once you
:10:19. > :10:24.have seen it, it creeps into the dark heart of your soul, where it
:10:25. > :10:27.takes on a supernatural grip. I wanted to see this bird and so did
:10:28. > :10:31.Martin. It is a bird that you tend to hear before you see and you have
:10:32. > :10:33.to go to the right spot. So a month ago, we came to the right spot here
:10:34. > :10:54.at Minsmere. This is what we heard. An unbroken, soft blanket of reeds.
:10:55. > :10:58.Beautiful, isn't it? It is lovely. This is a hotspot for bitterns. At
:10:59. > :11:05.this time of year, they will come out on the edge of these pools and
:11:06. > :11:09.they come out of the reeds. You can see them there. This is a bittern.
:11:10. > :11:13.They are like that. You are not miserable enough. Hold on.
:11:14. > :11:24.They are like an old bloke in a filthy jacket out in the reeds, like
:11:25. > :11:30.they are choking on a biscuit or something like that! Chris isn't
:11:31. > :11:34.selling these birds, but they are near the top of most bird-watchers'
:11:35. > :11:46.wish-list. Why is that? It is because they are extraordinarily
:11:47. > :11:49.difficult to see. They mimic the vegetation and that makes them hard
:11:50. > :11:54.to spot. In fact, you are more likely to hear them because bitterns
:11:55. > :11:57.have an unmistakable call which for full effect is best heard an hour
:11:58. > :12:19.before sunrise. Chris? Chris? This is more like it.
:12:20. > :12:25.I feel like we have crept into the soft heart of Minsmere. The sound
:12:26. > :12:31.can travel three or four miles. That is the whole point of it being such
:12:32. > :12:34.a low frequency so it travels over a great distance in an open
:12:35. > :12:45.environment. They are the only sort of birds to make that sort of low
:12:46. > :12:48.sound. They do beef themselves up. They take on strength of the muscles
:12:49. > :13:21.in their throat. You can actually hear...
:13:22. > :13:25.Oh dear. We lost our pictures there. That was before we heard the full
:13:26. > :13:29.magic of the bitterns booming out here. Although they boom in early
:13:30. > :13:35.spring, we have been hearing them booming out here in the reed beds
:13:36. > :13:39.during the day. Now, what is that booming all about? We haven't
:13:40. > :13:47.explained that. It is the males and they are being territorial. They are
:13:48. > :13:53.very aggressive. What they are doing is, "Don't come anywhere near me,
:13:54. > :13:57.this is my territory!" They are also calling in the female. Although you
:13:58. > :14:01.can hear the male booming, the female booms, but very quietly. When
:14:02. > :14:10.she comes into the le's territory, she booms to say, "It is me!"
:14:11. > :14:13.Hearing them is not that difficult. Seeing them is a completely
:14:14. > :14:18.different ball game. How do you see a bittern? We came here as we were
:14:19. > :14:22.doing that film and we tried to see bitterns for an entire day. We
:14:23. > :14:28.didn't see anything at all. That's happened to me loads of time. --
:14:29. > :14:31.loads of times. We have got the RSPB to help us. They have been watching
:14:32. > :14:35.for weeks before we came here and they have been watching - what they
:14:36. > :14:42.do is they see a bittern flying in and if they see one flying in four
:14:43. > :14:49.times in 24 hours to the same place, then they know it's nesting.
:14:50. > :14:57.Way back, that was our dream, that we might be able to get a camera on
:14:58. > :15:01.a bittern nest. After the RSPB had told us where the nests were, our
:15:02. > :15:08.camera team went in and tried to creep in to get a camera on it. Did
:15:09. > :15:15.we manage it? Well, of course we did! Thanks to all those people, we
:15:16. > :15:25.can now go live for the first time to a bitterns nest. There it is. You
:15:26. > :15:31.It is pouring with rain, she will be protecting whatever it is
:15:32. > :15:36.underneath. Very cryptically coloured. When they stand up they
:15:37. > :15:40.look like a string of reeds standing up. She looks a little bit
:15:41. > :15:47.miserable. They are the most strange looking animals. I never thought I'd
:15:48. > :15:50.see life into a bitterns nest. We will find out later what is
:15:51. > :15:57.underneath, because we've been following her for some time. She's a
:15:58. > :16:10.little further away from me now. As soon as we got the cameras we
:16:11. > :16:16.started to follow the bittern. Let's have a closer look at one. As soon
:16:17. > :16:21.as we began to observe her, we noticed some strange things. Look in
:16:22. > :16:25.closely, she's got a rough on the back of her neck. Even Chris didn't
:16:26. > :16:26.know that they did that. We are starting to find out new things
:16:27. > :16:36.straightaway. When the bird has eyes up in the
:16:37. > :16:39.air, they can look past their peak. They hold their heads vertically in
:16:40. > :16:48.the air when they are hunting and then they plunge downwards. That is
:16:49. > :16:52.the nest. We are going to see a lot more of them during the programme.
:16:53. > :16:56.When you come back to me, I'm going to get out of the boat and into the
:16:57. > :17:01.reed bed. There's nothing like really getting to know your subject
:17:02. > :17:02.area. I'm going to try and out -- I and find out who and what is living
:17:03. > :17:18.in here, along with the bitterns. Fantastic! In the 1920s and 30s,
:17:19. > :17:22.people did look at bittern's nests. Then in the 1960s, a couple of
:17:23. > :17:26.Germans did the same. Since then, hardly anyone has had these sorts of
:17:27. > :17:30.views at all. The birds became so bred that the idea of putting a hide
:17:31. > :17:34.anywhere near there was too risky, we didn't want to disturb them. But
:17:35. > :17:38.now we can do that with our small, non-intrusive cameras. Let's see
:17:39. > :17:43.what has been going on, because it is a nest and it had four eggs. Here
:17:44. > :17:49.is the female turning those eggs to ensure they are evenly divided.
:17:50. > :17:59.After a few days, one of them has started to open. The chicks soon
:18:00. > :18:04.emerged. Still wet. You can see it through the reeds with those three
:18:05. > :18:07.other eggs. They are laid at two or three-day intervals, and she begins
:18:08. > :18:11.to integrate with the first egg. Which means they hatch very
:18:12. > :18:17.synchronously. It was about three days later that this second one
:18:18. > :18:24.started to open. Hello, hello, look at that! The next chick is on its
:18:25. > :18:28.way out. It seems to have got its head stuck in the egg. She is
:18:29. > :18:35.delicately trying to help it by removing the shell. It's like the
:18:36. > :18:40.other chick is also trying to help. I think she is begging for food. She
:18:41. > :18:44.is confusing the fact that the adult has her beak down, thinking she
:18:45. > :18:47.might be regurgitating for food. When chief finally stands up, we can
:18:48. > :18:58.see that there are chicks in the nest.
:18:59. > :19:05.They are different colours. The one at the back is very dark. We've no
:19:06. > :19:06.idea why that is. I've looked in all the books, all of the scientific
:19:07. > :19:14.papers. There's very little reference to
:19:15. > :19:18.what happens in a bittern's nests because they are so shy and
:19:19. > :19:22.secretive and they simply haven't been watched. We are going to be
:19:23. > :19:27.privileged to see things that have been seen by very few living humans
:19:28. > :19:31.ever. That is unique footage. People come from miles around just to get a
:19:32. > :19:35.tiny glimpse of them here. They certainly wouldn't get a shot like
:19:36. > :19:40.that. Let's have a look at how much those chicks have grown over the
:19:41. > :19:48.last few days. They started off as little fluff balls. They are not
:19:49. > :19:50.particularly attractive chicks! Gorgeously ugly. And this is them
:19:51. > :20:01.today. Look at that yawn! We are going to be seeing a lot more
:20:02. > :20:05.of them. In comes the parent to give them a feed. You can see the dark
:20:06. > :20:10.one on the right. We don't know whether that a male, female,
:20:11. > :20:13.different colour morph. We've no idea why that is. Rather like the
:20:14. > :20:19.other set, they are nesting quite close to the water and that nest is
:20:20. > :20:24.quite a skimpy structure. It's about that high off the water. It's made
:20:25. > :20:29.of reeds, which get sodden and sync. We are concerned with this rising
:20:30. > :20:33.water level. We are. We've managed to get footage like that because
:20:34. > :20:38.we've got cameras on those birds 24 hours a day. We've thrown a lot of
:20:39. > :20:41.technology at it as well as the expertise of our cameramen. But
:20:42. > :20:47.these days, getting footage like that isn't an exclusive thing. Lots
:20:48. > :20:50.of people have cameras, lots of people film wildlife. Just an hour
:20:51. > :20:55.and a half away from here in Essex is a man called Russell Savory, who
:20:56. > :20:56.is absolutely passionate about filming the wildlife around his
:20:57. > :21:10.rather unusual workshop. This is a great war aerodrome. The
:21:11. > :21:15.first reason I came here was for my workshop. I'm a motorsport engineer
:21:16. > :21:22.but it didn't take me very long to realise what a special place this
:21:23. > :21:27.was for wildlife. I'm exchanging the spanners and motor for wildlife. We
:21:28. > :21:34.have quite a few redundant buildings here, which is perfect habitat for
:21:35. > :21:39.the owls. Its high intensity agriculture around here and this is
:21:40. > :21:43.a fantastic oasis amongst it. Having a great passion for wildlife since
:21:44. > :21:49.about five, I incorporated that in the plans and vision for the site,
:21:50. > :21:53.really. I first realised there were water voles there when I was sitting
:21:54. > :21:55.on a bench with a cup of tea. You hear that little plop. I thought,
:21:56. > :22:10.wow, water vole! I always want a bit of a project for
:22:11. > :22:21.the year and this year it is the water vole.
:22:22. > :22:24.It's very interesting with the mini cameras and the perspective you can
:22:25. > :22:39.get with those. It looks like he's done the fastest
:22:40. > :22:46.50 metres possible, but the scale of that is only about ten feet. The
:22:47. > :22:48.reeds, the great trees and the bank, it looks like a cliff. I was blown
:22:49. > :22:56.away with the detail. What I've been doing lately is
:22:57. > :22:59.getting down on the ground and getting the eyelevel shot. It
:23:00. > :23:09.changes the photographs you get with that.
:23:10. > :23:12.I stayed perfectly still and the water vole comes out to a little
:23:13. > :23:26.island we've built for it. It's been great fun and quite
:23:27. > :23:29.enlightening. I just wanted to get really close in so you can see the
:23:30. > :23:38.feet, him gripping. It's that detail. Seeing the interaction
:23:39. > :23:42.between the water voles. Some of them completely ignore one another.
:23:43. > :23:45.They don't almost look at one another. Then occasionally, this
:23:46. > :23:52.time of year with mating and everything else, they almost have a
:23:53. > :23:58.bit of a fight on top of the reeds. It's been fascinating, absolutely
:23:59. > :24:01.fascinating. The more time you put in, the luckier you get. It is not
:24:02. > :24:06.instant gratification, that's for sure. The buzz that you get from
:24:07. > :24:09.having a look sure. The buzz that you get from
:24:10. > :24:20.whizzing through it to see what you get, it's almost like winning
:24:21. > :27:34.Quite right, because if the lapwings were nesting around the area at the
:27:35. > :27:36.lap dash that the marsh harrier might go for the chicks. This was
:27:37. > :27:46.filmed right here in Minsmere. Up comes a duck, has a go at it.
:27:47. > :27:53.Very sensible as well because it might well have taken those chicks.
:27:54. > :27:59.That is the marsh harrier. Marsh harriers Will Best, and they have a
:28:00. > :28:00.very fascinating way, the male feeds the female whilst she's sitting on
:28:01. > :28:15.the nest. Here is the male. The female will be nesting down in
:28:16. > :28:20.the reed beds. You can see the male has got to pray. I think that's a
:28:21. > :28:24.chick in his talons. He will fly back and forth above the nest site.
:28:25. > :28:36.He's trying to call up the female so she can take... Here she comes.
:28:37. > :28:40.She's got it now. She will go back down into the nest with that prayed
:28:41. > :28:50.to feed herself all the chicks. That's what's going on above the
:28:51. > :28:56.reeds. But let's move down a level now. I said I was going in, you
:28:57. > :29:01.didn't think I was going to but I am. Oh, that was a bit too far! If
:29:02. > :29:06.you get down to water level, you might imagine other things around.
:29:07. > :29:13.You could see maybe hanging on here a kingfisher. A kingfisher is a
:29:14. > :29:18.beautiful little bird. Just hanging on at the top. There it is.
:29:19. > :29:25.Every time I see a kingfisher it is a special day. Here is a heron
:29:26. > :29:29.feeding on the fish. There are loads of this year. There is a pair of
:29:30. > :29:31.authors here. We will meet them later in Springwatch. There's a
:29:32. > :29:39.female and a club that been following. These reed beds have got
:29:40. > :29:40.lots and lots of life. Let's go down another trophic level. I'm going to
:29:41. > :29:58.go out now a little bit further. Not too far! I can feel under my
:29:59. > :30:04.feet, it is all lovely and squishy. That is full of the baseline
:30:05. > :30:09.animals. Today, we have been filming some of the little things that are
:30:10. > :30:16.underneath my feet right now. We filmed these in our microworld. That
:30:17. > :30:21.is a baby newt. I have 13 of these in a tank at home. It is fascinating
:30:22. > :30:27.to watch them change into land-living creatures. That little
:30:28. > :30:32.newt would love to eat those as would this stickleback.
:30:33. > :30:40.Beautiful. Very small, very tiny. Relative to the size of the weed
:30:41. > :30:56.there. Here is a water boatman. These are the algae. The key to all
:30:57. > :31:01.this, of course, is these reeds here, and these can grow
:31:02. > :31:06.fantastically fast. How do they do it? Well, let me have a look round.
:31:07. > :31:16.There we go. You can see, here is the reed and here is the tuba that
:31:17. > :31:20.grows out from it. It sends up another shoot there. That will go on
:31:21. > :31:26.all year and you can get out five metres a year. It is a wonderful
:31:27. > :31:32.thing. This, you can eat. Smells rather lovely. I will take it back
:31:33. > :31:38.to Michaela and see if she is feeling a bit peckish! Looks
:31:39. > :31:41.tasty(!) I was told that Suffolk was drier than Jerusalem. All I can say
:31:42. > :31:45.is Jerusalem must be a very wet place! It seems like all the rain
:31:46. > :31:50.over the North Sea has been dumped on us in the last 24 hours. But, all
:31:51. > :31:54.this rain is good for the grass and what is good for the grass is
:31:55. > :31:58.certainly good for the rabbits. We have established that there are
:31:59. > :32:03.plenty of rabbits here. Particularly, at this time of the
:32:04. > :32:09.year. Why? Well, because they breed like, well th breed like rabbits! We
:32:10. > :32:13.don't normally get to see where they breed because they have their young
:32:14. > :32:20.underground in the warren. Not always. We have another first for
:32:21. > :32:26.you on Springwatch. We have a rather unusual above-ground rabbit nest in
:32:27. > :32:30.a rather surprising place. This is the Springwatch production village,
:32:31. > :32:34.the technical hub of Springwatch where all the edits happen. We have
:32:35. > :32:37.the outside broadcast truck, the production office - it is where we
:32:38. > :32:43.eat our meals! It is a hive of activity, so we were extremely
:32:44. > :32:48.surprised when this morning a little nest was found right in here. I
:32:49. > :32:51.think this could be the cutest nest we have ever had on Springwatch. If
:32:52. > :32:59.I lift this, you can see... Oh look. It's a rabbit nest. Oh my word. That
:33:00. > :33:15.is the cutest. Look at that. There's five, maybe. Very, very
:33:16. > :33:20.cute. They have still got their eyes closed. We reckon they are under
:33:21. > :33:25.eight-days-old. By ten days, those eyes will open, the ears will pop up
:33:26. > :33:31.a little bit. Really, really unusual to have a rabbit nest aboveground.
:33:32. > :33:35.We think that this is a subordinate female. She doesn't want to have her
:33:36. > :33:40.babies in the warren because older females may come and eat those
:33:41. > :33:44.babies. There will be a few different family groups, mothers and
:33:45. > :33:48.babies in the warren. The big danger here is that somebody will come
:33:49. > :33:52.along with their fork, put it in there and chuck it into the sweet
:33:53. > :33:55.pony behind, which is how they were found in the first place. That is
:33:56. > :33:59.what someone was just about to do this morning. They saw some
:34:00. > :34:04.movement, had a look and found that gorgeous nest. The mother hasn't
:34:05. > :34:07.been seen all day. That may be surprising but it is typical. What
:34:08. > :34:12.happens is the mother will come in, like a Formula One pit-stop, and
:34:13. > :34:19.just pump milk into them for just three minutes, so she will visit for
:34:20. > :34:23.three minutes a day. It is called absentee parenting. They obviously
:34:24. > :34:28.do alright on it. That is typical mother rabbit behaviour. What I'm
:34:29. > :34:32.going to do is make sure that our security guard keeps an eye on this,
:34:33. > :34:35.this mound of hay, makes sure that doesn't happen. Also, I will get the
:34:36. > :34:44.camera guys to put cameras here so we can watch the progress of these
:34:45. > :34:50.very cute cute kits over the next couple of weeks. That was a good
:34:51. > :34:55.find. First for Springwatch! And on the doorstep. Exactly. We put our
:34:56. > :35:01.cameras on that nest and this is what we got. Our nest-watchers had
:35:02. > :35:07.to watch very closely. That mother comes back for two minutes in 24
:35:08. > :35:14.hours. This was between 5.00am and 6.00am. She finds the nest. And lets
:35:15. > :35:19.them suckle very, very quickly. There's a reason why that is so
:35:20. > :35:29.short. Minimal visits means less chance of predators finding where
:35:30. > :35:33.the nest is. They are highly predated. It is unlikely many
:35:34. > :35:40.predators will come in. In one way, she's chosen a good spot. It is a
:35:41. > :35:44.pit-stop every morning. She comes in and pumps milk into these little
:35:45. > :35:52.kits. The milk that she puts into them is incredibly rich. It's got
:35:53. > :35:54.202 kilo calories of energy per 100 grammes, or four times as rich as
:35:55. > :36:04.cow's milk. Dolphins and fur seals have richer
:36:05. > :36:08.milk. The richness in terms of fat, protein and nutrition means that
:36:09. > :36:12.these things are putting on ten grammes a day. Their eyes will open
:36:13. > :36:18.after ten days. They will be out of that nest in 18 days. They will be
:36:19. > :36:23.weaned by 25. And I have to tell you, that within three months, that
:36:24. > :36:26.little, short-eared bunny with the white stripe on its head will be
:36:27. > :36:31.breeding itself. That is why there are so many out there. Hopefully, it
:36:32. > :36:37.will be breeding, but as we have been saying, the mortality rate is
:36:38. > :36:41.very, very high, about 75-92% of them will get to adulthood. We will
:36:42. > :36:44.be keeping a close watch on them and hopefully, the fact that they are
:36:45. > :36:49.breeding right by our production village, that might help them.
:36:50. > :36:56.Indeed. We pride ourselves on Springwatch by not editing anything,
:36:57. > :37:02.not censoring any of the things we see and record. Some of these can be
:37:03. > :37:09.quite harrowing to watch. This is a crow predating a rabbit. It is quite
:37:10. > :37:15.an unusual piece of behaviour. Crows feed on cereals. Taking live prey is
:37:16. > :37:18.quite uncommon. It is probably chosen this particular rabbit
:37:19. > :37:25.because it is a bit slower, maybe it was ill. Maybe it wasn't as good at
:37:26. > :37:29.looking around. It's got hold of it. The adult rabbit couldn't protect
:37:30. > :37:33.it. It's taken it out of the reach of that adult rabbit. I don't know
:37:34. > :37:38.what is going on here in terms of how the crows learn to feed on this.
:37:39. > :37:48.Maybe it's been feeding on roadside carrion and it's drawn an
:37:49. > :37:57.association between the two. And now it's perfected the art of predating
:37:58. > :38:05.fit, healthy, young rabbits. It finds it difficult to open them. But
:38:06. > :38:08.if you think that is rotten for the rabbit, remember the crow. It plays
:38:09. > :38:13.a valuable row in the ecology of this area and all across the UK and
:38:14. > :38:17.it's got to survive, too, so have its young. The fact that it could
:38:18. > :38:21.fly off with it, I found that astonishing. I know. It was carrying
:38:22. > :38:25.it. I don't think it will carry it up into a tree. It is going to get
:38:26. > :38:31.it out of the way of the other rabbits. A bit of an uncomfortable
:38:32. > :38:35.watch. If you want something less gruesome, let's go back to our live
:38:36. > :38:40.bluetits which are just behind us in a nestbox. Let's have a look at
:38:41. > :38:44.them. They are all surviving pretty well. If you have a look, one thing
:38:45. > :38:49.we noticed yesterday was the way that nest is, it means every time
:38:50. > :38:56.the adult comes in, it goes in the right-hand corner. There doesn't
:38:57. > :39:02.appear to be a runty chick. We were wondering what happens in between
:39:03. > :39:05.feeds? We did a little experiment. We filmed the adult coming in. You
:39:06. > :39:08.can see what sit doing. It is feeding the one at the front. Now,
:39:09. > :39:12.we have an arrow on that front chick. We have sped up this footage
:39:13. > :39:19.over three hours and look where that chick ends up. At the back and
:39:20. > :39:25.different ones at the front. It is like a bluetit merry-go-round. Yeah.
:39:26. > :39:29.Give me, give me. Sometimes they cycle to the right, they go
:39:30. > :39:42.clockwise and sometimes they go anticlockwise. Maybe it is something
:39:43. > :39:49.to do with the corialis effect! Do you believe that? I don't know. It
:39:50. > :39:55.was interesting to see not how much they have grown, but also something
:39:56. > :40:04.else. Have a look. This is them about five days ago, I think.
:40:05. > :40:07.Listen, and listen to the now. Totally different vocalisation.
:40:08. > :40:15.Yeah. You can see the change in size. But you can hear the change as
:40:16. > :40:20.well. I wonder how that influences how she chooses to feed them. I was
:40:21. > :40:28.reading today that sometimes they choose how to feed them by looking
:40:29. > :40:32.at the ultraviolet reflectants of their feathers. I had an e-mail from
:40:33. > :40:40.Patrick Barker, a farmer in Suffolk, he told me this year he had rung 12
:40:41. > :40:45.broods of ten bluetits. Hopefully, if these ones do fledge
:40:46. > :40:50.successfully, they will be adding to an increase in the population. Now,
:40:51. > :40:58.if you were watching yesterday, you will know that I went in pursuit of
:40:59. > :41:02.my namesake Chris the Cuckoo. Chris the cuckoo was marked three years
:41:03. > :41:07.ago and has been going backwards and forwards from Africa. We have found
:41:08. > :41:11.out that it went down to the Congo Basin, but before coming back to the
:41:12. > :41:20.UK, it took a dogleg into West Africa. We wanted to know why this
:41:21. > :41:23.was. So, I headed out there to find out and it was getting close to the
:41:24. > :41:25.time that the cuckoo's bleeper on that satellite transmitter was going
:41:26. > :41:36.to go off. While waiting for Chris the Cuckoo's
:41:37. > :41:45.tag to give us his current location, Chris and I turned to a more
:41:46. > :41:47.traditional technique. Chris has been trapping and ringing birds here
:41:48. > :41:58.for several years. But with nearly 500 species resident
:41:59. > :42:05.here, it is not long before I get my hands on one of the locals. I'm sure
:42:06. > :42:11.you are going to enjoy this. This is a pygmy kingfisher. It is a very
:42:12. > :42:17.brightly-coloured bird. But it's called a kingfisher. It doesn't
:42:18. > :42:24.catch any fish. It's a small, woodland bird. I've got a pygmy
:42:25. > :42:30.kingfisher. So have I! The next bird we catch may not be a cuckoo, but
:42:31. > :42:36.their lives are inextricably linked. Chris, we have a reed warbler. They
:42:37. > :42:41.are nice, aren't they? Potentially, that is a British bird, isn't it? It
:42:42. > :42:45.could be. Of course, a host of the cuckoo. Yeah, absolutely. One of the
:42:46. > :42:52.favoured hosts, particularly in the UK. Better stick a ring on that
:42:53. > :42:56.bird. This bird has got no fat on it. By the time this bird is ready
:42:57. > :43:07.to migrate, the whole of that area will be a pad of nobbly fat. You can
:43:08. > :43:16.feel it is pretty flat across the sternum. That is good. On location
:43:17. > :43:21.here, so good luck. Let's let him go. It turns out that we are not the
:43:22. > :43:27.only ones on the look out for birds. Good morning, Sir. I see you are
:43:28. > :43:34.armed. You have your catapult? Yes. To kill? Birds. To kill birds? What
:43:35. > :43:42.sort of birds? Any birds. Small? Big? Have you seen these birds? Yes.
:43:43. > :43:46.Within this year, he's seen one on the tree. Right. What I would like
:43:47. > :43:49.to do, I'm going to put this over there on the path and I want to see
:43:50. > :43:54.how accurate he is with his catapult. That is a cuckoo. That was
:43:55. > :44:09.about the third shot. The cuckoo is one of our fastest
:44:10. > :44:13.disappearing migrants. Until recently, it was easy to blame
:44:14. > :44:21.changing conditions at home. But now we are realising that they face
:44:22. > :44:25.threats in Africa as well. Armed with the latest data from Chris'
:44:26. > :44:29.Taube, we can visit his last known location, and this should give us
:44:30. > :44:35.precise insight into what these threats are. He was probably
:44:36. > :44:41.roosting in one of these trees. The thing is, this area... I'd say it
:44:42. > :44:45.was badly damaged. It is burnt on a regular basis, most of the large
:44:46. > :44:49.trees have been taken out, but Chris the cuckoo has been coming back
:44:50. > :44:53.here, so it still got to offer something to these birds. I would
:44:54. > :44:56.imagine this is better than the surrounding area but it's not as
:44:57. > :45:01.good as pristine habitat would have been. It really drives on the
:45:02. > :45:11.problems these migrants face. Forests once covered a third of
:45:12. > :45:18.Ghana. Today, less than 10% of that remains. And this will have
:45:19. > :45:26.devastating consequences, both for native and, of course, migrating
:45:27. > :45:32.species. Chris the cuckoo's target is soon due to come off and I feel
:45:33. > :45:38.so tantalisingly close. You can see red lines, the most recent
:45:39. > :45:44.movements. Dots where the birds are. You can see we've got one, two,
:45:45. > :45:49.three, four, five birds all in the Ivory Coast. They've overflown
:45:50. > :45:54.Ghana. Most importantly, here in the middle, that is Chris and that is
:45:55. > :45:59.us. We are not too far from that trace. We need to make sure we are
:46:00. > :46:03.as close to it as possible. It's due to come on 4am tomorrow. Then we
:46:04. > :46:05.know where to go and hopefully he's still in the same area. For clock,
:46:06. > :46:20.then. Or coups have been declining here,
:46:21. > :46:23.and it would be easy just to blame changes here. It just goes to show
:46:24. > :46:30.you've got to look at the bigger picture. These birds only spend six
:46:31. > :46:32.weeks in the UK. We'd much modified our landscape, intensification of
:46:33. > :46:36.agriculture is undoubtedly a problem. But when you go to garner
:46:37. > :46:40.you can see the landscape there has been much modified. It had been
:46:41. > :46:45.rainforest but most of it has gone. People out there are eating cuckoos.
:46:46. > :46:48.They are killing the wildlife but they are eating it. It's very easy
:46:49. > :46:52.to have an armchair perspective, to sit down here and think that is a
:46:53. > :46:56.terrible thing to do. But they are not killing them for sport or fun,
:46:57. > :47:00.they are killing them because they are hungry. The population of Ghana
:47:01. > :47:04.has increased fourfold since 1960. You've got to keep this in
:47:05. > :47:07.perspective. If you want to conserve these species, you have to
:47:08. > :47:15.understand the needs and requirements of other cultures,
:47:16. > :47:18.human cultures. Wise words. Can I show you this extraordinary thing? I
:47:19. > :47:22.had no idea that it really did that. Isn't that a dream example of what
:47:23. > :47:31.actually happens? You can literally see it growing out will stop This is
:47:32. > :47:38.the growth point. Tasty, wouldn't you say? I did think you'd brought
:47:39. > :47:44.me my dinner! I don't know if you can eat it, be careful. Yes, you can
:47:45. > :47:50.eat it. It's not so bad. It's quite tender. It's like very well
:47:51. > :47:58.cooked... Asparagus. It's rather good. Every year in early spring,
:47:59. > :48:02.regular as clockwork, a magical bird turns up in my garden. It pinches
:48:03. > :48:09.all the little shoots of my apple tree, unfortunately, but it's worth
:48:10. > :48:16.it because it's a vision of Sir Rhys, grey, black and white. It is a
:48:17. > :48:20.bullfinch. We have got, for the first time on Springwatch, a live
:48:21. > :48:26.camera on a bullfinch nest. There it is, it's very damp. That's a female.
:48:27. > :48:36.What a thing to see. She's sitting there on eggs. No, she is on chicks,
:48:37. > :48:41.I think. She's keeping them nice and dry. We've been filming this nest
:48:42. > :48:46.for quite a while. We can actually see the male now as well. Let's have
:48:47. > :48:59.a look at how it works. He is so handsome! There are the chicks. What
:49:00. > :49:06.will he be ceding -- feeding them? Seeds and insects. He is placing
:49:07. > :49:10.them very neatly into the chicks. They have two storage sacks which
:49:11. > :49:14.they have evolved, different than other finches, in the face of their
:49:15. > :49:18.mouth. Probably because they have to fly further from the nest to find
:49:19. > :49:21.the food, it occurs at quite low densities. He's been passing it to
:49:22. > :49:27.the female and she's been feeding it to them at the same time. What a
:49:28. > :49:31.treat. We'll be giving an eye on those. Did you see how many thorns
:49:32. > :49:35.were in there? Credit has to be given to the cameraman who got the
:49:36. > :49:40.remote cameras in there, he is covered in scratches! I think our
:49:41. > :49:46.blue tits are going to fledge, but don't worry because I've got some
:49:47. > :49:52.quirky tits for you. These are in the reserve as well. This is what I
:49:53. > :49:58.like to call the Deer Hunter nest. And nice little spot that blue tit
:49:59. > :50:04.has found. This is the top gear nest. Or it should be called the
:50:05. > :50:10.rusty gear nest -- nest. Where is that blue tit going to nest? It's
:50:11. > :50:15.found a nice, clean hole to put its nest in. This is the quirkiest one,
:50:16. > :50:20.though. Look where those people are walking past, a comb. Look where the
:50:21. > :50:24.blue tit goes, right into the cold. I was running past that: The other
:50:25. > :50:29.day. The nest is right at the bottom of it. It's extraordinary. What I'm
:50:30. > :50:34.really concerned about is how are they going to get out of the nest
:50:35. > :50:38.when they fledge? I know, it's just a very narrow, slippery comb. But
:50:39. > :50:43.occasionally the wind blows, a branch breaks off and it twists in
:50:44. > :50:49.that wind and those in the top and all the little tits can climb out
:50:50. > :50:53.and escape. Over the years, you've sent us lots of wonderful pictures
:50:54. > :51:04.and videos of quirky nest. If you find any more, please let us know.
:51:05. > :51:10.We hear a lot about habitats in decline but there is one on the
:51:11. > :51:16.increase. Occupying now an area the size of Oxfordshire on our gardens.
:51:17. > :51:20.More than all of the National nature reserves put together. An incredibly
:51:21. > :51:24.important resource for wildlife. We invited the grand daddy of
:51:25. > :51:26.Springwatch, B1 and the only Mr Bill Oddie, to come back and celebrate
:51:27. > :51:42.our garden wildlife. Ten years! Ten years! I feel a
:51:43. > :51:48.flashback coming on. It is eight o'clock, it's Bank Holiday Monday,
:51:49. > :51:54.you know what it means, it's Springwatch time! And what a truly
:51:55. > :52:00.glistening evening. It's too small for fox, it's too big for weasel.
:52:01. > :52:08.It's old stoped. Just as if it were yesterday. Draw up the deck chair,
:52:09. > :52:15.grab an ice cream because it's Springwatch! Actually, that bit was
:52:16. > :52:19.yesterday. Of course, quite a bit has changed over ten years, people
:52:20. > :52:24.have changed, technology is changing an awful lot. But what about the
:52:25. > :52:28.wildlife? In fact, it's not easy to judge whether wildlife is doing well
:52:29. > :52:35.or badly except in one place, and that is the garden. And the reason
:52:36. > :52:41.we know so much about what's going on in our gardens is quite simple.
:52:42. > :52:45.You tell us. Ever since we started, you have been joining in with our
:52:46. > :52:49.surveys, sending us photos, telling us where our garden life is
:52:50. > :52:55.flourishing or where its dwindling. And one of the things that has been
:52:56. > :53:01.said so often over the past few years is, well, I haven't seen a
:53:02. > :53:12.hedgehog for ages. I'm afraid I've had to respond by saying, neither
:53:13. > :53:19.have I. Unfortunately, Nationwide we have lost around 35% of our
:53:20. > :53:25.hedgehogs in the last ten years. One of the major problems without doubt
:53:26. > :53:31.is habitat loss in the countryside. So this means that our gardens are
:53:32. > :53:38.absolutely vital refuges for species like hedgehogs. But it is, I was
:53:39. > :53:46.going to say a worry, but it's rather sad, isn't it? And here is
:53:47. > :53:52.another one. Only a few years ago if I walked down my garden in late
:53:53. > :53:57.February, early March, there would be frogs jumping up all over the
:53:58. > :54:00.place. Diving into my pond and doing all that stuff. But the last couple
:54:01. > :54:10.of years they just haven't been there. Frogs have really suffered in
:54:11. > :54:15.the last decade. In fact, the decline is something like 81% in the
:54:16. > :54:19.south-east of England. The problem is our lack of habitat and also a
:54:20. > :54:25.deadly virus spreading across the country. So, as they said years ago
:54:26. > :54:33.about bats, now it's frogs that need friends. I think probably most of
:54:34. > :54:37.you are aware how the birds in your garden are doing. The truth of the
:54:38. > :54:42.matter is most of the species we've featured on Springwatch haven't been
:54:43. > :54:52.doing too badly at all, which is a great tribute to yourselves. Blue
:54:53. > :54:58.tits, great tips, robins, wrens, thrushes, they've all been on
:54:59. > :55:01.Springwatch and I'm sure they are grateful for the publicity and also
:55:02. > :55:06.grateful to you lot for putting out the food for them. And another big
:55:07. > :55:11.bonus in the form of a little bird called the Goldfinch, with a bright
:55:12. > :55:16.red face and flashing gold on the swings, that has gone leaping up the
:55:17. > :55:19.league table of garden birds from 14 up to number seven in the last ten
:55:20. > :55:28.years. And I hereby predict it may go higher.
:55:29. > :55:33.I'd say ten years ago I didn't very often see a fox in my garden but
:55:34. > :55:41.nowadays I see them pretty frequently. Maybe they just prefer
:55:42. > :55:49.the fast-food in the rubbish bags and tips and so on and so forth. And
:55:50. > :55:57.be honest, they love having a den under the shed in the garden. I do
:55:58. > :56:03.know people who regard urban foxes as pests but to me, if I had a fox
:56:04. > :56:11.at the bottom of my garden, it would be a privilege. There are some going
:56:12. > :56:17.up, some going down and quite a number staying more or less as they
:56:18. > :56:23.are. The fact that so many gardens are wildlife friendly is without any
:56:24. > :56:29.doubt whatsoever up to yourselves. It is a challenge, it's a
:56:30. > :56:34.responsibility but it is also a joy. I think this one could do with a
:56:35. > :56:36.nice pond, maybe a rockery over there and a woodpile. On the other
:56:37. > :56:46.hand, it's very nice as it is. The British birding legend that is
:56:47. > :56:51.Bill Oddie. It's great to have him back and he'll be back again next
:56:52. > :56:57.week. When it comes to quirky tits, nothing beats the Scandinavians.
:56:58. > :57:01.This will be coming up in Unsprung shortly after the programme. If
:57:02. > :57:11.you've got one of these at the bottom of your remote, press it to
:57:12. > :57:17.join Nick Baker, who will be on immediately after this. Tomorrow we
:57:18. > :57:20.will be on live again at 8pm. We've got an extra ten minutes of
:57:21. > :57:25.Springwatch tomorrow, and I didn't get wet enough today so I'm going
:57:26. > :57:28.out to the sea. Tomorrow, we have got the interesting mating habits of
:57:29. > :57:35.this extraordinary looking creature, the cuttlefish. I'll be
:57:36. > :57:39.finding out more about those cuckoos and Iolo Williams, who hasn't been
:57:40. > :57:42.with us today because he's been busy out looking for these things, will
:57:43. > :57:47.be looking at Scottish otters tomorrow. Gal will be keeping you up
:57:48. > :57:52.to date with our live cameras, particularly our avocet. Hopefully
:57:53. > :57:57.it won't be in trouble with the weather. We will be watching our
:57:58. > :58:00.blue tits. I think they will go maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after,
:58:01. > :58:05.maybe they will stay in because of the rain. For about the last five
:58:06. > :58:08.minutes in my ear I've been hearing from the cameramen from our gallery
:58:09. > :58:14.that the water is coming up very rapidly under the bitterns. It's
:58:15. > :58:22.probably quite dark, but beneath that the water level is coming up.
:58:23. > :58:26.This is a tiny, fragile nest that is precariously balanced there. It's
:58:27. > :58:30.the best nest we've got here. So whatever happens, join us tomorrow
:58:31. > :58:35.or 7am when it will be live! Goodbye!