Episode 4 Springwatch

Well, it's the end of week one, but there's been no shortage of dramas

on Springwatch. On tonight's show, we take a close look at the

extraordinary life of a fascinating insect, one that probably goes

unnoticed if your gardens. And we have been out and about in the wilds

of Scotland looking at this wonderful animal. From beavers to

bitterns, barn owls to wildfowls, it's Springwatch!

Hello and welcome to Springwatch 2014, the last programme of our

first week here at the RSPB Minsmere reserve on the coast of Suffolk. We

have had a fantastic week, lots of drama and exciting species. But then

this is a fabulous reserve. It's a thousand hectares of a mix of

habitats. We have got reed beds, open water this lakes, woodland,

medium sized carnivores, a beach, the sea, elegant species like

avocets and we've got oystercatchers.

We have been trying to get to know some of the mammals. They have been

proving a little elieus i. But last night, we saw this. This is one of

our badgers. It's difficult to tell the difference between a male and a

female, a sow and a bore. We think this is a female. She's got a rather

narrow face, elongated body, long tail. But we are trying to find out

who is living in which set. That is what we are going to try and find

outful we'll keep looking at them next week. In the past, people used

to think that badgers lived in a very hire actual society. The top

bore and the top sow and lots of underles. But that's all beginning

to change -- juling underlings. Back if February, we saw something

peculiar. That's a female badger underneath and that's two other

female badgers trying to get to know her very, very well indeed. Badger

society is a bit more fluid than people began to think. They are more

than just good friends. They are, yes. It's fair to say they are into

the swinging thing because we have discovered that 5 4% that isn't part

of the social group, some other badger clans will come into the

territory and mate with the females. February is the time they mate. As

soon as the badgers have given birth, the females come into season

and then they can do what they do. Sometimes badgers take a year or two

years to come into sexual maturity. The big story yesterday was a

dramatic one, about the rabbit nest. We had five kids in the nest and we

are now down to just these two. One was taken by a Jackdaw and two were

taken by a magistrate pyre. Now, did those two survive? The drama

continues and there was another attack, but it's not a completely

predictable ending and we'll update you with that later on. We have had

a fantastic nest for you this week, we really have. We have been excited

because we have been delving our noses into the nest of a bittern.

Let's go live to it now. Here it is. The light is falling and the young

are sleeping. There were two young bitterns in this nest and the behave

you that've seen has been quite extraordinary. Yesterday it was

something straight out of League of Gentlemen, they were cannibalising

one another. Something we have never seen before. Now a bit of wing

exercising here. At least another 0 days before they fly, but you can

see their feathers beginning to grow, you can see the Spikey bits

there. Just hike her, at that stage,

they'll blend into the reeds. The big question is, are the bitterns

doing it for you? The bitterns this week have really done it for me!

From bitterns to blue tits and we have been poised on the edge of our

nest boxes waiting for the blue tits to fledge. Have they fledged? Let's

have a look at the nest box live. No, they haven't.

They very, very nearly have. Just before the show I thought one was

going to two, it was right up at that nest box hole. Look! I mean,

these chicks have been ready the go for a couple of days and we thought

it was the weather keeping them in box. We have only had a bit of rain

so it's surprising they haven't gone. Don't speak too soon. They are

leaning out of the hole. I think there's a jolly good chance that

within the next hour, we could see a live fledging.

within the next hour, we could see a on Springwatch, it could happen

again. They did it before, didn't they? Look at what they've been

doing. They have been doing this all day, all day we have thought, they

are going, no they are not, oh they are, no they are not. Look at this

one poking its head out. They keep They come half way out, have a

little look outdoors. The poor parents have still got to come in

and feed this lot. There's nine of them in there! They are getting

pretty big. If they stay in any longer they won't be able to get out

that hole. I wonder what is the trigger to go, feeding weight from

the parents, overcrowding from the sibling, temperature outside, you

There must be something that finally triggers them to lead. There's a lot

of kids like that though, isn't there, like you are 29 now, isn't it

about time you left! there, like you are 29 now, isn't it

We have had our cameras on the blue there, like you are 29 now, isn't it

tits nest for so long, we have noticed something very curious.

Right down in amongst them. Watch that parent. What is she doing,

digging around in that nest? She's looking for parasites. The nest has

been there for a long time and it gets thick with parasites. Watch

there, that's a Neal, what is she going to do? She picks it up, does

she eat it? No, she leaves the nest with I. That happened quite

frequently. She's gone down, burrowed around in the nest, there

she goes again. Out she goes. Those nests, having the mites, fleas, they

time their life psyche toll the life of the nest so the flea in the nest

will hatch out and the really clever thing is that the flea will lay

eggs, they'll pupate to pupae then hatch out when spring come and wait

for a new batch of chicks. If no chicks come into the nest, the adult

fleas will grow and climb up around the entrance hole of the nest and

they'll just hang around there. If a single bird comes along and pokes

its head in to have a look single bird comes along and pokes

they'll be on it bite. You have got to admire parasites, remarkable

animals. People often to admire parasites, remarkable

question, should we clean our nest boxes out and by that information I

guess the answer is yes, you should. Not just that information.

Scientists have looked at a come pore son between a parasite load of

natural tree hole and that of nest poxes. Nest box are better made

drier repositories for nests to be based in -- comparison.

I think for the first time emphatically, you have heard it here

on Springwatch, it's a better idea to clean out your nest boxes at the

end of the season when the birds have foreigned. We've also found

that certain species like fly catchers are more likely to choose a

nest box which has had the old nest removed. Oneother thing. Nest boxes

which are south facing warm up more and this increases the number of

parasites in this. It seems that grey tits can predict this and

they'll avoid nest boxes which are in south-facing positions. So clean

out your nest, if you've got one in there and move your nest box away

from a south-facing location, otherwise you won't gate any grey

tits. Clean it out after the chicks have gone. Obviously. That's wise.

We don't know when the blue tits with going to fledge. We'll keep our

eye on them. If they do it in the next hour, we will show it to you.

They could go tomorrow when we are not on air or over the weekend, so

keep an eye on the webcams which are on the red button and online as

well. If you have been watching, you will

know that me along with Dr Chris of the ornithology institution have

been tagging a bird that disappeared to Africa which is where we went too

to try and find it. We missed it. It nipped over to the border in the

Ivory Coast and we were stood there waving our pass pores not allowed

in. Chris left the Ivory Coast and maid it back to the UK -- passports.

-- mad it back into the UK. We couldn't resist the opportunity to

find him one more time. Chris and I and cuckoo spotter from the BDO. We

have got special permission to use a cacophony of cuckoo mating calls in

the hope that we can draw in Chris. We know the bird has been

transmitting from here and we are going to call it using the gadget

here. I'm think we should do it in the open. If we do it in the woods,

we are not going to see it. I think you are right. OK.

CUCKism OO -- CUCKOO SOUND. After ten minutes, a male cuckoo

comes to investigate and it's flying straight at us.

Going back in. No tag though. This is not Chris, but it's a great view

of a cuckoo. Then another male cuckoo arrives on

the scene. This is chassic territorial

behaviour -- classic. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

But, neither of them had a transmitter. Neither were Chris.

It's so frustrating. We thought we'd try our luck just

one last time. This is as good a place as any.

Let's pump up the volume. CUCKOO SOUNDS.

Then, just as we are about to give up hope...

Last willow at the end. Got it, got it!

Yes, yes, yes, that's definitely it! I just saw it.

There he is, about 100 metres away. I can distinctly see the antennae

which means that this is the famous Chris the cuckoo.

Oh, I can't tell you, it's like the grail, this little bird has

travelled thousands of miles. We are finally in its presence.

I can't tell you! Oh, when you think about it, Chris,

we were just so close in Ghana, so close at the Ivory Coast border.

Yes. So close this morning. It's just sat up there as well giving us

a fantastic view. When he turns, you can see the little bit of wire,

can't you? He's off, he's off. What a fantastic achievement. All

that way to finally see Chris the cuckoo, absolutely astonishing. Even

more meI've been following the journey. To see Chris in the flesh

like that, absolutely brilliant. Actually, we checked this morning

and he's about 43 miles from where I'm standing right now in that

direction. But Chris is not going to stay here

much longer. He arrived here on April and Th he'll only stay here

for six to eight weeks. Two years ago, he left on the 11th

June. So he may leave this country while we are still on air.

Of course, you can follow Chris, if you want to, and all the other

cuckoos that the BTO have tagged on your computer as they head back that

5,000 mile journey to Africa. Log on and follow them and all the links

are on our website. Hang on a minute, why has Chris come

here? In the last 25 years, we've lost about half of our cuckoos. You

probably have noticed that. I just don't hear them cuckoo any more. The

trouble is, intensive agriculture is not good for cuckoos, but here at

Minsmere, it's great for them. Why is that? Because there's food here.

What they are after is caterpillars. What they like is hairy

caterpillars, some of the most socksic ones, ones that other birds

may not take. See that hairy caterpillar, a cuckoo could eat

that. They try to knock off the hairs and swallow the caterpillar

but even then if they swallow the hairs they cough them up. Many of

the caterpillars are poisonous. One of them, the Woolly Bear creates its

own poison but adds it by getting it from foxgloves. I have one, believe

it or not, in my pocket! I have a Woolly Bear. You can see it...

it or not, in my pocket! I have a on. Excuse me! There we go. Can you

see that? He is covered in the hairs. Most caterpillars look hairy,

they will not do you harm but a few are very irritating. If I tap him on

the nose, no, he does like me! Often they curl up into a ball, making it

very hard for a cuckoo to swallow. Isn't that a beautiful looking

thing? That will turn into a lovely, lovely moth one day. That is one of

the caterpillars that cuckoos like to eat. There are others too, there

is one called a Drinker caterpillar. A drinker Moth. The caterpillar

drinks the due off the grass in the morning it is a mystery why it does

that. You would think it gets the fluid from the grass it eats. But

sure enough, if you see one of these, you will see it drinking the

due in the morning. Gorgeous. So, that is what they are here for,

food. But they are also here for something else.

Chris, come and tell me something else.

isn't that gorgeous, what else are they here for? There

isn't that gorgeous, what else are better than the feel of a sticky

isn't that gorgeous, what else are right, they come

isn't that gorgeous, what else are also to breed. They are parasites.

isn't that gorgeous, what else are eggs in a nest. They choose a range

of nests, eggs in a nest. They choose a range

reed washlers. Well, we found a reed warbler nest up the road from here

with a cuckoo's egg in it. Look at this... There on the left it is

slightly larger. But a remarkable match in terms of its colouring.

What the scientists have found is that those species of birds which

are aggressive to cuckoos, like reed warblers, if they see a cuckoo, they

go berserk for it, in that instance, the female cuckoos go the

go berserk for it, in that instance, it comes to producing an egg to

match the host's species. Well we found the egg. Of course, we wanted

to see it hatch. The cameraman went there. He waited all day but look

what happened in the morning if you look down between the reed warblers

there, it is the chick. It is the cuckoo chick. It hatched first.

Female cuckoos hold the eggs in the overduct for a day longer than

normal. So preincubating them. So when they are in the host' species

nest they hatch first and there is a good reason for this.

There it is... You can see the youngster in there with the eggs.

He is not exactly a looker, is he? You say that but it will turn into a

splendid bird in the end, isn't it? So we have seen the bird in the

nest. We then wanted to see what happens next. That is that the

cuckoo ejects the eggs or the young. So our cameraman waited all day. It

got dark. Guess what happened? He went home. In the morning he

returned to find this... Just the cuckoo chick in the nest. So at some

stage in the night it managed to push all of the reed warbler's eggs

out of the nest. And if you look around you can see that this, down

in the water, there they are, that is the discarded eggs of the reed

warbler. They are tossed out. The benefit is simple. There were five

or six eggs, the female cuckoo would have laid one. Now that one chick

gets all of the food that would have been spread amongst the brood.

Extraordinary evolution. But the question is how does the cuckoo

chick get the reed warbler eggs out of the nest? We have missed that one

this time but it has been filmed before. We can see it here.

There is the cuckoo chick with the ridge on its back to catch on the

host' eggs. It is a bit cruel. Not cruel, that is the wrong word...

Remarkable! Look at that! There it goes. The instinct to know how to

get into the right position, get thing ares on the back and climb up

using your wings. Sometimes they slip, tumble, it takes some time to

get the eggs out. Of course we are going back to the nest to watch the

progress as the chick grows into, hopefully, an adult cuckoo, you

never know it could get a tag and go to and fro Africa. If you were

watching last night, you will know that our fabulous Lolo was watching

the otter. Tonight he is in pursuit of another. A species not seen here

in the wild for 400 years but now stands a chance of coming back.

For the past few years on Springwatch! We have been following

the story of the Scottish beaver trail. This weekend the trial comes

to an end. We have come back to find out how the beavers have been

getting on. Exactly five years ago four beaver families were

transported from Norway and released into the llochs of Napdale. Beavers

fell trees and build damns, this means that they can alter the

landscape. People are not always keen for them to stay. But we wanted

to bring you the life of the beaver but it has not all gone according to

plan. Filming beavers take patience and persistence. We staked out a

beaver lodge for five nights in a row.

But apart from a couple of brief distant glimpses, we have not had

great success. The truth is, you don't get much

sense of the world of these wonderful animals from above the

surface. We are going to try a different

approach. Now beavers do spend time on land. They fell trees for

construction and food. But they much prefer life under water. That's

where I'm going. It is mid-morning. I have scanned

the lake and there are no beavers about. It is a perfect moment for

cameraman Mark, and for me, to don the snorkel and fins and explore

their watery world without disturbing them.

This is the beaver lodge. There is a family of beaver in there right now.

I have to tell you it is like an iceburg. You think it looks big from

up here, you swim down it is massive. There must be about a

tonne-and-a-half of wood in there. They are amazing engineers. There is

an entrance on this is side and another on the far side over there.

They have entrances under the water for a variety of reasons, one is

predators. If you think in Canada, northern Europe they have wolves,

bears, both of which hunt beaver. So if they come out under the water

they are safe. In the northern areas it can freeze. There could be a

metre of ice. It does not matter to them, the entrances are about a

metre-and-a-half under the water. They can get out and freeze. Even if

it freezes for six months it is fantastic. The first time I have

ever been under the water to see a beaver hut. What an experience.

But we wanted to go one step further.

With the help of the beaver trial team we decided to stake out the

lodge with underwater cameras. For five nights we put cameras,

around the lodge we saw a lot of fish... Eels... A happy of mud and

not much else! Here we came closer but we had staked out the wrong

exit! Finally, we got our shot. We found a beaver leafing the lodge for

a night of foraging. You can see how well adapted they are to an

underwater life. The silver colour comes from a layer of air trapped by

the fur. It acts as insulation. The massive tail powering the steamlined

body through the water. -- streamlined body through the

water. How fantastic was that? Next weekend

is the end of the five-year reintroduction project. Next I will

be catching up with the scientists who followed the animals and doing a

bit of research ourselves and discovering what the future holds

for the Scottish beaver. Well, it is amazing to just get that

tiny glimpse of the beavers underwater world. Now you may wonder

where I am. I am at our production village, which is where the

production and technical team are based and near the location of a

couple of our nests. This is the closest one. The pile of straw here

is our rabbit's nest it provided us with a lot of drama. I know that the

predation of three of the kits was a tough watch. Well the #2kr578a

continues, so I am just warning you. This is what happened yesterday. --

well the drama continues, so I am just warning you. This is what we

found yesterday. The nest was helped to by a jackdaw with a kit. The

magpie was watching followed the jackdaw and went off with two more

baby rabbits. That left us with two surviving kits. Obviously they are

extremely vulnerable. We wondered what would happen to them. Well, in

the wee hours of the morning this is what happened.

The magpie came back. He knew exactly where to go.

But just keep a close look at the scene it grabs one but the mother

rabbit, this is the sort of time you expect the rabbit to come back and

feed the baby rabbits, chases her off. Unfortunately, it was

unsuccessful. The jackdaw then comes and takes another one. That was the

last remaining kit. You can see the mother chases it again. This time

she is more successful. The jackdaw drops the baby.

But it doesn't stop there. The magpie comes back. The chase

conditions. This goes on for quite some time.

Then out of nowhere... Some other adult rabbits come along to join in

the battle. You can only see two there but there were actually six

the battle. You can only see two rabbits in all. It is like a rabbit

army. You can see the kit still blind, the eyes haven't opened.

army. You can see the kit still on. The magpie does not give up. It

keeps trying to get its breakfast. And the adult rabbits are still

chasing it. It is absolutely incredible that the

other rabbits join in. We thought that was a subordinate female, yet

it is getting help from other adults.

They clearly want to protect it. A lot of effort has gone into

getting ting of rabbits. Weak it decides to go to the mother and have

a quick feed. Then the mother sort of pushes it into safety underneath

one of the vehicles. Absolutely incredible to see that. Now the

mother thought that was a safe place but unfortunately that vehicle had

to be moved and in the morning this is a very, very busy area with cars

moving around. We took the decision to remove it from the road and from

the cars and put it into the grass. That is pretty much nest protocol.

We didn't put a camera tonne after that but it is very, very unlikely

that little kit would survive. It would be extremely weak. I know it

is sad and tough to watch but you have to look at the bigger picture.

Those rabbits provide food for an awful lot of other animals. The

survival rate is very, very low. It is the circle of life. I'm only a

few metres away from our production village near another one of our

mess. I don't know if you can see a bit of elder there with some flowers

on it. Just down below it, in the brambles, there's our bull finch

nest. Let's go to it live. There it is.

Can't see anything. The parents aren't there. I'm slightly worried

about this because I haven't seen them on the nest for a while. Let's

go right in. Can't see anything there at the moment. We have been

watching that nest the whole day. Let's see what's been going on. Bull

finches are remarkably close in relationship, like little love

birds, they fly around together, and they'll share the duties of feeding

the chicks. The female is quite brown, but the

males are more Gaudi. You always see them together. They won't stray far

from one another at all, fabulous colour there.

Passes food to the female and they both share in the duties of feeding

them. Absolutely gorgeous, aren't they,

Michaela. I like the fact that you are dressed like a bull finch! You

dressed appropriately. You are a female one! Role reversal!

There are a lot of animals that you can't help but notice a bull finch

being one of them, but others tend to two unnoticed, especially inSeb,

yet some have remarkable lifestyles. Every spring, our gardens play host

to a strange creature. And the Natural History Museum in London

gets reports of a furry flying creature.

These miniature mysteries are drawn to any early spring neck tear that's

on offer. On a warm day, the garden can be

abuzz with them. So what are they? They appear to have the body of a

bee, but the face of a giant mosquito.

Actually, they are neither. These little insects are bee flies,

bombilious major, to be precise. They look just like bees, but

whereas bees have two pairs of wing, these only have one and therefore

they are flies. Bee flies start to appear the

mid-March onwards. But only on warm dies.

-- days. In the cool of an early morning, it can take a little time

to warm up their flight muscles. But their wings beat more than 100 times

per second. They are one of the most acrobatic insects in our gardens. By

mimicking bees, they are able to scare off some predators wary of a

nasty sting. It's easy to see why they get called

furry narwals. They reach deep for nectar within flowers.

As fluffy and friendly as they appear, when it comes to raising

their young, things take a darker turn.

Bee flies are brood parasites, the cuckoos of the insect world. They

lay eggs in the nests of grand dwelling mining bees.

Tell male bee flies scan the ground for signs of their host. They are

looking for Shadow toes of dark areas where there might be nests.

-- shadows of dark areas. Then the female gets ready.

Her body pivots, her abdomen swings and she flings an egg Into the

Shadows. It's a hit and miss strategy.

One the female repeat again and again in the hope that some eggs

land in the right place. These furry fancies are only out and

about for a couple of months a year, so make the most of them.

They are one of the high lites of spring.

-- highlights of spring. What a completely brilliant insect. Amake.

How on earth do they know where to flick the eggs into? See the little

dark cracks, I think they must be able to scent the nectar there or

the honey or something, they couldn't just shower them all over

the place, it's hit and miss. We should look at that again because

it's very cool the way they do the flicking. Look at that! It's pretty

unpredictable. Hundreds of eggs are fired in the hope that some at least

will land in the bee nest. I love the action though, don't you?

Yes, swings it, baby! It really is that sort of action, yes. Absolutely

Yes, swings it, baby! It really is remarkable. It does something else

quite astonishing before it does the flicking and it's this. It has a

little dust bath. It collects fine dust in a basket of hairs underneath

the abdomen. Covers the eggs and it's thought that that makes the

eggs heavier so the female can flick them a little more accurately. It's

so complex, isn't it? Amazing. I suppose if it's got a little bit

so complex, isn't it? Amazing. I weight, it's same as throwing a

Ping-Pong ball, you have got a bit more up. Yes.

-- a bit more oomph. Whenner filming in slow-motion, you sometimes find

things out you never Noel knew about. We think we have discovered

something awesome! -- know about. That's a male bee fly. He looks

drunk. Watch what he does. He goes into a complete tail spin again and

again. It's almost like he dozen quite know where he is and he bails

out of it. Spinning out of control. He's going to be so dizzy. He's

going to go again. There he is. Incredible. Why on earth do they do

it? We think that's probably... That's slowed down maybe 300 times

it? We think that's probably... to actually see that. The best guess

we have come up with so some kind of display for the females. Did you

like it? A lot. Talking about things spinning out of

control, where's Chris? And completely sloshed? ! I'll

ignore that! Favnt animal, but there were lots here at Minsmere. We have

been featuring some of the rarer ones. We have seen the marsh

harriers, and the bitterns. There is another national rarity nesting

here. It's the extraordinary stone curlew. This is a remarkable bird of

open country. It likes to have no impediments to its running forward.

It doesn't like to take off if it can run so it lakes rabbit greys

pastures. The scientific name of this bird is paranus nukdeus which

means bull nosed thick beak. It appears to have a thick knee. That's

not a particularly good name because it's not actually its knee. Let me

draw a bird skeleton for you. Imagine this is the hip joint. The

bird has its femur, this part of our leg here going up like this. That's

normally hidden under the feathers on its breast. It then has the lower

part of its limb coming down here, to that point which we have called

the thick knee, which goes down to the foot which is at the bottom

here. So this here isn't in fact any part that's joining to a knee. This

is the ankle. And this part of the limb is called the tarso metatarsis.

In bird, they are greatly extended to give their leg three separate

sections, so not the knee at all, not a particularly good Latin name.

But these are incredible birds and we are lucky enough to have found a

nest here. Earlier on, we went to see what was going on at the nest.

The bird was sat very still. This gave us the opportunity to get a

good close-up of its head and that extraordinary eye. The reason it's

got such a large eye is because they are nocturnal, they spend a lot of

time active at night looking for their food. Look at that! My

question is, why is the eye yellow? There's got a be a reason for this.

In some species of birds, we see different colour eyes in the sexes,

males will have one colour, females the other. In other species, we

notice the eye gets brighter throughout their life so it's a sign

of sexual maturity. Here, it might be something else. We also know that

yellow filters out blue, so perhaps it's got a yellow eye so it can

filter out the blue of the skies to increase the contrast so it might be

able to spot predators there. I don't know, it's just a theory, but

no-one's entirely sure why these birds have bright yellow eyes.

Back to the nest though. Once we started looking in more detail, we

saw that one of the eggs was on the brink of hatching.

They do these remarkable nest changeovers. The male is the bird

with the colour wins and in comes the female. As she sits down,

there's the hole in one of the two eggs, a typical size for these

birds, they only have two. She settles down, continues to incubate

and then, overnight, she does her work and look, there it is, still

hatching. Inside the egg, the chick is

communicating to her. And then, first thing in the morning, out

comes one of the chicks. Look at it. It might be fluffy, but it's just as

well camouflaged as that adult. Taking a few steps into its world.

That's what they do if they are spotted by a predator. They freeze

and lay down on the soil and they are incredibly difficult to spot.

They are what we call precocial chicks, they leave the nest

straightaway and begin to follow the female around. She feeds them

initially. She's found a worm and she's dropping it down in front of

the chick, which is taking it at the second attempt, and of course, after

a few days, they'll begin to find invertebrates of their own. They

like to eat beetles, grasshoppers, that sort of thing. She'll lead them

across the open plain, keeping a wary eye for predators. They can be

incredibly difficult to spot. What about the snail? The -- name.

Goggle-eyed Glover is the name, but what about stone curlew, the more

familiar name, the curlew comes from the sound it makes. Listen to the

call of a stone curlew. Normally delivered at night. It's a

very plain eerie call. When they -- very eerie call. The curlew part

comes from the fact that this is a call very much like the common

curlew. Listening to that, we sometimes take sound for granted I

think. We didn't ought to. Some might have seen earlier this year

the extraordinary story of a lady called Jo Millen, it was on

Breakfast news when I saw it, she had been deaf since birth and she

was fitted with a double cochlear implant and this is what happened

when she first heard a human voice, her nurse's voice.

Do you know, I watched that on Breakfast news before I went out

with my doings and was genuinely moved by that. That morning walking

through the woods I listened harder to everything around me to really

take advantage of it. We thought if she got that sort of response to a

human voice, what would Jo think if she heard bird song, the dawn Corus?

We sent sound recordest Chris Watson and Jo out into the woods to give

her this experience -- -- chorus. It is 4. 30am.

Chris and Jo are here as the dawn approaches.

Can you hear that cockerel? A cockerel? Wow! It is just the third

time I have heard it. It's not long before they hear the

more traditional members of the dawn chorus.

That's a blackbird. That's my favourite song.

It's beautiful. Another blackbird. They are all

over. So, Jo, we are now surrounded by

bird song. There is lots of birds all around us.

You can see bare branches but up there are dozens of birds singing

their hearts out. It's hard to pick out individuals,

so that is why it is called a chorus.

It is like the chorus. But now it is getting lighter it is

getting louder. There is more and more bird song.

You are right. This is really the most intense part of the dawn chorus

it is actually before dawn. In fact, there is a robin right over your

head, singing in the tree above. It's very high-pitched warbling.

It is singing from a high point, It's very high-pitched warbling.

warning other robins not to come into this territory.

That's great. Another new one. That is a chaffinch. It has just

woken up that bird and started to sing.

Can you imagine the energy it takes? sing.

To sing with that power? Yes, it is just completely different for me to

hear that sound. So, Jo, it is daylight, we can see

everything around us now. The dawn chorus has been and gone. It was

fantastic for he to chorus has been and gone. It was

you. How was it as an experience? Wow! It was an experience I have

never had before. It has been absolutely fantastic. I didn't

realise that there were so many different birds, you mentioned so

many different birds different birds, you mentioned so

And how different they all sound. I think that I could actually identify

the blackbird and the robin from the different dawn chorus that

the blackbird and the robin from the It is a good place to start, the

blackbird and the robin. It is a good place to start, the

I might start getting up earlier in the morning now! Just imagine

hearing bird song for the very first time.

Most of us take time.

are so familiar for it. But I can't imagine taking a dawn chorus for

granted it is incredible. If you have never done it, I suggest you

get up early one morning this weekend and enjoy it. If you have

done it before, do it again, listen to it with fresh ears. We are also

encouraging you to do the garden bio blitz. This is something we did on

Springwatch last year. It is a blitz of your garden to see how many

different species you can find it is great to do with the kids. All of

the details of that are on the website at: Chris, you have brought

a beautiful bird! I have indeed. We would like you to look out for these

this weekend would like you to look out for these

It is a barn owl. If you are lucky enough to have one near you, they

are apparent, they could enough to have one near you, they

in daylight as they have young. This enough to have one near you, they

is a species in crisis, I'm afraid. From 1900 to 1908, they declined.

Then we managed to stabilise them. The reasons for them going down in

numbers is the loss of habitat and food and many young birds are hit by

cars. And some thought that bacteria is building up in the bodies. So the

Barn Owl Trust has launched a full barn owl survey for ten years. Find

that at; If you find a nest note it. If you

see a bird that is good or find a dead one or a roosting bird, we

would like to know about it to get a handle on their area.

It is nice to see an owl bird up close. You are so soft. Stunning.

With a beautiful heart-shaped face. It endears them to people with the

slightly baky nose there. And that is the equivalent of the owl ears.

They rely on the hearing for hunting. This proved a problem last

year, with the wet spring, they cannot hear properly to hunt. They

don't like flying in the rain. When people looked at the numbers they

found a 71% reduction in next occupancy. So last year was a poor

breeding season for the barn owls. We are hoping that those who got

through the spring will have a better breeding opportunity this

year. We are encouraging you to do lots of

things over the next three days, so I guess you will want to know what

the weather is going to be like, not just for you but for the wildlife as

well. Let's go live to the BBC Weather Centre where I am sure that

Nick Miller can enlighten us. I have a forecast but it was a

challenge. Prepare the forecast and watch the bluetit weather online.

So, now it is looking OK, I managed both. Remember at the start of the

week I had low pressure behind me. There was talk of rain. We had a wet

day on Tuesday at my Minsmere. Now there is high pressure building for

tomorrow and Saturday, with most places dry with a mixture of cloud

and sunshine. On Sunday the weather fronts come into Northern Ireland

and Scotland. A bit of rain in the west of Scotland. But there is

uncertainty of how much of England and Wales will see the rain during

the day. So check the forecast. Basically it is good news if you

want to get out and discover the wildlife near you, listen to the

dawn chorus. For the UK as a whole it is a lovely start to the weekend,

some of us getting rain by Sunday. What does it mean for you at

Minsmere? Well, it is mainly dry. There could be an isolated shower on

Sunday night but generally great weather for the birds gathering to

feed the chicks and who knows, the sight of blue sky may get the

bluetits to fly the nest scroll I'll be watching.

So, it has been grey and rainy and a little miserable all week, when does

it brighten up? When we are off air on Friday! Tomorrow! We have one

more treat before the end of the programme. Another live nest. It is

a reed warbler. Let's go straight to it now. There it is. This nest has

four eggs in it. It is down in the scree. Here is the incredible thing,

this little bird, we have been talking about the cuckoo, this

little bird will have travelled from Africa to be with us tonight. It

will have travelled thousands of miles to make that tiny little nest

in the reed bed. Isn't that astonishing? It looks

sleepy doesn't it? She's had enough of the show! What is interesting, is

that this is a host of cuckoos, a cuckoo, if it is lucky, which lay an

egg in a reed warbler nest but look at what we have observed, they are

very, very attentive parents. They are hardly ever off the nest. As

soon as one goes, two seconds later, the other one comes in.

We have been watching this and seen 11 changes in three hours. One goes

off, two seconds later, the other adult pops back.

And again. Off it goes, one, two... Three seconds later. So, Chris, how

on earth does a cuckoo get in there to lay an egg? It is a very good

question. But the cuckoos have thought about that. On average it

takes six seconds for the nest changeover but ten seconds for a

cuckoo to lay an egg in the nest. It does not have time. But look at this

cuckoo. Over a period of time, they have evolved to look like a

sparrowhawk. So when they fly in, they scare the birds off. You may

think that they could look like a cuckoo and that would scare them off

but if the bird is not sure, it will keep it away for longer. This give

it is just enough time for the cuckoo to get in there and lay its

egg. This is an example of baitsy and mime I cannery. Fabulous work

from the cuckoo! I think we should take a quick look at the teasing

tits. Have they left the nest? I don't think they have! They are

still there. I have been keeping an IRA on the live cameras throughout

the last hour, willing them to fly out of that nest hole! I don't think

that they are going to go this evening. They will go in the morning

and especially if we get a nice clear warm sunny morning, unlike any

we have had so far this week. Of course we will update you on

Monday, showing you watch them fledgeling if you have not already

watched it online. But we have also had camera teams filming all over

the country... Now our mission is to explore the

wildlife here. We are going to try to up the ante. The night creatures

proved elusive. So we are throwing new technology at it. The same for

Winterwatch. Night cameras. We are hoping to explore what is going on.

We have had a hot tip that there is a tawny owl making its moves. And

also tantalising glimpses of this creature. What is it? Well, it is a

predator, it is a stoat. We are on the trail this weekend, hoping to

bring you font liesing pictures on them.

And more of these, the bittern chicks. They are on the grow and

moving off into the reeds. So keep your eyes on those. There should be

more of them at the beginning of next week. You can watch us

more of them at the beginning of Red Button and on sprung after

Unthis. And we look forward to seeing you at 8.00pm on Monday. But

for now, it is goodbye from us. Goodbye! Goodbye!