Episode 8 Springwatch


Episode 8

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It's a magical evening here at RSPB Minsmere, the stuff of fairy tales,

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which is just as well, because we are going to be putting the beauty

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into our beasts. Tonight our buties and our beasts have got competition

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from one of the nation's most loved - the spiky but adorable hedgehog.

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The sun is shining, things are hotting up. Welcome to Springwatch.

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Hello and welcome to Springwatch 2014, and what an amazing evening

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we've got. It is beautiful. It is warm, it's sunny. I don't think

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there's a rain cloud in the sky, for once. It is a pleasure to be live

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here at the RSPB Minsmere on the Suffolk coast. We've been here a

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couple of weeks looking at the habitats and the species. It is a

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tremendous spot to base ourselves. Part of the Sussex coast area of

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outstanding natural beauty. It is full of beauty. A range of species,

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including our raptors, plenty of insects, the scarlet tiger, otters,

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some deer lurking in the reeds, and one of our favourite reed bed

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species, the bearded tit. It is a good variety. We arrived here with a

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truck load of cameras and cables and we've been filming all over the

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reserve, so we got to know not just the ecology but the wild life, and

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not just our cast of characters. It is hard to keep up with them. Kev

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got some A-listers and top of the poppers, and our leading lady is the

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bittern and her chicks. And there she is, live. Really fantastic to

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see her and herself go growing chicks. Looks like she's settling

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down for a rest. Brooding and she is reaching over the side of the nest.

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They do continue to add to the nest but you would have thought she would

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given up. She's been off the nest a lot in the last few days. She has.

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Let's look and really enjoy her chicks. They are growing day by day,

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but make the most of them, because in the next day or so they are going

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to do what I'm calling semi-fledging. What do you mean

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"semi-fledging"? They will still rely on their mother for another for

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our five weeks. You can't just come on this programme and make up your

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own ornithological terminology. I might semi fledge myself! Those

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bitternses are doing it for Chris, but there is another contender for

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the most popular animal of Springwatch this year. He's scruffy,

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he's squawky, he's covered in slime. It is Grub, the tawny owl chick, and

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he lives in this tree. You sold him well, Martin. There he is, sitting

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there. He's showing himself tonight, sitting is out and about. Oh look at

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that face. Isn't it cute? Very sweet. It is a face only a mother

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could love. Well, some mothers do after 'em don't they? No! He isn't

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very beautiful, he wants a wet-wipe to clean that face up. It is hard to

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imagine that beautiful thing will turn into a beautiful owl one day.

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Gorgeous. We asked you last night if you could help us by going on

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#grubsgrub This one says a. 15am, another big fat slug. At this rate

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they'll be extinct by dawn. It's We had our cameras on Grub and it was

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slug night last night. The parents brought in 13 slugs. It is grub

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slugs. I don't think Grub's all that keen, do you? It is pitch black

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there, so we can't, but I think he can see it, Chris. He knows it is

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there. Just like your kids when they try and hated under a fork. That's

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the avian equivalent of an overboiled sprout. I used to do this

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as a kid, I would push the sprouts to the edge of the plate and pretend

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my fork couldn't stick in them. I've got another theory. I think he's not

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eating it because he's heard we are taking the Mickey out of his name.

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He's got it! The dinner lady used to get me by the scruff of the neck and

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push it into my mouth. If you would like to keep an eye on Grub over the

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weekend it is bbc.co.uk/springwatch. I shall be watching. At 4. 04 in the

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morning? No! Last week we had a lot of drama with our rabbits nest. This

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week it's happened on the scrape. This is where we've got our

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ground-nesting birds, our gulls, our avocets. A bit of noise now but it

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is quite calm. There's been a lot of commotion on that scrape. There's

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been a lot of predation, so we wanted to know what happens there at

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night. We sent down a cameraman with a thermal camera. Remember, white is

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the cold, where you see the dark patches, that is heat, which is why

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you can see all the bats. Wonderful to see bats. It looks eerie.

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Remember, it is dark. There's a lot of our nesting birds, our

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black-headed gulls. You can see how hot their heads are. And look at

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Audrey, how hot her feet are, and the eggs. They are glowing. And

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those are the avocets. It is dark. They are feeling for their food.

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They can't see it. All seems very calm. Then something clearly

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disturbs the peace. There's a whole load of squawking. Look at what's

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appeared on one of the islands. It's a badger. That must have travelled

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some distance to get there. At least a kilometre. It is having a real

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sniff around, nose to the ground. a kilometre. It is having a real

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Looking for something to eat, Chris. Yes, it is. And it finds something.

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It focuses on this one spot for quite some time. I think that's

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probably a blackheaded gull's nest with eggs and it is helping itself

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to those eggs. It stays there snuffling about for quite a while.

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It's got to get off that bit of the scrape somehow. What's it going to

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do? This is what it's got to do. Amazingly, the badger takes to the

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water. It turns out it is a powerful swimmer. I've never seen a badger

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swim like that before. It looks like a mini polar bear. Those avocets

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can't see it but they can hear something flashing behind them. That

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frightens them off the water. He's swimming powerfully across that

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water. I've never seen a badger swim before, but I'm sure they do. When

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we had the floods, they are on the banks. It eventually gets to one of

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the other islands on the scrape, has a bit of a shake, gets rid of that

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cold water. Sniffing about, a bit of a scent mark there. A bit more

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shaking, but nose to the ground again. He's clearly after more food.

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On this occasion, it doesn't appear to find it. He's just going to move

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off now. Disappear into the rushes. That's amazing. It was. We didn't

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expect to get that at all did we? Not at all. I was interested to see

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what they are eating. We know they are omnivores. We've seen the

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badgers here eat earthworms and that's the main diet of badgers. But

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they are opportunistic. They like, they are like stoats and weasels,

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they will eat whatever they can find - trying, fungus, carrion, Beatles.

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The diet of the badger has been studied over the UK. While they do

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occasionally take birds, their eggs and nestlings, that's only for a

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couple of months a year. It is thought they have little or no

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impact at all on bird population. It is just during this particular time

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of the year, if they come across them, they will help themselves to a

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nestful of eggs. The RSPB have fences if up, so how did the badger

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get on to the scrape? We have filmed the badgers climbing. Here's the

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badger. You will probably remember this from last week. They turned out

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to be remarkably good climbers. There is just a chance it might have

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climbed up and over the fences, the RSPB have put in place. On the other

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hand, badgers are tremendously good diggers. They could have dug

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underneath that fence. Or that's the Steve McQueen of badgers, it could

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have got on to a motorcycle and jumped over the fence. They will try

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something like that. Joking apart, RSPB are glad we managed to film

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that. Before, they had only heard apocryphal stories. We wanted to

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find out about badgearies and we certainly found out some really

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interesting things. It is great to know what we found out will help the

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RSPB We hoped we found out something for the RSPB, but the people of Holt

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in Norfolk have helped scientists find out something very significant

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about a much-favoured bird in our back gardens, the blackbird.

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We all know what small towns can be like. Everyone knows everyone else's

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business. But here in the suburbs of Holt in Norfolk, these are not nosey

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neighbours. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are in fact key

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players in what I can only describe as cutting edge scientific research.

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For the last seven years, Dave Leech from the British Trust for

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Ornithology has been running an intensive study on one of the

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nation's favourites - blackbirds. They are a fascinating species. They

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have done really well in urban garden environments. Part of me

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wants to know why that is. Originally woodland bird, 30% of

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blackbirds are now thought to breed in gardens. Dave wants to know how

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well they survive in a suburb an environment. They are pretty tricky

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to tell apart, so Dave tags them with different combinations of

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coloured rings. I think a blackbird would look rather snappy with those

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around his leg. I've already rung 450 individuals since 2007 in this

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garden. So birds that look identical suddenly become identifiable to

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anyone. Everybody in the neighbourhood can essentially do the

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job I'm doing. With all the people around, a you've got all these other

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pairs of eyes looking out. I've got all these spotters waiting to tell

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me where my birds are, are it is fantastic. This is proper community

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signs in action. Brilliant. Over the past seven years Dave's had 46,000

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records of sightings of his colouring birds sent to him by his

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crack team of spotters. Most of them are living pretty much in front of

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us. We've got a few to the right of us, just a couple down the road. And

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we've got one all the way over there in the distance on the other side of

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the bypass. Meet the Holt bird observers, affectionately known

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(Inaudible) The good old blackbird has provided us with enormous

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entertainment. I did have one in the playground. One was on the swings,

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swooped in and the bird swooped off with it. Even now we are seeing new

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ones coming into the garden every day. I think it could really catch

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on. Neighbourhood Watch with a twixts You can identify them very

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easily. Blue over black, green over metal. There's a female coming into

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the garden, she's triple orange, known as Jaffa. Yellow over orange

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and red. Bet you can't remember its ring pattern. If it was red over

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blue and metal over white. Serious skills. Just like humans they have

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personalities. We are fond of them, because these colours have given us

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a chance to because these colours have given us

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a chance positively identify individual birds. A lot of people

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look out for the first swallow. We look out for the first blackbird. It

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is great to be part of it. I'm hooked from the start. The whole

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neighbourhood seems to have caught the blackbird bug, but top of the

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spotters with 33,000 records to her name is Dave's mum, Barbara. Can eat

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my breakfast while I'm recording. Then I stop for lunch. You get

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cross-eyed if you have been doing it for hours! You are addicted! Dave

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rings the birds in his mum's garden, so she gets to know them right from

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the start. Orange black green will chase anyone

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off, male or female. You know them as individuals.

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Orange, black, green, a bit of a tartar! Absolutely.

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I know birds like that! This mountain of data has shown that the

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black birds here are living up to eight years. And the survival rate

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from one year to the next is about 59%. Almost the same as in their

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original woodland habitat. But Barbara's records have revealed

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something else, something truly astonishing. How many different

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individual black birds might you see? Today it has been 73 ringed

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ones... 73 different birds have come through your garden today? ! Yep.

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Did you think when you started that there would be anything like that

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number? No. Or perhaps I wouldn't have been prepared to do it! So hang

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on, I think, when I look out in my garden, that I have got maybe one

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male and female, that is wrong. I will never look at my black birds

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the same again. I had no idea! 73? ! That is staggering. I found that

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surprising. I knew I had more than two. In the winter we get the

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Scandinavians with the dark bakes but if you had said how many black

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birds in the garden? I would have said ten, 15, maximum.

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Dave would like more members of the community to get involved in the

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project. He has good coverage but the more the better. We are learn

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being the black birds, about where they travel to, how long they live.

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They were a species in decline for a while. We can never rest. There is

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no sign of complacency when it comes to conservation. So if you are in

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Hoult, get hold of Dave and the BTA to join the project.

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Now, bitterns are doing it for some. The tawny owl for others but for

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some of you it is cuckoozilla, the fastest-growing chick in the

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Springwatch cast. This is a reminder of who cuckoozilla is. This is a

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reed warbler's nest, a cuckoo has parasitised it with a cuckoo chick.

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Here are the parents, looking confused but feeding it. With

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strength, the strength of Hercules, the chick ejected the bird's chick

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into the water and then end the cuckoozilla begged for food and grew

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and grew, as if training for an iron man contest and just about squeezed

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in the nest. That was Monday. He is looking huge and still very hungry.

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Look at that. Both of them atentively feeding.

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An unbelievable appetite. Well, would you like to see what he looks

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like today? A few days later, a drum roll... This is what he looks like.

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Pretty enormous. He has a massive gape. The feathers have developed.

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The parents are not sure what to do. They are working hard to keep

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feeding him. It is not fair. Constantly begging.

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But he is getting a brood load of food. They would have had five, or

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maybe six lots of food going into the one chick now.

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But this is cometical. The poor reed warbler parent is trying to get on

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top of him and brood him. That is funny.

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It is. Cuckoozilla, I can't wait until he grows bigger and starts to

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stamp add through a city like a giant reptile. In 3D, actually.

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He does not fledge for another few days.

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Maybe at the end of our time here. It will be interesting to see just

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how big he gets. If it gets windy, cuckoos can blow

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out of the nest as they are so heavy. And if there is a lot of rain

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it washes the food off the leaves. That could make him fly off.

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An interesting question, lots of you have been asking this, how do the

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cuckoos match the egg colour to the host species? The answer is

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evolution but let's have a look at the process. Here is a female cuckoo

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on a reed warbler's nest it has found the nest, flies in, it picks

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up the egg, and eats that for its own source of protein.

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Then she reaches down into the nest and picks up her egg. Sometimes they

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remove one, sometimes a couple, never all. But then look at this.

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This is a funny look, this is her laying the egg into that nest. And

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when we look into the nest, you can see although it is larger it is

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almost a perfect match. The closer the match, the greater chance that

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the reed warblers will accept that egg. Look at this: Here are two of

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David Leech's photographs. The one on the left that showance egg that

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is a good match, larger. Look at the one on the right, though that egg is

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a lot more red. Each female cuckoo can only lay one type of egg. They

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basically lay one pattern of egg. So a reed warbler cuckoo will always

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lay them. But there is a greater likelihood that they will not be

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rejected if they are closer in match. He is finding that there are

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ten lots of eggs laid by the one female but only three with the red

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eggs, that is because the reed warblers are seeing them and

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chucking them out. So evolution drives the design of a better

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camouflaged egg. Incredible. Nature is amazing. It

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never creases to amaze me. Here in Minsmere, we are in the heart of

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Suffolk, surrounded by the countryside. But in the heart of the

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city you need a little wildlife tranquility. Sophie Darlington went

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to film hers in a surprising place, right near King's Cross station.

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London... One of the busiest capital cities in Europe.

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It is chaotic, frenetic, busy, hassled.

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The building sites go nonstop from dawn to dust. The biggest building

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site in Europe is just a couple of metres away. There is the Eurostar

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terminal. And literally, you turn a corner and there is a sense of peace

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and sanctuary. In the midst of all of this urban

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madness, Camney Street Natural Park is a haven, not only for us but for

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all of the wildlife. Coming in to the park here is like

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coming into a different world. It is almost a secret garden.

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It's not managed, it is not manicured. It feels untouched and

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wild. It's the most wonderful place for children to come and connect

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with nature. I've watched school visits come in and the kids light

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up. They get down on their bellies and they get lost in that world with

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their magnifying glasses and it's an amazing thing to see!

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Watching the coots with the chick, the bakes, almost as if they are

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dipped in mercury... -- beaks. There is pretty much beauty, everywhere

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you look. The yellow-flagged irises are just popping. The bees are going

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to them and all the kids are going to them too, like everyone is drawn

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to their bright colour. The cow parsley is a personal

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favourite. There is an ethereal beauty to it that I find very

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moving, actually. Listening to the wrens in the morning, shouting! It

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is so out of proportion to their size. We found a swan and there she

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is with a huge clutch of egg, maybe eight eggs. Her nest is carefully

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tended bags and flip-flops. She's right by a really busy restaurant.

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The pair are just getting on with turning their egg, breeding, doing

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what nature tells them to do - it is springtime, get busy! Every city,

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every borough needs a place like Camney Street.

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It's not a place that shouts, it doesn't not say look at me, look at

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me, I am full of rare and exciting animals. It does the opposite but

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that is its beauty it is wild. It is a little piece of the countryside

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right in the centre of London where people can escape... Where wildlife

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can escape... And find a haven. It's a place that inspires children

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and makes people smile. What a magical oasis in the heart of the

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city. But this does not look like an oasis it is full of prambles. But

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bromblees are amazing things. They grow so fast. Look at this. This is

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classic footage. It is speeded up, of course but they do grow prambles

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astonishingly at about three inches per day if the conditions are

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perfect! Look at that! Right, let's start lopping. Stop! Don't lop your

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brmblees! It turns out bromblees are the most astonishing habitat for

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birds. In this area here, our camera team have found no less than ten

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different species of birds nesting here. But why? What makes the

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prambles so good? I want you to here. But why? What makes the

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imagine you are a sparrowhawk. Throaty is a nest there. You plunge

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in... Ouch! You would not plunge in, would you? You would get stuck,

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completely stuck. So if you nest in here it is wonderful protection,

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especially gets the cats below. So you are protected inside here but

:28:23.:28:27.

look at these, these lovely flowers here. Lots and lots of insects come

:28:28.:28:33.

to the flowers. They will feed. These insects that we filmed, they

:28:34.:28:39.

are feeding on the flowers, so all sorts of things come to feed if you

:28:40.:28:44.

are a bird nesting herings, you can whip down and get a ready meal. So

:28:45.:28:50.

the bromblees are like bed and breakfast. They are protected but it

:28:51.:28:55.

is also food as well. Now perhaps the most precious bird that is

:28:56.:28:58.

nesting here is actually over there, a little further over it is the

:28:59.:29:04.

nightingale. Nightingales have dropped in numbers. We have lost

:29:05.:29:13.

about 60% of them. They are very, very precious. There is a chick.

:29:14.:29:19.

That nest is immaculate. They are clean and tidy parents.

:29:20.:29:25.

Interesting the nightingales as what the chicks do, they don't actually

:29:26.:29:30.

fledge, well they don't fly before leaving the nest. They will leave

:29:31.:29:34.

that nest quickly very soon in a few days. Possibly at the weekend. They

:29:35.:29:39.

will spend three to five days walking around inside the prambles,

:29:40.:29:43.

being protected by them so. This is very, very important for the

:29:44.:29:51.

nightingales. Brambles can you see just over there is a light and a

:29:52.:29:57.

little lamp? That is our goldfinch nest. We can go live to it right

:29:58.:30:02.

now. It is looking absolutely revolting. These are the slobs. The

:30:03.:30:08.

whole of the side of the nest is oathed with poo. They are just not

:30:09.:30:13.

taking it away. That was live. Let's see how the slobs have been dealing

:30:14.:30:18.

with the nest. We think this is a bit of a timing problem. The parents

:30:19.:30:23.

have been great. They are feeding the chicks, feeding them looks like

:30:24.:30:29.

a mush of seeds, but they are being very attentive, feeding all the

:30:30.:30:36.

chicks. But when the chicks poo, it seems parents don't time it right,

:30:37.:30:41.

don't seem to pick it up. They are picking it up now and eating it,

:30:42.:30:47.

which is fine, because it is not fully digested. It is quite

:30:48.:30:52.

nutritious for the parent. Then the parent flies off and the chick poos.

:30:53.:30:58.

They were not doing a tremendously good job. Such a beautiful bird with

:30:59.:31:06.

such a filthy nest. Let's go deeper into the brambles. I'm following

:31:07.:31:12.

these cables. Inside the brambles and just down there you can't see

:31:13.:31:17.

it, that is our bullfinch nest. Let's go live to it. These,

:31:18.:31:26.

remember, are lovebirds. That nest, the chicks are asleep. Look at the

:31:27.:31:30.

thorns. You can see how the brambles are protecting that nest. We've been

:31:31.:31:33.

following those birds, our lovebirds. Let's catch up with them.

:31:34.:31:41.

Remember, he's a bit of a toy boy. The male, that beautiful pink

:31:42.:31:46.

breast. He is one-year-old. She's two-year-old, we know that because

:31:47.:31:52.

of the ring on her leg. They do everything together - feed the

:31:53.:31:54.

chicks together, fly around together. They are the lovebirds in

:31:55.:31:59.

their lovely nest. Beautiful, the bullfinches. Now one more thing. I'm

:32:00.:32:04.

going to launch a new nest. I don't know if you can see, but just over

:32:05.:32:13.

there in the brambles is a brand-new nest, our whitethroat. He's just

:32:14.:32:20.

flown off! We must be quiet. Let's watch what the whitethroats have

:32:21.:32:24.

been doing. Beautiful little birds. A real specialist, a bramble

:32:25.:32:27.

specialist. They've come all the way from Africa. Can you imagine that,

:32:28.:32:35.

to nest here beside me. They tend to come back to the same area every

:32:36.:32:39.

single year. Here they are, both parents, very attentive. There are

:32:40.:32:43.

five chicks in there. We'll be keeping an eye on them over the

:32:44.:32:49.

weekend as they develop. Hate come back? Let me have a -- has

:32:50.:32:58.

it come back? Yes it is, it is sitting up there. Never mind. You

:32:59.:33:03.

can't do that sort of thing live. Back to Michaela.

:33:04.:33:10.

It is amazing how many nests are in those brambles, so put the secateurs

:33:11.:33:16.

away. We are going to ask you to get involved in a feed count, which

:33:17.:33:20.

involves you watching the nest, see how many times the chicks are fed.

:33:21.:33:25.

All the details are on the website - bbc.co.uk/springwatch.

:33:26.:33:30.

At the beginning of the show we promised you one of the Britain's

:33:31.:33:35.

most loved mammal arguments the hedgehog. Sadly we are seeing less

:33:36.:33:42.

and less of it. The UK's hedgehogs are in serious trouble. Changes in

:33:43.:33:48.

farming have meant we've lost thousands of miles of hedgerows,

:33:49.:33:53.

depriving hedgehogs of places to feed, shelter and find a partner.

:33:54.:34:01.

Although hedgehogs and badgers have coexisted for thousands of years,

:34:02.:34:04.

such changes in our countryside could mean that they are now

:34:05.:34:09.

competing for food. Badgers are also known to prey on hedgehogs, and in

:34:10.:34:15.

certain hot spots they might even be affecting hedgehog numbers. We are

:34:16.:34:18.

also putting pressure on hedgehogs in our towns and cities. To a

:34:19.:34:25.

hedgehog, overly manicured gardens are barren waste lands. Fences make

:34:26.:34:30.

gardens into fortresses, stopping movement between areas. And a cosy

:34:31.:34:35.

place to sleep can quickly turn into a death trap.

:34:36.:34:48.

Dr Phil Baker at the University of Reading wants to understand just how

:34:49.:34:56.

bad the decline is. Do we know how many hedgehogs there are roughly?

:34:57.:35:02.

The simple answer is nobody knows for sure, but we do know they've

:35:03.:35:06.

been declining. The study we are planning to undertake will begin to

:35:07.:35:10.

fill in the void. Phil is conducting this new research with the people's

:35:11.:35:16.

trust for endangered species and the British Hedgehog Preservation

:35:17.:35:19.

Society. They and every British hedgehog need your help. Hedgehogs

:35:20.:35:25.

do pose a bit of a problem when it comes to surveying. These footprint

:35:26.:35:31.

tunnels are ideal for this. This is a mammal trap. We've used these

:35:32.:35:37.

before on Springwatch. All we have a couple of pieces of paper at either

:35:38.:35:43.

end, some ink and food bait. The animal comes through, gets inky

:35:44.:35:48.

paws, has a nice meal and when he leaves, he leaveses his footprints

:35:49.:35:53.

behind. These publicy footprints are from hedgehogs. Could that footprint

:35:54.:35:58.

be mistaken for anything else? Fortunately not. They are very

:35:59.:36:03.

distinctive. And this is the sort of mammal trap you want people to use

:36:04.:36:08.

in the survey? Yes. It involves us supplying you with a set of ten

:36:09.:36:13.

tunnels and asking you to go to a particular location in England and

:36:14.:36:15.

Wales. Set the tunnels for five days and once we have that information,

:36:16.:36:19.

it will tell us where we do have hedgehogs at present. More

:36:20.:36:23.

importantly where we don't have hedgehogs. That information as a

:36:24.:36:28.

whole will enable us to quantify the factors that are affect hedgehogs.

:36:29.:36:34.

By setting up these traps you'll be able to collect valuable scientific

:36:35.:36:39.

data. If you are lucky, you may get a visitor. It is amazing this is the

:36:40.:36:44.

first scientific survey of hedgehogs in the UK. It is amazing for a

:36:45.:36:49.

species as iconic as hedgehogs that we don't know where they are at the

:36:50.:36:54.

current time. This is a valuable piece of work. And a great thing to

:36:55.:36:56.

do with the kids. Children love it. It is a great thing to do with the

:36:57.:37:09.

kids, but it is proper science. What you have to do, you have to give a

:37:10.:37:14.

bit of commitment. It is five nights thaw have to do it over, but you

:37:15.:37:18.

send off for all the stuff. You get September this and all the bits and

:37:19.:37:23.

pieces. If you do it, it will really help us understand how hedgehogs are

:37:24.:37:27.

doing nationwide and help us to make plans for the conservation of one of

:37:28.:37:32.

our most loved mammals and one of our most threatened. We think they

:37:33.:37:37.

have gone down by 35% in the last ten years, which is catastrophic.

:37:38.:37:41.

For this survey to work we need 400 sites all over the UK by next year,

:37:42.:37:47.

so if you can join, in it would be fabulous - bbc.co.uk/springwatch.

:37:48.:37:51.

The scrape so far has been a scene of turmoil. Predation and regurn

:37:52.:37:56.

takes. But sometimes it can be a Sea of Tranquillity.

:37:57.:39:00.

Absolutely gorgeous. It is really beautiful down there. In fact

:39:01.:39:06.

there's been more good news today on the scrape. We've seen these gulls,

:39:07.:39:11.

blackheaded gulls. They are starting to display to one another again.

:39:12.:39:19.

Despite having lost eggs. They are displaying, courting and mating

:39:20.:39:24.

again. We've even seen them starting to build nests as well. What we are

:39:25.:39:30.

thinking is that they may have lost eggs, but now they are thinking

:39:31.:39:34.

about doing it all over again. So life springs eternal. They are going

:39:35.:39:38.

to have another go. Do you think they will do that? If they've lost

:39:39.:39:42.

eggs I think there's a chance they'll start again. Normally if

:39:43.:39:47.

they've gone through the process of incubating the eggs, they've lost so

:39:48.:39:52.

much body mass and energy that starting from that point is too much

:39:53.:39:56.

to ask. But if they've lost eggs, they might start again. If you are a

:39:57.:40:02.

regular viewer and you've been watching Autumnwatch and winter

:40:03.:40:06.

watch, we've been involved with an exciting project with Dr Dawn Scott.

:40:07.:40:16.

We've radio collared a set of urban foxes. Let's see what we've found

:40:17.:40:23.

out so far. We have a fox. Fantastic, fantastic. It all started

:40:24.:40:29.

in September, with the collaring of foxes in the leafy suburbs and the

:40:30.:40:35.

tinker city. The data came pouring in, showing that foxes in both areas

:40:36.:40:40.

had spirit small home ranges. Just a few streets, and a handful of

:40:41.:40:45.

gardens. Dawn, look! That's brilliant. Fast food, either

:40:46.:40:53.

offered... Or taken, soon revealed why. We've had a great day. By going

:40:54.:40:58.

out into the field we've literally found out more, because this big

:40:59.:41:02.

clump here, which previously we knew was a Stott that the foxes were

:41:03.:41:07.

visiting, we now know is all down to the people in this flat throwing out

:41:08.:41:15.

foot at 8. 30pm. So, there field objects investigation, state of the

:41:16.:41:18.

art technology, we are learning a lot more about foxes already. By

:41:19.:41:23.

winter, with we were getting to know some remarkable characters. In the

:41:24.:41:29.

tinker city Silver was clearly the Dom. Come breeding position he was

:41:30.:41:33.

perfectly position to do so further his line. There's two on the roof.

:41:34.:41:38.

That's fantastic. I think that may be Silver. It looks like they are

:41:39.:41:43.

grooming. You can see the two together. But in the suburbs --

:41:44.:41:53.

suburbs, Fleet the fox embarked on a record-break journey. He cleared out

:41:54.:41:57.

of Brighton and headed off into rural krixtds there's so many foxes

:41:58.:42:01.

around and so many fox territories there was no space for him, so he

:42:02.:42:05.

kept on going. I think we are walking to find our friend, Fleet.

:42:06.:42:11.

We've got a bit of a road trip to go yet. His epic odyssey gave us new

:42:12.:42:18.

insight into the way urban foxes are spreading across the country. 315

:42:19.:42:22.

kilometres travelled in learn a month. That's amazing. -- in less

:42:23.:42:29.

than a month. That's amazing. Spring has revealed another side to these

:42:30.:42:35.

hugely adaptable creatures. Even in the most built-up areas they find

:42:36.:42:39.

places and ways to rear the next generation. It is no wonder the

:42:40.:42:43.

urban fox is a common sight in nearly every British city.

:42:44.:42:49.

Dawn, thank you very much for making the long journey all the way to

:42:50.:42:54.

Brighton. We appreciate that. We've learned a tremendous amount about

:42:55.:42:58.

these animals. What are the key findings from your point of view? I

:42:59.:43:06.

think Fleet showed us there's no spatial boundaries between urban fox

:43:07.:43:11.

in the intermingle. The data shows us how they use the human

:43:12.:43:16.

environment and how important we are to affecting their behaviour. And

:43:17.:43:20.

sometimes that leads to conflict and people are concerned about the

:43:21.:43:23.

growing population of urban foxes. What do you say to them? They are

:43:24.:43:29.

spreading into other areas, but very few animals can adapt to turban

:43:30.:43:33.

happen at that time take. We should appreciate and respect them for that

:43:34.:43:36.

and learn to live with them and enjoy them being there. It is going

:43:37.:43:41.

to take a little bit of adaptation of our own behaviour to be able to

:43:42.:43:45.

reduce the conflict so we can appreciate them. And the rewards are

:43:46.:43:49.

fantastic. Many of the people we've net in Brighton love their foxes.

:43:50.:43:53.

Yes, and they get a lot of pleasure from them. They do cause some issues

:43:54.:43:58.

and we need to make sure we reduce our behaviour to reduce that

:43:59.:44:05.

conflict. What about our cubs. We've been did -- watching them. Ollie

:44:06.:44:11.

lives with the natal den was. He's picked up Stumpy back at the deck,

:44:12.:44:18.

and with four other cubs. One of them is quite distinctive. Issuing

:44:19.:44:22.

Sugar has been visiting those cubs, and there's two cubs on the other

:44:23.:44:26.

side a few doors down. She's been visiting both of them. The group's

:44:27.:44:31.

separated. This one's got strange ears. People find that attractive. I

:44:32.:44:38.

would rather see proper fox ears, what's going on? We have nicknamed

:44:39.:44:46.

him Fluffy. Fluffy ears in poodles? Come on! A week later his ears were

:44:47.:44:55.

back up. They use audit tricues for hunting. What about the feels? They

:44:56.:45:00.

were both in pretty low condition when we saw them. What does the

:45:01.:45:05.

future hold for them? They have done a fantastic job, but in September

:45:06.:45:09.

the family will break up, they will start to separate and go on their

:45:10.:45:13.

own way and the feels will get back into condition for breeding next

:45:14.:45:17.

year. Do you think any of the cubs might join the feels? Some of them,

:45:18.:45:23.

a lot will Dubai. Some will disperse but there's high densities in those

:45:24.:45:28.

areas, so they are going to struggle to find their space. One or two

:45:29.:45:33.

might stay and form the social bond to find that group. And in terms of

:45:34.:45:36.

the science, what would you be hoping to find out between now and

:45:37.:45:42.

Autumnwatch? Is the data has shown us how the urban landscape affects

:45:43.:45:48.

the size of the territory. We know how these are parcelled together. We

:45:49.:45:52.

have got an understanding of the family group. What controls and

:45:53.:46:10.

affects the density of foxes? Dawn thank you very much for

:46:11.:46:14.

catching up with us. We look forward to catching up with you again in

:46:15.:46:20.

Autumnwatch. Well, I guarantee there is one creature that no-one loves in

:46:21.:46:24.

their garden, as Martin has found out.

:46:25.:46:29.

We Brits love our gardens. They are a source of pride and pleasure.

:46:30.:46:37.

So we do everything we can to keep them looking as lovely as possible.

:46:38.:46:44.

In spring, there is one animal in particular against which the

:46:45.:46:52.

gardeners wage war. We know it by derogatory name, plant lice, white

:46:53.:46:58.

fly, green fly. Unless we are trying to exterminate it, we barely give it

:46:59.:47:03.

a second thought. But we should. Because this little creature has a

:47:04.:47:10.

strange tale to tell. Meet the aphid. Aphids come in a

:47:11.:47:15.

variety of shades and sizes and come into conflict with us as they feed

:47:16.:47:24.

on our priced plants. They wouldn't be a problem if there were only a

:47:25.:47:29.

few of them but where there is one you tend to find hundreds. The

:47:30.:47:35.

reason for this is that at the heart of what makes this animal unique

:47:36.:47:47.

is... Aphids have two ways of breeding. At this time of year only

:47:48.:47:54.

females are involved. A rose aphid is about to give birth, even though

:47:55.:48:04.

she a never mated. She's undergoing a process known as parthenogenisis.

:48:05.:48:22.

The baby is a clone, an I'dal clone to her. The males can mate with the

:48:23.:48:33.

fee mails to create eggs to survive the winter. In spring, the plants

:48:34.:48:38.

are growing. Sap is running and the aphids have to multifly fast to take

:48:39.:48:47.

advantage of this. One female can produce up to ten young every day.

:48:48.:48:56.

Within a week these tiny babies are able to replicate themselves as

:48:57.:49:01.

inside them is an embryo waiting to be born. Like a living Russian doll.

:49:02.:49:09.

Each female is carrying her daughter's and her granddaughter's

:49:10.:49:20.

at the same time. Over summer, a single aphid could multifly into

:49:21.:49:24.

over 15-and-a-half million individuals. -- multiply into over

:49:25.:49:31.

15-and-a-half million individuals. Luckily for u life for aphids are

:49:32.:49:36.

fraught with danger. They fall prey to many parasites and predators.

:49:37.:49:44.

There are parasitic waspses, spiders, buck, mites. Larvae of many

:49:45.:49:53.

kinds, bluetits and foracious lady birds. Being the favourite food of

:49:54.:49:58.

so many predators is clearly a problem. But when this colony of

:49:59.:50:08.

aphids come to the danger zone, knights in armour come to the

:50:09.:50:13.

rescue. Black ants defend the aphids from aggressors.

:50:14.:50:19.

So, how have these aphids won the protection of a completely different

:50:20.:50:27.

species? The secret is in the diet. Aphids drink a lot of sap. And

:50:28.:50:34.

excrete the excess as honey due. This sugary treat is nectar to the

:50:35.:50:39.

black ants. So by protecting the aphids, the ants are simply

:50:40.:50:49.

protecting their own interests. The ant and the aphid. A perfect

:50:50.:50:58.

partnership. So, by all means spray away the spring and the summer but

:50:59.:51:04.

don't forget the scourge of the gardener is also a fabulous

:51:05.:51:08.

opportunist and a living Russian doll. Ladies and gentlemen, I give

:51:09.:51:18.

you the amazing aphid. What an extraordinary and fascinating

:51:19.:51:21.

creature! I'm loving the aphid! I know they are not easy to love if

:51:22.:51:29.

they are all over the roses and the broad beans but look at the amount

:51:30.:51:34.

of people that feed on them. Not just the waspses and the lady birds

:51:35.:51:39.

but the warblers and the house matteriness, they gobble them up.

:51:40.:51:45.

Swallows in particular, time their arrival to coincide with the

:51:46.:51:49.

arrivals of aphids. It makes up 30% of the diet of their young. Because

:51:50.:51:54.

of climate change, aphids are swarming earlier b 15 days in the

:51:55.:52:00.

last 30 years. That mean it is could be a mistiming with the swallows

:52:01.:52:04.

arriving that is a big problem. Climate change. But temperature is

:52:05.:52:12.

important for the aphids. The perfect temperature for them to

:52:13.:52:18.

procreate is 20 to 22 Celsius. I wonder if we will reach the

:52:19.:52:22.

temperatures this weekend? There is one man to tell me the answer to

:52:23.:52:26.

that, that is Nick Miller at the BBC Weather Centre.

:52:27.:52:33.

Michaela, I can give you warmth but also a chance of thunder storms. Her

:52:34.:52:41.

is why. Low pressure is lurking to the west of the country later

:52:42.:52:45.

tomorrow. Here it clashes against the cooler

:52:46.:52:51.

Atlantic air and then uplifting the atmosphere with a chance of storms

:52:52.:52:56.

on Saturday. Some feeding north but by no means will everyone get one.

:52:57.:53:01.

But there will be downpours, when they pop up it is bad news for the

:53:02.:53:07.

newly fledged birds. The feathers are not properly waterproofed.

:53:08.:53:12.

Central and eastern England see the highest temperature, Sunday feeling

:53:13.:53:17.

fresher and sunnier with fewer showers around. What about for

:53:18.:53:21.

Minsmere? Sunday a looking lovely. Saturday not in the greatest Rick

:53:22.:53:26.

area for the thunder storms. Cloud and showers moving through but not

:53:27.:53:31.

so bad for the bitterns should they decide to semi-fledge. What did you

:53:32.:53:36.

say that the perfect temperature was for the aphid repro druks, 20 to 22

:53:37.:53:43.

Celsius? Drum roll, please, your wish is my command, aphids of the UK

:53:44.:53:49.

unite, let's get it on! Aphids of the UK unite! And semi-fledging! But

:53:50.:53:56.

a nice weekend. So no excuse. Get out and enjoy the wildlife. For

:53:57.:54:01.

inspiration for ideas, go tonne the website and look up things to do.

:54:02.:54:09.

Put in your postcode and lots of wildlife things will come up.

:54:10.:54:13.

Now, there has been a lot of wildlife but now it is bittern time.

:54:14.:54:19.

Let's go live to the bittern nest. Look at that, that is gorgeous. Into

:54:20.:54:23.

the reeds. Blimey, I can't see what is going on there. Is that her

:54:24.:54:29.

shielding them? The chicks are big. So to cover them properly she has

:54:30.:54:34.

stretched her wings. Being a very good mum.

:54:35.:54:37.

Definitely. Surprising as it is warm this evening. You would not think

:54:38.:54:43.

she would need to brood? Well, let's see what they look like. They are

:54:44.:54:47.

well feathered. This is fascinating.

:54:48.:54:52.

This is earlier. Watch the youngster looking for the feet. That is the

:54:53.:54:56.

mother, sorry. This is the baby trying to copy what mum just did.

:54:57.:55:01.

Look at his feet. They are gawky. What he is trying to do is grabs

:55:02.:55:07.

five or six stems and actually climb up the stems. Using them like stilts

:55:08.:55:14.

but he does not have the hang of it. Look, right underneath the camera.

:55:15.:55:19.

Basically doing what the adult does. Impersonating a reed whilst doing a

:55:20.:55:23.

bit of tight rope walking. He is not so steady on his pins just

:55:24.:55:28.

yet. There he goes. Look at the size of them. Big strong legs.

:55:29.:55:32.

Oops. Not that strong but getting there.

:55:33.:55:37.

Thick leg, though. Long toes. A good span. And the

:55:38.:55:41.

feathers are coming through. They are beginning to look a little more

:55:42.:55:45.

like a bittern. That stilt walking is amazing. As we

:55:46.:55:50.

said at the beginning of the show, make the most of the chicks if you

:55:51.:55:58.

are watching them online. They could be possibly not there on Monday.

:55:59.:56:04.

They could have semi-fledged! Moving on to the coast.

:56:05.:56:15.

The bitterns will not properly fledge for another 20 to 25 days.

:56:16.:56:20.

This is a good question, how big is a bittern. You don't see them in

:56:21.:56:24.

relation to anything. I can tell you they have a wing span

:56:25.:56:30.

of 130 centimetres. I know what you are saying, how many inches is that?

:56:31.:56:35.

But we have a model of a bittern. Look at this, on loan from the RSPB.

:56:36.:56:42.

But to give an idea of scale, I can tell you that here is a 6ft man. He

:56:43.:56:50.

is a Trojan, pulling an arrow. This is probably Hector. This shows how

:56:51.:56:57.

big a bittern is! Massive! So, that is where you were at lunch time, at

:56:58.:57:04.

the toy shop! I think you should keep this in case the bitterns have

:57:05.:57:08.

gone on Monday. You could be mourning.

:57:09.:57:10.

Pining for a bittern. Shall we have a look at something we

:57:11.:57:14.

shot here a few days ago? Sometimes you may have seen this, a massive

:57:15.:57:19.

hatch of fly but look at the ducklings. They are taking advantage

:57:20.:57:23.

of the hatch. Leaping up. Sometimes taking them from the surface of the

:57:24.:57:27.

water but I have not seen the duckling leaps into the air to grab

:57:28.:57:33.

them. Have you two done yoga? The tree pose. Look at this. I was

:57:34.:57:38.

showing an Avocet and look it copied me on the water. That is Audrey the

:57:39.:57:44.

Avocet doing yoga. Good balance! It could just be

:57:45.:57:50.

resting the legs and conserving heat. Don't spoil it.

:57:51.:57:55.

Don't go anywhere. After we have finished it is Unsprung. And there

:57:56.:58:02.

are models in the cabin. All to be explained. BBC Two.

:58:03.:58:06.

Unbelievably, we have almost come to the end of our first two weeks. We

:58:07.:58:11.

have another week to go. This is what is coming up next week.

:58:12.:58:32.

Yes, more of Monthy the osprey. And Yolo Williams giving us more

:58:33.:58:48.

information from Scotland. -- Monty. We are back on Monday at

:58:49.:58:54.

8.00pm on BBC Two. But the three of us are sticking around for Unsprung

:58:55.:59:03.

with Nick Baker. So stick around for us then. Goodbye!

:59:04.:59:34.

This is one of the most fire-prone regions on earth.

:59:35.:59:38.

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