:00:08. > :00:16.It is a final week of Springwatch but were on fire, I can promise an
:00:17. > :00:19.inferno of natural science, art and culture. It has been a dramatic
:00:20. > :00:23.weekend for some of the characters whilst others have been hanging
:00:24. > :00:26.around and they literally hold the camera. Dim the lights - curtains up
:00:27. > :00:54.for Springwatch. Welcome to week three of
:00:55. > :00:58.Springwatch. Coming to you from the wonderful RSPB Minsmere Reserve on
:00:59. > :01:03.the Suffolk coast. We have been based here and on the lookout for
:01:04. > :01:13.all things new in terms of the and species here. The sun has got its
:01:14. > :01:21.hat on. You would not be able to build a suitable hat for a giant
:01:22. > :01:28.star! What fabric would be? Let us move swiftly on. This is a fantastic
:01:29. > :01:34.place to be because it is 1000 hectares of superbly managed
:01:35. > :01:37.habitat. The RSPB have done a wonderful job shaping this
:01:38. > :01:44.environment to suit a range of species. Birds, mammals, insects and
:01:45. > :01:51.plants. And here, one of the largest herds of red deer in the UK, freshly
:01:52. > :01:58.emerged Porter Shell butterflies, the wonderful southern marsh
:01:59. > :02:04.orchids. And a swan. I have a question, it is such a beautiful
:02:05. > :02:17.evening, why the jumper? I got it wrong! I am not thermal regulating!
:02:18. > :02:21.We have cameras all over this reserve and this weekend they have
:02:22. > :02:26.been hot. Not just because it has been very sunny weather has been so
:02:27. > :02:30.much dramatic action. It a lot took place on the scrape with wannabe
:02:31. > :02:38.star characters, Audrey the other side. This drama surprised all of us
:02:39. > :02:41.and we shall surely that later. It is not just Audrey who has been
:02:42. > :02:46.busy, and a lot of checks have also been. In a lot of action over the
:02:47. > :02:52.weekend, let us look at some of the nests. This was the Nightingale
:02:53. > :03:03.nest. It is empty. And the bullfinch nest. The little chick has returned,
:03:04. > :03:11.just on the branch. And as for the tawny owl, that had that little
:03:12. > :03:22.grub. Why are the empty? They have all pledged! We shall show you some
:03:23. > :03:25.right now. Grub on Thursday was raised on a diet of slow worms and
:03:26. > :03:31.slugs. Let us look at him in the dark. He is being fed yet again,
:03:32. > :03:38.probably another slug. Most of the time, we could see the front of you.
:03:39. > :03:47.But very nice, he was very mucky. Another slug! Then, he did that, he
:03:48. > :03:52.flew up into the tree and for the very first time, we realised he had
:03:53. > :03:59.a lot of feathers, he was older than we thought. But he was not very good
:04:00. > :04:08.at using them. He heard that! Good effort. Very good. So, he had come
:04:09. > :04:17.on quite well and last Friday we had a look in the morning and this
:04:18. > :04:23.happened here he is, 6:36 a.m., the parent comes in. They have been very
:04:24. > :04:30.good at feeding him. But the choice of food is not great. He looks
:04:31. > :04:40.around, he has a little to. He has lowered his body weight. He is
:04:41. > :04:43.sizing something up. Will he? Yes! Heap robbery went straight down to
:04:44. > :04:51.the ground. Look at that. There he is. So please with himself. He is
:04:52. > :04:58.like a coiled spring, ready to lead. Well, maybe not. I am surprised he
:04:59. > :05:03.made it to the branch, if we look at that wing loading, he is very heavy,
:05:04. > :05:06.the feathers are not fully through and they will jump around on the
:05:07. > :05:11.tree but they will not typically launch into the void like that in
:05:12. > :05:16.the hope of bumping into branches. We will keep a very close eye on him
:05:17. > :05:21.and the other birds. What about the elusive badgers? They have been a
:05:22. > :05:28.bit shy on the cameras. But this weekend they came out to play. Two
:05:29. > :05:35.of the Cubs, they seem to have a lot of energy. Are building up their
:05:36. > :05:40.part. They have spotted the camera. It has bumped its nose! Naturally
:05:41. > :05:45.curious. They must have their nose into everything. And that is a big
:05:46. > :05:52.part of their sensory equipment, their eyesight is pretty poor.
:05:53. > :05:57.Having a very good stuff. They have been at a lot this weekend. One of
:05:58. > :06:01.the adults has also been very busy and we will catch up with that later
:06:02. > :06:04.on. If you have been watching over the past few weeks, you will know
:06:05. > :06:09.some of the smaller birds have a very neat way of keeping the nest
:06:10. > :06:14.clean when the young develop. They produce little packages of mucous
:06:15. > :06:19.membrane that enclose their species and the adults can transport that
:06:20. > :06:26.away. To keep the nest clean. With the exception of the Goldfinch. They
:06:27. > :06:39.are not using their strategy at all. They simply reach out and try to to
:06:40. > :06:44.over the side. This is a stinking mass of material. No doubt. And with
:06:45. > :06:48.all of that smell radiating from that part of the brambles, it is not
:06:49. > :06:53.surprising that a certain predator was drawn to this. And this is what
:06:54. > :06:57.we saw. This is an extraordinary piece of footage but if you do not
:06:58. > :07:06.like snakes and predation, please look away. This adder has claimed up
:07:07. > :07:12.to the nest, chest high in the brambles, and it is angling to take
:07:13. > :07:17.one of the fledgling 's. Trying to get its head into the right
:07:18. > :07:25.position. Look at that. It grabs hold. This is quite a large item for
:07:26. > :07:32.this very small snake. The big question is, can eat it, up in the
:07:33. > :07:39.bushes. It will try, quite girly. Extraordinary pictures. You can
:07:40. > :07:42.watch adder Womack and the Goldfinch nursed all of your life and the
:07:43. > :07:47.likelihood of seeing this is negligible. We can bring you this
:07:48. > :07:54.because we have miniature cameras 24-hour as a day. It is gruesome but
:07:55. > :07:58.also a remarkable sight. That was not the end of the story because
:07:59. > :08:04.that adder was hanging around the nest for a very long time because it
:08:05. > :08:11.did seem slightly confused. Here it comes. It makes you wonder whether
:08:12. > :08:19.it dropped the other chick because it is coming back for more? The
:08:20. > :08:23.problem is, it has to get the head of the chick, it cannot be bottom
:08:24. > :08:31.first, that would be impossible, but it is not good at finding backend.
:08:32. > :08:35.And we must say, this adder also needs to eat. It has probably just
:08:36. > :08:43.got through the mating process and it is hungry. The parent comes to
:08:44. > :08:46.feed. It almost does not realise what has been going on, the adder
:08:47. > :08:54.has been retreating into the brambles. The chick is feeding just
:08:55. > :08:59.fine. This is like a scene from the Jungle book. The chick is doing what
:09:00. > :09:04.it should do, not big enough to flee, flap away, it is conquering
:09:05. > :09:10.down to avoid the attention of any predators. Despite the fact that the
:09:11. > :09:14.adder is persistent, it cannot get into the right position. The first
:09:15. > :09:18.thing this young adder will have done after hibernation is try to
:09:19. > :09:25.make and this might be its first meal of the year. The results are no
:09:26. > :09:32.old in that snake, it perhaps did not swallow that very first chick.
:09:33. > :09:40.It perhaps left and somewhere. It is not very big, look at that fly. That
:09:41. > :09:44.gives perspective. It is still trying but just cannot get into
:09:45. > :09:50.position. And the sense of smell is phenomenal, they have a nasal gland
:09:51. > :09:55.and they stick their tongues into it and that catches scent particles in
:09:56. > :10:00.the air and the push those forked parts of the tongue into that gland
:10:01. > :10:05.and it is amazing sensitive. They have done experiments, they have
:10:06. > :10:09.taken that gland away and SNP cannot find any food at all and,
:10:10. > :10:16.interestingly, we have that nasal gland but ours regresses to nothing
:10:17. > :10:22.as we grow at the foetal stage. We never have that capacity to smell.
:10:23. > :10:25.What a shame! On Thursday said the brambles were a great place for the
:10:26. > :10:32.nest because the magpies could not get in, I do not think about the
:10:33. > :10:37.adder. Only 20% of Goldfinch nests are less than four metres and this
:10:38. > :10:40.is only 1.5 metres off the ground. When we find goldfinches, they were
:10:41. > :10:46.always right at the top of the tree, these spindly branches, perhaps they
:10:47. > :10:52.have made a mistake nesting in a habitat they don't normally use. And
:10:53. > :10:58.the snake made its way through the bush. A lot of people were watching
:10:59. > :11:03.this on the Red Button and they commented that they did not know
:11:04. > :11:08.that adders could climb. If the Goldfinch nest was clean, with the
:11:09. > :11:14.steak have found it? Who knows? It might just have been exploring
:11:15. > :11:21.anyway. Clare says, didn't survive? Let us look at the nest, live. Can
:11:22. > :11:28.we see inside? It did actually survive. And there is one chick
:11:29. > :11:37.left. And you can keep an eye on that and see how it does on the
:11:38. > :11:46.website. That is the smaller stuff, let's get to the meat of the action,
:11:47. > :11:52.the one and only temporary. Look at how much they have grown. 20 do days
:11:53. > :11:58.old. They have become more robust. Bush drew 22 days. Look at those
:11:59. > :12:08.flight feathers, still very small and stumpy. -- 22 days.
:12:09. > :12:19.Semi-fledgeling. There is no danger of them being able to fly. That is
:12:20. > :12:27.brilliant. Look at this. Selfie! I wish I was in it! That there is a
:12:28. > :12:31.fantastic view. A young bittern. Looking at itself in the reflection
:12:32. > :12:40.of the camera. What an extraordinary view of this bird. And the badgers
:12:41. > :12:47.are also getting rather confident? There I am, in the picture. We know
:12:48. > :12:51.from watching them that those read birds are the perfect habitat for
:12:52. > :12:55.them, they provide nesting and camouflage and plenty of prey but
:12:56. > :13:01.what are they eating when they fish? I went on a boat on a nice sunny day
:13:02. > :13:14.to find out what it is that is keeping those chicks healthy.
:13:15. > :13:20.We have seen the bittern fishing for a variety of food as they move
:13:21. > :13:31.silently through the reeds. They have a particular liking for eel.
:13:32. > :13:38.But what are the others? I have come fishing with Matthew and Graham to
:13:39. > :13:45.take a closer look. But we're not using a fishing rod. The other
:13:46. > :13:54.fishing with electricity. -- we are fishing. The generator produces an
:13:55. > :13:59.electrical current and lure is a fish out of cover where the net
:14:00. > :14:07.cannot reach. They are briefly stunned, allowing Graham to get them
:14:08. > :14:10.into the boat. The premise of electro-fishing is to measure the
:14:11. > :14:15.total density of fish in the reed beds, which determines how much food
:14:16. > :14:22.there is for the bittern. It is believed that around ten kilos of
:14:23. > :14:25.fish per hectare is ideal for them. In that short space we have quite a
:14:26. > :14:35.lot? Look at the size of that! Beautiful. This is quite a good size
:14:36. > :14:39.for this type. Normally the reed bed means the fish are smaller than in a
:14:40. > :14:44.fishery or a lake, so this is a very valuable breeding age fish. We
:14:45. > :14:49.measure them and can build up statistics about the population
:14:50. > :14:54.change. How long can it be kept out of the water? Within five minutes.
:14:55. > :15:05.This process does not harm them? Not at all. This off immediately. They
:15:06. > :15:11.swim off immediately. That's a gorgeous looking fish. They are
:15:12. > :15:19.absolute stunners. 116 grammes. These fish tend to live in bottoms
:15:20. > :15:24.of fissures, in the mud. They are slimy and they are very muscular as
:15:25. > :15:28.well, incredibly strong. They twist when they move which allows them to
:15:29. > :15:32.Wade through the roots of the reed and push they wa in amongst the mud.
:15:33. > :15:45.Beautiful colours as well. Incredibly well camouflaged.
:15:46. > :15:51.Beautiful snack that one. This is the favourite food, isn't
:15:52. > :16:01.city Lovely. Full of foot and gooden. What age is that? Four years
:16:02. > :16:06.old. Stunning. Really nice looking one in a million. One thing people
:16:07. > :16:10.don't realise is that a reed bed is a very managed habitat. If you left
:16:11. > :16:19.it, what would happen? It would become a wet woodland. Bitterns,
:16:20. > :16:27.harriers, tits and fish. Just as we are about to finish, a bittern flies
:16:28. > :16:32.overhead. Look at that! I can't tell you how excited I am to get a
:16:33. > :16:39.bittern flying behind us. I'm never going back to the studio again! I'm
:16:40. > :16:45.staying here with you guys. Here we are in that habitat. I would
:16:46. > :16:50.be if I could see down this be surrounded by some of those fish.
:16:51. > :16:53.Nine species in total. Let's do a bit of identification parade of the
:16:54. > :17:01.foremost common species of fish here. First of all, the Perch. They
:17:02. > :17:07.call them stripy and you can see why. The strips cam flannel it when
:17:08. > :17:13.it's in the shadows of the reeds with fins. Not good teeth because
:17:14. > :17:19.it's a good predator. A Perch can swallow a fish nearly half its own
:17:20. > :17:24.size. Next the tench. Here it is. Slippery customer, covered in slime,
:17:25. > :17:28.mucous, very strong, olive green, tiny little scales. Used to be the
:17:29. > :17:33.fish doctor because they thought other fish would eat the slime to
:17:34. > :17:38.cure themselves of illness - how on earth did they come up with that? !
:17:39. > :17:44.The Rudd and the roach next. The Rudd, here it is, the orangey fins,
:17:45. > :17:49.it sticks out its bottom lip, makes it look a little sulky to me. It
:17:50. > :17:54.does that because it swallows things, sticks its bottom lip down
:17:55. > :17:59.pouting on things drifting down. The last one is the roach. This is a
:18:00. > :18:02.thoughtful fish. You can see it's thoughtful. It's got the level lips
:18:03. > :18:08.now, very similar. Chris told me that he can always tell a roach
:18:09. > :18:15.because it's fish-shaped. Yes! I know what you mean.
:18:16. > :18:19.Fish shaped! The bitterns down here will be eating the fish all in these
:18:20. > :18:24.reeds all around here. But in fact, I'll try and get myself out a little
:18:25. > :18:29.bit. They'll be eating the fish, but there's not that many fish around
:18:30. > :18:36.here. There's six kilograms per hectare. To me, that doesn't sound
:18:37. > :18:42.very much. Luckily, the bitterns eat other things apart from fish. The
:18:43. > :18:53.bittern is coughing something up. If you look closely, that's not a fish,
:18:54. > :18:57.but a rat. Where it got that, goodness knows. It will digest that
:18:58. > :19:03.a bit more before regurgitating it for the chick once again. Let's look
:19:04. > :19:10.at the habitat. This is like a tower block because down below all the way
:19:11. > :19:19.up, let us have a look. In the water you have shrimp, you have got a
:19:20. > :19:25.lava, stickle backs, of course, and it's magical down there. Break the
:19:26. > :19:28.surface and suddenly we are into the bittern zone. This is where the
:19:29. > :19:37.bitterns will be hunting. Here is a water vole as well. There's so much
:19:38. > :19:42.life here. If it could take a rat, it would probably take a water vole
:19:43. > :19:48.as well. Higher and higher, what about the next layer? The reed
:19:49. > :19:52.warbler nest up here and finally a dear. People have told me they have
:19:53. > :20:01.seen dear swimming in the water around here. Surprising to see red
:20:02. > :20:06.dear amongst the reeds. Damselflies, then this bearded tit, a real
:20:07. > :20:13.specialist here. People come here specially to see this. Then let's go
:20:14. > :20:19.up into the sky and see a magical bird of prey. It was extinct, this
:20:20. > :20:22.was just one female in 1971, it's the marsh harrier. That one female
:20:23. > :20:33.was here in Minsmere. Let's go up, up, up, out of this,
:20:34. > :20:38.way up into the sky and this is the realm of the marsh harrier up here.
:20:39. > :20:46.Let's look at the marsh harrier in more detail. It's flying along. This
:20:47. > :20:51.is a male. You can see it has black tip wings and grey wings. It's
:20:52. > :20:59.drifting in. The female has a yellowy head there which you can
:21:00. > :21:05.see. The female is considerably bigger than the male. Watch them
:21:06. > :21:13.hunting here. They just drift slowly across. Fly about 0mph. They stall
:21:14. > :21:19.and look down in the reeds trying to find something to eat.
:21:20. > :21:25.Gorgeous. If they find something, bang, they drop down. Maybe a vole
:21:26. > :21:33.or a mouse or a frog, something like that. Here it twos. The male will
:21:34. > :21:39.hunt for the female. -- here it goes. If you find something, he
:21:40. > :21:43.passes it do her. Look at that fantastic mid-air catch. That's
:21:44. > :21:48.probably a mouse, we saw a long tail there. Where did it find a wood
:21:49. > :21:53.mouse here? That's something you would generally find in a hedgerow.
:21:54. > :21:58.Sometimes you will see the marsh harriers sky dance.
:21:59. > :22:03.Gorgeous. She'll take that food back into the nest now which is down
:22:04. > :22:07.there in the reeds. We know that there is actually a nest here out in
:22:08. > :22:11.the reeds, but we haven't been able to get the cameras on it. In
:22:12. > :22:25.Autumnwatch, we were at Leighton Moss. They have a harrier marsh
:22:26. > :22:30.nest. We have pictures. This is a group of youngsters with the gold
:22:31. > :22:34.and yellow heads, feeding on a dead coot just last weekend.
:22:35. > :22:40.Fantastic. We'll keep an eye on them. We have a link to them on the
:22:41. > :22:43.website if you want to watch the marsh harriers. Wonderful that they
:22:44. > :22:49.have come back. If you want to see any of the cameras, it's
:22:50. > :22:53.www.bbc.co.uk/springwatch. Chris, didn't you come down to this very
:22:54. > :23:00.place to see marsh harriers in your youth? In my youth? ! Yes exall
:23:01. > :23:08.those years ago, there were mammoths at that point! -- yes, all those
:23:09. > :23:15.years ago. I managed to persuade my dad to drive up here to see the
:23:16. > :23:29.females, they were down to one, but since then they have entertained a
:23:30. > :23:36.massive revitalisation. More harriers. Great treat to see them
:23:37. > :23:39.prospering here today. Over the weekend, we were watching
:23:40. > :23:43.closely the nest cameras because there was a lot of action. On
:23:44. > :23:47.Thursday, we asked you to help us with a food count of the chicks. We
:23:48. > :23:51.asked you to watch different nests and see how many times the adults
:23:52. > :23:54.were coming back to feed and lots of you joined in so thank you very
:23:55. > :23:59.much. We had a comment from Annie J Howarth who said, she burnt her
:24:00. > :24:02.toast while watching the reed warblers feeding.teringibly sorry
:24:03. > :24:08.about that! Here is the result. Very pleased to present you with data,
:24:09. > :24:13.yes! We have this bar chart here. So we have got the number of visits an
:24:14. > :24:17.hour, which is what you recorded and species along the bottom with an
:24:18. > :24:21.average number of visits here. So right at the bottom, you can see we
:24:22. > :24:27.have got the goldfinches. They are only returning on average somewhere
:24:28. > :24:33.between two and four times an hour. What's going on at the goldfinch
:24:34. > :24:38.nest? Take a look. They are feeding by regurgitation from their crop and
:24:39. > :24:43.the crop is quite a large storage organ. Within they do get back to
:24:44. > :24:48.the nest, not very frequently, they are able to leave a lot of food to
:24:49. > :24:53.their young. Why are they doing this? They can fly up to 800 metres
:24:54. > :24:58.away from the nest to collect that material, grass seeds, weed seeds,
:24:59. > :25:02.dock seeds and the like. If they are flying that far, it woulden make
:25:03. > :25:07.sense to fly up there and fly back with three seeds, it makes sense
:25:08. > :25:12.economically and energetically to collect all the seeds and bring them
:25:13. > :25:17.back in fewer viz es. But what about the bullfinch. Can I just say, they
:25:18. > :25:22.are like Fulham then aren't they, they have been relegated, but
:25:23. > :25:27.hanging on in there would be Sunderland, the bullfinches, and
:25:28. > :25:32.they'll be doing a few more feeds than the goldfinches. Let's have a
:25:33. > :25:36.look at them. The reason for this, a few more feeds per hour, not many,
:25:37. > :25:41.and the reason for that is, they don't store as much, they eat seeds
:25:42. > :25:46.and put them into their throat pouches, come back and regurgitate.
:25:47. > :25:54.The volume is not as great. We are not relegating them because it's
:25:55. > :25:59.what happened this weekend. They fledged. This is Sunday just before
:26:00. > :26:06.3 o'clock. The chicks are ready. One's off already and then two go
:26:07. > :26:10.and the third one flies off, leaving one behind which was a little
:26:11. > :26:16.stubborn actually and sat on that branch for a while looking a wee bit
:26:17. > :26:21.bemused and finally, just sort of wanders off! Not very convincingly.
:26:22. > :26:26.Perhaps that's the one that's come back. But that number of feeds was a
:26:27. > :26:30.successful strategy. They fledged successfully. What were they again,
:26:31. > :26:34.the Sunderland? Yes. Can't wait for the conclusion of
:26:35. > :26:40.this football analogy. Next on the list are the reed
:26:41. > :26:45.warblers, getting up to about 12-16 on average visits an hour, bringing
:26:46. > :26:49.in insects. Let's move on to the nighting gales, there's a
:26:50. > :26:54.significant leap going up here. This is about 20 feeds an hour, bringing
:26:55. > :26:58.in lots of different insects. Is it working for the Nightingales? Let's
:26:59. > :27:02.have a look. The fledglings were doing very well. One thing we
:27:03. > :27:10.noticed over the last few days is the sound. Listen to this. RATTLE
:27:11. > :27:16.SOUND. Whilst in the nest, the young birds
:27:17. > :27:21.are producing a very unique clicking call. This is no doubt a contact
:27:22. > :27:25.call to attract the attention of the parents.
:27:26. > :27:30.Never heard a call like that before. Interesting. Blackbirds are a little
:27:31. > :27:36.like that. They look very much like robins, but that is working for them
:27:37. > :27:42.because they too were on the move. 28 feeds per hour. They are in the
:27:43. > :27:46.mid league there! What is interesting about the Nightingales
:27:47. > :27:50.is, they are what I called semi-fledgling, they don't fly out
:27:51. > :27:56.of the nest, they do literally walk out of the nest. They won't fly for
:27:57. > :28:00.another three to five days. Then they'll stick around, be fed by the
:28:01. > :28:05.adults, look an adult's come back. You can see in the corner there, one
:28:06. > :28:08.of the chicks and you can hear the noise, the calling. Must be
:28:09. > :28:11.something about the characteristic of the clicking call which is
:28:12. > :28:16.suitable for contact with the parents when they are in deep cover.
:28:17. > :28:22.Once they are semi-fledged, they hop around right down in the heart of
:28:23. > :28:28.that bramble bush, impossible to see. I'm going to present you with a
:28:29. > :28:34.proper dictionary definition of semi-foreign which was prepared by
:28:35. > :28:46.the one and only Suzie Dent from countdown in dictionary corner. You
:28:47. > :28:50.came up with the term ornithological. It refers to the
:28:51. > :28:56.fact that teenagers semi-fledge! You are taking the mickey. No! The last
:28:57. > :29:01.set of birds, which you were watching over the weekend, they were
:29:02. > :29:05.Top of the Pops, number one, they were the... Man City! I knew we had
:29:06. > :29:12.that coming. When it came to feeding. The peak
:29:13. > :29:15.number with 34 visits and we are counting the number of visits in
:29:16. > :29:20.just half an hour, the birds are in and out, in and out, collecting a
:29:21. > :29:24.lot of protein, insect food but very close to the The S. They are not
:29:25. > :29:28.nighing 800 metres away to get it, they are hopping around in that very
:29:29. > :29:32.group of brambles finding plenty of food and I'm certain they are going
:29:33. > :29:43.to fledge if they can get the good summer season when it comes to
:29:44. > :29:53.transfers! Go to the website and you will find the details about signing
:29:54. > :29:58.up for Twitter. Or Facebook. We would like you to continue to submit
:29:59. > :30:01.reports and sightings to us so they can be shared with the community.
:30:02. > :30:10.That will be running all over the summer. Sign up and stay in touch.
:30:11. > :30:16.We have been up in the West Coast of Scotland. We have the latest report.
:30:17. > :30:22.Last week I went in search of a very rare and special butterfly, the
:30:23. > :30:27.chequered skipper. It was not discovered in Scotland until the
:30:28. > :30:31.1940s and until recently it was only known from five or six sites on the
:30:32. > :30:38.West Coast. It was great to get to see them and to catch up with some
:30:39. > :30:43.other butterfly enthusiasts. But the search was not over because the next
:30:44. > :30:49.day I went north to Glen Coe to meet an old friend, Tom Prescott from
:30:50. > :31:02.what flight conservation Scotland. -- otter fly. -- butterfly. The
:31:03. > :31:07.chequered skipper has never been seen here before. Where are we
:31:08. > :31:13.looking? In this one kilometre square, we're just to the east of
:31:14. > :31:20.Glen Coe in this square. How have you predicted it will be here? We
:31:21. > :31:26.don't. What we have done is we have looked at the distribution of this
:31:27. > :31:29.butterfly and we have done some modelling based on the habitat and
:31:30. > :31:35.the woodland and particularly, the climate. We believe this rare
:31:36. > :31:52.butterfly is not as rare as we think. That is find a new site for
:31:53. > :32:00.Springwatch. Brilliant. -- let us. Not much in the way of lecture.
:32:01. > :32:08.There is some rural grass and I have seen only two bluebells. The survey
:32:09. > :32:13.method is to spend one hour searching in each square. If you see
:32:14. > :32:21.the butterfly, job done. I think I have got one. It has just from my
:32:22. > :32:29.feet. Honestly? The wing is closed. Tricky to see. I can see those
:32:30. > :32:37.antenna. Bright and orange, superb markings. What does this mean to
:32:38. > :32:43.you? This is my favourite butterfly in Scotland, it is a great enigma,
:32:44. > :32:47.only find here in the 1940s and we did not think this site looks
:32:48. > :32:56.suitable from distance and here they are. This is a very big tick. I want
:32:57. > :33:01.this renamed Springwatch! I will have a word with the Forestry
:33:02. > :33:06.Commission. Springwatch hill. Good man.
:33:07. > :33:15.I still cannot believe we find such a very rare otter fly at this
:33:16. > :33:19.brand-new location. -- butterfly. It might not be as rare as we thought.
:33:20. > :33:26.If you are visiting this week, Tom needs help. He is asking for
:33:27. > :33:30.volunteers to survey some of these squares and if you want more
:33:31. > :33:36.information, it is on the website so please do get involved, help Tom
:33:37. > :33:44.help those butterflies. It is great fun and you might find a very new
:33:45. > :33:48.site yourself. It is fabulous and since that first report last week,
:33:49. > :33:54.when we ask you to go out and pick one kilometre and look, we have find
:33:55. > :34:03.to new sightings for the chequered skipper. Top work. The major drama
:34:04. > :34:10.of the weekend, we had a very big turn of events on the scrape. This
:34:11. > :34:23.is a drama and is upsetting. It features Audrey, one of the main
:34:24. > :34:29.characters, avocet. Patiently taking her turn. And we hoped over the
:34:30. > :34:35.weekend, one of those chicks would hatch and we could show you the
:34:36. > :34:41.little avocet chicks. There has been a lot of relation, with those
:34:42. > :34:45.seagulls and the herring gulls. Watching last week, you will know
:34:46. > :34:49.another predator had shown itself down on that scrape. We spotted it
:34:50. > :34:56.one night using thermal cameras. The image we are looking at is the heat.
:34:57. > :35:02.As it emerged from the water between those islands, it revealed itself as
:35:03. > :35:07.a badger. It sett about finding all the black headed gull nests on that
:35:08. > :35:13.particular island. And emptying them of their eggs. Over the weekend, it
:35:14. > :35:21.was not surprising that the badger came back. And on Saturday, just as
:35:22. > :35:27.it was getting light, the picture is grainy because is not much light.
:35:28. > :35:32.But at 3:58 a.m., the first avocet league had hatched and one of the
:35:33. > :35:37.adults is going to continue to brood and incubated the remaining eggs but
:35:38. > :35:42.it was only on the nest five minutes before it became scared and flew
:35:43. > :35:52.off, giving the alarm call, and then... To our surprise... The
:35:53. > :35:58.badger has a little shake and it helps itself to that little chick.
:35:59. > :36:04.The badger does not stop. It decides to go for the remaining eggs. And
:36:05. > :36:12.rethink what it did was it cracked one of them open and took the chick
:36:13. > :36:20.out that was just about to hatch. It destroys the nest. And then, it
:36:21. > :36:26.roams round, using the nose, glued to the ground, all of the avocets
:36:27. > :36:31.and the goals, complaining, it works its way around the island. This
:36:32. > :36:40.black headed goal nest, visibly ageing the eggs. It runs about until
:36:41. > :36:44.it finds no less than 20 nests. It took 90 minutes to clear out this
:36:45. > :36:54.scrape of 20 nests. Quite astonishing. And when we look at the
:36:55. > :37:02.calorific intake, this is a very substantial meal, and we estimate it
:37:03. > :37:07.at around 4170 calories, and for an animal the size of a badger, this is
:37:08. > :37:12.a monstrous meal. This is clearly a very successful strategy and it is
:37:13. > :37:17.probably the same one. This individual has learned this is a
:37:18. > :37:22.source of food and after helping itself to 20 nests, it swims off
:37:23. > :37:27.into the reeds. It was not what we were hoping for Audrey Hunter
:37:28. > :37:33.family. It is tragic, really. Just take a look at the aftermath. -- and
:37:34. > :37:38.her family. All the birds are looking extremely bemused. This is
:37:39. > :37:44.rather sad, actually. Audrey and your partner, they pick up what
:37:45. > :37:49.looks like and dared chick, maybe the dropped it. Perhaps it broke the
:37:50. > :37:55.egg and it fell out. And there is one remaining chick. This is the
:37:56. > :38:00.black headed goal. And look, some of the birds are trying to start a new
:38:01. > :38:05.family straightaway. One lucky chick survived. But there were another
:38:06. > :38:14.that survive because it are very clever. Before any of this predation
:38:15. > :38:18.happened, one of the avocet families had two different chicks and for
:38:19. > :38:24.some reason, the adults decided to leave those chick is, leading them
:38:25. > :38:28.away from the scrape that Audrey was on and they led them to what they
:38:29. > :38:35.thought was a much safer place. And it appears that it is much safer.
:38:36. > :38:40.Every look at this, you can see there is more cover, there? There is
:38:41. > :38:44.a lot more vegetation, it is rockier, places to hide. Once they
:38:45. > :38:50.are up and about like this, running around, they can find cover and when
:38:51. > :38:55.the adult gives the alarm call there is a greater chance of surviving
:38:56. > :39:01.after a few days. And when they just emerge. They are like the James Bond
:39:02. > :39:08.family because the escaped! We have two other avocet chicks. In
:39:09. > :39:14.perspective, we said last week, we stutter 's -- we study the badgers
:39:15. > :39:17.for years and we know that it has negligible impact on the bird
:39:18. > :39:22.population in the UK. This is an individual, this is a rogue died on
:39:23. > :39:28.the scrape. But in a national context, the avocet is doing very
:39:29. > :39:34.well. Let us look at this area from the air. You can see this is a very
:39:35. > :39:40.large area and we must commend the RSPB for sculpting this, since 1947
:39:41. > :39:46.it has been the avocet factory. It has been a fabulous place to breed
:39:47. > :39:51.and we have 1600 pairs nationwide. All along the east coast, in the
:39:52. > :39:57.Thames and the Medway and even nesting inland. In South Yorkshire
:39:58. > :40:02.and the East Midlands. The work the RSPB have done here in producing
:40:03. > :40:08.avocets is outstanding but we must keep the badger out. There is two
:40:09. > :40:12.kilometres of fencing around this area and trying to get a badger I'd
:40:13. > :40:16.is difficult but the RSPB will review what they do and will think
:40:17. > :40:21.about how to change that strategy so we can carry on producing. One last
:40:22. > :40:23.thing is that although it might be a disaster for Audrey and your partner
:40:24. > :40:28.this year, these are long-lived birds. They are almost designed to
:40:29. > :40:34.fail because they will only need to succeed a couple of times in their
:40:35. > :40:40.life span and they can live 16 years. If she fails this year, maybe
:40:41. > :40:44.next year or the year after, she will have a couple of chicks and
:40:45. > :40:48.that'll the growth that is required to continue to fuel the recovery of
:40:49. > :40:56.the avocet as a breeding bird in the UK, which is down to smear and the
:40:57. > :41:02.work of the RSPB. Beautiful bird. -- Minsmere. Another creature that has
:41:03. > :41:13.been doing badly but arrived back here in huge numbers this year is
:41:14. > :41:20.one of our favourites, the eel. To some, the Severn estuary is nothing
:41:21. > :41:27.more than a fat ridden of mud, and inconvenient obstacle in and out of
:41:28. > :41:32.Wales. -- river. But for the young eels, this is a highway and times
:41:33. > :41:41.gone by, billions would migrate up the Severn every year. By the 1980s,
:41:42. > :41:46.numbers had crashed, some saying we had lost up to 95%. That led
:41:47. > :41:50.scientists to use a chilling expression, they said that numbers
:41:51. > :41:56.were outside biologically safe limits and that meant the eel was on
:41:57. > :42:00.the path to extension. To make matters worse, the young that did
:42:01. > :42:07.make it to the shores were awarded on their onward journey by a growing
:42:08. > :42:12.number of man-made barriers. Today, at least 90% of elders never make it
:42:13. > :42:20.upstream to their feeding grounds, leaving an entire food chain under
:42:21. > :42:25.threat. But this year has seen a massive increase in the number of
:42:26. > :42:28.young eels reaching our shores, which is great news and an
:42:29. > :42:32.opportunity to bring the eel back from the brink. To find out exactly
:42:33. > :42:39.what is going on, I will go out with the people who are monitoring the
:42:40. > :42:46.eels on the Severn. I must wait for the tide to turn and darkness to
:42:47. > :42:52.fall. I will might -- meet the elver men, whose skills are being
:42:53. > :42:58.harvested to ensure the future of this creature. What is it about this
:42:59. > :43:02.but? If only everybody knew, it is learned from history and experience
:43:03. > :43:06.and the fish come here to contact around this bend. We have this
:43:07. > :43:11.beautiful full moon. Will that have any effect? In the great tradition
:43:12. > :43:16.of fishing, it is the high tide and the high moon that creates the
:43:17. > :43:21.effect that stimulate them to run. Which is why it all of the elver are
:43:22. > :43:29.out in force? This should be a magic night. Let's go. Tonight, there are
:43:30. > :43:36.around 40 men are banned down the river. Do you go all night? Until
:43:37. > :43:42.about four a.m., yes. We will finish at 3am because they must be at work
:43:43. > :43:51.tomorrow morning! The skill is knowing where and when to dip your
:43:52. > :44:05.net. Andy tests the water. Is it reasonable, that catch? No!
:44:06. > :44:15.Vermicelli! That thin pasta. It is like a living work of art. One hour
:44:16. > :44:23.later, the numbers are building. But is more like it. How many are there?
:44:24. > :44:30.Half a kilo. How many are there in this river tonight? Billions. So
:44:31. > :44:36.many fish this year. Unbelievable. The majority of the catch is not for
:44:37. > :44:40.the pot. It will be used to restock the waterways beyond the weirs and
:44:41. > :44:45.downs. This bumper catch is delivered to the Ile trader, Peter
:44:46. > :44:54.Wood, a key member of the sustainable group.
:44:55. > :44:58.Wow. Look at that! These tiny creatures have come what, 3,000
:44:59. > :45:01.miles to be with us tonight? Yes, somebody said to me it's like us
:45:02. > :45:09.trying to walk from here to the moon. Yes. Yet they still have
:45:10. > :45:14.plenty of energy. They'll be rested and quarantined for the next few
:45:15. > :45:19.days then transported across Britain and Europe to replenish depleted
:45:20. > :45:24.populations. 60% of our production goes to conservation projects. In
:45:25. > :45:29.the last couple of years, they have been remarkably good. How does it
:45:30. > :45:35.compare with previous years? There's been a steady decline. 2009 was the
:45:36. > :45:43.lowest catch we have had for many, many years. Now we are up to 30
:45:44. > :45:49.million. Does anyone really know why that is? Nobody has any idea at all.
:45:50. > :45:55.None at all. I mean, it's a complete mystery. What Peter does know is
:45:56. > :46:03.that the eel's short-term feature lies in active management. Until we
:46:04. > :46:07.can rectify the migratory path and blockages and overcome some of the
:46:08. > :46:11.barriers involved in the flood defences, yes, this work is going to
:46:12. > :46:16.have to continue. Long-term solutions are being attempted. Eel
:46:17. > :46:23.ladders are being installed across the country helping traditional
:46:24. > :46:28.routes to be followed upstream and turbines should reduce the damage
:46:29. > :46:34.done to adult eels on their way back to the sea. But none of this explain
:46:35. > :46:40.this is year's bumper numbers. Of course, the elder men have their
:46:41. > :46:44.own ideas. Personal theory is, we had a jet stream. The Gulf stream
:46:45. > :46:49.came down with it and I think it's probably back to its original level,
:46:50. > :46:54.that's why we got the fish. That's Andy's theory, folks and it's
:46:55. > :46:56.probably right. Good a guess as any! The fact is, they are here, that's
:46:57. > :47:06.the important thing! Absolutely. Do you know what, just have a think
:47:07. > :47:12.for a minute. Now, there's going to be, I'm certain, an eel within five
:47:13. > :47:17.metres of where I'm standing. That eel hasn't been born here, it's come
:47:18. > :47:23.- I find this mind-boggling to think about - from 3,000 miles away the
:47:24. > :47:28.other side of the Atlantic to get here. Astonishing animals. From eels
:47:29. > :47:33.to another astonishing animal. Not the mosquitoes that are biting me to
:47:34. > :47:37.death. Down here, there are many, many of an animal that you may have
:47:38. > :47:42.seen at home in your pond. They are one of the most colourful creatures
:47:43. > :47:46.on earth, trafficon flies and damselflies, but how do you tell the
:47:47. > :47:51.difference between those? Well, the dragonfly is the one at
:47:52. > :47:55.the bottom and it holds its wings out from its body. The damselfly
:47:56. > :48:01.holds its wings down the length of its body. That is one way of
:48:02. > :48:05.telling. And here on the right, the dragonfly's eyes meet in the middle,
:48:06. > :48:10.the damsel's eyes are sticking out almost like a hammer head shark or
:48:11. > :48:16.something. You can also see that the damselfly is much finer, lighter in
:48:17. > :48:21.body than dragonfly. Let's have a closer look at the eyes. This is a
:48:22. > :48:29.damselfly. You can see the eyes. It's got about 12,000 tiny lenses in
:48:30. > :48:36.that eye. They have fantastic sense of vision. A dragonfly goes one
:48:37. > :48:40.better, dragonflies have about 28,000 individual lenses. If you
:48:41. > :48:47.look really closely, you can see them in the eyes.
:48:48. > :48:54.The question is, why do both of them need all of those lenses in their
:48:55. > :48:58.eyes? 80% of a dragonfly's brain is concerned with its visual sense
:48:59. > :49:01.processing visual information. The reason for that is, they are
:49:02. > :49:06.brilliant hunters. They can move around, if you can imagine, if any
:49:07. > :49:14.direction, up, down, side-to-side, back, forwards, like a helicopter,
:49:15. > :49:19.and in one expert in America, they threw up prey items for them and
:49:20. > :49:23.they caught 0% of them. They can't walk very well, but their legs are
:49:24. > :49:28.for grabbing their prey. We have noticed something else going on down
:49:29. > :49:45.here. Dragonflies an damselflies have been courting. -- 90% of them.
:49:46. > :49:50.The female will mate with many other males and he wants his sperm to
:49:51. > :49:54.fertilise her eggs. Look closely. She's laying eggs under the water
:49:55. > :50:00.there. Here she is, the male is keeping
:50:01. > :50:03.hold of her all the way through. And those eggs, they'll be all
:50:04. > :50:08.around the place down here, they'll grow and develop and turn into
:50:09. > :50:14.voracious predators under the water too. Now, that's the dragonfly, the
:50:15. > :50:21.damselfly, you have sent us pictures of the beautiful animals. One in
:50:22. > :50:29.particular fascinated us, from Chalto. Look carefully, you can see
:50:30. > :50:34.the blobs. It's not es, that's parasites. We set ourselves the task
:50:35. > :50:37.to try and find them for ourselves. We managed to do that. They are
:50:38. > :50:44.fascinating creatures these. Gruesome. The little parasites grow
:50:45. > :50:48.under water with the dragonfly or damselfly lava, but when they merge
:50:49. > :50:54.as adults, they jump on to them and pierce them with a tube which grows
:50:55. > :51:00.into their body and they start to suck the fluid from the adult. You
:51:01. > :51:04.can see just moving there, the horrible little whites.
:51:05. > :51:08.Probably getting covered in them myself! When the dragonflies have
:51:09. > :51:15.those, it inhibits their ability the fly and they fly much more slowly.
:51:16. > :51:21.That maybes them easy prey for the hobby. The hobby is a specialist
:51:22. > :51:28.here. Looks like an enormous swift. At this time of year, trail be
:51:29. > :51:41.grubbing dragonflies. You can see it's got a dragonfly in its tall
:51:42. > :51:46.London and it's just picking off the wings -- trail be grubbing
:51:47. > :51:50.dragonflies. You can see it's got a dragonfly in its tallon and it's
:51:51. > :51:55.just picking off the wins. Absolutely astonishing to see that
:51:56. > :51:58.in mid-air. The hobbies will be specialising in trafficon flies.
:51:59. > :52:01.Later in the year, they'll turn their attention to the Martins and
:52:02. > :52:06.swallows here as well, before they it is appear back to Africa. Time to
:52:07. > :52:12.go to Nick in the BBC Weather Centre. What is the weather going to
:52:13. > :52:18.be like for dragonflies, Nick? In a word, perfect. For damselflies
:52:19. > :52:24.and dragonflies, they want ten degrees and try weather, yes, it's
:52:25. > :52:29.all in the forecast. Dragonflies in the UK unite, you know the score, it
:52:30. > :52:33.may be good for adders as well up to no good, they don't like warmth and
:52:34. > :52:37.there's warmth in the forecast. When the temperature reaches a certain
:52:38. > :52:41.level, they are more likely to go undercover into the bushes and maybe
:52:42. > :52:44.encounter birds' nests. Some birds need to look over their shoulder
:52:45. > :52:48.this weekend. Warmth in the forecast and a lot of dry weather too.
:52:49. > :52:52.Showers around tonight and tomorrow but look at this. From Wednesday,
:52:53. > :52:55.high pressure building in, settling weather down across England and
:52:56. > :52:59.Wales in particular, temperatures heading up again, but still some
:53:00. > :53:03.rain-bearing weather fronts at times in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
:53:04. > :53:08.What does that mean for you at Minsmere? Maybe a shower tonight,
:53:09. > :53:13.but the rest of the week is dry. Lovely weather for the bird to
:53:14. > :53:21.fledge. With temperatures like this, you can semi fledge. You may see
:53:22. > :53:25.something like this in the skies. Patrick sent this in over the
:53:26. > :53:30.weekend. It's a cloud formation that looks like a hairy caterpillar. If
:53:31. > :53:36.you see any bird or insect cloud formations, let us know. You may see
:53:37. > :53:44.an avocet or bittern cloud, who knows! That would do it for me!
:53:45. > :53:54.A bittern cloud. I might live long enough now to see semi-fledge
:53:55. > :54:00.ornothological test. Are you all right? Slightly boil in
:54:01. > :54:06.the bag! If you have been watching the previous series, we had a camel,
:54:07. > :54:14.a hollow tree stump in which we tempted rodents and filmed them. We
:54:15. > :54:19.have switched that to a nocturum. We have introduced buff tail bumblebeed
:54:20. > :54:23.into the tree. This is the nest inside a stump where we have our
:54:24. > :54:28.camera. And somewhere in amongst here, can't
:54:29. > :54:32.quite see at the moment, but there'll be the Queen. She's right
:54:33. > :54:37.at the top facing left, turning round, facing the camera now and the
:54:38. > :54:41.top view, you can see her in the centre. The material she's climbing
:54:42. > :54:45.over, these are the cells in which all of her workers, the sterile
:54:46. > :54:53.females which she's produced since this spring, are storing the nectar
:54:54. > :54:56.which they have been out to collect. Our bumble bees, collectively, in
:54:57. > :55:01.the UK, are worthy of attention at the moment. They are very important
:55:02. > :55:05.Pollenators for many species of wild flower. Sad to say that they are
:55:06. > :55:09.very much in decline and there are things that you can do at home to
:55:10. > :55:13.encourage bumble bees into your garden and to prosper there. Over
:55:14. > :55:19.the next few days, we'll give you some tips. That's fantastic.
:55:20. > :55:23.Fascinating insight into an insect nest. .
:55:24. > :55:27.Interesting question from bees from Donna White who says, we have bees
:55:28. > :55:32.nesting in the shed, how long should we wait before we can use it again?
:55:33. > :55:36.All summer. Some animals such as Windsor Castles and horn hes start
:55:37. > :55:52.with one nest and if it gets too small a space they'll move. -- wasps
:55:53. > :55:56.and hornets. With any luck, if the nest prosper, they'll be in there
:55:57. > :56:01.all summer. You can step into the shed, don't step into their flight
:56:02. > :56:05.lines, you can take liberties with them and they won't disturb you. My
:56:06. > :56:09.nest box has been taken over by bees, tree bumble bees, huge. I
:56:10. > :56:14.filmed them but we haven't got time for it. Let's take a look at another
:56:15. > :56:20.animal which we spotted out on the scrape over the weekend. The
:56:21. > :56:26.fabulous spoonbill. It's doing yoga, just like the avocet was. Excited to
:56:27. > :56:29.see this. This is a species which seems to be activelicologionising
:56:30. > :56:34.the UK. They have been breeding recently and every summer we see a
:56:35. > :56:43.greater number of adults visiting the UK and. We caught a glimpse of a
:56:44. > :56:47.magical animal. This is a stoat. Let's see that again. It's got a
:56:48. > :56:51.baby rabbit. So many creatures around here. They two so fast. Like
:56:52. > :56:57.a bullet. It was running across the road. We thought it was a squirrel
:56:58. > :57:00.until we saw the tail. It's been a beautiful weekend and we have seen
:57:01. > :57:06.some amazing bird over the weekend. Have a look at this one.
:57:07. > :57:10.This is a grebe on a floating nest. The hair style looks like yours in
:57:11. > :57:14.the early 1990s actually, sticking out, yes. This is a very clef nest
:57:15. > :57:18.because if it does rain tonight, although it's not look ing like it's
:57:19. > :57:22.going to here, that'll just rise with the rising water levels because
:57:23. > :57:28.it's floating. ? They continually add to it because it's perpetually
:57:29. > :57:31.disintegrating. They have specific features of vegetation in place
:57:32. > :57:37.which they whip over the eggs to hide them so they can't be seen from
:57:38. > :57:42.any aeriel predators. Isn't that egg going to get wet The vegetation is
:57:43. > :57:47.decomposing so it's generating a bit of heat. Marginal of course. A very
:57:48. > :57:55.quick look at our heat camera. We'll keep an eye on it. -- heath camera.
:57:56. > :58:01.We have a camera on the heath so we can see what goes on. We may see a
:58:02. > :58:08.stoat. Don't go away. Unsprung is on immediately after this on the red
:58:09. > :58:14.button and the web. We have got a graffiti artist. I hope he hasn't
:58:15. > :58:19.been taking the Mickey out of us! Keep your eyes on the live cameras,
:58:20. > :58:23.particularly the bitterns, they are likely to semi-fledge in the motion
:58:24. > :58:28.few days and they'll be back on breakfast programme tomorrow at 7.
:58:29. > :58:36.30. Monty the osprey is back tomorrow! I'm so chuffed we are
:58:37. > :58:40.going to see his progress. See you tomorrow at 8. Bye!