:00:08. > :00:16.Viz are astonishingly intimate views of the sparrow hawk on her nest are
:00:17. > :00:22.coming to you live. In mission control we have 30 cameras on all of
:00:23. > :00:27.the wildlife in RSPB Minsmere. In the next few moments I will be going
:00:28. > :00:29.out and checking up on that nest right there. This is live, this is
:00:30. > :00:59.happening now. It's Springwatch! Hello and welcome to Springwatch
:01:00. > :01:06.2016. It has cleared up, Michaela? It has, we have had rain, it has
:01:07. > :01:14.been a bit cold, but now it is mild. Downpours this morning, but now it
:01:15. > :01:18.is pleasant. I have said this before, I will say it again, we have
:01:19. > :01:28.a cracking show. I can promise you the sound of a bird before it is
:01:29. > :01:34.easy hatched. It is as the sea -- ecstasy. You don't get that very
:01:35. > :01:38.often on BBC Two. Let's go live to our sparrowhawks. Here she is, the
:01:39. > :01:45.female we have been watching from the first day of our series this
:01:46. > :01:50.year. She is sat on five eggs and we are desperate at this stage for them
:01:51. > :01:56.to hatch. We have seen a lot of the female and the mail. Let's see what
:01:57. > :02:00.they have been getting up to. This is the mail. Beautiful shot. First
:02:01. > :02:06.time we have seen it up in the trees. This is the female sitting
:02:07. > :02:11.patiently on the eggs, keeping her eye out for any danger, any
:02:12. > :02:19.predators. She has to be so careful. The male comes to the post and calls
:02:20. > :02:26.the female. As soon as she hears that, she gets off the five eggs,
:02:27. > :02:33.flies from the nest to accept her dinner. He passes it to her and she
:02:34. > :02:38.starts her meal. Look at the size difference. The female on the left
:02:39. > :02:44.is much larger than the male. She doesn't tolerate him very much, so
:02:45. > :02:50.while she is having her meal, he takes advantage to fly to the nest
:02:51. > :02:55.and check on the eggs. He is quite clumsy, not as careful as the
:02:56. > :03:00.female. He treads on the eggs, without folding his feet up. That
:03:01. > :03:06.could be disastrous for the eggs. He doesn't stay there long. She,
:03:07. > :03:11.meanwhile, has had her feed and is cleaning her peak. This is
:03:12. > :03:17.significant because she has lost the ball-macro tail feathers. You need a
:03:18. > :03:20.very beady eye to have seen that and we will explain the significance
:03:21. > :03:25.later. We have had terrible weather over the last week, so this poor
:03:26. > :03:30.female has had to incubate those eggs, getting absolutely soaking
:03:31. > :03:35.wet. When it is raining it is more important she keeps them warm. The
:03:36. > :03:42.male, regularly bringing food, calling the female down. Gives us an
:03:43. > :03:47.opportunity to see how dry she keeps the nest and the eggs. It is
:03:48. > :03:49.important she does that. She doesn't leave them alone for long. She is
:03:50. > :03:50.back in important she does that. She doesn't
:03:51. > :03:54.leave them alone for long. She is back in the nest. This is crucial
:03:55. > :03:59.because they are very near to hatching. She settles down again.
:04:00. > :04:04.You may have noticed when she got off the nest, the tail feather.
:04:05. > :04:08.Chris, that is significant, because it is in time with the possible
:04:09. > :04:13.hatching of the eggs? It is crucial timing. She wants to make sure that
:04:14. > :04:21.by the Young have hatched and grown to fledgling 's, she is in top tip
:04:22. > :04:24.condition. The male will continue to supply her with food and the
:04:25. > :04:29.youngsters, but when they get to a larger size, she has to share the
:04:30. > :04:34.hunting duties. If she is malting then, she will be good enough
:04:35. > :04:43.condition to catch the. So she wants to shed when she is on the net. We
:04:44. > :04:45.don't know when those eggs were laid so we cannot predict very accurately
:04:46. > :04:51.when they were going to hatch. This morning at 8am we were given a clue.
:04:52. > :04:59.You will have to tell the kids to be quiet and this in very carefully.
:05:00. > :05:04.But it is worth it. She comes in. She gives her dismissal call,
:05:05. > :05:29.telling the male she is back on the nest and everything is OK.
:05:30. > :05:37.SQUEALS that is the sound of the young sparrowhawks inside the eggs,
:05:38. > :05:41.talking to her. So there is no doubt that when it is not her, when she
:05:42. > :05:55.flies off, just listen. SQUEALS. What about that! Absolutely
:05:56. > :06:02.incredible. Does that mean they will hatch very soon, how many days? Why
:06:03. > :06:08.are they doing it? They could be talking to each other, to make sure
:06:09. > :06:12.they hatch at the same time. It is likely they are communicating with
:06:13. > :06:17.the female so she pays extra attention to them at the point of
:06:18. > :06:24.hatching. We went to the expert, Professor Ian Newton. He said the
:06:25. > :06:28.emergency will probably be in one, two days after the first noise from
:06:29. > :06:33.the eggs. We first heard it this morning, so they could be set to
:06:34. > :06:40.hatch on Thursday morning. I cannot think of any more reason to be sat
:06:41. > :06:46.on those WebCams, forget the football, the Euros. You might see
:06:47. > :06:51.sparrow hawk hatching. It is the most romantic thing I have seen this
:06:52. > :06:59.year on Springwatch. Ever heard it before? Never. It will be fantastic
:07:00. > :07:06.to see little sparrow hawk chicks. Let's have a look at the live
:07:07. > :07:17.cameras on the scrape. Yesterday we left our avocet pair.
:07:18. > :07:27.They had four chicks. But only two have survived. So what has happened
:07:28. > :07:32.to the other two? They have brought them out of the reed bird. These
:07:33. > :07:37.chicks have defined their own food, they are not fed by the parents. The
:07:38. > :07:43.parents are very good, keeping them warm and dry. But they had to let
:07:44. > :07:47.them forage for themselves. They go out into the shallow bodies of
:07:48. > :07:53.water, sifting through. These birds are already scything the water as
:07:54. > :08:00.they would doing as adults, in order to try and find tiny invertebrates.
:08:01. > :08:04.It is trial and error. They are packing up things that are totally
:08:05. > :08:08.inedible, but they slowly learn to pick up things which are edible.
:08:09. > :08:13.They have probably got some of the yoke that was inside the eggs, to
:08:14. > :08:19.keep them going for the first couple of days. Being in the open makes
:08:20. > :08:25.them very vulnerable. Watch the chicks, they are in the grass. Watch
:08:26. > :08:35.the head of the check on the right-hand side. The adult senses
:08:36. > :08:39.danger. On this occasion, it is little head peeps back-up, it has
:08:40. > :08:43.been lucky and the black headed goal mess. But sadly, just after one
:08:44. > :08:53.p.m., this chick doesn't make it back in time. It is gone and we are
:08:54. > :08:56.down to just one. About an hour later, in exactly the same place, we
:08:57. > :09:03.can see the last remaining youngster with the adult. And look at this,
:09:04. > :09:11.the adult senses danger and up it goes. And rapidly, not one or two
:09:12. > :09:19.black headed gulls coming and snatch the last of our avocet chicks on the
:09:20. > :09:22.scrape. What a shame, we were hoping they would survive. There have been
:09:23. > :09:29.no avocet chicks that have survived on the scrape this time. The avocet
:09:30. > :09:32.has a strategy to overcome these things, it lives for about seven
:09:33. > :09:41.years. If they lay for eggs every year, it is 28 chances. The oldest
:09:42. > :09:45.live to 24 so that is 96 chances of getting young into the population.
:09:46. > :09:49.This year there have been more black headed gulls nesting on the scrape
:09:50. > :09:53.and this has made life difficult for them. But there is hope. Let's go
:09:54. > :10:06.live to our camera on the scrape now. Through the mist, there is a
:10:07. > :10:10.bird sat down. It is an avocet, failed at the egg stage, perhaps the
:10:11. > :10:16.black headed gulls have robbed it. This was slightly earlier. So they
:10:17. > :10:21.might have nicked the eggs and have the youngsters, but this bird has
:10:22. > :10:26.had more and is sitting on four eggs. The black headed gulls are at
:10:27. > :10:30.the peak of their breeding, they have young and be ravenously hungry
:10:31. > :10:37.so the adults are out after anything they can get, avocet chicks. By the
:10:38. > :10:40.time those eggs hatch, it might be the black headed gulls are passed
:10:41. > :10:44.their peak, some of them might have moved away, so there might be a
:10:45. > :10:50.chance the late avocets, will survive. So there is still hope, but
:10:51. > :10:55.for our little avocet chicks, it wasn't a happy ending. We have had
:10:56. > :11:01.happiness with little owl chicks. Let's look at them live. Are they in
:11:02. > :11:07.there? Yes, it is upside down. What is it doing? This is quite
:11:08. > :11:11.interesting. It is trying to focus its eyes. They are not born with
:11:12. > :11:19.great eyesight, it improves as they develop. They need to work the
:11:20. > :11:24.focus. You see them doing it a lot, bobbing and twisting. I thought it
:11:25. > :11:29.was watching a fly inside the nest. We were hoping to see them coming
:11:30. > :11:33.out of the nest later. We have seen them doing that. If we see that
:11:34. > :11:41.during the show, we will certainly show you. They have got to move
:11:42. > :11:47.their head so they can judge distance. This young owl must be
:11:48. > :11:54.practising. I do that sometimes, if I am looking at something intently.
:11:55. > :12:00.I am doing it now! Coming out in sympathy with the owl. That is one
:12:01. > :12:05.of three little owl chicks we have got. It is looking good for these
:12:06. > :12:09.chicks. Nationally, and expect about two out of four to survive to
:12:10. > :12:15.adulthood. Because in Minsmere, there is such a variety of habitats,
:12:16. > :12:23.it is optical habitat for foraging and that means there is every chance
:12:24. > :12:27.all three will survive to adulthood. You have to say, you don't have to
:12:28. > :12:33.watch Springwatch on television. There are other platforms to enjoy
:12:34. > :12:37.our programme. It has never been easier to follow Springwatch, where
:12:38. > :12:42.ever you are and what device you are using. By going to the Springwatch
:12:43. > :12:49.website on your laptop, phone or tablet, you can watch Springwatch
:12:50. > :12:54.live any time of the day. Catch the action on live webcams, as well as
:12:55. > :12:59.updates, news and expert analysis. You can join in the conversation on
:13:00. > :13:06.Facebook, Twitter and the Flickr group. Martin enjoys a challenge. He
:13:07. > :13:08.has tried to find water voles and then he submerged in a drain on
:13:09. > :13:11.improving things then he submerged in a drain on
:13:12. > :13:16.improving things for the lives of eels. Last night he tried to out
:13:17. > :13:20.Colin Firth by donning a very low-cut cheesecloth blouse. Judging
:13:21. > :13:30.by Twitter, quite a few of the ladies were encouraged by that. What
:13:31. > :13:34.is he up to tonight? Martin? Tonight isn't physically difficult, but it
:13:35. > :13:44.is difficult. During the course of the programme, we are going to try
:13:45. > :13:49.to bring you live Nightingale Song. We want to hear one singing. It has
:13:50. > :13:54.got to be one of the most famous birdsong in the whole of the UK. It
:13:55. > :14:03.is quite a good time to listen, in the evening and at night. We are in
:14:04. > :14:06.with a chance. In the hedge, in the Bramble hedge, almost unbelievably,
:14:07. > :14:13.there is an Nightingale nest. We can go live to the nest... Here are the
:14:14. > :14:19.Nightingale chicks. Just behind me, a few metres.
:14:20. > :14:28.Let's go and see what they have been doing during the day. They're all
:14:29. > :14:31.hunkered down in there. You can see all the brambles around it. Here
:14:32. > :14:37.come the parents. They have been brilliant, coming in with lots of
:14:38. > :14:41.food for the chicks. Oh, let's go live now, live camera now! Here
:14:42. > :14:46.she's come in. There she is, just behind me. As I say, they have been
:14:47. > :14:49.coming in with food all the time, little chicks - oh, she's gone
:14:50. > :14:54.again, but they're doing very, very well indeed. OK. You might say,
:14:55. > :14:58.look, if you've got Nightingales behind you here, why don't you just
:14:59. > :15:03.hang around here and one will start singing? That isn't the case because
:15:04. > :15:08.the male nightingale produces that song just to try to appeal to the
:15:09. > :15:13.female, and once he's got a nest and they're actually nesting, he kind of
:15:14. > :15:19.shuts up. All they do now is little contact calls, so it's very, very up
:15:20. > :15:32.likely he'll start to call here. But let us listen to the nightingales
:15:33. > :15:38.singing. You might think, well, what's all the fuss about? What's
:15:39. > :15:43.that? Well, of course, that was only a tiny weenie bit of its song. The
:15:44. > :15:48.whole song is astonishing. They choose between 600, like, notes.
:15:49. > :15:51.They combine them into 250 phrases, and then they'll produce their song.
:15:52. > :15:55.It is different every single time they sing it. They never repeat the
:15:56. > :15:59.same song. Here is the very latest research. It seems that the female
:16:00. > :16:03.nightingale selects the male on the quality of his song because the
:16:04. > :16:07.nightingales that sing the best are the best providers of food for
:16:08. > :16:14.chicks. Fascinating stuff. Here's a little bit of history for you. If
:16:15. > :16:20.you go back to 1924, the very first ever live BBC broadcast on radio was
:16:21. > :16:24.a nightingale and a lady called Beatrix Harrison playing the cello
:16:25. > :16:28.to the nightingale. Let's hear it. MUSIC
:16:29. > :16:43.There is the nightingale. Can you hear a cello? That is the very first
:16:44. > :16:47.live BBC broadcast 92 years ago. MUSIC
:16:48. > :16:50.Fantastic. If she did that that long ago, surely tonight we should be
:16:51. > :16:54.able to find a live nightingale. We'll give it our best shot. We have
:16:55. > :16:59.got a live nightingale camera up there. There is one. Let's have a
:17:00. > :17:04.quick look and see if he's got the live camera. No, he has a rabbit. As
:17:05. > :17:06.a matter of fact, if he had got the nightingale just now, it would be a
:17:07. > :17:10.little bit disappointing because the job would be over. Here we go let's
:17:11. > :17:15.drive off and leave that nest behind. Here is Gary, our cameraman.
:17:16. > :17:19.He's got all of his fancy sound equipment. Can you get in the car,
:17:20. > :17:23.Gary? We have to drive up. This happens all the time. Where's the
:17:24. > :17:31.keys? Oh, they're here. Hang on. Now, as we drive off, OK, it's now
:17:32. > :17:35.time for Robert Fuller's amazing epic story of weasels, the next
:17:36. > :17:45.chapter. What happened to those lonely little kits? See you later.
:17:46. > :17:53.Over the last year, Robert Fuller has been following the fortunes of a
:17:54. > :18:01.family of weasels that live in his garden in workshire. -- Yorkshire.
:18:02. > :18:07.We lost the female last year. It was really sad to lose this female, but
:18:08. > :18:13.she's left us with a great legacy. One of her male kits held territory
:18:14. > :18:16.here throughout the winter. And now lives in a nesting chamber just
:18:17. > :18:28.behind this wall here, which is really, really exciting. Suddenly,
:18:29. > :18:32.one day we noticed a difference with a much smaller, slimmer weasel on
:18:33. > :18:40.camera, and that was like gold. We've got a female weasel again.
:18:41. > :18:47.Oui weasels usually have a rather short and snappy courtship, but this
:18:48. > :18:51.year's pair have given Robert a rather sweep surprise. We have had a
:18:52. > :18:59.very gradual build-up of the weasels getting closer and closer to each
:19:00. > :19:01.other. They've actually been curling up in the nesting chambers grooming
:19:02. > :19:16.one another. These weasels almost look as if
:19:17. > :19:20.they're in love. I've done everything in my powers to make it
:19:21. > :19:27.work. They've got heating in there, so they've got little heat mats at
:19:28. > :19:31.the bottom. We've got, like, everything that we can get - weasel
:19:32. > :19:42.kits in the nest boxes this year. You can't help but go, "Oh! " I
:19:43. > :19:47.mean, it's lovely to see them all snuggled up in their little love
:19:48. > :19:50.nest. Let me tell you, it doesn't stay rosy for long. There is always
:19:51. > :19:54.complications in a good love story, isn't there? I am afraid there are.
:19:55. > :20:00.This is the update we have had from Robert. After they were snuggling up
:20:01. > :20:04.in that little nest, the male leaves the female, and he wasn't seen
:20:05. > :20:07.again. She was left in that nest there.
:20:08. > :20:14.Then a new male comes along. You have to remember the female is in
:20:15. > :20:17.season. She's not mated successfully. He's quite large, and
:20:18. > :20:23.we think he's a more experienced male. He comes in. He sniffs her
:20:24. > :20:28.out. Look at the size difference. He's much bigger than her, and then
:20:29. > :20:32.he immediately starts to mate her. Now, he does this for about
:20:33. > :20:37.two-and-a-half hours. It looks a little bit rough.
:20:38. > :20:44.But this is normal weasel behaviour, and it stimulates ovulation. He
:20:45. > :20:48.stays in the nest for a little while, but only during that day, and
:20:49. > :20:53.then he disappears, and he's not seen again. We then see our little
:20:54. > :20:58.female starting to rebuild the nest, and when she comes out, you can see
:20:59. > :21:02.her tummy is swollen. She's clearly pregnant. It was a successful
:21:03. > :21:06.mating, and you see in this shot that her tummy is really quite
:21:07. > :21:10.large. She's got quite a few kits in there. If you look closely, Chris,
:21:11. > :21:15.you can actually see them moving! I know. That is amazing to see that.
:21:16. > :21:22.It's worth the licence fee alone, isn't it? Sparrowhawks cheaping in
:21:23. > :21:27.their eggs, weasels wriggling inside the graved body of their mother. I
:21:28. > :21:33.don't know what more you want. We think she'll give birth on the 20th
:21:34. > :21:37.of June. Robert will expect somewhere between four, eight, six
:21:38. > :21:42.kits, so another weasel explosion for Rob there. This season we have
:21:43. > :21:46.been celebrating great mums but it's time for dedicated dads. Last year
:21:47. > :21:51.we followed the history of one-these, the stickleback. They're
:21:52. > :21:56.very dedicated dads. Let's go live to our camera we have down in the
:21:57. > :22:02.same place we were watching it last year. This year the whole process is
:22:03. > :22:05.slightly more advanced because that stickleback father has already fry
:22:06. > :22:09.out of the nest, and you can see them there. They're still in the
:22:10. > :22:13.vicinity of that nest, which is in the foreground, but he's well ahead
:22:14. > :22:16.of things, but of course, as soon as the fry leave the nest - which is
:22:17. > :22:21.something we didn't see last year - it does present him with a different
:22:22. > :22:26.set of problems to deal with. It's actually - One of these is actually
:22:27. > :22:30.just managing the young when they first emerge from that nest. See,
:22:31. > :22:35.when they first come out, he's got to collect them and put them back
:22:36. > :22:38.in. But before we see that let's just remind, everybody, Chris,
:22:39. > :22:44.because it is fascinating, isn't it, the way they mate? The whole mating
:22:45. > :22:48.behaviour of the stickleback fish? If you're not familiar with it or
:22:49. > :22:53.maybe forgotten from last year - here's a reminder of what we saw
:22:54. > :22:58.last year with spineless Sy. He was our real hero he's already built his
:22:59. > :23:04.nest. It's the males that do that. They collect sticks, and then they
:23:05. > :23:10.glue it all together with anal glue. It's called spigging. It doesn't
:23:11. > :23:14.look very much, but that's his nest. Eventually, he managed to attract a
:23:15. > :23:16.female. You can see she's full with eggs, so full, she hardly gets in
:23:17. > :23:26.his nest. She proceeds to lay the eggs. You
:23:27. > :23:29.can see them coming out. It takes a little while because there are so
:23:30. > :23:35.many of them. She squeezes out the other side. He chases her away, then
:23:36. > :23:40.he comes back into the nest to fertilise it. He then spends the
:23:41. > :23:45.next few days protecting that egg and fanning it to aerate the eggs.
:23:46. > :23:49.He needs to get oxygen to those eggs, so he really is a dedicated
:23:50. > :23:56.dad. He's mending the little nest there, and we left him at the end of
:23:57. > :24:01.the series last year when the eggs had just hatched into little fry.
:24:02. > :24:07.And I think we can see them in that shot. They're tiny. They are tiny,
:24:08. > :24:11.but that's where we left him. Really this year, we're taking it on one
:24:12. > :24:14.step further. We're doing the next chapter, aren't we, Chris? Next
:24:15. > :24:17.chapter so those young are out of the nest. It does become a
:24:18. > :24:21.management issue, as I say. He's basically got to look after them
:24:22. > :24:25.once they emerge. He does this in a very curious way. Look. That little
:24:26. > :24:29.fish swum out of the nest, and he collected it in his mouth. Look.
:24:30. > :24:35.Here we are. He then goes back down to the nest and chooses a right time
:24:36. > :24:39.and place to actually spit it back in because at this stage, his
:24:40. > :24:47.judgment is that they're too young to leave and be safe on their own,
:24:48. > :24:52.and there - you can see spitting out some detritus. It's not quite a neat
:24:53. > :24:56.nest, the size last year but it has been productive. Look at this. There
:24:57. > :25:00.is a shole of fry there that have emerged. They stay in the vicinity
:25:01. > :25:05.of that nest, though obviously at this stage there are too many of
:25:06. > :25:11.them to collect and for him to spit back. But he's in attendance. He's
:25:12. > :25:16.chasing away - look! He fancies himself. He wants a starring role,
:25:17. > :25:22.without a shadow of a doubt. Stephen Fry! He need to stay there and chase
:25:23. > :25:28.away other fish and to be aware of predators. Look at this. This fish
:25:29. > :25:31.strays in, and he takes it out, because they will be cannibalistic,
:25:32. > :25:34.because other sticklebacks would come in and eat his fry. They put in
:25:35. > :25:39.a tremendous stint, when you think about it - build did nest, find the
:25:40. > :25:42.female, get her in, fertilise the eggs, then go right the way through
:25:43. > :25:46.to chasing other sticklebacks away until they can swim off. It's hard
:25:47. > :25:52.work for a stickleback dad, isn't it? It's hard work. Let's catch up
:25:53. > :25:58.with Yalo, who is discovering the amazing wildlife in the Farn
:25:59. > :26:01.Islands, in particular, the abundance of wildlife. Tonight he's
:26:02. > :26:06.helping out with a bird that you would actually be really lucky to
:26:07. > :26:19.see nesting on the Northumberland coastline. I've come here just on
:26:20. > :26:24.the coast from the Farn Islands to join a 24-hour vigil to protect the
:26:25. > :26:29.UK's second largest seabird, the little tern. For nine month of the
:26:30. > :26:34.year, the site blends into the vast stretch of unspoilt beach that is
:26:35. > :26:40.Beadnul Bay, but when May arrives it becomes a temp rare I home to three
:26:41. > :26:47.species of ground nesting bird, the arctic T are effects n, the ring
:26:48. > :26:55.Plover and a bird so rare, it needs its own 24-hour security. Ranger
:26:56. > :27:00.Kate Bradshaw oversees the full-time rangers here that do just that. How
:27:01. > :27:04.is it looking? We have lower numbers this year. They have been struggling
:27:05. > :27:10.a bit with the wind. We have had a terrible week. We have 12 active
:27:11. > :27:15.nests at the moment. It might go up. There is still time for them to lay.
:27:16. > :27:25.We have no idea. Those are only half the number from last year. So why
:27:26. > :27:30.are these little enters so -- terns? They like a 3630-degree view. They
:27:31. > :27:35.like to nest close to the tideline. We're going to encourage them to
:27:36. > :27:40.nest in more sensible places, areas that are higher, less prone to
:27:41. > :27:49.flooding. How would you do that? We have cut new areas and put decoys
:27:50. > :27:54.out, which is fake terns. We also use a lure that gives a call, to
:27:55. > :28:00.maybe give them the idea that there is other places to nest. But while
:28:01. > :28:04.they prefer the exposed beach area for the nests, they continue to be
:28:05. > :28:08.vulnerable to the elements, not to mention exposed to predators too. As
:28:09. > :28:16.a result, the rangers have to go that little bit further working
:28:17. > :28:25.around the clock to protect them. On the graveyard shift today is Rachel.
:28:26. > :28:28.Hiya, Rachel. Hiya. You're on night duty, are you? I am tonight, just
:28:29. > :28:35.watching over this area at the moment. This is our salt marsh area.
:28:36. > :28:39.We have little terns on the spit nesting, we have arctic terns. If
:28:40. > :28:44.there was a fox on the beach, what would you do? Depends what direction
:28:45. > :28:49.it was coming from, but it would likely be spooked by me with the
:28:50. > :28:52.torch. But if it's going to the colony, I would run down to
:28:53. > :28:56.intercept it. So far, so good. Nothing yet. No. You have another
:28:57. > :29:00.six hours or so to go on your shift? Yeah. Thank you very much. Good
:29:01. > :29:07.luck. I hope you see nothing at all tonight. Yeah. The rangers will work
:29:08. > :29:15.these shifts throughout the breeding season, and with every new day comes
:29:16. > :29:20.a new challenge. On high tides, they will raise the little tern nests on
:29:21. > :29:26.to crates. If the tide is very high, these boxes can be lifted further
:29:27. > :29:28.onto palettes to try to stop the sea destroying the nests and washing
:29:29. > :29:43.away the eggs. With high tide approaching, comes
:29:44. > :29:50.the tense part of the day. You have all sorts of terns, and the Rangers
:29:51. > :29:57.have gathered because it is a spring tide. The surge is pushing the water
:29:58. > :30:02.in even more. We're having to keep a watch to see what it is going to do.
:30:03. > :30:09.If it is going to be too much, we will have to intervene and help the
:30:10. > :30:13.birds. Today's tide is so high, the Rangers and might have to go down
:30:14. > :30:18.and temporarily move eggs from the high-rise nest rocks is until the
:30:19. > :30:24.tide subsides. It is a nervous waiting game. I cannot help them
:30:25. > :30:30.because it is a schedule one bird. We have got to have a licence to go
:30:31. > :30:35.near the nest and they have got to do these things just to try and get
:30:36. > :30:38.them to hatch the eggs, to get the young away. Even if they make it
:30:39. > :30:44.through a series of spring tides now, it isn't finished. You have
:30:45. > :30:50.foxes, crows, kestrels, stoats, hedgehogs and everything eats little
:30:51. > :30:58.tern eggs and chicks. They really are up against it. But now, the
:30:59. > :31:06.actions of a dedicated few have saved these terns today. They say
:31:07. > :31:10.tide and time wait for no man, but these Rangers are doing their best
:31:11. > :31:18.to challenge that on behalf of this beautiful little bird.
:31:19. > :31:26.Just to remind you. Get this off. We have come up here because we are
:31:27. > :31:35.trying to get a live Nightingale singing during the show. We know
:31:36. > :31:39.there is an Nightingale up in this area. Gary, are sound recordist has
:31:40. > :31:48.this special microphone. We are going to listen out and listen in.
:31:49. > :31:53.Why do they call in the evening? There is a dawn chorus and an
:31:54. > :32:01.evening. Because, it is very still, very quiet and so the birds that
:32:02. > :32:08.call at that time, they can be heard much further. What have we got,
:32:09. > :32:12.Gary? We have a jackdaw in the background, but no night in good --
:32:13. > :32:37.nightingale yet. We are certain there is an
:32:38. > :32:40.Nightingale there. We think it is a male that hasn't nested so it might
:32:41. > :32:46.give us the full song. You have probably heard them singing in the
:32:47. > :32:52.evening, and the blackbird is a classic. You have heard that. Can
:32:53. > :33:00.you hear the Blackbird song? BIRDSONG.
:33:01. > :33:06.I love that. A lovely, liquid song. You hear them in the evening, very
:33:07. > :33:17.evocative, particularly in autumn. Robbins come right into town. It is
:33:18. > :33:25.a beautiful mellifluous song. It is like liquid gold. And then another
:33:26. > :33:33.one you will probably hear, the song thrush. Beautiful song.
:33:34. > :33:38.BIRDSONG. You probably heard the Nightingale
:33:39. > :33:47.that sunk in Berkeley Square. We always talk about that. Some people
:33:48. > :33:53.say it wasn't an Nightingale, it was a robin. But it is the romance of it
:33:54. > :33:58.all, but there wasn't an Nightingale in Berkeley Square. Gary is over
:33:59. > :34:04.there. We have 25 minutes left, I am hoping to bring you a live
:34:05. > :34:09.Nightingale. Now, back to Chris. Thank you, Martin. I am enjoying my
:34:10. > :34:16.own little drive it spectacle down here at the moment. In the sky
:34:17. > :34:22.behind me is a gathering of sand martins. I am down past the visitor
:34:23. > :34:28.centre and behind me, this sandy bank is worth 320 pairs of these
:34:29. > :34:32.birds have chosen to nest this year. They are delightful. We have a
:34:33. > :34:38.camera and we can go live to it now. If you look carefully you can see
:34:39. > :34:44.them sleeping in and out of their burrows. Each one contains a nest,
:34:45. > :34:50.of course. About 65 centimetres deep. Little chamber at the end and
:34:51. > :34:56.they lay for or five eggs. Lots of them have young. One flying in the
:34:57. > :35:00.foreground. If they have a few young in those nests, they have to be
:35:01. > :35:06.providing them with lots of food. They don't go far to feed, just down
:35:07. > :35:11.here, swooping about. These things are trolling for aerial plankton.
:35:12. > :35:17.They are feeding on very small insects, things half a millimetre to
:35:18. > :35:22.1.5 millimetres in size. Things like aphids and midges. They fly low to
:35:23. > :35:28.the water, take things off the surface of the water. And then take
:35:29. > :35:33.them back and deliver them to their nests. The nests are over here in
:35:34. > :35:38.the bank. They dig a new chamber each year and they form little
:35:39. > :35:45.cubbyholes at the end of it. Only five or six centimetres in diameter.
:35:46. > :35:49.They align it and you can see them on the ground collect ding material
:35:50. > :35:56.for the nest. As we did the other day. I like to find an open area,
:35:57. > :36:02.they don't like flying under trees. They get on the ground and they will
:36:03. > :36:06.pick up tiny pieces of grass. Just like the other martins, swallows and
:36:07. > :36:11.sweats they will also collect things in the air, and they can, feathers
:36:12. > :36:18.and other pieces of vegetation. They fly with these back to the cliff and
:36:19. > :36:22.they drop them into the nests. There they are over there, feeding their
:36:23. > :36:26.young. We have been looking at this during the daytime and there were
:36:27. > :36:31.lots of them. They gather at the nest entrance at this time of year.
:36:32. > :36:39.A fabulous site, it really is fantastic. Look at this. Loads of
:36:40. > :36:43.adults coming in. The whole cliff face is topped with holes. Here are
:36:44. > :36:49.the youngsters. Just before they fledge, they come down to the
:36:50. > :36:55.entrance, inpatient to get the food from the adults. The adults want to
:36:56. > :37:00.get them out of the nests as quickly as possible and they will continue
:37:01. > :37:04.to feed them for about a week after they fledge and then they will stay
:37:05. > :37:08.with them for a couple of weeks. But they do want them out of the nest
:37:09. > :37:11.because this is a species that double broods, so they want another
:37:12. > :37:19.set of eggs are laid in that chamber this year. Let's go live to our
:37:20. > :37:23.chamber again. You may think there is not a lot of activity at the
:37:24. > :37:29.moment, because they tend to forage socially. There were large numbers
:37:30. > :37:34.of birds over the reserve. And as a predator avoidance thing, they will
:37:35. > :37:39.swoop back into the holes in one go. But they defined the word, dainty,
:37:40. > :37:44.for me. They are migrants, they have been in Africa in the winter and
:37:45. > :37:48.they have made their way back here for the springtime to breed. Now
:37:49. > :37:55.from one migrants or another, not a bird, but a fish. How would you like
:37:56. > :38:00.to see a cyclist own? A parasitic predator that has been around for
:38:01. > :38:07.500 million years. You should have seen one by now. I am talking about
:38:08. > :38:14.the sea lamp fray. I have got a diagram I drew earlier. It is
:38:15. > :38:20.unusual. It has an nose on top of its head and then it has seven
:38:21. > :38:24.gills. I have drawn eight. This is a mistake. It is very eellike. Couple
:38:25. > :38:30.of fins on the back and won around the tail. But the mouth is the most
:38:31. > :38:35.interesting and gruesome thing. You may want to look away. Imagine this
:38:36. > :38:43.clasped on to you, rasping at your flesh, sucking at your blood. This
:38:44. > :38:48.is what lampreys do in the sea. Look at all these gripping teeth. They
:38:49. > :38:53.hang on to other fish and that is how they sustain themselves. But
:38:54. > :38:57.after eight years, they make their way back into freshwater and breed.
:38:58. > :38:59.Their breeding cycle is quite extraordinary and it is not
:39:00. > :39:08.something we ever thought we would see until now.
:39:09. > :39:16.The cool waters of the River Wye in early summer see the return of one
:39:17. > :39:23.of the UK's strangest fish. The sea lamprey. These pre-historic, eellike
:39:24. > :39:27.creatures spend their lives at the what migrate to freshwater
:39:28. > :39:33.team-mate. Their disc shaped mouths are aligned with teeth and are
:39:34. > :39:37.designed to suck on to land a rasp holes into living prey. Once they
:39:38. > :39:43.have migrated up the river, they stop feeding and switch to breeding
:39:44. > :39:46.mode. Their reproductive organs swell in place of their digestive
:39:47. > :39:50.tract. They will never eat again. Instead they use their mouths for
:39:51. > :40:01.moving rocks around on the riverbed, it giving them the nickname, Stone
:40:02. > :40:06.suckers. They may move up to 40 stones in an hour to form a
:40:07. > :40:12.barricade, which changes the flow of water, creating a spawning area
:40:13. > :40:21.known as a red. At 15 centimetres deep, these riverbed craters can
:40:22. > :40:27.remain visible for years. Their tails are use to fan the gravel into
:40:28. > :40:42.position. Everything needs to be just right.
:40:43. > :40:51.Once the pair are satisfied, the female anchors herself to a large
:40:52. > :41:01.rock, and the male moves into position. Stimulated by her partner,
:41:02. > :41:13.the female releases 300 thousand sticky, fertilised eggs, deep into
:41:14. > :41:19.the gravel red. These adults will soon die, but after 12 days, the
:41:20. > :41:27.eggs will hatch and in eight years, the next generation will return to
:41:28. > :41:35.spawn. So interesting, but I am sure loads of people had never even heard
:41:36. > :41:38.of a sea lamprey. Fascinating behaviour, but under appreciated. As
:41:39. > :41:48.are most of the fish in British waters. One man wants to change all
:41:49. > :41:54.that is Jack. What got you into fish, what set your passion of? From
:41:55. > :42:00.a young age I was fascinated with sticklebacks and frogs. I put them
:42:01. > :42:05.in an ice cream tub and watch them and that fuelled my passion for
:42:06. > :42:10.them. You have had that throughout your life. You like a challenge,
:42:11. > :42:13.last year you set yourself a challenge of filming all the
:42:14. > :42:21.freshwater fish in British waters, so how many? 54. I have about ten to
:42:22. > :42:27.go, ticking them off slowly. This year you decided to set up the first
:42:28. > :42:36.ever UK, National Fish vote. What gave you that idea? Partly inspired
:42:37. > :42:39.by you guys. Some people, given the chance will be slightly obsessed by
:42:40. > :42:43.fish. We have these amazing behaviours, let's push them out to
:42:44. > :42:48.the public and show off what we have. The vote closed today at
:42:49. > :42:54.midday. Your favourite wasn't in the top ten. Have a look at this. This
:42:55. > :43:00.is Jack, this is what he spent his time doing. Putting his wet suit on
:43:01. > :43:06.and getting into the water to look at fish. And then this, what is
:43:07. > :43:10.this? These are Grayling, members of the salmon family. They are
:43:11. > :43:17.beautiful, they are known as the Lady of the stream. Those lamprey
:43:18. > :43:24.have nothing on these guys. The males wraps the cloak over the
:43:25. > :43:29.female and then they begin to spawn. It is the expression on their faces,
:43:30. > :43:34.I will let people make their own minds up, but it is interesting.
:43:35. > :43:38.They say fish don't have feelings, but that was experiencing pleasure,
:43:39. > :43:43.I would say. Very passionate. You are here to announce the winner out
:43:44. > :43:48.of the ten fish you voted for online. How many people voted?
:43:49. > :44:04.Nearly 7000 people. Let's see the results. Some of these are
:44:05. > :44:10.surprising, cod, 3%. Number three is the tench, 13% commie get them here
:44:11. > :44:20.at Minsmere. Stickleback got to number two. I think we need a drum
:44:21. > :44:27.roll. The winner is... The brown trout. 21%. Why do you think the
:44:28. > :44:31.brown trout one? They are popular with flight anglers and all over the
:44:32. > :44:39.UK from Shetland, all the way down to Cornwall, you find brown trout.
:44:40. > :44:44.Let's have a look at them. Are they easy to see?
:44:45. > :44:51.Yeah, they'll come out and wait for flies to hit the water, particularly
:44:52. > :44:56.at this time of year when you have the may fly gluts. They'll be rising
:44:57. > :45:00.to the surface and grabbing them. They're one of the most genetically
:45:01. > :45:07.diverse invertebrates we have in the UK. You have tiny trout, sea trout,
:45:08. > :45:13.the Farox trout which are cannibalistic. They all breed and
:45:14. > :45:18.can have fertile offspring. What do they do at this time of year? They
:45:19. > :45:22.root around and look for may flies, and sea trout, which are still the
:45:23. > :45:25.brown trout, they'll be entering our rivers getting ready to spawn in the
:45:26. > :45:30.autumn. That's fantastic. We have national fish. Let's hope it makes
:45:31. > :45:34.people appreciate our fish more. Were you surprised the stickleback
:45:35. > :45:39.didn't win? I thought with Springwatch pushing it, it may, but
:45:40. > :45:44.it got second place, can't complain at that. If you're a stickleback
:45:45. > :45:48.fan, you can watch our stickleback camera, the Sons of Si. Thank you
:45:49. > :45:53.very much for coming in. We now have a national fish, the brown trout.
:45:54. > :45:59.The 1st of July marks the hundredth anniversary of the battle of the
:46:00. > :46:04.some, so Frank Gardener, a BBC correspondent and a key gardener
:46:05. > :46:09.takes us back to that site in France to show us even during a bloody,
:46:10. > :46:11.horrendous war, a glimpse of wildlife could give solace to the
:46:12. > :46:49.soldiers in the trenches. This is the Somme. We're here on its
:46:50. > :46:57.battlefield. It was one of the bloodiest and worst battles of the
:46:58. > :47:01.First World War. And it was a 15-mile battle front where British
:47:02. > :47:05.and allied troops faced off the German lines. It was just
:47:06. > :47:11.horrendous. There was poison gas. There were mines. There were tanks.
:47:12. > :47:16.There was barbed wire. It lasted from the 1st of July, 1916 to
:47:17. > :47:23.November that year, and on the first day alone, Britain lost 60,000 men.
:47:24. > :47:40.And overall, a million men lost their lives here.
:47:41. > :47:47.I'm very proud of the fact my grandfather served here in the First
:47:48. > :47:52.World War on the Somme in 1916. He was a captain in the Royal
:47:53. > :47:59.Artillery, and he had to bring up ammunition to the front line time
:48:00. > :48:03.and time again. Because trench warfare was just unlike anything
:48:04. > :48:07.anybody who - all of these young men had experienced, people I think
:48:08. > :48:14.clung to any familiar signs they could. Seeing and hearing familiar
:48:15. > :48:20.sounds of nature which were few and far between, but you know, when the
:48:21. > :48:22.skylarks raise up into the air, that reminded them of home, particularly
:48:23. > :48:37.the country boys. I'm hearing black caps,
:48:38. > :48:44.chiff-chaffes, other birds singing away. I have just heard a golden
:48:45. > :48:47.Oriole which is wonderful. It has this tropical woop. It's
:48:48. > :48:48.distracting. It's hard to think of the history here when you have so
:48:49. > :49:03.much nature going on around you. Isn't that a lovely sound? So
:49:04. > :49:07.tropical, that. The golden oriole is one of the birds that the soldiers
:49:08. > :49:16.mentioned seeing and hearing in these woods a hundred years ago, and
:49:17. > :49:20.they're back. It's extraordinary sitting here in this wood now
:49:21. > :49:29.exactly a hundred years on from the battle that raged here because back
:49:30. > :49:34.then, this would have tipped our wood. After a few weeks of shelling
:49:35. > :49:39.it would have been shattered. There would be nothing but shell holes,
:49:40. > :49:53.mud and trenches and pain and discomfort.
:49:54. > :49:58.Nature is an incredible healer. Before the First World War, the wood
:49:59. > :50:03.probably looked exactly like this, and now it looks like this again,
:50:04. > :50:08.and it's just regenerated itself. It's a lovely symbol, actually, of
:50:09. > :50:13.how the land can recover. This is the present. This is here and now.
:50:14. > :50:19.The golden orioles and the cook coups we're hearing are right now in
:50:20. > :50:30.2016 and life goes on. The wood has grown back up. Birdsong is back.
:50:31. > :50:37.Well, the wood may have grown back, but the whole place will always bear
:50:38. > :50:42.the emotional scars of the memory of war. Now, as we said, we have had
:50:43. > :50:47.extraordinary weather here. We have had cold. We have had rain. It then
:50:48. > :50:52.went warm. It was sunny today. I must say I am a bit chilly now. It
:50:53. > :50:56.has gone a bit cold. That's obviously affected the wildlife here
:50:57. > :51:01.but in particular it's affected the reptiles. We haven't checked up at
:51:02. > :51:06.our snakes are on site. So let's have a look at our live camera. This
:51:07. > :51:09.is our reptile refuge. We were hoping that - there is nothing in
:51:10. > :51:18.there underneath at the moment. But we have been watching a female adder
:51:19. > :51:22.here - she was in there earlier, and you can see this adder moving
:51:23. > :51:28.through there. Look at the temperature - 17 degrees. At 17 to
:51:29. > :51:33.20, she likes to be under the tin where it's nice and warm. Above that
:51:34. > :51:38.it's too hot. She certainly wouldn't be on it at 28. She would cook. You
:51:39. > :51:44.can see on the left-hand side it looks like she's had a meal and
:51:45. > :51:48.also, various parts of her body look as if she's gravid. She's developing
:51:49. > :51:52.eggs which will hatch into live young at the point of birth.
:51:53. > :51:56.Beautiful animal. We know it's the same female - she has a little scar
:51:57. > :52:02.on her back which enables us to identify her. Here, as things cool
:52:03. > :52:10.down, she inches her way back on to that sheet of corrugated iron there.
:52:11. > :52:20.She's going to use that to warm up her body. She's using an unusual
:52:21. > :52:23.method of locomotion there. Look. She's beginning to flatten her body.
:52:24. > :52:28.This is something we have seen her doing in the last few days, and look
:52:29. > :52:32.there - looks like she's been run over, but this is what she's doing.
:52:33. > :52:36.She's flattening that to maximise the contact between herself and that
:52:37. > :52:39.corrugated tin so that she can warm up to operating temperature. Of
:52:40. > :52:43.course, if you want to keep an eye on our snakes, you can visit our
:52:44. > :52:46.website. We have the webcams there. Also tonight, we're not featuring
:52:47. > :52:51.the golden eagles but if you go dot website, we can offer you a sneak
:52:52. > :52:55.preview of some extraordinarily beautiful eagle pictures. So have a
:52:56. > :52:59.look on the website for that. I think we've just got time to go back
:53:00. > :53:02.to Martin. It's his last chance to hear a nightingale sing live on air.
:53:03. > :53:08.What do you think his chances are? Slim. Slim.
:53:09. > :53:24.I don't believe it - again - BIRDSONG Nightingale is singing.
:53:25. > :53:28.Just a tiny bit. I promised you the whole song.
:53:29. > :53:42.THAT IS A VERY INTERESTING POSSIBILITY AS as to why he's not
:53:43. > :53:47.giving us the whole song. I'll come to that in a minute. I can't believe
:53:48. > :53:55.it. We know that the nightingale is here. We'll keep this thing. We'll
:53:56. > :54:00.keep this... Look. Gary did manage to record the full song up here on
:54:01. > :54:05.site. Let's just listen to the whole song. Have a listen.
:54:06. > :54:16.Remember, there is 600 elements there, combined into 250 phrases,
:54:17. > :54:23.and then it sings a different song every single time. It never, ever
:54:24. > :54:31.repeats itself. It's gorgeous. Well, we gave you a little tiny burst.
:54:32. > :54:43.It's doing it again! It's a nightingale! That is fantastic.
:54:44. > :54:58.This is live. This is live. That is pretty lucky. All I need now is my
:54:59. > :55:14.cello. SHARP TWEETING AND TUTTING.
:55:15. > :55:17.That nightingale, the male singing there, has come back to the same
:55:18. > :55:22.place. He might have been here last year. Let me show you - here we go.
:55:23. > :55:28.Which way around does this one go? Here we go. These are all singing
:55:29. > :55:33.nightingales on the Minsmere site. I think there is about 27 of them, and
:55:34. > :55:37.because they stay in the same spot all the time, that allows them to
:55:38. > :55:41.count how many pairs they've got. Do you see this one up here right up at
:55:42. > :55:47.the top there? That's the one we have been listening to live. Right
:55:48. > :55:51.there. So of course, that has serious implications for
:55:52. > :55:54.conservation, because if you chop down that tree there, that
:55:55. > :56:00.nightingale is going to come back from Africa, and it won't know where
:56:01. > :56:04.to go to sing its song. And of course, what's fascinating is
:56:05. > :56:09.they'll fly 5,000 miles from Africa - they have a favourite tree in
:56:10. > :56:14.Africa, so they'll leave that favourite tree in Africa, fly 5,000
:56:15. > :56:16.miles to their favourite tree here. A bird of habit, I think you would
:56:17. > :56:29.agree. OK. Still going. I was going to say, we just got tiny
:56:30. > :56:32.bits of song before. It might be - here is a fascinating, wonderful
:56:33. > :56:37.possibility. It might be because he's not singing the whole song, he
:56:38. > :56:41.has got a mate in there, and I like to think that male has found a mate
:56:42. > :56:45.and they're starting to nest in those bushes there. Wouldn't that be
:56:46. > :56:49.fantastic if it's true? Let's go quickly to our live cam, the
:56:50. > :56:54.nightingale, the other one. There she is, the parent. Look, the other
:56:55. > :56:58.parent is coming in to feed them. Let's hope and pray that's what's
:56:59. > :57:02.going on up here as well, and they're starting their nest.
:57:03. > :57:07.Fantastic. OK. And on that thrilling note, it's back to Chris and
:57:08. > :57:11.Michaela. I say! Ten out of ten. I never thought he'd get it. Wow. He
:57:12. > :57:15.gets better results when he's got all his clothes on, but then we've
:57:16. > :57:23.always said that about him, to be quite honest with you. Nightingales,
:57:24. > :57:30.peeping sparrowhawks - what a show! What a show. You doubted him! Let's
:57:31. > :57:35.have a look at our great tits. We haven't checked in on them much
:57:36. > :57:39.because they have been eclipsed by the adopted great tits that were
:57:40. > :57:45.already fledged, in the bluetit nest box. They should fledge any time
:57:46. > :57:50.now. Keep your eyes on the cameras for great tit fledge watch! That's
:57:51. > :57:57.all we have time for. Tomorrow we're on at a later time of 8.30. What
:57:58. > :58:01.time? 8.30. David Anderson, our wonderful golden eagle expert, will
:58:02. > :58:06.be joining us to give us a final update on those in Scotland. We'll
:58:07. > :58:12.be catching up with our stoat, and all of her kit will be out, which is
:58:13. > :58:15.fantastic. We'll be on sparrowhawk egg watch, keeping everything
:58:16. > :58:23.crossed for chicks by the end of the week. Join me on BBC Two for
:58:24. > :58:32.Springwatch Unsprung. Our guest is Lizzie, who will be telling us about
:58:33. > :58:37.Wildlife From My Window. Piscatorial ecstasy! You like that! It was
:58:38. > :58:38.extraordinary. Eel we'll see you tomorrow, 8.30. See you then.
:58:39. > :58:45.Bye-bye.