Episode 4 Springwatch


Episode 4

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This brief little birds, hunkered down in the grass, is coming to you

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live from Minsmere in Suffolk. If you've been watching this week, you

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will know they have endured all sorts of drama and danger, but what

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will happen next? Stay with us to find out. It's Springwatch!

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Yes, hello and welcome to the final programme of week one Springwatch

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2016, live from the fabulous RSPB Minsmere reserve in Suffolk. What we

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do here is we turn up at these places, we think about, we find some

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nests, we stick in our cameras and stick our noses into the private

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business of the wildlife. Let's stick our noses back into the nest

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of that stone curlew straightaway. Let's go live to that nest, and

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there is one of the air incubating the single egg that they have. It

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could be female or the female. If it were to stand up, we'd know, because

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the has rings on. The egg was laid on May the 5th and it is coming

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towards it end of its term of incubation. They are a bird that

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nest in the open on the acid grassland there. They are a rarity,

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only a couple of hotspots of them, so it's very important that the RSPB

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can look after them. We are desperately hoping that the egg is

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going to hatch. It has had a tough week, enduring all sorts of

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challenges. Here are the parents. They keep swapping on bad egg. From

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the start of the week, things weren't good. The weather was awful.

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Monday night, the rain hammered down. At night, it had to scare off

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all sorts of unknown threats. Even in the day, there were predators.

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This crew would definitely take the egg. And there were nuisance

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neighbours, the rabbits. Taking no notice of that stone curlew. The

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biggest threat was yet to come. Take a look at what happened yesterday.

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It hurts something. You can see it in the distance, running. It's

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definitely alive. It's chasing whatever is in the distance. Take a

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look at what it is. It is a buzzard. It's huge. Just look at the size

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difference. It's like David and Goliath. But our stone curlew is

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trying to drive that buzzard away from its precious egg. It doesn't

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want it anywhere near it. It would definitely take the egg and, given

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half a chance, it would take the stone curlew. It's chasing it, but

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the stone curlew isn't going to give up. It's still having a go.

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Eventually, it scares the buzzard off. Probably, the buzzard just

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gives up and goes for easy upgrade. This poor parent looks absolutely

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existed. -- easier prey. It wants to get back to its egg. It took about

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40 minutes, which isn't a disaster, compared to the other night when it

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was off the egg for an hour and ten minutes. The egg was supposed to

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hatch if you days ago so we are a bit concerned. After that display,

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I'm really rooting for these stone curlew 's. They are differently

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fabulous birds. An interesting, quite exotic, the way they appear.

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They are a rarity, so we are all rooting for the stone curlew, but we

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will have to see what happens. Our nest finders have been out and the

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camera crews have been busy, so we can bring you a new nest, just near

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our studio in some gorse. Let's cut to it live. There is the bird on

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there. I am sure many of you will recognise that bird when you get a

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peep of its narrow bill. It is a dumb luck, a sleeping done at the

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moment. -- dunnock. They are quite common. There are 2.3 million

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territories. Let's see what they have been up to earlier. This one is

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sleeping. There she is, down in the gorse. You will recognise them. I'm

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sure many of you have got them in the garden. They are not flamboyant.

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They've got a great song. Like the stone curlew, they did a brilliant

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job of brooding those youngsters when it was pouring with rain, and

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it really did pour down earlier in the week. Here, she is just going to

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hop off. There are three freshly hatched youngsters in there. One of

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potentially a couple of males coming in and feeding them. Now, I know

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what you're thinking. You're thinking, I've been watching

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Springwatch all week, they've been showing us owls, quite good,

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sparrowhawks, very good, golden eagles, brilliant, so why on earth

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are you wrapping it up with a little brown bird like a dunnock? Don't

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underestimate the dunnock. Never underestimate it. It has a

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fascinating sex life. How can I put it? They don't really form

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conventional partnerships. If you keep your eye on that dunnock's nest

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over the weekend, you might see some saucy shenanigans. I think it's

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rather cute. It's interesting, but nevertheless it is a little brown

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bird so, if you want something more beautiful, I've got another nest to

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show you. It's a fascinating new nest, the nest of the long-tailed

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tit. Let's have a look at live. There are chicks in that nest, but

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let's take a look at the nest. It is in a thorny bush. At the chicks

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peeking out! Calmed down. They are there for protection from predators,

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but the nest is so interesting and intricate. It's made from moss,

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cobwebs, hair, and it's lined with thousands of feathers. They use

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whatever feathers they need to regulate the temperature of that

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nest. They know exactly how many they need to get the perfect

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temperature. They are very clever. The chicks are a bit sleepy! If you

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think that is a thing of beauty, went on till you see the adult. This

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is an adult long-tailed tit. I think they are absolutely gorgeous. To me,

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they are a bit like a lulu of the bird world. The lulu? They are cute,

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pretty, a shrill voice. I think they are lovely. They are not very twist

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and shout. I think they are, actually! Three little chicks in

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there that we know of. We don't know how many there are, for obvious

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reasons, because you can't see, but look at that one, grabbing the

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insects the parents are bringing. There are quite active, quite big

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and they are due to fledge this weekend. Once again, over the

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weekend, keep your eye on the online cameras on the red button. I'm

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working my way through the lulu thing. I'll probably make that...

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Lulu the long-tailed tit! It works for me. We are up here in this

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fabulous piece of deciduous woodlands, but in Smith has a lot of

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different habitats, many of them of national or even international

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importance. -- Minsmere has a lot. Over here is currently the haunt of

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Mr Martin's use. It is nice and sloppy down here. Before we go any

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further, I promised you the results of the nightjar survey we did last

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night. They stayed there until 12:30am, all of the volunteers, and

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they heard ten nightjars. They say they would like more but, given the

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conditions, that was pretty good. Now, I am down here in the reed

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Bentz, trying to find another real speciality of ten four, -- Minsmere

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-- Minsmere, the bittern. They are fantastically well camouflaged. They

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are very rare. In 1997, there were only 11 males heard calling. Last

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year, up to 156. This is a rare bird, difficult to see. They also do

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an extraordinary posture. They can stay like that for 45 minutes. When

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they are standing still, they will sway with the wind to make

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themselves look like the reeds. The other thing that bittern Crewe do,

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the male ones, they make a tremendous didn't, the boom. -- that

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bitterns do. That travels an enormous distance. If you wanted to

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find a male bittern, just listen for the booming, but the females are

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silent and incredibly secretive. But the RSPB wants to find those

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females, because they are the ones that do the nesting. If you find the

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female on the nest, you are in business. How are we going to find a

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really secretive, silent bird? Well, there's a way. The females do

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special flights. We filmed this today. They do a feeding flight, so

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they go from the nest. They walk away a little distance, then they go

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to the area that they are feeding. They settle down and they feed for a

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while, sometimes up to an hour, and then they fly back to the nest. What

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we've got to try and do tonight is to see bitterns on feeding flight.

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I'm going to join the RSPB survey. There are other volunteers all

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around the reed beds. I'll have to get up there and look out for those

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feeding flights. So, yes, feeding flight. I've lost my way completely!

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OK. Let's have a look around now and see what we can actually see. Can we

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see anything here? There's nothing out there right now. OK. Now, you

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might be asking yourself, up here, there is acres, hectares and

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hectares of reed beds, so how are we going to mark where those females go

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down if we see them? That is a skilled operation. I'll explain when

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you come back. For now, I'm going to sit here with the other volunteers

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and try to see a bittern in flight. Where are they? I'm here in the

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heart of the UK's most exciting restoration project, the great trust

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for six -- great trust forest. It is happening on a massive scale. The

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aim is to plant and connect up to 16,500 hectares of forest. That's

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the equivalent of 22,000 football pitches. That's good. That's very

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good. What's better is that we are ten years into it and it's got

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another 190 years to go. A project on this scale doesn't occur in

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isolation. The RSPB, the Woodland Trust and Forestry Commission

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Scotland have teamed together and they've planted 1.5 million trees.

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The ultimate goal is to provide a haven in which wildlife can survive

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and adapt to climate change. To gauge their progress, Dave Anderson

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and the team of scientists are monitoring everything that lives

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here. There is one in here, and it's ringed. Yeah. This will be a

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Sopranos distro. Is this one that your project would have ringed? Yes,

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definitely. We will record its sex, it's number. That is 5.7 grams.

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That's tiny, isn't it. How many boxes have you put out? About 300.

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They are really going for them. I don't know why, because there are a

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lot of natural sites. They are very slight faithful. A male will use the

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same box for maybe ten years. Obviously there are plenty of

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midges. The Rambler's friend, this animal. As the forest cover

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increases, that will provide even more insects, one kit. So over a

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period of time we'd expect to see the bats as a useful indicator as to

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the prosperity of the forest. Correct, yeah.

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There are hundreds of nest boxes scattered throughout the forest.

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They are already very popular and some have even attracted unexpected

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guests. In a box made for tourneys, something that's definitely not owl.

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-- made for tawny owls. What a smell! It's very fishy. They will

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tell you what is happening in the water systems. If there is any

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pollution, any military build-up, anything like that, it will put it

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into the eggs. So we can get that analysed and it will tell a story.

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-- Mercury build-up. They would have been nesting here before in large,

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hollow trees. Yes. Hopefully by giving them some nest boxes to go

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into, we have substituted the large, hollow trees at the moment and

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hopefully, once the forest matures, we will get those big holes back

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into the forest. It's been a pleasure to meet this bird, in all

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senses apart from the olive factory. -- olfactory. This packs quite a

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smell! Mrs Gooseander packs a smell. This

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project is about creating a mosiac of habitats.

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Combatle are playing a crucial role. By churning the soil, they create a

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softer edge, where the native plants flourish. This is good news for a

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species that is declining nationally. Now I've been to many

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black grouse lakes but not as picturesque as this one.

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Worth getting up at 3.00am for! Very much worth getting up at 3.00am for!

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The population when we started to manage them was about seven or eight

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birds. This is males we are talking about. Now it is up to between 70

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and 80 birds. So ten times increase in less than

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ten years? Mostly in the last five to six years.

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That is tremendous. What about the lecks themselves? How -- what about

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the lakes, how often are they used? We don't really know. Once the birds

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show us where they are, we are managing the lakes, coming on with

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the strimmers so that it keeps the birds in.

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You stream them? Yes, to try to keep them in the areas and manage the

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lakes in the cattle. I am loving that. I want to get into

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the lake business myself? I fancy lake construction Ltd.

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We want to see all of these species marrying together. If we get the

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habitat right, the birds will tell us that we are getting it right.

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Hopefully that will feed right up the food chain, right to the eagles.

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I'm genuinely excited about this. It's got to be one of the most

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ambitious projects I have seen in the UK. I just wish I could be here

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in 190 years' time to see the finished results!

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The great trossach forest project. What a great initiative. 5,000 years

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ago, 80% of the UK was covered in trees. Do you know what it is now?

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13%. Only 13%! And 4% of that 13 is native woodland like this, which is

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great for biodiversity. How does it compare with the rest of Europe.

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Poorly. On average in the EU, they have 37% tree cover in their

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countries. We have 13. It is not good. Bad news for the environment.

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Bad news as trees like this help to prevent flooding, to monitor the

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weather and change it favourably. They are good for economics, timber

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growth, fuel, so forth, they are good for air quality, good for

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recreation... I think you have made the point! We cannot do without our

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forest. It is an amazing project. Where is The Great Trossach Project?

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Well, it is up here in the south-west of Scotland. That is

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where it is. And also on the map, the distribution of the golden eagle

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that David Anderson has been helping us with. It has a clearly western

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disbukes in Scotland. There was one in England. But the lone male

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perished. Although there are not any in eastern Scotland, we hope that

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they can spread out and spread to the south.

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The golden eagle nest we have been following is in the wild south-west

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of Scotland. We have had the most extraordinary views of the next and

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the chick. It is two weeks old here. We have seen such a growth in the

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last week. They can actually triple their weight in the first few weeks.

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It manages to do so well as it has a fabulous mother. In its first 50

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days it is all about bulking up. After that it is about feather

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growth and strengthening the flight muscles. But, as I say, we have been

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privileged to be able to get these amazing shots. Such a gorgeous

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chick. We have been watching the activity

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at the nest, the adults. They have been constantly changing the

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construction of the nest. Every time they come in they bring something

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back. They are keen to keep the concave construction of the nest.

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They like the depression, so if there is bad weather, the youngster

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can hunker down in it. As it begins to grow, they will do away with the

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concave thing and have a platform and be safe on that to learn to

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spread its wings. And also, this are bringing in greenery. That was a

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piece of oak. And here is a piece of rowan and hazel. This is typical of

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many birds of prey, they decorate the nest. But in nature, there is a

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reason for everything. In smaller species, the tits, the starlings and

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so forth, they bring in herbs to the nest. It is proven that this helps

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to reduce the bacterial infections on the skin of the youngster. If

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that is the same case with the eagles, we are not entirely sure but

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there is a reason for bringing the greenery in. So they keep the nest

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tidy. So at this stage, when the young are still in their down coat

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like this, they are taking away uneaten food and trying to keep the

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place as clean as possiblement I say that, some of the females don't and

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some do. Sometimes when you go to a nest after they fledge it is

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spotless, sometimes you will go and it is a mess full of all sorts of

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things. So the first is a Chris Packen

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mess... But it is great. We have seen the mother being so diligent.

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It fed the chick so delicately. We have seen it preening and house

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keeping. This is the third brood. The third breeding season. It will

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be great to see what happens next week. As the chick gets bigger, the

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mother will be able to forage. It will be fantastic to see the

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character of that chick coming out. Next week, it is Natural

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Volunteering Week. People get out and give their services for free. We

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would like you to join in. The BBC launched: Do Something Great. We are

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launching Do Something Great For Nature. It is tempting to think a

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that the RSPB and the other wildlife trusts are doing something great,

:22:38.:22:40.

they are but they need us to help too. It is not just about making a

:22:41.:22:45.

difference, it is about enjoying yourself. As Nick found out when

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exploring his local patch with some volunteers.

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So, this is Dartmoor. It is a well known National Park. I am fortunate

:22:54.:22:58.

to call it my home. In fact, it was the wildlife that

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drew me here in the first place. It is full of species that have pretty

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much disappeared or become incredibly scarce elsewhere in the

:23:09.:23:14.

land. In some ways it is a bubble, almost an island, an arc, as it

:23:15.:23:19.

were, of the countryside that once was. Dartmoor is a vital nesting

:23:20.:23:25.

side for three threatened ground nesting birds, the Stonechat, the

:23:26.:23:34.

Wind Chat and the meadow Pipette. The birds have local champions.

:23:35.:23:39.

Charles tiler pulled together a team of nationalists to fight the

:23:40.:23:43.

decline. The study came from me being up

:23:44.:23:48.

here, photographing the birds. I came across two guys who had a

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passion for bird nesting. I asked if they would expand on the skills to

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build a picture and understanding in terms of what the birds require in

:23:58.:24:03.

success for breeding on the moor. How long ago? 2008.

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Now, there are more than just a couple of people? A core group of

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seven people. Many are volunteers, five of them. They give up their

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time to find the bird nests to find information to use and better

:24:22.:24:23.

protect the habitat for the wildlife. That is what it is about.

:24:24.:24:30.

They have secured funding for a PhD researcher, she is collecting and

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analysing data on the moor's nest. This is a Stone Chat nest.

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Hold your hands out... Oh, really? There you go.

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They are unrecognisable. They aren't, are they? They really

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don't. So, take a ring. Gently fit it

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around the bird's leg. Getting a return is rare? Yes. This

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is a simple task but the information you get from it is valuable.

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Just a little handful of ornithological potential.

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The team are monitoring an incredible 300 nests a year. Next we

:25:38.:25:47.

are on the hunt for another key study species, the meadow pipette.

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They can be difficult to find the location of the nest it really takes

:25:53.:25:57.

a lot of time and watching. OK. I can hear an alarm call. So

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there is a pipette above us. A good sign.

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Here was a precious brood of four-day-old chicks.

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So, we collect... This is not science but it is fun! That is 16.8.

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The data provides valuable insight into sure vile on the moor and how

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the habitat is managed in the future. The hard work is already

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having a positive impact for the birds.

:26:33.:26:39.

-- survival. Obviously, thousands of hours of

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observation time have been incested in the site, what did you learn? The

:26:46.:26:53.

whinchat is a bird that is declining.

:26:54.:26:59.

On Dartmoor it is doing reasonably well. They breed all the way through

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to July. The management practice that operates on the area for the

:27:05.:27:07.

control of bracken would start in July. So that practice was

:27:08.:27:15.

destroying some of the whinchat nests. So, they have enough agreed

:27:16.:27:20.

discussion to delay that practice until August. So the birds have the

:27:21.:27:28.

extra time to get their off spring moving on. So that is an achievement

:27:29.:27:34.

to get the scientists involved to help preserve our national

:27:35.:27:41.

treasures, things like the whinchat. It is a great project on Dartmoor,

:27:42.:27:46.

they are doing great things. But remember when it started, just a few

:27:47.:27:50.

individuals being enthusiastic. That is all it takes. A bit of

:27:51.:27:55.

enthusiastic and look how the project has grown into something

:27:56.:27:59.

that is changing the future, making the place a better place for people

:28:00.:28:03.

and wildlife. It is great but not unique. There are projects like this

:28:04.:28:07.

happening all over the UK. To get involved you can. So if you are

:28:08.:28:12.

enthusiastic and you love your wildlife, look at it, go out, find a

:28:13.:28:17.

project like these, and do something great?

:28:18.:28:25.

If you want to do something great for nature check out the website.

:28:26.:28:33.

There are lots of ideas. So do something great for nature this

:28:34.:28:37.

weekend. One of the characters we have been featuring this weekend you

:28:38.:28:42.

can see in abundance on the grass behind us, the rabbit. There are

:28:43.:28:46.

thousands of them here in Minsmere. We have been delving deeper into

:28:47.:28:50.

thebiology this week, trying to find out exactly what they get up to in

:28:51.:28:55.

the spring. Because they are so confiding and

:28:56.:29:00.

there are so many, it allows us to observe the social life. We have

:29:01.:29:04.

been watching the behaviour of the male rabbit. It is in malt, which is

:29:05.:29:13.

why he is slightly patchy. Here he is digging, we can see why that

:29:14.:29:19.

happens in the moment. But there is also scent markings, they have scent

:29:20.:29:25.

glands on the chin it is important to Moyne taken the hierarchy. If you

:29:26.:29:34.

look carefully there, after the digging he is urinating. That is his

:29:35.:29:40.

individual smell. And they will know that is his patch and his status.

:29:41.:29:48.

We know about rabbits, that they are prolific breeders. Let's have a look

:29:49.:29:53.

at the dating and the mating. The male is the bigger with the bigger

:29:54.:29:58.

head on the left. The female plays hard to get and I anothers the

:29:59.:30:03.

advances. This one is continuing to feed. The male is looking bemused.

:30:04.:30:09.

But the male makes his intentions known by doing this. Squirting a jet

:30:10.:30:16.

of urine over here. The colour of the urine is linked to social

:30:17.:30:22.

status. The darker the pee, the more dominant the male. That is

:30:23.:30:27.

influenced by testosterone levels. She is still not keen! But then he

:30:28.:30:36.

climbs on, grabs the fur... A few quick thrusts... And then he

:30:37.:30:40.

catapults off. It is over pretty quickly.

:30:41.:30:46.

I thought it went on for ages. It is all relative.

:30:47.:30:48.

Men a bit of nuzzling. The dominance doesn't just end there

:30:49.:31:00.

in terms of mating, because ovulation is induced, so the female

:31:01.:31:04.

only releases the egg to be fertilised after the making process,

:31:05.:31:08.

and that takes six hours. When the males mate, they introduce the sperm

:31:09.:31:13.

but also a copulatory plug, so this is a sort of jelly that they put in

:31:14.:31:18.

behind it to keep it in position so it can fertilise the egg. What

:31:19.:31:23.

happens if more than one rabbit mates with the female? One of the

:31:24.:31:26.

things we have noticed is that the sperm is more viscous from the more

:31:27.:31:31.

dominant female, and therefore it's more likely to hold that sperm in

:31:32.:31:36.

place and ensure fertilisation. That is controlled by its testosterone

:31:37.:31:41.

levels. This sort of thing is seen commonly in spiders, dragonflies and

:31:42.:31:46.

other animals, but Diana Belle at the university of East Anglia has

:31:47.:31:49.

noticed this in rabbits. It doesn't end there when it comes to

:31:50.:31:54.

fertilisation. There is a lot more to rabbits then you thought! They

:31:55.:31:58.

are fascinating. We've learned so much about them this week and

:31:59.:32:01.

hopefully we'll learn a lot more next week. They going to send our

:32:02.:32:06.

camera teams out this weekend to see if they can get any more revealing

:32:07.:32:11.

rabbit behaviour. Look at those bunnies, Chris. You've got to admit

:32:12.:32:16.

they are quite cute and cuddly. That isn't the buzzard's perspective!

:32:17.:32:23.

Martin is behind us, in the distance, right over there. Has he

:32:24.:32:27.

seen a bittern or has he bitten off more than he can chew? Boom, boom,

:32:28.:32:35.

Michaela. I tell you what, it's very frustrating. I'm down here in the

:32:36.:32:41.

reed beds, trying to see those bitterns. I'm taking part in the

:32:42.:32:47.

RSPB survey. People are dotted around, trying to see those female

:32:48.:32:51.

bitterns making those feeding flights. Look at what we've seen so

:32:52.:32:57.

far. Unfortunately, not a bittern, and egret. I've seen AJ as well,

:32:58.:33:06.

magpies, all sorts of birds, but not yet the bittern that we are here to

:33:07.:33:12.

see. -- I've seen a jay as well. It could be any moment, though. It's

:33:13.:33:20.

getting dark. This is a huge area. It's enormous, and you probably

:33:21.:33:24.

thought, hang on, even if you see one here, how are you going to work

:33:25.:33:28.

it out, it's deceptive where it is? If we look right out across here,

:33:29.:33:33.

there are little poles, posts, markers, all the way across. You can

:33:34.:33:38.

see them. I can see them through my binoculars. They are all labelled

:33:39.:33:44.

with letters on them. That enables us, me and the volunteers, to try

:33:45.:33:49.

and pinpoint more accurately, here we go, we've got a bittern now. That

:33:50.:33:56.

went down right by S. If I see a bittern there, and Annette sees one

:33:57.:34:01.

from her position, we can triangulate and find out exactly

:34:02.:34:06.

where they are. Two years ago, we used exactly that technique and we

:34:07.:34:13.

got a camera on the bitterns' nest and we got a real insight into their

:34:14.:34:18.

lives. So read, only 158 males heard calling in the UK this year. -- so

:34:19.:34:25.

rare. Only the mother looks after the nest. The male takes no further

:34:26.:34:29.

part. Sweet little chicks. So rare to see this. In fact, most people,

:34:30.:34:35.

all of the books used to say that, as soon as they hatch, the bittern

:34:36.:34:41.

chicks leave the nest but, because we have the cameras there, we

:34:42.:34:44.

discovered that these ones didn't, they stayed on the nest until they

:34:45.:34:51.

fledged. 50 days! This was a new insight. Some of the bitterns stay

:34:52.:34:57.

there. Look at the way she goes out. A real athlete there. Fascinating

:34:58.:35:05.

stuff. Now, there has been one nest which has been found here, but very

:35:06.:35:10.

sadly it was predated, so we had to do some detective work. If a bird

:35:11.:35:15.

comes in and create a nest, they probably take the eggs away

:35:16.:35:19.

completely, but these ones were smashed up, which lead us to think

:35:20.:35:22.

it was probably a mammal, and we have a suspect. We've seen a lot of

:35:23.:35:28.

otters this year on spring watch -- on Springwatch. This is superb otter

:35:29.:35:35.

habitat. They'll be hunting for fish, but animal like an otter is

:35:36.:35:39.

going to take birds' eggs if they come across them. But it's gorgeous

:35:40.:35:46.

to see them. Beautiful. I'm going to keep watching here. Hopefully, we

:35:47.:35:51.

were lucky last time with the nightjars. Can we get that lucky

:35:52.:35:55.

tonight with the bitterns Westmont I don't know. Now let's go up north to

:35:56.:36:01.

the farm islands and get the latest report from Iolo Williams. Cars the

:36:02.:36:07.

farm islands. There is no shortage of characters in these islands. The

:36:08.:36:11.

place is literally bursting with them. We've already met the puffins

:36:12.:36:17.

and now I'm going to introduce you to a few more.

:36:18.:36:32.

At the moment, these cliffs look like a picture of, well, maybe not

:36:33.:36:39.

serenity, more of a reluctant tolerance, but don't be fooled by

:36:40.:36:43.

this calm exterior, because here like sales of desertion, betrayal

:36:44.:36:50.

and so on, and somebody with a finger on the pulse is shag

:36:51.:36:58.

researcher Liz Morgan. This comes to -- she comes to be Farne Islands as

:36:59.:37:02.

part of the Ph.D. To capture and to tag some of the shags nesting here.

:37:03.:37:09.

I am helping her today on her final year of monitoring. I'm aiming to

:37:10.:37:14.

find out how repeatable certain birds are in their foraging. If they

:37:15.:37:18.

are using certain areas more, we want to know. If something changes,

:37:19.:37:23.

it could affect some individuals more, which could affect the

:37:24.:37:26.

population, so we need to know the level of flexibility to tell us how

:37:27.:37:29.

it might respond to environmental change. This is the GPS tag. This

:37:30.:37:34.

record is where it is going, and this bit will record when it dives

:37:35.:37:43.

and how deep. How heavy is that tag? About 30 grams, about 2% of the

:37:44.:37:49.

bird's body weight. With the tag fitted, the bird is ready for

:37:50.:37:52.

release and it will be caught again in five days to retrieve the data.

:37:53.:37:59.

Are you ready? Go on in. Good girl. In she goes, straight back.

:38:00.:38:10.

Brilliant. I have to say, I do like shags, beautiful birds. I love that

:38:11.:38:13.

Crest, it is like Chris Packham in the early years! Amazing bird. What

:38:14.:38:19.

strikes me there is the fact there is such diversity in the ages of

:38:20.:38:23.

some of these chicks. We've got one hatch the other day. I think our

:38:24.:38:28.

cameraman got the eggs in the nest. And then there are some great big

:38:29.:38:35.

lumps of chicks in this nest. Shags can start reading quite early,

:38:36.:38:39.

mid-March, and go on until August, September. -- start reading. This

:38:40.:38:45.

one is ringed and it's got nothing in the nest. What happened was

:38:46.:38:50.

Tremarco this is one of my study birds. It had for eggs and the

:38:51.:38:54.

beginning of the season in April but, at the time has gone on, they

:38:55.:39:00.

have been predated or lost. Is it the male or the female? E-mail. Last

:39:01.:39:08.

year, he was with a different mate. -- the male. She came back to find

:39:09.:39:14.

in with a new partner. Like Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.

:39:15.:39:21.

Sort of the reverse. And how about Cathy? She's been pairing up with a

:39:22.:39:26.

younger male. There might still be time for her. Heathcliff, that's

:39:27.:39:32.

what you get. You've been a very naughty boy. It's a tough time of

:39:33.:39:37.

year for lots of the female bird out here, not least for our eider duck.

:39:38.:39:43.

Deserted by her partner and usually very gregarious, at this time of

:39:44.:39:48.

year she sits alone patiently on the nest, lined with her own feathers

:39:49.:39:52.

she is plucked from her chest to keep her eggs warm. She invests all

:39:53.:39:58.

of this for the next generation. This female eider duck has been

:39:59.:40:04.

sitting on her four eggs for just over three weeks, so they should be

:40:05.:40:09.

hatching in the next few days but, leave me, this isn't a good place to

:40:10.:40:14.

be if you are a duckling, because of all the aerial marauders around

:40:15.:40:18.

here. But she's thought about that from the very beginning, from the

:40:19.:40:23.

position she's placed her nest, right next to this walkway. 400

:40:24.:40:28.

visitors a day to this island will hopefully help to keep the large

:40:29.:40:34.

gulls away. We'll be keeping an eye on her over the next few days to see

:40:35.:40:38.

whether the eggs hatch and whether the chicks make it down to the sea.

:40:39.:40:50.

Just popped into the range of's accommodation here on the Farne

:40:51.:40:57.

Islands, where we keep an eye on the puffin burro. We know there is an

:40:58.:41:00.

egg in that one, but the exciting thing is the other one. It looks as

:41:01.:41:05.

if she is about to lay an egg. What's nice as well is that he has

:41:06.:41:09.

come into the bar row with her. It's a bit like an expectant dad, just

:41:10.:41:14.

waiting for her. Come on, girl. Don't worry, he will be the first to

:41:15.:41:17.

know when she lays. Amazing variety of wildlife here,

:41:18.:41:31.

both on and off land. As well as its sheer proximity, just look at this.

:41:32.:41:36.

I think its rivals any wildlife experience anywhere in the world.

:41:37.:41:42.

They might have the Galapagos, but we've got our Farne Islands right

:41:43.:41:45.

here. Next week, I'm going to be helping to unlock the secrets of the

:41:46.:41:53.

Arctic tern, and I can't wait to share their travel diaries with you.

:41:54.:41:59.

I reckon he'll turn a few heads like that. Good to see him with his hat

:42:00.:42:09.

back on. You need is up there, because otherwise the terns come and

:42:10.:42:15.

dive-bomb your head. I have bled for those before. And they cover you in

:42:16.:42:20.

Peru. I went there once a few years ago and it's one of my favourite --

:42:21.:42:26.

favourite places to sea birds. Let's go to one of this week's stars it's

:42:27.:42:31.

our sparrowhawk. Down in the woods. She is incubating five eggs in the

:42:32.:42:37.

nest. She is very attentive, wide awake. She's been extremely

:42:38.:42:43.

diligent, only coming off her nest when the male comes in and brings

:42:44.:42:49.

her food. You can monitor that on the webcams over the weekend. Next

:42:50.:42:53.

week, we'll bring you an update on all that they have been eating.

:42:54.:42:59.

We've learned so much from this live camera. One of the notable things we

:43:00.:43:06.

saw this week was this. This is the female coming back on the nest.

:43:07.:43:14.

We've seen this a few times. Have a listen. She comes back and she makes

:43:15.:43:20.

a calling sound. Chris, your theory was that she was making the sound,

:43:21.:43:27.

talking to her chicks, which I think is a bit questionable. Did you do

:43:28.:43:32.

any more research? You presumptuous presenter! A bit dodgy! Sorry, I

:43:33.:43:41.

just lost my balance! I think it's good to come up with a theory but I

:43:42.:43:47.

immediately spoke to some experts, including. Ian Newton, the leading

:43:48.:43:50.

authority on sparrowhawks. He said he thought it was a dismissal call.

:43:51.:43:56.

The female sparrowhawk is coming back to the nest, where the male has

:43:57.:44:01.

been in attendance protecting those eggs while she has been eating. She

:44:02.:44:05.

is dismissing the male, saying, you can leave, I'm back, you don't have

:44:06.:44:10.

to worry about predators. To that extent, I was wrong. Potentially.

:44:11.:44:16.

But not wrong about birds communicating with their eggs,

:44:17.:44:19.

because we also investigated this, and a range of species do, most

:44:20.:44:30.

notably the fairy wrens. They speak to their eggs and they teach the

:44:31.:44:35.

youngsters a code, so that when they hatch they will only feed them if

:44:36.:44:38.

they produce that code when the female comes to the nest. We think

:44:39.:44:43.

this evolves to stop things like cuckoos being parasites and being

:44:44.:44:49.

able to get the food. Because the adults wouldn't feed it. So birds do

:44:50.:44:53.

talk to their eggs. Maybe, who knows, at some stage in the future,

:44:54.:44:57.

sparrowhawks might be talking to their eggs. You are talking about a

:44:58.:45:04.

fairy wren and we are talking about is bearable, quite different!

:45:05.:45:13.

gearp Whatever size your garden is, big our small it will provide a

:45:14.:45:17.

habitat for all sorts of wildlife. 80% of the UK population now lives

:45:18.:45:29.

in a town or a city. But around 25% of the land in those

:45:30.:45:36.

cities is made up of gardens. There are 23 million gardens in Britain,

:45:37.:45:41.

making an area the size of Suffolk. They are an incredible habitat that

:45:42.:45:49.

provides homes, food and shelter for a myriad of species. How important

:45:50.:45:53.

is your garden and precisely what lives there? We need your help to

:45:54.:45:57.

find out. And one of the things you may want

:45:58.:46:02.

to do this weekend is to conduct a bio blitz. Count the number of

:46:03.:46:06.

different living things in your space. You can do this by using your

:46:07.:46:13.

parents, your mum's brolly. Put the brolly up... It will be great in the

:46:14.:46:18.

wind! I know. Then turn it around like this and hold it under a tree.

:46:19.:46:23.

Michaela, you have to assist me here. Give the tree a bashing.

:46:24.:46:29.

A bit here... I can just about reach that! Let me get the brolly

:46:30.:46:35.

underneath. We are dislodging the invertebrates on the branch.

:46:36.:46:40.

They are falling... OK, all right! I can't see anything in there? I don't

:46:41.:46:45.

think we have anything? I have something... It's in my mouth.

:46:46.:46:50.

What a disaster! Are you all right there? Here is a fly... Wasn't that

:46:51.:46:58.

successful?! We have a fly. Then you can get down on your hands and knees

:46:59.:47:02.

an investigate the animals that you have in here. Or put them into small

:47:03.:47:11.

jars if you like. If you are acting responsibly release the base at --

:47:12.:47:16.

release the rest at the base of the tree. Sometimes I would close the

:47:17.:47:22.

brolly with the insects in it, put it in the cupboard, and the next

:47:23.:47:26.

time mum opened up the brolly, the dead insects would fall on her head!

:47:27.:47:32.

We must not encourage that! No, sorry, before I was a responsible

:47:33.:47:37.

naturist! There are lots of different ideas to get involved. If

:47:38.:47:42.

you are going to do the bio blitz, you will want to know the weather.

:47:43.:47:47.

Especially if you live in Suffolk. There is one man to give us the good

:47:48.:47:52.

news or the bad news it is Nick Miller.

:47:53.:47:56.

Michaela, you have had a tough time of it. Hints of improvements are on

:47:57.:48:03.

the way. There were unrelenting grey and cold weather, this week and

:48:04.:48:07.

today but other parts of the UK are having a lovely time. Again, lots of

:48:08.:48:12.

sunshine in the western areas. Temperatures in the low 20s. A large

:48:13.:48:17.

portion of UK wildlife is having a lovely time of it. There is a change

:48:18.:48:22.

with the weather front between now and Saturday, westwards. Behind

:48:23.:48:27.

that, in time for the weekend, there is clearer weather and sunny skies

:48:28.:48:30.

reaching the cloudy parts of the east. So the warmth by the weekend

:48:31.:48:39.

will be more evil distributed. Cool on the coast, showers in Wales and

:48:40.:48:42.

the south-west. But with this warmth, if you are doing the bio

:48:43.:48:48.

blitz, it is not just about the birds but also the invertebrates,

:48:49.:48:53.

you can log it better this weekend. There is a weather transformation

:48:54.:48:57.

for Minsmere, not tomorrow, you still have the cloud but a dram roll

:48:58.:49:01.

for the weekend, the sunshine is back! A big relief for the stone

:49:02.:49:08.

curlew sitting on the eggs, for the birds finding food for chicks it

:49:09.:49:13.

will get easier. Passion on the plucking post. I cannot promise a

:49:14.:49:20.

heatwave but it will look different. The winds are still blowing through

:49:21.:49:23.

the reed beds and that is where Martin is.

:49:24.:49:28.

Thank you very much, Nick. We leaved to hear that. It is bitter here. We

:49:29.:49:34.

have been looking around. My colleague reckons that they are

:49:35.:49:39.

starting to roost now. So, it is time for the final instalment of our

:49:40.:49:44.

heron diary. I have to warn you, some of the things you will see are

:49:45.:49:48.

difficult. But please, stay with it, it is fascinating behaviour.

:49:49.:49:55.

Our heronry has had a tough time so far this spring.

:49:56.:50:00.

Heavy rain in early April has given way to a cold north wind.

:50:01.:50:05.

It has been blowing through the wood for several days.

:50:06.:50:10.

Our three families have all been battling to survive.

:50:11.:50:20.

Deep in the wood, in the ivy nest, sheltered from the worst of the

:50:21.:50:28.

weather, the chicks are going from strength toe strength. Having

:50:29.:50:33.

hatched before April's wet and cold spell, they are nearing full size.

:50:34.:50:38.

Herons that make it through the first four weeks are extremely

:50:39.:50:41.

likely to survive. They are now strong enough to be left on their

:50:42.:50:49.

own while mum and dad go hunting. But up in the branch nest, the

:50:50.:50:54.

smallest, weakest chick has vanished.

:50:55.:50:59.

One of the two remaining youngsters has stopped moving.

:51:00.:51:06.

They've failed to survive the critical period in a young heron's

:51:07.:51:12.

life. Between nine and 25 days when the growth spurt happens. The

:51:13.:51:16.

weather has been against them. Their parents just couldn't catch enough

:51:17.:51:26.

food. After a month-long incubation and

:51:27.:51:31.

two weeks defending and provisioning the young, the adult faces total

:51:32.:51:34.

failure. A second chick hasn't made it. There

:51:35.:51:46.

is only one option... By consuming the dead chick and regurgitating it,

:51:47.:51:51.

the parent increases the chances for the last remaining young.

:51:52.:52:12.

But even with this extra meal, the surviving chick is still weak and

:52:13.:52:27.

the odds are stacked against it. High in the canopy nests our

:52:28.:52:32.

courting couple have been taking things slowly... Very slowly.

:52:33.:52:42.

Finally, on the 18th of April, one settles down on the nest. A sure

:52:43.:52:47.

sign that a new clutch of eggs has arrived.

:52:48.:52:53.

Their drawn-out courtship means that the pair missed the bad weather.

:52:54.:52:59.

Their chances are looking good. It's now May. The ivy nest is

:53:00.:53:05.

becoming cramped. The once timid chicks now have very big wings,

:53:06.:53:19.

bakes and attitude. -- beaks.

:53:20.:53:39.

It's been a tough few weeks for this heronry. The birds took different

:53:40.:53:48.

gambles on when to breed. Sadly, the branch nest is one of the losers.

:53:49.:53:55.

The pair have abandoned the nest after the last chick passed away.

:53:56.:54:02.

They will try again next year but this time, they've lost their

:54:03.:54:10.

gamble. By mid-May, though, there's cause

:54:11.:54:15.

for celebration. The ivy nest has made it through. The chicks are

:54:16.:54:20.

stretching their wings, ready to fledge and go it alone. They'll be

:54:21.:54:25.

back next year to place their own bets on the British spring.

:54:26.:54:36.

Well, the herons have finished nesting, hopefully the bitterns are

:54:37.:54:40.

out there still on their nests. We haven't managed to film them. We got

:54:41.:54:47.

lucky last night, so lucky. But let me show you something fascinating. I

:54:48.:54:51.

made it sound easy, that it is easy to find where the birds are at. But

:54:52.:54:58.

this is real data. This is Mr Buckinghamham's data from this

:54:59.:55:02.

morning. I met him. I asked if I could borrow it. These are the

:55:03.:55:08.

observations of the bitterns. I'm sitting about there on the map. Look

:55:09.:55:12.

at that, can you see all of those are feeding flights. They are very

:55:13.:55:19.

near the post marked S. When we compared that we had a look of the

:55:20.:55:25.

film of the feeding flight and this morning we noticed something

:55:26.:55:30.

incredible. Look at this. Here comes the female bittern. Up on a feeding

:55:31.:55:35.

flight, although she has really already fed. Watch what happens...

:55:36.:55:39.

She drops down into the reeds in a minute.

:55:40.:55:48.

See that sign on the back? S! We actually know now as a result of

:55:49.:55:55.

that there is a bittern nesting right there by S. If we join that

:55:56.:56:00.

data and footage together there is a bittern nest over there.

:56:01.:56:05.

Now, sadly it is the only one that they have found so far. Hopefully we

:56:06.:56:10.

will find some more. I will stay in the bitter cold and carry on until

:56:11.:56:15.

it is completely dark. So back now to the lovely cosy and warm, Chris

:56:16.:56:21.

and Michaela. See you later. Martin has been mucking in all week

:56:22.:56:27.

with the RSPB. But anyone can do it. If you fancy being a volunteer,

:56:28.:56:31.

doing something great for nature, get in contact with your local

:56:32.:56:34.

wildlife group. It is a great thing to do.

:56:35.:56:39.

Yes, it certainly is. Let's have a quick look at the live

:56:40.:56:44.

camera. We have little owl. Where is our little owl? There they

:56:45.:56:49.

are, the three youngsters in the oak tree. They have had an up and down

:56:50.:56:55.

week? But a great night last night. 81 feeds! That is the most? It might

:56:56.:57:01.

be in the last 24 hours. So a tough night on the rainy night, when they

:57:02.:57:06.

had six feeds, it has gone up to 81 feeds. That is impressive.

:57:07.:57:12.

Well, that brings us to the end of tonight's show and the end of the

:57:13.:57:16.

first week on Springwatch. Next week, we are to meet a bigger cast

:57:17.:57:23.

of characters. Some will be the cute stripy humbugs. These are young wild

:57:24.:57:30.

boar in the Forest of Dean. We are finding out more about them and

:57:31.:57:33.

their behaviour. We are back on Monday and

:57:34.:57:42.

Springwatch Unsprung is on a Sunday evening. I pitched Deborah Meaden an

:57:43.:57:47.

unusual conservation idea, she did not go for it.

:57:48.:57:52.

And we want you to Eggwatch. A lot of the eggs we are featuring are on

:57:53.:57:56.

eggs that could hatch. Let's have a look at them. The stunning avocet.

:57:57.:58:03.

The reed warbler up there. And the stone curlew. Fascinating to

:58:04.:58:07.

see if the egg hatches at this stage. We have to say.

:58:08.:58:14.

Around the sparrowhawk sitting aen five nests. Keep an eye on the nests

:58:15.:58:17.

online. And this is the weekend we want you

:58:18.:58:26.

to get out and do your bio blitz. So find time for that. We now leave you

:58:27.:58:35.

with the week's highlights from the RSPB Minsmere. See you, goodbye!

:58:36.:58:37.

Goodbye.

:58:38.:58:47.

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