Episode 4 Springwatch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

underestimate the dunnock. Never underestimate it. It has a

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

whatever feathers they need to regulate the temperature of that

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

different habitats, many of them of national or even international

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

isolation. The RSPB, the Woodland Trust and Forestry Commission

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

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

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

and the team of scientists are monitoring everything that lives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the prosperity of the forest. Correct, yeah.

There are hundreds of nest boxes scattered throughout the forest.

They are already very popular and some have even attracted unexpected

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

smell! Mrs Gooseander packs a smell. This

project is about creating a mosiac of habitats.

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

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

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

black grouse lakes but not as picturesque as this one.

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

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

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

and 80 birds. So ten times increase in less than

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

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

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

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

the strimmers so that it keeps the birds in.

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

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

the lake business myself? I fancy lake construction Ltd.

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

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

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

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

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

in 190 years' time to see the finished results!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

they can spread out and spread to the south.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

chick. We have been watching the activity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

things. So the first is a Chris Packen

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

exploring his local patch with some volunteers.

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

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

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

much disappeared or become incredibly scarce elsewhere in the

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

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

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

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

Charles tiler pulled together a team of nationalists to fight the

decline. The study came from me being up

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Just a little handful of ornithological potential.

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

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

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

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

there is a pipette above us. A good sign.

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

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

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

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

having a positive impact for the birds.

-- survival. Obviously, thousands of hours of

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

whinchat is a bird that is declining.

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

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

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

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

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

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

to get the scientists involved to help preserve our national

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

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

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

enthusiastic and look how the project has grown into something

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

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

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

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

project like these, and do something great?

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

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

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

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

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

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

the spring. Because they are so confiding and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

catapults off. It is over pretty quickly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

place and ensure fertilisation. That is controlled by its testosterone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

from her position, we can triangulate and find out exactly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

it could affect some individuals more, which could affect the

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

know when she lays. Amazing variety of wildlife here,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But not wrong about birds communicating with their eggs,

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

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

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

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

this evolves to stop things like cuckoos being parasites and being

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

find out. And one of the things you may want

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

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

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

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

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

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

underneath. We are dislodging the invertebrates on the branch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

news or the bad news it is Nick Miller.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the reed beds and that is where Martin is.

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

have been looking around. My colleague reckons that they are

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

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

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

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

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

It has been blowing through the wood for several days.

Our three families have all been battling to survive.

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

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

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

Herons that make it through the first four weeks are extremely

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

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

smallest, weakest chick has vanished.

One of the two remaining youngsters has stopped moving.

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

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

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

food. After a month-long incubation and

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

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

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

the parent increases the chances for the last remaining young.

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

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

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

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

sign that a new clutch of eggs has arrived.

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

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

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

bakes and attitude. -- beaks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

film of the feeding flight and this morning we noticed something

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

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

She drops down into the reeds in a minute.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

wildlife group. It is a great thing to do.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

their behaviour. We are back on Monday and

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

unusual conservation idea, she did not go for it.

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

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

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

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

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

online. And this is the weekend we want you

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

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

Goodbye.