:00:00. > :00:15.This is a blue tit nest box. It's hidden in the woods and it's coming
:00:16. > :00:20.to you live. But what is in that nest tells an extraordinary story,
:00:21. > :00:25.one in fact that's worthy of being on the Jeremy Kyle show. And Iolo
:00:26. > :00:31.Williams has news of a world-of-record breaking bird.
:00:32. > :00:34.That another truly remarkable wildlife stories, it can only mean
:00:35. > :00:58.one thing, it's Springwatch! Yes, hello and welcome to
:00:59. > :01:03.Springwatch 2016. It's our second programme of our second week coming
:01:04. > :01:08.to you and a very fine evening here at RSPB. We have a super day and we
:01:09. > :01:11.have a super show coming up with astonishing revelations. I can think
:01:12. > :01:14.of at least three that we will reveal in an astonishing way in this
:01:15. > :01:20.programme. As Chris says, it's going to be a fabulous show. It's been a
:01:21. > :01:25.fabulous day. Let's start with the fabulous bird. This is our
:01:26. > :01:29.sparrowhawk live, she's patiently sitting on that nest. She's five
:01:30. > :01:33.eggs. We don't know when they're going to hatch but it could be any
:01:34. > :01:38.time soon. So, keep your eyes on the live cameras.
:01:39. > :01:44.Wonder when it's going to be? Shall we take a sweepstake? I reckon
:01:45. > :01:47.Friday. I am going to go Saturday, actually. A weekend. Keep your eyes
:01:48. > :01:52.on those nests at the weekend. I reckon Saturday. You could make a
:01:53. > :01:57.guess too. See if you are right. You know, having that camera on that
:01:58. > :02:00.nest means we have had extraordinary footage of that sparrowhawk. Our
:02:01. > :02:05.nest watchers noticed this rather bizarre behaviour. Keep your eyes on
:02:06. > :02:11.its eyes. Look at them. They're contracting.
:02:12. > :02:16.They're dilating, going off in different directions. It's really
:02:17. > :02:18.rather bizarre. Chris, what is that sparrowhawk doing, focussing on
:02:19. > :02:21.something? I think it is. I think it's focussing on different things
:02:22. > :02:26.at different distances and in different light levels.
:02:27. > :02:33.The thing about the muscle that controls the pupil is that it can
:02:34. > :02:36.move more rapidly. That rapid contraction is something that we
:02:37. > :02:42.see. At the same time, it can also shift the position of the lens in
:02:43. > :02:45.the bird's eye itself. It means it's changing the length of that. The
:02:46. > :02:49.bird is probably focussing on different things at different
:02:50. > :02:51.distances in different light and that's what it's doing,
:02:52. > :02:54.independently with one eye and the other at the same time. I could do
:02:55. > :02:59.that cross-eyed, can't do the contracting but I can do that and
:03:00. > :03:04.then that. It's not an attractive look! We apologise to all the
:03:05. > :03:08.viewers at home watching that in HD, that's not what you wanted to see!
:03:09. > :03:12.What you might want to see is this, we have been able to look at another
:03:13. > :03:15.as spect of the sparrowhawk's private life. There is a small pond
:03:16. > :03:20.in the woods. We can go live there. There is a log on the side. The sun
:03:21. > :03:23.is set off the pond now. People have been watching this camera and have
:03:24. > :03:26.been privileged to see something I have never seen in real life and
:03:27. > :03:34.it's this. The sparrowhawk at its bath. This is
:03:35. > :03:37.the male. It's come in earlier. It's there flapping away, as you can
:03:38. > :03:42.see. That is incredible. Imagine seeing
:03:43. > :03:48.that in your garden bird bath, Chris. Imagine seeing it in your own
:03:49. > :03:53.bath! Occasionally seen a poodle in my bath. He is jumping on to the
:03:54. > :03:56.side, obviously when the bird is sodden the take-off speed is
:03:57. > :03:59.reduced. They're vulnerable to predators. That bird has had a quick
:04:00. > :04:05.look around to make sure there is nothing there and gone back in to
:04:06. > :04:09.finish its bath. It's beautiful. Lit by the sun. Imagine photographing
:04:10. > :04:13.that bird now! Don't say that, that's upset me. I would love to
:04:14. > :04:18.photograph that. That's on our live camera. Privileged. Look at the
:04:19. > :04:25.reflection! It's just stunning. When it takes off, wait for this, a
:04:26. > :04:28.champagne explosion! That really would make a brilliant photograph.
:04:29. > :04:33.They have been visiting that pond, both the male and the female, pretty
:04:34. > :04:36.regularly. Do keep a look at our website cameras. You can look at our
:04:37. > :04:39.website. There are four to choose from and you can also do that
:04:40. > :04:44.online, as well, throughout the day and on the red button.
:04:45. > :04:51.On Thursday, we introduced you to a new nest, it's smaller and maybe a
:04:52. > :04:54.little bit duller than the sparrowhawk but it's interesting
:04:55. > :04:58.nevertheless. It is the dunnock. Here it is live. Let's look at
:04:59. > :05:02.what's in there. We can just about see one of the chicks sleeping, I
:05:03. > :05:15.think. Four chicks in there. They're ten days old. They're nesting in the
:05:16. > :05:20.gorse bush. On Thursday, you said don't underestimate the dunnocck. I
:05:21. > :05:23.said never. You said because they've an interesting and complex social
:05:24. > :05:27.structure. Can I tell you we have been watching our birds and it seems
:05:28. > :05:31.that ours haven't. They're actually quite ordinary. Our specific ones.
:05:32. > :05:34.Let's see what's going on at that nest. There is one female in
:05:35. > :05:38.attendance, of course. Three chicks in there at the moment. What we were
:05:39. > :05:47.hoping to see was the fact that the nest would be attended by more than
:05:48. > :05:55.one male. These birds can have more than one male and equally have more
:05:56. > :06:00.than one female in attendance but they can also be a group of males
:06:01. > :06:07.and females together. This is extremely unusual in the bird world.
:06:08. > :06:11.We do see it in dunnocks. It's only recently been discovered. Their
:06:12. > :06:16.social sex life has been a complete mystery. The reason they do this is
:06:17. > :06:21.during the breeding season both males and females have separate
:06:22. > :06:25.independent territories. The males overlap the females, therefore, you
:06:26. > :06:29.may have a male with two female territories he might be attending.
:06:30. > :06:33.Males can have supporting males, mates, if you like, that are
:06:34. > :06:38.subservient to them in their own territory. The benefit being they
:06:39. > :06:41.can keep out other dunnocks. The downside being that male will also
:06:42. > :06:47.be attending the female. It's a fascinating thing. We haven't seen
:06:48. > :06:53.it with this pair yet. But keep your eyes peeled because we used to call
:06:54. > :06:59.these things hedge sparrows, I think we should call them hedge swingers.
:07:00. > :07:03.Keep your eyes peeled! Where is Martin? He is in the woods with
:07:04. > :07:07.volunteers, some nets and rings, what could he possibly be up to
:07:08. > :07:12.tonight? You are absolutely right. I am down
:07:13. > :07:18.here in the wild wood T would be perfect but we are surrounded by
:07:19. > :07:22.mosquitos the size of World War II Wellington bombers! I am going to
:07:23. > :07:30.join in tonight with one of the most important surveys they do here,
:07:31. > :07:35.checking the bird population. Every ten days or so there is a stall set
:07:36. > :07:39.up and I joined them this morning. They will catch as many birds as
:07:40. > :07:43.they can and measure them and get all sorts of data.
:07:44. > :07:51.Look at that one upside down. They'll ring them and let them go. I
:07:52. > :07:56.should point out that you have to be licensed to do this. Before you can
:07:57. > :07:59.get into all that, checking them and ringing them, you have to catch
:08:00. > :08:05.them. How will they do that? Come with me. Don't know if you can even
:08:06. > :08:10.see this, I can hardly can. This is a net that designed if a bird comes
:08:11. > :08:14.along it gently stops it and it drops down here into that little
:08:15. > :08:18.bucket at the bottom. What they do is they check very regularly and go
:08:19. > :08:22.along and see if there is birds in it. The bird, if it approaches it,
:08:23. > :08:26.you can probably see it from the side, but if you were coming head on
:08:27. > :08:30.like a bird, does it disappear there?
:08:31. > :08:35.It disappears there. That's what it's all for. What type
:08:36. > :08:47.of birds might we expect to get here tonight? We might get a dunnock.
:08:48. > :08:51.Here is a chaff. Bullfinch, wouldn't that be ausome? One of the joys of
:08:52. > :08:55.this is you never know what you might catch in the net. You might
:08:56. > :08:59.even get, yes, a sparrowhawk. It has actually happened.
:09:00. > :09:03.Fantastic. Now, when you have the bird, you
:09:04. > :09:08.ring it, but what is the point of putting that ring on the bird? Well,
:09:09. > :09:12.as soon as you have a ring on it with the number you have got a sort
:09:13. > :09:16.of identity and I will give you an example and you can find out the
:09:17. > :09:21.history. They caught here recently a little white throat, a small bird.
:09:22. > :09:26.It was ringed, that ring told them that bird had been back and forth to
:09:27. > :09:33.Africa three times. It is four years old T had travelled a total distance
:09:34. > :09:36.they've calculated of 21,700 miles. All from that little ring. If they
:09:37. > :09:40.didn't have the ring they wouldn't have known any of that whatsoever.
:09:41. > :09:44.Fabulous bird. Now, that's the white throat. We
:09:45. > :09:47.have managed to get a camera on a white throat nest. Here it is live.
:09:48. > :09:56.Look at that! The parents are in there. There are six chicks in that
:09:57. > :10:00.nest. You can't see them all. Let's see what they've been doing
:10:01. > :10:05.the last few days. They're very good parents. Watch the chicks. We will
:10:06. > :10:11.watch them carefully, white throat chicks grow up incredibly fast.
:10:12. > :10:14.They're due to fledge probably on this weekend. We will keep a close
:10:15. > :10:19.watch on them. The parents are doing really well. A
:10:20. > :10:22.fly going in there. Another insect. Look it's ringed, as well. We even
:10:23. > :10:27.know the history of that one. OK. The nets are up. We have
:10:28. > :10:32.actually got six nests in three different locations here. We will be
:10:33. > :10:35.monitoring them every few minutes just to make sure if anything goes
:10:36. > :10:39.in we will get it. If we catch a bird we will process it a little bit
:10:40. > :10:46.later on in the programme. Back to Chris and Michaela. We look forward
:10:47. > :10:49.to seeing what you get, Martin. Our live cameras have revealed
:10:50. > :10:54.extraordinary things over the years. But the live cameras in the blue tit
:10:55. > :11:00.nest revealed something that surprised us all. Let's have a look
:11:01. > :11:06.at our blue tit nest. Yesterday we discovered that the blue tit nest
:11:07. > :11:12.and those chicks being fed by a blue tit female are, in fact, great tit
:11:13. > :11:19.chicks. How on earth did that happen? Well, before we explore that
:11:20. > :11:24.let's rewind a little bit to look at that amazing single mother.
:11:25. > :11:28.She is a blue tit mother. She had eight chicks to begin with. She was
:11:29. > :11:33.working so hard as a single mother feeding them. It's amazing any of
:11:34. > :11:38.them survived. Just four survived. You know what, she fed them twice as
:11:39. > :11:44.much as she should be feeding her own blue tit chicks. She brooded
:11:45. > :11:50.them. She fed them more. She cleaned the nest. As they started to grow
:11:51. > :11:57.feathers, we noticed that, in fact, they were not blue tits at all, they
:11:58. > :12:00.were great tits, which is is an extraordinary revelation. It is.
:12:01. > :12:04.It's a bit of a mystery. We thought we would try and solve the mystery
:12:05. > :12:07.by going straight back to the beginning to the egg stage. We were
:12:08. > :12:14.lucky enough to find this nest when it had eggs and start filming. Let's
:12:15. > :12:20.look at the eggs. Here is the clutch in that nest box. You might, if you
:12:21. > :12:24.are keen-sighted, see some look larger than others. They look the
:12:25. > :12:29.same size as the great tits illustrated on the right of the
:12:30. > :12:34.screen. When we break it down some smaller ones, we think four are blue
:12:35. > :12:38.tits eggs. Five appear to be larger and three or four we can't actually
:12:39. > :12:42.identify. Then, of course, when they hatch we
:12:43. > :12:45.had this single size group of young here. They all appeared to be the
:12:46. > :12:49.same size. A few days later when more of the eggs have hatched you
:12:50. > :12:52.see there is a size difference. The one at the bottom appears
:12:53. > :12:56.considerably larger than some of the others. After a couple of days when
:12:57. > :13:00.the adult had been feeding them there is no doubt about it at all,
:13:01. > :13:05.the four at the top of the screen are moch larger. Initially we
:13:06. > :13:08.thought this was because they were advertising more, getting food more
:13:09. > :13:13.quickly, they were growing more quickly. We didn't suspect they were
:13:14. > :13:16.a different species. These are the great tit youngsters. Those at the
:13:17. > :13:23.bottom and the poor little thing there on the right side of the
:13:24. > :13:27.screen are the blue tit youngsters. Then they disappeared. All those
:13:28. > :13:31.blue tits unfortunately died. At this stage we still couldn't see
:13:32. > :13:34.what they were. By 12 days old we were suspicious because they were
:13:35. > :13:38.yellow throated and there at 14 days old you can see they've got that
:13:39. > :13:45.yellow band at the back of the head. Yellow on the chest, black cap. If
:13:46. > :13:49.you contrast them with great tits - sorry blue tits of the same age
:13:50. > :13:53.they're distinctly different birds. Absolutely fascinating. It's been
:13:54. > :13:58.amazing to look back at that footage. None of us really noticed.
:13:59. > :14:00.Then when you look you can see it's quite obvious they're different
:14:01. > :14:06.chicks. Yeah. What happened, that's the question? We suppose it could be
:14:07. > :14:12.this. Firstly, could it have been egg dumping, one bird flies to
:14:13. > :14:19.another nest and lays eggs. That happens in some species, but not in
:14:20. > :14:23.tits. It's unlikely that the blue tit had a nest and the great tit lay
:14:24. > :14:27.eggs here. We think the great tit probably started the nest and laid a
:14:28. > :14:31.clutch of eggs and then something happened to them. They deserted
:14:32. > :14:42.them. Maybe they were even killed by our sparrowhawk. The blue tits'
:14:43. > :14:48.single mother was so keen to breed thieves prospecting, found the nest
:14:49. > :14:53.-- keen to breed. And she started to incubate them. The great tit eggs
:14:54. > :14:57.were there first and hatched first. Then she had an advantage and she
:14:58. > :15:01.fed those preferentially and when her own eggs hatched they couldn't
:15:02. > :15:05.survive. Particularly as we had that very wet weather here last week and
:15:06. > :15:09.that would have reduced the feeding and that impinged more on the
:15:10. > :15:13.development of the baby blue tits than the great tits and they were
:15:14. > :15:17.lost. That's a probably scenario. We will never know. All the Sherlocks
:15:18. > :15:18.and the Holmes have been at work here throughout the day and that's
:15:19. > :15:33.the best we can come up with. That poor, single mum has been
:15:34. > :15:38.working really hard. Work has been done on other species and it shows
:15:39. > :15:42.when it goes down to a single parent, and that is their own young,
:15:43. > :15:48.it actually impinges greatly on the ability for that adult to survive
:15:49. > :15:52.the rest of the season post-fledging fulsome she is putting an enormous
:15:53. > :15:56.amount of energy into rearing and other species young for no benefit
:15:57. > :16:03.whatsoever and she is wearing herself out in the process. A sad
:16:04. > :16:08.story. We would not know any of that we did not have those nest cameras
:16:09. > :16:15.in the nest box. It is amazing the insight they have given us. Do all
:16:16. > :16:20.animals have personalities or are we just being a little bit
:16:21. > :16:28.anthropomorphic. Martin has been delving deeper.
:16:29. > :16:38.She's loyal, she's a little bit greedy and she's as brave as a lion.
:16:39. > :16:41.But other dogs are quite timid, some are more aggressive.
:16:42. > :16:46.And dogs, like many mammals, have real personalities.
:16:47. > :16:50.But how about invertebrates, things like insects, spiders, snails -
:16:51. > :17:04.Well, there is one group - the molluscs - that may be
:17:05. > :17:07.just about to change our perceptions completely.
:17:08. > :17:09.Meet the cephalopods, otherwise known as octopus,
:17:10. > :17:13.And all of them can be found right here in the British Isles.
:17:14. > :17:16.What's fascinating is that new evidence suggests these
:17:17. > :17:21.underwater animals may have distinct and even complex personalities.
:17:22. > :17:25.Dr Gavin Cooke of Bangor University has been carrying out research
:17:26. > :17:35.To investigate this theory further, Gavin has set up an experiment.
:17:36. > :17:44.In one tank is a timid cuttlefish and in the other a braver animal.
:17:45. > :17:48.Both are siblings and will raise together in capivity.
:17:49. > :17:55.This one seems to be hiding away now.
:17:56. > :18:01.It's got the right colour, the right texture, too.
:18:02. > :18:06.You can probably see this one clearer.
:18:07. > :18:09.That's very distinctively different and yet they're siblings.
:18:10. > :18:11.For this test we're going to present each animal with two prey items
:18:12. > :18:14.of different sizes - one small crab and one large crab.
:18:15. > :18:17.Neither cuttlefish has been fed and both should be equally hungry.
:18:18. > :18:19.By analysing their reactions to the size of prey they choose
:18:20. > :18:25.to attack, we can determine the temperament of the individual.
:18:26. > :18:34.They often don't recover from their injuries.
:18:35. > :18:38.Bacterial infections can kill them ultimately,
:18:39. > :18:41.so risk-averse cuttlefish would treat their prey
:18:42. > :18:42.more delicately and be wary of them.
:18:43. > :18:47.Exactly as you thought, very, very little response.
:18:48. > :18:50.It's not become conspicious in any way so it's perhaps a little bit
:18:51. > :18:53.wary of revealing itself right now which would indicate that it's
:18:54. > :18:59.It doesn't overcome its fearfulness of the environment to hunt
:19:00. > :19:03.What will its sibling do when presented with
:19:04. > :19:23.Yeah, you can see it has seen the crabs.
:19:24. > :19:36.This is just one of several experiments Gavin has carried out
:19:37. > :19:41.on cuttlefish and his research clearly indicates
:19:42. > :19:49.cephalopods really do have distinct behavioural differences.
:19:50. > :19:53.So a shy, more cautious cuttlefish may thrive in an area
:19:54. > :19:56.with lots of predators, while a bold individual may take
:19:57. > :19:59.The right personality trait in the right environment could give
:20:00. > :20:09.It's easy to understand personality when it comes to dogs, like my Pip,
:20:10. > :20:12.yet it's truly remarkable to think of the possibility that all species
:20:13. > :20:30.Remarkable animals and incredibly intelligent, the octopus, the squid
:20:31. > :20:35.and the cuttlefish. Whilst there might be an advantage to being timid
:20:36. > :20:39.and shy, there must also be an advantage to being bold, otherwise
:20:40. > :20:44.evolutionary that would not persist. There is a species here at Minsmere
:20:45. > :20:48.we have been looking at where there is a difference between their
:20:49. > :21:00.personalities, this time between the sexes. It is the rabbits. At birth,
:21:01. > :21:07.dashes at birth, there is a sex ratio of 1-1 between males and
:21:08. > :21:10.females. Later there are three times more females than males. It is
:21:11. > :21:15.because the males have to be bold. They had to come above ground and
:21:16. > :21:21.there are established dominance hierarchies. Here we can see a bold
:21:22. > :21:25.mail. If you are above ground, being dominant, you are preoccupied by
:21:26. > :21:30.getting one-upmanship on other male animals, you are not looking out for
:21:31. > :21:37.predators. You are making yourself available to all the predators. The
:21:38. > :21:41.male population get weeded out and that is why there are more female
:21:42. > :21:47.rabbits underground than males on the surface. There is an advantage
:21:48. > :21:51.to being bold. If you survive the predators, you are the dominant male
:21:52. > :21:56.and you will pass on your genes. There are winners and losers on both
:21:57. > :22:01.sides of timid and bold. You have to think of the words of Maurice eagled
:22:02. > :22:06.he said, China. You from doing everything in life you would like
:22:07. > :22:19.to. I always say, fortune favours the brave. How about you? I do not
:22:20. > :22:24.know how to come back to Chris. We are trying to do a live bird ringing
:22:25. > :22:35.session. We have been lucky and caught birds. This is not a corn,
:22:36. > :22:51.ladies and gentlemen. Roger... -- a con. I was watching these GIF chats
:22:52. > :23:03.-- chiff-chaffs. I need to work out which way around they are. It is a
:23:04. > :23:07.black cap. The incredible thing about that is this is one of our
:23:08. > :23:19.birds. We have ringed it before here in a previous year at Minsmere. We
:23:20. > :23:27.have recourse in here tonight. The thing to do is check how old it is.
:23:28. > :23:31.One thing I can notice is this outer feather looks a slightly different
:23:32. > :23:38.shade. It tells me it is a bird born last year. It has one old feather
:23:39. > :23:43.from last year. This bird is one-year-old. It is male because it
:23:44. > :23:49.has a black cap. If I blow on its stomach, you will see what it has
:23:50. > :23:55.been up to. Whether it has had incubation on the nest. Shed some
:23:56. > :24:03.duties of the incubation of the eggs and looking after the chicks.
:24:04. > :24:08.Keeping them warm. That is right. A stunning bird. I would do a wing
:24:09. > :24:17.measurement. I have to process the bird and get on with it. 75
:24:18. > :24:22.weighing. We also have to weigh it. It looks a bit unorthodox. If I ask
:24:23. > :24:27.it to sit on the scales, you know what will happen. Both are used to
:24:28. > :24:34.being in dark places. I will pop it into the pot upside down. It will
:24:35. > :24:40.stay there for a fraction of a second. That is it. The bird has
:24:41. > :24:53.been processed. It will fly off and we will see it. Here we go. Goodbye.
:24:54. > :24:58.Fantastic! Beautiful! What a lovely job. Let's have a look at these
:24:59. > :25:03.rings. They asked me to hold the right way around. The rings vary
:25:04. > :25:09.from this whopping great exercise like that. That is an owl ring. They
:25:10. > :25:15.have asked me to hold it steadily. I do not know if that is the right way
:25:16. > :25:24.around. That is an a a ring. Fantastic! They are carrying on
:25:25. > :25:31.processing. I have to tell you last year they managed to find just to
:25:32. > :25:37.bullfinches. Just two. This year they have managed to ring eight.
:25:38. > :25:45.Numbers seem to be going up at Minsmere and we have managed to get
:25:46. > :25:50.a live camera on a bullfinch nest. Look at that! Beautiful! They are
:25:51. > :25:54.the most wonderful parents. We have been watching them over the last
:25:55. > :25:59.couple of days. They are lovebirds. They seem to do everything together.
:26:00. > :26:08.Here is the female. And there are the chicks. The mail comes in. He
:26:09. > :26:12.has chewed up the seeds and gives them to the female and they both
:26:13. > :26:27.share the duties of beating the chicks. They seem to do everything
:26:28. > :26:32.together. -- feeding. There are the chicks and here she comes. If she is
:26:33. > :26:41.there, seconds later, the mail comes in as well. It is a lovely family
:26:42. > :26:45.gathering. Four chicks. What a beautiful, loving couple. We'll be
:26:46. > :26:54.keeping a very close I on them. Meanwhile, from the bird ringers,
:26:55. > :27:03.back to Chris and Michaela. I like them. They are like the Richard and
:27:04. > :27:10.Judy of the bird world. A lovely couple. They sit on the sofa. Even
:27:11. > :27:13.throughout the winter time, the same male and female will be together all
:27:14. > :27:19.the way through the winter. One of the only species that does that
:27:20. > :27:22.during the -- in the UK. What is also rather lovely is that for the
:27:23. > :27:29.first time the sheet we have managed to get some cameras into the nest of
:27:30. > :27:32.a golden eagle and we have been enjoying fabulous images of these
:27:33. > :27:38.birds. The youngster has put on quite a lot of growth. Here it is,
:27:39. > :27:44.nearly three weeks old, standing upright. Not on its speed but on its
:27:45. > :27:57.haunches. It is resting on parts of its legs. -- it's feet. It has a
:27:58. > :28:04.crop, and expanding, muscular pouch which is used as a food store. It
:28:05. > :28:07.separates the end just of a part of their diet, the feathers and so
:28:08. > :28:12.forth so that they can produce a pellet. From this period, the young
:28:13. > :28:16.bird is just like the adults, producing perhaps a single pellet
:28:17. > :28:22.daily which it will squeeze out of its mouth with all the indigestible
:28:23. > :28:27.bits in it. We have been really lucky. We have seen gorgeous shots
:28:28. > :28:30.of the mother feeding the chicks. There was something rather
:28:31. > :28:35.interesting that we noticed. The first 30 days, the Motherwell have
:28:36. > :28:47.two of bits of flesh off to feed the chicks. -- the mother will have two
:28:48. > :28:51.care bits of flesh off. This is not endearing for the young. We wondered
:28:52. > :28:58.whether that was to lubricate the meat, particularly when it had fur
:28:59. > :29:06.on it or it was drive. Someone suggested maybe it was that fauna. A
:29:07. > :29:11.bit like us taking a probiotic. It has good bacteria and held it
:29:12. > :29:22.swallowed the food down. I am going for lubrication, without a moment of
:29:23. > :29:36.doubt. For the first few days, the adult does try to feed them meet
:29:37. > :29:43.without any of that. As for the gut fauna, saliva does have a lot of
:29:44. > :29:48.valuable bacteria, even our saliva, dog saliva. It is cleansing and
:29:49. > :29:53.helps to clean wounds. It is not ever recorded in birds and maybe it
:29:54. > :30:07.has to be investigated further. Why does it drivel? Lubrication, perhaps
:30:08. > :30:11.colostrum. -- dribble. We have also had a privileged view of being able
:30:12. > :30:15.to look inside the mouth of an eagle. This is the youngster and it
:30:16. > :30:23.is yawning. It is very different in mammals. This square here, opening
:30:24. > :30:28.at the back, it is where the nasal passages run down to the back of the
:30:29. > :30:34.throat. That happens at the roof of our skull and it is where the
:30:35. > :30:38.oesophagus starts, with stomach is starting, and it happens further
:30:39. > :30:42.down in our throat whether stomach, the oesophagus and the trachea,
:30:43. > :30:48.separate. Why is this happening in the mouth and not the throat of the
:30:49. > :30:52.bird? It is simple. The bird does not want to have all of this
:30:53. > :31:00.apparatus in its scope. It wants the skull to house its brain and how is
:31:01. > :31:04.two huge eyes. That is what an eagle skull is about. Small is and a small
:31:05. > :31:09.brain but massive eyes. That is why it had structured its anatomy
:31:10. > :31:12.differently. Amazing to get a picture like that. How money people
:31:13. > :31:16.ever looked into the mouth of a golden eagle chick?
:31:17. > :31:24.We have had lots of birds of prey on the show, golden eagle, sparrowhawk,
:31:25. > :31:29.last week we had that amazing falcon. The lovely white bird. With
:31:30. > :31:32.which is your favourite? I am going sparrowhawk without a shadow of a
:31:33. > :31:36.doubt. No contest. I thought you would. I go for the big large sexy
:31:37. > :31:40.birds, so the golden eagle I think is mine. To be honest, you have
:31:41. > :31:46.never really gone for the obvious, have you? You tend to always support
:31:47. > :31:48.the slightly less endearing creatures. Dare I say it, the
:31:49. > :31:53.smellier One Shows? The grass snake is one
:31:54. > :32:01.of my favourite animals. But it is very elusive and hardly
:32:02. > :32:03.anything is known about its distribution
:32:04. > :32:05.and population in the UK. So, when I heard there was a site
:32:06. > :32:08.just up the road in Norfolk where Angela Winnett
:32:09. > :32:10.was studying them, I simply How many of these have
:32:11. > :32:14.you got out, Angela? Not something you want to see
:32:15. > :32:42.in close-up. It is this smell they are producing
:32:43. > :32:56.to try to stop me predating them. When I was an eight-year-old,
:32:57. > :33:02.out catching snakes like this, if I smelt of that when I got home,
:33:03. > :33:05.I'd been successful. I suppose not many people
:33:06. > :33:08.are going to like that. Oh, it's quite heady
:33:09. > :33:13.when there are four of them. It's worth saying, Angela,
:33:14. > :33:16.once you start handling them, Rather than just the perverse
:33:17. > :33:25.love of the smell and admiration for the snake,
:33:26. > :33:27.what are you up to here? My work is focussed on counting
:33:28. > :33:30.them, trying to find out how many are on the site,
:33:31. > :33:32.as well as monitoring their seasonality and trying to see
:33:33. > :33:35.at what point throughout Already we have seen more
:33:36. > :33:42.than the peak of last year. We have seen 35,
:33:43. > :33:44.that's been the most. To find a site with over 35 snakes
:33:45. > :33:52.in one square kilometre Angela is using a unique
:33:53. > :33:59.attribute of the snakes You are doing something
:34:00. > :34:04.which I really wish I'd thought You are looking at their ventral
:34:05. > :34:10.scale patterns here, aren't you? Yes, they are a great
:34:11. > :34:14.fingerprint to be able The ability to uniquely identify
:34:15. > :34:20.individuals means that Angela's survey will avoid double counting
:34:21. > :34:23.the same snakes and give Are you ready to move
:34:24. > :34:30.your fingers away? Once you have got these photographs,
:34:31. > :34:37.it means you can identify these individuals and see
:34:38. > :34:39.whether they are moving around this site, whether they are coming
:34:40. > :34:41.back year after year. I hate to say it but it is
:34:42. > :34:46.smartly simple, isn't it? Something that could be done
:34:47. > :34:49.anywhere else in the country. Yes, we don't know how to conserve
:34:50. > :34:52.a species if we don't know It is very important
:34:53. > :34:55.for conservation to see what these snakes are doing and get
:34:56. > :35:00.out and find them. Let's put her back
:35:01. > :35:12.underneath her shelter. If that had happened
:35:13. > :35:39.when I was about eight, I'd be Snakes, fabulous. Can never get
:35:40. > :35:43.enough. Here are the photographs that Angela and I took that
:35:44. > :35:47.afternoon. You can see that this pattern here
:35:48. > :35:51.is very clearly distinguishable. One black mark here. One here. This one
:35:52. > :35:57.is very different with three. A couple of black squares on this one.
:35:58. > :36:00.It's retained from year to year even when the snakes shed their skins, of
:36:01. > :36:03.course. I have to tell you it's perfectly legal for to you pick up
:36:04. > :36:07.grass snakes. This is something that you could do for yourself. If you
:36:08. > :36:12.have a population of them. Can I ask to you get advice before you do
:36:13. > :36:17.that, because you have to handle them very gently. They're soft
:36:18. > :36:20.bellied and you don't want to damage their internal organs. Building up a
:36:21. > :36:24.database like this across the country and looking at various
:36:25. > :36:29.populations would be a good thing because we need to under-Stanmore
:36:30. > :36:36.about these animals, just as we do a species of snakes here. One of the
:36:37. > :36:40.way we monitor these is by putting out sheets. These are attractive
:36:41. > :36:44.because they warm up and these animals like that, especially first
:36:45. > :36:48.thing in the morning, here is an adder on top of a piece of steel.
:36:49. > :36:54.When it gets much hotter then that steel gets too hot for the snakes
:36:55. > :36:58.and they beat a hasty retreat. Beautiful animal, the adder, of
:36:59. > :37:03.course. Easily distinguished from the grass snake as you can see
:37:04. > :37:08.there, that zigzag pattern on the back of this female, no danger of
:37:09. > :37:12.confusing them. When it warms up they take shelter underneath the
:37:13. > :37:18.iron. We thought why don't we put a camera underneath there? What have
:37:19. > :37:28.we seen so far? We have seen a beetle. And we have seen a snail and
:37:29. > :37:34.we have seen... Um... A large slug but no adders. Keep an eye on it, I
:37:35. > :37:37.am certain at one stage an adder will sneak underneath there.
:37:38. > :37:42.It would be great to see one under there. I am jealous, four grass
:37:43. > :37:51.snakes. Beautiful. He was very stinky when he came back from that!
:37:52. > :37:55.He loves it. As we know Minsmera has a variety of habitats. One of the
:37:56. > :37:59.most famous is this one. We can go to it live.
:38:00. > :38:08.It's the scrape. It's a series of Islands that are sur round rounded
:38:09. > :38:12.by a shallow lagoon ideal for gulls, tern and avocets. There is plenty of
:38:13. > :38:20.action on that scrape at this time of night. We have live cameras also
:38:21. > :38:25.on an avocet nest. Here it is. It's just one of 101 pairs that are
:38:26. > :38:30.nesting on that scrape this year. That's 10% of the UK breeding
:38:31. > :38:37.population. They usually nest the third week of April so this pair is
:38:38. > :38:43.either late or it could be a second nest attempt. Very important nest.
:38:44. > :38:46.The RSPB manage that scrape specifically for these birds.
:38:47. > :38:51.They're very beautiful. So elegant. They're gorgeous. Lovely.
:38:52. > :38:55.Now the eggs of that avocet are due to hatch any time now. When they do,
:38:56. > :39:03.they're going to join a whole throng of other chicks down on the scrape.
:39:04. > :39:06.Especially these little ones, these are black-headed gull chicks moving
:39:07. > :39:09.very slowly. That's in slow motion there! They don't look anything like
:39:10. > :39:14.the parents at all. They're interesting. When they hatch out
:39:15. > :39:22.from the nest on the scrape quite quickly they'll leave the nest and
:39:23. > :39:27.move around looking for food. They can skrim, not very well. Being
:39:28. > :39:32.carefully looked after by mum and dad. -- swim. They reckon there is
:39:33. > :39:37.something like 2,000 chicks down on the scrape of various sorts. An epic
:39:38. > :39:42.number. Martin, they're not the only gulls on the scrape. There are
:39:43. > :39:46.black-backed gulls flying around. They are the pirates of the scrape.
:39:47. > :39:52.Plundering lots of the chicks. I warn you this is gruesome. If you
:39:53. > :39:57.can bear it, it's very interesting. This gull flies down. As soon as it
:39:58. > :40:04.gets down to the scrape it gets mobbed by all of the other birds.
:40:05. > :40:11.It's not going to give up, though. This is easy pickings for this gull.
:40:12. > :40:16.If you look you can see that the black-backed gull has a black-headed
:40:17. > :40:19.chick in its mouth. It flies off with it. Look what
:40:20. > :40:26.happens next. Doesn't waste any time. It swallows it whole. As
:40:27. > :40:32.Martin said, there are about 2,000 chicks here. The gulls are certainly
:40:33. > :40:38.making the most of it. It sees one in the water, it fights off a few of
:40:39. > :40:45.those black-headed gulls again. It gets the chick. It's having a bit
:40:46. > :40:49.of a problem flying off with this one because it's quite large.
:40:50. > :40:56.It has second thoughts and drops that chick. Maybe a lucky escape for
:40:57. > :41:03.that one. There are lots of chicks there. It gives them plenty of
:41:04. > :41:09.opportunities to have a very quick and easy meal. There goes another
:41:10. > :41:13.one. Straightaway swallowed it. It's not just chicks, Martin. Look at
:41:14. > :41:22.this one. It flies down again. It's getting mobbed. Goes to the nest. It
:41:23. > :41:30.takes an egg. In this case, the egg gets dropped. But they really don't
:41:31. > :41:35.give up. It's like a chick banquet. Those black-backed gulls are
:41:36. > :41:40.absolutely relentless. It's amazing that anything survives, actually. In
:41:41. > :41:45.fact, none of the acocet chicks so far this year have survived because
:41:46. > :41:48.they've all been predated. She just inhaled a mint while she was doing
:41:49. > :41:53.that bit, I would just like to say and she carried on. A proper
:41:54. > :41:59.trooper! We are surrounded by them now. -- inhaled a bug! It's not only
:42:00. > :42:04.gulls Kraussing problems potentially. They've -- causing
:42:05. > :42:10.problems potentially. They've trouble with the neighbours.
:42:11. > :42:16.Shelducks. Here is the acocet. Everyone is running away. In comes
:42:17. > :42:19.the shelduck with all the chicks making that poor avocet very
:42:20. > :42:25.nervous. Now she gets her own back here. The chicks are on their own,
:42:26. > :42:32.if she piles. Hassling them. This is a game of
:42:33. > :42:37.three halves. After that it goes back the other way again. There is
:42:38. > :42:43.the adult. Then back at the nest. Look at this.
:42:44. > :42:48.The shelduck comes in. That's a big bird compared to the avocet and
:42:49. > :42:52.takes a chunk out of here. Oh! A load of feathers taken out of it.
:42:53. > :42:57.The poor old avocets are having a grim time. They are this year. They
:42:58. > :43:01.had a better year last year. They had a good year last year. There
:43:02. > :43:05.were 60 nests and they managed to hatch out 58 chicks last year which
:43:06. > :43:09.is a really good year. Not such a good year this year. They only have
:43:10. > :43:13.to replace themselves in their lifetime to keep their numbers
:43:14. > :43:16.level. If they produce two chicks in their lifetime which could be as
:43:17. > :43:23.long as 15 years, on average seven years, then they've done it. They've
:43:24. > :43:31.achieved what they're on earth for! Now yesterday we enjoyed seeing the
:43:32. > :43:37.wild boar and their tiny humbugs, well, they weren't that tiny! They
:43:38. > :43:38.were out and about in the Forest of Dean in the sunset. We decided to
:43:39. > :43:55.see what they get up to after dark. The Forest of Dean looks rather
:43:56. > :43:59.glosly on our tight-time camera. -- ghostly on our night-time camera.
:44:00. > :44:06.After dark is when the wild boar are most active.
:44:07. > :44:13.This large social group of nearly 30 boar called a sounder has many
:44:14. > :44:20.mouths to feed. With the cooler evening
:44:21. > :44:25.temperatures, cold can be a killer for the little boarlet's.
:44:26. > :44:30.Their tiny bodies glow white hot on our special camera.
:44:31. > :44:38.But this is just the start for them of a long night of foraging.
:44:39. > :44:42.They're highly sensitive food-finding snouts leave trails of
:44:43. > :44:50.warm breath in their wake as they rootle.
:44:51. > :44:57.Moist knowses are key to picking up the scent of buried food -- noses.
:44:58. > :44:58.And as each patch of woodland is exhausted, the dominant sow keeps
:44:59. > :45:18.moving the sounder on. Fun night forays will bring them
:45:19. > :45:28.closer to people's houses. Cars are a real danger and the sounder has
:45:29. > :45:34.two stick together for real safety. In the dark they communicate with a
:45:35. > :45:45.variety of noises. Snorts of alarm, squeals of displeasure. And, as they
:45:46. > :45:50.are feeding, quiet rumbles of contentment. The continual snacking
:45:51. > :45:56.and walking can go on for up to eight hours during the night. A
:45:57. > :46:02.rolling wave of hungry snouts hoovering the forest floor. The
:46:03. > :46:06.lactating sows have to eat well to ensure their milk supply. With the
:46:07. > :46:13.youngsters in tow they must take time out to nurse before they are on
:46:14. > :46:20.the move once again. By dawn, the poor often circle back to their
:46:21. > :46:28.starting point, close to their refuge. They may have covered ten
:46:29. > :46:36.kilometres overnight and a seemingly never-ending journey for the tiny
:46:37. > :46:45.boarlets. Exhausted, they sleep, before doing it all again tomorrow.
:46:46. > :46:53.Entrancing views. Rather magical, like a fairy tale down in the woods.
:46:54. > :46:56.Unfortunately not everyone is taken by the poor and we will be
:46:57. > :47:03.investigating a human aspect of their relationship tomorrow night.
:47:04. > :47:06.We have been featuring lots of Superman 's and we will show you
:47:07. > :47:17.another one that inhabits this grassland. It is our mother stoat.
:47:18. > :47:24.Yesterday we saw it predate a rabbit. We followed her yesterday
:47:25. > :47:30.and we have some gorgeous shots of the kits. Here are three of the
:47:31. > :47:39.eight she has, which are moving. Where not sure how old these kits 's
:47:40. > :47:46.are. They start to make their own kills. They must be between six and
:47:47. > :47:52.11 weeks. We are guessing they are probably about 9-10 weeks old. The
:47:53. > :47:57.average date of birth in Suffolk is early April. She had left one
:47:58. > :48:02.behind. She stood up and called it. It took no notice and she went to
:48:03. > :48:09.get it. Now it is following her. Really lovely to see you. Absolutely
:48:10. > :48:16.beautiful. She has moved three and now she must move the other five.
:48:17. > :48:21.This is not terribly unusual. Once every couple of days, the stoats
:48:22. > :48:27.will keep moving their kits around. It is amazing how old they are.
:48:28. > :48:35.Sometimes they are incredibly shy. Look at this! The whole family
:48:36. > :48:41.walking right by visitors to Minsmere. Right by their feet! It is
:48:42. > :48:48.amazing to see them morgue trotting across the grass, to their new home,
:48:49. > :48:52.wherever that might be. She bounds across the ground and they slink
:48:53. > :48:57.across. When she is coming back here with the other five, they are stuck
:48:58. > :49:05.to her. They move almost as one animal. Like elders through a
:49:06. > :49:10.stream. Stoats and beg young move through the grass. Why are they
:49:11. > :49:18.moving? -- bear young. It could be the den where she has had them has
:49:19. > :49:22.been disturbed. There are not many foxes but badgers could have found
:49:23. > :49:27.them. It is equally likely she could be leading them to food. If she has
:49:28. > :49:33.caught another adult rabbits, sometimes she will go to them and
:49:34. > :49:38.move them to the food. It is a huge family to feed and a huge family to
:49:39. > :49:46.move. Imagine with eight kids in tow! If you have been reading the
:49:47. > :49:53.papers he may have seen a bird hitting the headlines. It is an
:49:54. > :49:54.Arctic turn, an extraordinary bird. Yellow Williams has managed to come
:49:55. > :50:05.face to face. -- Iolo Williams. Last year, some of you may remember
:50:06. > :50:07.that Springwatch's very own Nick Baker helped out
:50:08. > :50:10.on an exciting new research project on the Arctic tern colony
:50:11. > :50:18.here on Inner Farne. Dr Richard Bevan and Dr Chris
:50:19. > :50:22.Redfern from the University of Newcastle designed
:50:23. > :50:24.and successfully fitted 28 geo-locator tags to try and unlock
:50:25. > :50:27.the secrets of the incredible migration of Arctic
:50:28. > :50:35.terns from this colony. We have been waiting with baited
:50:36. > :50:38.breath to find out whether any of the birds would make it back and,
:50:39. > :50:42.if they did, what they might reveal Well, I am delighted to be able
:50:43. > :50:53.to tell you that many of them have been spotted back on the island
:50:54. > :50:56.and Chris and Richard have returned today to try to retrieve some
:50:57. > :51:03.of that data. Richard, Chris,
:51:04. > :51:04.how are you both? You must be like expectant parents,
:51:05. > :51:09.waiting for the birds to come back. I have to say, I thought
:51:10. > :51:13.I had the worst hat How has it been
:51:14. > :51:25.for the terns so far? They have been slowed to settle
:51:26. > :51:29.down, compared to last year. You don't want to get them straight
:51:30. > :51:33.after they have laid but a few days afterwards so that they have
:51:34. > :51:35.that bond with the nest. If it was me, I would be
:51:36. > :51:40.jumping up and down, Until you have the bird
:51:41. > :51:43.in the hands, that is The team used the visitor centre
:51:44. > :51:50.as a makeshift hide. Keeping their distance while waiting
:51:51. > :51:53.for one of their tagged birds We let her settle down and get
:51:54. > :52:17.in the zone for incubating her eggs. When she has settled,
:52:18. > :52:19.we will think about trapping her. There is a lot of waiting
:52:20. > :52:23.in this game, is now? After making sure the bird has
:52:24. > :52:25.started to incubate again, it is time to go out
:52:26. > :52:27.with master trapper Chris. The trap is carefully placed
:52:28. > :52:30.over the eggs and works Right, we should go and let her
:52:31. > :52:42.come back down. We will wait here while Chris
:52:43. > :53:05.goes in to get her. With the tag removed,
:53:06. > :53:13.it's time to release her. The important thing now
:53:14. > :53:16.is to let her go so she can get back As you can see she's
:53:17. > :53:20.a feisty girl, as well. Now we have the next worry bit,
:53:21. > :53:37.which is, is there data on there? The tags use a light sensor
:53:38. > :53:40.to record the day length and when this is combined
:53:41. > :53:43.with a date and time data, we can work out the bird's
:53:44. > :53:46.global position and plot Well, that's the theory
:53:47. > :53:51.anyway. This is still raw data at this stage
:53:52. > :54:03.and will take time to process. Off the West Coast of
:54:04. > :54:04.Africa, look. But already we can see
:54:05. > :54:11.that our globe-trotting tern has been all the way to the bottom
:54:12. > :54:15.of the world and back. I have to say that is actually quite
:54:16. > :54:21.mind-blowing because we are talking here about a bird that weighs
:54:22. > :54:23.less than 100 grams. About 100 grams, that's travelled
:54:24. > :54:27.all the way down off the Iberian peninsula,
:54:28. > :54:31.off the West Coast of Africa, all the way down around the Horn,
:54:32. > :54:35.down to Antarctica. It's travelled widely when it's gone
:54:36. > :54:38.down there, as well. All the way back up,
:54:39. > :54:41.not just to the UK, And then it's got the energy,
:54:42. > :55:16.when we go out, to attack us. I can tell you the team has
:55:17. > :55:21.recovered 15 of those data loggers. A lot more data will be forthcoming.
:55:22. > :55:30.We have a map of this remarkable journey. The young tern took off
:55:31. > :55:34.last July and moved all the way down here, round the south part of Africa
:55:35. > :55:38.and into the southern Indian Ocean where it hang around for about a
:55:39. > :55:45.month. Then it moved down to Antarctica. This is where it was
:55:46. > :55:49.active for that period. It stayed there for some considerable time.
:55:50. > :55:58.Then it went over here and ended up down here where it spent most of
:55:59. > :56:02.March. Then, remarkably, on 23rd of March, it made the return journey.
:56:03. > :56:07.It went up to South Africa and reached here about 4th of April.
:56:08. > :56:15.Another month and it was back here in the farm islands on the 4th of
:56:16. > :56:24.May. An incredible journey. -- Farne. That bird has travelled
:56:25. > :56:30.60,000 miles. That will make it the longest recorded bird migration ever
:56:31. > :56:39.in the world. Fact. It is a record-breaker. Fantastic stuff!
:56:40. > :56:48.More data to come. It could be longer. Let's have a look at our
:56:49. > :56:54.live owls. They are out and about. Could it be they are semi-fledging?
:56:55. > :57:05.They have laughed up. Look how different they are. -- fluffed up.
:57:06. > :57:10.Let's go to the bullfinches. A loving couple. Late into the night.
:57:11. > :57:21.We have been filming around the site. We have seen this. You know
:57:22. > :57:28.this feeling... So embarrassed. I will go down the hole! We are coming
:57:29. > :57:40.to the end of our programme. Do join us tomorrow on BBC Two. The last
:57:41. > :57:44.people to do some poems. Tomorrow night I should be going out and
:57:45. > :57:51.about. -- we shall ask the people. I shall be getting into the water with
:57:52. > :57:59.this little fellow. We follow one man's to introduce a long, lost
:58:00. > :58:06.species, the fabulous great busted. A unique opportunity for you. You
:58:07. > :58:10.have the opportunity to name this small species of clap. It was
:58:11. > :58:20.thought to be extinct for some time but now it is back.
:58:21. > :58:31.-- crab. Do keep an eye on our live cameras which will be there 20 hours
:58:32. > :59:01.a day. See you tomorrow. Goodbye. This woman is doing
:59:02. > :59:06.this amazing thing -