:00:10. > :00:16.After last week's upheaval, we had happier times here over the weekend.
:00:17. > :00:21.Our super mother set to has been on the move. Some of our chicks are
:00:22. > :00:28.growing up fast. They're getting active, and they're spreading their
:00:29. > :00:31.wings. And I'm spreading my wings and flexing my pecs for wildlife.
:00:32. > :00:59.Hunker down. It's Springwatch. Yes, do not adjust your sets. This
:01:00. > :01:03.is not a costume drama. This is Springwatch 2016 coming to you on
:01:04. > :01:07.the somewhat damp and dismal evening up here on the coast of Suffolk.
:01:08. > :01:11.It's the RSPB's Minsmere reserve. It's a truly fantastic place to be,
:01:12. > :01:15.even when it's a little bit damp and dismal. Lots of action last week. I
:01:16. > :01:18.can promise you a great show tonight and throughout the course of the
:01:19. > :01:22.rest of the week. We have some amazing things coming up. It was
:01:23. > :01:26.certainly very dramatic last week. There was lots of drama so I am
:01:27. > :01:32.pleased to say we can start off on a rather calmer note that one of our
:01:33. > :01:36.nests, touch wood, is far there has been no drama, just positive things
:01:37. > :01:39.going on. Let's have a look at our live little owl nest. There are the
:01:40. > :01:44.three chicks having a bit of a clean. They're in the mess now which
:01:45. > :01:48.is a good place to be when it's raining, but they have been very
:01:49. > :01:53.active over the weekend. Lots of you will have seen some of this online.
:01:54. > :01:57.On Friday, very early in the morning, 3.22, to be precise, this
:01:58. > :02:01.little chick comes out of the nest hole for the first time. This is
:02:02. > :02:08.very significant. The parent bird comes in to tempt it further with a
:02:09. > :02:12.tasty worm. It branches out. It semi-fledges and will be exploring
:02:13. > :02:16.its surroundingses, having a good stretch there for the next couple of
:02:17. > :02:19.weeks. This is great to see, a lot of wing flapping. It's building up
:02:20. > :02:24.its muscles. It's the only one that came out for a little while, wasn't
:02:25. > :02:29.until the end of the day, 8.55pm that the sibling - one of the
:02:30. > :02:34.siblings came out, a bit tentative at first. Again, the adult comes in
:02:35. > :02:42.with a little treat. This time a vole. That is a very good meal for
:02:43. > :02:46.that chick. Within the hour, 9.42pm, the third chick Peaks its little
:02:47. > :02:50.nose into the big, wide world. They're not too confident at first,
:02:51. > :02:54.but then we saw all three of them out in the daytime. It gives us a
:02:55. > :02:58.fabulous view of these chicks. You can see how much they're growing and
:02:59. > :03:02.again, they're flapping their wings, building their muscles up, spending
:03:03. > :03:05.quite a lot of the time now just having a little look around their
:03:06. > :03:10.surroundings. Of course, then the rain came today. They do what any
:03:11. > :03:15.sensible little owl chick would do. They go back into their nest hole
:03:16. > :03:22.for a little bit of warmth and a bit of shelter from the rain. It's been
:03:23. > :03:27.absolutely great to see them grow up like that, because ours may be doing
:03:28. > :03:31.well, but nationally, unfortunately, they're not. There has been a 65%
:03:32. > :03:39.decline in the last 25 years according to the BTO. So scientist
:03:40. > :03:43.Dr Emily Joachim and the Little Owl Project would like to know if you
:03:44. > :03:48.see any little owls. Send in your sightings. Details of that are on
:03:49. > :03:52.the website. Indeed. Little owls are on the decline, but a species that
:03:53. > :03:57.has been brought back from the brink via teverlts of the RSPB and more
:03:58. > :04:05.recently others is a very striking bold and beautiful bird. It is the
:04:06. > :04:10.avenue set. We can go live to it now -- avocet. There it is on a damp,
:04:11. > :04:14.dismal evening. There it is looking sublime, the Audrey Hepburn of the
:04:15. > :04:19.world. A beautiful bird. I know why you like it. It's a simple design.
:04:20. > :04:26.Simple lines no, complications, no unnecessary colours. This is the
:04:27. > :04:30.antithesis of a goldfinch, these overdressed dandies. We just want a
:04:31. > :04:36.simple bird like this. I am digressing completely. The fact is
:04:37. > :04:39.for the last couple of weeks we have been watching avocets on a nest of
:04:40. > :04:42.four eggs. What happened over the weekend? Here we are Saturday
:04:43. > :04:46.morning. You can see highlighted there one of the eggs is beginning
:04:47. > :04:50.to hatch. It's not necessarily a rapid process. As you can see, it's
:04:51. > :04:56.not until Sunday morning that the first one of these four chicks
:04:57. > :05:02.manages to break out of the egg. Ideally, this female - or the male -
:05:03. > :05:07.looks as if they both incubate and brood - will be wanting all of them
:05:08. > :05:11.to hatch simultaneously. A little while later, the second one does.
:05:12. > :05:16.She's still turning eggs. If you look very carefully - I just caught
:05:17. > :05:20.a little peek of the fact that egg was beginning to hatch too. One has
:05:21. > :05:24.dried out. You can see it's sat alongside the adult there. The adult
:05:25. > :05:28.is vocalising. I don't think that's to the chick. It's to the other
:05:29. > :05:32.adult who is clearly fascinated by proceedings and has come back in,
:05:33. > :05:39.and here, again, the little chick has come out. Look, as she - or he
:05:40. > :05:43.lifts up, I think I can see three there, so three of the four appear
:05:44. > :05:49.to have hatched out. Now, by this stage, a couple of them have already
:05:50. > :05:57.scarpered out of the nest. She comes back. And hunkers down again. Now,
:05:58. > :06:01.these are what we call precocial chicks. That means as soon as they
:06:02. > :06:06.hatch, they can be on the move. This is what we see with these animals.
:06:07. > :06:09.It's a strategy the birds employ. They basically incubate their eggs
:06:10. > :06:14.for longer so more of the development is done inside the egg.
:06:15. > :06:20.When you contrast that, say, to something like a bluetit which
:06:21. > :06:24.produces a chick that hatches bald, blind, naked and highly dependent on
:06:25. > :06:28.the parents, whereas here, look, after a few seconds, these little
:06:29. > :06:30.guys are up and scampering about, already learning how to pick for
:06:31. > :06:35.food themselves. And that's what they do. They're not fed directly by
:06:36. > :06:40.the adults. They're protected and led but not fed. Look. Already this
:06:41. > :06:44.one is sweeping its beak in the water trying to find food. We know
:06:45. > :06:49.at this stage, if nutrition is in short supply, the food they do get
:06:50. > :06:54.is put into growing not their beaks but their feet, because they need to
:06:55. > :07:03.be mobile. They've got to get to feeding sites and also - watch this.
:07:04. > :07:06.When the adult's alarm calls, these youngsters hunker down relying on
:07:07. > :07:12.that camouflage patterning on their back. When danger has passed, they
:07:13. > :07:16.need to be able to flee back to safety, and invariably, that means
:07:17. > :07:19.getting underneath mum. But safety is something that's hard to find
:07:20. > :07:26.down on the scrape. You see there are a vast number of black-Edded
:07:27. > :07:31.gulls down there, and avocet chicks are on the menu, and this is what we
:07:32. > :07:35.saw. Look very carefully here. Here is one of the chicks - one of the
:07:36. > :07:39.four that's hatched. The adults begin to alarm call. Off one of them
:07:40. > :07:45.goes. There is a black-headed gull there. Look, in the beak of the
:07:46. > :07:52.black-headed gull is one of our chicks. So that little bird lasted
:07:53. > :07:59.just a few hours. Here, though, as you can see by that leg count
:08:00. > :08:02.beneath this bird - there are two of the avocet chicks remaining, and
:08:03. > :08:08.these seem a little more sure of themselves on their feet, and here -
:08:09. > :08:12.this is some good news here because the avocets have led them across the
:08:13. > :08:17.water safely and they have taken them into the edge of this reed bed,
:08:18. > :08:20.and I think they might be safer there from the predations of those
:08:21. > :08:24.gulls because the gulls would struggle to get in among reeds. The
:08:25. > :08:29.gulls like to take them when it's clear and open. They can swoop in,
:08:30. > :08:35.snatch them and go, not so easy in the reed so that maybe is a more
:08:36. > :08:37.sensible strategy. Let's hope so. Let's keep our fintioners crossed
:08:38. > :08:41.because it would be absolutely fantastic if two out of the four
:08:42. > :08:45.chicks sur vuefed, wouldn't it? It may be week three, but we don't sit
:08:46. > :08:49.back and relax. Our team have been out working hard all week to bring
:08:50. > :08:51.you some new nests and new characters. There is one in
:08:52. > :08:54.particular we're very excited about because our team have been trying
:08:55. > :08:59.for a few weeks now to get a camera on the nest of these birds. They're
:09:00. > :09:03.fabulous birds. Let's have a look at them live. You wouldn't actually
:09:04. > :09:09.guess what nest that is apart from the fact it's in the reeds, but it
:09:10. > :09:12.is a bearded tit nest. Now, the adult is sitting on the chicks
:09:13. > :09:20.there. It's a stunning bird. Four chicks. That's the female. They're
:09:21. > :09:27.four to five days old. And they're reed specialists, these birds, and
:09:28. > :09:33.it's amazing to get this glimpse. What we saw over the weekend. There
:09:34. > :09:36.is the male. You can see the black beard. That is definitely the male.
:09:37. > :09:43.And people come to see these birds from miles around. They're very
:09:44. > :09:47.difficult to see. Here he is feeding invertebrates to those chicks,
:09:48. > :09:51.things like spiders, may flies. But it's a real treat, and it was very,
:09:52. > :09:55.very difficult. You can imagine getting in those reeds, finding that
:09:56. > :09:58.nest and getting a camera on it. So it's going to be very exciting to
:09:59. > :10:08.see the progress of those chicks over the week. Super birds. They are
:10:09. > :10:13.absolutely stunning. You love an avocet but you have to love those.
:10:14. > :10:20.Pretty smart. Time to catch up with Martin. What on earth is he doing,
:10:21. > :10:24.last seen - what was it? Pole dark or one of the three muss Celteers? I
:10:25. > :10:27.don't know. He was wielding something that looked extremely
:10:28. > :10:31.dangs rouse. What are you up to? I have covered up because I was
:10:32. > :10:35.worried about people's sensibilities with my shirt! I am up here on the
:10:36. > :10:39.Heathland. This is right on the edge of the Minsmere reserve. Right now
:10:40. > :10:44.it's grey. It's dismal. It's not great. But on occasions this place
:10:45. > :10:52.can look absolutely fabulous. Look at this. Early in the morning if
:10:53. > :10:56.you're up here. The low sun is kissing the top of the plants.
:10:57. > :11:03.Holders of insects, which is a key thing here. Absolutely lovely. Oh,
:11:04. > :11:07.and deer. This is where you see the red deer with their antlers in
:11:08. > :11:11.velvet. Absolutely lovely. Now, the key reason why this is such a good
:11:12. > :11:19.habitat is variety. Now, have a look. We've got heather all around
:11:20. > :11:22.us here. There is gorse there, clumps of trees, open spaces, little
:11:23. > :11:26.bits of grassland. They need that variety for the wildlife to thrive
:11:27. > :11:30.up here. What would happen - it needs to be managed carefully
:11:31. > :11:35.because if we just left it alone, the fir trees here would throw their
:11:36. > :11:40.seeds all around here. We'd get little seedlings everywhere. They'd
:11:41. > :11:44.grow up and overshadow all the heather, the gorse, all the habitats
:11:45. > :11:47.here that are so essentially for rich wildlife so to maintain it, we
:11:48. > :11:52.have to use this. I have never used one of these before. Hang on. Let me
:11:53. > :11:58.get at this time right way around. This is a tree "popper. ". This is
:11:59. > :12:03.how it works. Just there, it grabs hold of the trunk of the tree there,
:12:04. > :12:06.and then you just roll it backwards, and it takes the tree out. That's
:12:07. > :12:11.the plan. Look. Here is exactly that. Here is the little pine
:12:12. > :12:15.seedling. Like I say, I have never used one of these. This is what
:12:16. > :12:19.they'll do here. The volunteers will come along, and they'll just take it
:12:20. > :12:23.- effortless. There we go. Look. What's so great is it takes all the
:12:24. > :12:29.roots out as well. So anyway, the tree popper in action. I want one!
:12:30. > :12:33.But - so look at this habitat. If you're a bird here, a great place to
:12:34. > :12:39.find food, but a great place to nest. You could dive in here and be
:12:40. > :12:44.hidden away, or best of all in that gorse where it's all prickly.
:12:45. > :12:49.Predators couldn't get in. If you come up here with your binocular,
:12:50. > :12:55.you're likely to see a range of birds. The stonechat - you're likely
:12:56. > :13:00.to hear that before you see it, that tap, tap, tapping, like two stones
:13:01. > :13:04.being knocked together. This is a gorgeous bird, feeds on seeds
:13:05. > :13:09.mostly, but when they're nesting they'll come up here and get insect
:13:10. > :13:13.food for their chicks. The Heathland is a perfect place to find those
:13:14. > :13:17.insects, then the yellow hammer, one of my favourite birds. You'll see
:13:18. > :13:25.them up here singing their song. When I am out on a bike, I often
:13:26. > :13:28.here, not so often these days sadly, the yellow hammer, they always seem
:13:29. > :13:34.to sit on top of a hedge and do that lovely call. Those are more generous
:13:35. > :13:38.birds but there are one or two super Heathland specialists up here like
:13:39. > :13:43.the woodlark. We have managed to film it. They went extinct in the UK
:13:44. > :13:48.in 1960, but luckily, they're back. They nest right down on the ground,
:13:49. > :13:56.and if you walk past this nest, a few feet away, you'd never know it
:13:57. > :14:03.was there. And then there is the ultra-specialist, the Dartford
:14:04. > :14:08.warbler. It's a lovely bird. This, again - this warbler, unlike other
:14:09. > :14:12.birds it doesn't migrate, so when hard winters come along, like the
:14:13. > :14:16.winter of '62, they're in real trouble. In fact, it was down to
:14:17. > :14:20.just ten pairs in the UK. But luckily, this bird is back. You see
:14:21. > :14:25.it up here in the heedland with that fiery eye. I have dropped my tree
:14:26. > :14:29.podgeer, and now I am going to use my scythe. In a minute, I shall use
:14:30. > :14:35.this, but it will be in the service of wildlife, so in a moment, you'll
:14:36. > :14:38.see what this is all about. The Springwatch cameras have inspired
:14:39. > :14:42.many, many people to set up their own little Springwatch sort of unit
:14:43. > :14:46.in the back garden, and one man has managed to film some truly
:14:47. > :14:58.astonishing behaviour. Robert Fuller is creating a haven
:14:59. > :15:02.for wildlife. I've been interested in wildlife
:15:03. > :15:07.reserve is very small and my dad was interested in wildlife, which made
:15:08. > :15:13.it interesting for me. It has developed over the years to almost
:15:14. > :15:17.an obsession. Every day you're watching wildlife and there is
:15:18. > :15:25.something new to learn, that is the exciting part to me.
:15:26. > :15:33.Robert has a passion for painting the natural world, and takes his
:15:34. > :15:39.inspiration from the animals he captures on camera. But one
:15:40. > :15:42.particular speedy animal has been giving Robert the runaround for
:15:43. > :15:46.years. I've been photographing wildlife at
:15:47. > :15:49.25 years, and painting and studying it but I have never photographed
:15:50. > :15:57.weasel before because they are always too quick.
:15:58. > :16:06.I saw them hunting in the garden, so I put some feeding boxes out. I put
:16:07. > :16:11.them under all the bushes in the garden. About ten days later,
:16:12. > :16:16.waiting very patiently, changing the mice every few days so they were
:16:17. > :16:22.fresh, and making scent trails, dragging them across the path. I saw
:16:23. > :16:27.her scoot off with a wood mouse. Then she was back again and I knew I
:16:28. > :16:32.had this little weasel hooked. She stayed long enough to give me my
:16:33. > :16:36.first view shots of the weasel. Little did Robert know this would be
:16:37. > :16:40.the first of thousands of photographs, but he was about to get
:16:41. > :16:46.an unbelievable insight into the weasels' world. One day we had a
:16:47. > :16:53.mail and it was a spectacular moment, because he was quite a big
:16:54. > :17:03.weasel. He carried her out of the garden to mate. I set about making
:17:04. > :17:11.messing chambers and crossing my fingers hoping we'd get the weasel
:17:12. > :17:15.having their kits. But the female gave birth in an old shed, but when
:17:16. > :17:19.they were just six days old she moved them across the garden and
:17:20. > :17:23.into Robert's nesting chamber. We now had this amazing opportunity to
:17:24. > :17:35.watch inside the weasel nest. But then a formidable threat
:17:36. > :17:41.appeared on the scene, a stoat. Much larger than a weasel with a black
:17:42. > :17:54.tail tip, they will eat weasels and their kits.
:17:55. > :18:03.To keep her kits safe, the female weasel moved on to another, safer
:18:04. > :18:07.location. I had mixed emotions, because now I
:18:08. > :18:12.didn't have a camera on the weasels in the nest, but what I did have was
:18:13. > :18:18.the magical experience of watching the weasel carrying the small, tiny
:18:19. > :18:24.baby kits through the garden at 17 days old. It was just incredible,
:18:25. > :18:29.and I was almost shaking, that I had managed to capture this moment.
:18:30. > :18:35.For the next few weeks Robert regularly saw the female weasel
:18:36. > :18:37.ferrying mice across the garden for her kits. He stayed safely out of
:18:38. > :18:47.sight. We'll most had a weasel explosion.
:18:48. > :18:51.-- we almost had. I opened my curtains and there seems to be
:18:52. > :18:52.weasels everywhere in the garden, everywhere you looked one was
:18:53. > :19:05.popping up and running round. Then, one day there was a terrible
:19:06. > :19:09.noise here behind us. I rushed over to see what was happening. The
:19:10. > :19:14.female weasel was fighting with the stoat. Then I didn't see the female
:19:15. > :19:18.weasel for two days. On the third day she came back with a nasty wound
:19:19. > :19:23.under her chin, where she had been caught by the stoat.
:19:24. > :19:29.Unfortunately this was the last time Robert was to see the female weasel.
:19:30. > :19:36.And so, the five young weasel kits were left without their mother.
:19:37. > :19:48.So close to independence, can they survive on their own?
:19:49. > :19:54.So those gorgeous little weasel kits up orphaned and we will catch up on
:19:55. > :19:58.their story tomorrow. But incredible to see, because they are very
:19:59. > :20:03.elusive. You hardly ever see them in the wild, do you Chris? They are so
:20:04. > :20:09.quick and so small, much smaller than a stoat. Magical to get an
:20:10. > :20:17.insight. His own weasel explosion! I loved that. We are quite envious but
:20:18. > :20:22.last week we had some totally amazing explosions going on here,
:20:23. > :20:26.because we found a female stoat with eight kits and were able to follow
:20:27. > :20:32.her throughout the course of the first two weeks. She was being a
:20:33. > :20:44.fantastic mother. She tried to get into the great, tip box. Over the
:20:45. > :20:50.weekend she was busy in our compound. Another rabbit here. There
:20:51. > :20:54.were plenty of the map means me and they are undoubtably forming the
:20:55. > :20:58.bulk of her diet. She is moving that animal towards her kits. We think
:20:59. > :21:03.they have moved again. They were in the reeds, now they are in the
:21:04. > :21:11.brambles. She is dragging the food is close to them as she can possibly
:21:12. > :21:16.get it. You see some of the kits in action here. We can't approach these
:21:17. > :21:20.animals too closely, we don't want to get them to move. It's not like
:21:21. > :21:26.they are in a hole like the weasels. The female is always out and about
:21:27. > :21:32.and easier to watch. Having a sniff along this log. We did see her last
:21:33. > :21:40.week, climbing to that woodpecker's nest. Look at this, now we have
:21:41. > :21:47.spotted a mile stoat. Larger, thicker pale, a bushy tip with a
:21:48. > :21:53.white spot. That will help you identify this animal. Sniffing that
:21:54. > :22:01.same log where the female has been, maybe sniffing her, but always on
:22:02. > :22:05.the lookout for prey. So agile. But also agile when it comes to
:22:06. > :22:12.climbing. I have to say, he's going up it like a squirrel. I'd never
:22:13. > :22:18.imagined, up until this point, that stoats would be so agile. Here is
:22:19. > :22:24.about ten metres up the tree, checking every little nook and
:22:25. > :22:30.cranny every hole, every gap in the bark for presumably a birds nest.
:22:31. > :22:36.There's a between the bark here and that is just the sort of place a
:22:37. > :22:45.tree creeper would put its nest. In those that mile stoat to have a
:22:46. > :22:50.sniff around. Nothing there. It's been fantastic, Chris, to see the
:22:51. > :22:54.male and female and the kits. That may or doesn't have much to do with
:22:55. > :23:00.the kits, it doesn't provision them at all. He may have mated with the
:23:01. > :23:05.female kits in that nest if he was the father, but after that, no, it's
:23:06. > :23:10.solely down the female to look after them. But nice to see the male. We
:23:11. > :23:14.have had some fantastic views of these stoats. Our cameramen will be
:23:15. > :23:18.out through the course of the rest of the week. The stoat is not the
:23:19. > :23:25.only supermum that we have followed in the last couple of weeks. We've
:23:26. > :23:32.also had our single blue tit mamma who has looked after a brood of
:23:33. > :23:36.great tip chicks. It was going well at the start but then disaster
:23:37. > :23:41.struck last week when this happened. Four in the nest, one popped out.
:23:42. > :23:49.This one pops its head out and immediately gets taken by a jay. It
:23:50. > :23:55.is all over quickly. Then another one comes out, it falls out of the
:23:56. > :24:01.nest box. So many jays around, it's all over pretty quickly for that
:24:02. > :24:07.chick. Two left in the nest. As you can see, AJ took that one as well.
:24:08. > :24:10.So quick. Incredibly quick. One left in the nest and we were hoping it
:24:11. > :24:18.would fledge over the weekend. Let's have a look at the live nest box.
:24:19. > :24:22.There is nothing in it. Did it fledge? You can't presume it did,
:24:23. > :24:28.because look at what we saw on Saturday. This is what we saw. An
:24:29. > :24:34.empty nest box. Had it fledged? No, it actually just flew up to the top
:24:35. > :24:40.of the nest box. It seems reluctant to actually get out of the box. It's
:24:41. > :24:43.flying up and down like a little Zebedee. Incomes mum, a little
:24:44. > :24:49.confused, doesn't know where her chick is. These bit at the top, goes
:24:50. > :24:53.up and feeds it. I imagine that little chick is feeling very
:24:54. > :24:59.vulnerable, being the only one left in the nest box. But you can see it
:25:00. > :25:05.is practising flying, it is ready to go, it's just not very keen to go.
:25:06. > :25:12.At night it goes where it it thinks it's safest, away from those jays at
:25:13. > :25:16.the top of the nest box. Very curious behaviour. Keeps poking its
:25:17. > :25:23.head out, we saw this weekend. Mum is three keen to tempt it out. Keeps
:25:24. > :25:30.coming back and feeding it at the nest box hole. Oaks its head out and
:25:31. > :25:35.finally, Sunday, just before 8:30am, it flies out. It fledge is. Mum
:25:36. > :25:39.comes back and has, realises it's gone. We are all keeping our fingers
:25:40. > :25:43.crossed it was OK. The cameraman went out and saw it in the trees.
:25:44. > :25:49.Mum also went to look for it, and found it. In the branches.
:25:50. > :25:56.I mean, we were rooting for this final little greattit chick. We were
:25:57. > :26:05.so hoping it would successfully fledge and it did. I am calling it
:26:06. > :26:16.Gloria the great-tit, after Gloria Gaynor, I Will Survive. I like happy
:26:17. > :26:19.ending as much as anyone, but a number of people asked on social
:26:20. > :26:23.media, what will happen to that young great-tit if it survives, will
:26:24. > :26:28.it be able to successfully mate because it has been reared by a blue
:26:29. > :26:32.tit? I don't know if Gloria Gaynor has any kids or not about that
:26:33. > :26:38.little great-tit probably won't have. It thinks it is a blue tit. It
:26:39. > :26:45.can have a happy life, flying around in the woods here, but it will never
:26:46. > :26:50.add to the genetic diversity of the great-tits in this area. But as you
:26:51. > :26:55.say, it might be happy anyway. Some of us are happy not to procreate! We
:26:56. > :26:58.know this because we have been liaising throughout the course of
:26:59. > :27:08.our investigation of these blue tits and great-tits with Doctor Ella
:27:09. > :27:19.Cole, an expert on great and blue tits. We sent are Porter Dalmatin to
:27:20. > :27:24.find out. -- Gillian Porter. This is a living and breathing laboratory
:27:25. > :27:28.that professors at Oxford University have been studying since the Second
:27:29. > :27:32.World War. It is amazing to have such a detailed biological and
:27:33. > :27:36.seasonal record that spans over 60 years, and that's why I've come
:27:37. > :27:42.here, to understand how this spring is affecting our wildlife. Over the
:27:43. > :27:45.last few months, the scientists in these woods have noticed something
:27:46. > :27:55.very unusual with the budding of the trees. Some came early, where as
:27:56. > :27:59.others emerged late. With such spread out timings, the onset of
:28:00. > :28:04.spring has been very confused and I'm concerned there might be a knock
:28:05. > :28:08.on effect. A real model like this shows how
:28:09. > :28:12.everything in nature is connected. And if there is a problem in one
:28:13. > :28:19.part of the system, it's likely to affect the whole food chain.
:28:20. > :28:20.In this wood it is birds like the great-tit that are the most
:28:21. > :28:30.vulnerable. I'm meeting scientist Doctor Ella
:28:31. > :28:34.Cole, who comes it every year to monitor the new hatchlings, and just
:28:35. > :28:41.like me, she's eager to find out how they're doing this year. I have a
:28:42. > :28:51.box over here, they are due to hatch today. Let's take a look. Yes...
:28:52. > :28:55.That's just hatched? Yes. Although tiny, this hatchling is looking very
:28:56. > :29:01.healthy. There are five eggs still to hatch and they should hatch at
:29:02. > :29:08.some point. That's what it has just come out of. Wow. What is that? 1.4
:29:09. > :29:13.grams per in two weeks' time it will weigh more than its parents, ten
:29:14. > :29:19.times, more than ten times what it ways now. Two weeks to do all that
:29:20. > :29:25.growing? Yes. Daesh phenomenal. Bless. Let's put it in. --
:29:26. > :29:31.phenomenal. The success of the hatchlings depends on how well this
:29:32. > :29:36.living, breathing would can accommodate them. As the chicks grow
:29:37. > :29:39.mum and dad will need to become feeding machines, with six hungry
:29:40. > :29:43.mouths they must gather a volume of food that is the equivalent of us
:29:44. > :29:46.buying over 300 bags of grocery shopping. And the main food source?
:29:47. > :29:59.Caterpillars. But there's a problem. Caterpillars
:30:00. > :30:04.don't stay caterpillars for very long. These little guys are winter
:30:05. > :30:08.moths, and they're the tits' favourite food. In just a few weeks
:30:09. > :30:15.they'll have finished growing and be ready to spin their silk cocoons and
:30:16. > :30:18.be ready to undergo a miraculous transformation into moths but one
:30:19. > :30:23.species miracle is another's headaches. They have a time hatching
:30:24. > :30:28.for when there is a glut in the caterpillars. The question is how do
:30:29. > :30:32.they do that when they have to lay their eggs weeks in advance? Dr Ella
:30:33. > :30:36.Cole thinks these tits may be able to vary their own timings. Our
:30:37. > :30:40.research has actually shown they could actually be using cues from
:30:41. > :30:45.their local oak trees to kind of work out when is best to lay. So
:30:46. > :30:52.even if the trees change, the tits can adapt. We're heading to another
:30:53. > :31:03.bird box to gather the first vital clues to find out if this is the
:31:04. > :31:12.case. Oh, look at that! The birds in this box were some of the first to
:31:13. > :31:17.arrive this year. Ella is keen to find out how well they're growing.
:31:18. > :31:23.Just gorgeous. Look at that. So this one is how old? Two weeks old, so
:31:24. > :31:28.pretty much fully FTCerred now, just a little bit more left to go in
:31:29. > :31:32.terms of wing and tail growth. Can I have a little hold? Is that all
:31:33. > :31:36.right? Yeah. There we go. That's amazing. That's absolutely
:31:37. > :31:41.incredible. It's remarkable to think just how tiny this chick was only
:31:42. > :31:49.two weeks ago. Weigh this chick and see how much it weighs. Oh, that is
:31:50. > :32:00.a tight squeeze. Yeah. He's quite a fatty, this one. What is that? It's
:32:01. > :32:05.19.7. 19.7? Yeah. How many times - That's at least 13 times its
:32:06. > :32:09.hatching weight. 13 times. So he's actually heavier than his parents?
:32:10. > :32:13.Yeah, he's probably a couple of grams heavier than his parents. How
:32:14. > :32:17.many caterpillars do you think that is? Probably about a thousand
:32:18. > :32:23.caterpillars. A thousand! I think you've done well! Seven chicks in
:32:24. > :32:30.this brood. 7,000 caterpillars in two weeks. About that. Busy parents.
:32:31. > :32:36.Despite a very strange spring this healthy chick is a promising first
:32:37. > :32:41.sign that even when the timings go wrong, the tits can still remarkably
:32:42. > :32:46.keep in sync with their local oak trees and caterpillars, but to be
:32:47. > :32:54.sure, Ella still has over 500 boxes left to monitor. And quite often
:32:55. > :32:58.things do go wrong. Looking at social media, lots of you are
:32:59. > :33:02.telling us you have had large clutches of eggs and they haven't
:33:03. > :33:06.hatched but some have hatched but not many have fledged. That's
:33:07. > :33:15.unusual, what's going on this year. What I can tell you is great tits
:33:16. > :33:19.may lay their eggs, not complete the clutch and not incubate them. They
:33:20. > :33:22.can leave them for two weeks before they sit on them. What determines
:33:23. > :33:27.whether they incubate is the weather. What's happened this year
:33:28. > :33:31.is some of the great tits laid their eggs and started to incubate them.
:33:32. > :33:36.Those who did so early were very successful. They seemed to hatch
:33:37. > :33:40.lots of those eggs and fledge lots of youngsters but those that decided
:33:41. > :33:43.to wait, the later broods, if you like, haven't done nearly as well.
:33:44. > :33:49.That's because the weather changed. We had lots of rain, and that washed
:33:50. > :33:53.their principal food, their caterpillars, off the tree.
:33:54. > :33:57.Coincidentally, Ella has told us this year is not a very good year
:33:58. > :34:03.for caterpillars. On these oak trees here, in some years when they're at
:34:04. > :34:09.their peak, you can get 255 caterpillars on one square metre of
:34:10. > :34:12.oak leaves, but this year she's only found four caterpillars per square
:34:13. > :34:17.metre. Of course, when it rains, like it has today, those are washed
:34:18. > :34:22.off onto the ground. They become inaccessible to the tits. They can't
:34:23. > :34:26.feed them to their young, and their productivity goes down. The good
:34:27. > :34:28.news is it's a 12-year psych wl this caterpillar abundance, so if we're
:34:29. > :34:33.at a trough this year, next year we'll be on the way back up. There
:34:34. > :34:37.probably would be more food for the tits that are nesting in your
:34:38. > :34:41.garden. Over the last two weekses, we have introduced you to a whole
:34:42. > :34:45.cast of characters, but there's one particular character from last year
:34:46. > :34:50.that lots of you have been asking about on social media. Now, this was
:34:51. > :34:54.a star that went from zero to hero. It's what I like to think of as the
:34:55. > :35:04.Leicester City of the Springwatch world. It went from the underdog to
:35:05. > :35:08.champion! I am, of course, talking about spineless Sy, the stickleback
:35:09. > :35:13.fish. I am afraid we can't bring you back Sy. He's no longer with us.
:35:14. > :35:19.Typically, stickleback fish only last for one breeding season, but I
:35:20. > :35:24.can bring you by popular demand another camera on a stickleback fish
:35:25. > :35:29.nest, and we're calling this Sons of Sy! Let's have a look at it. It's a
:35:30. > :35:33.very resplendent stickleback fish there. He's already got a nest, and
:35:34. > :35:39.there are already eggs in it. He's managed to get a mate. And over the
:35:40. > :35:45.weekend, we saw something quite remarkable. We saw some of those
:35:46. > :35:53.eggs hatch. And if you look closely, you can see some of the fry. He's
:35:54. > :35:56.obviously had a very successful breeding season so far. Let's have a
:35:57. > :36:02.look at the nest live now, because you can see that there are plenty of
:36:03. > :36:09.fry there. In fact, there are dozens of them! And what is brilliant about
:36:10. > :36:13.this is that we left spineless Sy at the end of last series with his fry
:36:14. > :36:18.just having hatched. This means because there are lots of fry out
:36:19. > :36:23.now, we can take you to the next chapter of the remarkable story of
:36:24. > :36:26.stickleback fish and how the dads look after those fry, and we're
:36:27. > :36:30.going to be exploring that in the next couple of days. But you know,
:36:31. > :36:35.stickleback fish are just one of about 400 fish in British waters,
:36:36. > :36:40.and Jack Perks thinks we should be celebrating them more. He's a big
:36:41. > :36:46.fan of fish, and anything with a fin or two, so he has set up the
:36:47. > :36:50.National - the first ever UK National Fish Vote. Now, lots of
:36:51. > :36:56.people have been voting online, but two weeks ago, we launched the top
:36:57. > :37:02.ten for you to vote on, and in no particular order, here they are.
:37:03. > :37:12.This is our first contender and I can feel the tension! Let's see how
:37:13. > :37:21.the bass goes down. Cod knows this is a tasty contender. Also thrown
:37:22. > :37:27.into the fishy mix, we've got troult, mackerel, roach and don't
:37:28. > :37:34.tell them your name, pike. We have a shark in here. Will it be basking in
:37:35. > :37:39.glory? Or will this stripy number knock it off its perch? Perhaps
:37:40. > :37:47.we'll get our stickleback where it belongs, at number one. Well, I know
:37:48. > :37:51.who I'll be voting for - (coughs) Stickleback! Not that I want to
:37:52. > :37:56.influence you in any way at all. Those are our top ten fish. Lots of
:37:57. > :38:00.you have voted online already, but if you haven't, you've got until
:38:01. > :38:04.midday tomorrow, and Jack will be coming on to springs spring to
:38:05. > :38:08.announce the winner, but can I just remind you all, you are voting for
:38:09. > :38:13.your favourite fish in the wild, not your favourite fish on the menu!
:38:14. > :38:18.Anyway, get online and get voting. Martin, who are you voting for? Or
:38:19. > :38:25.should I say, what fish will you be angling for? Perch, Michaela, I love
:38:26. > :38:29.a perch. It's got those tiger stripes and those beautiful little
:38:30. > :38:37.orange fins. OK. Let me get my rhythm going. What on earth am I
:38:38. > :38:41.doing? Well, I'm - atmosphere. Scything for - oops, scything for
:38:42. > :38:45.nature. Missed that bit. Because this area up on the heathland has to
:38:46. > :38:49.be very carefully managed. I was saying before, you've got to dig up
:38:50. > :38:52.the trees so they don't grow up and overgrow everything. You have to
:38:53. > :38:56.deal with this here this Bracken here because it will grow up and
:38:57. > :38:57.stop all the lovely open areas. What's so great about the open
:38:58. > :39:04.areas? Come on down with me. We have
:39:05. > :39:09.already seen the heathland is great for nesting birds, but down here -
:39:10. > :39:12.that's lovely. In this lovely substrate - it actually smells
:39:13. > :39:17.gorgeous too, but this is a great place for a huge variety of
:39:18. > :39:22.different insects. Now, you'll see amazing creatures up here on a misty
:39:23. > :39:27.morning. You can see just how many spiders there are, their webs all
:39:28. > :39:31.lit up with the due. That is tiger beetle, a ferocious carnivore, one
:39:32. > :39:37.of the fastest running insects on earth, and look at its jaws. If you
:39:38. > :39:42.were an ant, which is what they prey on, you would be terrified. This
:39:43. > :39:48.here is a silver-studded blue butterfly. It's called that because
:39:49. > :39:52.underneath its wings it's got these beautiful little light blue studs,
:39:53. > :39:56.really, you can hardly see them there, but that's a silver-studded
:39:57. > :40:00.blue. Sometimes you'll get thousands of them an enormous flock - a flock
:40:01. > :40:06.of butterflies? Is that the right word. Look at this. This is a digger
:40:07. > :40:10.wasp. What they'll do is grab a caterpillar in their jaws, dig a
:40:11. > :40:13.hole for it, put the caterpillar down the hole and lay an egg on it,
:40:14. > :40:17.and the egg will eat the caterpillar. One more thing - with
:40:18. > :40:21.that digger wasp, they use tools. Can you believe this? When they have
:40:22. > :40:24.dug the hole they have put the caterpillar and the egg down,
:40:25. > :40:27.they'll use that and they'll actually bash it on the ground to
:40:28. > :40:33.cover up the hole to seal the hole. An insect using a tool. How about
:40:34. > :40:39.that? So you've got all these insects down here, but also, we have
:40:40. > :40:43.been up here and on the heathland here, you get one of the rarest,
:40:44. > :40:54.most specialised birds of prey that you can find anywhere in Mendis
:40:55. > :40:59.Mendis -- Mensmire. Here it is. It's a hobby. They don't migrate at all.
:41:00. > :41:04.They come up from Africa. They'll come up often together, the male and
:41:05. > :41:08.the female. They're mating. When they mate, the female will make
:41:09. > :41:13.encouragement or welcoming vocalisations. Lovely that they've
:41:14. > :41:17.probably done their courtship down in Africa, and then they'll complete
:41:18. > :41:21.this here. Now, they'll nest often in an old Crows Nest. They won't
:41:22. > :41:26.build their own nest, but here, you can see that the male is coming back
:41:27. > :41:32.for her. He's got a prey item. It's actually a dragonfly, and they
:41:33. > :41:37.specialise in insect prey early on in the year. It doesn't seem all
:41:38. > :41:39.that pleased with it, does she? But then later on in the year,
:41:40. > :41:44.particularly when they've got chicks, they'll start to prey on
:41:45. > :41:49.birds. Here is a champ inch. They're one of the few birds - they're
:41:50. > :41:59.fantastically acrobatic in the air, and they will take twifts in the
:42:00. > :42:02.air. That is the Hobbit. It's only recently been filmed, just
:42:03. > :42:08.yesterday. We think they're about to start nesting. They haven't started
:42:09. > :42:12.yet. They're latest inest iners. One other amazing thing, early on in the
:42:13. > :42:18.year sometimes you get masses of these. Here, I was told by Adam, the
:42:19. > :42:23.guy in charge, he saw 20 hobbies over the water, all breeders and
:42:24. > :42:28.non-breeders coming together for who knows what early on in the system.
:42:29. > :42:33.Amazing stuff. Chris, have you ever seen 20 hobbies together? I have had
:42:34. > :42:36.that privilege. By a bizarre coincidence I saw them many years
:42:37. > :42:41.ago down in the south of England when I was gog doing exactly what
:42:42. > :42:44.you're doing, maintaining heathland, cutting down small pine trees to
:42:45. > :42:50.improve it for sand lizards. It was a treat to see those coming in. Were
:42:51. > :42:53.you danced like a pole dancer? I was dressed conventionally on that
:42:54. > :42:57.occasion. I feel I have let the side down now. If you have been watching
:42:58. > :43:02.the last couple of weeks, you know we have had the enormous privilege
:43:03. > :43:08.to have cameras on a golden eagle's nest. We've got our cameras up there
:43:09. > :43:12.in south-western Scotland. We have been getting fantastic views of
:43:13. > :43:16.these birds. Here is the adult coming back into the nest. There
:43:17. > :43:24.were two eggs. One hatched, and the chick, I am pleased to say, is doing
:43:25. > :43:30.really, really well. Look how much it's grown now. It's got its
:43:31. > :43:37.feathers coming through on its wing. These are its primary foter. They're
:43:38. > :43:41.in what we call in-pin. They're covered with a waxy sheath. The bird
:43:42. > :43:45.has to constantly nibble at that sheath to release the feathers. Look
:43:46. > :43:48.what it's doing. This is a huge milestone for this little chick.
:43:49. > :43:55.It's standing up. You can see how much it's grown. Massive feet here,
:43:56. > :44:00.still resting on its ankles, though, Michaela, at this stage. More
:44:01. > :44:03.preening. There you can see - you see those blue waxy sheaths there?
:44:04. > :44:07.That's the pin we talk about. Here it is standing. Look at the backs of
:44:08. > :44:13.its legs. You can see those two pads? Those are the two pads it has
:44:14. > :44:17.been resting on up until now. Young eagles have these whilst they're
:44:18. > :44:21.shuffling around in the nest to protect their ankles there. It's
:44:22. > :44:27.great to see. It's doing a bit of wing flapping. Look at that. It's
:44:28. > :44:30.very wobbly, but it's doing well. We have seen an incredible development
:44:31. > :44:35.in this chick. The mother has brought in - or the father, in fact,
:44:36. > :44:39.one of them, has brought in a nest of chicks to feed it on, but just
:44:40. > :44:43.watch this, because there has been a huge change in how this chick is
:44:44. > :44:47.feeding. We've seen a lot of this, where the mother takes little bits
:44:48. > :44:51.off and feeds the chick, but now it's taking huge chunks off because
:44:52. > :44:57.this chick is ravenous. Just watch what it tries to do now.
:44:58. > :45:06.Tries to take the food itself. It was successful. We've seen it be
:45:07. > :45:14.quite fussy in not wanting to swallow bits with fur on but clearly
:45:15. > :45:20.not as fussy as it was. It can follow all that, small bones,
:45:21. > :45:25.feather and fur. Once a day or cast a pellet out. This is quite
:45:26. > :45:29.interesting, as well. The bird is reaching out, taking that food,
:45:30. > :45:33.still sat on its haunches. That's the problem is, until it is strong
:45:34. > :45:41.enough and big enough to pin the food down itself, it cannot tear
:45:42. > :45:45.against it. But here, this... Small prey for an eagle. Initially the
:45:46. > :45:50.bird tries to swallow it whole, but that won't happen unless it tries
:45:51. > :45:54.headfirst and it's got it by the wing. It's trying to position itself
:45:55. > :46:00.where it campaigned that underneath its feet, so it can tear against it.
:46:01. > :46:05.Hasn't quite got the knack and is beginning to stray quite close to
:46:06. > :46:14.the nest here. Just watch what the mother does. She senses this and
:46:15. > :46:20.comes round in front of it, to stop it toppling off and falling out of
:46:21. > :46:26.the nest. She has been a superb mother, hasn't she? Amazing, yeah.
:46:27. > :46:32.Great to see the cheque trying. We will see more of that over the next
:46:33. > :46:41.week. -- the chick. The adult pins it with its talons Tomaselli has the
:46:42. > :46:45.ability to pull against it. As a feather, not sure if to eat it or
:46:46. > :46:51.what to do with it. Eventually the feather flies off and just watch...
:46:52. > :46:57.I love that. It has been an amazing privilege to watch that chick grow,
:46:58. > :47:02.it has grown and is doing so well. It is indeed. They treat to have
:47:03. > :47:05.those cameras there. Sometimes it is nice when you don't need your
:47:06. > :47:10.cameras or binoculars but just stand in front of them. One of those
:47:11. > :47:22.places is in the islands off of Northumberland. Let's take a look.
:47:23. > :47:31.It is only just after 5:30am and I have come to meet the Rangers. I am
:47:32. > :47:41.joining them out on their first sea bird Cliff count of the year, after
:47:42. > :47:47.I'd had a cup of tea. The aim is to count the amount of sea birds
:47:48. > :47:50.nesting on these cliffs, and as they feed during the day, we need to
:47:51. > :47:57.catch them before they start fishing.
:47:58. > :48:04.In order to count the thousands of birds that nest here, each ranger
:48:05. > :48:13.takes charge of counting one species.
:48:14. > :48:20.How on earth do you count them here? Slowly and meticulously. It is doing
:48:21. > :48:30.those? It's me today. You have a hard job. There are lot of them. You
:48:31. > :48:34.click and then... The final number, I multiply by ten at the end. I will
:48:35. > :48:49.say in my head and we will see. OK, that's that section done. Hang
:48:50. > :48:54.on! I only got about two meters. That was fast, incredibly fast.
:48:55. > :48:59.This count is used to establish how many breeding pairs are on the
:49:00. > :49:06.islands. Thankfully some clever eggheads worked out that 67% of the
:49:07. > :49:12.total birds seen would be sitting on eggs or chicks. So they multiply by
:49:13. > :49:17.0.67 to get their total, easy. How long would it take you to do the
:49:18. > :49:22.whole island? All in one day? We would try and do it in a morning.
:49:23. > :49:27.We aim to start about six o'clock and look to finish by about 9:30am.
:49:28. > :49:32.About three and a half hours. I feel like a spare part here, not doing
:49:33. > :49:35.anything. But you wouldn't want my count, maths was not a good subject
:49:36. > :49:41.for me at school, I haven't got enough fingers.
:49:42. > :49:45.The team at counted over 30,000 birds on this trip alone,
:49:46. > :49:51.approximately 92% of which were guillemots. That is high-rise living
:49:52. > :49:57.taken to an extreme. But they will repeat this process several times,
:49:58. > :50:00.to get a more accurate estimation of the productivity of these islands
:50:01. > :50:05.and while they get on with that, I am off to check out the birds on the
:50:06. > :50:14.cliffs further down. Last week we helped Liz Morgan had a
:50:15. > :50:22.female shack and I have come back today to help find out the results.
:50:23. > :50:30.Hello. Still hard at work, well done you. You have been retrieving tags.
:50:31. > :50:37.We managed to get it back a few days ago. Good. Have you downloaded all
:50:38. > :50:43.the information? Yes, we have. Unfortunately when I put the GPS in
:50:44. > :50:51.it to that we any have half the trip she did, the tag malfunctioned
:50:52. > :50:59.halfway through. Anything useful? We know she was out foraging further
:51:00. > :51:07.than we have known them go before. 14 metres, considering last year she
:51:08. > :51:14.only went two kilometres... The dive data was fine, she had been diving
:51:15. > :51:19.to 50 metres. Wow. Is that the deepest you have ever had here? Yes.
:51:20. > :51:25.The previous one was 41 metres, so she has topped that by a good ten
:51:26. > :51:30.metres. Good girl, but worrying signs because it might mean there is
:51:31. > :51:34.not enough food close by for them. Well done, keep going. You are very
:51:35. > :51:39.busy, thank you for your time and good luck. Cheers. Cheers, take
:51:40. > :51:43.care. And speaking of super mums, I
:51:44. > :51:52.couldn't leave this island without a quick visit to our globetrotting
:51:53. > :52:00.celebrity, Arctic Turn 91. And here she is. Still sitting quietly on her
:52:01. > :52:04.two precious eggs. Wouldn't it be brilliant if before we left this
:52:05. > :52:10.magnificent place, we saw her offspring? No pressure, girl!
:52:11. > :52:20.See the Taj Mahal? Thinking of going to Disneyland? Scrap your plans and
:52:21. > :52:24.go to the farms because it is brilliant.
:52:25. > :52:29.One of the things we've been looking at is what affects the birds and
:52:30. > :52:31.pollution affects marine life and so does litter, especially plastic.
:52:32. > :52:36.Last week we encouraged lots of you to do something great for nature at
:52:37. > :52:41.the weekend and get out and do a two minute beach clean. I am delighted
:52:42. > :52:43.to say loads of you did it. Lots of you spent more than two minute and
:52:44. > :52:54.picked up masses of rubbish. We are on the beach, this is the
:52:55. > :52:59.Springwatch team, we have bags and hopefully we will find rubbish. We
:53:00. > :53:04.have two minute, are you up for it? Guests!
:53:05. > :53:14.-- yes! Two minute beach clean up. Plastic.
:53:15. > :53:40.It's a good feeling. Look at that, that was collected in
:53:41. > :53:45.just two minutes, so please, get out there, get involved in the two
:53:46. > :53:49.minute beach clean. Not for you, not for me, but for your children and
:53:50. > :53:54.children's children. It was amazing just how much rubbish you could pick
:53:55. > :53:58.up in two minute. In two minutes. Good to see you get out. I can't
:53:59. > :54:02.take you seriously dressed like that! What do you mean? I'd don't
:54:03. > :54:11.understand. I forgot to say, we did check that Brecon area very
:54:12. > :54:18.carefully before I went scything. Did you get wet? I did, not too wet.
:54:19. > :54:22.I woke up this morning at 4.10 by the rain thrashing down. Did you
:54:23. > :54:26.hear it? It has been pouring on and off all day. Is it going to
:54:27. > :54:32.continue? Let's find out with Nick Miller. The simple answer is yes,
:54:33. > :54:36.more rain to come in the forecast, not just the Minsmere but the bulk
:54:37. > :54:41.of the UK. This is how it looked in London today. I have to balance
:54:42. > :54:45.things out, media logically and geographically at the other end of
:54:46. > :54:49.the extreme, Shetland has had some brilliant sunshine and will
:54:50. > :54:54.tomorrow, but for the bulk of the UK, repeat. Underneath an area of
:54:55. > :54:58.low pressure, heavily to torrential downpours. Every rain causes
:54:59. > :55:05.problems for our birds. It was as caterpillars from trees and for the
:55:06. > :55:09.chip 's their feathers are not yet fully waterproof. We know it is a
:55:10. > :55:13.dangerous world out there, hopefully when the storm comes they can go
:55:14. > :55:18.back to a parent, shelter under a wing. The bearded birds are good
:55:19. > :55:22.parents, there should always be someone on the nest protecting their
:55:23. > :55:28.young keeping them warm and dry that I saw on the cameras today with
:55:29. > :55:33.bullfinches and their wings spread trying to protect their young. The
:55:34. > :55:38.owls can go back in the nest in the branch. The forecast, Minsmere you
:55:39. > :55:42.have had an interesting ride. Two weeks ago that great cold, last week
:55:43. > :55:45.the warm sunshine and now the showers have come, these storms are
:55:46. > :55:50.in the forecast, at least the temperature isn't going down too
:55:51. > :55:54.far. Martin, or should I say Mr Darcy, if you haven't perfected that
:55:55. > :56:03.soggy, see-through shirt look, you will get more practice! Mr Darcy?
:56:04. > :56:07.Thank you, Nick. Nick mentioned a bird we haven't looked at today, the
:56:08. > :56:15.bullfinch. Let's go to it now. As Nick said, it has been hunkering
:56:16. > :56:21.down, looking after those chicks. Here are the parents, four chicks,
:56:22. > :56:27.nine days old now. You can see the male with that resplendent red
:56:28. > :56:31.chest. I love these birds, they stick together like lovebirds, the
:56:32. > :56:36.Richard and Judy of the bird world. Look at this, this was one of the
:56:37. > :56:42.birds overnight, roosting, and a wood mouse has come in. Very cheeky.
:56:43. > :56:49.Remember, it is pitch black here. The mouse is sniffing around, has a
:56:50. > :56:54.little tug at the ball finch tail. Somehow managed to sleep through
:56:55. > :57:01.that. This would mouse is here with a mission, they would take out the
:57:02. > :57:04.chicks beneath that bullfinch. Eventually the mouse goes round the
:57:05. > :57:16.front and ends up biting the bullfinch on the beak. The mouse
:57:17. > :57:20.would take the youngsters from beneath that bird if it hadn't
:57:21. > :57:24.fought back, finally, at that point. I wonder if it didn't feel it
:57:25. > :57:30.tugging its tail at first. Amazed it didn't wake up. Maybe didn't know it
:57:31. > :57:35.was there. It is incredible to see. We will be following the bullfinch
:57:36. > :57:38.more over the next week. We have lots of live cameras on them at the
:57:39. > :57:42.moment. It is our last week and we have an awful lot going on. You can
:57:43. > :57:46.watch those cameras online and on the red button at any stage. Keep
:57:47. > :57:53.your eyes on those. That is all we have time for. Join me for Unsprung
:57:54. > :58:01.at 6.30 tomorrow. Amy Williams will be joining me. We are back at eight
:58:02. > :58:05.o'clock four Springwatch. What we have coming up? We will find out
:58:06. > :58:11.what happened to those weasel kits were orphaned. We also have me going
:58:12. > :58:21.out and looking for singing nightingales, live, hopefully. Quite
:58:22. > :58:24.late for that, singing nightingales, but son of Sy. Just look at them
:58:25. > :58:31.all. Absolutely amazing. Fantastic. That is all we have time for. Join
:58:32. > :58:33.us tomorrow at eight o'clock and for Unsprung at half past six. I vote
:58:34. > :59:02.Pike! We could talk about some of these
:59:03. > :59:08.sights I'd like to see. I really want to see
:59:09. > :59:12.Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge. Oh! Canary Wharf. Oh, and the
:59:13. > :59:16.Houses of Parliament.