:00:07. > :00:09.It's our final day and we might be running our of time
:00:10. > :00:18.It's been a grey day for our wagtails.
:00:19. > :00:22.A twist in the tail with a rather unwelcome visitor to the nest.
:00:23. > :00:41.And I have an encounter that gets the seal of approval. Stand by for
:00:42. > :00:56.the Final Countdown, its Springwatch.
:00:57. > :01:11.Look at this. I might join in. It is a tremendous evening for our final
:01:12. > :01:14.Springwatch of 2017. Four acres managed by The National Trust, we
:01:15. > :01:20.came up here with a different mission and we found a lot of
:01:21. > :01:25.wildlife? We have, but we were hoping to have a calm end, but we
:01:26. > :01:31.have had a drama today and it is in our grey wagtail mess. Let's go to
:01:32. > :01:41.it live now. As you can see, this gorgeous little nest is now empty.
:01:42. > :01:48.Did they fledge? No, they were too young. This is what happened. There
:01:49. > :01:59.are the five chicks sitting there. At 9:35 a.m., a jay comes in. Easy
:02:00. > :02:04.pickings. You saw one escape to the side. Now there are three left in
:02:05. > :02:10.the nest. Mum comes back. She doesn't appear to notice she only
:02:11. > :02:21.has three chicks. Feeds one of them and then she is off again. Then the
:02:22. > :02:25.jay comes back. Easily takes it off. The fourth manages to escape. Goes
:02:26. > :02:30.down in the brambles. We thought it might have gone in the water so we
:02:31. > :02:35.sent the cameraman. He managed to spot it. For the moment it was
:02:36. > :02:43.safely resting in the branches. One chick left. Mum comes back, wagging
:02:44. > :02:48.the tail furiously. Dad is on high alert in the tree. At this stage,
:02:49. > :02:55.they know what is going on. They can see there is only one left. What
:02:56. > :03:04.happened then? The female hunger around, looked for the other chicks
:03:05. > :03:11.and then hours later, which is quite surprising, the jay came back and
:03:12. > :03:18.took the final check. What a shame. Real drama. There were five chicks,
:03:19. > :03:24.three were eaten, two escaped but they were too young to fledge, what
:03:25. > :03:30.will happen? They were too young, if they find a gap in the wall, the
:03:31. > :03:34.parents will continue to take food back to them. But what this
:03:35. > :03:39.highlights is just how difficult it is to live and survive out here and
:03:40. > :03:42.certainly when it comes to reproducing, those wagtails in and
:03:43. > :03:48.out all the time, drawing attention to the nest. They have no choice,
:03:49. > :04:03.they have to take food back. But the keen eyed jay. One of them with the
:04:04. > :04:10.black-tie, had a damaged eye. And that nest is empty. But this time it
:04:11. > :04:17.is good news because earlier the five chicks in this nest did
:04:18. > :04:22.successfully fledge. The first one made its way out. They are too big
:04:23. > :04:26.for the nest, they don't have any choice but to get out. Over the
:04:27. > :04:31.course of the morning, the rest of them left. When you see the last
:04:32. > :04:36.one, no tail, no length to their wing feathers. This isn't a bird who
:04:37. > :04:44.can fly. There is a good likelihood they will end up on the ground. That
:04:45. > :04:48.is typical of the thrush. If you are walking your dog, you will see a lot
:04:49. > :04:53.of them on the ground, vulnerable to ground predators and in urban
:04:54. > :04:57.situations, 's. And the mail has done his duty. Hopefully he has some
:04:58. > :05:03.of his jeans into the next generation. We have an empty wagtail
:05:04. > :05:10.nest and an empty black bird nest, we only have one left with the
:05:11. > :05:15.swallows. Did they go? No, they didn't. We thought they might. They
:05:16. > :05:21.are ready to fledge. They are squashed. I love their little faces.
:05:22. > :05:26.They look like grumpy old men. We will keep our eye on that nest
:05:27. > :05:35.through the show, they could go this evening, but more likely tomorrow.
:05:36. > :05:39.They are live on our website, and we have been watching a range of
:05:40. > :05:48.species since the first day. The first was a nest full of jays. We
:05:49. > :05:58.have followed the fortunes of 81 eggs. Only eight failed to hatch and
:05:59. > :06:04.then 44 have fledged out of 81, so about 50% of the young we have been
:06:05. > :06:12.watching. I know it sounds like only half a success, but it is still
:06:13. > :06:21.pretty good. I love those pictures. Could you name the top row? Had I
:06:22. > :06:25.not look that them. As Chris said, 44 fledged. We have had less
:06:26. > :06:33.predations than we normally have. Let's celebrate the one that made
:06:34. > :06:36.it. # I want to break free.
:06:37. > :07:01.# I want to break free. # I've got to Break free. Great to
:07:02. > :07:05.see those little birds break free. It puts a smile on your face. We
:07:06. > :07:14.have been looking at mammals and plenty have been enjoying the Stowe
:07:15. > :07:22.'s family. We have been following them and they were eight to ten
:07:23. > :07:28.weeks. They are pretty much adult size. At this stage they will start
:07:29. > :07:32.to disburse from the mother and each other. The females tend to stick
:07:33. > :07:37.around need to their birthplace, but the males will go up to 20
:07:38. > :07:52.kilometres away. I have a graphic to show you. This is the appreciation
:07:53. > :08:03.graph. They are really popular, that is cool. Do you like it? How come
:08:04. > :08:11.you have a graph with a tail on? It is the tail end. Give me it back. If
:08:12. > :08:15.you have been watching, you Mo Martin has been around the UK
:08:16. > :08:19.looking for wildlife. He has been in the Isles of Scilly, the question
:08:20. > :08:26.is, what is he going to get up to today. Welcome to the fabulous Isles
:08:27. > :08:31.of Scilly, on what is basically a perfect evening. I can see Bishop
:08:32. > :08:38.Rock Lighthouse and 28 miles over there is Lands End. It is absolutely
:08:39. > :08:46.glorious out here. Just to remind you, the Isles of Scilly are an
:08:47. > :08:52.archipelago of 145 islands, five inhabited by human animals and all
:08:53. > :08:58.the others, well, many of them inhabited by animal animals. Why? It
:08:59. > :09:03.is perfect, sea birds come to nest, there is no predators on the
:09:04. > :09:09.islands. And the island we are on now is St Agnes. We are on the other
:09:10. > :09:13.side of the island. One of the thrilling things to do if you come
:09:14. > :09:21.here is to go out on an island Sea Safari. I did exactly that a couple
:09:22. > :09:26.of days ago. When you go out on a safari, you get the benefit of the
:09:27. > :09:32.crushing, turquoise waves walloping great the great stacks of granite.
:09:33. > :09:36.You see lots of sea birds coming and going. Going out to sea to collect
:09:37. > :09:44.food and then coming into their nests. The skies are full of the
:09:45. > :09:52.Kruys are fabulous birds. Look at that turquoise sea. Yes please. You
:09:53. > :09:57.will see a lot of sea birds on those islands, but what you won't see is a
:09:58. > :10:01.fascinating bird, it is called an Manx Shearwater. They stay out at
:10:02. > :10:06.sea and they only come in when it gets dark as the sun is going down.
:10:07. > :10:12.Here they are, we filmed them a couple of days ago. This is called a
:10:13. > :10:17.raft of Manx shearwater 's. They are adapted to being out at sea. In
:10:18. > :10:22.winter, you get them in Brazil and Argentina and then they fly here.
:10:23. > :10:29.You get them on the West Coast of the UK. They will stay out because
:10:30. > :10:33.they are quite vulnerable on land, until it gets quite dark and then
:10:34. > :10:38.you can see them, they are flying in. The question is, why are the
:10:39. > :10:43.Manx shearwater is coming all that weight to these islands here? We
:10:44. > :10:49.have had cameras out and you can see what goes on at night. Once they
:10:50. > :10:55.come in, here is one, it is raining a bit. You can probably guess what
:10:56. > :10:58.it is all about. It is going into a hole in the ground. Of course, that
:10:59. > :11:07.is what is going on, they are nesting here. They nest in holes in
:11:08. > :11:13.the ground, a bit like puffins. They dig them out themselves or they go
:11:14. > :11:18.in an old rabbit hole. Come with me. If you came here about four years
:11:19. > :11:24.ago, you wouldn't have seen a single successful breeding Manx shearwater.
:11:25. > :11:28.It is all down to the work of the Isles of Scilly sea bird recovery
:11:29. > :11:35.project. If you come here, you can see Jacqueline, who is the Project
:11:36. > :11:40.manager. She is lying there. I am going to ignore her now. No, I'm
:11:41. > :11:48.not, but hopefully she will show something extraordinary. Are you
:11:49. > :12:02.ready? You have got to listen here. She is playing the call of an Manx
:12:03. > :12:08.Shearwater. This is an nest site of the Manx shearwater. There is one
:12:09. > :12:11.underneath there. You use this to check the boroughs? Because they are
:12:12. > :12:19.nocturnal, we need to survey them somehow. So we play this. It thinks
:12:20. > :12:26.it is another bird, it is saying, move on, this borrow is taken. OK, I
:12:27. > :12:30.will back off, we don't want to disturb her. She might stay in
:12:31. > :12:37.therefore maybe six days on the single egg. She will wait for her
:12:38. > :12:43.partner to come in from the sea and take over the nesting duties. Once
:12:44. > :12:49.they have identified a borrow, they will have a look at this is the
:12:50. > :12:52.camera. It can go down to about two meters and they want to check to see
:12:53. > :12:58.if the bird is on an egg or a cheque. It is not great quality, but
:12:59. > :13:06.you can see the sort of thing that they see. Here we go, down with the
:13:07. > :13:13.camera. There is this Shearwater. These are very, very long-lived
:13:14. > :13:18.birds. They can live for maybe 50 years or more. It is Britain's
:13:19. > :13:23.longest lived bird, this Shearwater. Amazing. Not great quality, but you
:13:24. > :13:28.get the picture. How do they manage to bring them back? Four years ago,
:13:29. > :13:39.there were no successful breeding birds. It was a community effort,
:13:40. > :13:45.they brought other partners in and be prepared this. In just three
:13:46. > :13:56.weeks they got rid of every single rat on the island. That is the only
:13:57. > :14:01.reason the shearwaters have come back. That helped another mammal but
:14:02. > :14:06.lives here. We will look at that when we come back. Many years ago
:14:07. > :14:11.when I was a researcher in the BBC, I worked on horizon. We had to go
:14:12. > :14:19.into Porton Down research centre. It took weeks to get permission. I was
:14:20. > :14:35.very surprised to find out they let your Oliver Williams in.
:14:36. > :14:42.I have been lucky enough to visit some special places over the years,
:14:43. > :14:48.but this is really special. I have been given rare and privileged
:14:49. > :14:53.access to Porton Down. This is the most pristine area of chalk
:14:54. > :14:58.grassland in the whole of the UK. There is wildlife everywhere here.
:14:59. > :15:07.For a visiting naturalist this really is paradise. Covering a total
:15:08. > :15:12.area of 7000 acres, Porton Down is one of the most sensitive sites in
:15:13. > :15:16.the UK. It has been cut off from human interference for over 100
:15:17. > :15:21.years because it is home to Britain's military research base,
:15:22. > :15:34.the defence, science and technology laboratory.
:15:35. > :15:43.Can you hear that? That is one of the nicest songs you will here in
:15:44. > :15:47.the UK. A lovely, Flutie, little song. It is a would like. It is
:15:48. > :15:55.unexpected because even here it is a very rare bird. I am told only one
:15:56. > :16:00.was seen in the whole of last year. They are a showy bird. They will
:16:01. > :16:02.find a perch and they will sing from that perch, but the song says it
:16:03. > :16:26.all. Beautiful. I have got to be very careful and
:16:27. > :16:33.quite quiet here because in front of me is a rare butterfly called the
:16:34. > :16:38.juke of Burgundy and this is the first time I have ever seen one. It
:16:39. > :16:47.is quite big and is a mixture of Brown and orange with chequerboard
:16:48. > :16:51.wings, really. It is an ideal day for coming to look for them because
:16:52. > :16:56.it is a bit cool and it means they will just set up like this one,
:16:57. > :17:05.waiting for it to warm up before they go off and defend their
:17:06. > :17:14.territory. In some places you get about five or ten or 20 and 30 if
:17:15. > :17:15.you are really lucky. Here they are in their hundreds, said this really
:17:16. > :17:24.is the perfect habitat for this butterfly. Look at this landscape, I
:17:25. > :17:29.do not think I have ever seen anything quite like this before.
:17:30. > :17:36.They call it and can't escape because it is a landscape created by
:17:37. > :17:40.ants. Every one of these lumps is a yellow meadow and nest and they
:17:41. > :17:45.reckon there are 3 million nest here which equates to 30 billion meadow
:17:46. > :17:57.plants. That is an awful lot of amps. The icing on the cake here for
:17:58. > :18:01.any bird-watcher is this bird. It is a stone curlew, and very rare
:18:02. > :18:07.breeding birds and in the whole country that is about 380 pairs. On
:18:08. > :18:13.Porton Down and they are roughly 5% of the whole of the UK population.
:18:14. > :18:21.This pair here have laid two eggs and they have got one chick and they
:18:22. > :18:27.are tending it pretty well. Stone curlews is obviously a top priority
:18:28. > :18:32.bird here. They have scarify the land, making it ideal for nesting
:18:33. > :18:36.stone curlew 's and they have gone beyond that. All around these parts
:18:37. > :18:42.you have got electric fencing keeping out foxes, badgers and
:18:43. > :18:46.predators like that and at least the eggs hatch and the young have a
:18:47. > :18:48.chance to fledge. Since they have done that the breeding success has
:18:49. > :19:10.been much higher. This place really is unique. I am so
:19:11. > :19:16.glad I have had the opportunity to look around Porton Down. Yes, it is
:19:17. > :19:22.an oasis for wildlife, but it is so much more than that. It is a glimpse
:19:23. > :19:28.into our past, it gives us an idea of what this part of England would
:19:29. > :19:32.have looked like 100 years ago. It clearly shows that with very little
:19:33. > :19:36.human interference wildlife will flourish and I hope it is given the
:19:37. > :19:47.same level of protection for the next 100 years.
:19:48. > :19:51.I was lucky to go to Porton Down a few years ago and there were an
:19:52. > :19:57.enormous amount of short eared owls and it is a very special place. Iolo
:19:58. > :20:01.enjoyed it. We are trying to look at all the nests we have been watching
:20:02. > :20:07.on the estate and let's go to the live buzzard now. Look, the
:20:08. > :20:13.youngsters are there. There are a lot of feathers on that bird now and
:20:14. > :20:18.it has got a full crop. It has been enjoying all of the food because it
:20:19. > :20:23.is the only one in the nest. I am pretty certain that will fledge
:20:24. > :20:27.successfully. Sherborne has been a great place for birds of prey and we
:20:28. > :20:32.have had cameras on lots of different nests. My favourite is in
:20:33. > :20:36.the church behind us in the village and it is the kestrels. Let's have a
:20:37. > :20:44.look at them for the last time before we say goodbye to them. It is
:20:45. > :20:49.the round that I love in this nest. As we know, there are four of them.
:20:50. > :20:55.Come on! I am rooting for the small one as well. This is what has been
:20:56. > :21:01.happening to our little one in there. He is on the left. Every time
:21:02. > :21:08.the adult bird comes in his little legs taken to the front. He is not
:21:09. > :21:12.going to miss a thing, he is fighting for survival, that little
:21:13. > :21:19.guy. And every time he seems to get something. I think he is great, I
:21:20. > :21:31.really like that little one. He is great, but he is also Iolo. His skin
:21:32. > :21:38.is very yellow and we asked a few S experts and they said it could be
:21:39. > :21:47.bit and efficiency. Will he be all right? I hope so, who knows? We will
:21:48. > :21:53.keep him being watched and you can have an update in Autumnwatch. The
:21:54. > :21:57.barn owls are over here and we can go live to them now. Let's see what
:21:58. > :22:03.is happening there. The adult is not in attendance. The female that has
:22:04. > :22:08.been with them has been out and will only come back when the male stars
:22:09. > :22:16.to bring food in at night. We have been watching them very closely. We
:22:17. > :22:21.have got a very small one, a very large one and a middle one in
:22:22. > :22:26.between. Last night we watched them until 1:30am and they brought in
:22:27. > :22:33.seven prey items. The smallest one is now able to swallow these small
:22:34. > :22:41.mammals, shrews, mice, and it can swallow them whole. That tells the
:22:42. > :22:44.story. A descending scale of owls. That is completely bonkers. When you
:22:45. > :22:49.see the difference in size, you wonder how that little one will
:22:50. > :22:53.survive. The big one is guaranteed to make it and will always get first
:22:54. > :22:58.choice and the little one is there as a spare. What do you reckon? I
:22:59. > :23:04.think the Castrol has a very good chance. The barn owl is so extreme,
:23:05. > :23:12.but we will keep the cameras on that nest and we will give you an update
:23:13. > :23:18.in Autumnwatch. What about the red kites? They are alive. We are so
:23:19. > :23:23.lucky to have these nests. It is only in 2013 that they started
:23:24. > :23:28.nesting in Sherborne and there are only two or three pairs. It is a
:23:29. > :23:34.first for us, we have never had them before. But just look how they have
:23:35. > :23:42.grown. We first saw them on the 24th of May. There is a lot of sibling
:23:43. > :23:47.rivalry. A lot of fighting for food and pecking each other. But look how
:23:48. > :23:51.much they have grown. The down feathers have fallen off and the
:23:52. > :23:55.adult feathers have come through. They were only about 50 grams when
:23:56. > :24:06.they first hatched and they have to get to about 900 or 1000 g when they
:24:07. > :24:10.fledge. You probably can see they are almost like adult birds. They
:24:11. > :24:17.are about a week away from fledging now. Yesterday there was a lot of
:24:18. > :24:21.flapping wings. This is today, branching out. We reckon they are
:24:22. > :24:30.about one week away. They will not be round here for very long. They
:24:31. > :24:36.are not great at flying when they first fledge. They almost fall down
:24:37. > :24:38.to the ground and they are on the ground for a while and they have to
:24:39. > :24:41.be careful because they are vulnerable. The parents come and
:24:42. > :24:45.continue to feed them until they are capable at flying. It has been
:24:46. > :24:52.amazing to see how those chicks have come on from Little, white fluffy
:24:53. > :24:57.balls to adult checks in a short space of time. They do it so
:24:58. > :25:03.quickly. People have been asking on social media how do they do it?
:25:04. > :25:10.Let's talk about the major flight feathers. If we look at some of
:25:11. > :25:17.these chicks now, you can see some little pins. That is a flight
:25:18. > :25:24.feather in development. This is the barn owl and you can see a row of
:25:25. > :25:27.pins. Last, look at the Bulfinch. That feather has developed and is
:25:28. > :25:34.still in the process of growing but is rooted into the wing. I have got
:25:35. > :25:38.something that can demonstrate this. This is a feather inside the tube
:25:39. > :25:46.and that is what you see happening on the wing. This is rooted in and
:25:47. > :25:52.it is a bit like a hair follicle. It starts to grow the material and all
:25:53. > :25:59.the way up the chewed is an artery and vein. It is at the tip where all
:26:00. > :26:07.the complex form is produced. They preen the way the waxy covering,
:26:08. > :26:12.which is soft. The feather slowly emerges until it comes all the way
:26:13. > :26:16.out. The vein and the artery are dying back at the same time so that
:26:17. > :26:23.when the feather is complete, it is dead tissue. It is just like our
:26:24. > :26:27.here. It is rooted in with the quill, but it is not living any
:26:28. > :26:34.longer and that is how they are perfectly produced. Feathers are
:26:35. > :26:40.great. It reminds me of that song, 40,000 feathers on a thrush. Do you
:26:41. > :26:45.know it? I was listening to the extended mega mix this morning
:26:46. > :26:50.estimation mark of course a song thrush does not have 40,000
:26:51. > :27:00.feathers. How many do they have? 5500. No, 1000 to 3000. What about
:27:01. > :27:11.the one that has the most feathers? This one? 20 5000. 25,000 216. Who
:27:12. > :27:16.countered that? Somebody has plucked a sworn. Somebody on a Saturday
:27:17. > :27:23.night has sat down and quite clearly has been plucking a swan. The 16
:27:24. > :27:30.means somebody has sat down and plucked a swan. I have got better
:27:31. > :27:39.things to do. I am worried by that 16. About 10,000 of the feathers are
:27:40. > :27:43.on its neck. 40% of them. Last time we saw Martin he was on the Isles of
:27:44. > :27:49.Scilly celebrating the removal of a road, but now he is looking for a
:27:50. > :27:54.very special, small mammal. Welcome to the Isles of Scilly on a
:27:55. > :27:59.glorious evening, it is absolutely perfect. If you came here on holiday
:28:00. > :28:05.and kept your eyes peeled, you might have been lucky enough to see a very
:28:06. > :28:12.curious little creature. What it is actually is a shrewd. This is the
:28:13. > :28:17.silly shrew. It is minute. They are doing very well on the Scilly Isles.
:28:18. > :28:27.Look at that strange little face. They are very nippy and very quick.
:28:28. > :28:34.It is actually the lesser, white tooth shrew. To give you an idea of
:28:35. > :28:39.how small they are, here is a 2p please and it weighs about 7.12 g.
:28:40. > :28:46.It would take two of them to be the same weight as the 2p piece. They
:28:47. > :28:51.are minute. But how did the Isles of Scilly sea bird recovery Project
:28:52. > :28:57.help this mammal? It really did. I will show you how. While they were
:28:58. > :29:01.getting rid of the rats, lots of rats had gone and they had to be
:29:02. > :29:07.sure they were really gone or else if they came back it would be
:29:08. > :29:12.curtains for the Manx shearwater. They put these boxes out and in them
:29:13. > :29:19.they put little bits of delicious tasting wax. It was impregnated with
:29:20. > :29:23.peanut butter and chocolate. What they hoped was that any animal would
:29:24. > :29:33.come along and have a nibble at them. Can you see that there? Those
:29:34. > :29:37.are teeth marks of rats. Absolutely characteristic, the two teeth
:29:38. > :29:41.scraping away. This is an old one before the rats were got rid of. If
:29:42. > :29:45.they saw that now, it would be an emergency. How does it help the
:29:46. > :30:01.shrew? They found these, shrew nests. There
:30:02. > :30:05.were coming here, making nests in them, it is cosy and warm and safe
:30:06. > :30:16.from predators. Absolutely brilliant. Now, silly shrews are
:30:17. > :30:24.very adventurous. You can actually find them down on the beach. Rooting
:30:25. > :30:33.around in the seaweed. They feed on sand hoppers and the only place in
:30:34. > :30:40.the country that you will see them. The only place you find these. They
:30:41. > :30:45.are not actually silly shrews, they are called that, they are called
:30:46. > :30:50.lesser white toothed shrews. You find them in Africa and Europe. But
:30:51. > :30:56.this is the only place in the UK you will find this species. They are
:30:57. > :31:00.very adventurous. One was actually found by a young girl trying to make
:31:01. > :31:05.a bid for freedom, stowing away on the ferry here going back to the
:31:06. > :31:10.mainland. It was found just before it got to Penzance. They found it,
:31:11. > :31:16.got it and the very next day there was a special flight laid on to fly
:31:17. > :31:22.back here to the Isles of Scilly. A little seat belt on, probably.
:31:23. > :31:27.Anyway, it came back safely. You have to see how small they really
:31:28. > :31:36.are. Can you see that? My goodness me. I've dropped him. Put him back
:31:37. > :31:41.in there. He is going to be released by where he was found. Hopefully you
:31:42. > :31:45.got a glimpse and you can see how little he really was. Before we go,
:31:46. > :31:51.I have to say a massive thank you to Tom Matthews from Tresco who
:31:52. > :31:55.facilitated everything here. We wouldn't have been able to do it
:31:56. > :32:03.without you and your team, so thank you very much. Now, we show lots and
:32:04. > :32:07.lots of beautiful pictures of wildlife, but it's not just about
:32:08. > :32:13.pictures, it's about sound. Have you ever gone out and really listened to
:32:14. > :32:20.nature? The rich sounds of wildlife? Chris, has done just that.
:32:21. > :32:25.I am going to try and do something I have never done before and that is
:32:26. > :32:29.listen to the landscape. Not listen to individual components. We go out
:32:30. > :32:33.all the time listening for birdsong and the sounds of animals, which
:32:34. > :32:38.allow us to identify them or identify where they are. Now, I am
:32:39. > :32:46.going to close my eyes and listen to the landscape. Firstly, I have got
:32:47. > :32:53.the sound of the wind on my ear, but I can also hear the wind in the
:32:54. > :32:58.tree. It tells me what clearly is a very large tree there. I can also
:32:59. > :33:03.hear wind on what will be the grass, which is a different sound. Not a
:33:04. > :33:08.cause rustling, like the beech tree, but a shivering sound like the grass
:33:09. > :33:17.is making. There is another sound coming from somewhere here. Don't
:33:18. > :33:21.get stung. There is a different sound coming from those nettles. I
:33:22. > :33:29.can hear sheep in the distance. What might be jackdaws going over there.
:33:30. > :33:35.These are individual sounds, coming together to sound shape this place.
:33:36. > :33:41.Am I on the right track? Yes, the sound is made by the structure of
:33:42. > :33:45.the landscape and the wind as it passes through and we can hear the
:33:46. > :33:52.sounds of the creatures and people talk about and froth any, so the
:33:53. > :34:02.noise made by humans. It might be is talking but also the machines, cars
:34:03. > :34:08.passing by, aeroplanes flying over. That is what this field of
:34:09. > :34:17.soundscape ecology is looking at. I am loving the sound of this. Shall
:34:18. > :34:24.we look at the kit? Here we are, it is a grey box, what does it do? This
:34:25. > :34:27.is a soundtrack, cheap and effective way of recording sound. You can
:34:28. > :34:35.leave it by itself remotely, sits working for you 24 hours a day. It
:34:36. > :34:42.is like one of our camera traps, except it is trapping sound? Yes. We
:34:43. > :34:46.are going to put one in the parkland, strap want to tree, won by
:34:47. > :34:51.a river and one in the woodland, see what difference is we get. We put
:34:52. > :34:57.the devices out at the start of Springwatch, setting them to record
:34:58. > :35:02.sound at dawn and dusk and that one hour intervals in the day. After two
:35:03. > :35:10.weeks, they collected the boxes and got the data together. But for the
:35:11. > :35:15.next up, we need your help. Indeed, we need your help, we will put some
:35:16. > :35:19.of the recordings on the website and we would like you to listen to them
:35:20. > :35:24.to see if you can identify those individual sounds so the team can
:35:25. > :35:29.quantify how they add up to make the whole sound of the landscape. Nice
:35:30. > :35:40.thing to do. Go out and just be quiet. Shall we see if our swallows
:35:41. > :35:45.are still here. They are the only remaining nests. I think they are
:35:46. > :35:53.getting ready. They are preening, on the edge. You never know, they might
:35:54. > :36:01.have left by the end of the show. This is a hash brown. This is a hash
:36:02. > :36:07.brown. This is a hash tag. You have been using our hash tag with gay
:36:08. > :36:14.abandon on Twitter. We have had no less than 66,785 using Twitter. We
:36:15. > :36:20.are equally pleased that on Facebook we have had 33,000 new likes. The
:36:21. > :36:26.mental health in being popular. The live cameras have been watched for a
:36:27. > :36:35.total of 15,000 hours. It adds up to 617 days. What are the implications
:36:36. > :36:39.of that? ?6.5 million loss to the UK economy for people not working,
:36:40. > :36:46.18,105 schoolchildren failed to complete their homework effectively.
:36:47. > :36:50.Six propositions of marriage. Only five successful. Sorry, Steve,
:36:51. > :36:57.Autumnwatch is coming up soon, give it another go. But watching those
:36:58. > :37:02.WebCams lead to 17 arguments, for babies were born whilst women were
:37:03. > :37:07.watching the live webcams. 202 cats regularly watch the show and
:37:08. > :37:11.condolences to the hamster in Wolverhampton who died of a heart
:37:12. > :37:17.attack whilst watching one of the barn owls swallowing a bowl. Don't
:37:18. > :37:23.get your hash brown muddled up with your hash tag. Keeping in
:37:24. > :37:28.communication, although we are fair after this, the website and all the
:37:29. > :37:31.social media does continue. Many of you have been on social media in the
:37:32. > :37:37.last couple of days telling us what your moments where of 2017. Would
:37:38. > :37:42.you like to know what they are, Chris? We have a third, second and
:37:43. > :37:48.first. In third place, your favourite moment was... It was the
:37:49. > :37:53.barn owls. It was this specific shot of the barn owl in slow motion
:37:54. > :37:58.flying. Beautiful shot. In second place it was the red kites, a first
:37:59. > :38:05.for Springwatch, as I said earlier. Lots of you really enjoyed it. We
:38:06. > :38:11.enjoyed watching the chicks eating everything and grow up and progress.
:38:12. > :38:14.But in first position, which was actually my favourite and the
:38:15. > :38:20.nation's favourite was our peregrines. I think this is such a
:38:21. > :38:25.wonderful story because this is a story of the nest on Salisbury
:38:26. > :38:31.Cathedral. The little chick was the adopted chick which was put into our
:38:32. > :38:35.nest. It was used as a Sauro get nest for our rescued peregrine
:38:36. > :38:39.chicks. This is the moment when everybody had a lump in their
:38:40. > :38:45.throat. This happened just over a week ago. It was totally accepted,
:38:46. > :38:49.readily accepted by its sibling and both parents. It has continued to do
:38:50. > :38:57.really well as we have watched it over the week. Great moment. It was
:38:58. > :39:00.a great moment, turning it around and rescuing it from almost certain
:39:01. > :39:06.death. My favourite, we have provided a lot of signs, but also a
:39:07. > :39:11.bit of art, occasionally. We love this, mayflies in the water. The
:39:12. > :39:16.wagtail appears and the cameraman has the courage to stay with the
:39:17. > :39:22.magpie. He'd see is that the wagtail has seen it. Down it goes, it takes
:39:23. > :39:27.it and then in reflection, flies back and eats it. Is that your
:39:28. > :39:32.favourite moment? It is lovely, don't get me wrong, it is lovely. I
:39:33. > :39:41.love that is, I love the reflection of it. Yesterday, you were envious
:39:42. > :39:46.of Martin because he got up close to some long eared owl chicks. I think
:39:47. > :39:50.the night I think I could be envious of Gilliam because she is on the
:39:51. > :39:59.Isles of Scilly with Martin and she is doing something I would
:40:00. > :40:03.absolutely love to do. When you think Britain's biggest carnival,
:40:04. > :40:06.you might be thinking of the badger. But the biggest carnivore is out
:40:07. > :40:14.there in the water and it is the grey seals. Here on the Isles of
:40:15. > :40:20.Scilly, we reckon about 500 to 1000 individuals. Britain has almost 40%
:40:21. > :40:26.of the world's population. Get this, 90% of Europe's grey seal
:40:27. > :40:32.population. I think that is something to be really proud of.
:40:33. > :40:35.They love to haul out like this, they only spend about a third of
:40:36. > :40:40.their time out of the water. But when I have been out looking for
:40:41. > :40:46.grey seals on the mainland in Cornwall, I have found they can be
:40:47. > :40:50.really wary, especially on land. But here, they are really curious,
:40:51. > :40:55.especially in the water. There are a handful of sites where you can have
:40:56. > :41:01.a truly remarkable encounter. Can you see there it is amazing. It is
:41:02. > :41:05.why this spot is so special. They are so curious. Look at that one
:41:06. > :41:10.there, the way it is sitting upright out of the water. It is called
:41:11. > :41:12.bottling. It gives them the vantage point above the water to get a good
:41:13. > :42:38.look. To say that was amazing is an
:42:39. > :42:59.understatement. What an incredible experience. To
:43:00. > :43:05.have that moment of connection with a wild animal, is just
:43:06. > :43:10.unforgettable. But there is something even more special. When I
:43:11. > :43:15.died, I can hold my breath for just under a minute. A seal's average
:43:16. > :43:21.diver is ten minutes. The record dive is 32 minutes. And that Steele
:43:22. > :43:27.went down to a depth of 200 metres, which is absolutely incredible.
:43:28. > :43:31.Whether it is me or is seal, the same physiology is at work that
:43:32. > :43:39.allows that to happen and that is the Mammalia and dive reflex. When
:43:40. > :43:45.seals dive, when I died even, at the same three things happen. The blood
:43:46. > :43:53.is shunted from the limbs to the vital organs, but hearts, the brain.
:43:54. > :43:58.And the lungs fill with fluid as you start to dive deeper. This stops the
:43:59. > :44:04.lungs from collapsing. All of this is a way to maximise the oxygen that
:44:05. > :44:10.is taken on board at the beginning of the dive. What is really cool, in
:44:11. > :44:15.my opinion, is that it is all triggered when the face comes into
:44:16. > :44:21.contact with cold water. I think that is absolutely incredible. I
:44:22. > :44:25.love that we shared that with these beautiful creatures. And to see them
:44:26. > :44:30.in their own natural environments, on their own terms, is not just
:44:31. > :44:35.amazing, it is a privilege. I want to thank Mark and Susie Grove, our
:44:36. > :44:40.expert guides who helped get me out there. If you fancy swimming with
:44:41. > :44:46.seals, remember they are wild animals and you really must go with
:44:47. > :44:49.an experienced guide and observe the Marine and coastal codes. There is
:44:50. > :44:55.loads of information about this on the website. Check it out and enjoy.
:44:56. > :45:02.Now, from these beautiful islands down the south, to some equally
:45:03. > :45:04.beautiful islands up north in Scotland, where we were there
:45:05. > :45:26.earlier this spring. Oronsay lies off the West Coast of
:45:27. > :45:35.Scotland and is managed by the RSPB. It is a beautiful island, fringed by
:45:36. > :45:40.white sands and turquoise seas. When I first came here years ago it was
:45:41. > :45:48.to film sea birds and it is a delight to find them still here.
:45:49. > :45:52.These elegant birds love the coast. He is digging up the last of the
:45:53. > :46:00.winter's Grubbs, hidden in the autumn seaweed. They are really
:46:01. > :46:06.southern birds and Oronsay is about as far north they can survive
:46:07. > :46:15.anywhere in the world. Inland there are other rarities. When I was a
:46:16. > :46:24.child I learned to mimic that sound by running according across a
:46:25. > :46:27.corner. But I only heard a real corncrake when I came to the
:46:28. > :46:33.Hebrides for the first time. They have shrunk in numbers by three
:46:34. > :46:39.quarters during my lifetime. But they are certainly doing well here.
:46:40. > :46:48.The male hiding in this field is calling to other males. And two
:46:49. > :46:55.females of course. And it seems to be working.
:46:56. > :47:00.These have come back to the island within the last few days after
:47:01. > :47:10.flying at night from the heart of Africa. It is an awfully long way to
:47:11. > :47:21.come just for a bed of nettles but they clearly feel at home. Beyond
:47:22. > :47:25.the corncrake's feels there are rough pastures which are perfect for
:47:26. > :47:32.wading birds. The error above them is filled with blackbirds. In my
:47:33. > :47:41.childhood we called MP wits for their calls and when I was young
:47:42. > :47:49.this was the sound of spring. Every lapwing has different markings on
:47:50. > :47:56.its face. The male's crest is taller and its black pies are darker and
:47:57. > :48:01.more glossy than hers. She is keeping a low profile on the nest
:48:02. > :48:10.while her mate is on watch. The chicks have just hatched and he will
:48:11. > :48:22.not tolerate intruders. Even the homeless redshank.
:48:23. > :48:30.Now the sky is clear of danger she wants them to leave the nest. As
:48:31. > :48:46.soon as they have mastered their wobbly legs.
:48:47. > :48:54.Heavy hooves could easily trample a cheque, but this time there is
:48:55. > :49:01.nothing their dad can do. The cows are too large to chase away.
:49:02. > :49:11.Sometimes it is right to lie still and trust your camouflage. But
:49:12. > :49:16.sometimes it is right to run. Besides giving the lapwings and
:49:17. > :49:23.occasional fight, the cows are Oronsay's heroes. It is thanks to
:49:24. > :49:28.them that the birds have this perfect nesting place. The RSPB use
:49:29. > :49:35.the cattle to manage the grassland. Because they keep the grass short,
:49:36. > :49:45.but they also lead rough patches where the waders can hide their
:49:46. > :49:50.nests. In its own way, Oronsay is a time capsule, a living reminder of
:49:51. > :50:02.how Britain was farmed for centuries and what it's birds were like as a
:50:03. > :50:13.result. Once and, grassland like this now covers less than 1% of the
:50:14. > :50:17.country and with it the birds. This farm is crowd of its unkempt corners
:50:18. > :50:25.and of its wild bits and it's wet bits. Back when much of Britain was
:50:26. > :50:32.farmed this way, the poet Gerard Hopkins wrote this about its untidy
:50:33. > :50:41.glories. What would the world be once bereft of wet and of wildness?
:50:42. > :50:56.Let them be left, oh, let them be left, wildness and wet. Long live
:50:57. > :51:01.the weeds and the wilderness yet. That is very thought-provoking. Long
:51:02. > :51:09.live the weeds and the wilderness yet. Sadly we have not let the
:51:10. > :51:13.wilderness alone and we have lost a lot of the grassland. That is one of
:51:14. > :51:20.the most diverse habitats in Britain and let we have let so much of it
:51:21. > :51:28.go. Our flower rich meadows, we have lost an incredible 97% since the
:51:29. > :51:35.1930s. That is 7.5 million acres. That is 1.5 times of Wales. Think
:51:36. > :51:40.about that area, think about how much wildlife that could have
:51:41. > :51:44.supported. Why did we lose it? Flower rich meadows include hay
:51:45. > :51:50.meadows like this one and we have only got 26,000 acres of these left,
:51:51. > :51:58.75% in fragments and 75% are not even protected. In the 1930s, George
:51:59. > :52:03.Stapleton, an agricultural engineer at the time said, some of the worst
:52:04. > :52:08.examples of slovenly, negligent and deplorable husbandry was seen in
:52:09. > :52:14.these grassland. It was all about producing food and not leaving space
:52:15. > :52:18.for wildlife. But all is not lost. Here at Sherborne some of the
:52:19. > :52:22.farmers are doing everything they can to return the grasslands to
:52:23. > :52:30.productivity. You can find as many as 181 species of plants and in an
:52:31. > :52:36.approved pasture nowhere near that, less than 12 species. By putting
:52:37. > :52:41.these hay meadows back in place they are generating an enormous diversity
:52:42. > :52:45.of plants and insects, up to 160 species of insect living in these
:52:46. > :52:51.matters. But we are not all farmers, we do not have patches this big.
:52:52. > :52:56.What can we do? We can manage our own space just as this gentleman has
:52:57. > :53:03.done. This is Charlotte Payne's dad. She said this in on Twitter. That
:53:04. > :53:10.mowed the lawn and left a patch for wildlife. Look at that. Imagine if
:53:11. > :53:17.everyone in the street did it. That would make a few bumblebees happy.
:53:18. > :53:22.The National Trust have pledged to recreate 60,000 acres of priority
:53:23. > :53:27.habitat and that will include rich flower meadows. We have been
:53:28. > :53:33.enjoying the grasslands here. We have been enjoying everything they
:53:34. > :53:36.have had to offer. There is farmland, the village, hedges,
:53:37. > :53:40.woodland, and this year on Springwatch we wanted to do
:53:41. > :53:46.something different. We wanted to come to somewhere like this instead
:53:47. > :53:51.of a managed reserve like the RSPB or the wetland trust area. We wanted
:53:52. > :53:55.to come to somewhere that was a real example of the British countryside
:53:56. > :54:00.that is accessible to us all. By coming here we have proved that if
:54:01. > :54:05.you look around, there is wildlife everywhere, it really has delivered
:54:06. > :54:10.and we are coming back for to watch. We certainly are. We have just got a
:54:11. > :54:14.minute left and I can show you something truly romantic. What I
:54:15. > :54:20.woke up this morning and read it in bed, it brought a tear to my eye.
:54:21. > :54:24.118 years ago Edward Wilson painted this. He went with the Scots to the
:54:25. > :54:31.Antarctic. This has just been discovered by the New Zealand trust.
:54:32. > :54:38.It is a painting he did whilst he was recovering from TB in the UK. He
:54:39. > :54:43.went and left in the heart. He went with Scott to the South Pole and
:54:44. > :54:48.they perished as they headed back to the South camp. That is an amazing
:54:49. > :54:53.story. It has been there all of those years. A skilful artist and a
:54:54. > :54:58.great naturalist. Inspirational stuff. We hope on Springwatch you
:54:59. > :55:01.have been inspired to get out of the countryside and get involved and
:55:02. > :55:07.there are so many ideas of how you can do that on our website. Go into
:55:08. > :55:12.the website and go to the useful links. If you tap that all sorts of
:55:13. > :55:20.useful information will come up. Ideas how you can get your garden
:55:21. > :55:23.and spaces wildlife friendly. A two-minute beach clean-up, there are
:55:24. > :55:27.loads of ideas and there are loads of apps that you can download that
:55:28. > :55:32.will help you get involved and teach you loads of things about wildlife.
:55:33. > :55:37.If you make an effort, you can make a difference and you can do that on
:55:38. > :55:41.your own patch. A quick whip around our cameras. Let's say goodbye to
:55:42. > :55:49.the Peregrines. They have already said goodbye. What about the
:55:50. > :56:00.kestrels? The rind is still going strong. Oh, come on. And the red
:56:01. > :56:08.kite? Super. What about Martin and Gillian on the Isles of Scilly? From
:56:09. > :56:13.the Isles of Scilly, goodbye. Stick around on BBC Two because there is a
:56:14. > :56:19.great programme coming up, Greatest Inventors. A huge thanks to the
:56:20. > :56:24.Sherborne Park estate. Thanks to all the staff, the farmers and everyone
:56:25. > :56:32.in Sherborne Village who have made us feel so welcome. Peter, Rob,
:56:33. > :56:38.mall, Jonty, Roy, Austin and Nick as well. We will be back here for all
:56:39. > :56:43.to watch. Join me for the last programme at 6:30pm tomorrow night.
:56:44. > :56:48.We sincerely hope you have enjoyed this series and learnt a bit from it
:56:49. > :56:53.as well. Try and do something on your patch and help local farmers
:56:54. > :57:00.out. Maybe shop locally and put something back into their pockets so
:57:01. > :57:03.they can keep places like this looking healthy. We will leave you
:57:04. > :57:10.with a montage from Springwatch 2017.
:57:11. > :57:23.Welcome to Springwatch 2017, coming from Sherborne Park. I have done an
:57:24. > :57:30.unintentional twirl. Oh! This is perfectly normal, I am in a field
:57:31. > :57:41.with an inflatable whale. What a marvellous location. Yes! That was
:57:42. > :57:45.quite a buzz I have to say. From one absolutely adorable British mammal
:57:46. > :57:53.to another and one that I am very excited about. On live TV people
:57:54. > :58:05.speak anyway about what is going on between us. And now I am massaging
:58:06. > :58:08.because I am the hairy footed female. Is it working for you? I
:58:09. > :58:28.feel very stimulated. Look at that. It is absolutely
:58:29. > :58:36.fantastic, absolutely beautiful. The winner is wildlife. You are so
:58:37. > :58:44.eloquent, that is because you are Welsh. It is.