Springwatch Episode 12 Springwatch

It's our final day and we might be running our of time

It's been a grey day for our wagtails.

A twist in the tail with a rather unwelcome visitor to the nest.

And I have an encounter that gets the seal of approval. Stand by for

the Final Countdown, its Springwatch.

Look at this. I might join in. It is a tremendous evening for our final

Springwatch of 2017. Four acres managed by The National Trust, we

came up here with a different mission and we found a lot of

wildlife? We have, but we were hoping to have a calm end, but we

have had a drama today and it is in our grey wagtail mess. Let's go to

it live now. As you can see, this gorgeous little nest is now empty.

Did they fledge? No, they were too young. This is what happened. There

are the five chicks sitting there. At 9:35 a.m., a jay comes in. Easy

pickings. You saw one escape to the side. Now there are three left in

the nest. Mum comes back. She doesn't appear to notice she only

has three chicks. Feeds one of them and then she is off again. Then the

jay comes back. Easily takes it off. The fourth manages to escape. Goes

down in the brambles. We thought it might have gone in the water so we

sent the cameraman. He managed to spot it. For the moment it was

safely resting in the branches. One chick left. Mum comes back, wagging

the tail furiously. Dad is on high alert in the tree. At this stage,

they know what is going on. They can see there is only one left. What

happened then? The female hunger around, looked for the other chicks

and then hours later, which is quite surprising, the jay came back and

took the final check. What a shame. Real drama. There were five chicks,

three were eaten, two escaped but they were too young to fledge, what

will happen? They were too young, if they find a gap in the wall, the

parents will continue to take food back to them. But what this

highlights is just how difficult it is to live and survive out here and

certainly when it comes to reproducing, those wagtails in and

out all the time, drawing attention to the nest. They have no choice,

they have to take food back. But the keen eyed jay. One of them with the

black-tie, had a damaged eye. And that nest is empty. But this time it

is good news because earlier the five chicks in this nest did

successfully fledge. The first one made its way out. They are too big

for the nest, they don't have any choice but to get out. Over the

course of the morning, the rest of them left. When you see the last

one, no tail, no length to their wing feathers. This isn't a bird who

can fly. There is a good likelihood they will end up on the ground. That

is typical of the thrush. If you are walking your dog, you will see a lot

of them on the ground, vulnerable to ground predators and in urban

situations, 's. And the mail has done his duty. Hopefully he has some

of his jeans into the next generation. We have an empty wagtail

nest and an empty black bird nest, we only have one left with the

swallows. Did they go? No, they didn't. We thought they might. They

are ready to fledge. They are squashed. I love their little faces.

They look like grumpy old men. We will keep our eye on that nest

through the show, they could go this evening, but more likely tomorrow.

They are live on our website, and we have been watching a range of

species since the first day. The first was a nest full of jays. We

have followed the fortunes of 81 eggs. Only eight failed to hatch and

then 44 have fledged out of 81, so about 50% of the young we have been

watching. I know it sounds like only half a success, but it is still

pretty good. I love those pictures. Could you name the top row? Had I

not look that them. As Chris said, 44 fledged. We have had less

predations than we normally have. Let's celebrate the one that made

it. # I want to break free.

# I want to break free. # I've got to Break free. Great to

see those little birds break free. It puts a smile on your face. We

have been looking at mammals and plenty have been enjoying the Stowe

's family. We have been following them and they were eight to ten

weeks. They are pretty much adult size. At this stage they will start

to disburse from the mother and each other. The females tend to stick

around need to their birthplace, but the males will go up to 20

kilometres away. I have a graphic to show you. This is the appreciation

graph. They are really popular, that is cool. Do you like it? How come

you have a graph with a tail on? It is the tail end. Give me it back. If

you have been watching, you Mo Martin has been around the UK

looking for wildlife. He has been in the Isles of Scilly, the question

is, what is he going to get up to today. Welcome to the fabulous Isles

of Scilly, on what is basically a perfect evening. I can see Bishop

Rock Lighthouse and 28 miles over there is Lands End. It is absolutely

glorious out here. Just to remind you, the Isles of Scilly are an

archipelago of 145 islands, five inhabited by human animals and all

the others, well, many of them inhabited by animal animals. Why? It

is perfect, sea birds come to nest, there is no predators on the

islands. And the island we are on now is St Agnes. We are on the other

side of the island. One of the thrilling things to do if you come

here is to go out on an island Sea Safari. I did exactly that a couple

of days ago. When you go out on a safari, you get the benefit of the

crushing, turquoise waves walloping great the great stacks of granite.

You see lots of sea birds coming and going. Going out to sea to collect

food and then coming into their nests. The skies are full of the

Kruys are fabulous birds. Look at that turquoise sea. Yes please. You

will see a lot of sea birds on those islands, but what you won't see is a

fascinating bird, it is called an Manx Shearwater. They stay out at

sea and they only come in when it gets dark as the sun is going down.

Here they are, we filmed them a couple of days ago. This is called a

raft of Manx shearwater 's. They are adapted to being out at sea. In

winter, you get them in Brazil and Argentina and then they fly here.

You get them on the West Coast of the UK. They will stay out because

they are quite vulnerable on land, until it gets quite dark and then

you can see them, they are flying in. The question is, why are the

Manx shearwater is coming all that weight to these islands here? We

have had cameras out and you can see what goes on at night. Once they

come in, here is one, it is raining a bit. You can probably guess what

it is all about. It is going into a hole in the ground. Of course, that

is what is going on, they are nesting here. They nest in holes in

the ground, a bit like puffins. They dig them out themselves or they go

in an old rabbit hole. Come with me. If you came here about four years

ago, you wouldn't have seen a single successful breeding Manx shearwater.

It is all down to the work of the Isles of Scilly sea bird recovery

project. If you come here, you can see Jacqueline, who is the Project

manager. She is lying there. I am going to ignore her now. No, I'm

not, but hopefully she will show something extraordinary. Are you

ready? You have got to listen here. She is playing the call of an Manx

Shearwater. This is an nest site of the Manx shearwater. There is one

underneath there. You use this to check the boroughs? Because they are

nocturnal, we need to survey them somehow. So we play this. It thinks

it is another bird, it is saying, move on, this borrow is taken. OK, I

will back off, we don't want to disturb her. She might stay in

therefore maybe six days on the single egg. She will wait for her

partner to come in from the sea and take over the nesting duties. Once

they have identified a borrow, they will have a look at this is the

camera. It can go down to about two meters and they want to check to see

if the bird is on an egg or a cheque. It is not great quality, but

you can see the sort of thing that they see. Here we go, down with the

camera. There is this Shearwater. These are very, very long-lived

birds. They can live for maybe 50 years or more. It is Britain's

longest lived bird, this Shearwater. Amazing. Not great quality, but you

get the picture. How do they manage to bring them back? Four years ago,

there were no successful breeding birds. It was a community effort,

they brought other partners in and be prepared this. In just three

weeks they got rid of every single rat on the island. That is the only

reason the shearwaters have come back. That helped another mammal but

lives here. We will look at that when we come back. Many years ago

when I was a researcher in the BBC, I worked on horizon. We had to go

into Porton Down research centre. It took weeks to get permission. I was

very surprised to find out they let your Oliver Williams in.

I have been lucky enough to visit some special places over the years,

but this is really special. I have been given rare and privileged

access to Porton Down. This is the most pristine area of chalk

grassland in the whole of the UK. There is wildlife everywhere here.

For a visiting naturalist this really is paradise. Covering a total

area of 7000 acres, Porton Down is one of the most sensitive sites in

the UK. It has been cut off from human interference for over 100

years because it is home to Britain's military research base,

the defence, science and technology laboratory.

Can you hear that? That is one of the nicest songs you will here in

the UK. A lovely, Flutie, little song. It is a would like. It is

unexpected because even here it is a very rare bird. I am told only one

was seen in the whole of last year. They are a showy bird. They will

find a perch and they will sing from that perch, but the song says it

all. Beautiful. I have got to be very careful and

quite quiet here because in front of me is a rare butterfly called the

juke of Burgundy and this is the first time I have ever seen one. It

is quite big and is a mixture of Brown and orange with chequerboard

wings, really. It is an ideal day for coming to look for them because

it is a bit cool and it means they will just set up like this one,

waiting for it to warm up before they go off and defend their

territory. In some places you get about five or ten or 20 and 30 if

you are really lucky. Here they are in their hundreds, said this really

is the perfect habitat for this butterfly. Look at this landscape, I

do not think I have ever seen anything quite like this before.

They call it and can't escape because it is a landscape created by

ants. Every one of these lumps is a yellow meadow and nest and they

reckon there are 3 million nest here which equates to 30 billion meadow

plants. That is an awful lot of amps. The icing on the cake here for

any bird-watcher is this bird. It is a stone curlew, and very rare

breeding birds and in the whole country that is about 380 pairs. On

Porton Down and they are roughly 5% of the whole of the UK population.

This pair here have laid two eggs and they have got one chick and they

are tending it pretty well. Stone curlews is obviously a top priority

bird here. They have scarify the land, making it ideal for nesting

stone curlew 's and they have gone beyond that. All around these parts

you have got electric fencing keeping out foxes, badgers and

predators like that and at least the eggs hatch and the young have a

chance to fledge. Since they have done that the breeding success has

been much higher. This place really is unique. I am so

glad I have had the opportunity to look around Porton Down. Yes, it is

an oasis for wildlife, but it is so much more than that. It is a glimpse

into our past, it gives us an idea of what this part of England would

have looked like 100 years ago. It clearly shows that with very little

human interference wildlife will flourish and I hope it is given the

same level of protection for the next 100 years.

I was lucky to go to Porton Down a few years ago and there were an

enormous amount of short eared owls and it is a very special place. Iolo

enjoyed it. We are trying to look at all the nests we have been watching

on the estate and let's go to the live buzzard now. Look, the

youngsters are there. There are a lot of feathers on that bird now and

it has got a full crop. It has been enjoying all of the food because it

is the only one in the nest. I am pretty certain that will fledge

successfully. Sherborne has been a great place for birds of prey and we

have had cameras on lots of different nests. My favourite is in

the church behind us in the village and it is the kestrels. Let's have a

look at them for the last time before we say goodbye to them. It is

the round that I love in this nest. As we know, there are four of them.

Come on! I am rooting for the small one as well. This is what has been

happening to our little one in there. He is on the left. Every time

the adult bird comes in his little legs taken to the front. He is not

going to miss a thing, he is fighting for survival, that little

guy. And every time he seems to get something. I think he is great, I

really like that little one. He is great, but he is also Iolo. His skin

is very yellow and we asked a few S experts and they said it could be

bit and efficiency. Will he be all right? I hope so, who knows? We will

keep him being watched and you can have an update in Autumnwatch. The

barn owls are over here and we can go live to them now. Let's see what

is happening there. The adult is not in attendance. The female that has

been with them has been out and will only come back when the male stars

to bring food in at night. We have been watching them very closely. We

have got a very small one, a very large one and a middle one in

between. Last night we watched them until 1:30am and they brought in

seven prey items. The smallest one is now able to swallow these small

mammals, shrews, mice, and it can swallow them whole. That tells the

story. A descending scale of owls. That is completely bonkers. When you

see the difference in size, you wonder how that little one will

survive. The big one is guaranteed to make it and will always get first

choice and the little one is there as a spare. What do you reckon? I

think the Castrol has a very good chance. The barn owl is so extreme,

but we will keep the cameras on that nest and we will give you an update

in Autumnwatch. What about the red kites? They are alive. We are so

lucky to have these nests. It is only in 2013 that they started

nesting in Sherborne and there are only two or three pairs. It is a

first for us, we have never had them before. But just look how they have

grown. We first saw them on the 24th of May. There is a lot of sibling

rivalry. A lot of fighting for food and pecking each other. But look how

much they have grown. The down feathers have fallen off and the

adult feathers have come through. They were only about 50 grams when

they first hatched and they have to get to about 900 or 1000 g when they

fledge. You probably can see they are almost like adult birds. They

are about a week away from fledging now. Yesterday there was a lot of

flapping wings. This is today, branching out. We reckon they are

about one week away. They will not be round here for very long. They

are not great at flying when they first fledge. They almost fall down

to the ground and they are on the ground for a while and they have to

be careful because they are vulnerable. The parents come and

continue to feed them until they are capable at flying. It has been

amazing to see how those chicks have come on from Little, white fluffy

balls to adult checks in a short space of time. They do it so

quickly. People have been asking on social media how do they do it?

Let's talk about the major flight feathers. If we look at some of

these chicks now, you can see some little pins. That is a flight

feather in development. This is the barn owl and you can see a row of

pins. Last, look at the Bulfinch. That feather has developed and is

still in the process of growing but is rooted into the wing. I have got

something that can demonstrate this. This is a feather inside the tube

and that is what you see happening on the wing. This is rooted in and

it is a bit like a hair follicle. It starts to grow the material and all

the way up the chewed is an artery and vein. It is at the tip where all

the complex form is produced. They preen the way the waxy covering,

which is soft. The feather slowly emerges until it comes all the way

out. The vein and the artery are dying back at the same time so that

when the feather is complete, it is dead tissue. It is just like our

here. It is rooted in with the quill, but it is not living any

longer and that is how they are perfectly produced. Feathers are

great. It reminds me of that song, 40,000 feathers on a thrush. Do you

know it? I was listening to the extended mega mix this morning

estimation mark of course a song thrush does not have 40,000

feathers. How many do they have? 5500. No, 1000 to 3000. What about

the one that has the most feathers? This one? 20 5000. 25,000 216. Who

countered that? Somebody has plucked a sworn. Somebody on a Saturday

night has sat down and quite clearly has been plucking a swan. The 16

means somebody has sat down and plucked a swan. I have got better

things to do. I am worried by that 16. About 10,000 of the feathers are

on its neck. 40% of them. Last time we saw Martin he was on the Isles of

Scilly celebrating the removal of a road, but now he is looking for a

very special, small mammal. Welcome to the Isles of Scilly on a

glorious evening, it is absolutely perfect. If you came here on holiday

and kept your eyes peeled, you might have been lucky enough to see a very

curious little creature. What it is actually is a shrewd. This is the

silly shrew. It is minute. They are doing very well on the Scilly Isles.

Look at that strange little face. They are very nippy and very quick.

It is actually the lesser, white tooth shrew. To give you an idea of

how small they are, here is a 2p please and it weighs about 7.12 g.

It would take two of them to be the same weight as the 2p piece. They

are minute. But how did the Isles of Scilly sea bird recovery Project

help this mammal? It really did. I will show you how. While they were

getting rid of the rats, lots of rats had gone and they had to be

sure they were really gone or else if they came back it would be

curtains for the Manx shearwater. They put these boxes out and in them

they put little bits of delicious tasting wax. It was impregnated with

peanut butter and chocolate. What they hoped was that any animal would

come along and have a nibble at them. Can you see that there? Those

are teeth marks of rats. Absolutely characteristic, the two teeth

scraping away. This is an old one before the rats were got rid of. If

they saw that now, it would be an emergency. How does it help the

shrew? They found these, shrew nests. There

were coming here, making nests in them, it is cosy and warm and safe

from predators. Absolutely brilliant. Now, silly shrews are

very adventurous. You can actually find them down on the beach. Rooting

around in the seaweed. They feed on sand hoppers and the only place in

the country that you will see them. The only place you find these. They

are not actually silly shrews, they are called that, they are called

lesser white toothed shrews. You find them in Africa and Europe. But

this is the only place in the UK you will find this species. They are

very adventurous. One was actually found by a young girl trying to make

a bid for freedom, stowing away on the ferry here going back to the

mainland. It was found just before it got to Penzance. They found it,

got it and the very next day there was a special flight laid on to fly

back here to the Isles of Scilly. A little seat belt on, probably.

Anyway, it came back safely. You have to see how small they really

are. Can you see that? My goodness me. I've dropped him. Put him back

in there. He is going to be released by where he was found. Hopefully you

got a glimpse and you can see how little he really was. Before we go,

I have to say a massive thank you to Tom Matthews from Tresco who

facilitated everything here. We wouldn't have been able to do it

without you and your team, so thank you very much. Now, we show lots and

lots of beautiful pictures of wildlife, but it's not just about

pictures, it's about sound. Have you ever gone out and really listened to

nature? The rich sounds of wildlife? Chris, has done just that.

I am going to try and do something I have never done before and that is

listen to the landscape. Not listen to individual components. We go out

all the time listening for birdsong and the sounds of animals, which

allow us to identify them or identify where they are. Now, I am

going to close my eyes and listen to the landscape. Firstly, I have got

the sound of the wind on my ear, but I can also hear the wind in the

tree. It tells me what clearly is a very large tree there. I can also

hear wind on what will be the grass, which is a different sound. Not a

cause rustling, like the beech tree, but a shivering sound like the grass

is making. There is another sound coming from somewhere here. Don't

get stung. There is a different sound coming from those nettles. I

can hear sheep in the distance. What might be jackdaws going over there.

These are individual sounds, coming together to sound shape this place.

Am I on the right track? Yes, the sound is made by the structure of

the landscape and the wind as it passes through and we can hear the

sounds of the creatures and people talk about and froth any, so the

noise made by humans. It might be is talking but also the machines, cars

passing by, aeroplanes flying over. That is what this field of

soundscape ecology is looking at. I am loving the sound of this. Shall

we look at the kit? Here we are, it is a grey box, what does it do? This

is a soundtrack, cheap and effective way of recording sound. You can

leave it by itself remotely, sits working for you 24 hours a day. It

is like one of our camera traps, except it is trapping sound? Yes. We

are going to put one in the parkland, strap want to tree, won by

a river and one in the woodland, see what difference is we get. We put

the devices out at the start of Springwatch, setting them to record

sound at dawn and dusk and that one hour intervals in the day. After two

weeks, they collected the boxes and got the data together. But for the

next up, we need your help. Indeed, we need your help, we will put some

of the recordings on the website and we would like you to listen to them

to see if you can identify those individual sounds so the team can

quantify how they add up to make the whole sound of the landscape. Nice

thing to do. Go out and just be quiet. Shall we see if our swallows

are still here. They are the only remaining nests. I think they are

getting ready. They are preening, on the edge. You never know, they might

have left by the end of the show. This is a hash brown. This is a hash

brown. This is a hash tag. You have been using our hash tag with gay

abandon on Twitter. We have had no less than 66,785 using Twitter. We

are equally pleased that on Facebook we have had 33,000 new likes. The

mental health in being popular. The live cameras have been watched for a

total of 15,000 hours. It adds up to 617 days. What are the implications

of that? ?6.5 million loss to the UK economy for people not working,

18,105 schoolchildren failed to complete their homework effectively.

Six propositions of marriage. Only five successful. Sorry, Steve,

Autumnwatch is coming up soon, give it another go. But watching those

WebCams lead to 17 arguments, for babies were born whilst women were

watching the live webcams. 202 cats regularly watch the show and

condolences to the hamster in Wolverhampton who died of a heart

attack whilst watching one of the barn owls swallowing a bowl. Don't

get your hash brown muddled up with your hash tag. Keeping in

communication, although we are fair after this, the website and all the

social media does continue. Many of you have been on social media in the

last couple of days telling us what your moments where of 2017. Would

you like to know what they are, Chris? We have a third, second and

first. In third place, your favourite moment was... It was the

barn owls. It was this specific shot of the barn owl in slow motion

flying. Beautiful shot. In second place it was the red kites, a first

for Springwatch, as I said earlier. Lots of you really enjoyed it. We

enjoyed watching the chicks eating everything and grow up and progress.

But in first position, which was actually my favourite and the

nation's favourite was our peregrines. I think this is such a

wonderful story because this is a story of the nest on Salisbury

Cathedral. The little chick was the adopted chick which was put into our

nest. It was used as a Sauro get nest for our rescued peregrine

chicks. This is the moment when everybody had a lump in their

throat. This happened just over a week ago. It was totally accepted,

readily accepted by its sibling and both parents. It has continued to do

really well as we have watched it over the week. Great moment. It was

a great moment, turning it around and rescuing it from almost certain

death. My favourite, we have provided a lot of signs, but also a

bit of art, occasionally. We love this, mayflies in the water. The

wagtail appears and the cameraman has the courage to stay with the

magpie. He'd see is that the wagtail has seen it. Down it goes, it takes

it and then in reflection, flies back and eats it. Is that your

favourite moment? It is lovely, don't get me wrong, it is lovely. I

love that is, I love the reflection of it. Yesterday, you were envious

of Martin because he got up close to some long eared owl chicks. I think

the night I think I could be envious of Gilliam because she is on the

Isles of Scilly with Martin and she is doing something I would

absolutely love to do. When you think Britain's biggest carnival,

you might be thinking of the badger. But the biggest carnivore is out

there in the water and it is the grey seals. Here on the Isles of

Scilly, we reckon about 500 to 1000 individuals. Britain has almost 40%

of the world's population. Get this, 90% of Europe's grey seal

population. I think that is something to be really proud of.

They love to haul out like this, they only spend about a third of

their time out of the water. But when I have been out looking for

grey seals on the mainland in Cornwall, I have found they can be

really wary, especially on land. But here, they are really curious,

especially in the water. There are a handful of sites where you can have

a truly remarkable encounter. Can you see there it is amazing. It is

why this spot is so special. They are so curious. Look at that one

there, the way it is sitting upright out of the water. It is called

bottling. It gives them the vantage point above the water to get a good

look. To say that was amazing is an

understatement. What an incredible experience. To

have that moment of connection with a wild animal, is just

unforgettable. But there is something even more special. When I

died, I can hold my breath for just under a minute. A seal's average

diver is ten minutes. The record dive is 32 minutes. And that Steele

went down to a depth of 200 metres, which is absolutely incredible.

Whether it is me or is seal, the same physiology is at work that

allows that to happen and that is the Mammalia and dive reflex. When

seals dive, when I died even, at the same three things happen. The blood

is shunted from the limbs to the vital organs, but hearts, the brain.

And the lungs fill with fluid as you start to dive deeper. This stops the

lungs from collapsing. All of this is a way to maximise the oxygen that

is taken on board at the beginning of the dive. What is really cool, in

my opinion, is that it is all triggered when the face comes into

contact with cold water. I think that is absolutely incredible. I

love that we shared that with these beautiful creatures. And to see them

in their own natural environments, on their own terms, is not just

amazing, it is a privilege. I want to thank Mark and Susie Grove, our

expert guides who helped get me out there. If you fancy swimming with

seals, remember they are wild animals and you really must go with

an experienced guide and observe the Marine and coastal codes. There is

loads of information about this on the website. Check it out and enjoy.

Now, from these beautiful islands down the south, to some equally

beautiful islands up north in Scotland, where we were there

earlier this spring. Oronsay lies off the West Coast of

Scotland and is managed by the RSPB. It is a beautiful island, fringed by

white sands and turquoise seas. When I first came here years ago it was

to film sea birds and it is a delight to find them still here.

These elegant birds love the coast. He is digging up the last of the

winter's Grubbs, hidden in the autumn seaweed. They are really

southern birds and Oronsay is about as far north they can survive

anywhere in the world. Inland there are other rarities. When I was a

child I learned to mimic that sound by running according across a

corner. But I only heard a real corncrake when I came to the

Hebrides for the first time. They have shrunk in numbers by three

quarters during my lifetime. But they are certainly doing well here.

The male hiding in this field is calling to other males. And two

females of course. And it seems to be working.

These have come back to the island within the last few days after

flying at night from the heart of Africa. It is an awfully long way to

come just for a bed of nettles but they clearly feel at home. Beyond

the corncrake's feels there are rough pastures which are perfect for

wading birds. The error above them is filled with blackbirds. In my

childhood we called MP wits for their calls and when I was young

this was the sound of spring. Every lapwing has different markings on

its face. The male's crest is taller and its black pies are darker and

more glossy than hers. She is keeping a low profile on the nest

while her mate is on watch. The chicks have just hatched and he will

not tolerate intruders. Even the homeless redshank.

Now the sky is clear of danger she wants them to leave the nest. As

soon as they have mastered their wobbly legs.

Heavy hooves could easily trample a cheque, but this time there is

nothing their dad can do. The cows are too large to chase away.

Sometimes it is right to lie still and trust your camouflage. But

sometimes it is right to run. Besides giving the lapwings and

occasional fight, the cows are Oronsay's heroes. It is thanks to

them that the birds have this perfect nesting place. The RSPB use

the cattle to manage the grassland. Because they keep the grass short,

but they also lead rough patches where the waders can hide their

nests. In its own way, Oronsay is a time capsule, a living reminder of

how Britain was farmed for centuries and what it's birds were like as a

result. Once and, grassland like this now covers less than 1% of the

country and with it the birds. This farm is crowd of its unkempt corners

and of its wild bits and it's wet bits. Back when much of Britain was

farmed this way, the poet Gerard Hopkins wrote this about its untidy

glories. What would the world be once bereft of wet and of wildness?

Let them be left, oh, let them be left, wildness and wet. Long live

the weeds and the wilderness yet. That is very thought-provoking. Long

live the weeds and the wilderness yet. Sadly we have not let the

wilderness alone and we have lost a lot of the grassland. That is one of

the most diverse habitats in Britain and let we have let so much of it

go. Our flower rich meadows, we have lost an incredible 97% since the

1930s. That is 7.5 million acres. That is 1.5 times of Wales. Think

about that area, think about how much wildlife that could have

supported. Why did we lose it? Flower rich meadows include hay

meadows like this one and we have only got 26,000 acres of these left,

75% in fragments and 75% are not even protected. In the 1930s, George

Stapleton, an agricultural engineer at the time said, some of the worst

examples of slovenly, negligent and deplorable husbandry was seen in

these grassland. It was all about producing food and not leaving space

for wildlife. But all is not lost. Here at Sherborne some of the

farmers are doing everything they can to return the grasslands to

productivity. You can find as many as 181 species of plants and in an

approved pasture nowhere near that, less than 12 species. By putting

these hay meadows back in place they are generating an enormous diversity

of plants and insects, up to 160 species of insect living in these

matters. But we are not all farmers, we do not have patches this big.

What can we do? We can manage our own space just as this gentleman has

done. This is Charlotte Payne's dad. She said this in on Twitter. That

mowed the lawn and left a patch for wildlife. Look at that. Imagine if

everyone in the street did it. That would make a few bumblebees happy.

The National Trust have pledged to recreate 60,000 acres of priority

habitat and that will include rich flower meadows. We have been

enjoying the grasslands here. We have been enjoying everything they

have had to offer. There is farmland, the village, hedges,

woodland, and this year on Springwatch we wanted to do

something different. We wanted to come to somewhere like this instead

of a managed reserve like the RSPB or the wetland trust area. We wanted

to come to somewhere that was a real example of the British countryside

that is accessible to us all. By coming here we have proved that if

you look around, there is wildlife everywhere, it really has delivered

and we are coming back for to watch. We certainly are. We have just got a

minute left and I can show you something truly romantic. What I

woke up this morning and read it in bed, it brought a tear to my eye.

118 years ago Edward Wilson painted this. He went with the Scots to the

Antarctic. This has just been discovered by the New Zealand trust.

It is a painting he did whilst he was recovering from TB in the UK. He

went and left in the heart. He went with Scott to the South Pole and

they perished as they headed back to the South camp. That is an amazing

story. It has been there all of those years. A skilful artist and a

great naturalist. Inspirational stuff. We hope on Springwatch you

have been inspired to get out of the countryside and get involved and

there are so many ideas of how you can do that on our website. Go into

the website and go to the useful links. If you tap that all sorts of

useful information will come up. Ideas how you can get your garden

and spaces wildlife friendly. A two-minute beach clean-up, there are

loads of ideas and there are loads of apps that you can download that

will help you get involved and teach you loads of things about wildlife.

If you make an effort, you can make a difference and you can do that on

your own patch. A quick whip around our cameras. Let's say goodbye to

the Peregrines. They have already said goodbye. What about the

kestrels? The rind is still going strong. Oh, come on. And the red

kite? Super. What about Martin and Gillian on the Isles of Scilly? From

the Isles of Scilly, goodbye. Stick around on BBC Two because there is a

great programme coming up, Greatest Inventors. A huge thanks to the

Sherborne Park estate. Thanks to all the staff, the farmers and everyone

in Sherborne Village who have made us feel so welcome. Peter, Rob,

mall, Jonty, Roy, Austin and Nick as well. We will be back here for all

to watch. Join me for the last programme at 6:30pm tomorrow night.

We sincerely hope you have enjoyed this series and learnt a bit from it

as well. Try and do something on your patch and help local farmers

out. Maybe shop locally and put something back into their pockets so

they can keep places like this looking healthy. We will leave you

with a montage from Springwatch 2017.

Welcome to Springwatch 2017, coming from Sherborne Park. I have done an

unintentional twirl. Oh! This is perfectly normal, I am in a field

with an inflatable whale. What a marvellous location. Yes! That was

quite a buzz I have to say. From one absolutely adorable British mammal

to another and one that I am very excited about. On live TV people

speak anyway about what is going on between us. And now I am massaging

because I am the hairy footed female. Is it working for you? I

feel very stimulated. Look at that. It is absolutely

fantastic, absolutely beautiful. The winner is wildlife. You are so

eloquent, that is because you are Welsh. It is.