:00:08. > :00:09.After an action packed week the comings and goings over
:00:10. > :00:15.Our Blue Tit family were living dangerously...our swallow
:00:16. > :00:22.And I've travelled to Perthshire in Scotland to celebrate
:00:23. > :01:10.Welcome to Spring watch. It is the second week coming live from
:01:11. > :01:21.Gloucester. To be honest we've had a damp day. We had a very damp day. It
:01:22. > :01:26.has been lashing down. The weather has changed dramatically. As for the
:01:27. > :01:32.wildlife, there have been a lot of comings and goings and a lot of
:01:33. > :01:40.birds staying still. Let's start with the nation's favourite bird,
:01:41. > :01:46.the robin. There are four chicks in there, there are 12 days old. They
:01:47. > :01:51.are very different to the adults. Instead of the red breast they've
:01:52. > :02:00.got is lofty -- spotty plumage on their chest. You can see the nest is
:02:01. > :02:08.clearly sheltered but they are keeping down in the warmth of it.
:02:09. > :02:14.Let's see what happens, the adult has been feeding them. You can see
:02:15. > :02:21.the lovely red breast on the robin. They were really teasing us from
:02:22. > :02:28.Thursday onwards. I love those little tufty bets on their heads. We
:02:29. > :02:32.thought why Monday they would be gone but the rain started and they
:02:33. > :02:42.decided to stay put which is, actually, pretty sensible. Even
:02:43. > :02:44.though they fled, they don't fly for another couple of days and they
:02:45. > :02:52.don't leave the area for another couple of weeks. They probably made
:02:53. > :02:59.a good choice to stay nice and warm. No rain has fallen into that nest.
:03:00. > :03:05.They do want to get out. When they get to that stage you don't want all
:03:06. > :03:10.your checks in one basket. If they can move out of the surrounding
:03:11. > :03:16.area, a predator might get one of them but not a whole lot. We expect
:03:17. > :03:26.to see that. Another group of birds we were looking at was swallows.
:03:27. > :03:37.Here's the outside of the barn. But I'm afraid the nest is empty. Who
:03:38. > :03:48.could be the culprit? These cunning crows have their own broods which
:03:49. > :03:56.are pretty hungry. This is what happened on Saturday morning. Look
:03:57. > :04:02.who arrives, this jackdaw has spotted them. You can see him with
:04:03. > :04:13.it in its beak. Rapidly it comes back. It takes a second check. One
:04:14. > :04:24.of the adults returns. You can see that there is a problem. There is a
:04:25. > :04:30.little fracas. It is a mismatch. The Swallow will not drive this bird
:04:31. > :04:33.away. Once this cruel learns the whereabouts of the food it will keep
:04:34. > :04:41.coming back and taking it. You can see the third and final check
:04:42. > :04:45.disappears. Jackdaws, member of the crow family, they are famed for
:04:46. > :04:54.taking eggs and chicks out of the nest. But we spoke to Lee Barber. He
:04:55. > :05:04.has been monitoring study. They found 81% of diet was meet but none
:05:05. > :05:14.of it through nest robbing. They feed on invertebrates. This is
:05:15. > :05:19.relatively unusual for jackdaws. Unlucky for those swallows. My mum
:05:20. > :05:28.will be very upset. What about the jackdaws. Somebody out there, there
:05:29. > :05:34.will be a little cute jackdaw. It needs food as well. Disappointing
:05:35. > :05:40.for the swallows but they will re-nest and make another one. You
:05:41. > :05:47.can empathise with the prey but you must not demonise the predator. What
:05:48. > :05:51.has happened to our blue tips? We thought they might fledge that
:05:52. > :05:57.evening if not Friday or Saturday. A lot of you were watching WebCams.
:05:58. > :06:10.Over a million watched it on Facebook live. For those who were
:06:11. > :06:17.not watching, here is an update. We noticed that the checks were already
:06:18. > :06:21.well developed but one of them, who recall Runty, was smaller than the
:06:22. > :06:26.rest. Despite his size he had huge character. He grabbed 40% of the
:06:27. > :06:32.food. We have high hopes he would make it through. In fact, he was the
:06:33. > :06:36.least of our concerns. A woodpecker was becoming increasingly interested
:06:37. > :06:44.in the box, looking for a quick takeaway. Every time he did, you
:06:45. > :06:50.could see them quietly waiting for the probing tongue to disappear. The
:06:51. > :06:56.glimmer of hope was he only seemed to explore the nest in the
:06:57. > :07:00.afternoon. If they were going to make it safely the morning would be
:07:01. > :07:01.the best time to go. So to our relief on Saturday morning. The
:07:02. > :07:23.fledging started. With no woodpecker around, they were
:07:24. > :07:28.making it safe. As the morning progressed, it started to become
:07:29. > :07:36.clear that something was wrong with Runty. As the last of his siblings
:07:37. > :07:47.left, he became too weak to carry on. The adult came back but by that
:07:48. > :08:00.point it was too late. He was gone. What we've got to remember is for a
:08:01. > :08:03.family of blue tips, eight out of nine is a brilliant return. It shows
:08:04. > :08:12.you how well they've done to get these gorgeous fluff balls into the
:08:13. > :08:23.world. Eight out of nine is a good success but we were rooting for
:08:24. > :08:26.Runty. Very often when adults give birth to their young they can
:08:27. > :08:32.identify if there is something wrong with them. If they give birth to a
:08:33. > :08:38.letter you have three or four who are the same. You think, why are
:08:39. > :08:43.they driving that one out? When it dies and you get a postmortem, it
:08:44. > :08:54.has problems, somehow or other, they can now that. Maybe they were not
:08:55. > :09:01.giving it enough food. Yesterday it was given loads of food. I know.
:09:02. > :09:09.Maybe they were giving it food but it was not going anywhere. It is a
:09:10. > :09:18.shame but it out of nine got out there. They have a really
:09:19. > :09:23.astonishing survival rate. 38%, if they fledged successfully, will get
:09:24. > :09:29.through their first year. That is very high when you think about all
:09:30. > :09:38.the things that are out there. It is really good. There is so much
:09:39. > :09:46.involved in raising a family successfully. They need to find
:09:47. > :09:52.plenty food. But having a good start to life can affect more than just a
:09:53. > :09:59.better chance of survival. Britain's only true aquatic songbird, the
:10:00. > :10:07.debtor, is perfectly adapted to a river lifestyle. -- the dipper. When
:10:08. > :10:11.they are not under what they habitually bob up and down on the
:10:12. > :10:16.surface. It is thought it is a way of signalling around the noisy
:10:17. > :10:25.rivers and streams where they live. The best way to let other dippers
:10:26. > :10:30.now that you're around is to sing. Unlike most other songbirds, they
:10:31. > :10:37.sing all year round, helping them defend their territories. The
:10:38. > :10:49.importance of it is being investigated in the Yorkshire Dales.
:10:50. > :10:56.I like this office, it is bird-watching with a bit of style.
:10:57. > :11:12.It is luxurious. Here is the female coming now. This river is very rich
:11:13. > :11:18.in food. It is a prime location. What my research really is about,
:11:19. > :11:23.trying to understand song development. There has been an idea
:11:24. > :11:27.from captive studies of birds but when checks are developing in the
:11:28. > :11:35.nest, the amount of food they receive can actually affect the
:11:36. > :11:45.quality of their song in adult food. Each year, Stewart follows up to 40
:11:46. > :11:55.nests, monitoring every aspect of their life and recording how they
:11:56. > :12:00.sing. This is a male, it was raised somewhere, food was plentiful,
:12:01. > :12:12.producing a nice, rich, complex song. Even I can hear that the bird
:12:13. > :12:16.is using a lot of different notes. There are a lot of different
:12:17. > :12:37.syllables. That is obviously all the same. If we compare that with a
:12:38. > :12:40.different male, he sounds like this. I can hear that is distinctly
:12:41. > :12:47.different. He repeats the same notes. We have one there, that is
:12:48. > :12:55.another one, this one is the same as these here. That is three and four.
:12:56. > :13:01.That is fascinating. The basic message is if there is less food
:13:02. > :13:08.coming in, mum and dad are not feeding you as much, you will
:13:09. > :13:12.produce a simpler song. Is it because you have not got the time to
:13:13. > :13:21.learn a complex song or because you have not got the energy? It is about
:13:22. > :13:28.the time and energy. You can invest in the growth of your brain. How
:13:29. > :13:33.will it affect the check as it grows into adult food? If you have a more
:13:34. > :13:40.complex song you will have higher reproduction success. These males
:13:41. > :13:45.are singing to advertise to the neighbouring males that they are in
:13:46. > :13:55.good shape, so stay away. Defending the right territory is key, but the
:13:56. > :13:59.look of a place can be deceiving. This looks beautiful. It is an
:14:00. > :14:05.absolutely beautiful location but you just look at this stream, you
:14:06. > :14:11.can imagine there is a lot less food available in this water. They've got
:14:12. > :14:24.to go several hundred meters down that way.
:14:25. > :14:31.Can you hear that? That is the chicks being fed. In a territory
:14:32. > :14:37.like this they are getting less food during the growth period. That
:14:38. > :14:42.completely backs up your theory and data but how relevant is it, how can
:14:43. > :14:47.those results be used for conservation? I think this research
:14:48. > :14:50.is all about understanding what goes on in the early part of life and how
:14:51. > :14:56.it can affect animals in the later part of life and thinking of the
:14:57. > :15:11.bigger picture that allows us to understand how wildlife response to
:15:12. > :15:14.environmental change. I guess that applies to so many species including
:15:15. > :15:17.ourselves, it is all about your upbringing, you need a good home,
:15:18. > :15:24.lots of food, it makes you a strong healthy successful person or in this
:15:25. > :15:30.case, dipper! What the beautiful thing. And absolutely joyous little
:15:31. > :15:34.piece of science. Doctor Stewart Sharp, we salute you. It makes sense
:15:35. > :15:42.that he went out there and proved it. Fantastic, fantastic. We don't
:15:43. > :15:46.have any dippers at Sherborne, some vagrants when they get lost although
:15:47. > :15:51.we do have lovely bricks and rivers. What have we got? This is down on
:15:52. > :15:55.the Sherborne broke. You can see a Mullard. It's a rather miserable
:15:56. > :16:02.looking one because the weather is pretty miserable out there this
:16:03. > :16:03.evening but nevertheless this environment, it's incredibly
:16:04. > :16:11.beautiful and also incredibly productive. You see it is an
:16:12. > :16:16.eco-climb, where land meets water therefore you have to wrest real
:16:17. > :16:20.animals using it and aquatic animals and semiaquatic and amphibious
:16:21. > :16:25.animals using it. -- an eco-climb it. So it is an area of tremendous
:16:26. > :16:30.richness and importance when it comes to biodiversity. Let me tell
:16:31. > :16:34.you about it. The European Water Framework has looked at the quality
:16:35. > :16:39.of rivers in Europe and only 42% of them are in ideologically good
:16:40. > :16:44.status. That sounds poor, 43% but what about those in Britain. I am
:16:45. > :16:52.shocked to say it's only 17% of British reverse that and only 0.08%
:16:53. > :16:56.of them that are in high order -- 17% of British reverse. So our
:16:57. > :17:04.rivers are not in too good condition. Water for irrigating farm
:17:05. > :17:08.crops, run-off from farms, spillages from sewage works, run-off from
:17:09. > :17:12.Rhodes is another issue and pollutants finding their way into
:17:13. > :17:17.those watercourses. This is a tragedy because this particular
:17:18. > :17:20.habitat can be enormously rich, the range of species that lived here is
:17:21. > :17:25.absolutely phenomenal. It starts with all the plans, of course, but
:17:26. > :17:29.then you've got the insects that feed upon those and the insects that
:17:30. > :17:33.feed upon insects like dragonflies, you need the image and vegetation
:17:34. > :17:36.for things like mayflies to get out of the water. When you have
:17:37. > :17:40.amphibian is you have grass snakes and with all this food you have
:17:41. > :17:46.mammals that come here to feed as well. Things like water voles. And
:17:47. > :17:50.keystone predators in this environment like otters. And they
:17:51. > :17:54.simply cannot live in areas which are polluted and where there is no
:17:55. > :18:01.fringing vegetation. Let's take a look at this here. This is a diagram
:18:02. > :18:07.of the riparian son as we call it and this is an idealised section on
:18:08. > :18:12.the right. -- the riparian zone. We want Forest, trees on the bank and
:18:13. > :18:16.they act as a buffer for any diffuse pollutants blowing through the air,
:18:17. > :18:20.perhaps sprayed onto fields. That stops them reaching into the
:18:21. > :18:25.waterways. And when there is run off, and the storm or flood, if you
:18:26. > :18:29.have trees, this stops all those pollutants from getting into the
:18:30. > :18:32.water and slows the water and stops the flooding. In the water itself
:18:33. > :18:40.you have all this vegetation here, you have the insects, a place for
:18:41. > :18:43.the otters to make their homes, altogether the structural diversity
:18:44. > :18:48.of this is very important. What happens if you take away the
:18:49. > :18:51.woodland, you hack the bank away and can analyse the river, then you've
:18:52. > :18:56.got a potential disaster because all of those pollutants can buy directly
:18:57. > :19:01.into the run-off washes the soil of the surface, it comes down into
:19:02. > :19:06.here, your gravel gets choked up, fish eggs can't breathe and nor can
:19:07. > :19:11.your insects and what you've got here is a big horrible nasty mess.
:19:12. > :19:18.This is what we want when we look at a riparian environment. Gillian.
:19:19. > :19:26.Chris, that was an amazing explanation and an even more amazing
:19:27. > :19:33.picture. He's an artist, who knew. That's not very artistic. Abstract
:19:34. > :19:37.expression in its finest form. Definitely abstract! So much wasted
:19:38. > :19:42.talent! Here at Sherborne Park estate the National Trust has been
:19:43. > :19:47.working hard to restore the historic water meadows found on the estate.
:19:48. > :19:51.And the result is that some of our favourite water birds are making
:19:52. > :20:03.themselves at home here. This is a more hand. -- moorhen. Sometimes
:20:04. > :20:06.called a swamp chicken! And tufted ducks, these will only venture into
:20:07. > :20:10.deep water if they have the sanctuary of shallow water to
:20:11. > :20:14.retreat to. So these margins are important to them and the codes
:20:15. > :20:18.which are often mistaken for riparian Dexter, you can tell the
:20:19. > :20:22.difference because of those pure white beaks, and the shields on
:20:23. > :20:27.their head, they are aggressive birds, and they will defend their
:20:28. > :20:30.nesting sites and will also practised infanticide which is when
:20:31. > :20:34.they kill the smallest of the weakest of the brood. This is a
:20:35. > :20:42.stress response to low food availability. So having these rich,
:20:43. > :20:48.abundant riparian habitats is very important to them. As they could see
:20:49. > :20:51.with that last shot all these ducks will nest in the reed beds and if
:20:52. > :20:57.you have a well-managed riparian zone it can attract other nesting
:20:58. > :21:03.birds as well. Birds like herons which are attracted by the healthy
:21:04. > :21:08.food supply but also by the trees. In a good riparian zone he will have
:21:09. > :21:11.lots of trees which will attract herons, egrets, they can nest and
:21:12. > :21:15.build their homes there, and kingfishers as well, if you have a
:21:16. > :21:21.stable bank they can nest thereby excavating and borrowing in. If you
:21:22. > :21:29.have that good zone along the river bank then you can provide a whole
:21:30. > :21:33.ecosystem for host of wildlife. There's a small number of breeding
:21:34. > :21:38.pairs of really beautiful birds often associated with rivers, found
:21:39. > :21:44.on this estate. We've had one live camera on the nest. It's in an
:21:45. > :21:48.absolutely beautiful location down by the way, near the boathouse. If
:21:49. > :21:54.you look carefully to the right of the screen, there it is. A grey
:21:55. > :21:59.wagtail. The name does it such a disservice, they are so beautiful.
:22:00. > :22:05.These birds, this nest, has only just been hatching out in the last
:22:06. > :22:09.24 hours. And at the moment we think that our for chicks, there may be a
:22:10. > :22:16.fifth egg waiting to hatch but that is what they've got at the moment.
:22:17. > :22:22.If we look at the nest, the live camera, there we have, that is one
:22:23. > :22:27.of the pairs. What's interesting is, through all the downstairs, both
:22:28. > :22:32.pairs have been sharing the load -- both parents, going to and fro with
:22:33. > :22:36.a lot of food the chicks. But the weather we've been having isn't the
:22:37. > :22:39.best time for them to hatch because it's quite a challenge for the
:22:40. > :22:44.parents to feed the chicks. Can I just say it is a beautiful bird, the
:22:45. > :22:52.name grey wagtail does not do it justice. So attractive, so
:22:53. > :22:58.characterful. We should rename it grey wagtail with the lovely sort of
:22:59. > :23:04.yellow front. I can see that in the school textbooks! Will be following
:23:05. > :23:09.the fortunes of those birds, in the next couple of days, let's catch up
:23:10. > :23:15.with Martin, on his road trip, we saw him in Wales, he is now in
:23:16. > :23:19.Scotland. We don't need a satellite, will have excellent telephone
:23:20. > :23:22.connectivity, Scotland is a very civilised place. We are in
:23:23. > :23:27.Perthshire. Let me show you on the map precisely where we are. There is
:23:28. > :23:36.Sherborne where Chris and Michaela and Gillian are, I was there with
:23:37. > :23:42.Iolo and here is why I'm now. An extremely beautiful part of country.
:23:43. > :23:53.In the air, you can see the rivers, some of the most famous funds in
:23:54. > :23:59.Scotland, the Spay, the Tay, that is where we are and on the rivers a lot
:24:00. > :24:04.of beautiful wildlife. Including what we saw earlier, those lovely
:24:05. > :24:09.birds and their chicks. I have to keep my voice low. Why are we here.
:24:10. > :24:21.We are hoping to bring you live shots of beavers. There's a clump of
:24:22. > :24:24.birds with Willow, that is a beaver lodge and we know that there beavers
:24:25. > :24:37.inside. Beavers are fascinating animals. A family group, to or three
:24:38. > :24:47.adults, and maybe to youngsters, kits in there as well. Let's look at
:24:48. > :24:52.the beavers in more detail. OK. Here are the beavers. They are nervous
:24:53. > :24:57.when they are out of water, so they tend to always be by the water and
:24:58. > :25:02.they are forever feeding. They have a very poor digestive system, it is
:25:03. > :25:06.difficult to absorb food so they eat and eat and eat. They are very
:25:07. > :25:11.vulnerable when they are out of the water. A lot of predators will have
:25:12. > :25:16.a go at them, foxes and the kits can be taken by owls, even by Pike under
:25:17. > :25:23.the water. The kits of the youngsters. What they will do is,
:25:24. > :25:27.they will take the food across to the large and then they will dive
:25:28. > :25:32.down with it, they don't feed outside because it is too dangerous.
:25:33. > :25:38.It goes into the lodge and they have a special feeding area. OK, we've
:25:39. > :25:44.got a live camera, let's go to it now. It is fixed on the lodge now.
:25:45. > :25:48.Can we see anything? We can't. Nothing there at the moment. It's
:25:49. > :25:55.very difficult, because when they come out of the lodge often they
:25:56. > :26:00.will just go milestone river. So the cameraman on much trip hazard
:26:01. > :26:03.difficult job. Critical point, beavers are not invasive species,
:26:04. > :26:07.they are indigenous animals. They work in Britain for thousands of
:26:08. > :26:14.years but we made them extinct about 400 years ago. That is a crucial
:26:15. > :26:19.point. Look at this. There are beaver signs everywhere. They've
:26:20. > :26:23.taken down this tree, they can take down a really big tree. They tend to
:26:24. > :26:30.do it alongside the river, there are stumps all the way down here. How do
:26:31. > :26:35.they do it? It is fascinating. What they do is, one beaver will have one
:26:36. > :26:40.tree, like its project and it will begin biting at an angle of 135
:26:41. > :26:44.degrees to the vertical. Then it will turn it head upside down and
:26:45. > :26:59.bite and 45 degrees, almost exactly the same angle all
:27:00. > :27:01.the way through and then it will rotate itself around until the tree
:27:02. > :27:04.falls down. And they stop about every ten minutes when they are
:27:05. > :27:06.biting to have a rest and sharpen their teeth, they keep their teeth
:27:07. > :27:08.razor-sharp. Apart from chopping down trees what else to beavers do?
:27:09. > :27:14.They are renowned for building dams. A couple of days ago I went out with
:27:15. > :27:17.Bob Smith to have a look at the beavers's fine engineering
:27:18. > :27:29.abilities, just a few miles from where we are standing now.
:27:30. > :27:41.I just saw a frog, there it he goes, there he goes! Was spotted. Even
:27:42. > :27:47.fish rising. You see them in the big pond. An awful lot of things
:27:48. > :27:52.benefiting from this work. Yes. Another beautiful pond, beautiful in
:27:53. > :27:56.this light. Insects moving here as well. You can see here the amount of
:27:57. > :28:03.materials they are using to build the dam. How can a beaver carry
:28:04. > :28:10.something of that size and weight, you cannot put it in his mouth. With
:28:11. > :28:17.their front paws, they just waddle and push it, they were Rowlett up.
:28:18. > :28:21.The beavers will come along and see this. They will think, there's water
:28:22. > :28:25.escaping, and of course this is their environment where they feel
:28:26. > :28:30.safe so they will start pushing up more of this mad to dumb it up and
:28:31. > :28:33.stop the water escaping. So if they hear the sound of the water at night
:28:34. > :28:42.that is the signal for them to start building. Not just hearing, feeling,
:28:43. > :28:49.they can feel running water. And is a stimulus. And this is actual...
:28:50. > :28:53.You can see their footprints. A couple of wee ones here as well. So
:28:54. > :29:00.there be on the other side, pushing... They could come to this
:29:01. > :29:08.site and bullet. Looking at all this, this is the work of perhaps a
:29:09. > :29:09.dozen beavers. Probably for. For of them doing this! We could learn from
:29:10. > :29:24.them about industry and hard work. Amazing engineers, extraordinary.
:29:25. > :29:29.They've put up and down 1.5 metres long in a single night. Just to
:29:30. > :29:34.remind you we have a camera over there on that lodge, the beaver
:29:35. > :29:41.lodge. Let's go live to that camera now. Can we see anything? We can't.
:29:42. > :29:45.Nothing there. But just before we came on air we did see some activity
:29:46. > :29:52.so we know they are there. Let's look at what we saw. There it was.
:29:53. > :30:02.We know that they are there. And there were both of them, to beavers
:30:03. > :30:07.diving around. The trouble is that he beaver can hold its breath for 16
:30:08. > :30:12.seconds and swim for 800 metres underwater in a single hit so we've
:30:13. > :30:16.got a bit of a job that we will try to get you live beavers during the
:30:17. > :30:22.show. Now from one a rare Scottish mammal to another. The beautiful
:30:23. > :30:28.Scottish Highlands, one of the wildest places in the UK. Ian Mason
:30:29. > :30:33.had been coming here on holiday for 20 years but in 2014 he decided to
:30:34. > :30:39.take the plunge and move you permanently. Little did he know that
:30:40. > :30:44.it would not be just his family that were moving in. Not long after he
:30:45. > :30:51.arrived, he came face to face with one of Britain's rarest mammals.
:30:52. > :30:57.Something just hit me on the chest, it landed on the wall, it turned
:30:58. > :31:02.round and looked at me and we were just gazing at each other and that
:31:03. > :31:09.was it, we had a relationship and I've been watching this pine marten
:31:10. > :31:14.ever since. Since the first encounter the female has been back
:31:15. > :31:25.many times and since then, Ian has been putting out food. She loves
:31:26. > :31:31.peanuts, and raisins. Her favourite food of all is strawberry jam. She
:31:32. > :31:38.will find it within minutes. Although still a wide animal -- wild
:31:39. > :31:44.animal, she felt comfortable in his workshop and did not seem bothered
:31:45. > :31:53.by the human comings and goings. But she was not just coming here for a
:31:54. > :31:57.hand-out. She had actually moved in. The potential to film a pine marten
:31:58. > :32:06.in the wild was an opportunity we could not resist. So at the start of
:32:07. > :32:12.March we transformed his living room into a Spring watch hop. Two weeks
:32:13. > :32:19.later it seemed that our efforts had paid off. We caught our first
:32:20. > :32:30.glimpses of the female. I'm really hopeful she will hang around because
:32:31. > :32:34.she might have kits. Pine marten is give birth between March and April.
:32:35. > :32:39.Even though they will choose buildings, they are very rarely
:32:40. > :32:43.observed doing this. It is so exciting to watch her on screen. I
:32:44. > :32:48.really hope she hangs around. The female seemed at home and she
:32:49. > :33:07.continued to sleep in the bar for the next few nights. -- barn. But as
:33:08. > :33:12.the spring equinox dawned, the weather took a wintry term. It
:33:13. > :33:19.seemed like the workshop was the perfect place to ride out the storm,
:33:20. > :33:29.except the female was nowhere to be seen in the barn was now empty. What
:33:30. > :33:35.had happened? At the storm scared her off? We were not sure but
:33:36. > :33:41.presumed she had left. As we were about to go up to Scotland and
:33:42. > :33:46.retrieve our cameras, we got a call from Ian because he'd seen this.
:33:47. > :33:57.Look at that! He had seen two adorable little kits. They are born
:33:58. > :34:05.blind and only open their eyes at five weeks old. This could be the
:34:06. > :34:15.first time they've explored and you can see them in the loft and they
:34:16. > :34:22.are so adorable. What happened? Maybe she had various sites and give
:34:23. > :34:27.birth in a different one, maybe she had them in one and then moved them.
:34:28. > :34:32.She could have been outside and moved them in another area. Like the
:34:33. > :34:42.stalks we have, they take the food and it can become smelly. It
:34:43. > :34:48.attracts predators. It is quite usual that they move them around. I
:34:49. > :34:53.think they were born outside the wood and she shifted them around.
:34:54. > :35:01.But we got some fantastic views of them and they soon began to explore.
:35:02. > :35:05.These are highly arboreal predators. They need to be able to claim very
:35:06. > :35:11.well up and down the trees and pursue their prey. They have
:35:12. > :35:19.semi-retractable claws like weasels and wolverines. Clearly not quite
:35:20. > :35:28.right at the moment. This is good practice. This is what it is about.
:35:29. > :35:33.That is not play, that is practice. Soon it will need to go up a plane
:35:34. > :35:47.tree and Chase a squirrel. It is very funny to watch. Here are the
:35:48. > :35:52.females coming in with of all -- with this little rodent. She cannot
:35:53. > :35:55.interest the kits at this stage. They will start to be fully weaned
:35:56. > :36:03.by seven or eight weeks but at this point they are not on solid food
:36:04. > :36:09.yet. It is probably because they are suckling a lot and we got shots of
:36:10. > :36:13.that as well. By this time they should be finished and then they
:36:14. > :36:20.emerge out of the den and the Explorer. You can see that one
:36:21. > :36:24.particular kit is thoroughly enjoying a good bit of milk. I
:36:25. > :36:29.remember when my child would do that, falling asleep halfway
:36:30. > :36:35.through. You can see the whole family is sort of feeding and then
:36:36. > :36:46.sleeping. It is an exhausting business. Look where they have
:36:47. > :36:54.chosen to make the den. It is about the itchy is to place on the planet.
:36:55. > :37:00.We will follow the fortunes of those kits over the next few days. We've
:37:01. > :37:04.been having a festival of raptors here. Let's go live to one of the
:37:05. > :37:11.stars of that show, the Peregrine Vulcans on Salisbury Cathedral. This
:37:12. > :37:16.is what I hoped we would see. A dutiful female acting as an avian
:37:17. > :37:25.umbrella. You can see she's been doing that all day long. Even though
:37:26. > :37:32.this nest is on the parapet, it is not protected from the elements. She
:37:33. > :37:40.looks well sod and as a result of that. Let's see what they've been up
:37:41. > :37:44.to over the weekend. The mail has been bringing in a lot of food. It
:37:45. > :37:49.is difficult to identify because they pluck the food before they
:37:50. > :37:56.bring it. You don't get many feathers. And here, if fresh food is
:37:57. > :38:04.not brought in, the female brings the food down to the larder. The
:38:05. > :38:08.larder is very full at the moment because they've only got the one
:38:09. > :38:14.cheque. That looks like a song thrush. We see a great range of
:38:15. > :38:21.species being brought in. An enormous abundance of food. They
:38:22. > :38:28.will continue to use it until it goes completely rotten. Look at this
:38:29. > :38:36.check. It is bursting. Spoiled rotten. It is getting all the food
:38:37. > :38:42.that it needs. Typically it would be in a brood of more youngsters.
:38:43. > :38:51.Perhaps three or four. It can barely move. It is just an eating or
:38:52. > :39:03.sleeping machine at this time. Let's look at the bothered, another cheque
:39:04. > :39:08.in a very exposed neck of the woods. I wonder how long this rain will go
:39:09. > :39:21.on for. It is not great for young checks. Look at the wings spread
:39:22. > :39:27.out. Let's have a look at what has been going on over the weekend. We
:39:28. > :39:42.had a lot of rain. Peeking out from underneath there. Wet weather brings
:39:43. > :39:47.some advantages. Here is a worm that the adult has brought in. A lot of
:39:48. > :39:58.other things you would expect to be easier to hunt. This is a common
:39:59. > :40:02.toad trying to pack at itself and have difficulties. The adult bird is
:40:03. > :40:07.taking little bits and gently feeding the check. Next on the menu
:40:08. > :40:21.is a frog. It will try to feed itself. The adult is giving it a
:40:22. > :40:36.helping hand. Again, a single cheque. It is absolutely fool. It is
:40:37. > :40:44.the kestrels who are not so exposed. They are in the church. They are
:40:45. > :40:54.quite hidden away in a little window. It is disappearing with
:40:55. > :41:04.those for checks ravenously trying to get as much food as they possibly
:41:05. > :41:10.can. I've got to say, just round the tale of the female. There is clearly
:41:11. > :41:18.a lot of squabbling going on. It is going to get it! Don't even try.
:41:19. > :41:36.You're just not going to do it. They are doing well. My word. Is that
:41:37. > :41:44.seriously going? That is definitely eyes too big for the belly. Let's go
:41:45. > :41:48.back north of the border. Our intrepid explorer really likes a
:41:49. > :41:59.challenge. Trying to seek one of Britain's most secretive animals in
:42:00. > :42:06.the wild. I'm up in Scotland, it is incredibly frustrating because we
:42:07. > :42:16.keep seeing little ripples. It could be a beaver. When they are alarmed
:42:17. > :42:21.it is true that they slap their tails to warn other believers. Last
:42:22. > :42:26.night, we came up here and I stayed up till 2am with my camera. I did
:42:27. > :42:33.not really. The camera team did and they managed to see this. Sure
:42:34. > :42:41.enough, almost at exactly this time, there was beaver. We think there are
:42:42. > :42:54.possibly two adults and another two kits. This year, it is the same.
:42:55. > :42:59.Moving that food around. So that they can feed undisturbed.
:43:00. > :43:08.Fascinating that they have got this adaptation that as soon as their
:43:09. > :43:13.nose touches the water, the year is clamped down so they don't get any
:43:14. > :43:18.water at all into their bodies. I think that one was probably going up
:43:19. > :43:24.to look for a little bit of food. We waited and then we got our thermal
:43:25. > :43:31.camera out and carried on trying to find the Beavers on this stretch of
:43:32. > :43:36.water. Here they are, you can see them at the warm dock. You can see
:43:37. > :43:41.it growing in the water. There is a trail of warm water behind it. They
:43:42. > :43:50.are less nervous and they will come out to look for food. They are very
:43:51. > :44:05.nervous. Look at the tail. Strong tendons. It will use its tail to
:44:06. > :44:11.power through the water. It is using its super powerful teeth to chop
:44:12. > :44:18.down the willow. They are very choosy in the cheese that they like
:44:19. > :44:24.to eat -- trees. It has got something, bringing it down into the
:44:25. > :44:30.water. They will not eat outside. They are superbly adapted to being
:44:31. > :44:35.out in the water. They will take that back and feed together. They
:44:36. > :44:46.are the second biggest rodent in the world. A beaver can get 38
:44:47. > :45:01.kilograms. They are a very big animal. Are they a good thing or a
:45:02. > :45:08.bad thing? The Scottish beaver trial reported back to the government and
:45:09. > :45:13.said they can provide increased storage and add to the enjoyment of
:45:14. > :45:18.the environment. They have a positive influence on biodiversity.
:45:19. > :45:23.The farmers union have got concerns. They have complained that Beavers
:45:24. > :45:30.have damaged commercial fields. They will become a European protected
:45:31. > :45:38.species later this year. But they are being shot. They want to shoot
:45:39. > :45:47.them and get rid of as many as they can. They are not just in Scotland.
:45:48. > :45:52.Look at this. That is where we are. The remora Beavers over there. Don't
:45:53. > :45:59.hear in Devon there is a good project going that I was involved
:46:00. > :46:05.with, releasing the first one is two years ago. Since then, they've added
:46:06. > :46:14.another to Beavers to that project to increase the genetic diversity.
:46:15. > :46:21.That was this year. That no 20 individuals in the river. All thanks
:46:22. > :46:25.to Mark Elliott, of the Devon wildlife trust, a driving force
:46:26. > :46:32.behind this. I touched this one and it gave me a good old splash in the
:46:33. > :46:35.face as it went! Are also beavers in Wales and fascinating Project in
:46:36. > :46:39.Cornwall where the local wildlife trust are cooperating with the
:46:40. > :46:44.farmer to see if the beavers can stop flooding on one village that is
:46:45. > :46:50.very flood prone. It will be fascinating to see if they can help.
:46:51. > :47:04.From one watery world to a miniature watery world. On a windswept heath
:47:05. > :47:11.lies a lone pool where it is a male raft spider basks in the spring
:47:12. > :47:16.sunshine. He has spent the winter in bed deep slumber emerging as the
:47:17. > :47:21.days become longer and warmer. Despite his small stature he is
:47:22. > :47:36.about to embark on an adventure epic in scale. He is in search of a mate.
:47:37. > :47:43.Across the pond a female raft spider also on the move, her mind on other
:47:44. > :47:48.matters. In the breeding season that she needs plenty of nutrients if she
:47:49. > :47:55.is to develop her eggs and this female is angry. She needs to create
:47:56. > :48:08.an ambush and this looks like a good spot. With relatively poor A side,
:48:09. > :48:15.raft spider 's rely on sensory leg hairs to detect their prey --
:48:16. > :48:18.relatively poor eyesight. With front legs outstretched, has attuned to
:48:19. > :48:27.the slightest vibration on the surface of the water she settles to
:48:28. > :48:33.wait. Meanwhile the mail is in search of silk. Using his to front
:48:34. > :48:39.legs he gently manipulates the mosque, feeling for strands left
:48:40. > :48:43.behind by a wandering female. These fine filaments are impregnated with
:48:44. > :48:51.pheromones, a silk road leading directly to her. He has found the
:48:52. > :48:56.trail. Now it is a race against time to locate the female. Following the
:48:57. > :49:03.silken thread he comes to the water's edge. Sink or swim time. But
:49:04. > :49:08.he is perfectly adapted to the task at hand. The tiny hairs that line
:49:09. > :49:13.his body contract pockets of air keeping him buoyant on the water
:49:14. > :49:22.surface. But Crossing open water can spell danger. Frogs rely on movement
:49:23. > :49:38.to hand and the male spider catches his eye. -- to hunt.
:49:39. > :49:51.It is a close call but a patch of reeds provides sanctuary. Still in
:49:52. > :50:02.her sport the female has waited hours for a meal. -- in her spot.
:50:03. > :50:14.Conserving her energy for the perfect moment, she holds her nerve.
:50:15. > :50:21.Eventually her patience pays off. A pond skater skates to close and in a
:50:22. > :50:27.flash she strikes. Her legs envelope the skater and she sinks in her
:50:28. > :50:34.finals. Finally she can eat. -- she sinks in her fangs. From this
:50:35. > :50:40.resting place among the reeds the male spots the movement. The end of
:50:41. > :50:51.his silk Road is in sight. The female. But as he makes his
:50:52. > :51:00.approach, the clouds close in, a spring shower is on its way.
:51:01. > :51:09.Raindrops began to fall like bombs on the water's surface. The female
:51:10. > :51:17.dashes for cover at the water's edge. Undeterred, the mail follows.
:51:18. > :51:24.After finally finding her he want to let her out of his site now. -- he
:51:25. > :51:28.will not let her out all his site now. A bit troubled mail finally
:51:29. > :51:35.makes a tentative approach towards the female. -- a bit troubled mail.
:51:36. > :51:46.Delicately tapping his feet on the ground he begins to court her. He
:51:47. > :51:53.brushes his foot against hers. She succumbs to his touch and mirrors
:51:54. > :52:05.his affection. Before rolling over to allow him to mate with her.
:52:06. > :52:09.Gently he uses his palpae to transfer a parcel of sperm to her
:52:10. > :52:13.coming he has now successfully passed on his jeans to the next
:52:14. > :52:18.generation of raft spider 's but once mated it is time for him to
:52:19. > :52:23.beat a retreat coming his work is done. For the female co-workers just
:52:24. > :52:28.beginning. Come the summer she will have young to rear, another mini
:52:29. > :52:35.drama that will play out in a tiny ephemeral pool in the middle of a
:52:36. > :52:40.vast heath. -- for the female, her work is just beginning. Fantastic.
:52:41. > :52:45.One of only a few species of British spider that can break the skin, they
:52:46. > :52:51.have fangs big enough to bite into us although no venom is transferred,
:52:52. > :52:57.nothing happens. You've terrified loads of people! No, No. We have had
:52:58. > :53:03.jays and bluetits so it's time to introduce you to a new nest. A bird
:53:04. > :53:07.that nests low down in the brambles and shrubs. A common widespread
:53:08. > :53:12.warbler, the black cap. Let's look at the nest. This is the female
:53:13. > :53:16.sitting on the nest. You can see it as a female because it has a sort of
:53:17. > :53:28.brown cap. The mail has the black cap. Is this the live picture now? I
:53:29. > :53:34.think it is. Let's see what has been going on in the last couple of days.
:53:35. > :53:39.There are five chicks. That's the mail coming in with fat black cap.
:53:40. > :53:47.You can see there's a much smaller chip to the side. That's the female
:53:48. > :53:52.now. And we have noticed that it is always that little chick that is
:53:53. > :54:00.pushed to the side. The nest is on a slant and even when she broods, that
:54:01. > :54:03.little one is left out. That's not good news is particularly now the
:54:04. > :54:09.weather has turned and it is cold and wet. And I am sorry to say that
:54:10. > :54:15.that little chick did not make it. If we quickly go back to the life
:54:16. > :54:22.nest, we can see that the nest is still at an angle. And we were very
:54:23. > :54:27.worried that maybe another chick would fall out of the nest. It's
:54:28. > :54:32.like a slippery water slide. We could not get a clear view there but
:54:33. > :54:38.just before we came on life we were told that a fourth chick, sadly, a
:54:39. > :54:41.fourth chick has not made it. So there are three left. Let's hope
:54:42. > :54:50.they all cling on. It isn't great, is it. It's hard to watch. Shall we
:54:51. > :54:55.look at our live barn owl cameras? There is a female. This is typical.
:54:56. > :54:59.She has been on the nest for quite some time. Nothing to do with
:55:00. > :55:04.whether but we have been following this for some time, of course, and
:55:05. > :55:09.the story so far is that chicks number one and none too hatched to
:55:10. > :55:12.weeks ago, number three hatched for days later and it is still
:55:13. > :55:18.noticeably smaller than the other to. Then over the weekend the
:55:19. > :55:26.largest cheque took it upon him or herself to have a go at swallowing
:55:27. > :55:36.an entire vole. Rather than being fed in pieces. You've got to admire
:55:37. > :55:46.his ambition! This is no small feat, it took all of five minutes. That is
:55:47. > :55:54.true grit and determination. Fatties who ate all the pies, Gillian, isn't
:55:55. > :56:01.it! -- that is. This is a really good sign that one of those chicks
:56:02. > :56:07.is well on its way. What we also see is that one of the eggs remains an
:56:08. > :56:10.hatched. I think it's safe to say that this one is not viable
:56:11. > :56:15.especially as we think there may have been a crack in it. This female
:56:16. > :56:20.is so attentive that she is still trying to incubate this egg but as
:56:21. > :56:25.the chicks get bigger they will get boisterous and she'll have to come
:56:26. > :56:39.off the nest. A great sign for that big cheque. He reminds me of those
:56:40. > :56:43.characters in the film Wall-E. I've never seen that film, although we do
:56:44. > :56:47.have to worry about our barn owls because this heavy rain isn't good
:56:48. > :56:50.for them hunting, their soft feathers are easily waterlogged and
:56:51. > :56:55.they cannot hear their prey with the pattern of raindrops on the ground.
:56:56. > :56:59.If the next few nights continue rainy things could be in trouble. A
:57:00. > :57:05.man who will know the answer to this is the one and only Nick Mallett
:57:06. > :57:08.from the BBC weather Centre. It will be difficult to night for the barn
:57:09. > :57:12.owls, there will be more rain at times, there's a lot of spring watch
:57:13. > :57:16.weather to come, we've found that out the hard way going from sunshine
:57:17. > :57:21.to something not just cloudy about wet and windy across a lot of the
:57:22. > :57:25.UK. This level has stolen our spring and tomorrow it takes the rain into
:57:26. > :57:29.Scotland, blustery elsewhere with loads of showers, by Wednesday and
:57:30. > :57:33.dryer gap between weather systems but it's not very big, another
:57:34. > :57:37.coming in for Thursday with more rain tough hunting to might further
:57:38. > :57:41.barn owls but tomorrow night is looking drier. It's not a constant
:57:42. > :57:45.rain, there are gaps between weather systems but for any of our birds,
:57:46. > :57:50.protecting their chicks in this weather is difficult. Like the Black
:57:51. > :57:57.Caps, covering them not just to keep them dry but on the cool side, it is
:57:58. > :58:01.going to drier tomorrow, it could be swaying around tomorrow with showers
:58:02. > :58:04.rustling through Wednesday, more rain on Thursday, next week is
:58:05. > :58:08.looking better, until then, hunker down, the weather is in the wrong
:58:09. > :58:12.season, it is like Autumnwatch has come early. It certainly is like
:58:13. > :58:17.Autumnwatch. We've got breaking news because our Robins unbelievably have
:58:18. > :58:25.started to fledge. We saw this just minutes ago. One of these young
:58:26. > :58:30.Robins has left the nest. Not a sensible strategy. On a rainy night.
:58:31. > :58:34.We'll catch up with them tomorrow. Join the us at 8pm on BBC Two. We
:58:35. > :58:42.will see you bye.