Springwatch Episode 5 Springwatch

After an action packed week the comings and goings over

Our Blue Tit family were living dangerously...our swallow

And I've travelled to Perthshire in Scotland to celebrate

Welcome to Spring watch. It is the second week coming live from

Gloucester. To be honest we've had a damp day. We had a very damp day. It

has been lashing down. The weather has changed dramatically. As for the

wildlife, there have been a lot of comings and goings and a lot of

birds staying still. Let's start with the nation's favourite bird,

the robin. There are four chicks in there, there are 12 days old. They

are very different to the adults. Instead of the red breast they've

got is lofty -- spotty plumage on their chest. You can see the nest is

clearly sheltered but they are keeping down in the warmth of it.

Let's see what happens, the adult has been feeding them. You can see

the lovely red breast on the robin. They were really teasing us from

Thursday onwards. I love those little tufty bets on their heads. We

thought why Monday they would be gone but the rain started and they

decided to stay put which is, actually, pretty sensible. Even

though they fled, they don't fly for another couple of days and they

don't leave the area for another couple of weeks. They probably made

a good choice to stay nice and warm. No rain has fallen into that nest.

They do want to get out. When they get to that stage you don't want all

your checks in one basket. If they can move out of the surrounding

area, a predator might get one of them but not a whole lot. We expect

to see that. Another group of birds we were looking at was swallows.

Here's the outside of the barn. But I'm afraid the nest is empty. Who

could be the culprit? These cunning crows have their own broods which

are pretty hungry. This is what happened on Saturday morning. Look

who arrives, this jackdaw has spotted them. You can see him with

it in its beak. Rapidly it comes back. It takes a second check. One

of the adults returns. You can see that there is a problem. There is a

little fracas. It is a mismatch. The Swallow will not drive this bird

away. Once this cruel learns the whereabouts of the food it will keep

coming back and taking it. You can see the third and final check

disappears. Jackdaws, member of the crow family, they are famed for

taking eggs and chicks out of the nest. But we spoke to Lee Barber. He

has been monitoring study. They found 81% of diet was meet but none

of it through nest robbing. They feed on invertebrates. This is

relatively unusual for jackdaws. Unlucky for those swallows. My mum

will be very upset. What about the jackdaws. Somebody out there, there

will be a little cute jackdaw. It needs food as well. Disappointing

for the swallows but they will re-nest and make another one. You

can empathise with the prey but you must not demonise the predator. What

has happened to our blue tips? We thought they might fledge that

evening if not Friday or Saturday. A lot of you were watching WebCams.

Over a million watched it on Facebook live. For those who were

not watching, here is an update. We noticed that the checks were already

well developed but one of them, who recall Runty, was smaller than the

rest. Despite his size he had huge character. He grabbed 40% of the

food. We have high hopes he would make it through. In fact, he was the

least of our concerns. A woodpecker was becoming increasingly interested

in the box, looking for a quick takeaway. Every time he did, you

could see them quietly waiting for the probing tongue to disappear. The

glimmer of hope was he only seemed to explore the nest in the

afternoon. If they were going to make it safely the morning would be

the best time to go. So to our relief on Saturday morning. The

fledging started. With no woodpecker around, they were

making it safe. As the morning progressed, it started to become

clear that something was wrong with Runty. As the last of his siblings

left, he became too weak to carry on. The adult came back but by that

point it was too late. He was gone. What we've got to remember is for a

family of blue tips, eight out of nine is a brilliant return. It shows

you how well they've done to get these gorgeous fluff balls into the

world. Eight out of nine is a good success but we were rooting for

Runty. Very often when adults give birth to their young they can

identify if there is something wrong with them. If they give birth to a

letter you have three or four who are the same. You think, why are

they driving that one out? When it dies and you get a postmortem, it

has problems, somehow or other, they can now that. Maybe they were not

giving it enough food. Yesterday it was given loads of food. I know.

Maybe they were giving it food but it was not going anywhere. It is a

shame but it out of nine got out there. They have a really

astonishing survival rate. 38%, if they fledged successfully, will get

through their first year. That is very high when you think about all

the things that are out there. It is really good. There is so much

involved in raising a family successfully. They need to find

plenty food. But having a good start to life can affect more than just a

better chance of survival. Britain's only true aquatic songbird, the

debtor, is perfectly adapted to a river lifestyle. -- the dipper. When

they are not under what they habitually bob up and down on the

surface. It is thought it is a way of signalling around the noisy

rivers and streams where they live. The best way to let other dippers

now that you're around is to sing. Unlike most other songbirds, they

sing all year round, helping them defend their territories. The

importance of it is being investigated in the Yorkshire Dales.

I like this office, it is bird-watching with a bit of style.

It is luxurious. Here is the female coming now. This river is very rich

in food. It is a prime location. What my research really is about,

trying to understand song development. There has been an idea

from captive studies of birds but when checks are developing in the

nest, the amount of food they receive can actually affect the

quality of their song in adult food. Each year, Stewart follows up to 40

nests, monitoring every aspect of their life and recording how they

sing. This is a male, it was raised somewhere, food was plentiful,

producing a nice, rich, complex song. Even I can hear that the bird

is using a lot of different notes. There are a lot of different

syllables. That is obviously all the same. If we compare that with a

different male, he sounds like this. I can hear that is distinctly

different. He repeats the same notes. We have one there, that is

another one, this one is the same as these here. That is three and four.

That is fascinating. The basic message is if there is less food

coming in, mum and dad are not feeding you as much, you will

produce a simpler song. Is it because you have not got the time to

learn a complex song or because you have not got the energy? It is about

the time and energy. You can invest in the growth of your brain. How

will it affect the check as it grows into adult food? If you have a more

complex song you will have higher reproduction success. These males

are singing to advertise to the neighbouring males that they are in

good shape, so stay away. Defending the right territory is key, but the

look of a place can be deceiving. This looks beautiful. It is an

absolutely beautiful location but you just look at this stream, you

can imagine there is a lot less food available in this water. They've got

to go several hundred meters down that way.

Can you hear that? That is the chicks being fed. In a territory

like this they are getting less food during the growth period. That

completely backs up your theory and data but how relevant is it, how can

those results be used for conservation? I think this research

is all about understanding what goes on in the early part of life and how

it can affect animals in the later part of life and thinking of the

bigger picture that allows us to understand how wildlife response to

environmental change. I guess that applies to so many species including

ourselves, it is all about your upbringing, you need a good home,

lots of food, it makes you a strong healthy successful person or in this

case, dipper! What the beautiful thing. And absolutely joyous little

piece of science. Doctor Stewart Sharp, we salute you. It makes sense

that he went out there and proved it. Fantastic, fantastic. We don't

have any dippers at Sherborne, some vagrants when they get lost although

we do have lovely bricks and rivers. What have we got? This is down on

the Sherborne broke. You can see a Mullard. It's a rather miserable

looking one because the weather is pretty miserable out there this

evening but nevertheless this environment, it's incredibly

beautiful and also incredibly productive. You see it is an

eco-climb, where land meets water therefore you have to wrest real

animals using it and aquatic animals and semiaquatic and amphibious

animals using it. -- an eco-climb it. So it is an area of tremendous

richness and importance when it comes to biodiversity. Let me tell

you about it. The European Water Framework has looked at the quality

of rivers in Europe and only 42% of them are in ideologically good

status. That sounds poor, 43% but what about those in Britain. I am

shocked to say it's only 17% of British reverse that and only 0.08%

of them that are in high order -- 17% of British reverse. So our

rivers are not in too good condition. Water for irrigating farm

crops, run-off from farms, spillages from sewage works, run-off from

Rhodes is another issue and pollutants finding their way into

those watercourses. This is a tragedy because this particular

habitat can be enormously rich, the range of species that lived here is

absolutely phenomenal. It starts with all the plans, of course, but

then you've got the insects that feed upon those and the insects that

feed upon insects like dragonflies, you need the image and vegetation

for things like mayflies to get out of the water. When you have

amphibian is you have grass snakes and with all this food you have

mammals that come here to feed as well. Things like water voles. And

keystone predators in this environment like otters. And they

simply cannot live in areas which are polluted and where there is no

fringing vegetation. Let's take a look at this here. This is a diagram

of the riparian son as we call it and this is an idealised section on

the right. -- the riparian zone. We want Forest, trees on the bank and

they act as a buffer for any diffuse pollutants blowing through the air,

perhaps sprayed onto fields. That stops them reaching into the

waterways. And when there is run off, and the storm or flood, if you

have trees, this stops all those pollutants from getting into the

water and slows the water and stops the flooding. In the water itself

you have all this vegetation here, you have the insects, a place for

the otters to make their homes, altogether the structural diversity

of this is very important. What happens if you take away the

woodland, you hack the bank away and can analyse the river, then you've

got a potential disaster because all of those pollutants can buy directly

into the run-off washes the soil of the surface, it comes down into

here, your gravel gets choked up, fish eggs can't breathe and nor can

your insects and what you've got here is a big horrible nasty mess.

This is what we want when we look at a riparian environment. Gillian.

Chris, that was an amazing explanation and an even more amazing

picture. He's an artist, who knew. That's not very artistic. Abstract

expression in its finest form. Definitely abstract! So much wasted

talent! Here at Sherborne Park estate the National Trust has been

working hard to restore the historic water meadows found on the estate.

And the result is that some of our favourite water birds are making

themselves at home here. This is a more hand. -- moorhen. Sometimes

called a swamp chicken! And tufted ducks, these will only venture into

deep water if they have the sanctuary of shallow water to

retreat to. So these margins are important to them and the codes

which are often mistaken for riparian Dexter, you can tell the

difference because of those pure white beaks, and the shields on

their head, they are aggressive birds, and they will defend their

nesting sites and will also practised infanticide which is when

they kill the smallest of the weakest of the brood. This is a

stress response to low food availability. So having these rich,

abundant riparian habitats is very important to them. As they could see

with that last shot all these ducks will nest in the reed beds and if

you have a well-managed riparian zone it can attract other nesting

birds as well. Birds like herons which are attracted by the healthy

food supply but also by the trees. In a good riparian zone he will have

lots of trees which will attract herons, egrets, they can nest and

build their homes there, and kingfishers as well, if you have a

stable bank they can nest thereby excavating and borrowing in. If you

have that good zone along the river bank then you can provide a whole

ecosystem for host of wildlife. There's a small number of breeding

pairs of really beautiful birds often associated with rivers, found

on this estate. We've had one live camera on the nest. It's in an

absolutely beautiful location down by the way, near the boathouse. If

you look carefully to the right of the screen, there it is. A grey

wagtail. The name does it such a disservice, they are so beautiful.

These birds, this nest, has only just been hatching out in the last

24 hours. And at the moment we think that our for chicks, there may be a

fifth egg waiting to hatch but that is what they've got at the moment.

If we look at the nest, the live camera, there we have, that is one

of the pairs. What's interesting is, through all the downstairs, both

pairs have been sharing the load -- both parents, going to and fro with

a lot of food the chicks. But the weather we've been having isn't the

best time for them to hatch because it's quite a challenge for the

parents to feed the chicks. Can I just say it is a beautiful bird, the

name grey wagtail does not do it justice. So attractive, so

characterful. We should rename it grey wagtail with the lovely sort of

yellow front. I can see that in the school textbooks! Will be following

the fortunes of those birds, in the next couple of days, let's catch up

with Martin, on his road trip, we saw him in Wales, he is now in

Scotland. We don't need a satellite, will have excellent telephone

connectivity, Scotland is a very civilised place. We are in

Perthshire. Let me show you on the map precisely where we are. There is

Sherborne where Chris and Michaela and Gillian are, I was there with

Iolo and here is why I'm now. An extremely beautiful part of country.

In the air, you can see the rivers, some of the most famous funds in

Scotland, the Spay, the Tay, that is where we are and on the rivers a lot

of beautiful wildlife. Including what we saw earlier, those lovely

birds and their chicks. I have to keep my voice low. Why are we here.

We are hoping to bring you live shots of beavers. There's a clump of

birds with Willow, that is a beaver lodge and we know that there beavers

inside. Beavers are fascinating animals. A family group, to or three

adults, and maybe to youngsters, kits in there as well. Let's look at

the beavers in more detail. OK. Here are the beavers. They are nervous

when they are out of water, so they tend to always be by the water and

they are forever feeding. They have a very poor digestive system, it is

difficult to absorb food so they eat and eat and eat. They are very

vulnerable when they are out of the water. A lot of predators will have

a go at them, foxes and the kits can be taken by owls, even by Pike under

the water. The kits of the youngsters. What they will do is,

they will take the food across to the large and then they will dive

down with it, they don't feed outside because it is too dangerous.

It goes into the lodge and they have a special feeding area. OK, we've

got a live camera, let's go to it now. It is fixed on the lodge now.

Can we see anything? We can't. Nothing there at the moment. It's

very difficult, because when they come out of the lodge often they

will just go milestone river. So the cameraman on much trip hazard

difficult job. Critical point, beavers are not invasive species,

they are indigenous animals. They work in Britain for thousands of

years but we made them extinct about 400 years ago. That is a crucial

point. Look at this. There are beaver signs everywhere. They've

taken down this tree, they can take down a really big tree. They tend to

do it alongside the river, there are stumps all the way down here. How do

they do it? It is fascinating. What they do is, one beaver will have one

tree, like its project and it will begin biting at an angle of 135

degrees to the vertical. Then it will turn it head upside down and

bite and 45 degrees, almost exactly the same angle all

the way through and then it will rotate itself around until the tree

falls down. And they stop about every ten minutes when they are

biting to have a rest and sharpen their teeth, they keep their teeth

razor-sharp. Apart from chopping down trees what else to beavers do?

They are renowned for building dams. A couple of days ago I went out with

Bob Smith to have a look at the beavers's fine engineering

abilities, just a few miles from where we are standing now.

I just saw a frog, there it he goes, there he goes! Was spotted. Even

fish rising. You see them in the big pond. An awful lot of things

benefiting from this work. Yes. Another beautiful pond, beautiful in

this light. Insects moving here as well. You can see here the amount of

materials they are using to build the dam. How can a beaver carry

something of that size and weight, you cannot put it in his mouth. With

their front paws, they just waddle and push it, they were Rowlett up.

The beavers will come along and see this. They will think, there's water

escaping, and of course this is their environment where they feel

safe so they will start pushing up more of this mad to dumb it up and

stop the water escaping. So if they hear the sound of the water at night

that is the signal for them to start building. Not just hearing, feeling,

they can feel running water. And is a stimulus. And this is actual...

You can see their footprints. A couple of wee ones here as well. So

there be on the other side, pushing... They could come to this

site and bullet. Looking at all this, this is the work of perhaps a

dozen beavers. Probably for. For of them doing this! We could learn from

them about industry and hard work. Amazing engineers, extraordinary.

They've put up and down 1.5 metres long in a single night. Just to

remind you we have a camera over there on that lodge, the beaver

lodge. Let's go live to that camera now. Can we see anything? We can't.

Nothing there. But just before we came on air we did see some activity

so we know they are there. Let's look at what we saw. There it was.

We know that they are there. And there were both of them, to beavers

diving around. The trouble is that he beaver can hold its breath for 16

seconds and swim for 800 metres underwater in a single hit so we've

got a bit of a job that we will try to get you live beavers during the

show. Now from one a rare Scottish mammal to another. The beautiful

Scottish Highlands, one of the wildest places in the UK. Ian Mason

had been coming here on holiday for 20 years but in 2014 he decided to

take the plunge and move you permanently. Little did he know that

it would not be just his family that were moving in. Not long after he

arrived, he came face to face with one of Britain's rarest mammals.

Something just hit me on the chest, it landed on the wall, it turned

round and looked at me and we were just gazing at each other and that

was it, we had a relationship and I've been watching this pine marten

ever since. Since the first encounter the female has been back

many times and since then, Ian has been putting out food. She loves

peanuts, and raisins. Her favourite food of all is strawberry jam. She

will find it within minutes. Although still a wide animal -- wild

animal, she felt comfortable in his workshop and did not seem bothered

by the human comings and goings. But she was not just coming here for a

hand-out. She had actually moved in. The potential to film a pine marten

in the wild was an opportunity we could not resist. So at the start of

March we transformed his living room into a Spring watch hop. Two weeks

later it seemed that our efforts had paid off. We caught our first

glimpses of the female. I'm really hopeful she will hang around because

she might have kits. Pine marten is give birth between March and April.

Even though they will choose buildings, they are very rarely

observed doing this. It is so exciting to watch her on screen. I

really hope she hangs around. The female seemed at home and she

continued to sleep in the bar for the next few nights. -- barn. But as

the spring equinox dawned, the weather took a wintry term. It

seemed like the workshop was the perfect place to ride out the storm,

except the female was nowhere to be seen in the barn was now empty. What

had happened? At the storm scared her off? We were not sure but

presumed she had left. As we were about to go up to Scotland and

retrieve our cameras, we got a call from Ian because he'd seen this.

Look at that! He had seen two adorable little kits. They are born

blind and only open their eyes at five weeks old. This could be the

first time they've explored and you can see them in the loft and they

are so adorable. What happened? Maybe she had various sites and give

birth in a different one, maybe she had them in one and then moved them.

She could have been outside and moved them in another area. Like the

stalks we have, they take the food and it can become smelly. It

attracts predators. It is quite usual that they move them around. I

think they were born outside the wood and she shifted them around.

But we got some fantastic views of them and they soon began to explore.

These are highly arboreal predators. They need to be able to claim very

well up and down the trees and pursue their prey. They have

semi-retractable claws like weasels and wolverines. Clearly not quite

right at the moment. This is good practice. This is what it is about.

That is not play, that is practice. Soon it will need to go up a plane

tree and Chase a squirrel. It is very funny to watch. Here are the

females coming in with of all -- with this little rodent. She cannot

interest the kits at this stage. They will start to be fully weaned

by seven or eight weeks but at this point they are not on solid food

yet. It is probably because they are suckling a lot and we got shots of

that as well. By this time they should be finished and then they

emerge out of the den and the Explorer. You can see that one

particular kit is thoroughly enjoying a good bit of milk. I

remember when my child would do that, falling asleep halfway

through. You can see the whole family is sort of feeding and then

sleeping. It is an exhausting business. Look where they have

chosen to make the den. It is about the itchy is to place on the planet.

We will follow the fortunes of those kits over the next few days. We've

been having a festival of raptors here. Let's go live to one of the

stars of that show, the Peregrine Vulcans on Salisbury Cathedral. This

is what I hoped we would see. A dutiful female acting as an avian

umbrella. You can see she's been doing that all day long. Even though

this nest is on the parapet, it is not protected from the elements. She

looks well sod and as a result of that. Let's see what they've been up

to over the weekend. The mail has been bringing in a lot of food. It

is difficult to identify because they pluck the food before they

bring it. You don't get many feathers. And here, if fresh food is

not brought in, the female brings the food down to the larder. The

larder is very full at the moment because they've only got the one

cheque. That looks like a song thrush. We see a great range of

species being brought in. An enormous abundance of food. They

will continue to use it until it goes completely rotten. Look at this

check. It is bursting. Spoiled rotten. It is getting all the food

that it needs. Typically it would be in a brood of more youngsters.

Perhaps three or four. It can barely move. It is just an eating or

sleeping machine at this time. Let's look at the bothered, another cheque

in a very exposed neck of the woods. I wonder how long this rain will go

on for. It is not great for young checks. Look at the wings spread

out. Let's have a look at what has been going on over the weekend. We

had a lot of rain. Peeking out from underneath there. Wet weather brings

some advantages. Here is a worm that the adult has brought in. A lot of

other things you would expect to be easier to hunt. This is a common

toad trying to pack at itself and have difficulties. The adult bird is

taking little bits and gently feeding the check. Next on the menu

is a frog. It will try to feed itself. The adult is giving it a

helping hand. Again, a single cheque. It is absolutely fool. It is

the kestrels who are not so exposed. They are in the church. They are

quite hidden away in a little window. It is disappearing with

those for checks ravenously trying to get as much food as they possibly

can. I've got to say, just round the tale of the female. There is clearly

a lot of squabbling going on. It is going to get it! Don't even try.

You're just not going to do it. They are doing well. My word. Is that

seriously going? That is definitely eyes too big for the belly. Let's go

back north of the border. Our intrepid explorer really likes a

challenge. Trying to seek one of Britain's most secretive animals in

the wild. I'm up in Scotland, it is incredibly frustrating because we

keep seeing little ripples. It could be a beaver. When they are alarmed

it is true that they slap their tails to warn other believers. Last

night, we came up here and I stayed up till 2am with my camera. I did

not really. The camera team did and they managed to see this. Sure

enough, almost at exactly this time, there was beaver. We think there are

possibly two adults and another two kits. This year, it is the same.

Moving that food around. So that they can feed undisturbed.

Fascinating that they have got this adaptation that as soon as their

nose touches the water, the year is clamped down so they don't get any

water at all into their bodies. I think that one was probably going up

to look for a little bit of food. We waited and then we got our thermal

camera out and carried on trying to find the Beavers on this stretch of

water. Here they are, you can see them at the warm dock. You can see

it growing in the water. There is a trail of warm water behind it. They

are less nervous and they will come out to look for food. They are very

nervous. Look at the tail. Strong tendons. It will use its tail to

power through the water. It is using its super powerful teeth to chop

down the willow. They are very choosy in the cheese that they like

to eat -- trees. It has got something, bringing it down into the

water. They will not eat outside. They are superbly adapted to being

out in the water. They will take that back and feed together. They

are the second biggest rodent in the world. A beaver can get 38

kilograms. They are a very big animal. Are they a good thing or a

bad thing? The Scottish beaver trial reported back to the government and

said they can provide increased storage and add to the enjoyment of

the environment. They have a positive influence on biodiversity.

The farmers union have got concerns. They have complained that Beavers

have damaged commercial fields. They will become a European protected

species later this year. But they are being shot. They want to shoot

them and get rid of as many as they can. They are not just in Scotland.

Look at this. That is where we are. The remora Beavers over there. Don't

hear in Devon there is a good project going that I was involved

with, releasing the first one is two years ago. Since then, they've added

another to Beavers to that project to increase the genetic diversity.

That was this year. That no 20 individuals in the river. All thanks

to Mark Elliott, of the Devon wildlife trust, a driving force

behind this. I touched this one and it gave me a good old splash in the

face as it went! Are also beavers in Wales and fascinating Project in

Cornwall where the local wildlife trust are cooperating with the

farmer to see if the beavers can stop flooding on one village that is

very flood prone. It will be fascinating to see if they can help.

From one watery world to a miniature watery world. On a windswept heath

lies a lone pool where it is a male raft spider basks in the spring

sunshine. He has spent the winter in bed deep slumber emerging as the

days become longer and warmer. Despite his small stature he is

about to embark on an adventure epic in scale. He is in search of a mate.

Across the pond a female raft spider also on the move, her mind on other

matters. In the breeding season that she needs plenty of nutrients if she

is to develop her eggs and this female is angry. She needs to create

an ambush and this looks like a good spot. With relatively poor A side,

raft spider 's rely on sensory leg hairs to detect their prey --

relatively poor eyesight. With front legs outstretched, has attuned to

the slightest vibration on the surface of the water she settles to

wait. Meanwhile the mail is in search of silk. Using his to front

legs he gently manipulates the mosque, feeling for strands left

behind by a wandering female. These fine filaments are impregnated with

pheromones, a silk road leading directly to her. He has found the

trail. Now it is a race against time to locate the female. Following the

silken thread he comes to the water's edge. Sink or swim time. But

he is perfectly adapted to the task at hand. The tiny hairs that line

his body contract pockets of air keeping him buoyant on the water

surface. But Crossing open water can spell danger. Frogs rely on movement

to hand and the male spider catches his eye. -- to hunt.

It is a close call but a patch of reeds provides sanctuary. Still in

her sport the female has waited hours for a meal. -- in her spot.

Conserving her energy for the perfect moment, she holds her nerve.

Eventually her patience pays off. A pond skater skates to close and in a

flash she strikes. Her legs envelope the skater and she sinks in her

finals. Finally she can eat. -- she sinks in her fangs. From this

resting place among the reeds the male spots the movement. The end of

his silk Road is in sight. The female. But as he makes his

approach, the clouds close in, a spring shower is on its way.

Raindrops began to fall like bombs on the water's surface. The female

dashes for cover at the water's edge. Undeterred, the mail follows.

After finally finding her he want to let her out of his site now. -- he

will not let her out all his site now. A bit troubled mail finally

makes a tentative approach towards the female. -- a bit troubled mail.

Delicately tapping his feet on the ground he begins to court her. He

brushes his foot against hers. She succumbs to his touch and mirrors

his affection. Before rolling over to allow him to mate with her.

Gently he uses his palpae to transfer a parcel of sperm to her

coming he has now successfully passed on his jeans to the next

generation of raft spider 's but once mated it is time for him to

beat a retreat coming his work is done. For the female co-workers just

beginning. Come the summer she will have young to rear, another mini

drama that will play out in a tiny ephemeral pool in the middle of a

vast heath. -- for the female, her work is just beginning. Fantastic.

One of only a few species of British spider that can break the skin, they

have fangs big enough to bite into us although no venom is transferred,

nothing happens. You've terrified loads of people! No, No. We have had

jays and bluetits so it's time to introduce you to a new nest. A bird

that nests low down in the brambles and shrubs. A common widespread

warbler, the black cap. Let's look at the nest. This is the female

sitting on the nest. You can see it as a female because it has a sort of

brown cap. The mail has the black cap. Is this the live picture now? I

think it is. Let's see what has been going on in the last couple of days.

There are five chicks. That's the mail coming in with fat black cap.

You can see there's a much smaller chip to the side. That's the female

now. And we have noticed that it is always that little chick that is

pushed to the side. The nest is on a slant and even when she broods, that

little one is left out. That's not good news is particularly now the

weather has turned and it is cold and wet. And I am sorry to say that

that little chick did not make it. If we quickly go back to the life

nest, we can see that the nest is still at an angle. And we were very

worried that maybe another chick would fall out of the nest. It's

like a slippery water slide. We could not get a clear view there but

just before we came on life we were told that a fourth chick, sadly, a

fourth chick has not made it. So there are three left. Let's hope

they all cling on. It isn't great, is it. It's hard to watch. Shall we

look at our live barn owl cameras? There is a female. This is typical.

She has been on the nest for quite some time. Nothing to do with

whether but we have been following this for some time, of course, and

the story so far is that chicks number one and none too hatched to

weeks ago, number three hatched for days later and it is still

noticeably smaller than the other to. Then over the weekend the

largest cheque took it upon him or herself to have a go at swallowing

an entire vole. Rather than being fed in pieces. You've got to admire

his ambition! This is no small feat, it took all of five minutes. That is

true grit and determination. Fatties who ate all the pies, Gillian, isn't

it! -- that is. This is a really good sign that one of those chicks

is well on its way. What we also see is that one of the eggs remains an

hatched. I think it's safe to say that this one is not viable

especially as we think there may have been a crack in it. This female

is so attentive that she is still trying to incubate this egg but as

the chicks get bigger they will get boisterous and she'll have to come

off the nest. A great sign for that big cheque. He reminds me of those

characters in the film Wall-E. I've never seen that film, although we do

have to worry about our barn owls because this heavy rain isn't good

for them hunting, their soft feathers are easily waterlogged and

they cannot hear their prey with the pattern of raindrops on the ground.

If the next few nights continue rainy things could be in trouble. A

man who will know the answer to this is the one and only Nick Mallett

from the BBC weather Centre. It will be difficult to night for the barn

owls, there will be more rain at times, there's a lot of spring watch

weather to come, we've found that out the hard way going from sunshine

to something not just cloudy about wet and windy across a lot of the

UK. This level has stolen our spring and tomorrow it takes the rain into

Scotland, blustery elsewhere with loads of showers, by Wednesday and

dryer gap between weather systems but it's not very big, another

coming in for Thursday with more rain tough hunting to might further

barn owls but tomorrow night is looking drier. It's not a constant

rain, there are gaps between weather systems but for any of our birds,

protecting their chicks in this weather is difficult. Like the Black

Caps, covering them not just to keep them dry but on the cool side, it is

going to drier tomorrow, it could be swaying around tomorrow with showers

rustling through Wednesday, more rain on Thursday, next week is

looking better, until then, hunker down, the weather is in the wrong

season, it is like Autumnwatch has come early. It certainly is like

Autumnwatch. We've got breaking news because our Robins unbelievably have

started to fledge. We saw this just minutes ago. One of these young

Robins has left the nest. Not a sensible strategy. On a rainy night.

We'll catch up with them tomorrow. Join the us at 8pm on BBC Two. We

will see you bye.