:00:22. > :00:25.Sarah Beynon. Welcome to Cambridge. This is a wildlife programme with a
:00:25. > :00:30.difference. You're not going to see fluffy bunny rabbits are frolicking
:00:30. > :00:33.lambs, instead we have got wildlife with attitude. We're going to
:00:33. > :00:40.wildlife places with a difference to see wildlife thriving in unusual
:00:40. > :00:46.urban habitats. In Cambridge, a mystery creature that's turning
:00:46. > :00:49.summer in the winter. And a bird that was once thought to hibernate
:00:49. > :00:54.under water. Cambridge is famous for its ancient colleges, historic
:00:54. > :01:00.buildings, but there's another side to the city. Yeah, it is a side that
:01:00. > :01:06.lots of people are unaware of and we will see that later on.
:01:06. > :01:09.But first, a usually secretive creature is causing quite a stir.
:01:09. > :01:14.Wildlife enthusiasts from all over the country are making a beeline to
:01:14. > :01:21.this town to find out what the fuss is about. I was intrigued as well so
:01:21. > :01:26.I went along to find out for myself. Norfolk once was home to the
:01:26. > :01:33.mysterious warrior Queen Boudicca, and has seen its share of invaders.
:01:33. > :01:40.But one type of invasion has been unexpected.
:01:40. > :01:45.This is a wildlife story that has taken Thetford by surprise. If we
:01:45. > :01:51.get too close sometimes they come up and make strange noises. It is
:01:51. > :01:56.hilarious. We love it. And this is what the big surprise
:01:56. > :02:06.is. One of the most fearsome hunters of the river has set up camp right
:02:06. > :02:07.
:02:07. > :02:10.I was desperate to see the otter for myself. But looking around such a
:02:10. > :02:14.built-up town it seemed impossible that an otter would be attracted to
:02:14. > :02:18.a built-up urban environment like this.
:02:18. > :02:25.You've got a car park over there, graffiti, it feels like the wrong
:02:25. > :02:34.kind of setting. I absolutely agree with you and it is quite unusual
:02:34. > :02:38.that the otters are here. I'm going to look for them but they
:02:38. > :02:42.are also a skittish bunch so I have asked an otter expert to help me
:02:42. > :02:47.out. We set it up so that the food is
:02:47. > :02:52.here for them and their habitat is here for them. And just across the
:02:52. > :02:56.bridge is where they're meant to be. It is incredible that such an
:02:56. > :03:02.elusive animal has been seen here hunting during the day and is almost
:03:02. > :03:12.just part of the Thetford now. That is because our rivers are
:03:12. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:23.Morning. Good morning. Are you hoping to see the otters? We were
:03:23. > :03:28.hoping to, yes. We might be out of luck. Have you seen them lately? Not
:03:28. > :03:36.for about two weeks. One then just caught a fish and brought it out of
:03:36. > :03:43.the bank about a foot from myself. Took no notice of me and the dog.
:03:43. > :03:49.Totally unfazed by the fact you were there? Totally unfazed. Wonderful.
:03:49. > :03:55.They'll come out onto the bank here. They'll come out there? Oh, yes, we
:03:55. > :04:03.see them all the time now. I can tell that you are excited. We just
:04:03. > :04:10.love it. It is amazing that you've got this little old river going
:04:10. > :04:14.through a town with otters. Right up at your feet. Brilliant.
:04:14. > :04:20.Just because other people see them doesn't mean we're going to see them
:04:20. > :04:28.today. We got to have a bit of patience. Exactly. Fingers crossed.
:04:28. > :04:38.We've just got to sit here quietly and listen.
:04:38. > :04:38.
:04:38. > :04:46.And that is what we did, all morning. But without any luck. Later
:04:46. > :04:50.in the day, we found some tell-tale signs.
:04:50. > :04:54.We spotted an otter spraint here on a tree stump which is a classic
:04:54. > :05:02.sprainting site. This is used as a communication site so other otters
:05:02. > :05:08.will know it has been here. Despite finding the droppings, sadly, there
:05:08. > :05:12.was no sign of that elusive otter. Otters were driven to the edge of
:05:12. > :05:16.extinction by pollution and the lack of suitable habitat. But naturalist
:05:16. > :05:20.Philip Webb bred in captivity in Suffolk and some were released into
:05:20. > :05:25.the wild in the 1980s. There are now thought to be otters in every county
:05:25. > :05:31.in England. But I don't think anyone thought that it would also mean
:05:31. > :05:34.otters would move into towns. While most people in Thetford are glad to
:05:34. > :05:38.have otters living so close, the presence has caused a headache for
:05:38. > :05:44.some. It seems the animal isn't just content sticking to the rivers when
:05:44. > :05:50.it comes to hunting for food. I came out to catch the dog because
:05:50. > :05:55.it was making so much noise. And it was hurtling around the pond. I
:05:55. > :06:00.shone the torch in the pond and the otter was sitting over there.
:06:00. > :06:10.So the otter was in your pond feeding on your fish? You lost eight
:06:10. > :06:15.fish? The best bits. Do you have any left? There is one left the nearby
:06:15. > :06:23.that has been damaged. It has teeth marks down the side of its body.
:06:23. > :06:27.Have you found them? He's down there. There he is. The otters have
:06:28. > :06:30.had a go and take in the other ones but this one has survived but
:06:30. > :06:37.barely. You can see where it has been ripped
:06:37. > :06:45.off. The marks down here. The couple aren't taking any
:06:45. > :06:50.chances. They put a wire mesh over the other pond.
:06:50. > :06:54.5am and dawn is just breaking in Thetford. While most of the town is
:06:54. > :07:04.still sleeping I come back to try my luck again. I'm determined to see an
:07:04. > :07:27.
:07:27. > :07:32.otter. Within just 20 minutes I see Do you see him? There he is.
:07:32. > :07:42.I can't believe we've only been here just a few minutes. The otter is
:07:42. > :08:03.
:08:03. > :08:13.Oh, my gosh. He's gone really low, really deep, really deep.
:08:13. > :08:23.
:08:23. > :08:30.Hello. It has really paid off coming back. This early in the morning we
:08:30. > :08:40.get to see the Thetford otter. It's really special. He's saying good
:08:40. > :08:45.
:08:45. > :08:50.When the alarm went off at 3:30am this morning I honestly thought why
:08:50. > :08:53.are we getting up so early? I would never believe that we would see an
:08:53. > :09:03.otter on this stretch of the river. It has been such an exciting
:09:03. > :09:06.experience and one that I will Have you ever seen an otter that
:09:06. > :09:10.close before? To be honest, I've never seen an otter before so to see
:09:11. > :09:14.it up that close was amazing. It stayed for an hour and a half and
:09:15. > :09:18.when it wanted to ditch us it was gone in a second.
:09:18. > :09:24.When you ask people to think about Cambridge what do you think springs
:09:24. > :09:27.to mind? I don't know, the colleges, students on the river.
:09:27. > :09:34.Cambridge is just like any other urban setting. Factories and its
:09:34. > :09:37.fair share of traffic jams. wouldn't think this was a great
:09:38. > :09:41.place to live if you are an animal when you could live in the
:09:41. > :09:51.countryside. But the city is full of different species and I challenged
:09:51. > :09:55.myself to find as many as possible over the course of one day.
:09:55. > :09:58.Mill Road, Cambridge, the heart of the urban jungle. It's probably the
:09:58. > :10:06.busiest, most cosmopolitan Street in the city, teeming with takeaways and
:10:06. > :10:10.students, it's the street that doesn't sleep. But it is also home
:10:10. > :10:20.to Mill Road Cemetery and it is here that we will find the most diverse
:10:20. > :10:33.
:10:33. > :10:36.Wasp beetles. These beetles look like wasps and that is a form of
:10:36. > :10:44.self defence. By being black and yellow striped they're advertising
:10:44. > :10:53.to predators that they are poisonous. There are nine acres here
:10:53. > :10:57.behind the shops and chimney pots. It has been a burial ground since
:10:57. > :11:00.1847 and it is here amongst the graves that we are hunting for the
:11:00. > :11:03.burying beetle. We are laying these traps to collect
:11:03. > :11:07.burying beetles and burying beetles are the grave-diggers of the insect
:11:07. > :11:11.world. They are called burying beetles because the male and female
:11:11. > :11:15.beetle will work together to bury the carcass of a small mammal or
:11:15. > :11:25.birds. They then strip the hair or the feathers from that carcass and
:11:25. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:42.they use those to line the crib. The world-famous Addenbrooke's
:11:42. > :11:46.Hospital. It's so busy here, thousands of people every day. But
:11:46. > :11:56.not many people stop to look up. If they did, on this building just
:11:56. > :11:59.outside they'd see the biggest college of housemartins.
:11:59. > :12:03.Maybe not the most beautiful building for people but what it has
:12:03. > :12:13.got are some fantastic opportunities for nesting. They build them out of
:12:13. > :12:13.
:12:13. > :12:20.tiny mud pellets. The pair worked together. How many pairs have you
:12:20. > :12:26.got? Over 100 nests. They came here from central and southern Africa to
:12:26. > :12:30.breed. Lots of people might want to go away to hot countries for the
:12:30. > :12:40.holidays but they come here for the serious business of raising the
:12:40. > :12:41.
:12:41. > :12:44.young. BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. It's an
:12:44. > :12:47.early start this morning. We're here at BBC Radio
:12:47. > :12:50.Cambridgeshire to see if any of the listeners have spotted any wildlife.
:12:50. > :12:53.You're looking for wildlife in Cambridge, you're bound to find
:12:53. > :13:00.some. We're looking for anything so we want people to tell us what
:13:00. > :13:07.they've seen. We set some traps up for some burying beetles. We really
:13:07. > :13:12.just want any sightings that have been found over a 24-hour period.
:13:12. > :13:20.Over there is Cambridge United from Boston, now we have some falls down
:13:20. > :13:25.here. It was lucky because they are really rare and hardly seen in urban
:13:25. > :13:35.areas. They were nearly wiped out by the American mink and are often
:13:35. > :13:41.
:13:41. > :13:46.mistaken for rats. No trip here is complete without a punt. If you
:13:46. > :13:50.haven't done it, you haven't done Cambridge. We're doing it at night
:13:50. > :13:54.as we are looking for bats. And we have got bat detectors so we can
:13:54. > :14:02.hear them coming. There you go, but is quite a rapid clicking sound.
:14:02. > :14:07.They fly very low over the water, just a couple of inches. Also known
:14:07. > :14:12.as the water bat for that reason. Just look at all the insects.
:14:12. > :14:22.that is prime feeding spot for them? That is perfect for them, it is a
:14:22. > :14:22.
:14:22. > :14:26.buffet! These are really easy to use anybody could get it bat detector
:14:26. > :14:30.and listen out that in their area. It is wonderful just open your eyes
:14:30. > :14:35.and ears to what is around you at night. There is so much life going
:14:35. > :14:40.on outside. The bats flying around, feeding on various insects. It
:14:40. > :14:43.expands your enjoyment and understanding of wildlife. We're on
:14:43. > :14:48.a busy road. There's a football stadium over there, retail park,
:14:48. > :14:55.railway line just across the way there. But down here is the Leopard
:14:56. > :14:59.Chapel, the oldest building in Cambridge. It is host to about 25
:14:59. > :15:09.different species of moths. Tonight, we're going to meet a lady who's
:15:09. > :15:09.
:15:09. > :15:15.going to try and find some of them. Hi, Louise. Hi.How are you? Good.
:15:15. > :15:18.What are you doing here? We are doing a bit of moth trapping. It is
:15:18. > :15:23.a nice mild night, the conditions are just right. What kind of species
:15:23. > :15:27.do think we might find? Who knows? It has not been a good year but we
:15:27. > :15:31.might get a common swift, we might get a hawk moth, maybe a Ruby Tiger.
:15:31. > :15:34.Brilliant. So if we leave you here for a bit and comeback in the
:15:34. > :15:40.morning and see what you have got? OK. Excellent, see you in the
:15:40. > :15:50.morning. Louise, what did you catch? It wasn't a bad night. About 20
:15:50. > :15:58.
:15:58. > :16:01.species altogether. My particular favourites are the hawk moths. This
:16:01. > :16:06.is the elephant hawk moth, one of the smaller hawk moths. What is not
:16:06. > :16:09.to like about a pink and green moth that blends in re well? It was an
:16:09. > :16:13.amazing pace, a beautiful face. This one is a bit more feisty, I'm
:16:13. > :16:17.afraid. There you go, it has settled down. That is the swallow prominent,
:16:18. > :16:21.I don't know why it is called that. It is a mid to late June species in
:16:21. > :16:24.towns across the country. So this is the angle shades. It is a fairly
:16:24. > :16:28.common moth in urban settings. Beautifully sculptured head. Looking
:16:28. > :16:34.at it from profile, it has got a little crest. It is amazing, it
:16:34. > :16:39.looks like a folded dead leaf. Rush-hour in Cambridge. As you can
:16:39. > :16:44.see, it's really busy. But here, just a few metres away in the
:16:44. > :16:51.Cambridge botanic garden, is a badger set. We have left the camera
:16:51. > :16:54.overnight. But instead of badgers, oh, dear, a muntjac triggered our
:16:54. > :16:59.sensor. There are loads of them wandering around just off the main
:16:59. > :17:04.road. Luckily though, the badgers had been caught on camera before.
:17:04. > :17:12.With the clock running down, it was time to check my tracks. Remember
:17:12. > :17:14.the open grave sin the cemetery dated with rotten flesh? -- bated. I
:17:15. > :17:18.wonder what came to dinner. Brilliant. We've got a burying
:17:18. > :17:23.beetle. These beetles work together as male and female to bury a small
:17:23. > :17:27.carcass. They pull it down into the ground, strip it of its hair or
:17:27. > :17:33.feathers. They then use that hair or feathers to line the inside of a
:17:33. > :17:39.quip that they form for the carcass. -- crip. They then spit all of the
:17:39. > :17:42.carcass and that stops the carcass rotting. They lay their eggs in the
:17:42. > :17:46.soil next to the carcass. When they hatch into lavae, they pull the
:17:46. > :17:51.lavae over to the food source and then they actually read those lavae.
:17:51. > :18:01.That form of parental care is really unheard of. These really are the
:18:01. > :18:02.
:18:02. > :18:05.undertakers of the insect world. seen a moorhen braving the rush hour
:18:05. > :18:13.to feed her chicks, a holly blue next to the Market Square and
:18:13. > :18:18.spiderling balls on roadside nettles. But maybe the best is to
:18:18. > :18:21.come. Our radio appeal had a bite. We have just had a Facebook message
:18:21. > :18:31.from Darren saying, "You guys should definitely have a look at these
:18:31. > :18:35.
:18:35. > :18:39.ermine webs on Jesus Green". Let's avenue of trees stripped of their
:18:39. > :18:49.leaves. I think this here is probably what we're looking for.
:18:49. > :18:53.
:18:53. > :19:03.before. It looks like the whole avenue has been frozen, like a scene
:19:03. > :19:13.
:19:13. > :19:16.caterpillars of an ermine moth. They've coated all these trees in
:19:17. > :19:23.silken web so that they are safe underneath to feed on the cherry
:19:23. > :19:33.tree. The visual impact is stunning. They've changed this piece of
:19:33. > :19:44.
:19:44. > :19:50.found over 50 different species. That is not unusual. Within the
:19:50. > :19:56.course of a day, you could be find that many species in any open area.
:19:56. > :20:00.Next, we'll be looking at a creature that likes to live on the wild side.
:20:00. > :20:04.Its nickname is the devil bird. A lot of people used to think it
:20:04. > :20:07.hibernate it at the bottom of Lake. It is one of the fastest, noisiest
:20:07. > :20:10.and most mysterious winged creatures. It loves to live
:20:10. > :20:14.alongside people. Given half the chance, it will even move in with
:20:14. > :20:18.you. It also loves nothing more than a night on the tiles, so I went
:20:18. > :20:21.along to the town of Fulbourn in Cambridgeshire to find out more. It
:20:21. > :20:25.is easy to think the places where we live are unappealing for wildlife,
:20:25. > :20:30.but I'm on the trail of a creature that hasn't only adapted to our love
:20:30. > :20:34.of bricks and mortar, it's actually thrived on it. This is Fulbourn in
:20:34. > :20:39.Cambridgeshire and believe it or not, it is one of the best places in
:20:39. > :20:42.the country to see one of our most mysterious and beguiling birds.
:20:42. > :20:52.They've been coming here every summer since the 1960s when the
:20:52. > :20:59.
:20:59. > :21:03.original housing estate was built. Where are they? They were screaming
:21:03. > :21:08.overhead a few moments ago, I'm sure they will be back in a moment or
:21:08. > :21:10.two. There's one in the end there, yes. Apus apus, or to you and me, a
:21:10. > :21:14.swift. For millennia, they have flown thousands of miles from
:21:14. > :21:18.southern Africa to breed in the UK, nesting in nooks and crannies in our
:21:18. > :21:21.rooftops. Swifts spend so much time on the wing, they can cover four
:21:21. > :21:31.million miles is a lifetime. Unlike housemartins and swallows, you will
:21:31. > :21:35.
:21:35. > :21:40.never see them land on power lines or rooftops. When the young birds
:21:41. > :21:45.are born, they won't touch down again for several years. Sweeping
:21:45. > :21:50.around here now. So they will be going into the gaps underneath this
:21:50. > :21:53.office? If you look there, you see? This is one I took here two or three
:21:53. > :22:03.weeks ago. Hopefully, with some food to take to their young. The design
:22:03. > :22:05.
:22:05. > :22:09.of these houses is swift heaven. One just came out! But our relationship
:22:09. > :22:13.with the Swift is fast breaking down. In a -- to make our homes more
:22:13. > :22:16.energy efficient, rooves with gaps are out. A few years ago, this
:22:16. > :22:20.entire estate was made up of houses like this, attracting more than 70
:22:20. > :22:26.pairs of nesting swifts. Now, apart from the row where Ian lives, all
:22:26. > :22:29.those houses have been demolished. And this is what they have been
:22:29. > :22:35.replaced with. Lots of plastic, no gaps for the swifts, potential for
:22:35. > :22:41.disaster. Swifts being shut out is a familiar story right across the
:22:41. > :22:45.country. Numbers are declining by three percent a year. This old mill
:22:45. > :22:48.in Saint Neots West of Cambridge used to have its own population of
:22:48. > :22:53.swifts, but last year it underwent major renovations and the old roof
:22:53. > :22:59.was ripped off. This is just one week before the swifts were due to
:22:59. > :23:02.return from Africa. This was very much an emergency. It could've been
:23:02. > :23:09.a disaster, but local swift enthusiasts came up with a unique
:23:09. > :23:14.solution. We came up with the idea of incorporating these things into
:23:14. > :23:19.the wall. This is an air brick liner, normally used to ventilate a
:23:19. > :23:27.building. We turned it around, cut a hole in it here and it makes a very
:23:27. > :23:30.adequate space for nesting swifts. Within just a few days of installing
:23:30. > :23:39.just 12 of these, two pairs of swifts moved in, negotiating the
:23:39. > :23:45.scaffold poles that were actually in front of the nest site. So, how are
:23:45. > :23:49.they doing this year? Look, one has just gone in there! That has gone
:23:49. > :23:57.into box number ten. That means we have got seven occupied boxes this
:23:57. > :24:01.year. That is more than before the roof was replaced last year. What a
:24:01. > :24:04.result! Brilliant. Campaigners have now completed more than 50 swift
:24:04. > :24:11.projects across Cambridge, putting up 800 swift boxes in schools,
:24:11. > :24:16.office blocks and churches. In fact, there is no reason why swift boxes
:24:16. > :24:23.can not be added to many of our homes. That is exactly what Dick has
:24:23. > :24:27.done to his house. Here you are, Sarah, that is what we have got.
:24:27. > :24:31.Brilliant. So how many boxes have you got up there? In the three
:24:31. > :24:35.cabinets, we've got a total of 19 boxes. In those boxes, we have five
:24:35. > :24:39.breeding pairs all sitting on eggs, we believe. In addition to the five
:24:39. > :24:47.pairs, we have also acquired three new pairs this year which we hope
:24:47. > :24:51.will stay and breed next year. This is how they spend the whole night.
:24:51. > :24:58.Dick is now turning his passion into a science using a raft of cameras so
:24:58. > :25:01.he can monitor and record the swift activity in his home. A bird
:25:01. > :25:05.recently came in out of the rain. Despite that, it still as usual
:25:05. > :25:14.barges and its partner of the nest because it is insisting that it is
:25:14. > :25:17.his turn to intubate, you get out of here and get some food. What I find
:25:17. > :25:22.extraordinary is that only a few weeks ago, some of these birds would
:25:22. > :25:27.have been living 8,000 miles away. In fact, Dick knows exactly where
:25:27. > :25:32.one of them has been because it is fitted with a tracking device. It's
:25:32. > :25:36.got as far as Mozambique. It spent a little over a week in southern West
:25:36. > :25:44.Africa, Liberia. It was there on fifth May. By 12th May, it was back
:25:44. > :25:49.in its nest box. Goodness me. With all this research that is going on,
:25:49. > :25:53.are we any closer to finding out why these birds are in trouble? It is
:25:53. > :25:59.due to the lack of nest sites here is always something going on in
:25:59. > :26:04.Africa? We're not sure if there is anything in Africa. Some birds that
:26:04. > :26:07.do similar movements in Africa, many of those are not declining. Back in
:26:07. > :26:12.this country, possibly there is something to do with the lack of
:26:12. > :26:19.insect due to chemicals. They are losing their nest sites, that is
:26:19. > :26:22.obvious. But this doesn't need to happen. The original nest sites at
:26:22. > :26:29.Fulbourn were lost when the old houses were knocked down and
:26:29. > :26:35.replaced with new houses that won't swift friendly. There is the edge of
:26:35. > :26:38.the development. Is this where they are building at the moment?
:26:38. > :26:41.local people came up with an ingenious way to encourage the birds
:26:41. > :26:44.to come back. More than 200 purpose-built swift boxes. And when
:26:44. > :26:54.the swifts take to the air, the Fulbourn Suisse group take to the
:26:54. > :27:03.streets. Either groups of swifts screaming overhead or perhaps just
:27:04. > :27:10.flying overhead in a significant route. -- group. One just went into
:27:10. > :27:14.the box up there. The one next door? So has the Fulbourn swift colony
:27:14. > :27:23.been saved? I'm pleased to say that last year there were 44 reading
:27:23. > :27:26.pairs recorded. -- breeding. The important point about that as the
:27:26. > :27:30.birds have learned were then you nest. The internal crevasses we have
:27:30. > :27:34.provided are starting to be used. So there are lessons we can learn from
:27:34. > :27:37.Fulbourne? Exactly. And seeing the swifts moving into their new homes
:27:38. > :27:41.is fantastic. What is going on here Fulbourn shows we can all make room
:27:41. > :27:51.for our wildlife, even in our more urban areas. And who wouldn't want
:27:51. > :27:57.
:27:57. > :28:01.to share their home with such a amazing to think that those people
:28:01. > :28:05.are really quite happy to share their homes with the swifts. They
:28:05. > :28:08.really were. As you can see behind us, there is a swift tower and the
:28:08. > :28:16.people of this part of Cambridge have put that tower up to attract
:28:16. > :28:19.these amazing birds to their area. love that idea. If you have been
:28:19. > :28:22.inspired by that and fancy doing something like that where you live
:28:22. > :28:26.or if you remember those caterpillars earlier and you want to