0:00:15 > 0:00:17Hello and welcome to the Urban Jungle.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Some people think that in order to see fantastic wildlife,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26you have to go deep into the countryside.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28Well, some people are wrong.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31You don't have to leave town.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33I'm Richard Taylor-Jones,
0:00:33 > 0:00:35and I love nothing more than filming wildlife.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41And that means we'll be discovering all sorts of remarkable things
0:00:41 > 0:00:43in the urban jungle, such as...
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Dover - a river runs through it.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49What I really want to do
0:00:49 > 0:00:52is get some underwater shots of fish,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54so a small underwater camera and a bit of luck,
0:00:54 > 0:00:56and hopefully we'll get it.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59The alternative nightlife of Brighton and Eastbourne.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02It's midnight and we're hunting for hedgehogs.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08And the spectacular sight of a falcon flight school
0:01:08 > 0:01:10at Bluewater Shopping Centre.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15I have filmed peregrines all over the UK,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18but I have never witnessed that - never.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26But first, a little gem -
0:01:26 > 0:01:28a rare habitat called a chalk stream.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Who'd have thought you'd find such a thing
0:01:31 > 0:01:34flowing straight through the heart of Dover?
0:01:51 > 0:01:53There was always going to be a town at Dover.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57There had to be, it being the closest place to the continent.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00It grew up around the mouth of the river Dour,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04the river that gave Dover its name.
0:02:04 > 0:02:09Yes, there is in fact a river running straight the heart of Dover,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11although you'd hardly know it today.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15But it's not any old river.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18It may be right next to the roar of the traffic,
0:02:18 > 0:02:19but this is a rare habitat.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Technically, it's known as a chalk stream.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30The source of the Dour is a more leafy area
0:02:30 > 0:02:33on the northwest outskirts of town.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Rainwater has filtered through chalk,
0:02:35 > 0:02:37which means it's incredibly pure.
0:02:39 > 0:02:40Look how clear that is.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Wow - gin clear, as they would say.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47And no silt in it. This is what's so important for the wildlife.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Not only is it pure,
0:02:49 > 0:02:54it's also at a constant temperature of about 11 degrees all year round.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58These things both contribute to making it a rare habitat.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02So let's go down the whole length of this river
0:03:02 > 0:03:04and see just what wildlife we can find.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09A couple of miles downstream,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13the river has birds that we see all the time - moorhens.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16The reason they are common may be explained
0:03:16 > 0:03:20by the way they rear their young - and it's fascinating to watch.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22We've got the parents,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26with their lovely brown backs, black fronts and red bill.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Then we've got the teenagers,
0:03:29 > 0:03:34who will be this year's first brood, rather dull brown birds,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36and then the cute little black fluffy ones,
0:03:36 > 0:03:38which are the most recent chicks.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40The great thing about these birds
0:03:40 > 0:03:43is they actually act communally, as a family.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Look at that - straight in for some bread
0:03:45 > 0:03:48a passer-by has just dropped in.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51It's got the bread, but it's not eating it itself.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Instead, it's taking it back to the young chick
0:03:54 > 0:03:57and passing it over - look at that.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01This is not a parent. The parents are the big, black glossy birds.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05This brown bird is a member of the first brood
0:04:05 > 0:04:07that would have hatched earlier in the year.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Instead of just looking after itself and disappearing off,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12it's actually helping its parents out
0:04:12 > 0:04:14with the second brood of chicks.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Look, there you go again - passing the bread over
0:04:17 > 0:04:19to the young, fluffy black chick
0:04:19 > 0:04:21that is probably only just a few days old.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25This sort of cooperative behaviour
0:04:25 > 0:04:28is, perhaps, a very good reason why moorhens are so successful.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Chalk streams are internationally rare
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and we take it for granted
0:04:39 > 0:04:42that we've got this very internationally rare habitat
0:04:42 > 0:04:43right on our doorstep.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45And the rare habitat means
0:04:45 > 0:04:50that this river is the best place in the South East for brown trout.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55I can see them perfectly well, looking down into the clear water.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59But what I really want to do is get some underwater shots of them.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01So a small underwater camera,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05a pole and some waders - and a bit of luck -
0:05:05 > 0:05:06and hopefully, we'll get it.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Brown trout are ambush predators.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21What they like to do is settle down facing upstream
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and wait for the river to bring food to them.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34This method of hunting is very efficient for the trout,
0:05:34 > 0:05:36as it doesn't have to waste energy
0:05:36 > 0:05:39swimming up and down the fast-flowing current
0:05:39 > 0:05:41looking for food.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I find it quite exciting that there is an iconic British species
0:05:44 > 0:05:46living right here in the heart of Dover.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53When you're out looking for wildlife,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56it's really important to look at the small stuff
0:05:56 > 0:05:57as well as the big stuff.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00These are called caddis flies.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03They spend most of their lives underwater as larvae
0:06:03 > 0:06:07and turn into adult winged flies during the summer.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Sometimes, it all suddenly happens at once
0:06:10 > 0:06:12and this is called a hatch.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Tens of thousands of flies take to the air
0:06:19 > 0:06:23with the sole purpose of mating as quickly as possible.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26They fly up and down to attract a mate.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Then the female, with fertilised eggs
0:06:49 > 0:06:52will fly down to the river surface to lay them.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Once this is done, the flies die.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10The flies, in their adult phase,
0:07:10 > 0:07:14may only be alive for just a few hours.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Bearing in mind the Dour goes right through the centre of Dover,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31it does need a little help to stay in tip-top condition.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Blimey, look at that! That's not a coy carp, is it?
0:07:38 > 0:07:39And it's not just a traffic cone
0:07:39 > 0:07:42that this volunteer has found in the river.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45This is an electronic tag here. Well, I never...
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Yeah. So someone who has committed a crime
0:07:47 > 0:07:51has committed another one by chucking it in the river.
0:07:51 > 0:07:52It looks a bit old, though,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56so I don't think it's worth sending out the search parties just yet.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58I think this one's long gone, hasn't he?
0:07:58 > 0:08:00At several points along its course,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02the river just disappears under the ground
0:08:02 > 0:08:07and here, for 100m, it's beneath a supermarket car park.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16Further downstream...
0:08:16 > 0:08:18I wasn't expecting brown bears.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20..I'm thinking there's a chance
0:08:20 > 0:08:23of catching another special little creature,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26as long as it doesn't prove to be too slippery.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28This is fantastic.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31We've got a yellow eel,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and that's before they go silvery and go out to sea.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40They go back to the Sargasso Sea, all the way over towards America,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42where they go to breed.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49I'm very excited about finding a yellow eel.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50They're in serious decline,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54probably because of the barriers we put in rivers,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57like locks and weirs, which disrupt their life cycle.
0:08:57 > 0:08:58Let's pop him back in.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05And now we're getting close
0:09:05 > 0:09:08to the end of our journey down the River Dour.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13And it's just another 200m, curving round to the right,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15and it comes down to the sea.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22The river finally emerges in Dover Harbour,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25in a place called De Bradelei Wharf.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29It comes out of a culvert which is under the surface.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And so I'm going in for a closer look.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44It seems such a sorry end for the river,
0:09:44 > 0:09:48to arrive at the sea by way of a submerged pipe,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52but as rivers go, it doesn't make it any less impressive.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56So that's our journey down the River Dour
0:09:56 > 0:09:58from the source to the sea.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02If you happen to be passing through Dover,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06you wouldn't know the river was there, but there it is.
0:10:06 > 0:10:11The Dour - one of the most unlikely rare habitats in the country.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Coming up, we go shopping for wildlife
0:10:32 > 0:10:34at Bluewater Retail Park.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Grass snake - let's see if we can grab him.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Lovely! Look at that.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Isn't he marvellous? He is a beauty.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43An absolutely lovely, lovely animal.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Now, there's a lot more wildlife in our towns and cities
0:10:47 > 0:10:48than you might imagine,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51and the reason you don't see some of it
0:10:51 > 0:10:53is because whilst you're fast asleep,
0:10:53 > 0:10:55the animals are wide awake.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00Natalie Graham goes in search of the nightlife of Brighton.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04MUSIC: "I Love It" by Icona Pop
0:11:06 > 0:11:09There's no shortage of nightlife in Brighton.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14When one type of nightlife ends, another begins.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24Deep into the early hours,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28the city comes alive with the creatures of the night.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Many of them are under the watchful eye of Dawn Scott.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Dawn is from the University of Brighton.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39She researches the way that wildlife and humans interact
0:11:39 > 0:11:41in towns and cities.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45With urban areas growing, especially in the South East,
0:11:45 > 0:11:47we're taking up more and more habitat,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50and what we want to know is which animals can cope with that habitat
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and how they change their behaviour and ecology.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55Foxes, hedgehogs, badgers...
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Anything living in this environment, how it's doing - that's what I'm interested in.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05It's midnight and we're hunting for hedgehogs.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Dawn reckons our best chance tonight is in Preston Park.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17And sure enough, one of Dawn's assistants
0:12:17 > 0:12:20lays her thick-gloved hands on a prime candidate.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25They weigh the hedgehog and it turns out to be a big 'un.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Wow!
0:12:27 > 0:12:301,012.4.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34They normally name their hedgehogs to help keep track,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37so what are they going to call this one?
0:12:37 > 0:12:38Big Boy, I reckon.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44Hedgehogs are in serious decline in this country.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48People often hand sick or injured ones into animal sanctuaries.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51Dawn's trying to find out what's the best thing to do
0:12:51 > 0:12:52when they get better.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57Is it best to keep them in these rehabilitation centres?
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Or, actually, if they're a good weight and they're healthy,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01to release them into the wild?
0:13:01 > 0:13:05So the plan is to tag some wild hedgehogs
0:13:05 > 0:13:07and some rehabilitated ones
0:13:07 > 0:13:10so she can follow and compare them over the winter.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Their next job is to attach a radio transmitter to Big Boy.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17This is done by the simple method
0:13:17 > 0:13:20of trimming down a few spines and gluing it on.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23As the spines grow, they eventually fall out
0:13:23 > 0:13:26and the transmitter will fall off of its own accord.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34So all we need to do now is leave him for a few days,
0:13:34 > 0:13:37then come back, track him down
0:13:37 > 0:13:39and find out how far he's gone.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51It's a different night in a different part of Brighton.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53Dawn also studies foxes.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56Because foxes are bigger, they can wear GPS collars
0:13:56 > 0:13:59which are heavier than the hedgehogs' radio transmitters.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04She's fitted eight foxes with collars to investigate their movements.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06One of the foxes is called Cedric.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08This is his home range,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11so we know all the streets he is active around.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14All these blue dots are where we've got GPS fixes on him.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16We're just about here, so there's a place up here
0:14:16 > 0:14:19where we're going to keep an eye out for whether he comes out.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21There's a place here which is where his main den site is,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23it's just round the corner.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27However, Dawn has had a report that Cedric has a limp,
0:14:27 > 0:14:30so she wants to take a look and check him out.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35The problem is the GPS doesn't work in real-time like a smartphone.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36There's a delay in the data,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40so it can't tell you where Cedric is right now.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Yeah, I think in the next hour or so he'll definitely be out and about,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45so we're going to try and catch him.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46Right, see you later.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56Night falls and we get our first sighting of a fox, but is it Cedric?
0:14:56 > 0:15:00What we've just seen is, I think it's a cub,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02so we think it's probably one of his cubs,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05cos he definitely visits here quite frequently.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08But then, a sighting behind some gates.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11So you think this is him, Dawn? I think he's got a collar.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Erm, it's difficult to see with the gates,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16but just as he turned his head it looked like it might have.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Well, it's not him, and we give up for the night,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22but we're not giving up altogether.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27It's day two of the hunt for Cedric.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33I've just seen something crossing that road.
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Act normal...
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Where's he gone?
0:15:51 > 0:15:53There he is. Top of the road. Running up.
0:15:56 > 0:15:57Yeah, got him.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07We think we've got Cedric on camera.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11To make sure, we play it back to Dawn in our technical van.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Ah. Now, there's definitely a limp there. Can you see that limp?
0:16:14 > 0:16:15Yeah, I can see that.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Yeah. Is it him? That's him, yeah.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Look, collar. See the collar?
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Oh, yes! That's fantastic.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24That's a really good shot. He has got a limp there.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Look, you can see on the front, yeah. Oh, wow. We've found him.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30He's definitely got a slight injury.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Dawn now knows that Cedric has got a limp,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34so she'll arrange to catch him
0:16:34 > 0:16:38and have the collar taken off to lighten his load.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41If necessary, he'll be taken to a vet,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44but Dawn thinks the limp doesn't look too serious.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Over in Eastbourne lives the Brown family.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55They volunteered their garden for more research into nocturnal animals.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57One of Dawn's research students, Ella,
0:16:57 > 0:16:59is putting video cameras in position.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03As you can see, I've already put a couple down.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05We're going to have five cameras here.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07It's going to be motion-sensitive,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11so it won't be on all the time, it will only take video
0:17:11 > 0:17:14when something has triggered it, when something's gone past it.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Motion-sensitive, so they're not allowed to bounce on the trampoline.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19No. Oh!
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Are we ready to have a look?
0:17:21 > 0:17:23After four nights of filming,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Ella shows the Browns what the cameras have picked up.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Everyone can see what that is. It's a fox!
0:17:33 > 0:17:36How many? Three!
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Last but not least, not a video, but a photo.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Who can spot it first?
0:17:43 > 0:17:45ALL: Hedgehog!
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Can you see him? You got a hedgehog.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51Dawn wants to know more about the hedgehog,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55so now she's decided to go down the low-tech route.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58She can't afford to put motion-sensitive cameras
0:17:58 > 0:18:02in a large number of gardens, but she can use this.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06This is Correx, or corrugated plastic,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and what I'm painting on the masking tape is this lovely recipe
0:18:10 > 0:18:14of cooking oil and black poster paint. OK.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18So hopefully, the hedgehog will come along this way, it will stand
0:18:18 > 0:18:22in this ink and get it all over its feet.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25And when it's eaten, hopefully it'll walk out
0:18:25 > 0:18:27and it should leave a little trail of footprints.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Hedgehog footprints are very easy to distinguish from other animals,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34they're quite unique, so we can see if there's a hedgehog been here.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37If you live in Brighton, you can help.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Dawn would like to place more of these hedgehog-detecting tunnels
0:18:41 > 0:18:43in Brighton Gardens over the summer.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Details of how you can volunteer are on the Summer of Wildlife website,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50and we'll repeat the address at the end of the programme.
0:18:50 > 0:18:51Fingers crossed.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Meanwhile, back in Brighton, Big Boy,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01the radio-tagged hedgehog, has been on the loose for five days.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03So where is he now?
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Well, with the use of a radio receiver,
0:19:05 > 0:19:07we're going to try and track him down.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11We're going to turn it on now, see if we can hear him.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13If we get a beep, then he's in this area,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16and then we need to follow it and hone down to get him. OK.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23He was over the fence, wasn't he?
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Could he have gone quite a long way?
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Good on him. He's covered in...
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Hello, Big Boy.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47So, it works!
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Dawn can keep track of Big Boy by radio.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52She'll be paying him regular visits
0:19:52 > 0:19:55in the coming months as part of her research.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58And we'll see you again in another couple of days. Hopefully.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04So the night life goes on, but as day breaks, everything changes
0:20:04 > 0:20:07and the humans once again take over the world.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10All the other night life disappears
0:20:10 > 0:20:11and you'd never know it was there.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19Natalie Graham there on a night out with hedgehogs.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22Now, as we're seeing, wildlife can be found
0:20:22 > 0:20:24in the most unusual of places.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27You don't have to go to nature reserves to find it.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31In fact, sometimes all you have to do is shop around.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Some people come here for the zip wire.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Some people come here for the crazy golf.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01And mostly they're here for the shopping.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Which is fair enough, really.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11After all, Bluewater Shopping Centre near Greenhithe in Kent
0:21:11 > 0:21:19has 330 shops in three malls, and parking for 13,000 vehicles.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24But it would be nice if some of those people got out of their cars
0:21:24 > 0:21:26and turned away from the shops
0:21:26 > 0:21:30and came over here to the other side of the car park.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35Because then, they would see delights such as herons,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38grass snakes,
0:21:38 > 0:21:40and peregrine falcons.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Our guide today is the man who looks after Bluewater's wildlife,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Phil Bolton.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Bluewater was built in an old quarry,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57so it's now surrounded by artificial lakes and chalk cliffs,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00which have attracted peregrine falcons.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04So, Phil, why have you brought me to this spot?
0:22:04 > 0:22:06This is their home range.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10This is where this particular family reside.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13It's sheltered, and it's so sheltered that the male
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and the female can rear their young
0:22:16 > 0:22:19in relative safety and relative security.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22And what sort of behaviour are we seeing going on
0:22:22 > 0:22:26in this particular part of the cliff face?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Well, flight school. We're going to see flight school.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32We're going to see the female training that young bird
0:22:32 > 0:22:34with all the skills that it needs.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Oh, I can hear one! Oh, wonderful.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Oh, there we go. Up here. Lovely! That is probably the juvenile.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44That is so quick! Did you see the speed of that!
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Peregrines are the fastest creatures on earth.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54A hunting swoop can reach 200mph.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58What we're seeing is what Phil calls flight school.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01The mother is teaching the young bird the tricks of the trade.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05How to twist and turn, how to dive and attack.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07I think that looked like flight school.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09That was fantastic, wasn't it?
0:23:09 > 0:23:13I have filmed peregrines all over the UK,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15but I have never witnessed that. Never.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Now, just over here we have what they romantically call Lake Four.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Doesn't sound that exciting, I admit,
0:23:34 > 0:23:38but for me it means one thing - dragonflies.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40There's a small platform on the edge of the lake,
0:23:40 > 0:23:45which Phil says is a favourite place for dragonflies.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49I'm going to try and get a super-slow motion shot,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and so it's just a matter of setting up and waiting.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56Are you sure this is his favourite spot? I haven't seen him yet.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00He's just been missing for a little while. He'll come back again later.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05And sure enough...
0:24:09 > 0:24:11This is a black-tailed skimmer.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14All four of its wings beat independently
0:24:14 > 0:24:17to create incredible manoeuvrability in the air.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Dragonflies have compound eyes.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27There is no lens, just thousands of tiny photoreceptors.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34This is just the sort of thing that the shoppers could be looking at.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Do you mind if I quickly ask you what you're doing here today?
0:24:36 > 0:24:37Shopping. Shopping.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Browsing, doing a bit of shopping.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Have you ever come here to look at the wildlife? No.
0:24:42 > 0:24:43Didn't even know there was any.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47You don't want to go hunting for grass snakes or peregrine falcons?
0:24:47 > 0:24:49No. If there was a way that someone could show you
0:24:49 > 0:24:52the wildlife of Bluewater, you'd be interested? Definitely.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55Can I just find out why you're here today? Just shopping.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57You're not here for the wildlife at all? No.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01The grass snakes, the dragon flies? No, no. No.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02No.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Oh, well, some people just don't know what they're missing.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10For instance, I mentioned grass snakes.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Phil has set up heat traps in the grounds of the shopping centre
0:25:13 > 0:25:15to attract reptiles.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20They're not actually traps, just sheets of corrugated iron.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24They warm up in the sun and the reptiles like to crawl underneath.
0:25:24 > 0:25:25So, are we in luck?
0:25:28 > 0:25:29Nothing.
0:25:32 > 0:25:33Nothing again.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Ah, grass snake! Let's see if we can grab him.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Lovely, look at that.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Third time lucky.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Well done, yeah. That's a youngster. Isn't it just?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54When this grass snake grows into an adult, it will be about
0:25:54 > 0:25:55a metre long.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59But now it's making a bit of a mess on me.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01This is a defence mechanism you're seeing.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04He's going to cover you in slime and that's quite repulsive to smell.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07I have to say, there is quite a stink coming from him.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10He's just pooed on my hands cos he wants to get away.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14He wants to get away. Not to worry, it's a normal mechanism
0:26:14 > 0:26:15of this particular snake.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18And actually, even though we found him under a mat here,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22he's actually an accomplished swimmer and misnamed as a grass snake.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Should be a water snake. He can swim extremely well.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27You do see them in the water all the time, don't you?
0:26:27 > 0:26:30They are incredibly fast.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Isn't he marvellous? He is a beauty. Absolutely lovely animal.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Meanwhile, lurking in another corner of the shopping centre...
0:26:47 > 0:26:48..a heron.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53He's become semi-tame,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56and thinks nothing of mingling with the shoppers.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01He eats food people throw to him, but it would be better if he didn't.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05What would be nice for me is to think that he'll still hang around
0:27:05 > 0:27:08here so that people can get a great view of him,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11but that he starts to rely on the natural food
0:27:11 > 0:27:15rather than the other stuff that's being thrown to him. That's right.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17If we can get to that particular position
0:27:17 > 0:27:20where he is less dependent on the food being given to him,
0:27:20 > 0:27:24and more dependent on food that is available to him here in the lake,
0:27:24 > 0:27:25we'll be happier.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29Of course, he's perfectly capable of finding his own food.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32He's got something. Has he? Fish.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Oh, he's lost it. Got it now.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44I've seen some pretty strange wildlife in strange places
0:27:44 > 0:27:46during my years filming.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50But this takes the biscuit, it really does.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56And it just goes to show that even in a huge shopping centre,
0:27:56 > 0:28:00there will always be a chance to see some fantastic wildlife.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Now, if you want to get involved with urban wildlife,
0:28:07 > 0:28:09here's a couple of things you can do.
0:28:10 > 0:28:16Volunteer for a river clean, keeping trash away from fish in Dover.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18Or, if you live in Brighton,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20offer up your garden for a hedgehog tunnel.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26For information on these and lots of other ideas, go to...
0:28:32 > 0:28:33Thanks for watching.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38And I hope you enjoy your very own Summer of Wildlife.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd