West Midlands Urban Jungle

When somebody says the words "wildlife show" to you, you probably think of this.

Well, this is a wildlife show with a difference

cos we're uncovering creatures right under our noses in towns and cities across the Midlands.

'From the legless lizards of Worcester...' He's smiling!

'..to the night-time revellers in Nuneaton.'

Those claws look quite vicious.

I'm Johny Pitts and over the next 30 minutes,

we're going on safari in our urban jungle.

Welcome to Birmingham. There are over 80 species of birds living here in the city

and a good way to spot some of them is from on the top of a double-decker bus.

But there are two newcomers in town

and it's quite strange because we're 82 miles away from the nearest beach.

I'm talking about seagulls.

I want to know why they're all heading inland

and I think I know just the right man who can help - urban birder David Lindo.

'Post-war Britain was boom time for our cities.

'Those who saw the opportunities moved in and their numbers are still growing.

'Gulls - the ultimate opportunists.

'By the 1980s, as punk became pop and minimalist loft apartments made city living cool,

'these coastal migrants started to settle. But why?

'Urban birder David Lindo explores the wildlife in our cities

'and he's going to take me on a bird-watching tour of Brum

'to discover why it's become so appealing to our seaside friends.'

There are a lot of gulls in Birmingham City Centre and they came up the Severn Estuary,

they first of all colonised Bristol, then moved on into Gloucester

and then they've ended up here, but they're going to be moving on, I'm sure.

And it's fantastic. They've taken advantage of the fact that in cities,

there are plenty of nesting places and lots of areas for them to feed in and they love it here.

This bird's flown to North Africa and back several times in its life

and what has he seen on his journeys? Yeah.

What sort of things has he flown across?

So, David, I've seen lots of gulls but we're not by the sea, so I'm guessing these aren't seagulls.

Well, the word seagull is a romantic, stereotypical word

which sort of encapsulates visions of going to the seaside

with your candyfloss and your stick of rock

and sitting in your deckchair and the gulls flying around nicking your ice creams,

and people call them seagulls because they're by the sea.

But in reality, there are around about 25 different species of gull

that occur in Britain in some stage or another,

and regular species, there's probably about six or seven

that regularly visit Birmingham, for example.

Right. So it's actually quite a wide range of species that people don't actually realise.

'And I thought you knew one gull, you knew them all.

'But there are loads of different species.'

I can just look up and I can see... Just by the shape?

..just by the shape what's more likely to be a herring gull or a lesser black gull.

So if I was to see a group of gulls in a city centre,

how would I tell them apart, the type of gulls we find in Birmingham?

In an instant, the ones with the pearl grey back of the wings

and black wing tips are herring gulls.

They have pink legs.

And lesser black-backed gulls are much darker on their wing

with blacker wing tips and they've got yellow legs. Simple as that.

'David has spent his life watching birds in the city,

'so while I head out to find out more about gulls,

'I want him to hit the streets and see what else he can spot.'

I want to set you a little challenge. Will you have a look at other interesting species of birds

that we might be able to find here in Birmingham?

Now, that's a challenge I can't say no to.

You know what I'm like. I love a challenge.

And I will do that. In fact, I'm going now. See you later. That's what I like to hear.

So, the urban gulls are here. You can hear them all around.

But exactly how many are there and how many could there be in our cities in years to come?

'I'm with bird expert Jim Winsper at Birmingham Wholesale Market.

'Apparently it's one of the largest gull nesting sites in the city

'and he's been monitoring the birds' breeding habits.'

Within the Birmingham boundary,

there are up to 600 pairs of breeding lesser black-backed gulls

and in excess of 30 pairs of breeding herring gulls.

Now, are these numbers on the increase, then?

They certainly have the potential to increase. I mean, with every breeding year,

there's the massive youngsters reproduced

and the potential to expand in every colony within that Birmingham area

is there. They can certainly do so.

'So what is it about Britain's second city that's made them stay?'

50 years ago, these birds were very scarce

passage migrants or visitors to the whole region.

And then, in the mid-50s,

the needs of the human population

provided extensive reservoirs for our drinking needs,

massive waterways, and these birds took advantage of that.

They need a safe roost, they need somewhere to stay at night,

and these reservoirs provided that perfectly safe roost for them.

So there's no need to continue their journey and they were able to stay here,

and over winter, roosting on those reservoirs.

'So, it was the sanctuary of the city that appealed to the gulls.

'And once they experience city living, they don't seem to want to go back to the sea.

'Their numbers at the coast are declining

'and herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls

'are on the red and amber conservation lists.'

Well, I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with them.

These birds are proper opportunists.

The way they've just moved in here and made it their home is incredible.

But I've got one more question. Why, when they could be chilling out by our spectacular coastline,

have they decided to stay here in our city?

'Time to meet back up with David, who's got some answers.'

Gulls are opportunists.

They're scavengers by nature and in cities it's fantastic

because we leave so much garbage everywhere, they've got rich pickings.

But, naturally, they do take chicks and other weak animals,

so if they saw a young bird somewhere, they would, you know, grab it.

But no big effect on the general scheme of things.

So they're not going to wipe out any other bird species at all?

Not at all, no. I mean, it's all part of the natural equilibrium of life, really,

so they just fit in and they are beautiful, I love looking at them. Yeah, me, too.

'And once you start looking up, you spot all sorts of birds you could be walking past every day.'

David, we're talking about gulls, but you've just noticed

one of their seaside neighbours, a peregrine falcon up there on that tower. What are they doing here?

Well, it's interesting, peregrines have become a recent colonist of cities,

and in Birmingham they've been here for a few years now.

Now, peregrines were initially birds of cliffs and mountainsides

and they've come to cities and they've seen these tall buildings

and thought, "This is fantastic! This is a cliff!"

So, David, as we know, we find gulls and falcons coexisting on the coast

and they're kind of replicating that in the city centre.

That's an interesting way of putting it, cos that really is the case, I suppose,

because both sets of birds use buildings as cliffs

and that was their natural habitat back...

In fact, they still do live along coastal areas as well as inland areas in wilder parts of Britain.

But, yeah, there is that sort of synergy there.

But they are very distinct in terms of how they behave, they don't operate together.

'And if the trend continues, urban gulls may one day rival pigeons

'as the ultimate feathered scavenger.

'Now, David spotted a peregrine, but what else has he seen around town today?'

It's been great to learn about gulls and why they upped sticks and came to the city centre

and I've also learnt about the two different types of gulls that inhabit Birmingham.

But did you manage to find anything else here?

Well, in around about five to ten minutes,

I found a selection of interesting things. For example, I found this,

which is a pied wagtail.

Lovely bird, very small, tail that bounces like that, black and white.

One lovely thing we saw was a bunch of young blue tits

and they were just hanging in trees

gleaning little insects and stuff off the backs of leaves. That was really nice.

And also, we had a mistle thrush. Now, a mistle thrush

is very similar to a song thrush, so it's got spots on its chest,

but a mistle thrush is a big, proud bird,

brownish/greyish looking, it's the biggest thrush in Britain,

and what I love about them, they've got character. They defend their nests.

If you go too near the nest, they'll actually attack you.

And I love that. They've got feistiness.

It's one of those things. Some of these birds are common in the city

but we don't think of our city environment as somewhere where we can find nature,

so it's all about learning how to look. That's right.

Once you open your eyes and you begin to be aware,

you'll be amazed as to how many things are flying around.

I'm looking around now and seeing stuff flying over our heads as we speak.

And it's amazing, a whole new world opens up for you.

David, you've definitely inspired me.

I don't think I'll ever look at the city in the same way again.

Can we do a bit of bird-watching together? You know what? Let's do it. Brilliant.

I tell you what, it's harder than it looks trying to spot a herring gull in town.

But maybe you got lucky like us and managed to track one down.

Just go to our website and let me know.

Or even better, upload a photo

of the birds you've managed to track down in the city.

Coming up later, some green-fingered children from Worcester go hunting for legless lizards.

He looks like he's smiling!

But first... Many towns and cities were built around waterways like this.

That's because they were an essential way of transporting goods

and providing water for heavy industry back in the day.

Then they were polluted and wildlife-free,

but now they've cleaned up their act, waterways like this

are very good places to do some urban wildlife spotting.

David Gregory-Kumar is out in Warwickshire on the hunt for the elusive otter.

This busy spot in Rugby is full of people driving backwards and forwards,

going to school, going to work, going shopping.

But it's not just the humans who are dashing backwards and forwards here,

because underneath our feet, there's a secretive but growing population of otters.

'But how do we know that the elusive otter is getting brave and heading into our towns and cities?

'Well, my hunt for the little fellas begins here,

'with Peter Sanders from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.'

So, Pete, what evidence do you have down here for otters?

Well, David, if you follow me just down here,

if you look there, you can see some poo.

That's otter poo. Its proper name is spraint.

And all this is right beneath the traffic thundering over? Oh, yeah.

People are wandering above us here day and night

and they won't have a clue as to what's going on down here.

And this is regularly sprainted, so we know they pass through here.

And if we look down there,

we can see a whole series of otter footprints.

Five toes, spaced apart like that.

There's a fairly clear one there.

That's fantastic. That's the clearest otter print I've ever seen.

'So the poo and the prints are here.

'Seems like a good place to put a camera, and that's exactly what the Wildlife Trust have done.

'It'd be great to capture some otters on film and prove they're back, loving city living.

'For most people, though, the best chance of seeing any kind of otter is in captivity.

'Staff here at the Sea Life Centre are working with the Canals And Rivers Trust to try and change that.'

Otters have been spotted on the Birmingham and Black Country canals

down towards Wolverhampton and so we're currently working on a project

to make sure their habitats are protected and to keep them in the area.

'Conservation for otters is all about helping them move around.

'But for another endangered species, the important thing is they stay put,

'cut off from the rest of Warwickshire's waterways.

'Nuneaton, home to 80,000 people and 100,000 very rare crustaceans.'

This is Ensor's Pool and it's a surprising refuge

for one of the UK's most endangered species.

'So, by day, a tranquil inner-city spot,

'but by night, a party playground for the crayfish.

'So we've come back to take a look.'

That's a male. That's a big male. About as big as they get.

So, this is the native crayfish. This is, yes.

Which I thought was really rare, but we have seen loads so far this evening. Why are there so many here?

It's a fantastic site for them, really.

It's got everything they need. It's fairly clean water.

It's got no predation, no signal crayfish here

and it's got lots of refuge, places they can hide underneath during the day.

And, of course, they've come out now at night.

'Nobody knows how they got here, but they're thriving.

'In the rest of the UK, it's a very different story.

'Crayfish plague, carried by invading American crayfish,

'has wiped out much of our native population.

'So you can't just wade in and grab one. Stefan has a special licence to do this.'

If we brought that plague in,

how quickly would it affect the population?

Within days. And within a couple of weeks, we'd have no crayfish.

They'd be gone. It's not like, you know, two percent survive or one percent,

the whole lot goes, so it just wipes the whole lot out.

They'd all be dead within a few days if the crayfish plague hit the site.

'This pool is called an ark population.

'Basically, the crayfish are isolated, safe from predators and disease.

'So urban development has actually created a safe haven, the perfect nursery for nature.'

It's a little island of safety for them.

And that's what we're looking at in terms of maintaining this species,

is just having these dotted around the country

in areas which are separated by urbanisation from the signals.

'So there's a wealth of urban wildlife in lots of our cities' waterways,

'like the comeback kid, the otter.

'It would've been unheard of to see an otter in the city in the 1960s.'

They were extinct in Warwickshire

and in virtually the whole of Middle England in the 60s

and this was due to organochlorine poisoning in the main.

'In the 1950s and 1960s,

'pollutants from industry and farming

'flooded into the rivers where the otters lived and they died out in many parts of the UK.

'But now they're returning. So what changed?'

Well, it was done by a natural recovery process

based on habitat improvement, and that started really

by the appointment of three rivers and otters project officers

covering the whole of the Midlands

and they started a programme with volunteers like myself

to enhance the habitats by building more artificial otter holts.

The other thing that happened at the same time is

the rivers were cleaned up by the various authorities

and this helped the fish population to recover.

'So conservation efforts and clean water means the ecosystem in our waterways

'is returning to a more natural state.

'And as the top-level predators, otters are finally coming back.'

The numbers are recovering. What does the future hold? Can you have too many otters?

Erm, you can never have too many otters.

It's a typical predator-prey situation

and otters are no different to foxes and other things.

There will be a natural balance that will occur

based on territories, the amount of food.

There will never, ever be a lot of otter,

because they're not fast breeders,

they don't live all that long.

'So they're back but just as elusive as ever,

'which means catching one on camera is still a really tricky task.

'So, back to the bridge. What, if anything, did we manage to film?'

We saw three otters come into shot.

'If you look really closely, you can see three pairs of eyes

'glinting in the water. Could this be a mother and her two cubs?'

We also got another otter, I think that was the mother,

actually sprainting on the stone that we'd got the camera focused on.

I was so chuffed when we actually got it.

We also picked up some other animals, too.

There was a fox or two, a muntjac.

And all of this proves the worth of rivers like that

in urban wildlife corridors.

Were you sure you'd get something as good as this?

Not three otters, no.

We thought we'd get one, I was confident we'd get one.

Two, that was better. But three, a family group, oh, that was magic.

'So in Warwickshire's urban waterways, it's not just single otters returning,

'it's entire families.'

So, I've been following the story of otters coming back to our towns and cities

for a good few years now and I've seen the tracks, I've seen the poo,

but this is the first time we've caught not one but three otters

on camera in Rugby,

and it's proof that urban otters are real, they're back

and they're right under our noses.

See? Everywhere you look, there's something new to discover.

But some species are very particular to certain parts of the Midlands.

Worcester has rediscovered slow worms.

It's become a bit of a legless lizard hotspot.

But I want to know, why Worcester? I'm going to need some local help,

so I've recruited some wildlife detectives to help me out. Let's have a look.

'City living can be chaotic, but as our cities expand and their populations grow...'

..green spaces like this become an even more important refuge for our wildlife.

Aw, look, guys!

'You can find all sorts of bees, bugs and birds in urban allotments and gardens.'

It's got a blue ring wrapped right round its tail.

'And that's exactly what year six from Fairfield Community Primary School are doing

'in their school garden, tucked in the middle of Worcester.'

This is what I like to see. Wildlife gardeners hard at work.

How you doing, guys? ALL: Good. Great stuff. What you doing here?

ALL: Pond dipping. Pond dipping. Have you found anything interesting yet?

ALL: Yeah. Let's have a look.

What's this? A tadpole. Oh, wow! Look at that! A tadpole!

So that means you've obviously got frogs here. Have you got any other interesting animals here?

Dragonflies. Newts. Newts? Wow! Slugs, snails.

Slugs and snails? Oh, OK.

'Slugs and snails might be the arch enemy of all gardeners,

'but they're vitally important to our ecosystem, not least to the slow worm, who can't get enough of them.

'Slow worms are one of only six reptiles native to the UK

'and we're in prime slow worm territory.'

Worcester's a fairly small city and there's quite a lot of long-standing

and fairly well-established green space.

And slow worms like edge habitats,

so they like long grass and areas to hide and forage in

where they're going to be fairly safe from predators.

'And the school's already been visited by one, causing quite a bit of lunchtime drama.'

A few months ago, we had a slow worm in the school.

I remember, I was on duty at lunchtime

and some children came running in, "Mr Schiffmann! There's a snake!"

Of course, I went outside to have a look and, lo and behold, there was,

about that big, probably an adult slow worm,

and it had slithered up onto the tarmac.

Quite a crowd around it, as you can imagine. So we opened up a little escape route for it

and it very quickly slithered off back into the grass of the field and out of sight.

'Next time one glides by, we want to persuade it to stay,

'so with my newly-recruited wildlife detectives, Curtis, Diego and Evie,

'I'm going to an allotment right near Worcester City Centre.

'We want to see if we can find a slow worm to help us learn more about these legless lizards

'and how we can encourage them into the school garden.'

Lansdowne Crescent Allotments is a really, really good site for slow worms.

It was first discovered in 1997 when a survey was commissioned

and it's thought that this site is probably the best urban location

for slow worms in the whole of the United Kingdom.

'So we should have a great chance of finding some today.'

Right, so, guys, have you got any idea where these slow worms might be hiding?

Under the tins. Under the tins? Right.

Are they right, James? I think they are, yeah!

Shall we have a look? Yeah, let's have a look.

Slowly there.

No. They're quite elusive, aren't they, slow worms?

Yeah, they lead quite secretive lives.

Can't see anything straight away. No slow worms.

Are they quick to scuttle off? If they're found, would they slither off somewhere quickly?

If they're warm, yes, they can move surprisingly fast.

'They may be fast but our wildlife detectives don't give up.'

Whoa, there's two! Look at that! Wow!

I'll just get that one. I thought that was two.

That's a young one there. I just have to be careful

cos they do shed their tails as a defence mechanism.

The tins provide somewhere that's sheltered, protected from predators,

and hopefully somewhere that warms up that little bit quicker.

And when you say protection from predators, what exactly are they hiding from?

Well, erm, domestic cats are a big problem in this city environment,

but magpies, blackbirds can take small ones. Wow.

A whole host of things, really, are out to get slow worms.

'So, tip number one. The more sheltered spaces we can create at school, the better our chances.

'But the children are still keen to find more slow worms.'

It's been quite good cos we've found two so far, but we could've found more.

I like the colour of it cos it's bright yellowish-greeny

and that colour would be sort of rare, I think.

'As the sun heats up, so does our search. And then bingo!'

We've got one under here. I'll just try and get it out.

Oh, wow. Oh, look. Wow, that's big!

That is one big slow worm.

He looks like he's smiling!

He's probably happy that the sun's come out now.

It's amazing what they can do with their bodies. It is, isn't it?

It's amazing how they actually suck up the slugs. I love it!

Initially I think, especially the boys,

I think they'd rather be out playing football, but I think James really brought the slow worm to life

and when we got to actually see one and touch one and hear about some of their amazing features,

I think it stoked a little bit of interest in them.

But little do they know that I've got a surprise for them later on

and I think that will really make them excited about the slow worm.

'Now, slow worms often suffer from a case of mistaken identity.

'People think they're a snake, but they're not, and Langan Turner from Dudley Zoo

'has come along with a few of his reptile friends.'

So, what is the difference between a snake and a slow worm? Cos they look pretty similar to me.

Watch for him blinking.

Huh. Can you see him blinking? ALL: No. No. He can't blink.

He doesn't have eyelids. Snakes don't have eyelids.

Whoa! They're like swimming goggles.

But slow worms are lizards.

Lizards do have eyelids.

So if you see something that looks like a snake but it blinks, it's got to be a lizard.

I don't know about you guys, but I can kind of see the slow worm a little bit more with this.

Yeah, so can I. If we pop you down there...

Ooh, lizard! Lizard!

You can actually see, if his legs kept on getting smaller,

you'd end up with a very long bodied animal.

Yeah, definitely. A fairly thick head.

You would have something that looks very much like a slow worm. I just saw his tongue.

So, these little dudes are a gardener's friend,

munching up the pest that eats our plants.

They're a welcome addition to any garden or allotment.

So what can you do to attract them to your green space?

'Back to James, our man with a plan.'

Compost heaps are great for slow worms.

They provide warm and moist conditions,

which is ideal for when they want to hibernate,

and it also provides cover and shelter from predators.

OK, this is quite a big compost heap and I imagine not everyone could have one of these in their garden.

Is there anything else that people can do to recreate this?

Yes, certainly. You can build a hibernaculum. OK.

That sounds quite technical. What is one?

It's just a fancy name for trying to recreated the conditions

that they need for hibernation.

So you would build a similar structure out of rubble, sticks and earth.

I quite like the idea of being able to go home and say,

"Today I built a hibernaculum." Are we capable of doing that?

ALL: Yeah. Wicked. They're up for it.

I think James was great at really explaining why these animals are so interesting,

and to get hands-on was incredible. And Langan came in from the zoo

and brought these very exotic animals that are related to animals that they can find on their doorstep

and so I just hope it's inspired them to go and try and attract

some slow worms to their garden at school.

'Back at school, the kids waste no time in building their slow worm des res.'

It's looking quite good. Do you think so? I think so, too.

What do you think, guys? Are you happy with this? Yeah.

'So, are these wildlife workers confident that slow worms will use their new home?'

It depends, if it don't rain

and if it's always sunny then, yeah, we'll get some.

I think they will because they like hiding and it's all covered,

so all the other animals can't get into it so they see.

'A bit more soil and water and we have...' One finished hibernaculum.

'They've done a great job.'

Put it there! Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah!

'And with a perfect pad all ready to move into,

'hopefully next time a slow worm is passing through the playground, it'll decide to stay.'

Now, if our attempt to build a hibernaculum has inspired you

and you want some tips on how best to get started,

just go to our website, bbc.co.uk/summerofwildlife

Well, fingers crossed the kids at Fairfield Community Primary

can attract some slow worms of their own really soon.

That's it from me. I hope we've inspired you to go on an urban safari.

You'd be amazed at some of the things you can find right on your doorstep.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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