0:00:02 > 0:00:09Scotland - a paradise for wildlife and a cameraman's dream.
0:00:14 > 0:00:18This country, with its rugged mountains and endless coastline
0:00:18 > 0:00:23has produced a generation of the best wildlife cameramen in the world.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30For decades, five filmmakers, all rooted in Scotland,
0:00:30 > 0:00:34have travelled the globe to bring home incredible images,
0:00:34 > 0:00:37shaping our understanding of the natural world.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42How did these men learn the incredible skills
0:00:42 > 0:00:46needed for catching the natural world in action?
0:00:47 > 0:00:50What is it that prepared them for travelling the globe
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and enduring the toughest of environments?
0:00:56 > 0:00:59In this series, these five cameramen
0:00:59 > 0:01:01will share their extraordinary stories
0:01:01 > 0:01:03and the secrets of their trade.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06Secrets often learned from filming wildlife
0:01:06 > 0:01:09in the wildest parts of Scotland.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14But this time, the camera is on them.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Our skies are alive with birds.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48Unlike most animals, birds can move in all directions...
0:01:50 > 0:01:54..often very quickly,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56and constantly changing direction.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05They frequently live in remote, isolated pockets of the world,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and filming them can be a unique challenge.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15I've always been impressed with the skill
0:02:15 > 0:02:18required of our cameramen to film these creatures
0:02:18 > 0:02:23and there is no better exponent of this craft than John Aitchison.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40The islands of the South Pacific are rich in birdlife.
0:02:42 > 0:02:47French Frigate Shoals is only half a mile long but amazingly,
0:02:47 > 0:02:49home to over 300,000 birds.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53For a bird lover like John this is paradise.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59He spent two weeks here filming young black-footed albatross
0:02:59 > 0:03:01as they learned to fly.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Albatrosses are fascinating birds.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11They live for a very long time, they live in extraordinary places.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16They live always in very remote islands or at sea.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21The point of going there was that at a very specific time of year
0:03:21 > 0:03:24the young albatrosses grow to the point where their wings are ready
0:03:24 > 0:03:27and then over about two or three weeks, all of them go.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33A young albatross learning to fly and survive on its own.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40But what you don't realise is that to get this shot, John was perched
0:03:40 > 0:03:44on a rickety makeshift scaffolding tower resting on the seabed.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48I suppose it was about five or six metres high, maybe,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53and I just stood on there every day with a camera set up
0:03:53 > 0:03:56watching for the albatrosses coming out.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58It was only a building scaffolding tower,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00it wasn't built for sitting on the seabed.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04And I thought it would sink in on one side and tip.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06And so when the waves picked up a bit sometimes
0:04:06 > 0:04:09and were slapping underneath the planks, I was wondering about
0:04:09 > 0:04:12whether it was actually going to fall over quite often.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14So it kept me on my toes, really.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22Especially as John wasn't here just to film the albatross.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24He was also here to film tiger sharks...
0:04:27 > 0:04:28..eager for an easy meal.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35It's one of those dilemmas you have as a cameraman,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38it comes up sometimes where there's a hunt.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41You're supposed to be there filming what happens.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47I can't intervene. It wouldn't make any difference anyway.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51I have very mixed feelings about this
0:04:51 > 0:04:54because I don't really want to see the albatrosses eaten,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56but that's what I'm here to film.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59You can't help wishing that the albatrosses will get away each time.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I have a little cheer inside when they do.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04There's a shark right in the shallows.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Phew, that was a lucky albatross!
0:05:22 > 0:05:26It is easy to see it in human terms when one animal is hunting another,
0:05:26 > 0:05:31but it isn't right to see in those terms. The sharks have a role,
0:05:31 > 0:05:36they have to eat, but at the same time you can't help empathising.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49John has been perfecting his craft for over two decades.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55His first big break as a cameraman came in 1994
0:05:55 > 0:05:58when he filmed the wildlife of the Ythan Estuary
0:05:58 > 0:06:0012 miles north of Aberdeen.
0:06:03 > 0:06:10It was the first programme where we could go somewhere
0:06:10 > 0:06:13and live there for a long time. It was nine months in one place,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16living alongside this beautiful small estuary.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20It's the sort of place that over nine months you can get to know
0:06:20 > 0:06:22almost every stone, every turn in the river,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24everything that happens there.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26It was a lovely experience, actually, it became,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28became part of us, I think, in that time.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34This precious coastal environment
0:06:34 > 0:06:37is home to nearly half of the UK's bird species.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42During his time here, John was able to film some rarely seen behaviour.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51The Ythan's famous for its eider ducks, and I'd never seen
0:06:51 > 0:06:54any film of an eider actually removing the down from its body
0:06:54 > 0:06:58and filling the nest - we had no idea what it even looked like.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00And after really quite a long time in a hide,
0:07:00 > 0:07:03the duck that I was filming then did this
0:07:03 > 0:07:07and she sort of stropped her, her breast and plucked out
0:07:07 > 0:07:08this amazing down.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12It just fluffed up into this beautiful cloud of grey down.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18It was a such an intimate moment. She was doing this delicate thing
0:07:18 > 0:07:21and I was right by her, I was probably six or seven feet away.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25She didn't mind at all. She was oblivious to me in my hide.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28It was wonderful. It was such a revelation.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39Working in Aberdeenshire made John decide to move north of the border permanently.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45He chose to make his home in Argyll on the west coast,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48surrounded by dramatic landscapes and abundant wildlife.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Scotland just had everything that I was hoping, really.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It's got such fantastic wildlife.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00It's quiet, it's beautiful.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03For a wildlife filmmaker, you can't do better.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07I think living close to nature is crucial for me, really.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10It resets my balance being able to go outside,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13see what the weather's doing, see what the tide's doing,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15hear the geese going over.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I've very often found film ideas just by being here.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Over the years, John has made several short films about his home
0:08:29 > 0:08:31and how it inspires him.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39It was the wildness of this landscape that attracted us to it.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44We found it exhilarating and new
0:08:44 > 0:08:47because, of course, we had no history here at first.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51But our neighbours did,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54and two in particular shared their love of this place with us.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Every part of it meant something to them, had some memory attached.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07They told us all the best wild things they'd ever seen here.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12The moments which gave them joy.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21With so much wildlife on his doorstep,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24John always has his camera at the ready.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30There is one sleek, secretive creature
0:09:30 > 0:09:33he particularly likes to film -
0:09:33 > 0:09:35the otter.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44I love filming otters, they are just the most beautiful animals
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and they are always interesting.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48They are very clever, they play a great deal.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Otters are quite difficult to spot but when you get your eye in,
0:09:55 > 0:09:56you get better at it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07They didn't know I was there. The wind was ideal.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10It was just blowing my scent away and the cub was very small.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13It was about the second smallest cub I've ever see here,
0:10:13 > 0:10:14so I'm really pleased.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24A close friend of John's who lives nearby
0:10:24 > 0:10:27is fellow wildlife cameraman Mark Smith.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37His busy schedule takes him all around the globe, but like John,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41Mark chose to base himself on the west coast of Scotland.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Here in Argyll, the landscape is just beautiful on a day like this.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The mist rising off the loch.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51For me, you come back from often pretty hard trips
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and you know, you are able to just relax in this place.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02A particularly taxing trip for Mark came whilst filming
0:11:02 > 0:11:06one of the world's rarest birds of prey - the striated caracara.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11More commonly known as Johnny Rook,
0:11:11 > 0:11:15they are found in significant numbers on the Falkland Islands
0:11:15 > 0:11:18and it was here that Mark and his wife Jane based themselves.
0:11:21 > 0:11:27We were there for five months, just me and Jane living there
0:11:27 > 0:11:30with those animals. It was just a fantastic experience.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34The Johnny Rook,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37they're the most amazing birds I've ever seen in a way
0:11:37 > 0:11:39because they are completely curious.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42They don't have any fear of mankind at all.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47From a filming point of view, it is an absolute joy.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51You can walk anywhere in this amazing landscape,
0:11:51 > 0:11:52and look around and think,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55"All I need to have is an animal in there,"
0:11:55 > 0:11:57and you turn around and there are six of them behind you,
0:11:57 > 0:11:58just dying to get into the shot.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05We really loved working around them, but at the same time,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07they would destroy anything that you left out.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16Every day before you left the camp, you had to secure everything.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20You had to take every little thing inside, zip it up,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23secure all the guy ropes because when you left,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26they would just come and try and destroy your camp.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Their strategy for survival is investigate everything.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37There may just be a meal in it for them.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Some birds have more conventional strategies for survival.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Every winter tens of thousands of these barnacled geese
0:13:01 > 0:13:03fly south from the cold Artic to spend it here
0:13:03 > 0:13:07at Loch Gruinart on the island of Islay in Scotland.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15The drama of the birds taking flight in the early morning
0:13:15 > 0:13:18requires John to be constantly vigilant.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43They went quite early but it's just so spectacular,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45you never know quite what's going to happen.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Flying birds are quite difficult to film, they move very quickly.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54They are moving in three dimensions so I have to keep focusing.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57I have to keep them in focus all the time.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Meanwhile ,you are trying to keep them in frame, you are trying
0:14:00 > 0:14:02to keep the composition nice. There is a lot going on.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05And it is quite hard, it does take a lot of practice.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08There is a lot of tension actually when you are here
0:14:08 > 0:14:10because what I have to do is I creep in in the dark.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I have to not disturb the geese, I have to wear dark gloves
0:14:13 > 0:14:16so that my hands aren't bright. I have to keep the camera
0:14:16 > 0:14:20just above the level of this bank here so that the geese can't see me
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and as the light comes up, you never really know
0:14:23 > 0:14:24quite what's going to be there.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27It's just great, it's so exciting.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34These geese winter on a peaceful RSPB nature reserve.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38But you don't always have to travel to wild locations
0:14:38 > 0:14:40to get the best shots of birds.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Sometimes it can happen in the most unexpected of places.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50I was trying to make a short film about kestrels.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53I particularly wanted to film a kestrel hovering in slow motion,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and actually it turned out the best place to get at the eye level
0:14:56 > 0:14:59of a kestrel hovering, rather than looking up all the time,
0:14:59 > 0:15:01was on a motorway bridge.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07The kestrel was just hovering there with its eyes absolutely
0:15:07 > 0:15:11fixed on the mouse, completely focused.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15It could have been hanging on a string,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17it was as though it was fixed in space.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Its wings and its tail doing all their work,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21which you could see really clearly.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27It was a picture I was particularly proud of, actually.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30It was something that showed very precisely what kestrels can do
0:15:30 > 0:15:33in among all this man-made chaos of the motorway.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48This uncanny ability to spot beauty in unnatural environments
0:15:48 > 0:15:53was a valuable skill for John on one particular trip to Delhi
0:15:53 > 0:15:55to film black kites.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I'd never been to India before, so I was really excited
0:15:58 > 0:16:02when I was asked to go and film something in India.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05But what they didn't tell me was that the very first thing
0:16:05 > 0:16:08on my first day was to go to this massive dump outside Delhi.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24In that chaotic, stinking, rotten environment,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28there's food, mainly bits of meat from the slaughterhouses.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32The kites are instantly focused on that place.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37All these kites in slow motion just streaming in picking up stuff
0:16:37 > 0:16:42and flying off again chasing each other was spectacular.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47It was one of the most strong experiences I think I've ever had.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49We had to take a change of clothes and throw away the clothes
0:16:49 > 0:16:52that we were wearing cos they were so disgusting afterwards.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Boots and everything.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56I thought I'd be filming the Taj Mahal or something.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00I was on this huge rubbish dump, but it was, you know, memorable.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Mark has had to endure some aromatic environments of his own
0:17:08 > 0:17:09to get the shots he needed.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15None more so than when he was trying to film white bellied eagles
0:17:15 > 0:17:19catching fruit bats deep in the Australian outback.
0:17:24 > 0:17:26We got in there and of course like everything you get there
0:17:26 > 0:17:29and the reality is pretty different to what you imagined
0:17:29 > 0:17:32it would be, and you've got this hawthorn scrub,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35which is about 20 foot high and you're walking through it,
0:17:35 > 0:17:41and there's a constant backlit drizzle of bat urine coming down,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45so you're basically surrounded in this scummy mess for most of the day.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Not only that, it's really ugly, because it's just hawthorn scrub
0:17:48 > 0:17:51the whole time, so you can get close-up shots of the bats,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55but there is no way you can ever see any eagle do anything.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57You looked at it and you thought,
0:17:57 > 0:17:59"How on earth am I ever going to film this?"
0:18:01 > 0:18:05The solution was to build four tall scaffolding towers
0:18:05 > 0:18:09so Mark could be closer to the eagles.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12He and the producer had to build them at night
0:18:12 > 0:18:14to avoid scaring the bats away.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18It was the most amazing thing, 30 feet up the scaffolding tower,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21in moonlight, with the starlight, and occasionally bats flying around,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24desperately trying to fix these things together.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32Despite the testing conditions,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35Mark was able to capture these spectacular shots.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43The end result was just great,
0:18:43 > 0:18:50and we managed to get that shot of the eagle coming straight towards
0:18:50 > 0:18:55the tower, picks up this bat, gets it in its talons and goes off again.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58So, it was kind of worth it in the end.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Filming the wildlife in our skies from above the ground is one thing.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12But filming birds from below ground level is another matter altogether.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16I think one of the strangest things I've been asked to do was to film
0:19:16 > 0:19:20in what they call the shallow grave at an RSPB reserve in Norfolk
0:19:20 > 0:19:23called Snettisham, which is a really special place, actually.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25It's an absolutely wonderful place.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33Snettisham is the scene of one of Britain's great wildlife spectacles.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39The wash, which is a huge area of mudflats and estuary,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42fills up with water and there are a huge number
0:19:42 > 0:19:46of wading birds that feed on the mud when the tides out, especially knot.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49if you looked at a knot, you would say it was
0:19:49 > 0:19:53a medium-sized, greyish, fairly nondescript bird.
0:19:53 > 0:19:58But when they gather together they're just sensational.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00John was looking for a new approach to film the knots,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03one which would give him a unique angle.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07His shallow grave would do just that.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10If you dig a hole in the beach and put the camera in the hole,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and lie down, which is very uncomfortable and difficult,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15then you are at the eye level of the birds,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17which is about that high off the ground,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19and that view transforms things completely.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Well, it's quarter past four.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33I'm in the shallow grave.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38I've got eight layers of clothes on,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41two layers of plywood and half an inch of gravel.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46I hope it's worth it.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50It certainly was.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Hides are brilliant, because when you're in a hide,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01you're not a person any more,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05particularly lying down in a hide like that on a beach.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08As far as the birds are concerned, there's no person there at all,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11so they just came in and landed all around me.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15They were touching distance away completely oblivious and that's just
0:21:15 > 0:21:19such a special experience, it's so rare to have that happen
0:21:19 > 0:21:22and then of course the view from it.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26The patterns that they made the way that they shift around.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29It's almost like a liquid flowing over the beach.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Birds are easily scared so hides are invaluable when filming them.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54They allow cameramen to secretly capture their most intimate moments.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01A hide helped Mark become the first cameraman ever to document
0:22:01 > 0:22:05in detail a rare Scottish bird of prey, the sea eagle.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It was 1994-95 and there were only ten pairs
0:22:13 > 0:22:16of sea eagles nesting in Scotland then
0:22:16 > 0:22:20and so the big challenge really was the pressure involved
0:22:20 > 0:22:23because we had got permission to do that after a lot of work
0:22:23 > 0:22:25and so it was quite stressful
0:22:25 > 0:22:28because we really couldn't afford to mess up.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34To add to the pressure, Mark could only set up his hide
0:22:34 > 0:22:37when the parents were away from the nest hunting.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Otherwise he risked scaring the eagles off the nest completely.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48You only had 20 minutes to go in, put the hide in and get out again
0:22:48 > 0:22:51and then it came to the time for filming
0:22:51 > 0:22:54and you've got to go in for the first day and sit in there
0:22:54 > 0:22:56so you go in there very early morning and I was sat there
0:22:56 > 0:23:01for the whole day in the worst cloud of midges I have ever seen.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04And you're sat there as quiet, as quiet as you can,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and you've got the camera,
0:23:06 > 0:23:10and you've got the little opening with the lens poking through.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14Suddenly, bang, right on the nest, you have this huge sea eagle.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21It was the most amazing feeling.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23It feels as though she's looking right at you,
0:23:23 > 0:23:24so you're just sat there.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28You're almost unable to breathe because you feel that if
0:23:28 > 0:23:31you make any movement at all, she's going to find you.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34They're looking straight at a reflection of them in the lens
0:23:34 > 0:23:38and if they make a movement or if you move the camera, they see it.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Over three hours or something like that,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45she eventually got used to the whole thing
0:23:45 > 0:23:48and then she would start to feed the chick.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54Sometimes you know that what you have got is great,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57all that time you have spent is kind of worthwhile
0:23:57 > 0:23:59and you get an amazing shot.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04Filming birds close up requires a huge amount of patience
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and skill and the results are often striking.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14But the patterns big groups of birds paint on the sky's canvas
0:24:14 > 0:24:16can be equally mesmerising.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23This memorable sequence came when John filmed a flock of starlings
0:24:23 > 0:24:28with fellow bird lover Bill Oddie at the River Severn in Gloucestershire.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37You couldn't choreograph a show better than the starlings do it.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42They just come in loosely and they start to fly a little bit
0:24:42 > 0:24:45and more come and more come
0:24:45 > 0:24:49and then you get a really big flock comes.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52And eventually you end up with 10,000 or 20,000
0:24:52 > 0:24:56or 100,000 all in one place.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Then they start these incredible evolutions, these shapes.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09it's like some other creature that's just morphing in space.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22It's almost like some mathematical thing.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36The excitement of that show coming together and then ending
0:25:36 > 0:25:40so beautifully when they spiral down and they drop down into the reed bed
0:25:40 > 0:25:42and the show's finished and you know that's it.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45It has to be the end of the film, it has to be the end
0:25:45 > 0:25:48of what the starlings have done, it just worked perfectly.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Filming the patterns of nature is a trademark feature of John's work.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Back home in Scotland,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10John explains how he captures these beautiful patterns.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17There are lapwings. What's so special about this is that lapwings
0:26:17 > 0:26:21have become really rare in Britain and there are hundreds there.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26So there is this beautiful flock now.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30Two flocks, really. A big flock and a small flock
0:26:30 > 0:26:32which have just merged
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and the colours are just coming up in the sky.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40And this shifting, drifting pattern of lapwings against it.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I am really looking for how they fit in a larger picture.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49So the frame moves all the time, I'm following the flock around.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I'm not really filming individual birds,
0:26:51 > 0:26:55but I'm trying to anticipate where the whole flock is going
0:26:55 > 0:26:57so that the composition stays nice the entire time.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00It's quite a difficult thing to do because they are shifting themselves
0:27:00 > 0:27:04relative to each other and the flock compresses and expands all the time.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09I have to anticipate quite a lot
0:27:09 > 0:27:15but when it works you get a lovely sense of flow and of movement
0:27:15 > 0:27:18which is something that is almost unique to birds, really.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20This sense of how they use the space,
0:27:20 > 0:27:23how they're in this three-dimensional space.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29There aren't that many places that are as wild as this
0:27:29 > 0:27:33in terms of what lives here any more.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35On the west coast of Scotland, particularly on the islands
0:27:35 > 0:27:39like this, you've got so much variety and natural habitat left
0:27:39 > 0:27:42that you do get these big flocks of birds like this
0:27:42 > 0:27:44you just don't get in many places any longer.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53There is a wonderful quality to the light in the west, I think,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57because there are big skies. It's open in that direction.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00There is no light pollution, there is no town,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03there is nothing on the horizon, really.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08As a photographer, it's a fantastic place to work.
0:28:08 > 0:28:09It's always inspiring.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Next time, our cameramen are in the oceans
0:28:21 > 0:28:23sharing the water with sharks,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26filming flying fish,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and the biggest animal in the world.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32I've waited a long time to see a blue underwater,
0:28:32 > 0:28:33and that was just magic!
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd