:00:16. > :00:25.It's Friday, it's going to be a wonderfully colourful show. We have
:00:25. > :00:35.got red grouse, red deer, white hares and golden eagles. All the
:00:35. > :01:07.
:01:07. > :01:13.Welcome to Autumnwatch live. Coming from Slimbridge in Gloucestershire.
:01:13. > :01:20.We have heard our curtain call. This is the last of the series.
:01:20. > :01:30.We'll be talking -- About the weather. We are British! We'll talk
:01:30. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :04:06.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 155 seconds
:04:06. > :04:14.They experience our most extreme weather conditions. It has been a
:04:14. > :04:20.very unusually autumn. Above 600 metres here in the Karen gorpls
:04:20. > :04:24.trees can't grow. Right here we're on the brink. There are a few
:04:24. > :04:29.stunted examples. Above this, the habitat in the UK is as close as
:04:29. > :04:39.you can get to the Arctic. The Arctic what better place to go for
:04:39. > :04:43.
:04:43. > :04:50.a spot of skiing. Only one problem, there's no snow! Last year there
:04:50. > :04:57.are two metres of snow. As we reported earlier, there was a
:04:57. > :05:02.sprinkling in October. The average daily maximum temperatures are five
:05:02. > :05:12.degrees higher last year than this. It has had an impact on the
:05:12. > :05:13.
:05:13. > :05:21.wildlife. Some of the Heather is in flower now in nof. Still in flower
:05:21. > :05:26.I -- Amazing. That has meant some animals are able to exploit food
:05:26. > :05:31.resources they would not normally get to You would not normally
:05:31. > :05:39.expect to see bull finches! favourites. You would not expect to
:05:39. > :05:44.see them on the top of moors at this time of year. Are they
:05:44. > :05:50.indigenous. We get a few migrants, the Scandinavian birds are bigger
:05:50. > :05:55.and brighter than the UK ones. They look like UK ones. When it gets
:05:55. > :06:00.harsh they will move down and feed on the low lands. I know where they
:06:00. > :06:06.will come, to my garden and pinch the buds off the apple tree! That's
:06:06. > :06:12.what apple trees are for. Some of the creatures are bright pink.
:06:12. > :06:19.Others like this have a better idea of what to do. This is a mountain
:06:19. > :06:27.hare. It's left with a bit of a problem. At the moment because
:06:27. > :06:32.there's no snow it's sticking out like a sore thumb. Rather than
:06:32. > :06:39.hiding from predators it's making it more noticeable to predators.
:06:39. > :06:43.While we were up there, we also saw these. At this time of year,
:06:43. > :06:48.mountain hares are a principal component of their diet. If they
:06:48. > :06:54.are bright white it means they are easy to catch. I can't understand
:06:54. > :06:59.how any survive. They don't get caught out every year. What is
:06:59. > :07:04.happening is obviously the hare is not responding to a coverage of
:07:04. > :07:09.snow, it's responding principally to day length. Some years
:07:09. > :07:14.unfortunately they get caught out and a few probably get caught!
:07:14. > :07:23.weather has been strange in Scotland but peculiar all over the
:07:23. > :07:30.country. You are right. It has been peculiar. Do we like to talk about
:07:30. > :07:36.it? It's a British pastime to talk about the weather. I can't help
:07:36. > :07:41.myself. It has been mild for this time of the year. We have asked you
:07:42. > :07:46.to let us know your observations. We have had a incredible response.
:07:46. > :07:50.It was the best response in the series. You have been telling us
:07:50. > :07:56.about lady birds. We have had lots of you tell us about bees and
:07:56. > :08:01.watches. All over the country bees and watches are around. Toads and
:08:02. > :08:10.frogs. And the butters flies and moths. Lots of flowers are still in
:08:10. > :08:18.flower. I'll put some of the magnets on the map. We have got
:08:18. > :08:28.apple blossom in Tewkesbury. Roses in Greenwich outside London. And
:08:28. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:37.Emma harr told us about that. And foxgloves in Derbyshire. It has
:08:37. > :08:42.been a mild autumn. The latest we have from the Met Office has given
:08:42. > :08:48.us a graph. Which they haven't trusted me to do. We have
:08:48. > :08:52.temperature up the side and time along the bottom. It starts on
:08:52. > :08:57.September 1. The dotted line is the average temperature calculated and
:08:57. > :09:01.you -- As you can see until we get through to the beginning of October,
:09:01. > :09:07.end of November it's pretty much hovering around the average. It
:09:07. > :09:13.veers up here. What we have seen in November are so far temperatures
:09:13. > :09:20.well above the average. The average temperature for November has been 9
:09:20. > :09:26.degrees. That's 3.1 above the norm. And the highest ever was 8.8 in
:09:26. > :09:31.1994. This could end up being the warmest November. November is a
:09:31. > :09:37.transitional month. It often starts warm and gets cold at the end. If
:09:37. > :09:44.it gets cold now it follows a typical November pattern. The
:09:44. > :09:50.impact on your selection of species here is noticeable. I think because
:09:50. > :09:55.these are dramatic events they hold a higher potency for us. People
:09:55. > :10:00.notice them. In terms of the grand scheme of things I'm not entirely
:10:00. > :10:07.sure it will have an impact. These are isolated things. Nature has the
:10:07. > :10:17.ability to soak up the cold or warm periods. Some wildlife has been
:10:17. > :10:21.quite confused. Let's look at the ducklings. Below the flamingo pool
:10:21. > :10:29.there are ten ducklings swimming around. It seems they think it's
:10:29. > :10:35.spring. What is going to happen to them? They will have a tough time.
:10:35. > :10:41.They are reliant on finding their own food. This is possibly a sign
:10:42. > :10:47.of not a second spring, these birds responding to a forthcoming spring.
:10:47. > :10:51.If it fleezs and gets cold they could be be be be in trouble. They
:10:51. > :10:58.are already in trouble. Once they are looking for food they are food
:10:58. > :11:04.themselves. Look at this. We also filmed this, this week. And a
:11:05. > :11:11.little ducklings swimming around with mum. Look at that. A black-
:11:11. > :11:18.headed gull has tried its luck. It is quite a small gull. Look at how
:11:18. > :11:25.protective the adult is. She has come in and the duckling has
:11:25. > :11:31.scarpered off the mud. This is more capable of taking Mallard chicks.
:11:31. > :11:37.They would gladly do so and possibly clean up the lot. Fingers
:11:37. > :11:45.crossed for the duck lgz. The female will undoubtedly breed in
:11:45. > :11:52.April and if she fails again in May. It's time for Liz Bonnin when we
:11:52. > :11:56.sent to the Karen gorpls to cover an emotive issues. The British
:11:56. > :12:01.landscape gets no more dramatic and beautiful than in the Highlands of
:12:01. > :12:07.Scotland. It's most valuable and important habitat is the Caledonian
:12:07. > :12:15.pine forest a rich mix of trees, Heather and all the animal species
:12:15. > :12:25.associated with it. But as beautiful as this place N is,
:12:25. > :12:31.
:12:31. > :12:38.something is out of balance in this spectacular landscape. I'm not here
:12:38. > :12:48.just to admire the species, I'm here to find out about one of the
:12:48. > :12:48.
:12:48. > :12:55.most controversial issues in Britain today. They belong here
:12:55. > :12:59.just as much as all the other animals but humans have created --
:12:59. > :13:06.Created an ecosystem with no natural method of controlling them.
:13:06. > :13:16.Some believe that the red deer is population is so out of balance it
:13:16. > :13:24.
:13:25. > :13:34.needs culling. My journey starts on a special estate. He works on the
:13:35. > :13:59.
:13:59. > :14:09.sharp end of keeping deer numbers Long-eared bats just listen. They
:14:09. > :14:18.hear the sound... That is amazing. How does water come out of a
:14:18. > :14:23.whale's back? It's the water that is caught on the back of the whale
:14:24. > :14:27.so you get this spray. Out of the blow hole. It is the air that comes
:14:27. > :14:37.out of the blow hole which is almost like a nostril on the back,
:14:37. > :14:43.if you like. Does it smell? It does. I have had it hit me in the face
:14:43. > :14:48.once! It is not very pleasant. If you go whale watching, don't go too
:14:48. > :14:58.close. I wish you had bathed before you came in! Why do ladybirds have
:14:58. > :15:01.
:15:01. > :15:08.spots? Chris? Nick Baker could answer that one! Try and condense
:15:08. > :15:17.it. I will ignore the spots and go for the colour. Contrasting
:15:17. > :15:21.markings, just to warn potential predators they are distasteful.
:15:21. > :15:24.spots are there to break up the obvious and make it a distinctive
:15:24. > :15:29.obvious and make it a distinctive animal. You know me, don't eat me
:15:29. > :15:34.because I'm foul-tasting. If you squash one in your fingers, not
:15:34. > :15:37.literally squash it, but if you smell your fingers afterwards they
:15:37. > :15:42.reflex bleed out of their knee joints and it is quite a soapy
:15:42. > :15:52.smell. You wouldn't want to put that in your mouth. If you lick it,
:15:52. > :15:54.
:15:54. > :16:01.it is very bitter. I didn't know that. Shall we go to the board? We
:16:01. > :16:11.have so many letters and drawings from viewers. Look at this. All
:16:11. > :16:11.
:16:11. > :16:16.sorts of things. This is all from one family. This is Will. Aged four.
:16:16. > :16:24.He's done us, basically. There's me. I have very long legs there.
:16:24. > :16:32.There's Chris. You are a bit smaller! LAUGHTER Very rounded!
:16:32. > :16:39.This one's from Joe, aged six. These are great hedgehogs. A good
:16:39. > :16:46.message. Don't give bread and milk because it will make them poorly.
:16:46. > :16:55.That is pretty good. There's me. Martin. There's you. And there's
:16:55. > :17:04.Chris with the owl. "I like poodles and poo." We know, Chris! This
:17:04. > :17:11.picture, this is beautiful. The badgers. And this is the most
:17:11. > :17:16.beautiful duck on earth. Some great artwork there. We have also had
:17:16. > :17:22.some tremendous photographs sent in. I am always critical... Before you
:17:22. > :17:27.do that, we should gather the starlings up. Before you do the
:17:27. > :17:33.photos... There is a bit of speed about this. A pair of dogs is going
:17:33. > :17:43.to come at me! They make a sparrowhawk look pretty tame!
:17:43. > :17:44.
:17:44. > :17:52.are you going to do this? They are so well trained! I must learn to
:17:52. > :17:58.train Chris and Martin like that! Hopefully, the dog also be as well
:17:58. > :18:02.trained as that(!) They are getting better the photos. I thought I
:18:02. > :18:07.better pull one out which I thought was sensational! This one, a lot of
:18:08. > :18:17.imagination has been used here by this photographer. Let's have a
:18:18. > :18:18.
:18:18. > :19:23.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 155 seconds
:19:23. > :19:32.montage of the rest of some of our Some good photos. Brilliant. Can we
:19:32. > :19:37.do our favourites? That is my favourite. It's a blur of nuthatch
:19:37. > :19:47.action! Love it. Gerald Robinson is my favourite. That is beautiful.
:19:47. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:56.Isn't it? The tip of the beak is missing! Seriously. Do you have a
:19:56. > :20:03.favourite? I do. This one was taken by Maxwell Law. The fact it's flown
:20:03. > :20:10.directly at the photographer. What do you think? The audience voted
:20:10. > :20:20.for this one. Really? That is pretty. The swan came a very close
:20:20. > :20:20.
:20:20. > :20:25.second. Yes! A swan without a beak! Moving on. What are we doing next?
:20:26. > :20:32.The poodles. I can't believe you forgot that! Where are the
:20:32. > :20:37.beauties? We have lots of people asking - come on, my boys. We have
:20:37. > :20:47.had lots of people asking why do dogs howl when they hear certain
:20:47. > :20:50.
:20:50. > :20:56.sounds like those foxes? Ah! Hello, Scratch. And Mr Itchy! Hello. While
:20:56. > :21:06.these settle down, let's go back to our quiz and see if we have got
:21:06. > :21:07.
:21:07. > :21:13.anybody who got... DOG GROWLS are well trained(!) Scratch! Come
:21:13. > :21:19.here. Go to Daddy. Did anybody get the right answers? No. No-one has
:21:19. > :21:29.got them all. Are we going to have a go? Yes. I will ask you. I
:21:29. > :21:30.
:21:30. > :21:40.thought that might be some sort of... It's a... It's an insect of
:21:40. > :21:41.
:21:41. > :21:47.some kind. Some wasps do. That's the case made. You are closest,
:21:47. > :21:57.Chris. The species is key here. Shall I tell you? Yes. As a kid I
:21:57. > :22:04.reared the caterpillers of this moth. I couldn't find the cocoons,
:22:04. > :22:11.they are puss moth caterpillers. They have chewed into table legs
:22:11. > :22:20.and stuff like that and hidden. If you find them, you can't get them
:22:20. > :22:25.off even with a hammer. The caterpiller has chewed the wood and
:22:25. > :22:31.formed almost a bomb shelter of a cocoon. Did anyone guess that? If
:22:31. > :22:40.you put your hand up you are in trouble! Let's go on to this one.
:22:40. > :22:46.Any guesses? It is a mollusc. might be a species that is new to
:22:46. > :22:52.this country because of climate change. No. It's been buried in
:22:52. > :22:56.like that? If you turn it the other way round, it's been buried, the
:22:56. > :22:59.pointy-end down, it is the biggest one in Britain. Last time I heard,
:22:59. > :23:03.there were 14 around the British coast. There used to be a lot more
:23:03. > :23:08.but because of anchors and disturbances to the sediment they
:23:08. > :23:18.get lost and broken. That is really rare around our coastline. It's
:23:18. > :23:27.
:23:27. > :23:33.called? It's called a fan mussel! Anyone guess that one? No. OK.
:23:33. > :23:39.we go! I knew they were both on the shore tonight! Isn't this the
:23:39. > :23:49.easiest one? That is the easiest of the lot! We all know what that one
:23:49. > :23:49.
:23:49. > :23:59.is! Woodcock! They used to use woodcock pin feathers to do the
:23:59. > :24:02.
:24:02. > :24:08.pinstripeing on Rolls-Royce cars! This one. Liz should know that one.
:24:08. > :24:17.We didn't do very well! Thank you very much. OK. A moment of truth.
:24:17. > :24:21.Scratch, come here! Come on. Come on! Now, sometimes when your dog
:24:21. > :24:26.hears the ice-cream van, or certain music, it produces a howling sound.
:24:26. > :24:29.People wonder what this is about. Let's see if these two can produce
:24:29. > :24:39.a howling sound now if we play the Autumnwatch theme tune, which they
:24:39. > :25:00.
:25:00. > :25:10.have been trained to listen. AUTUMNWATCH THEME TUNE
:25:10. > :25:40.
:25:40. > :25:50.LAUGHTER Shhh! Anyway, let's have a couple
:25:50. > :25:51.
:25:51. > :25:56.of questions. Calm down, boys. Do birds get fat on fat balls? Let's
:25:56. > :25:59.have you answer that one? They use so much energy in finding food and
:25:59. > :26:04.feeding. They will eat what they need, you know. They don't get fat
:26:04. > :26:09.like we do. They are always active. Fat balls are fantastic with them.
:26:09. > :26:12.It is full of energy. It is one of the best things you can put out.
:26:12. > :26:16.Put them out without the plastic mesh. That can get caught up in
:26:16. > :26:17.their feet. In fact, go on the website. We have loads of
:26:17. > :26:21.website. We have loads of information about how to feed your
:26:21. > :26:26.birds. At this time of the year, it is important that you do keep
:26:26. > :26:31.feeding them. People think they are overfeeding them because when they
:26:31. > :26:34.get cold they fluff their feathers up. But they are trying to keep
:26:34. > :26:38.warm. At the moment, very few birds are coming into gardens because it
:26:38. > :26:42.is so mild and there is lots of food out there. If it does get cold,
:26:42. > :26:48.they will come in Thank you for all the questions that you have sent in.
:26:48. > :26:52.We couldn't make Unsprung without you. You really have been a big
:26:52. > :26:58.part of this show. So we have decided to celebrate that by
:26:58. > :27:03.showing you the best bits of showing you the best bits of
:27:03. > :27:13.Unsprung, from you, our audience. I have a question here, what is your
:27:13. > :27:17.
:27:17. > :27:24.favourite poo? Is it a POO-dle?! What a work of art! The sweetest
:27:24. > :27:28.quickfire question, have a look at this. This is from Finlay. I have
:27:28. > :27:33.been taken to task by a 15-year-old girl. We have had a lot of
:27:33. > :27:40.questions about hedgehogs. Very on the ball. Don't you poo on my map!
:27:40. > :27:48.Oh no! Look at this. This is from Phil Smith. This one is fantastic.
:27:48. > :27:58.This is from John Tattersall. Oh dear. Kirsten Hunter is desperate
:27:58. > :28:05.
:28:05. > :28:13.to hear you say "puffling". Puffling! My favourite answer was
:28:13. > :28:18.(a) could be Santa Claus. We have this photo. I would have wallpaper
:28:18. > :28:24.like that. Come on, Chris. That is beautiful. I like that. I would put
:28:24. > :28:31.that on my wall. Hats off to onand Matthew. Helen Proud, I love some
:28:31. > :28:36.of the names. Thank you to those who got in contact. APPLAUSE Well,
:28:36. > :28:41.a fantastic series of Unsprung. There are a couple of dogs in
:28:41. > :28:44.Battersea Dogs Home. If anyone is interested, they are free to a good
:28:44. > :28:48.home. As troublesome as the Sex Pistols! Nevertheless, we have
:28:48. > :28:52.enjoyed it all. Thank you very much to the audience for contributing.