:00:14. > :00:19.day of the year, when new life is beginning. So, how are you marking
:00:19. > :00:24.it? Midsummer is a special time in Scotland, where the long hours of
:00:24. > :00:32.daylight make life seem that bit more magical, as the days don't come
:00:32. > :00:39.much longer than not here on the island Lewis. We are live on BBC Two
:00:40. > :00:43.Scotland, and also streaming live on web all over the world. We will be
:00:43. > :00:48.right here up until the key moment when the sun sets behind the stones
:00:48. > :00:58.over there. Until then, we will be bringing you stories from across
:00:58. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:07.rare and beautiful clouds that can only be seen in summer. And round
:01:07. > :01:11.the world cyclist Mark Beaumont has been racing the sun. If I have got
:01:11. > :01:16.any chance of getting to the west coast by Somerset, -- sunset, I had
:01:16. > :01:21.better get going. In the natural world, there is an explosion of new
:01:21. > :01:30.life right now, so we bring you the best wildlife stories, with a sick
:01:30. > :01:40.that returns to the wild. The seas that come alive as the temperatures
:01:40. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:52.rise. And the red squirrels bringing of Britain's most important seabird
:01:52. > :01:57.colonies off the coast of Fife. It is teeming with new life at this
:01:57. > :02:04.time of year. Catriona is there for us this evening. This really is peak
:02:04. > :02:06.season here on the Isle of Man. Nearly a quarter of a million
:02:06. > :02:13.seabirds migrate thousands of miles to spend the summer reading on this
:02:13. > :02:17.island. We have had cameras here for the past 24-hour is, and I can tell
:02:17. > :02:24.you that it has been busy, noisy, frantic and bursting with activity.
:02:24. > :02:28.Take a look at this. At first light, the islands sprang into
:02:28. > :02:38.life, quite literally, in the form of two Arctic turned chip is born
:02:38. > :02:41.
:02:41. > :02:44.this morning. Thousands of puffins took to the sky. The island is one
:02:44. > :02:48.of four strategic research sites in the UK, so what is happening here on
:02:48. > :02:52.the island gives us a picture of what is happening to seabirds
:02:52. > :03:00.nationally. I will be finding out how the season has been going so
:03:00. > :03:04.far, and getting up close to some baby puffins. They are very cute,
:03:04. > :03:09.and you don't need to leave the city to experience the explosion of
:03:09. > :03:13.wildlife. We are coming live from the heart of Edinburgh, the Royal
:03:13. > :03:23.botanic Garden, where they are holding a buyer blitz. Hermione is
:03:23. > :03:26.
:03:26. > :03:35.there for us. A biome lit is when experts record as many species as
:03:35. > :03:38.they can find in 24 hours. It is a way of taking a snapshot of the
:03:38. > :03:45.wildlife in an area. It should help us work out what an impact the poor
:03:45. > :03:49.spring has had. When they made a tally of insects, they counted just
:03:49. > :03:53.five different species compared to the 35 last year. Hopefully, the
:03:53. > :04:03.natural cycle has just been delayed, not actually stopped, and the
:04:03. > :04:09.
:04:09. > :04:18.counted tonight will show that things have improved. Thank you,
:04:18. > :04:22.Hermione. Lots of great stories, and loads of wildlife. And maybe a party
:04:22. > :04:32.brewing! They're certainly could be. So
:04:32. > :04:43.
:04:43. > :04:45.please stay with us as we celebrate this Midsummer evening, right until
:04:45. > :04:54.the culmination of Midsummer celebrations, the sunset. That will
:04:54. > :05:01.be happening at 10.20. It is hard to predict the next five minutes, let
:05:01. > :05:08.alone the next three hours. We are going live to Glasgow for Judith to
:05:08. > :05:12.tell us the chances of seeing a sunset. Hello, Dougie. Little chance
:05:12. > :05:22.of seeing the sunset where you are in the Outer Hebrides. The cloud is
:05:22. > :05:31.
:05:31. > :05:38.-- best place to catch the sunset tonight. I am highly optimistic that
:05:38. > :05:48.you will see some beautiful sunset in the east of the country. And
:05:48. > :05:49.
:05:49. > :05:53.temperatures not looking too bad, score, but we need to keep our
:05:53. > :06:01.fingers crossed. We are asking you to send in your
:06:01. > :06:11.photos and sunsets taken anywhere in Scotland. You can upload them to our
:06:11. > :06:13.
:06:13. > :06:17.website, and we will show the best amazing stones. They have been here
:06:17. > :06:21.for 5000 years and have seen it all. It is no wonder they attract
:06:21. > :06:28.visitors from all over the place. This young lady here is here for the
:06:28. > :06:34.summer solstice. Why a you hear? am an artist, and Midsummer is the
:06:34. > :06:41.peak of the year. And this is like the peak of ancient Britain, and
:06:41. > :06:47.when I first came here in 1982, I did the whole journey right from
:06:47. > :06:51.Land's End to reach here, and once I got here, I couldn't believe it. I
:06:51. > :06:58.couldn't leave, so I live here, and I have been coming to Midsummer ever
:06:58. > :07:01.since. It certainly is magical. This is the first time I have ever been
:07:01. > :07:07.here, and they are uniquely beautiful, even from a geological
:07:07. > :07:10.point of view, and with all these incredible features. There are many
:07:10. > :07:15.theories about why our ancestors built this place, and later we will
:07:15. > :07:25.have more on the latest scientific evidence, but first, what do we know
:07:25. > :07:34.
:07:34. > :07:43.about people who built this all weathers, these stones have
:07:43. > :07:49.stood. Imposing, intriguing, mysterious. Over the years, they
:07:49. > :07:57.have captivated and bewildered many. Even the earliest historians
:07:57. > :08:05.seems to be fascinated by them. In the first century BC, the Greek
:08:05. > :08:10.historian Dio Dorris wrote about a magnificent spherical temple
:08:10. > :08:14.dedicated to the lunar god Apollo. Some believed he was describing
:08:14. > :08:20.these stones. Others speculated that they were giants turned to rock by a
:08:20. > :08:26.magician. That might be why the locals once knew them as the false
:08:26. > :08:33.men. The stones have endured, but the landscape around them has
:08:33. > :08:39.changed dramatically. I know from bitter experience the
:08:39. > :08:41.weather here in the Western Isles can be wet, wild and windy, but 5000
:08:41. > :08:48.years ago when these were constructed, it was a different
:08:48. > :08:58.story. It was warmer, the sea was lower, and write here was at the
:08:58. > :09:00.
:09:00. > :09:10.area would have been bustling with livestock and Stone Age farming
:09:10. > :09:11.
:09:11. > :09:14.families tending their crop will stop -- crop. Alison, when I think
:09:14. > :09:21.of the Stone Age, I think of primitive people. Were they
:09:21. > :09:26.primitive? They were anything but. Their way of life would have been a
:09:26. > :09:31.farming way of life, fairly simple. We know that they grew barley and
:09:31. > :09:35.wheat, and they tended cattle and sheep and pigs. But actually, they
:09:35. > :09:40.were incredibly sophisticated. were the communities fairly
:09:40. > :09:48.isolated? We know that they were certainly communicating with other
:09:48. > :09:51.communities, so 500 years before this stone circles were built, we
:09:51. > :09:57.know they were going from here to Orkney, it would have taken several
:09:57. > :10:05.days. The West Coast was a natural trading route. Archaeologists have
:10:05. > :10:14.found proof of that right here. Basically, this is a bit of a very
:10:14. > :10:20.fine bowl. It was probably made about 2900 BC, and it dates to the
:10:20. > :10:25.time when the circle was built. The great thing is that you get
:10:25. > :10:29.identical pottery in Orkney, and you also get it elsewhere in Scotland.
:10:29. > :10:37.You get it as far south as southern England and the area around
:10:37. > :10:40.Stonehenge. It means people in contact over these are vast areas.
:10:40. > :10:50.2000 years after the stones were erected, the landscape began to
:10:50. > :10:50.
:10:50. > :10:54.change. The climate grew colder and wetter. Between 900 and 400 BC, a
:10:54. > :11:01.blanket of Pete built up over the islands. It even smothered the
:11:01. > :11:11.stones. They were partially buried by it for more than 2000 years. It
:11:11. > :11:14.
:11:14. > :11:21.wasn't until 1857 that it was finally cut away. And average of
:11:21. > :11:28.five feet of soil was peeled back to rid -- reveal these towering stones.
:11:28. > :11:35.In other areas of the island, it is even deeper than it was here. Who
:11:35. > :11:40.knows what else could be hidden beneath this vast expanse? In an
:11:40. > :11:45.area like this, how much a wee standing on? It could be as much as
:11:45. > :11:50.five metres, 16 feet. So we could see evidence of potentially other
:11:50. > :12:00.stone circles? Absolutely. We know that they're Arfield walls
:12:00. > :12:12.
:12:12. > :12:18.underneath. Let's start digging it something very special and fragile
:12:18. > :12:24.here. Alison Sheridan has brought something truly amazing that came
:12:24. > :12:32.out of the earth here. It is a perfectly preserved Stone Age axe,
:12:32. > :12:42.complete with its wooden handle. It is made of Hawthorne. The axe head
:12:42. > :12:42.
:12:42. > :12:52.comes from Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1982. And the reason it
:12:52. > :13:04.
:13:04. > :13:09.is still in this great shape, is That is absolutely incredible. Lucky
:13:10. > :13:14.you being inside, it is freezing out here. 200 miles away over on the
:13:14. > :13:19.Firth of Forth, Catriona Shearer is waiting to tell us what the puffins
:13:19. > :13:26.are up to. Midsummer for puffins is all about raising their newborn
:13:26. > :13:34.chicks. All around this area beside me are boroughs, and the puffins
:13:34. > :13:39.live safely underground. The parents have been flying in and out to feed
:13:39. > :13:42.their chicks. It has been a really tough year for puffins. Back in
:13:42. > :13:51.March when the birds should have been coming here to the island to
:13:51. > :13:55.breed, three and a half thousand were washed up on the east coast of
:13:55. > :14:03.Britain, and that caused concern to the people here on the island. If
:14:03. > :14:12.you come down here with me, this is Professor Mike Carys, and he has
:14:12. > :14:20.spent years researching the island. Here is a wee baby, four or five
:14:20. > :14:25.days old. We weigh a few every year to see how well they are going to
:14:25. > :14:29.grow. We are worried this year because they are late. So we are
:14:29. > :14:37.interested in how well they grow. We weigh them every four days for about
:14:37. > :14:44.a month. So what does this little guy way? Let's have a look. In he
:14:44. > :14:54.goes. He would have hatched and about 40 grams, and now he weighs
:14:54. > :14:54.
:14:54. > :14:58.120, so he is doing well. They winter right out to sea, and they
:14:58. > :15:04.can cope with almost anything, but this year they came back early
:15:04. > :15:08.because of the wind. They dive perhaps ten metres down, and the
:15:08. > :15:16.turbulence makes feeding very difficult. So have you seen the
:15:16. > :15:22.effects of the puffin wreck on the island's population? We have 46,000
:15:22. > :15:28.nests this year, and four years ago, we also had 46,000. We think the
:15:28. > :15:38.numbers slowly increased over the last few years, but we have lost the
:15:38. > :15:43.extra. So how many are on the island now? 46,000 nests, so about a
:15:43. > :15:49.including the chicks. We had better get this little guy safely back in
:15:49. > :15:53.his burrow. Thank you. It sounds like the puffins could do with a bit
:15:53. > :16:03.of good summer weather. Later I will be meeting some other seabirds which
:16:03. > :16:03.
:16:03. > :16:07.love the sun. Join us later for more of that. She keeps talking about the
:16:07. > :16:11.sun, doesn't she? Midsummer is another busy time for the red
:16:11. > :16:15.squirrel. They are busy feeding their young and scouting out
:16:15. > :16:20.territories. They are threatened species and high Hermione Cockburn
:16:20. > :16:23.has been meeting someone who is determined to help them survive.
:16:23. > :16:27.There is no doubt that summer is a good time for much of the natural
:16:27. > :16:33.world and it is a good time for us humans as well. More lights, more
:16:33. > :16:38.vitamin D, suddenly you want to get up and go. Watching some animals can
:16:38. > :16:48.get you that feeling too. Just one look at these is enough to raise
:16:48. > :16:58.
:16:58. > :17:04.squirrels. There is nowhere better to see them than here, a small wood
:17:04. > :17:11.on the outskirts of the city of Dundee. It is owned by Jimmie and
:17:11. > :17:18.Rosie Reid. Rosie has MS and Jimmie now spends a lot of his time caring
:17:18. > :17:22.for her. But this remarkable couple are perhaps Scotland's greatest red
:17:22. > :17:27.squirrel conservationists and have turned there would enter a squirrel
:17:27. > :17:32.sanctuary. I have lived here almost 50 years and all through my
:17:32. > :17:37.childhood and youth I never saw a squirrel. It was one afternoon. I
:17:37. > :17:40.was sitting in the living room having a bit of a rest and I saw a
:17:40. > :17:45.red squirrel running right along the top wire of the fence and I could
:17:45. > :17:51.not believe it. It was so clever. It gripped hold of the wire fence with
:17:51. > :17:55.its hind legs and hung upside down beside the bird feeder and started
:17:55. > :17:59.helping itself to the peanuts. I said, right, Jimmie, we need to get
:17:59. > :18:05.more feeders. We thought if we could give them supplementary feed, give
:18:05. > :18:11.them a place of sanctuary, a place where they could all meet up, then
:18:11. > :18:17.that might help their breeding and so far it would appear that it has
:18:17. > :18:25.been working. We were lucky and we were able to buy the little corner
:18:25. > :18:32.of the ward. Now, it is part of our lives. It is what we are. It has
:18:32. > :18:36.given Rosie a new lease of life. Rosie was a biologist and chemist
:18:36. > :18:43.originally our past was going to castles and walking up hills. We
:18:43. > :18:47.can't do that with a wheelchair. So we have had to move our sights and
:18:47. > :18:52.we have been focused on trying to do what we can for the local wildlife
:18:52. > :18:55.and we bounce everything off each other and it is great. Jimmie
:18:55. > :19:05.supplies the squirrels with half a tonne of nuts that year. Keeping
:19:05. > :19:10.them going whatever the weather. But there is more to Rosie and Jimmie's
:19:10. > :19:18.work than simply providing food. Their sanctuary is radical jumping
:19:18. > :19:21.off point for red squirrel recovery and retention. The Tayside wildlife
:19:21. > :19:27.officer explained how it works. How is it that red squirrels are able to
:19:27. > :19:32.thrive here so close to such a big city? There has been a population of
:19:32. > :19:35.squirrels in and around Dundee historically, but what was starting
:19:35. > :19:39.to happen was that the number of ways squirrels was beginning to
:19:39. > :19:45.build up to the extent that red squirrels were being pushed into
:19:45. > :19:49.woodlands like this and they were able to hang on here. Along with
:19:49. > :19:55.that there has been a fair measure of control of the great population,
:19:55. > :19:59.trying to hold it at bay and not let them overwhelm them completely.
:19:59. > :20:01.do you feel about the work that Rosie and Jimmie have done here?
:20:01. > :20:06.think what Rosie and Jimmie have achieved here is quite remarkable.
:20:06. > :20:09.They have made a safe haven right on the edge of the city. The fact they
:20:09. > :20:13.can come here through the winter, they can feed, they can be fit and
:20:13. > :20:19.healthy, means that you have got a really good strong breeding
:20:19. > :20:22.population. Can squirrels from here moved to other parts of the
:20:22. > :20:25.neighbourhood # At this time of year what is happening is that young
:20:25. > :20:29.squirrels are starting to spread out now. They were maybe born in early
:20:29. > :20:35.spring, late winter, and they stay in the nest for nine or ten years
:20:35. > :20:37.and after that date. To spread out. The facts we have a good healthy
:20:37. > :20:43.population building up all the time means there is a population that
:20:43. > :20:47.will move. That is happening in midsummer? It is all happening in
:20:47. > :20:53.midsummer, they are on the move. With a threefold increase in the
:20:53. > :20:57.local red squirrel population, Rosie and Jimmie's wood has helped make
:20:57. > :21:01.Dundee one of Scotland's greenest cities. So do happy squirrels mean
:21:01. > :21:06.happy people? Rosie, do you buy into this whole idea that is good for you
:21:06. > :21:11.to get out and watch wildlife? How does it make you feel? Just
:21:11. > :21:19.wonderful. I am at my happiest when I am outside in the sanctuary with
:21:19. > :21:24.the wildlife. It just lifts my soul and you forget all the worries, just
:21:24. > :21:30.put that behind you. I don't look at it, don't look back. I am in the
:21:30. > :21:37.sanctuary and this is now. It is the best place to be, now. There are
:21:37. > :21:42.times that I can't get outside with my disabilities, but I have the
:21:42. > :21:47.second-best option. I have had a very special huge window but in and
:21:47. > :21:54.I can sit on my bed and look out of the window and after a minute or two
:21:54. > :21:58.macro window on the surrounds disappear and I am outside the wood
:21:58. > :22:02.with the wildlife and occasionally feels like the wood and the wildlife
:22:02. > :22:12.in the bedroom with me. There is never a day goes by that I do not
:22:12. > :22:17.
:22:17. > :22:21.Jimmie and Rosie are remarkable couple, well here at Callanish the
:22:21. > :22:26.drums have started, the Bells have started, two and a half hours until
:22:26. > :22:30.sunset. The party is going strong. They are on the edge of Europe,
:22:30. > :22:34.almost as far north-west as you can go, was over 18 hours of daylight on
:22:34. > :22:39.midsummer stay. Let's see how the sky is looking across Scotland
:22:39. > :22:43.today. Let's head straight to the east, the Royal botanic Garden in
:22:43. > :22:48.Edinburgh. Look at those clouds and shadows, is not beautiful? What
:22:49. > :22:57.about the West Coast, the west of Glasgow? It is looking brighter than
:22:57. > :23:00.here, that is for sure. Very nice. There is Callanish, not quite so
:23:00. > :23:05.bright and breezy! All these hours of daylight mean we can pack so much
:23:05. > :23:09.more into one day, especially up here. We challenged Mark Beaumont,
:23:09. > :23:12.adventure and round the world cyclist, to chase the sun along the
:23:12. > :23:17.north coast of mainland Scotland. He is going to try and follow it from
:23:17. > :23:22.the moment the sun rises in the east to when it sets in the West, 120
:23:22. > :23:32.miles in a single day. On the way he will discover how the locals are
:23:32. > :23:48.
:23:49. > :23:53.morning, sitting outside my tent at the most north easterly point in
:23:53. > :24:00.North Britain. Any further and I would be in the North Sea. It has
:24:00. > :24:04.been up to pretty mystery night. I woke up a couple of times. I could
:24:04. > :24:08.have sat up and read, it was so light. It is amazing how quickly the
:24:08. > :24:18.sun is climbing off the horizon. I need to pack up, get up on the bike
:24:18. > :24:21.
:24:21. > :24:31.here right across the top of Scotland to Sandalwood Bay, on the
:24:31. > :24:34.
:24:34. > :24:44.West Coast. I am hoping to catch the journey. Just enough time to meet
:24:44. > :24:52.
:24:52. > :24:55.some people also enjoying these long are biting. Eddie McCarthy is the
:24:55. > :25:01.superintendent for the river. If there is anything you need to know
:25:01. > :25:07.about fishing, he is your man. are you doing question mark good to
:25:07. > :25:13.see you. An early start. Are you used to being on your river at this
:25:13. > :25:18.time? We tend to use the extra daylight to fish for the salmon.
:25:18. > :25:21.midsummer particularly good time to fish a question at Yes. As year
:25:21. > :25:26.progresses, probably peaking around midsummer, we have the arrival of
:25:26. > :25:32.the grouse which is a smaller version of the salmon so I would say
:25:32. > :25:37.this is a much more productive in midsummer. All this chat about fish
:25:37. > :25:41.has made me very hungry but fortunately Eddie's colleague Pat
:25:41. > :25:51.has rustled up some freshly caught brown trout. That is absolutely
:25:51. > :25:53.
:25:53. > :25:58.delicious! Washed away start the day. -- what a way to start the
:25:58. > :26:04.day. The fish are perfect fuel for the road and I am going to need it.
:26:04. > :26:08.I am leaning -- leaving Caithness behind and heading into Sutherland
:26:08. > :26:13.which really marks the start of the hills. This is also the part of
:26:13. > :26:19.Scotland I know nothing about. I have explored all corners of the
:26:19. > :26:24.globe but never this part of Scotland. However, today I am making
:26:24. > :26:31.up for that and my next stop is a dramatic headlines slap bang in the
:26:31. > :26:33.middle of the North Coast. -- headlined. The views from the light
:26:33. > :26:42.house that struck the point are stunning, stretching far out to the
:26:42. > :26:49.east and west. I can't afford to spend too long here but it is the
:26:49. > :26:54.perfect place and the perfect time of year to spot the mammals like
:26:54. > :26:59.dolphins and whales. Paul Castle is the local ranger. It looks a bit
:26:59. > :27:04.rough out there to spot anything interesting. It is, unfortunately
:27:04. > :27:12.the wind got up last night and it has made the water to be. Throughout
:27:12. > :27:16.the summer there are daily sightings here. It is a young minty wail.
:27:16. > :27:24.There is a long back section and a small Finn. This is the porpoise, a
:27:24. > :27:28.small triangular fin. What brings the whales, dolphins, porpoises,
:27:28. > :27:34.around this point? They are following the fish around as the
:27:34. > :27:38.summer goes on and the water gets warmer. There is two things you
:27:38. > :27:46.need, patience and a big slice of luck but I think the look is maybe
:27:46. > :27:51.not on our side today. I wish I could spend longer here in the hope
:27:51. > :27:58.of seeing something at the sun is already ahead of me and I need to
:27:58. > :28:03.catch up. Although I just can't resist stopping off at this
:28:03. > :28:06.viewpoint to check out the amazing scenery. From here I can pretty much
:28:06. > :28:10.see the north-west of Scotland stretching ahead of me. There is
:28:10. > :28:14.still a long way to go. It is going to be the longest day I have done on
:28:14. > :28:21.a bike for a long, long time and if I've got the chance of getting right
:28:21. > :28:31.across the West Coast by sunset I had better get going. There is quite
:28:31. > :28:38.
:28:38. > :28:41.when we come back. We will be back, live, on BBC Two at nine o'clock but
:28:41. > :28:47.before we go, don't forget to keep sending your best Scottish sunsets.