:00:11. > :00:14.are celebrating the longest day of the year in the far north-west of
:00:14. > :00:18.Scotland at the standing stones on the Isle of Lewis and there is more
:00:18. > :00:23.daylight here on midsummer's day than almost anywhere else in
:00:23. > :00:26.Britain. These enormous stones have looked out over the Atlantic for
:00:26. > :00:30.5000 years and today, they attract visitors from far and wide. There
:00:30. > :00:37.are kids come at Druids in the middle of the circle, all manner of
:00:37. > :00:42.people and they will be here until the sunset 10:20pm. Before that,
:00:42. > :00:45.here is what is coming up on Midsummer Live. I've been finding
:00:45. > :00:55.out about the rare and beautiful clouds that can only be seen in
:00:55. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :00:59.summer. Quite ethereal, ghostlike, like angels. We will show you why
:01:00. > :01:07.midsummer matters so much for our wildlife with Arctic terns, the
:01:07. > :01:11.perpetual summer Bird, live from the Isle of May. The underwater words --
:01:11. > :01:16.world awakened by the midsummer warmth and light. And we will find
:01:16. > :01:23.out if round the world cyclist Mark Beaumont can reach the West Coast in
:01:23. > :01:26.time for sunset. Earlier in the evening we asked you to send us your
:01:26. > :01:35.best Scottish sunset photos and we will bring you the best of those
:01:35. > :01:44.later on. It is not too late to join in. Tweet your photos. Or go to our
:01:44. > :01:49.website. Judith Ralston is in Glasgow and is watching the forecast
:01:49. > :01:53.for us. What do you reckon? Is there any chance this guys behind us will
:01:53. > :01:59.clear and we will see the sun setting? -- disguise behind it all
:01:59. > :02:01.clear? I am living in hope. I am sure you have seen hints of
:02:02. > :02:11.brightness across Lewis at the moment but it is a cloudy affair and
:02:12. > :02:12.
:02:12. > :02:15.it looks like staying that way until eastern Scotland at the moment,
:02:15. > :02:22.particularly on the east coast. We are looking at fine sunshine across
:02:23. > :02:32.the Isle of May. You can see the likes of eastern borders, Angus and
:02:33. > :02:34.
:02:34. > :02:44.Aberdeenshire, some fine sunsets 10:23pm this evening. There is lots
:02:44. > :02:59.
:03:00. > :03:05.to look forward to. Stay with us on get to. It took me about a day. It
:03:05. > :03:09.does not put off people who make a special trip here at midsummer.
:03:09. > :03:12.Cecilia and Alex have come from Australia. Why have you come so far?
:03:12. > :03:17.To escape the Australian winter and the shortest day of the year in
:03:17. > :03:21.Australia. You have come to the other side of the world. What sort
:03:21. > :03:28.of daylight length do you get in Australia? Very short. Sunset would
:03:28. > :03:32.be around 5pm. Get out of work and it is dark already so it is nice to
:03:32. > :03:37.be here. Lots of light, thanks for coming all this way. All the way
:03:37. > :03:42.from Australia! That is a fair old journey and it is not just humans
:03:42. > :03:46.that like to celebrate midsummer. At this time of year the landscape is
:03:46. > :03:52.alive with wildlife. At Edinburgh's botanic Garden, Hermione is helping
:03:52. > :03:56.to discover just how much wildlife can be found there.
:03:56. > :04:01.Thanks, the BioBlitz people have been busy all over the gardens and
:04:01. > :04:07.after just three hours we are already up at 112 species. We are
:04:07. > :04:10.here at one of the six ponds in the botanic Gardens. You are a wetland
:04:10. > :04:14.ecologist. It's midsummer at the time to be looking into our ponds
:04:14. > :04:19.for wildlife question might Absolutely, it is the perfect --
:04:19. > :04:23.perfect time to investigate biodiversity. The water gets a
:04:23. > :04:30.chance to warm up and everything gets going. We have a lot of things
:04:30. > :04:37.reproducing. You can find adults and the offspring. You have had a lot of
:04:37. > :04:42.help from volunteers. Including these two. It looks exciting here.
:04:42. > :04:49.Tell us about some of the things you have fished out? In this tank we
:04:49. > :04:55.have a female smooth newt and one of the babies as well. This is one of
:04:55. > :05:00.the pond's top predators. We have also got met of more phasing
:05:00. > :05:05.tadpoles that are starting to sprout legs. What does finding it's like
:05:05. > :05:11.this tell you about the pond? diverse. They rely on different
:05:11. > :05:17.things to eat so it shows we have a healthy pond. Do you think it has
:05:17. > :05:22.caught up from the cold spring? would say so. Our species county is
:05:22. > :05:26.quite high. A lot of the larval forms are a bit more stunted than we
:05:26. > :05:30.would expect at this time, so maybe a bit more slow. This tray is
:05:30. > :05:36.teeming with life. You have something that looks interesting in
:05:36. > :05:39.a jar? This is an adult diving beetle. They are able to move and
:05:39. > :05:44.fly to different ponds but we have found the larval form today as well
:05:44. > :05:49.and they are predatory. The larval form feeds through its tail on the
:05:49. > :05:53.surface of the water and they have been jaws. They grab hold of
:05:53. > :05:58.tadpoles and digests them. They are fierce. It sounds gruesome. In the
:05:58. > :06:08.trachea there is just so many different things -- in the tray
:06:08. > :06:08.
:06:08. > :06:18.here. What is that? We had a leech on screen. That was rams horn Smale,
:06:18. > :06:24.her before in the pond. We have a water boatman in front of it. It is
:06:24. > :06:31.disappearing off! Everything is being camera shy. See if we can get
:06:31. > :06:34.the leech again. I love it. sorts of things, really busy.
:06:34. > :06:42.what you have found, what do you think the count, the additional
:06:42. > :06:47.count of the BioBlitz might be? did we get to, boys? 20.
:06:48. > :06:51.brilliant. All the insects are important food source for lots ofs
:06:51. > :06:55.other animals like bats. The critical thing for bats is there
:06:55. > :07:05.going to be lots of insects around so they can build themselves up. So
:07:05. > :07:13.
:07:13. > :07:19.today. But overall 2013 has been pretty challenging weather-wise.
:07:19. > :07:25.Hibernating animals like bats woke up to a nasty shock. One of the
:07:25. > :07:29.coldest spring is on record. When they emerge from winter roosts, bats
:07:29. > :07:37.need to fill up on insects straightaway. If it is cold and food
:07:37. > :07:39.is scarce they can starve. Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre
:07:39. > :07:46.Eun Ayrshire received a record number of spring casualties this
:07:46. > :07:50.year. I am not surprised -- and not surprisingly, many of them were
:07:50. > :07:56.malnourished bats. Dave O'Reilly has the job of preparing them to go back
:07:56. > :08:01.into the wild. I went along to see how a female pipistrelle bat was
:08:01. > :08:06.doing. She is pretty lively. Yes, she has woken up with the heat in
:08:06. > :08:10.here. She is quite active. She looks like she's trembling almost. Is that
:08:10. > :08:15.normal? What they need to do when they first wake up is generate body
:08:15. > :08:19.heat to take off. If you give her a chance she would fly around the
:08:19. > :08:25.room. Usually they are quite laid-back animals. How do we know if
:08:25. > :08:32.she is ready? What we do is weigh her, check her wait and see if she's
:08:32. > :08:36.ready to go. Put her in head first. Headfirst. She's nearly six grams,
:08:36. > :08:41.which is quite good. She was only for Mac programmes when she came in
:08:41. > :08:46.and she should be between five and six grams, so she has put on a
:08:46. > :08:51.couple of grams. What about her wings? Will she be all right flying?
:08:51. > :08:55.We will check her to make sure there are no small holes to stop are
:08:55. > :09:02.flying and see what type of back she is. You can see the veins running
:09:02. > :09:07.along their, it is a common bit --, pipistrelle. What do you feed them
:09:07. > :09:15.at the hospital? We give the meal worms. Oh, yes, instantly.She's
:09:15. > :09:20.quite hungry. How many of these mealworms will she eat in a day?
:09:20. > :09:24.to 12, compared to 2000 midges in a night it is easier to give them ten
:09:24. > :09:29.mealworms. I would not fancy catching 2000 bridges to try to feed
:09:29. > :09:34.her! Are you confident she is ready to go back in the wild? She should
:09:34. > :09:38.fly OK, she is strong, she is a good weight, she is eating well and she
:09:38. > :09:45.should go easily. Bats must be released back into the same area
:09:45. > :09:50.they were rescued from. Our bat was picked up Culzean Castle on the
:09:50. > :09:59.Ayrshire coast. The old buildings, mature trees and ornamental lakes
:09:59. > :10:04.here make up a perfect bat habitat. Heather Lowther is a ranger
:10:04. > :10:10.naturalist in the country park equipped with her detector, she
:10:10. > :10:13.surveys the bat population throughout the summer. It was
:10:13. > :10:17.Heather that originally found the female pipistrelle when it flew
:10:17. > :10:23.exhausted into the castle's restaurant. Let me reunite you with
:10:23. > :10:27.your friend. This should be a good spot to release her then? This is
:10:27. > :10:31.perfect, around here is perfect. We know we have a number of pipistrelle
:10:31. > :10:36.roosts in the buildings round here so she will be fine. What are the
:10:36. > :10:40.bats doing the summer? Just now they have the big maternity roosts so the
:10:40. > :10:44.mums get together and have babies and later in August the babies will
:10:44. > :10:54.fly off so they have different roosts at different times of year.
:10:54. > :11:07.
:11:07. > :11:14.Do you think this bat will join a started to emerge. Heather's
:11:14. > :11:23.detector picked up their ultrasonic clicks. This is it. It was the
:11:23. > :11:28.perfect time to release our bat. She is already giving out signals,
:11:28. > :11:37.working out what is going on around her. That is brilliant! She is right
:11:37. > :11:42.above her head -- our heads, can you see her wings? She is coming back.
:11:42. > :11:52.Oh, fantastic! You don't get better than that, it was amazing. Very
:11:52. > :11:58.
:11:58. > :12:03.is one of more than 1000 across the British Isles. Scotland is littered
:12:03. > :12:06.with them. Just across the bay there are at least two of the stone
:12:06. > :12:11.circles but why were these sites bills? What did our ancestors used
:12:11. > :12:21.them for? Dougie has been meeting the experts to find out the latest
:12:21. > :12:22.
:12:22. > :12:28.Today, with all our modern technology, many others have lost
:12:28. > :12:32.our connection to nature. -- many of us have lost our connection to
:12:32. > :12:37.nature. But 5000 years ago when these stones went up our ancestors'
:12:37. > :12:41.lives would have been intricately linked with the natural world. These
:12:41. > :12:50.stones are clearly carefully positioned. They must have had some
:12:50. > :12:56.meaning. But what was it? Perhaps other prehistoric sites can give us
:12:56. > :13:01.a clue. Clive Ruggles is Britain's only professor of archaeologist --
:13:01. > :13:05.of archeoastronomy, the study of how our ancestors understood the sky. He
:13:05. > :13:11.has brought me to burial tombs at Culloden, near Inverness. Beautiful
:13:11. > :13:17.dry stone work and you have to imagine it being continued up and
:13:17. > :13:23.the whole thing being roofed over and we have a passage going off in
:13:23. > :13:28.this direction to get in and out. That would have been covered, so it
:13:28. > :13:32.was still in its original state you would be crawling through it.
:13:32. > :13:35.is the significance of the passageway? The significant thing is
:13:35. > :13:41.when you look along the passage and it is aligned with another one of
:13:41. > :13:47.these cairns, just over there, it is aligned in the direction of where
:13:47. > :13:53.the sun sets at midwinter. The shortest day of the year. It is the
:13:53. > :13:59.similar story at the most studied stone circle, Stonehenge, built
:13:59. > :14:04.around the same time as Callanish. Researchers have recently completed
:14:04. > :14:12.the most accurate scan Stonehenge ever done. They have plotted every
:14:12. > :14:15.lump on and on the Stones' surfaces, down to half a millimetre. It has
:14:15. > :14:22.revealed just how important midwinter and midsummer were to its
:14:22. > :14:29.builders. The stones that framed the solstices have been given a lot more
:14:29. > :14:34.attention than others. The latest scan allows us to look in lots of
:14:34. > :14:39.detail. This is stone 56, the tallest surviving on site. It forms
:14:39. > :14:42.one half of the great trilithon which stands at the end in a
:14:42. > :14:47.horseshoe. It would have had a pair that stood here next to it. You can
:14:47. > :14:54.see that very straight side. It has been incredibly carefully shaped to
:14:54. > :14:57.be a very straight line, and it would have formed one side of the
:14:57. > :15:01.frame through which the midwinter sun would have been viewed from the
:15:01. > :15:05.middle of the stone circle. proof that Stonehenge was built to
:15:05. > :15:14.align with the movements of the sun is overwhelming. And here at
:15:14. > :15:22.Callanish, the evidence points to an alignment of a different kind. The
:15:22. > :15:26.49 stones are arranged in a slightly offset cross shape. Two of the four
:15:26. > :15:36.Rose lead out of the circle. One points roughly East and the other
:15:36. > :15:39.
:15:39. > :15:44.West. That one there is pretty much juice South. -- you South. However,
:15:44. > :15:53.the Northern Avenue is slightly skewed. Some scholars believe that
:15:53. > :16:00.is the key to understanding this whole monument. Why would that
:16:00. > :16:08.Avenue be slightly offset? It is thought it points to a rare and
:16:08. > :16:15.lunar event. The cycle of the moon is complex. Every 18 and a half
:16:15. > :16:22.years, a lunar standstill occurs. This is when the moon, in a certain
:16:22. > :16:30.phase of its cycle, barely seems to make it above the horizon. One
:16:30. > :16:36.theory is that all this was built to track that lunar event. When the
:16:36. > :16:41.moon is doing its special date once every 18.6 years, you will see the
:16:41. > :16:46.moon rising very low on the horizon, just skimming above it about two
:16:46. > :16:54.degrees, dipping down below that rocky outcrop and then coming out
:16:54. > :17:02.again and seeming to fill the stone circle. But not everyone buys this
:17:02. > :17:06.theory. Professor Bill Ruggles has his doubts. It could be people were
:17:06. > :17:10.interested in looking at the full moon closest to the June solstice,
:17:10. > :17:15.around that time. If people were looking at it then they may have
:17:15. > :17:20.spotted the moon then and maybe aligned that. But I do not think
:17:20. > :17:27.people were making accurate observations of the moon over a
:17:27. > :17:32.generation or two to get the alignment exactly right. Said the
:17:32. > :17:37.debate continues about what alignment Callanish has if any. What
:17:37. > :17:43.Clive is sure of, however, is that the carefully constructed monuments
:17:43. > :17:48.did have ritual significance. are not places where people were
:17:48. > :17:53.living, for example. They were either congregating here for special
:17:53. > :18:02.occasions, or they were places to bury the dead. So these are the
:18:02. > :18:06.things that have sacred significance. With no written
:18:06. > :18:10.records and archaeology only revealing tantalising clues, we can
:18:10. > :18:20.never be certain why our ancestors chose to build this magnificent
:18:20. > :18:21.
:18:21. > :18:27.monument. These stones will hold the secrets.
:18:27. > :18:33.If only the stones could speak. We have extremely rare footage of a
:18:33. > :18:36.lunar standstill films in 2006 by cameraman Jim Hope. It is shot from
:18:36. > :18:41.here on Callanish. There are no stones in the foreground. They were
:18:41. > :18:46.behind the cameraman. You can just see the moon skimming along the
:18:46. > :18:52.curves of the mountain 's. That is known as the sleeping giant. You can
:18:52. > :19:01.see it there, very slowly skimming over the top. It finally goes down
:19:01. > :19:06.and disappears behind the mountain. Absolutely fantastic. The bad news,
:19:06. > :19:12.you will not see that again until 2024. Ellie has gone for a wander to
:19:12. > :19:18.the shore. Have you got your feet wet? I have my boots on and the tide
:19:18. > :19:22.is out so I am doing OK but I have come down to the short to show you
:19:22. > :19:26.it is not just live on land that takes advantage of these long days.
:19:26. > :19:32.Down here I can give you an example of marine life that does that, too.
:19:32. > :19:42.This is algae. People often call this blood Iraq that it is in fact
:19:42. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:58.not to crack. -- bladderwrack, but it is knotted wrack. Hermione now
:19:58. > :20:05.picks up the story. For top underwater cameraman Doug
:20:05. > :20:09.Anderson, summer meets Lamlash Bay in the Isle of Arran. He learned to
:20:09. > :20:16.guys here as a boy and pays a return visit every year. -- he learnt
:20:16. > :20:22.diving. This is a special place thanks to the work of people like
:20:22. > :20:27.these. Lamlash Bay has become a place where underwater life can
:20:27. > :20:35.recover and flourish. There is no better time to experience it than
:20:35. > :20:43.midsummer. The effect of summer in the sea in Scotland is profound. It
:20:43. > :20:49.is marked by a bloom, which is literally that. The ocean goes from
:20:49. > :20:57.a slate grey colour to vibrant green as the phytoplankton multiply
:20:57. > :21:05.exponentially in number. That is a start. That really is the battery
:21:05. > :21:10.for all life underwater on the West Coast of Scotland. I love coming
:21:10. > :21:16.back here and snorkelling. It is the way I explored this area when I was
:21:16. > :21:23.a boy, and there is something simple and beautiful about exploring
:21:23. > :21:29.particularly a temperate region like this with just a mask and snorkel.
:21:29. > :21:35.It is very quiet and you can cover a lot of area. Tiny lines mean
:21:35. > :21:40.jellyfish the size of your thumbnail. By the end of summer, you
:21:40. > :21:45.can get them the size of dustbin lids, with tentacles may be 30 or 40
:21:45. > :21:53.feet long. They are just extraordinary. Watching them pulls
:21:53. > :22:00.against the light in late summer. They are ill feeding machines. You
:22:00. > :22:07.certainly do not want to get stung by them. It is really super fun to
:22:07. > :22:10.start exploring the kelp forests. The kelp fronds form the trunks of
:22:10. > :22:17.the trees and then plays out into these canopy. Just like a forest,
:22:17. > :22:24.you can get underneath it as a free diver and explore the forest floor.
:22:24. > :22:28.It is very beautiful. The shafts of light come through and illuminate
:22:28. > :22:34.parts of it in the darkness. An amazing little story to play out
:22:34. > :22:37.here. Common to see octopus in Lamlash Bay, and if you get a good
:22:37. > :22:43.one, one that kind of accepts you, if you get your approach right when
:22:43. > :22:48.you are diving, and it's easy as a piece of furniture rather than a
:22:48. > :22:54.threat, then they carry on doing what they do. Mostly what they are
:22:54. > :22:59.after all these little squat lobsters. They call along the bottom
:22:59. > :23:09.and get into cracks and crevices and tried to find these things. It is
:23:09. > :23:14.
:23:14. > :23:18.great fun watching the hunt. Also in these rocky ledges it is a great
:23:18. > :23:24.place to find cuckoo wrasse. They are a real Scottish treat
:23:24. > :23:30.underwater. They are and as your blue and the females are a kind of
:23:30. > :23:36.ochre orange colour. The interesting thing about them in Scotland is they
:23:36. > :23:42.are one of arts exchange fish. A female will be female for years and
:23:42. > :23:52.then we'll decide to be a mail and turn from this orange colour into
:23:52. > :24:03.
:24:03. > :24:08.this blue and will get much bigger Seeing these in the shallows is
:24:08. > :24:16.really hopeful. Maybe not for me but for my children there might be a
:24:16. > :24:22.point where they can come back and enjoy this place and, not in the
:24:22. > :24:32.know-take zone, but close by, catch themselves cot for supper in the way
:24:32. > :24:37.
:24:37. > :24:41.that I did when I was a boy. -- cod. Just less than an hour until sunset
:24:41. > :24:45.and the pipes are playing in the background. You'll Scottish sunset
:24:45. > :24:51.photographs have been coming in. We will be looking at some later in the
:24:51. > :24:57.evening. How do you capture the best sunset? Our photographer Colin is
:24:57. > :25:02.joining us now. What do we need to capture a sunset? When it starts
:25:02. > :25:06.getting a little darker like this I would say you need a tripod and a
:25:06. > :25:13.shutter release. You have a fancy camera. Is that important? Ann not
:25:13. > :25:20.really. You could do it with a phone, any kind of camera.
:25:20. > :25:25.This is a pretty special place for you? It is different every time you
:25:25. > :25:32.come over. You never get the same picture twice. Is it important for
:25:32. > :25:36.you to get some sort of foreground in your photographs? Yes.We are
:25:36. > :25:40.looking at some of your photographs and that is truly spectacular. That
:25:40. > :25:45.looks like a glass ball. What are you thinking about when you are
:25:45. > :25:50.making photographs like that? trying to get a different take on
:25:50. > :25:56.the place, get it from a different angle. Thank you for joining us. I
:25:56. > :26:05.am intrigued. An incredible thing. Ellie, you are back and your feet
:26:05. > :26:08.dry. I have brought you a memento. Matches my hair! If you are out and
:26:08. > :26:18.about with your camera, there is one special thing to look out for in
:26:18. > :26:23.
:26:23. > :26:31.midsummer after the sun has set. I There is a strange spectacle in our
:26:31. > :26:38.summer skies. It has a band of dedicated followers. John Rowlands
:26:38. > :26:48.is one of them. He is scanning the heavens for a mysterious serial
:26:48. > :26:48.
:26:48. > :26:53.phenomenon. Something he first caught a glimpse of as a young man.
:26:53. > :26:58.I was waking up in the middle of the night in the summer when I was a
:26:58. > :27:05.teenager and I had a north facing window. I would notice strange old
:27:05. > :27:12.and wisps on the northern horizon, quite striking and unusual. --
:27:12. > :27:18.Golden wisps. I found out they were noctilucent clouds. Noctilucent
:27:18. > :27:22.clouds only appear after sunset. They are the highest and most
:27:22. > :27:32.elusive clouds we have, forming 50 miles above the Earth, beyond the
:27:32. > :27:36.
:27:36. > :27:40.stuff... Professor Nick Mitchell from the University of after studies
:27:40. > :27:47.the outer layers of the atmosphere, where these ethereal clouds form. To
:27:47. > :27:51.show me why they can only see scene -- be seen at night, he has come up
:27:51. > :28:01.with something impressive. It has taken every ounce of his scientific
:28:01. > :28:04.
:28:04. > :28:09.inflatable I have ever seen. It is impressive. So you have been hard at
:28:09. > :28:18.work with the cotton wool? Remark a work of creative genius! This is a
:28:18. > :28:21.fundamental trait in to illustrate how it is. -- this is a fun
:28:21. > :28:29.illustration to demonstrate how it is. These fluffy clouds represent
:28:29. > :28:36.the lower atmosphere clouds. These are a mile above the surface of the
:28:36. > :28:44.Earth. Much higher up is our noctilucent clouds, a thin layer of
:28:44. > :28:49.cloud. To mimic the sunset from my perspective, Nick is going to use a
:28:49. > :28:53.light to recreate the motion of the sun across the sky. During the
:28:53. > :28:57.daytime, the sun is shining down on the surface of the Earth,
:28:57. > :29:04.illuminating our fluffy cloud in the lower atmosphere. The noctilucent
:29:04. > :29:14.clouds present during the daytime but this time -- but the sun is so
:29:14. > :29:18.
:29:18. > :29:22.bright we cannot see it. Slowly, the lower atmosphere cloud moves into
:29:22. > :29:27.shadow, the sun goes down below the horizon from your perspectives. The
:29:27. > :29:30.noctilucent cloud is still little brightly by the sun. It is all about
:29:30. > :29:37.the height difference. The noctilucent cloud is so much
:29:37. > :29:44.higher, the sun still illuminates it long after the sun has set. They are
:29:44. > :29:51.wonderful things. They are ideal post-pub entertainment. For the
:29:51. > :29:55.stagger home? Yes.For these clouds to form, both water vapour and dust
:29:55. > :30:00.particles must be present in the atmosphere and it has to be
:30:00. > :30:05.extremely cold. 50 miles up, the atmosphere is actually at its
:30:05. > :30:15.coldest in the summer with temperatures as low as minus 130
:30:15. > :30:25.
:30:25. > :30:28.Celsius. That is why we only see noctilucent clouds is that you have
:30:28. > :30:33.to be up after midnight. The total number of hours that I lose in a
:30:33. > :30:38.season from the end of May until the beginning of August is about 120
:30:38. > :30:43.hours, the equivalent of an entire week's worth of sleep that is lost.
:30:43. > :30:53.That part is very difficult to cope with. But for John, the chance to
:30:53. > :31:00.
:31:00. > :31:07.capture their beauty keeps drawing -- if serial. They take on strange
:31:07. > :31:16.forms. They have strange wave formations in them. They range from
:31:16. > :31:26.red to orange to white, to a colour called Electric blue. They appear
:31:26. > :31:34.
:31:34. > :31:37.never heard of them before but they look incredible. We are in a good
:31:37. > :31:41.spot to see them. Any further south, you can't see them and any further
:31:41. > :31:46.north, the sun never gets low enough. We are in the sweet spot
:31:46. > :31:52.right here? We are in the sweet spot and it is a good time to see them
:31:52. > :31:56.because we are getting lots of photos of them. We have this one of
:31:56. > :32:00.the sun setting over the sea from Allen, in Murray. This is from
:32:00. > :32:07.Stephen Hagan, who spotted noctilucent clouds in Glasgow.
:32:07. > :32:14.Douglas Cooper took this shot, it shows the clouds over Bute. Really
:32:14. > :32:17.amazing. I never come back that late. We are going to go back to
:32:17. > :32:20.Edinburgh's botanic garden where Hermione is helping to record as
:32:20. > :32:28.many species as possible. What are the scores on the doors this
:32:28. > :32:32.evening? Well, we are now up to a rather impressive 209 species. But
:32:32. > :32:37.as the light fades on the longest day of the year that is exactly when
:32:37. > :32:40.some of our more mysterious winged creatures come out. I am joined by
:32:40. > :32:45.Barry Prater from Butterfly Conservation. You are going to be
:32:45. > :32:48.moth trapping in the Gardens tonight? Yes, we are. We will use a
:32:48. > :32:51.bright light to attract moths and some will fall into the container
:32:51. > :32:56.below and we'll stay there safely until we opened it up and
:32:56. > :33:03.investigate what they are and add them to the BioBlitz numbers.
:33:04. > :33:07.midsummer, is it a good time for moth numbers? Yes, it is warm. Moths
:33:07. > :33:11.are cold-blooded animals and they are more active when it is warm. The
:33:11. > :33:14.summer months are better for them than the winter. Tonight's moth
:33:14. > :33:20.trapping, could it add a significant number of species to the BioBlitz
:33:20. > :33:25.count? I think it could, yes. Across Britain we have about 2500 species
:33:25. > :33:30.of moss. Not all in Scotland, but there are a lot here but your
:33:30. > :33:34.average suburban garden providing there are trees and plants will have
:33:34. > :33:40.about 150 different species visiting each year or more which amazes most
:33:40. > :33:45.people. The contents of this track will be set up tomorrow and -- will
:33:45. > :33:53.be counted tomorrow and added to the BioBlitz. You set up a trip trap
:33:53. > :34:00.yesterday, let's see what you got? Full of moss. What are these?This
:34:00. > :34:05.is a poplar hawk moth. It is harmless, it does not feed itself.
:34:05. > :34:09.Only its caterpillar feeds. That is stunning, fantastic. You have a
:34:09. > :34:17.bright yellow one? Why Bobby that is a brimstone moth. It is named after
:34:17. > :34:23.the colour yellow. We have a peppered moth. A black and white
:34:23. > :34:27.colour, very interesting because in the days when the air in cities were
:34:27. > :34:31.polluted with salt, a black form evolved and that lack form could sit
:34:31. > :34:38.on tree trunks and become lodged and be safe from predatory birds. Now,
:34:38. > :34:42.they are all like that. Air quality is a lot better. Having cast your
:34:42. > :34:51.eye over this, how many different species do you think you have got in
:34:51. > :34:58.this trap? 50, is my guess.50! Moth new! If you had a similar number
:34:58. > :35:01.from tonight's trap, it will be a fantastic addition to the BioBlitz.
:35:01. > :35:05.All the BioBlitz volunteers will be recording from now until six o'clock
:35:05. > :35:11.tomorrow evening and if you want to go to the total count, go to our
:35:11. > :35:15.website, bbc.co.uk/midsummerlive. If you were in bed when things
:35:15. > :35:25.started going bump in the night you might be worried but for one man it
:35:25. > :35:33.
:35:33. > :35:40.is music to his ears. Especially at For naturalist Al Jackson, summer is
:35:40. > :35:50.the best time of year. -- Bill Jackson. The light is perfect for
:35:50. > :35:50.
:35:50. > :35:56.painting. It is ideal for photography. But above all it is in
:35:56. > :36:01.the summer that Bill's unusual launcher moves back into his house.
:36:01. > :36:11.-- lodger. I thought they were a bit heavy for mice, they went bump bump
:36:11. > :36:17.bump on the panels upstairs. Then bump bump bump over the bathroom.
:36:18. > :36:27.Then banging around the slopes at the end of the house. Then the next
:36:27. > :36:35.thing is sliding down roof panels. I knew then I was onto a good thing.
:36:35. > :36:43.We had a pine marten resident. Then a few months later the kits sound,
:36:43. > :36:50.which when referred -- when we first heard the kits was unbelievable. She
:36:51. > :37:00.is coming in feed them, suckling the kits above the bathroom. Fixed up
:37:00. > :37:04.cameras all over the place, these little camera traps. There she is.
:37:04. > :37:11.That is her way in and out of the den. At the flat roof, across the
:37:11. > :37:17.windowsill, up the pipes, into this, which runs into the main roof and up
:37:17. > :37:26.through ventilator. She will sit there with her paws over the end
:37:26. > :37:33.watching us. She watches everything. She does not like crows. I thought,
:37:33. > :37:38.you crafty bisom. That is what she does. She has three spots on her bib
:37:38. > :37:44.which are noted -- noticeable, even more so when she is wet. When she is
:37:44. > :37:49.where they stand out strongly. The mail still comes back and he shows
:37:49. > :37:54.up about 10:30pm. She has had her kits, she will be into breeding
:37:54. > :37:59.again and he will be intimating, certainly. He demolishes all the
:37:59. > :38:05.peanuts which she has left. She is now into black treacle and bananas.
:38:05. > :38:09.If any pine marten people want to experience seeing a pine marten at
:38:09. > :38:17.enjoying herself, cut up half a banana and watch the antics. She
:38:17. > :38:25.loves it. The secret is not to just put them out in a lump. Spread them
:38:25. > :38:29.and rub them into the logs, which means she will be there for a while.
:38:29. > :38:34.Sometimes there will be 20 or 30 birds out there feeding and they
:38:34. > :38:40.will up and off in a flash. Especially the woodpecker. The
:38:40. > :38:50.woodpecker, when feeding, the minute she looks up she is on the roof and
:38:50. > :39:14.
:39:14. > :39:18.that is the sign for get ready, get have a home like she has got. It is
:39:18. > :39:23.well insulated, lovely and warm, food is provided for her. The burn
:39:23. > :39:28.is there if she wants a drink. There is times when you really think, I've
:39:28. > :39:34.been sitting here four days watching this and all she is doing is looking
:39:34. > :39:39.back at me and thinking, he is still there! Hopefully, before the end of
:39:39. > :39:44.this month is out, we will have the kits out on that long and prancing
:39:44. > :39:46.around the lawn with her. It will be nice if she acts normal and they
:39:46. > :39:54.follow her down and we get the whole family party. That would be
:39:54. > :39:58.something. The latest news from Bill is that the kits are still in the
:39:58. > :40:03.nest but he has just sent us this photo showing the mother taking some
:40:03. > :40:08.food back for the kits. It looks like she has got all in the picture.
:40:08. > :40:12.The kits are about six weeks old and growing fast so she has got her work
:40:12. > :40:15.cut out just to keep them fed. course, there are people who have
:40:15. > :40:22.travelled massive distances to be here for some from across Scotland,
:40:22. > :40:26.Europe and the world. But none of them have managed to travel as far
:40:26. > :40:29.as the Arctic tern. These birds cover 22,000 miles travelling all
:40:29. > :40:34.the way from the Antarctic to spend summer in one of Britain's biggest
:40:34. > :40:38.seabird colonies in the Isle of May where it looks like they are
:40:38. > :40:44.attacking Catriona Shearer! Are you all right there? My goodness!
:40:44. > :40:48.think so! I am just about OK. I have got Mike at and had up and I really
:40:48. > :40:52.do need me because there are 200 pairs of nesting Arctic terns here
:40:52. > :40:57.on the island. Most of which seems to be dive-bombingknow me, as you
:40:57. > :41:02.can see. This is normal behaviour because they are being protective
:41:02. > :41:07.parents. The nests are either side of the pathway, hence they are
:41:07. > :41:12.dive-bombingknow me. These birds go to extreme lengths to enjoy long
:41:12. > :41:18.days. They love the sun and they have the longest migratory route of
:41:18. > :41:22.any animal. Unsurprising lay, they would like to experience two some of
:41:22. > :41:26.the year, first in the southern hemisphere and then in the north,
:41:26. > :41:31.sometimes as far as the Arctic and they filed. -- they find themselves
:41:31. > :41:37.on the Isle of May. Dave Pickett is the reserve manager here and he has
:41:37. > :41:41.to ensure the terns's stay is as pleasant as possible. They are
:41:41. > :41:47.feisty, aren't they? They are giving you a good going over, they are
:41:47. > :41:50.working as a team. Their nests are depressions in the sand and that is
:41:50. > :41:54.where they have their eggs and chicks. We saw some earlier, they
:41:54. > :41:58.hatched this morning. They are vulnerable to predators? That is
:41:58. > :42:02.right. Their biggest problem is the polls on the island and they will
:42:02. > :42:06.swoop in. They are all around the terns, they will take the eggs and
:42:06. > :42:11.chicks easily and stop them from breeding successfully. You have been
:42:11. > :42:17.putting measures in praise to keep them safe from the polls. What have
:42:17. > :42:22.you been doing? We manage the visitors, we do it tern watches and
:42:22. > :42:28.put in nesting platforms which form a mosaic within the red -- within
:42:28. > :42:34.the vegetation. We put in garden canes, which act like barrage
:42:34. > :42:39.balloons and they protect the terns from gulls swooping in. How has that
:42:39. > :42:43.been working? It has been successful. We have twice as many
:42:43. > :42:48.pairs on the island this year. So far, so good. Is it true that the
:42:48. > :42:52.same bird comes back with the same partner? With the same place
:42:52. > :42:56.question mark There is a percentage of the divorce rate but generally
:42:56. > :43:01.they meet up with the same partner in the same colony. That is great
:43:01. > :43:05.news about the numbers and we are both wearing hats because we need
:43:05. > :43:10.them, everyone is subjected to it but the Arctic terns what is
:43:10. > :43:15.enjoying what is left on the Isle of May of the sunlight and we hope you
:43:15. > :43:19.are too. It is not only birds who are nesting
:43:19. > :43:23.at midsummer. Earlier today a couple came to Callanish for the most
:43:23. > :43:33.special day of their lives. They travelled all the way from
:43:33. > :43:35.
:43:35. > :43:41.Switzerland to get married amongst the stones.
:43:41. > :43:47.These are my hand. Congratulations. Why did you get
:43:47. > :43:53.choose to get married on midsummer 's day? We love special days for
:43:53. > :43:58.special occasions and we choose to come here because we were here two
:43:58. > :44:03.years ago, where we exchanged rings for the first time. We wanted a
:44:03. > :44:10.special place for this marriage. It was a surprise for my wife. She did
:44:10. > :44:18.not know until today that we would hear. Incredible. What did you think
:44:18. > :44:22.when you found out? I thought it was the right place to say yes. I am
:44:22. > :44:29.sorry about the weather but it has a moving atmosphere. It is Scottish
:44:29. > :44:38.weather. Congratulations. We wish them the best of luck.
:44:38. > :44:43.Earlier this evening, we saw a round the world adventure and cyclist set
:44:43. > :44:47.out to chase the sun around Scotland. It is 120 miles against
:44:47. > :44:55.hills and headwind. Can he finish the journey in time to see the
:44:55. > :45:00.sunset on Sandwich Bay in the West? I am just over halfway on my journey
:45:00. > :45:04.East to West on the top of Scotland. I have cycled tens of thousands of
:45:04. > :45:12.miles all over the world. But I have never been to this part of my
:45:12. > :45:22.homeland before. No wonder it is a draw for tourists. The landscape
:45:22. > :45:22.
:45:22. > :45:26.here is just stunning. It is 5:30pm. Well over 12 hours on the go. It has
:45:26. > :45:31.been tougher cycling than I expected, with some stops to meet
:45:31. > :45:36.people and also as I have gone West, finding tougher and tougher hills
:45:36. > :45:46.and the headwind. This section of the route also has some massive
:45:46. > :45:47.
:45:47. > :45:56.inlets. They are very scenic, but they do while on my journey.
:45:56. > :46:04.Fortunately for me, this is a new road. It is nine miles on the old
:46:04. > :46:14.road am so I am grateful for any help. I am still on target to reach
:46:14. > :46:15.
:46:15. > :46:25.Sandwich Bay -- Sandwood Bay on target. It is the workplace of
:46:25. > :46:25.
:46:25. > :46:31.Nicola. Hello, how are you? Good. Nicola is a painter. She was born in
:46:31. > :46:39.South Africa and moved here 12 years ago. Her landscape paintings are
:46:39. > :46:43.inspired by the quality of light in this remote part of Scotland. This
:46:43. > :46:48.is the first time I have ever been through this part of the world. It
:46:48. > :46:52.was spectacular. I imagine that would be quite hard to capture.
:46:52. > :46:57.really, because it is so beautiful and so strikingly contrasting, the
:46:57. > :47:02.light and shadow and the interplay of everything. It is so inspiring
:47:02. > :47:09.that you just want to brush off and see what you can do. Having such
:47:09. > :47:14.long days in the summer, what is that like as an artist? You do like
:47:14. > :47:18.the play of light. It is a paradise to work in. Every day has a
:47:19. > :47:28.different scene. Dramatic lighting, spotlights, rainbows, the light
:47:29. > :47:30.
:47:30. > :47:36.dancing on the water. It is nonstop. It was lovely spending time in
:47:36. > :47:44.Nicola 's studio but I am behind schedule. 30 miles to go. The sun is
:47:44. > :47:51.dropping fast. I am starting to push my luck. But this is beautiful
:47:51. > :47:57.cycling. There is no one else on the roads and the light is stunning. But
:47:57. > :48:04.there is a sting in the tail. The road runs out for under half miles
:48:04. > :48:09.before Sandwood Bay. It is now only 20 minutes until sunset. This is not
:48:09. > :48:16.what I need. The first couple of miles are only just possible on my
:48:16. > :48:26.road bike. But the last two are only possible on foot. It is going to be
:48:26. > :48:30.
:48:30. > :48:40.tight. There is the son. It is dipping on the horizon. Just made
:48:40. > :48:48.
:48:48. > :48:52.back to working up in the tent this morning and crawling out to see
:48:52. > :48:58.sunrise. It was a long time ago. The last three or four macro hours on
:48:58. > :49:02.the bike would just breathtaking. A whole new world for me, and I will
:49:02. > :49:12.definitely come back and explore more. I reckon the best time to see
:49:12. > :49:15.
:49:15. > :49:19.it is right now, in the middle of hour until the sunsets here under
:49:19. > :49:23.this. The longest day and only half an
:49:24. > :49:32.hour to go. It is wonderful how light it is how late. Stay with us
:49:32. > :49:36.online. You can watch us as we approach sunset on our webpage.