Episode 2 Springwatch in the Afternoon

the afternoon. We are a brand-new show. We have the latest nest until

the Springwatch brood. And there is the rest of my clutch out there

rehearsing for tonight's show. They are beautiful creatures, but we've

got plenty more on those live cams that we are so famous for doing. And

there'll be plenty more from them later on. One of our main aims to

get you off the sofa, help you get out there and enjoy and be inspired

by the great outdoors. This is the great outdoors. We are coming to you

live from the RSPB's Ynis-hir reserve in Wales. Just look at it,

it is beautiful even when it is raining! This beautiful pile of

technology is Springwatch. This is the nerve centre. This is where it

all happens. If you come with me, we'll show you a little more about

what goes on. This is the glamorous bit. These are the caravans of the

stars. There's Martin, Michaela and Chris's caravans. Very lovely. Here

we become a bit more utility, still beautiful in its own right. You

think of Springwatch about being birds' nests but here is a nest of

wires. We have no idea what these people do but they are vitally

important, or they wouldn't be here. We have some 57 kilometres of cable,

nearly 20-30 cameras in the woods. One of the cables linking this to

the camera is two kilometres long. It is incredible feat of engineering

and technical expertise. We've got in place bugged! The stories are

coming in thick and fast as the drama of spring gets under way.

We've got a nesting water rail. It is difficult to see these birds at

the best of times, so it is a huge achievement to have one on camera.

We have have a reed bunting family with a nest in the reserve. With

heavy rain and the water set to rise, have they built their nest

high enough to be flood resistant? In the woods is our family of great

tits. Mum and dad have been the ideal parents, but will the chicks

survive this cold spring? High in the trees a buzzard's nest with a

five day-old chick. Out of our teams has been catching up with Monty the

osprey. There was a new female around and Monty's been catching

fish hoping to impress her, but she hasn't stuck around. Stay tuned to

see if love is in the air. On a nearby fine jackdaw chicks have been

under attack from other jackdaws. These neighbours from hell have been

pecking at the chicks while their parents are out searching for food.

The parents are trying to protect their family but the intruders don't

like like they'll be leaving any time soon. Springwatch has only been

going for a day and already we've got high lights. What's going on

now? Let's look in one of the most active nests. There we have the

great tit chicks. At the moment - I say active, but they are doing what

chicks do, sitting in the nest waiting for mum and dad to come back

to provision them. It is lovely to watch. Have a look for yourself.

Earlier on, a couple of days ago, this happened. We are going to call

him super-chick. He is the biggest of the brood. He gets out of the

nest and he goes for a stroll. Or more of a waddle, crawl, flop around

the nest. We go to the other camera and look at his face. Look at that.

It is the ugliest thing. They look like they've got clown lips stuck on

the front of their faces. That attracts the attention of the adult.

Why he is doing this we have no idea. Maybe he is guesting himself

above the heads of the other nestlings so he gets more food. With

this intimacy to the nests means we see all manner of things. Not all of

them can be explained. Do you want to see my favourite part of the

Springwatch village? Of course you do. Come with me. Up here in this

big, grey truck, one of several, is something rather lovely. I've messed

this up. Open the door. Independent says, shut the door, on the outside.

This is live after all. This is the hub of the operation. Sorry to bust

in, guys. We've got Emma, Hannah and Ginny. These guys are kind of like

twitchers, remote-controlled twitchers. These are all the nest

feeds. Yes.Talk us through what you've got going at the moment.

the moment we've got the water rail, who is quite because it is raining.

Do we have to mention the rain? It contrasted nicely to last week's

show but now it is raining again. She's sitting there. What else have

we got? The jackdaws are cosy in their nest box. There was quite a

lot of action this morning with them. What sort of things have been

happening there? The rivals have been showing up. The naughty

neighbours. Yes.And I hear it is heating up a bit as well?

Absolutely. And the mallard, she is on another camera. These ones here

aren't the web feeds are they? the web feeds are here. So these

four down here - the buzzards, the jackdaws, the water rail and the

reed buntings. Those are the ones that are on now. Those are the ones

that you can see online right now. If you go to the Springwatch website

- not while you are watching the show. But after the show get on to

the web. You are only a couple of clicks from the interior of a bird's

nest. How wonderful is that? Thank you guys. We'll no doubt be back at

some other point. Bbc.co.uk/springwatch

Out the door we go. Look at this lovely little place. We come here

and to the back of the truck. I like it here because we are sheltered

from the rain. Don't ask me to explain what it all does, I'm a

naturalist, I have a simple, logical mind. This to me is just pretty,

lots of primary colours. I've got no idea what they do but I know they

are very important. That's Springwatch as it stands. This is

how it is now. But it is not always been this way. Let's look at what

this site looked like two weeks ago. This is how Springwatch became

sprung. It is two weeks before transmission

and producer Nigel Bean is on a recce around the reserve. He is a

keen member of the wildlife filming team. This year he's got his

wildlife work cut out. It is particularly cold and it makes you

think how the migrant birds from Africa cope. They are coming here

for insects and on a day like today there are not a lot of insects

about. It is has been the coldest start to bring support 30 years and

everything is late. But the reserve is huge. Almost 2,000 acres of mixed

habitat. He's got to make sure he puts his cameras in the very best

spots. This map is what I'm using to work out which areas this year we

are going to concentrate on this. Is the reed bed. Hopefully in that will

be species like reed warbler. got a lot of oak woodland. The main

species are redstart, pied flycatcher. Once you've got a few

nests pinned down where you think you are going to get cameras oranges

you can relax a bit. There's a lot of hard work ahead of us. It is

exciting but nerve-racking. Nigel is in luck. Jackdaws are nesting in the

bash. His -- nesting in the barn. His team put a camera in place.

they don't react in the way we are not happy with, we put things back

the way they were. The important thing is not to upset the birds.

down, just 24 to go. One week later the weather is finally warming up

and the Springwatch nerve centre is taking shape. Can a maximum crew of

120 it is one of the BBC's largest outside broadcast events. Everyone

is getting ready for the very first live shows. But with only a few

cameras in place Nigel calls in nest-finding expert Steve Roberts.

We are looking for a willow warbler's nest. On the ground with

vegetation. You will go into a likely area with a stick. You don't

want to walk in there, or you might step on something. You tap the

vegetation and if she is sitting on eggs, she will slip off. There she

goes. Crikey. What have we got there Steve, eggs or chicks? Six of those.

They'll be eggs then. Yes. Steve follows strict guidelines to ensure

the wildlife isn't disturbed and he records every nest he finds,

collecting vital data for the RSPB and the British Trust for

Ornithology. We'll keep an eye on that nest, check it every few days.

Once the chicks hatch we'll look at maybe putting a camera on it.

go look for a reed bunting. There it goes. A full clutch?Yes. What you

do now, we'll cover it back over. No-one is any the wiser. Steve's

knowledge and experience in looking at patches of habitat and saying,

that looks good for whatever it be, without that knowledge we wouldn't

have Springwatch. It is as simple as that. It is wonderfully steam punk

this operation. It is that wonderful blend of old skills like finding

birds nests combined with the technology to bring them to your

living rooms. That's why I'm here. We are favourite for the -- famous

for the bird nestcam as but less famous for the other ones. We have a

log-cam or a mammal cam. Here is the live shot of the log cam. This is a

hollow log with a camera in it, with infrared light. Loads of seeds and

meal worms in there. It takes a while for the animals to get an idea

that it is there, so earlier on we had this. It happened last night,

very excite. In comes a common shrew. He is not a carnivore -- he

is a corn have, not a rodent. He is taking a meal worm. -- he is a

carnivore. Hopefully we'll get more on the common shrew. I'm going to

put a bug in front of the camera. I like my bugs. This is what happened

last night. There is is a ground beetle who has come into the log. He

came in, first of all picked up a sunflower seed. Then another seed

and threw them over his shoulder before he ran off with the meal

worm. Fantastic. What will happen if the shrew and the beetle turn up at

the same time? There is only one way to find out - keep watching the

cameras. Springwatch is big. But it is

nothing compared to the summer of wildlife. This massive event that

the BBC are throwing this summer is going to be brilliant. The whole

point of it is we are going to help you get out there to experience the

countryside for yourself. To give you more information about what's

going on, here is the rest of the team.

The UK is home to so many amazing creatures. Who needs to go abroad to

see incredible things? This summer is the time to get out there and

brings you a whole raft of special programmes across the BBC. This

country really does have the most incredible wildlife. It is a

nationwide celebration of our natural history. We want you to go

out and about with your camera, so we can see what wild things are

living on your doorstep. If you want to see wildlife, go down to your

local pond. Lookout for hundreds of wildlife events, and a website

packed full of top tips and guides. All the advice you need to get out

and meet your extraordinary truly wild summer. Beautiful

pictures, beautiful music and we are in a beautiful land. There are no

excuses, get out there and enjoy it. Go to the Springwatch website and

follow the links for more help on on our doorstep. I can guarantee

that you have got things just about -- just as exciting unfolding right

close to home, on your local patch. It doesn't have to be anything

spectacular, it can be your local park or even a common. It doesn't

matter, where you walk the dogs. It is the place you get to know the

most. And this one is mine. I live here and that little bit of rough

grassland, that soggy corner of Dartmoor, is my local patch. It's

where I find my sense of belonging. Every naturalist has their own local

patch, and I've been rummaging around in the Springwatch archives

and found this little film made a couple of years ago. It's all about

the local patch of our current first animals here. Seeing deer

rutting for the first time. Finding my first nightjars, a bird made out

of twigs sat on the ground with its big, glassy, black eye looking at

you. I can take you to the spot diaries. Thursday 29th of July,

1976. At 11:30 a.m. I was bitten for the first, and as it turns out, the

last time, by a grass snake. As I picked it up its troubled and bit me

between my forefinger and thumb. Only a small incision was made.

Tuesday made the 18th, 1982. The worst night in the history of

badgering has yet to end the book. Two our weight as mosquito bit. 227

bytes. Nearly went mad. The badgers saw me. One of the things I like

about the forest is that it is a really dynamic place. It is

constantly changing, whether it's through the hand of man or through

the natural processes of nature. I've seen trees topple and fall in

my lifetime. A lot of people perceived change in the environment

is almost exclusively a -1. I can take you to lots of places in the

forest where it's better now than it Packham. He has got one, you know!

We've all got our favourite things about spring. The favourite

manifestations of what this season is all about, whether it be

bluebells or bloody nosed beetles. And I'm no exception. I'm a bit of

an optimist, so spring starts from which almost as soon as the calendar

year starts. I look to the trees. Before the leaves have even begun to

think about unfurling, the rooks are busy at it building their nests.

Those very first sunny days of spring are the times when the wood

ants come out. They gather together on their mounds, absorbing warmth

from the sun which gets them kickstarted. The warm weather also

brings out adders. The first rays of sunshine bring them out of their

high vernacular, their hibernation sites. If you are really lucky, you

might see them going about their mating. And then you've got the dawn

chorus. That is the soundtrack of spring. For us, it's lovely to hear,

but for the birds it is all about passion and violence. They are

proclaiming their territories and securing mates. I know it's a bit of

a spring cliche, but one of my favourite things is the sound of the

cuckoo. They are becoming much rarer. They are in big trouble. So

if you hear a cuckoo this spring, savour it because they are even more

special than ever before. As the season continues, bees and

butterflies emerge in greater numbers and become active as the

spring flowers bloom. Later in the season, it's all about babies,

unashamedly so. Baby badgers and baby fox cubs. They are all above

the surface and they are fun to watch as they go about finding their

feet for their lies ahead. -- life ahead. Those are my favourite signs

your favourite signs of spring? We asked you this via the website and

you've already started sending in some stuff. You've been sending in

your comments, but we are also matching them up with those who have

sent in images to our group. Our first favourite sign of spring comes

from licorice allsorts, these are web names. He or she, the first

indication of spring for me is when black headed bills start to show

part of our countryside. The hidden badger. It's the little things like

sunshine brings them out. They sit in hibernation all winter, the first

rays of sun warmed the ground and everything kicks into action.

Catherine Birkett is impatient for her first signs of spring. For her,

it's the snowdrops coming into birds chirping and shipping early in

the morning. The first thing is Lambs are my most favourite sign of

spring. I live by the sea, and the first sign of spring for me is when

the tides begin to settle down and I start thinking about dusting off my

kayak! That's a euphemism, obviously. For me, it's snowdrops.

The beginning of the end of winter. It's definitely the change in the

weather. This slight warmth and then the colours start to appear, the

arrival of the birds. My favourite sign of spring are the swallows.

When the sun pops its head through the clouds. For me, spring arrives

with the snowdrops, pushing up through that crossed that has

frozen, and telling me it will be the Chelsea flower show for doing

those interviews for us. Thank you to all of the celebrities who gave

us their opinions. I've got my own caravan. Forget it, we've got some

real Springwatch celebrities here. One of them is my neighbour. I will

reveal one of my favourites. This is... Gary! We are about to talk to

a man who is a soundman. And we have a jet fighter flying over our heads.

It's not paradise here, there are a view flies in the ointment! We go

back a long way. Explain a bit about cameramen and get proper synced

sound to go with the images. Even on his day off he'd been up in the

mountings -- Mountains trying to get sounds. Let me show you some tips of

the trade. This is one of the smallest microphones I use. It's

tiny. For the mini beasts, things like snails eating, invertebrates.

That is ideal. The opposite spectrum is this one here. Now you are

showing off! This is a directional microphone. I never like to intrude

upon the animal. But let's compare the two. If you were in the field

and you saw that and that, which, as an animal... That would freak out

the birds. One of the real specialist bits of kit is this. It's

a parabolic reflector. It's 1930s technology. What happens is as the

sound heads the dish, it's focused on to a microphone in the centre. A

classic recording that I would make individual, Gary is a regular start

on the show. He's going to be giving us a daily challenge. The mystery

sound of the day. What have you got for us?

I know you know your stuff, but have get in touch. We will say goodbye to

you for now. Your lovely warm, dry van. We will now get back to the

pictures. This is live. I'm so happy about this bird. That is our water

rail, with the rain bouncing off her plumage. This is a bit of a mystery

bird for us. Not only is it an incredibly rare bird to see, you

often hear them in the reed beds and the weapons, but seeing one is very

rare, seeing one on the nest, well, it just doesn't happen. Two next

year found. The mystery is, how is it sustaining itself? We've got no

idea. Just before we went on air, this happened. Yesterday it was seen

off the nest for about ten seconds. The bird is getting off the nest.

You can see the eggs, even rarer. Then she is off for a little bit of

time and then what I thought initially was her coming back onto

the nest... Could that be the other bird, the mail? Was that a nest

changeover? What do you think? Maybe Chris, Martin or Michaela will shed

some light on that later on. I get very excited about all sorts of

things. Something very exciting has been happening in my garden. This is

all shot in infrared, because it happened that night. Please don't

wanted to have in my garden. That is the badger. Not a particularly rare

animal but a special one nonetheless. The news was broken to

me by my wife. I came home from work and she said, good news, we've got

badgers in the garden. The bad news is we don't have chickens any more.

The badgers have broken in and exploited what to them was just a

food source. But for me, I'm quite willing to exchange chickens for

badgers. It would be a perfect world if they laid eggs, though! This is

the best badger viewing I've got here in the kitchen. If I go into

the other room and get really close to them through the French doors it

We need three here together and then it really kicks off. They are a

bizarre animal in the sense that they live together socially but they

are very solitary creatures within that set-up. So to see two badgers

foraging together is quite rare unless the resources are

particularly good, like here. And they tolerate each other. Of course,

they are incredibly short-sighted. Badgers aren't known for their

brilliant eyesight. The claws, phenomenal claws. And that is their

digging hardware. If you do feed the badgers you've got to be prepared

for the consequences of this. They will at some point probably start

foraging across your lawn. So you've got to be prepared for great big

divots of your lawn to be dug up as they search for earthworms and

beetles. Like any member of of that family. It is vital to all of us, we

all need to be surrounded by nature. We are part of it, after all. You

can get out there and get to experience wildlife like this on

your own doorstep. As Michaela mentioned in last

night's show I'm not the only one getting badge ers in the garden. It

has been a tough spring for a lot of wildlife and it is forcing them to

take desperate measures and overcome their fear of human beings. It might

be a terrible side effect of the spring that I've got badgers in my

garden, but whatever it is, I'm proud of them. You may have gathered

we've got some special guests here. Let's go to one of our cameras.

We've got one of the stars of the show, our buzzards. This is

revealing the chick and the egg. That was shot before it started

Fantastic. And then in a minute it flies off. Lovely. We thought we

would take this opportunity, because we get quite close to the buzzards,

but we are getting closer. We've got Jemima from the international sphhr

centre for -- centre for birds of prey. This is a male common buzzard

by the name of Cowan Red. Let's go through a few of the features. Talk

me through what makes this a great bird of prey. Long legs, a short

tail. If I can get him to open his wings a little, will soaring wings

rounded at the end. Brown, in the case of this one, but that's a

really important thing to remember, they vary from cream through to

almost black. I often get people say, I saw an osprey and it was just

a pale buzzard. Absolutely. Rather worried about being upstaged by a

buzzard we have a red kite. Let's put the two together so you can

compare and contrast. I always thought a red kite was smaller than

a buzzard. But that's not true. They are quite a lot bigger, the red

kite, than the buzzard. Longer thanks to that tail and a longer,

narrow wingspan. And heavier, she weighs 1,000 grams and he weighs

700. For most of us we see these birds a distance, soaring above the

motorway. When I see a red kite like this... Anyway, the buzzards when

they are soaring it is distinctive. A nice broad tail, a broad wing, a

square bird and the red kite is different. Look at the shape of the

tail. A forked tail. That helps with manoeuvre aability. They can switch

direction on the spot. Fortunately these are a common sight pretty much

around the UK. Common buzzards are found almost everywhere and kites

are slowly spreading, which is nice to see. We think the kites from the

Oxfordshire area and Wales are going to meet in Gloucestershire.

occasionally see them flying over Dartmoor but I don't think they are

breeding in the county yet. It is something I'm looking forward to.

too. It hasn't always been this way? No, the when we moved to Gloucester

in the 1960s it was a rare sight to see buzzards and never kites.

were on the - one of the a member of the kite committee? I was.I used to

take summer holidays in Wales up the road from here. One of the

highlights was to see the buzzards, because I never saw them at home in

East Sussex. Now I can go to my dad's and see a buzzard circling

above us. They really have done very well and they are completely

harmless as well. Thank you very much for bringing them. In Chris

mentioned last night the state of nature report that was published

last week. I do recommend you have a read of it, as it has got some

success stories in it. The buzzard and red kite are one of those.

Unfortunately 60% of the stories in that report are not so good. It is

worth checking out. I agree with Chris it is a vital thing, if you

have any cares for the wild world, look at it and see what you think.

Maybe it will inspire you or us to try harder to stop the decline of

most of our species. Now, birds are smart. Most of them

are quite small, and they are incredibly flighty, so to really

appreciate the true beauty, the poetry in motion that is a bird is

very difficult. Unless you've got a Springwatch film crew nearby. What I

implore you to do right now is to turn tit up a little bit, kick back,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 109 seconds

Isn't that fantastic? I could watch that over and over again. Really, I

could. My favourite bit is the birds on the bird afford. Just common

species battling it out in slow motion. Even the common ceasies when

looked at through the right eyes in a fresh new way take on a different

meaning. Stunning. I've got a question for you, do midges look

quite as good in slow motion? I'm not enjoying them right now. The

rain has brought them out. If you haven't got a bird afford, it

doesn't -- a bird feeder, it doesn't matter. This is the Springwatch bird

feeder and it is streaming pictures to you all day. This is the latest

state of the art gorgeous sculptural lump of alloys and polished glass.

It is giving you beautiful high definition shots of the birds. At

the moment it is showing you me! If you want to install a feeder in your

patch, here are a few of my top tips.

Feeding the birds has to be one of the most popular ways for anybody to

get close to their local wildlife. I've been doing it sore Tom years.

First of all your feeding station, whether it be a bird table or a

feeding pole, needs to be positioned where the birds feel safe and

comfortable. This is next to some cover. Not so close that the

neighbourhood cat can sneak up on the birds but close enough that the

birds are comfortable. If a sparrowhawk turns up, they can take

cover. Feed a variety of foods. If you feed a variety of foods, you get

a variety of birds. We've got sunflower seeshgsdz millet, peanuts,

the tits like that. Fat is really important. High energy. Particularly

at this time of year when fledglings are around and need to put on

somebody weight. We've got the oil-rich seeds, and the long-bill

billed birds such as goldfinches and siskins like weedling those out. You

need a specialist feeder for that but it is worthwhile. Feed the birds

all year round, not just in the winter. Now is really important,

because they've got eggs to hatch and chicks to field. I don't go

overboard, because they are expense sieve, but provide protein in the

form of meal worms. Your local rob Lynn be thankful for that. -- robin

will be thankful for that. Keep your feeding stations clean. Clean out

your feeders regularly. That minimises the chance of disease

being transferred from bird to bird. You wouldn't feed off a plate that

will been pooed on would you? And Wasn't that lovely? I really do love

my bird feeders. Every day they bring me joy. Even a common species

like a bluetit can get exciting that. Bird at the end with the red

forehead is a bit special. That's a lesser red pole. They arrived this

winter with the siskins. They stayed and I've got two pairs on my

feeders. They bring me so much joy. I was about to power you a cup of

tea but you've helped yourself. I'm glad you removed the midge from the

milk. Let's do a sound of the day. Isn't that wonderful? I've got,

well, initially I thought mammal and then I thought I don't know. Batman

has come up with his reveal. He thinks it is a puffin. I've got it

wrong! I've seen the real answer. However, Michael Buckley, all got it

right. It was a manx shearwater. I thought it was a water rail. A male

Manx shearwater recorded underground two years ago. This cake was made by

my wife. The best thing she's done other than marry me. Have we got

time to look at the cams? Maybe we haven't. I think the plane has

scuppered us! A quick look at the tits. That's live. You can look at

them yourself. Just go to be the website - bbc.co.uk/springwatch.

Thank you Gary. If you want to see more of the cams, if you can't wait

for this evening's programme, check out the website. The live feeds are

there. If you want to know more go to the Summer of Wildlife Season