0:00:40 > 0:00:44There are around 60 million of us living on these islands.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Towns and cities throughout the land
0:00:47 > 0:00:49are crammed to overflowing with people.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53Motorways and roads crisscross the countryside
0:00:53 > 0:00:57and our urban sprawl is creeping into the green belt.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Sometimes, it feels as though this country is absolutely jam-packed.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08Here in London, for instance, there are 23,000 of us per square mile,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11all living cheek by jowl with our neighbours.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15It's one of most crowded places on the planet.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Nevertheless, if you add all
0:01:18 > 0:01:22our urban and rural communities together, both large and small,
0:01:22 > 0:01:24you'd find that they would occupy
0:01:24 > 0:01:27only about two thirds of the country.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Which means that a third of the UK is wilderness,
0:01:30 > 0:01:35governed not by people, but by Mother Nature.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44There are places that we'd find uncomfortable to live in,
0:01:44 > 0:01:49places of extremes, where anything or anybody is in danger
0:01:49 > 0:01:54of being frozen, drowned, parched or blown away.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12We may not have the Florida swamps or the Gobi desert,
0:02:12 > 0:02:15but we do have pockets of real wilderness.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19At their heart are wildlife communities that prosper,
0:02:19 > 0:02:23not despite the difficult conditions, but because of them.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26And how they've turned this challenge to their advantage,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28how they live at the very edge,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31is the story of Wilderness Britain.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59I'm 4,000 feet above sea level, flying over the Cairngorms,
0:02:59 > 0:03:03the highest and most extensive mountain range in Britain.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06The average temperature on the top is around freezing,
0:03:06 > 0:03:11snow falls 100 days a year and the snow beds can remain on the ground
0:03:11 > 0:03:16right the way through the summer. It's bitterly cold, incredibly windy
0:03:16 > 0:03:18and one of the harshest places in our land,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20but to some wildlife, it's home.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28I'm not just here for a joy ride. I've come up in a glider to find out
0:03:28 > 0:03:31how one of the most iconic animals of the British wilderness
0:03:31 > 0:03:34manages to make a living in one of the harshest parts of our country.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50This is the domain of the golden eagle. It stays here all year,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53because there's a well-stocked freezer down below.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Life here is a constant battle against the cold,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00a fight that some animals lose.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02We think of eagles as majestic hunters,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06but in winter they often stoop to scavenge for a living,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09but even dead animals still have to be found.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Like my glider, the eagle relies on updrafts
0:04:12 > 0:04:15to carry it high enough to scan the ground below.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20From up here I can see for miles, but the eyesight of the golden eagle
0:04:20 > 0:04:24is 10 times better than mine and it uses its incredible eyesight
0:04:24 > 0:04:25to spot easy pickings.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40In a way, the eagle uses the freezing weather to its advantage,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43because the cold kills the frail and infirm,
0:04:43 > 0:04:47ensuring that the eagle itself can make it through
0:04:47 > 0:04:50some of the harshest weather experienced by any animal
0:04:50 > 0:04:51in the British Isles.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00It's the bleakness of this place that keeps people away
0:05:00 > 0:05:04and in the winter, even wildlife is relatively thin on the ground,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08but there's a creature living here that defies the odds.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14I'm pond dipping!
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Now, I know it sounds bizarre,
0:05:16 > 0:05:21and although this pond's been frozen on and off
0:05:21 > 0:05:22for the last couple of months,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26it still contains some rather surprising forms of life.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30What's more, I'm collecting something you'd expect to see
0:05:30 > 0:05:32at a very different time of year.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36Tadpoles!
0:05:36 > 0:05:40But what are they doing here in the middle of winter?
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Well, to find the answer to that, we have to discover
0:05:43 > 0:05:47what went on here last spring.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53In early spring, our highland pools are often fringed with snow
0:05:53 > 0:05:57and covered by ice, but it doesn't deter the frogs around here.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01They're common frogs, the sort you find in your garden,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05but these are undoubtedly the Sherpa Tensings of the species.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12They're busy, even when the temperature is below zero.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16They mate in the snow and the females lay their eggs
0:06:16 > 0:06:21in ice-cold ponds. Then they leave them to grow on their own.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29But their development into froglets is far from ordinary.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31In my garden in the south of England,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35the frogspawn appears in the pond towards the end of February.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The tadpoles follow and the young frogs emerge from the pond
0:06:39 > 0:06:44in around July, but up here, it's so cold, they don't have a chance
0:06:44 > 0:06:47to complete that lifecycle in a single season.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51So, although these little fellas hatched last spring,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55they won't turn into frogs until this coming summer,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58which means they'll have taken a record one-and-a-half years
0:06:58 > 0:07:02to develop. I think perhaps it's time to put 'em back into this pond
0:07:02 > 0:07:05and let them get on with growing.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09You know, it's tough being a Cairngorm tadpole.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14Well, it's tough being a Cairngorm anything.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Up here on Scotland's high tops, it's so cold
0:07:37 > 0:07:42and there's so much snow for so long, that few trees can grow.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47It's like living in the Arctic, which, in a way, it is.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52When the ice retreated, over 10,000 years ago,
0:07:52 > 0:07:57little remnants of Ice Age were left behind, like the Cairngorm plateau.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09Yet, surprisingly, the animals that live here
0:08:09 > 0:08:12are at home in these unforgiving Arctic conditions.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20The only way I can survive out here
0:08:20 > 0:08:26is by being dressed in about as many layers as an Egyptian mummy.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29This really must be our harshest environment,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and yet there's one creature that manages to live here
0:08:32 > 0:08:34all the year round.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43The ptarmigan is the ultimate British tough guy,
0:08:43 > 0:08:48one of the few animals in the UK that spends its life in the freezer.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52It survives here on meagre pickings,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56the spiny leaves of heather and other mountain plants.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04This high-fibre diet should be difficult to digest,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07but not to these hardy mountaineers.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Ptarmigan grind up their food with grit
0:09:10 > 0:09:15and digest it using their own kind of "friendly" bacteria in the gut.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19And this is the key to the ptarmigan's ability to live here.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24The way in which it digests its food has one very useful side effect.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27It generates heat.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31The ptarmigan has, quite literally, its own central heating system,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36and out here, that must be inordinately useful.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40It's all very well producing heat,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43but retaining it presents another problem.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45How is it possible in such cold weather?
0:09:45 > 0:09:49To find out, we need to look through a heat-sensitive camera
0:09:49 > 0:09:55which detects the warmth given off by every living thing, including me.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Now, in spite of the fact that I've got loads of layers on,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00I'm losing an incredible amount of heat,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02particularly from the hotter parts of my body
0:10:02 > 0:10:06and the exposed area of my face, but look what happens
0:10:06 > 0:10:10when we turn the heat-sensitive camera onto the ptarmigan.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13Their thick plumage insulates so well
0:10:13 > 0:10:16that the birds lose very little heat.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19All we can see is some glowing around the areas without feathers,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21like the bill and the eyes.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25Ptarmigan must be the ultimate in energy efficiency!
0:10:25 > 0:10:29So, as well as managing to generate heat,
0:10:29 > 0:10:34the ptarmigan can also hang onto it. Phew!
0:10:34 > 0:10:40Compared to them, the toughest human is feeble and frail!
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Britain's ptarmigans are found mainly in the Scottish Highlands,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50but even here, the unrelenting Arctic winter
0:10:50 > 0:10:53eventually gives way to spring.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05It reaches the Highlands much later than the rest of the country,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09so when it does, there's a frantic race for animals to breed
0:11:09 > 0:11:11before the snow returns again.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19The empty winter landscape gives way to a place of plenty.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24One creature's population reaches astronomical proportions
0:11:24 > 0:11:27and it all starts down in the glens.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32These are animals the locals live in fear of.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37They approach silently and they hunt in packs.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Once they've attacked, they return relentlessly
0:11:40 > 0:11:45in the pursuit of blood. Escape is impossible.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47They are...
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Oh! The Highland biting midges.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57This is midge heaven, or for the people who live here, midge hell!
0:11:57 > 0:12:02There are 5,000,000 midges for every person living in Scotland
0:12:02 > 0:12:06and although I'm many million times the size of a midge,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10they are definitely, I can't begin to tell you, getting the upper hand.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11I'm out of here!
0:12:13 > 0:12:16The midge larvae spend the winter in boggy soil,
0:12:16 > 0:12:19but in May, the winged adults emerge.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26Male midges live off nectar and cause us very little trouble,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29but the females supplement their diet
0:12:29 > 0:12:32with something a little more substantial...blood.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Midges don't actually suck blood,
0:12:34 > 0:12:39they dig a little hole in your skin and then lap it up,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42and while they're doing that, they release pheromones,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45which attract all the other midges in the area.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47"Hey, there's good stuff here," and in they come.
0:12:49 > 0:12:54It's not long before you're absolutely bitten to death...
0:12:54 > 0:12:55That'll do!
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Midges might be a nuisance for us, but their main victims are red deer.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06Every morning, the midges drive them uphill.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11The higher the deer climb, the more likely they are to find relief.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24Midges can't fly when the wind blows at more than seven miles an hour,
0:13:24 > 0:13:29and that occurs, more often than not, on the higher slopes.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33So the deer are safe from irritating bites.
0:13:59 > 0:14:05But up here, even more insects are emerging, all at the same time.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16They're crane flies.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19The summer's so short, they all appear together
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and the result is the biggest orgy in the British wildlife calendar.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43It's also an orgy of a different kind - an orgy of food.
0:14:44 > 0:14:51And this bird, the dotterel, has flown 1,800 miles from North Africa
0:14:51 > 0:14:52to take full advantage of it.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57The dotterel is also here to breed,
0:14:57 > 0:14:59but the huge number of insects to eat
0:14:59 > 0:15:02has led to a surprising role reversal.
0:15:02 > 0:15:08This may look like a devoted mum, but it's actually a devoted dad.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10There's so much food up here at this time of year
0:15:10 > 0:15:13that it doesn't need two parents to incubate the eggs
0:15:13 > 0:15:15and rear the young.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18It's unusual, but in the case of the dotterel,
0:15:18 > 0:15:23it's the chap who does all the work. Good for you!
0:15:23 > 0:15:28The abandoned male cares for the eggs for about a month.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31He's so dedicated, that he sits tight,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33even with a giant like me around!
0:15:37 > 0:15:40While he's sitting here doing all the work,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44it leaves the female to go off and do other things,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49which usually involves taking another lover. Hard luck!
0:15:51 > 0:15:54With such a feast, the female can lay more than one clutch of eggs,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58so when she's sure her first partner's settled,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00she goes in search of another.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05The chicks feed for themselves from the moment they hatch out.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09But the wind whistling through the mountains
0:16:09 > 0:16:13can be a challenge for such a tiny ball of fluff.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18Dad remains nearby. He's a refuge from the worst of the weather,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21but like the crane flies on which they feed,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23the dotterel chicks must grow fast.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26They have a gruelling maiden voyage to North Africa ahead
0:16:26 > 0:16:30and any chicks left behind when the first chill of winter arrives
0:16:30 > 0:16:33will never leave this place alive.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37That's the reality of life on the edge.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02In the bitter cold of a Highland winter,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05it's easy to see how life can be tough.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07But here in the south of England,
0:17:07 > 0:17:09the welcoming nature of this landscape
0:17:09 > 0:17:13conceals a wilderness area every bit as harsh.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30There's no need to worry about the cold here.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33I'm on an area of lowland heath in Dorset,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37where the average temperature is a sizzling 15 degrees higher
0:17:37 > 0:17:39than the top of the Cairngorms.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Here, it's sunburn that's a worry, not frostbite.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48And while the Cairngorm tadpoles lived in the icy cold,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51there's an amphibian here that's taken advantage
0:17:51 > 0:17:54of the opposite conditions - hot and dry.
0:17:57 > 0:17:58It's the natterjack toad.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02We usually associate amphibians with wet places,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05but this is one character who can take the heat.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14On mild March evenings, males and females get together
0:18:14 > 0:18:17and lay their double-stranded rows of eggs.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The eggs develop in a warm bath,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29so while the Cairngorm tadpoles took a long time to mature
0:18:29 > 0:18:30because of the cold,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34the heathland natterjacks grow up in super-quick time.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41But there is a snag.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45When we have hot, dry summers and rain is scarce,
0:18:45 > 0:18:50the warm shallow ponds can disappear before the tadpoles are ready.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Any tadpoles that remain are stranded
0:19:01 > 0:19:04and then, slowly baked alive.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13These little patches of heathland
0:19:13 > 0:19:16are scattered throughout the southern counties,
0:19:16 > 0:19:18especially in Dorset and Hampshire.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21They can be baking hot and cinder dry,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24and there's little cover from the beating sun.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27It's probably the closest we get to a desert.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34The reason these areas are so dry isn't just due to the low rainfall.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38It's because rainfall doesn't hang around much,
0:19:38 > 0:19:42and that's all because of this. Sand.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Sand particles are much larger than those of most soils
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and that means water shoots straight through them,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54leaving the surface bone dry.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Surface temperatures on the sand can reach 40 degrees Celsius.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03It's enough to have most animals legging it for the shade,
0:20:03 > 0:20:08but there's one that lives here BECAUSE of that baking sand.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13This is the sand lizard, probably our most spectacular reptile.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It's usually found around the Mediterranean,
0:20:16 > 0:20:20so a colony on the Dorset heaths is really at the edge of its range.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Spring is the time the more flamboyant males
0:20:25 > 0:20:28seek out the less colourful females,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31but their liaison is far from romantic.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43After their brief encounter, the female must leave her eggs
0:20:43 > 0:20:49to our unpredictable climate. This is why sand is so important.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52By laying them in hot, dry sand, the female makes sure
0:20:52 > 0:20:56they get enough warmth to develop properly.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Beads of sweat on the tiny eggs indicate
0:20:59 > 0:21:01that things are about to happen,
0:21:01 > 0:21:06and one by one, the new generation begins to emerge.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31The female laid her eggs as far away from the male as she could get.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35He'll eat anything small enough that moves, including baby lizards.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42While food may be plentiful, water isn't.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46The sand lizard copes by licking the morning dew from leaves.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52And all of life on these heathlands
0:21:52 > 0:21:55faces the challenge of where to find water,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58but when the heaths are blooming pink and purple,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02there's actually a lot of it about, if you know where to look.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Flying insects find it in flowers,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16which offer a seemingly endless supply of sugary nectar,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18but there's a price to be paid.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21While they're making the most of the flowers,
0:22:21 > 0:22:25there's something waiting there that'll make the most of them.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30A crab spider. Heathlands are crammed with spiders,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34and they get their water from the insects they catch.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41The moisture is used, among other things,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44to produce the spider's strong but flexible silk.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53In late summer, huge numbers of spiderlings use silken threads
0:22:53 > 0:22:55to take to the air, and when they land,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59the ground is covered in strands of gossamer,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02something one Roman historian described as,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04"The year it rained wool."
0:23:14 > 0:23:18Some things are rather sneaky about how they get hold of their water,
0:23:18 > 0:23:23and one way to beat the odds in this tough environment is to steal it.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31This might look like a triffid, but actually it's dodder,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33a plant parasite.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38It winds itself around the gorse plant,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42tapping into water and food supplies with suckers
0:23:42 > 0:23:44that penetrate the stem.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52The result is a tangled mass of pink spaghetti
0:23:52 > 0:23:54on gorse bushes across the heath.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58But dodder apart, the plants that dominate these heathlands
0:23:58 > 0:24:01are beautifully adapted to conditions here.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05Both heather and gorse have needle-shaped leaves
0:24:05 > 0:24:07to reduce water loss,
0:24:07 > 0:24:12and while heather hugs the ground, gorse provides a spiky song post
0:24:12 > 0:24:15for heathland birds like the Dartford warbler.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22The gorse blossoms most strongly in spring,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25but it'll have flowers all the year round.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29They do say that, "when gorse is in bloom, kissing's in season,"
0:24:29 > 0:24:33which means you can pucker up at just about any time of year.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38But the key to gorse's success lies in what happens
0:24:38 > 0:24:40when its flowers fade.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Now, if you stand by a gorse bush on a warm June day
0:24:43 > 0:24:48and listen very carefully, you may hear something surprising.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50POPPING NOISES
0:24:51 > 0:24:55As the gorse pod matures, it twists and bursts open,
0:24:55 > 0:24:58sending seeds flying through the air.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01But on the heath the seeds can dry out,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04so the gorse has a rather nifty way of getting them
0:25:04 > 0:25:06to somewhere cool and moist.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13If you pick off a pod, and break it into your hand,
0:25:13 > 0:25:20you'll discover that the seeds themselves have, on their sides,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23a little blob of yellow.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28Now, that serves a very special purpose. I'll show you what.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32The yellow blob is a tiny store of fat,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36and it's there to pay for a highly efficient courier service.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41It's a delicacy for foraging ants, but they don't get their payment
0:25:41 > 0:25:43until they deliver their part of the bargain.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Foraging ants tend to be the geriatrics of the colony,
0:25:47 > 0:25:52so their old, worn-out jaws can't separate the fat from the seed.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56Instead, they carry it back to their nest.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01In here, the younger workers can easily remove the tasty treat
0:26:01 > 0:26:03using their sharper jaws.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07So, the seed is delivered to its destination.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Ants, though, are tidy, and any litter in the nest
0:26:11 > 0:26:14is cleared away in no time, but the seed delivery
0:26:14 > 0:26:16stays right where it is.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23The fat store was a kind of handle, so once it's been removed,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27the ants have no way of carrying the seed away.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32Protected in the cool, moist nest, the seed germinates...
0:26:35 > 0:26:39and starts to grow into a brand-new gorse bush,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42all courtesy of the local ants.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55While water is in short supply on the southern heaths...
0:26:58 > 0:27:03..it's far from scarce at the northernmost tip of Scotland.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18Here, it rains on average for 160 days each year.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21That's almost every other day, and five times more
0:27:21 > 0:27:24than the driest parts of our country.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31It's the soggiest place in Britain, a place where trees can't grow
0:27:31 > 0:27:32in the rain-soaked ground,
0:27:32 > 0:27:37but where conditions are right for one plant to keep out most others.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Few plants can survive in waterlogged soil,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44but there's one plant that absolutely thrives in it.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49It's all around me and even underneath me feet. Sphagnum moss.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Now, if you were a soldier, wounded in the trenches in WWI,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57your only hope might have been a handful of dried moss.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It might not look much, but it's incredible stuff,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04and the reason is because of its water absorbency.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09This can take on 20 times its own weight of water,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12that's twice as much as cotton wool.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15The very properties that made it a good field dressing
0:28:15 > 0:28:17during that war are also responsible
0:28:17 > 0:28:19for creating this scenery all around me.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30This distinctive landscape of ponds and swampland
0:28:30 > 0:28:34is the largest blanket bog in Europe, possibly the world.
0:28:34 > 0:28:391,500 square miles of Scotland that we call the Flow Country.
0:28:44 > 0:28:48With so much water around, this ought to be a botanist's paradise,
0:28:48 > 0:28:53but it isn't. It's a vast wilderness where few plant species grow
0:28:53 > 0:28:58and it's all down to one of those properties of sphagnum moss.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01This is litmus paper.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05It turns red when it comes into contact with anything acid.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10There you are - look at that.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Sphagnum turns everything acid,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19so it's antiseptic as well as being absorbent - an ideal bandage -
0:29:19 > 0:29:23but it makes the water here as acid as vinegar.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27And that means it's turned all this countryside here
0:29:27 > 0:29:32into boggy, acid conditions that nothing else can grow in.
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Talk about selfish!
0:29:34 > 0:29:38It also means that these tree stumps don't rot.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41They've been here for 4,000 years.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Few bacteria and fungi live in the waterlogged soil,
0:29:45 > 0:29:49so wood and any other plant materials are not broken down.
0:29:49 > 0:29:54The area is really poor in plant food.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58Any plant that does live in nature's equivalent of a toxic dump
0:29:58 > 0:30:02must get what it needs from another source.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12The sundew gets its name from the little droplets on the leaves.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16They may look like dew...
0:30:16 > 0:30:20but they're actually as sticky as glue.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24Look at that - land here, and there's no escape.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31The struggling insect stimulates the sundew's digestive juices,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34which dissolve the victim alive,
0:30:34 > 0:30:38and its nutrients are absorbed through the leaves.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45So the plants that do well here have found a way
0:30:45 > 0:30:49of gaining nutrition from insects. It's normally the other way about.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52Neat revenge, I call that!
0:30:52 > 0:30:57And the lack of nutrients has another surprising effect.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00But to find out what, I have to try my hand at a bit of fishing.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05There's a fish!
0:31:08 > 0:31:10Not very big, is it?
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Better, but still a bit of a tiddler.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24The fish here are much smaller than usual - Flow Country fish
0:31:24 > 0:31:27are half the size of those found in other parts of Scotland.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32Woah! Lively. But none of them's going to win prizes,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34so they're safe from anglers.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37But they're perfect bite-sized nuggets
0:31:37 > 0:31:40for one of Britain's rarest breeding birds.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45The elegantly-dressed black-throated diver.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51The diver can't swallow large fish, so the undersized trout
0:31:51 > 0:31:54provide a good supply of the right-sized food.
0:31:54 > 0:32:00It means the birds can breed here, one of the few places in Britain
0:32:00 > 0:32:05where they do so, although they're not thick on the ground.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11This circle dance is one way in which they sort out
0:32:11 > 0:32:15who gets to live where, each pair of birds dancing
0:32:15 > 0:32:17for the right to occupy the best pond.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22So, sphagnum moss's stranglehold on the vegetation of the Flow Country
0:32:22 > 0:32:25has created an isolated sanctuary
0:32:25 > 0:32:28for the beautiful black-throated diver.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33At the other end of our islands,
0:32:33 > 0:32:38there's a wilderness created not by a single plant, but a single animal.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39Us.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58This is a mysterious place, or so the Druids thought.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00This tangled web of trees
0:33:00 > 0:33:03is said to be the most haunted place in these parts.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06BIRD CALLS
0:33:09 > 0:33:12Local folk won't venture here after sunset.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15They reckon it's home to a pack of fearsome hounds,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19the "Wist Hounds", that stalk the unwary traveller.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30Well, that's as may be...
0:33:30 > 0:33:34the reality is that this is Wistman's Wood,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37a wood of dwarf oak trees right in the centre of Devon.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40It's what our upland areas might have looked like,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42thousands of years ago.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46But today, most of those trees have gone.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53The culprits were the builders of this settlement at Grimspound -
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Bronze Age farmers.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59They burned and cleared the forest for crops and livestock,
0:33:59 > 0:34:04creating a wholly man-made wildlife habitat that's unique to Britain.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09You know, we've seen remnants of the icy Arctic in the Cairngorms,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12parched, desert-like conditions on our heathlands
0:34:12 > 0:34:15and swamps in the north of Scotland,
0:34:15 > 0:34:18but this habitat is one we made earlier.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56I feel as though I can see the whole world from here.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59This is Dartmoor and moorlands like these
0:34:59 > 0:35:02make up the largest areas of wilderness in Britain.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06But the fantastic view is part of the problem
0:35:06 > 0:35:08when it comes to making a home here.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11There are no trees, so the challenge to wildlife
0:35:11 > 0:35:15is not just the cold, the heat and the rain,
0:35:15 > 0:35:18but the fact that there's no protection from any of it.
0:35:27 > 0:35:32And without trees, any songbird living on moorland -
0:35:32 > 0:35:37like that skylark up there - must find an alternative means
0:35:37 > 0:35:40of advertising itself to potential partners
0:35:40 > 0:35:42and keeping out rivals.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46The skylark doesn't have a song post. Instead, it sings on the wing,
0:35:46 > 0:35:51on and on, seemingly without drawing breath.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54The Lark Ascending. Vaughan Williams came close,
0:35:54 > 0:35:58but even he can't quite match the real thing.
0:36:04 > 0:36:09But drawing attention to yourself like that has one major drawback.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16The merlin is partial to skylarks, but in order to catch one,
0:36:16 > 0:36:21it must get above its quarry. The two birds spiral upwards,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25the lark trying to keep above its pursuer and singing all the while,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28even though it could be seconds from death.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33It seems to be telling the merlin, "I'm so fit, you can't catch me!"
0:36:39 > 0:36:43So, the skylark lives to sing another day.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55But all is not well in the state of our moorlands.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04Something's taking over, an invader not from abroad, but from within.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10Bracken.
0:37:32 > 0:37:37This fern is getting out of control and spreading rapidly over the moor.
0:37:42 > 0:37:49Most ferns rely on fine spores to reproduce, they're very delicate
0:37:49 > 0:37:54and need high humidity, but bracken relies on these.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Rhizomes - underground stems.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02and because they're in this soft, damp earth,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05they're protected from exposure to sun and wind.
0:38:05 > 0:38:11And one result of this invasion is to create another kind of desert.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Nothing grows under the canopy of bracken,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18but it's not just due to the shade cast by the fronds,
0:38:18 > 0:38:22it's also because of something rather more sinister.
0:38:25 > 0:38:30Bracken produces a poison that'll prevent most other plants
0:38:30 > 0:38:36from growing nearby...all plants bar one. The wild violet.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45The violet's rather good at dealing with poisons, so it's able to grow
0:38:45 > 0:38:48in the contaminated ground around the bracken.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51In fact, the violet's actually a woodland plant.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54The bracken fronds form a substitute canopy
0:38:54 > 0:38:58that protect it from the worst of the weather.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00And by sheltering the violets,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03the bracken nurtures something rather special.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07The caterpillars of the high brown fritillary butterfly.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10They live and feed on violets.
0:39:10 > 0:39:15So, this poisonous invader is also a saviour
0:39:15 > 0:39:18of one of our rarest and most beautiful butterflies.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53Pockets of moorland are dotted about all over Britain,
0:39:53 > 0:39:58but for our next moorland specialist we need to travel northwards again.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20We've come the entire length of the country,
0:40:20 > 0:40:24to the islands of Orkney, off the northern tip of Scotland.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28The moorland here is home to another creature you'd expect to see
0:40:28 > 0:40:32in a wood, and more usually, at night.
0:40:32 > 0:40:37It's an owl, but this one lives on the moors and hunts by day.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39The short-eared owl.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41And when it's time to court a mate,
0:40:41 > 0:40:46this owl has found an extraordinary way of attracting attention.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51CLAPPING WINGS
0:41:00 > 0:41:04When he claps his wings, he plummets to the ground like a stone,
0:41:04 > 0:41:09recovering just in time to prevent him plunging into the moor.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22The nest is also un-owl-like - it's on the ground.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26The mother owl relies on camouflage to hide her from predators.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29Her mottled plumage blending in beautifully
0:41:29 > 0:41:31with the plants around her.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36Only her bright yellow eyes might give her away,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39so she keeps them half-shut while sitting on the nest.
0:41:39 > 0:41:44Even so, she's certainly more at risk than an owl in a tree,
0:41:44 > 0:41:48but there's a good reason to live and nest in such a dangerous place.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54In summer, the moors are full of mice and voles,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57so the male bird is able to return to the nest time and again
0:41:57 > 0:42:00with an almost continuous supply of food.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15The owl chicks grow at a tremendous rate.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20They'll leave the nest just four weeks after hatching.
0:42:20 > 0:42:26For short-eared owls at least, moorland is a great place to be.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35Back on the mainland, large swathes of our moorland are maintained
0:42:35 > 0:42:39by controlled burning, leaving a patchwork of burned heather
0:42:39 > 0:42:41over miles of upland Britain.
0:42:41 > 0:42:48This very much man-made habitat is dependent on one special creature.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51In Scotland alone, it's responsible for the employment
0:42:51 > 0:42:54of over 1,000 people, and brings in to the Scottish economy
0:42:54 > 0:42:59£17 million a year, but it's a bit tricky to find,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01so I'm going to need some help.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03Quince, come on! Here, come on!
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Good boy. There's a good boy. Oh, yes, good boy.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Get on!
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Steady, Quince. Quince, come on!
0:43:13 > 0:43:15Good boy, steady, steady.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Steady...good boy!
0:43:44 > 0:43:46There it is...
0:43:46 > 0:43:50a red grouse chick, and as you can see from its plumage,
0:43:50 > 0:43:53perfectly camouflaged on this moorland.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55I wouldn't have stood a chance of finding it on my own,
0:43:55 > 0:43:59not without you. Well done, Quince. Well done. Yes, good boy!
0:43:59 > 0:44:01We'll let it get back to mum now.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05OK, leave it alone.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Come on, come on, good boy!
0:44:10 > 0:44:14But there's an upside and a downside to having a £17 million price tag
0:44:14 > 0:44:20on your head. The upside is that there are teams of people
0:44:20 > 0:44:23keeping the moors the way grouse like it.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27And what they like most is heather.
0:44:30 > 0:44:31They're one of the few creatures
0:44:31 > 0:44:34that thrive almost exclusively on heather.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37They eat the leaves in winter, new shoots in spring,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40flowers in summer and the seeds during the autumn.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47Burning gets rid of the tough old heather the birds don't like
0:44:47 > 0:44:51and encourages new growth, it's all perfect.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53And the downside?
0:44:53 > 0:44:56Well, the birds are at their most valuable...
0:44:56 > 0:44:58GUNSHOTS
0:44:59 > 0:45:01..when they're being shot at.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03From the Glorious Twelfth of August onwards,
0:45:03 > 0:45:08some people will pay thousands of pounds a day to shoot these birds,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and smart London restaurants will compete with one another
0:45:11 > 0:45:15to see who could be the first to have grouse on the menu.
0:45:19 > 0:45:24Which may seem tough on the poor old grouse, but it's sobering, perhaps,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28to realise that the grouse moors of Britain account for three-quarters
0:45:28 > 0:45:31of all the heather moorland in the world,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34and they're home to many more upland animals than grouse.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39One of the beneficiaries is the mountain hare.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43The grouse moors in Scotland are alive with hares,
0:45:43 > 0:45:47and generally, they blend in superbly with their background
0:45:47 > 0:45:51with brown fur in summer - just the thing to hide among the heather -
0:45:51 > 0:45:57and white fur in winter to match the snow. But there are times
0:45:57 > 0:46:00when the mountain hare is caught out -
0:46:00 > 0:46:02wearing the wrong coloured coat.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08Enter the golden eagle.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11It may have had to rely on scavenging to survive,
0:46:11 > 0:46:14back in the winter, but when it spots the tell-tale signs
0:46:14 > 0:46:18of prey on the move, it turns into our supreme predator.
0:46:32 > 0:46:36Well, even supreme predators have their off-days.
0:46:58 > 0:47:02So, Wilderness Britain may have been created by ice and snow,
0:47:02 > 0:47:08by heat and drought, by flooding and even by the actions of people.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10But, however it came into being,
0:47:10 > 0:47:14and however extreme these places might be,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16their raw beauty has provided inspiration
0:47:16 > 0:47:21for generations of poets, writers and artists,
0:47:21 > 0:47:23and it's not hard to see why.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32It may be the one third of our country that we don't live in,
0:47:32 > 0:47:34but we still need it.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37Our mountains, moors and heaths are where we go
0:47:37 > 0:47:41for rest, recovery and renewal.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48And the wildlife?
0:47:48 > 0:47:52Well, overcoming and actually thriving on the challenges
0:47:52 > 0:47:55of living in these remote places,
0:47:55 > 0:47:58living life right on the very edge of what's possible,
0:47:58 > 0:48:02takes a special kind of resilience. Which is why, for me,
0:48:02 > 0:48:07these wilderness areas are among our finest national treasures.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:48:44 > 0:48:46E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk