Rhaglen 2 Trefi Gwyllt Iolo

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-Ruthin

-I'm in the centre of Ruthin.

-The square and clock are behind me.

-In an old house here is the roosting

-place for a special kind of bat...

-..the lesser horseshoe bat.

-They don't normally gather

-in a town centre.

-I have an infrared camera here.

-They won't come out until it's dark,

-but I can see everything with this.

-I'm meeting local man Myrf Griffiths

-who knows their exact location.

-Hello, Myrf.

-Welcome to the town.

-Thank you.

-This is where the bats are.

-Around the back.

-OK. I'll turn this on

-as it's getting dark.

-Let's go around the back.

-Lesser horseshoe bats usually

-use buildings in the countryside...

-..where it's quiet and dark.

-They choose old stables

-or a barn loft.

-During the summer, this is where the

-females give birth to their young.

-They care for them...

-..until they're big enough to leave

-the roost and hunt on their own.

-What's amazing

-about this roosting place...

-..is they've chosen

-such a busy and urban spot.

-It's a nice building.

-It's great.

-Doesn't it date

-from the Middle Ages?

-It does.

-The trees for the timbered house

-were felled in the winter of 1434-5.

-There are no street lights

-in the back of the building.

-The only way to see the bats

-is by using infrared light.

-It's quite dark.

-They might be out already.

-Through this door?

-Through this door?

-

-Yes.

-They're sometimes in here.

-Where's the roost?

-Up there.

-They come out from

-the left-hand side at the bottom.

-Out the window, not under the roof.

-Out the window.

-Here's one.

-Can you see it?

-It went right around us.

-Goodness me!

-There's another one above our heads.

-What's good about old buildings...

-..is when you hear

-there are bats about...

-..they're usually in old buildings.

-How many are there in all?

-Well, it can go up to 60 in summer.

-It's down to about 20 now.

-In autumn, they leave

-to look for a roosting place...

-..in a cave or cellar.

-Sometimes, they all go.

-Sometimes, they all go.

-

-Gosh.

-If they're here

-during spring and summer...

-..they must give birth in the roof.

-This is a great place for them.

-They're left alone.

-No-one lives in the house.

-It's very quiet.

-It's the perfect spot for them.

-Here's another one.

-It went right around our heads.

-It's incredible that we can't

-see anything in the darkness...

-..but that they can find their way

-around quite easily.

-Incredible.

-The bats will have to fly

-to open ground outside Ruthin...

-..to find enough insects to eat.

-But somehow or other...

-..they've found a good spot to roost

-in a town centre.

-Carmarthen

-A blackbird's climbed to the highest

-spot it can in order to sing.

-They always look for an obvious spot

-where their voice will carry.

-This is on a street

-in a town centre.

-It's singing on a spring day

-in Carmarthen.

-In every village throughout Wales...

-..thousands of others

-will be doing the same.

-We're used to seeing them

-around towns.

-And we hear their angry chides.

-Another familiar sound in towns...

-..is the call

-of the wood pigeon and the pigeon.

-But one bird has been

-totally confused by urban life.

-This is especially true

-in the darkness of winter.

-Can you hear that?

-It's a robin singing

-in the early hours in Bangor.

-One's singing over here

-and one over there.

-Another one's singing

-near the high street.

-The ones who are singing

-are next to street lights.

-In towns and cities...

-..these birds sing all night.

-All night.

-They rest, sing, rest and sing.

-These are winter birds.

-The nesting birds have headed south.

-These have come from the north.

-They maintain a territory

-where there's food over winter.

-They'll sing and sing.

-In the early hours,

-when there's no-one about...

-..it's great to walk through a city

-and hear the birds singing.

-It's a lovely song.

-It doesn't matter where you are -

-which town, city or village...

-..if you have street lights, go out.

-You're bound to hear

-a robin singing.

-Street lights have caused chaos

-in the lives of robins.

-In rural areas, it's among the first

-birds to sing in the morning...

-..due to its good eyesight.

-It can search for insects,

-its natural food, in poor light.

-With the light on all night,

-it's had to adapt its way of life...

-..to a 24-hour day

-with busy periods followed by rest.

-Cardiff

-It's incredible - we're right

-in the centre of Cardiff.

-We're under a railway bridge...

-..and this is one of

-the busiest roads into the city.

-There are hundreds of pedestrians

-too.

-Under the bridge

-you'll find pigeons.

-They were wild pigeons originally

-which were tamed for racing.

-They escaped back to the wild

-and made a home here.

-It's safe for them here.

-It's under a bridge, so there's

-shelter from the wind and rain.

-A train's passing now.

-There's plenty of food for them

-in cities and it's also warmer.

-So this is a great place.

-As well as that, it's incredible...

-..that although

-it's the end of November...

-..there are nesting pairs here.

-They're incubating eggs.

-The chicks will leave the nest

-at around Christmas time.

-The city's the best place

-for them to nest.

-Better than rural areas.

-People aren't generally fond

-of pigeons.

-They say they're pests like rats.

-However, they're very interesting

-and affectionate birds.

-A cock is feeding the hen.

-She's sitting on the eggs

-and he's coming in to feed her.

-The big advantage for pigeons

-over other birds...

-..is they can produce pigeon milk.

-It's secreted from a special gland.

-She can sit here,

-even in terrible weather...

-..as long as he can feed,

-return here and produce milk...

-..not only for her but

-for the chicks too when they hatch.

-That gives pigeons a big advantage

-over other birds.

-The birds' nature hasn't changed.

-They'd do this on rocks

-by the seaside.

-It's just they've found the ideal

-habitat in the centre of Cardiff.

-Birds nest in all kinds of places

-around towns.

-They choose anywhere that's similar

-to a natural nesting spot.

-For a gull, a flat roof is similar,

-and, if anything, safer...

-..than a patch of open ground

-on an island.

-Carmarthen

-If there's no cave available...

-..an office in Carmarthen

-works fine for a swallow.

-You find birds' nests

-in incredible places sometimes.

-This is like a prison -

-"Danger, keep out."

-There's electricity here.

-There are droppings everywhere.

-In this corner is the switch

-to turn the electricity on and off.

-It says "Danger, do not touch".

-There are droppings going up to

-a swallow's nest right at the top.

-The mother's sitting there

-looking down at me.

-I'm not on a farm.

-I'm in the bowels of a tall building

-in the town centre.

-Swallows are so used

-to people and buildings...

-..they've changed their nature

-almost completely...

-..and have forgotten

-how to nest naturally.

-But they've learnt

-that there are places...

-..that are just as good,

-if not better, in towns.

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-Can you hear that sound?

-I'll go closer.

-They're very special toads.

-They're midwife toads.

-You'll hear them in Llandrindod

-but nowhere else in Wales.

-They've gone quiet.

-It's an incredible sound.

-They've escaped.

-Someone must have been keeping them

-and they escaped.

-They obviously like this street.

-They have

-a very interesting life cycle.

-They lay eggs in pools and the males

-spend time in these walls...

-Did you hear that?

-I'll turn off this torch for a bit.

-They call in the dead of night...

-..only on dark walls.

-There are two or three

-in these walls.

-They call all summer.

-On a nice evening,

-they can be so noisy...

-..that they keep the residents

-of the street awake.

-If you walked through all of rural

-Wales, you wouldn't hear this.

-You'll only hear it in Llandrindod.

-How odd!

-On one street too - this street.

-They like hiding in holes.

-The gaps through the bricks

-are perfect and safe.

-They're called midwife toads...

-..because the male carries the eggs

-on his back.

-Around 20 at a time on his back.

-He carries them around.

-After three weeks, when they hatch,

-he pushes them into a pool of water.

-That's the reason for their name.

-They're not a native species.

-They come from the continent.

-Their closest habitat is France.

-They were kept as pets.

-They escaped to parts of England

-and here to Llandrindod.

-You could spend hours

-looking for them.

-You'd be very lucky

-if you saw one at all...

-..especially

-in the middle of a road.

-Here's one.

-A midwife toad.

-Wow!

-This is the first time

-I've seen one.

-I'm trying not to scare it.

-See how small they are.

-They aren't big at all.

-It's less than half the size of

-a normal toad we see in large pools.

-I think this one's

-making its way to the gardens.

-I can hear others calling

-in the gardens.

-This one's probably making its way

-to the gardens.

-It's very small.

-It's lighter in colour too.

-But there we are - a midwife toad.

-I'll leave it be.

-I'll go quietly.

-Merthyr Tydfil

-Ruins are always good places

-for wildlife.

-These are the old Cyfarthfa

-iron furnaces in Merthyr Tydfil.

-They were famous the world over.

-I sometimes come here

-to look for wildlife.

-Jackdaws nest in the holes...

-..but there's one bird which nests

-in their dozens in the wall...

-..I didn't expect to see at all.

-The birds nesting here

-are the small ones flying around me.

-Dozens of them.

-They're sand martins.

-They're birds

-I associate elsewhere in Wales...

-..with riverbanks, pools

-and lakes...

-..where they build their own

-metre-deep nesting holes...

-..in mud or soft sand.

-Here, there are so many holes

-in the old wall...

-..they use it to nest.

-They push their way in.

-They carry grass and so on.

-They land and carry it in.

-They've returned from Africa

-around a week to ten days ago.

-The first thing they do is pair up.

-That's why

-they sometimes sit on the branches.

-They don't build much of a nest.

-They put grass in the tunnel

-and lay eggs inside.

-Though you don't expect

-to see them here...

-..it's a perfect place for them.

-It's the only place in Wales, as far

-as I know, where they do this.

-Brecon

-In Brecon, another bird

-has adapted its way of life...

-..and has occupied a church

-in the town centre.

-A peregrine falcon -

-the fastest bird of prey in Wales.

-There it is. Look.

-A piece of stone is sticking out

-from the top of the church.

-It's sat on top of it

-looking over the town.

-When I was a boy,

-these were very rare birds.

-You had to go to Wales's

-most remote valleys to see them.

-They've increased in such numbers

-they can now be found in our towns.

-There are feathers floating around.

-It must have just killed something.

-What this bird wants is a cliff.

-Somewhere high up to look out from.

-That's better than a cliff.

-If there's an easterly wind...

-..it can go

-to the western part of the church.

-If it's westerly, it can move.

-It's an excellent spot.

-It can see everything.

-Pigeons are one of their main prey.

-The fact

-there's a predatory bird close by...

-..doesn't bother these at all.

-It might have had enough to eat

-for one day.

-I'm going closer to the church

-to see what it's eating.

-There are feathers everywhere.

-They're mostly pigeon feathers.

-There are other feathers too.

-This is a jackdaw's.

-There are lots of jackdaws here.

-I saw some earlier.

-It eats them.

-There are different coloured

-pigeon feathers.

-A white one.

-A grey one.

-Goodness me!

-Let's see what else is here.

-There are pellets here.

-It regurgitates

-what it can't digest.

-Look at this.

-This is a pellet. Look what's in it.

-It's a red feather.

-It belongs to a bullfinch.

-A male bullfinch.

-Goodness me!

-Look at this.

-The skull of a starling.

-The skull of a starling.

-It's eaten the brain and the flesh.

-That's all that's left.

-A jackdaw's foot.

-Goodness me! Look!

-Jackdaws aren't doing too well

-around here.

-There are more pigeon feathers

-here.

-It seems that the peregrine is

-eating mostly pigeons and jackdaws.

-It can eat those in the town.

-It only has to look out,

-they're everywhere.

-But it also eats bullfinches.

-I'm sure if I looked closely, I'd

-find thrushes and blackbirds too.

-To catch those,

-it has to go to the countryside.

-This is a perfect place

-for it to be.

-These are all urban creatures.

-The peregrine falcon...

-..bats...

-..toads...

-..blackbirds...

-..gulls...

-..robins...

-..and crows...

-..have all changed their nature

-to live alongside us in towns.

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