:00:11. > :00:15.We are in the highlands of Scotland, where winter has truly arrived. The
:00:15. > :00:18.days are short, the temperatures are down but the expectation is
:00:18. > :00:23.high. Over the next four nights we find
:00:23. > :00:29.out how the UK's wildlife survives the winter. For many animals, it is
:00:29. > :00:33.the toughest time of the year. This area is covered in cameras. We
:00:33. > :00:43.are watching how the wildlife around us manages to survive the
:00:43. > :01:02.
:01:02. > :01:11.Yes, hello and welcome to Winterwatch. Winterwatch! Now, we
:01:11. > :01:14.have had the pleasure of bringing you a few Springwatchs and
:01:14. > :01:20.Autumnwatch but this is the first chance to bring you Winterwatch,
:01:20. > :01:24.live. It is dynamic and the aim is as usual to bring the very best of
:01:25. > :01:30.British wildlife. There is a down side, however, we are out in the
:01:30. > :01:34.freezing cold! I can't tell you how many layers I have on. My colleague
:01:34. > :01:38.is sporting less. I even have the baggy trousers on. We are based
:01:38. > :01:43.here in the Aigas Field Centre in the highlands of Scotland this week.
:01:43. > :01:49.We have fabulous stuff coming up. And my how it has changed since the
:01:49. > :01:54.autumn. We have had snow today. It has come down and the icy fist of
:01:54. > :02:00.winter clamped down and it has upped the ante for the wildlife
:02:00. > :02:05.here. The scenery may have changed but the wildlife stars are still
:02:05. > :02:10.here, but they have different challenges to face now it is the
:02:10. > :02:15.winter. We are finding out how the wonderful family of beavers have
:02:15. > :02:20.adapted now that the temperatures have dropped and there is the
:02:20. > :02:25.spotlight on the pine matter ens to see how they work when the chill
:02:25. > :02:31.sets in. And we have this on these birds, on
:02:31. > :02:39.the north Norfolk coast a large colony of grey seals, there are
:02:39. > :02:45.many cute pups and bolshoi dads too. We are looking at exotic animals,
:02:45. > :02:49.and also the familiar. The robin. He is one of our favourite birds
:02:49. > :02:57.but he has a dark side. Also, something exciting that is going on.
:02:57. > :03:01.We have a waxwing here. This is a beautiful bird. They have poured in
:03:01. > :03:05.from Scandinavia, 5,000 of them. You can catch them up and down the
:03:05. > :03:09.country. Fantastic. I have not seen one yet.
:03:09. > :03:19.You disappoint us! But before we go further, we have to establish why
:03:19. > :03:20.
:03:20. > :03:30.is winter a tough and testing time for our wildlife? Winter it is a
:03:30. > :03:32.
:03:32. > :03:40.season of extremes. Plummeting temperatures, frost and
:03:40. > :03:45.even snow mean that food and water are scarce.
:03:46. > :03:51.For wildlife, it is a real test of the fittest.
:03:51. > :03:55.Right now, animals and plants are facing up to this challenge.
:03:55. > :04:03.Especially those young animals, experiencing winter for the first
:04:04. > :04:13.time. But they have got some clever
:04:13. > :04:17.strategies to see them through. Some migrate, some hibernate. Some
:04:17. > :04:25.take on fat supplies. Others store their food.
:04:25. > :04:35.It is a time of cleverness and remarkable behaviour.
:04:35. > :04:40.
:04:40. > :04:46.Winter also provides some of the For us, it can be beautiful but
:04:46. > :04:56.this is the most difficult time of the year for every animal. We'll be
:04:56. > :04:57.
:04:58. > :05:02.following their stories as they battle to survive.
:05:02. > :05:08.Yes, we are looking at some of the fascinating strategies that animals
:05:08. > :05:13.use to survive the winterment the winter, how cold is it right now?
:05:13. > :05:18.Chris, my lovely assistant. Well, it is telling me on the
:05:18. > :05:23.thermometer that it is 2 .4, but before it was 1.9.
:05:23. > :05:28.As warm as that? Surprisingly, it is relatively warm here, but the
:05:29. > :05:33.snow has hit many areas of the country today. Yesterday it was
:05:33. > :05:38.minus 6 .2 in Cumbria. The winter is coming, that means that our
:05:38. > :05:44.wildlife will go under the hammer. It will get stressful for them.
:05:44. > :05:51.The cold weather means big changes for the wildlife, especially for
:05:51. > :05:55.the beaver family that live on the loch behind us. The loch has not
:05:55. > :06:05.frozen but what do they do if it does? Well, they do this. A little
:06:05. > :06:05.
:06:05. > :06:10.bit of dancing on ice. This is one of the kids. It is not doing too
:06:10. > :06:15.badly for the first time on ice. It falls in, that is the trouble. It
:06:15. > :06:19.is very thin ice. Skating on thin ice, but he manages to get out, but
:06:19. > :06:25.not own do they walk on top of the ice, they also swim underneath it.
:06:25. > :06:29.It is difficult to see in that shot. So let's play it again and
:06:29. > :06:33.highlight it so you can see the baefr under the water. Not
:06:33. > :06:38.something that I fancy doing but they are perfectly adapted to do
:06:38. > :06:41.that. What about when you want to get out? Tricky but they have
:06:41. > :06:51.breathing holes, but at seven months told is a struggle to get
:06:51. > :06:54.out of the water tonne the thin ice. You can see that little kid is
:06:54. > :06:58.struggling, but it is fantastic we've been able to get these
:06:58. > :07:02.pictures. It is brilliant that they are right here for us to have the
:07:02. > :07:07.cameras on. It occurred to me, what happens
:07:07. > :07:11.when it freezes solid? The beavers leave the lodge, how do we know how
:07:11. > :07:16.long they can hold their breath for? They can hold their breath up
:07:16. > :07:21.to six minutes, but when the adult toppled in there it started to chew
:07:21. > :07:26.the ice. They do that, chewing air holes around the water that is held
:07:26. > :07:30.by the dams to move from air hole to air hole to breathe.
:07:30. > :07:37.They also bang them with the heads. So they bang the ice and break it
:07:37. > :07:42.with their heads. Oh, come on? No, they do! We might
:07:42. > :07:49.get it live on the cameras. Talking about cameras, we have a new live
:07:49. > :07:54.camera. We have Carcass Cam. This is interesting. Let's find out
:07:54. > :07:58.where this camera is. We can see here, that is the loch behind us.
:07:58. > :08:07.To the right here, there is a beautiful mist in the valley, there
:08:07. > :08:13.is the Carcass Cam. What it is, it is a road kill deer. We have staked
:08:13. > :08:16.it out but we want to see what animals will feed on it. When it
:08:16. > :08:22.gets cold, animals will take advantage of any food source. So,
:08:22. > :08:26.what did turn up? Let's have a look at one of the first things. It was
:08:26. > :08:32.a buzzard. Perhaps not surprising. The buzzard will be scouring the
:08:32. > :08:38.sky, looking for food as it gets colder. The buzzards are so
:08:38. > :08:43.powerful a bird. Do you think it can open up the deer? I am not sure.
:08:43. > :08:46.They normally get in through the mouth or the eyes. Going through a
:08:46. > :08:53.hide for the buzzard, before it decays it could be difficult.
:08:53. > :08:58.He is getting a nice feed there as it is really already open.
:08:58. > :09:02.It really looks like winter there. Now, another animal turned up that
:09:02. > :09:08.was surprising. This, of course is the badger. That is a surprise to
:09:08. > :09:12.me. A badger, 45% of the badger's diet is worms, but then, of course,
:09:12. > :09:17.whether the ground freezes he will have a job getting to worms. So I
:09:17. > :09:26.think that he is investigating this potential food source in its
:09:26. > :09:31.territory. So if it gets colder it may eat them? They are not known as
:09:31. > :09:34.scavengers but if it gets tough, they will not turn down meat.
:09:34. > :09:39.It will be interesting. Here is a third thing, a small
:09:39. > :09:44.thing that turned up, a robin. Now, that may be surprising if you are
:09:44. > :09:48.not used to it, we see them eating the peanuts, but they are omnivores.
:09:48. > :09:54.They will eat meat it is hard to see but we think it is picking up
:09:54. > :10:00.scraps of meat. Quite a few garden birds will do.
:10:00. > :10:04.In tough winters, starlings, all sorts of birds will turn to eating
:10:04. > :10:07.their frozen cousins that they find liing in the snow. Needs must.
:10:07. > :10:13.it gets colder you take advantage of whatever you can get.
:10:13. > :10:18.If you were watching Autumnwatch you may have seen the same degree
:10:18. > :10:25.of treats that we saw. There is a British mammal, it is restricted to
:10:25. > :10:29.living in Scotland, a few of them in England but it is very shy, a
:10:29. > :10:33.nocturnal animal. It is of course the pine matter en. Let's go live
:10:33. > :10:41.to where we were watching them in the autumn. We have seen them
:10:41. > :10:46.already this year. We have had the cameras et up for a few days --
:10:46. > :10:51.pine martens. You can identify them by looking at
:10:51. > :11:00.their bibs. They have characteristic patterns of spots.
:11:00. > :11:06.This one we called Spike. And there is Spot on the left. I
:11:06. > :11:11.think that one has appeared. Let's have a look. There he is.
:11:11. > :11:19.These animals, they are only about 100m behind the camera where we are
:11:19. > :11:24.speaking, so we are whispering. This is the first live pine marten
:11:24. > :11:30.of Winterwatch. We have changed the set-up and put in upright branches.
:11:30. > :11:35.What we wanted to see was howagile the creatures are.
:11:36. > :11:39.He is coming. A beautiful back-lit shot as it approaches across the
:11:39. > :11:43.top of the wall. It would be great to be able to see
:11:43. > :11:53.the bib, then we can see which one it is.
:11:53. > :11:57.I think that I may have seen a little spike on there.
:11:57. > :12:01.Oh, come on. They are rare. They are very difficult to see. To see
:12:01. > :12:05.them live like this is a real treat. Of course, we will keep you updated
:12:05. > :12:11.throughout the programme and throughout the week as we explore
:12:11. > :12:16.their antics. And you can continue watching them
:12:16. > :12:22.24 /7 on the internet and we would like to see your photographs of any
:12:22. > :12:29.wildlife that you have. Send that through to the website or to
:12:29. > :12:34.Twitter. As Chris said we are lucky to see the pine martens. They are
:12:34. > :12:40.very shy animals. We are also lucky to have the animal of the bofrs. I
:12:40. > :12:46.want to remind you about the story of the beavers. They were
:12:46. > :12:50.introduced to the loch in 2006. They have had numerous kits. There
:12:50. > :12:53.are nine individuals that live here. They are managed, part of a
:12:53. > :12:59.demonstration project. They live around the loch in lodges. There
:12:59. > :13:05.are a few lodges. The last time they were the other side of the loc
:13:05. > :13:08.had, but since the Autumnwatch they have moved to the other side of the
:13:08. > :13:11.loch. The lodge is where they live. They
:13:11. > :13:16.dig under the ground. They have Chalmers with an exit that goes out
:13:16. > :13:23.on to the water. Let's have a look inside. We have a live camera in
:13:23. > :13:30.that lodge it looks different to the one we were filming on
:13:30. > :13:35.Autumnwatch. Nothing there now but we have had lots of shots of them
:13:35. > :13:45.in the daytime. To get a picture of how they live, you really need to
:13:45. > :13:53.
:13:53. > :13:58.go on a beaver safari in the Series Autumnwatch it, the beavers
:13:58. > :14:04.have moved do that artificial log we go rebuild a few years ago for.
:14:04. > :14:07.So they have been busy House moving. It is great to pick them die are
:14:07. > :14:13.probably slipping now during the day, which is why we have the
:14:13. > :14:18.cables here, so hopefully, we are getting shots of them doing that.
:14:18. > :14:22.How many chambers are inside? just one big bedding chamber.
:14:23. > :14:28.the whole family here? Just a few of them. It seems to be the mother
:14:28. > :14:33.and some of her kids from last year. Why did they move? It could be just
:14:33. > :14:38.for a change of scenery, but they do go from lodged lodge naturally.
:14:38. > :14:41.How much have they changed since autumn? What will they be doing in
:14:41. > :14:47.winter? They will be feeding on the food caches they have sunk under
:14:47. > :14:51.the water to keep them going if the loch does not freeze. The kits will
:14:51. > :14:55.be building up fat and there buildings -- body size, ready for
:14:55. > :15:00.adulthood. The adults will be living off their fat reserves as
:15:00. > :15:05.well as feeding on the food under the water. Adults may lose their
:15:05. > :15:10.body condition over the winter, but we usually do not see that.
:15:10. > :15:13.most interesting thing over the winter is there store food. We saw
:15:13. > :15:23.them building it up during Autumnwatch. Now they are making
:15:23. > :15:40.
:15:40. > :15:46.the most of it. Can we see the food Gosh, it is huge. It and went and
:15:46. > :15:50.it goes a long way. So they have made this and then sunk it. I
:15:50. > :15:55.thought they built their caches near their Lordships have it could
:15:55. > :15:59.take the food into their lunch. that is what I always assumed until
:15:59. > :16:05.I started seeing of the food caches around here. They have obviously
:16:05. > :16:09.not read the textbooks! This could be new science! I wonder how long
:16:09. > :16:17.that would last if this froze over and stayed like that for a mind?
:16:17. > :16:22.These food caches can last up to six months. They have plenty of
:16:22. > :16:28.food it. And they are adding to it all the time to keep them going.
:16:28. > :16:35.could learn something from beavers. Yes. The store food while the going
:16:35. > :16:41.is good. I was amazed how big that cash was and how far away it is
:16:41. > :16:47.from the lodge. To give you an idea, here is a map. This is East - we
:16:47. > :16:52.were filming. Have and that is our cabin. And this is where the old
:16:52. > :16:56.lodge it is where we filmed during a Autumnwatch, and that is the
:16:57. > :17:00.artificial much we are in now, called the Hilton, apparently.
:17:00. > :17:06.because we have cameras all over the place, we were able to see the
:17:06. > :17:11.beavers using their food store. So we managed to seep Lilley, the
:17:11. > :17:16.adult female. She has died down under the ice, and she is bringing
:17:16. > :17:21.up food. This fascinates me. They were thinking ahead. She was pre-
:17:21. > :17:27.planning this. She could have put that through their months ago. And
:17:27. > :17:32.now they are reaping the advantage. It is nice and fresh. It has been
:17:32. > :17:39.kept refrigerated. It is the day length that triggers it. As the
:17:39. > :17:45.days get shorter, they start to store food it. Winter has kicked in
:17:45. > :17:50.a cross of the country. This map a of Europe will explain where you're
:17:50. > :17:55.bad weather has come from today. It has come from the East. On the
:17:55. > :18:01.right of the screen, it is terribly blue. In the main area, it is minus
:18:01. > :18:05.15. In Germany, it is minus ten. D easterly winds are growing this
:18:05. > :18:08.cold air to the UK, and that is why there has been snow today and that
:18:08. > :18:14.was why it made sense for the beaver to start storing twigs
:18:15. > :18:19.beneath the surface. Although it feels cold, some of you are
:18:19. > :18:25.experiencing much colder weather that we are in Inverness. But it is
:18:25. > :18:29.all relative, because close by is the Cairngorms, which gets extreme
:18:29. > :18:34.weather. Beautiful place, but at this time of year, there is lots of
:18:34. > :18:39.snow, high winds, minus temperatures. Who on earth would
:18:39. > :18:45.want to explore the wildlife in such an inhospitable place? Face it,
:18:45. > :18:51.it is like a bit of the Arctic in the UK. What about you? For their
:18:51. > :19:01.chance. We need someone big and tough. We could not find one, so we
:19:01. > :19:07.
:19:07. > :19:14.I am near the summit of Cairngorm, 1000 metres up, and it is proper
:19:14. > :19:18.cold. I could possibly live -- I could not possibly live without
:19:18. > :19:23.some specialist kit, and yet there is a small and insignificant bird
:19:23. > :19:33.that is so superbly designed that it can live here in comfort. It is
:19:33. > :19:33.
:19:33. > :19:37.the ptarmigan. Britain's smallest grass is super tough. It is found
:19:37. > :19:44.in some other the most extreme Arctic environment across the
:19:44. > :19:49.northern hemisphere, from Siberia to Alaska. If a ptarmigan, not much
:19:49. > :19:56.bigger than a small chicken, can endure these harsh conditions, I
:19:56. > :20:01.would like to at least try to do the same. I suspect that living
:20:02. > :20:11.like one might be more tricky than I imagined. Finding a ptarmigan
:20:11. > :20:21.here on Cairngorm turns out to be surprisingly easy. Three of them!
:20:21. > :20:34.
:20:34. > :20:40.Pure white. I never thought they would let me get this close. That
:20:40. > :20:45.is the male, and he has a jet bat - - jet black stripe. Looks very
:20:45. > :20:55.handsome. This bird can survive temperatures down to minus 35
:20:55. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:02.Celsius. So today is a walk in the park. But how do they do it? To
:21:02. > :21:07.find out, I have teamed up with Keith Miller, a local ecologist and
:21:07. > :21:13.mountain guide. He will help me understand more about the
:21:13. > :21:17.ptarmigan's way of life. The Cairngorms have the highest ever
:21:17. > :21:22.recorded wind speeds and the coldest temperatures of anywhere in
:21:22. > :21:30.the UK. If I am to stay out hero overnight like a ptarmigan, I will
:21:30. > :21:34.need a place to shelter. Once you have got through the surface, it
:21:34. > :21:44.will go in. In it is quite tough. I am guessing you have done this
:21:44. > :21:47.
:21:47. > :21:52.before? A few times. Now it will be softer. I am clearly not designed
:21:52. > :21:56.for life up here. One minute, I am freezing cold, the next I am
:21:57. > :22:01.boiling. The ptarmigan, on the other hand, have ingenious
:22:01. > :22:06.solutions to these extremes. The snow white feathers that provide
:22:06. > :22:13.their camouflage cover the entire bird at all the way down to their
:22:13. > :22:23.feet. Feathers also cover their nostrils and even their eyelids.
:22:23. > :22:23.
:22:23. > :22:27.They are perfectly adapted to that Arctic environment. These snow
:22:27. > :22:32.holes took a few hours of work for Keith and I. The ptarmigan do a
:22:32. > :22:37.similar thing, but they just come down, make a shallow dish grade in
:22:37. > :22:42.the snow course it there and allow the snow to blow down and get over
:22:42. > :22:52.them. They make a cosy snow hole that way, not with very off four
:22:52. > :23:12.
:23:12. > :23:17.Let's go into our cosy snow hole. Four hours later, we have a home.
:23:17. > :23:23.So here I am in my snow hole, just like it ptarmigan, except of course,
:23:23. > :23:28.it is not like a ptarmigan, because I need a host of things to survive.
:23:28. > :23:35.The ptarmigan needs none of this. And it does one other clever thing.
:23:35. > :23:40.Before it goes to bed, it kind of fills up on carbohydrates. Through
:23:40. > :23:49.the night, it's slowly digests vegetable matter, and that acts
:23:49. > :23:54.like an internal central heating system, keeping it warm. That is
:23:54. > :24:00.actually very good. Eat like a ptarmigan, live like a ptarmigan.
:24:00. > :24:05.But just as I was getting used to ptarmigan life, disaster. Uh-oh,
:24:05. > :24:09.that does not look good. When you have got to a potential melt, that
:24:09. > :24:14.is not a good place to be. The snow was melting and our rich
:24:14. > :24:24.threatening to cave in. All that work for nothing! Let get out of
:24:24. > :24:24.
:24:24. > :24:30.here. It is now a two hour slog downhill. The mountain had beaten
:24:30. > :24:35.us. But for it is interesting to discover first hand how difficult
:24:35. > :24:42.it is for us humans to do the things a little bird can do so
:24:42. > :24:47.effortlessly. The price soared that, I thought my definition of hell was
:24:47. > :24:56.listening to Coldplay in a world without symmetry. But frankly, that
:24:56. > :25:00.must have been hideous. It was not bad. I o, come on. But the but it
:25:00. > :25:04.was fascinating to be like a ptarmigan, just for a while.
:25:04. > :25:09.would have loved it. One fascinating thing about the
:25:09. > :25:17.ptarmigan is, they will put on up to 50% above their summer body
:25:17. > :25:20.weight at. They are 50% bigger in winter than in summer. And up to
:25:20. > :25:25.35% of that is fat reserves. You would have thought that putting on
:25:25. > :25:29.that much fat would make them really unstable. And it would be
:25:29. > :25:36.hard to get around. But although they look as though they might be
:25:36. > :25:43.disadvantaged, they are not. How do we know that?
:25:43. > :25:48.He is going along with no trouble. No trouble on that treadmill. They
:25:48. > :25:54.are measuring how much energy the fact ptarmigan is using. It turns
:25:54. > :25:58.out that it is using less energy in winter, when it is overweight, to
:25:58. > :26:02.get around and it does in summer. They are not sure how that happens.
:26:02. > :26:05.The University of Tromso and Manchester have been doing that.
:26:05. > :26:08.They have some theories. One of them has to do with the posture of
:26:08. > :26:13.the bird when it has the extra weight. It has changed its centre
:26:13. > :26:22.of gravity. It also has bring the tendons and its legs which allow it
:26:22. > :26:28.to bounce. Third centralising your centre of gravity is what modern
:26:28. > :26:35.motorcycles are doing. That is the latest thing in racing. The
:26:35. > :26:41.ptarmigan got there first. We are was a kid, I would ask my parents,
:26:41. > :26:46.why does a ptarmigan begin with the letter P it? If it is a silo letter
:26:46. > :26:53.P? They never had the answer. So if you are watching, Dad, I now know.
:26:54. > :26:58.It came from the Scottish Gaelic. But then in 1684, a fellow called
:26:58. > :27:06.Robert, who was given to Greek, decided he would make it more
:27:06. > :27:10.pretentious and he put the letter P in front of it. We also say that
:27:10. > :27:14.Percy the ptarmigan, who we saw in that film, it is perfectly happy
:27:14. > :27:23.living in retirement in Oslo. an exhaustive career. Now, in
:27:23. > :27:27.spring watch, we had a new device. One of our viewers invited her into
:27:27. > :27:33.a garden where she had set up a device with cameras which allowed
:27:33. > :27:37.her to look at small mammals. We pinched the idea and built a
:27:37. > :27:42.rudimentary then, but it was crude. So we decided to invite
:27:42. > :27:48.international architects to the bid to build a new one. Many people
:27:48. > :27:58.applied, but they were yesterday's men. This is what we came up with.
:27:58. > :28:06.
:28:06. > :28:10.This is more than a stump. This is It is spacious. It is the perfect
:28:10. > :28:14.arena for road and fighting. That is normally what we have been
:28:14. > :28:19.seeing inside it. Nothing in there at the moment, but we have seen
:28:19. > :28:25.mammal activity. We have had wood mice in there. Look at this young
:28:25. > :28:30.gladiator as it approaches this fantastic chamber. In it comes, and
:28:30. > :28:36.find some protein in the form of a mealworm. Martin, mealworms are
:28:36. > :28:46.greasy things. As soon as it finishes feeding, it then goes into
:28:46. > :28:51.a frantic cleaning frenzy. And then it takes a smack to take away. Keep
:28:51. > :28:56.your eyes peeled for. If you are watching 24/7 on our webcam, we
:28:56. > :29:02.will keep you updated with all conflict that takes part -- takes
:29:02. > :29:06.place there. The now, does mice are just surviving in the winter. But
:29:06. > :29:12.curiously, some animals choose to breed now. Are amongst those are
:29:12. > :29:18.the grey seals. If they start to breed in the south, in the Scilly
:29:18. > :29:22.Isles, around August-September. Gradually, their breeding season
:29:22. > :29:28.goes all the way round the UK, right up the north, and now it ends
:29:28. > :29:32.up in Norfolk. The last ever breeding colony are at the National
:29:32. > :29:37.Trust nature reserve of Blick the point in Norfolk. We asked a
:29:37. > :29:41.cameraman Richard Taylor Jones to go down there to try to find these
:29:41. > :29:46.little pubs if they are being born now. These are the last of the last.
:29:46. > :29:56.One was born on 7th January. It will face the harshest winter
:29:56. > :29:59.
:29:59. > :30:06.It's mid-winter at PC Keith Blakelock.
:30:06. > :30:11.-- Blakeney Point. Sand and shingles, on the north Norfolk
:30:12. > :30:18.coast. Huts stand empty.
:30:18. > :30:28.The lights in the windows, are just a reflection of the rising sun.
:30:28. > :30:40.
:30:40. > :30:45.No-one is home. And yet, there is life here.
:30:45. > :30:52.This National Trust reserve is home to England's third largest colony
:30:52. > :30:57.of grey sales. -- seals. It is the end of the breeding season. In
:30:57. > :31:01.temperatures barely above freezing, the landscape is packed with huge
:31:02. > :31:11.bull seals. They are gathering now, when
:31:12. > :31:14.
:31:14. > :31:22.females are ready to mate. Beyond the raucus world of the
:31:22. > :31:28.beach at Blakeney, there are the quieter dunes and marshes. Here
:31:28. > :31:37.there is a very late arrival to this harsh winter world. Pup number
:31:37. > :31:43.1,000. Appropriately called Millennium.
:31:43. > :31:48.Millennium's coat is barely dry. It is still stained yellow from the
:31:48. > :31:58.afterbirth. This life is only hours old. The nearby placenta, is
:31:58. > :32:03.further evidence of the recent arrival.
:32:03. > :32:08.The sun is bright but it is bitterly cold.
:32:08. > :32:14.If mother wants to raise a pup successfully in the winter
:32:14. > :32:21.conditions, experience will be everything.
:32:21. > :32:24.And the first real test is now at hand because Millennium must put on
:32:24. > :32:29.weight fast. In only three weeks, it will time
:32:29. > :32:35.to leave mother. Feeding is all this pup should be
:32:35. > :32:43.thinking about. And mother is clearly of the same
:32:43. > :32:49.opinion. Using her flippers she pats and
:32:49. > :32:57.scratches, which seems to hurt but she is trying to encourage a move
:32:57. > :33:04.down to the nipples to feed. Clearly hungry but confused, Mell
:33:05. > :33:09.enyum seems unsure of what to do. -- millennium. He is smelling and
:33:09. > :33:12.trying to suckle on the sand. He's got this first feed all wrong. The
:33:13. > :33:20.smell should be directing Millennium to the source of the
:33:20. > :33:30.milk. This time things are getting nearer the mark.
:33:30. > :33:32.
:33:32. > :33:41.At last, success. For a pup in a hurry to grow, this
:33:41. > :33:48.milk certainly pack as mighty punch. It's 50% fat-filled.
:33:48. > :33:56.The feed lasts five minutes. A first step on the ladder of life
:33:56. > :34:02.completed. Millennium's mother is making this
:34:02. > :34:07.pup's life very comfortable. Yet nothing is comfortable about life
:34:07. > :34:16.for the bulls. The har emhis mother is in is
:34:16. > :34:21.overseen by Sebastien. With several females of his own, he is
:34:21. > :34:27.constantly having to see off rivals. He is surrounded by the envious
:34:27. > :34:36.eyes of Mr Red and the General. A one-eyed bull. Both would like to
:34:36. > :34:42.steal his patch. The flets and the posturing are
:34:42. > :34:49.building daily -- threats. It seems only a matter of time before we see
:34:49. > :34:54.these bulls fight. Millennium had better keep his head
:34:54. > :35:03.down. Now I don't suppose that I was the
:35:03. > :35:12.only one that went, awww, very cute shots of baby seals and we are
:35:12. > :35:16.following the fortune of Millennium over the next few days. He was the
:35:16. > :35:22.1,000 seal to be born but he was not the last. The National Trust
:35:22. > :35:26.did a count, and to date there are 1,220 pups that have been born and
:35:26. > :35:31.possibly more to come. That is a record number. An incredible year
:35:31. > :35:37.for Blakeney Point it makes it a real winter spectacle. If you get a
:35:37. > :35:41.chance to go down to Blakeney Point in Norfolk, I recommend you do that,
:35:41. > :35:47.but I don't recommend you to go in amongst the colony. You will
:35:47. > :35:54.disturb the breeding and the pups. Our camera team and the wardens
:35:54. > :35:59.have special access to do that I suggest that you get a boat that is
:35:59. > :36:07.run by the National Trust. That way you will not disturb them. For
:36:07. > :36:14.ideas to find places to watch the animals, go to our website.
:36:14. > :36:16.That is at: Check out the blog too. At the top
:36:16. > :36:20.of the show we were talking about strategies that the animals employ
:36:21. > :36:27.to get through the winter. One of them is migration. We have lost
:36:27. > :36:32.many birds from the UK who have gone south, but at the same time we
:36:32. > :36:37.have gained 12.5 million visitors, who is come here to our 31,000
:36:38. > :36:42.miles of coastline. When they come they provide some of our greatest
:36:42. > :36:48.winter wildlife spectacles. This swirling flock of birds is
:36:48. > :36:54.astonishing. A truly magnetic thing to go out and watch. Even if it is
:36:54. > :37:01.a grey day, this is fantastic. Why are they here? Well, there is a
:37:01. > :37:07.confluence of fly-ways that meet on this side of the Channel. As we are
:37:07. > :37:11.away from the buck of the Continent, it is wilder here but it is also
:37:11. > :37:17.down o to food. It is down to mud. British mud is
:37:17. > :37:22.some of the best in the world. It is the finest. A cubic metre of
:37:22. > :37:27.average British mud has as many calories as 14 bars of chocolate,
:37:27. > :37:31.possibly. It is interesting, whether it is useful, I don't know.
:37:32. > :37:38.Don't go digging for confection off your local beach! But as well as
:37:38. > :37:45.the fantastic spectacles, of course, the birds coming in give amateur
:37:45. > :37:52.birdwatchers like you and me a chance to see glorious wildlife. It
:37:52. > :37:56.is the divertity! Here they are. Now, that is a bartell goblet.
:37:56. > :38:03.Oyster Catchers. That plaint I have cry. All of them pouring in. There
:38:03. > :38:07.is the kerliw. Fabulous.
:38:07. > :38:13.Now, as well as those birds coming in, another bird came in, we talked
:38:13. > :38:17.about it earlier on, the waxwing. This glorious bird came from
:38:17. > :38:24.Scandinavia and gave many of you fantastic photo opportunities. Look
:38:24. > :38:34.at that. Lack look at that from Steven
:38:34. > :38:39.McGrath. The eyes of ZorrrO -- Zorro.
:38:39. > :38:42.It looks other-wouldly. It does not like like it should have come from
:38:42. > :38:46.Scandinavia. Any way, they came in November. Up to the north of the
:38:46. > :38:56.country. We now have a special report from our northerly
:38:56. > :38:56.
:38:56. > :39:00.correspondent, young Henry, aged 11 from Fair Isle.
:39:00. > :39:07.They came out of the late autumn sky. They landed on the closest
:39:07. > :39:14.thing to a try that they could find. We had heard the waxwing's song
:39:14. > :39:20.before, so right away we put apples on the sticks and berries in the
:39:20. > :39:24.window boxes. Then we watched and waited. In to 10, a large number of
:39:24. > :39:29.waxwings showed up here. That is when dad and I learned how much
:39:29. > :39:35.they liked apples and how intrepid they could be.
:39:35. > :39:45.They are called waxwings. It is because they have this red colour
:39:45. > :39:46.
:39:46. > :39:51.on their wing which looks like old sea wing wax.
:39:51. > :39:55.-- sealing wax. Usually, we are lucky to see a couple of year. That
:39:55. > :40:00.is because they come from Scandinavia and only come here if
:40:01. > :40:10.there is not enough food. This kind of migration is called an eruption.
:40:11. > :40:11.
:40:11. > :40:21.These are waxwings, bohemian waxwings.
:40:21. > :40:25.
:40:25. > :40:35.Like the song from Queen, Bohemian R hapsody.
:40:35. > :40:41.It was estimated that there were at least 100 waxwings on the island.
:40:41. > :40:50.Hi there. Did you have any waxwings this
:40:50. > :40:57.morning? By the weekend most of the waxwings had gone. No other kind of
:40:57. > :41:01.bird has ever perched on my hand or looked me straight in the eye.
:41:01. > :41:06.Goodbye! I absolutely love that shot. They are so tame the
:41:06. > :41:09.waxwings! It looks like the beginning of a Hollywood movie.
:41:09. > :41:14.It is, yes. A Special Correspondent from Henry. Thank you very much.
:41:14. > :41:19.It has been a record year in Scotland. They reckon about had00
:41:19. > :41:22.came into Skye and over 5,000 throughout the country. Why are
:41:22. > :41:30.they here? They are here for the berries.
:41:30. > :41:35.5,000 came from Scandinavia. They ran out of berries, so they are
:41:35. > :41:39.here to look for ours. The trouble is we did not have so many berries
:41:39. > :41:44.either. So they have split up into lots of smaller flocks to spread to
:41:44. > :41:50.the south looking for the berries, but they have dropped right off.
:41:50. > :41:54.There are probably only over 1,000. They are looking for more berries.
:41:54. > :42:00.But one of the reasons there were so many it was a very good breeding
:42:00. > :42:03.year for them. It was, yes, in Scandinavia but it is causing
:42:03. > :42:07.problems as there are not enough berries around.
:42:07. > :42:11.They have spread to the south. We have had lots of photos, we even
:42:11. > :42:15.had a painting of waxwings sent in. It is lovely.
:42:15. > :42:22.Gorgeous. This is from Jane Tomlinson from
:42:22. > :42:29.Oxford. She called it Angels in St Giles. It shows that they moved
:42:29. > :42:36.south a long way. They certainly have. I heard when
:42:36. > :42:40.they were that far south, I had to go and see for myself.
:42:40. > :42:46.I'd been following the movement of the waxwings as they came from the
:42:47. > :42:56.north to the south on the web. Now, apparently they are here.
:42:57. > :42:59.
:42:59. > :43:09.I've got them! They are right to the side of us. A golden
:43:09. > :43:12.
:43:12. > :43:19.opportunity. Watch out Chris Packham, we have got waxwings! Oh,
:43:19. > :43:28.you beauty. Gacha! Fantastic.
:43:28. > :43:33.-- gotcha! There they are. Proof, right in the middle of suburbia.
:43:33. > :43:38.Here we are in Cheltenham. They have come all the way from
:43:38. > :43:44.Scandinavia to be here. The curious thing is that in Scandinavia, in
:43:44. > :43:47.the simple they feed almost exclusively on insects. Now in the
:43:47. > :43:53.winter they feed on nothing blueberries. That is why they are
:43:53. > :43:58.here. You can see what is happening here.
:43:58. > :44:03.The waxwings are in the trees all around but what they want is these
:44:03. > :44:13.trees, they are covered in berries. They are coming in, feeding then
:44:13. > :44:18.flying away again, but they are And it is not just me who has
:44:18. > :44:26.turned up to see them. They are causing a bit of a stir. Are you on
:44:26. > :44:32.the waxwing watch? Yes, we are! Have you ever seen them before? No.
:44:32. > :44:39.They are exquisite looking birds. Almost look tropical. So you
:44:39. > :44:47.weren't following any of the websites? No, my mum. Or my sister
:44:47. > :44:52.on the school run would say, or the guys over there with binoculars.
:44:52. > :44:56.Just in the last couple of weeks. Some little girls came past after
:44:56. > :45:01.school and said, what are you looking at? And we said, they have
:45:01. > :45:11.come from Scandinavian. And one of the little girls said oh, what an
:45:11. > :45:22.
:45:22. > :45:29.amazing journey! Gorgeous, tropical looking waxwings, here in the UK.
:45:29. > :45:35.Everyone is waxing lyrical about the waxwings. I saw them in the far
:45:35. > :45:37.distance before, but never close up like that. It was a real treat.
:45:37. > :45:43.Half of Cheltenham's into to come out to look. They were in the
:45:43. > :45:47.middle of a really built up area. And it was not just the people who
:45:47. > :45:52.were watching the waxwings. Now no. We had a mystery, because somebody
:45:52. > :45:58.said to us, have you seen all these dead waxwings? So we looked around,
:45:58. > :46:03.and there were dead waxwings on the ground. Look at this. Sadly, it was
:46:03. > :46:12.really tragic, having seen these beautiful birds. We thought, what
:46:12. > :46:16.has happened? We think this sparrowhawk was the cause of the
:46:16. > :46:21.trouble. It was in the same tree, and we think it had learnt to spook
:46:21. > :46:28.them. And they flew up into the Windows because they could not see.
:46:28. > :46:32.They hit the windows and came down to the ground. Isn't that sad? It
:46:32. > :46:37.shows how clever those sparrowhawks are to work out a hunting strategy
:46:37. > :46:42.like that. I saw a sparrowhawk over the loch the other day, but I did
:46:42. > :46:46.not have a camera to take a picture. Please let us know if you see
:46:46. > :46:51.anything unusual and send your photos to us. Anything unusual on
:46:51. > :46:56.the live cameras, Chris? Who let's cut to our pine marten camera to
:46:56. > :47:01.see. There has obviously been a manner more up their this evening.
:47:01. > :47:05.It is quiet at the moment. We have only been here for a few days, and
:47:05. > :47:10.we are still learning the pattern of activities of these animals.
:47:10. > :47:14.Let's try our beaver dam. This is holding the water back to ensure
:47:14. > :47:20.that the stores of food they collected in the autumn are kept
:47:20. > :47:24.submerged and fresh and accessible if this lake freezes over. So the
:47:24. > :47:29.damage is a very important part of winter life for the beavers. No
:47:29. > :47:31.beavers at the moment, though. We will keep an eye on those cameras.
:47:31. > :47:36.You also can on our website during the week.
:47:36. > :47:40.Now, when I was a kid, there was one bird that you would never see
:47:40. > :47:45.in winter in our house. It was the blackcap, because blackcaps, when I
:47:45. > :47:49.was a kid, were migrant warblers. They arrived in the UK in the
:47:49. > :47:53.summer, they bread and then went back to south-western Spain or
:47:53. > :47:57.north-western Africa for the winter. But now, people are seeing these in
:47:57. > :48:04.their gardens. They are quite distinctive. The male is on the
:48:04. > :48:08.left. It has a cleanly marked black cap. The rest of the body is great.
:48:08. > :48:13.The female is on the right. She is almost identical, but with a
:48:13. > :48:18.different cap, a milk chocolate brown. And they increasingly come
:48:18. > :48:22.into gardens in winter. Just a couple of days ago, one of our
:48:22. > :48:28.cameramen was in Inverness, and he saw this. Here are the usual
:48:28. > :48:33.suspects, but if you look at the base of the fat balls, it is a
:48:33. > :48:37.female blackcap. So what is going on? Why are there now blackcaps
:48:37. > :48:46.wintering in the UK? Is it a case of some of the birds staying and
:48:46. > :48:49.not bothering to my great? We have learnt what is happening. Hours to
:48:49. > :48:53.go down to Liberia and north- western Africa. They leave in the
:48:53. > :48:58.autumn. But as they leave, a new group of birds from Germany,
:48:58. > :49:02.Belgium and Holland come across the North Sea and into the UK. We want
:49:02. > :49:06.to know how many are arriving here and where they are coming, so the
:49:06. > :49:11.British Trust from mythology are running a survey. You can find out
:49:11. > :49:15.details about that on our website. Another garden bird, an icon at
:49:15. > :49:21.this time of year that has flown off all have your mantelpieces and
:49:21. > :49:26.of windowsills, is of course the robin. But as much as it is a
:49:26. > :49:31.lovely, redbreast did little beauty, it also has a dark side. So what is
:49:31. > :49:41.the secret of its success? Are what could be sweeter than a
:49:41. > :49:47.
:49:47. > :49:53.robin? The nation's favourite bird. It seems everyone has a soft spot
:49:53. > :49:58.for these beguiling birds, especially at this time of year.
:49:58. > :50:04.But behind the cute black eyes and fluffy redbreast lies a resilient
:50:04. > :50:10.and feisty little survivor. They need to use every strategy to get
:50:10. > :50:16.through the challenging days of winter. Robins are primarily
:50:16. > :50:19.woodland birds, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, things changed. As
:50:19. > :50:26.the pastime of gardening grew more popular, many Robins left their
:50:26. > :50:31.woodland homes, moving closer to our houses and into our hearts. Of
:50:31. > :50:40.course, the affection is mostly one-way. Robins are really
:50:40. > :50:45.exploiting us and our gardens for food and shelter. Indeed, British
:50:45. > :50:49.Robbins arcana and friendlier than their European cousins. Over the
:50:49. > :50:55.generations, they have adapted, becoming far less timid near raise
:50:55. > :51:01.human. It is easy to see why the robin is known as the ploughman's
:51:01. > :51:05.bird. They keep many gardeners company while they tidy the garden
:51:05. > :51:11.up for winter. They are just there, waiting for a juicy were more grub
:51:11. > :51:15.to be unearthed. And of course, before we became gardeners, these
:51:15. > :51:24.Robbins would have followed wild boar, rooting around on the forest
:51:24. > :51:29.floor. At this time of year, a helping hand can be crucial. Just
:51:29. > :51:35.over a quarter of Robin's will live for a year or more, and winter is a
:51:35. > :51:39.particularly tough time. Food is scarce, and plummeting temperatures
:51:39. > :51:44.forced Robins to use valuable energy just staying warm. They can
:51:44. > :51:49.survive for a few days on their fat stores, but if a cold spell sets in
:51:49. > :51:54.and lasts for more than a week, Robins will perish. So the pressure
:51:54. > :52:00.is on to defend their larder and there hunting ground. Any robin
:52:00. > :52:07.without a territory might staff. In winter, each male and each female
:52:07. > :52:12.defend their own patch. This is why both sexes have red breasts, and
:52:12. > :52:20.both sing to mark their territory's boundaries and to ward off
:52:20. > :52:25.intruders. And those females? Well, they are just feisty -- just as
:52:25. > :52:29.feisty as the males. If the right chest is there war paint, then
:52:29. > :52:37.their song is their battle cry. Robins have a complex, beautiful
:52:37. > :52:42.song, and they will sing almost all year round. But in winter, it is a
:52:42. > :52:49.fine balancing act between finding enough food and then using up vital
:52:49. > :52:53.calories to sing and defend a patch. Each robin has its own unique tune.
:52:53. > :53:03.This robin can recognise its neighbour's and avoid fights with
:53:03. > :53:07.
:53:07. > :53:11.it. Any intruding robin will be dealt with swiftly. It fluffs out
:53:11. > :53:21.its chest, showing off those red feathers, and then tries to find a
:53:21. > :53:26.higher perch than his or her opponent. Most of the time, the
:53:26. > :53:32.opponent submits and a fight is avoided. If not, the owner will
:53:32. > :53:42.attack, and may even Peck the other bird to death. It is surprising,
:53:42. > :53:47.but up to 10% of Robins might die in this way. But this apparent
:53:47. > :53:51.intruder is tolerated. Why? For most species, winter is simply a
:53:51. > :53:58.time of survival, but for these Robins, there is also love in a
:53:58. > :54:03.cold climate. From late December onwards, their thoughts turn to
:54:03. > :54:08.romance. But courtship can be confusing when both sexes look
:54:08. > :54:16.exactly the same. The Mail might mistake her for a fighter rather
:54:16. > :54:26.than a lover, and then try and see her off. But eventually, he
:54:26. > :54:26.
:54:26. > :54:30.realises his aggression is not being returned and accept her. The
:54:30. > :54:34.pair worked together to defend their territory. This ensures that
:54:34. > :54:39.they have enough food not only to make its through the winter, but
:54:39. > :54:44.crucially, so they can breed in the springtime. So the next time you
:54:44. > :54:50.hear the friendly robin singing in your park or garden, remember that
:54:50. > :54:57.that sweet song is not a serenade her. It is a battle cry. These are
:54:57. > :55:00.fierce little warriors, and our gardens are there battlefield.
:55:00. > :55:06.saw a bit of aggression in that film, but those feisty males can
:55:06. > :55:14.get a lot more aggressive than that, as demonstrated in these
:55:14. > :55:20.photographs sent in by viewers. They are just going for each other.
:55:20. > :55:28.Straight for the head. That is not only aggressive, but a brilliant
:55:28. > :55:32.photo. Not sure about the gravel backlog, but I am picky. What an
:55:32. > :55:40.action shot. You will think of Robin's very different clean now
:55:40. > :55:47.you know how aggressive they can be. We also have some footage. Look at
:55:47. > :55:56.these two, fighting for their corner. Hopefully, one of them
:55:56. > :56:02.managed to disappear before it got really nasty. But they're often die
:56:02. > :56:08.during these fights. The audience have been noticing this as well.
:56:08. > :56:14.Sally says, I have had a robin attack my bright orange lawnmower.
:56:14. > :56:20.Annette says, I was attacked by a robin wants for wearing orange. It
:56:20. > :56:23.came at me like a bolt of lightning. They really do go for that colour.
:56:23. > :56:29.It is all about territorial behaviour. We have seen some of
:56:29. > :56:33.this in our pine martens as well in the last few days. More than one of
:56:33. > :56:38.these animals has been turning up at our feeding station. Obviously,
:56:38. > :56:44.if someone offers you a free meal in the winter, you go for it. Look
:56:44. > :56:50.at this one as it moves to the right. Look beneath the pine
:56:50. > :56:56.marten's tale as it moves over. There was a little spray of urine.
:56:56. > :57:01.I don't know why you pay your licence fee, but I know why I pay
:57:01. > :57:06.mine, for that solid gold biology on Winterwatch! It is marking its
:57:06. > :57:12.territory. But what about the agile ability of these animals? We have
:57:12. > :57:17.seen them shinning up and down those tree-trunks that we put up.
:57:17. > :57:22.They go up very easily. They have very strong for limbs and massive
:57:22. > :57:26.shoulder blades, a huge scapula bones where the muscles attached.
:57:26. > :57:32.The muscles are differentiated, which means it is easy for them to
:57:32. > :57:37.climb. What about coming down? Look at the back legs. They behave just
:57:37. > :57:41.like a squirrel's, because they have a similar flexible ankle which
:57:41. > :57:47.can twist as the body twists. This means they can hang on with their
:57:47. > :57:54.we're clause as they adjust and balance there body using the tale,
:57:54. > :58:04.before they jump back down. Look at the way it turns around on a
:58:04. > :58:04.
:58:04. > :58:08.vertical branch and then comes down. Top agility. We will be testing
:58:08. > :58:15.that agility moreover the next few days. One quick question - Jack,
:58:15. > :58:19.aged 10, says, can pine martens swim? The they can. I once saw one
:58:20. > :58:25.swimming across a loch. I initially just saw its tail floating on the
:58:25. > :58:28.surface and thought, what is that? Then I spotted its nose, just
:58:28. > :58:32.beneath the water. That brings us to the end of the programme for
:58:32. > :58:40.today. We will be back tomorrow at 8 o'clock. And the same time over
:58:40. > :58:46.the next three days. Lots going on tomorrow. Yes. Gordon Buchanan will
:58:46. > :58:50.be going out to Ireland on the trail of a marine feeding frenzy.
:58:50. > :58:53.We will catch up with our grey seals on the north Norfolk coast,
:58:53. > :58:57.where this youngster is trying to stay out of the way of some
:58:57. > :59:02.bottling groups. You can keep watching the cameras online. After