:00:07. > :00:14.What an extraordinary winter. What unprecedented weather. The warmest
:00:15. > :00:17.December and the wettest January since records began. We're going to
:00:18. > :00:22.be exploring just how this weird winter has been affecting our
:00:23. > :00:27.wildlife, both here in the Highlands and right across the UK.
:00:28. > :00:32.We're going to dig deeper and climb higher than we've ever done before
:00:33. > :00:37.and I'm going to be exploring the peaks and troughs of Britain's
:00:38. > :01:01.biggest wilderness. Welcome to a brand new series of Winterwatch!
:01:02. > :01:09.Hello and welcome to Winterwatch 2016. Welcome to the Highlands of
:01:10. > :01:13.Scotland and the very wonderful and beautiful Mile Lodge estate here
:01:14. > :01:16.nestled into the Cairngorms. We're back with our programmes for the
:01:17. > :01:22.rest of this week, as I'm sure you know. I've said this before, I often
:01:23. > :01:25.say this at the start of a series, I promise you this time, we're going
:01:26. > :01:30.to deliver. We've got some fantastic stuff. Today, though, we had buckets
:01:31. > :01:38.of rain. It was different last week when we arrived. It was minus ten.
:01:39. > :01:43.This was a vertible winter wonderland. Then things began to
:01:44. > :01:46.change. The temperature began to increase and the thaw started.
:01:47. > :01:53.Across Scotland in the last week, there's been no less than a 28, yes
:01:54. > :01:57.28-degree centigrade range in temperature. In one place it was
:01:58. > :02:02.minus 12, then it went up to plus 16. Of course, not only this last
:02:03. > :02:06.week, but the entire winter will have had a profound effect on our
:02:07. > :02:10.wildlife. That's one of our missions this year, to discover what all of
:02:11. > :02:14.this unusual weather has done to our wildlife. Of course, it's been
:02:15. > :02:19.extraordinary and on that account, I can promise you an extraordinary
:02:20. > :02:24.series too. In this strangest of seasons, the
:02:25. > :02:30.Winterwatch team is being more ambitious than ever. Here she goes,
:02:31. > :02:36.oh, yes! I'm already remarkably close. We are scouring the length
:02:37. > :02:41.and breadth of the UK. In this vicinity there must be several
:02:42. > :02:45.thousand already. I think they're extraordinary, such a unique little
:02:46. > :02:49.dance that they're doing. With the latest technology. Wow, this gives
:02:50. > :02:58.us an amazing perspective looking right down at the reed bed. To
:02:59. > :03:00.discover how creatures great, small, secretive, and bizarre are surviving
:03:01. > :03:12.at this, the toughest time of year. Indeed, it's not going to be all
:03:13. > :03:17.about the weather, though. We will bring you charismatic and icon
:03:18. > :03:24.species. Raisz we will show you rove -- we will show you some revelations
:03:25. > :03:30.and great new science. In order to achieve that, we pretty much Have
:03:31. > :03:33.cameras spread over a vast area. We will show you what they have
:03:34. > :03:37.captured through the week. Behind me, we have our live cameras set up
:03:38. > :03:41.in the woods here. Let's have a look. This is a camera we've set up
:03:42. > :03:45.to try and record a species live. Which we have seen before, but not
:03:46. > :03:51.on our remote cameras and not always very close up. We baited it with
:03:52. > :03:57.apple. What can it be? It turned up earlier and gave us a cracking view.
:03:58. > :04:02.It's the mountain hare. They're very much a specialist of this upland
:04:03. > :04:06.region. You can see from this animal, they turn white in the
:04:07. > :04:09.winter. That normally camouflages them, hides them from predators.
:04:10. > :04:14.With the absence of snow, it creates problems. Martin is going to be
:04:15. > :04:17.telling us more about that later on. What you're thinking at this moment,
:04:18. > :04:24.Winterwatch is back, that's great. But we're stuck with just that
:04:25. > :04:30.Packham bloke. The BBC cuts have not crept in yet, the other two are
:04:31. > :04:36.here. Michaela is about 200 metres down here perilously perched on the
:04:37. > :04:40.banks of the River Dee. I don't know about perilously perched. It is
:04:41. > :04:44.exposed here. Let's face it, a few days or weeks ago it would have been
:04:45. > :04:49.foolish and dangerous to be standing here. Because just last month, the
:04:50. > :04:54.River Dee burst its banks and flooded the valley, causing very
:04:55. > :04:58.dramatic scenes. This is a photo that we took two years ago when we
:04:59. > :05:02.were here, that's Martin standing just under a bridge crossing the
:05:03. > :05:07.River Dee. It's very calm, and gentle river, beneath that bridge.
:05:08. > :05:14.This is what that same bridge looked like a few weeks ago, same bridge,
:05:15. > :05:19.very different river. It's a fierce torrent of water Thunderering down.
:05:20. > :05:23.Now the cause of this was relentless rains, storms, mild weather, which
:05:24. > :05:29.melted the ice on top of the mountains adding to that huge volume
:05:30. > :05:34.of water. In fact the volume of water was so great, in some parts of
:05:35. > :05:39.the river the level went up three metres, which is a huge rise. The
:05:40. > :05:43.river was the highest level it's been since records began. If you
:05:44. > :05:47.look at it now, you can see that the river has dropped. It's still very
:05:48. > :05:51.fast, very full, but if you look at this tree next to me, you can see
:05:52. > :05:58.that there's debris all over the tree. That's how high the river was.
:05:59. > :06:01.This volume of water and the flooding caused chaos locally. Lots
:06:02. > :06:05.of people were isolated. They were evacuated. People lost their homes.
:06:06. > :06:10.Some of the road was washed away, making a lot of this area
:06:11. > :06:18.inaccessible. At one stage we didn't think we would be able to get here
:06:19. > :06:22.for Winterwatch. This is a 450-year-old castle. The bank has
:06:23. > :06:28.been eroded and it's perilously close to the edge. The worry is that
:06:29. > :06:33.water level is still pretty high. It's mild weather again, the snow is
:06:34. > :06:39.melting, the ground is water logged, the floods could continue on. In
:06:40. > :06:43.fact, just this evening, we've heard that the road coming in has been
:06:44. > :06:47.flooded. It's caused devastation for the people locally. But how has
:06:48. > :06:50.flooded. It's caused devastation for affected our wildlife? It's going to
:06:51. > :06:55.take a long time for the ecosystem of this river to recover.
:06:56. > :06:58.Inevitably, there have been lots of casualties. We're going to
:06:59. > :06:58.Inevitably, there have been lots of looking at those casualties as the
:06:59. > :07:04.days go by. looking at those casualties as the
:07:05. > :07:10.rescue centre close to here, that's taken in an unbelievable amount of
:07:11. > :07:13.animals. It's one particular animal that's probably -- that probably
:07:14. > :07:25.comes as a surprise to most people as being a flood victim.
:07:26. > :07:29.The Scottish national wildlife rescue centre is currently home to
:07:30. > :07:45.21 otter cubs. It's feeding time. I'm helping
:07:46. > :07:57.Sheila on her rounds. Just a small morning feed for them.
:07:58. > :08:02.A lot of people are surprised that flooding affects otters so much
:08:03. > :08:07.considering that they can swim and they live in water. They have the
:08:08. > :08:10.perception that no matter how harsh it's going to be they're going to
:08:11. > :08:15.cope. But it's not the case at all. Especially with the young ones. They
:08:16. > :08:22.don't have the agility that the adults do. They get flushed out of
:08:23. > :08:26.their holt and they can't survive by themselves. Luckily people find
:08:27. > :08:32.them. We had one came to somebody's door and was pawing on the door.
:08:33. > :08:37.Really? It was quite lucky. Once a young otter comes in, what's the
:08:38. > :08:40.rehabilitation process? Initially we will have quite hands on with them,
:08:41. > :08:45.to stabilise them and get them eating. Then we introduce them to
:08:46. > :08:49.other ones. When they're good company, it's totally hands off and
:08:50. > :08:55.usually they're kept for about a year old. They're with you for a
:08:56. > :08:58.year before you release them? Just that's how long they're generally
:08:59. > :09:02.with their parents for, maybe longer, it's just to replicate that
:09:03. > :09:07.kind of time. Otters breed throughout the year including
:09:08. > :09:10.winter. It's already harder to find food right now, but the recent
:09:11. > :09:15.flooding has seriously added to their problems. That leaves the cubs
:09:16. > :09:21.particularly vulnerable. For those brought here to the centre, they've
:09:22. > :09:27.got a second chance. This recent arrival is three months old and is
:09:28. > :09:30.unusually tame. At this age, I shouldn't be able to do this. You'd
:09:31. > :09:35.expect quite a harsh response to you. She's be snapping and wanting
:09:36. > :09:42.to hide away. It's odd behaviour. Are you concerned about that? I am,
:09:43. > :09:46.yeah, just because it's obviously not natural and not something we
:09:47. > :09:50.usually see. We will have the vet look at her today and make sure that
:09:51. > :09:54.there's nothing going on. All otter arrivals get seen by the vet to get
:09:55. > :09:59.the once over. When they're five months old, they'll be released into
:10:00. > :10:04.these outdoor pens. Already outside are the otters that have been kept
:10:05. > :10:12.at the centre since last winter. At this stage, human contact is kept to
:10:13. > :10:15.a minimum. In you know. The manager, Colin, must monitor their progress
:10:16. > :10:24.to find out when they can be released back into the wild. He's 9.
:10:25. > :10:27.6. Oh, you are a big boy. A huge, broad head of a male. Lovely
:10:28. > :10:33.condition. He's ready basically? He's ready. All three are pretty
:10:34. > :10:36.much ready, in the next couple of weeks they'll have reached target
:10:37. > :10:40.weights. As soon as we have a decent spell of weather and the water
:10:41. > :10:44.leaves have subsided. The last thing you want to do is release them into
:10:45. > :10:47.the floods. Sometimes we keep them right the way through winter
:10:48. > :10:51.depending on weather conditions. Where do you release these guys?
:10:52. > :10:55.They will go down the southern part of Scotland. As much as we can, we
:10:56. > :10:58.try to get animals back in the appropriate environment. Has it
:10:59. > :11:04.taken you by surprise the amount of otters you have in at the moment? It
:11:05. > :11:07.has. It's not something we would have ever catered for. The floods
:11:08. > :11:12.have taken everybody by surprise, not just the wildlife. Do you think
:11:13. > :11:16.more are going to come in? What's the forecast for the next few weeks?
:11:17. > :11:21.I would have thought a couple of weeks ago, we wouldn't get any more.
:11:22. > :11:25.But we got one yesterday, a couple of other day. All we need is high
:11:26. > :11:30.water. There's more rain forecast so who knows. With the centre already
:11:31. > :11:33.bursting at the seams with otter cubs, the team are going to have a
:11:34. > :11:41.busy few months ahead, whatever the weather.
:11:42. > :11:49.I know, I know, there's going to be sitting rooms all over the country
:11:50. > :11:52.going "aahhh... " he are adorable. But it's sad that those rescued
:11:53. > :11:55.otters will be in that centre for anything up to a year before going
:11:56. > :11:59.back to the wild. If you think about, it the ones that are rescued,
:12:00. > :12:03.are just a small per cent of the ones that were actually troubled by
:12:04. > :12:08.the floods. Although, having said that, they should recover quickly.
:12:09. > :12:12.They should do. They could recolonise the water courses. If any
:12:13. > :12:16.of the adults are lost as breeding animals, they should be replaced
:12:17. > :12:21.quite quickly. In this part of the UK, there are quite a lot of otters
:12:22. > :12:26.at the moment. Quite robust. It is. Last year we had otters here. We
:12:27. > :12:29.captured them on our remote cameras. Here's one playing in the snow here,
:12:30. > :12:33.I say playing, it's rolling around, might be a bit of scent marking
:12:34. > :12:38.going on, or giving itself a bath with the snow. Nice to see that. Who
:12:39. > :12:43.needs a panda rolling in the snow when you have an otter! This is what
:12:44. > :12:46.we've got this year. Blame it on the rain, if you like, but there's a lot
:12:47. > :12:49.more water out there. This means it's going to be harder for us to
:12:50. > :12:53.tie the otter down. There's more space for it to explore. That's
:12:54. > :12:56.typically what they do when there are floods, they push into the
:12:57. > :13:00.environment. They can feed on terrestrial things. They don't have
:13:01. > :13:05.to just feed of crustaceans and fish. Otters could be anywhere.
:13:06. > :13:12.Don't give up. We will try our best to bring you pictures of the otters
:13:13. > :13:15.It's going to be challenging, but we are going to try. We will hopefully
:13:16. > :13:21.bring you lots of amazing pictures from around the estate. This is our
:13:22. > :13:24.live pine marten camera. There's nothing on there right now. He has
:13:25. > :13:30.made a couple of appearances. Let's look at what we got earlier. Here he
:13:31. > :13:37.is. This is the pine marten. About the size of a domestic cat. Looks a
:13:38. > :13:40.bit like a weasel. It's a gorgeous Highland specialist, climbing up the
:13:41. > :13:46.tree. No doubt it's looking for food. It's a generalist predator,
:13:47. > :13:54.small rodents, birds, beetles, carrion, berries. But what's it
:13:55. > :13:57.looking for? You'll see in a minute. It's delving deep into the trunk.
:13:58. > :14:02.It's come out with an egg. This is an egg that we planted there to see
:14:03. > :14:06.if it would find it. It's astonishing the way it's coming down
:14:07. > :14:10.that tree, the egg's in the mouth. It's not breaking it. We want to
:14:11. > :14:17.know where does it take it? Where does it hide it? And how does it
:14:18. > :14:22.stop other ceeures from find -- creatures from finding it? Great
:14:23. > :14:27.when it came down the tree, it twisted its foot you'd. They have
:14:28. > :14:31.very long claws to hang on. They are very agile creatures spending time
:14:32. > :14:36.in the trees. Ewant to know how this -- we want to know how this winter
:14:37. > :14:44.has affected the wildlife in your area. Send us your observation r
:14:45. > :14:50.observations and pictures to Facebook and Twitter. There's lots
:14:51. > :14:58.of seasonal updates on the website. Funny stuff as well. Probably too
:14:59. > :15:04.early for a graph... I think so! But it's about time for a map. We've got
:15:05. > :15:14.to have a map. Here we are. This is Aberdeen here. Inverness is up here.
:15:15. > :15:17.We're down here. We're in this part of north-eastern Scotland. The
:15:18. > :15:26.question is - where is Martin? We've sent him off into the cold rain and
:15:27. > :15:31.the snow. Here we are, Mar Lodge. Here up here where he's probably
:15:32. > :15:37.going to turn into an abominable snowman given half a chance.
:15:38. > :15:50.Yes indeed, Chris. I might be abominable but I am not a snowman.
:15:51. > :15:54.No snow here whatsoever. I am in part of the Cairngorms and this is
:15:55. > :16:01.an incredible place. This is the wildest, the coldest, the snowiest
:16:02. > :16:05.plateau in the whole of the UK. This is a place where weather records are
:16:06. > :16:11.broken. Let me give you some examples. Just down there is the
:16:12. > :16:16.village of Braemar. They had to endure a temperature one winter of
:16:17. > :16:21.27.12 Celsius. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the UK.
:16:22. > :16:26.If you keep going, beyond Braemar you get to Cairngorm, the mountain
:16:27. > :16:34.itself and at the top of Cairngorm they recorded a wind speed of 170
:16:35. > :16:41.mph. Unofficially, 193. Just today, here, the wind has hit 104 mph.
:16:42. > :16:46.Obviously, any animal that is going to live here, we'll have two endure
:16:47. > :16:51.these brutal conditions. I wanted to share with you what that actually
:16:52. > :16:57.feels like, so I wanted to go up to the top and tried to live, spend a
:16:58. > :17:05.night in a snow hole. A few days ago I set out to do just that.
:17:06. > :17:14.It was covered in over a metre of snow. Mountain guide Bill and I got
:17:15. > :17:20.down to business, building a snow shelter. I think this is quite a
:17:21. > :17:28.good place, because you can see a ptarmigan across the. It is good
:17:29. > :17:33.because the weird and is Westerly, the forecast is the wind is coming
:17:34. > :17:38.this way. The snow is quite deep. Brilliant, this will be my home?
:17:39. > :17:48.Yes, relax, you will be quite comfortable. Let's dig down. Make a
:17:49. > :17:56.good job of it. It took a whole day to build, but what a difference a
:17:57. > :18:02.day makes. When we came back to complete the job, the weather was
:18:03. > :18:12.much warmer and wetter. The snow had been crisp and fluffy yesterday, but
:18:13. > :18:26.now, not so much. I will just try the inside. Lovely! A bit wet.
:18:27. > :18:34.Unfortunately, my hopes of sleeping in a snow hole were literally
:18:35. > :18:38.melting away. Well, it wasn't to be, the snow has
:18:39. > :18:44.gone, well it hasn't gone, it is here. It has turned into these
:18:45. > :18:47.blundering streams. All the rivers around me are raging torrents now. I
:18:48. > :18:52.know that is the same for many of you at home, because I checked just
:18:53. > :18:56.before the show and the Met office have issued more than 90 flood
:18:57. > :19:00.warnings, so it is happening all over again. I have been driven off
:19:01. > :19:08.the mountain down to here, but I'm glad to say, so has the animal I
:19:09. > :19:11.really wanted to try and show you. They are in fact all around me here
:19:12. > :19:15.in the dark, but I wanted to see them during the day, so I set off to
:19:16. > :19:21.try and have a closing counter with a snow hare.
:19:22. > :19:33.It's soggy, it's blowing a bitterly cold gale and this mountain is
:19:34. > :19:35.teaming with hares. But these chaps are much too frisky, I need one that
:19:36. > :19:40.is hunkered down. And there it is. They tend to be
:19:41. > :20:01.very timid. These hares don't go down burrows,
:20:02. > :20:04.they are not like rabbits. They make a little impression in the heather
:20:05. > :20:14.or choose a little bank like this one has. It cuts out 90% of the wind
:20:15. > :20:21.and will generally angle it so they can get a view out, to see any
:20:22. > :20:28.predators. I'm already remarkably close. You can never tell with
:20:29. > :20:33.mountain hares, sometimes they just sit really tight, and other times
:20:34. > :20:37.they are off. I'm going to try and get a little bit closer, so I can
:20:38. > :20:45.get a slightly better look. You never know whether to crawl along...
:20:46. > :20:53.The poor old hare might think I am a predator of some sort. Or whether to
:20:54. > :20:58.stand up... I'm going to try that on a crawling down a bit, just to get a
:20:59. > :21:07.bit closer. What a magical experience. To be quite so close.
:21:08. > :21:16.Eating, look at that! In summer they eat grass, and in a period of two
:21:17. > :21:20.weeks therein tyre. Technology changes and switches over, allowing
:21:21. > :21:25.them to eat Woody heather. It is so efficient, the mountain hare,
:21:26. > :21:38.contrary to what you might think, puts on weight during the winter.
:21:39. > :21:42.Oh. He's off. To find a juicy bit of heather, somewhere out. -- somewhere
:21:43. > :22:00.else. Fantastic experience. Of course, the
:22:01. > :22:07.mountain hare is the original hare. The Brown hare was introduced, so
:22:08. > :22:12.this one, the tough one, is the original one. As I say, there should
:22:13. > :22:16.be mountain hares around me right now. We have a thermal camera that
:22:17. > :22:19.can peer into the darkness and with a bit of luck we might be able to
:22:20. > :22:38.see them right now. Let's have a look. We've got deer, grazing away,
:22:39. > :22:48.lying down. There are stags. There they are, mountain hares. I think
:22:49. > :22:55.they are feeding, grazing, out of their holes. A couple of nights ago
:22:56. > :23:04.we had a close look at them. They have to come out of that protective
:23:05. > :23:10.holes to feed at night. You can see they are losing a lot of heat,
:23:11. > :23:17.through their back and through their eyes, but they have to come out.
:23:18. > :23:24.Fantastic animals, perfectly adapted to these bitter conditions. When we
:23:25. > :23:27.come back, I will look even deeper at these extraordinary animals
:23:28. > :23:35.because they have a whole array of adaptations that keep them here.
:23:36. > :23:38.But, the weather has been playing havoc with us. I can't tell you what
:23:39. > :23:43.will happen in the next few hours, let alone the next couple of days,
:23:44. > :23:46.but I know a man who can. Nick Miller at the BBC centre. What does
:23:47. > :23:53.the weather hold in store for our mountain hares?
:23:54. > :23:56.You are witnessing first-hand the swings of weather in the Cairngorms
:23:57. > :24:00.are more of that to come this week. For much of the UK winter has been
:24:01. > :24:05.about the rain and the floods, not just in December but in January as
:24:06. > :24:09.well. This was the start of the month, at Mar Lodge. It took only
:24:10. > :24:17.about all week the Aberdeenshire to record its wettest January and -- on
:24:18. > :24:24.record. And these pictures, daffodils in full bloom in Dorset.
:24:25. > :24:34.Early emergence records for flowers and impacts on birds as well. This
:24:35. > :24:38.was in Northumberland today. For US ones, and birds who shouldn't be
:24:39. > :24:46.here at this time of year, like swallows. One like this has been
:24:47. > :24:50.spotted on the 13th. Amphibians and in vertebrates that should be
:24:51. > :24:56.hibernating have been spotted as well. What can expect this way?
:24:57. > :25:01.Still big swings in the weather, my old one moment and colder the next.
:25:02. > :25:07.Jet stream pushing wetter systems across the Atlantic. About rainfall
:25:08. > :25:11.amounts in the west of the UK. Just for Winterwatch, some rain in the
:25:12. > :25:13.Cairngorms tonight. Colder for the next few days, potentially very
:25:14. > :25:19.windy at the end of the week. Extraordinary weather in the
:25:20. > :25:22.countryside, in your backyard. Cairngorms or Chiltern Hills, get
:25:23. > :25:28.out, because there is something to spot near you. Thank you, get out
:25:29. > :25:32.but put your Wellington boots on, doesn't look like much chance of
:25:33. > :25:37.sunshine after the rain. A lot of the wildlife seems so confused.
:25:38. > :25:43.Daffodils out, Swift Sound swallows, what have you seen down south? We
:25:44. > :25:56.had a butterfly on Christmas eve, primroses in the garden. Thrushes in
:25:57. > :26:00.full song. The crew saw a bat here. We want to know what you have seen,
:26:01. > :26:05.what weird winter wildlife you have spotted. Send your photographs in
:26:06. > :26:11.using the #weirdwinter. This is where the action starts, where
:26:12. > :26:15.things start to get good. I will promise you an eagle -fest. I said
:26:16. > :26:20.we had our cameras out across the Cairngorms and some of those set up,
:26:21. > :26:24.remote on carcasses to attract scavenging birds and of course what
:26:25. > :26:28.we wanted to get were eagles. We have been successful and the first
:26:29. > :26:36.camera to deliver was about 100 miles south-west of here.
:26:37. > :26:47.The island of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland is home to a guild of
:26:48. > :26:51.carnivorous birds. Who did Crowes -- hooded crows, buzzards and white
:26:52. > :27:08.tailed eagles. As the temperatures drop and winter
:27:09. > :27:12.approaches, food becomes scarce. But all these birds are highly
:27:13. > :27:16.intelligent and extremely wary, so even a fresh deer carcass takes time
:27:17. > :27:46.to tempt them. Once a single bird has found a large
:27:47. > :27:54.carcass like this, they will bring others to the location. They do this
:27:55. > :28:01.in the hope that greater numbers will help defend the food resource.
:28:02. > :28:05.Ravens are very vocal, using more than 30 different calls and
:28:06. > :28:12.constantly communicating with each other. Once on the carrion, it is
:28:13. > :28:18.the lead bird that will dominate the feasting. Ravens will eat up to a
:28:19. > :28:27.third of their body weight in a single day. They will also take meat
:28:28. > :28:32.away and save it for later date. But their -- they are still wary. Some
:28:33. > :28:36.birds take it in turns to watch for danger.
:28:37. > :28:51.A second visitor, a buzzard. Similar in size, but with a more delicate
:28:52. > :28:54.bill, the buzzard seems happy for the ravens to do the hard work and
:28:55. > :29:13.then bullies them off to get access to the best pickings.
:29:14. > :29:27.After four days, eagles arrived on the scene.
:29:28. > :29:36.This young male golden eagle weighs three times as much as array even.
:29:37. > :29:42.They regularly hunt for their parade, but they are not above
:29:43. > :29:45.scavenging and easy meal. And as the light fades at the end of the day,
:29:46. > :29:51.the largest bird of all joins the feast.
:29:52. > :30:04.This young white tailed eagle has a darker head and a much bigger bill.
:30:05. > :30:12.At carcass, golden eagles tend to dominate, but this time he is seen
:30:13. > :30:13.off by the bigger bird. Capturing these giant characters side-by-side
:30:14. > :30:28.is a really unique Highland treat. Lodge, Seeing those two eagles
:30:29. > :30:32.together is a special treat. We've got a better treat now. We're going
:30:33. > :30:39.to look at them close up. That gives us the perfect opportunities to look
:30:40. > :30:44.at the differences. On my arm I have the impressive, beautiful golden
:30:45. > :30:48.eagle. Over by Chris is the enormous white tailed eagle. We're
:30:49. > :30:50.eagle. Over by Chris is the enormous look at mine first. Let's
:30:51. > :30:55.eagle. Over by Chris is the enormous the size. Noisy bird! This is a
:30:56. > :30:56.male, probably about four kilos. It's smaller than the female. The
:30:57. > :31:01.female can be anything It's smaller than the female. The
:31:02. > :31:08.larger, maybe around six kilos. It's smaller than the female. The
:31:09. > :31:16.called sexual dimorphism. An impressive wing span of two metres.
:31:17. > :31:21.This bird is perfectly adapted to hunting fast-moving prey,
:31:22. > :31:31.terrestrial prey like mountain hares. First there's the beak. A
:31:32. > :31:36.typical rap tore beak. -- raptor. It's perfect for ripping open flesh.
:31:37. > :31:41.If you look at the clause, gripping my hand -- claws, gripping my hands
:31:42. > :31:45.here, strong tallons, they are great for catching the prey and pinning it
:31:46. > :31:50.down. Look at the feathers on the legs. This ego all the way down to
:31:51. > :31:54.-- they go all the way down to the feet. That indicates this is a bird
:31:55. > :31:59.of prey that would prefer to catch live prey rather than carrion,
:32:00. > :32:03.although as we've seen, it will take advantage of carrion. That is the
:32:04. > :32:08.very beautiful golden eagle. Chris, how does that differ to your white
:32:09. > :32:12.tailed eagle? Considerably in some ways. The first thing is size. There
:32:13. > :32:21.is a great deal of variety in the size of eagles. You
:32:22. > :32:25.is a great deal of variety in the big females. The white tails can
:32:26. > :32:30.weigh up to seven kilos, three more than Michaela's male. Another
:32:31. > :32:33.obvious thing is the beak. It's more powerful, larger bill. This is
:32:34. > :32:38.because it does spend quite a lot more time, particularly in the
:32:39. > :32:40.winter, feeding on carrion. It needs that large beak to tear it open.
:32:41. > :32:44.It's also got that large beak to tear it open.
:32:45. > :32:48.part of those legs. Again, that's an adaptation to feeding on carrion.
:32:49. > :32:55.doesn't want to cover those with lots of blood and guts it's it's
:32:56. > :32:59.wading in amongst the carcass. If it opened its wings it would look
:33:00. > :33:06.different. It has a wing span of up to 2. 7 metres, broader wings too.
:33:07. > :33:09.Much lower wing loading, weight to wing area ratio. This is one of the
:33:10. > :33:13.things that we're looking at later in the week to further contrast
:33:14. > :33:16.these birds, not in terms of their physical appearance, but in
:33:17. > :33:20.these birds, not in terms of their that they fly and therefore, the way
:33:21. > :33:25.in which they hunt. Whether it's goaden or while tailed -- golden or
:33:26. > :33:30.white tailed, there's no doubt, there's very beautiful, special
:33:31. > :33:34.birds indeed. From these couple of iconic predators, let's look at
:33:35. > :33:37.another very iconic predator that we have here in
:33:38. > :33:40.another very iconic predator that we Scotland. Now cats are one of the
:33:41. > :33:51.world's most favourite animals, think of tigers and snow leopards,
:33:52. > :33:58.nature's master pieces. Many of these species incredibly rare, the
:33:59. > :33:59.Iberian lynx is incredibly rare with 156 of these left in the wild. But
:34:00. > :34:03.that could be wrong. We think 156 of these left in the wild. But
:34:04. > :34:08.Scottish wildcat could be equally endangered. This week, we're going
:34:09. > :34:18.to explore this animal. The first thing we've got to do is establish -
:34:19. > :34:27.what is a really wildcat? Scottish wildcats are arguably the rarest
:34:28. > :34:31.mammals on the planet. This tiger of the Highlands has always been
:34:32. > :34:39.persecuted by man, but today, they face a far more inSidious threat -
:34:40. > :34:45.domestic cats. You see the problem is that wildcats and domestic cats
:34:46. > :34:51.can mate and in doing so, the Scottish wildcat is quite literally
:34:52. > :34:55.being bred out of existence. Scottish wildcat action, a
:34:56. > :35:01.conservation effort involving 20 partners, is being set up to reverse
:35:02. > :35:04.this. A full genetic assessment of the wild and captive population ises
:35:05. > :35:11.now under way. -- populations is now under way. The Royal Zoological
:35:12. > :35:16.Socitey of Scotland are spearheading the research. Today captive bred
:35:17. > :35:21.kittens are due to be health screened and DNA tested. The project
:35:22. > :35:26.leader, David Barkley, allows unprecedented access to this
:35:27. > :35:29.process. This is, for me, a unique opportunity for me to see what is a
:35:30. > :35:33.pretty good Scottish wildcat on the table. Talk me through the key
:35:34. > :35:39.features you're looking for to identify this as a good wildcat.
:35:40. > :35:42.What we look for are some of the unique markings. A complete band,
:35:43. > :35:47.not broken up into spots. That's brilliant. That's what we want to
:35:48. > :35:53.see on a nice cat. If we look at the tore alstripe, it's -- dorsal
:35:54. > :35:57.stripe, it goes to the base of the tail and stops and then ringed tail.
:35:58. > :36:01.Aren't the feet meant to be bigger than domestic cats? The main
:36:02. > :36:05.difference is that these are the killing machines of the wildcat.
:36:06. > :36:11.This allows them to feed and hunt in the wild. They're not massive but
:36:12. > :36:16.they're deadly when they need to be. To me, this lovely club tail here
:36:17. > :36:21.and the patterning, dark feet, broad feet, it looks pretty good really. I
:36:22. > :36:25.tend not to make too many assumptions, but at a quick glance,
:36:26. > :36:31.this looks great. This is a young female. So at nine months old the
:36:32. > :36:34.tail is likely to get a bit thicker. In two, three years, this girl will
:36:35. > :36:38.be a fantastic looking cat. Obviously, we will have the genetic
:36:39. > :36:44.test on top of that, which is a great tool. Once the blood samples
:36:45. > :36:52.have been taken, the kittens are given time to recover, before
:36:53. > :36:59.returning to their enclosure. The samples are sent to the wild genes
:37:00. > :37:04.lab at Edinburgh Zoo. Geneticist Dr Helen Senn is in charge of the DNA
:37:05. > :37:08.testing that takes place here. These tests have been carried out for the
:37:09. > :37:13.last two years, not just on captive animals, but also on cats taken from
:37:14. > :37:18.the wild. It's an ongoing process and one that's enabling them to
:37:19. > :37:24.build up a true picture of exactly how many wildcats are left. You've
:37:25. > :37:28.done your DNA analysis. This bar chart represents that. Talk me
:37:29. > :37:33.through what we've got here. Each bar represents a single cat and the
:37:34. > :37:37.proportion of green colour represents the proportion of wildcat
:37:38. > :37:41.genes and the proportion of red colour are the domestic cat genes.
:37:42. > :37:45.You've got a real mix here. These animals here nudging the top are
:37:46. > :37:50.more wild. What about this gaping hole here, hardly any wildcat genes
:37:51. > :37:53.at all. These cats are domestic reference cats, that's why they're
:37:54. > :37:57.all red. They are pets from Edinburgh. We use a lot of reference
:37:58. > :38:03.samples to ensure the validity of the test. If we present the results
:38:04. > :38:07.in a slightly different way, each of these points represents a cat and
:38:08. > :38:13.the height on this axis represents the proportion of wildcat genes.
:38:14. > :38:17.These cats up here are all pure wildcats and these cats down here
:38:18. > :38:21.are all pure domestic. The challenge is to decide where to draw the line.
:38:22. > :38:25.Using the research we've done here, we've come to the conclusion that
:38:26. > :38:32.the best cut off is approximately 75%. That means a worst case
:38:33. > :38:36.scenario for breeding, we'd be choosing cats with one grandparent
:38:37. > :38:39.as a domestic cat, but we're hoping to have cats that are better than
:38:40. > :38:43.that. These are very good up here. There's a strip running along there,
:38:44. > :38:48.which are close to the line. Where are those animals? So those cats are
:38:49. > :38:53.our capitalive wildcats. They're cats that have been taken from
:38:54. > :38:59.across the UK captive breeding programme for wildcats. So it seems
:39:00. > :39:05.that any hope for this tiger of the Highlands now lies with this
:39:06. > :39:08.precious captive population. We're going back to wildcats in a second.
:39:09. > :39:13.We've come into the co-iness of the house. Lock, what's outside, live on
:39:14. > :39:19.our live camera, it's the mountain hare. That's brilliant. It is. It's
:39:20. > :39:24.been tempted with those apples, which isn't a surprise, given that
:39:25. > :39:30.apart from that all it has to eat is dry heather. It gives us a chance to
:39:31. > :39:35.look at the animal in close-up. Look how short the ears are than the
:39:36. > :39:39.brown hare. The eyes on the top of its head ideal for looking for
:39:40. > :39:42.predators and on the side as well so they see forward and behind at the
:39:43. > :39:47.same time. What we didn't talk about with the eagles is that your golden
:39:48. > :39:50.eagle at this time of year would be preying on these if it had the
:39:51. > :39:56.opportunity to. It always has to be wary. There we are, what a treat. A
:39:57. > :40:00.bit of golden delicious for the mountain hare, we spoil the animals!
:40:01. > :40:04.They've turned white to be camouflaged but with the snow
:40:05. > :40:08.melting they will be easy prey. We'll keep an eye on that. Going
:40:09. > :40:13.back to wildcats, something that occurred to me in the film was it's
:40:14. > :40:17.a real worry that the only true wildcats left are the ones in
:40:18. > :40:21.captivity. It is a worry. That's basically what that graph showed us
:40:22. > :40:27.at the end of the film there. Let's go back to that graph now. On this
:40:28. > :40:35.axis here we have degrees of wildness, if you like. So up here
:40:36. > :40:40.100% wildcat genes, down here domestic cats. Further testing will
:40:41. > :40:45.be taking place. Down here, these are pretty much animals which are
:40:46. > :40:50.full of domestic cat genes. The very best wildcats are these ones up here
:40:51. > :40:55.at the top and the rather unromantic thing is that the best wildcats are
:40:56. > :40:59.no longer wild. All of these animals are currently in captivity. What
:41:00. > :41:04.about the two that we tested in the film there? Well, we've got the
:41:05. > :41:10.results back from their DNA. We have found out that they're pretty much
:41:11. > :41:14.up here at the about the 97% level. There's some degree of variability
:41:15. > :41:19.but that's the optimum thing. So they're pretty good wildcats. Yeah,
:41:20. > :41:22.not very romantic, if you see a wildcat out in Scotland at the
:41:23. > :41:25.moment, the chances are that it's probably going to be one of these
:41:26. > :41:32.animals on this part of the graph, which is not truly a wildcat as an
:41:33. > :41:36.animal. This gives us hope. We have these very good animals, animals
:41:37. > :41:39.with good genetic integrity in captivity, that means we have the
:41:40. > :41:42.opportunity to breed them and perhaps, one day, even release them
:41:43. > :41:46.back into the wild. In fact, we're going to be exploring that in our
:41:47. > :41:50.films through the week. It begs the question though, does it matter that
:41:51. > :41:54.they're not true wildcats? Don't they fill the same niche? I think it
:41:55. > :41:57.matters on a couple of counts. Morally we have an obligation to try
:41:58. > :42:01.and preserve them certainly because we have the ability to do that.
:42:02. > :42:06.Secondly, the answer is no. The domestic cat is a subspecies of the
:42:07. > :42:15.wildcat. When it's in the wild, even when it's gone forel it fulfils --
:42:16. > :42:20.ferel it fulfils a different niche. Wildcats spend more time in
:42:21. > :42:28.woodland. In terms of playing the role they need to play in Scotland's
:42:29. > :42:31.Bayeux die -- bio diversity, we need these animals. There's the cultural
:42:32. > :42:35.thing, where we shouldn't ought to be leaving them. They're an
:42:36. > :42:38.important part of Scotland's culturement They're iconic and
:42:39. > :42:44.beautiful. Indeed. It would be great to preserve them. We'll look more
:42:45. > :42:47.into wildcats throughout the week. You know what they're also
:42:48. > :42:49.into wildcats throughout the week. mountain tigers. We have our very
:42:50. > :42:53.own mountain tiger. He's up the mountain and he's taking a closer
:42:54. > :43:01.look at hares. How are you getting on? I'm a rather chilly tiger. Yes,
:43:02. > :43:08.I'm living amongst the magical mountain hares. Let's have a little
:43:09. > :43:14.bit more look at those hares. They change colour. They go from brown in
:43:15. > :43:23.the summer to white in the winter. How do they manage to do that? It's
:43:24. > :43:27.called seasonal crypsis. You look at them, when they're in the snow, of
:43:28. > :43:32.course, being white in winter makes them perfectly camouflaged. But how
:43:33. > :43:39.it happens is fascinating. The change begins at their feet and
:43:40. > :43:43.slowly the white works its way up over their flanks, up to their back
:43:44. > :43:48.and their head. That's triggered by the change in day length and the
:43:49. > :43:51.speed at which it happens is controlled by the temperature. Also
:43:52. > :43:55.the amount of snow. This is fascinating. This is a museum
:43:56. > :43:59.specimen. It's not just the colour of the fur that matters. It's the
:44:00. > :44:04.quality. Now I don't know if you can see, this is a summer coat. It's
:44:05. > :44:13.lovely and soft. But it's quite thin there. Let's compare that with the
:44:14. > :44:18.winter coat. Can you see that? It's actually really, really thick. I can
:44:19. > :44:22.hardly get my fingers through it. There are many more hairs per square
:44:23. > :44:27.centimetre in this coat and that keeps the hare lovely and warm. As
:44:28. > :44:32.Michaela said, you might think being white in amongst all this green
:44:33. > :44:36.stuff would be pretty disastrous and you'd be partially right, but the
:44:37. > :44:43.mountain hare has an amazing trick up its sleeve. When called upon, it
:44:44. > :44:48.can streak off like a bullet. When you look at their back legs, you can
:44:49. > :44:54.see just how long they are when they stretch. They can accelerate away,
:44:55. > :44:59.almost from a stand still up to 40 or 50mph in an instant. Generally,
:45:00. > :45:05.they'll run uphill as well, leaving any potential predator panting in
:45:06. > :45:10.their wake. Quite often, people have seen foxes approach the mountain
:45:11. > :45:15.hare to within two metres, the hare's not bothered. It's so
:45:16. > :45:19.supremely confident it can get away. Now another thing that they have,
:45:20. > :45:24.they have this thing called low foot loading. That means that their feet
:45:25. > :45:28.are very big compared to the weight of their body. That means they can
:45:29. > :45:33.run over the surface of the snow at high speed. That low foot loading
:45:34. > :45:36.coupled with their speed gives them the ability to do something
:45:37. > :45:41.occasionally almost Look at this. Watch that
:45:42. > :45:49.snowboarder. We will get a bit Look at this. Watch that
:45:50. > :45:51.closer and beside him, look Look at this. Watch that
:45:52. > :45:56.comes out from the right, a Look at this. Watch that
:45:57. > :46:02.hare, into the path of an avalanche. You would think that would be the
:46:03. > :46:06.end of that hare, it disappears and reappears. Those feet and it's
:46:07. > :46:13.amazing speed keep it just above all of that tumbling snow and ice and
:46:14. > :46:19.that hare, unbelievably, manages to escape from the avalanche.
:46:20. > :46:23.Astonishing pictures, that is what hares do. I did say I wanted to try
:46:24. > :46:28.and share with you exactly what it's like to live amongst the hares. I
:46:29. > :46:31.and share with you exactly what it's couldn't do it up the mountain, but
:46:32. > :46:42.they have moved down here and I am up for it. Look at this. This is
:46:43. > :46:46.going to be my form for the night. I will sleep here and report to you
:46:47. > :46:50.tomorrow morning what it likes to live among the hares. That will be
:46:51. > :46:58.for tomorrow, I am looking forward to it, rather. It has been stored --
:46:59. > :47:02.stormy up and down the country. Camerawoman Sophie went to Giants
:47:03. > :47:19.Causeway in Ireland to watch the storms rolling in from the Atlantic.
:47:20. > :47:28.It's been a particularly hard winter, in the whole of the UK.
:47:29. > :47:34.We've had such relentless weather and I think the reason I chose to
:47:35. > :47:38.come to the Giants Causeway is I could think of nowhere better to
:47:39. > :47:46.come to feel the full force of the Atlantic in the middle of winter.
:47:47. > :48:01.There's a sort of mystic feel to this spot. It is an epic legacy to
:48:02. > :48:05.lava. It's like being on some mad kind of board game. You cannot
:48:06. > :48:14.believe it's real. It looks like art. It's so easy to understand why
:48:15. > :48:21.people talked of Giants fighting battles and creating these
:48:22. > :48:24.incredible rock. And I think the battle is sort of ongoing, really,
:48:25. > :48:29.because you look at the sea and the weather and it is a continuing
:48:30. > :48:37.struggle for anything that lives here. From the Olympics who are on
:48:38. > :48:43.the edge, to this seaweed and the snails, who are clinging on for dear
:48:44. > :48:46.life. You have to be extremely tough to live on the coast and on the
:48:47. > :48:55.North Atlantic coast, extremely tough. The winter visitors are the
:48:56. > :49:00.birds and some of the birds that are here are the goals. At this time of
:49:01. > :49:06.year, just when winter is kicking in, the males will return to the
:49:07. > :49:15.nest sites. We peeked over the headland and their below us were
:49:16. > :49:21.four or five. They were all just balancing on the wind like the most
:49:22. > :49:37.beautiful display of elegance and aerodynamics.
:49:38. > :49:41.You can see every feather moving, and the way they are adjusting and
:49:42. > :49:53.trimming, it is a thing of wonder. The minute they land they are so
:49:54. > :49:59.clumsy, they are obviously so designed for being up in the air and
:50:00. > :50:05.knowing what to do or maybe diving for food. I would give anything to
:50:06. > :50:09.know what it's like to fly like one, just imagine being able to play with
:50:10. > :50:17.the wind like that. It's all so effortless.
:50:18. > :50:21.They fit so beautifully into this landscape. There are peaks, their
:50:22. > :50:37.soft, smoky eyes. There is not a lot of light at this
:50:38. > :50:41.time of year when it is cloudy and overcast and the winds and storms
:50:42. > :50:50.blowing, but when there is just a glimmer of it, it is so beautiful.
:50:51. > :51:02.There is an unexpected flash of colour in the gauze, the one relief
:51:03. > :51:13.from the black and white of winter. There is something hypnotic about
:51:14. > :51:19.watching these huge waves crashing and hence the Causeway. There is the
:51:20. > :51:27.softness and harshness of these waves against these incredible
:51:28. > :51:34.angles. And then to slow it down, so you can see every, tiny bit of that
:51:35. > :51:40.quarter. You could just watch that water coming in and out all day.
:51:41. > :51:49.I like the fact you can be here in the winter and really experience the
:51:50. > :51:51.elements in their full force and feel the power of nature, just
:51:52. > :52:07.coming at you. Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland,
:52:08. > :52:14.what a wonderful backdrop. Beautiful place. The way they held the wind
:52:15. > :52:19.and the way their body changed shape in reaction to it so quickly. A lot
:52:20. > :52:23.of people are very worried about what happens to wildlife in the
:52:24. > :52:27.floods. We featured otters and we will feature other animals but we
:52:28. > :52:32.have one question here via Facebook. What happens to mice in flooding
:52:33. > :52:37.question on the mammal Society said they will be affected in areas that
:52:38. > :52:41.have flooded. In fact, locally they could be completely wiped out.
:52:42. > :52:45.Although that sounds very dramatic accommodation be able to bounce
:52:46. > :52:50.back. They are prolific breeders and they are very good at re-colonising.
:52:51. > :52:53.So yes, they will be affected locally, but they should be OK. If
:52:54. > :52:59.you have been watching our last few series you will know we have been
:53:00. > :53:03.testing rodents for their perseverance in getting food. We set
:53:04. > :53:06.them a series of assault courses and tasks. Take a look at what we have
:53:07. > :53:10.been up to so far and what we will be up to next.
:53:11. > :53:15.In the beginning there was the obstacle course, designed to assess
:53:16. > :53:21.agility, nimbleness and dexterity. Some contenders tried with all their
:53:22. > :53:27.might to desperately complete the challenge, but it was the mouse that
:53:28. > :53:31.ruled supreme. Next came the mini mammal equivalent of a Ploughman 's
:53:32. > :53:37.lunch. Again, the mouse took up the challenge. But it wasn't the cheese
:53:38. > :53:43.board that took their fancy, it was the sweet treats and mixed nuts that
:53:44. > :53:49.they devoured. Then came the iron mouse challenge, to see how they
:53:50. > :53:53.cope in the watery world of a reed bed. You might have thought it would
:53:54. > :53:58.be a total wipe-out, but with great determination and an incredible
:53:59. > :54:03.ability to jump, the mouse overcame the deadly water hazard. This time,
:54:04. > :54:13.it's bigger, better, more complicated than ever. Will they
:54:14. > :54:16.complete the Mouse Maze? Yes, we tested their agility and their
:54:17. > :54:21.perseverance but now we are testing their intelligence. We built them a
:54:22. > :54:25.maze which they have to navigate their way through. There is a very
:54:26. > :54:29.good reason for this, they are after food. Their ability to find food and
:54:30. > :54:33.remember where they found the food is implicitly important in winter.
:54:34. > :54:37.We set up a couple of days ago and will show you the results in a few
:54:38. > :54:38.seconds, but first we must say these are wild mice. They went into
:54:39. > :54:43.seconds, but first we must say these maze of their own accord to get a
:54:44. > :54:46.treat of not. We didn't make them go in. If you look at
:54:47. > :54:51.treat of not. We didn't make them go the dark. Let's have a look at the
:54:52. > :54:57.maze and see what happened. Here comes the mouse, first contestant
:54:58. > :55:03.into the entrance hole and is looking for those tasty nuts. Will
:55:04. > :55:09.it get to them straightaway? No, it missed the entrance. Turns around,
:55:10. > :55:15.has a little luck, sniff, sniff, and found in 14 seconds. Goes back
:55:16. > :55:19.really quickly, stands by the hole thinking, I've lost my nuts. It goes
:55:20. > :55:27.back, remembers the way it came, gets its dropped nut and goes back
:55:28. > :55:33.again. A bit stupid for dropping the nut. One of the first times it had
:55:34. > :55:39.gone into the maze. Here we go, second chance. Looking around. Will
:55:40. > :55:44.it do any quicker? Will it make the same mistake it made the first time?
:55:45. > :55:51.No, it didn't. Just ten seconds this time. So again, learning all the
:55:52. > :55:54.time. So here we go, the third attempt, in it goes and look how
:55:55. > :56:00.quickly it gets it this time. Five seconds. Obviously this could be
:56:01. > :56:04.three different mice, but we are presuming that is the same mouse
:56:05. > :56:06.three different mice, but we are because it's faster each time. You
:56:07. > :56:12.can see, it is remembering and it has learned and it goes and
:56:13. > :56:14.can see, it is remembering and it goes. Using its
:56:15. > :56:18.can see, it is remembering and it its way through, it could also be
:56:19. > :56:22.smelling a route through. The most important thing is it goes straight
:56:23. > :56:26.back to them. Optimising the amount of time it takes to return to the
:56:27. > :56:30.nuts so it can carry them away and store them. That is what it is
:56:31. > :56:34.doing. They are a very important food source they can store. It is
:56:35. > :56:39.hiding them away so they can eat them later in the winter when the
:56:40. > :56:44.food supply runs out. That all looks a bit easy, Chris. It was a simple
:56:45. > :59:01.maze, so we stepped it up. This is what
:59:02. > :59:08.Let your New Year start with a bang and visit an explosive new China.