:00:10. > :00:16.We are here in deepest foggiest Dorset at a crucial time of year for
:00:17. > :00:20.wildlife. It's cold, the ground is frozen and food is scarce. In
:00:21. > :00:26.winter, every day can be a struggle for our wildlife. No matter what its
:00:27. > :00:29.size, from small garden birds, like blue tits, to large impressive
:00:30. > :00:35.mammals like sika deer, it's a fight for survival.
:00:36. > :00:39.The greatest challenge for some of our wildlife is to simply survive
:00:40. > :00:42.the icy cold of a single night. It may be chilly out here but it's a
:00:43. > :01:13.warm welcome from Winterwatch. Hello! Welcome to Winterwatch 2017.
:01:14. > :01:16.Our second programme coming from the wonderful RSPB Anne reserve on the
:01:17. > :01:21.west side of Poole harbour here in Dorset. It's a fantastic place for
:01:22. > :01:27.wildlife, not just in spring and summer but winter too. A great
:01:28. > :01:32.biodiversity with great rarities. There is a NSPCCsy found in three
:01:33. > :01:38.other places on the entire planet. I did know that. -- species. How did
:01:39. > :01:46.you know that? I read my notes! I want to make a film about that but
:01:47. > :01:49.everyone says it's not moving around our mission is to look at all the
:01:50. > :01:53.British wildlife across the country and explain how it gets through this
:01:54. > :01:56.very hard and harsh season. As usual, we have the reserve bugged
:01:57. > :02:00.with live cameras hoping to bring you any live action as it happens.
:02:01. > :02:04.Let's have a look at one of those cameras now.
:02:05. > :02:08.It's the pond camera. This is a pretty pond in the woods, lots of
:02:09. > :02:12.animals come down here to drink. There is nothing there at the
:02:13. > :02:18.moment. Let's see what we have had. We have had a badger, great to see,
:02:19. > :02:21.but it's not just the camera we have got down there, we also have a Mike
:02:22. > :02:27.rephone so we can listen. -- microphone.
:02:28. > :02:31.You can hear it slurping. What badgers do is they actually sort of
:02:32. > :02:36.scoop a bit of water up into the tip of their tongue and flick it to the
:02:37. > :02:40.back and swallow. It's a lick, flick, swallow and that's what you
:02:41. > :02:48.are hearing there. It's quite a satisfying sound. It is.
:02:49. > :02:54.Nothing like hearing a mammal like that, it has been in the ground all
:02:55. > :02:58.day, it has snuck to the pond with all that water and it's sucking it
:02:59. > :03:02.up. Fantastic. Our cameras have been throughout the day. Today has been
:03:03. > :03:07.problematic. It's been tremendously foggy down here.
:03:08. > :03:10.All day long and the fog never lifted.
:03:11. > :03:12.It's been a real pain for lots of people across the country,
:03:13. > :03:17.cancellations of flights, difficulties travelling on the
:03:18. > :03:29.roads, but I have to say, it's added quite a romantic air to Arne. And
:03:30. > :03:33.this Wren out there in the mist and fog and this lovely. We have had fog
:03:34. > :03:40.for a couple of mornings. We have been here for at least a week and
:03:41. > :04:05.our teams have been out and filmed some absolutely glorious dawns.
:04:06. > :04:35.Absolutely beautiful. I know you like a bit of black and white,
:04:36. > :04:39.moody, misty. But I am more showy and like colour, that was gorgeous.
:04:40. > :04:42.Why don't you get out and see a sunrise because in winter is a
:04:43. > :04:48.perfect time, because you don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to
:04:49. > :04:52.see the dawn! Because it is later in winter. It's cracking later, you
:04:53. > :04:57.still have to get up at the crack of dawn, it is just later. You know
:04:58. > :05:02.what I mean, it's 7. 57 tomorrow, so that's a decent time to get out and
:05:03. > :05:06.about. We want you to witness it and take your cameras and as long as
:05:07. > :05:10.it's not foggy take a picture of the beautiful sunrise and send it to us
:05:11. > :05:14.using the hashtag Winterwatch. A few people have already been out. We
:05:15. > :05:26.found this fantastic photograph taken by Paul Silvers in Somerset.
:05:27. > :05:30.This is a -- murmuration of starlings leaving in the morning. A
:05:31. > :05:33.great picture F you get more please send them in.
:05:34. > :05:40.If you are watching last night, mayor tin sent himself a tricky
:05:41. > :05:49.challenge, to catch a woodcock in the fielding here. They pulled it
:05:50. > :05:53.off, what a thing, it successfully flew away. Tonight he is down here
:05:54. > :05:55.about 300 metres away in the car park seeing if he can find birds in
:05:56. > :06:03.total darkness. Not quite total darkness, Chris, we
:06:04. > :06:07.have a few lights around, but yes you are right I am here in the RSPB
:06:08. > :06:10.Arne car park. Now it's very quiet, there is nobody
:06:11. > :06:12.here, apart from the film crew and me.
:06:13. > :06:19.During the day, of course, it's a very different story.
:06:20. > :06:23.This is a very busy place. Lots of people powering in. It's also packed
:06:24. > :06:27.with garden birds because they've lots of feeders here in the car park
:06:28. > :06:30.and it's a wonderful spectacle. They're incredibly busy. With all
:06:31. > :06:37.the birds that you would expect to see in your garden.
:06:38. > :06:43.Lovely blue tit. But it's not just the more common birds, down here in
:06:44. > :06:47.this very car park there's one of Britain's rarest birds, it's a tiny
:06:48. > :06:52.little bird called a firecrest. Let's have a look at one.
:06:53. > :06:56.This is a firecrest, that gorgeous flaming crest on its head that gives
:06:57. > :07:01.it its name. It is much, much rarer than its
:07:02. > :07:04.cousin, the goldcrest, which is more common.
:07:05. > :07:10.As you can see, they look remarkably similar.
:07:11. > :07:13.We have got a little ID now. This is the Winterwatch identification
:07:14. > :07:18.guide. Let's see how you tell the difference.
:07:19. > :07:22.You can see the firecrest has a white line above its eye. If you
:07:23. > :07:28.look down at the wing on the firecrest it is much clearer defined
:07:29. > :07:32.there, that golden yellow colour. Now you have all the tools to
:07:33. > :07:38.identify the firecrest and the goldcrest, now I will give you a
:07:39. > :07:43.test. What is this? Have you got it? It's a firecrest,
:07:44. > :07:47.absolutely right. The white stripe and that clearly defined edge there
:07:48. > :07:55.around the back of the head. What is this next one?
:07:56. > :07:59.Isn't that gorgeous! That, of course, is a goldcrest. They can
:08:00. > :08:04.flare those feathers on the top of the head and it looks dramatic.
:08:05. > :08:08.You can't get really an idea of how big the firecrest and goldcrest are
:08:09. > :08:11.from those pictures. But you can from this.
:08:12. > :08:22.Now that is the actual size, that's a firecrest. Here is my
:08:23. > :08:26.Here is my wedding ring. They are tiny.
:08:27. > :08:30.We have been here in the car park during the day and we have been able
:08:31. > :08:34.to film them moving around in the trees.
:08:35. > :08:38.They move very quickly. This is partially slowed down.
:08:39. > :08:42.You will be able to tell me what this is, of course.
:08:43. > :08:49.This is a firecrest, luckily! They spend during the day 100% of
:08:50. > :08:54.their time foraging for food. They have to, to feed, to - there is a
:08:55. > :09:01.goldcrest now. They can eat almost twice their body weight in a single
:09:02. > :09:04.day. They move so quickly you often
:09:05. > :09:09.mistake them for a Wren and then you see that wonderful crest there. You
:09:10. > :09:13.think, oh, it's a goldcrest or a firecrest!
:09:14. > :09:18.They're quite hard to see actually, but of you ares you can always
:09:19. > :09:22.listen out for their song. Well, you can but not everyone can hear their
:09:23. > :09:26.song. Unfortunately, it's so high pitched some older people find it
:09:27. > :09:28.difficult to hear. Let us test you now. Can you hear the goldcrest
:09:29. > :09:41.song? Sad to say I can't! I normally can
:09:42. > :09:44.at home. But I can't hear it. I think some of you at home will have
:09:45. > :09:50.heard that. But I didn't, sadly.
:09:51. > :09:54.OK, now during the daytime they're moving around the car park, all the
:09:55. > :09:58.little birds are. But of course right now they've gone into the
:09:59. > :10:04.trees around here and they're roosting. Let's look around with our
:10:05. > :10:11.thermal calms ras and see if we can see -- cameras and see if we can see
:10:12. > :10:15.any. Yes, we can! There is two. When you come back in a minute we
:10:16. > :10:19.are going to try and find out how these tiny little birds, including
:10:20. > :10:23.the goldcrest and firecrest, actually manage to survive these
:10:24. > :10:28.freezing temperatures. They've some very clever tricks and physiology
:10:29. > :10:33.that enable them to try and do that. Meanwhile, back to you.
:10:34. > :10:39.Thanks, Martin. Did you? Did I what? Did you hear it? I did, yeah. You
:10:40. > :10:44.did not! I promise you I heard it. I am young and my hearing is very
:10:45. > :10:49.good. Did you? Oh, yes! Of course! I didn't hear it actually, very sadly.
:10:50. > :10:53.Something, it's one thing to tell them apart in the daytime, no chance
:10:54. > :10:59.at night. Let's be honest. Let's look at some of our other live
:11:00. > :11:02.cameras. We have carcasses across the reserve and we have had a lot of
:11:03. > :11:08.action. Let's see if there is anything on that camera right now.
:11:09. > :11:14.Nothing now, but we have had a lot of foxes visit the car raps. We know
:11:15. > :11:20.that we have got four different foxes We can tell them apart. A
:11:21. > :11:23.couple of them it's easy. Take a look at this.
:11:24. > :11:32.Watch the fox in front. You will soon notice that it is easy
:11:33. > :11:38.o to spot. Look at the tail. It is stumpy compared to the one behind
:11:39. > :11:43.which is very thick and bushy. That fox we are calling Stumpy. OK. Easy
:11:44. > :11:48.one. This one is also easy, it's the one we showed you last night. This
:11:49. > :11:53.is a male fox. It is an extraordinary colour. Look at its
:11:54. > :11:58.face, it has a scar on its face. It is a very dark fox. Easy to
:11:59. > :12:03.recognise and because of that scar and the fact that it is very stocky
:12:04. > :12:07.we are calling that one Tyson. So far we have Stumpy and Tyson. They
:12:08. > :12:15.are very easy. Take a look at this one. This is a more traditional fox.
:12:16. > :12:22.It looks silvery on its back. It has a very, very distinctive mark
:12:23. > :12:25.on its face. I have been talking to our expert Dr Dawn Scott at the
:12:26. > :12:29.University of Brighton and she recently told me how to identify
:12:30. > :12:34.these foxes and I will pass it on to you. Let's look at that one again.
:12:35. > :12:38.That one with the black tier. You can see it there on the right of the
:12:39. > :12:41.screen. We are calling this one Cheetah because it has that
:12:42. > :12:45.distinctive stripe running down from the eye to the mouth like the
:12:46. > :12:50.African mammal the cheetah. The one on the other side is less distinct,
:12:51. > :12:54.it's more smudgy. I have got a drawing which I have prepared here.
:12:55. > :12:58.You can equally do one of these sort of sketches yourself, if you are
:12:59. > :13:04.watching the foxes on your patio. Here is Cheetah and as you can see,
:13:05. > :13:09.it has this thick stripe that runs down here on to the jaw.
:13:10. > :13:14.The other animal has a stripe which starts much further down and it
:13:15. > :13:18.comes down like this. It widens out to at the bottom and
:13:19. > :13:27.comes up here and is indistinct, I would say. This one is pale there.
:13:28. > :13:31.Only this bottom part is there any thickness. For various reasons the
:13:32. > :13:36.people who watch these foxes throughout the day have decided to
:13:37. > :13:40.call this one Rogue... Oh, no, I spelled it wrong! I have messed it
:13:41. > :13:47.up. That looks good. No one would know. That's going to hurt me. You
:13:48. > :13:51.can be doing this and I have to say it's a clear way of identifying
:13:52. > :13:57.those foxes. The benefit for us is that we can do it in daylight and at
:13:58. > :14:05.night in infrared too. We have a good food resource with the car raps
:14:06. > :14:08.-- carcass. Happens if more than one arrives at the same time. Have a
:14:09. > :14:13.look. This fox has been chewing at that for sometime. We think that is
:14:14. > :14:17.Rogue by the fact it hasn't a lot of facial markings. The one behind
:14:18. > :14:22.comes in. We think this is Cheetah. They're both females. There is a lot
:14:23. > :14:26.of posturing going on. Remember it's dark. I think they probably know
:14:27. > :14:33.each other, don't they, Chris? They do. If these were foxes from
:14:34. > :14:37.different social groups there would be more antagonism here. In each
:14:38. > :14:43.group of animals living together in the same range there is a hierarchy.
:14:44. > :14:44.What we are seeing here is these two animals displaying that hierarchy,
:14:45. > :15:01.sorting out who is top fox. That is not really a fight, is it?
:15:02. > :15:08.No. That is Cheetah pushing Rogue of the carcass. These animals are a
:15:09. > :15:15.couple of females. That was a spat over the food. Great to be able to
:15:16. > :15:22.watch those foxes but what Arne is really well-known for and that is
:15:23. > :15:27.its bird. One bird that people come to see is rare. Because of the
:15:28. > :15:36.microclimate it does pretty well. I went out with an RSPB warden to see
:15:37. > :15:45.if I could spot it. A stunning morning, isn't it? A gorgeous
:15:46. > :15:50.morning. So, what we're doing this morning is looking for what is
:15:51. > :15:56.really the star bird of Arne. It is the species that triggered the RSPB
:15:57. > :16:03.to get interested. Back then it was incredibly rare. Only a dozen pairs
:16:04. > :16:09.in the country. Now we have 70 pairs nesting here at RSPB Arne. So, our
:16:10. > :16:24.chances of seeing one are pretty high. Listen out here. Can you hear
:16:25. > :16:33.that sound? Yes, I can hear that. It is about the size of a Wren, really
:16:34. > :16:40.small with a really long tail. Study -- stubbly weans as well. Tiny wings
:16:41. > :16:48.whirring away. There we go. Look at that! Gorgeous. That is the bird we
:16:49. > :16:58.are looking for. Dartford warbler. That is the one. You can see the
:16:59. > :17:06.long tail. I assumed he would be on top of the gorse bush for longer.
:17:07. > :17:12.Sometimes they do. There are two now. They are starting to get each
:17:13. > :17:20.other aggravated. That is quite distinctive. There is a small bit of
:17:21. > :17:23.gorse in front of us. The reason that Dartford warblers thrive here
:17:24. > :17:29.is this lowland heath is protected from the elements by Poole Harbour.
:17:30. > :17:33.The RSPB manage the area. Copper zinc and keeping the gorse low and
:17:34. > :17:40.bushy, the ideal habitat for the Dartford warbler. It is like a cosy
:17:41. > :18:01.hotel room with a birthday breakfast. This is really spiky. --
:18:02. > :18:06.buffet breakfast. The temperature is kept up two, three degrees inside.
:18:07. > :18:11.Why are they susceptible to the cold? Spain is a great place to see
:18:12. > :18:16.the Dartford warblers. They are very small and do not weigh an awful lot.
:18:17. > :18:21.I am talking seven, eight, nine grams. They are really small.
:18:22. > :18:28.Insects are not numerous in winter and it does get really cold. It is
:18:29. > :18:33.easy to see why this gorse bush is so good at protecting them but not
:18:34. > :18:37.so easy to see the food inside. I have a trick up my sleeve, which
:18:38. > :18:43.hopefully will bring some of the food out and we can prove why this
:18:44. > :18:57.is such a good Dartford warbler buffet. I have a chilling for. The
:18:58. > :19:02.vibrations should bring it out. The tuning fork did not work, did it?
:19:03. > :19:08.That is a bit old-fashioned. Who has one of those lying around anyway? I
:19:09. > :19:15.have something far more high-tech. This is the latest version of the
:19:16. > :19:20.tuning fork. It is a pink, sonic toothbrush. 20,000 vibrations a
:19:21. > :19:27.minute, apparently. If we put that into the spider's Web, it should
:19:28. > :19:34.replicate the vibrations of the fly. Look at the spider come rushing out!
:19:35. > :19:39.He suggested this stupid thing? I reckon this one will work much
:19:40. > :19:50.better. We have seen a view insects on that one. He is coming out. He is
:19:51. > :19:58.coming out. Look at that! Oh, my goodness! He has come to attack my
:19:59. > :20:03.toothbrush. Here he is, attacking. That was fantastic. You did not
:20:04. > :20:08.think that would work, did you? I honestly did not think that would
:20:09. > :20:18.work. That was a chunky spider. Showing off my spider knowledge, I
:20:19. > :20:23.can name it. We have seen a Dartford warbler. Let's remember it is a rare
:20:24. > :20:30.bird to see and we can charm the spider. All you need to see wildlife
:20:31. > :20:35.with is a pair of binoculars and a sonic toothbrush. Perfect. What a
:20:36. > :20:40.great use of the toothbrush! Every naturalist should have won. Great to
:20:41. > :20:44.see the spider and great to see how the gorse is managed. If they did
:20:45. > :20:50.not manage it, it would grow long and stringy and be almost like a
:20:51. > :20:55.wind tunnel and provides no protection. That makes it thick,
:20:56. > :21:03.bushy and like any glue. A lot of people ask, why don't they migrate?
:21:04. > :21:10.-- an igloo. The Dartford warbler is a tiny bird with a long tail. It has
:21:11. > :21:17.short, stubby wings. It is not a great flyer. It is not hard-wired
:21:18. > :21:21.for long migrations. It can do short migrations were usually it is very
:21:22. > :21:27.loyal to its breeding site. We have a question here from Henry Barnard,
:21:28. > :21:31.a range from Surrey. He says he saw a Dartford warbler on his site. It
:21:32. > :21:39.was not there in the summer. Could it have moved to an even more frozen
:21:40. > :21:42.heath? They do disburse. They are stubborn but not completely stupid.
:21:43. > :21:47.If times are tough where they are, they will choose a different
:21:48. > :21:54.location. They are fantastic birds. I like the Dartford warbler. Not in
:21:55. > :22:00.my top ten. They have a quiz with a tail flopping around. The tale is
:22:01. > :22:07.very long. On top of the gorse bush and get a wind up their tail and
:22:08. > :22:11.they topple over like a teapot. In the world of wildlife television, it
:22:12. > :22:15.is fickle. One minute you are celebrating an animal and the next
:22:16. > :22:21.minute it is sliding down the charts. Look at the sika deer! We
:22:22. > :22:27.were focusing on their rutting behaviour and this time we have
:22:28. > :22:30.hardly mentioned them. Champions one minute and in desperate, dire
:22:31. > :22:36.straits the next. Let's see what they are up to this time of year.
:22:37. > :22:41.The rat is over. They join up in groups and generally males with
:22:42. > :22:48.males and females with females. The males have stopped rutting. They
:22:49. > :22:52.appear to be rutting but they are not. There is no better minutes and
:22:53. > :22:56.no purpose. The females are all pregnant at this time of year. They
:22:57. > :23:02.have multiple through to their winter coats. They do not have any
:23:03. > :23:06.spots. They are moving around in these loose, social groups. You will
:23:07. > :23:12.see one with one group of animals one day and the next day it is with
:23:13. > :23:19.another group of animals. There is a constant tooling and froing of the
:23:20. > :23:24.groups, normally five, six .7 or eight animals. With other species
:23:25. > :23:28.you will get larger herds. Sometimes 60 of them there. Very different
:23:29. > :23:33.behaviour. They are still stars from me. They are the Chelsea of the
:23:34. > :23:39.football world, still up there at the top of the league. The Chelsea.
:23:40. > :23:44.Not paid as much of most of your Chelsea team. Perhaps if they were,
:23:45. > :23:48.they would still be ratting. We love it on Winterwatch when you send us
:23:49. > :23:53.amazing footage of wildlife spectacles you have seen. Let's face
:23:54. > :23:57.it, sometimes seeing amazing wildlife spectacles means you have
:23:58. > :24:02.to be in the right place at the right time. Palin Gray was in the
:24:03. > :24:09.right place at the right time, on his dad's boat and he managed to
:24:10. > :24:16.film this. He managed to get this humpback whale using a drone. He saw
:24:17. > :24:21.it off the Shetlands. This is amazing to see, obviously. Is it
:24:22. > :24:27.unusual? You are lucky to see but they do a big migration. They
:24:28. > :24:31.migrate from South Africa, the Caribbean, to higher latitudes. They
:24:32. > :24:38.will be going past the UK at some point. This is incredible to see. It
:24:39. > :24:42.looks like it is a mother with a calf, which is slightly unusual at
:24:43. > :24:47.this time of year. Fantastic to see. Thank you for sending it in. We have
:24:48. > :24:55.been speaking to the sea watch foundation who say there is a small
:24:56. > :24:59.breeding population of the Cape Verde Islands. The mother could have
:25:00. > :25:02.given birth and come back to the northern waters. We think they are
:25:03. > :25:06.taking advantage of an increase in the number of mackerel and herring
:25:07. > :25:12.because we have relaxed the fishing quotas. The Wales are coming back
:25:13. > :25:16.and this has been a bumper year for humpback sightings. The greatest
:25:17. > :25:20.year ever, between 50 and 60. Some of the Wales could have been seen
:25:21. > :25:24.multiple times but the significant increase. Since 1982 when the
:25:25. > :25:30.International whaling commission stop whaling in the North Atlantic,
:25:31. > :25:37.the population has begun to grow. That is a reassuring thing. There
:25:38. > :25:42.are some problems. In a recent paper in 2016, one of the problems with
:25:43. > :25:46.western Scotland is it can be a mortality sink for these Wales. They
:25:47. > :25:51.get into the area and die because they become entangled with lines
:25:52. > :25:56.attached to lobster and crab pots. A fantastic opportunity for someone to
:25:57. > :26:11.go into Dragons Den. Surely we can invent a does not entangle the
:26:12. > :26:14.Wales. Paul Smith from British Divers Marine Life Rescue Centre
:26:15. > :26:21.??Nospace 'S Case Was Out Looking For These Wales Cleared To Make Sure
:26:22. > :26:29.They Were Not Being Entangled. Another sign they are increasing. If
:26:30. > :26:33.you manage to get any footage or take a picture of Wales or any
:26:34. > :26:40.amazing spectacle, we would love to see it. Please share it on social
:26:41. > :26:44.media. There are plenty of ways you can get involved. It has never been
:26:45. > :26:49.easier to follow Winterwatch. Ever you are and whatever device you are
:26:50. > :26:54.using. By going to the website you can enjoy the Winterwatch live page
:26:55. > :27:05.throughout the week. Get exclusive updates on the action as it happens,
:27:06. > :27:07.plus behind-the-scenes extras and expert analysis. On the red button
:27:08. > :27:10.and I play is a daily round-up of all the action and a chance to get
:27:11. > :27:13.your questions answered on Winterwatch wrapped up. This year
:27:14. > :27:18.our younger fans can find Winterwatch games, quizzes and more
:27:19. > :27:28.on the CBBC website. Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter,
:27:29. > :27:33.and on our Flikr group. Plenty of ways to get involved. If it is drama
:27:34. > :27:37.you are after, sometimes you do not have to go very far at all. You can
:27:38. > :27:46.get a wildlife drama right under your feet. In this particular case,
:27:47. > :27:49.right above your head. Christmas is over and the decorations are shoved
:27:50. > :27:57.back up into the loft for another year. They're a thought for what
:27:58. > :28:03.else might be up there. -- bearer thought. While more we might use it
:28:04. > :28:09.as storage space, the crowded roof can be a perfect winter home for
:28:10. > :28:14.some of our natural neighbours. Amongst the discarded toys and piles
:28:15. > :28:27.of junk, a female house mouse has made herself at home. She is heavily
:28:28. > :28:33.pregnant. So constantly craves food. Her stomach is swollen and heavy as
:28:34. > :28:41.her babies wriggle around inside her. This mouse is eating for 15.
:28:42. > :28:48.The sheer effort of even moving around at this late stage makes her
:28:49. > :28:51.quite breathless. But there is not time to rest. She must find
:28:52. > :29:00.somewhere for her nurse before the babies come. -- nest. Every corner
:29:01. > :29:07.of the attic must be explored to find just the right spot. And that
:29:08. > :29:14.means she has to take some risks. She squeezes her frozen belly
:29:15. > :29:25.through tiny gaps. And even have to walk the tightrope. Despite the use
:29:26. > :29:33.of her balancing tale, clambering in her condition means her balance is
:29:34. > :29:35.off. A false step but no harm done this time. This mattress could be
:29:36. > :29:47.just what she is looking for. A warm corner in here will be a safe
:29:48. > :29:56.spot for her babies. But she needs more than just foam to
:29:57. > :30:15.make the bedding complete. So, it's back out on her scavenger
:30:16. > :30:22.hunt. This stack of suitis cases might lead somewhere worthwhile.
:30:23. > :30:30.Grain from a split wheat pillow will make a handy larder for later.
:30:31. > :30:38.But our mouse doesn't have the attic all to herself.
:30:39. > :30:42.The mattress is already occupied. Bed bugs. These parasitic blood
:30:43. > :30:53.suckers can survive a year without feeding and are drawn to their prey
:30:54. > :30:54.by sensing body heat. Luckily, she's chosen a nest site at
:30:55. > :31:06.the other end of the mattress. As she continues her search, her
:31:07. > :31:10.hypersensitive nose picks up a scent.
:31:11. > :31:34.The irresistible lure of cheese. She better watch her step!
:31:35. > :31:40.Saved by a whisker. With a belly full of cheese and
:31:41. > :31:48.babies, the overwhelming hormonal urge to build her nest is getting
:31:49. > :31:57.stronger. She finds an old cashmere jumper, the perfect nest liner.
:31:58. > :32:02.But the soft natural wool has already been colonised by Moth
:32:03. > :32:09.larvae. Undisturbed in the attic they have spent the winter chewing
:32:10. > :32:14.their way through the fabric. Blue fibres visible in their digestive
:32:15. > :32:15.tract. But for this mouse they're nothing more than a handy protein
:32:16. > :32:36.snack. Gathering scraps for around the loft
:32:37. > :32:40.the mouse's foraging is paying off and the nest is developing into a
:32:41. > :32:53.comfortable and soft refuge in which to give birth.
:32:54. > :33:01.And finally the blind and hairless babies are born. They will stay
:33:02. > :33:10.utterly dependent upon their mother for nearly three weeks.
:33:11. > :33:13.Thanks to the safe Oasis of a warm attic, this family are oblivious to
:33:14. > :33:17.the changing season outside. Their mother has found all that they need
:33:18. > :33:25.just by scratching around in the attic.
:33:26. > :33:32.I love those films, absolutely beautiful. Just to remind you I am
:33:33. > :33:38.down here in the car park at Arne and right now I will be surrounded
:33:39. > :33:41.by rooting birds, all asleep in the trees around here. We have our
:33:42. > :33:47.thermal camera and we are looking into the trees. Let's see what we
:33:48. > :33:51.can see. Let's have a look. What can we see at the moment?
:33:52. > :33:57.Nothing just at the moment. But just while we were rehearsing with this
:33:58. > :34:03.camera we did see this. I think that's probably a Robin
:34:04. > :34:08.there. It is glowing like a little furnace there. We have actually been
:34:09. > :34:14.down in the car park here filming birds during the night. Let's look
:34:15. > :34:19.at this. We can see how effective feathers are at keeping those birds
:34:20. > :34:25.warm. We think this is probably a black bird or a thrush. Look at the
:34:26. > :34:28.leaves around it glowing. It is radiating heat and the twig around
:34:29. > :34:36.its feet is also glowing. We think this is a blue tit.
:34:37. > :34:39.Much smaller. You see the heat. When the head pops out you can see how
:34:40. > :34:43.much heat it starts to lose. We think that's a Robin. It is losing
:34:44. > :34:48.heat all the time. You see how important it is for birds to keep
:34:49. > :34:52.their heads tucked away under their wings and there they start to
:34:53. > :34:56.conserve that heat. The feathers are crucially
:34:57. > :35:01.important. When you look at a bird you are only seeing the outer
:35:02. > :35:05.feathers, but underneath is all this going on. Don't know if you can see
:35:06. > :35:13.those. These are down feathers. They're so light they are blowing
:35:14. > :35:16.away on my hand and semiplumes. These are the ones that keep the
:35:17. > :35:22.birds wonderfully warm like that. As well as the feathers these birds
:35:23. > :35:29.have a lot of other behavioural strategies to try to keep warm.
:35:30. > :35:37.Long-tailed tits are fascinating. What they do is they keep all their
:35:38. > :35:43.members of the family, they snuggle up together and try to keep warm by
:35:44. > :35:49.huddling. Actually if two birds are together they will reduce the heat
:35:50. > :35:54.loss by about a quarter. Huddling is a very, very good strategy for very
:35:55. > :35:58.small birds. The long-tailed tits will huddle outside. How much better
:35:59. > :36:05.would it be if you huddled inside something? That's what Wrens do.
:36:06. > :36:11.This amazing footage was sent to us by Anita from Cumbria. These Wrens
:36:12. > :36:14.are all going into a house Martin's nest to roost. It's difficult to
:36:15. > :36:18.judge how many there are. We think there are about 15 in the end all
:36:19. > :36:23.tucked up inside that nest. Extraordinary. Thank you very much,
:36:24. > :36:28.Anita, for sending us that. You might think 15 is amazing, the
:36:29. > :36:35.world record for the maximum number of Wrens inside a nest box is 63.
:36:36. > :36:40.Imagine that. What about something like a blue tit? Do they huddle
:36:41. > :36:46.together? They don't. They have a different strategy. They sit out on
:36:47. > :36:55.their own. They don't huddle up. They use shivering. They'll use
:36:56. > :37:01.muscles to shiver to generate heat and do that all night sometimes.
:37:02. > :37:07.These feathers, we exploit that same technique in our clothes. We will
:37:08. > :37:12.use a thermal camera. I am wearing here a down coat.
:37:13. > :37:17.The camera will look black on the outside. It's insulating me. If I
:37:18. > :37:23.open it up, how is that? You can see all the heat being
:37:24. > :37:28.released. If I was a bird I am zipped up inside my down I am
:37:29. > :37:33.wonderfully warm. Of course let's think about those
:37:34. > :37:37.goldcrests and firecrests we were talking about earlier, what strategy
:37:38. > :37:43.do they use? They use all of those strategies, they huddle together and
:37:44. > :37:49.will go underneath a conifer and will also shiver. Here is one
:37:50. > :37:54.fantastic fact. A goldcrest, if it gets really cold can lose up to 20%
:37:55. > :37:59.of its body weight in one night just from trying to keep warm. If I was
:38:00. > :38:03.to do that I would lose about 16 kilos of my body weight, that's
:38:04. > :38:11.about two-and-a-half stroen. What does that look like? -- stone. In
:38:12. > :38:15.fat balls I would lose overnight about that and that.
:38:16. > :38:22.In a single night. I wish! Back to you.
:38:23. > :38:26.A new diet plan there! Go to the car park and take your clothes off and
:38:27. > :38:32.lose weight. If you were a bird would you be a shiverer or a
:38:33. > :38:36.huddler? I am not a huddler. I am a shiverer, then a huddler. As Martin
:38:37. > :38:41.was saying at this time of year it's really difficult for our small
:38:42. > :38:45.garden birds to survive. We often get asked this question, we had it
:38:46. > :39:01.again last night, how can we help birds in the cold? The simple answer
:39:02. > :39:05.answer is feed them, a variety of food, fat balls, food fruit, cheese.
:39:06. > :39:08.If you are feeding those brings you are bringing them close to you so
:39:09. > :39:13.you can watch them and watch what they want to eat. We thought we
:39:14. > :39:20.would conduct a relatively simple experiment here. About 150 metres up
:39:21. > :39:26.there we set this up. We have three bird feeders hanging in frames. It's
:39:27. > :39:35.been there for about six, seven days. The birds have been coming in,
:39:36. > :39:39.we have had a great variety. The feeders are very busy. This
:39:40. > :39:43.means it's a perfect opportunity to see what these birds want when it
:39:44. > :39:47.comes to choosing their food. What we were interested in is a
:39:48. > :39:51.simple experiment which you can conduct at home. What is the
:39:52. > :39:56.experiment? It's all to do with colour. These are our three feeders
:39:57. > :40:01.looking perfectly normal, natural colour and with a bit of magic you
:40:02. > :40:05.can see we have painted them. We have painted the frames and we have
:40:06. > :40:09.coloured the seeds. We have done a natural colour in the middle. Blue
:40:10. > :40:14.on one side, red on the other. Which one will they go for? What is your
:40:15. > :40:19.prediction? I have the seeds here. They've the red ones and the blue
:40:20. > :40:25.ones. We have dyed them I should say with a food dye which is safe for
:40:26. > :40:30.humans. I will prove that. It's fine! We have dyed them and
:40:31. > :40:36.dyed them blue and red. My prediction is that they will avoid
:40:37. > :40:41.the blue. In nature, many - excuse me speaking with my mouth food. In
:40:42. > :40:45.terms of human foods what blue foods do you eat? Don't say blue berries!
:40:46. > :40:48.When we tried experiments with humans and offered them blue food we
:40:49. > :40:53.were repulsed by it, we don't like it. I think the birds will avoid
:40:54. > :40:56.that because of the toxins inherently in those pigments in the
:40:57. > :41:02.colour blue. I think they'll go for the red because they always do. We
:41:03. > :41:07.have seen the waxwings yesterday feeding on red berries, other birds
:41:08. > :41:12.are drawn to red berries, that's probably one of the reasons they're
:41:13. > :41:15.red. My prediction is avoid blue. They've already starting eating some
:41:16. > :41:18.of the seeds. The birds have been coming in and we have been watching
:41:19. > :41:24.them all day. We are going to see how many birds visit. We are going
:41:25. > :41:28.to see which species go to which feeder. And of course we will record
:41:29. > :41:31.how quickly the seed goes down and if they're busy we will tell you
:41:32. > :41:37.tomorrow. We should be able to give you results tomorrow. Those birds
:41:38. > :41:39.are very lucky because their diet is supplemented by our marvellous
:41:40. > :41:44.experiment but a lot of birds have to work harder to get a decent meal.
:41:45. > :41:45.In fact, some birds have to be tough, agile and have a thirst for
:41:46. > :42:03.danger. Portland, the southern-most point of
:42:04. > :42:08.Dorset. It is stretches out into the English
:42:09. > :42:21.channel, forcing huge currents to smash together at its tip.
:42:22. > :42:25.The coastline here has borne witness to 1,000 shipwrecks with vessels
:42:26. > :42:31.falling pray to the treacherous tidal races. -- prey.
:42:32. > :42:41.Its rugged shoreline and isolated position mean that a few tenacious
:42:42. > :42:45.species call it home, most steer well clear of the crashing waves and
:42:46. > :42:51.vicious currents but one winter visitor likes to buck the trend,
:42:52. > :42:57.choosing instead to flirt with danger and secure exclusive dining
:42:58. > :43:01.rights, the purple sandpiper, the hardest bird on the bill! A small
:43:02. > :43:08.number of these unassuming looking birds spend the winter in this exact
:43:09. > :43:12.spot every year. With one eye always fixed on the next crashing wave, the
:43:13. > :43:25.sandpipers hug the rocks closest to the menacing sea.
:43:26. > :43:32.With nerves of steel, they wait until the last possible second
:43:33. > :43:50.before retreating from the ferocious white water.
:43:51. > :43:59.Only to return seconds later to do it all over again.
:44:00. > :44:03.They have an incredible ability to judge when they can simply square up
:44:04. > :44:15.to a wave or when they need to make a run for it.
:44:16. > :44:20.They almost seem to have an appetite for peril.
:44:21. > :44:24.Their lightning reactions and taste for danger are all the sandpipers
:44:25. > :44:31.have to help them tackle this most extreme of environments.
:44:32. > :44:42.Their feet might be big but they are no help on the slippery rocks. One
:44:43. > :44:49.false step with spells certain doom for these plucky little birds.
:44:50. > :44:57.The constant sea spray smothers the sandpipers and salty water. Whenever
:44:58. > :45:00.they are not feeding, they preen themselves by coating their feathers
:45:01. > :45:06.with oil from a special gland by their tail.
:45:07. > :45:18.By venturing web other waders feared to tread, the sandpipers have a rich
:45:19. > :45:23.food source all to themselves. They survive and thrive by being quite
:45:24. > :45:31.simply the toughest bird on the rocks.
:45:32. > :45:42.What a bird! A tough little bird. I like a tough bird. Fantastic waders.
:45:43. > :45:48.We have a live wader cam. Let's see what they have at the moment. Looks
:45:49. > :45:54.like a moonscape. There is a lot of action but we cannot see it at the
:45:55. > :46:03.moment. Do you hear that? There is something appalling. Could be a
:46:04. > :46:11.widgeon. Let's move swiftly on. The star wader is this one. It's a
:46:12. > :46:18.curlew. It is the UK's largest wader. It's very easy to spot
:46:19. > :46:25.because of its extremely long legs and, of course, it's long curved
:46:26. > :46:31.bill, which it uses in the winter to probe into the mud for a variety of
:46:32. > :46:37.food. Why is it hurt? There is no definitive answer but there are lots
:46:38. > :46:42.of advantages. A curved bill means it can probe ahead of its feet and
:46:43. > :46:49.has a wider arc and can penetrate further. Look at what it is doing
:46:50. > :46:57.here! It can actually probe further down than a straight ill could. It
:46:58. > :47:06.can get under and into things. -- bill. It pulls up a worm. A curved
:47:07. > :47:12.bill means it can probably pull more worms up without breaking them.
:47:13. > :47:17.Pretty neat. That is key for it, getting the worm alcohol. To
:47:18. > :47:26.contrast that with a black tailed godwit. It is foraging much closer
:47:27. > :47:32.to its feet. When it grabs at prey, it has to pull it directly upwards.
:47:33. > :47:37.So it cannot feed on things as big as the worm is a curlew is taking,
:47:38. > :47:44.without the risk of breaking them. Loss of part of a worm is
:47:45. > :47:48.disastrous. Basically, when the lug worms are in the mud, they are in
:47:49. > :47:54.like this with their tail at the top and the head at the bottom of their
:47:55. > :47:59.burrow. If it snaps here, unfortunately, the bird gets the
:48:00. > :48:04.rotten end of the worm. What it is really after is the head. More than
:48:05. > :48:10.60% of the nutrients in this worm are in this part above the top of my
:48:11. > :48:19.finger and thumb. It is essential to get the head. I will demonstrate how
:48:20. > :48:24.these two bird beats work. I have the black tailed godwit with the
:48:25. > :48:30.straight bill. What I will show you is, if the black tailed godwit
:48:31. > :48:37.sticks its built into the ground, when it turns to pull out the worm,
:48:38. > :48:41.as you can see, it damages the soil, will drag the worm through the mud
:48:42. > :48:45.and, as a consequence, there is a very good chance that worm will
:48:46. > :48:55.break and it will not end up with the head. When the curlew puts its
:48:56. > :49:03.bill into... Penetrates that OAC is, it comes out again and it comes out
:49:04. > :49:08.pretty cleanly. Look at that! Down it goes. Due to the curved action of
:49:09. > :49:13.the bill, it can withdraw a much larger prey item at the same time
:49:14. > :49:18.the godwit would have real problems in getting it out. Britain's largest
:49:19. > :49:24.wader, the curlew, can feed on those things and that is how it gets
:49:25. > :49:31.through the winter. What a demonstration! Thanks. A fantastic
:49:32. > :49:35.job! It is very cold now. Let's look back to the summer when it was
:49:36. > :49:37.lovely and warm and Martin was out doing some really important work
:49:38. > :49:51.with Montagu's Harriers. I am at a secret location, the
:49:52. > :50:02.nesting site of an extremely rare summer visitor. The Montagu's
:50:03. > :50:07.Harrier. They migrate here from west Africa to raise their young in
:50:08. > :50:12.arable farmland. With only five pairs nesting in Britain each year,
:50:13. > :50:24.it is vital to protect them, as well as trying to find out more about
:50:25. > :50:30.their long journey. Up. Yes. Today I am helping a Dutch research team to
:50:31. > :50:37.catch and tag a local female, who has a nest and two chicks nearby.
:50:38. > :50:43.Why these particular birds? They are really elegant. If you see them
:50:44. > :50:50.flying... They are really liked and have very long wins. They seem to
:50:51. > :50:57.dance in the sky. Harriers have superb vision. They will not just
:50:58. > :51:03.fly straight into our net. We need a secret weapon and this is it. A
:51:04. > :51:10.stuffed honey buzzard. What do you think of it so far? Rubbish.
:51:11. > :51:15.Montagu's Harriers are very territorial. The female will bravely
:51:16. > :51:18.defend her chicks, especially against larger raptors like a honey
:51:19. > :51:23.buzzard. We need to be clever. You will only attack into the wind and
:51:24. > :51:29.crucially, when the buzzard isn't looking. So, with the stuffed
:51:30. > :51:34.buzzard facing into the breeze and the net behind it, the trap is set.
:51:35. > :51:39.She must be full of territorial aggression. It is really close to
:51:40. > :51:45.the nest site. We retired to the card to wait it out. What happens
:51:46. > :51:55.when comes in? Jump out and run, so we are quicker. The female returns
:51:56. > :52:03.from a hand with some food and drops it down to one of the chicks. --
:52:04. > :52:13.hunt will stop then, she notices our de Cawley. -- de Cawley. She does
:52:14. > :52:19.not like the honey buzzard. She swoops at the honey buzzard. Perhaps
:52:20. > :52:29.she is hoping to drive it away. Come on. But she does not hit the net.
:52:30. > :52:33.Just pulled up. Did you see that? She must have been centimetres away.
:52:34. > :53:03.Then, on her next pass... She is in. We got her. Well done. She's so
:53:04. > :53:13.small. When you see her close, she is tiny. Well done! The bird is then
:53:14. > :53:21.measured. Way over a metre wingspan. Wade and ringed. CP for Chris
:53:22. > :53:28.Pakenham. The information is vital in building up a profile for the
:53:29. > :53:33.bird. How old is she? She has round eyes. That means she is rather
:53:34. > :53:40.young. What colour do they change as they get older? More yellow. This is
:53:41. > :53:46.the satellite tag. Presumably as to be a very exact weight. This is only
:53:47. > :53:50.12 grams. Because of this device you will know the exact migration path
:53:51. > :53:54.this bird will take. If you think about the effort we are doing,
:53:55. > :53:59.together with the farmers, protecting the nest, if there is a
:54:00. > :54:03.problem in Africa, it could be we are doing all of those in vain for
:54:04. > :54:08.that we have learned that northern Africa is quite important for them.
:54:09. > :54:12.In spring, it seems to be a key site for them to refuel and prepare for
:54:13. > :54:18.the migration back to the UK. If that area where to disappear, we
:54:19. > :54:25.could lose the Harriers. Are you giving her a name? Sally. I think
:54:26. > :54:35.she is nearly ready for release. You are going to release her, Martin. Am
:54:36. > :54:45.I? What a treat! Three, to, one, zero. There you go, Sally.
:54:46. > :54:51.Fantastic! What a privilege! It looks quite a big bird but there is
:54:52. > :54:56.nothing to it. Quite a light weight. Because Sally has that satellite
:54:57. > :55:02.tracked on her, we can follow her exact journey, her migration. She
:55:03. > :55:07.went from Norfolk, all the way down here, passing Paris in France, down
:55:08. > :55:11.through Spain, then she jumped across the med. She clipped the end
:55:12. > :55:20.of Morocco, all the way through Algeria, through Mali, down here,
:55:21. > :55:25.the Ivory Coast, and ended up in Ghana. I can tell you that, at seven
:55:26. > :55:32.o'clock to nine, Sally was there in Ghana. How can I tell you? The RSPB
:55:33. > :55:37.team gets an e-mail twice a day, 12 o'clock and seven o'clock telling
:55:38. > :55:42.them where Sally is. At seven o'clock tonight she was right there.
:55:43. > :55:48.Extraordinary. You can follow sell yourself. On the website there is a
:55:49. > :55:54.link. With luck, late March, early April, she'll be making her way all
:55:55. > :55:59.way back to the UK. That is about 5000 kilometres down there. An
:56:00. > :56:04.extraordinary journey. This is some wonderful news. There were five
:56:05. > :56:09.Montagu's Harriers nests in the UK which were all successfully hatched
:56:10. > :56:18.out and 13 chicks fledged. Wonderful news. We have some Harriers
:56:19. > :56:23.wintering at Arne. There were ten of these Marsh Harriers full stop they
:56:24. > :56:28.are pretty good news. The numbers slumped write-down and in recent
:56:29. > :56:32.years they picked up. More than 400 pairs of these birds and ten in
:56:33. > :56:37.Dorset. The numbers are supplemented from birds in from the continent.
:56:38. > :56:42.What is interesting, in the past that when I got into birds in the
:56:43. > :56:47.70s, these were migrating species. They would go down through France
:56:48. > :56:51.and Iberia, some into sub Saharan Africa. With the changing climate,
:56:52. > :57:03.many of them are staying in the UK and they are wintering here. They
:57:04. > :57:06.are changing their habits. Every chance of seeing them here. We asked
:57:07. > :57:08.you to send in photos of sunrises and you have. Some beautiful
:57:09. > :57:17.pictures. The sun is leaching through that stag in Richmond. This
:57:18. > :57:25.is from Minsmere. Sunrise through frost. Then this one from Rich
:57:26. > :57:33.Smith. Sunrise in HDR, hide dynamic range. That is the Yorkshire waltz.
:57:34. > :57:39.Thank you for sending them in. Ingrid has just asked, any tips how
:57:40. > :57:44.to attract Goldcrest into my garden? Plant a conifer. They like conifers.
:57:45. > :57:48.That is our parting shot for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow and
:57:49. > :57:52.we'll be taking a look at our foxes. We will try to work out how many
:57:53. > :57:57.there are and also the social structure of the group we are
:57:58. > :58:01.watching. What happens to our butterflies and moths in the depths
:58:02. > :58:07.of winter question how do they survive? Find out tomorrow. More
:58:08. > :58:16.about this handsome chap. The white, seeker stag, here on Arne. Make a
:58:17. > :58:20.date for 8pm and enjoyed the dawn. Take a photograph and send it into
:58:21. > :58:24.us. We might even show it on programme. From us, goodbye. Good
:58:25. > :59:02.night. MUSIC: The Elements
:59:03. > :59:04.by Tom Lehrer # There's Attenborough, micro.bit,
:59:05. > :59:07.The Bottom Line and In Our Time # And Terrific Scientific
:59:08. > :59:10.and Ten Pieces and All In The Mind # Inside Porton Down, Black And
:59:11. > :59:13.British, Bitesize, City In The Sky