:00:07. > :00:08.Settle down on your sofa, we are back.
:00:09. > :00:10.Tonight we've got foxes, we've got water voles,
:00:11. > :00:15.But that's not all - back by popular demand...
:00:16. > :00:25.It's going to be phone, Foxy, factual and fabulous. Snuggle up,
:00:26. > :00:53.it's time for Winterwatch! Good evening. We are going to go
:00:54. > :00:57.live, straightaway, to the thermal camera out in the field. What you
:00:58. > :01:01.can see there on the left-hand side is a fox.
:01:02. > :01:11.In front of it is a woodcock, two of the stars of the series.
:01:12. > :01:18.Unbelievable. Moments before we came on air, it was walking towards the
:01:19. > :01:22.woodcock, we thought, is it going to pounce? The woodcock doesn't even
:01:23. > :01:30.seem aware. The Fox has stopped to have a clean. It's difficult to tell
:01:31. > :01:35.how far away it is, relative to the woodcock. I know it is difficult to
:01:36. > :01:41.see now, but we saw the long bill. Look at it now.
:01:42. > :01:44.If anything happens, we will come straight back. What an exciting
:01:45. > :01:54.start! Welcome to the reserve in Dorset, it
:01:55. > :01:58.is Winterwatch 2017. It has been clear in some parts, reining in
:01:59. > :02:02.others. Down here we have been besieged by fog. This is what it has
:02:03. > :02:09.been like on the reserve. I rather like this muted atmosphere.
:02:10. > :02:18.Beautiful, photographic, Impressionist! This is a Monet
:02:19. > :02:23.moment. A cormorant, caught in a Monet moment. Preening, probably
:02:24. > :02:31.with the dew on its back. It is a picture of surrender tree. --
:02:32. > :02:37.serenity. It has been giving people problems, you are not so keen? I
:02:38. > :02:41.don't know, you like some black and white, I like colour, I am more of a
:02:42. > :02:48.kingfisher girl. You are dressed like a Kingfisher! We have cameras
:02:49. > :02:54.all around the reserve. But we also have a camera more local, in the
:02:55. > :03:00.studio. It is actually up there. That is right by a barn owl box.
:03:01. > :03:06.There is nothing in it now, as far as we can tell. Look what was there
:03:07. > :03:09.last night. Two barn owls. They don't seem bothered by us being
:03:10. > :03:14.there. They seem to know each other very well indeed. A little bit of
:03:15. > :03:33.barn owl canoodling. It's nearly Valentine's Day! They
:03:34. > :03:38.are having a little kiss. I think it's romantic. They are probably out
:03:39. > :03:44.hunting at the moment, so we have a thermal camera where they might be
:03:45. > :03:49.hunting. Can we go to that? What is happening?
:03:50. > :03:56.He is still lying down. It might take off, if he gets up.
:03:57. > :04:04.They do get around. Let's go live to the carcass camera. Nothing there
:04:05. > :04:12.now, because he is on the other camera. A cast of Foxy characters,
:04:13. > :04:15.we will show you more of them. The foxes have been active, they have
:04:16. > :04:21.not only been feeding, they have been doing something else as well.
:04:22. > :04:25.This is Tyson. We know this character, very dark. He has taken
:04:26. > :04:33.some meat away from the carcass, he is burying it in the leaves. He goes
:04:34. > :04:41.back... He gets a nice bit of... That looks like a bit of lung. Takes
:04:42. > :04:49.it away to a different area. This is Cheetah, another individual. Taking
:04:50. > :04:53.a whole leg! Seems to take her by surprise. But she is determined, not
:04:54. > :05:01.going to leave that, it's a really good food resource. Taking it off
:05:02. > :05:05.again. Half as big as her! This is behaviour that you will see foxes do
:05:06. > :05:11.in the winter. They actually have quite small stomachs, relative to
:05:12. > :05:16.Wolves and dogs, about half the size. They can only eat about 10% of
:05:17. > :05:20.their body weight in one sitting. They have to eat little and often.
:05:21. > :05:24.When they are full, they take some and save it for later. On a carcass,
:05:25. > :05:33.that makes perfect sense, they can't eat all of it at once. They take a
:05:34. > :05:36.little bit and they cache it, not four months like some quarrels, but
:05:37. > :05:41.for a couple of days later. Sometimes they get quite ambitious.
:05:42. > :05:48.He has begun to realise he is not going to tear it off, and he cannot
:05:49. > :05:52.drag the carcass away. He switches behaviour and he is starting to
:05:53. > :05:56.cover it with leaves. You can see from the Topshop that he has swept
:05:57. > :06:00.an area of leaves about one square metre. He is attempting to cache the
:06:01. > :06:08.entire carcass! I like unambitious animal. Perhaps he is biting off
:06:09. > :06:15.more than he can chew. He continues to go through this behaviour to try
:06:16. > :06:21.to hide the carcass. As you can see, a fruitless effort. In the end, he
:06:22. > :06:25.realises that. The foxes haven't only been on the carcass. We have
:06:26. > :06:30.seen them in other parts of the reserve. We think this one is
:06:31. > :06:38.Cheetah, the vixen. She's down on the shore. Listen. She is down in
:06:39. > :06:45.total darkness. That was a fox, barking. Even here the alarm
:06:46. > :06:52.calling. She was probably on the prowl for any birds that have died
:06:53. > :06:56.during the course of the day, or seeing if she can catch one
:06:57. > :07:07.off-guard. Listen to this. They spotted her and she disappears into
:07:08. > :07:13.the nest. It's a bit like the Blair Fox Project! I suspect there is a
:07:14. > :07:20.curlew in the corner, just nodding. Very atmospheric. I will be
:07:21. > :07:23.following the foxy Who's Who throughout the programme. It has
:07:24. > :07:27.been bitterly cold and very foggy for the last couple of days. On
:07:28. > :07:31.Sunday it was bitterly cold, but the sun came out. With it, a lot of
:07:32. > :07:45.insects appeared. Rather to our surprise! Here is a fly. The gorse
:07:46. > :07:49.is in flower. A honeybee, surprising to see that. A little bit of nectar.
:07:50. > :07:55.The beautifully named marmalade hover fly. Thank goodness for the
:07:56. > :08:01.gorse, providing the insects with a little bit of a snack, even in the
:08:02. > :08:08.depths of winter. We have also seen something else, something rather
:08:09. > :08:14.curious on Sunday. Here is a quiz, can you tell us what these are and
:08:15. > :08:19.what they are doing? What are these animals, and what are they up to?
:08:20. > :08:23.Get in contact on Twitter, on Facebook. We will try to see who
:08:24. > :08:29.gets it right before the end of the programme. Yesterday I tried to
:08:30. > :08:33.inspire you all to get about the crack of dawn and enjoy the sunrise.
:08:34. > :08:37.I'm pleased to say, for a lot of you, it was not foggy and you sent
:08:38. > :08:41.in some beautiful photographs. Here are some of them. Look at that. When
:08:42. > :08:49.I opened my curtains this morning, I did not wake up a shot like that. It
:08:50. > :08:56.appears from these photographs that maybe we were in a microclimate in
:08:57. > :09:01.Dorset. All over the country! Absolutely stunning. Thanks very
:09:02. > :09:07.much for sending those in. Beautiful. A bit of colour, I like
:09:08. > :09:14.that. Let's check on the Fox and Woodcock.
:09:15. > :09:26.Another fox in the field! They are busy tonight. It is going towards
:09:27. > :09:35.the Woodcock! Pincer movement! What is going to happen to it? If
:09:36. > :09:41.anything dramatic happens, we are recording and will show you. Let's
:09:42. > :09:51.stick with this Fox. It's amazing, I'm not sure I want to see the Fox
:09:52. > :10:00.get that. We were celebrating them. It is chewing something. We will
:10:01. > :10:08.keep across this. If it gets more dramatic, we will go straight to it.
:10:09. > :10:12.Iolo has been to Anglesey, in search of one of his favourite birds, an
:10:13. > :10:23.enigma, but it gathers there in great numbers.
:10:24. > :10:31.Look at that! I've been coming to Anglesey since I was about four
:10:32. > :10:40.years old. The bird I always wanted to see was the Raven. They are big,
:10:41. > :10:44.bold, black, beautiful. But they are wily, incredibly intelligent. It is
:10:45. > :10:51.so difficult to get close enough to get a really good luck. But at this
:10:52. > :10:54.time of year, Anglesey is the perfect place to see them. Ravens
:10:55. > :11:00.from across the country gather here in their hundreds.
:11:01. > :11:11.Each afternoon, they are drawn here to feed, play and socialise. But
:11:12. > :11:19.it's not all about fun. The forest also provides them with a winter
:11:20. > :11:23.refuge. I visited this roosting site many times. But as Ravens are
:11:24. > :11:28.particularly elusive birds, there is still so much I want to learn. I've
:11:29. > :11:33.enlisted the help of Nigel Brown, who has studied the ravens on
:11:34. > :11:42.Anglesey for the last 20 years. We have an owl before dark, quite a few
:11:43. > :11:46.birds coming in. This is quite a communal experience, for these
:11:47. > :11:56.birds. It is probably a highlight of their day. What I love is as they
:11:57. > :12:02.come, you get the calls. They have something like 30 different calls?
:12:03. > :12:06.The Romans said 65, maybe they made up a few. It may be more than any
:12:07. > :12:16.songbird. Wow. It's really starting to liven
:12:17. > :12:29.up now. Your hearing tock-tock. It wasn't just ravens arriving for
:12:30. > :12:40.the party. I love the interplay between the
:12:41. > :12:48.cheeky jackdaws and the solemn raven. It's like being in the middle
:12:49. > :12:56.of an orchestra. You have the insects as well. Except it is not
:12:57. > :13:01.orchestrated. It doesn't seem to be. When they are coming to roost, do
:13:02. > :13:05.they roost individually, do they roost as a group, do we know that?
:13:06. > :13:10.Earlier research suggested that groups of up to six will occupy one
:13:11. > :13:16.tree. But we weren't ever able to prove that for sure. At night, you
:13:17. > :13:20.can't see them. That's why I'm really excited by what we are going
:13:21. > :13:23.to try tonight. We are going to try to film them after dark, something
:13:24. > :13:28.that has never been done before. Hopefully that will give us a pretty
:13:29. > :13:35.good idea of how many you have in particular areas within this forest.
:13:36. > :13:39.With thermal cameras at the ready, all we can do is wait for darkness
:13:40. > :13:45.to fall and hope the mysteries of the raven roost would then be
:13:46. > :13:52.revealed. I wish we had had this equipment 20 years ago!
:13:53. > :14:00.Fantastic. I've been up there, it's magical hearing all of the weird
:14:01. > :14:03.calls from the ravens. I love their calls, amazing. Can we see what is
:14:04. > :14:21.going on with the fox and Woodcock? The woodcock has gone. The fox
:14:22. > :14:31.didn't seem to notice it at all. The woodcock, they have this thing,
:14:32. > :14:37.emotional Baku -- no centre comes out at all, they tighten their
:14:38. > :14:43.feathers, and the heart rate can go from four per minute to 60, when
:14:44. > :14:47.they take off. Apparently I can slow my heart rate to almost nothing. An
:14:48. > :14:52.Aston Martin drives by and I explode.
:14:53. > :15:00.Our foxes have been at the carcasses during the night-time but during the
:15:01. > :15:04.day time we have buzzards. One of the birds has been particularly
:15:05. > :15:12.pale. This bird is quite unusual in that sense. Pale birds in the
:15:13. > :15:24.buzzard population are not an enormous rarity, you will find them.
:15:25. > :15:34.This bird, as you can see is altogether darker. We have a pale
:15:35. > :15:38.one here, this one is darker. Both the same species. Living in the same
:15:39. > :15:41.place, at the same time, doing, as you can see, the same job, but
:15:42. > :15:47.different colours. What about that? Very curious. When I see them, they
:15:48. > :15:51.are somewhere between both of those. Intermediates. They are a greater
:15:52. > :15:56.part of the buzzard population. Here on the left hand side you can see
:15:57. > :16:03.our pale one, in the middle you have the intermediate and on the right
:16:04. > :16:07.hand side the dark of the buzzard. What's the point of it? Why would
:16:08. > :16:14.you have a range of different colours in the buzzard. What we know
:16:15. > :16:17.for sure, the intermediates have a the greatest lifetime reproductive
:16:18. > :16:21.success. They rear more young during the course of their life than the
:16:22. > :16:27.pale ones and the dark ones. What is the point of being pale and dark.
:16:28. > :16:33.Nature needs a reason. It's likely there is a gee netcle linkage with
:16:34. > :16:37.the colours that would give those animals an opportunity under certain
:16:38. > :16:42.circumstances. If conditions change you might see an increase in pale
:16:43. > :16:51.one us because they are present in that population. In southern Sweden
:16:52. > :16:57.there was an enormous number of pale buzzards. For a a number of time it
:16:58. > :17:07.was better torque pale that dark. We don't know why it manifested in
:17:08. > :17:14.buzzards. Amazing. A fox is barking there. We have noticed the colour
:17:15. > :17:19.difference in sika deer. People have said, have you seen the white stag,
:17:20. > :17:37.the white Hart, here he. Is doesn't he look striking. He's not albino.
:17:38. > :17:42.Leucistic makes the pigment they don't get it out to their feathers,
:17:43. > :17:49.if it's a bird, or fur if it's a deer. They are very striking. In the
:17:50. > :17:54.old days the they used to hunt the white Hart is you find an innocent
:17:55. > :17:58.young virgin, she will sit down. The white Hart will come and lay it is
:17:59. > :18:03.head on her lap. The hunter would grab it. No-one has caught one down
:18:04. > :18:19.here in Dorset like that for over 200 years. Amazing. I love that. I
:18:20. > :18:26.Love that. Water voles, increasingly rare animal, of course. Very shy.
:18:27. > :18:32.Difficult to see. Russell has been out looking for them. He has a
:18:33. > :18:42.secret place he goes to where he gets intermaite with his water
:18:43. > :18:47.voles. We are on the chalk stream. I knew it was a special site when I
:18:48. > :18:50.fist arrived here. A lot of people walk past this place and probably
:18:51. > :18:52.don't even understand the wildlife that is here. Spend a few minutes,
:18:53. > :19:10.observe, and it comes to you. My main interest would be the water
:19:11. > :19:17.vole and it looks a fantastic environment for that. There is good
:19:18. > :19:22.evidence of the water vole. I have done the laying around by the side
:19:23. > :19:25.of the pond, going out on to the river, different tactics I thought I
:19:26. > :19:48.have to go in and join them. The voles are nervous. You have to
:19:49. > :19:52.be incredibly still, so you are freezing and being, very, very cold
:19:53. > :19:56.in the water. Just don't move about. As time goes by and you do more days
:19:57. > :20:02.of it they become more relaxed and then you will get them swimming
:20:03. > :20:06.past. Sitting right in front of you, you know, chewing away. They are
:20:07. > :20:09.always here, every single day, some of the special shots, it just
:20:10. > :20:14.happens that once, you have to be there to catch it.
:20:15. > :20:22.One of the most satisfying things is, because we have this beautiful
:20:23. > :20:26.chalk stream, you can see these silver bullets which are the water
:20:27. > :20:30.voles under the water with the air trapped in their fur. They whizz
:20:31. > :20:36.underneath you. An amazing experience, it really is. I've had
:20:37. > :20:41.cold days and I've had some very cold days. My last session here I
:20:42. > :20:44.think we were minus four. That day I only managed about an
:20:45. > :20:46.hour-and-a-half sitting in. Generally speaking, a session would
:20:47. > :20:52.be around about three-and-a-half hours. You get to the numb stage and
:20:53. > :20:54.then everything goes dead, you for get about it, but it does become
:20:55. > :21:07.quite painful after a while. The life of the water vole is very
:21:08. > :21:11.short. Most of them don't get through into a second year. So a
:21:12. > :21:22.huge steep learning curve. On first coming to the site really
:21:23. > :21:28.was this idea that possibly, possibly we'd got water voles that
:21:29. > :21:35.were climbing trees. The evidence on the tree I think most people put it
:21:36. > :21:39.down to squirrels. I think it was worth spending some time and then
:21:40. > :21:42.they started to climb. They were going up along the branches. I think
:21:43. > :21:48.there was probably six inches above the water. I thought, that is quite
:21:49. > :21:52.interesting, maybe not so steady on their feet. To my amazement they
:21:53. > :22:01.kept climbing and climbing and climbing.
:22:02. > :22:08.I don't know what the different was between the bark at the bottom and
:22:09. > :22:20.the top, they just liked to go higher.
:22:21. > :22:30.They were actually eating it. Winter time for water voles is very, very
:22:31. > :22:36.hard. It's interesting to find these behaviours, to work out what is
:22:37. > :22:39.driving them to do it. Is it a food source, a shortage of something or
:22:40. > :22:47.something they have A just found that they like? -- they've just.
:22:48. > :22:52.What a top bloke. I love a determined naturalist. He looked
:22:53. > :22:57.frozen trying to get that shot sitting in the water. Is it unusual
:22:58. > :23:01.to see a water vole eating bark? This time of year they have to eat
:23:02. > :23:04.80% of their body weight a day. They will take advantage of any
:23:05. > :23:08.vegetation that they can get. Difficult to see though because,
:23:09. > :23:13.let's face, it they are in massive decline. Difficult to see a water
:23:14. > :23:17.vole anyway. Also what is very difficult to see is a woodcock in a
:23:18. > :23:22.field in the dark. We've been very excited tonight because not only
:23:23. > :23:26.have we seen live on our thermal camera a woodcock, we have seen
:23:27. > :23:30.foxes behind it. This is what we saw seconds ago. Have a look. This is
:23:31. > :23:38.the woodcock, very difficult to see these birds. Here it comes.
:23:39. > :23:43.Returning back to the field where the fox was sitting, relaxing and
:23:44. > :23:47.grooming. Probably didn't even realise that the woodcock was right
:23:48. > :23:51.in front of it. There it is. This is a bird that we featured just a
:23:52. > :23:58.couple of days ago with Martin. It's fantastic. Let's see if that bird is
:23:59. > :24:02.still there now? There he is. You can see the spec there. This is the
:24:03. > :24:08.field that Martin caught the woodcock in. We are looking for the
:24:09. > :24:15.fox. Some way away. Quite a long way away. The woodcocks come from
:24:16. > :24:19.another part of Europe back to the same area. Each night they will go
:24:20. > :24:22.to the same field. It's likely that woodcock has been visiting this
:24:23. > :24:25.field. It could be the one that Martin caught, you don't know. At
:24:26. > :24:30.the moment it's avoiding those foxes. Last night we started an
:24:31. > :24:34.experiment looking at bird food choice. An experiment you could
:24:35. > :24:39.conduct in your own garden. If we look at our control, if you like.
:24:40. > :24:46.This is how we set it up initially. The feeders are the same. . The
:24:47. > :24:52.first thing we wanted to look at is how the birds behaved. What we
:24:53. > :24:56.noticed is that the tit speedies seemed to choose the feeders on the
:24:57. > :25:01.outside, not the centre one. When they arrive they take one of those
:25:02. > :25:06.sunflower hearts and fly off with it back to the security of the hedgerow
:25:07. > :25:09.to eat it. Gold finches, on the other hand, behave differently.
:25:10. > :25:13.They choose the central feeder, they arrive in numbers. They stick there.
:25:14. > :25:17.Each one taking a seed, having a I believe inle whilst the others look
:25:18. > :25:21.out. I think that's what this difference is all about. These are
:25:22. > :25:29.flock feeding birds. Safety in numbers, more eyes, so they don't
:25:30. > :25:37.have to retreat to the hedgerow. Robbins come in and get the scraps.
:25:38. > :25:41.Also do great spotted woodpecker. They are picking things up
:25:42. > :25:44.underneath. They are more forceful. When they hop onto the feeder itself
:25:45. > :25:49.they will drive off all the other birds. No-one wants a severe peck in
:25:50. > :25:53.the back of the head from one of these guys. That was the experiment
:25:54. > :25:56.we set up. The birds are using it in different way, which correlate to
:25:57. > :26:02.the behaviour that they would display if they were feeding on
:26:03. > :26:06.natural things. Gold finches feeding on thistle heads, lots of eyes
:26:07. > :26:13.sitting in one place. Tits go back to the security of the hedgerow.
:26:14. > :26:15.It's been mesmerising watching those birds against the black. You can see
:26:16. > :26:20.the colours. Colour is what our experiment is about. We want to find
:26:21. > :26:25.out how colour affects that feeding behaviour and what colour they
:26:26. > :26:32.prefer. These are our three feeders. Normal colour. We coloured two of
:26:33. > :26:36.them, one blue, one red. We painted the frame with nontoxic paint and we
:26:37. > :26:40.dyed the seeds. We will give you the result of that experiment tomorrow.
:26:41. > :26:45.All I can say is, they are both surprising and interesting and
:26:46. > :26:50.emphatic as well. We are trying to explain how animals get through the
:26:51. > :26:53.winter. There were several obvious strategies, migration, animals who
:26:54. > :26:58.move away. Animals which roost in places to stay warm. Some animals
:26:59. > :27:04.have to get through the winter by hibernating. Gillan has been out to
:27:05. > :27:18.find an animal that gets through the winter by hunkering in a bunker.
:27:19. > :27:25.In the summer, this area of Studland in Dorset is buzzing with all sorts
:27:26. > :27:29.of insects and particularly butterflies Flitting from flower to
:27:30. > :27:31.flower foraging for nectar, but this is winter and where have they all
:27:32. > :27:48.gone? Some, like the painted lady, migrate
:27:49. > :27:54.to sunnier climes. In other species, the adults die off. Leaving eggs,
:27:55. > :27:57.caterpillars to tough it out and emerge as adults in the spring. A
:27:58. > :28:04.few surprisingly Hardy butterflies manage to stay here throughout
:28:05. > :28:09.evening the harshest winter. This is a pillbox. Hundreds of these were
:28:10. > :28:13.built along the coastline to house guns and defend these shores against
:28:14. > :28:15.attack during the Second World War, but now it houses a completely
:28:16. > :28:46.different occupant. There they are. These are peacock
:28:47. > :28:49.butterflies. It's really quite easy to overlook special it is to see
:28:50. > :28:55.them like this. Before there were man-made structures, like sheds,
:28:56. > :29:02.they would have spent the winter in a hollowed out log, so to be able to
:29:03. > :29:08.walk into a place like this and see them in this state is quite special.
:29:09. > :29:24.They are so still. There are more and here.
:29:25. > :29:30.This is not hibernation as we know it. Mammals that hibernate, they
:29:31. > :29:38.wind down them metabolism to a point where it is barely ticking over,
:29:39. > :29:43.like a car engine, idling. But as it does, there is still wear and tear.
:29:44. > :29:48.Insects do something completely different, they actually switch the
:29:49. > :29:54.engine of. They hold all developmental processes until they
:29:55. > :29:58.don't age at all. But they have a really neat trick up their sleeve.
:29:59. > :30:03.Just like your car engine, they are sat with the engine off, but the
:30:04. > :30:07.ignition is still on. So if they are disturbed by a predator, a mouse or
:30:08. > :30:16.a bird, they flash their wings open to reveal the high eye spots that
:30:17. > :30:19.start for their attacker and scare them away. They have enough fat
:30:20. > :30:24.reserves to get them through the winter. In a few months' time, they
:30:25. > :30:36.will wake up, leave this pillbox and head out to mate and start the new
:30:37. > :30:38.generation. The pillboxes have done their job to help us, now they are
:30:39. > :30:49.doing the same for butterflies. Fascinating film. You would be
:30:50. > :30:53.really lucky to see a butterfly flying around now. But if you go out
:30:54. > :31:00.and about, even in the depths of winter, you might see a moth. So how
:31:01. > :31:04.can they fly in the icy cold of winter? We are going to find out,
:31:05. > :31:13.because we have Gillian here. You are passionate about insects? Yes.
:31:14. > :31:17.What have we got here? We try to attract some of the winter flying
:31:18. > :31:24.moths. There are a handful of species that are still active. We
:31:25. > :31:29.have a light trap, a Robinson 's moth trap, pretty much unchanged
:31:30. > :31:34.since the 1950s. It does what it says on the tin. This one is more
:31:35. > :31:41.sophisticated, it uses pheromones, the sweet scent of the female.
:31:42. > :31:46.Before we go on to the winter moths, I wanted to show you another
:31:47. > :31:52.species, the herald moth. I am going to put it over here so we can get a
:31:53. > :31:57.closer look. It's gorgeous! Beautiful.
:31:58. > :32:03.When you get nice and close, tight shots, before I get into the science
:32:04. > :32:12.bit, you can really appreciate what a beautiful moth it is. It's like a
:32:13. > :32:17.rich tapestry. This moth isn't really active at this time of year,
:32:18. > :32:23.it is just like the peacock butterflies we saw. Hibernating?
:32:24. > :32:26.Yes. It emerges quite early in the spring. To do that, it has to get
:32:27. > :32:31.flight muscles up to temperature. It does that by vibrating the wings. As
:32:32. > :32:40.you can see, a really nice shot of that. As it vibrates, it is slowly
:32:41. > :32:43.raising its temperature. Like massively exercising? Yes, do loads
:32:44. > :32:49.of presents and get warm. We saw it warming itself up. When you go to
:32:50. > :32:55.the thermal cameras, it is absolutely amazing. You can see the
:32:56. > :33:08.body getting warm. Not the wings, it is actually the thorax, right there,
:33:09. > :33:13.started to start glowing white hot. They can raise their temperature 40
:33:14. > :33:19.degrees. That was five minutes of warming up condensed into seconds,
:33:20. > :33:29.but it started to massively glow. I've seen this, back in Springwatch,
:33:30. > :33:35.we filmed owls hunting moths at night. You can see them, like bits
:33:36. > :33:44.of fire, whizzing about. The owl has seen it, will it get it? What
:33:45. > :33:50.fascinates me is that you can see so clearly only thermal camera how hot
:33:51. > :33:53.the moths are as they fly around. As you say, is it going to get it? Got
:33:54. > :34:01.it in flight. Absolutely fascinating. That is what moths do
:34:02. > :34:07.to warm themselves up. But that isn't a winter flying moth. What do
:34:08. > :34:14.the ones doing the winter? In my other pocket, I've got this. Here we
:34:15. > :34:20.have a male winter moth. I know it doesn't look like much... I like it,
:34:21. > :34:29.I have seen them at home. If we can get the lid off... He is starting to
:34:30. > :34:34.flatter his wings. It is quite a cold night, but it is active.
:34:35. > :34:41.Perfect example. It can't be far from freezing, and he is still...
:34:42. > :34:50.How on earth is he going to do that? He is not warmed up? No, but what
:34:51. > :34:56.you get is a lovely view, quite a small body. These moths belong to a
:34:57. > :35:00.family which have small bodies. Relative to that, really large
:35:01. > :35:04.wings. That means they are really energy-efficient with flying. They
:35:05. > :35:09.have done away with the digestive tract altogether. As adults, they
:35:10. > :35:12.don't need to feed. All they do is fly, they are single minded in their
:35:13. > :35:17.purpose to find a mate. These traits make them really suited to flying in
:35:18. > :35:24.cold temperatures. If we see them side-by-side... The herald moth is
:35:25. > :35:35.on the winter moth is on the left. The winter moth has a John -- chunky
:35:36. > :35:40.body. The wings of the winter moth, it is so efficient, it only needs to
:35:41. > :35:44.beat its wings four times a second, with the herald moth it is 60 times
:35:45. > :35:51.a second. It has adapted perfectly to flying around in the winter. Why?
:35:52. > :35:57.What is so good about being out when it is bitterly cold? The air space
:35:58. > :36:03.is empty. It is safe. There are no bats, they are hibernating. Even the
:36:04. > :36:07.spiders, there are few of them around. It's a great time of year
:36:08. > :36:17.for some moths to make the most of that. I am loving the male winter
:36:18. > :36:22.moth, but even more, I like the female one that I have got. She is
:36:23. > :36:27.right on the side. If I hold that, can you see that?
:36:28. > :36:35.You might notice something about that female. As she got any wings?
:36:36. > :36:51.They actually have vestigial wings. That is the remains of them. All she
:36:52. > :36:54.has is a fat body, but no wings. She is completely flightless. The
:36:55. > :37:00.question arises, how does the male possibly find a flightless female?
:37:01. > :37:08.It's a really good example of how these winter moths have to make the
:37:09. > :37:12.tough choices. It is a trade-off. The females lose their wings. That
:37:13. > :37:18.is because flying is a costly business, but so is making eggs. The
:37:19. > :37:24.females have left the business of flying to the males. They just get
:37:25. > :37:29.onto making eggs. How they find them is beautifully simple. They
:37:30. > :37:33.basically make their way up the tree trunk, the females, they make their
:37:34. > :37:38.way up to the tree trunks, they get themselves into a good position,
:37:39. > :37:49.they stay put and broadcast their position by sending out pheromones.
:37:50. > :37:56.Pheromones? Which are? Smelly sex gas. Fantastic! A brilliant bit of
:37:57. > :38:01.biology. I have seen the males, I have never seen the females. Have
:38:02. > :38:05.you seen a female winter moth? I have seen them, not very often. I
:38:06. > :38:13.had to be shown them by somebody that was another moth expert. The
:38:14. > :38:17.best place to find them is apparently an apple trees. There is
:38:18. > :38:22.one animal we are seeing a lot of on the live cameras. It is the family
:38:23. > :38:28.of resident foxes. There has been a lot of live action, an all-star
:38:29. > :39:07.cast. Let's remind ourselves of the leading characters.
:39:08. > :39:17.We should rename them, Mr Stumpy, Mr Cheetah! I hope it just doesn't end
:39:18. > :39:22.up stuck in the middle with one of them, that scene... In Reservoir
:39:23. > :39:26.dogs, there were six characters, we have only shown you four. We have
:39:27. > :39:32.two more to show you. They have a co-star role. Look at this one. This
:39:33. > :39:36.is a new character, not seen before. Look at the face. You can tell the
:39:37. > :39:46.markings on the face. You can see this one has a moustache. We are
:39:47. > :39:56.calling this one Tash, a dainty female... With a moustache! This is
:39:57. > :40:09.a male, but look at the eyes. The male is blind. They are calling this
:40:10. > :40:13.one Pugh. We now have a cast of six. That is not surprising, foxes live
:40:14. > :40:17.in social groups, typically with a dominant male and female, and a
:40:18. > :40:20.supporting cast of family members from previous letters. We have seen
:40:21. > :40:30.quite a bit of social interaction, interesting stuff. On the right-hand
:40:31. > :40:42.side, we have Stumpy. He is whining, there is clearly another fox coming.
:40:43. > :40:46.His ears go down. This is Cheetah coming in sideways, showing her
:40:47. > :40:56.flank, and then it kicks off. They stand on their back legs, lock their
:40:57. > :41:07.forelegs. This is called fox trotting. Now he sounds a bit like a
:41:08. > :41:15.cub, begging for food. It is very clear that Cheetah is the dominant
:41:16. > :41:25.fox. She offers her rump. He isn't mounting. He is still subservient.
:41:26. > :41:30.He is making that clicking sound, geckoing, typical fox conflicts. All
:41:31. > :41:35.of that whining, as well. And this time of year, there are probably
:41:36. > :41:38.more fox fights and scraps like this than any other time of year.
:41:39. > :41:42.Firstly, a shortage of food, although not in this image. Then
:41:43. > :41:48.they are breeding and dispersing at the same time. She has come in, she
:41:49. > :41:51.has pushed an animal further down the pecking order away, and now she
:41:52. > :42:02.is helping herself to some of the food. He has been forced to wait his
:42:03. > :42:06.turn. Because this is not an all-out scrap, he is remaining in
:42:07. > :42:12.attendance, that pretty much guarantees that these animals are
:42:13. > :42:18.from the same social group. We have a more dominant female, Cheetah, in
:42:19. > :42:23.the picture, and a less dominant male, behaving and sounding like a
:42:24. > :42:29.cub. Maybe he is one of her cubs from last year. Eventually, she lets
:42:30. > :42:32.him go to the carcass. Again, it might be a relic to behaviour,
:42:33. > :42:40.because there is an affinity between them and she might see him as one of
:42:41. > :42:44.her cubs from the previous season. If he could leave with his tail
:42:45. > :42:51.between his legs, he would. But he can't, because he hasn't really got
:42:52. > :42:56.a tail. It's amazing to see and hear that natural behaviour. Like any
:42:57. > :42:59.good plot, the storyline is complex and unpredictable. One minute you
:43:00. > :43:03.are feeling sorry for Stumpy, and then the tables turn. Look at this.
:43:04. > :43:11.This is one of the other characters. This is Rogue, eating at the moment.
:43:12. > :43:17.Rogue is not that confident, a little bit nervous. She can hear
:43:18. > :43:24.something. She can probably smell something as well. She sits down.
:43:25. > :43:31.This is not dominant behaviour at all. She trots off with her tail
:43:32. > :43:34.down, and then the tail goes between the legs. If you look at the back,
:43:35. > :43:44.you can see another fox is approaching. Which fox is this?
:43:45. > :43:49.Well, surprisingly, this is Stumpy. You can hear the noise, listen to
:43:50. > :43:54.the noise. Stumpy comes in, looking very confident. When you have seen
:43:55. > :44:01.what just happened previously, that might surprise you. Rogue comes
:44:02. > :44:04.behind, the tail is still very much down. Very much the subordinate fox.
:44:05. > :44:13.Stumpy has a nice feed. It's complex social interaction,
:44:14. > :44:16.isn't it, Chris? It is. We have seen a large female, Cheetah, dominating
:44:17. > :44:20.that smaller male, which could be one of her cubs. That smaller male
:44:21. > :44:24.dominating another one of the smaller females. Perhaps that was a
:44:25. > :44:28.litter mate of his, a female from the same litter. We will discuss
:44:29. > :44:34.this more tomorrow. Aside from the behaviour, there is a lot of noise,
:44:35. > :44:41.isn't there? Listen to this. Now this is a fox call that's very
:44:42. > :44:45.frequent at this time of year. If you've got foxes in your area, I'm
:44:46. > :44:48.sure you've heard that. That is not fighting. That is the sound of a
:44:49. > :44:53.Vixen barking. The reason she is, barking is to call males in. Because
:44:54. > :44:57.at this time of year the males roam throughout female ranges looking for
:44:58. > :45:05.mates. She's keen to mate with as many males as possible. If a male
:45:06. > :45:10.comes into the range. If there is a partner she has, she will mate with
:45:11. > :45:14.another male. When we look at fox litters we frequently find that they
:45:15. > :45:17.are fathered by several different fathers. That is because she is
:45:18. > :45:23.calling them in. You will frequently hear that. If you are out in the
:45:24. > :45:29.woods walking your dog, if one barks alongside you, it can make you It's
:45:30. > :45:35.a scary jump. Sound. Lots of you have been asking about our spoonbill
:45:36. > :45:44.camera, loads, at least five people have asked - I'm a great fan. I know
:45:45. > :45:55.you are. I know you are. We brought it back by demand. Here it is Robo
:45:56. > :45:56.Spoonbill the Sequel. Robo Spoonbill has not quite delivered the goods.
:45:57. > :46:02.Here it has not quite delivered the goods.
:46:03. > :46:06.Here it is. Let's pick it up. Hello, Robo Spoonbill. For some strange
:46:07. > :46:11.reason the spoonbills didn't like it. We are not sure why. Many birds
:46:12. > :46:15.will come straight in to even a really bad Dee coy. Is a brilliant
:46:16. > :46:22.decoy. They didn't like it for some reason. They stayed away. We are not
:46:23. > :46:25.worried. When we took Robo Spoonbill away the other spoonbills came
:46:26. > :46:34.straight in. It hasn't bothered them. I'm afraid, nice try, but,
:46:35. > :46:39.whoops, no cigar. Of course, spoonbills are fabulous. We have
:46:40. > :46:44.been out there filming them. We have lovely behaviour. Here they are
:46:45. > :46:51.coming in. They became extinct in the UK in the 17th Century, they
:46:52. > :46:57.were hunting to extinction. In 1999, after a gap of 350 years they first
:46:58. > :47:02.bred successfully. There is that remarkable bill. Tricky to preen
:47:03. > :47:07.themselves with it. By the way, look at that marking on the leg, that
:47:08. > :47:11.ring. That shows that bird is from the Netherlands. We think the
:47:12. > :47:15.majority of these birds, we think there are 23 right now, down in the
:47:16. > :47:24.harbour, they are all, we think, have come from the Netherlands.
:47:25. > :47:31.There they are, using those beak ends to feed. If they are very
:47:32. > :47:36.sensitive. They will snap shut on their prey and feed themselves.
:47:37. > :47:42.Sometimes even the mighty spoonbill gets it wrong. This one was trying
:47:43. > :47:47.to eat a flatfish. It's quite difficult to see this in the mist.
:47:48. > :47:54.See it there. The flatfish is frankly too big for that spoonbill.
:47:55. > :47:58.That isn't adopted for fish suppers if they are flatfish. It would never
:47:59. > :48:02.get it down its throat, even if it could. It can't break it up. Another
:48:03. > :48:07.bird perhaps might have a better luck. The shape of that bill will
:48:08. > :48:12.never, ever do it. What other bird might have a go at that flatfish? A
:48:13. > :48:17.black backed gull. Here it came in. It's got a much more dagger-like
:48:18. > :48:22.bill. It could maybe puncture that flatfish. I think it's the same
:48:23. > :48:26.flatfish. The spoonbill is still there. Can he get inside a flatfish?
:48:27. > :48:32.A difficult shape for a bird to eat. He has to try and plunge that bill
:48:33. > :48:39.inside the fish and, is he going to do it? Yes, he does. Look at that.
:48:40. > :48:43.He is getting all the plucks, as they say, out from inside. Fantastic
:48:44. > :48:48.to see the spoonbills. The first one I saw I thought it must have escaped
:48:49. > :48:55.from an ex-is toic aviary or something. Staggering birds. Water
:48:56. > :48:59.is essential for all wildlife if you want to encourage wildlife into your
:49:00. > :49:07.back garden the most effective ways to do that is to build a pond. This
:49:08. > :49:10.is a Winterwatch SOS. Every month for the next year we will show you
:49:11. > :49:17.something you can do in your garden that will improve it for wildlife.
:49:18. > :49:20.To get started, a pond from an old washing up bowl. If it still holds
:49:21. > :49:48.water, it can hold life. There we are. Where is Conan the
:49:49. > :49:54.barbarian when you need him. He'd put some pond in. I say, that's
:49:55. > :49:59.almost a perfect fit! Remarkable. Ideally, in a pond, you want a
:50:00. > :50:03.sloping side. The quickest way to do that is to use some pebbles. Get it
:50:04. > :50:09.started by putting some plants in. You can get these at garden centres.
:50:10. > :50:14.These are aquatic plants, obviously. I will leave them in their pots for
:50:15. > :50:19.the time being. Even a tiny pond like this one is the most effective
:50:20. > :50:27.resource to increase the value of your garden to wildlife. There, I've
:50:28. > :50:33.tickled the fancy of a tadpole and made a newt happy. If you can get a
:50:34. > :50:39.dragonfly dreaming by making a mini pond of your own we would like to
:50:40. > :50:43.see it. Send pictures to us Australianed all under the title of
:50:44. > :50:52.BBC spring watch. Go to it. Save our species. I know there will be cynics
:50:53. > :50:56.out there thinking a washing up bowl in the lawn, that won't work for
:50:57. > :50:59.wildlife or anything else. It will. Dragonflies will come to it. Your
:51:00. > :51:07.kids could be fascinating by what lives in it. I had one of those when
:51:08. > :51:14.I was a kid in my garden, I was always sticking my nose in it. .
:51:15. > :51:23.We will put one of those SOS online for a year. Look on Instagram and
:51:24. > :51:27.our website to see how to improve the lot for your wildlife in your
:51:28. > :51:35.back garden. We have a laif badger on the camera. True to form, it's
:51:36. > :51:40.just disappeared behind the grass. If we crash in, we can see it's
:51:41. > :51:45.there, sniffing around. It's looking for food. It looks like a female.
:51:46. > :51:55.OK. Let us go to our thermal camera. Our fox there is on the move, still
:51:56. > :51:59.roaming around in woodcock field. A little bit of scent marking there.
:52:00. > :52:09.It's all happening out there tonight. Foxes, badgers, woodcock,
:52:10. > :52:13.absolutely fantastic. We left you Iolo Williams was on Anglesey and
:52:14. > :52:19.was waiting to see the ravens come to roost. What would happen next.
:52:20. > :52:23.Let's find out. As night falls we sneak into the forest to get into
:52:24. > :52:31.the thick of the action. . Isn't it fantastic. We've come in under the
:52:32. > :52:35.canopy. We have the sea in the distance and we have ravens and
:52:36. > :52:42.jackdaws. Surround sound. It's fabulous. What is brilliant is being
:52:43. > :52:50.able to look now and, hopefully, find some ravens. But strangely, as
:52:51. > :52:54.we look around, the forest seems to be empty. We can still hear them,
:52:55. > :53:03.it's almost as if they've disappeared. But then we spot
:53:04. > :53:08.something in the canopy. Look at that, look at that. Wow! I can see
:53:09. > :53:17.the shape of the bird. You can see the outline. Yes. Oh, wow. That's a
:53:18. > :53:20.special moment. First time in my whole life I've had the advantage
:53:21. > :53:30.over a raven. I can see it and it can't see me. Look at the size of
:53:31. > :53:34.that. Look at that. Exaggerated in this peculiar light. How fabulous is
:53:35. > :53:45.that. One of the best views of a raven I've ever had, in pitch black!
:53:46. > :53:49.We are scanning. No ravens here. Surprising. We are in the place
:53:50. > :53:53.where we saw a number go in, we heard them calling at dusk. I know.
:53:54. > :53:58.I came in, I would have put my mortgage on the fact that we would
:53:59. > :54:02.have found a patch. We would have been picking out ravens left right
:54:03. > :54:06.and centre. We are struggling, aren't we? Try the tops of these new
:54:07. > :54:11.trees here. That's it. There we go. That's good. Oh, look at that. That
:54:12. > :54:15.has got to be a pair, isn't it? I'm thinking that, yes. That's the
:54:16. > :54:22.closest we've seen any two birds, isn't it? It rather confirms my view
:54:23. > :54:28.about things at the moment, that we are seeing a lot of paired birds
:54:29. > :54:29.coming to the roost that presumably haven't yet managed to secure a
:54:30. > :54:51.territory. That suggests maybe they will find around here. It's
:54:52. > :55:01.surprising to find the birds are so spaced out in the forest. As we scan
:55:02. > :55:06.the tree os we spot a grand total of five birds in adjacent trees. That
:55:07. > :55:09.is interesting. They are occupying a strategic position. On the edge of
:55:10. > :55:14.the forest overlooking that clearing. It's the spot where birds
:55:15. > :55:20.are often very vocal, sometimes launch themselves from there into an
:55:21. > :55:25.aerial display. It's a place where... Which we associate with
:55:26. > :55:31.communicating. Would these be more experienced birds then? Could well
:55:32. > :55:38.be, yes. This is the biggest concentration we've seen, isn't it?
:55:39. > :55:43.Yes. Are you surprised by the fact you haven't come across higher
:55:44. > :55:47.concentrations? I'm amazed. It's so diluted I wouldn't have expected
:55:48. > :55:52.this. We saw several hundreds going in. We are only seeing singles and a
:55:53. > :55:56.few pairs of birds actually in the trees. It means they must have
:55:57. > :56:00.dispersed into the full extent of the woodland here. They must be
:56:01. > :56:06.scattered over a very wide area? They must. That I wasn't expecting.
:56:07. > :56:10.It's been a fascinating nights. Nigel's previous research had
:56:11. > :56:14.indicated that up to six ravens would roost together communally in a
:56:15. > :56:18.single tree and that concentrations of birds would occur together in the
:56:19. > :56:25.forest. But tonight that's not what we found at all. Instead, the birds
:56:26. > :56:30.we watched enter the roost at dusk seemed to have vanished before our
:56:31. > :56:34.very eyes. I feel tonight as if I've opened a door, just a tiny little
:56:35. > :56:38.bit and looked into the magical world of the raven, but I've
:56:39. > :56:49.realised there's so much more to learn. I'm surprised by that. They
:56:50. > :56:53.are packed closely together. The study of raven it's the same. An
:56:54. > :56:57.unusual case. Always room for more research to find out more about our
:56:58. > :57:01.wildlife. Earlier on in the programme, at the beginning, we
:57:02. > :57:05.showed you some interesting footage of a natural phenomenon going on.
:57:06. > :57:18.Here it is. We asked you what are these? What was going on? Now, Clive
:57:19. > :57:25.Kays the animals are midges they are parting like it's 1999. Nearly,
:57:26. > :57:31.Clive. Glenn and Ellie said, they are winter gnats. A courtship dance.
:57:32. > :57:35.All those males, they are all males, they go together in big clouds like
:57:36. > :57:39.that attract the females in. The females get mate and go away. A
:57:40. > :57:45.winter phenomenon. It's been about the live-action. Did the woodcock
:57:46. > :57:50.make it through the show or did it get eaten by the fox. Let's look at
:57:51. > :57:55.our live thermal camera. It made it. It was not woodcock for supper. How
:57:56. > :57:58.marvellous. It's been a great show am we will keep our live cameras
:57:59. > :58:02.going. Who know what is we will get tomorrow. Hopefully the barn owls
:58:03. > :58:06.will be back in the barn doing moving and shaking. We have a 14
:58:07. > :58:11.million-year-old love story going on in a cellar. We were looking at
:58:12. > :58:16.water voles today, tomorrow it's another mammal in crisis. The
:58:17. > :58:21.hedgehog in rapid decline in the UK. We will see how they are getting a
:58:22. > :58:25.helping hand from humans. Gillan has been to investigate. What a show. I
:58:26. > :58:33.was hoping the fox would close in on the woodcock and take it - but then
:58:34. > :58:34.again that's just me. See you tomorrow night, 8.00pm, BBC Two.
:58:35. > :58:41.Goodbye.