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  • 6/5/2025
Springwatch 2025 episode 6

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
00:00a sleepy young tawny owl as an only chick there are advantages plenty of room to snooze no
00:10competition for food no sibling rivalry and all the attention of its parents this little
00:16chick can feel safe and smug for now unlike the chicks in our other owl nests oh yes get
00:23ready for the drama on the spring watch
00:47hello and welcome to spring watch 2025 it's week two coming to you live from the national
00:52trust longshore state up here in the peak district national park now that theme tune you've just heard
00:57that's the last music you're going to hear all night we know that some of our viewers like just
01:03the sounds of nature so this program is for you tonight no more music at all in fact we've come
01:08up here into this lovely lush oak woodland to sample some of the sound here before we do though let's
01:16listen to a few of the mellow songs some of the squeaks and squalls that are made across the
01:22longshore state a bit of an audio-visual tour as the rain begins here at longshore
01:52longshore state a bit of an electrician sailor so that the wind will cover our eyes for the
02:01longshore time we go up to 7-8 regions as well as we go up to 7-8 meters która
02:05of an hour-to-8 regions as well as we just need to do our work we can make our magic
02:08of water too as we know we can make our magic and our magic changes as well as we will
02:10the fish now we're making our magic and our magic changes as well as we know it's our magic
02:15of course it's our magic changes as well the biggest magic changes as well as we go up here as we can use the
02:19Oh, bliss.
02:48Was that lovely?
02:49Do you know, it is lovely.
02:50I think it is so important every so often just to stop and listen.
02:54They call it forest bathing, don't they?
02:57I would have done it myself, but it started to rain and it's got a bit muddy.
03:00Indeed.
03:00So I've just decided to stay upright.
03:02All too often you hear things, but you don't stop to listen to them.
03:06What about that golden plover at the end and amongst all of that cotton grass?
03:09Not only sounding remarkable, but truly beautiful too.
03:13Now, would you like to buy a bucket hat?
03:15No.
03:17Yours?
03:17I feel a fool.
03:18You said it would rain, didn't you?
03:20For just £10.
03:21No, no, I'll just get wet and look like a drowned rat by the end of the show.
03:25Why not?
03:25It's live telly.
03:27Let's catch up with the comings and goings of all our live cameras.
03:31Let's have a look.
03:31Here we go.
03:33Anything moving around?
03:34Do you know, everything's a little bit still, but that's exactly what you'd expect, isn't it?
03:38When the rain starts, they're all beginning to hunker down.
03:41But let's have a look at our long-eared owl nest.
03:44Now, you can see the adults doing exactly that, beginning to hunker.
03:48There are only two chicks left, because you may remember it all got a bit grisly yesterday.
03:54How could you possibly forget?
03:55Because one of the chicks died, and then the adult pecked at it, swallowed the head whole,
04:02and then gave the rest of that dead chick to the two siblings.
04:06As I say, there's no Disney-fying of nature, is there?
04:09But there's two chicks that are underneath her, in that nest, keeping warm, keeping sheltered,
04:15and so far doing very well.
04:16Hopefully there'll be no more drama in that nest.
04:19A bit more rain now, but there was a storm this morning that had an impact on our song thrushes.
04:24But the female, who was brooding the yarn, did a brilliant job of turning herself into an avian umbrella
04:30and keeping the rain off.
04:32Just look at all of those droplets resting on her feathers there.
04:35Now, there's a misconception that it's the waxes, fatty acids, and uropidial oils
04:40that come from the preem gland that keep the feathers waterproof.
04:44But actually, that's not true.
04:46What they do is they keep the feathers in tip-top condition, flexible, and structurally sound.
04:52And it's that that makes them waterproof.
04:55Clearly did the job.
04:56Look at those chicks.
04:57They're all nice and dry, unlike the male bird.
04:59It's bringing in some food for them there, who's got a right drenching.
05:04Look at that.
05:04And then she settles back down, having done a great job, as I say, of keeping them not just dry,
05:09but, of course, warm as well.
05:10We can go to them live now.
05:12And in the rain, maybe she's doing the same thing.
05:14No, not quite heavy enough.
05:16And there, look at those three heads pointing out.
05:19Oh, that is cute.
05:21That is very sweet.
05:22Four little beaks.
05:23Another head, yeah, just appeared there.
05:25Look at that.
05:25Now, she will return pretty soon, I imagine, because the temperature is dropping.
05:29And these chicks are still big enough to be brooded.
05:32Oh, hold on.
05:32That's why she's dropped off.
05:33Look at that.
05:34There's a slightly soggy male bird that's come in and provided some food and taken away.
05:40Oh, no, he didn't take it away.
05:41He ate the faecal sack.
05:44Perfect.
05:45But I'm sure she'll be back on them soon.
05:46As I say, temperature's dropping.
05:48They're still big enough to be brooded.
05:49She'll settle down for the night.
05:51Well, the weather's been coming and going.
05:53I don't know if you remember yesterday.
05:54It was glorious, wasn't it?
05:55We had that gorgeous sunset.
05:57Now, look at it.
05:58But so have the birds.
05:59I mean, it's week two, and we've already said goodbye to some of our stars.
06:03Red starts.
06:04They've gone, haven't they?
06:05Let's take a look at what happened over the weekend.
06:07Just a quick update, because we had all those chicks crammed into that cavity in that tree,
06:14and then over the weekend, one by one, they poked their heads out, desperate to get out of that nest.
06:20The adult came once they'd all gone, had a check, and then something else came.
06:26Something rather odd-looking.
06:28Right.
06:29Rather odd, generally, really.
06:31Mr Chris Blackham, what's he doing?
06:32In diameter that way, and five centimetres there.
06:37Let's see how deep in this cup was.
06:42Eleven centimetres.
06:45Tiny little space they were in.
06:47The tenants on the Longshore Estate, in the form of birds, were complaining about the housing here.
06:51I don't blame them.
06:52Saying they were a bit cramped.
06:53Yep.
06:53So I just went out to measure that.
06:54So it was five centimetres diameter for the entrance hole.
06:57That's not bad for a red shank.
06:58That's a red shank.
06:59For a red start.
07:00It would be tricky for a red shank, I've got to tell you.
07:03But for a red start, that's not too bad.
07:05What was interesting, it was only 11 centimetres deep and about 7 centimetres wide.
07:09So I've got a facsimile of the nest here, Mick.
07:11Yep.
07:12And here are some beautifully crafted, young and lovely red start.
07:17I mean, it would have kind of been like that, wouldn't it, in the tree?
07:19No, no.
07:19For this purpose, we'll do it like that.
07:20I think like that.
07:21OK.
07:21You like that.
07:22Like that.
07:22And what I'm going to demonstrate, we've got six of these.
07:24There were six of those fledglings in the nest.
07:26So I'm going to put them in here.
07:27I'll put them in the right way around.
07:28There'll be some sort of decency there.
07:30And this is just to show you how cramped that nest hole must have been.
07:33Now, there would have been advantages to that, of course, because they would have been kept warm.
07:37But it would have been disadvantages.
07:39If you're the one at the bottom trying to get...
07:41Look, there's no room for that.
07:42There's no room for that last one.
07:43Oh, my goodness. That's absolutely ridiculous, isn't it?
07:44Trying to get to the feet.
07:45Absolutely ridiculous.
07:45It would have been very difficult.
07:46And perhaps that's what prompted that early fledging.
07:49Because they did pop out pretty quickly before their wings were fully developed.
07:52And we saw them down on the ground, hopping around.
07:55Thankfully, the adult red starts were still tending them, of course.
07:58If I was a red star, I'd complain to the Housing Association about that.
08:01I'd get straight on to the managers here at Longshore and have those trees, you know, enlarged.
08:05What about the pied flycatchers?
08:07Can I just say, we've got a little nest box behind us.
08:09Mine's been darting in and out.
08:10It's been lovely, hasn't it?
08:12But we saw them yesterday.
08:13And during the show, some of them fledged.
08:15So let's have a look at that nest box live.
08:18And look, it is empty.
08:21Quite pleased to say that I did say they'd all be gone.
08:24I at least got that right.
08:25But I tell you, we didn't get one thing right.
08:26They were fledging during the show when we thought there was just one left.
08:30But in fact, there were two left.
08:32So what happened today?
08:35Well, this morning, early this morning at 6.46, we saw one of them go up to the hole in the nest box.
08:42Peek out.
08:43That's what all its siblings did.
08:45Looked out onto the world.
08:46The adult came in, fed it something to tantalise it out of the nest box.
08:52And eventually, it decided to go.
08:56What about the one that was left?
08:59It's been flatting.
09:01It's been thinking about it.
09:02Then at 7.06, it sticks its head out of one side.
09:07It sticks something out the other end.
09:09Down it comes.
09:10It lightens its load.
09:12And finally, off it goes.
09:15So that's another nest.
09:17All of them successfully fledged.
09:20I love it when we have a nice, happy, successful fledging.
09:23Successful fledging there.
09:24But we're very keen on the pied flies because they have some interesting mating strategies.
09:28So we put a camera on another nest to see if we can find out what's going on there.
09:32This is it live.
09:34We can cut inside.
09:35You can see it's got six youngsters, just like the previous one.
09:38One unhatched egg in the foreground.
09:40That's not going to hatch now.
09:41And they're all looking healthy, I've got to say.
09:44But there's been plenty of activity that we've been monitoring.
09:46So here you can see the nest on the nest box.
09:50Camera's on the outside.
09:50A male comes in.
09:51That male doesn't have as much brown on as the one we watched previously.
09:54It might be slightly older, perhaps a year older.
09:57A female comes in too, feeding the chicks.
10:00But then look at this.
10:01A male comes back, lands on the tree.
10:03But look, this male has a ring on its leg.
10:08If you were looking carefully, you might have noticed this,
10:10that the previous one that entered the box wasn't wearing that ring.
10:14In goes the female.
10:17Feeds the chicks.
10:18The other male has a quick look.
10:20He's thinking about it, but then disappears.
10:23And just to prove a point, here's the male that we're watching.
10:26Look, no ring on the legs.
10:28Definitely two males in attendance at this nest.
10:31Now this one brings in a buff-tipped moth.
10:34Fame for their remarkable camouflage, looking like birch twigs.
10:38Didn't work for this moth though, did it?
10:40Bird found it.
10:41Tries to put it into the mouths of the chicks.
10:44Simply too big.
10:44All of its dust comes off of its wings, makes a terrible mess, eats it himself and then disappears.
10:51But we will be keeping a close eye on this nest.
10:54Look, there's one with a wing.
10:56It's come up to the hole, thinking about going in.
10:58We know that they have extra pair matings and they're polygonous.
11:03So sometimes males service more than one female.
11:06We'll keep our eye on that, but not just because there are two males.
11:11There's also a bit of jeopardy.
11:13Because that nest box and the noise inside didn't just attract two males, it attracted a predator.
11:20Let's take another look because the predator is a stoat.
11:24And you can see, look at it, it's looking.
11:26It can hear what's going on in there and it's looking right at the entrance to the nest.
11:32But look what else turns up.
11:34A male sparrowhawk.
11:36One of your favourite birds.
11:37Best bird in the world.
11:38Best bird in the world.
11:39That is right outside the nest box.
11:42Now this is obviously an extremely dangerous predator for those little chicks.
11:45And the adults.
11:46Is it going to just sit there and wait?
11:49Wait for the adults to return.
11:50Wait for the chicks to come out.
11:52Or is it just going to fly past?
11:54Well, as I say, we'll keep our eye on that nest.
11:56And you can do the same from 10 o'clock in the morning.
11:59So make sure you keep watching those nests because the drama just keeps continuing.
12:03That sparrowhawk's got one thing on its mind.
12:05Murder.
12:07It's like a pocket terminator, the sparrowhawk.
12:09Absolutely remarkable little bird.
12:11And that stoat as well.
12:12Frequently, weasels will go up and get into nest boxes because they can squeeze through the hole.
12:17Could the stoat squeeze through the hole?
12:18Well, I reckon it could.
12:20I mean, from that picture, I reckon that stoat could get...
12:23Oh, that's going to be awful, isn't it?
12:24Let's not even think about it.
12:25I'll tell you what.
12:26Let's go to Northern Ireland to meet up with Yolo.
12:29Now, yesterday, he was taking an absolute beating with the weather.
12:32Got absolutely drenched.
12:33I think we've swapped the weather.
12:35And Yolo has finer skies over there on Rathlin Island.
12:39And he's looking for an remarkable bird, a remarkable bird.
12:46Yes, indeed.
12:47It's a beautiful evening here.
12:49It's absolutely stunning.
12:50We've had rain on and off all day.
12:51But this evening, the sun has come out at long, long last.
12:56Now, over there at Main Base, we've seen all sorts of birds fledging.
13:01And it's been much the same here as well on Rathlin Island.
13:04When I walked up here this evening, I saw young house sparrows, young robins, young blackbirds.
13:10But by far the most numerous bird, especially on this farmland at the moment, are young starlings.
13:17There are flocks all over the island, all along the coast, all along the heathlands.
13:23Small numbers of starlings gathering together like this.
13:27And if you look at them, look very different from the adult birds.
13:31The adult, of course, is a very dark, iridescent plumage with some beautiful cream spots.
13:37These are just uniform brown.
13:39And they gather together in huge numbers in winter, of course.
13:42But these are local birds, recently fledged locally.
13:47And they gather in these small groups because there's safety in numbers.
13:51But wherever you get young, inexperienced, naive birds, invariably, you get predators.
13:59And they don't come any faster than the peregrine falcon.
14:04This male grasped the young starling from the nearby farmland, flew with it for a while,
14:11and eventually landed on a fence post and fed a little bit.
14:15It didn't eat it all, though.
14:16So it plucked some of it and then flew off once more.
14:22And we watched the bird actually head out over the ocean towards the mainland.
14:27And I spoke to the warden, Liam, the other day, and he said they used to have six pairs of peregrine falcons here.
14:32He reckons it's about half that number now.
14:35And I wonder whether some of the peregrines from the mainland are coming over here to target these young birds.
14:42Because, after all, it's pretty easy prey.
14:45Well, we've come out to more or less the centre of the island here this evening.
14:51Because we've come to listen for one very special bird.
14:55It's a lost sound of the countryside.
14:58It's Northern Ireland and the UK's rarest bird.
15:04Here's the sound.
15:05Let's see if you recognise the sound.
15:06Instantly, it brings a smile to my face, that sound.
15:17Absolutely superb.
15:17It is, of course, the sound of the concrete.
15:21Now, we've positioned ourselves here because there are three calling males here.
15:27Now, I've got to be honest, it's not the best weather for them.
15:30It's a little bit windy.
15:31The sun is retreating.
15:32There's a little bit of rain.
15:34But we've brought out the A-Team.
15:36We've brought out sound engineer Paul here with his parabolic microphone.
15:42We call him Parabolic Paul.
15:44And if a concrete so much as moves, pecks, squeaks, he's going to pick it up with that.
15:52I can guarantee you.
15:53Nothing at the moment, Paul, no?
15:55Nothing at all.
15:55Nothing at all at the moment.
15:57But it doesn't matter.
15:59It doesn't matter because we've got to listen out.
16:01We are going to listen out.
16:02Now, we haven't heard anything yet, but I thought I heard one then.
16:06But no, it's not.
16:07No, no, no, not yet.
16:08Now, hearing a concrete here is difficult enough.
16:11But seeing it is so much harder.
16:14But our cameraman went out at half past four in the morning.
16:18And this is what he saw.
16:22Typical view of a concrete.
16:24Can you spot it?
16:25Zoom in.
16:26And there you go.
16:27All you see is little head, a beak, and an eye poking up in the tall vegetation there.
16:35Very, very difficult birds to spot.
16:40I once stared at a field for an hour and 20 minutes, hearing the bird calling.
16:45I didn't see it once.
16:46They love the areas where you've got this tall vegetation.
16:50And what's brilliant about this bird is that its territory is divided by a track.
16:56And Steve was lucky enough to see this.
16:59Look at this.
16:59A concrete out in the open.
17:02I have never seen that in my life.
17:05I've had fleeting glimpses of them in the past.
17:08And look at it.
17:08It's difficult to follow, even out in the open.
17:10Looks like a scurrying little mouse.
17:13And another name for him is the land rail.
17:16Buffy wing on there.
17:18Lovely, beautifully marked birds.
17:21And then it starts to call again.
17:23Once it's back in that tall vegetation, it feels safe.
17:27Cracking.
17:27What a sighting that was.
17:29Well, we're going to carry on listening, hoping to get you Corn Creek.
17:34Hoping to get you live calling Corn Creek before the end of the hour.
17:39But for now, let's fly off down to the southeast of England and to the Rainham Marshes.
17:46And follow the trials and tribulations of a pair of one of our most beautiful birds.
17:52A stone's throw from the bustle of London, RSPBs rain and marshes.
18:06Carefully managed to create a patchwork of wet grasslands and pools.
18:11It provides a safe sanctuary for a wealth of wildlife.
18:25But here, one pair of inhabitants stand out.
18:29A real glamour couple.
18:35Kingfishers.
18:40The female, identifiable by the flash of orange on a lower bill.
18:45The male with his completely black beak.
18:53An ornamental dragonfly provides a vantage point to scan the surface of the water.
19:02This pool is packed with small fish.
19:05And this is the perfect perch for hunting.
19:16Not every strike is successful.
19:25But here, success is measured in many shapes and sizes.
19:30Table manners can leave a lot to be desired.
19:39Each fish is stunned before it's swallowed.
19:45And needing around 15 fish a day,
19:48these beautiful birds certainly live up to their name.
19:51A new day dawns at the reserve.
20:02And as the locals start to stir,
20:05not everyone is happy.
20:12There's a new arrival at the pool.
20:15And not a welcome one.
20:16A second female has entered the territory.
20:23And even has the audacity to sit atop their perfect hunting perch.
20:35Enough is enough.
20:39The male locks beaks with her.
20:43Using his weight to pull her from the perch.
20:46Even this isn't enough to put the new female off.
21:01She returns to the perch.
21:09He launches himself at her.
21:14Driving her away.
21:15And once more, the territory's secure.
21:27With the invader successfully seen off,
21:30it's back to business for the established pair.
21:38Taking time to hunt
21:40and preen.
21:41You need to be in top condition
21:44if you're planning to start a family after all.
21:48The male has caught a fish.
21:51But on this occasion,
21:53it's not for him.
21:56It's a token of his devotion.
21:59With gifts like this,
22:01he provides her with extra energy
22:02for growing and laying eggs.
22:05As they do, tugging on the female's head feathers helps him balance.
22:24With mating complete,
22:25things are about to change for the pool's power couple.
22:29The female will lay a clutch of up to seven eggs in the nesting burrow.
22:35And both parents will take turns incubating the eggs
22:39and feeding the chicks once hatched.
22:42So, while there may be peace at the poolside for now,
22:46this pair would be diving into a busy couple of months ahead.
22:53Such a beautiful bird.
22:55It's always so exciting when you're on the river
22:56and you see that flash of colour go past.
22:59But what about that aggression
23:00between the male and the intruding female?
23:02I didn't like her coming in there
23:05with all of her Versace feathers on.
23:08Not my sort of thing.
23:09Sitting on his perch.
23:10Sitting on his perch.
23:11It was quite aggressive, though, wasn't it?
23:13As you know, it's our 20th anniversary this year
23:16and we'd like to celebrate some magic moments.
23:19So, I'm going to take you back to 2007.
23:21Before Chris and I were presenting,
23:22it was Bill Oddie and Kate Humble.
23:25And this is a classic Bill Oddie moment
23:27when he went to some lengths
23:29to get really close to a kingfisher.
23:32I've often fancied a job as a gardener, you know.
23:41Damn.
23:48Damn.
23:50Apparently my stick was beginning to droop.
23:53I never was a morning man.
23:55I think so, is it?
24:03From here, the view is just wonderful.
24:09Wow.
24:10That was truly extraordinary.
24:17I love that.
24:18Got to try that.
24:19Should we both do it?
24:20I honestly want to go fishing for kingfishers.
24:22Yeah, we could both sit there.
24:24Yeah, I love that.
24:25Good old Bill.
24:26We do have a bird which occupies a similar niche here,
24:29freshwater aquatic.
24:31It's the dipper.
24:32And we introduced you to them last week.
24:34They built a nest in one of the storm drains
24:36that runs under the railway.
24:38Now, initially they had four eggs.
24:40The female's got one youngsters there in that nest.
24:44But she's been enduring the attentions of a male.
24:48And when he was first coming in,
24:49and we were first watching them,
24:50she repelled him at every opportunity,
24:53chased him away,
24:55leaving us wondering what was going on.
24:57Was that the male that had fertilised those eggs?
25:00Was he essentially her male?
25:01Or had that male disappeared and another one arrived?
25:04Well, things have changed.
25:06Well, she's changed in her outlook
25:08because she's now a little bit more welcoming
25:09towards that male.
25:11He's continuing to come in
25:12and feed the young in the nest.
25:15There you can see that storm drain.
25:18And look, she's displaying.
25:20But she's supplicatory to him now,
25:22not aggressive.
25:24She's saying,
25:25please, mate with me.
25:27I'm all yours.
25:29There's trouble in the message centre though
25:31because it's completely confused him.
25:33He doesn't know what to do.
25:35Last week she wouldn't let him anywhere near the nest
25:37and then started singing
25:38when he wanted to feed that single chick.
25:40And now, look,
25:41she's prostrating herself before him,
25:43leaving him bemused and confused
25:45and he flies away.
25:47But she can't put him off.
25:49He continues to bring food in.
25:50And we do see this in dippers.
25:52If a male disappears
25:53or is chased out of the territory by a new male,
25:55the new male will go to any nests
25:57and sometimes kill the chicks
26:00to bring that female back into condition
26:02to have another clutch of eggs.
26:05Maybe too late for that,
26:06but he's certainly taken to that youngster.
26:07Maybe it's the gape there
26:09that he simply feels compelled to feed
26:11whatever the case,
26:12whether it's his or not.
26:13It's very confusing.
26:15It's the sort of behaviour a woman goes through
26:16when she's menopausal.
26:18It's all very confusing, isn't it,
26:21sometimes for females.
26:22Anyway, going back to that nest,
26:24it's in the storm drain
26:25and just above that storm drain
26:27is another nest.
26:29So if we just go up,
26:30we can see all of our equipment there.
26:33And then just by the stone wall
26:35is a beautiful little nest of a wren.
26:40Look at that.
26:41It's a little doe nest.
26:42It looks quite similar to the dipper's nest
26:43and that's because they forage
26:45in the same sort of areas.
26:46So it'll be lined with moss.
26:48It's got all the ferns around it
26:50and it's got five little chicks
26:52poking their heads out.
26:54Mum comes in,
26:55feeds them all sorts of things,
26:56insects, beetles, invertebrates,
26:58caterpillars,
26:59cleaning the nest,
27:01making it nice and tidy.
27:03Sun's out there,
27:05but of course the sun went away
27:07and the rain started.
27:09Look at it.
27:09Absolutely beautiful, isn't she?
27:10And you can hear the rain as well.
27:13But that nest is a perfect nest for the rain
27:15because it is domed
27:17and so it's very sheltered,
27:19much better nest
27:20than some of those open nests
27:22which obviously get battered
27:24when it rains.
27:25I like that nest.
27:27I like that.
27:27It's beautiful.
27:28Now last week we introduced you
27:30to the shorty at owl's nest
27:31that we'd found.
27:32It was the first time
27:32we've been able to show you
27:33these birds live on Springwatch.
27:35Absolutely beautiful.
27:36There were six youngsters in the nest
27:38but they started to disperse
27:39pretty much straight away.
27:41So we kept an eye on them.
27:43Last night there were only two
27:44left in the nest area
27:46although they were scuttling out
27:47and back again.
27:48So here they were yesterday
27:50coming back into that nest.
27:53The other four that we know are there
27:55have spread out into the heather.
27:58You know, it's a way of avoiding predators
28:01so they're not all birds in one basket
28:03as it were.
28:04Now before it got dark last night
28:07the largest chick was screaming a lot
28:08was clearly very hungry
28:09and the adults delivered
28:11because they did bring in two voles
28:14and then they brought a bird in
28:15a pipit
28:16which they'd captured at night.
28:18Thing is, it was only the large chick
28:21that was getting the food
28:22ate the two voles
28:23and then swallowed the pipit whole
28:26all of those feathers.
28:28Love to see a bit of
28:29esophagal peristalsis taking place there.
28:32You were watching last night
28:33you'll know what I'm going on about
28:34esophagal peristalsis.
28:36So at this point
28:38the smaller of the chicks
28:39has had no food
28:40Adol went back out
28:41did bring in one more vol
28:44during the course of the night.
28:45The smaller chick
28:46did what it could
28:47to try and dismember it
28:48but frankly
28:49it's just not up to the task
28:51it's still a bit too small for that
28:52and it wasn't long
28:53before the larger chick
28:54stole it
28:55and then
28:56using esophagal peristalsis
28:59I so love that
29:00it swallows the chick whole
29:02leaving the younger chick
29:04having had no food all night
29:06and I can't remember
29:07yesterday when we last saw it eating
29:09but it wasn't in the evening
29:10so it's gone a considerable time
29:12without food
29:12then it rained overnight
29:14we had quite heavy storm
29:15stormy weather here this morning
29:17and this is what we saw
29:18when we came in
29:19the smaller chick
29:20was looking pretty sad
29:21trying to nuzzle up
29:23and find some shelter
29:24with its larger sibling.
29:27And you may remember
29:28yesterday
29:28when we showed you
29:29the six chicks
29:30there's a big size discrepancy
29:32between that youngest one
29:34and the older one
29:35because they hatch at intervals
29:37so the younger one
29:38might be more than a week younger
29:40than the oldest chick
29:41in that nest
29:43and very often
29:44if there's not enough prey
29:45to go round
29:46then that younger one
29:47will perish
29:48but that's usually
29:49when they're very little
29:50but it seemed
29:51that they were all being fed
29:52and just yesterday
29:54I was saying
29:55that that one was doing
29:56really well
29:57well I'm afraid
29:58in that nest
29:58things took a turn
30:00for the worse
30:01and it really surprised us
30:03and it is a little bit shocking
30:05and as you can see
30:08that little one
30:09became weak
30:10and defenceless
30:12and the stronger sibling
30:14took complete advantage
30:16started pecking
30:18at the younger one
30:20it was still alive
30:22and I'm really sorry to say
30:23I know it's hard to watch
30:25but it pecked it to death
30:26and that was really surprising
30:29for us
30:29because as Chris said
30:31you know
30:31they were fed four times
30:33the little one
30:33could have taken
30:34some of that food
30:35the bigger one
30:36took it all
30:37there was plenty
30:38of prey around
30:39they were branching out
30:41so they were old enough
30:43to survive
30:44we thought all of them
30:45were going to survive
30:46but very sadly
30:47as you can see
30:48that younger one
30:50didn't
30:50it died
30:51and the older one
30:53made the most of it
30:53I mean
30:54it definitely got rid of its sibling
30:56and I mean
30:58as I say
30:58it was very very hard to watch
31:00wasn't it
31:00it was
31:01I hate to be a charmless man
31:03but we've got to bring
31:03some pragmatism to this
31:04we have seen it before
31:05we've seen it in barn owls
31:07we've seen it in our kestrels
31:08where a chick dies
31:09and either the adult
31:10feeds it to the chicks
31:11or they eat it themselves
31:12as in this case
31:13and from the adult
31:14you know
31:15the larger chicks point of view
31:16it's got a decision to make here
31:17if it waits for that chick
31:19to grow bigger
31:19it's going to be harder to overcome
31:21it's also got to decide
31:22whether it wants to eat it at all
31:23because it's carrying 50% of its genes
31:25so this is a strategy
31:27that's built into these birds
31:28which is about guaranteeing
31:30the maximal survival
31:31of the chicks in the nest
31:32and that little one was clear
31:33just a bit too weak
31:34do you know
31:35I wonder
31:35I've got a different theory
31:36I've got a slightly different theory
31:37I wonder whether it was just really weak
31:39and actually not very well
31:40which is why it wasn't eating
31:41and it died
31:42and then the older one
31:43just is an opportunistic feeder
31:45saw something that was struggling
31:47thought might have
31:47well make the most of it
31:49and maybe that's the answer
31:50very possibly the chance
31:51who knows eh
31:52but very very sad
31:53and as I say
31:54tough to watch
31:54let's move on to something
31:56a bit more pleasant
31:56if you're watching last week
31:57you'll know that we found
31:58a street in Sheffield
32:00it's about 8 miles away
32:01over there
32:01where all of the residents
32:03had made a considerable effort
32:04to make their gardens
32:05a little bit more
32:06wildlife friendly
32:07we call it Springwatch Street
32:08Jack Baddams went down
32:10and put in lots of trap cameras
32:12to reveal the animals
32:13that were visiting
32:14that the residents
32:15weren't really noticing
32:17and Jack is back
32:18in Springwatch Street
32:19now
32:19and we can catch up with him
32:20a very very warm welcome
32:27back to Springwatch Street
32:30yes
32:30I'm here in Harriet's garden
32:33now Harriet
32:34we met her on Thursday
32:35when we were having a look
32:36at some of the clips
32:37that we'd filmed in her garden
32:39in our wildlife truck
32:40I absolutely love this garden
32:42it is packed
32:43with so much wildlife
32:45in such a small space
32:47the amount of stuff
32:48that Harriet's been able to do here
32:50in this narrow garden
32:52is really really impressive
32:53when we talk about wildlife gardening
32:55we generally tend to talk
32:57a lot about flowers
32:57we've got a lovely selection
32:59of them here
32:59that have been buzzing
33:00with bees all afternoon
33:01and when you're looking at
33:03planting flowers for wildlife
33:05you're looking for ones
33:06with an open structure
33:07ones that those pollinators
33:09can access
33:10because flowers come
33:11in all different shapes and sizes
33:13double flowers
33:14that we've bred
33:15to have too many petals
33:16are no good for pollinators
33:18because they can't get in them
33:19so you want these
33:20that are open
33:21that bees can use
33:22that butterflies can use
33:24that moths can use as well
33:26when we talk about pollinators
33:28we generally
33:29we talk a lot about bees
33:31but when we talk about bees
33:33we talk about specific kinds of bees
33:35if I mention bees to you
33:36then you might think of honeybees
33:39one species in the UK
33:40you might think of bumblebees
33:42about 25 species in the UK
33:44you might not think
33:46of solitary bees
33:47which are around 250 species
33:51in the UK
33:5190% of the bees that we have
33:53in the UK
33:54are those solitary bees
33:56so how do you help them?
33:58well Harriet is doing just that
34:00have a look at these here
34:01these are solitary bee houses
34:03and all these tubes
34:05are nesting holes
34:06for those bees
34:07let's have a look
34:08what's going on inside them
34:09to see just how they're using them
34:11we've got some amazing footage here
34:13of a red mason bee
34:15these are so easy
34:16to provide
34:17these solitary bee houses
34:18and this is how they're used
34:20the female mason bee
34:21collecting pollen
34:23from all over the area
34:25lovely wildlife garden like this
34:26providing lots of that pollen
34:28she's putting it all in there
34:30making a big larder
34:31you can see her scraping it off
34:33of her body
34:35and these mason bees
34:37these solitary bees
34:37are just big fluff balls
34:39that collect pollen
34:40pollinate other plants
34:42a lot more efficiently
34:43than those honeybees
34:43and they're laying an egg
34:45in there
34:46once she's laid her egg
34:48she will seal that up
34:49and she'll repeat that process
34:50inside here multiple times
34:52until she caps the top off
34:54with a bit of mud
34:55and protects that bee inside
34:58very very easy
34:59to put these up
35:00find a sunny spot in your garden
35:01get one of these
35:02or just drill into a piece of wood
35:04and you'll have solitary bees
35:05like mason bees
35:06and leafcutter bees using them
35:07you can also
35:08put a nice shallow dish out
35:10bee bath
35:11bees need to drink too
35:12it's thirsty work
35:13being a busy little bee
35:14stick some stones
35:15or some marbles
35:16in a shallow dish
35:17and give them something
35:18to drink out of
35:19this is a lovely spot to sit
35:21it's a lovely spot to sit
35:22and enjoy
35:23a nice cup of tea
35:25and a nice biscuit
35:26in harriet's garden
35:29delicious
35:30but i'm not the only animal
35:32in this garden
35:33that's enjoying dunking its food
35:35into something nice and tasty
35:36come over this way
35:38because we've got
35:39this fantastic birdbath
35:41look at that
35:41what a snazzy birdbath that is
35:43and then if we whip round this way
35:44we've got a bird table
35:46that is in harriet's mother-in-law's
35:47brenda's garden
35:48just over the wall there
35:50and this is what we've been seeing
35:51on our cameras
35:52we've got a magpie
35:55very common garden bird
35:57collecting scraps of food
35:59food from over on that bird table
36:01and flying the 20 meters or so
36:03over here
36:04and dunking it in the birdbath
36:06it's moistening that food
36:08this was filmed
36:09during the height of the dry weather
36:11that we had in the spring
36:12going back and forth
36:14collecting more of this food
36:15more of this bread
36:16bringing it back and moistening it
36:17is it just moistening it
36:18to make it easier to swallow
36:19or is it putting it in a crop
36:22and taking it to some chicks
36:24if it's doing that
36:25it might be to hydrate those chicks
36:28in the nest
36:28we know the intelligence
36:29of corvids
36:30and it may well be
36:32a way of giving those chicks
36:34some water
36:34not just doing it with bread as well
36:36we saw it do it with a spider
36:37so bringing lots of different types of food
36:39to this birdbath
36:41follow me up here
36:42because harriet gardener's got so much to offer
36:45there just down there
36:46you might see the little dry stone wall alleyway
36:49that we were looking at on Thursday
36:51when we had the hedgehogs fighting
36:53and we saw that lovely daytime fox
36:54but if we keep coming back
36:56we've got this raised bed area
36:59fantastic raised bed meadow
37:01absolutely love that
37:02and it's in this area
37:04a few days ago
37:05that we recorded a brand new mammal
37:07for harriet's garden list
37:09we've shown her foxes
37:10we've shown her hedgehogs
37:11but take a look at who came to visit
37:13it is of course
37:17the badger
37:18it comes snuffling its way down the back here
37:21in the wilder area
37:22at the back of the garden
37:22and then turns around
37:24and comes a very soggy badger actually
37:25that one
37:26that was when we got a particular downpour
37:28harriet's not seen badgers in her garden
37:31this is the joy of doing spring watch street
37:32showing the residents here
37:34how all their hard work is paying off
37:37so how does the badger get in here
37:39it's one thing if you're a mason bee
37:40or a magpie
37:41you can just fly into the garden
37:43but if you're a mammal
37:44you're going to need
37:45to get in a slightly different way
37:47follow me
37:47because we can go
37:48into this
37:49little
37:50I can embrace my childhood den building days
37:53and struggle into the back here
37:55I'm a bit big for this nowadays
37:56and we're in
37:57the back of Rob's shed
38:00next door
38:00and if you look down there
38:02we've got a very obvious
38:04animal route
38:06a little wildlife corridor
38:07so
38:09what have we been seeing in there
38:10well this is how the badgers
38:12are making their way through the gardens
38:14if you have a look at these clips
38:16that we've got
38:16we've seen
38:18the badger
38:20this is a few gardens down
38:22this is at Deborah's house
38:23where we saw the badger climbing the wall
38:25but on the same night
38:26that we saw it in Harriet's garden
38:28you can see it squeezing back and forth
38:31under this fence
38:32we've seen them climbing the walls
38:35we're now seeing them squeeze under the fences
38:37this is how they must be getting through
38:39and just last night
38:41this is exactly where I'm crouching right now
38:44this is the badger
38:45snuffling around
38:46at the back of this shed
38:48as it's making its way
38:49into Harriet's garden
38:51so we're doing pretty well for mammals
38:54the foxes
38:55the hedgehogs
38:55the badgers
38:56this is in all
38:57this is all in
38:58a relatively small garden
39:01Springwatch Street is proving
39:02that you don't need a big garden
39:04to pack a big punch
39:06there is one species
39:08that we would be very lucky to get
39:10here on Springwatch Street
39:12but there is a garden
39:13not far from Longshore
39:14that's got a blockbuster mammal
39:16that Chris and Michaela
39:17can now tell you about
39:18I don't know if it's a blockbuster
39:20that makes you think of something huge
39:22doesn't it Jack
39:22but it is
39:23a fantastic mammal to have
39:25in your back garden
39:26and this is the back garden
39:28of Steve Furness
39:28and it's a garden
39:29not very far away from here
39:31and it's a very elusive mammal
39:34so amazing to spot it
39:36let alone have it in your garden
39:37and it's this
39:38it is a water shrew
39:40this is a picture
39:41that Steve Furness has taken
39:43I'd say it's not especially rare
39:44but very difficult to spot
39:46and super speedy
39:48and he first saw it 25 years ago
39:50when one ran over his foot
39:52on the path
39:52I mean just imagine that
39:54it's our largest shrew
39:55it's in wetlands
39:57and it burrows in the banks
39:58and the wetlands in this particular case
40:00are Steve's garden pond
40:02what about that
40:02I love water shrews
40:04absolutely amazing animals
40:05they're carnivorous
40:06and they are aquatic
40:08you saw that photograph there
40:09but here's one in action
40:11you can see that silvery fur
40:13they've got water repellent hairs
40:15which keep them dry
40:16and they are furtively searching around
40:19on the bottom there
40:20for insectivists, larvae
40:21those sorts of things
40:22even small fish
40:23they'll take as well
40:24and amphibians too
40:25but in order to keep themselves
40:27under the water
40:27and able to swim around
40:28they've got a laterally compressed tail
40:31with a row of stiff hairs
40:33making it ore-like
40:34along the bottom
40:35and then between their toes
40:36they're not webbed
40:37but they have very stiffed hairs
40:40between those toes
40:41which effectively are like a hairy webbing
40:44and that's exactly what Steve saw
40:46because Steve is a scientist
40:48he's got a PhD in botany
40:49so he uses that
40:51sort of science side of him
40:53to really watch his stuff in his garden
40:55and he's watched this water shrew
40:57and he's seen some amazing stuff
40:59including what Chris was talking about
41:01which is those stiff hairs
41:03in between the webbed feet
41:05means it's difficult to see in this picture
41:07but it's actually walking on water
41:10and the Mammal Society got very excited
41:13when they saw this
41:14because it's a very, very difficult animal to see
41:17and extremely difficult
41:18to take a photograph of it
41:20doing something like that
41:21I mean, hats off to you
41:22Yeah, they're very, very fidgety
41:24very difficult to photograph
41:25aside from having those remarkable feet
41:27aside from being able to walk on water
41:29they are also one of very few
41:31venomous mammals that we have
41:34yes, they have a cardioneurotoxin
41:37very similar to species of snakes
41:39like viper
41:40also contains a pro- or anticoagulant
41:43which helps disable their prey
41:45the way that they envenomate that prey
41:47is very different from snakes
41:49and I'll show you how that works over here
41:50so here we've got the head of the water shrew
41:53and if I remove part of its nose
41:56and lower jaw here
41:57so you can see the lower jaw bone here
42:01and you'll notice this
42:02it's a submandibular gland
42:05it's a salivary gland
42:07and it's here that the toxic saliva is produced
42:12how does it get that into its prey?
42:14well, it goes through the jaw
42:16out of something here called the rostrum
42:18and then it flows up this groove here
42:21between those long sharp front teeth
42:25so it doesn't have hollow fangs
42:28like the viper would have
42:29it simply has to bite its prey
42:31and when it bites it
42:33then the saliva makes its way into the wound
42:37and it paralyses that prey
42:40now, you may have heard that hedgehogs are venomous
42:44that was disproved a long time ago
42:45you may have heard that moles are venomous
42:47we think that's doubtful
42:49they do have the capacity to immobilise worms
42:53and store them in their burrow
42:54but they do that by biting their heads off
42:56they cause neural damage to them
42:58we don't think there's a toxin there
43:00so in fact the only other venomous mammals
43:04that we know of live on the other side of the world
43:05they're monotremes
43:07they're duck-billed platypus
43:09so the water shrew is a very, very special animal
43:13it certainly is
43:14and let's take a look at how it hunts
43:16and how it uses that venom
43:18first of all, what does it eat?
43:20well, it eats small things like worms and slugs
43:22and invertebrates
43:23and larger prey like frogs
43:24and it dives under the water to hunt for them
43:27and then it uses that venom
43:29to paralyses the smaller stuff
43:31and probably just immobilise larger things like the frogs
43:34but it also mobilises them by biting the limbs off
43:38so amphibians, it will bite the limbs off
43:40so they can't get away
43:41but you've got to remember that
43:43this is a creature that has a high metabolism
43:45high energy
43:46so it needs to conserve that energy where it can
43:49and it uses that venom to kill the prey faster
43:53use less energy
43:55it basically lives fast, dies young
43:59it doesn't live very long
44:0019 months
44:0119 months
44:02yeah, I mean it does
44:02it looks like one of those little animals
44:04that's just a wind-up animal
44:05that's just on sort of
44:06go fast all the time, isn't it?
44:08do you know, I used to catch them when I was a kid
44:10and I got
44:10with your hands?
44:11well, no, in longworth traps
44:13and I'd get them out
44:13and I did get bitten by them
44:15you know, I was living fast at the time
44:16but I didn't die young
44:17because the venom, I guess
44:19was in such low doses
44:20that it didn't do me any harm
44:22although occasionally they would draw blood
44:24amazing animals
44:25I love the water shoe
44:26I love the water shoe
44:27I also love the corn crakes
44:29I'm very envious of Yolo
44:30over there on Rathlin Island
44:32but he set himself a tough task
44:34corn crake calling live
44:36will he pull it off?
44:38will he pull it off?
44:41yes, indeed
44:42yes, indeed
44:43will I pull it off?
44:44well, we've situated ourselves here
44:46more or less in the middle of the island
44:48not far from the harbour
44:49in the hope of achieving
44:51corn crake calling live
44:54not as yet
44:55there's supposed to be one here
44:56and one in this field here as well
44:59and one just a little bit further along
45:01not yet
45:02but we've got a few minutes
45:03we've still got a few minutes
45:04now
45:05unfortunately
45:06the corn crake is one of these birds
45:08that's disappeared from
45:10the UK countryside
45:11it used to be very widespread
45:13and the decline started
45:15a couple of hundred years ago really
45:16but it accelerated
45:17after World War II
45:19with the intensification
45:20of agriculture
45:22as we cut our hay meadows
45:24we used to harvest it
45:27late on in August
45:28gave the birds enough time
45:29to lay eggs to rear young
45:31now we cut silage
45:32early in May
45:33they don't have time to lay
45:35so they've virtually gone
45:38from much of the countryside
45:39let's show you
45:40two of the BTO's breeding atlas
45:43to show you the extent
45:44of this decline
45:45on the left is the atlas
45:47from 1968 to 72
45:49recording all records
45:51of corn crakes in the UK
45:52on the right
45:53is 2007 to 2011
45:55you can see that
45:57even by 1960s
45:59early 70s
46:00it disappeared from much
46:02of the country
46:02confined to much of Ireland
46:04parts of Scotland
46:05parts of North Wales
46:07but 30 years later
46:09it's virtually gone
46:11it's been pushed
46:11right up
46:13to just
46:14the extreme western
46:16parts of the UK
46:18where they still farm
46:19in a traditional way
46:21now here on Rathlin Island
46:22it was much the same story
46:24used to be widespread here
46:25the last one was recorded
46:27in 1997
46:28but
46:29thanks to
46:30hard work
46:31by the RSPB
46:33and
46:33some of the local
46:34farmers
46:35they returned
46:36the first one came back
46:37in 2014
46:39and one plant
46:40that played a key role
46:42in that
46:42is this
46:44oh
46:45rather droopy
46:46stinging nettle
46:48you might think
46:49that's just a stinging nettle
46:50the humble nettle
46:51it is
46:52but it's
46:53absolutely vital
46:55for corn crakes
46:56now what they need
46:58is early cover
47:00when they arrive back
47:02from their
47:02wintering grounds
47:03in Africa
47:03they need tall vegetation
47:05they can hide in
47:06and nettles provide that
47:08fortunately
47:08there weren't enough
47:10nettle beds
47:10on the island
47:11so they went over
47:12to the mainland
47:13they gathered nettle rhizomes
47:15they put them
47:16in the corner
47:16of the fields
47:17threw muck on top of it
47:19to encourage it to growth
47:20and it has worked
47:22remarkably well
47:24remarkably well
47:26well
47:27I'll tell you what
47:28I've got some great news for you
47:30because the RSPB team
47:31has been out and about
47:32in the sunny weather
47:33we had just before
47:34I arrived here
47:35recording the birds
47:36best time
47:37is between midnight
47:38and 3am
47:40and they record
47:42calling males
47:43and the males
47:44choose areas like this
47:45like an amphitheatre
47:47they sometimes call
47:48from near walls
47:49as well
47:50because that amplifies
47:51their call
47:52and the brilliant news
47:53is that they have
47:54six
47:55possibly even
47:56seven
47:57calling birds
47:59now
47:59that
48:00is more than
48:01they've recorded here
48:02for over
48:0340 years
48:05so that is
48:06fantastic news
48:07and when the males
48:08first arrive back
48:10of course
48:10when the first thing
48:11that they have to do
48:13is attract
48:14a mate
48:15now
48:16they have
48:17two calls
48:18I'll use this prop
48:19to demonstrate this
48:20they have two calls
48:21they have what we call
48:22the broadcast call
48:24now that is the
48:25the cracks
48:26cracks call
48:27we heard earlier
48:27let's give it to you again
48:29that is the familiar call
48:33of a male
48:35corncrake calling
48:37and that call
48:39on quiet
48:40warm evenings
48:41can carry
48:42over a kilometre
48:43and that is their
48:44their song
48:45it's like a singing robin
48:47it's to ward off
48:48other males
48:49another male there
48:50and to attract females
48:52so the female
48:53gradually
48:54comes in
48:55towards the male
48:57and then
48:58and this research
48:59is still ongoing
49:01then
49:02the male has
49:03another call
49:04a softer call
49:06this call
49:07now I have to confess
49:14I have never heard
49:17that call
49:17never heard that call
49:19but that is
49:20they believe
49:21one of two things
49:22it's probably there
49:24to attract the female
49:26in
49:26to the male
49:28so that they can mate
49:30and they think
49:31it may also be
49:33to ward off
49:34other males
49:35who may well
49:36have trespassed
49:39on the male's
49:40territory here
49:41just as a final
49:42warning
49:43whoop
49:44the wind's picked up
49:46here
49:46as a final warning
49:48for the
49:48for the other males
49:50to just
49:51listen
49:51I'm here
49:52keep away
49:53that research
49:54is ongoing
49:55let's hope
49:56that doesn't go over
49:57now
49:58we still
49:59haven't heard
50:00the corncrake
50:01calling from
50:02over here
50:03don't worry
50:04that was the prop
50:05just recovered there
50:06haven't heard
50:07the corncrake
50:08here
50:08but I've got to
50:09before we go
50:10I've got to show you
50:11these two
50:11stunning photographs
50:13look at this
50:15this is
50:17a corncrake
50:18in flight
50:19isn't that beautiful
50:20now
50:21to see a corncrake
50:22in flight
50:22is one thing
50:23to capture it
50:24on camera
50:24is something
50:25completely different
50:26congratulations
50:27to Tom Mcdonald
50:29local photographer
50:29for that
50:30and his other shot
50:31is brilliant as well
50:32there we are
50:33look at that
50:34isn't that
50:35absolutely stunning
50:37a corncrake
50:38running across the track
50:39now
50:41how often
50:42how often
50:43do we tell you
50:45now
50:45do you know what
50:46we heard the concrete
50:47just before we came live
50:49well
50:50we heard the concrete
50:51just before
50:53we came live
50:54have a look at this
50:55what we got here
50:58young
50:58we've got a concrete
51:00column
51:01just near the side
51:02of this stone wall
51:03go on Craig
51:17life just isn't fair
51:26is it
51:27it just isn't fair
51:28please
51:29please
51:30give us live
51:31corncrix
51:31but we did have it
51:33just before going live
51:34Chris
51:34Michaela
51:35well
51:36we tried our very best
51:38to bring you live
51:39calling corncrix
51:40how about
51:41how about
51:41almost live
51:43calling corncrix
51:44look Yellow
51:45the bird is so good
51:46so good
51:47and you were so close
51:49I'm going to score you
51:49a 7.2
51:51for that
51:52a 7.2
51:53you were so close
51:54and I'm sure you'll take it
51:57corncrix
51:58they had that very distinctive call
51:59which means they are easy to identify
52:01if you can hear them
52:03but you've got to go out
52:04and listen for them
52:05and the High SPB
52:06are putting in
52:06a tremendous amount of hard work
52:08as Yellow said
52:09to identify the fact
52:10that there are now
52:11seven calling males
52:12on Rattlin
52:13and that probably meant
52:14a lot of time in the field
52:16a lot of hours out there
52:17in the cold
52:18in the wet
52:19for those ornithologists
52:20but now of course
52:22technology has meant
52:23that we can do this
52:24in a far more efficient way
52:26we can radically change
52:28the way that we record birdsong
52:30to learn a lot more about them
52:31a lot more quickly
52:32yeah as Chris is saying
52:33you know
52:33listening
52:34going out and listening
52:35for birdsong
52:36you can learn so much
52:38but of course
52:38you can learn so much more
52:40by recording it
52:41and that's exactly
52:43what we've been doing
52:44here at Longshore
52:45we've been working
52:46with Wilder Sensing
52:47who've put out
52:48ten recording devices
52:49across our habitats
52:50and that means
52:51we can collect
52:52an enormous amount of data
52:54and then using AI
52:56we can collate
52:57that information
52:58the boxes were put out
52:59in March
53:00and that's allowed us
53:01to collect data
53:02on calls of migrants
53:03and what date
53:05they've arrived back
53:06and the last sound
53:08you heard
53:08was a harbinger
53:09offspring
53:10it was the cuckoo
53:11now the cuckoo
53:13overwinters in Africa
53:14and then it comes
53:15back here to breed
53:16and that usually
53:18is at the beginning
53:19of spring
53:20now the cuckoo
53:22is a brood parasite
53:24it lays its eggs
53:25in other species' nests
53:26so its arrival
53:28needs to align
53:29with the peak breeding
53:30season of its host
53:31and that's birds
53:32like dunnocks
53:33and meadow pipettes
53:34and historically
53:35that's been the case
53:36but data is showing us
53:38that that is beginning
53:40to change
53:41data is showing us
53:42that we've collected
53:43here at Longshore
53:44take a look at this
53:46here
53:46so this is all data
53:47that's been generated
53:48using those ten
53:50little green boxes
53:50recording all of the
53:52birds' song
53:52and there are three
53:53species featured here
53:54the meadow pipette
53:55the dunnock
53:56and the cuckoo
53:57now the meadow pipette
53:58and the dunnock
53:58are both hosts
54:00of the cuckoo
54:01the cuckoo's lay eggs
54:02into their nest
54:03of course they have
54:04to lay those eggs
54:05when these birds
54:05have eggs in their nest
54:07and that can be told
54:08when they are at
54:09their peak singing
54:10so using their data
54:12generated from those
54:13devices you can see
54:13starting here at the
54:14beginning of March
54:15going all the way
54:15through to May
54:16what do we see
54:17for firstly
54:18meadow pipette
54:19in green
54:20and dunnock
54:21in yellow
54:21that they're reaching
54:22their peaks here
54:24in late March
54:25with another little
54:26early peak
54:27in April
54:27what do we see
54:29about the arrival
54:29of the cuckoo
54:30well a few turn up
54:32here in mid April
54:32but not many
54:33are calling
54:34until you get to
54:35the end of April
54:36and May
54:37and this is when
54:38the males are calling
54:39that's when they're
54:39going to be trying
54:40to fertilise the eggs
54:41in the females
54:42and the females
54:43should be putting
54:43those eggs
54:44into the nest
54:45of these birds
54:45but they've already
54:47laid their eggs
54:48they've already
54:48incubated them
54:49they've got young
54:50at this time of year
54:51you can see
54:52they're not singing
54:52hardly at all
54:53so basically
54:55the cuckoo
54:56is out of time
54:57it's not synchronised
54:58with these any longer
55:00now there are
55:00a couple of caveats
55:01here of course
55:02this is a limited
55:03amount of data
55:03coming from this site
55:04other studies
55:05have been elsewhere
55:06these both
55:07of these species
55:08are residents
55:08there's a greater
55:10lack of synchronicity
55:11with migrants
55:12which are coming in
55:13but it could well be
55:14that the cuckoo
55:15which is suffering
55:16a whole raft
55:17of different issues
55:18is suffering
55:19on the basis
55:21of the fact
55:21that it can't lay
55:22its eggs
55:23at the right time
55:24in these nests
55:25more to learn
55:26from this data
55:27but what remarkable
55:28little devices
55:28I know
55:29it's all a mismatch
55:30isn't it
55:30because spring
55:31is starting
55:31so much earlier
55:32anyway time
55:33to take a breather
55:34so breathe in
55:35because we've got
55:36a really special
55:37mindfulness moment
55:38for you
55:38it's actually
55:39one of my favourites
55:40these are long-tailed
55:42tits
55:42enjoy them
56:05so
56:21so
56:23so
56:53Sadly that's all we've got time for tonight but we will be back tomorrow
57:22and we'll be covering the remarkable life of the beautiful lobster and I'll be
57:30hoping for better weather when I return to the RSPB's West Light Seabirds Centre and
57:37we'll be checking up on our cast of characters hopefully there'll be no
57:41major dramas but you can find out by watching all our live cameras from 10
57:46o'clock you might know before we do right stay with us on the website and on
57:51the iPlayer for watch out with Hannah Stipfall and she'll be chatting to some
57:55of the Springwatch team so make sure you tune in for that and we'll see you
57:59tomorrow at 8 o'clock but for now from us bye bye bye
58:07the Open University has created an online interactive hike where you can explore
58:14habitat changes that have taken place since Springwatch first aired to find it
58:19scan the QR code that's on your screen now or go to bbc.co.uk forward slash
58:25Springwatch and follow the links to the Open University
58:30link to the edge on ourהenty alfabetics using Twitter at 1 to 2l
58:33on Postwww.srs.mone. đấy
58:39doable
58:40you
58:40我們的
58:41Shift
58:42
58:43表示
58:43表示
58:44
58:44
58:46referred
58:46
58:46
58:48
58:49
58:49
58:50
58:50
58:51
58:53
58:540
58:55
58:56
58:56text
58:57
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