Landward Season 20 Episode 16

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Transcript

00:00This time I'm heading out there, to one of the wildlife wonders of the world.

00:09Welcome to Lambert.

00:30Hello from North Berwick in East Lothian, a popular coastal town looking out across the Firth of Forth.

00:37And every single view is dominated by that.

00:41A huge lump of volcanic rock rising from the sea, the Bass Rock.

00:46In a moment I'll be finding out why that is such an important wildlife destination.

00:51But first, here's what else is coming up.

00:55I'm going to call for some help, it's a little bit too choppy for my liking.

00:58The RNLI take charge when Rosie needs rescuing.

01:03Arlene meets the sheep farmer who wants us to leave Lam alone.

01:08We produce mutton. Mutton is proper meat. It's got proper flavour.

01:12And Liana Fernandez sees one of our most elusive moths.

01:16So it's really rare there.

01:18Extremely rare. It's only found around the village of Bremont.

01:21And that's it for the whole of the UK.

01:28But first, I'm going to need a lift.

01:32And a guide.

01:34Joining me on the boat to the Bass Rock is Maggie Shedden.

01:37Hi Maggie.

01:38Hiya, lovely to meet you.

01:39And you too. Let's get onto the seat, shall we?

01:41Now, are these the wet seats?

01:43Of course.

01:43So is the trip out going to be nice and calm, or is it going to be bouncy?

01:49To be honest, when we get past the pier, it will be maybe a little bit.

01:55I feel like it's not going to be super bouncy.

01:58Maggie is from the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick.

02:02The charity is celebrating its 25th birthday this year,

02:06and she's been taking trips the three miles out to the rock since it opened.

02:16From late February to the end of October,

02:19the island is home to tens of thousands of migrating gannets.

02:23And Maggie is always delighted to see them.

02:27I get excited when the first one's back, when the last one's leaving.

02:31The first egg, the first trip.

02:33I'll get excited to do.

02:34I can sense you already are.

02:36And so am I, so let's get there.

02:44Thank you very much.

02:46Stepping onto the rock is an assault on the senses.

02:50Sight, sound and smell.

02:54That's quite an aroma, isn't it, as you walk on?

02:57A bit of gannet poo.

02:59It clears the sinuses.

03:00The island was a prison before it became a bird colony,

03:06Scotland's Alcatraz in the 17th century.

03:10No-one stays here today.

03:12The last lighthouse keeper left in the 1980s.

03:16So the wildlife has the rock all to themselves,

03:19and some don't like intruders.

03:22And just be careful of this wee pair here.

03:26Uh-huh.

03:27So we'll just stick into the rope.

03:31That's the vocal adult, and that's the quiet one.

03:35Very vocal.

03:36The gannets mate for life.

03:41And in 1904, there were 3,000 breeding pairs here.

03:46By 2021, the Bass Rock had become the largest northern gannet colony in the world,

03:53with 75,000 pairs.

03:56That was until avian flu hit.

03:59Maggie was shocked by what she saw in 2022.

04:02And when I landed, there was dead birds on the landing site.

04:07And then I saw one fitting, and that was heartbreaking to watch.

04:12This really strong, powerful bird.

04:16Yeah.

04:17Just almost, it was like an epileptic fit.

04:19Completely lost control of its body.

04:22And then it would just hang.

04:25And that was just at the start.

04:27Yeah.

04:27And then I had to come all the way up to the colony, and I was left with no doubt.

04:33Yeah.

04:33As to what I think really was supposed to.

04:35Devastating for the colony, but devastating for you too.

04:38It was.

04:39I mean, both.

04:40At one point, it was stood here, and just, there wasn't a sound.

04:43And I remember thinking, I've watched this colony grow, and I think I'm going to watch it die.

04:53But it didn't die.

04:55Although a third of the birds were lost, the colony is now recovering.

05:01And for some of the survivors, the disease has left its mark.

05:05The gannets' normal icy blue eye changed to a different colour.

05:09Some of them have got black eyes, and some of them have got one black eye and one normal eye.

05:17Experts are currently investigating why.

05:21How's the colony looking this year then?

05:23Overall, colonies look in good, and I think that's what's so important.

05:28And it's really wonderful to see this year.

05:30But you do see how many birds are single, solo birds that lost a partner.

05:35And I think that was the most heartbreaking thing after we came through.

05:38The year after, coming out early season and seeing birds that were single.

05:45They were waiting for a partner that never returned.

05:49It will take time, probably about 30 years, to regenerate what it was.

05:55But it's an indicator of when things go wrong, when you see something happening in seabird colonies.

06:02It's giving us a much wider message that there is something wrong at that.

06:06You've been coming out here for the last 25 years or so.

06:11Can you see yourself coming back to see them for the next 25?

06:14They have to carry me.

06:16I'm an old lady.

06:19I'd love to be able to, but I think that's a bit beyond.

06:22But I bet if anyone can manage it, it'll be Maggie.

06:30It's been a privilege to see the Gannets and her love for them up close.

06:35From the Bass Rock to the Outer Hebrides, where they don't like to rush things.

06:47Now, many of us like a plate of lamb from time to time.

06:51But Arlene's meeting a crofter, trying to convince us to try something a little more mature.

06:56To rear livestock in a place like this means you are working in the most incredible landscape.

07:09But blimey, you've got to be tough to survive it out here.

07:15And that goes for the animals as well as the crofters.

07:19Sandy Granville raises sheep in the west of Lewis.

07:22What an office!

07:25Oh, it's not so bad, is it?

07:26Yeah.

07:27It's a bit rugged some days.

07:31And when it comes to sheep meat, Sandy doesn't have much time for lamb.

07:36We produce mutton.

07:39The meat comes from his male sheep when they're two and a half years old.

07:43They're full-grown, big, wild animals.

07:47Yeah.

07:47Instead of six months, the lamb might be.

07:50Mutton is proper meat.

07:51It's got proper flavour.

07:53It's as different from lamb as good beef is from veal.

07:58It's the wild and exposed moorland that Sandy says gives his mutton a unique flavour.

08:05And his black-faced sheep have years, not just months, to graze on it.

08:09If you look down, this isn't just grass.

08:12It's heather and lots of other herbs down there.

08:16Grass is just one tiny bit of what they're eating.

08:18People often think that grass-fed animals are going to be tasty.

08:22But if they're eating this, then they're really tasty.

08:26And if you're wondering why these sheep seem a little camera shy, it's because they don't see humans very often.

08:34They're gathered only five times a year for dipping, shearing and seeing the ram.

08:38All of Sandy's sheep, apart from mothers expecting twins, give birth, without help, on the moor.

08:45This is their country.

08:49They're just completely adapted to living here.

08:53They live just a completely natural life.

08:55They've run their own lives.

08:58They go where they want.

08:59And they probably have their own parliament.

09:01And the vote today is to enjoy the grass further down the coast.

09:09While mutton may have fallen out of favour, it's a long-established tradition in Lewis, and Sandy's keen to carry it on.

09:17I'm a bit of an old-fashioned trap anyway, but mutton's always been the principal meat here.

09:23I'd like to try to keep it going.

09:26It's a delightful, slow way of producing the product, the meat.

09:32And Sandy's not the only crofter who feels that way.

09:36He's part of an informal cooperative who keep their sheep and cattle in the traditional way, using common grazings.

09:44Sandy's sheep have access to this rough, unimproved ground without burning a hole in his pocket.

09:49So, we don't have to feed them through the winter, or...

09:56You don't have that pressure?

09:57No, we can just let them out on the grazings, and they'll feed themselves.

10:03We seem to be a society that lacks patience for anything now.

10:07Do you think that is also the case when it comes to the producing of our meat?

10:13Good food is always slow, isn't it?

10:15You can't get good food by rushing.

10:19Certainly not, and that goes for the preparation of the meat, as much as the rearing of it.

10:28We're keeping the food miles low, dining al fresco on Sandy's own slow-cooked shoulder of mutton.

10:36This looks amazing, Sandy.

10:39Right, what should I be expecting?

10:42It's mature meat. It's going to be full flavour. A lot of flavour in that.

10:46Here we go.

10:49And it only seems fair to take a bit of time to savour it.

10:57I'm keeping you waiting, Sandy. It's delicious.

11:00You realise that you're not going to be able to get back to the ordinary stuff?

11:04You've spoiled me now. It's really good.

11:09I was worried. I thought, not sure about mutton.

11:13That's just the flavours of the land in this meat for three years.

11:18Yes.

11:19And that's what you're tasting.

11:20Yeah, that's it.

11:20It's a different offering altogether.

11:23Yes, it's not quite the ordinary stuff.

11:26It's prime meat.

11:27It's top-nosh.

11:29Yes.

11:29It is, isn't it?

11:30Yes.

11:31You keep talking, I'm eating.

11:34You're not trying any yourself. You better be quick, otherwise I'm going to have it.

11:37I seem to have not got a knife.

11:41Me? I just use my fingers.

11:45Sandy's made one convert.

11:47I won't be giving up the lamb, but I'll certainly be making a bit more room for mutton.

11:51Over the last few programmes, entomologist and wildlife filmmaker Liana Fernandez has been sharing her passion for moths.

12:08She showed us how best to see them, even if they can be elusive.

12:14Oh.

12:15Yay!

12:17There we go.

12:18Sometimes we get escapees, but that's okay.

12:21And some of the clever ways they survive.

12:24And for this moth, it's all about safety in numbers, protecting itself from potential predators.

12:30This time, Liana's near Braemar in Deeside, finding out what moths can tell us about changes to our environment.

12:40We have around 35 butterfly species here in Scotland, but we have over 1,300 types of moth.

12:48And they're all vital for our ecosystems.

12:53Moths are super pollinators, and they're an important food source for a range of wildlife.

12:59But they're also an indicator species.

13:02That means they're sensitive to any changes in the environment, a bit like the canary in the coal mines.

13:07So, monitoring moths can tell us a great deal.

13:12Ecologist Patrick Cook from Butterfly Conservation spends a lot of time tracking down moths in some remote areas.

13:20Have you just got anything?

13:22Well, yes, actually.

13:23Yeah.

13:23Just up on the top of the hill here, we've had some mountain bayonets.

13:27The mountain bayonets is a super rare species of moth, but we're in just the place to see it.

13:33Do you mind showing me any pictures you've taken?

13:36Yeah, sure.

13:36So, I've got plenty of photos.

13:37Oh, exciting.

13:38And I'll just show you one that I took today.

13:41So, this is a male mountain bayonet.

13:44So, you can see they have this wonderful black coloration with sort of red dots on the wings.

13:49They look like this proper sort of Dennis the Menace-like sort of moth.

13:53Female mountain bayonet has these sort of whitish shoulder pads on the thing.

13:57So, I think they look a bit like an American football player.

13:59They also have this sort of whitish-yellowish dusting along the veins on the wings.

14:04It's really nice white legs, so there's really sort of distinctive stunning species.

14:09It's our only bayonet that we find up on the tops of the hills.

14:12So, it's really rare then?

14:14Extremely rare.

14:15It's only found around the village of Braemar.

14:17So, we have about 12 colonies on the hills around us here.

14:20So, we can actually see all the colonies on these hills around us.

14:24And that's it for the whole of the UK.

14:26And not found anywhere else in the UK.

14:28So, it's about as rare as you can get.

14:30The moths are perfectly adapted to this montane habitat.

14:35The upland slopes above the treeline.

14:37And they're being closely monitored by Patrick.

14:40We're working with state staff.

14:43So, over on Mar Lodge Estate, Invercould Estate.

14:46And then we have a network of local people who give up their time for free

14:50and come out and sort of count the numbers of this moth since 2020.

14:54And we've got this really great data set now

14:56where we can see how the population has changed over time.

14:59So, why is doing all of this monitoring so important?

15:02It's really important that we understand how some of these sort of montane species are doing.

15:06So, we see even in some of the birds and so on,

15:08there are declines in things like dotral and ptarmigan.

15:12The burnets obviously have a sort of annual life cycle.

15:15So, they will go through these peaks and fluctuations much quicker.

15:18So, they give us these sort of early warning signals

15:20about changes with climate change and so on.

15:23It's a good general indicator of montane habitat.

15:27So, it's really important that we understand how these numbers are responding.

15:31It also helps that it's such a stunning species.

15:33That's why one of the reasons why people will get out onto the top of the hills

15:36and actually get out counting.

15:38Oh yeah, definitely.

15:39All for the moths.

15:40It's a great species to have.

15:43I absolutely love this moth and it's just the best thing.

15:46It is fantastic.

15:47So, thank you so much for showing me.

15:49That's absolutely fine.

15:50Enjoy your day on the hill.

15:51Hope you see some.

15:52Bye.

15:56It's so exciting to know these incredibly rare moths are found all around here.

16:02These small, amazing insects can tell us so much about the wider environment

16:06and how it's changing.

16:07And I hope I've encouraged you to see moths in a different light over the last few programmes.

16:14Whether they're here in the mountains, in forests or gardens, moths matter

16:19and we should all be looking out for them.

16:22Go on.

16:22For over 200 years, the RNLI have been saving lives around our coast.

16:34But in recent years, one water sport activity has caused a big increase in call-outs.

16:40Rosie is meeting the team based right here in North Berwick to find out more.

16:44Combining fitness, wellness and being outdoors, paddleboarding has lots of benefits.

17:01It surged during lockdown and is now one of the UK's most popular water sports.

17:07That wave of enthusiasm has brought danger.

17:20OK.

17:21Between 2019 and 2023, the number of call-outs to paddleboarders tripled.

17:33Crews from around Scotland responded to the incidents, including the team here in North Berwick.

17:39That's when we're definitely getting in case.

17:48Rona Meikle is one of the RNLI's helms here.

17:51She believes the surge in call-outs is linked to inflatable boards becoming readily available.

17:59The inflatable paddleboards came on the market where you didn't have to have room to store them,

18:04you didn't have to have a lot of experience.

18:07You bought a paddleboard, you pumped it up, you came to the beach, put it in the water and off you went.

18:13But when novices head out on the water, they can get caught out with conditions at sea.

18:19More than half of call-outs are caused by offshore wind and currents.

18:24They're playing about concentrating on standing up on this paddleboard

18:27and then suddenly they look round and they're a good distance away from the shore

18:32and they maybe drop down on their knees and try to come back in.

18:35But it doesn't always work.

18:38And that's when the Coast Guard asked us to launch to go and rescue them.

18:42Last year, there were 132 paddleboarding incidents across the UK.

18:48Most were at sea.

18:50Right, everybody, if we could gather round, please.

18:52So it's vital for these teams of volunteers to keep up their training.

18:55Our plan is to simulate a paddleboard rescue with Rosie.

19:02Leading today's training exercise is Fraser Fulton.

19:05Sea conditions, we've got a bit of a swell pushing in from the north,

19:08so it is hooking round the corner of the harbour wall just now.

19:11So that's something we'll need to be aware of when we're picking Rosie up.

19:13So today, the story is I've been blown out to sea

19:27into rough conditions I can't cope with.

19:30In an emergency, the RNLI are dispatched by the Coast Guard.

19:55They aim to launch within 10 minutes of getting a call.

20:07They train weekly for at least 12 months

20:10before becoming fully-fledged crew members.

20:14Yeah, I got it.

20:16Four metres.

20:18Good.

20:18If I had been stuck out at sea with no hope of paddling back...

20:24Watch it in case you topple it.

20:27..I can't imagine how grateful I'd be to jump on board the lifeboat.

20:33Nice plastic blanket.

20:38In the event that things do go wrong,

20:41Rona's advice is clear.

20:43Never worry about calling for help.

20:45We'd much rather come out and find out

20:50that you're back on your board, everything's fine,

20:53than have something that could have been sorted

20:55at the very early stages

20:56turn into something really epic.

21:01Right, chaps, thank you so much.

21:03Coming to my rescue, what an amazing experience.

21:06But it's so reassuring to know we have the RNLI there for us,

21:10and it looks like a gorgeous day,

21:12but it is seriously choppy out there.

21:14Later in the series, we'll be bringing you a whole programme

21:27devoted to life on the amazing Isle of Islay.

21:31And to whet your appetite right now,

21:34Anne's meeting a couple who return to the island

21:36to breathe new life into their family's farming legacy.

21:40Cornobus Farm has been in Samara Johnston's family for over 50 years,

21:49and she's been working it with partner Ed since 2020.

21:54After careers away from the island,

21:57the vet and ecologist came with plans

21:59to make Cornobus more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

22:03Five years later, I want to find out what they've been up to

22:09and how their big idea is working out.

22:15We had pretty much a perfect childhood growing up on this farm.

22:20Whenever I could, we would be in the lambing shed or doing the calving.

22:24I wasn't sure what to do and it was either between farming or vetting.

22:33Vetting won out and after a 10-year career in England and New Zealand,

22:38lockdown brought Samara and Ed back to look after the farm,

22:42bringing some new ideas with them.

22:44It was run as quite a machinery-heavy and intensive farm,

22:51really maximum input, maximum output.

22:55But farming's changing, you know, the industry is changing

22:58and costs have just rocketed.

23:00Suddenly, we were, you know, landed with invoices

23:05of astronomical amounts for fertiliser and things like that.

23:10We thought, how could we change this?

23:13How could we really start to look after the land

23:17for it not to be reliant on fertiliser,

23:21but still having the cattle and sheep here,

23:25producing good quality beef and good quality lamb?

23:28You've made a lot of changes then.

23:30Shall we go and take a closer look at the cattle?

23:32Yeah.

23:33The farm had a herd of Limousans,

23:36a large continental breed,

23:38not the best fit for Isla's climate and terrain.

23:42We've introduced some native breeds

23:44just to try and create a hardier animal

23:48for living on our wet ground.

23:50A few years ago, we got a Hereford bull.

23:53We also introduced a small herd of pedigree shorthorns,

23:57but we have kept a smaller herd of commercial limousins.

24:03With fewer, hardier cattle,

24:06the couple are saving £20,000 a year,

24:09no longer using artificial fertiliser on the grass,

24:13and they're letting it grow longer.

24:15With a longer grass length,

24:18that allows ultimately more grass for these guys to eat.

24:23But the longer the grass, the deeper the root,

24:26and the more resistant to changes in weather.

24:29Vegetation that can cope with many more extremes,

24:33as we're seeing.

24:34Samara thinks Isla's getting more rain.

24:37It certainly feels that way today,

24:40but instead of fighting against wet ground,

24:42she and partner Ed are making a feature of it.

24:46Hi, Ed. You busy there?

24:48Hi. We're just digging a bit of coal for us, I would say.

24:53One of the challenges is how we get water to livestock,

24:56which seems bizarre on a wet landscape like this.

24:59So we're trying to dig some ponds and that sort of thing

25:03so that we can graze around those,

25:05use them as watering holes,

25:06and they'll have a secondary purpose

25:09of being really good for biodiversity as well.

25:12When we started five years ago,

25:13we had three pairs of breeding lapwing,

25:15and we're now up to 12 or 15.

25:17We've had curly breeding again,

25:19redshank breeding again.

25:21Geography of here is a really important place

25:22for birds passing through and migration as well,

25:25so we've got, I think, 132 different species on the farm.

25:28We've made lots of changes, tons of wildlife here.

25:32What are your hopes for the future?

25:34What do you think the future holds for the farm here?

25:38I think for us, from a farm business point of view,

25:41obviously we need to maintain being profitable.

25:44There's all sorts of pressures on us that we can't control,

25:48but the one thing that we can strive to be better

25:51is how we can adapt to that

25:52and improve the resilience in the soil,

25:55in our grazing system, in the livestock themselves.

25:58Lasting legacy for the next generation.

26:00We have a daughter.

26:01She might be interested one day.

26:03Yeah, we'll force her into it.

26:05You will farm and you will love it.

26:08No, she loves being outside,

26:10and that would be a good aim to have, eh?

26:14It certainly is.

26:16And Lambard will be returning to Islay later in the series.

26:20Can you believe it?

26:27That brings us to the end of this programme.

26:29If you'd like to watch again or see some of our previous episodes,

26:33go to the BBC iPlayer and search for Lambard.

26:36Now, here's what's coming up next time.

26:38In a very special programme,

26:42we're looking at all things crafting.

26:46The stories that built its past.

26:4953 crofts were created,

26:52and both my sets of grandparents came to the village then.

26:55The people making its present.

26:58We drove over the hill and saw this view,

27:02and it was just kind of like, wow, that's it.

27:04Hi, Christina, how are you doing?

27:06Good, yourself?

27:07And the next generation building its future.

27:10It's always been here and been happening for generations,

27:13and it would be nice for that to carry on.

27:17Please join us for that and much, much more if you can.

27:21In the meantime, from all the Lambard teams around the country,

27:24and especially from me here in North Berwick,

27:26thank you so much for your company.

27:28Bye for now.

27:34Bye for now.

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