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00:00Welcome to Bannau Brycheiniog, or the Brecon Beacons.
00:26While spring and summer are undoubtedly glorious, autumn and winter bring with them their own charm and some amazing wildlife spectacles.
00:36We're going to be looking at some of my highlights from the watches over the years.
00:40Now, whilst many species are merely looking to survive these harsh winter months, others are looking to the future and the success of the next generation.
00:51Welcome to Winter Watch in Wales.
00:56Winter Watch
01:03Hello, croeso, welcome to Llynsefadhan, as it's known in Welsh,
01:24o Llangors Lake, a great place to see winter wildfowl.
01:29And in this programme, I'm going to be focusing on the wildlife that wants to produce the next generation.
01:37From the mighty oak that produces thousands of acorns in the autumn,
01:42to the toads that gather to spawn right at the end of the winter.
01:47But for my first magical moment, we're going way back to autumn 2013.
01:53I went over to Scormor Island off the Pembrokeshire coast.
01:57In spring and summer, it's alive with breeding seabirds.
02:02Razorbills, guillemots, puffins, all seen there in their thousands.
02:07But it's also a vitally important breeding ground for Manx shearwaters.
02:13And between them, three Welsh islands hold over half the world's population.
02:19The adults lay one egg and rear one chick in a burrow.
02:24And then by late August, early September, they've left to migrate all the way down to the tip of South America,
02:33leaving the youngsters to follow a few weeks later.
02:36I went over there in the hope of seeing hundreds of youngsters leave the island for the very first time.
02:43The adults left two or three weeks ago on their migration.
02:50But what about the chicks?
02:52It might be hard to believe, but there could be as many as 200,000 Manx she-water chicks here on Scormor at this very moment.
03:02But they're underground in their burrows.
03:05And the reason that they stay out of sight by day is because of these large gulls patrolling the skies.
03:12To find out more about how they survive, I'm meeting up with my old friend Tim Guilford,
03:17who's dedicated his life to studying these birds.
03:20It's like a bit of Swiss cheese, isn't it, underground here?
03:22It gets very fragile at the end of the season in all the burrows.
03:26Tim recently tracked several adult she-waters all the way to Patagonia, a distance of over 7,000 miles.
03:34Evidence suggests that the chicks undertake the same mammoth journey.
03:39Come on.
03:40How old is this one then, Tim?
03:42I think he's about 65 days since hatching.
03:45You can see he or she just starting to lose the remains of the down.
03:49So his parents will have stopped feeding this bird now.
03:52They'll have abandoned it and hopefully has enough fat reserves to make that flight straight to South America.
03:59Many birds follow their parents on their first migration.
04:03But this young she-water will have to navigate to the far side of the globe alone.
04:10After the chick has been ringed and weighed, Tim carefully returns it to its burrow.
04:16It's late afternoon and the scormor is eerily quiet.
04:20It's amazing to think that just beneath my feet are thousands of hungry chicks waiting for the right conditions to leave the safety of their burrows.
04:29These chicks fledge over several nights, but according to Tim, tonight's the night when it all comes to a head.
04:39It's very little moon, so it's going to be incredibly dark and the chicks need this darkness to get off the island safely.
04:45And because they require the darkness, we're not going to be using torches.
04:50We're going over to night vision.
04:53Tim is taking me to one of the highest places on the island, where he thinks we'll get our best view of the departing birds.
05:01Let's see.
05:01It looks like I've timed my visit to perfection.
05:04Here we go.
05:04Oh, wow, look at that.
05:07There's loads of them.
05:07There are loads of them.
05:08Yeah.
05:09Now, these are in the bracket.
05:10We wouldn't normally be able to see that.
05:12They're coming out of the burrows.
05:13Oh, they are.
05:13Look, they're all burnt.
05:14That's brilliant.
05:15Wow.
05:17Minute by minute, more and more shearwaters emerge from underground.
05:22Since the adults left, the youngsters have been burning off their fat and developing their wing muscles.
05:28They're finally ready for their maiden flight.
05:31But they need to get as high as possible to give them the best chance of making it off the island.
05:39And a lot of birds starting to climb up the rocks.
05:42You've actually got one on your head.
05:46I've known you a long time.
05:48I've never seen you look quite so foolish, I have to say.
05:52Clearly, they see us not as a threat, but as an extension of the rock face.
05:57And soon, we're covered in it.
06:01It's the first time I've ever been a climbing frame for monk shearwaters.
06:04And I've got to tell you, it's a very unique experience.
06:07Here comes another one now.
06:10Stop squabbling.
06:12Oh, yes, I know.
06:13Go on, then.
06:14Up you go.
06:16Be gentle.
06:18Be gentle.
06:18Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.
06:20With this modern camera technology, it's easy to forget that neither we nor the shearwaters can see anything at all.
06:27But, boy, are they making their presence felt.
06:29This one has got very sharp claws.
06:32I'm going to put my hand on it.
06:33And they think, ah, oh, that's better.
06:36You've got more hair than I have.
06:38They're quite argumentative, too, aren't they?
06:40The whole purpose of this, of course, is for these birds to gain height.
06:50They try to get the best possible vantage point for launching themselves off.
06:55They have to clear the vegetation here.
06:57They have to clear the rocks.
06:59They need to clear the breakers to get out to the open sea before first light.
07:03If they can do that, they've got a chance for survival.
07:08It's a huge transition for them, isn't it?
07:12It is.
07:13They'll come back to breed here in about five years' time, most of them, the ones that survive.
07:19For the next hour, a procession of eager shearwaters stream over our bodies and take the plunge.
07:26It may be a surreal experience for me, but it's a crucial moment in the lives of these young birds.
07:33This might look quite comical, but these are remarkable birds.
07:40They're leaving their burrows for the first time.
07:43They're now going to launch themselves off out into the open ocean.
07:48They have no map.
07:49They have nobody to guide them.
07:51And yet they're going to make it all the way down to southern Argentina.
07:55There goes one now.
07:57It's an amazing journey for a remarkable bird.
08:03That was one of the highlights of my watcher's career, having all of those young mank shearwaters around me launching themselves off.
08:23And if you think about it, they leave that island and fly alone all the way down to the southern Patagonian coast.
08:32Amazing creatures.
08:33And there was one female on Bardsey Island up in northwest Wales.
08:37She was first caught and ringed in a burrow in 1955.
08:41She was last seen in 2009 and she was estimated to have flown over 4 million miles in her lifetime.
08:51That's more than to the moon and back eight times.
08:55They are amazing birds.
08:57Now the adult shearwaters let their chicks just get on with it.
09:01And you would think that the same was true of plants.
09:05But actually some plants have a few tricks up their sleeve to give their offspring the best possible start.
09:13There are nearly 40,000 hectares of oak woodland in Wales.
09:17And in autumn, mature oaks are laden with acorns, each with a potential to grow into a mighty tree.
09:29As September rolls in, one of the woodland's oldest and most iconic residents,
09:38this ancient oak is setting the stage for the ultimate end-of-season party.
09:44One final feast.
09:50Here, it's not just the leaves that are falling.
09:56Acorns.
09:58An abundance of them.
10:03For the forest's wild inhabitants, this harvest is a lifeline.
10:09But it's also a lifeline for the oak.
10:14These acorns hold the seeds of a new generation.
10:20But their long-term survival relies on them getting a good grounding.
10:28So how on earth can a wild tree ensure its seeds are planted?
10:33For the squirrel, autumn is the time to stockpile.
10:44Removing the fruits of the tree's labour might seem catastrophic for the oak.
10:49But there's more to this relationship than meets the eye.
10:53It's all about how squirrels assess acorns.
10:59And it turns out they have pretty high standards.
11:04Too light, and it may mean the acorn is infested with weevils.
11:08Not worth storing, but good enough to be eaten on the spot.
11:15If an acorn is deemed healthy, however,
11:19in autumn, it's likely to be hidden.
11:23Throughout the season, one squirrel can bury around 3,000 nuts
11:27to help see them through the winter.
11:28But just like us, a squirrel's memory isn't perfect.
11:34And this is what the oak counts on.
11:38Some of the squirrel's stashes will be forgotten,
11:41and they may get the chance to grow.
11:43If they don't get pilfered beforehand, of course.
11:49With an excellent sense of smell,
11:51the forest's wild boars rooped around in the leaf litter,
11:55churning through the soil.
11:57Opportunistic omnivores that are in search of roots,
12:03bulbs, nuts, and, of course,
12:07the oak's highly nutritious seeds.
12:10Acorns are a boar's favourite food,
12:12so much so that between autumn and spring,
12:15they make up 45% of their diet.
12:19So stumbling upon a squirrel's secret stash
12:22would be considered a foraging success for the boar,
12:25yet Armageddon for the oak
12:28and utter annihilation for baby oaks.
12:32They crack the husk and swallow the acorns,
12:36effectively killing the seed.
12:39The oak, however, has the perfect autumn accomplice.
12:42A usually secretive bird that, come autumn,
12:51steps out of the shadows.
12:56Jays can spend up to 10 hours a day
12:59cashing food to see them through the winter,
13:01a behaviour that starts in September
13:04and continues until all the acorns have been eaten
13:09or hidden.
13:13A single jay can store up to 11,000 acorns every autumn.
13:18And rather than bury their loot in the shadows of the tree
13:21like squirrels might,
13:23jays have a habit of taking them further afield
13:26and burying individual acorns out in the open
13:30where thieves don't dare to venture.
13:33A single acorn, planted in the right spot,
13:37is just what the oak tree is after.
13:42No rightful oak wants its young growing up in its shadows.
13:45And for its pièce de résistance,
13:49the jay buries its acorns
13:51at a depth of around 1.5 centimetres,
13:55perfect for germination.
13:59For the great oak,
14:00this season's festival has gone exactly as planned.
14:05Many party-goers have come and gone,
14:08and the oak has catered for them all.
14:12In so doing,
14:13it's guaranteed that this festival will continue
14:16as mighty oaks from little acorns grow.
14:22Well,
14:23with a little help from some forest friends.
14:38Now, jays usually bury their acorns
14:41on the edges of woodland,
14:42but they can travel several kilometres with them.
14:46And when you think that in a month,
14:48they can bury 3,000 acorns,
14:51and they forget,
14:53maybe a half,
14:54maybe even two-thirds of them,
14:56they play a vital role
14:58in the spreading
14:59and the regeneration
15:00of our oak woodlands.
15:02Really important species,
15:05the jay.
15:05Now, if you're wandering around in a dissidious woodland like this
15:09at this time of year,
15:10there's one iconic sound
15:12that'll make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.
15:15It's the roaring of the red deer stags.
15:25They bellow to assert their authority
15:28and for the right to mate.
15:30And these are big,
15:33big animals.
15:34A big stag can weigh
15:35around 225 kilograms.
15:38That's over 30 stone,
15:40twice my weight.
15:42In Wales,
15:43they're not that common.
15:45They are believed to have been
15:46hunted to extinction,
15:48lost quite a bit of habitat,
15:49and died out 1,800 maybe even before that.
15:54But they are starting to spread.
15:57And a few years ago,
15:58I went to the Tyvee mashes
16:00to see the local red deer population there.
16:11Rutting activity tends to happen
16:14around dusk and dawn.
16:16Tyvee mashes are home
16:19to a small herd of red deer.
16:22Three different stags
16:24were spotted with the hinds.
16:26But this is the dominant one,
16:29a big, powerful male in his prime.
16:35He only has a few would-be challengers,
16:39so bellowing might be enough
16:40to see them off.
16:41This lip-curling
16:46is called flemmen.
16:47The male is trying to pick up
16:49the scent of the females
16:50to see if any of them are fertile.
17:04At this time of year,
17:05the males are pumped up
17:07on testosterone
17:08and will chase off any rivals.
17:10On this occasion,
17:14a much smaller male
17:15who decides not to risk a fight.
17:20Despite all the posturing,
17:22it's the females that decide
17:24when they're ready to mate.
17:26It's hard work
17:28for the dominant stag
17:29to keep his hinds rounded up
17:31and fend off other males.
17:33But eventually,
17:37it pays off
17:39and he mates successfully.
17:45He remains in charge
17:48for now.
17:49That young stag,
17:59well,
18:00he'll just have to wait his turn.
18:02But his time
18:03will come.
18:04Although they sexually mature
18:06after about 16 months old,
18:08it usually takes around
18:09six years
18:10before they get to mate.
18:11That's how long it takes them
18:13to build up that muscle mass
18:15and grow those huge antlers
18:17to take on
18:18the dominant stags.
18:20But red deer,
18:21well,
18:21they're not the only ones
18:23with mating on their minds.
18:25Towards the end of winter,
18:27open water like this
18:28becomes a hive of activity
18:30as toads emerge
18:32from hibernation
18:34and make their way
18:35to their breeding grounds.
18:37as Chris Packham explains.
18:41Sunset
18:42is the starting gun
18:44for the tough mudder
18:48of amphibians,
18:50toads.
18:53The terrain
18:54is a man-made obstacle course.
18:58Concrete monoliths
19:00need to be navigated.
19:03Stone steps
19:04must be climbed.
19:07But these toads
19:08are being driven
19:09by the most basic
19:10of instincts,
19:12the need to breed.
19:15Winter
19:16has been spent
19:17in these woodlands,
19:18but with temperatures
19:19on the rise
19:20and dampness in the air,
19:22it's the toad's cue
19:23to commence.
19:32For this competitor,
19:34a human hurdle
19:35stands in her way.
19:37She doesn't compete
19:40in the high jump,
19:41but free climbing
19:42is a skill
19:43she has mastered.
19:46She grasps
19:47the textured surface
19:48with her four-toed
19:49front feet
19:50pulling herself up.
19:54Some obstacles
19:55are not so easy
19:56to navigate.
19:57her journey
20:01is fraught
20:02with danger.
20:05This time,
20:06it's a road
20:07that crosses
20:07her route.
20:14And cars
20:15can be lethal.
20:18Toads prefer to walk
20:19rather than hop,
20:20so getting out of the way
20:22of an approaching vehicle
20:23isn't easy.
20:24Toad numbers
20:26have declined
20:27by 68%,
20:29so every casualty
20:31counts.
20:36The finish line
20:37is in sight.
20:38She's on the home stretch,
20:40but she's been spotted
20:42by a smaller male
20:43waiting on the sideline.
20:45For him,
20:48this isn't
20:48a spectator sport.
20:51He gives chase.
20:53It's a warm embrace
20:55for the female.
20:57He has a game plan.
20:59If he can be with her
21:01as she enters the water,
21:03he'll be the first
21:04to pass on his genes.
21:08But for her,
21:09it's an extra load
21:10to bear.
21:11Using the last
21:17of her reserves,
21:19she crosses
21:19the finish line.
21:23At last,
21:24she can release
21:25her spawn.
21:26And for the male,
21:27fertilisation
21:28is the prize.
21:32The trophy,
21:34string-like structures
21:35with the next generation
21:37of tough mudders
21:38developing inside.
21:40You don't usually
21:48find toadspawn
21:50until towards
21:50the end of the winter,
21:52but frogspawn,
21:53on the other hand,
21:53well,
21:54you can actually find that
21:55from late December onwards.
21:57And with a warming climate,
21:59we're finding frogspawn
22:01and toadspawn
22:02getting earlier
22:03and earlier.
22:04How do you differentiate
22:05between the two?
22:07Well,
22:07frogspawn
22:08is laid in one big clump,
22:10whereas toads
22:11will lay it
22:12in one long string,
22:14often tied around
22:15the vegetation
22:16in the water.
22:18Toads,
22:18of course,
22:19they don't really
22:20go in for courtship,
22:22but some creatures
22:23have a very complex
22:24mating ritual.
22:26And one,
22:26the Great Crested Grebe,
22:28starts in February.
22:30It has one of the most
22:31complex mating rituals
22:33of any Welsh bird.
22:36You can find them here
22:37on Llangors Lake,
22:38but also in urban areas.
22:41Photographer Andy Rouse
22:43had a cracking view
22:44right in the middle
22:46of Cardiff.
22:46I love taking photos
23:03simply because it gets me
23:04close to animals,
23:04and that's my big passion
23:06in my life.
23:08You wouldn't think Cardiff
23:08was a particularly good place
23:10for wildlife,
23:10being a city,
23:11but there's an awful lot
23:12of wildlife
23:13that's made its home
23:14in the urban environment
23:16that we have here.
23:17And number one of those
23:18is the Great Crested Grebe.
23:25We've got a nationally
23:26important population here,
23:27spread across all of the lakes
23:29in the town.
23:30And the great thing is
23:31a lot of these lakes
23:32have got footpaths
23:33around them,
23:34so the Grebes
23:34are very used to people.
23:36It's an ideal place
23:38for me to get close
23:38and get really good shots.
23:41The character
23:51of the Great Crested Grebe
23:52goes between being
23:53incredibly stroppy
23:54and incredibly lazy.
23:57You can really chill out
23:58in a second,
23:59so they go from...
24:00And then five minutes
24:03later, they're like...
24:05I'm usually a stills photographer,
24:13but this time
24:13I've picked up
24:13a movie camera as well.
24:14And the simple reason is
24:15when I saw the Grebes
24:16doing the courtship,
24:18I just get one frame of it
24:19and I realised
24:20I've got to capture this
24:21on film.
24:22Now, if that courtship's
24:39taken a couple of minutes,
24:40I know the weed dance
24:42is coming.
24:44They sink into the water
24:46just like the submarine
24:47going under.
24:47It's brilliant to watch it.
24:48Water goes everywhere.
25:03It's all backlit.
25:04Weed goes everywhere.
25:10And in the end,
25:11I've noticed one of them
25:12throws the weed down
25:14and then it ends
25:15and they sleep.
25:23It's all ritualised.
25:24That's what I love
25:25about the Grebe courtship.
25:26It's almost like
25:27they're doing it
25:27from a book.
25:28You know,
25:29they can't just say,
25:29let's mate now.
25:30They've got to do
25:31all the foreplay
25:32and everything else.
25:32It's just brilliant.
25:40Grebes sit on their eggs
25:41for about 27 days
25:43and one nest that I found
25:44I was very lucky
25:44I could actually find
25:45the first day
25:46when she sat
25:47and laid her eggs.
25:48And I marked in my diary
25:49Grebe hatch week
25:51and I came back
25:54the first day
25:54and there was one chick.
25:56My Grebe had had a chick.
25:58I felt like a dad.
25:59It was brilliant.
26:05It's quite funny
26:06watching the chicks
26:07trying to eat a fish
26:08that's as long
26:09as the chick.
26:13Grebes are not very good
26:23on land
26:23especially when they're
26:24two or three days old
26:25so walking on the nest
26:26they're hopeless at
26:27so half the time
26:28when they got off
26:29their mother's back
26:29they tried to stand up
26:30and they would tumble
26:31down the side of the nest
26:32into the water
26:32and end up legs first.
26:34Easter Sunday
26:43I saw them off to the nest
26:44for the first time
26:45climbing onto the back
26:47and that's magic
26:48because they're comical.
26:49I think wildlife
26:58increasingly is living
26:59more and more
26:59inside our towns
27:00we're expanding our towns
27:01our towns are not
27:02going to contract
27:03and if we want our
27:04wildlife to survive
27:05we're going to have
27:05to accommodate wildlife.
27:09I mean places
27:09have got urban foxes
27:10places have got urban
27:11badgers
27:11why shouldn't we have
27:12urban grebes
27:13it's brilliant.
27:24Amazing display
27:25and beautiful birds too
27:27and did you know
27:28that the great crested
27:29grebe was one
27:30of the reasons
27:31for the formation
27:32of the RSPB
27:33way back in 1889
27:36it was the fashion
27:37at the time
27:38to harvest the grebes
27:40for these beautiful
27:40feathers they have
27:41around the face
27:42they'd use them
27:44to adorn hats
27:45or dresses
27:46thankfully
27:47that was soon banned
27:49but at their lowest ebb
27:50they were believed
27:50to be between 20
27:52and 30 breeding pairs
27:54now they're fully protected
27:56and we have around
27:575,000 pairs
27:59a conservation success story.
28:03Well I hope you wrap up
28:04warm
28:05stick some waterproofs on
28:06the rain has come
28:08get out there
28:09and look for some
28:11of the amazing
28:12courtship rituals
28:13or signs of new life
28:15from bellowing red deer
28:17to frogs and toads
28:19in your local pond
28:20till the next time
28:2212 hour
28:22take care
28:24the beach
28:33low
28:383
28:38early
28:411
28:411
28:422
28:432
28:46to
28:471
28:472
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