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00:01Hello! We're back!
00:03We're live!
00:04And we're in a brand new location.
00:06So sit tight, because anything can happen in the next hour.
00:14Winter.
00:16A season of drama and spectacle.
00:25A time we welcome visitors after long migrations.
00:35And we've migrated too.
00:38Across the sea to Northern Ireland.
00:41Where we've set up our main base at Mount Stewart.
00:45A wild haven for a host of characters.
00:53Our cameras are rigged and rolling to capture all the action.
01:00And we'll spread our wings across the UK to experience wild encounters.
01:06Oyster catchers! Oyster catchers!
01:10That's so hot!
01:11Maybe I'd seen the water just flying in here.
01:16That's the sound of winter.
01:18We'll see the secret lives.
01:22Sensational symbiosis and the hidden wonders of the natural world.
01:28Ready?
01:29Yeah.
01:31Wow.
01:32Look at that!
01:36So get ready to live the drama with us.
01:39Because this...
01:42...is Winter Watch.
02:04Hello!
02:05Hello!
02:06Hello!
02:07Hello!
02:07Hello!
02:07Hello!
02:07And welcome to Winter Watch 2026.
02:10Coming to you live from the National Trust Mount Stewart Estate here in Northern Ireland.
02:15Yes!
02:16We've crossed the sea for the first time to base ourselves here.
02:19And we're very excited about that because it's a tremendous place which is at the moment just a little bit...
02:24Wet!
02:25Correct!
02:26Correct!
02:27Correct!
02:27But there's so much stuff here.
02:29It's absolutely brilliant.
02:31We're going to bring you a wealth of wintry wildlife over the next four nights.
02:36And we can start now.
02:37Listen.
02:38I'm going to take my hat off to the fact that we're going to start with the success.
02:41Let's go live to a badger here at Mount Stewart.
02:45Look at that!
02:45Oh, come on!
02:47You know why that is?
02:48They put me in charge of badgers this week.
02:51Yes!
02:51Live badgers!
02:52Look at that!
02:53You've never been terribly successful on the watchers with live badgers.
02:56Not up till now, no.
02:57Especially with us.
02:58That's fine, Yolo.
02:59Yes, that's true.
02:59Yes, it probably is.
03:01Isn't that brilliant?
03:02That is a great start.
03:03Great at the top.
03:04Facial close-up of a badger.
03:06And hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more of them.
03:08Hopefully we will.
03:09Hopefully we will.
03:10Well, we're at Mount Stewart and the banks of Strangford Loch, but many will be thinking,
03:14where exactly is that?
03:15Well, let's show you on the map here.
03:17Here we are, Northern Ireland, Belfast, half an hour away.
03:22National Trust, Mount Stewart Estate right on the banks of the wonderful Strangford Loch.
03:27It's an incredible place.
03:29It's a very beautiful place, but I'll tell you what's not beautiful is the weather today.
03:33I mean, as you say, it's wet, but it's been really windy and cold as well.
03:39Last week was lovely and sunny.
03:41I know what you're thinking.
03:42You should have been here last week.
03:43This is what it looked like.
03:45Look at those gorgeous blue skies.
03:47There's a variety of habitats here.
03:49Lots of woodland, 300 acres.
03:52A third of that is ancient woodland, like ash, oak and beech trees.
03:56All great for wildlife.
03:58Around that woodland, there's lots of rough farmland,
04:02which is sensitively managed for wildlife as well.
04:04You've got woodland edges, hedges, margins, lots of biodiversity,
04:09and that biodiversity provides home for a wealth of wildlife.
04:13Yes, indeed, as Michaela says, we have so many different habitats here,
04:17and that means that it's jam-packed full of all kinds of wildlife.
04:21And these are the characters we're hoping to bring you this week.
04:24Red squirrels.
04:26Beautiful red squirrels.
04:27Endemic, of course, to those lovely tufties.
04:30They do rather well up here in Northern Ireland.
04:32Pine martin.
04:34Nocturnal, quite elusive, but there's a good population here.
04:38We'll try to catch up with some pine martins for you as well.
04:42Badgers.
04:42We've already seen live badgers.
04:44I am the lucky charm for badgers.
04:47We have a big set here.
04:48There will be badgers galore.
04:50Badgers coming out of my ears.
04:53Otters.
04:53Will we get otters?
04:54There are otters.
04:55We know there are otters here.
04:56We've had reports of otters.
04:57We might see them.
04:58Woodland birds, of course.
05:00Lots of woodland.
05:00Lovely little goldcrest.
05:01Red pole there as well.
05:03Birds of prey.
05:04Attracted by the mikes and boars.
05:06Long eard owls.
05:07We saw long eard owls nesting in Springwatch.
05:10They are here.
05:11We're hoping we may well catch up with some.
05:14And, of course, this estate, as you mentioned, Yolo, is nestled on the banks of Strangford Lock.
05:18And this is a critically important international body of water when it comes to waders and wildfowl and other birds.
05:25No less than 150 square kilometres.
05:28240 kilometres of coastline, thanks to its invaginations.
05:32And 120 small islands, which obviously prove to be very, very useful in the wintertime when these birds need to
05:39go to their roosts.
05:40So what are we talking about?
05:42We're talking about brent geese.
05:43We're talking about hooper swans.
05:44Widgen teal.
05:45Shell duck.
05:46Waders galore.
05:47And hopefully we'll be catching up with some of those during the course of our series.
05:52Look at that curlew there with a crab.
05:54Happy curlew.
05:55Oh!
05:55Male pintail.
05:57Yolo, come on.
05:58Beautiful.
05:59My favourite duck male.
06:00Beautiful.
06:01Elegant.
06:02Stunning.
06:02I think we're going to have a mammal fest this week and a wader wonderland.
06:07I hope so.
06:08That's what I'm predicting.
06:09There's no doubt about it.
06:10It's a stunning place and it means a lot to the local people.
06:13So we asked local naturalist and conservationist Darren McAnulty what this place means to him.
06:25I have been coming to Mount Stewart now for probably about 17 years.
06:32And this was my escape out of the city.
06:36Whenever I come here in winter and I'm wandering the woodlands and the mudflats,
06:41you can feel this peaceful tranquility just sort of settle on you like a blanket
06:46that's sort of wrapping around your ears and your mind.
06:50And I can just feel all of my worries and stresses just sort of seep out of my brain, puzzle
06:55on the floor,
06:56and I can just step right over them.
07:02There is always one species that I'm always looking out for.
07:05And that is the red squirrel.
07:07I can hear them in the trees all around me.
07:11Oh, that bull finch.
07:13I absolutely love those birds.
07:15They've got that massive puffed out red chest.
07:18They're telling the world, just look at me, look at me, how big and strong I am.
07:24They've got that such bright, vibrant color, like this firework that has gone off in a bush.
07:30Whenever I see one, I'm like, yes!
07:36I have to come and visit the loch.
07:39It's an essential part of going to Mount Stewart and seeing all of the amazing birds that winter over here.
07:47It is almost that winter ritual.
07:52I think I can see a few iron ducks down there.
07:58There's pintails by these islands as well.
08:02I think my favorite to see out here is almost certainly the curlew.
08:06It's the call, I think, for me.
08:09It's the almost haunting sort of warble.
08:13And then you see it and it's got that curved almost dagger of a beak, that skim-a-tar.
08:19And you're like, this is a cool bird.
08:24I feel like there are places that you grow up with, places that are so deeply embedded in your brain
08:32that whenever you come back, it just warms really deep inside your soul.
08:38I feel like the day that I stopped being able to come here is either I physically can't get here
08:44or I've gone to the next life.
08:50Thank you very much, Dara.
08:51Now, we've been at our usual tricks, of course.
08:53What we've been doing in the meantime is setting up all of our cameras here
08:57so that we can stick our nosy noses into that of all of the wildlife that's happening.
09:01So we've got a whole range of cameras out across the estate.
09:04We can take a look at nine of those at the moment.
09:06You can see we put them up in a variety of habitats, some by the streams, some out in the
09:11woodland.
09:13Let's take a brief look at our badger set at the moment.
09:16I'm not expecting to see much on a night like tonight.
09:18I've got to say, badger's not too fond of wind and rain because it disturbs their hearing.
09:23And you know their eyesight isn't very good.
09:25And with the wind blowing the centre around, they're not terribly happy.
09:27And with the noise of that rain making so much of a row,
09:31they don't generally emerge as regularly as they do when it's dry.
09:34But we'll keep our eyes peeled and hopefully we might see something a bit later on.
09:37Yeah, very quiet there tonight.
09:40But a few nights ago, we had a great deal of activity.
09:43It's a big set. It's a very active set.
09:45The badger's coming out. They're always a little bit reticent.
09:47Stick their heads above the parapet.
09:49Out they come. Not one, but two badgers.
09:52You can see it's a well-worn, well-used head.
09:55A bit of scratching.
09:56Big male there, I suspect he is.
09:58Just getting rid of a few fleas before he goes out.
10:01Little bit of play fighting as well.
10:04This helps to build up the bond between members of that one clan there.
10:11They look like females to me.
10:13Fairly narrow heads.
10:14Beautiful black and white marked heads there.
10:18And some scent marking.
10:21Again, they use their hearing, as Chris said, yes.
10:23But they also use their keen sense of smell.
10:26So they need to be able to smell friend from foe.
10:29And then there's a scrum of badgers.
10:33I hate to mention scrum with the Welsh rugby team.
10:35Not doing very well.
10:35But I threw that in without thinking.
10:37All the Welsh rugby fans, I'm sorry.
10:39I won't mention it again. Sorry about that.
10:41Don't mention scrum!
10:44It's great to see all those.
10:45I mean, as I said, I'm feeling very positive about all our mammals here.
10:50It was a very action-packed night.
10:53The night that we saw all those badgers.
10:55On a different camera in the same wood.
10:58That we actually put on a squirrel feeding sort of section.
11:03And we didn't see squirrels, but we saw another elusive mammal.
11:06And it is this.
11:07A pine marten. Look at that.
11:09Going into the feeding box.
11:12And as it comes out, take a look at the bib.
11:14You can see just about that there's one spot on its bib.
11:19Now all of them have very different markings.
11:21So we're going to get to know this particular character.
11:24Are you going to call it then? One spot?
11:26No, because that's way too predictable.
11:28I'm going to call it Zitty.
11:30Zitty?
11:31Yeah, Zitty.
11:31It's got a zip.
11:32Not entirely flattering.
11:34No, not entirely flattering.
11:35I suspect that's going to divide the nation, you know.
11:38Yeah, I think you're probably right.
11:39Some people say you can't call it Zitty.
11:40So anyway, we're going to keep our eye on this one.
11:43And we're going to try and get to know it.
11:44It's got a slight build and a fresh face.
11:47So we're thinking it's possibly a young one.
11:49You can see that very characteristic, bushy tone.
11:52It's got a slight build and a lovely face, but terrible complexion.
11:56Yes.
11:57It's a Zitty.
11:59Great to see.
12:01Again, I'm feeling positive that we're going to see more of the pine marten.
12:05Yes.
12:05As long as the wind and rain didn't carry on.
12:07Exactly.
12:08Exactly.
12:09Yeah.
12:09Right.
12:10Well, we were watching those pine martens on that feeding station, and we also spotted this piece of behaviour.
12:15So, look, here's the marten, and it shuffles up to that collection of food.
12:21All sorts of things in there.
12:22Mainly nuts.
12:22And, of course, they are omnivores.
12:24Although they spend quite a bit of time feeding on small mammals on the ground, they are omnivores.
12:28So they eat plenty of fruits if they can.
12:31But, look, it's not entirely at ease, is it?
12:33Something's putting on edge.
12:35Sticks its nose in.
12:36Thinks about having a little nibble.
12:37But, look, looking over its shoulder.
12:39What could possibly be there at this time of night that would upset a pine marten?
12:43And then it comes out.
12:44Look to the left there, and on the floor you can see that a badger has snuck in to pick
12:49up any food that's been spilled.
12:51The pine marten's not in the slightest bit happy about this.
12:54Look at the tail flicking there.
12:56Clearly agitated and on edge.
12:58And here, look, the badger's on the right.
13:00The pine marten, however, is looking over to the left.
13:02It's almost as if it can't see it, which is odd, isn't it?
13:05Do you know what I'm going to wager?
13:07No.
13:07I'm going to wager that we're going to see the badger, the pine marten, and the red squirrel all on
13:11that camera at some stage.
13:12Because that is where the red squirrels are.
13:14All at once.
13:15All at once.
13:16Yep, by Friday.
13:17How much do you want to bet on that?
13:18I've got two and a half thousand pounds.
13:23Your host.
13:24Thank you very much.
13:25We won't.
13:26What have I done?
13:27But hopefully we will see a lot more pine marten's, a lot more red squirrels, a lot more badgers this
13:32week.
13:32We will be keeping an eye on those cameras and you can too.
13:36They are live from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
13:39Just go to the BBC iPlayer.
13:42Now, last night was a stunning night for the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights.
13:49Unfortunately, it was cloudy here.
13:51A lot of us went out to the car park, didn't see it, went back and had another pint.
13:55But we know that a lot of you were out and about because you've sent in some of your photographs.
13:59Look at that.
14:00Rachel Castey, Northern Ireland.
14:02Look at that.
14:02That's incredible.
14:04It is stunning.
14:05Beautiful.
14:06Absolutely stunning.
14:07The amount of red in there.
14:08Just look at that.
14:10And this is from Christopher Rutter up in Scotland.
14:12More green than that, but that is beautiful.
14:14And usually the camera picks up more than the naked eye.
14:18Yeah.
14:18But people telling me they've picked up a lot of colour with the naked eye this time.
14:22And this one, Simon Robinson in Wales.
14:25The best of all of them.
14:26Look at that.
14:27Clear air.
14:28Nice, clean air.
14:29No, no.
14:30They're all absolutely stunning.
14:32But it wasn't just photographs.
14:34We had this video sent in as well.
14:37This was sent by Elizabeth Allison in Inverness.
14:41Just look at the lights flickering back.
14:44Oh, look at that.
14:45Stunning, isn't it?
14:46What a start.
14:47To Art Winter Watch.
14:49And it was all over the UK, except for us here in Northern Ireland.
14:53So thank you very much.
14:54Please do keep sending those in.
14:57If you want to know how, just visit the Winter Watch website.
15:01Thank you for those.
15:02I'll tell you what, you might not have been lucky with badgers in the past,
15:05but you've not been lucky with Northern Lights, have you?
15:07No, well, I hadn't been.
15:09And then you and I, you know, went off a few years ago to Norway and we had a fest,
15:13didn't we?
15:13We did indeed.
15:14Never forgotten it.
15:15If we get the chance.
15:16Let's hope we get that again.
15:17Let's hope we get that again this week.
15:18It would be amazing to see.
15:19Keep your eyes out for those wonderful night skies.
15:22It's been a good start, hasn't it?
15:24I mean, we want to know what you've seen.
15:26You've certainly sent us in some great pictures already.
15:28But we want to know what winter means for you.
15:37My favourite thing in winter is coming for a walk when the skies are blue and there's a really low
15:43sun.
15:44And it's making the frost sparkle like diamonds.
15:53It's just after sunrise.
15:55It's minus six.
15:57And although I was here to see all the birds, there's something even more interesting.
16:02The sea has frozen.
16:04It's not very often we see this in this country.
16:09In winter, with all the beautiful snow that we've had, it just looks extra special.
16:17What I love about winter is finding out what's come before me, seeing the footprints in the snow.
16:27Winter is one of my favourite times of year because it is when I film the styling memorations.
16:32And I'm always in awe every time I see them, the sound they make when they go over your head.
16:39I just so appreciate the beauty and the form of the branches as they're sparring up to the sky.
16:46It's a quiet time of year, so when you do see animals out, it feels a little bit more special.
16:53This morning I can hear all the lovely birds singing away.
17:00One of my favourite things to do in the winter is to come down to the bay and look out
17:04to the sea.
17:06It's absolutely magic.
17:11There's a clarity to the sunrise that you just don't get any other time of the year.
17:20I love winter because the cold, crispy air, the frozen lakes and the bleaching sunset.
17:28I love the winter because it means that I get to listen to some very noisy wildlife first thing in
17:34the morning.
17:44I'm a great fan of winter too myself. At this point in time you've got all the tawnies calling and
17:49you can hear those whether you're out in the countryside or the middle of the city.
17:52You've got foxes barking. It's their mating season. So it's not a series of death and decay.
17:58It's actually a season where there's lots going on. Lots going on. There should be lots going on, but I
18:04seem to have lost my co-presenters.
18:07Oh, no I haven't unfortunately.
18:10What's happened? Have you signed up some mad cult or something?
18:14Do you know what? I've got to be honest, I thought I was going to rob the rich and feed
18:18the poor with Robin Hood, but alas, no.
18:20We're obviously the traitors.
18:22Obviously. You know the traitors?
18:23I'm aware of the program.
18:24The very successful series that's clashing with, well it's not clashing with, it's on at the moment.
18:28Right.
18:29Yeah, do you know it? Have you watched it?
18:30I've not watched it, no.
18:31Oh, it's amazing Chris. I mean that is why we're actually on at 7 o'clock, because traitors is on
18:36at 8, we didn't want to clash, we didn't want our faithfuls going over to the traitors.
18:41See what I did there guys?
18:42No.
18:44Honestly, honestly heathens. But let's sit us down because we're going to start now.
18:49It's a new year, it's a new game. Actually I'm going to pull this down so I look like Claudia
18:54with my long fringe.
18:56It's nature's traitors.
19:04You're getting it!
19:05You're the traitors, you're letting the whole show down here, honestly.
19:08It's brilliant, you must watch it, it's really good.
19:11Right, okay, I wonder if I can squeeze it in.
19:14Right, in terms of the natural world, I suppose you could say there are plenty of traitors.
19:17If they're not necessarily traitors, then there are plenty of sort of deceitful animals out there.
19:21So we're going to run through a few of those.
19:22I'm going to start with something, not an animal actually, a type of fungi called cordyceps.
19:27Now, typically it infects insects, but you might have heard for it.
19:31Because in the Last of Us game and TV series, it infects humans.
19:37That's science fiction.
19:39I'm going to give you the science fact about this.
19:41And I can show you how it works with this prop.
19:46Oh, first of all, I'm going to show you this.
19:47So here it is, here it is, here it is in here.
19:49I'm going to reveal it.
19:50I've forgotten about this because I don't watch the program.
19:52There we go.
19:52There we go.
19:53There it is, there it is.
19:54So there it is, right.
19:55And the species of cordyceps that we're talking about is called the Scarlet Caterpillar Club.
20:01Now, Yolo and I used to go there in the 1980s.
20:05We were banned, if I recall, Chris.
20:07Yes, we were thrown out.
20:09We were banned.
20:10How does the Scarlet Caterpillar Club work?
20:12Well, spores from the fungus land on the outside of moth, larvae or pupae when they are underground.
20:21And those spores secrete an enzyme which melts the exoskeleton and allows the fungus to get inside the body of
20:29the larvae or the pupae.
20:31So let's remove that.
20:33Let me just tuck that off there.
20:34Go.
20:35So here we are.
20:36And then at that point, they start to spread through the body of either, as I say, the larvae or
20:44the pupae.
20:44And this is the fungal mycelium, the body growing through it there.
20:49Now, what's really interesting is that it doesn't just grow through the body.
20:53When it's in the larvae, it modifies its behaviour.
20:57It secretes an enzyme which breaks down glucose, which fools the larvae into thinking it's not eating enough.
21:03So it eats even more and more and more.
21:05So it gratifies and feeds the fungus so it can continue to grow.
21:10And it waits until the larvae pupates like this.
21:14And then finally it secretes toxins and kills it when it's got enough nutrition.
21:20Of course, it needs to reproduce.
21:21So then it pushes its fruiting bodies out through the top of the pupae and they emerge above ground.
21:31And here they distribute more spores so that they too can be blown away to land on the unsuspecting bodies
21:39of moth, caterpillars or pupae.
21:43We've got some pictures here. Here you can see the scarlet caterpillar clubs poking through the moss.
21:49That's where the spores will be. And look, here's one that's been dug out.
21:52And you can see if you look at the base of that, that's the mummified remains of either the caterpillar
21:58or the pupae.
21:59That's impressive. That is impressive. That's a traitor.
22:03And do you know, if that was a celebrity traitor, that would be Stephen Fry.
22:07It would be clever. It would be complex, eccentric.
22:11Yes, the Stephen Fry of the traitors, that.
22:13It's right over my head. Go on.
22:14That's OK. I'm going to shock you now.
22:16Let me reveal my nature's traitor.
22:20Have a look at this. Let me just get the hood off.
22:23There we are.
22:24Oh, look at that. Look at that. A gull.
22:29You look shocked. You look shocked.
22:31Gulls. Gulls.
22:34Kleptoparasites par excellence of the natural world.
22:38They let other creatures do all the hard work.
22:40Then they swoop in and steal the food.
22:43Have a look at this. Black-headed gulls.
22:45Innocent-looking black-headed gull.
22:47But they're in the middle of a puffing colony.
22:49The puffing comes back with sand eels, making its way down the burrow to feed its chick.
22:54Now the gulls know this. They ambush them on the way back, harass them.
22:58The poor puffing tries to get away.
23:00It releases some, if not all, of its fish.
23:05And sometimes the gulls will even turn on each other.
23:08Look at them. Like a gang of hoodies hanging around a street corner, mugging puffins.
23:15But that is not all.
23:17Oh, no, no, no, no.
23:18Sometimes they attack humans, too.
23:21Oh, yes, yes.
23:22Look at this gull.
23:23Walking around.
23:24Eyeing it up.
23:25Look.
23:25Carefully looking around.
23:26Looking for a weak, weak prey.
23:28Someone on the phone, maybe.
23:29Someone who's not quite alert.
23:31Not the pigeons.
23:32Ignore the pigeons.
23:33Down it comes.
23:34Waiting for its opportunity.
23:36Swoops.
23:36And steals that.
23:37This is in Bath.
23:38And not just a sausage or chips.
23:41Ice cream.
23:42Anything.
23:42Who hasn't walked on the prom in Thandidna and been mugged for its chips?
23:49Well, I certainly have.
23:50And do you know?
23:51Do you know how to keep them at bay?
23:54No.
23:55Go on.
23:55You tell us, Yolo.
23:58You stare at them.
24:00Just look them right in the eye.
24:03And then, honestly, scientists have worked this out.
24:07Stop me making this up.
24:08We should have given a warning about that.
24:10There's kids crying all over the UK now.
24:13And then the gulls will come very rarely towards you and then scoot away.
24:17So, look them in the eye.
24:19You're all right.
24:19I give you, nature's traitor, the humble gull.
24:23You did a really good job at selling that.
24:27But you did a really good job at selling it.
24:29And if that was a celebrity traitor, it would be Alan Carr, I think.
24:32It would be bold, sassy and noisy, eh?
24:35Yes.
24:35And quite annoying.
24:37I don't think you should say that.
24:39I'm live on selling.
24:40It's loud.
24:40Very loud.
24:41Sorry, Alan.
24:42Anyway, I'm going to give you nature's traitor number three.
24:46I'm going local.
24:47Oh, good.
24:47You can find it in Strangford Lock.
24:50And it is, let me just take the hood off here.
24:52It's the anglerfish, otherwise known as the monkfish.
24:56This is an incredible traitor.
24:59Just have a look at it because it's an extraordinary looking thing for a start.
25:04And look, if we, I mean, you can't quite see what it is, but you see the eyes here.
25:08That's its mouth.
25:09You can see the fish here perfectly camouflaged on the bed of the ocean there or the lock or wherever
25:17it is.
25:17But what's extraordinary about it, you can just about see here, it's got this thing on top of its head.
25:25It's an ambush predator and it ambushes with this rod that I'm going to put on my head so you
25:31can see.
25:32I'm going to put it on my hat here.
25:34And this is made out of a specialised dorsal fin.
25:38It's called an elysium and it wafts it around.
25:41I have to go down a bit, otherwise I'll lose it out of shot.
25:44It wafts it around to try and attract prey, which is usually some sort of small fish.
25:50Have you got the fish?
25:50Imagine at this point how ridiculous you look.
25:53I mean, what's new, quite frankly, on this show?
25:56Right, you're just like slumping.
25:58I'm a slumping anglerfish.
26:00Right, go on.
26:01And now a fish comes along and then I catch the fish.
26:05No, no, no, no.
26:05First of all, it goes to the bait.
26:07Yeah, it thinks that it's its own prey.
26:09Yeah.
26:10And suddenly it'll get on the bait, that little knob on the end of the rod.
26:14And then it will get engulfed in my mouth.
26:18It'll...
26:20...shucked into my enormous mouth, if I was an anglerfish.
26:23Obviously, I don't have any normal mouth.
26:26It's different.
26:27It's different.
26:28An awful lot of stuff comes out of it.
26:30I see, I will.
26:31Yes, it's a lot of intelligent stuff that comes out of my mouth.
26:35But anyway, let's have a look at it and see it in action,
26:37because it is quite extraordinary.
26:39So you can see it's...
26:40You can hardly see it.
26:41I mean, it's completely camouflaged.
26:43And you...
26:43Let's just watch that again.
26:45So it's camouflaged, you get the fish going,
26:47and then it just engulfs it into its mouth.
26:49Amazing, isn't it?
26:50I mean, that is nature's traitor number three.
26:54And I think it's a really good contender.
26:56And, oh, I should just say, actually, that was...
26:58Lil Hogan gave us that footage, because it is incredible.
27:03And that would be the Celia Imrie, if that was a celebrity traitor.
27:07Because, I mean, they look gorgeous, and it looks completely naive,
27:11but very cunning and...
27:12Are you saying that Celia Imrie looks like a monkfish?
27:15I think she'd quite like that, because she's mischievous.
27:17Really?
27:17She's mischievous.
27:18Let's ask her lawyers about that in the morning.
27:21Celia, I think you'd quite like that, wouldn't you?
27:23You'd like to be an anglerfish.
27:25All right, OK.
27:26There's got to be a winner.
27:27There's got to be a winner.
27:27It's definitely not the gulls, sorry.
27:29You don't think so?
27:30Well, no, no, no, no.
27:31Jo, I have a confession to make.
27:32I don't even like gulls.
27:34Oh, no.
27:34Oh, what?
27:36You know, I admire them, I admire them, but I don't like gulls.
27:40I'm quite happy to step back.
27:41Quite happy to step back.
27:42OK, so...
27:42It's between you two.
27:43Is it me, is it the anglerfish, or is it you?
27:45Oh, come on.
27:46A fungus that affects a moth.
27:48You'd be too clever.
27:49They don't let you off earlier on.
27:50Hold on, as a neutral, as a neutral, it's up to me.
27:53Yeah.
27:53And as good as your argument was, I'm sorry, it's got to be the zombie fungus.
27:57OK, well, that's a good name.
27:58It's got to be the zombie fungus.
27:59You got it, you got it, you're the winner.
28:00You're the traitor.
28:01Well done, yeah.
28:02Look at that.
28:02Brilliant.
28:03Lovely.
28:04Well, we are going to be concentrating, of course, on the wildlife here at Mount Stewart,
28:08but we will be looking further afield as well, of course.
28:13We sent wildlife researcher Jack Baddams right to the heart of Belfast in search of a much-loved
28:21wildlife spectacle.
28:26Belfast, Northern Ireland's vibrant capital city, buzzing with activity day and night.
28:34In the centre of the action, crossing the River Lagan, is the Albert Bridge.
28:39It's a local landmark and a lovely spot to take in views of the city.
28:44But, over the years, it's become home to a pretty awesome wildlife spectacle.
28:49The clues as to exactly what that is are etched here, into the lampposts.
28:57For years, this was a famous spot for a spectacular starling murmuration.
29:02Thousands of birds gathered here to roost in the girders underneath this bridge.
29:08So, why are starlings roosting under a bridge anyway?
29:11Well, it's safe.
29:12It's sheltered from the worst of the weather,
29:15and the fact it's over water means that predators find it much harder to get to them.
29:19It may also be warmer under there, as the river holds its heat,
29:24protecting them from the worst of the chill.
29:26But then, in 2019, the bridge's lights were upgraded to bright LEDs.
29:31The eco-friendly choice, or so it was thought, because that winter,
29:36for the first time in years, the starlings didn't show up.
29:40Conservationists thought that this was because the new bright lights
29:42were stressing the birds, stopping them from roosting here.
29:46The council took action.
29:48Blackout screens were fitted to some of the lights,
29:50and some of the others were changed to red, which has less impact on the birds.
29:54The ones underneath the bridge, well, they're now only turned on if absolutely necessary.
29:59These changes made a massive difference.
30:02That winter, for the first time in four years, the starlings began to return.
30:07I'm here tonight in the hope that even more will be back this year.
30:11And it seems there's a lot of local excitement for the starlings making a comeback.
30:16I was down here with my mum a couple of years ago,
30:19and then we came down to see six mill of iron and then disappear,
30:22which was very upsetting.
30:23And then, with the great work that's been done, the older things with the light,
30:27we're now starting to see it restored to what it was,
30:29and that's just going to be wonderful to see in the future.
30:31The first few are arriving now, directly above us.
30:36And they're just starting to circle over the bridge.
30:42More coming, joining the flock now.
31:01Look, there are absolutely stacks of them coming in here.
31:06There's loads.
31:08Oh, this is, this is good.
31:12And the noise.
31:13I always forget about how good the noise is when they get directly above you in the wings.
31:21Yeah, the sky is filling.
31:23I'm getting serious starling neck right now.
31:30When you actually, um, see them in real life,
31:33it's like, whoa, they like fill the entire sky.
31:36It's just amazing to be able to witness this, like, phenomenon
31:41that I've never seen before.
31:43It's just incredible.
31:45They're certainly back in force tonight.
31:48There's easily over a thousand birds here.
31:51Oh.
31:58Are they the first ones that are going down, going down?
32:02They're going under.
32:06I like the bass going into a cave, aren't they? Yeah.
32:13Oh, yes.
32:20That's cool.
32:26These are sites that are just so fresh, isn't it?
32:28They have it here, in the middle of the city,
32:30where everyone can come down and have a look at it
32:32and hopefully get inspired and really do something,
32:35not even just for the starlings, but for nature in a whole.
32:37I think that's the greatest part.
32:39To the people of Belfast, to the council,
32:41to everyone who fought for these starlings to keep this spectacle going,
32:45I salute you.
32:50It's great, that, isn't it?
32:51I mean, the council made a mistake.
32:53They realised their mistake, they rectified it
32:55and they made a difference for wildlife.
32:57Brilliant stuff, brilliant stuff.
33:00What are you doing?
33:02I mean, what are you doing?
33:03No, no, listen.
33:04It's my new thing.
33:05What, dad dancing?
33:06No, no.
33:07What is it?
33:07Running on the spot.
33:08It's called exercise.
33:09I'm getting hooked on endorphins.
33:11You know, the dopamine, serotonin, a bit of that.
33:14But you look ridiculous.
33:15Why are you doing it right now?
33:17Well, it was ridiculous, of course.
33:18Yes, of course.
33:19I'm doing that.
33:19Absolutely.
33:20Because it's very interesting.
33:22You know, we do get pleasure out of running.
33:24You get pleasure out of exercising.
33:25Yolo.
33:26I saw him sneaking around in Lycra,
33:27first thing this morning in the hotel,
33:29heading to the gym.
33:30The gym.
33:30I thought it was a bloke's name.
33:32Anyway, the point is we get pleasure because of those hormones.
33:35Would other animals get that?
33:36Well, this interesting experiment was conducted
33:38in the Netherlands by a couple of scientists
33:41and what they did was they put some mouse running wheels
33:45out in the wild.
33:46Now, they put them in cages, but they were open
33:49so the mice could get in and out.
33:51The cages were there to stop the birds stealing the food
33:54because initially they baited them to attract the mice
33:56so they found the wheels.
33:58And then they monitored the behaviour.
34:00This is what they saw.
34:02So here you see a mouse and this is a wild mouse
34:05and it's running just as your hamster or your mouse
34:08might have been running if you had it in your house.
34:11It wasn't just mice that came in.
34:12Look at this.
34:13A frog took to the wheel and started exercising.
34:18Extraordinary.
34:18Extraordinary.
34:19Not just a frog.
34:21This was ambitious.
34:22This is ambitious.
34:22This is a slug.
34:24And look at that.
34:25An Olympian.
34:26An Olympian.
34:28Very slowly moving.
34:29Now, what was interesting is that pretty rapidly
34:31after a couple of weeks they withdrew all of the food.
34:34There's no food there, but the wheels were there.
34:36And do you know what?
34:37The mice continued to visit the wheels
34:40and sometimes they would run in them for up to 18 minutes
34:43and this was months after the food had disappeared.
34:46So what this simple experiment showed was
34:48that this was a natural behaviour that was being replicated in captivity
34:52and it wasn't something, some anomaly
34:54that only occurs through sort of stereotypical behaviour
34:57in rodents that are being kept in cages.
35:00Maybe, we don't know this of course,
35:02maybe those mice, maybe the frog, maybe even the slug,
35:05was feeling good in the wheel.
35:08Just like Yolo this morning in the gym.
35:11It's interesting stuff, isn't it?
35:13So, you know, we love an experiment on the watches,
35:16so we decided to copy that experiment
35:19and put not only a hamster wheel out here on Mount Stewart,
35:22but also a larger wheel which apparently cats use.
35:26Domestic cats, I mean, my goodness knows why.
35:28But anyway, we put them out for six weeks to see what would happen.
35:33And yes, the wildlife was interested.
35:36Red squirrel comes in not heavy enough to get it turning, unfortunately.
35:39Badger, well that would be heavy enough,
35:41but it kind of just goes through the wheel instead of running on the wheel.
35:47Interested, but not interesting for us.
35:50Next, we got a rat.
35:51Now, a rat's not going to be able to turn that wheel,
35:54but you can see lots of mammals going in.
35:55Come on, come on.
35:56Now, this is what we want to see.
35:58Pine Martin, he looks interested.
36:00Is he going to run?
36:01Oh, he was really teasing us.
36:04We were so hoping that he would spin the wheel.
36:08But no.
36:09The key thing is that these animals are all a bit neophobic.
36:13They're all afraid of new things.
36:14So that's why those scientists baited those wheels for a couple of months
36:17to get those animals used to them.
36:18So maybe we simply haven't done it long enough.
36:20We also put out some small wheels, not just that large one.
36:24And we can go live to one of those now to see if there's any activity.
36:30Well, that's like me in the gym.
36:35There's a lot of equipment that's not being well exercised.
36:38However, we've had mice there.
36:40We've had mice exploring this because they did go to the bait.
36:42And look, they get in the wheel.
36:44This is a wood mouse.
36:46It's having a little nibble of whatever we put in there.
36:49Come on, mate.
36:50Oh, go on.
36:50Go on.
36:51Run.
36:52Come on.
36:52Tease.
36:53What a tease.
36:54Oh, goodness me.
36:56Look at that.
36:56What we need is Michael McIntyre to get that wheel going round and round.
37:00No, we don't need that at all.
37:01We don't need that at all.
37:02Look at that.
37:04Oh, anyway, look.
37:05We're going to keep them open.
37:06You can keep your eyes on those.
37:07Keep your eyes peeled on our cameras to see if you can see any activity in there.
37:12Do you think we're being a tad ambitious with that one?
37:15No.
37:15Do you know what?
37:16I don't, actually.
37:17Yeah, you reckon we're going to get lots of action, do you?
37:18I think if we put more food there to get them in at this point, then that would be the
37:22thing to do.
37:23Well, we shall see by Friday, eh?
37:25We shall see if we get any mammals in the wheel.
37:28But we put Yolo in the hamster wheel.
37:30We set it off.
37:31Off it went.
37:32And it's ended up at the aptly named Temple of the Winds.
37:39Yes, indeed.
37:40Do you know what?
37:40I love this.
37:41There I was in a lovely, warm teepee with Chris and Michaela.
37:45Who gets sent out to the wind and the rain?
37:47Yes, send Yolo.
37:49But this time, I don't mind.
37:51Look at this building behind me.
37:53This is called the Temple of the Winds.
37:56And why was it built here?
37:58Well, it's night time.
37:59Now, I can't see anything.
38:00But this looks out over an absolutely stunning vista.
38:07It's tucked away in the trees here, but you're looking out over the stunning Strangford
38:13Loch.
38:14Honestly, the view in the daytime is beautiful here.
38:18Now, as I said, I can't see anything, but it doesn't matter.
38:20I've got a trick up my sleeve.
38:22Come over here with me.
38:23Mark Yates, a wildlife camera operator.
38:26Now, Mark isn't the trick.
38:27The trick is this here.
38:30This is a thermal camera.
38:32So it's going to pick up the heat of any birds, any mammals we see out there.
38:38Have you got anything, Mark?
38:39Anything at all?
38:40The rain's not helping us, but no seals today.
38:42But we can see a few waders out there, the little white spots there.
38:46There is quite a bit of movement out there, but they're a long way out.
38:48But earlier on, Mark recorded this.
38:53You can see the waders feeding out there.
38:57That one, I think, is a curlew.
39:00Yes, there we had some curlew with that long down-curved bill.
39:04They'll be probing in the wet mud, looking for lugworms, looking for ragworms out there.
39:09A group of, are those curlew or ice catches?
39:13You can see those seals as well.
39:14Now, you've got common and grey seals out here.
39:18And of course, you might think it's unusual to find birds like these dunlin out here feeding at night.
39:23But these birds are dictated to, not by the rise and fall of the sun, but by the rise and
39:29fall of the tide.
39:30So when the tide is in, they seek somewhere safe to roost.
39:34And when the tide goes out, that's when all these mudflats are exposed and they can feed.
39:40Now, another really important bird that's found out here is the brent goose.
39:46Let's have a look at this goose.
39:48There are two different subspecies.
39:51The one on the left is called the dark-bellied brent goose.
39:54These breed up in Arctic Siberia and they overwinter mainly on the east coast of England.
40:01Places like Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, right up to the north of Northumberland there.
40:09And on the right is the pale-bellied brent goose.
40:12Now, this is the one we see here at Strangford Loch.
40:16These remarkably breed up in Arctic Canada and they fly over four and a half thousand kilometres to overwinter.
40:26They're mainly west coast, places like Ireland, west of Scotland, north of England, parts of Wales as well.
40:33They're beautiful, beautiful geese.
40:35Stunningly marked.
40:36They're not very big.
40:37They're about, well, I'd say roughly the size of a shell duck.
40:40But look at the patterning there.
40:41All of them feeding together.
40:43And you can get between 16,000 and 30,000 birds here in winter.
40:48And that's up to 75% of the total population.
40:53Now, one of the things that attracts the birds here is eelgrass.
40:58This is a remarkable flowering plant.
41:01Spends most of its life under the waves.
41:03It forms big beds.
41:06Now, we've lost a huge percentage of them in the UK.
41:09But there's six kilometres squared of it here in Strangford Loch.
41:14It's an amazing nursery for all kinds of crab and fish.
41:20It helps to settle, to solidify the seabed as well.
41:26And in winter, the Brent geese, 85% of their diet is made up of eelgrass.
41:33So, yes, Strangford Loch is vitally important habitat.
41:38Eelgrass, of course.
41:39It's vitally important for the birds.
41:41But it's particularly important for the pale-bellied Brent geese.
41:46Right.
41:47Time to leave the temple of the winds and the rain.
41:49And back to the warmth of the teepee with Chris and Michaela.
41:54The warmth of the teepee.
41:56I like the light geese, you know.
41:57I like geese.
41:59I'm a geese person.
41:59Well, particularly Brent geese, because they're black and white.
42:02And you like a bit of monochrome, don't you?
42:03Yeah, but sometimes you get some colour thrown in.
42:05There's a thing called a red-breasted goose.
42:07Look that up on your internet browser.
42:09That's a looker, that one, actually.
42:10Oh, I think I'd like that.
42:11The red-breasted goose is pretty special.
42:13Now, we've shown you some red squirrels and also some pine martins.
42:17You might be thinking, well, is there a conflict there?
42:19Because we know the pine martin is highly arboreal, climbs up trees,
42:22and that it's a ferocious predator.
42:25So are the pine martins impacting negatively by eating the red squirrels?
42:29But the answer to that is, in fact, no.
42:32Research done here in Ireland has shown that when pine martins increase,
42:37where there are grey squirrels, they suppress the number of greys
42:40and, in fact, the number of reds increases.
42:43Perhaps more of that coming up later in the week.
42:46Well, there are no greys here at Mount Stewart, which means there are lots of reds.
42:49And we've been getting some fantastic footage of them.
42:52Look at that, that blue sky. Do you remember that, Chris?
42:54No, because we haven't seen blue sky.
42:56But look, I mean, that's a gorgeous shot, isn't it, of a red squirrel getting its pine cone.
43:02And it will take all of the seeds out of that pine cone, delicately stripping it.
43:08I mean, you may well have seen those stripped pine cones on the forest floor.
43:12Both squirrels, red and grey, do it.
43:14And that's how you can tell that squirrels are around.
43:17Pine cones, of course, will be one of their favourite seeds to eat, particularly at this time of the year.
43:24In lots of places, winter is a very tough time for squirrels.
43:27So they will have cached lots of food over the summer and autumn.
43:31They've got brilliant memories.
43:32So they'll go and find anything that they can to supplement their diet.
43:36Their diet is actually being supplemented here at Mount Stewart by the National Trust.
43:41They've got a feeding station for the conservation of red squirrels.
43:45And so you can see it's eating a variety of different seeds and nuts, chased off by another squirrel there.
43:52But look at this.
43:53This is where I'm feeling so positive that we're going to get some great interaction
43:57because there are plenty of red squirrels on one of our live cameras.
44:02And you know if there are lots of red squirrels around, there's going to be a little bit of chaos.
44:07Let's have a little bit of chaos.
44:08Have a look at this feeder.
44:09So this feeder is specially designed for squirrels.
44:11So it's got a lid on it so the birds can't get in.
44:14But the squirrels soon learn to lift it up and then access the food that's inside.
44:18When they've eaten sufficiently of that food, it means there's space for the squirrel to actually get inside
44:22and then hog all of the food for itself.
44:26Controversial.
44:27Another squirrel comes in and tries to get some of the food.
44:30But no, it's been seen off by the greedy squirrel inside the box.
44:35Now there is a generally unwritten rule in biology that the territory holder always wins.
44:41But watch this.
44:42The persistent squirrel on the outside finally manages to oust greedy squirrel
44:47and become greedy squirrel itself, number two.
44:50And it goes into the box and it's so happy with its success
44:54that once it's had a little nibble, it decides to gloat.
44:57Look at that.
44:59With its tiny little paws, gloating over the fact that it seized a very valuable resource.
45:05Look at that.
45:06Do you know what that looks like?
45:07I think I'm going to call that squirrel Mr. Creosote because it's just sitting there, isn't it?
45:11It's like, I'm eating everything off so far.
45:13I can't even get out.
45:14That is my favourite shot of the programme so far.
45:17That is absolutely brilliant.
45:18Right.
45:18Now, look, we can keep your eyes on those cameras all the way through.
45:22Our cameras run from 10 in the morning until 10 in the evening.
45:26You can find them on iPlayer and our website.
45:29Now, we're putting food out for the squirrels there,
45:30but there are certain species you simply can't put food out for.
45:33Those that are insectivorous, like many of the birds here.
45:36And they struggle because it's cold and it's very short days,
45:40so they don't get a lot of time to look for that food.
45:42And they've got to get through the cold nights.
45:44And that's something that's particularly difficult for our smallest bird.
45:52In central Bath, the first rays of winter sun break above the horizon.
46:01And with them comes a sense of urgency in this urban park.
46:08Flashes of colour dart between the trees.
46:15Tiny birds.
46:17In fact, they're the smallest birds in all of Europe.
46:21Barely bigger than your thumb and weighing the same as a 20-pence piece.
46:27The goldcrest.
46:32But for a bird so small, winter can be challenging.
46:43As many as 80% won't survive these colder months.
46:48To beat those odds, goldcrest must eat more than their own body weight every single day.
46:59So every morsel counts.
47:06But it's not quite that simple.
47:10Whilst a lot of birds switch their diet to the more readily available seeds and berries,
47:16the goldcrest maintains its insectivorous diet.
47:22And that's why winter can prove a problem.
47:26Their choice of hunting ground helps as the conifers provide shelter.
47:31not only for them, but for their invertebrate prey too.
47:37Insects and spiders hide among the pine needles, protected by a dense web of branches.
47:44And the goldcrests employ the perfect extraction method.
47:53Aerial finesse.
48:00Hovering, however, comes at a cost.
48:05Burning energy up to ten times faster than normal.
48:12Something the goldcrest can't always afford.
48:17A new hunting tactic is needed.
48:21This time, its agility and precision.
48:26Probing between the needles with its narrow beak to tease out tiny invertebrates.
48:37But where there are riches, there are rivals.
48:44Resident goldcrests are joined by those from the continent
48:47who are also looking to make the most of the park's bounty.
49:01A flash of colour acts as a warning to stay away.
49:06But when resources are limited, they are worth fighting for.
49:18Today, however, rain stops play.
49:21And there are no winners here.
49:24For a bird this small, rain can be dangerous.
49:29Waterlogged feathers lose heat quicker and their insulation starts to fail.
49:34There's no choice but to retreat and take cover.
49:39Precious feeding time slipping away.
49:48As soon as the rain eases, there's no time to waste.
49:52With the last of the daylight, every effort is focused on finding enough invertebrates.
50:02Bingo.
50:04Spiders.
50:09They can make up to 60% of the bird's diet over winter.
50:14And so, make up for lost time.
50:22But soon, even this tireless forager has to stop.
50:28And hope that the day's feeding efforts have been enough to see it through the night.
50:41As dawn breaks,
50:46that flash of colour returns to the park.
50:50And a new day brings new opportunity.
50:54But there's no time to waste.
51:03What about that? What a bird.
51:05Do you know, I love it, because I love that flash of colour.
51:07You know me, I love a bit of colour.
51:09Yes, flash of colour.
51:10What about when the sun was going through the crest at the end?
51:12It's just gorgeous, isn't it?
51:13Not a great bird, but also a great film.
51:15You know, when you're watching Goldcrest, they're always on the move.
51:17They are amongst the most fidgety of birds.
51:20So, being able to capture a film like that.
51:21Top work.
51:22Lovely stuff, wasn't it?
51:23Really, really lovely.
51:24Really lovely stuff.
51:25Do you know, I predicted that we were going to have a bit of a mammal fest.
51:28I think we've done pretty well for the first show, haven't we?
51:30Red squirrels, pine martins, badgers.
51:33Do you want another one?
51:34Mice.
51:34Yeah.
51:34Yeah, mice as well.
51:36But I'm going to give you another.
51:38OK, OK.
51:39But I'm going to give you another elusive mammal that's doing well here in Northern Ireland.
51:43And we heard that it's regularly seen using a water inlet that runs under the road between here, Mount Stewart
51:50and Strandford Lock.
51:51So, we decided to put a trail camera on it.
51:53And guess what it was?
51:55It was this.
51:56It was an otter.
51:57Look at that.
51:58An otter swimming through.
52:01And as I say, that's a regular route that it uses underneath that road.
52:05So, we knew that it was there.
52:08So, we decided to then put a live camera on it and see what we could see on the live
52:13camera.
52:14Let's have a quick look now.
52:16I mean, that would have been incredible, wouldn't it?
52:18If we'd seen it just happened to be swimming under the road right at this moment.
52:25Let's see what we have seen on the live camera though.
52:29Because we put it there because we were hoping to see the otter.
52:33Is it an otter?
52:34No.
52:35It's the other elusive mammal that is seen around Mount Stewart and Strandford Lock.
52:40It is a pine marten.
52:42And we think this isn't the same pine marten that we saw in the woods.
52:46Not zitty.
52:46Not zitty.
52:47No.
52:48We haven't had a really clear look at that bib yet.
52:50So, we're not 100% sure.
52:53But we think that it's going to be a different pine marten to old zitty there.
52:58Zitty the pine marten.
52:59The camera's also been delivering in the daytime.
53:02Turned up quite a special species.
53:03Here we are.
53:04Look at this.
53:04A flash of blue scoots through the tunnel.
53:08Slow that down.
53:10Unmistakably, of course, it's a kingfisher.
53:13Look at that.
53:14And then it emerges the other side and lands perfectly in position on the side of the fray there.
53:19One of Britain's favourites.
53:21The little bit too colourful kingfisher for me.
53:23But, nevertheless, a favourite.
53:25And our cameramen have been out and about all across the Northern Ireland area.
53:29And they've also found some kingfishers on other bodies of water.
53:33Here we are.
53:34This is called Six Mile River.
53:37Guess how long it is, Mitt.
53:38Six miles.
53:39It could be.
53:42Kingfish are there.
53:43Look at that.
53:43Now, sometimes at this time of year, if the weather's harsh, they'll go to the coast where they're feeding rock
53:48pools because the water obviously doesn't freeze as easily in the sea as it does in fresh water.
53:52This one's not needed to move.
53:53And if you watch carefully here, you can see that it's successfully scored a minnow or a stickleback there.
54:01Off it goes to bash it to death.
54:04We have had a bit of a mammal fest, actually.
54:07So here's a few birds.
54:09Songflush.
54:09Songflush is in my area at the moment.
54:11They've started singing already.
54:13And on a cold winter's morning, listening to a songflush is great.
54:16Look, red pole.
54:17There's a flash.
54:18A flash of colour for you.
54:18Look at that.
54:19What a bird.
54:21Herons coming into their breeding finery already because they nest very early in the year.
54:26Some of them already at the heronries and they'll be laying their eggs in the next, well, about six weeks,
54:31I think.
54:31Good stuff.
54:32Good stuff.
54:33Now, it is wet.
54:34In fact, it's not as windy as it was, but we have had a very wet, soggy day today.
54:39But we've also had what I call early on in the winter a proper winter.
54:43You know, we had snow.
54:44It was cold.
54:45It was frosty.
54:46So it's time to sit back, relax and enjoy the soothing sights and sounds of swans on an icy lake.
55:10It's easy to realize that it is a little bit .
55:11That's the day is almost like décision of an icy lake.
55:11It's just a bit lighter .
55:11Oh, no, I was not sure.
55:11Oh, yeah.
55:14It's a little bit more.
55:14Oh, no, I'm not going outside the snow.
55:15It's very easy to get that.
55:16You know, I have no idea.
55:18I'm not going to go outside.
55:19It seems like I make a little bit of a new street life.
55:32Here we go.
55:55Here we go.
56:35Here we go.
57:03Here we go.
57:21Here we go.
57:29Here we go.
57:35Here we go.
57:59Here we go.
58:08Here we go.
58:08Here we go.
58:21Here we go.
58:24Here we go.
58:25Here we go.
58:27Here we go.
58:54Here we go.
58:57Here we go.
58:59Here we go.
59:00Here we go.
59:03Here we go.
59:04Here we go.
59:04Here we go.
59:04Here we go.
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