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00:01You know, sometimes, Yolo, I think wildlife gets the right idea.
00:05Do you know what, Chris? You're right.
00:07Nothing like being able to sit back, relax and enjoy a snack.
00:12Putting your feet up.
00:14Cosy. Cosy and content.
00:17Oh, I could see you all day.
00:19But, you know, guys, we can't. We've got to spring into action.
00:22It's our final show.
00:24Welcome to Winterwatch.
00:47Hello. Hello and welcome to Winterwatch 2026.
00:52Coming to you live from the National Trust at Mount Stewart Estate
00:56here on the banks of Strangford Lock.
00:58In case you're wondering where we are for just one more hour,
01:02here we are.
01:03As I say, we're on the east side of Strangford Lock.
01:06But this is, sadly, our last programme in the series.
01:10But don't worry, we've got plenty of good stuff coming up.
01:11We've got a remarkable animal, rare and beautiful.
01:14Yes.
01:15A giant skate and lots of new science about it as well.
01:19That's all coming up. We've been here for four days.
01:22We've had our live cameras out.
01:23Let's go straight to them now because look in the middle.
01:27Oh, we've got a badger.
01:28In fact, two of them.
01:29Two of the cameras we've got action on.
01:31It's the badgers.
01:33Honestly, these badgers have really provided for us, haven't they?
01:36Yeah, they should have.
01:37I mean, not only are we seeing it live now, that's a beautiful shot,
01:40but in fact, just before the show, all three of us have been sitting back
01:44and really enjoying some badger action.
01:48These are the young ones, probably last year's Cubs,
01:51and they are active.
01:53How long do you reckon they've been out for?
01:55Well, they've been out since not long after dark, I would imagine.
01:58But apparently they do this every night.
02:00They come out, they play for a bit, then they go off and feed.
02:02It's great, isn't it?
02:04I mean, they're really going for each other.
02:06They're very friendly.
02:08And, yeah, we've been seeing a lot of action on that camera.
02:12We've also been seeing a lot of action on the squirrel camera.
02:15We saw it right at the beginning of the show.
02:17I love these squirrels.
02:19There's no grey squirrels here at Mount Stewart,
02:21so these red squirrels absolutely thrive.
02:25They are being fed, and so this is my best.
02:28When they go in that box, it's just brilliant, isn't it?
02:31Making the most of all that food,
02:33it's really important at this time of year
02:35because they might start having their first litter in February,
02:38so really important for the females especially.
02:41But they look so well, don't they?
02:43They look like they're really filled out.
02:45Yeah, great to see.
02:47Really enjoyed those red squirrels.
02:49Well, from mammals to birds,
02:51and this weekend sees the RSVB's Big Garden Birdwatch,
02:55and they want you to get involved.
02:58Now, last year, an incredible 590,000 people took part,
03:03counting 9.1 million birds.
03:07Top bird, which was a top bird, Michaela, Chris?
03:09Number one?
03:10Tree sparrow.
03:11No, house sparrow.
03:12House sparrow.
03:13It wouldn't be the tree sparrow, would it?
03:14The house sparrow.
03:15Well, there we are.
03:15Look, the humble house sparrow was number one.
03:17And it's easy, it's easy.
03:19Try and get the whole family involved,
03:21especially the youngsters.
03:23Just one hour of your time this weekend.
03:26And if you want to know where to send for more information,
03:30well, visit our website.
03:31All the details are on there.
03:33Chris, will you be doing it?
03:35Because I'll be at home, right?
03:36Get home Saturday night.
03:37I'll be at home Sunday morning.
03:39Sunday.
03:39I'll be there.
03:40Victoria sponge.
03:41Victoria sponge.
03:42Vegan hot chocolate for me.
03:43Poised at the window with the binos.
03:44I'll tell you what, I'll WhatsApp you
03:46and tell you the birds I've got,
03:47because obviously I'm one nil down, so...
03:50OK, we'll have a second bird off.
03:52Second bird off on Sunday.
03:53OK, there we are.
03:54Are you two going to be competitive?
03:56Yeah.
03:56I'll tell you what,
03:57you'd be chuffed if you looked out your window and saw this,
04:00because this is what William Bird,
04:03great name for a bird watcher,
04:05saw in his garden in Aberdeenshire,
04:07this little blutit using this icicle to drink from.
04:12It's absolutely charming.
04:14I mean, you'd just sit there and watch it for hours,
04:17wouldn't you?
04:17Charming, delightful.
04:19Delightful, I think it is.
04:20Delightful, I would say.
04:21As is this.
04:22Look, Liz Vinson has been artistically responding
04:26to the squirrels on our feeder.
04:27She's produced this beautiful set of sketches here,
04:30really well observed.
04:31And as you see, she progresses down here
04:33till it's a little bit more finished,
04:35because she was working her way towards
04:37an altogether more finished picture,
04:38which you can see here.
04:39Look at this.
04:40Isn't that fantastic?
04:42Superb.
04:43Absolutely superb.
04:44And Michaela has told me that she's very keen to have a tattoo of that on her bottom.
04:51You'll never get to see it, but you'll know where it is.
04:55As an amateur tattooist, I'll volunteer, right?
04:58I reckon I can replicate that easy enough.
05:02Now, we've had our long lens camera operator,
05:06Mark Yates, out and about with his thermal camera.
05:08And tonight, once again, he's on the move.
05:11Has he got anything for us?
05:13Oh, look at him.
05:14He's actually literally on the move.
05:16That camera is just pointing out of his vehicle
05:19as he drives to his location.
05:21But we will be joining him later on,
05:24and he'll be bringing us, hopefully, some more live animals.
05:26Because we have done well at night with some of our mammals here.
05:30Pine Martins galore.
05:31Look at that one.
05:32A leap up the tree, into the squirrel feeder there.
05:35I love the big bushy tails they've got.
05:37They use that for balance, of course.
05:40Omnivore, so it's there, gorging itself on the food
05:43that's put out for the squirrels here.
05:45Down he goes, and off again.
05:47And look at this badger.
05:48Look at the nose on that badger.
05:50Look at it, bending up.
05:52It's nibbling away at the rotten logs.
05:55They're probably looking for beetle grubs, I would imagine.
05:58They love beetle grubs.
05:59It can smell it.
06:01Look, it knows it's in there.
06:02Come on.
06:03Rip that wood and get out of there.
06:06Amazing, isn't it?
06:07Just, and of course their sense of smell is absolutely superb.
06:11It's sprouting around in the bottom of that rotten log.
06:15Again, probably, Chris, I would imagine, looking for invertebrates.
06:18Yeah.
06:19Earthworms, wood lice, centipedes.
06:21It will have all of those, won't it?
06:22As you say, their sense of smell is unparalleled.
06:23Amazing.
06:24Fabulous, squishy nose there, wasn't it?
06:26Oh, no.
06:27I got one of those.
06:28Look, they spoke five times playing rugby.
06:31It did.
06:32It did.
06:33Way too much rugby.
06:33I could be a badger.
06:34There we are.
06:35Let me just put it back.
06:36There we go.
06:37Oh, no.
06:37That's got it.
06:38Anyway, two fabulous mustelies.
06:39You've got your badger and your pine, Martin.
06:41Do you want a third one?
06:42Yes.
06:42I'd throw in a third one because it's our final show.
06:45How about a stoat?
06:46Well, why don't you sit back and enjoy the winter survival story of a stoat in Yorkshire.
07:00The Yorkshire Wolds, the most northern chalk hills in Great Britain, where the landscape
07:07is exposed to wind, rain and shine.
07:18This is Bandita, a stoat whose name is Spanish for female bandit.
07:25Her homestead is wildlife artist Robert Fuller's farm, which he's made into a perfect habitat
07:32for these foot-long mustelids.
07:35And Bandita is by no means the only stoat around.
07:39They love it here.
07:44Hunting is often an ambush that relies on precision timing.
07:51Sometimes they miss their mark.
07:55But others are a perfect hit, with rodents and even small rabbits being targeted by stoats.
08:06There's fierce competition for food, not just amongst the mustelids, but with the local birds
08:12of prey, which share much of the same menu.
08:16Barn owls and a pair of kestrels are regular visitors to the farm.
08:22They also have a taste for small mammals.
08:27So, with so much competition, it pays to have a trick up your sleeve.
08:33And Bandita has a great one.
08:41ROGGING
08:42Prompted by the shortening daze, she begins her transformation.
08:48ROGGING
08:51Her muzzle, then her tail, molts from brown to snowy white.
08:57apart from the black tip.
09:05As winter sets in, the paws are next,
09:09followed by the legs and then the ears.
09:14Over the next few weeks,
09:16her back becomes more and more mottled
09:18until finally, just in time for the heaviest dump of snow.
09:27Bandita is ready, camouflaged for the season.
09:37With snow on the walls, times are tough.
09:45Not only are the small rodents hard to come by,
09:48most of the stoats here haven't changed colour.
09:52They're still sporting their brown coats
09:54and easily spotted on the crisp white ground.
10:04Bandita was born with a gift,
10:08inherited genes, giving her this special ability.
10:16And now it could give her the edge in an audacious ambush.
10:26Bandita would usually give the barn owls a wide berth,
10:30but the temptation of food
10:32and her ability to melt into the landscape
10:35gives her confidence.
10:44It's a perfectly executed showdown.
10:55And Bandita lives up to her reputation.
11:00Thief by name, thief by nature.
11:06Meanwhile,
11:08her brown-coated rivals
11:10are seeing a drop in their strike rate.
11:14But it's temporary.
11:18In the UK,
11:19even in the Yorkshire walls,
11:21one thing is certain,
11:23snow doesn't hang around for long.
11:27Soon, the tables are turned
11:29and it's Bandita that sticks out against the landscape.
11:36Just as well, then,
11:38that as winter loosens its grip
11:39and the days begin to lengthen,
11:42she begins to change back to brown.
11:46She'll soon be back on top,
11:48just in time for spring.
11:54Absolutely beautiful.
11:55I've got to confess,
11:56I've never seen a stoat in Ehrman.
11:58It's always been one of those bogey things for me.
12:00Well, very elusive creature.
12:02And so you've got to go somewhere cold these days, of course.
12:04I'll tell you what's not elusive right now
12:05are the badgers.
12:06They're back on our cameras.
12:08And they are being very active.
12:11I think...
12:12Look, that looks like...
12:13Is that fighting or is that still playing?
12:16It's getting a little bit aggressive, isn't it?
12:18So that's full-on fighting.
12:21So are those still the young ones, Chris, do you reckon?
12:24It's quite difficult to get...
12:25But this is in the area where they've been coming to feed, isn't it?
12:27So they're fighting over that resource.
12:29So that doesn't necessarily mean
12:31they've come from, obviously, a different social group.
12:33They could be two from the same
12:34that are, frankly, run out of patience
12:36when it comes to sharing the food.
12:39Oh, come on.
12:41Give us a chance. Come on out.
12:43Now they're so wet, it's...
12:46Hard to tell.
12:47And we can't actually hear them right now as well.
12:50But, wow, amazing to see that.
12:53And, obviously, we will be checking in
12:55with those live cameras regularly
12:57to see how that works.
12:58We should say, Nick, that, you know,
12:59to be quite honest, badgers are so tough,
13:01their skin is so thick and they're so muscular
13:04that, although they do have these incredibly vicious
13:07and noisy fights,
13:08it's quite unusual for them to seriously injure one another.
13:12They do look young, though, don't they?
13:14They do look young, the youngsters.
13:16And you see there that one had a hold of the other one's ear.
13:19Very often, that tears the ear.
13:21They do damage each other's ears
13:23and you'll sometimes see scars on the face
13:25and that can be useful if you're trying to identify them.
13:27Not useful for the badger, of course.
13:29Squirrels, it looks.
13:30But useful from that point of view.
13:32Well, we weren't expecting to see that
13:34at the beginning of the show,
13:35but, as I say, we'll keep our eyes on those live cameras
13:37to see how that develops.
13:39Now, a couple of nights ago,
13:40we were showing you the wonderful marine life
13:43underneath the waves of Strandford Lock.
13:45And tonight, we're going to go deeper,
13:47not to the depths, but into the history.
13:50Because decades ago,
13:51Strandford Lock was home to this extraordinary animal.
13:56Now, this is a flapper skate
13:58and it's the largest skate in the world.
14:02And it historically used to be seen regularly
14:04in Strandford Lock.
14:06In fact, it was famous for it.
14:08But it was a popular sport fish
14:10and in the 60s and 70s, numbers declined.
14:13And very sadly, by the 80s, it was gone from the lock.
14:17And it was a very similar story throughout the Irish Sea.
14:21It's now classified as critically endangered
14:24and only really found here in the UK
14:27along the west coast of Scotland
14:28and the west coast of Ireland.
14:30And we're getting these fabulous shots of it here
14:32because they're doing scientific studies on it.
14:35And look, it even means we get a shot of it underneath.
14:38You can see its eyes and its mouth.
14:40But let's just have a look at the size
14:42because, as I say, they're the largest of all the skates.
14:45This is actually a replica of one,
14:48but they get even bigger than this.
14:50They can get to 2.5 metres long and 2 metres across.
14:56And then they've got...
14:562 metres across. I mean, that's double the size of this.
14:58I mean, they're enormous, aren't they?
15:00And they have this distinctive tail as well,
15:02this thick tail, which is definitely distinguishable
15:06from the thinner tail of the rays that you get.
15:09The other thing that is different between the two
15:11is rays give birth to live young
15:13and these skates will produce an egg case like this.
15:17And it's a pretty big egg case.
15:20They're known as mermaids' purses.
15:23And inside there you'll get a yoke
15:25and it'll take about 18 months
15:27for the young skate to develop and hatch.
15:30So that's a pretty long time to develop, isn't it?
15:33To be safe on the seabed
15:34because they're tangled up in typically marine algae.
15:37And to not be disturbed by fishing practices
15:40for 18 months is one of the reasons why they're struggling to recover.
15:43And they don't become sexually mature for over...
15:45Well, over 20 years before they become sexually mature.
15:4820 years.
15:48So they take a long time to recover
15:51if their numbers decline like they have.
15:53Yeah, a fragile species.
15:55It's got to wait for 20 years
15:56and then you produce an egg that's got to lay on the seabed
15:58for 18 months before it hatches.
15:59In the modern world, that's a tough ask.
16:01But they are a remarkable creature.
16:03Mick, I'm going to spin this round
16:04and show the underside of the scape.
16:07It's great, isn't it?
16:08I mean, you can see the eyes and the mouth here
16:10and the gills as well.
16:11Fantastic, isn't it?
16:12But I want to draw your attention to these spots
16:13because these are representing an extraordinary organ.
16:17It's called the Organ of Lorenzini
16:20and these were discovered no less than in 1678,
16:24a long, long time ago, by Stefano Lorenzini,
16:28who was an Italian scientist.
16:29But we didn't know what they were about for 300 years.
16:32Thankfully, in the 1960s, we found out,
16:34and I can explain here.
16:35So each of those dots, and that was just a few
16:38because there were hundreds of thousands of these organs
16:40on the scape, are a tiny little pore in the skin.
16:44So here you can see the spots on the surface
16:46and here is the skin.
16:47So this is looking up through the animal
16:49as if we'd taken a slice through it here.
16:52And this organ that runs up here,
16:54these are those pores, the organs of Lorenzini.
16:57And if you look over here,
16:59you can see that if we split those in half,
17:01so you can see inside,
17:02they're filled with a jelly-like substance
17:04which is highly conductive.
17:07You've got to think of it as a wire
17:09leading in to the body of the scape
17:11because these are electroreceptors.
17:16They can detect electric fields,
17:18electric fields that are incredibly small.
17:22Now, the figures are mind-boggling.
17:24Frankly, it's five nanovolts per centimetre.
17:29So over the distance of a centimetre,
17:31these organs can detect five nanovolts.
17:35Now, I don't know about you,
17:35but a nanovolt doesn't mean much to me.
17:37So it's five billionths of a volt.
17:41That's an incredibly low electric field.
17:44But lots of animals produce these electric fields.
17:47And what this means is that the scape
17:49can detect its prey in complete darkness
17:52and find it down there on the seabed.
17:56Now, the other thing that we've discovered more recently
17:58is that they have very similar organs,
18:00slightly different in their structure,
18:01and they're in the tail of the scape.
18:03And using these, they're producing pulses,
18:06very low, again,
18:07very low pulses of electricity,
18:09which we think that they are doing
18:12to communicate with one another.
18:14Researchers at Queen's University
18:16are interested in getting to grips
18:19with this aspect of it.
18:20So they built this.
18:21This is what they call their ray-gone device.
18:24Sounds like something from a Cold War novel, doesn't it?
18:27But it isn't.
18:28What it is, if I pop it off, top off here.
18:31So these are equivalents to the organs of Lorenzini here.
18:35And basically, if I take the top off,
18:37let's gently take that out,
18:39put that over here.
18:42We've got the equipment in here.
18:45And what this is doing
18:46is picking up the electrical pulses,
18:49which are being produced by the rays in the water,
18:53comes in here to this electrical circuitry.
18:56And their objective is to really try and learn
18:59how these fish are communicating with one another.
19:02Because if we can learn that and learn more about them,
19:03we'll be in a better place to conserve them.
19:05Now, obviously, trying to see a tiny electrical pulse
19:08is quite difficult.
19:08But what they've done is put the acoustic equivalent,
19:12a bit like a bat detector.
19:13You know when you're using a bat detector,
19:15it produces sounds which are audible to our ears.
19:17They're not actually the sounds of the bats.
19:19Well, this is the same.
19:19Listen to this.
19:24So this is an acoustic version
19:28of those extremely small electrical pulses
19:31that are being put out by the ray.
19:34And they're calling it, wait for it,
19:37skate jazz.
19:39Skate jazz.
19:40Because as you can see, there's no rhythm to it.
19:43That's what they discover.
19:44There's no rhythm to it.
19:45And they're thinking that skate jazz might be actually useful
19:49when it comes to communicating to these fish.
19:51If they can transcribe that into something
19:53which may be attracting the rays or may be repulsing the rays,
19:57then we could move them out of areas
19:59where there's conflict with human interest
20:01and hopefully help preserve their population.
20:05The ray-gone device, skate jazz.
20:08That's what you pay your licence fee for.
20:10It's brilliant, isn't it?
20:12I mean, skate jazz and flapper skate.
20:14I thought suddenly I was in some sort of ice dance competition there.
20:17No, but I love the fact that it's so niche as well
20:20that scientists have decided that that's the project
20:23that they're going to study.
20:24Beautiful thing, isn't it?
20:24Fish singing using tiny, tiny little electrical pulses in the water.
20:29What a wonderful world.
20:30I mean, frankly, folks, what a wonderful world.
20:32And the more we learn, obviously,
20:35the more these fantastic skates can be protected.
20:39Well done to the scientists that have started that.
20:42It's absolutely brilliant.
20:43It is brilliant.
20:44You like that, don't you? You're going to take that off.
20:46I really, really love that, yeah.
20:49Right, OK, well, from one fish to something that eats the fish, otters.
20:55Hannah Stiphol's been out.
20:56She went to a place where she was pretty much guaranteed to see otters.
20:59The question is, when you're pretty much guaranteed, do they deliver?
21:14Morning, swans.
21:15How are we?
21:19I'm in Antrim, and I've had some local intel
21:22that along the six-mile water towpath,
21:25I'm guaranteed to see one of my favourite mammals, the otter.
21:33Otters are famously secretive and tricky to find,
21:36but the fact that they're turning up here regularly in this urban park
21:40has become quite the local talking point.
21:43And apparently, they're even unfazed by the local park run,
21:47which stands me in good stead for catching a glimpse of one.
21:52All right.
21:56There's just one small problem.
21:59Because of all this rain we've had,
22:00the river is a lot higher and faster flowing,
22:03which is not the ideal conditions for otter spotting.
22:09But I've come armed with optimism and patience.
22:17Otters are formidable hunters.
22:19Fish make up around 80% of their diet,
22:22but they'll also predate amphibians, crustaceans,
22:26and on land, even small mammals and bird eggs.
22:30There's no sign of the otters yet,
22:33but Northern Ireland is a stronghold for them.
22:41There's one otter swearing up towards me.
22:58There's two of them.
23:02Oh, amazing.
23:05I think there were two otters just rolling around in the waterways one another.
23:09They looked like they had some fish in their mouths.
23:21Oh, they've gone back underneath now.
23:24I don't know if they're coming this way or that way.
23:29Oh!
23:33A kingfisher has just flown into the other side of the riverbank.
23:46I don't know what to do with myself.
23:47They're in two otters down there.
23:49There's a kingfisher over there.
23:50This is brilliant.
23:53What is this place?
23:55It's like Narnia.
23:59So we know this one is a male because he's got an all-black beak,
24:03whereas a female would have some orange.
24:10And just like that, both species disappeared out of my view.
24:15But then I was treated to a whole cast of characters.
24:24What a morning.
24:37Kingfisher's, otters, in the same place, at the same time.
24:41Hannah got lucky.
24:42Talk, talk, talk, work.
24:43That was brilliant.
24:44But I did only manage to get a glimpse as the water along that river at the minute
24:48is so high because of all the weather we've been having.
24:51And usually, those otters, they're quite showy.
24:55And here's the proof, because this was sent in to us by Linda Thompson.
25:00Now, Linda took this on her phone.
25:03No way.
25:04Yeah.
25:05Same otters along that river.
25:06And you can see how habituated they are.
25:09And I tell you what, guys, that morning when we were down there filming,
25:12it was full of walkers, dogs, cyclists, joggers,
25:17and the otters, they just weren't phased at all.
25:19But I think you did well.
25:20You did well, Hannah.
25:21At least you saw them.
25:22And you weren't given an awful lot of time.
25:24But listen, Hannah is the queen of our socials.
25:27And you're constantly checking the Facebook, the Instagram, the X,
25:31all of the socials to see what's coming in.
25:34And people send such great stuff in to us, don't they?
25:37I tell you what, in my opinion,
25:39I think that our Winter Watch and Spring Watch audience,
25:43they're one of the best in at telly.
25:45I mean, we couldn't do what we do without all of you at home,
25:48especially on the digital channel,
25:50sending us in all of their photos, their videos, their questions.
25:53And what's really good about it is that we get to see all of the stuff
25:56that they send in and then we get to discuss it.
25:59And it gives us a really good picture of what's happening all over the UK,
26:03doesn't it?
26:03It really does feel like it's an inclusive family.
26:07One big, happy family.
26:09And I tell you what, some of our audience have even got otters in their garden.
26:14Hope Nolan sent us this from Leicestershire.
26:17Lying in bed at 11pm one night, cameras triggered,
26:21looked down into the pond and you can see, as Hannah said,
26:25there's an otter in the pond, a little pond in the back garden.
26:29I mean, that is striking gold, isn't it?
26:31Anyway, having had a view like that, she got herself a trap camera
26:35and put it down on the side of the pond to see if the otters would come back.
26:39Well, it's a takeaway, isn't it, for an otter, a tiny pond like that,
26:42a perfect place to look for all sorts of food.
26:44But it wasn't one otter that turned up, but two.
26:47And because they're pretty much similar in size and because of their habits,
26:51we know, therefore, that that's a female otter with a cub
26:54that's probably about a year old,
26:56just about on the brink of becoming independent.
26:58It's the last lessons on fishing in a very tiny pool.
27:03It's fantastic stuff, isn't it?
27:04Well, of course, they will think that that pond
27:07will naturally be restocked with fish,
27:09but they'll also be feeding on invertebrates in there,
27:12like dragonfly larvae, possibly frogs resting at the bottom.
27:16But I hope they probably won't be there every single night, will they?
27:19I mean, it's like us going to the takeaway.
27:22They'll stay there for a couple of nights and then they'll move on.
27:25I mean, something more healthy.
27:27I personally don't stay in the takeaway for a couple of nights.
27:30I don't know about you, Bruce.
27:31Well, no, never, no.
27:33But do you know what I love about that is, you know,
27:36we so often say to people when we're asked,
27:38what can we do to help wildlife in our garden?
27:40We say, build a pond.
27:41And that just shows.
27:42You build a pond and they will come.
27:45I mean, it was a small pond and you've got two otters in it.
27:48What a surprise you'd have if you look out your window and saw that.
27:51You'd also have a surprise if you looked out your window into your garden
27:54and saw this, a woodcock, Christian Paulson in Lincolnshire.
27:59It's unusual to see a woodcock in your garden,
28:01unusual to see it in the day because they're nocturnal.
28:05So that would definitely be a big tick.
28:07Very good.
28:08It's not just woodcock, though, is it?
28:11No.
28:12Somebody's got a snipe in their back garden.
28:15Oh, that photograph is incredible.
28:17And I'll tell you why.
28:18Because snipe, they're usually associated with wetlands and marshland,
28:22aren't they?
28:22But here, they've gone into somebody's back garden in the snow.
28:26How about that?
28:27Makes it easier for us to see them, though, doesn't it?
28:29Got less camouflage.
28:31I mean, out in a grassy field, spotting a snipe can be quite hard work.
28:34Yeah, it can.
28:35But you get a really good view of that cryptic colouration there.
28:37And they'll be in the back garden.
28:38They eat invertebrates.
28:39So they'll be probing around, looking for snacks.
28:42How about that?
28:43This is one of the favourite things of mine that's been sent in recently.
28:46Because look at this.
28:48It's wrens.
28:50And not just one, not just two, not just three.
28:55In fact, six of them, eight of them,
28:57came into this nest and snuggled up in winter.
29:02And do you know the record is 61 wrens have been counted
29:07in a nest in Norfolk?
29:09I've got to say, that was way back in 1969.
29:12That sort of thing doesn't happen anymore.
29:141969.
29:15That was the sort of spirit of the times, wasn't it?
29:16Yeah, it was.
29:17It was.
29:18When people used to...
29:19Yeah, Woodstock.
29:20They all snuggled up.
29:2160 wrens in a box.
29:22It's a great way to keep warm.
29:25And can I tell you, it's really...
29:27It's been windy here all week.
29:29So, come on, Hannah.
29:29It is a bit windy.
29:31Because you know how much Chris loves to snuggle.
29:33Come on, isn't that lovely?
29:35We're all snuggling up.
29:36Are you enjoying that, Chris?
29:37He's been dreading this all day.
29:39He really has, hasn't he?
29:41Yeah.
29:42I'm not in my social space.
29:45Now, we've got one more clip to show you.
29:47This is incredible.
29:48This has come in by Robin Cooper.
29:50And he took this on a trip to Loch Duick in Scotland.
29:54Captured this in the back garden.
29:55Look, there's a red deer there.
29:56But look in the corner, there's a pine marten as well.
29:59Eating the supplementary food put out on the table.
30:01But wait for it, as it is absolute mammal mayhem.
30:06There's one badger there that comes up on the table.
30:09Cleverly edited in there.
30:11I'm going to assure you.
30:12Yeah.
30:13It is real.
30:14And then three badgers.
30:16Do you know what I love about all of this, though,
30:18is that people are putting these cameras up
30:20and really enjoying the wildlife in their back garden.
30:23It's brilliant.
30:24I want to know where that place is.
30:26I want to go there on holidays.
30:27Have your little picnic, yeah.
30:28Keep sending them in to all of our socials.
30:30Because then Hannah's got a lot of homework to do
30:33and she can look through them all.
30:33I will.
30:34They keep me busy.
30:35With all of that mammal mania going on there,
30:38we can now go over to Lira Valencia.
30:41She fancied a bit of mammal mania of her own.
30:43So she headed off to the island of Mull
30:45to see how many different species she could see in just one day.
30:54I'm Lira Valencia.
30:56And I'm a UK wildlife champion and social media influencer.
30:59Born and raised in South London.
31:03I have been talking about spreading my wings for a while now.
31:06Getting out of London, exploring something new.
31:09And I have news.
31:10I'm doing it.
31:11I am going somewhere completely different to London.
31:15Somewhere that is wild.
31:17It's remote.
31:19I am going to Mull.
31:22It's an island over 500 miles away from here
31:26on the west coast of Scotland.
31:28And it's packed full of wildlife.
31:31Oh.
31:33I don't know if you can tell,
31:35but I'm pretty excited.
31:38Platform, platform.
31:39Platform one.
31:40Okay, Glasgow.
31:41Let's go, let's go.
31:42So I'm catching the train to Glasgow.
31:48Meeting the crew.
31:50So we're going to go to open now.
31:53And after a quick sleep stop,
31:55catching the first ferry
31:57to be on the island for sunrise
31:59to start my mission
32:01to see how many species I can spot
32:03in a day in the wilderness.
32:10The sun is just rising
32:12and me and Tom are heading
32:13to a good spot to see red deer.
32:17Mull is home to over 6,000 red deer.
32:19That's more red deer than people, by the way, here.
32:22Crazy.
32:24Okay.
32:26At this time of year,
32:27the deer make their way down
32:28from the higher areas
32:30towards the coast
32:31in search of food.
32:33So the deer here,
32:34they've just come out of breeding season
32:35or rutting season
32:36and the males have used a lot of energy
32:38to impress females and to mate.
32:41And it's not just the males
32:42that are feeling the struggle.
32:43It's also the females
32:45as hopefully they'll be gestating
32:47or carrying young.
32:53Wow.
32:54So we've just seen a kestrel
32:55fly over in the distance.
32:57There's two hen harriers
32:58going up and up and up,
33:00circling each other.
33:04Oh my goodness!
33:07Look at that!
33:09Just spotted from a peripheral
33:11a golden eagle.
33:14Wow!
33:17So this is one of the two species
33:19of eagles that you can see on mole.
33:21And in fact, mole is known
33:22as the eagle island
33:24because you can see them
33:26pretty well here.
33:29While I was looking for mammals,
33:30you know, you have to look up sometimes
33:32and you see spectacular things.
33:36The list is growing.
33:37I'm trying to focus on deer
33:38but I'm getting distracted.
33:39There are so many birds
33:40that I haven't seen.
33:41So look for the deer.
33:42Look for the deer.
33:47Hooded crow!
33:49I love a hooded crow!
33:50We don't get those in London.
33:55We've just spotted six red deer
33:59and they're there sitting low,
34:01quite quietly, calmly,
34:03conserving that energy.
34:05You can see their red coat.
34:07It's super thick
34:08and has special hairs
34:09which are hollow,
34:10which traps air
34:11and gives them
34:12the extra bit of insulation.
34:15What an icon!
34:18Two hours in,
34:19a bounty of birds
34:21and Britain's largest
34:22land mammal
34:23is a great start.
34:24So I'm heading to the coast
34:26to continue my search.
34:29Peace, we have just
34:30had to jump out of the car
34:31because we have spotted
34:32a white-tailed eagle.
34:35Look at this beauty.
34:38Mind his own business.
34:40This is a huge bird.
34:42In fact,
34:43it's got the longest wingspan
34:45out of all eagles
34:46in the UK.
34:48Look, it's oyster catchers.
34:49Oyster catchers.
34:50Look!
34:54That sound!
34:58There's far too many
34:59distractions here,
35:01but I'm dragging myself away
35:02to my final destination
35:04of the day.
35:06We have just spotted an otter
35:08right ahead of us
35:10on that island.
35:13Oh, wow!
35:15Look!
35:17Just obviously woken up
35:19from a really good nap.
35:21It's super cute.
35:22Look at it scratching itself.
35:26I can't believe it!
35:30Oh, you can just see how big they are.
35:34How agile, how slender.
35:42The otters in London
35:43that are used in freshwater sources
35:45like canals and rivers
35:46have really large ranges
35:48up to 30 to 40 kilometers in size
35:51compared to these ones
35:53that have much shorter ranges.
35:55No one really knows the reason
35:57for such a drastic difference,
35:59but it's most likely because of food availability
36:01in certain ranges.
36:06What a way to end a day.
36:09A mammal to complete my mission
36:11of how many species I could see here.
36:14I'm buzzed to have seen eight,
36:17including two eagles.
36:20Before coming here,
36:21I said I wanted to spread my wings
36:22and discover something new.
36:24And honestly,
36:25mole has delivered 100%.
36:26It has been honestly epic.
36:28I have seen so many different species
36:30in such a short period of time.
36:32I couldn't ask for anything more,
36:34to be honest.
36:38Well, hats off there to Lyra
36:41and to a cameraman, Tom, as well,
36:43because to get golden eagle,
36:45white-tailed eagle,
36:46an otter and a hen harrier
36:48in one day is no mean feat,
36:50even up there on the Isle of Mull.
36:53Now, we've got our long-length cameraman,
36:56Mark Yates,
36:57wandering all over the place
36:58with his thermal camera.
37:00Let's go and see if he's got us anything.
37:01Has he got anything?
37:04No, no, no, nothing there.
37:09No owl, nothing there at the moment.
37:11Well, OK.
37:12Now, one bird Lyra didn't see on Mull
37:15and it's fairly widespread over there
37:16and that is this bird.
37:18It is the barn owl.
37:20And the barn owl actually is quite a rare bird
37:24here in Northern Ireland.
37:26There are fewer than 30 pairs here.
37:29Why is that?
37:30It's a combination thing.
37:31We've witnessed some of it
37:32since we've been up here, of course.
37:34Ireland lies right on the edge
37:35of the Atlantic Ocean.
37:36The winds come in from the west.
37:38Stormy winds carrying rain.
37:40Barn owls do not like to hunt in rain
37:43because they walk along.
37:44They don't like the wind either
37:46because they rely on their ears to hunt
37:49and high winds means that
37:50they just simply can't hear the prey.
37:53But there are other factors too.
37:55There is the lack of prey-rich, rough grassland.
37:59There's very little of that out here.
38:01And there's also a lack of nesting sites.
38:05Now, Ulster Wildlife have tried to rectify this
38:08by erecting nest boxes.
38:11And I'm pleased to say that there's a pair here
38:15at Mount Stewart using one of these boxes.
38:18Here we are.
38:19That is the barn owl box there.
38:23Look at that.
38:24They even record them at night as well.
38:28Now, one unusual thing about the barn owls over here
38:31is the fact that they hunt at night.
38:34In the rest of the UK,
38:37they are, well, they are nocturnal,
38:39but they're also diurnal.
38:40They'll hunt at first light and last light,
38:42but not here.
38:44Why is that?
38:45Well, it's all got to do with their diet.
38:48Now, how do you study a barn owl's diet?
38:51Let me show you.
38:52Let me get this out of my pocket.
38:54Look at that.
38:55Looks like a small grey sausage,
38:58but it's not.
38:59It's actually a barn owl's pellet.
39:01And this is packed full of information
39:04if you know what you're looking for.
39:06They regurgitate this.
39:08It's what their gut can't break down.
39:11It'll have fur in there.
39:12It'll have feathers in there.
39:13It'll have bones in there
39:16and it'll have skulls in there.
39:18So scientists are able to identify
39:20exactly what the barn owls have been eating.
39:24Now, let's have a look now, OK,
39:25at the difference,
39:26if I can hold this up in this wind,
39:28between...
39:30Hold on.
39:30Get a good hold of this
39:32because it flies off.
39:33Between the barn owls of Northern Ireland here
39:36and the barn owls of Great Britain,
39:39the rest of the UK up here.
39:41Let's have a look first
39:42at the barn owls of the rest of the UK, OK?
39:47Now, 45% of their diet
39:49is made up of field bulls.
39:52And then you've got 20%
39:54is made up of common shrews.
39:56And 20%,
39:58sorry, 15%
40:00is made up of wood mice there.
40:03Let's have a look now, then,
40:05at the Northern Irish one.
40:06A massive 71%
40:09of their diet
40:10is made up of wood mice.
40:13And then you've got 14%
40:15is made up of pygmy shrews.
40:18First of all,
40:19let's address
40:19the nocturnal hunting.
40:22The Northern Irish barn owls hunt at night
40:24because they're hunting mainly wood mice
40:27and wood mice
40:28are nocturnal.
40:30Whereas the field bulls,
40:31which forms most of the diet
40:33of the British owls,
40:37is, well,
40:37it's active day
40:38and night.
40:40There we are.
40:41If I can put that down now,
40:43put that to one side
40:44over there.
40:45Now then,
40:47the other thing
40:48is the fact that
40:50you don't have field bulls
40:52or common shrews
40:53over here
40:54in Northern Ireland.
40:57Well,
40:57at least you didn't
40:58until recently
41:00because now
41:01they've found
41:03field bulls
41:04in the diet
41:05of some barn owls
41:06and those
41:07are starting
41:08to spread.
41:11Now,
41:11these are
41:12non-native species
41:14so they have been
41:15released deliberately
41:17by someone
41:18and that is actually
41:19illegal.
41:20And now it begs
41:21the big question.
41:23What's going to happen?
41:24Are those voles
41:25going to impact
41:26on the native wildlife here?
41:28What's going to happen
41:29to the owls?
41:30Will the owls now
41:31start to hunt
41:32by day
41:33and by night
41:34and will owl numbers
41:35increase?
41:36Well,
41:37we don't know
41:38but there is
41:39a long-term
41:40research study
41:42going on
41:42funded by
41:44Ulster Wildlife
41:45and Queen's University
41:47at Belfast
41:47and hopefully
41:48they'll be able
41:49to come up
41:50with a lot of
41:51answers
41:51about all
41:53of those
41:53questions there.
41:55Now,
41:55luckily,
41:56they've also
41:56studied the
41:57barn owls
41:57here
41:58at Mount Stewart
41:59and what's
42:01really interesting
42:01is that
42:02these owls
42:03take a much
42:04higher percentage
42:05of rats,
42:06brown rats
42:07than the
42:08Northern Irish
42:10average.
42:10the barn
42:12owls here
42:13eat 22%
42:15of their diet
42:16is made up
42:17of rats
42:18but it obviously
42:19works for them
42:20because last year
42:21they reared
42:22three young
42:23including this
42:24fantastic youngster
42:26here.
42:26Isn't that brilliant?
42:28Now then,
42:29if you've seen
42:29an owl
42:30in Northern Ireland,
42:31any species
42:32of owl,
42:33Ulster Wildlife
42:34want to hear
42:35from you,
42:35please send
42:36in your records.
42:37If you want
42:38to know how,
42:39well,
42:39visit our
42:40website.
42:42Right,
42:42from the wind
42:43and the cold
42:44out here now,
42:44back to the
42:45teepee
42:46and Chris
42:47and Michaela.
42:48Do you know
42:49what,
42:49I'd completely
42:50forgotten
42:50that there were
42:51no field
42:51vols in
42:52Ireland
42:53and then
42:54think about
42:54the impact
42:55that that
42:55would have
42:56not just
42:56on barn
42:56owls
42:57but things
42:57like
42:57short-eared
42:58owls
42:58and hen
42:59harriers
42:59and things
43:00like that.
43:00So although
43:01obviously
43:02that introduction
43:03is unwarranted,
43:04unprecedented,
43:05it will be
43:06interesting to
43:06see what
43:07happens with
43:07those birds
43:08if that
43:09population
43:09of vols
43:10expands.
43:10It definitely
43:11will,
43:11won't it?
43:11I mean,
43:12it's so
43:12interesting
43:12that you
43:12only see
43:13three of
43:13the species
43:14here in
43:15Northern Ireland.
43:16OK,
43:17let's check
43:17our live
43:18cameras.
43:18Let's have
43:19a see
43:19because we
43:20got some
43:21great action
43:22right at
43:23the beginning
43:23of the show
43:24with our
43:25badgers.
43:26They're not
43:26there right
43:27now,
43:28but we have
43:28had a lot
43:29of action
43:29from them,
43:30haven't we,
43:30Chris?
43:30Yeah,
43:30we've been
43:31watching the
43:31badgers
43:31here at
43:32Mount Stewart
43:32and they've
43:32really delivered
43:33this week
43:33actually,
43:34showing us
43:35lots of
43:35new behaviour.
43:36Now,
43:37these three
43:37animals here,
43:38you'll note,
43:39are all about
43:40the same size.
43:41They're quite
43:42fluffy,
43:43they're in
43:43good condition,
43:44no nicks
43:44on the ears
43:45from fighting
43:46like we saw
43:46those two
43:47earlier,
43:47no scars
43:48on the face.
43:49Difficult to
43:50sex,
43:51no big,
43:52broad face
43:52for the male,
43:53long tail
43:54and slimmer
43:55body for the
43:55female and
43:56they're playful
43:57and all of
43:58those things
43:59lead me to
43:59believe that
44:00these are
44:00last year's
44:01cubs and
44:02as you can
44:03see they've
44:03still got
44:04that playful
44:05side to
44:05them.
44:06I say
44:07playful,
44:07I mean this
44:08is also about
44:09establishing
44:10hierarchies within
44:11that social
44:12group.
44:13The males
44:13are likely to
44:14move off
44:14probably next
44:15summer but
44:17you know,
44:18nice to see
44:18those young
44:19badgers there
44:20but if you've
44:20been watching
44:21you'll know
44:21we've had
44:21drama in
44:22the badger
44:22set with
44:23an animal
44:23that's been
44:25chasing another
44:26one and
44:26keckering.
44:27Now you have
44:28to look towards
44:28the back
44:29in the back
44:30of our shot
44:30there but
44:31that is that
44:32male badger
44:33and here
44:34you can see
44:35it's approached
44:36another one,
44:36we think the
44:37female,
44:38and there
44:38appears to be
44:39a bit more
44:39passive behaviour
44:40going on now,
44:41a bit of
44:41mutual grooming
44:44but that
44:45animal is away
44:46from the set
44:46entrances which
44:47have been
44:48fiercely guarded
44:49by at least
44:49one of the
44:50other badgers
44:51as it's been
44:51trying to get
44:52into that hole.
44:54Now given
44:54that this animal
44:55has been on the
44:56set pretty much
44:57the whole week
44:57and hasn't been
44:58chased off in a
44:59ferocious fight
45:00we've come to the
45:01conclusion that it is
45:02in fact part of this
45:03social group,
45:04it's not an intruder
45:05from another
45:06social group
45:06but it's definitely
45:09not wanted in one
45:10part of the set
45:11and here you can see
45:12that they've split up
45:14and they go
45:15their separate ways.
45:16One goes down
45:17one hole there
45:18on the left
45:19and then that male
45:20goes round to the
45:21other hole on the
45:22other side.
45:23Now of course
45:23we don't know
45:24what's going on
45:24beneath the ground
45:25but there's every
45:26chance that those
45:27chambers could be
45:28connected or not
45:29connected.
45:30But the key thing
45:31is Mick that some
45:32of the behaviour
45:32that we've seen
45:33these animals
45:33exhibiting this week
45:34we've never seen
45:35before in all of
45:37the years that we've
45:37been watching badgers
45:38on the watches
45:39so that was pretty
45:40exciting.
45:41Look at that
45:41extraordinary bit
45:42when it was lying
45:43down.
45:44But isn't that
45:44the amazing thing?
45:46I mean every year
45:47we try and get
45:48this live behaviour
45:49and I know some
45:49people say oh
45:50it's badgers again
45:51but it's only when
45:53you have these
45:53cameras on and you
45:54keep watching the
45:55behaviour that you
45:56see stuff and learn
45:57new things and as
45:59you say we've seen
45:59behaviour that we've
46:00never seen before.
46:02That's right
46:02entertaining and
46:03equally interesting.
46:05What about this
46:05behaviour though
46:06because we've had
46:07these cameras on for
46:08quite a few days
46:09and we've been
46:09watching them they
46:10will be going off
46:11tonight.
46:12straight after the
46:13show at eight
46:13o'clock.
46:14This particular
46:15badger though
46:15decides that yeah
46:17I've been on this
46:18live camera quite a
46:19lot but quite
46:20frankly I think it's
46:21time that I unplug
46:23the camera myself
46:24and it does.
46:26It interferes with
46:27the camera and
46:28then that camera
46:29works no longer.
46:31So as I say those
46:32cameras will be
46:33turned off at
46:34eight o'clock but
46:35it has it's been
46:36fantastic to see all
46:37this different
46:37behaviour.
46:38Yeah another thing
46:39we were trying this
46:39week was replicating
46:40some aspects of an
46:41experiment that had
46:42been done in the
46:42Netherlands looking at
46:43whether wild mammals
46:44principally small
46:45animals rodents would
46:46run in wheels like
46:47those we put in cages
46:48for hamsters and they
46:49found that they did.
46:50Well we've had wheels
46:52out all week and we've
46:54been baiting them.
46:55We can go live to our
46:56mouse wheel now and
46:58there's an absence of
46:59mouse in the wheel.
47:00We've had a number of
47:02things that have been
47:02curious and coming in.
47:04We've had the mice,
47:05we've had the pine
47:06martin and now the
47:07badger and again we've
47:09got to suppose that
47:10rather like the pine
47:11martin you know the
47:12badger has come in
47:13because it smelt the
47:14mouse and it's more
47:15interested in eating the
47:16mouse than running in
47:16the wheel.
47:17Blue tip popped in
47:18there.
47:18Pine martins have been
47:19on the wheel.
47:20This one is typically
47:21used for exercising
47:22cats, not exercising
47:24pine martins and
47:25sadly the squirrel
47:27although it shows a
47:28degree of acrobatic
47:29behaviour doesn't have
47:30the way to spin the
47:31wheel.
47:32But we're going to
47:33persevere.
47:33I'm going to get my
47:34own wheel.
47:35I'm not joking.
47:36I'm going to get a
47:37wheel and put it in
47:38the garden.
47:38We're going to keep
47:38our wheels out here to
47:40see if we can finally
47:41tempt those animals.
47:42And I know what
47:42you're thinking.
47:43You're thinking that
47:43large wheel has been a
47:44bit wasted but actually
47:46something did visit
47:47that big wheel.
47:49Look what it was.
47:50Yes I love this.
47:52It was the back of
47:54what do you look like.
47:56Is that the way you
47:58run because quite
47:59frankly you're not
48:00going to get fit doing
48:01it like that.
48:02Well I don't know.
48:03I thought it was a
48:03sort of an underlying
48:04chance of the next
48:05Olympics in there to be
48:06quite honest with you.
48:06Do you know what I
48:07want to say to that?
48:08The wheels have
48:09definitely come off
48:10Chris Packham.
48:11Off you go.
48:11I can't take any more
48:12of this ridicule.
48:13I'm going to go
48:14outside and hang out
48:15with Yolo Mick.
48:16Now if you were
48:17watching last night you
48:18might have seen that we
48:19had a buzzard on our
48:20thermal camera and that
48:22initially when we saw it
48:23you could see its eyes
48:24and its nose and its
48:25beak because they were
48:26glowing in the dark.
48:28But then we witnessed
48:29it tucking its head
48:30underneath its wing to
48:32stay warm.
48:33Well that was a nice
48:33big buzzard.
48:34The question for Yolo and
48:35I is how do those
48:37smaller birds that are
48:39out there on this
48:39freezing cold, windy
48:41night stay warm enough
48:42to survive Yolo?
48:44Yes that's a very good
48:45question.
48:45Now the average
48:47temperature in Northern
48:48Island in December was
48:505.9 degrees centigrade.
48:52That's cold and it's been
48:53for a few years here and
48:55at one time it hit a low
48:56of minus two.
48:59Now for us you know
49:01that's all right we can
49:02put on a few extra layers
49:03like Chris or extra six
49:05or seven layers in his
49:07case.
49:07We can go indoors, we can
49:09turn up the thermostat a
49:11little bit but do you know
49:13what how about us small
49:14birds?
49:14Well last night of course
49:16we saw a robin didn't we
49:18using our thermal camera.
49:20Here it is look puffing up
49:22its feathers there, tucking
49:24its head in, tucking its
49:26head, doing its very best
49:28to keep warm.
49:30Now of course they've got
49:31feathers and that is a big
49:33big help.
49:34But how about small
49:35pastroids like the great
49:37tit here?
49:38Well they can feed all day
49:41of course which they will
49:43do from dawn until dusk and
49:46not too much is the critical
49:48thing because you put on
49:49too much weight, you're a bit
49:50sluggish, you're going to
49:51get eaten by a sparrowhawk or
49:54the local cat.
49:55And great tit's put on 10%
49:57extra body fat but they burn
50:00that off overnight.
50:02That is the equivalent of you
50:04and I eating eight kilograms
50:06of prime cake and then
50:09burning it off overnight.
50:11Eight kilograms of cake?
50:12Eight kilograms of cake.
50:14Do you reckon you can manage
50:14that?
50:14I might have probably tried
50:15on a couple of occasions.
50:16But it is risky of course
50:19because then come dawn you
50:22need to find some more food
50:23and if you struggle to find
50:24food well then you are going
50:27to be in quite a bit of
50:29trouble with that.
50:31Scientists have also
50:32discovered that the choice
50:34of nest site is also very
50:36very important and if a bird
50:38finds the right nest
50:41roosting site sorry, if a bird
50:43finds the correct roosting
50:45location it can save up to
50:4850% of its energy.
50:5050%?
50:5150% of its energy.
50:52Now that is a considerable
50:54amount of energy so it's not
50:56surprising that when they do
50:57find the right roost site they
50:59will fiercely protect it.
51:01Take a look at these two
51:02great tits in a nest box and
51:04they are fighting ferociously
51:06for this.
51:07Now they choose the best sites
51:08because of a lack of
51:09parasites.
51:10Perhaps the nest site has been
51:11warmed by the sun in the
51:12daytime.
51:13And what they did find is that
51:14when there are many boxes
51:15there the ones which are
51:16better are fought over even
51:18more fiercely particularly when
51:20there's bad weather because
51:21that increase the competition.
51:24Now the key thing is the
51:25scientists who were doing this
51:26work found out that hierarchy
51:28plays a role and the adult
51:30males get the very best sites
51:33and the young females are the
51:35ones which get turfed out and
51:36get the very poor sites and
51:37you know in that one study
51:39they found that in some of
51:41those roosting sites the birds
51:43killed one another twice.
51:44Two dead great tits in there
51:46killed by others just because
51:48of that extra 50%.
51:49That's how important it is.
51:51Yes but birds have a trick up
51:53their sleeve and that trick is
51:55called rest phase hypothermia.
51:58Let's have a look at some
52:00roosting birds in the trees
52:01around here.
52:03Now then the birds what they do
52:06is they can lower their body
52:09temperature by 6 degrees from
52:1236 degrees down to 42 degrees
52:16centigrade.
52:17And of course Chris it takes less
52:19energy to maintain a lower body
52:23temperature for one thing and also
52:26a colder body actually loses
52:29less heat into the environment.
52:32So it's actually a very good
52:34tactic.
52:35It is a very good tactic and we
52:36can see it here in graphical form
52:38because here we see two great
52:40tits that were measured
52:42overnight.
52:42They're starting up here at more
52:44than 40, 44 degrees centigrade
52:47and it drops right down the bottom
52:49here to below, we're up at 37.
52:51And you can see that they've measured
52:52it on two birds.
52:53What's interesting is that the
52:54conditions overnight mean that
52:56they're moderating their temperature
52:57in parallel with one another.
52:59So look this is great for saving
53:01energy but again it does come with
53:03compromises because if you slow
53:05yourself down like that and you
53:06become sluggish you're vulnerable to
53:08predation, pine martens, domestic
53:10cats and we've also discovered that it
53:12reduces your immune system.
53:14So yes you might survive the night but
53:16you could get eaten by a pine martin
53:18and catch a cold.
53:19Yeah.
53:20Not good.
53:21Not good.
53:22Not good at all.
53:23Let's move on to our mindfulness
53:26moment now and this one's a little
53:27bit unusual.
53:28Dr Catherine Cooper has been studying
53:30murmurating starlings but she wanted
53:32to follow the track of an individual
53:34bird through the flock and given that
53:37there are vast numbers of that she
53:39needed to advance the technology which
53:41she's done and you'll see that in a
53:42moment.
53:43But what she also discovered is that
53:45when she pointed her camera to the sky
53:47to study these birds it was not only
53:49mesmerizing but extraordinarily
53:51beautiful.
54:15We'll see you then.
54:26Excuse me.
54:45And that waren first.
55:25It was extraordinary, wasn't it?
55:27Amazing. Beautiful.
55:28It was art, wasn't it? Absolutely art.
55:31Here's some more art.
55:32Young Belle is recovering in hospitals
55:34from essential treatment at the moment.
55:37She's a big fan of the programme, watching the live cameras all day,
55:40and she's painted all of these birds on the window.
55:42That's super, isn't it? Well done.
55:43That is lovely.
55:44Well, I haven't got art for you, but I've got a stonker of a bird.
55:48Have a look at this.
55:49This is a male gossock sent in by David May.
55:52Not just a male gossock, male gossock in the snow.
55:56How about that?
55:56How about that?
55:58Do you know what?
55:59Unfortunately, we've reached the end.
56:01It's not just the end of tonight's show.
56:03It's the end of Winter Watch 2026 as well.
56:07We have thoroughly enjoyed investigating all the habitats here,
56:12and a big thank you to all the staff.
56:15You have been a fantastic host.
56:16I will raise a drum to you tonight.
56:20We'll be back in spring in Northern Ireland,
56:22but we'll be broadcasting from another site,
56:24ensuring to bring you the very best of British wildlife.
56:28So that's it.
56:29It's all gone too quickly, hasn't it?
56:31But as Chris said, we'll be back for Spring Watch,
56:33so that leaves us all to say thanks for watching,
56:36and good night.
56:37Good night.
56:41Counting to live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.
56:50We're on air.
56:52We arrived on a mission to explore a new landscape
56:56through rain, wind and occasional shine.
57:04Man Stewart's cast of characters has captivated us.
57:14When the sun set, secrets were revealed.
57:25And the fields and the woods came alive.
57:35It's not just the wildlife that's delivered,
57:38as we've heard from people with a real passion for nature.
57:43That's in the water, I just fly in here.
57:47This is a cool bird.
57:50He's sitting looking down at us now.
57:54Throughout the harshest months of the year,
57:56the wildlife has adapted, thrived and survived.
58:06Now, it's time to hunker down.
58:09Wait for the tides to turn and the seasons to change.
58:13And of course, we'll be back.
58:16See you then.
58:25See you then.
58:37See you then.
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