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00:00We're here, we're live, it's day three.
00:05We have got red kites.
00:07We've got glowing snails.
00:10And we've got dolphins.
00:13So don't go anywhere, because it's time for...
00:17Winterwatch!
00:30..and welcome to Winterwatch 2026,
00:43coming to you live from the National Trust,
00:45Mount Stewart State, on the sides of Strangford Lock.
00:48If you were watching yesterday, you'll know that we travelled across the sea
00:51and we're basing ourselves here for the first time.
00:54Plenty of wildlife in our first two shows, plenty more coming up tonight.
00:57The highlight could be Yolo getting to grips with a pair of bulla.
01:01Oh, yes.
01:02What about that?
01:03What about that?
01:05But before we get started, let's answer a question I frequently ask myself.
01:08Where the hell am I?
01:09Have you got to that age, Chris?
01:11This is where we are.
01:12This is where we are.
01:13So there we are, Northern Ireland on the east side,
01:16east of Belfast, in fact,
01:17on the edge of the wonderful Strangford Lock, as I've said.
01:20Now, before we move on,
01:22the music that you've just heard in the title sequence
01:25will be the last music that you will hear in tonight's programme.
01:29Yes, this is one of those for all of the people
01:31who are not so keen on the music that we use.
01:33So tonight, it is natural sounds only from this point now.
01:39So let's focus on the sounds of nature.
01:42Have a listen to this.
01:43What do you think that is?
01:48Well, it's a sound that we've been hearing every day
01:51while we're working in our production village.
01:53It is the sound of chattering starlings.
01:58And they're all lined up on the wire.
02:00And as I say, they're right in our production village.
02:01It's a lovely distraction for us all.
02:04Come rain or shine, they're there.
02:06You can see that there's a couple of starlings
02:08looking very dampened, all sort of trying to keep warm.
02:12Lots of them are around.
02:14They make a right old racket.
02:16They've been flying through past the trucks into the wall.
02:20What are they going there for?
02:21Are they looking for food, maybe?
02:23Are they looking for shelter?
02:25Or are they prospecting for nest sites?
02:28What do you think, Yolo?
02:30Yeah, they're very gregarious.
02:32They stick to that.
02:32I think that individual was actually having a look and seeing,
02:36hmm, this looks like quite a good nest site
02:37for the forthcoming season.
02:39It's early.
02:40It is early.
02:41It is early.
02:41But I suspect that's what it was doing.
02:43You know what they say, though?
02:44The early bird catches the worm.
02:45That's the same.
02:46I don't think it was that at all,
02:48because I went over to the wall early
02:49and I tried to crawl in that hole
02:50just to get out of this terrible weather,
02:52to be quite honest with you.
02:54Now, you've been sending in some of your footage,
02:56which we're very pleased to receive.
02:58And we're going to show you something now
03:00that starts with the sound.
03:01So it's geckering.
03:02This is the sound.
03:03It's called geckering, OK?
03:07Look at this.
03:08This was sent in by Michael Batley in Bradford.
03:11Two foxes fighting.
03:14And they're foxtrotting.
03:15And that's what behaviourists call it
03:17when they stand up like that
03:18and body-shove one another.
03:20Foxtrotting.
03:21The dance is not named after the foxes.
03:23That was named after an actor,
03:25Henry Fox, in 1914.
03:26Now, what was going on there?
03:28Well, typically when foxes fight,
03:30which they're loathe to do so
03:31because they're very well-armed.
03:32So only at the end of all of their posturing
03:35will they finally get stuck in.
03:36It's typically female versus female
03:38or male versus male.
03:39But this is the breeding season.
03:42So it could be that they were a couple of males
03:44fighting over a female.
03:46I can see it strictly come foxtrotting.
03:48It would be a good programme, wouldn't it?
03:50But, you know, lots of people are hearing that sound.
03:52I mean, you can't not hear that sound.
03:55It is so loud.
03:56Have a look at this
03:57because this was footage taken on a door camera.
04:02And look at them.
04:03Just, well, listen.
04:07And Martin took that.
04:09I mean, imagine if you're trying to get to sleep
04:11in your bedroom
04:12and you've got that racket going on
04:14right outside your door.
04:17Interesting, though.
04:18There's obviously a lot of testosterone going on there.
04:20You could clearly see
04:21one of them was a male, dominant male.
04:23Yeah, the one on the left was cowing down, submitting.
04:26Didn't want to get involved, did it?
04:27I don't blame it.
04:28Gee, that really is a racket, isn't it?
04:30Yeah, that was fantastic.
04:32But have a look at this.
04:32This was sent in by Mike Turtle from Mid Wales.
04:35Pine Martens recovering nicely in Mid Wales now.
04:38But keep your eye up in that tree, the left-hand side.
04:41Two eyes there.
04:43It's a tawny owl.
04:44In it comes.
04:45Thwacks that pine martin off the log.
04:48Happened quickly.
04:49Let's have a look at that again.
04:51In it comes.
04:53Bang!
04:55Look at that.
04:56And actually, it wasn't just once.
04:58The owl came back time and time and time again.
05:02Now, a tawny owl is not going to predate a pine martin.
05:06If we were in Europe and we had eagle owls, an eagle owl will eat them.
05:10But I think what's happening there is that tawny owls are very early nesters.
05:15They're incredibly territorial at this time of year, calling.
05:18And that owl just did not like that pine martin anywhere near its prospective nest.
05:24It's incredible footage to get.
05:26I mean, that's what you call being knocked off your perch, isn't it?
05:28But please keep sending those videos with any pictures in as well, because that was really brilliant.
05:34And send them into our website.
05:36Now, our thermal camera really has delivered this week, as has the camera operator Mark Yates.
05:43We've seen badgers at night looking for earthworms in the fields.
05:47We had live pine martin last night.
05:51Well, we thought we'd up the ante.
05:54So we are sending Mark and his camera off in his vehicle to wander around the estate throughout the next hour.
06:04Now, if he sees anything, we will go over to him and have a look and see exactly what he is watching.
06:11That is a challenge and a half.
06:14We'll also be keeping our eyes on all of the cameras we've got out there remotely around the estate.
06:19We can take a look at those here now.
06:21You can see in the bottom corner there, it's our wheel, the big wheel that we're hoping that a pine martin or badger will do some exercise in.
06:28Nothing there at the moment.
06:30But over the past few nights, we've had plenty of activity at the badger set.
06:35And again, just going back to the sound, since we're focusing on that tonight, what we've been hearing are badgers kekering.
06:41Yes, one difference there, one letter.
06:46It's a grumbly sound, isn't it?
06:48It's a remarkable sound, isn't it?
06:50Yeah.
06:51It's a sort of curmudgeonly old badger moaning about the state of the set.
06:55The Chris Packham of the badger world, if I may be.
06:58It is the Chris Packham of the badger world, because, frankly, someone's moved the tools.
07:00There we are.
07:05Now, we were watching the behaviour of the animal making that sound, and it was quite unusual.
07:11We were postulating that it could have been a badger from a close-by social group that had come in and was trying to sneakily mate with one of the females there.
07:19But we continue to observe this, and this is what we've seen.
07:23The badger's been there very frequently, so we're going off the idea of the fact that it's an intruder, because we think it would have been chased away by now.
07:30But it keeps coming back to this particular hole and, listen, kekering.
07:37Something in that hole it finds intimidating, because it doesn't want to go down there, and yet it can't resist being curious.
07:47It keeps going back.
07:48It's been around on the set quite a lot, scent marking.
07:53Finally, though, it finds some courage and approaches the hole.
07:58Still grumbling, goes down into the hole, but it doesn't go very far before it's forced to back out.
08:09It doesn't even go far enough in to be able to turn around, because here, look, it shuffles backwards out of the hole.
08:16The theory that we're finding favour with at the moment is that this is a badger from this social group, and that in that part of the set is a female that's come into oestrus.
08:27Maybe she's given birth to the young.
08:29That could possibly happen.
08:31And it's interested in mating, but clearly she isn't.
08:35But, look, this is even more unusual.
08:38This is the middle of the winter, and that badger finally seems to run out of energy and lies down.
08:44Now, at this point, we thought, well, could it be ill?
08:47But it doesn't appear to be injured.
08:49It's not underweight.
08:50It's quite mobile.
08:53It lied down for a little while, seemed to take a rest.
08:57Lovesick, maybe.
08:58Just lovesick.
08:59Before it got up and then started trotting around and continued to scent mark the set.
09:04So, strange going on with the badgers there.
09:08You can keep your eye on those cameras from 10 in the morning until 10 at night, and you can do that by logging on to our website.
09:16Or, of course, on the iPlayer.
09:18Actually, it makes me feel quite sad watching that badger because it makes me think it is really old and maybe not feeling very well.
09:25It makes me think of Grizabella the glamour cat in the musical Cats.
09:28I think it's going to burst into a verse of memories.
09:31Oh, yes, so do I.
09:31That's exactly what I was thinking.
09:33Exactly the same.
09:34Were you?
09:35I know you love a bit of Andrew Lloyd Webber, don't you?
09:37Yeah, I do.
09:38Andrew Lloyd Webber.
09:39Anyway, moving on.
09:40Because there has been extraordinary behaviour from some of the badgers, some of the other badgers.
09:44Look at this one.
09:45Because this is, I mean, this isn't unusual.
09:48It's on top of a log.
09:49It's found something to eat.
09:50It's making the most of it.
09:51It's munching away at night.
09:53But then it decides it's time to get off the log.
09:56And it seems to be finding that remarkably difficult.
10:00You look at the height of that log.
10:02It's not very high at all.
10:03I know they haven't got good eyesight.
10:05Their eyesight is poor.
10:07They use their sense of smell and hearing.
10:10But really?
10:11Can it not even see the ground?
10:13The ground is wet.
10:14But again, we know that badgers don't mind water.
10:17We've seen them swimming.
10:18So I'm not quite sure what this behaviour is all about.
10:23But it took ages.
10:25I mean, we thought maybe it was going to be stranded up there all night.
10:28And look, it's going round and round and round.
10:31We sped this up a bit because it took so long.
10:34Eventually, it comes down.
10:36You know what that is?
10:37That's making a mountain out of a tree stump.
10:40Extraordinary behaviour.
10:41Really odd.
10:42But as Chris says, keep an eye...
10:43You're on form tonight, aren't you?
10:45You're really going for it tonight, aren't you?
10:47Keep an eye on the cameras because you never know what strange behaviour you might see.
10:52Now, we have enjoyed hearing this week about the increasing populations of red squirrels
10:58on Pine Martin here in Northern Ireland.
11:00And a few days ago, our wildlife researcher, Jack Baddams, went out with a researcher who's
11:07working on the recovery of one of our iconic birds of prey.
11:12Ema, hello.
11:17Hi, Jack.
11:18Hi.
11:18Lovely to meet you.
11:19It's an absolute pleasure to be here.
11:21Oh, it's fantastic, isn't it?
11:22I just heard the call.
11:27I love the call.
11:28The whistle of a red kite.
11:30I've never actually seen a red kite winter roost.
11:32Oh, no, Jack.
11:33Well, welcome to Northern Ireland and welcome to our premier roost site.
11:36I'm very excited for it.
11:38Oh, brilliant.
11:40They're cool birds, aren't they?
11:42They're class.
11:43So, they're a big bird of prey, five and a half to six foot wingspan.
11:46And you can see the way they fly, Jack.
11:48It's just effortless.
11:49Totally.
11:49You know?
11:50They've got one of the most iconic shapes in birds.
11:53They really do.
11:55And this is a relatively recent thing you've been able to enjoy back in Northern Ireland,
12:00isn't it?
12:00Exactly, yes.
12:01So, the birds were re-entered just into Northern Ireland across 2008, 2009 and 2010.
12:05And before that, it was 300 years before you'd have seen a red kite here.
12:08Why did we need to get involved to bring them back?
12:11Wouldn't they have come here naturally?
12:13Yeah, well, the red kites that we have in Western Europe aren't migratory, really.
12:18So, we would have got the odd bird coming over and seen from maybe the Scottish population,
12:23but we were only getting one or two a year.
12:25So, really, to give them that kickstart, that's why the reintroduction was needed.
12:29So, what's your role in that?
12:31So, I work for the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group,
12:33and part of our role is to monitor the birds.
12:36So, we might mark them as chicks,
12:38and then we're trying to look for their survival and their movements and where they go.
12:41And we work with volunteers to come out and count how many birds there are.
12:45And how are they doing now?
12:47Well, at the minute, it's a real success story.
12:49So, we have about 150 birds.
12:51We've got about 30 nesting pairs.
12:53But they are very slow to spread, and that's just part of their ecology.
12:56They can live for over 20 years, and they can only have maybe one or two young every year.
13:02And 50% of those young won't lead it through their first winter.
13:05All the juveniles who were born last year, and those non-breeding juveniles,
13:09they all come together, big numbers.
13:10So, it's a teenage hangout.
13:11Teenage hangout.
13:12We might get the odd adults, if we're very lucky.
13:15Well, I can already see.
13:17I think there's one in the far tree over there.
13:21Oh, yeah, it's on the left-hand side of it.
13:24We call this behaviour at the minute pre-roosting behaviour,
13:27so just before it gets dark.
13:28So, the birds just begin to come.
13:29They'll circle over the roost site.
13:32Oh, they're really nicely circling over these trees now.
13:36Yeah, it looks like there's about 20 birds, Jack.
13:39It's a properly inspirational success story, this.
13:45What is your hope for the future?
13:47Well, I would love to see the birds continue to spread
13:49and be found breeding in all six counties of Northern Ireland
13:52and get to a point where we don't need to be monitoring them anymore,
13:55that they're just a daily spectacle in everyone's lives.
13:58So, rather than a, oh, it's a red kite,
14:00it becomes just, ah, just another red kite.
14:03And maybe a little bit biased, but they're a great colour.
14:08Oh, they are?
14:08They're red. They're a great colour, the red kite.
14:10They're red, indeed, indeed.
14:14Great conservation success there.
14:16Not only the birds integrating into the ecology,
14:18but into the lives of all of the people that are living here.
14:21And we should also say there's been a successful reintroduction
14:24of white-tailed eagles in Northern Ireland as well,
14:26which is something to celebrate.
14:28What we can celebrate, though, is going live to our thermal camera.
14:32Mark Yates has set off early in the evening
14:34and he's found these deer currently at rest,
14:38chewing a bit of cud.
14:39These are seeker deer.
14:41There's two of them there, you can see.
14:43Oh, there's more.
14:43Oh!
14:44Four.
14:45Four in all.
14:46There they are.
14:46It's probably the four we saw the other night.
14:48Do you know, it could be.
14:48Yeah, it looks like it, yeah.
14:50I wonder if we could see the antlers,
14:51because one of them had a broken antler, didn't it?
14:52It did, it did, yeah.
14:53Two stags and two hines, wasn't it?
14:54It's very difficult on a thermal camera to see that.
14:58Let's have a look.
14:59Let's have a look.
14:59Can we see it?
15:00Oh, that one's got antlers, hasn't it?
15:01Oh, there we are.
15:02We're all looking.
15:03Oh.
15:04They're different.
15:04Yeah, it does.
15:05Yes, it is.
15:05Look, it's the one at the back.
15:06Yeah, it's the same four.
15:07It's the same individual.
15:08It's the same four.
15:09Well done, well done.
15:10Well done, Mark H.
15:11Anyone that doubted Mark, he delivers, doesn't he?
15:14He delivers.
15:15Well, hang on, though.
15:16Just four deer.
15:17We need to keep going.
15:18We need more.
15:18Keep going.
15:19Fine, Martin, that's what you've got to get us.
15:21Anyway, that is the wildlife that we're seeing here at Mount Stewart.
15:24And yesterday, we looked at lots of the wildlife around Strandford Lock,
15:28in particular, those macro marvels that you get in the mudflats
15:31and the waders as well.
15:33But now we're going to show you a real crowd pleaser
15:36that's been spotted in the lock.
15:38And it's this.
15:40Look closely, and you can see a pair of bottlenose dolphins.
15:45Now, these first appeared in the lock in 2023,
15:49and they've been seen regularly ever since.
15:52It's two males, very different.
15:55There's one dark male, and there's one very light one.
15:58They've been affectionately named Squishy, also known as Squiggle.
16:03I don't know which one to go with, so I'm going with Squishy.
16:05The other one is called Squashy.
16:08Now, remember that Strandford Lock is open to the Irish Sea,
16:11so it's very accessible.
16:12But for anybody that's been out on a boat and seen wild dolphins,
16:17you know that you get so excited when you spot them,
16:21particularly when they start performing like that.
16:24You can't help but smile, just like that lady is there.
16:28I mean, it really is.
16:29It's fantastic to see them in the lock, isn't it?
16:32It is, yeah.
16:33Absolutely amazing.
16:34Now, let's have a look at a photograph of Squishy's dorsal fin.
16:40If you look careful at that, you'll see that there is a notch near the top there.
16:46Now, that might have been caused by fighting, by some courtship,
16:52and people sending photographs like that in
16:54means that scientists are able to identify them as individuals.
16:59A lot of those are collated by the University of Aberdeen's lighthouse.
17:04I've got to get this right.
17:05University of Aberdeen's lighthouse field station.
17:08They're able to identify individuals and then follow their history.
17:14So, what's the history of Squishy?
17:16Well, with the help of my able assistant here,
17:19I should be able to tell you that.
17:21OK, now then, we know that Squishy here.
17:25Let's get him right in there.
17:27Where's my magnet?
17:28It's a great name.
17:29I love that name, Squishy.
17:31Squishy?
17:33Well, it's not going to come across the land.
17:34No, no, no.
17:35I'm trying to get him into the Murray Firth here.
17:38He was born in the Murray Firth in 2016.
17:44Actually, am I in the right place?
17:46That's not the Murray Firth.
17:47No, no, no.
17:48The Murray Firth is up here.
17:50We'd left him in the wrong place.
17:53Sorry about that.
17:54He was born in the Murray Firth in 2016.
17:56So, he is nine years old.
17:59And then, he was next seen amongst a pod of 25 dolphins up here
18:05off the north of Scotland in March 2019.
18:09And then, he went all the way around here to the Firth of Clyde.
18:17I will get there.
18:18Don't worry.
18:19Yes, he can't go over land.
18:21Come on.
18:22The Firth of Clyde in a pod of six dolphins.
18:27Can my assistant please stop shaking?
18:29Come on now.
18:29I've never seen a magnet take so long.
18:32In 2022, and then, finally, in 2023, he made his way down up the Isthmus
18:41into Strangford Lock.
18:44And the crowd go back!
18:46Thank you very much.
18:47The whole thing's gone up the Isthmus, if you ask me.
18:52Brilliant.
18:53Let's take a moment.
18:54Let's just take a moment.
18:55OK.
18:56It's not the only dolphins that have been seen in Strangford Lock, though.
18:59Take a look at this.
19:00These were very different dolphins.
19:02Because they have in accompaniment there a youngster.
19:06Look at that.
19:07Beautiful sight.
19:08Loved a young dolphin.
19:09Now, it's not a newborn, so we can't suggest that they're coming into the shelter of the
19:13lot to give birth.
19:14But what a delightful thing that is to see.
19:17Look at that.
19:18Sensational.
19:20Clearly a body of water that's providing perhaps shelter and perhaps some safety from
19:25other animals, because we know that they can be quite aggressive in some of those pods.
19:31But also, of course, plenty of food in the rock, as we've said yesterday.
19:35Exciting to see dolphins in the loch.
19:37But what about this?
19:38In 2020, orcas were seen.
19:42There were two orcas that were seen.
19:45And we know which ones these are, because, again, they have very distinctive dorsal fins.
19:50John Coe and Aquarius.
19:53So, they were spotted.
19:54You actually know one of those quite well, don't you?
19:56Well, I know both of them quite well.
19:57Yes, I go to Mull.
19:58Personal friends of yours, I'll say.
19:59I went to dinner last week.
20:01No, I've seen them off Mull several times.
20:04And John Coe is an old male, with a huge dorsal fin, with a very prominent kink in it.
20:12Amazing to have it in the loch.
20:14And it's really important that if you do see any cetaceans, dolphins or whales, then please
20:19do report them, because the more knowledge that the scientists have, the more they know
20:23how to protect them.
20:24And details how to do that are on our website.
20:27Yes, now, sometimes just being out in nature is all it takes to spark a lifelong interest.
20:33And that's what happened to wildlife guide Kay Blake when he visited an urban wetland site
20:39near Hull.
20:47Wetlands are incredibly vibrant and full of life at this time of year.
20:56When a lot of other habitats feel a little bit empty, wetlands in the winter, there's just
21:02a whole different cast of characters.
21:09All these new arrivals from the continent, the waders, the wild fowl.
21:16I'm here on the river Humber, just a stone's throw away from where I went to university in Hull.
21:22This nature reserve holds a very special place in my heart.
21:33Lovely little moorhen just creeping around.
21:36It's always amazing seeing them forage on the grassy margins.
21:45They're full of character, flicking those white tail feathers, letting any predators know that
21:51they are alert and if they need to escape, they can.
21:59Growing up just north of London, me and my mates would just play football and not really think about
22:04wildlife.
22:06I used to think you'd have to go to these far-flung exotic places to see interesting wildlife.
22:14When I got to university, it was a friend of mine who brought me here to Farings Nature Reserve.
22:19And that first day birdwatching was a real defining moment for me.
22:23It was coming here that really opened my eyes.
22:28All this wildlife is just beneath the bridge and you just wouldn't know unless you come and
22:33experience it for yourself.
22:35I think I'd seen a lot of her just flying in here, just quartering really low over the reeds.
22:48She's going to be looking out for any small birds, rodents, amphibians, seeing what she can catch.
22:56Lovely sort of chocolatey brown, colour like the golden crown.
23:03I remember on my first trip to this reserve, I saw my first ever marsh harrier and it's a bird
23:10that I didn't even know existed growing up.
23:14Watching through the lockers just transported me.
23:18It was incredible.
23:19It just took me to a place I'd never really been before.
23:26Marsh areas are a lot more communal in the winter.
23:29So they can roost communally in a dense reed bed like this.
23:33They can often come in good numbers in the evening.
23:38Just her out there at the moment.
23:39It's amazing just the air and agility when she looks like she's seen something, it just flips back around on herself.
23:54She's clearly still very hungry, she's not got anything just yet.
23:59The inspiration I felt that day had a profound effect on my career choices.
24:03I decided at that point I wanted to work with UK wildlife in some way.
24:09So after I graduated I went into ecology and spent the next four years working for different organisations
24:16and learning as much as I possibly could.
24:21Finally in 2024 I landed my dream job as a wildlife guide on mole.
24:26Showing people eagles, otters, harriers for the first time.
24:30It's one of the best places to watch wildlife in the UK.
24:34I'm very privileged to live on the island for half the year and show people some of these amazing species.
24:42And having discovered this obsession with British wildlife myself,
24:45it's something I'm keen to share so other people aren't missing what I used to miss.
24:50Things are getting tasty here now on our black grouse.
24:56With hens arriving back on the lot, our males are having to ramp up a whole other level
25:01here to impress any potential mates.
25:06It's amazing to showcase that on social media because maybe more people are being encouraged to go out there
25:13and see it for themselves.
25:14However much I love Scotland, coming back to Farings, the place where it all started for me,
25:22is a reminder that everywhere has its wildlife wonders waiting to be discovered.
25:30It's so accessible.
25:32There is some fantastic species to enjoy on our doorstep in these pretty urban areas.
25:37I'm evidence that if I can get into birds, I didn't ever think about birds growing up.
25:48But anyone can and if the world's feeling dark and gloomy in the winter months,
25:53definitely get yourself down to a local wetlands.
25:56I did once and it changed my life.
25:58Great to see Clay's enthusiasm there, but we always like to see a new bird on our patch.
26:11Well, that comes to mind when we think about ourselves as a nation and our love for birds.
26:15In fact, we call ourselves a nation of animal lovers.
26:19And one of the ways we might measure that is in the way that we feed our birds.
26:24And we've certainly been feeding the birds on our watches for the last X years.
26:29Here are some of the feeders we've had out.
26:31Classic peanut feeder there.
26:34Sunflower seeds as well.
26:35And we put them up so that we can get cracking views of the birds.
26:38Also, see what's there as soon as we arrive.
26:40We can put them up.
26:42In fact, though, we are not alone.
26:44Because when it comes to feeding birds in the UK, we really take it seriously.
26:5064% of all households feed the birds.
26:54That's 17 million homes.
26:57And get this.
26:58We spend 250 million pounds collectively on no less than 150,000 tons of bird food every single year.
27:09That's a lot of bird food.
27:11Now, if we think about that spread between the 10 species which are the most frequent visitors to our feeders,
27:18that means that we don't just provide enough food for them if they didn't eat anything else for an entire year.
27:23In fact, for each individual of those 10 species, we feed three times the amount of food that they would need to eat to get through the year.
27:34That's a colossal amount of food.
27:37And quite clearly, this is going to have an impact on the ecology and the behaviour of these birds.
27:43And recently, we've become increasingly concerned that it might have a negative impact.
27:48To discuss, though, this with me is Jack Badams. Jack, thanks for coming along.
27:53So, let's get down to the potential negatives, the first of which is disease.
27:58Absolutely. So, disease is something that people who feed the birds are going to be very familiar with.
28:03It's talked about quite a lot.
28:05But this is driven by the fact that bird feeders are actually incredibly artificial.
28:09They're incredibly unnatural.
28:10And there isn't anything in nature where multiple different birds, potentially hundreds of different birds,
28:16are all being forced into tiny little areas to get their food and unlimited supply of food over and over again
28:23for potentially weeks, months or even years at a time.
28:26And that creates an environment that's perfect for spreading some diseases.
28:30And some of the species that have suffered are our finches.
28:32Now, I've got to tell you, the figures are quite staggering.
28:36We know that avian trichomoniasis has spread from pigeons to wild finches via the bird feeders.
28:43It was first reported in 2005.
28:45And get this, there's been a 66% decline in green finches in the past 10 years.
28:51Three million, three million green finches have died.
28:55And more recently, chaff finches have dropped by 30% and bull finches have declined by nearly 40% in the last five years.
29:04So disease transmission amongst these birds is very, very serious.
29:08And of course, it's not just trichomoniasis.
29:10We've had avian flu.
29:12Yeah, avian pox as well.
29:14And we've said it's great if you clean your bird feeders.
29:18Of course it is. Everyone should be cleaning their bird feeders.
29:21But the fact is, is that enough?
29:22If you hang that bird feeder back up and a diseased bird lands on it within five minutes, that risk is there again.
29:28That risk is there. But we've got to quantify this and we've got to qualify it.
29:31And that's why we need some good science.
29:33I'm very pleased to say that the RSPB have invested in that good science and they're preparing their report,
29:38which they're going to release in the spring.
29:40And of course, that's going to be very eagerly anticipated.
29:42But look, it's not just disease, is it? There are other factors.
29:45There is. So this next one is one that's gaining traction within sort of conservation thinking.
29:48And this comes down to the amount of bird food you referenced there.
29:53We feed the birds, but are we feeding all birds equally?
29:57Do all of them benefit?
29:58So we know that we've certainly helped some populations of birds.
30:01Birds like great spotted woodpecker and particularly birds like blue tit and great tit have done very, very well out of the bird food that we've put out.
30:08But could that potentially have a negative impact?
30:12Let's take some of our rarer species, because if the populations of birds like blue tits and great tit spill out into woodlands,
30:19into good remnants of habitats, then birds like these pied flycatchers, birds like these willow tits.
30:25Pied flycatchers, of course, don't benefit from bird feeders.
30:27Willow tits like to stay in one territory more or less their entire lives and they won't travel to find feeders in the same way that blue tits and great tits will.
30:34Species like lesser spotted woodpeckers, well, their nests are predated a lot by greater spotted woodpeckers.
30:40So the question is, if we artificially inflate populations of some of these more aggressive generalist species like blue tits and great tits,
30:48as they spill out into natural habitats, could it have a negative effect on some of the birds that really do need our help?
30:54And there is some evidence that's certainly the case when it comes to more fragile species that are in critical decline, like the willow tit.
30:59OK, that's the birds. What about the human impact? Because, let's be fair, a lot of people connect with nature.
31:06People living in the hearts of cities and in urban areas, you know, they connect with nature through their feeders.
31:10They enjoy seeing the birds through the kitchen and the lounge window.
31:13Also, we know that it pays dividends in terms of people's mental health.
31:17Absolutely.
31:18So there are other factors involved. But ultimately, we've got to make a decision.
31:22Now, I've got to say, at the moment, my feeders are still up. I am cleaning them regularly.
31:26And in the past, when we've seen sick or dead birds in the garden, we've taken them down for a couple of months.
31:31But you've taken a different route. I have, yeah.
31:33Having... This has been racking my brain around this for the last few years.
31:37And for me, I've decided that I've had to take my feeders down.
31:40Feeders are down. Now, look, one thing we should say straight away.
31:43Don't fear for all of the birds that you were previously feeding in your garden.
31:46Because, again, good scientific research has been conducted in the United States looking at chickadees, like tits.
31:52And what they found was that when they were on the feeders, they were only taking 50% of the food that they required.
31:57The other 50% was natural. And when those feeders were taken down, they very rapidly adapted to going back to a natural diet.
32:04So no starving birds out there if you take your feeders down.
32:08And I think it's important to remember that these birds have evolved over thousands of years to follow food that is very transient.
32:14It's a relatively recent thing that we've had these never-ending supplies of food in our feeders.
32:19So naturally, they will roam around and look for other food sources.
32:22And there are alternatives.
32:23There are, yes. So, me personally, in my garden, I might have taken the feeders down, but I've not stopped providing for the birds.
32:28For me, it's all about building an ecosystem and not just a fast food restaurant.
32:32Thinking about what sort of plants we can provide to build that ecosystem from the bottom up that can provide homes for insects for the birds to eat
32:39and natural sources of food, seed heads, berries, fruits, nuts, things like that.
32:44Yeah, well, we put together a little collection that you can see here.
32:46We're not suggesting that you do this in the garden. This is merely to demonstrate the point.
32:50And what you can see there are some sunflower heads. You can plant sunflowers in your garden, even in a window box.
32:56Leave the ivy if you've got it because the berries on that are very important.
33:00Teasels there, as you can see, magnet for finches, undoubtedly.
33:04So there are a whole range of things that we can put into our garden like that.
33:08And, of course, the key thing is that's not just about attracting birds.
33:11If you plant things like that, you're going to attract lots of insects, the pollinators, the caterpillars that are going to eat those.
33:16I mean, mammals will come as well. Here we've seen red squirrel nibbling on those sunflower seeds.
33:22But also, Jack, earlier this week I heard a report about a study that's been done on hedgehogs
33:27and found a larger number of hedgehogs in gardens when they were feeders, perhaps scavenging underneath that feeder as well.
33:34So it's quite a complex thing.
33:35It's a really complex thing. It's a really nuanced thing.
33:37But I think I'd love us to get to a place where our first thought when it comes to helping the birds is not what bird feeder can I buy,
33:43not what food can I buy, but what native bush could I plant, what flowers could I grow, what natural sources could I produce.
33:50Can I tell you my favourite bird I've had in my garden? My favourite bird on my garden list. Go on, go on.
33:54So I let a part of my lawn grow long and I stood washing the pots and I was looking out the window
33:59and I saw the ragwort trembling as a bird was hopping through.
34:01Oh, you're teasing this one in. Go on.
34:03What popped out? Common white throat.
34:06That's a good garden bird, I've got to say.
34:08For me, I've got a pretty average sized garden. That was a great garden bird.
34:10And no amount of food that I could have gone to a garden centre and bought and put out would have fed that bird.
34:15It was there because I'd built the ecosystem, there were aphids there and it was feeding on those
34:19and that just gave me so much joy.
34:20I bet it did. That's a top bird for the garden.
34:22But look, let's be clear. We are not telling you what to do here.
34:26What we're trying to do is present you with some information to start a conversation
34:30so that you can think about how you want to address this issue.
34:33And of course, we'll be constantly updating that as more science comes in.
34:36But let's also be very clear, you know, feeding birds in the UK, as I said with those figures at the start,
34:41is a cultural institution. It's also big money. There were economics here.
34:45There were companies out there selling bird food with their employees.
34:49And we've also got to be clear that the whole thing is more complex.
34:52Not all of these birds are declining simply because of bird feeding.
34:55We know that the biggest driver of biodiversity loss in the UK for all of these species and many more
35:00is intensive agriculture and forestry. So we need to address that too.
35:05And then there's the thorny issue of cats. We know that they take 55 million birds a year.
35:11So it's a complex thing. What we'd like you to do is to think about it.
35:15Well, one thing's for sure, and you pointed it out, is that we've got to change.
35:19If we wanted a canoe to live in a world which is rich and full of the things that we as a nation love,
35:24we've got to change our habits. So please think about that and have that conversation.
35:29Now, I think we might have a thermal. If we've got a little bit, a little Robin. Look, here we are.
35:35That's nice to see, isn't it? Look at the eye radiating the heat there, Jack.
35:41The only place that you can really see. So that proves, doesn't it, that on these winter nights,
35:46these little birds are quite good at insulating themselves, aren't they?
35:49Absolutely, yeah. I mean, you can barely see any other, any other part of it radiating heat
35:54other than straight out of those eyes, which, of course, it'll tuck under for most of the night and keep nice and warm.
35:58Excellent. Now, we're very pleased now to make the company of Mr Ronald Surgeoner.
36:04Ronald found a roost of birds 40 years ago. He still visits it today and we had the privilege of going with them
36:11and I've got to say they're a very, very special bird.
36:20It is nice to have your own patch that you know so well.
36:23This is my downtime. I can come out and go for a dander through the woods, spend a couple of hours
36:27and just switch off and just walk around, look for the owls, have a quick head count on them,
36:32see how many there is in the roost. Last weekend had four owls in one tree
36:36and then a couple of third outliers, so eight owls here.
36:39You can get some lovely photographs of them as well, video footage and stuff.
36:45I grew up in this area, so pretty much been following these owls since about 12 years old,
36:49which is quite a long time ago now.
36:51I actually had them at the bottom of the garden and used to sit in my bedroom at night
36:56watched them out the window and now I'm still watching them 40 years later
37:01pop around the same woods here.
37:08Must be a really good indication that there's something sitting up in this tree.
37:12There's almost ten pellets. Pellets are only the stuff that the owls can't digest.
37:16They cough them back up and it comes up like a cat's furball.
37:19These couple of trees are normally fairly good for them.
37:26It just takes a wee while.
37:29They're so well camouflaged when they're sitting round the trunks of the trees.
37:39A lot of people walk past them with no idea.
37:42I've got to the point where I know where they are and I'm quite secretive about it.
37:48Yeah, I got him.
37:53Yeah, he's not enjoying that rain.
37:59He's looking down at us now.
38:00It's been a while they've sort of struck a chord with me.
38:04Whether it's just because they are quite, probably a bit like myself,
38:07they're quite quiet and they just go about their business and get on with doing their own thing.
38:10They're also a bit of a challenge.
38:12Some stuff's easy to find.
38:15You do get to know them really well.
38:16You get to know different personalities.
38:18There's ones that prefer, they'll stay up high in the trees.
38:21The young ones are quite curious.
38:22So they'll come and have a wee look at you.
38:24One a particular few years ago just every night came to the same branch.
38:27When they come up close to you, it's lovely.
38:30It's just no better feeling knowing that something sort of nearly trusts you enough.
38:34It knows you're no threat.
38:36It'll fly over and quite happily fly past you.
38:40I think it's nearly time for a cup of coffee for me.
38:42The rain's getting heavier.
38:43I can go home somewhere nice and warm.
38:44Leave them sitting on their treetops.
38:50Top bird, top bloke.
38:52I absolutely love that.
38:53I love the fact that you found them all of those years ago.
38:55Still goes there, still enjoys them.
38:57I'm not surprised.
38:58They're pretty special birds, but that was fantastic.
39:00I wonder if he knows any individually.
39:02He probably does, doesn't he?
39:03He probably would get to know them if there were any distinguishing features.
39:05Yeah.
39:06Well, guess what we've seen on our live camera in our woods.
39:10Have a look.
39:11You probably guessed it.
39:13Yes, it is a long-eared owl.
39:15We were really chuffed with this because, actually, it might surprise you to hear that you don't often see owls in Northern Ireland.
39:24And you only see three of the species.
39:26So, long-eared, short-eared and barn owl.
39:29So, this is a good tick for us.
39:31And you can see that it's on that log.
39:34It's looking round.
39:35It's hunting.
39:36Seeing if it can see anything to swoop down on.
39:39Taking its time.
39:41It's got its eye on something.
39:43Is it going to go?
39:44Yes!
39:45Down it goes into the underground.
39:47Undergrowth flies off and enjoys whatever it was.
39:51Probably a mouse or a vole or something like that.
39:52Not the only thing that we've seen there that we've been looking out for.
39:56Look at this.
39:57A bat dropped in.
39:58Now, this is a little bit unusual.
40:00Quite often, we do see bats active in the wintertime.
40:02If it's mild, they may move from one roost to another.
40:06Feeding on root if there's any food about.
40:08But, listen, it's been cold and wet and windy here.
40:11I fear that this might have been an animal that's been disturbed.
40:14And now it's woken up.
40:16It's doing a bit of foraging, trying to find some food before, hopefully, it gets back to a roost.
40:21But it's not been alone.
40:22Take a look at this.
40:23Lisa O'Craft took this remarkable photograph, I've got to say.
40:27Look at the mallard looking up at the duck in daylight.
40:30Sorry, the mallard looking up at the duck.
40:32The mallard looking up at the bat in daylight.
40:35So, again, this was taken in December.
40:38It was quite mild at points in December.
40:40So, this could have been one of those animals that was moving from roost to roost, which isn't too unusual.
40:45That's an amazing photo to get, though, isn't it?
40:48Yeah.
40:49The bats are really fast.
40:50And not only that, just take a quick look at it again if we can.
40:53Because, actually, the bat looks enormous, doesn't it?
40:56I mean, it looks like it's half the size of the duck.
40:59Look at that.
41:00What an extraordinary picture.
41:02And the fact the duck's looking up at it.
41:04I know.
41:05That's brilliant.
41:06We love photographs like that.
41:07Keep sending them in.
41:08Now, we have sent Mark Yates out with his thermal camera.
41:11He's still looking to see if he can tick the box of a pine martin.
41:15But over the few days he's been here, he has got some great stuff.
41:18And look at this.
41:19We saw the owl earlier.
41:20That was a first tick.
41:21But now we're getting this animal for the first time here.
41:24A fox.
41:25And the fox is out hunting.
41:28Oh, look.
41:29I think he's spotted the camera.
41:31He's staring right down the lens.
41:34Could be a she, of course.
41:35He or she.
41:36Off it goes again.
41:37You can see the camera's picked up the heat of a bird.
41:41It seems to walk straight past that bird.
41:43You thought you knew what that bird was.
41:44Well, like the shape of it, I thought it could be a stone chap.
41:46But, I mean, and the position of it.
41:47But, I mean, that's a wild guess.
41:49It ignores the bird.
41:51It goes off probably looking for a mouse or a vole or something.
41:54Spots it.
41:55Pounces.
41:58Did it get it?
41:59Well, I don't think it did, because the next shot it's still running along.
42:02And look, rather extraordinary, he runs straight past a rabbit.
42:06It needs to tune its senses in a little bit more, doesn't it?
42:09Well, the sharpest fox in the woods.
42:10No, exactly.
42:11By the looks of it.
42:12Mark also spotted this.
42:14And this will answer a question you may have asked.
42:16Why do birds put their heads under their wings?
42:18Well, look at the head of this buzzard here.
42:20And you can see the brightest part, that radiating the most heat,
42:23is around its eye and its nostrils and its beak.
42:26But, when it puts its head under its wing,
42:29which is the way that many birds sleep at night,
42:31you can see none of that heat.
42:33It's insulating the place where all the heat was being lost.
42:36It makes perfect sense.
42:37Do you know what I call that?
42:38That's a bonkers buzzard.
42:40From a bonkers buzzard to a quackers yolo.
42:43Yolo!
42:44Ah, yes, indeed.
42:46I will be going quackers over the Ducks of Strangford Loch here.
42:51Now, we've seen that the loch is internationally important
42:54for habitats like the seagrass beds,
42:56for the pale-bellied brent geese,
42:59for the bottlenose dolphins there as well, of course.
43:01But it's also a great place to see a variety of duck species.
43:06That includes my favourite of all of them, the pintail.
43:09Look at that.
43:10What an elegant bird that is.
43:12The male with a long neck, chocolate-coloured head,
43:16and that long erect tail there.
43:19The females are beautiful as well,
43:21because they're not the only ducks out there.
43:23We also get the black-bottomed gadwall there.
43:28Another absolute stunning duck, that one.
43:32Really, really smart.
43:34Now, first, I ask you out there,
43:36what noise does a duck make?
43:39And I bet that nearly everybody from the media,
43:414 to 40, 8 to 80,
43:43is going to go quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.
43:47No, no, no, no, no.
43:50Well, sort of, yes, one duck does quack, quack,
43:55quack, and that duck is the female mallard.
44:02Isn't that brilliant?
44:03Oh, whenever I hear that,
44:04I always think they're laughing at me.
44:06So it's the female mallard that goes quack, quack.
44:10But how about the male?
44:12What noise does the male make?
44:18OK, it's a series of sort of grunts, really.
44:23But why the difference?
44:24What causes that?
44:25Well, it's all going to do with the bird's syrinx.
44:29We are mammals.
44:30We have a larynx, what we call our voice box.
44:34But birds, they have a syrinx.
44:37Now, let me show you.
44:39Here, this is the syrinx of a female mallard and a male mallard.
44:47Now, the female, note that it divides there into what are known as bulla.
44:54And in the female, they're quite narrow tubes.
44:57And it's that that causes that kind of high-pitched quack.
45:02But look at the male.
45:04Yes, the male again has two bulla.
45:07But there is a large protrusion on the left-hand bulla here.
45:13And this one acts as a kind of resonator.
45:17And this is what allows the male to do those deep grunts.
45:22And that accounts for the difference in the calls between the male and the female mallard.
45:29OK, so now we know what noises the mallard make, let's have a look at some of our other ducks.
45:34Let's start with a group of widgeon.
45:37Listen to this.
45:43Now, it's mainly the males you can hear there, those sort of piping two notes.
45:48Those are widgeon.
45:49Before we go on to the next one, I'm going to mimic it, right?
45:51You've got to guess what this one is.
45:53Here we go.
45:54Ooh!
45:55Ooh!
45:56Ooh!
45:57Ooh!
45:58Ooh!
45:59Ooh!
46:00Now, OK, OK.
46:02Let's listen to the bird itself.
46:03It's a male ida duck.
46:05Ooh!
46:06Ooh!
46:07Ooh!
46:08Ooh!
46:09Ooh!
46:10Ooh!
46:11Isn't that great?
46:12And now, let's listen to the female ida.
46:15Very different.
46:19You can hear some males in the background.
46:22And the female does that kind of noise.
46:26Isn't that remarkable?
46:27So the female mallard is the only duck that goes quack, quack, quack.
46:32So very well hearing them as individuals.
46:35But let's now, I'm going to give you a mini mindful moment, all right?
46:40We're going to have a symphony of ducks.
46:43Like, that's a great fact.
46:44And it's a great fact!
46:45That's great for you.
46:46My mother video.
46:47The dog liked to know the butterfly in the sky.
46:49I'm not even going to have a miniöz broadband, the butterfly.
46:52I'm going to have a��.
46:54There's a convening that goes to the dam to flower in the sky.
46:56I hit the bear.
46:57I'm going to have a mini Comms lumap.
46:58We're going to have a long whimper.
47:00I'm going to have a miniester.
47:02Yeah!
47:03I'm going to have a mini new duck.
47:04I'm going to have a mini girl on the moon.
47:06isn't that lovely isn't that absolutely beautiful noises now ducks well they like to show off their
47:29finery but some creatures like to hide their light under a bushel now if you ever venture
47:35into one of our wonderful temperate rainforests well before you is a whole world of bio fluorescence
47:43that the human eye can't usually see so we sent our researcher seth and our cameraman ben to
47:51investigate this temperate rainforest in pembrokeshire wales is a camera team's dream
48:05mossy rocks there's a lot of mossy rocks big fan of moss i've wanted to visit temperate rainforests in
48:12the uk for so long and never actually done it so it is exciting and like they are super rare
48:19as photogenic as it is ben and seth are here to capture a natural phenomenon known as bio fluorescence
48:27it's happening all around us all of the time but we can only see it by using special uv torches
48:36which makes the invisible visible but only under the cover of night
48:44one medium step for ben one giant step for seth
48:48i reckon this stump here yes could be a good place to start yeah i mean it all looks incredibly
48:57green right now but once the lights are on it's going to be like a little a little disco
49:08i feel like the majority of macro filming in the wild is just trying to get your tripod in the right
49:15spot they might have things though cable tied duct tapes no problem ready yeah three two one
49:27wow wait that's awesome completely changed color that's insane wow look at that and look at all the
49:34different like textures as well yeah i kind of feel like i'm stepping into a parallel world
49:40biofluorescence is when living things absorb uv light and then re-emit it in a whole spectrum of
49:50different bright colors this re-emitted glow isn't bright enough to be seen in the day
49:57but in the dark under pure uv light it's suddenly revealed
50:02so far the forest flora has dazzled but invertebrate enthusiast seth wants to try and see biofluorescence
50:13on the move
50:16oh look at this yeah i reckon this tree here is going to give us a lot
50:23but that's some blue glowing fungi is it
50:26oh wood louse and look at him glow why invertebrates like wood lice biofluoresce is still unknown
50:38it could simply be the chemical properties in their body reacting with the uv light
50:44but some species are thought to use it as a form of communication to help with courtship or confuse
50:51predators whatever the reason it makes for a spellbinding site
50:58even in the most unassuming places like a pile of leaf litter
51:05i wonder if there's some tiny little critters in there that are just going to light up
51:12there we are what do you think that is seth little my money's on the spring tail spring tail yeah
51:17oh there we go look at that i can't believe how bright it is to be honest it's like
51:27a little glow-in-the-dark star isn't it yeah it's still a mystery why springtails fluoresce
51:33but they do eat a lot of biofluorescent fungi which could contribute to their super bright glow
51:40they'd be like impossible to spot in the daytime because they're gray and then now they're
51:48fluorescing like makes it so easy to spot
51:53amazing i think that's probably the brightest thing we've seen all night yeah i want a glowing rhino next
52:00fascinating isn't it fascinating and we've looked at this before we've seen scorpions
52:08biofluorescing and a few years ago we looked at fungal fruiting bodies toadstools and they were
52:13biofluorescing too tempted to get myself a little torch and go out and have a look
52:17you'll be searching for one of those won't you asking for it for your birthday i thought it was very
52:21very beautiful and and the fact that we don't see that typically using our eyes there's another whole
52:26visual world out there isn't it you know mark yates is out with this thermal camera we asked
52:30him to find us a pine martin well he hasn't found a pine martin but he has found this now what do you
52:36reckon that is chris well it's clearly a bird it's a yes it's a bird it's got quite a long tail and
52:41look at the eye that's shape of it and they're oh no looking profile look at the crest oh that way
52:46it's the lat wing look at that when it moved we can see that crest that's not it's not clearly not a
52:52pine martin but it's not a bad spot is it that's a pretty good spot actually keep looking you never
52:57know he might get us a pine martin by the end of the program now you may remember on tuesday we sent
53:02yolo to the temple of the winds this is what it looks like it's a temple on top of a hill which has
53:07the most incredible view of the lock look at that and if you go up there with your binoculars you get
53:14a real view of the bigger picture but what happens if you want to look at the detail the detail of the
53:20temple where you've got to head underground this is what you might see you go through the tunnels
53:26you know where you go to chris you go to the dungeon i love a dungeon you go to the dungeon
53:32what are you gonna see in the dungeon what do you think it might be yes moths these are herald moths
53:39and there are over a hundred of them down there and they're overwintering as adults which is quite
53:45interesting because only two percent of our butterflies uk butterflies and moths overwinter
53:50as adults so great to have them here one of the largest overwintering sites in northern ireland
53:56of those particular moths and they are very very beautiful moths you take a look at them in close
54:01up that rich coloring there rusty coloring with the orange and the stripe on the wing now some of the
54:06other species that do overwinter are equally rusty on their under wings if you think of things like
54:12peacock butterflies or small tortoiseshell butterflies red admirals and very often they will rest i just
54:18not on rusted corrugated iron roofs they'll go into your shed and they love to rest there for the winter
54:25using that as a means of camouflaging themselves many potential predators they will get nibbled by mice
54:30and of course they could get caught by spiders as well lovely to see that when they go into that
54:35dormant state apparently they don't age and they it's months isn't it that they're there that would be
54:39amazing if we could harness that ability and i think i have over the last week it's been so cold
54:45here that i haven't aged at all you don't look any different it's any colder i'll be going backwards
54:50by the end of the series i'll be four years old now we know that this week it's been well it's been
54:55damp it's been windy and look at my trousers it's been muddy it's been like being at some sort of
55:00festival but earlier on in the winter it was snowy and it was frosty so let's all sit back relax and enjoy
55:08some proper snowy winter scenes
55:20so
55:30so
55:32so
55:42Let's go.
56:12Let's go.
56:42Oh, I loved seeing those red berries in the snow there.
56:46It made me feel cold, actually, looking at that.
56:49But if you want a sign that spring is actually on the way,
56:52take a look at this.
56:53This was captured by one of our long-lens camera operators
56:57down on the shore of Strangford Loch.
56:59Two rooks.
57:00Tell us a rook by the baggy feathers on the legs
57:03and the bare base to the bill there.
57:06But they're showing some courtship display.
57:09The male is feeding the female.
57:12Female begging for food.
57:14She now needs to build up her fat reserves, her energy,
57:17to lay her eggs.
57:18They're fairly early nesters.
57:20Probably early March up here, I would imagine.
57:22And a bit of courtship.
57:24Look at that.
57:25Fanning the feathers up on top of their heads, bowing down.
57:29Lovely to see, isn't it?
57:30Spring is on the way.
57:31Spring is on the way.
57:32Spring is on the way.
57:35It's making me feel all lovely and warm.
57:38We'll be back tomorrow.
57:39Do you know, it's our final show.
57:40It's gone quick, hasn't it?
57:41We will continue to explore the wildlife here,
57:44but we'll be going further afield as well.
57:46Lira Valencia will be looking at the rich wildlife
57:49of the Isle of Mule.
57:51And we'll be taking a glimpse into the lives of Stokes in winter.
57:58And, of course, we'll be keeping our eyes
57:59on all of those live cameras and our thermal camera here.
58:03You can keep watching those live cameras.
58:05We've got scattered across Mount Stewart
58:06from 10 in the morning until 10 at night.
58:10Tomorrow, lunchtime, Instagram Live,
58:12Jack Baddams and Hannah Stipfall will be there.
58:14And, of course, we'll be hoping that the badger comes back
58:17so we can answer one of the greatest mysteries
58:18in badger history.
58:20What is going on with all of that kekering down at the set?
58:24See you tomorrow night.
58:25See you tomorrow.
58:267 o'clock.
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