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Springwatch Season Episode 1
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00:02we're live at a brand new location it's wild it's watery and it's full of wildlife it's time for
00:09the one and only spring watch deep in the heart of Northern Ireland is a patchwork of locks
00:18woodlands and ancient monuments where nature hides and thrives and that's what we are here for
00:38we're going to reveal all of its natural treasures
00:46our cameras are rigged and ready
00:55we'll be heading into the unknown and taking the roots less traveled
01:05we'll be following every twist and turn of the season
01:12from the first stirrings to spring in full swing
01:22we also meet the people finding joy in a natural world not not it's what mania
01:37I'm doing their best to protect it retreat plant never like natural regeneration take place I have a picture in
01:44my head I can see it as clear as day so I know it's going to happen someday you know
01:47the perfect age to ring the very alert eyes wide open
01:53all around us nature's next screen stars are waiting to be discovered
02:03so join us
02:09as the season's stories unfold
02:11as the season's story
02:41as the season's story
02:412026, coming to you live from the National Trust Crumb Estate here in Northern Ireland.
02:47I'm very excited to say this is the first time we've had our main base here in Northern Ireland
02:52and it's going to be a fantastic show.
02:54We've got three weeks to give you the very best of British wildlife.
02:58Been up to all our antics out there setting up the cameras, but today it's been a great start, hasn't
03:03it?
03:04Well, I tell you what, it's a fabulous place, there's fabulous wildlife
03:07and who would have thought Northern Ireland, the start of Springwatch, fabulous weather.
03:13I think this is the first time that I've started a Springwatch season in a T-shirt.
03:18In a T-shirt.
03:19I'm going to do my little celebratory dance.
03:21Celebratory dance to start the show.
03:24I must say though, it's in some parts of the country, it's been boiling, it's been a scorcher.
03:30I mean, I love this sort of weather, Northern Ireland, it's been a perfect spring day.
03:34Kew Gardens, hottest day recorded in May, 34.8.
03:41It broke the records and that's pretty much what we've seen throughout this spring.
03:45It's been an early spring and it's been a very hot spring and that's going to continue throughout the week.
03:50And of course, we will be monitoring the effect of all of this hot weather on the wildlife.
03:54But tonight we've got a great show to start with.
03:56We've got frog spawn, Jim, but not as you know it.
03:59No, this is very special, frog spawn.
04:02We're going to dive deep into the microscopic level.
04:06Just look at them gyrating in their gel, those little tadpoles.
04:11I love gyrating in gel myself.
04:13What a thought.
04:13What a thought, what a thought.
04:15Have a listen to this.
04:16This is pretty special.
04:19What could that be?
04:20That's an acoustic representation of the pressure changes in a woodpecker's body when it's drumming.
04:25Oh, yes.
04:27Oh, yes.
04:28That's what we do on Springwatch.
04:30We take things that you think you know well and we tell you something that you didn't know.
04:35That's going to be good, isn't it?
04:37It's going to be a great series.
04:38Of course, Yolo's with us this series as well.
04:40Not here in Northern Ireland.
04:42He's roaming the UK, bringing us the best of British wildlife.
04:45And today, quite frankly, he looks like he's in the Serengeti.
04:54Ah, McKilly, yes, yes, it does look like the Serengeti.
04:57It feels like the Serengeti.
05:00And I'm late, I'm late, I'm late.
05:02I'm on the way, I'm on the way.
05:04Don't worry, don't worry.
05:05I'm just on the way back now from a net rewilding safari.
05:10Fantastic.
05:10It's a wonderful experience.
05:12Right, OK, stop, stop, stop.
05:14I need to get out.
05:14I have a programme.
05:15Here we are.
05:17Oh, honestly, thank you very much.
05:19That was absolutely brilliant.
05:21Right, I'm at NEP.
05:23I'm at NEP this week and for the whole of this week.
05:26And what a place this is.
05:29NEP is rewilding central.
05:32It's been driven by nature, creating all kinds of habitats,
05:35which has attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of different species.
05:40Then for the second week, well, a real contrast.
05:43We head to the heart of the city of London looking at urban wildlife.
05:47And I can promise you a few surprises.
05:50Then we migrate north to the Yorkshire coast to the RSPB's Benton Cliffs Reserve,
05:56where we'll be witnessing a majestic seabird bonanza.
06:01Those are the three weeks we've got coming up for you.
06:04I am so excited.
06:06And Chris, Michaela, I tell you this, if this weather continues,
06:09my shorts are going to be getting shorter and shorter and shorter.
06:15I promise you.
06:16Do you know, for some reason, I'm suddenly hoping for rain.
06:19Indeed.
06:20I've seen him in a mankini.
06:21He made me pay for it.
06:23What a thought, what a thought.
06:24Let's go over to our map and show exactly where we are.
06:28Now, we got the ferry from Hollyhead and we actually went over to Dublin,
06:32then we crossed the border and we went into Cromer's Day.
06:36I mean, it looks like it's taken over the whole of Northern Ireland, doesn't it?
06:39But it's actually in the south of Northern Ireland in County Fermanagh.
06:42Let's have a look at the map of the estate.
06:45First thing you notice is there's a huge amount of waterways
06:49with this mosaic of islands, and that's what dominates Cromer Estate.
06:54It's a fantastic place.
06:55It's in the upper Loch Urn, as I say, mainly dominated by waterways,
07:00but surprisingly, there's a huge variety of habitats,
07:03and that's what we're going to be exploring.
07:05This is us, look.
07:06There's our little teepee, which is over there.
07:07We don't require that at the moment because we don't need any shelter.
07:10And there's the turret, and you can just see the turret over there
07:13in the middle of that lake to give you some context.
07:17But as Michaela was saying, there is a great range of habitats here,
07:20and that, of course, will lead to a great range of life for us to explore.
07:26Those lakes, these are naturally eutrophic lakes,
07:30which means they're really rich and full of plant life,
07:33fringed by the ancient woodland
07:36and all of those marshes, fens and bogs that you've got there.
07:40But the water's providing an enormous resource in terms of invertebrates,
07:44things like these damselflies, and, of course, the dragonflies.
07:48They, in turn, will be feasted upon by birds.
07:51Here you can see plenty of fish in those lakes.
07:54There's a common tern that's found a little bit of lunch there.
07:59Fantastic stuff.
08:00In terms of predators, we found a buzzard already,
08:03so we're going to be bringing you up to date with the antics in that nest.
08:07But we're going to keep our eyes peeled for the white-tailed eagles
08:10that have been successfully reintroduced into this part of the world.
08:15But as you can see here, masses of insect life.
08:19Plenty of flower-rich meadows that I saw when I was moving in,
08:23again, adding to all of this habitat.
08:25Great crested greaves.
08:27We're hoping to find a nest that we can put our cameras on
08:29and bring you those splendid birds as well.
08:33Here are those meadows, speckled with all sorts of colours,
08:37full of nectar at the moment, which means there's masses of insects.
08:41Plenty of grazing there for Irish hares,
08:45some deer that we've already spotted.
08:47And, of course, in the woods,
08:48a couple of things that we're going to keep our eyes out for.
08:51Spotted flycatcher, of course,
08:52but also one of the nation's favourites,
08:55red squirrels, which are here.
08:57And then, of course, at night,
08:59one of my favourite animals, the pine marten.
09:02I have to tell you,
09:03I had pine marten poo in the palm of my hand today,
09:07so they are very definitely here.
09:09I can tell you, some of them are still here,
09:13as I can smell it still.
09:15That's really charming.
09:16That's charming.
09:17That's the cast of characters that we're hoping to get.
09:19I mean, pine marten, that would be amazing.
09:21That would be amazing.
09:21Wouldn't it?
09:22Yeah.
09:22It's a fantastic place, let's say, with loads of wildlife.
09:25But, of course, we're not just interested in what we're seeing here,
09:28we're interested in what you're seeing in your spring,
09:31wherever you are.
09:32Now, one of the things I love on Springwatch
09:34is when people send us pictures of quirky nests,
09:37and this one is a classic quirky nest.
09:40Look at that.
09:41That is a blue tit in a nest of a guitar.
09:45And this is Kirstie Porter's brother's guitar.
09:48She lives in Surrey.
09:50And they're literally blue tits nesting in the F-hole.
09:53Tits in your F-hole.
09:55I mean, that's...
09:56You won't want to be playing...
09:57That's quite something.
09:58No-one's going to be playing Stairway to Heaven
10:00on that guitar in the next few days.
10:02But when it comes to performing, what about this?
10:05Sue Smith sent us this wren.
10:07Have a listen.
10:11This is the little bird with the big voice, isn't it?
10:1490 decibels.
10:15It's the largest, you know, loudest in terms of its body size
10:19that we have in the UK,
10:19and it produces a song that can be heard 500 metres away.
10:25Ten times more powerful than the rooster crowing
10:28in the farm down the road that's keeping you awake all night.
10:30What a bird, the wren.
10:32It's amazing.
10:32Keep sending them, and we love to see them.
10:34So send them in to the website, also our social media channels.
10:38And I can feel them, Chris.
10:40I can feel them already.
10:41I'm getting bitten.
10:43I'm getting bitten.
10:43Enjoy the T-shirt.
10:44It gets worse throughout the evening.
10:46Honestly.
10:48What does spring mean to you, Chris?
10:51Exuberance.
10:52All of that flush of verdant green colour,
10:54beech trees coming out.
10:56Bird song, of course.
10:57Rich bird song.
10:58Do you know what it means to me?
10:59It means the start of Spring Watch.
11:01But what does it mean to you?
11:09My favourite thing about spring
11:11is the song of the birds
11:13that have been wintering somewhere warmer.
11:16Spring has become my favourite season of the year
11:18as it really is transitional and full of hope.
11:26My favourite part about spring
11:27is that there's so much change in new life.
11:31The warmer weather really encourages me
11:32to put my phone away
11:34and to get outside into the natural world
11:36and explore all of the wonders
11:37that spring has to offer.
11:44Screaming swift,
11:45swallows and house martins
11:47span the house
11:48and behind me
11:49a bank of sand martins.
12:00My favourite thing about spring
12:02spring is getting up really early,
12:04heading out into the wild
12:05to listen to the dawn chorus,
12:08spring's symphony of songbirds.
12:12One of the main reasons why I love spring
12:14is the extra daylight hours.
12:15And if you're lucky
12:16and have to leave some notes upon there,
12:19you never know how lovely neighbours,
12:20Chris and Steve,
12:22may visit from the woods behind us.
12:26Spring to me is wildflowers appearing everywhere.
12:30There is something so joyful after a long winter
12:33of just seeing these bursts of colour.
12:36It gets me really excited to get out
12:38and enjoy nature in the spring.
12:44So this is just absolutely the best time of the year
12:46to be watching barrods
12:47because it's barrod nesting season,
12:49which means you can see them
12:50doing their elaborate courtship displays,
12:53you can see them building their nests,
12:54you can see them bringing insects
12:55and other food back to their chicks.
12:58Just life again,
13:00which is so nice.
13:04My favourite thing about spring
13:05has got to be the spring babies.
13:07I love it when you stumble across a nest
13:09and monitor it,
13:10but then one day when you turn up,
13:11you're greeted by lots of fledglings.
13:17And my absolute favourite thing about spring
13:19is watching all the insects emerge
13:21from their hiding places
13:22after such a long winter.
13:26The one thing that really brings a smile on my face
13:29is watching the whole story unfold.
13:34My whole garden turns into a complete nursery,
13:38just full of fledglings
13:40and it really brings me joy.
13:42It makes me smile
13:43every time I look out my window.
13:49Joy.
13:50Joy, that sums it up for me, I think.
13:52The joy of all of that life flourishing
13:55in one short, sharp spring
13:57is absolutely fantastic.
13:58And boy, do we need joy in our life right now.
14:00We need some joy.
14:01Here's some joy.
14:01We've been rigging the place with our cameras
14:03and we can take a look at those
14:04that we've already got powered up here.
14:06So there are nine of those.
14:09Let's leap straight in
14:10with our young robins.
14:13There they are, still gaping a little bit.
14:16I can tell you that throughout the course of the day,
14:18they at one point were hanging over the side of the nest
14:21with their mouths open,
14:22trying to lose as much heat as possible.
14:24Thankfully, they are cooling down now
14:26and all looking very healthy,
14:28having had plenty of food.
14:29A lot of our nests have been struggling in the heat.
14:31Let's go back to all of our nests on that board.
14:34Let's go to the swallow nest.
14:36I love this nest.
14:39Let's have a close look at the swallow nest.
14:40There we go.
14:41There it is live.
14:42And we've got lots of little chicks
14:44in that beautiful nest made of mud.
14:48Oh, my goodness.
14:48Look at those, though, Chris.
14:49They are hanging out of that nest.
14:51They are also very hot,
14:53sitting in that lovely mud cup.
14:55We've been watching them, though,
14:56and this is what happens.
14:57The one thing that amazes me with these birds
15:00is how quickly they grow.
15:01This was yesterday afternoon.
15:03And take a look at those chicks.
15:05There are six chicks in there.
15:07They're a week old.
15:09Some of them have still got their eyes closed.
15:11This was yesterday.
15:13Both parents are coming in and feeding them.
15:16And you can see they're just about opening their mouths
15:18and sticking their heads out of that cup.
15:22One is a lot stronger than the other
15:25in that particular shot that you can see there.
15:27And then this was today.
15:28And I think you can already see how much they've grown.
15:32They've all got their eyes open.
15:34Their head seems to be coming up more
15:36to be begging for food.
15:39And I say parents are doing a great job.
15:43Looking hot here.
15:45This was today.
15:46And then one comes in with an absolute beak full of food,
15:51struggling to find a chick to take it.
15:54But I thought it would end up feeding one to each chick.
15:57But in the end, it finds that strong chick at the back
16:00and stuffs the whole thing in.
16:03I mean, quite amazing, isn't it?
16:05And the other thing that is amazing is
16:07we've got loads of swallow nests.
16:10We've got about 10 to 15.
16:12That's the most we've ever had on Springwatch
16:15that we've been able to get cameras to.
16:17And this is where they are.
16:19They're in the courtyard.
16:20And this is where we've got lots of barns.
16:23Obviously, that's ideal for swallows.
16:25That's what they need for their nests in places.
16:27They need barns.
16:28And it's an absolute delight when you go out into this courtyard,
16:32which is actually in the centre of our production village,
16:35and you watch them.
16:36Now, as you know, when you watch swallows,
16:38normally they are so fast.
16:39They flit around everywhere.
16:42And that's what you see when you go out with your binoculars.
16:44We've slowed it down so that you can see
16:47just what incredible flyers they are.
16:51And then they're using their precision flying
16:56to go through the doors and the windows
16:58to go into the barn and into their nests.
17:03And as I say, this is the most we've had,
17:0515 to 20 pairs we've got.
17:10I mean, just, it is a delight, isn't it?
17:11It brings joy.
17:12I mean, swallows are one of my favourite birds.
17:15I long to be a swallow,
17:16skimming across the surface of a summer lake,
17:18you know, resplendently blue.
17:20But there's another bird that I rather miss
17:22because I used to see them a lot when I was a kid
17:24and they've sadly disappeared
17:25from many of the areas that I visit now.
17:28And that is the house martin.
17:29And we've got a camera on a live house martin's nest,
17:31which is also in the courtyard.
17:33They're sharing this space with those swallows,
17:35only obviously they're on the outside under the eaves.
17:38And there you can see the birds in that nest
17:41and stretching away along the eaves
17:43a whole series of other nests behind them.
17:46Of course, we've been keeping a keen eye on these
17:48since we've had our cameras put in.
17:50Lots of activity.
17:52Some of them are still building the nest.
17:54What we know is that the older birds tend to turn up first
17:57and they will try to occupy those nests
18:00which have survived the winter
18:01where there's some of that mud fabric left.
18:03Bit of a downside to that
18:05because there might be some parasites left in there
18:07that have overwintered.
18:09But you see a lot of birds flying up to the nests
18:13and then trying to get in.
18:16It takes about a thousand pellets of mud
18:19to make one of those nests.
18:21This one's largely complete, as you can see.
18:24And this is the pair.
18:25One of them is already in the nest.
18:27And here, look, this other little bird
18:29with its characteristic white rump squeezes in.
18:32Now, brace yourselves
18:34because it's too early in the series to use the C word.
18:37But frankly, Mick, over to you.
18:39Are you really saying that that's cute?
18:41Oh, come on.
18:42They are absolutely delightful.
18:44I don't like big eyes, that blue crown.
18:46Oh, and that is a stunning shot
18:49of it peeking out of its nest.
18:51I mean, that is absolutely lovely.
18:54Hey, they might look cute,
18:55but they can be a little bit rambunctious,
18:57to be quite honest with you.
18:58I mentioned that they like to get into those nests
19:01as quickly as possible,
19:02and then they will fight over them.
19:04Now, watch this.
19:05This is the nest that we've been watching.
19:07We know there's a pair there.
19:08One comes in with some nesting material
19:10and then another bird strikes it
19:13and knocks it off of the nest.
19:14What's it trying to do?
19:15Is it trying to claim that nest space?
19:17Is it trying to steal that nesting material?
19:19We're not sure about that,
19:20but what we are sure about
19:21is that it doesn't give up
19:22because then it's hanging on the back
19:25of our little house martin there,
19:28trying to get in.
19:29Now, this could be a younger bird
19:31trying to dislodge one of the older birds
19:33that's got in early in the season
19:34and has already completed its nest.
19:37But look, in the end,
19:38despite the fact that it's hanging onto its wing
19:40in a very, I don't know, undignified manner,
19:43there's no way to behave
19:44when you're as good looking as a house martin,
19:46is it really?
19:47It's ruining the image.
19:47That's what you call argy-bargy.
19:50And then he gets turfed out.
19:53Thank goodness for that.
19:54Brilliant birds.
19:55Absolutely brilliant.
19:56And there are so many of them.
19:58As I say, I went into that courtyard
19:59with my binoculars after lunch
20:00and there was so much activity.
20:02House martin swallows
20:03and one starling nest.
20:06And this is it.
20:08I mean, the starling nest is crammed
20:10between those bricks.
20:12It's squeezed in there.
20:13I mean, that is a tight squeeze.
20:16And if we go into the interior of the nest,
20:19you can see that there's a starling in there.
20:23And there are five eggs.
20:25I mean, look at it.
20:26It really is squeezed in.
20:28You can see those five eggs.
20:29You've got a glimpse of them there.
20:30I love the colour of starlings' eggs.
20:34Look at that.
20:34It's that beautiful blue colour.
20:36But I tell you what, Chris,
20:38when those hatch,
20:39that is going to be a squash and a squeeze, isn't it?
20:41And it's going to be really hot in there.
20:44So delightful when you're watching these starlings
20:46in the sunshine that we've had today.
20:47It makes you really appreciate their markings.
20:50I think many people take starlings for granted.
20:53And yet, when you see them in the light
20:55and you see that iridescent,
20:57they are absolutely stunning.
21:00Yeah, that petrol wash of green and blue and purple
21:03is sensational.
21:04So look, we've got quite a lot of birds
21:05in this courtyard.
21:06You say 15 pairs of swallows,
21:08probably a few extras.
21:09So there's 40 swallows.
21:11It's about 20 house martin there.
21:12So it's another 40 plus the extras.
21:14We're talking about 60, 70 plus the starlings' birds
21:16all hanging around all day.
21:18It's bound to be a predator magnet.
21:20And already we've seen a little spower hawk coming in,
21:23not during the day, interestingly,
21:25but during the evening.
21:27And here it is perched on the roof,
21:31eyeing those swallows, martins and starlings.
21:34And we'll be keeping a keen eye on that spower hawk
21:36to see if it manages to get a meal.
21:39Well, from this beautiful light,
21:41at this beautiful estate in Northern Ireland,
21:44we're off to West Sussex to another stunning estate with Yolo.
21:47Here's the NEP estate.
21:55Yes, indeed.
21:56Welcome back to the NEP estate,
21:59squeezed between the M25 and Brighton.
22:02And do you know what?
22:02As I get older, I'm building up a bucket list.
22:04And one of those was to visit the NEP estate.
22:07I'd never been here until now.
22:10And it doesn't disappoint.
22:12So why have we based ourselves here for the first week?
22:16Well, rather than tell you, I'll show you.
22:18NEP is 3,500 acres of rewilding paradise.
22:23And that's driven by the owners,
22:25Sir Charles Burrell and Isabella Tree.
22:27Sir Charles inherited the estate from his grandfather,
22:30found he wasn't conducive to modern agriculture.
22:33So they're rewilding it,
22:35bringing in the troops, the cattle to graze,
22:37as the Orochs would have done.
22:39Also the pigs, the Tamworths,
22:41who turned the soil as the wild boar would have done way back.
22:46And of course what that means is that you get
22:47a fantastic variety of habitats, woodlands, hedges, scrub, meadows.
22:53That attracts a myriad of wildlife here.
22:57And they've also brought in the real natural water engineer,
23:03the beavers.
23:04They're creating wetlands.
23:05And those wetlands are packed full of different wildlife.
23:08All kinds of invertebrates in there.
23:11The rare purple emperor is actually doing very well here.
23:15All kinds of rare birds here as well.
23:18You've got nightingales here.
23:20You've got turtle doves here.
23:22And I have to tell you,
23:23I've never been anywhere else in the whole of the UK
23:26where at once I can hear cuckoos,
23:28I can hear nightingales and turtle doves singing at the same time.
23:33It is paradise.
23:35But there's one star bird that really has stolen the show here.
23:39And that is the white stork.
23:42Now never did I think that I would see white storks in the wild in the UK.
23:47It is a stunning bird.
23:49Long-legged, black and white plumage.
23:52Long-legged, long-billed bird.
23:54Now the focus of a conservation project here,
23:58they are using rehabilitated birds from Poland
24:02and trying to establish a breeding population.
24:05There's some debate as to whether they were originally native birds,
24:09but we know that they nested on Edinburgh Cathedral in 1416.
24:16And so far, it has been very successful.
24:20It's been hugely successful, in fact.
24:23And if you come over here with me, over my shoulder,
24:26you can see one of 20 nests on the estate here.
24:31And we have our wildlife camera person,
24:35long-length camera person.
24:36Come with me over here.
24:37I'll introduce you to Steve Phillips over here.
24:41Steve has got his lens focused on that nest.
24:44Steve, I think you're seeing two adults, are you?
24:47Two adults.
24:48Yes, it looks like one, but the other one's hiding behind it.
24:50It is there.
24:51And two chicks, just the tops of the heads of two chicks.
24:56Nepestate have also got a camera on that nest.
25:00It's been there since early in the season.
25:02So let's catch up with what's happened so far.
25:07Now they caught the birds visiting the nest, building it.
25:11Bit of courtship there.
25:13Bit of bill clattering, displaying to each other.
25:17Bit of mating as well.
25:18They would have mated several times.
25:20And then the female would have laid eggs.
25:24She actually laid four eggs, incubate those for just over a month.
25:28All four hatched.
25:30Unfortunately, two of the youngsters didn't make it.
25:34But the other two have been fed regularly and are doing really, really well.
25:45Isn't that fantastic seeing those birds there feeding?
25:52Now, these birds, they really are truly amazing birds.
25:58Now, do you know what?
25:59I'm so excited.
26:00I've lost my sense of place here.
26:03Let's go live.
26:05Let's go live to our nest camera now.
26:08Let's see what's happening now.
26:09There we are.
26:11Yeah, it's the evening.
26:12It's the evening light.
26:13They're sort of relaxing a little bit.
26:16It has been a very hot day.
26:17The adults have been protecting the young from that hot sun.
26:20They've even been bringing water to that nest.
26:23But they look as if they're just about to settle down for the evening.
26:27Isn't that lovely?
26:27Isn't that beautiful evening light there?
26:31And we will be coming back to that nest throughout the rest of this week too.
26:36Now, when I was a little lad, when I was in primary school,
26:39one of the joys was when one of the teachers would bring in frog spawn in an aquarium every spring.
26:45We would be glued to that aquarium,
26:48watching the change from egg to tadpole to froglet.
26:54Metamorphosis, I learnt is the name for that process.
26:56The longest word I've ever learnt.
26:59Now, when you take that process down to the macroscopic level,
27:04it opens up a whole new world of wonder.
27:20It's a tale as old as time.
27:23Under the cover of darkness, frog meets frog meets frog meets frog.
27:36Females are not short of attention,
27:38and males vie to be the one allowed to hold her close
27:42in an embrace called amplexus, which can last for days.
27:57This male has been chosen,
27:59and he's in just the right place to fertilise her eggs
28:03as soon as she releases them.
28:08And it's no mean feat,
28:10as she can produce around 3,000 eggs.
28:16Once in the water, they swell to around one centimetre in diameter,
28:21and they clump together to form rafts of frog spawn.
28:28The parents' work is done,
28:30and they go their separate ways.
28:35But their batch of glistening orbs
28:37are just beginning their journey,
28:40wrapped up in a protective jelly.
28:50Within hours, the building blocks of life
28:53are starting to form within the fertilised cell.
28:57It divides rapidly in a process known as cleavage.
29:03For a matter of hours, it continues like this,
29:09until it's transitioned into a hollow ball of thousands of cells,
29:14called a blastula.
29:24Spring sunshine warms the water
29:27and heralds the next stage.
29:32The cells now rearrange themselves into three layers,
29:36and part of the outermost layer folds inwards,
29:40forming a neural tube.
29:42This tube will become the brain and the spinal cord.
29:53Next, it elongates.
29:56The head begins to form,
30:00along with the beginnings of a tail.
30:10And now arrives another landmark moment.
30:17Newly formed muscles connect to the developing nervous system.
30:22They can now make their first twitching movements.
30:37In as little as a week,
30:38an embryonic tadpole has come into being.
30:43But whilst it's growing fast,
30:45the tadpole has not yet taken its first breath.
30:48You see, at this moment,
30:50it has no lungs,
30:52and its mouth and nostrils are tightly sealed.
30:55So, for now,
30:56it's breathing solely through its skin.
30:59But for progress,
31:00it needs better tools than that.
31:06The beginnings of gills are budding
31:09from the back of the tadpole's head.
31:15They branch out into tree-like structures,
31:18which draw oxygen from the water
31:20and deliver it through blood vessels
31:22to power the tail muscle.
31:27And the boost this oxygen brings
31:30is just what the tadpole needs right now.
31:36Because at three weeks old,
31:38it's ready to hatch.
31:44It pushes its head against the jelly wall,
31:47thrashing and wriggling furiously.
31:50It's a monumental effort for an embryonic animal.
32:05Finally,
32:07it punctures the membrane.
32:10And with a flick of its tail,
32:12it's free.
32:14It will now sink to the depths of the pond
32:16for a well-earned rest.
32:19But it won't be long
32:20before it needs to feed,
32:22and the sun has laid on a feast.
32:33Vegetation blooms,
32:34and a hungry tadpole can replenish its energy
32:37to fuel the next stage of growth.
32:41Yes, legs are on the way.
32:47Whilst its early genesis might have been a wonder,
32:50it will take a miracle for it to survive to adulthood.
32:54Of the clutch of 3,000 eggs
32:56a single frog can produce in a season,
32:59only four or five will make it to adulthood.
33:02But those lucky few that do
33:06will return to the very same pond
33:09where they were conceived
33:11to mate themselves
33:13and start the whole process over again.
33:25I love Foxborn.
33:27I absolutely love it.
33:28When it's first laid and it's all fresh,
33:30it's got no algae on it,
33:31and then you put it in that little jam jar,
33:33and it's got potential.
33:35It's the potential.
33:36They just look like little beads.
33:38And then within a couple of weeks,
33:39they're tadpoles tickling the palm of your hand.
33:41It makes you feel like a kid immediately.
33:43But I think Foxborn inspires so many children
33:46to then go further into having a passion for wildlife.
33:50It's like caterpillars turning into butterflies.
33:52It's just mind-blowing, isn't it?
33:54Because it is almost a miracle.
33:55You see it happening in front of you,
33:57you understand how it works.
33:58Someone tells you,
33:58but nevertheless,
33:59when you see it for the first time as a child,
34:01you never forget it.
34:03Anyway, we've come down to the reed beds.
34:04I have to say, Chris,
34:05it's a little bit romantic here, isn't it?
34:07I mean, with this beautiful light,
34:08you've got swans floating behind us,
34:11Rapunzel's castle in the background.
34:12She's going to throw down her hair
34:14and the prince is going to climb up.
34:15Am I getting a bit carried away?
34:16Possibly, yes.
34:17Anyway, so we've come down to the waterway
34:19and on the other side
34:20is a very important woodland.
34:22And the reason that this woodland is important
34:25is because there's not much ancient woodland in Ireland,
34:28but crumb has a good percentage of it.
34:31And a lot of it is oak trees.
34:33And we know that oak trees provide a habitat
34:36for so much wildlife,
34:37not only above, but in and below as well.
34:41And so in that woodland
34:43on the other side of the loch there,
34:45our camera crew knew that there was a badger set.
34:48And so they decided to put up some trail cameras
34:51to see just how active it was.
34:53And this is what they saw.
34:56They saw an incredibly,
34:58I'm going to use the C word,
34:59cute badger cub.
35:01This is this year's badger cub.
35:03And our crew actually think that this could be
35:06the youngest ever seen on spring watch
35:08on our live cameras.
35:09There's a thing, eh?
35:10Look at that.
35:11But not only did we see this gorgeous little badger cub,
35:13we saw a deer coming along.
35:15And the cub's curious.
35:17And look at them both.
35:18I mean, remember this is in the dark
35:19and they completely spook each other.
35:21I think that's very sweet.
35:22It was a bit Bambi, actually.
35:24But I like Bambi.
35:25It was a little bit Bambi, wasn't it?
35:26Let's go live to the badger set now.
35:30It's in those woods across the other side of the lake.
35:33And there it is.
35:34Now, I've got to tell you,
35:35should have been here yesterday
35:36because last night at this time,
35:38the badgers were out.
35:39Of course they were.
35:41And we've been monitoring them
35:42and picking up quite a lot of activity at the set.
35:45We know that there's that young from this year,
35:48at least one cub.
35:49And we also know, obviously, there are adults
35:50and some of last year's cubs.
35:52We've not really got to know them all yet.
35:55But they have been emerging in daylight,
35:57which is really nice.
35:58So we can see them in full colour.
36:01And if you're keen on badger watching,
36:03I would advocate this is possibly
36:05the best time of year to go.
36:06The bracken isn't fully up in many places,
36:09so you get to see them.
36:10And the midges haven't yet reached
36:12their peak of annoyance.
36:14So if you are thinking of going to a local set,
36:17this might be good.
36:18And this is what you might have as a treat.
36:20And the whole group of badgers.
36:22And you can see those are youngsters there.
36:23They're still quite fluffy.
36:25They haven't got any tears or scarring on their faces.
36:29This, on the other hand, is an adult
36:30that's moving out of the set.
36:32And, of course, we'll be monitoring that very closely.
36:35And we hope to get to know our badgers a bit better.
36:38It's very magical, that setting, isn't it?
36:40Yeah, it is.
36:41Nice and green, isn't it?
36:42There's something really beautiful about it.
36:43And as Chris said,
36:43we'll be keeping our eyes peeled on that badger set.
36:46OK, let's go to Nep and see the storks.
36:49And Yolo in his shorts.
36:51Bit of a rhyme there.
36:52Do you like that, Yolo?
36:53I love that.
36:55Yes, I did.
36:56Yes, yes, yeah.
36:57Yeah, you're a poet and you don't even know it.
36:59Yes, thank you very much.
37:00Yes.
37:00Welcome back to the Nep estate,
37:02to the land of the white stork.
37:04And where our long lens operator, Steve Phillips,
37:07has got his camera trained on a white stork nest
37:10in this big oak tree behind me.
37:11Steve, oh, there's been a little bit of movement.
37:13Look, both chicks are now standing up.
37:16It's nowhere near as hot as it was earlier in the day,
37:20so they've cooled down quite a bit,
37:22probably having one last stretch
37:24before they settle down for the night.
37:27But at this distance,
37:28it's really difficult to get a gauge
37:30of the sheer size of these birds.
37:33So let me show you,
37:34let me introduce you to a friend of mine.
37:36This is Jamie.
37:38Now, Jamie, I have to emphasise,
37:41died of natural causes
37:43and is now used as an education facility here at NEP.
37:47They take it round schools.
37:48But it gives you an idea of the size of the bird.
37:51The long legs,
37:52the black and white plumage.
37:55Actually, Jamie,
37:56for an adult stork is quite small.
37:57They will grow to be over a metre tall.
38:00And their wingspan is huge,
38:03over one and a half metres.
38:06Huge, huge birds.
38:07And do note this bill.
38:09Now, the bill on an adult stork
38:11can grow to be 19 centimetres long.
38:15And ironically,
38:16inside there is a tongue
38:17that's only two and a half centimetres.
38:20Now, what do they use that bill for?
38:23Well, one use is hunting.
38:26We've seen storks walking through the meadows here,
38:29picking up all kinds of invertebrates,
38:33especially when the earth is moist,
38:35earthworms.
38:36A high percentage of their diet here
38:39is made up of earthworms.
38:41They'll pick up crickets,
38:43dragonflies.
38:45But also,
38:46because it's been so dry,
38:48they've taken to the wetland areas
38:50where now they are feeding
38:51on dragonfly larvae,
38:53frogs,
38:54newts,
38:55all kinds of amphibians.
38:57They're opportunists, really.
38:58They'll eat anything small enough
39:00for them to swallow.
39:02But that's not all they use their beak for.
39:05Have a listen to this.
39:10This is called bill clattering.
39:15Isn't that superb?
39:17They're non-vocal birds.
39:18They don't have a syrinx,
39:19which is a bird's voice box,
39:21but they do have a pouch in their throat
39:24to amplify that sound.
39:26And the clattering will vary
39:29depending on the occasion.
39:30If they're greeting each other
39:32like that pair there,
39:33it's quite soft.
39:34But if a strange stork
39:36flies over the nest,
39:37it's much, much louder.
39:39And in German medieval times,
39:41they used to call them
39:43clappenstorks.
39:44Isn't that fantastic?
39:45And in the stork world,
39:47size really does matter
39:48because the longer the bill,
39:50the more efficient they are
39:52at clattering.
39:53But that's not all the bill is used to.
39:55Let's go down here.
39:56They also gather nesting material.
39:59This is typical stork nesting material.
40:01All kinds of branches.
40:03They lift up clods of earth,
40:05a bit of moss,
40:07a bit of wool here and there.
40:08And some of these stork nests
40:11that they build
40:11are absolutely huge.
40:14The biggest one here
40:15on the estate
40:16is reckoned to be
40:17about 1.8 metres tall
40:19and weighs almost a ton.
40:22But that's nothing compared
40:24to some of the nests
40:25over in Poland.
40:26Take a look at this one.
40:27This particular nest
40:29is estimated to be
40:32about 2 metres tall,
40:35almost 2 metres wide
40:37and to weigh
40:38a tonne and a half.
40:41And from the air,
40:41you can see
40:42all four birds sitting on it.
40:44There's barely
40:45a shallow cup in there,
40:47hence the weight.
40:48Can you imagine
40:49looking out of your front door,
40:51looking up at your chimney
40:52and seeing that nest?
40:54But luckily,
40:55on the continent,
40:56people think it's really lucky
40:57to have storks
40:59nesting on their homes.
41:01Let's have another look
41:02at the live camera
41:04they've got here
41:05on the Nepp estate.
41:06See what's going on.
41:08Have one last look
41:09before nightfall.
41:10Yeah, the two chicks
41:11are finally
41:12just about starting
41:13to settle down now.
41:16But isn't that fantastic?
41:17And as I said,
41:17we'll be following that camera
41:19throughout this week.
41:20Now, I want to introduce you
41:23to a Belfast man.
41:26His name is Aaron Kelly.
41:28He's Belfast
41:29through and through.
41:30He loves the hills
41:32around his native city.
41:35It's had a major influence
41:37on him
41:37and now he spends
41:39an inordinate amount
41:40of his time
41:41exploring the wildlife
41:43that he can find there.
41:55It's all I think about.
41:56Like, nature's all I think.
41:57You ask any of my friends.
41:59Like, it's all I do.
42:00All I...
42:01Like, it consumes me in a way.
42:02This mountain is...
42:03In nature,
42:03it's all I think about.
42:07Where I grew up
42:08in West Belfast,
42:09I grew up in
42:09Ballymurfing, West Belfast,
42:11so the mountain
42:12has always been
42:13in the background
42:13of, like,
42:14all my memories
42:15as a child.
42:17For me,
42:18the mountain is
42:19Belfast, like, you know.
42:23Up here on the hills,
42:24it's so big
42:25that it has everything.
42:27There's pine marns,
42:27there's buzzards,
42:29there's barn outs,
42:30there's short-eared outs,
42:31there's long-eared outs,
42:31there's hen hires.
42:37I've always wanted to work
42:38in nature
42:38ever since I was a kid.
42:40I just didn't know
42:41how to do it, you know.
42:42I was just doing normal jobs
42:43and it was really
42:43just during COVID
42:44that I had the free time
42:46to go and just chase
42:47my passion of nature.
42:48I kind of just made
42:49my own experience
42:50up in the mountain.
42:52After I found the pine marn,
42:53everything snowballed.
42:54I was walking
42:55and I'd seen the scat
42:56of a pine marn.
42:57I was like,
42:58Belfast having pine marns?
42:59No way.
43:00And then one day
43:01I had the camera out
43:02and I'd seen it
43:02and it was just
43:03on Christmas Eve
43:04and it was unbelievable
43:06and I was just going
43:07mad.
43:07I was shouting everywhere,
43:08got it, got it,
43:09happy days, you know.
43:11I was the first person
43:12to find them.
43:13At the time,
43:14they didn't exist
43:15on the hills.
43:16I feel like the pine marn
43:17made people take me serious
43:19because I don't have a degree.
43:21I think before,
43:22when you're coming
43:24where I'm from
43:24and you sound like me,
43:26you know,
43:26you can't have a really
43:27thick city accent
43:28and you're not
43:28your typical nature person.
43:30If I go up
43:31and I'm saying
43:31there's pine marns,
43:32you're just going to go,
43:32look at that rocket,
43:33you know what I mean?
43:34You're not going to believe him,
43:35you know.
43:36So for me,
43:37when I finally did find it,
43:38it gave me a bit of validation
43:39and people believed me.
43:41It allowed me to kind of
43:42get a job
43:43and to get into conservation.
43:46For as long as I can remember,
43:48there's been campaigns
43:48to save this mountain,
43:49you know.
43:50There's quarrying
43:51and there's housing development
43:53and there's all sorts of threats,
43:54you know,
43:55and I just feel like
43:56I have a sense of duty
43:58to kind of look after it.
44:00The rewilding project
44:01up here on the mountain
44:02kind of started organically,
44:03really, you know.
44:04So it's all about
44:05kind of restoring the mountain
44:06and enhancing it
44:08in loads of ways too.
44:09We're tree planting
44:09or we're letting
44:10natural regeneration
44:11take place.
44:12I see what it could be
44:13and I have an idea
44:14in my head.
44:15I have a big picture
44:16in my head.
44:17I can see it as clear as day.
44:18So I know it's going to happen
44:18someday, you know.
44:28So right here
44:29is one of the ponds
44:31that we dug.
44:32In nature,
44:33water is life.
44:34As soon as the water sources are,
44:36everything just started coming.
44:37It didn't take long at all.
44:39We've brought newts,
44:39dragonflies,
44:40damselflies,
44:41frogs in this area.
44:42The bats at night
44:43are able to skim across
44:44and feed.
44:45Once you put
44:46a water source somewhere,
44:47the whole food chain
44:49can benefit from it.
44:50You know,
44:50so like,
44:51water is life.
45:02So right now,
45:03we're in one of the most
45:04beautiful woodlands
45:04in the Belfast Hills.
45:06The good thing about the mountain
45:07and the hills are
45:08that they're scattered
45:09with loads of cracking woodlands.
45:10Some of the best,
45:11in my opinion,
45:12some of the best in Ireland,
45:13but I may be slightly biased.
45:20To me,
45:21this woodland
45:21is what Ireland
45:22should be like.
45:23One of the really special things
45:24about it is
45:25it'll be classed
45:26as a temperate rainforest.
45:28So,
45:28in Ireland,
45:29we have,
45:30it's known for temperate rainforest.
45:32We don't have much of them,
45:32but we're lucky to have a lot of them
45:34on the Belfast Hills.
45:35So,
45:36what you get with that
45:37is loads of ferns,
45:38loads of mosses,
45:39loads of lichens.
45:40You'll get epiphytes,
45:42so you get plants
45:42growing on top of trees.
45:44And to see something like this,
45:47it's so special.
45:48When I'm in somewhere like this,
45:49I just feel completely at peace.
45:51I feel like this is where I belong.
45:56This mountain
45:57put me in the right direction.
45:59It literally
46:00held my hand
46:00and brought me here.
46:02So,
46:03I need to get back to this mountain,
46:05you know,
46:05I need to look after it
46:06for it's the least I could do for it,
46:08you know.
46:09Sometimes I feel like
46:10I can hear it breathe.
46:11And I want to keep it breathing.
46:13I want to look after it
46:14and my way of looking after it
46:16is to make it wilder
46:17and make it better
46:17and bring more animals to it
46:19and bring more nature.
46:20And as I said,
46:21that's the least I could be doing for it.
46:22I owe it everything,
46:23literally.
46:40Aaron,
46:41you are doing a great job.
46:42You don't need to go to university
46:44or have a degree
46:45to have a love of wildlife
46:47and be a wildlife protector.
46:48You just need to have passion
46:50and he certainly has that in abundance.
46:52Plenty of passion,
46:53making a difference,
46:54top bloke.
46:55Now,
46:55our wildlife cameramen
46:56have been out and about
46:57here at Crumb
46:58and they found this.
46:59Now,
47:00for those of you in England,
47:02Scotland and Wales,
47:03this won't be terribly exciting.
47:06Great spotted woodpeckers
47:06are relatively common birds.
47:07In fact,
47:08they've increased by 378%
47:10since the late 1960s.
47:12But in fact,
47:13they weren't found nesting
47:14in Ireland
47:15until 2006
47:17when they nested
47:18in Northern Ireland
47:18and 2009
47:19when the first pair
47:20nested in the South.
47:23The thing is,
47:24had they been here before?
47:25Well,
47:25there is some evidence
47:26to suggest that they were here
47:27because Bronze Age cave remains
47:30showed some greater
47:31spotted woodpecker bones.
47:34Why did they disappear?
47:36Well,
47:3610,000 years ago,
47:38Ireland was 80% forest.
47:41By 1925,
47:42there was only 1%
47:45of the forest left.
47:46So it's highly likely
47:48that not only
47:48great spotted woodpeckers
47:49but lesser spot
47:50and green woodpeckers
47:51all disappeared
47:52at that point.
47:54Now,
47:55I'm pleased to say
47:55it's back up to 11.6% here
47:57so re-forestation
47:58is taking place.
47:59But,
48:00those woodpeckers
48:01are a real treat
48:02to see here.
48:02We think there could be
48:03as many as 100 personnel.
48:04No one's done a count yet.
48:06That's an astonishing statistic,
48:07isn't it?
48:081% of the forest was left.
48:10Good grief.
48:11But,
48:11you know,
48:11we're learning so much
48:12about woodpeckers.
48:14We think we know everything,
48:15particularly about
48:16what they're famous for,
48:17which is pecking.
48:19And,
48:19you know,
48:20when you see,
48:20well,
48:21usually you hear a woodpecker
48:22before you see it.
48:24And this one
48:25is ferociously pecking.
48:27It's actually not pecking
48:28at the tree trunk.
48:29It's pecking
48:30at a pine cone
48:31which is wedged
48:32into the tree trunk.
48:34And it's doing it
48:34with incredible force.
48:37So,
48:37how does a bird
48:38that weighs just 80 grams
48:40peck
48:41with such
48:42an incredible force
48:43like that?
48:43Well,
48:44not just,
48:44I mean,
48:44pecking the pine cone,
48:45it's sort of stabbing away there.
48:47But when they're pecking
48:48the tree,
48:48they can peck
48:49up to 25 times
48:50a second,
48:52particularly,
48:52again,
48:52when they're drumming,
48:53come on to that
48:54in a minute,
48:54and they do so
48:55with 30,
48:5640 times
48:58their own body weight.
48:59So,
49:00if they're 80 grams,
49:00that means that
49:01they're pecking
49:01with a force
49:02of nearly 2 kilograms.
49:04That's a big punch
49:06from a little bird,
49:07isn't it?
49:07How do they do it?
49:08Well,
49:09scientists working
49:10at Brown University
49:11in the United States
49:12put muscle sensors
49:14onto downy woodpeckers
49:15and filmed them
49:16using high-speed photography
49:18to find out
49:19how it worked.
49:20And this is what
49:20they've come up with.
49:21Here's the woodpecker.
49:23In this case,
49:23it's a great spot.
49:24We think it transfers
49:25between the species.
49:26The first thing it does
49:27is it uses the muscles
49:29in its chest
49:29to pull its head back
49:31into a position like that.
49:32And then what's new
49:33is we know
49:34that it uses its hips
49:36to push its body
49:38away from the tree.
49:39It then
49:40puts its tail down.
49:43Now,
49:43you know that
49:43the tail of a woodpecker
49:45is made of some
49:45very, very stiff feathers.
49:48They've got a stiff
49:49ratchus or quill
49:50and that means
49:50that they can press
49:51against the tree
49:52to brace the bird.
49:53So having got the head
49:55in that position
49:56and the body away,
49:58its hips are primed
49:59and then
50:00the woodpecker
50:01starts pecking the tree.
50:03And what's interesting
50:04is that when it makes
50:05impact here,
50:06it further braces
50:08the muscles in its neck
50:09to increase the power
50:11that's transferred
50:12into the trunk.
50:13but what they also
50:15discovered was
50:16it can vary
50:17the amount of force
50:18that it strikes
50:19that trunk with,
50:20not through using
50:22the muscles in its neck
50:23but through using
50:24its hips.
50:25So it turns out
50:26that when a woodpecker
50:27is pecking or drumming,
50:29it's the hips
50:30that are generating
50:31the majority of the force.
50:32But you know,
50:33that doesn't actually
50:34surprise me
50:35because I do yoga
50:36and pilates
50:36and a lot of your strength
50:38comes from your core
50:39and if you've got
50:39a strong core
50:41then you can pick up
50:42heavy weights
50:43using that core.
50:44Have you got a strong core?
50:45I have actually.
50:46You know,
50:46I trained as a dancer
50:47and when I used to be,
50:48you know,
50:49doing my core work there
50:50they used to come
50:51and punch you in the stomach
50:51to make sure
50:52that you were engaged
50:53in your core.
50:54And I'll tell you what,
50:55it didn't hurt
50:55so I was clearly engaged.
50:56Engaged in your core.
50:58I was engaged in my core.
50:58Oh yeah,
50:58I've always said
50:59you were engaged in your core.
51:01Let's have a look
51:02at the woodpecker
51:02drumming again.
51:03It's actually the males
51:04and the females
51:05that do it.
51:06And they do it
51:07so that they can
51:08claim their territory
51:09so they can attract
51:10a mate as well.
51:11And I say
51:11they do it
51:12with such incredible force
51:14especially when they're
51:15excavating nest cavities.
51:17And as Chris said
51:18they do it
51:19how many times?
51:2025 times a second.
51:2125 times a second.
51:23Yeah, yeah.
51:23So fast
51:24you can't even see it sometimes.
51:26Indeed, indeed.
51:27But listen,
51:27one of the scientists
51:28Dr Nick Antonson
51:29has sent us this.
51:30This is a recording.
51:32Wow.
51:32It's a transcription
51:33of pressure
51:34into sound
51:35so that we can hear it
51:37of the woodpecker
51:38whilst it's drumming.
51:39Have a listen to this.
51:43Oh, I love that.
51:45Yeah.
51:46That's what I like
51:47about science.
51:48You know,
51:49that's the sound
51:50that has been,
51:51you know,
51:52generated by the pressure
51:53inside a body
51:54of a woodpecker
51:54whilst it's drumming.
51:55That's why I love science.
51:56Anyway, look,
51:57the point is
51:58that what you're hearing there
51:59is as the woodpecker
52:01is withdrawing its beak away
52:02it is basically
52:04taking a tiny breath
52:06into its body
52:07in the fraction
52:08of a millisecond
52:09and then when the beak
52:10makes contact
52:11with the wood
52:12it expels that.
52:13It exhales
52:14a tiny amount of air
52:15again in a millisecond.
52:17Let's listen.
52:20Yeah.
52:21Yeah.
52:22And this is all about
52:23the woodpecker's body
52:25working as one.
52:26the hips
52:27the muscles in the neck
52:28and of course
52:29all of its breathing apparatus
52:30to maximise its capacity
52:32to hit this wood
52:33really hard
52:35repeatedly
52:35and very rapidly.
52:37But again,
52:38you know,
52:38that takes me back
52:39to my yoga
52:39because breathing
52:40is so important
52:41in yoga
52:42and there's a particular
52:43breath that you do
52:44called lion's breath
52:46where you breathe in
52:47and then you
52:48you expel your breath
52:49in a really forceful way
52:51and you go
52:52like that sticking
52:53your tongue out as well
52:54raising your eyes
52:55to the sky.
52:56like that
52:57and it's supposed
52:58to stimulate your chakras.
53:00Are you stimulating
53:00your chakras love?
53:01I'm trying to sort of
53:02wish my way out of here
53:03frankly.
53:04That's what I'm doing.
53:05And it's basically
53:06getting rid of all
53:07of the stress.
53:08So come on,
53:08sit down on the wall Chris
53:09because you of all people
53:11could do with a little bit
53:12of yoga.
53:13Isn't it more like
53:13tennis players
53:14when they whack the ball
53:15really hard
53:15and they grunt?
53:16Yeah, you could say
53:17it's like that as well
53:18or you could say
53:18it's like the lion's breath
53:20but we are going into
53:21our first mindfulness moment
53:23so let's take a deep
53:24breath in
53:25for once
53:26so we can de-stress
53:27as we watch
53:28snake's head fritillaries
53:30in the sunrise.
53:32Here we go.
53:33Ah!
54:07Let's do it.
55:00So, let's go.
55:12Listen, I'm not sure about the yoga, right, but the snake's head fritilleries were fantastic.
55:17So beautiful.
55:18By the end of three weeks, I'm going to get you to do a downward dog.
55:21Anyway, around Crumb, there are some amazing places for birds to nest.
55:26And this one is the most stunning, I reckon, because it is a really picturesque boathouse.
55:33And in the boathouse, guess what is nesting?
55:37Jackdaws.
55:38I mean, look at this stunning jackdaw.
55:41That is the boathouse.
55:43And as I say, who would live in a place like this?
55:46If I was a bird, I would definitely nest in that boathouse.
55:49If I was a bloke with a boat, I'd put it in that house.
55:52There they are live.
55:53We've got the jackdaw chicks just there.
55:55They're two weeks old.
55:56There are four chicks.
55:57And let's take a look at them because, as I say, we're very excited to have jackdaws.
56:02We've only had, I reckon, about three nests, jackdaw nests on Springwatch in the past.
56:06It's not a bird that we feature regularly, but it is an absolutely gorgeous corvids, smallest of the corvids.
56:13And I love that grey net head that it's got, those feathers on my head and that eye.
56:19And look at the chicks.
56:21Both of the parents are coming in and feeding the chicks.
56:24They're doing pretty well.
56:26And we're going to be keeping our eyes on that live nest because, as I say, it's a real treat
56:31to have this jackdaw nest.
56:34Pretty noisy, though, aren't they?
56:36Pretty noisy.
56:36But have a listen to this because what you hear here is the jackdaw coming into the nest and the
56:42adult makes a barking sound.
56:45And then the youngsters respond.
56:48And what that sound is that's being produced by the jackdaw is a means of asking them to get ready
56:54to beg
56:54so it can increase the efficiency of the food transfer.
56:58And what we see through studies is that the young birds, initially, when they hatch, will respond to pretty much
57:02any sound.
57:03Then they'll respond to a sound of another jackdaw.
57:06But the older they get, they get tuned in to their particular adult that's coming to feed them.
57:13So they learn the sound of their, you know, male or female that's feeding them, and they'll respond to that
57:18when it comes to begging.
57:19It's great. We've got lots of good nests already, haven't we?
57:22We've got a smuggers' board of birds on the nest, and we'll be keeping an eye on them over the
57:27next three weeks.
57:28That brings us to the end of our first show.
57:32Obviously, we've got lots coming up tomorrow, including this.
57:36We reveal the hidden life of one of our most elusive reptiles, slow worms.
57:43We'll also be meeting Dominique Palmer.
57:45She's a climber advocate who finds solace in nature to help with her mental health.
57:54And we'll be shining a light on some curious caterpillars under the cover of darkness.
58:02So, as I say, keep your eyes on our live cameras.
58:04You can see them on the iPlayer from 10 in the morning to 10 in the evening.
58:09You never know what you might see.
58:11You've got the jackdaws, the robins, the swallows.
58:13There's so many nests.
58:15And we will be catching up with them tomorrow at 8 o'clock.
58:19And hopefully it's going to be another beautiful day.
58:23If it is, get out, enjoy it.
58:25We'll see you at 8 o'clock.
58:27Goodbye.
58:27Bye.
58:57Bye.
58:58Bye.
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