- 2 days ago
Winterwatch - Season 14 - Episode 03
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00:00We're here, we're live, it's day three.
00:04We 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...
00:16Winter to Watch!
00:39..and welcome to Winter Watch 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
00:50and 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?
01:04But 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?
01:10This 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, on the edge of the wonderful Strangford Lock,
01:19as I've said.
01:20Now, before we move on,
01:22the music that you've just heard in the title sequence
01:24will be the last music that you will hear in tonight's programme.
01:28Yes, 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.
01:46What do you think that is?
01:47Well, 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.
01:57And they're all lined up on the wire.
01:59And 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 looking very dampened,
02:10all sort of trying to keep warm.
02:12Lots of them are around.
02:14They make a right old racket.
02:15They've been flying through past the trucks into the wall.
02:19What 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?
02:29Yeah, they're very gregarious to 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 for the forthcoming season.
02:39It's early.
02:40It is early.
02:40It 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,
02:47because 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, to be 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 gecko-ing.
03:02This is the sound.
03:03It's called gecko-ing, OK?
03:07Look at this.
03:08This was sent in by Michael Batley in Bradford.
03:11Two foxes fighting.
03:13And they're fox-trotting.
03:15That's what behaviourists call it
03:17when they stand up like that
03:18and body-shove one another.
03:20Fox-trotting.
03:21The dance is not named after the foxes.
03:23That was named after an actor, Henry Fox, in 1914.
03:26Now, what was going on there?
03:28Well, typically when foxes fight,
03:30at which 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 there were a couple of males
03:44fighting over a female.
03:46I can see it.
03:46Strictly come fox-trotting.
03:48It would be a good programme, wouldn't it?
03:49But lots of people are hearing that sound.
03:52I mean, you can't not hear that sound.
03:54It 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
04:11and you've got that racket going on
04:13right outside your door.
04:17Interesting, though.
04:18There's obviously a lot of testosterone going on there.
04:20You could clearly see one of them was a male.
04:22Dominant male.
04:23Yeah, the one on the left was cowering 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 Martin's recovering nicely in Mid Wales now.
04:38But keep your eye up in that tree.
04:40The left-hand side.
04:41Two eyes there.
04:43It's a tourney.
04:44In it comes.
04:45Thwack's that Pine Martin off the log.
04:48Happen 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 tourney owl is not going to predate a Pine Martin.
05:06If we were in Europe and we had eagle owls,
05:08an eagle owl will eat them.
05:10But I think what's happening there
05:12is that tourney 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 perspective 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 and any pictures in as well, because that was really brilliant.
05:34And send them into our website.
05:35Now, 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.
05:53So we are sending Mark and his camera off in his vehicle
05:58to wander around the estate throughout the next hour.
06:04Now, if he sees anything, we will go over to him and have a look
06:08and see exactly what he is watching.
06:11That is a challenge and a half.
06:13We'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
06:25that we're hoping that a Pine Martin or a badger will do some exercise in.
06:29Nothing 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,
06:38what 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?
06:50It'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 doors.
07:03There we are.
07:04Now, we were watching the behaviour of the animal making that sound,
07:08and it was quite unusual.
07:10We were postulating that it could have been a badger from a close-by social group
07:15that 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,
07:24so we're going off the idea of the fact that it's an intruder,
07:28because we think it would have been chased away by now.
07:30But it keeps coming back to this particular hole, and...
07:33Listen.
07:36Kekering.
07:39Something in that hole it finds intimidating,
07:42because it doesn't want to go down there,
07:44and yet it can't resist being curious.
07:47It keeps going back.
07:49It's been around on the set quite a lot, scent marking.
07:54Finally, though, it finds some courage and approaches the hole.
07:59Still grumbling.
08:01It goes down into the hole.
08:03But it doesn't go very far before it's forced to back out.
08:08It doesn't even go far enough in to be able to turn around.
08:11Because here, look, it shuffles backwards out of the hole.
08:17The theory that we're finding favour with at the moment
08:20is that this is a badger from this social group,
08:24and 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.
08:33But clearly she isn't.
08:35But look, this is even more unusual.
08:37This is the middle of the winter.
08:39And 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.
08:51It's quite a while.
08:53It lied down for a little while.
08:55Seemed to take a rest.
08:57Lovesick, maybe.
08:58Just lovesick.
08:59Before it got up and then started trotting around
09:02and continued to scent mark the set.
09:04So strange going on with the badgers there.
09:07You can keep your eye on those cameras
09:10from 10 in the morning until 10 at night.
09:13And 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
09:20because it makes me think it is really old
09:23and maybe not feeling very well.
09:24It makes me think of Grizabella the glamour cat
09:27in the musical Cats.
09:28I think it's going to burst into a verse of memories.
09:30Oh, yes, so do I.
09:31That's exactly what I was thinking.
09:34Were you?
09:35I know you love a bit of Andrew Lloyd Webber, don't you?
09:37Yeah, yeah, I do.
09:38Andrew Moose.
09:39Anyway, moving on.
09:40Because there has been extraordinary behaviour
09:42from some of the badgers, some of the other badgers.
09:44Look at this one.
09:45Because this is, I mean, this isn't unusual.
09:47It's on top of a log.
09:48It's found something to eat.
09:49It'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.
10:01It's not very high at all.
10:03I know they haven't got good eyesight.
10:05Their eyesight is poor.
10:06They 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,
11:04went out with a researcher who's working on the recovery of one of our iconic birds of prey.
11:16Ema, 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?
11:25I just heard the call.
11:26I love the call.
11:27The 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.
11:37Oh, 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,
11:59isn'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, and part of our role is to monitor
12:35the birds.
12:35So we might mark them as chicks, and then we're trying to look for their survival and
12:40their 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.
12:57They can live over 20 years, and they can only have maybe one or two young every year.
13:02And 50% of those young won't make it through their first winter.
13:05All the juveniles who were born last year, and those non-breeding juveniles, they all come
13:09together, 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, I think there's one in the far tree over there.
13:21Oh, yeah, it's on the left-hand side of it.
13:23We call this behaviour at the minute pre-roosting behaviour, so just before it gets dark.
13:28So the birds just begin to come, they'll circle over the roost site.
13:31Oh, they're really nicely circling over these trees now.
13:35Yeah, it looks like there's about 20 birds, Jack.
13:42It's a properly inspirational success story, this.
13:45What is your hope for the future?
13:46Well, I would love to see the birds continue to spread and be found breeding in all six
13:51counties of Northern Ireland and get to a point where we don't need to be monitoring
13:54them anymore, that they're just a daily spectacle in everyone's lives.
13:58So rather than a, oh, it's a red kite, it becomes just, ah, just another red kite.
14:04And maybe a little bit biased, but they're a great colour.
14:08Oh, they are?
14:08They're a great colour, the red kite.
14:10Indeed, indeed.
14:14Great conservation success there, not only the birds integrating into the ecology, but
14:18into the lives of all of the people that are living here.
14:21And we should also say there's been a successful reintroduction of white-tailed eagles in Northern
14:26Ireland as well, which 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 and he's found these deer currently at rest,
14:38chewing a bit of cud.
14:39These are seeker deer, there's two of them there, you can see, oh, there's more.
14:43Oh!
14:44Four, four in all.
14:45There they are.
14:46It's probably the four we saw the other night.
14:48You know, it could be, couldn't it?
14:48Yeah, it looks like it, yeah.
14:49I wonder if we could see the antlers, because one of them had a broken antler, didn't it?
14:52It did, it did, yeah, two stags and two hinds, wasn't it?
14:54It's very difficult on a thermal camera to see that.
14:58Let's have a look.
14:58Let's have a look.
14:59Can we see it?
15:00Well, that one's got the antlers, hasn't it?
15:01Oh, there we are, we're all looking.
15:03Oh.
15:04They're definitely, yeah, it does.
15:05Yes, it is, look, it's the one at the back.
15:07Yeah, it's the same four.
15:07It's the same individual.
15:08It's the same four.
15:08Well done, well done.
15:10Well done, Mark Hitch, yeah.
15:11Anyone that doubted Mark, he delivers, doesn't he?
15:14He delivers.
15:14Well, hang on, though.
15:15Just four deer, we need to keep going, we need more.
15:18Keep going, keep 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 Stranford Lock, in particular, those
15:29macro marvels that you get in the mudflats and the waders as well.
15:32But now we're going to show you a real crowd pleaser that's been spotted in the lock, and
15:38it's this.
15:39Look closely, and you can see a pair of bottlenose dolphins.
15:45Now, these first appeared in the lock in 2023, and they've been seen regularly ever
15:52since, it's two males, very different.
15:54There'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 Stranford Lock is open to the Irish Sea, so it's very accessible.
16:12But for anybody that's been out on a boat and seen wild dolphins, you know that you get
16:18so excited when you spot them, particularly when they start performing like that, you
16:24can'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.
16:45Now, that might have been caused by fighting, by some courtship, and people sending photographs
16:53like that in means that scientists are able to identify them as individuals.
16:58A 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.
17:13So, what's the history of Squishy?
17:16Well, with the help of my able assistant here, I should be able to tell you that.
17:21Okay.
17:22Now then, we know that Squishy here.
17:25Let's get him right in there.
17:26Where's my magnet?
17:28It's a great name.
17:29I love that name.
17:30Squishy.
17:31Squishy.
17:33Well, it's not going to come across the land.
17:34No, no, no, no, I'm trying to get him into the Murray Firth here.
17:38He was born in the Murray Firth in 2016 there.
17:44Actually, am I in the right place?
17:46That's not the Murray Firth.
17:47No, no, no, no.
17:48Murray Firth is up here.
17:50We left him in the wrong place.
17:53Sorry about that.
17:53He was born in the Murray Firth in 2016.
17:56So, he is nine years old and then he was next seen amongst a pod of 25 dolphins up here
18:05of the north of Scotland in March 2019.
18:10And 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.
18:26Can my assistant please stop shaking?
18:29Come on now.
18:29I've never seen a map.
18:31It takes so long.
18:32That was in 2022.
18:33And then finally in 2023, he made his way down up the Isthmus into...
18:42Up the Isthmus.
18:43...Sprugford Lodge.
18:44And the crowd go back.
18:45Thank 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.
18:55Okay.
18:55It's not the only dolphins that have been seen in Strangford Lodge, though.
18:59Take a look at this.
19:00These were very different dolphins because they have in accompaniment there a youngster.
19:06Look at that.
19:07Beautiful sight.
19:08Lovely young dolphin.
19:09Now, it's not a newborn, so we can't suggest that they're coming into the shelter of the lot to give
19:13birth.
19:14But what a delightful thing that is to see.
19:16Look at that.
19:18Sensational.
19:19Clearly a body of water that's providing perhaps shelter and perhaps some safety from other animals because we know that
19:27they can be quite aggressive in some of those pods.
19:31But also, of course, plenty of food in the lot, as we've said yesterday.
19:34Exciting to see dolphins in the loch, but 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.
20:13And it's really important that if you do see any cetaceans, dolphins or whales, then please do report them.
20:19Because the more knowledge that the scientists have, the more they know how to protect them.
20:23And details how to do that are on our website.
20:26Yes, Need.
20:27Now, sometimes just being out in nature is all it takes to spark a lifelong interest.
20:32And that's what happened to wildlife guide Kay Blake when he visited an urban wetland site near Hull.
20:46The wetlands 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 a whole different
21:03cast of characters.
21:08All these new arrivals from the continent, the waders, the wildfowl.
21:16I'm here on the river Humber, just a stone's throw away from where I went to university in Hull.
21:23This nature reserve holds a very special place in my heart.
21:33Lovely little moorhen just creeping around.
21:37It's always amazing seeing them forage on the grassy margins.
21:44They're full of character, licking those white tail feathers, letting any predators know that they are alert and if they
21:53need to escape, they can.
21:58Growing up just north of London, me and my mates would just play football and not really think about wildlife.
22:06I used to think you'd have to go to these far-flung exotic places to see interesting wildlife.
22:13I got to university as a friend of mine brought me here to Farings Nature Reserve and that first day
22:20bird watching 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 experience it for
22:34yourself.
22:38We've got to see the marsh arrow just flying in here.
22:43Just quartering really low over the reeds.
22:47She's going to be looking out for any smooth birds, rodents, amphibians.
22:54Seeing what she can catch.
22:56A lovely sort of chocolatey brown colour, her golden crown.
23:02I remember my first trip to this reserve, I saw my first ever marsh arrow and it's a bird that
23:10I didn't even know existed growing up.
23:14Watching through the lockers just transported me.
23:17It was incredible, it just took me to a place I'd never really been before.
23:25Marsh areas are a lot more communal in the winter.
23:28So they can roost communally in a dense reed bed like this.
23:33They can often come in good numbers in the evening.
23:37Just her out there at the moment.
23:43It's amazing just the air and agility when she looks like she's seen something.
23:47She just flips back around on herself.
23:53She'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 and learning
24:17as 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.
24:33I'm very privileged to live on the island for half the year and show people some of these amazing species.
24:41And 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.
24:51Things are getting tasty here now on our black grouse.
24:55With hens arriving back on the lot, our males are having to ramp up a whole other level
25:00to impress any potential mates.
25:05It's amazing to showcase that on social media because maybe more people are being encouraged to go out there and
25:13see it for themselves.
25:16However much I love Scotland, coming back to Far Rings, the place where it all started for me is a
25:22reminder that everywhere has its wildlife wonders waiting to be discovered.
25:29It's so accessible.
25:32There is some fantastic species to enjoy on our doorstep in these pretty urban areas.
25:42I'm evidence that if I can get into birds, I didn't ever think about birds growing up, then anyone can.
25:49And if the world's feeling dark and gloomy in the winter months, definitely get yourself down to a local wetlands.
25:55I did once and it changed my life.
26:04Great 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.
26:16In 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.
26:23And 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.
26:30Classic peanut feeder there.
26:33Sunflower seeds as well.
26:35We put them up so that we can get cracking views of the birds.
26:37Also see what's there as soon as we arrive.
26:40We can put them up.
26:42In fact, though, we are not alone because when it comes to feeding birds in the UK, we really take
26:48it seriously.
26:4964% of all households feed the birds.
26:53That's 17 million homes.
26:56And get this.
26:57We spend 250 million pounds collectively on no less than 150,000 tons of bird food every single year.
27:08That's a lot of bird food.
27:10Now, if we think about that spread between the 10 species which are the most frequent visitors to our feeders,
27:17that means that we don't just provide enough food for them if they didn't eat anything else for an entire
27:23year.
27:23In fact, for each individual of those 10 species, we feed three times the amount of food that they would
27:31need to eat to get through the year.
27:33That's a colossal amount of food.
27:36And 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.
27:49To discuss this with me is Jack Baddams.
27:52Jack, thanks for coming along.
27:53So let's get down to the potential negatives, the first of which is disease.
27:57Absolutely. So disease is something that people who feed the birds are going to be very familiar with.
28:02It's talked about quite a lot.
28:04But 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,
28:15are all being forced into tiny little areas to get their food and unlimited supply of food over and over
28:22again
28:22for potentially weeks, months or even years at a time.
28:25And that creates an environment that's perfect for spreading some diseases.
28:29And some of the species that have suffered are our finches.
28:33Now, 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.
28:42It was first reported in 2005.
28:45And get this, there's been a 66% decline in green finches in the past 10 years.
28:50Three million, three million green finches have died.
28:55And more recently, chaffinches have dropped by 30% and bull finches have declined by nearly 40% in the
29:01last five years.
29:04So disease transmission amongst these birds is very, very serious.
29:07And of course, it's not just trichomoniasis.
29:09We've had avian flu.
29:11Yeah, avian pox as well.
29:13And we've said it's great if you clean your bird feeders.
29:18Of course it is. Everyone should be cleaning their bird feeders.
29:20But 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
29:26is there again.
29:27That 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, which
29:37they're going to release in the spring.
29:39And of course, that's going to be very eagerly anticipated.
29:42But look, it's not just disease, is it? There are other factors.
29:44There is. So this next one is one that's gaining traction within sort of conservation thinking.
29:49And this comes down to the amount of bird food you referenced there.
29:53We feed the birds, but are we feeding all birds equally? Do 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
30:06of the bird food that we've put out.
30:09But 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
30:17out into woodlands, into good remnants of habitats,
30:20then birds like these pied flycatchers, birds like these willow tits.
30:24Pied flycatchers, of course, don't benefit from bird feeders.
30:27Willow tits like to stay in one territory more or less their entire lives,
30:30and 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
30:47and great tits,
30:47as they spill out into natural habitats, could it have a negative effect on some of the birds that really
30:52do need our help?
30:53And there is some evidence that's certainly the case when it comes to more fragile species that are in critical
30:57decline, like the willow tit.
30:59OK, that's the birds. What about the human impact?
31:02Because, 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
31:30couple of months.
31:31But you've taken a different route.
31:32I have, yeah. 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.
31:47Because again, good scientific research has been conducted in the United States looking at chickadees like tits.
31:53And what they found was that when they were on the feeders, they were only taking 50% of the
31:57food that they required.
31:57The other 50% was natural.
31:59And 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
32:13is 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
32:27providing 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
32:37homes for insects for the birds to eat and natural sources of food.
32:41Seed 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.
32:48This is merely to demonstrate the point. And what you can see there are some sunflower heads.
32:52You 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
33:15to eat those.
33:16I mean, mammals will come as well.
33:18Here 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 there 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
33:41the birds is,
33:41not what bird feeder can I buy, not what food can I buy, but what native bush could I plant?
33:46What 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.
33:53Go on. Go on.
33:54So I let a part of my lawn grow long and I stood washing the pots and I was looking
33:59out 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 fruit.
34:06That's a good garden bird.
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
34:13have 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 so that you can think
34:30about 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
34:41the start, is a cultural institution.
34:43It'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
35:01is intensive agriculture and forestry.
35:04So we need to address that, too. And then there's the thorny issue of cats.
35:07We know that they take 55 million birds a year. So it's a complex thing.
35:13What we'd like you to do is to think about it. Well, one thing's for sure, and you pointed it
35:17out, 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
35:23as a nation love, we've got to change our habits.
35:27So 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
35:35are.
35:37That's nice to see, isn't it? Look at the eye radiating the heat there, Jack.
35:40The only place that you can really see. So that proves, doesn't it, that on these winter nights, these little
35:46birds are quite good at insulating themselves, aren't they?
35:49Absolutely, yeah. I mean, you can barely see any other part of it radiating heat other than straight out of
35:55those eyes,
35:55which, 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
36:10going 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.
36:24This is my downtime. I can come out and go for a dander through the woods, spend a couple of
36:27hours and just switch off.
36:29And just walk around, look for the owls, have a quick head count on them, see how many there is
36:32in the roost.
36:34Last weekend I had four owls and then one tree and then a couple of third outliers, so eight owls
36:38here.
36:39You 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, which is
36:49quite a long time ago now.
36:52I actually had them at the bottom of the garden and used to sit in my bedroom at night, watch
36:57them out the window.
36:58And now I'm still watching them 40 years later up around the same woods here.
37:07Must be a really good indication that there's something sitting up in this tree.
37:11There's almost 10 pellets.
37:13Pellets are only the stuff that the owls can't digest.
37:15They cough them back up and it comes up like a cat's furball.
37:24These couple of trees are normally fairly good for them.
37:28It just takes a wee while.
37:32They're so well camouflaged when they're sitting around the trunks of the trees.
37:39I love to people walk past them with no idea.
37:42I've got to the point where nobody are and I'm quite secretive about it.
37:47Yeah, I've got him.
37:53He's not enjoying that rain.
37:58He's looking down at us now.
38:02I don't know why owls have sort of struck a chord with me.
38:05Whether it's just because they are quite, probably a bit like myself, they're quite quiet and they just go about
38:09their 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.
38:25One in particular a few years ago, just every night came to the same branch.
38:28When they come up close to you, it's lovely.
38:31It's just no better feeling than knowing that something sort of nearly trusts you enough.
38:34If it knows you're no threat, it'll fly over and quite happily fly past you.
38:39I 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, leave them sitting on their treetops.
38:50Top bird, top bloke.
38:52I absolutely love that.
38:53I love the fact that he found them all of those years ago.
38:55Still goes there, still enjoys them.
38:57I'm not surprised they're pretty special birds, but that was fantastic.
39:00I wonder if he knows any individually.
39:02He probably does, doesn't he?
39:03I would get to know them if there were any distinguishing features, yeah.
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
39:20that you don't often see owls in Northern Ireland and you only see three of the species.
39:25So 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 around.
39:35It's hunting, seeing if it can see anything to swoop down on, taking its time.
39:41It's got its eye on something.
39:43Is it going to go?
39:44Yes.
39:45Down it goes into the undergrowth.
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.
39:59Now, 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, feeding en route 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.
40:26I've got to say, look at the mallard looking up at the duck in daylight.
40:30Sorry, the mallard looking up at the duck.
40:33The mallard looking up at the bat in daylight.
40:36So 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.
40:46That's an amazing photo to get though, isn't it?
40:48I mean, 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.
41:03I know.
41:05That's brilliant.
41:05We 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 marten.
41:14But over the few days he's been here, he has got some great stuff.
41:18And look at this.
41:18We 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.
41:29Oh, 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.
41:57Did 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.
42:04Runs 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, that one, is it?
42:12Mark also spotted this, and 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.
42:19And 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.
42:36Makes 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. Yolo.
42:45Ah, yes, indeed.
42:46I will be going quackers over the Ducks of Strangford Loch here.
42:50Now, we've seen that the loch is internationally important
42:53for habitats like the seagrass beds,
42:56for the pale-bellied brent geese,
42:59for the bottomless 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. Look at that.
43:10What an elegant bird that is.
43:12The male with a long neck, chocolate-coloured head, and that long erect tail there.
43:19The females are beautiful as well, because 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'll ask you out there, what noise does a duck make?
43:39And I bet that nearly everybody from the age of 4 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.
43:55And that duck is the female mallard.
44:02Isn't that brilliant?
44:03Oh, whenever I hear that, I always think they're laughing at me.
44:06So it's the female mallard that goes quack, quack.
44:10But how about the male? What noise does the male make?
44:18Okay, it's a series of sort of grunts, really.
44:23But why the difference? What causes that?
44:26Well, it's all going to do with the bird's syrinx.
44:29We are mammals, we have a larynx, what we call our voice box.
44:35But birds, they have a syrinx.
44:37Now, let me show you.
44:41Here, 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.
44:56And 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.
45:06But there is a large protrusion on the left-hand bulla here.
45:13And this one acts as a kind of resonator.
45:16And this is what allows the male to do those deep grunts.
45:21And that accounts for the difference in the calls between the male and the female mallard.
45:29Okay, so now we know what noises the mallard make.
45:32Let's have a look at some of our other ducks.
45:34Let's start with a group of widgeon.
45:37Listen to this.
45:42Now, it's mainly the males you can hear there.
45:45Those 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.
45:57Ooh.
45:58Ooh.
46:00Ooh.
46:00No?
46:01Okay.
46:01Okay.
46:02Let's listen to the bird itself.
46:03It's a male ida duck.
46:05Ooh.
46:09Ooh.
46:10Ooh.
46:10Isn't that great?
46:11And now, let's listen to the female ida.
46:15Ooh.
46:18Ooh.
46:18Very different.
46:19Ooh.
46:19You can hear some males in the background, but the female does that gawk, gawk, gawk, gawk,
46:24gawk, gawk kind of noise.
46:26Isn't that remarkable?
46:26So 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?
46:39We're going to have a symphony of ducks.
46:46Whistling
46:47Whistling
47:18BIRDS CHIRP
47:21Isn't that lovely? Isn't that absolutely beautiful noises?
47:26Now ducks, well they like to show off their finery, but some creatures like to hide their light under a
47:33bushel.
47:33Now if you ever venture into one of our wonderful temperate rainforests, well before you is a whole world of
47:41biofluorescence that the human eye can't usually see.
47:46So we sent our researcher Seth and our cameraman Ben to investigate.
47:56This temperate rainforest in Pembrokeshire, Wales is a camera team's dream.
48:05Oof, mossy rocks.
48:07There's a lot of mossy rocks. Big fan of moss.
48:10I've wanted to visit temperate rainforests in the UK for so long and never actually done it.
48:15It 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 biofluorescence.
48:28It's happening all around us all of the time.
48:32But we can only see it by using special UV torches, which makes the invisible visible, but only under the
48:40cover of night.
48:44One medium step for Ben.
48:47One giant step for Seth.
48:50Do you reckon this stump here could be a good place to start?
48:54Yeah.
48:55I mean, it all looks incredibly green right now, but once the lights are on, it's going to be like
49:00a little disco.
49:08I feel like the majority of macro filming in the wild is just trying to get your tripod in the
49:14right spot.
49:15The amount of things, though. Cable tied, duct tapes.
49:19No problem.
49:22Ready?
49:23Yeah. Three, two, one.
49:27Wow.
49:27Wait, that's awesome.
49:29Completely changed colour.
49:30That's insane.
49:32Wow.
49:33Look at that, and look at all the different, like, textures as well.
49:36Yeah.
49:37I kind of feel like I'm stepping into a parallel world.
49:43Biofluorescence is when living things absorb UV light and then re-emit it in a whole spectrum of different bright
49:50colours.
49:52This re-emitted glow isn't bright enough to be seen in the day, but in the dark, under pure UV
49:59light, it's suddenly revealed.
50:04So far, the forest flora has dazzled, but invertebrate enthusiast Seth wants to try and see biofluorescence on the move.
50:16Oh, look at this.
50:18Oh, look at this.
50:43But some species are thought to use it as a form of communication to help with courtship or confuse predators,
50:52whatever 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 I'm just going to light up.
51:11Ah, there we are.
51:13What do you think that is, Seth?
51:14A little...
51:15My money's on a springtail.
51:16Springtail, yeah.
51:18Oh, there we go.
51:21Look at that.
51:23I can't believe how bright it is, to be honest.
51:25It's like a little glow-in-the-dark star, isn't it?
51:29Yeah.
51:30It's still a mystery why springtails fluoresce, but they do eat a lot of biofluorescent fungi, which could contribute to
51:38their super bright glow.
51:41They'd be, like, impossible to spot in the daytime, because they're grey, and then now they're fluorescing, like, makes it
51:49so easy to spot.
51:53Amazing.
51:54I think that's probably the brightest thing we've seen all night.
51:57Yeah.
51:58I want a glowing rhino next, Seth.
52:04Fascinating, isn't it? Fascinating.
52:06And we've looked at this before.
52:07We've seen scorpions biofluorescing, and a few years ago we looked at fungal fruiting bodies, toadstools, and they were biofluorescing,
52:14too.
52:14I'm 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?
52:19Asking for it for your birthday.
52:21I thought it was very, very beautiful, and the fact that we don't see that typically using our eyes.
52:25There's another whole visual world out there, isn't there?
52:27You know, Mark Yates is out with his thermal camera.
52:29We asked him to find us a pine martin.
52:31Well, he hasn't found a pine martin, but he has found this.
52:35Now, what do you reckon that is, Chris?
52:37Well.
52:37It's clearly a bird.
52:39Yes, it's a bird.
52:39It's got quite a long tail.
52:40And look at the eye, the shape of it.
52:42And there, oh, no, look in profile.
52:44Look at the crest.
52:44Oh, lapwing.
52:46It's the lapwing.
52:47Look at that.
52:47When it moved, we could see that crest.
52:50That's not, it's not a pine, clearly not a pine martin.
52:53But it's not a bad spot, is it?
52:55I think that's a pretty good spot, actually.
52:56Well done, Mark.
52:56Keep looking.
52:57You never know.
52:57He might get us a pine martin by the end of the programme.
53:00Now, you may remember on Tuesday, we sent Yolo to the Temple of the Winds.
53:04This is what it looks like.
53:05It's a temple on top of a hill, which has the most incredible view of the lock.
53:10Look at that.
53:11And if you go up there with your binoculars, you get a real view of the bigger picture.
53:16But what happens if you want to look at the detail, the detail of the temple,
53:21where you've got a head underground?
53:23This is what you might see.
53:25You go through the tunnels.
53:26You know where you go to, Chris?
53:28You go to the dungeon.
53:29I love a dungeon.
53:30You go to the dungeon.
53:31What are you going to see in the dungeon?
53:34What do you think it might be?
53:35Yes, moths.
53:37These are herald moths.
53:39And there are over 100 of them down there.
53:42And they're overwintering as adults, which is quite interesting.
53:45It's only 2% of our butterflies, UK butterflies and moths, overwinter as adults.
53:51So great to have them here.
53:53One of the largest overwintering sites in Northern Ireland of those particular moths.
53:57And they are very, very beautiful moths.
53:59If you take a look at them in close-up, that rich colouring there, rusty colouring with the orange and
54:05the stripe on the wing.
54:06Now, some of the other species that do overwinter are equally rusty on their underwings.
54:11If you think of things like peacock butterflies or small tortoiseshell butterflies, red admirals.
54:16And very often they will rest, I guess not, on rusted, corrugated iron roofs.
54:21They'll go into your shed and they love to rest there for the winter, using that as a means of
54:26camouflaging themselves from any potential predators.
54:28They will get nibbled by mice and, of course, they could get caught by spiders as well.
54:33Lovely to see that.
54:34When they go into that dormant state, apparently they don't age.
54:37And it's months, isn't it, that they're there?
54:39That would be amazing if we could harness that ability.
54:43I think I have over the last week.
54:44It's been so cold here that I haven't aged at all.
54:47You don't look any different.
54:48If it's any colder, I'll be going backwards.
54:49By the end of the series, I'll be four years old.
54:52Now, we know that this week it's been, well, it's been damp, it's been windy.
54:57And look at my trousers, it's been muddy.
54:58It's been like being at some sort of festival.
55:00But earlier on in the winter, it was snowy and it was frosty.
55:05So let's all sit back, relax and enjoy some proper snowy winter scenes.
55:38So let's go.
56:00Let's go.
56:42Oh, I love 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, take a look at this.
56:53This was captured by one of our long lens camera operators down on the shore of Strangford Loch.
56:59Two rooks, there's a rook by the baggy feathers on the legs and the bear base to the bill there.
57:06But they're showing some courtship display.
57:09The male is feeding the female, female begging for food.
57:14She now needs to build up her fat reserves, her energy to lay her eggs.
57:18They're fairly early nesters, probably early March up here I would imagine.
57:22And a bit of courtship.
57:24Look at that.
57:25Finding 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.
57:34It's making me feel all lovely and warm.
57:37We'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, but we'll be going further afield as well.
57:46Lira Valencia will be looking at the rich wildlife of the Isle of Mule.
57:51And we'll be taking a glimpse into the lives of Stokes in winter.
57:57And of course, we'll be keeping our eyes on all of those live cameras and our thermal camera here.
58:02You can keep watching those live cameras.
58:04We've got scattered across Mount Stewart from 10 in the morning until 10 at night.
58:09Tomorrow, lunchtime, Instagram Live.
58:12Jack Baddams and Hannah Stipfel will be there.
58:14And of course, we'll be hoping that the badger comes back so we can answer one of the greatest mysteries
58:18in badger history.
58:19What is going on with all of that keckering down at the set?
58:24See you tomorrow night.
58:25See you tomorrow.
58:26Bye-bye.
58:27Bye-bye.
58:28Bye-bye.
58:35Bye-bye.
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