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Britain as a whole is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. From a busy puffin colony, Sir David highlights the issue, and asks how nature can be restored for future generations.
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00:21In my long life, I've been lucky enough to travel to almost every part of the globe
00:28and gaze upon some of its most beautiful and dramatic sights.
00:33I can assure you that nature in these islands, if you know where to look,
00:39can be just as dramatic and spectacular as anything that I've seen elsewhere.
00:55The British Isles are globally important for nature.
01:01In this series, we'll show you why that is so
01:06and celebrate the wonders of these islands that we call home.
01:11This is Wild Isles.
01:57Wild Isles
02:02170 miles from mainland Scotland at the northern tip of the Shetland Islands it's home to some
02:11of our richest marine and bird life these rough waters are patrolled by our largest marine predator
02:38orca killer whales
02:48three pods of them having spent the winter fishing for herring off Iceland regularly returned to
02:56Shetland's waters each spring
03:02they do so for one particular reason
03:15thousands of common and gray seals live here
03:31the waters are full of food
03:35and there are plenty of gullies and channels that offer safety
03:41most of the time
03:48the orca that come here have a particular taste
04:10and they have developed a unique way of catching them
04:26their strategy is one of surprise
04:35they have discovered how to travel up channels in
04:38the kelp to reach the shallow water where seals often hide
05:08no gully is left unchecked
05:19the orca turn on their side so that their dorsal fin doesn't break the surface and reveal their presence
05:42a seal it stays close to the rocks where a large orca
05:47would find swimming difficult
05:57it hides and waits for the danger to pass
06:07the orca
06:08the orca bide their time
06:10their best chance is to find a seal asleep in the water
06:30it wakes up and flees but there's a pup here too
06:51the orca takes its catch out into open water and there shows younger members of the pod
06:57how to drown it
07:06the whole group now share the catch
07:09nothing will be wasted
07:23Shetland is the only place in Britain and Ireland where orca breed
07:29just one of the many remarkable creatures that inhabit our seas lands and skies
07:48one reason why our natural world is so rich comes from its geology
07:53amongst the most varied to be found anywhere on the planet
07:59from the chalk cliffs and downs of southern England to the limestone pavements of Yorkshire
08:07from the rugged windstone cliffs of Durham to the volcanic basalt of the giant causeway in Northern Ireland
08:17each kind of rock creates its own landscape with its own community of animals and plants
08:30another reason why our nature is so diverse
08:32another reason why our nature is so diverse is our varied climate
08:37in the north it can be very cold indeed
08:43a thousand meters up in Scotland's Cairngorm mountains
08:47winter here can be truly active with temperatures dropping to minus 27 degrees centigrade
09:00these peaks in the highlands are patrolled by one of our most spectacular birds of prey
09:21they were once widespread across Britain and Ireland but today almost all of our 500 or so pairs nest here
09:30in Scotland
09:35now however after years of persecution golden eagle numbers are on the rise
09:50within their territory there is clear evidence of how precious our few remaining wild places are
10:00there are now only remnants of the vast ancient forest that once covered most of the highlands
10:05there are now only remnants of the vast ancient forest that once covered most of the highlands
10:08the Caledonian forest is the only native coniferous woodland left in Britain
10:16it's less than one percent of its original extent
10:27only thirteen percent of Britain as a whole is covered by trees
10:31that's one of the lowest proportions in the whole of Europe
10:37our oak trees however are globally important
10:42England alone has more ancient oaks than the whole of Europe put together
10:47and over three quarters of them are more than five hundred years old
11:03in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire stands the oldest oak tree in Britain
11:11it's one thousand and forty six years old and began its life before the Norman Conquest
11:28oak trees throughout their long lives provide food and shelter for over two thousand three hundred different species of plants
11:38and animals
11:49as the sun sets the oak trees night shift appears
11:59among them one of the most charming animals in Britain
12:09a Dormouse
12:10a Dormouse
12:11she assesses the light levels outside her nest
12:17the full moon could be a problem
12:22but after sleeping all day she needs to get out and about
12:33she has four growing babies who all depend on her for milk
12:43but fortunately higher up in the oak there is a particularly energy rich food waiting to be collected
12:54for us it would be like climbing to the top of a skyscraper
13:12left alone the babies begin to explore the dangerous world beyond their nest hole
13:37their mother is getting closer to what she's looking for
13:41their mother is getting closer to what she's looking for
13:48but tawny owls also nest in oak trees
13:55she freezes
13:58and can stay motionless for over an hour to avoid detection
14:17at last she decides it's safe to continue her climb
14:22at last she decides it's safe to continue her climb
14:41the flowers are loaded with sugar rich nectar
14:52she bites off the petals to get to the sweet liquid at their base
15:06her young are getting impatient
15:22one ventures out
15:24and starts to explore
15:33mother decides that she's eaten enough
15:45the baby dormice scuttle back home
15:49the baby dormice scuttle back home
16:06safe at last
16:09but for how long
16:15dormice
16:16were once widespread
16:18but now they are largely restricted to males
16:21and southern England
16:23sunny
16:32Spring brings with it one of the woodland's greatest spectacles, bluebells.
16:44Within only a few days, the ground is flooded with colour.
16:48More than half the world's common bluebells flower in Britain and Ireland.
16:57The peak of their display coincides with an important event in the lives of one of the
17:02woodland's bigger inhabitants.
17:12With a sense of smell that's much more acute than ours, a badger in East Sussex checks
17:18that the coast is clear.
17:25Once they're sure that it's safe, the adults allow their cubs above ground for the very
17:31first time.
17:38Badger clans are tightly knit, and these young cubs are linked by scent.
17:43Not just to their mother, but to the whole extended family.
17:55Britain is home to over a quarter of Europe's badgers, and their digging and foraging has
18:01been a major factor in shaping the forest floor.
18:11Woodlands are complex communities containing great numbers of species of plants and mammals,
18:18birds and insects.
18:20But over the decades, they've been greatly diminished.
18:26In just the last 20 years, 60% of our flying insects have vanished.
18:35Insects play a crucial role in pollinating both our wildflowers and our crops, and they do
18:41so in a variety of remarkable ways.
18:46The flowers of red valerian, for instance, store their nectar at the base of their elongated
18:52blooms, so only a pollinator with very special mouthbarks can drink it.
19:02The hummingbird hawk moth has just the right equipment for the job, a long tubular proboscis.
19:15These summer visitors can beat their wings 85 times a second and need lots of nectar to
19:23fuel the effort of doing so.
19:34Other flowers, like bittersweet, offer a different reward.
19:39Not nectar, but pollen, which is produced within its tightly sealed yellow anthers.
19:49And one insect knows how to reach it, a bumble bee.
19:58This female has developed a very clever way to get at the pollen.
20:03She vibrates her body at exactly the right frequency to make the pollen pour out.
20:19The pollen will feed her young, but some will rub off when she visits other flowers on her
20:26way home and so fertilize them.
20:32A win for both flower and bee.
20:40Perhaps the most complicated pollination technique of all is that used by a common wooden plant
20:47known as lords and ladies.
20:51It produces a very odd-looking flower with a large purple spike called a spadix.
21:01In the late afternoon, the spadix heats up until it becomes 20 degrees centigrade hotter than
21:09its surroundings and releases a foul-smelling scent.
21:15Tiny owl mitch flies looking for rotting matter on which to lay their eggs find the stink irresistibly attractive.
21:28But the inner side of the hooded leaf that surrounds the spadix is very slippery.
21:33The flies tumble down into a dungeon.
21:40The bulbous chamber at the base of the plant.
21:47The female parts that need pollinating are at the bottom of this chamber.
21:53Above them, the male parts that produce the pollen.
21:58And at the very top, spiky, slippery, downward-pointing hairs.
22:06These act like the bars of a prison, trapping the owl flies below.
22:12And holding them there overnight.
22:21Trapped, the flies get glued to the flowers' sticky female parts, transferring any pollen they
22:28may have brought from other lords and ladies.
22:32The flies then eat the now dried sweet secretion and then try to leave.
22:39But the flower will not release them just yet.
22:44The male flowers above are now ripe and their pollen bursts out, showering the flies below.
22:57The prison bars now wilt and the flies are free to go.
23:04For this extraordinary pollination to be successful, a fly must escape this prison twice.
23:12First to be loaded with pollen.
23:14And then, once again, to deliver the pollen to another lords and ladies flower.
23:29Nowhere here is richer in wild flowers and insect pollinators than our traditional hay meadows.
23:38Sadly, in the last 60 years, we've lost 97% of this precious habitat.
23:47But with nature-friendly farming, meadows can be restored to provide a haven for wildlife.
23:56It's all about the timing.
24:03Delaying mowing until mid-July allows birds and insects to complete their breeding and flowers
24:10to set their seed.
24:16It also creates opportunities for those that are ready to exploit them.
24:29The local foxes here in Gloucestershire know these fields very well.
24:37Every year, they follow the farmers from field to field as they make hay.
24:44And sometimes, the cubs come with them.
24:52These cubs are only three months old and mostly interested in play.
25:06Summer chafers, emerging from the grass, are worth eating if you can catch them.
25:19But the cubs need to be taught how to hunt properly.
25:28By September, they will be on their own.
25:32So, their mother shows them how.
25:45Her acute sense of hearing enables her to detect even the slightest rustle in the grass.
26:02By moving her head, she can pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from.
26:11And then, silently, she leaps.
26:30At least, the cubs will have something to eat this evening.
26:44Britain and Ireland's position on the globe gives us a special importance for wildlife internationally.
26:53We are in just the right place to welcome migrants from the south in summer and from the north in
27:00winter.
27:05Each autumn, around 30,000 barnacle geese arrive on the Hebridean island of Islay.
27:18They have all come from Greenland, where they spent the summer.
27:28Some years, half the world population arrive here, all attracted by the same food.
27:40grass.
27:45They feed in groups.
27:47That way, there will always be some eyes keeping watch.
27:59White-tailed eagles.
28:01Our biggest bird of prey.
28:07Once extinct in Britain, today, up to a dozen now spend winter on Islay.
28:18But they've been spotted.
28:33The eagles must select a particular bird as a target.
28:40They're testing the geese, trying to identify a weak one.
28:46After a journey of almost 2,000 miles, some will be particularly exhausted.
28:57But the eagles haven't chosen one yet.
29:06At low tide, out on the estuary, the geese come down.
29:15Even here, the eagles don't let them rest for long.
29:24A young, inexperienced eagles tries his luck.
29:37Driving them on again.
29:43The youngster keeps the flock on the move.
29:51One exhausted goose, however, gets left behind.
30:04Another young eagle swoops in.
30:11In the confusion, the goose manages to fly off.
30:22But neither of the eagles is going to give up now.
30:45As the goose turns, it loses one of its pursuers.
30:52Now, it's just a one-on-one.
31:21The goose is so heavy, the young eagle has no idea.
31:24Just a struggle to hold on.
31:46This young bird and all the other white-tailed eagles here on Islay have only learnt how
31:51to hunt barnacle geese in the last ten years.
32:06Across Britain and Ireland, our mild climate attracts more than half a million geese each
32:13winter, making us a vital refuge for these long distance travellers.
32:30Here in Britain, we have one of the rarest habitats on Earth.
32:35Chalk streams.
32:41There are only about 200 chalk streams in the world and 85% of them flow through southern
32:48England.
32:53Their waters, rising through chalk and flowing over it, are rich in minerals and oxygen.
33:01This creates the right conditions for water crowfoot, that each summer produces floating
33:08carpets of white flowers.
33:17Above them fly banded Demoiselle damselflies, slimmer relatives of dragonflies.
33:26These, with dark patches on their wings, are the males, and they are an iridescent blue.
33:41The more metallic green ones with plain unmarked wings are the females.
33:52To attract a female, a male must secure a patch of healthy floating leaves on which she can
33:58lay her eggs.
34:02The male declares his ownership of a patch by flaunting his wings, before returning to a nearby
34:12perch.
34:18But other males want both his territory and the female, and they are willing to fight.
34:38He's outnumbered.
34:48The male declares his wings.
34:49In the chaos, he returns to his perch, watched closely by the female.
34:55This time, he invites her down to view his patch of leaves.
35:01And settles on the water surface, showing her that the oxygen rich waters are flowing well, which
35:08will be vital for her eggs.
35:13She's impressed.
35:17Mating, however, is a complicated business.
35:22First, he grasps her firmly by the neck, and carefully removes any rival's sperm.
35:32Then he collects his own sperm from an opening near his head, and transfers it to her.
35:49Once mated, the female flies to his patch of leaves to lay her eggs.
36:02And the male joins her to guard her from his rivals.
36:10They barge in and try and pull the couple apart, for it's still not too late for them to mate
36:17with this female themselves.
36:27But she has an escape route.
36:30Under the water.
36:33A silver layer of bubbles allows her to breathe while she's beneath the surface.
36:43She cuts into the plant's stems with her sharp ovipositor, and starts to inject her eggs, producing
36:51more than 400 in under an hour.
37:02Mission accomplished.
37:14To breed in this way, the damsels require clean, free-flowing, fresh water.
37:22As do other animals that live in chalk streams, our native brown trout and minnows.
37:33These small fish are preyed upon by one of our loveliest birds.
37:41We often hear them, but usually get only a glimpse, a flash of electric blue.
37:51Kingfishers speed along rivers at 30 miles an hour.
37:58Each claims a particular stretch of river, which can be over two miles long.
38:08The fishing territories are vigorously defended, and a male will only share one with his partner.
38:40Just to stay alive, this female must eat over two miles.
38:44Over half her body weight each day.
38:54If they have chicks, a pair of kingfishers must catch a further 70 fish every day.
39:16The coastline of Britain and Ireland is over 22,000 miles long.
39:22And our seas are amongst the richest in Europe.
39:30Because of this, our seabird colonies are among the biggest and most spectacular to be found anywhere on the planet.
39:50Bass Rock in Scotland's Firth of Forth is the largest gannet colony in the world.
39:58With 75,000 pairs returning here each year.
40:06Our waters, in fact, support nearly 70% of the northern gannet's global population.
40:15At the height of summer, the whole of Bass Rock is jam-packed, with two nests to every square metre.
40:25Male and female spend the winter apart, far out at sea.
40:30But in spring, they return to their breeding grounds, and each couple re-establish their partnership,
40:37with a delicate courtship display.
40:51It takes over three months to rear a chick.
40:55And during that time, both parents will make hundreds of trips to collect food.
41:01On average, each feeding trip is over 140 miles long.
41:09But on occasion, they may travel as far as 600 miles.
41:35The gannets' immense journeys are only possible because they bring their catch home in their stomachs.
41:47Mackerel and herring are the gannets' favourite food, though the size of a portion can be a bit of a
41:56problem for some.
42:08Another much smaller fish is also very important to our seabirds.
42:15Sand eels are only 30 cm long, but they occur in vast shoals.
42:22They're a critical link in the food chains of a whole range of different seabirds.
42:32Lesser sand eels are the favourite prey of puffins.
42:37Lesser sand eels are the favourite prey of puffins.
42:38Almost half a million of these lovable birds come to our coast each summer.
42:42Mostly to islands such as these, the farms off Northumberland.
43:04Puffins mate for life, and pears use the same burrow every year.
43:09Here, they raise a single chick, called a puffling.
43:18Unlike gannets, the journeys they make for food are usually shorter.
43:25Their broad bills enable them to carry remarkably large numbers of sand eels.
43:31But their catch is always temptingly visible.
43:45Herring gulls are twice the size of a puffin.
44:06But the greatest threat to puffins on this island comes from a smaller gull.
44:22The black-headed gull.
44:41They are not strong enough to grab a puffin in the air.
44:44They have to use another technique.
44:48They try to snatch the sand eels right out of the puffins beak.
45:11This puffin escapes.
45:14But the problem is that this burrow is not his.
45:18And the gulls seem to know that.
45:26He can't stay down there for long.
45:43This little puffin is determined that these sand eels are for his chick and nobody else.
46:13Whichuns are interested in if he's hasn't.
46:16He's been part of the program.
46:31Making a more turtle.
46:49Here, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, puffin numbers have been steadily increasing.
46:56Today nearly 40,000 return to this tiny island every summer.
47:01But skoma is an exception.
47:05Most of our puffin colonies are in decline.
47:10Overfishing and climate change mean the sand eels they depend on are increasingly hard
47:15to find.
47:16It's a clear example of just how fragile and fragmented our nature is.
47:23Though rich in places, Britain as a whole is one of the most nature-depleted countries
47:29in the world, never has there been a more important time to invest in our own wildlife, to try
47:39and set an example for the rest of the world and restore our once wild isles for future
47:58generations.
48:01To film orca hunting seals, the Wild Isles team travelled to Shetland.
48:07The plan was to find and follow one particular pod.
48:12A family of eight individuals known as the 27s.
48:18As Shetland's biggest pod, they were the team's best chance to film a hunt.
48:27They had a fast boat, modified to carry a stabilised camera system, and drones to give them a far-reaching
48:36eye in the sky.
48:39But finding the pod in this vast territory was not going to be easy.
48:45So, the crew enlisted local knowledge.
48:49I just messaged my wife and asked her how big is Shetland's coastline.
48:55And she wrote back to me and said it's 2,700 kilometres, and we're looking for basically
49:01a pod of eight animals in the 2,700 kilometres of coast.
49:06Suddenly dawned on me the enormity of what we're trying to do.
49:13Richard had vital extra help, a WhatsApp group of 250 islanders who regularly update each
49:21other on their sightings.
49:24So, all these eyes looking and picking up and posting on social media, I think it would
49:31be very difficult to follow these killer whales.
49:36Orca can travel 100 miles a day in their search for food.
49:41They can appear anywhere on Shetland's coast at any time.
49:47So the strategy was to spend as much time at sea as possible to be able to react quickly
49:53to any sightings.
49:55Three weeks, they haven't been anywhere, seen anywhere in Shetland's, this pod.
50:01But it's quite difficult to film a killer whale sequence without killer whales.
50:06There's literally nothing more we can do than go out, search every day, hope that the phone
50:12rings and someone else has seen it, or we find them.
50:15And the challenge was made even greater when thick fog made navigating the island near impossible.
50:22Well, the weather changes pretty quickly up here.
50:25We were in glorious, becalmed, blue sky, flat water conditions about two hours ago.
50:33We've just started our journey back, and we've come into this bank of fog, and it's completely
50:39surrounded the boat.
50:40There are no reference points out here now.
50:44Time was running out.
50:45With just a few days left, Richard finally got a call from one of the islanders.
51:01The team raced to catch up with the orca.
51:09They got in position ahead of the bulls and waited for them to pass.
51:22Sadly, the excitement was short-lived.
51:24It's not the 27s, which is the family group we were hoping to catch up with, but it is killer
51:31whales.
51:32After a month of effort, they had run out of time that year.
51:40And the following year saw a new team, a new boat, and a new plan.
51:46Basing themselves on land, the team could be more reactive.
51:51When the orca do turn up, we need to drop everything and go and try and find them.
51:58And the quickest way to do that on this island is to tow the boat to where we think they're
52:06about to be based on the last sightings.
52:08That means that we have to know our slipways, but quite a few of them are covered in this
52:14green, slimy weed.
52:17For the crew, this meant regular cleaning duty.
52:24With the slipways weed free, they could test the new camera setup.
52:30This time, they've mounted the camera on a jib to move it more quickly into position.
52:37After two weeks of no sighting, it felt like a replay of last year's bad luck.
52:43But once again, the network of Islanders came to the rescue.
52:48Second-hand information, but some orca was seen about 10km from here at 8pm last night.
52:53We just got a text this morning at 7am.
52:57Tipped off that a pod of orcas was close, the team could quickly catch up with them.
53:02But it wasn't the 27s.
53:04It's a 19 pod with an individual in it called Musa, which is quite a well-known individual.
53:10But she was last seen on Friday with the 27 pod in Orkney.
53:16So we're now on Sunday, and she's here.
53:19So does that mean the 27 pod's here?
53:22The team stuck around, hoping the pods were travelling together.
53:27There they are.
53:28There they are.
53:29There they are in the bay.
53:30In the bay here.
53:31Yeah.
53:32The other side of the skerries.
53:33Can we just spin round, please?
53:36It took patience and determination, but after two years of effort, the crew finally caught
53:41up with the 27 pod.
53:45We are here right now on the 27s, which is our best pod because one of the guys working
53:50on the ferry saw them, posted it on WhatsApp.
53:53We're five minutes away, and we just were straight on to it.
53:58The pod soon lived up to their promise and began to hunt along the coast.
54:05Using the drone, the team could follow as the pod spread out, searching every inch of the
54:11shoreline.
54:14From the boat, the stabilised camera rig allowed them to film the action close-up.
54:27That was carnage all so fast.
54:30It just goes crazy.
54:32Crazy.
54:33Yeah.
54:34Really crazy hunt.
54:35Just bonkers.
54:38Just like chaos.
54:40After two years of filming and thanks to the network of Islanders and Richard's expertise,
54:46the team were finally able to capture this extraordinary hunting behaviour.
54:57Three months after returning from Shetland, there was some sad news.
55:02A young male orca from the 27 pod was found dead, washed up on shore.
55:09A post-mortem revealed he had drowned after becoming entangled in fishing gear.
55:16Each year, dozens of whales and dolphins die in this way.
55:22But since filming, three new calves have been spotted.
55:25The youngest belonging to the 27s.
55:32We must do everything we can to ensure that our waters are safe and welcoming for these rare
55:38and special visitors.
55:46Next time, Woodland.
55:49Ruled by the seasons.
55:52Home to dramatic battles.
56:03And hitherto unseen spectacles.
56:11The Open University has produced a free poster exploring our wild isles and their diverse habitats and species.
56:19Order your copy by calling 0300 303 0265 or go to bbc.co.uk forward slash wildisles
56:31and follow the links through The Open University.
56:34If you'd like to play your part in restoring our wild isles and learn more about what you can do
56:40to help,
56:41just search Wild Isles on the BBC website.
56:50Looking to help our troubled rivers?
56:52Paul Whitehouse heads to Wales now, over on BBC2.
56:56Regenerating salamanders on iPlayer.
56:59Not sci-fi, just David Attenborough's Natural Curiosities.
57:02Press red now.
57:04Here, Ancient Curiosities.
57:06New episode, Antiques Roadshow, next.
57:11Could you visit us now with more of the other species?
57:13Whether we make our 어쩌 school or the word the same,
57:13be it we can, but we make our وال
57:16Can you see this was a great question?
57:17In the comments section of the National Anthem,