The
The last
The last sips of the season's
sweetness
sweetness are drawn through the
thirsty
thirsty times of all of this, fuel
for
for upcoming hibernation, all thanks
to
to ivy
to ivy flowers. But there is no time
for
for snoozing yet. Because, it is
time
time for
time for Autumnwatch.
Hello
Hello and
Hello and welcome to Autumnwatch
2021.
2021. Programme three of our series
coming
coming to
coming to you live from Wild Ken
Hill,
Hill, on
Hill, on the north-west coast of
Norfolk
Norfolk and we have been here for
three
three days already, no, two days,
this
this is
this is the third day, that is
because
because I'm so excited. Lots of
brilliant
brilliant stuff coming up, have the
whole
whole place for our cameras and we
are
are looking at them live in the dark
and
and we
and we have also been appearing to
them
them in
them in the daytime as well and
plenty
plenty of
plenty of things going on. Lovely
sunny
sunny day
sunny day here and we spotted this,
a
a fellow
a fellow bug, quite a young one, you
can
can see
can see the antlers are not terribly
well
well developed yet. ? fallow buck.
Lots
Lots of
Lots of sweet chestnut trees and
this
this is
this is a
this is a bonus for things like the
grey
grey squirrel which may nibble or in
fact
fact cache that. Jays are also out,
looking
looking for acorns, but they will
not
not turn
not turn up their nose at chestnut
either.
either. Both of these species are
essential
essential seed disperses and they
play
play a
play a horticultural ecological role
as
as they
as they are carrying through the
environment, those seeds. They are
getting
getting ready for the colder months
ahead,
ahead, fought the winter, although
it
it has
it has been very mild today ? for
the
the winter. Chris always over
dresses!
dresses! We have lots of hidden
cameras
cameras around and we have this
hedge
hedge camera. This is it in the
daytime.
daytime. This is the hedge cam and
if
if we
if we look into it, we have seen
lots
lots of
lots of action. This is the little
vole
vole enjoyment there nuts and you
can
can see
can see it takes them off to cache ?
enjoying
enjoying its nuts. We have seen
plenty
plenty of
plenty of mice, as well. Plenty of
hedgerows
hedgerows on the farm at Wild Ken
Hill
Hill here, so if you have got lots
of
of rodents, first of all you have a
healthy
healthy hedge which gives you a
healthy
healthy population of rodents which
will
will give
will give you a healthy population
of
of birds
of birds of prey and they are
plentiful
plentiful here. Certainly are. Now
down
down to
down to the pond camera to see what
we
we can
we can see there. As you know, we
have
have been
have been over kits including ?
beaver
beaver kits and also banned ? pounds
adults
adults will stop come show yourself!
We
We have
We have been watching this in the
daytime
daytime and this makes it a bird of
prey
prey fessed around her, all of these
rodents.
rodents. Sparrowhawks typically
around
around here and this one is taking a
break
break for
break for a bath even this pocket
predator
predator he is very alert whilst it
is
is praising and it knows it is
vulnerable, with soaked feathers it
cannot
cannot fly effectively, if at all,
and
and you
and you have got ground predators as
well
well as
well as aerial predators. The
goshawk
goshawk is around. It uses to take
its
its bath
its bath in the middle of the marsh.
It
It is
It is a
It is a young bird, fending for
itself,
itself, but I would beg to suggest
that
that it
that it doesn't know yet where the
best
best place to bathe is because if I
was
was a
was a goshawk I would not get muddy
and
and messy, I would sneak in under
the
the trees
the trees and get down and have a
nice
nice time
nice time and dry off in peace and
quiet.
quiet. That is what you do when you
go
go to
go to a
go to a beauty salon, you have a mud
bath,
bath, so
bath, so maybe there is a reason
that
that it
that it likes the shallower bath.
Most?
Most? Let's have a look at our live
thermal
thermal camera because we have the
camera
camera operator at this evening.
Look
Look at
Look at that. Hare. We sought so
many
many of
many of these in the spring in the
daytime
daytime on the fields ? we saw. We
are
are seeing lots of them at night, as
well.
well. Busy during the grass. Earlier
on,
on, here
on, here we go again. This is the
deer
deer debate. This is definitely
Chinese
Chinese water at deer, no doubt
about
about it.
about it. It is a tricky with
infrared,
infrared, but I am definitely going
for
for a
for a Chinese water deer lovely to
see.
see. We
see. We have seen a lot of things on
our
our thermal camera and we saw a
stoat
stoat the
stoat the other day and we had quite
a
a few
a few questions that were sent in.
This
This is
This is from Brian and he says
regarding
regarding the thermal imaging
cameras
cameras we saw footage of a stoat
and
and I
and I get
and I get that the camera picks up
the
the body
the body heat to make an image but
how
how do
how do we
how do we see a bright reflection of
the
the stoat
the stoat in the water when the
water
water is
water is so cold? Brian, obviously,
when
when we
when we see reflections in water we
see
see them
see them in the visible part of the
spectrum,
spectrum, the visible part of the
light
light spectrum, but x-rays,
ultraviolet lights, microwaves and
heat
heat infrared, it is also a form of
light,
light, so
light, so therefore there is no
reason
reason it
reason it would not be reflected or
at
at least
at least parts of it would not be
reflected
reflected in a reflective surface
like
like water, what is interesting
about
about the
about the water, it rapidly absorbs
that
that which means that the surface
appears
appears blacker and therefore it is
an
an even
an even more effective reflector of
that
that heat
that heat and that is why we see
those
those heat signature so positively
reflected
reflected in those images. We are
trying
trying to
trying to think back to our own
level
level physics! See if we can draw
that
that information back. Mr Gray,
Thursday
Thursday afternoon, triple 46, I
remember
remember it well. We have a live
tawny
tawny owl, let's have a look. Is it
there?
there? Are we having a look? There
we
we go.
we go. Yes, slightly obscured by the
branches.
branches. You can only just about
see
see it.
see it. Peering down at the ground.
Obviously
Obviously on the lookout for some of
your
your mice. Yes, the mice in the
hedge,
hedge, making the most of them. We
are
are seeing plenty at night but we
have
have seen
have seen some amazing behaviour in
the
the day
the day as well. Look at this that
were
were spotted. Look closely. This
looks
looks like some sort of weird rabbit
puppet
puppet on
puppet on a stick, trying to appear
above
above the
above the grass. Very odd behaviour.
You
You think, what on earth is going
on?
on? Look
on? Look closer and I can tell you
that
that that
that that is not a live rabbit. That
is
is a
is a dead
is a dead rabbit which has been
caught,
caught, by a stoat. Taking a well
earned
earned rest because it is dragging
that
that rabbit right across the field
and
and if
and if I
and if I tell you the weight ratio
of
of the
of the rabbit and the stoat you will
be
be very
be very impressed. What do you
reckon?
reckon? What is the weight of the
stoat.
stoat. Female average, 200 g. The
male
male is
male is a
male is a bit bigger, average 300 g.
1.5
1.5 kilograms is the average weight
of
of a
of a rabbit so it is dragging the
weight
weight of
weight of the rabbit which is about
seven
seven times its own weight. That is
truly
truly astonishing. This stoat must
be
be so
be so fit. We don't know if that is
a
a male
a male or
a male or a female but we know they
do
do not
do not have kits at this time of
year
year so
year so that stoat will drag me
rabbit
rabbit away and hide it so nothing
takes
takes it
takes it and it will endure that for
quite
quite a
quite a few days. ? enjoy that. You
have
have got
have got to be impressed with a
stoat,
stoat, can if you remember on
Springwatch, they have taken rabbits
in
in the
in the past, and remember when it
took
took the
took the woodpecker from the tree,
just
just amazing, the strength when it
went
went up
went up the tree and came down. What
a
a predator. If I was to carry
something
something seven times my weight,
that
that would mean dragging something
560
560 kilograms, more than half a
tonne
tonne in
tonne in weight, totally
inconceivable. The reason it was
taking
taking it
taking it away, it did not want to
be
be spotted by a buzzard or a crow or
a
a magpie,
a magpie, it needed to move the
rabbit
rabbit into cover, the cover of the
rock
rock in
rock in that case. We have been
asking
asking you to keep your eyes peeled
this
this autumn and to look
asking you to keep your eyes peeled this autumn and to look
at the
Autumnwatch which, the series of
suggestions that you could look out
for
for and
for and see if you could spot, some
are
are hard,
are hard, some
for and see if you could spot, some are hard, some
are moderate and some
are
are easy.
are easy. This one from Ian, a red
squirrel,
squirrel, and a cow diligently it
packs
packs down the soil having
presumably buried a nut ? look how
diligently. Now the grey squirrel.
It
It has
It has a
It has a mini sweetcorn stolen from
a
a picnic
a picnic basket and it buries it in
the
the ground. I have got an idea that
this
this is
this is not such a good idea. When
squirrels
squirrels are burying nuts they are
using
using a
using a hard exterior cover but this
soft
soft sweetcorn, a couple of days in
the
the soil
the soil and mud, it will rot away.
It
It looked
It looked like the size of the
squirrel,
squirrel, quite comical. On the hard
list
list is
list is a
list is a hedgehog, very sad,
because
because it used to be, to see when
we
we began,
we began, but harder days. This has
been
been sent
been sent in by Mark Barnett ? used
to
to be
to be common to see them at when we
were
were young. The hedgehog there is
going
going for
going for something, a worm, but it
just
just leaves it there, but a good
spot.
spot. Check out the website for the
watchlist. Excellent stuff. Time to
head
head north and to go to Mull where
Meg
Meg has
Meg has not been drenched in an
absolute
absolute Scottish deluge today?
Somehow
Somehow we have escaped the rain and
it
it has
it has been a pretty beautiful day.
I
I like
I like to
I like to start every show with a
bit
bit of
bit of sparkle but tonight I really
do
do mean
do mean that literally and this is a
phenomenon that I would argue would
rival
rival the
rival the natural beauty of the
Northern
Northern lights. I'm talking about
bioluminescence, it is absolutely
beautiful
beautiful and at this time of year
we
we are
we are seeing it even more. This
footage
footage was captured around the
Pembrokeshire coastline in Wales and
look
look how
look how beautiful that is. The
electric
electric blue as the waves come in
and
and the
and the stars, mirroring the stars
above.
above. Absolutely stunning. The
bioluminescence is made by
planktonic, especially
dinoflagellates, and there is a
reaction
reaction which means when it
interacts
interacts with oxygen, using the
enzyme,
enzyme, then it creates light and it
is
is pretty
is pretty magical. I tried this
before
before and it worked once, it did
not
not work
not work again, so I need you to
cross
cross your fingers because in here I
have
have a
have a flask with dinoflagellates
and
and I
and I need the lights to turn off
just
just for
just for a second and I will hold my
card
card here
card here and if I shake... Look at
that.
that. Look at that. Science has
never
never failed me, not once. How
beautiful
beautiful is that? Bioluminescence
in
in a
in a conical jar, I'm excited that
worked.
worked. 68 different species of
dinoflagellates which is a lot, and
they
they are
they are so important for climate
change.
change. Because these plankton
actually
actually are able to sequester one
third
third of
third of the world's carbon dioxide.
So
So they
So they are incredibly important
when
when it
when it comes to mitigating
ourselves
ourselves against climate change.
Here
Here in
Here in Mull, two bodies of water,
the
the Atlantic and the Irish Sea, and
where
where they meet, there is the up
swell
swell of
swell of nutrients and it is quite
calm
calm so
calm so it means the plankton can
rest
rest on
rest on the top so we do see more
bioluminescence at this time of
year.
year. It
year. It isn't just plankton that
produces
produces this, animals do, as well,
and
and scientists have been looking at
more
more depth of how they do it and
they
they don't do it by using Lucifer
in,
in, they
in, they do it by using photo falls
on
on the
on the side of their body. There's
this
this amazing new research. This is a
kite
kite for
kite for shark and this species is
very
very rare
very rare across the coast of the
UK,
UK, the
UK, the largest vertebrate known to
bioluminescence, at full length it
is
is about
is about 1.5 metres, absolutely
stunning.
stunning. If you look carefully at
the
the bottom, what you might notice is
that
that the
that the concentration of the bits
that
that bioluminescence is on the
bottom
bottom of
bottom of the body. Scientists are
not
not sure
not sure why that might be but there
is
is a
is a theory that counter shading
camouflage, a lot of sea birds
employ
employ this, like puffins and
razorbills and penguins, and if you
are
are an
are an animal that might be prey,
you
you want
you want your bottom half to be
light
light so
light so the sun shining down, if
you
you are
you are below and looking up, you
are
are going
are going to be more camouflaged to
predators
predators and vice versa. If you
have
have a
have a dark back is a prey species,
with
with a
with a dark floor, you will be
better
better off camouflaged. What about
that?
that? Bioluminescence in a conical
flask,
flask, on
flask, on a shot, amazing. Some
people
people do
people do not think that sharks are
cute,
cute, and
cute, and I would argue with that,
but
but most
but most would agree that Julian
might
might just top try me on the
cuteness
cuteness card. ? Gillian.
Bioluminescence is magical and we
are
are going
are going to be sliding on the
magical
magical scale over to the cute
scale.
scale. We
scale. We are featuring one of the
most
most iconic animals in the UK, and
one
one that
one that we really like to feature.
The
The red
The red squirrel. Absolutely
beautiful
beautiful and very cute. Recent
estimates
estimates but this species at about
140,000
140,000 of them in the UK and that
might
might sound like a lot but compare
that
that to
that to 2.5 million grey squirrels
which
which of
which of course are an invasive
species
species introduced from North
America
America and out completing the red
squirrels
squirrels who are native in most
parts
parts of
parts of the UK. In Northern Ireland
they
they do
they do have a few strongholds.
Rebecca
Rebecca signed it has been studying
populations in Northern Ireland and
also
also in
also in the Republic and we caught
up
up with
up with her in an absolutely
stunning
stunning part of County Armagh
called
called the Ring of Gullion.
One
One of
One of the main struggle is that the
reds
reds face
reds face across Northern Ireland
and
and the
and the Republic is we have such
fragmented woodland for them. They
don't
don't have natural areas to cross so
they
they become isolated in these little
populations. I can lead to a lot of
inbreeding, which leads to localised
extinctions of red squirrels around
the
the island. We need high levels of
biodiversity within populations
because
because they help population
healthy.
healthy. Different methods can be
used
used to
used to survey the squirrels, such
as
as camera
as camera traps, but individuals can
be
be hard
be hard to distinguish from one
another,
another, so Rebecca has been using
another
another method to gain more insight
into
into population numbers and health.
So,
So, this
So, this is where it's a nice cool
twist,
twist, I'll be using hair samples. I
can
can extract DNA from them and use
the
the DNA
the DNA to identify individuals and
that
that can
that can give an accurate number of
the
the amount of individuals in the
area
area that
area that you are studying. This
here
here is
here is a
here is a hair trap, it's pipe with
one
one and
one and blocked off, you attach a
sticky
sticky bit. This is attached to a
tree,
tree, the
tree, the squirrel will run through
it
it to
it to get
it to get to the base and it traps
the
the hair
the hair with the squirrel none the
wiser,
wiser, it's a non-invasive
non-disturbing approach. Once I have
it
it gathered we have a genetic
database
database of red squirrels around
Northern
Northern Ireland that we can use the
information for translocation
projects.
projects. So I've got one of those
head
head tubes, a sampling tube, that
she
she has
she has there and you can see that
sticky
sticky tape on the inside. That
would
would be
would be a nightmare if I got my
head
head caught in that for obvious
reasons!
reasons! That's the point, it's
relatively noninvasive way of
getting
getting hair samples from the red
squirrel
squirrel and you only need about
four
four or
four or five strands of hair to
gather
gather enough genetic material to
learn
learn loads of information about the
individuals. Things like lineage,
the
the family history. This gives lots
of
of information about the historic
distribution of red squirrels in
Northern
Northern Ireland, but also how the
populations have been moving between
areas
areas as
areas as well. Another thing it can
tell
tell as
tell as it is what diseases are
present
present in the population, so things
like
like squirrel pox, but other
diseases
diseases that don't show physical
traits
traits and symptoms on the outside.
But
But then
But then a really important thing to
be
be able
be able to know is something called
inbreeding depression. This is when
populations get isolated, get cut
off
off and
off and there's not enough genetic
variety
variety to stay healthy. So let's
take
take a
take a look at what Rebecca's
research
research has shown so far. There are
a
a few
a few strongholds, isolated
populations around Northern Ireland.
A
A conventional survey, all these
squirrels
squirrels would look very much the
same,
same, but
same, but DNA sampling starts to
reveal
reveal that their GNA -- DNA, their
genetic
genetic profiles and isolated
relations
relations like this one would have
very
very similar profiles so they'd be
in
in danger
in danger of suffering inbreeding
depression. We move across to
another
another population over here and you
might
might expect this one has a
different
different profile and it has a nice
healthy
healthy genetic variety and there.
This
This would be a good candidate to
move
move across and translocated and
start
start breeding with this population
to
to give
to give them more genetic variety,
more
more genetic vigour. However, it's
not
not as
not as simple as that, because the
DNA
DNA can
DNA can also tell is whether the
squirrels
squirrels are diseased. Now, we know
all
all about
all about viruses, don't we? Of
course
course it
course it wouldn't be a good idea to
take
take a
take a diseased squirrel and
introduce
introduce it into a healthy
population and you simply would not
know
know that
know that without the DNA sampling.
So
So it's
So it's a
So it's a really amazing technique
to
to start
to start helping us to understand
how
how to
how to bridge these gaps, these very
unnaturally genetically different
populations here, this population
islands
islands and in time the hope is that
these
these populations will become more
connected
connected as their habitats join up
again
again and
again and then the red squirrels can
mingle
mingle all by themselves without a
helping
helping hand from us, or at least
Rebecca
Rebecca and her team I should say.
Now
Now we
Now we are going to leave Northern
Ireland
Ireland and head over to a beautiful
place
place called The Wash in Norfolk
where
where Michaela has joined a bird
survey
survey using a really unusual method
called
called canon netting.
With
With canon netting the process
starts
starts before dawn, when, hidden
under
under the
under the cover of darkness nets are
placed
placed at
placed at strategic points along the
beach.
beach. The idea is that as it gets
light
light the
light the nets will be fired over
the
the birds, aiming to capture as many
of
of them
of them as possible in one go. So it
was
was an
was an early start when I joined The
Wash
Wash weighed a ringing group, who
have
have been
have been continually monitoring
shorebird
shorebird species here for over 60
years.
years. --
years. -- The Wash way bird ringing
group.
group. This morning Nigel Clarke is
leading
leading the ringing team. It's a
stunning.
stunning. Being out on a marsh and
on
on the
on the beaches at this time of day
is
is just
is just wonderful and you would
never
never know what you are going to
find.
find. Tell me what's going to
happen.
happen. We have as few birds on the
beach
beach at
beach at the moment and we are
hoping
hoping for a flock of Sanderling to
come
come along and join those which they
normally
normally do but there is no
guarantee
guarantee is at this point. We could
be
be having
be having a very early breakfast!
Don't
Don't say
Don't say that! Breakfast was going
to
to have
to have to wait, as it wasn't long
before
before the birds started to arrive.
OK,
OK, we
OK, we can all see the Sanderling. I
feel
feel there is excitement in the air
now.
now. Timing was going to be
critical.
critical. The birds need to be the
right
right place, in the right numbers at
the
the right
the right time. They are all right
on
on safety
on safety stop I've got safety.
Where
Where is
Where is it going? Now, now. What,
press?
press? Yes! We've got a small catch,
but
but a
but a valuable one. Ready to run.
There
There is
There is a whole group that are much
closer
closer than us that have got to the
net
net so
net so they can make sure that no
birds
birds are
birds are going to drown in the
water.
water. Look at them! Wow! That's
looking
looking lovely.
Have
Have got
Have got my heart rate up in the
morning.
morning. After I caught my breath
it's
it's now
it's now my turn to help get the
Sanderlings out from under the
netting.
netting. Oh, absolutely gorgeous.
That's
That's one we've ringed before,
probably
probably on this beach. That's
brilliant. That's the data we really
want.
want. Yes,. We will know how long
that's
that's been with us. How many do you
reckon
reckon we've got? I would hope 40 or
50,
50, which
50, which is a lovely sample and
that's
that's a
that's a ringed plover. Is that the
only
only rig
only rig plover we've got? We've got
a
a handful. A non-ringed ring plover.
A
A non-ringed ring plover. Which is
unfortunate. He or she will be
ringed
ringed later on. Waders are social
birds
birds so
birds so we can put up to 20 in a
box
box together. Is this the last one?
Yeah.
Yeah. OK.
Yeah. OK. OK. There we go.
Brilliant. It helps to keep the
birds
birds calm as the team begins the
ringing
ringing and measuring process.
Samantha
Samantha Franks is helping me to
take
take a
take a closer look at one of the
Sanderlings we have caught. Before
we
we start
we start the ringing I want to take
a
a moment
a moment to really appreciate it
because
because look, I Sanderling in my
hand.
hand. It's a juvenile, a young bird
that
that was
that was hatched in Greenland this
summer
summer so
summer so probably about three or
four
four macro months old. And you've
already
already flown that way. I've never
done
done this
done this before. Teach me. The
first
first thing to do is note down the
number,
number, then we can write down in
the
the book
the book how old the bird is because
that's
that's the kind of key piece of
information. The whole point of
doing
doing this is hoping you get a
recapture
recapture and that's how you get the
data.
data. Exactly, exactly. I've set the
ring
ring up
ring up in the players. I put it
round,
round, I'm being incredibly careful.
My
My DIY
My DIY skills are not the best.
That's
That's a
That's a horrible click sound. It
makes
makes a
makes a horrible click. That's the
first
first bird I've put a ring on, thank
you,
you, little Sanderling. In you go
bust
bust up
bust up as the wader ringing group
are
are busy
are busy processing the birds, I'm
back
back with
back with Nigel to understand just
why
why all
why all this research is so vital.
Are
Are they
Are they doing all right this year?
They
They are
They are doing well this year, there
are
are lots
are lots of juveniles, they've had a
good
good breeding season, they are in
lovely
lovely condition. For an October day
it's
it's amazing. It really is, isn't
it?
it? It's
it? It's been a very successful
morning
morning for the team but these
waders
waders need to get back to the
beach.
beach. Who knows what we're going to
learn
learn in
learn in the future is all this data
is
is collected. Right, little
Sanderlings, let's see what we learn
from
from you.
from you. For release. -- time for
release.
Wasn't
Wasn't that absolutely joyous
estimate
estimate Michaela opening that box
and
and all
and all those little Sanderlings
flying
flying out in slow motion. I have to
say
say I'm
say I'm not often envious but a
Sanderling in the hand, fantastic!
Were
Were beautiful little birds but also
thanks
thanks to
thanks to 60 years of research but
beautiful
beautiful data, beautiful evidence,
completely invaluable when it comes
to
to conservation. Because back in the
1970s
1970s we
1970s we came up with a few good
ideas.
ideas. Curly whirlys, chopper
bicycles,
bicycles, the sex pistols, but we
came
came up
came up with some really bad ideas
and
and one
and one of them was to put a barrier
across
across the top of The Wash from
Norfolk
Norfolk to Lincolnshire and turn it
into
into a
into a freshwater reservoir. Well,
thankfully The Wash wader ringing
group
group had
group had gathered enough evidence
to
to suggest that would be
catastrophic and we would have lost
all
all of
all of these remarkable spectacles.
So,
So, I
So, I have to say, thank you very
much
much indeed, wash wader ringing
group,
group, you preserve one of the best
places
places in
places in the country for wintering
waders
waders full stop but from one lovely
little
little wader to a highly specialised
and
and bit
and bit of a bizarre one. Here is
the
the stone
the stone curlew. It's nothing to do
with
with a
with a curlew, no relative at all.
It
It simply
It simply makes a cry which is
relatively similar, that's how it
got
got its
got its name. It has a massive
Thy-macro, a species that is largely
crepuscular and nocturnal and as you
can
can see
can see quite unusual looking -- it
has
has a
has a massive Thy-macro. It had a
tough
tough time. Between 1940 and 1985
its
its population crashed by 85% due to
the
the industrialisation of farming.
Conservationists come to the rescue
last
last spring I was fortunate to go
out
out with
out with Keith Betton and his team
in
in Hampshire and we were here
weighing
weighing the eggs so we could
determine
determine when they would hatch, the
benefit
benefit being we could then work
with
with the
with the farmer so we would know
when
when the
when the eggs could be mown around,
when
when the
when the young were mobile and you
have
have to
have to keep an eye out from the
tractor,
tractor, and I can tell you that all
of
of that
of that effort that cooperative
partnership, has paid dividends
because
because the population has increased
and
and we
and we now have somewhere in the
region
region of
region of 350-400 pairs. Another
bonus
bonus is
bonus is this. There are a lot more
stone
stone curlew about which means they
are
are doing
are doing something we saw far more
commonly
commonly in historical times, and
that
that was
that was them aggregating at the end
of
of the
of the breeding season in quite
large
large flocks, and this one we were
tipped
tipped off micro by the BTO. We went
out
out and
out and saw no less than 30 stone
curlew
curlew is
curlew is together and a few days
later
later there were 67 full stop is
where
where they are, because they are
quite
quite close to some houses,
inamongst
inamongst cows, there were people
walking
walking their dogs. What they like
is
is the
is the short turf, of course, where
they
they can
they can run around in the dark
looking
looking for large insects and
earthworms and what's really good
here
here is
here is that the local people have
taken
taken a
taken a shine to the curlews.
They've
They've been turning up for about
seven
seven years and the critical thing
is
is they
is they are walking their dogs there
but
but they
but they are keeping their dogs on
the
the lead
the lead and the birds population is
beginning
beginning to build up and they are
being
being very carefully looked after. I
can
can tell
can tell you that sometimes they can
aggregate
aggregate an even larger numbers. In
2017
2017 at
2017 at Normanton down in Wiltshire
there
there were no less than 107 stone
curlews
curlews in one pre-migration roost.
I'd
I'd love
I'd love to see that, I really
would.
would. I
would. I wonder what you call a
collective of stone curlews. A
quarry,
quarry, maybe? Even a jagger? Mick
Jagger,
Jagger, Rolling Stones? I leave you
to
to decide
to decide what the collective for
stone
stone curlews is. Let's move on from
the
the sublime to the sublime. Many of
you
you don't
you don't like spiders, this might
be
be a
be a point where you want to look
away
away but
away but do listen because what we
are
are about
are about to tell you about this
extraordinary species is fascinating
and
and we
and we went down to the Devon
wildlife
wildlife trust's over Heathfield
reserve
reserve just a little while ago to
record
record the antics of the one and
only
only wonderful wasp spider.
Early
Early autumn, the orange glow of the
dawn
dawn sunshine reveals a peaceful
heathland. The still air is silent.
Apart
Apart from the quite melodic song of
a
a solitary Robin.
a solitary Robin. But tranquillity
belies
belies the truth. Dawn is the queue
for
for a
for a covert operation to begin.
Deep
Deep down
Deep down in the grasses, an
elaborate
elaborate trap is being assembled. A
female
female wasp spider is spinning her
deadly
deadly web. She has seven types of
silk
silk in
silk in her armoury and each serves
a
a different purpose. One of nature's
great
great mimics, looking like a common
wasp
wasp might well keep her safe from
predators
predators while she lays her lethal
trap.
trap. She
trap. She begins by building a
as
as the
as the day warms up, the heathland
begins
begins to
begins to hum up to the tune of a
handful
handful of hardy souls who can cope
with
with autumn temperatures.
with autumn temperatures. Existing
at
at the
at the mercy of whatever warmth
lingers
lingers in the sunshine, these heath
potter
potter wasps are feeding their young
with
with juicy caterpillars.
Meadow
Meadow grasshoppers are engaged in a
noisy
noisy courtship competition. The
male
male produces short sharp bursts of
song.
song. His
song. His intention is to attract a
female.
female. Once it is apparent that the
appreciation is mutual, they draw
ever
ever closer to one another.
ever closer to one another. But love
has
has blinded them to the nearby
danger.
Suddenly,
Suddenly, the female finds herself
ensnared
ensnared in midair.
ensnared in midair. The attempt to
escape
escape alerts the spider to her
catch.
catch. And in a matter of seconds,
her
her victim, still alive, is wrapped
in
in an
in an inescapable living tomb. With
a
a few
a few other insects injuring into
autumn,
autumn, this grasshopper will
provide
provide a
provide a hearty meal for the wasp
spider.
spider. A
spider. A venomous bite paralyse her
victim
victim and it breaks down its
insides
insides into a mushy meal.
The
The male
The male grasshopper will have to
turn
turn his
turn his attention elsewhere. As for
the
the wasp
the wasp spider, her own mate is
nowhere
nowhere to be seen. That is because
she
she ate
she ate him for lunch just a few
weeks
weeks ago. After all, she needs all
the
the nutrients she can get if she is
to
to successfully rear their young. As
dusk
dusk descends, she turns her
attention
attention to crafting an exquisite
exact,
exact, one of the largest of any
spider
spider found in Britain, it measures
around
around 25
around 25 millimetres across ?
exquisite
exquisite egg sack. Inside she has
laid
laid 800
laid 800 of her precious eggs,
ceiling
ceiling them inside with safety with
her
her soak.
her soak. She will not survive the
first
first frost of autumn but safe
inside
inside the cocoon, the next
generation of wasp spiders will
hatch,
hatch, and await Spring, where they
will
will emerge onto the heathland as
spiderlings.
spiderlings. What an animal,
absolutely exquisitely beautiful and
fascinating. As Meg said, during the
mating
mating process as with other species
of
of spider, the male gets eaten, and
it
it is
it is a
it is a trade-off because he has got
to
to mate
to mate with the female long enough
for
for it
for it to
for it to be successful but then he
doesn't
doesn't want to overstay his welcome
because
because he is likely to get eaten,
so
so how
so how long does it take a male wasp
spider
spider to
spider to successfully mate with a
female?
female? Ten seconds, just ten
seconds.
seconds. What we find is that some
of
of the
of the males then hang around, I
can't
can't imagine why, and it is those
ones
ones that
ones that get eaten. The purpose of
the
the meeting is the egg laying and we
have
have this
have this beautiful sketch which has
been
been done
been done by John Waters, and it
shows
shows how
shows how she makes that little
sack.
sack. She
sack. She initially spins a disk of
white
white silk and then she makes a
beaker
beaker of
beaker of brown or reddish brown
soak
soak and
soak and when she is ready, she then
produces
produces all of the eggs on the
underside
underside of her body, they come out
yellow
yellow and then she clues them to
the
the bottom of this, on the outside
of
of it.
of it. And then she continues to
generate
generate this lovely circular
cocoon.
cocoon. This here is like a plug
which
which she
which she cements the eggs two
before
before she covers them and then
fixes
fixes it
fixes it in the bushes, lovely
drawings.
drawings. The work of a great and
knowledgeable naturalist. We love
these
these things, superb. Getting back
to
to the
to the web, you may have noticed
something
something significantly different,
compared
compared to the garden spiders you
find
find in
find in your garden, and that is...
We
We need
We need to show a picture of the web
so
so let's
so let's go back again. This is the
web
web and
web and you can see running from top
to
to bottom, what we call a
stabilimentum, second piece of silk
that
that runs
that runs all the way down ? a thick
piece
piece of
piece of silk. Absolutely
distinctive for this species but
what
what is
what is it all about? I'm pleased to
say
say that
say that the props department have
absolutely excelled themselves. They
have
have fabricated a facsimile of the
wasp
wasp spider's web complete with the
stabilimentum. The name,
stabilimentum, stabilising, and that
is
is what
is what some people think it is
there
there for, to hold the web more
rigidly,
rigidly, so it is an effective
catching
catching mechanism but there is a
new
new thought and I can demonstrate
using
using this ultra violet light. In
wasp
wasp spiders the stabilimentum close
under
under ultraviolet light ? glows.
Look
Look at
Look at that. Why would that
possibly
possibly be the case? Well, the wasp
spider
spider is
spider is clearly a predator of
insects
insects and we know that insects see
in
in ultra
in ultra violet, look at these
flowers.
flowers. These flowers have evolved
over
over millions of years to look very
different
different than they do here in the
visual
visual part of the spectrum as they
are
are under
are under the ultraviolet part of
the
the spectrum and this is because the
insects
insects are using that part to not
only
only find
only find the flower but then be
guided
guided to
guided to the most precious part
which
which is
which is the nectarine and in the
process
process they effectively pollinate
it.
it. So
it. So why would this be advertising
just
just like
just like a flower? Maybe it is
attracting those insects. Scientists
counted
counted the number of insects that
have
have been
have been caught in webs which did
not
not have
not have a 2-macro and contrasted it
with
with webs
with webs which did have one, and
guess
guess what? ? which did not have a
stabilimentum. They found those with
a
a stabilimentum were twice as
effective
effective and they included more of
those
those insects which could see in the
ultraviolet part of the spectrum. So
there
there is
there is a good chance, I think
about
about that the wasp spiders
stabilimentum is there as a means of
attracting insects into its webs.
Absolutely sensational. Now it is
time
time to
time to head back to Northern
Ireland
Ireland and to see what Gillian is
getting
getting up to. That is sensational
and
and I
and I do
and I do love spiders, but we are
going
going to
going to bring a bit of a sense of
relief
relief for the arachnophobia is out
there.
there. I
there. I want to show you a plant
that
that has
that has a trick of the light of its
own.
own. This
own. This is a plant called the ivy
leaved
leaved toadflax, a late flowering
plant,
plant, and it grows on the wall here
in
in Loch
in Loch Etive but it is found across
the
the UK.
the UK. It was introduced in the
17th
17th century but it has naturalised
and
and has
and has not caused too much
disruption to the native flora over
here.
here. It
here. It grows on walls like this
and
and if
and if you can see here, some lovely
details
details of the toadflax which I
really
really like. The flowering plants,
they
they will
they will be pollinated at this time
of
of year,
of year, so a welcome drink for all
sorts
sorts of
sorts of insect pollinators, but
eventually those flowers after being
pollinated will turn into seed pods
which
which you
which you can see and the seed pods
are
are carefully placed in the wall. I
absolutely love these plants because
I
I don't
I don't have a very big outdoor
space
space at
space at my home so this plant has
found
found its
found its way into all the plant
pots
pots and
pots and in the cracks in the wall,
the
the paving slabs, and it is a
welcome
welcome splash of green, but the
reason
reason it
reason it is really good at doing
that
that is
that is they are excellent
colonisers. They use the light from
the
the sun
the sun to direct their direction of
travel
travel along the wall. Normally
plants
plants will grow towards the light
and
and this
and this is called positive photo
tropism
tropism but in the case of the ivy
leaved
leaved toadflax at this time of year
they
they will
they will start to place those seed
pods
pods in
pods in the wall and they are
growing
growing towards the darkness so that
is
is called
is called negative photo tropism and
the
the question is, how do they do it?
They
They use
They use auxin hormones and these
distribute unevenly and they they
will
will start to accumulate on what I
call
call the
call the dark side of the plant,
which
which is
which is against the wall, and the
ivy
ivy leaved toadflax has these auxin
hormones
hormones which have accumulated over
here
here and
here and they start to cause it to
grow
grow more
grow more rapidly on this side of
the
the plant
the plant and that will eventually
bend
bend it
bend it round and it starts to head
in
in the
in the direction of the sun and that
is
is what
is what happens in the summer. But
in
in the
in the autumn went seed pods starts
to
to germinate, it goes the opposite
way,
way, at
way, at the action of the auxin
hormones
hormones reverses and slows down the
growth
growth along this side of the plant
and
and it
and it starts to grow towards the
wall,
wall, and
wall, and that is how it finds its
way
way into
way into all these dark little nooks
and
and crannies in the wall. And that
is
is absolutely amazing. What is also
amazing,
amazing, I think about how I'm going
to
to get
to get the circulation back into my
knees,
knees, but I think Meg is going to
help
help me
help me out because I believe you
are
are doing
are doing an underwater journey with
some
some of
some of your favourite animals? They
really
really are some of my favourite
creatures
creatures on earth and I get very
excited
excited talking about them. When we
think
think about the marine environment
we
we often
we often don't give it enough credit
for
for its
for its biodiversity but what would
you
you say
you say if I told you there were 40
different
different species of shark that
visit
visit or
visit or are residents in UK waters?
They
They come
They come in all different shapes
and
and sizes. There is one species I
have
have never been able to see,
something
something I have always dreamt
about.
about. Hopefully one day I will be
able
able to.
able to. This is the spiny dogfish,
look
look at
look at that. Look at the shimmer, I
said
said I
said I was going to bring some
sparkle,
sparkle, what a beautiful animal.
They
They were
They were one of the most common
sharks
sharks in
sharks in UK waters but I have to
say
say in
say in the last 100 years they have
actually
actually dropped by 95%. 95%! That
is
is largely because of overfishing
but
but there
but there are still some issues in
the
the UK
the UK going on. Have you heard of
rock
rock salmon? It is not a species at
all
all and
all and it just doesn't exist at
all,
all, but
all, but you might see if you go
into
into your
into your fish and chip shops, so I
contacted
contacted Andrew Griffiths because
he
he released a paper with the
University of Exeter where he took
DNA
DNA analysis of rock salmon to
figure
figure out what it is. Rock salmon
is
is basically a label that could mean
any
any type
any type of shark and the DNA
analysis
analysis actually proved that the
majority
majority of it was spiny dogfish,
and
and it
and it is
and it is really important to state
that
that the
that the spiny dogfish imports are
coming
coming in
coming in from America where the
populations are doing better but
globally
globally spiny dogfish is still
listed
listed as
listed as vulnerable so as consumers
we
we need
we need to be careful about what we
are
are buying. The shores here on Mull
artful
artful of
artful of families of sharks ? are
full.
full. This was found on the shores
of
of Mull,
of Mull, this is egg cases, known as
Mermaid
Mermaid purses, and here we have a
skate
skate egg
skate egg case and here we have the
egg
egg case
egg case of the dogfish and
scientists around western Scotland
and
and Mull
and Mull noticed something
interesting because there were more
numbers
numbers of spiny dogfish here than
anywhere
anywhere else. What they decided to
do
do was
do was to
do was to put on tags to 50
individuals and what they found was
that
that these individuals were
travelling throughout the UK and
even
even from
even from Norway to Loch Etive, a 27
kilometre
kilometre loch, and they were all
for
for some
for some reason heading there. What
happens
happens is when fresh water meets
the
the marine environment in a sea loch
to
to create
to create an is a unique ecosystem
and
and so
and so the sharks were travelling
there
there for
there for a specific reason, in
order
order to
order to keep warm when they were at
their
their most vulnerable, it is a shark
nursery,
nursery, pregnant sharks would go
there
there and
there and they have got one of the
longest
longest gestation periods of any
organism.
organism. 22 months. Females would
make
make their way to this specific loch
behind
behind me
behind me to give birth in safety.
What
What about that? It is hard with
sharks
sharks to
sharks to understand their movements
and
and of
and of course a lot of them are deep
sea
sea and
sea and they move over great
distances
distances so tagging can work for a
while
while but
while but not for very long, so
finding
finding out where the nurseries are
is
is really
is really important. We have lost
about
about 70%
about 70% of our sharks since 1970
globally,
globally, a huge problem, but there
is
is hope
is hope because finding nurseries
like
like this
like this tells us the areas in
which
which we
which we need to protect, so for the
spiny
spiny dogfish, hopefully things can
start
start looking up. It is time to take
a
a breather. We are known for
advocating nature connection and
mental
mental health and physical health
and
and this
and this year we have teamed up with
Children
Children in Need and I'm going to
tell
tell you
tell you about an amazing story of
an
an incredibly brave young woman as
she
she connects with nature and
battling
battling illness.
My
My name
My name is Julia and I'm 14 years
old.
old. I
old. I love music and I love my
family.
family. We are really close. We love
going
going on
going on trips to, like, the beach.
Is
Is it
Is it swimming? Yeah. Or to the
mountains, my mum
mountains, my mum loves the Mournes.
My
My mum
My mum was first diagnosed with
cancer
cancer in
cancer in 2016. I kind of felt lost
and,
and, just, sad. We moved to Northern
Ireland
Ireland and my mum got another
cancer
cancer diagnosis. In 2018, just
before
before Christmas. The cancer had
spread
spread from my mum's Powell to her
ovaries.
ovaries. It felt as if my world
crashed
crashed down because I had to look
after
after the
after the most important person in
my
my life.
It
It was
It was much harder because of my
previous
previous experiences. When I was
seven
seven I
seven I started suffering from
headaches. The headaches didn't
stop,
stop, so
stop, so I got taken to hospital and
then
then they
then they discovered I had a benign
brain
brain tumour. Benign means that it's
not
not harmful and that it isn't
getting
getting worse or growing. But last
year
year I
year I started getting headaches
again.
again. The tumour has changed and
grown
grown and
grown and became malignant. I was
rushed
rushed into hospital for an
emergency
emergency operation, where 90% of
the
the tumour was removed. After that I
had
had radiotherapy with chemotherapy,
and
and then
and then just chemotherapy by
itself.
itself. It was really scary and
confusing. It kind of felt lonely,
because
because I
because I didn't see my friends.
When
When everybody else went to school I
stayed
stayed at
stayed at home. There is definitely
one
one person that has helped me
through
through this journey. Vanessa is
funded
funded by
funded by children in and is there
whenever
whenever I need her -- is funded by
Children
Children In Need. When I got to meet
Julia
Julia it
Julia it was because of her
diagnosis
diagnosis with malignant cancer but
I
I was
I was also aware of her mum's
diagnosis
diagnosis and that such a huge drain
on
on their
on their emotional resources.
Sometimes
Sometimes that support does need to
come
come from
come from an outsider so being able
to
to step
to step in that role to offer that
support
support to a young person when they
are
are feeling that I need somebody to
talk
talk to
talk to but I can't talk to anybody
I
I know,
I know, that is hugely important.
When
When my
When my mum got ill that was when my
very
very first
very first time in DC Lodge. It's a
place
place where families can go for a
short
short break to feel happy and feel
normal,
normal, and be themselves without
having
having to
having to think about the bad
things.
things. I
things. I definitely feel that
release
release when we go here. It's
amazing!
amazing! I love being in nature and
it
it just
it just feels like the perfect place
to
to be.
to be. Connecting with the
it just feels like the perfect place to be. Connecting with the
natural
world,
world, that in itself is so
restorative and such a beautiful
place
place for
place for a person to find some
healing
healing in. You wake up, you open
the
the curtains, you look out and see
those
those beautiful Mournes and every
single
single season there is something
new.
new. So,
new. So, Daisy Lodge is a place that
families
families stay, and the log cabin is
a
a place
a place where only children and
young
young people can stay, no parents.
It's
It's really nice, because you meet
people
people who have been through the
same
same thing as you and they
understand. You don't have to
explain
explain yourself to them. This kind
of
of support has been very, very
important
important in my life. It helped me
understand that I can't change who I
am.
am. I
am. I just have to accept it. And
move
move on.
move on. And then maybe later on in
life
life help
life help other people who are going
through
through the same thing as me get
through
through it.
through it. Recently I rang the bell
to
to signal
to signal the end of treatment for
me.
me. It
me. It just feels like a huge
accomplishment and it feels amazing.
Even
Even though I've finished my
treatment, Children In Need,
Vanessa,
Vanessa, Cancer fund for children,
and
and everybody who has supported us,
is
is still
is still with us helping us slowly
get
get back
get back to the same sort of life we
were
were living in. By supporting
Children
Children In Need you can help
children
children like Julia to find solace
in
in nature, to discover she's not
alone
alone and
alone and she doesn't have to deal
with
with her
with her condition without support.
Children
Children In Need supports many
charities
charities that help our young people
connect
connect with nature, something we
all
all take
all take for granted, and if you'd
like
like to
like to help by making a donation
all
all you
all you need to do is text or go
online.
To
To donate
To donate any amount you like, go
online.
online. Thank you.
What
What an
What an incredibly brave young woman
and
and I'm
What an incredibly brave young woman and I'm
and I'm sure that many of you
watching
watching were deeply moved by her
story.
story. The update is that she and
her
her mum
her mum are doing OK. But isn't it
wonderful
wonderful that Julia was introduced
to
to the
to the healing power of nature? So
many
many of
many of us know that if we immerse
ourselves
ourselves in the natural world that
can
can bring
can bring a huge amount of comfort
to
to us.
to us. We
to us. We are raising money for
children
children in lead. Last year our
Autumnwatch viewers managed to raise
£40,000,
£40,000, which is brilliant, so
let's
let's see
let's see what we can do this year.
Any
Any amount that you can give his
hugely
hugely appreciated and will go to
projects
projects to help people like Julia.
I
I think
I think it's time for a bit of
reflection, so I'm going to
transport
transport you to a wooden Ainsdale
and
and I'm
and I'm going to let you really
emerge
emerge --
emerge -- really immerse yourself in
the
the sights and sounds of that wood
and
and particularly I'm going to let
you
you enjoy
you enjoy the adorable red
squirrels.
BIRDS
BIRDS CALL
BIRDS
BIRDS CALL
delightful. Aren't they? They are
fantastic, one of Britain's
favourite
favourite mammals of course. We're
nearly
nearly at
nearly at the end of the show but
time
time to
time to show you a quick photograph
from
from our
from our autumn watch list, this one
sent
sent in
sent in by Ian Harris. A little
hedgehog
hedgehog drinking out of a bowl
there.
there. What that doesn't show if you
don't
don't need a pond to help wildlife,
they
they all
they all need water at this time of
year.
year. Just a little shallow dish
like
like that
like that can make a big difference,
so
so go
so go and
so go and put one out and see what
you
you might
you might get. Good for the birds of
course,
course, having a bath, might even
get
get a
get a goshawk coming in, can you
imagine
imagine on a little boat like that!
It
It would
It would be a treat. Sadly that's
all
all we've
all we've got time for tonight. Meg
in
in Scotland, what have you got
coming
coming up
coming up for us tomorrow? I'm going
to
to be
to be meeting a family of otters and
figuring
figuring out what they like for
dinner.
dinner. And I'll be submerging
myself
myself in
myself in the autumnal behaviour of
some
some tenacious tompot blennies. And
we'll
we'll be
we'll be giving you a privileged
view
view of
view of an owl that gives a bit of
glamour
glamour to North Uist. Look at that!
Pretty
Pretty spectacular! If you can't get
enough
enough remember that our cameras are
live
live from
live from 10am until 10pm, keep your
eyes
eyes peeled for the Beavers of
course.
course. You can send us things on
Facebook,
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,
we'd
we'd be
we'd be fake pleased to see those.
There's
There's a
There's a Facebook live at the end
of
of the
of the programme, an extra half an
hour,
hour, lots more information about
of the programme, an extra half an hour, lots more information about
the
the things we've been looking at.
Meg
Meg will
Meg will be on Instagram at 1pm
tomorrow,
tomorrow, if you want to catch her
out
out Ascot
out Ascot when the Battle of
Trafalgar
Trafalgar was. The Battle of
Trafalgar. Until tomorrow at 8pm,
it's
it's goodbye from us here. Good
night.