Original subtitles

(playful music) (birds chirp)

- [Narrator] Water is the breath of the Earth.

(playful music) (birds chirp)

It is always on the move,

it evaporates and becomes liquid once more.

It seeps deep into the ground

and is thrust upwards following the unyielding rhythm

of an unending cycle.

(playful music) (birds chirp)

There are many rhythms fast and slow.

The heartbeat, a breath in and out, the blink of an eye.

The rhythm of day and night, of ebb and flow.

The cadence of the changing seasons

and the endless rhythm of successive climates.

This land has been hidden beneath ice many meters thick,

beneath unfathomably deep waters.

It has been a desert and for eons a tropical forest.

For millions of years, it has been home to the eagle,

the hare,

and the scarce large blue.

(playful music)

And all that time their lives have evolved in harmony

with the constantly changing landscape of the Dutch delta.

(inspiring orchestral music)

For millions of years now the rhythm of the seasons

has caused everything to start anew in spring.

(storks clatter)

Couples form everywhere

and everybody sets about the task of producing children.

The females always choose the best-looking

and strongest males.

It's their guarantee of healthy offspring.

(birds chirp)

The sea eagle too does his utmost to please his mate.

(eagle screeches)

(relaxing music)

The movement of the waters seems sluggish,

but appearances can be deceiving and it never stagnates.

The heartbeat of ebb and flow is felt everywhere

and everywhere life streams through the Dutch delta.

(birds cheep) (inspiring music)

(gulls squawk) (water burbles)

Much rain has fallen upstream

and in distant foreign mountains snow is melting.

The rivers are becoming wider and their currents stronger.

They need space.

Each year they burst their banks.

The animals know this and seek refuge,

but humans aren't put off so easily.

(gears creak)

Their struggle against the rising waters is continuous.

They build dikes and drain the water using windmills

and pumping stations.

(windmill whooshes)

Water fertilizes the soil,

but the polders have to be kept dry.

If there's one animal that really has made

the polder its home, it has to be the hare.

He lives in the meadows and doesn't need a hole

or nest for shelter.

He makes a simple lair for himself

by flattening a patch of grass.

It's the toughest animal of the delta.

Daytime melts the night's frost.

The air is filled with seductive scents.

(dramatic music)

The hare has only enemies.

(dramatic music)

He relies on his sharp senses for protection

and on his sprint, handy when looking for a mate too,

but first he has to win a round of boxing.

(dramatic music)

A couple of jacks, male hares,

have their eye on the same female,

a situation that spells trouble.

(dramatic music)

The winner is well rewarded.

(dramatic music)

(birds tweet)

In a swampy meadow, a newborn butterfly

finds it way up towards the sun.

(birds tweet)

She pumps up her wings to make them ready for flight.

Once they are warm and dry, she can explore her habitat.

She's a scarce large blue,

and she's as scarce as the flowers she visits.

(birds tweet)

Hungry, the young butterflies feast on the flowers.

They fill themselves with nectar in one feeding.

They're in a hurry for time is short

and there is much to do.

(birds tweet)

Only the females who are still virgins are eligible to mate,

which doesn't make the males quest any easier.

(birds tweet)

Nevertheless, it's worthwhile

because once he's found a female,

the one-off breeding session lasts an hour and a half.

(birds tweet)

(eerie music)

When it's over the males go in search of a new adventure.

For the female things are just beginning.

She has just a couple of days to lay as many as 100 eggs,

which is easier said than done for she lays her eggs

in the clustered flowers of the Great burnet and only there.

(birds tweet)

She can lay just one egg in each burnet

and the bud can't yet have been flowering for too long.

(eerie music)

She goes from flower to flower using her antennae

to smell whether or not it's occupied.

If the burnet is still vacant, she lays an egg

in the very center of the bud.

100 vacant burnets are what she needs

and she won't rest until she has found a safe home

for each of her eggs.

After a week of hard work, all her eggs have a home.

The scarce large blue female's task is complete.

She is tired, she is old.

(birds chirp)

There aren't many of these swampy meadows left.

The scarce large blue and the Great burnet

have become a rare twosome.

(birds chirp)

Once these meadows were very common in the delta,

but as a result of the struggle against the water

and constant drainage, they have become very rare.

(birds chirp)

This is the realm of the sea eagle.

(relaxing music)

But its nest only seems empty.

(relaxing music)

It's time to celebrate now that the two beautiful chicks

have hatched and their beady eyes peer out into the world.

They know that they will be lord and master here.

(relaxing music)

Foolish crows taunt them, so the eagle is forced

to assert its authority.

The parents share care duties for their two strong young

and for the coming month that means constantly

bringing food to the nest.

(inspiring music)

Hard work is starting in earnest for the grebes too.

They've just become the proud parents of their first chick.

(birds cluck)

The little grebe is amazed by the things

sticking out of its body.

Maybe they taste good.

(birds squawk)

The young herons are very hungry

and make an awful lot of noise about it.

(birds squawk)

It's the same story with the spoonbills.

They're just as greedy.

(birds squawk)

The young grebe's hunch that those things

might be edible was right.

It's first meal consists of feathers.

Everyone in the grebe family eats feathers.

Fish go in whole and the feathers protect their stomachs

from the bones.

The leftovers are vomited up as little balls.

(birds tweet)

The chick thinks it's a great idea

and starts gnawing at its mother.

(birds tweet)

(wind whooshes)

In the middle of the day, it grows dark

and the clouds pour rain onto the swampy land.

(wind whooshes) (rain hisses)

Just like water and clay, rain, wind, fog and clouds

are very much part of this land.

(wind whooshes) (rain hisses)

The irregular rhythm of the weather refreshes

and feeds the delta, keeping it resilient and fertile.

(wind whooshes) (bird caws)

(inspiring music)

The eaglets are growing fast.

And that has its consequences.

(birds squawk)

The parents have to work hard to keep their young satisfied.

It's almost impossible to provide enough food.

They're not at all picky, birds, fish,

a small hare every now and then,

dead or alive it doesn't matter to them.

Whatever is easiest to catch has had it.

(inspiring music)

In the Biesbosch, the rivers are met

by the tides of the sea.

After a devastating flood, humans here were forced

to admit defeat.

The beaver has known forever

that willows make great building material.

(beaver splashes)

Human-started plantations in this area,

conquered by the rivers

and the willow tree became the backbone of a huge industry

and with that prosperity.

(birds tweet) (water sloshes)

For a long time, hunting and deforestation

kept the sea eagle away.

When humans left the plantations,

sea eagles seized their opportunity

and the willows now form a large swamp forest,

which is the perfect place for the eagle to rear its young.

He is now king of the delta once more.

(playful music)

Now that the sea eagle hunts here again,

everything is changing.

It's prey sense the threat

and have adapted their behavior accordingly.

They now hide their young even better

and graze less in open spaces.

Since they eat differently as a result,

the landscape is changing too.

The grass grows longer and seedlings get a better chance.

(birds squawk) (playful music)

(geese honk)

And so, a pair of sea eagles can change an entire habitat.

And that, while their sole motivation

is to feed their young.

(inspiring vocal music)

When the parents bring home a nice fat eel,

it's party time in the nest.

(birds tweet)

The grebes are more fussy.

They'll settle for nothing less than fresh fish.

(playful music)

(birds tweet)

(playful music)

(birds tweet)

Everywhere in the polders and floodplains,

pools and ditches are teeming with life.

(birds tweet)

(water sloshes)

(birds tweet)

Meadow birds and hares have simple nests on the ground.

With such a threat from the sky,

that may not seem like a good idea.

The harrier swoops down to steal small hares

and other birds' chicks.

No matter how young the hare or black-tailed godwit is

each knows to keep perfectly still in the event of danger.

(dramatic music)

And when danger comes too close,

the parents provide distraction

and if necessary sacrifice themselves.

Try catching a hare on the run.

Speed is what they are built for.

They're Europe's fastest land animal.

The cheetah of the polder.

(dramatic music)

The young hare's spent the day alone keeping still.

Their parents keep a distance so as not to arouse suspicion.

(dramatic music)

The air force is less active at night,

and as soon as it's dark

the young are finally allowed out to play.

(dramatic music)

Mothers however, can never relax.

(dramatic music)

It seems that the odd hare from farther along

is accosting her baby, and mother is having none of it.

(dramatic music)

The little hare bolts for its lair.

It's own safe patch of flattened grass.

(dramatic music)

(horns honk)

(birds tweet)

Like the hare, the stork has also discovered

the flat, man-made landscape.

Here in the polders and floodplains, he has found

a richly varied menu, baby hares, frogs, snakes,

insects, and fish.

(dogs bark) (engine chugs)

(birds squawk)

The thorny stickleback poses no problems to the stork.

(birds squawk)

It's blisteringly hot today

and the stork provides a cool shower for her young.

(birds squawk)

The little hare has grown considerably.

Already he has survived many dangers,

but new threats keep cropping up.

All he knows is that he should keep perfectly still.

Today however, that strategy is a dangerous one.

(engine drones)

No sooner has one danger passed,

than a new one presents itself.

A stork is out hunting food for its chick.

He collects the leftovers after the mowing.

The young hare makes himself as small as possible.

If he could he'd make himself invisible.

Finally, the mother realizes that her young is in danger,

but the stork shows no interest whatsoever.

There is so much here for the taking

that a live hare is far too much bother.

(birds tweet)

(relaxing music)

(duck quacks)

(relaxing music) (birds tweet)

(bees buzz)

(birds tweet)

The young grebes embark upon an exploratory expedition.

They're big enough now

to venture farther away from the nest.

(birds tweet)

The eagles are almost fully grown.

From wingtip to wingtip, they are almost two meters wide.

The nest has become too small for the family.

The young female is claustrophobic

and has been practicing for two weeks.

They are now three months old and it's time to learn to fly,

even if her little brother is in the way.

(birds tweet)

At first flying is a lot of falling.

Well, it's a start.

Her brother watches her antics with some concern.

He wouldn't dream of leaving the nest.

Mom and dad will soon be back with fresh fish.

(birds tweet)

Yes, look a fresh delivery of eel and it's all for him.

(birds tweet)

That's a disappointment, away from home for the first time

and no food.

(birds caw)

(relaxing music)

If you're not used to it

a stiff branch can give you cramped claws.

She wants to return home, but that's higher up

so she will have to fly.

But how?

Letting go of the branch is terrifying,

even though she feels that somehow she is flying.

(dramatic music)

She's done it.

She's found her wings,

but now a new problem presents itself.

She doesn't yet know her own weight.

(dramatic music)

(bird caws) (branch snaps)

At last, one that supports her.

Keeping balance is something she needs to learn too.

And on top of all that she's being watched.

(bird squawks)

(relaxing music) (birds tweet)

The young eagle embarks upon her first long flight,

including a landing on the nest.

(relaxing music)

His sister's adventure inspires the brother.

(relaxing music)

The flat land of the Dutch delta looks wetter than it is.

(horse whickers)

(plow rattles)

Surprisingly, the polders are very dry.

The land can only be used effectively if the water

is continuously drained and drainage is a Dutch specialty.

(engine whirs)

The dry polders pose a problem to the scarce large blue

that has lived here for so many years.

She needs swampy meadows and they are scarce.

(birds tweet)

Here a two-millimeter caterpillar

can develop into a beautiful butterfly.

And when she has eaten enough of the burnet,

she sets off to look for a new source of food.

She descends from her safe spot in the flower

towards a grave danger below.

The downstairs neighbors are hotheads.

Common elbowed red ants attack anything,

even things bigger than themselves.

(birds tweet)

So you'd expect the caterpillar to avoid the ant nest,

but far from giving it a wide berth,

she wants to get inside.

The caterpillar has shed its skin

four times to permit growth.

And so now it should smell just like the ant larvae.

The question is, is that really the case?

In order to attract attention,

she mimics the sound of an ant.

She's ignored.

One ant recognizes the scent, but something's not right.

She is about to sting, but hesitates.

The thing doesn't just smell of ant,

it sounds like an ant too.

She decides that the caterpillar is an ant larvae

and drags it into the nest.

(dramatic music)

By way of gratitude, the caterpillar excretes

a nice sweet substance.

(dramatic music)

Not that it's all peace and harmony now.

The caterpillar has to eat ant larvae every now and then,

and when she does her camouflage is put to the test.

(dramatic music)

She ransacks the nest for 10 months

and secretly eats hundreds of larvae.

(dramatic music)

Then finally, she finds herself a spot

high up in the nest where she can pupate.

(dramatic music)

Four weeks later, heralds the most dangerous moment

of her life.

It's time for the butterfly to emerge,

but she is no longer disguised,

and the ant has become her greatest enemy.

(dramatic music)

Very early one morning, the chrysalis breaks open.

(dramatic music)

The newborn butterfly must make haste

while the ants are still dormant.

Now is her only chance to escape.

(dramatic music)

She finds herself some warmth in the morning sun,

pumps up her wings and lets them dry and harden.

(inspiring music)

Her body is already full of eggs,

which makes her very vulnerable.

(inspiring music)

The males are waiting for her.

They must get to work as soon as possible.

(inspiring music)

She has to lay 100 eggs in 100 large burnets

to produce 100 new scarce large blues

(inspiring music)

The sea eagle steered clear of the delta

for a couple of hundred years, but it has now returned.

The big change started with the first human footsteps

in the clay.

Men drove out the sea eagle and beaver.

And in a few thousand years, humans changed a landscape

that had taken millions to be created.

(mud sloshes)

(birds tweet)

(relaxing music)

But what seems a long time to humans

is just a few bars in nature's delta song.

Now that terrain is being given back to nature,

the landscape is starting to look like it did

all those years ago.

(inspiring music)

(birds squawk)

People are beginning to understand

that there are other options.

They no longer see water as an enemy.

The eagles leave the family nest.

It will be years before they start a family of their own.

For now, they will simply enjoy their freedom

and explore all four corners of the delta.

(inspiring music)

(wind whooshes) (inspiring music)

Man has conquered the water

and shaped the land to suit his needs.

He now understands that he is just like the eagle,

the hare, and the scarce large blue,

a vulnerable creature that can't survive alone.

(inspiring music)

This is the Dutch delta,

home to humans for some 8,000 years,

and home to animals for millions.

(inspiring music)

Off the coast to the north,

a young eagle discovers new land

that has been created by the combined energies

of man, wind, and water.

(inspiring vocal music)

We are finally becoming familiar with the rhythms of nature

in which everything is always in motion,

constantly changing as it always has done and always will.

(dramatic music)