Original subtitles

'A bird's life in Wales must be wonderful.

'A life made in heaven.

'Anything but.

'Birds have to work from dawn to dusk to find food and water.

'If they don't, they die.

'They have to battle with the elements too.

'Survival, especially during winter, is always difficult.

'And during the spring, they're busy raising families.

'They also have to put up with us

'and find a way of surviving in our artificial landscape.'

In this series, I'll be finding out what a bird's life is really like in Wales.

I'm going to be discovering the vast array of species we have here.

And I'll be probing into their secret lives.

'A young swallow is waiting to be fed.

'It'll be one of the last feeds he'll get from his parents

'before he begins a mammoth journey south to Africa.

'He spent the Welsh summer at this farm near Colwyn Bay.

'A few weeks ago, he was tucked away in a nest

'with his brothers and sisters, all vying for the biggest mouthful.

'They grew up watching and listening to human activity.

'And other animals sharing the accommodation.

'Experience has taught the adults that this is a safe environment.

'Like many other urban birds,

'these swallows have adapted to live side by side with people.

'In this programme, I'll be looking at the different ways birds make use of the landscape we create,

'the structures we build, and the materials we discard.

'Birds are so much at home in our towns in Wales,

'we've got used to them.

'We tend to ignore each other largely.

'These two male blackbirds are fighting over a piece of park in Newtown

'and the dispute is hardly noticed by anyone.

'Early morning in Roath Park, Cardiff.

'A goldcrest is busy looking for insects amongst the ivy.

'Most of us don't realise that such a beautiful bird

'can be a real towny.

'Beside the main road in the west end of Pwllheli,

'a fantastic wildlife show is provided by herons.

'They've set up a nesting colony.'

It's really unusual to be eye level with nesting herons like this,

especially in the middle of a town.

Usually, they nest right at the tops of the highest trees,

but here, they're low down in willows.

You can see how early it is. The pussy willows are out.

They're actually flowering now. It's the beginning of April.

Some of these are feeding chicks, which means they laid eggs in the middle of February.

I like herons. They're kind of primordial birds.

They look as if they belong 1,000 years ago, not now.

They've got this prehistoric look about them.

They're such great birds to watch.

It's incredible to think that huge birds like that,

they are four and a half feet tall, they nest in trees.

I always expect them to nest in amongst reed beds, but they don't.

They nest high up in trees like this.

What's fantastic about these herons

is that you can watch the whole breeding season

in full, uninterrupted view.

'I particularly like their courtship ritual.

'Every time one of the adults returns to the nest, they greet each other.

'And remember, you can see this view right in the middle of Pwllheli.

'The chicks are one of the most dishevelled looking birds you'll ever see.

'Herons have one of the longest breeding periods of any Welsh bird.

'This is probably one of the best entertainments shows in Wales

'and the performance lasts four months between March and June.

'The views are exceptional because the herons are used to people.

'But the best bird shows of all are often even nearer home.

'It's in the back garden.

'This wonderful one is at Pentrebeirdd near Welshpool.

'It's a fabulous collection of flowers, trees and shrubs.

'A great setting for people and birds alike.'

When we usually think about man-made landscapes,

we think about a habitat that's quite poor for birds.

But it's not always the case. You take gardens now.

There's an apple tree here.

The birds will come in when they're ripe and eat the apples.

Flowers, shrubs and bushes. They'll attract the insects. Food for the birds.

They'll nest in there, they'll shelter in there.

Every garden, virtually, has got a lawn

where they can feed on earthworms and grubs.

And we're talking here about birds like blackbirds and robins,

who would have originally been woodland birds.

But they've found in our gardens a habitat that's even better.

'These woodland birds have found the perfect place.

'Their equivalent of paradise,

'where they'll find all they need in one rich habitat.

'And birds occasionally make clever use of the plants that we grow.

'These are the gardens of Gregynog Hall near Newtown in Powys.

'Foreign conifer trees have been planted beside the main lawns.

'Although trees like these have only appeared on the Welsh landscape during the past 200 years,

one local bird has already taken advantage of the new opportunities

that these exotic plants provide.'

This is a great tree. It's a giant redwood or a Wellingtonia.

Exactly the same as the big giant redwoods

'you have over in California.

'This is only about 150 years old, so it's got a long way to go yet.

One of the unique things about it is this thick, soft bark here.

A common woodland bird takes advantage of this bark

to roost overnight on these freezing cold winter nights.

What it does, it digs a little hole,

tucks itself in there until the early morning and then flies off.

But if we want to see it, we've got to come back here after dark.

And this is it. It's a treecreeper.

The bird has dug himself a little hole into that soft bark,

knowing full well he's going to be insulated all around.

His face and his belly and feet have gone right in

and all that sticks out are his dense back feathers.

He also knows that any passing owl is never going to see him

because those feathers blend in perfectly with the surrounding bark.

'And that's one of the cosiest roosting sites

'that any bird could possibly have.

'Buildings provide an endless variety of possibilities for birdlife.

'Jackdaws use chimneys as alternative nesting sites

'to rocky cliffs and tree holes.

'During winter, chimneys also have the added bonus of a source of heat.

'You often see jackdaws warming themselves up on a cold winter's day.

'These are at Betws-y-Coed.

'Pigeons nest in nooks and crannies.

'These have discovered useful gullies

'in the walls of Raglan Castle.

'Before people, wild pigeons nested on coastal cliffs.

'But holes in buildings probably provide

'better protection for their chicks.

'All over Wales, birds use buildings.

'High up on the Black Mountain in West Wales,

'house martins are assembling mud nests

'under the eaves of a waterworks building.

'Naturally, they too would build them on cliffs.

'Here in the uplands, this building presents the martins

'with an ideal nesting site.

'An opportunity that otherwise wouldn't exist in this open landscape.

'Derelict buildings also provide very useful habitats for birds.

'Because they're usually in a ruinous state,

'they're easy for the birds to access

'and there are plenty of places to hide.

'This building is on farmland near Abergavenny.'

There's a lovely old barn here. I love exploring old barns.

In a corner of the field, abandoned, surrounded by nettles,

sheltered by trees, and one end is completely covered in ivy.

Birds love places like this.

They go in there to shelter from the wind, from the rain, some from the sun even.

Some will nest in here too. It's a great place to nest.

So many nooks and crannies.

But we associate old barns like this with one bird in particular.

'It's a barn owl.

'They naturally nest in tree holes and cracks in cliffs

'and a few still do.

'But this family is using a nest box

'which has been placed especially for them in this ruin

'to help sustain the population of barn owls in Wales.

'They're being filmed with an infrared camera in complete darkness

'to avoid any disturbance to them.

'There are five chicks and at around eight weeks,

'they're just about old enough to leave the nest.

'It's clearly been a good season for them, as all the chicks are big and healthy.

'There must have been plenty of food around

'in the surrounding countryside.

'In a bad year, only the strongest survive and are preferentially fed.

'The weakest perish. But all is well this year.

'One of the parents, probably the male, returns with a vole.

'He gives it to the female, who then takes it to the chicks.

'For hundreds of years,

'farmers have gone out of their way to accommodate barn owls

'as they help keep rodents at bay on their land.

'On Mumbles Pier, across the bay from Swansea,

'gulls have also taken advantage of a nesting opportunity

'provided by an artificial structure.

'These are kittiwakes

'and they're nesting on the pier during late spring and summer.

'There must be 100 or more of them.'

I don't know anywhere else in Wales

where you can get this close to nesting kittiwakes.

Kittiwakes are usually shy birds,

but not Mumbles Pier kittiwakes obviously!

If you look at it from the birds point of view, this is a sea cliff.

It's isolated, it's safe, the seas around here are full of fish.

They can gather their nesting material from the sea, usually seaweed,

although one or two of these have been inland

because I can see moss on some of the nests.

If anything, this is actually better than some of the wild kittiwake colonies

I've seen in parts of Pembrokeshire and Anglesey

because there, they're exposed to some storms and huge waves.

Here, you're in Swansea Bay, so you're perfectly safe.

And what a backdrop! Look at that. The city of Swansea over there.

If I was a kittiwake, this is where I'd come to nest, I think.

'Kittiwakes first nested here nearly 20 years ago.

'They've gradually learnt that this is a safe spot.

'And generations of chicks have returned each year as adults,

'increasing the population that nest here.

'They get their name, kittiwake,

'from the constant "kitti-wake, kitti-wake" call they make.

'Over winter, they'll stay out at sea.

'But during the spring, they arrive to build their nests.

'And use all sorts of material.

'They only stop building once the chicks have hatched,

'presumably because with the arrival of hungry youngsters,

'they'll have little time to keep up with the nest work.

'The male constantly feeds the females to get them in good condition to lay

'and she'll usually lay two eggs.

'Compared to sea cliffs, the pier offers added protection,

as the hustle and bustle of visitors keeps predators, such as foxes, away.

'And with many people around, those who would do them harm

'are less likely to disturb them.

'In the port of Holyhead on Anglesey,

'another sea bird has taken advantage

'of a landscape created by people.

'It's a setting that couldn't be further

'from our understanding of a natural habitat.

'This is a black guillemot.

'They're beautiful birds and quite rare.

'They usually nest in cracks and crevices in sea cliffs.

'And currently, there's only one natural colony in the whole of Wales

'and that too is on Anglesey.

'These, together with a pair at Fishguard,

'are the only black guillemots in Wales

'that nest in an artificial landscape.

'There are two pairs here

'and they're using holes in the harbour wall as nesting sites.

'The holes are deeper and safer than those that they'll find on the coast.

'The location is perfect for them.

'There's plenty of food in the harbour to feed their chicks.

'This one has caught a small flatfish.

'Birds make use of all sorts of unnatural structures.

'The artificial landscapes created in our urban surroundings are particularly great habitats

'for birds who've hatched and grown up in the town.'

It's incredible just how adaptable some of our wildlife is.

I'm right in the middle of Cardiff here

and yet a pair of coots have decided to nest here.

The nest is just against this metal grill over there.

A pile of twigs with a bit of plastic in it.

Look at this from a coot's point of view.

It's got everything they need.

It's got a lot of food. I can see the vegetation in here.

There'd be a lot of invertebrates in there as well. It's got a nest site.

And if there is any danger, they can scuttle away

and hide underneath this vegetation right along the banks.

In some ways, it's even better

than a pond out in the countryside for them.

'The nest is big and they're still finishing it off.

'Coots dive for their food.

'They also go underwater to collect some of the nesting material.

'This is a perfect site for them.

'Naturally, they would choose an area of river, lake or pond

'where there is an obstruction caused by dead wood.

'Or an area of water where there's deep plant growth holding firm to the bottom.

'Here, the anchor point is provided by a metal grill,

'which has become stuck to the canal bed.

'This plastic bottle may well be used to provide extra support.

'It'll eventually be a giant stack

'and they'll defend it very aggressively.

'Although in the middle of town, the nest is reasonably safe from people,

'as few will venture into the water.

'The only danger here is from predatory birds, such as gulls and herons.

'When the female has laid her eggs, and there could be as many as 10,

'she'll usually cover them with weed to hide them.

'Birds often use artificial landscapes in ingenious ways.

'This is the River Leri near the Dyfi Estuary.

'The river is crossed by the Cambrian railway, which joins Machynlleth with Aberystwyth.

'Crows are a common sight throughout Wales.

'But these are resourceful crows.

'They've discovered that the railway track has many uses.

'They collect mussels at low tide on the estuary.

'Their beaks, however, are not the correct shape to prize open the shells.

'But they've worked out a solution to the problem.

'They drop the shells on to the railway track.

'This behaviour is not only a measure of intelligence,

'but also shows how birds learn how to improvise

'and use whatever we build.

'A watching kestrel seems impressed by the activity.

'Pretty much everything we build can be used

'by one species of bird or another.

'And birds also use what we throw away.

'It's 6:00am on a beautiful June morning.

Cardiff is waking up.

'Gulls have been active since first light.

'They're patrolling the streets, looking for food.

'It's an activity that you'll only see on a big scale during summer.

'In the Riverside and Grangetown areas of the town, it's bin day.

'Today, all the scavenging efforts of the gulls will be concentrated here.

'They're mainly lesser black-backed gulls.

'There are also herring gulls with light grey wings.

'Sometimes, a lesser black-back is boss of the bag.

'Sometimes, a herring gull.

'But one gull always seems to dominate others once a bag is opened.

'This herring gull is making this clear with his warning display.

'Gulls are not popular with the council or with the residents.

'They cause havoc on the streets.

'Love them or hate them, and it's mostly hate,

'all they're doing is adapting to an environment

'that gives them what they want.

'And bags of it.

'And this is very important late spring.

'These gulls are eating far more than they need.

'And there's a good reason why they're being so greedy.

'It's the breeding season.

'And the city also has excellent gull nesting sites.

'On an industrial site near the centre, a flat roof is an ideal base,

'a short flight away from the feeding zones.

'The gulls take off and land with food for their chicks from dawn to dusk.

'With their gullets full,

'they return and regurgitate the food for their chicks.'

There must be 50, maybe even 60 pairs of gulls on this flat roof.

They're mainly lesser black-backed gulls.

There are a few herring gulls dotted here and there as well.

This flat roof is exactly like an off-shore island, like a beach on an off-shore island.

It's really safe.

No foxes, no cats, no dogs can get up there.

They're kind of like urban vultures.

These gulls in the middle of Cardiff are really intelligent birds

because they know when it's bin day over in the middle of the city.

They'll rip up your bins and they'll get the food out of that.

'Each gull pair will have its own small patch of space on this artificial nesting site.

'Although the chicks are safe from predators,

'they're not safe from other gulls.

'If they venture from their own patch,

'there's always a possibility that other adults will kill them.

'Gulls are only in the city in big numbers during the breeding season, between April and August.

'The rest of the time, they'll go elsewhere in search of food.

'They don't provide one of the most beautiful views of the bird world,

'but you have to admire their intelligence.

'Birds are very special living creatures.

'They can do many things that we can't.

'And because of the range of habitats that we have in Wales,

'we have a fantastic range of species

'which have become specialists on their own patch.

'In my next Secret Life of Birds, I'll be looking at the various ways

'different bird species have adapted to the Welsh landscape

'and how the birds of different designs cope with life in Wales.'