1 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,280 Winter in the suburbs of London. 2 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,720 It's late. People are tucked up, 3 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,040 or watching David Attenborough on the telly. 4 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:28,920 'And the vast herds follow. 5 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:31,080 'Wildebeest are free to travel 6 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,800 'wherever the quest for food leads them 7 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,920 'and they home in on the scent of wet soil 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,800 'that carries the promise of fresh grass.' 9 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,160 There's a migration going on here, too. 10 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,480 The last bus does its rounds 11 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:57,160 and the old residents of this place are looking to reclaim the streets. 12 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,440 Fallow deer are stepping into a world 13 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,160 where nothing is quite natural. 14 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,480 Above them, this leaf should have fallen months ago, 15 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,120 but a tiny patch remains, confused by the streetlights 16 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,360 into believing winter has not yet arrived. 17 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,680 On the ground, the council's lawnmowers encourage fresh grasses 18 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,080 tastier than the brambles in the woods. 19 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,440 Like the wildebeest herds in Africa, 20 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,280 the deer of Essex are attracted to their own suburban Serengeti. 21 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,400 There are not lions here, 22 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,680 but cars can kill, too. 23 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:50,400 They won't be deterred - the manicured lawns are irresistible. 24 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,760 Finally they can eat their fill. 25 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,680 By rush hour, they'll be long gone. 26 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,000 And it's not just deer. 27 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,280 There are other mass migrations and alien invasions, 28 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,600 a world most of us never see. 29 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,640 There are a lucky few 30 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:19,600 who have opened their eyes to this wild subculture. 31 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:21,280 Is that one feeding now? 32 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:29,640 For them, London is a magical wilderness full of opportunity. 33 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,040 Every building in London resembles a cliff face. 34 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:39,440 Good dog. 35 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:41,600 No, there are no foxes in the countryside now. 36 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,360 They're all in London. 37 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,080 They'll come right over like helicopters. 38 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,680 We're surrounded. This is the real urban jungle. 39 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,360 It's like a gang here and a gang there, and it's all about territory. 40 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,240 I think she's camera shy. 41 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,280 Our window on to this world is through some unlikely heroes. 42 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,640 This is the natural history of London 43 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,800 as you have never seen it before. 44 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:14,840 'This train is ready to depart.' 45 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,800 To understand the nature of London, 46 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,640 we need to look at it as we would look at any other habitat. 47 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:39,400 But there is no habitat on Earth that evolves as quickly as a city. 48 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,280 London's wildlife has had to adapt 49 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,560 to this extreme eruption of rock and glass. 50 00:03:58,040 --> 00:03:59,400 Down in the streets, 51 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,360 spring reveals the city is still throbbing to the seasons. 52 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:07,600 Trees, the giants of the old order, 53 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:11,160 now reach up between towers and wheels, 54 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,320 living signposts to the arrival of summer. 55 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,120 Despite all the changes, 56 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,400 London is still a handful of gently rolling hills 57 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,560 that fall away to a flood plain of drained marshes... 58 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:30,960 with a river running through it. 59 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,520 Before we tried to contain it, 60 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,960 the Thames reached over five times its current width. 61 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,400 Fighting back this tide is an ongoing battle. 62 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,640 You can never keep nature out - 63 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,320 it will always seep back, bringing its magic with it. 64 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,760 One recent arrival swam in through the lock gates of Canary Wharf 65 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:23,400 to an old coal dock that separates the towers of industry 66 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,560 from Billingsgate Fish Market. 67 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,280 The Billingsgate Porters are a London tradition. 68 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,200 For 500 years, men have risen at 4am each day 69 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,840 to distribute fish to a hungry city. 70 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,680 But these tradesmen have gone soft on an animal 71 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,200 most fishermen would see as the enemy. 72 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,200 I think she's camera shy. 73 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,000 When I first saw her, it was dark 74 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,400 and right down the other end of the docks there 75 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,360 and I was coming down the stairs from the changing room, 76 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,520 and I saw this shape in the water and I thought it was a man in the water. 77 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,720 No, I didn't think it was human. I could see it was a seal. 78 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,080 I'm not that naive, you know? 79 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,040 Just kick this. Like that... 80 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,120 METAL CLANGS 81 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,160 And up she comes. 82 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,400 Like Flipper. 83 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,840 This seal can escape to the Thames should she choose to do so, 84 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:46,760 yet she prefers to stay. 85 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,840 Certainly, catching fish here is a lot easier. 86 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:52,800 She's a bit fussy - she won't eat plaice or nothing like that. 87 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:57,200 She'll eat mackerel, herrings - soft fish, like, you know? 88 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,760 What she likes the most are the squid 89 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,400 because they're nice and soft, I suppose easy to swallow. 90 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,480 Salmon, I reckon. Salmon and trout. 91 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:12,320 Nice, big, juicy mackerel for her. 92 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,960 Bit hungry. Looks a bit narrow. 93 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,920 METAL CLANGS 94 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,320 She just puts it in her flippers and claws and just strips it down. 95 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,200 Strips it right off. 96 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:31,360 It's an unlikely relationship. 97 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,920 Men considered to be tough as old nails 98 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:36,640 raiding their stock for the love of a seal. 99 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,800 She'll sort of go up and down, follow you along. 100 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:45,840 She sort of performs, you know? Especially when she's hungry. 101 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:52,080 There's a good girl. A lovely girl. 102 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,160 There's more fish in there than there is in there! 103 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:05,120 For those of us who care to look, London is full of surprises. 104 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,080 You've had whales up the river, in't ya? 105 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,120 Had whales, dolphins. 106 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,360 Terns - red Arctic terns round here. 107 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:18,240 You see more in London and surrounding areas than what you can in the countryside. 108 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:22,360 It's all around you, 109 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,200 if you only look and see for yourself what's about. 110 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,840 Some people walk about with their head in the clouds. They don't look at nothing. 111 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:35,360 Like I say, my garden - toads, slowworms, frogs. 112 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:38,000 Middle of London, you know? 113 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000 I mean, we'd never see a slowworm when we was kids. 114 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,600 Grass snakes. You know, all coming in. Where are they coming from? 115 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,560 See, what you don't see a lot of now - hedgehogs. 116 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:53,920 When I first moved in the house where I am 117 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:58,720 it was heaving with hedgehogs. You know, there was too many of them. 118 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,880 The habitat of London is not for the faint hearted 119 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,840 and hedgehogs have it tougher than most. 120 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:10,600 They don't understand roads and they confuse a pile of cuttings 121 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,360 as a place to doss down for the night when it's actually a bonfire. 122 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,080 They have even developed a habit for the sweet nectar of coffee 123 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,520 at the bottom of a Styrofoam cup. 124 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,000 If it gets stuck, it can be fatal. 125 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:35,080 They may not be streetwise yet, 126 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,040 but they muddle along where they can. 127 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,800 Others have adapted brilliantly 128 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:47,480 and left their country cousins far behind. 129 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:55,040 To the feral pigeon, the streets of London are paved with gold. 130 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,600 Most Londoners barely give these birds a second thought, 131 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:02,560 but Lisa, far from ignoring the humble pigeon... 132 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:05,960 - Stay, boys. - ..has developed an obsession with them. 133 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:07,840 It's all in the art of stealth. 134 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,720 She's not a scientist - she's just a girl with an unlikely passion. 135 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,240 But you don't crawl around the streets of London for six years 136 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,200 without picking up a thing or two. 137 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:22,560 We are in the middle of Soho, 138 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,840 so all these guys basically live in Soho Square. 139 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,960 Scientists believe that pigeons used to navigate their way 140 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,000 using the Earth's magnetic field 141 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,480 and there are actually a lot of scientists now 142 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:36,280 that believe they just use roads like everybody else. 143 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:37,960 So literally, you know, 144 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,880 a Manchester pigeon might arrive in London by flying down the M1. 145 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:46,280 See the bobbing heads? 146 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,040 Because they've got an eye on each side of their head, 147 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,080 they balance it up by bobbing their heads, 148 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:55,440 which actually gives them amazing eyesight. 149 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,520 They've also got a beak that works like a straw. 150 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,240 When most birds drink, they take a sip and knock it back. 151 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,600 Pigeons can literally suck up water as if their beak is like a straw, 152 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,800 so it means they can literally get a good old pint-full very quickly. 153 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,320 Lisa tracks them all over London, and she thinks their characters 154 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,080 are defined by the neighbourhood they come from. 155 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,480 God - easily spooked, these pigeons of Peckham. 156 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,000 I've now filmed pigeons or shot pigeons 157 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,360 in almost every borough in London pretty much. 158 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,000 Kensington, obviously, they tend to be 159 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:38,280 feeding largely off smoked salmon and caviar. 160 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,120 A whole different kind of posher type of pigeon, really. 161 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,560 And obviously this is the extreme, which is south of the river. 162 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:49,160 The minute you go south, they're quite different. 163 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,200 Just slightly more edgy, basically. 164 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:55,480 Slightly more edgy, a little bit more of a gang mentality. 165 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,680 They're a slightly scarier pigeon down here. 166 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:04,440 She has an online diary about a pigeon called Brian 167 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,000 and with thousands of hits on his website, 168 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,680 he's fast becoming a London celebrity. 169 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,440 There's Brian. That's Brian Pigeon - 170 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,840 see that light grey one there, with the black stripes around him? 171 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,320 That's how you always know that's Brian Pigeon. 172 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:24,080 The online diary is what he gets up to every day, 173 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:28,680 hanging out with mates, disappearing with mates. 174 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:32,280 Doing his own thing, partying. 175 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,960 He organised a protest flyby 176 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,440 that happened to coincide with the G20 protests 177 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,920 and, literally, I came down here to cover it 178 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:46,120 and there were thousands of pigeons. Thousands from all over the country, 179 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,280 so he'd managed to get this whole thousands of pigeons together 180 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:50,840 and then they did a mass flyby. 181 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:54,040 Did a huge flyby over to the mayor's office, flew round it 182 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:56,640 and then flew all the way back again. 183 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,880 Lisa's blog may not be science, but it's not all flight of fancy. 184 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,400 # Don't got a lot of time 185 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,080 # Don't give a damn 186 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:14,600 # Don't tell me what to do 187 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:16,360 # I am the man. # 188 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,240 The descriptions of Brian's love-life all over London 189 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,400 taps into one of the keys to the pigeons' success. 190 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,240 # God, shine your light down here 191 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,640 # Shine on the love 192 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,600 # Love of the loveless 193 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:32,440 # Love of the loveless. # 194 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,880 If you just care to look, you will see pigeon courtship 195 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:41,560 going on all over the place and all year round. 196 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,000 But the girls aren't easy. 197 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,600 Yeah, normally he will give it a couple of goes first, 198 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,040 with most of the ladies running away. 199 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,600 But finally, when he meets one who's up for it 200 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:04,880 and a little bit of eye contact, 201 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,520 a little bit of the puffing of the chest. 202 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,160 And then the turning round in circles, and I've often thought 203 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,200 it's just a, kind of, "Look - here's me from all sides." 204 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,720 When they do finally manage, though - he's done the puffy chest bit, 205 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:21,800 he's done the dancing round in circles bit and she's gone, "Yeah, all right, then. I'm up for it." 206 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,600 Yeah, then there can be all sorts of lovely entwining of necks, 207 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:28,680 pecking each other's beaks, 208 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,080 feeding each other bits of spit, which is nice. 209 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:37,480 And, yeah, then finally, up he jumps, has a little wiggle around. 210 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,480 But, of course, they don't actually have penises. 211 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,320 They're not actually well hung or anything like that. They actually do have a little hole. 212 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,040 Well, I think that's generally why the female's a bit like, 213 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,280 "I'm really sorry - I'm not in the mood. 214 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,040 "It's all going to be over and done with in about ten seconds. 215 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:55,800 "And frankly it hurts my back." 216 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,720 The male tends to bask in the wonderful afterglow, 217 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,480 the female's going, "Oh, my back. 218 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:08,120 "He was a little bit heavy, that one." 219 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:09,840 But the male's all kind of like, 220 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,360 "Yeah, look at me. Check out me and my packet." 221 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,440 Six weeks later, loads of eggs. 222 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,400 The pigeons hide their nests 223 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,560 on the rocky crags and cliff faces of our buildings. 224 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,520 If you think about it, you never see a baby pigeon. 225 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,000 Like many London teenagers, 226 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,320 they stay with their parents until they are fully grown. 227 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,400 They'll only come down when they look just like an adult. 228 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,520 Once fledged, the pigeon is free to fly the canyons of London 229 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:55,720 to places none of us can go. 230 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:01,240 But up here, a predator's moved into the neighbourhood 231 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:05,200 and it's the fastest animal on the planet. 232 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,600 During the Second World War, 233 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:34,800 Parliament ordered all Peregrine to be killed 234 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,320 because they could hunt the carrier pigeons 235 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,480 bringing messages from the front. 236 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,720 The raptors have returned with a vengeance, 237 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,040 even nesting here in the capital. 238 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,120 Most of us have no idea what is going on above us, 239 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,120 but there are a few intrepid types 240 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,560 climbing high up to Peregrine level. 241 00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:59,720 Peregrine! Mark, Peregrine. 242 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,960 When you do get, you know, a large bird of prey 243 00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,400 gunning through the centre of London, it's just... 244 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:10,400 It's a marvel, you know, it really is. 245 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,840 And a phenomenon of only the last ten years. 246 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,200 Up here I can see five Peregrine sites. 247 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,240 There are up to around 23, 24 pairs now. 248 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,000 In the early days, it was probably three pairs in London. 249 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,600 Beautiful. Beautiful. 250 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:30,480 And it's not just Peregrines they're looking for. 251 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,960 - Buzzard! - Passerine. - Swallow. Just below the horizon now. 252 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,320 Peregrine just below the plane. Swift just above us up here. 253 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:40,320 - Nice one, Jamie! - Where are we? 254 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:43,840 Standing on the pinnacle of one of the biggest banks, 255 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,120 each month this group of birders 256 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:48,720 holds a vigil over the London skyline. 257 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:53,920 Below them, global finance hangs in the balance. 258 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,560 Up here, they're following global movements too - 259 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,000 migrants from as far as Asia are tracked and logged. 260 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:06,960 Looks like - talk of the devil - an immature lesser black-backed gull. 261 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,600 Gulls are fascinating, but they're an acquired taste for a lot of people. 262 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,520 You'll often look up and if there's a very distant speck soaring, 263 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:21,280 thermalling like raptors, more often than not it's a cormorant or a gull. 264 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,120 They're kind of like the ground mass that you're working through 265 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:27,600 to try and get to the good stuff. 266 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,840 Most birders are solitary types. 267 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:35,920 This gathering is a rare collaboration, 268 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:39,280 each of them coming together from their own special patches of London. 269 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:41,120 It seems to be coming closer towards us. 270 00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:43,000 You might get some film here, yeah. 271 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,520 - We communicate online a lot, don't we? - Yeah. 272 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,440 And we're always seeing things in different parts of London. 273 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:50,600 We actually met up here, didn't we, Pete? 274 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,920 - Yeah. I'd heard of you before. - And you, too. 275 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,160 Yeah, we kind of follow each other's sightings and exploits. 276 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,200 Yeah, we've got our different patches that we cover, 277 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,720 so everyone covers a certain area, and together we all cover the whole of London. 278 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,000 Yeah, gotcha. Cheers, mate. 279 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,280 This is mutual territory, 280 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:12,480 but what happens if one of them starts birding on another's patch? 281 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,200 That's called poaching. THEY LAUGH 282 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,160 Mark's patch is in the council estates of Hackney. 283 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,360 You mention Hackney to most people 284 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,240 and it does conjure up images of poverty and crime, 285 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,080 the archetypal concrete jungle. 286 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:40,320 It is the birders who know the wild places of our cities the best. 287 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:43,960 At dawn, behind the estates, 288 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,520 Mark has a secret oasis. 289 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,400 The hidden nature of the city 290 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,520 can be better than anything found in the countryside. 291 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,280 Living here has really intensified my appreciation. 292 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,720 It's more isolated, it's more specialised - 293 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,200 I think that creates an enormous sense of well-being, 294 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,600 which you can't necessarily quantify. 295 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,360 You can't really put a price on. 296 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:17,840 It's a reservoir of London's drinking water 297 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,880 where heron and cormorants have taken up residence. 298 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,520 No self-respecting heron would nest at water level, 299 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:37,760 but in the city deviant behaviour is more acceptable than elsewhere. 300 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:49,200 When out on a date, Canada geese may not be deviant, 301 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,960 but they are certainly not gentle lovers. 302 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:07,040 With the arrival of spring, Mark's secret place 303 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:11,000 can give up one of the greatest spectacles of London wildlife. 304 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,680 It's a love story - 305 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,000 a courtship ritual that would knock the hardest of urban hearts. 306 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,840 The grebe is a world-class performer. 307 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,280 They represent a dash of real exotica. 308 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,480 You wouldn't think they were out of place in, perhaps, 309 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:32,840 Africa or Asia, but they're very much a British bird 310 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,280 and they are very much a Hackney bird. 311 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,480 This is the start of the courtship, where they both approach each other fairly fast, heads down. 312 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,240 Straight for each other and then, as they arrive, 313 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:56,680 the head-shaking and the dance begins. 314 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,520 What the birds are actually doing now 315 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,320 is they're approaching each other with vegetation, 316 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,760 almost like a Valentine's Day present. 317 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,480 It's very much a symbolic offering, almost Egyptian. 318 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,960 It seems like a lot of work for a bit of old weed. 319 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:17,680 It's not all about value, isn't? 320 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,520 The bigger the rock on your finger, the better the marriage? 321 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:22,600 I don't think so. 322 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:24,760 That judging them by human standards, 323 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:30,640 which is, you know, an extremely flawed way to enjoy nature. 324 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,720 The grebe's display is... 325 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,040 something that's indicative of spring. 326 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:08,920 I think it's one of nature's signals 327 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,600 that spring is well and truly on its way. 328 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,120 And that makes you happy? 329 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,960 I think... I think it'd be very odd if it didn't make me happy. 330 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,640 While most of us are still supping cornflakes, 331 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,440 Mark's tapping into a Planet Earth special. 332 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:43,080 Unlike Mark's secluded haven, 333 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,120 over at Pete's patch, there's a riot going on. 334 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,480 It's a huge party, with an all-you-can-eat deal. 335 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,280 For them, it must be heaven. 336 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,880 Because they're scavengers, so it's the ultimate scavenger paradise. 337 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,240 They've got more food than they can wave a stick at. 338 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,720 London's waste attracts 339 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,880 one of the greatest gatherings of gulls in the country. 340 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:18,120 To be close to this, 341 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:21,720 Pete has even bought his house overlooking the site. 342 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,160 When the wind is blowing from the East 343 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,440 it can actually get almost unbearable some days. 344 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:32,440 This is junk food - literally. 345 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,520 The gulls' success is all about the distinct lack of fussiness. 346 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,360 It's not just the fast food that lures them in - 347 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,400 around the coast, there's no longer the same opportunities 348 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,680 for seagulls to socialise en masse. 349 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,800 This is one big seagull party. 350 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,840 Herring gulls got their name 351 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:05,000 because they followed our boats for the herring we threw overboard. 352 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:07,400 There are over 2,000 of them here, 353 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,840 yet on the coastlines of Britain, they're becoming endangered. 354 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,040 In the future, London's children may wonder 355 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,800 why they are called herring gulls. 356 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,240 The relationship these birds once had with fishermen out to sea 357 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:25,280 will have been lost for the pull of the city. 358 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:29,160 Herring gulls, lesser black-backed gull... 359 00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:35,760 Where we see a mass of birds, Pete sees rare individuals. 360 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:39,560 There should be greater black-backed here as well. 361 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,760 There's one there now, look. Going past that bulldozer. 362 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,960 It's hovering. Down and right. 363 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,680 Coming towards us, just a single bird, there. 364 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,640 Some of them come from a very long way, 365 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,560 you know, all over Scandinavia, Norway, Finland... 366 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,320 We get Caspian gulls here as well - they've come from central Asia. 367 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,800 Uh, we get, um... 368 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,720 We get Iceland gulls, which come from Greenland. 369 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,480 We've had gulls that have come from as far as Alaska. 370 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,360 There could be up to 15,000 gulls here today. 371 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,160 That's a lot of birds. 372 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:30,920 Every hour in Britain, 373 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,880 we throw away enough rubbish to fill the Albert Hall. 374 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:37,840 It's not just the gulls that are cashing in on this. 375 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,400 Foxes like to scavenge, too, 376 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:47,160 but the swirling mass of live food above his head is just too tempting. 377 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,480 Old instincts die hard. 378 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,080 - SOMEONE WHISTLES - This vixen has learned to do an extraordinary thing 379 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,040 for an even more reliable source of food. 380 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,560 First, all she has to do is follow the whistle. 381 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:45,680 SOMEONE WHISTLES 382 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:59,160 Then she's learned that sitting politely is a small price to pay 383 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,200 for a steady stream of sausages. 384 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:03,760 Do you want this? 385 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,800 Sit. 386 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:08,160 Good dog. 387 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,480 And I just call her White Legs. She's the mother. 388 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,320 And this one's Greedy. Yeah? 389 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:18,160 You want this? Fox. Sit. 390 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,560 Sit. 391 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,680 Good dog. 392 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,600 You see? He sits. 393 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,120 Do as your mother tells you. 394 00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:32,320 There are four or five foxes who have this relationship with Lillian. 395 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:37,000 The White Legs is the mummy. She's got five little ones to feed. 396 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,760 Greedy, I think, is her sister. 397 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,240 You want this one, Greedy? 398 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,400 We've got two Greedys here and they've got the daddy there. 399 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:49,200 Sit. Sit. Sit. 400 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,960 - But, of course, this isn't just about the foxes. - Good dog. 401 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,680 This is about our need for a connection with nature. 402 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,520 This is about a lady high in a concrete tower 403 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,960 who finds solace through the animals below. 404 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,920 Oh, the other one's there. That's three, that's four there. Sit. 405 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,240 Now, watch him. When we give him... 406 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,800 He'll go straight over there and take it to the little one. 407 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,320 - Hey! - SHE LAUGHS 408 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,600 Now he's got it, he's going to go. He's going to go. 409 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:30,040 Yeah, here he goes. Go on. He's gone to where the cubs are. 410 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:32,720 Only we humans go out of our way 411 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,720 to intentionally sustain another species. 412 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,880 I'd like someone to feed me if I was out there, 413 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,160 especially if I've got five cubs. 414 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,840 You want this? Sit. 415 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:48,960 Sit. 416 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,520 When animals respond to us, they can bring extraordinary joy. 417 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,360 And that can come in many forms. 418 00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:00,600 For a chef in Bethnal Green, it's not foxes - 419 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,360 but sparrows are important in his life. 420 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:09,680 For Cyrus, these small birds are a reminder of his childhood in India. 421 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,040 Ah, look who's here - a good friend. 422 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,800 There's one bird I grew up with in India, 423 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,960 and we had hundreds of them there. They used to perch inside our house 424 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:27,080 and we used to get little sparrows coming out and I used to 425 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:31,160 actually have them in my hands sometimes. So sparrows make me very happy. 426 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:35,000 I was amazed when I first came here that the sparrows were dwindling 427 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:37,920 and I didn't see many sparrows. I only saw them in a few places. 428 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:41,600 It's an amazing bird - very industrious, very hard-working 429 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,160 and every one of them has got a character. 430 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,760 If Cyrus is to help his little friends here in London, 431 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,560 then he must do battle with an invader 432 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:56,560 that some consider to be overrunning the city in plague proportions. 433 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,600 My biggest problem is the squirrel. 434 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,640 A squirrel becomes cleverer by the day. 435 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:10,480 What I'm going to do now is apply lots of Vaseline on that bar, 436 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,440 and just really keep on smearing Vaseline, coat after coat. 437 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:19,800 Cyrus is an award-winning chef and he has another trick up its sleeve. 438 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,400 To ward off my little devil four-legged friend, 439 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,720 who seems to get into everything, 440 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,640 I mixed some crushed chilli seeds inside. 441 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,920 I know it's a bad thing to do because I love animals of all kinds, 442 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,960 so I won't kill him, but what I will do is keep him away from here. 443 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:39,280 So the chillies get into his nose and it's amazing 444 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:43,000 because he takes a somersault, he takes a backward flip, 445 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,160 shakes his head about, and he doesn't come back. 446 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,120 If you tried to eat a spoonful of that, you'd be suffering miserably. 447 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,680 London is amazing from the point of view that 448 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,160 there is still so much wildlife. 449 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,560 Just look on the canal in the early morning. 450 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,080 The swans are floating past, the geese are there, 451 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:10,120 the ducks are there, the coots are there, of course, crazy as they are, 452 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,320 screaming and shouting at two in the morning, waking me up sometimes. 453 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,360 In India, they would be cut. 454 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:17,680 Somebody's little dinner would be ready. 455 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,680 You just see birds floating around like that, aimlessly. 456 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:24,160 They would get them. If you come from a city like Bombay, 457 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,520 wildlife has virtually been exterminated. 458 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,600 Where I grew up, in our little suburb of Bombay, we had snakes, 459 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,160 we had monitor lizards, we had parakeets, parrots, the lot. 460 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:36,560 I don't see a single bird now. 461 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:39,960 There is no city like London in the world. 462 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:43,840 The amount of parks we have got, the amount of open spaces we've got, 463 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:45,920 tiny little spaces also are green. 464 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,520 I think that is something that London needs to be really proud of. 465 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,080 Coming from India, of course, this is like magic. 466 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,440 'Good morning, London. It's five minutes past six.' 467 00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,480 'As London basks in a mini heatwave, 468 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,320 'it's perhaps difficult to imagine the capital...' 469 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:03,880 'Phew, what a scorcher! 470 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,680 'If you watched John Hammond a bit earlier on the national weather, 471 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:11,640 'you'll know the hotspot today is Northolt in north-west London.' 472 00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:18,440 London is indeed magical. 473 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,160 It is home to eight million people, 474 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,200 yet each day throughout its history 475 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:28,480 it has greeted a wild population bigger than its human count. 476 00:34:29,720 --> 00:34:34,480 'Habitats on land and in water are still works in progress, 477 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:36,760 'but already drawing praise.' 478 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:38,520 'The rivers look a lot cleaner. 479 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,560 'Everything's been trimmed down, so it's wonderful.' 480 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:46,120 The rivers are now full of fish, 481 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,320 grebes and herons, even otters are back. 482 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,480 Peregrines and gulls fill the sky. 483 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:55,760 It's one of the greenest cities in the world. 484 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,880 Away from the canyons of the city, 485 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:06,200 rising above the floodplains of the Thames, 486 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:09,160 lie the ancient oak forests of Richmond. 487 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:14,960 This is a place where Old England still remains, 488 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,800 that harks back to the original habitat of London. 489 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,960 This man is no stranger to the history of these woods. 490 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,560 Nice old oak trees here. 491 00:35:27,560 --> 00:35:30,040 Massive, big, old tree. 492 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,680 These are probably 400,500 years old. 493 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,280 Henry VIII probably alive when these trees were around. 494 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,120 He's probably done what I've done, 495 00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,920 just lent against it while he's chasing the old deer. 496 00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:47,520 It's almost like Robin Hood country. 497 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:51,160 You expect to see a bloke come out in a pair of tights in a minute. 498 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,440 It's John's job to manage the deer here. 499 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:57,680 He's been a London gamekeeper all his life. 500 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:01,760 There was a female here a minute ago, 501 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:05,360 cos she's got a baby here somewhere. 502 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:08,160 Right now, he's looking for a fawn. 503 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:12,360 At the start of summer, the mothers stash their young in the grass. 504 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,200 It's the one time when female deer are aggressive to anything 505 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:20,200 they think may be a danger to their calves. 506 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,160 There's a hind watching. Be careful of her. 507 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:27,360 She's got one here somewhere. 508 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:30,400 Most at risk are the dog-walkers in the park. 509 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,960 If we had a dog here, you'd be in serious trouble. 510 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,400 I mean, if there was a dog chasing a calf here now, 511 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:40,800 all of those hinds and those up there, 512 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,400 there'd be 50 hinds chasing the dog. And God help the dog! 513 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:46,760 Their feet are called slots 514 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:50,920 and they're extremely sharp on the tip end of the toe. 515 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,600 We have had dogs killed here. 516 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,640 Got some people here with dogs which are going to be in trouble, 517 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,240 cos they're heading right towards them. 518 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,040 If you let the dog off the lead, actually, 519 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:17,320 and if it was scared of deer and was running away, 520 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:20,720 you could run away with it and it would attack the dog, not you. 521 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:22,240 You'd get away that way. 522 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,800 With the deer distracted by the dogs, 523 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,560 it's a good opportunity to sneak in to catch a young fawn. 524 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:31,640 Got one, just down here. 525 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,320 It's 20 feet in front of me now. 526 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:41,000 Hopefully, if I can just walk up to it and just hold it, you know, 527 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,720 come in slowly, keep it calm, there's less chance of it bleating. 528 00:37:44,720 --> 00:37:48,440 But once it bleats, we've got some girls behind us, some hinds... 529 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,520 Once he bleats, we've got to get out fast because they'll come running. 530 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:57,080 John wants to tag the young deer. 531 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:06,320 They will not move for anything. 532 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:10,720 Catching it is the easy part. 533 00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:14,000 But avoiding the attention of the females is the problem. 534 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,000 Let me get an ear tag in fast because... 535 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:19,000 BLEATING 536 00:38:21,720 --> 00:38:24,240 CONTINUES BLEATING 537 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:29,920 Number ten. There you are. 538 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:32,760 Oop! Get out of here quick. Here come the girls. 539 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,360 Stay with me, John. 540 00:38:38,360 --> 00:38:41,920 You see what I mean? You have to be careful. 541 00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:46,800 But I would back out now if I were you guys. 542 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:49,200 She's going to follow us, see. 543 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:52,960 Just keep walking. 544 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,840 The tags help track the fawns as they grow up. 545 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,360 Come winter, many of the deer will have to be culled 546 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,280 in the dead of the night. 547 00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,440 We'd all like to live in an ideal world, 548 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,600 where predators will take care of things, 549 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:09,640 but we're not in that world no more. 550 00:39:09,640 --> 00:39:12,560 You know, if you didn't cull these deer, I mean, 551 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:15,360 they produce between 100 and 150 babies every year. 552 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,760 And you've got to think, you've only got to give it three, four years, 553 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:20,760 you'll have doubled your herd size. 554 00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,960 Then, anything green you're looking at will be gone 555 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:25,880 cos they'll have eaten it all. 556 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:27,840 There'll be nothing left. 557 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:29,800 Who wants a park like that? 558 00:39:31,800 --> 00:39:34,640 Here, nature has been managed and controlled 559 00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:37,400 since Charles I built a wall around Richmond 560 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:39,240 and claimed it as his garden. 561 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:43,120 I'm afraid you have to act as God. 562 00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,880 The really wild spaces of London are somewhere else. 563 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,760 not the parks and gardens, 564 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:55,600 but the forbidden zones. 565 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:01,720 The railway verges 566 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:06,200 are some of the most important and undisturbed green spaces in London. 567 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:12,080 Behind electric fence and barbed wire, 568 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:17,280 they are as difficult to reach as any sea cliffs or deserted island. 569 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,960 They thread through London like green arteries. 570 00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,920 Plants which normally live oceans apart 571 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,880 find their place to thrive and reach every corner of the city. 572 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:37,280 Here, the seeds of ragwort, knotweed and willowherb 573 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:41,480 commute on the slipstream of the Circle, District or Northern lines. 574 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:48,120 Here, foxes and feral cats migrate through the city, 575 00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:49,880 seeking their fortune. 576 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:57,600 And there's another animal that is rumoured to be using our rail links. 577 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:05,480 If it's true, then pigeons have taken their relationship with London 578 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:07,640 to a whole other level. 579 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:25,040 Pigeons visit stations because there are plenty of crumbs about. 580 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:28,400 But Londoners are reporting a new phenomena. 581 00:41:29,840 --> 00:41:32,760 Some birds, after feeding at one station, 582 00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:37,160 are happy to go to the next one...by train. 583 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:43,880 'Bad news for commuters - fare rises and tube strikes. 584 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:46,400 'The RMT has announced a series of walk-out dates.' 585 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:49,320 'That's right. Four days of strikes have been announced, 586 00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,400 'all for the second half of this month.'. 587 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:56,920 'South West Trains has said it will review the way it deals with disruption to its services..' 588 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:01,040 PA: This is a Circle line train via Paddington and Baker Street. 589 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:05,320 This train is ready to depart. Please stand clear of the doors. 590 00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:21,360 Is this a new kind of evolution? 591 00:42:27,240 --> 00:42:30,720 PA: The next station is Goldhawk Road. 592 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,360 PA: This is Goldhawk Road. 593 00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:49,960 This is Hammersmith & City line train to Plaistow. 594 00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,680 It's certainly a nice life if you can get it. 595 00:42:55,680 --> 00:43:00,640 Travelling by train, visiting friends in the park, 596 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:03,720 constantly fed by the upright apes all around you. 597 00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:06,400 But a pigeon doesn't have it all its own way. 598 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:08,880 There are dangers here, too. 599 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:15,840 There are 300 languages being spoken in London. 600 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:19,080 And the multicultural flavour of the city 601 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:21,440 is reflected in the animals that live here. 602 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:27,040 The pelicans have been here since 1664, 603 00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:29,680 a gift from a Russian ambassador. 604 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:33,760 They seem prepared to get along with the locals. 605 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:39,440 It's hard to know what sort of behaviour to expect 606 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,440 from a Russian pelican living near Buckingham Palace. 607 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:54,280 But, surely, this is not normal. 608 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:56,200 WOMAN: Oh, my God! 609 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:09,400 ONLOOKERS LAUGH 610 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,200 It's not just the pigeons that have to face 611 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:30,760 unnatural dangers in the city. 612 00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:36,000 Nesting high in a tree or on a rock face is normal for a duck. 613 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:39,560 The chicks jump down soon after they hatch. 614 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:44,040 But this London cliff face is a hell of a leap. 615 00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:21,600 For some ducklings, once in the water, 616 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:23,920 their troubles are just beginning. 617 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:29,680 20 years ago, 618 00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:33,920 a ninja cartoon sent kids flocking to the shops to buy baby turtles. 619 00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:38,000 Then, they were no bigger than a 50-pence piece. 620 00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:43,760 Now, a London pond can contain several hundred red-eared terrapins, 621 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:45,240 all grown up, 622 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:50,120 and doing what they've always done in the Everglades and the Amazon. 623 00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:22,840 London has always provided a haven to immigrants 624 00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:24,640 from all over the world, 625 00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:29,080 and there's one refugee rumoured to have Hollywood credentials. 626 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:32,040 Sometimes, dramatic changes may be traced back 627 00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:34,560 to a single human mistake. 628 00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:37,440 These Indian ring-necked parakeets 629 00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:41,240 first centred around London's Shepperton Studios, 630 00:46:41,240 --> 00:46:44,920 and popular opinion has it that they escaped in 1950 631 00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:47,240 from the set of The African Queen. 632 00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:53,800 Humphrey Bogart left a door open for a moment perhaps, 633 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,160 and the wildlife of London was changed. 634 00:47:06,360 --> 00:47:10,560 And dusk, wave after wave of parakeets 635 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:14,120 can build to a roost of over 6,000 birds. 636 00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:26,640 Of course, London is used to aliens. 637 00:47:30,200 --> 00:47:34,520 Immigrant black rats off the boats brought with them the plague. 638 00:47:37,960 --> 00:47:40,640 Today, it's the Norwegian brown rat 639 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:45,160 which, in London, can now grow twice the size of its cousins back home. 640 00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:54,440 And new arrivals are still coming in off the boats. 641 00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:03,800 Go dancing down by the docks tonight 642 00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:08,120 and the UV lights of the clubs can reveal more than you bargained for. 643 00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:16,000 The European yellowtail scorpion is rarely lethal, 644 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:20,080 but you wouldn't want to lie around in this gutter after a skinful. 645 00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:25,800 There are now three separate colonies of scorpion 646 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:29,120 living in London, some several thousand strong. 647 00:48:33,240 --> 00:48:37,800 Some immigrants arrive on boats, others by train. 648 00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:43,120 This man is hunting aliens that are sneaking their way in 649 00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:45,280 using the old Victorian canals. 650 00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:50,600 Crayfish Bob has ideas of big business down here. 651 00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:55,000 He wants to catch the invaders for us all to eat. 652 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:00,760 But in these murky depths, 653 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:03,880 he's stumbled upon a gang war with crayfish invaders 654 00:49:03,880 --> 00:49:07,960 from both Europe and America fighting over territory. 655 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:12,960 This underworld is the scene for a major turf war. 656 00:49:14,240 --> 00:49:19,280 I would think, in this darkness, this would be a very attractive habitat. 657 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:22,520 In this old brickwork, 658 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:26,160 the chances are they'll find crevices to hide away in. 659 00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:29,800 Yeah, I would think that this was 660 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:33,640 a fairly popular place to reside. 661 00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:36,680 Well, that's a red swamp. 662 00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:41,560 As you see - red swamp - likes living in swamps and... 663 00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:45,200 ..is somewhat red. 664 00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:50,040 What we have is four different species of crayfish. 665 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:52,840 They're all invasive. None of them should be here. 666 00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:57,360 The old gang of white-claw - folklore, gone years ago. 667 00:49:57,360 --> 00:50:01,320 And it's like a gang here and a gang here. It's all about territory. 668 00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:04,560 The Serpentine, for example, 669 00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:08,480 used to be absolutely teeming with Turkish crayfish. 670 00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:11,520 But now the signal crayfish have come in. 671 00:50:13,280 --> 00:50:17,520 Hampstead Heath - once Turkish territory, red swamp move in. 672 00:50:18,840 --> 00:50:22,520 It's like the sort of gangland wars of the '60s. 673 00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:28,240 The gangs are on the move. 674 00:50:28,240 --> 00:50:33,520 In Maida Vale, a red swamp has moved on a signal's patch. 675 00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:35,960 A punch-up is inevitable. 676 00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:03,440 The signal crayfish fights dirty. 677 00:51:03,440 --> 00:51:05,920 He carries with him a plague 678 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:09,240 that lays low all other crayfish in its path. 679 00:51:09,240 --> 00:51:11,880 He's already wiped out the native crayfish 680 00:51:11,880 --> 00:51:15,880 and his gang is set to take over the whole of London. 681 00:51:21,080 --> 00:51:25,360 He's killed most of our native white-claws in many areas. 682 00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:29,040 He's teeming on the bottom of the rivers, and he's quite likely 683 00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:32,960 to do what he's done in the rest of the UK and become dominant. 684 00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:40,120 In the waterways of London, a new order is being established. 685 00:51:44,960 --> 00:51:47,480 All over London, it's the same. 686 00:51:47,480 --> 00:51:50,120 The ancient residents and immigrants 687 00:51:50,120 --> 00:51:53,720 are pioneering a new future with us in the city. 688 00:51:55,720 --> 00:51:59,080 This unnatural habitat is home for a new generation 689 00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:04,400 and they're growing up in a place that suits them just fine. 690 00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:08,400 An unnatural life in the city 691 00:52:08,400 --> 00:52:11,400 can be easier than anything in the countryside, 692 00:52:11,400 --> 00:52:14,400 never more so than in the winter. 693 00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:21,880 'More heavy snow and freezing temperatures forecast. 694 00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:24,440 'Up to nine inches of snow fell in some areas.' 695 00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:26,400 It's two degrees warmer for a start. 696 00:52:26,400 --> 00:52:29,920 It means pigeons can nest even earlier here. 697 00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:33,080 They may even get a break from the London Peregrines 698 00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:36,200 who've adapted to use the bright lights to hunt bats, 699 00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:38,000 instead of birds. 700 00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:42,840 And when times are tough, for those who look for it, 701 00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:45,800 there's always a little extra food to be found. 702 00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:50,760 Modern life usually creates a barrier between us 703 00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:52,160 and the natural world. 704 00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:56,280 But, just occasionally, technology brings us closer together. 705 00:52:57,560 --> 00:53:00,160 Ernie has his own special relationship 706 00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:04,040 with the foxes he feeds around his nightwatchman's cabin. 707 00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:05,200 ERNIE SHOUTS 708 00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:08,240 It's the shouting out that actually does it. 709 00:53:08,240 --> 00:53:10,520 They seem to get to recognise the voice. 710 00:53:10,520 --> 00:53:15,560 Then he sits back for his own reality TV show, live. 711 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:19,880 And like Lillian and her foxes, and Cyrix and his sparrows, 712 00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:23,800 he thinks of the wild animals as friends. 713 00:53:23,800 --> 00:53:27,080 You can hear them actually walk across the weigh bridge 714 00:53:27,080 --> 00:53:29,680 and you look up and think, "What's that noise?" 715 00:53:29,680 --> 00:53:33,360 Look at the camera and you can actually see 'em coming across. 716 00:53:38,800 --> 00:53:40,920 Is that one feeding now? 717 00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:46,760 We've got one feeding on the left-hand corner. 718 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:54,400 Ernie's seeing an important twist in the story. 719 00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:03,240 An old hand at urban living 720 00:54:03,240 --> 00:54:06,720 is threatened by a new migrant to the city. 721 00:54:09,240 --> 00:54:13,360 If the fox is feeding first, they obviously can sense the badger 722 00:54:13,360 --> 00:54:16,800 and they can hear it, they will look around and simply back off. 723 00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:18,160 They walk away. 724 00:54:19,680 --> 00:54:21,600 As his weigh bridge reveals, 725 00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:24,760 this badger comes with a formidable appetite. 726 00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:27,920 10.2 kilos, that one weighed. 727 00:54:30,640 --> 00:54:35,040 They're supposed to dig their own weight in worms a day. 728 00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:39,320 And I can imagine some of them are quite a big animal. 729 00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:43,600 This winter, Ernie's going to be eaten out of house and home. 730 00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:48,160 The fox very rarely will try and intimidate the badger. 731 00:54:48,160 --> 00:54:50,240 If you see the size of the claws, 732 00:54:50,240 --> 00:54:53,520 you can understand why the foxes would walk away. 733 00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:57,040 I'm sure I would as well! 734 00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:07,040 Here comes a car in now. 735 00:55:13,160 --> 00:55:17,200 Maybe in a few years, the badger will also abandon its country roots 736 00:55:17,200 --> 00:55:19,600 for an improvised city life. 737 00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,640 MUSIC: "Someone Like You" by Adele 738 00:55:32,920 --> 00:55:36,040 Do you miss the badgers when you're not at work? 739 00:55:36,040 --> 00:55:39,360 Sometimes - when we're talking to the grandchildren. 740 00:55:39,360 --> 00:55:43,840 A couple of times, they'll come down and watch 'em all come out and feed. 741 00:55:44,840 --> 00:55:46,960 Not so much now. 742 00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:51,360 They're growing up and becoming teenagers 743 00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:55,000 and girls become more important than badgers, unfortunately. 744 00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:05,240 We all like a glimpse of an untamed world. 745 00:56:11,600 --> 00:56:14,200 All around us, animals and plants 746 00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:17,480 are being displaced from their natural homes, 747 00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:21,840 colonising the forgotten corners of our cities. 748 00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:25,200 Here, a global mixture of emigres and refugees 749 00:56:25,200 --> 00:56:27,680 have created a new life. 750 00:56:30,520 --> 00:56:33,120 And there's no turning back. 751 00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:34,720 They're Londoners now. 752 00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:41,840 Who knows what weeds in the concrete, or gang of crayfish 753 00:56:41,840 --> 00:56:46,280 or scorpion, parakeets or ninja turtles will arrive next. 754 00:56:50,520 --> 00:56:54,920 Here, the animals have a dependency on us, 755 00:56:54,920 --> 00:56:57,120 but we also have a need for them - 756 00:56:57,120 --> 00:56:59,720 a desire to be in contact with a world 757 00:56:59,720 --> 00:57:02,080 that is not shaped by human hand. 758 00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:11,680 Most people live in cities now, lost in their own world. 759 00:57:11,680 --> 00:57:14,160 They only notice each other. 760 00:57:14,160 --> 00:57:18,440 Yet if they look up into the sky, down an alleyway, 761 00:57:18,440 --> 00:57:20,240 or behind a fence, 762 00:57:20,240 --> 00:57:25,840 they may meet a wild animal, and that could change both their lives. 763 00:57:31,920 --> 00:57:34,360 There is no city like London in the world. 764 00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:37,160 Coming from India, of course, this is like magic. 765 00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:43,280 I've got the job that everybody wants. What could I want for more? 766 00:57:45,200 --> 00:57:47,960 Pleasure. Just simple pleasure, 767 00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:50,440 to know that they're surviving. 768 00:57:52,080 --> 00:57:55,640 I think it'd be very odd if it didn't make me happy. 769 00:57:57,080 --> 00:57:59,880 When you're reincarnated the first time around, 770 00:57:59,880 --> 00:58:02,440 you come back as a bird which, quite often, is a pigeon. 771 00:58:02,440 --> 00:58:04,240 I'd love to come back as a pigeon. 772 00:58:05,520 --> 00:58:12,160 # Never mind I'll find someone like you 773 00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:18,840 # I wish nothing but the best for you, too 774 00:58:18,840 --> 00:58:25,880 # Sometimes it lasts in love But sometimes it hurts instead 775 00:58:25,880 --> 00:58:30,840 # Sometimes it lasts in love But sometimes it hurts instead. # 776 00:58:30,840 --> 00:58:33,080 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd