All language subtitles for BBC.Highlands.Scotlands.Wild.Heart.3of4.Autumn.And.Winter.Against.All.Odds.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

To win the fight, the pale bull will
need to force his way up the hill

Scoured by ice and
weathered by storms.

20,000 square miles of
rugged coastline,

lochs and mountains.

On the face of it,
it looks bleak and lifeless,

but wildlife is thriving
in this unforgiving place -

if you know where to look.

The seasons may be harsh...

..and the opportunities fleeting...

..but animals and people have found
ways to succeed here,

turning adversity into advantage.

This is Scotland's wild heart -

the Highlands.

It's October in the
North West Highlands

and the forests of Glen Affric
are flushed with gold.

It's a still, crisp,
perfect morning.

But this is a shallow beauty.

With the brief summer now past,

the animals of the Highlands
are in for the long haul.

The next few months will see them
driven to desperate measures...

..as they prepare for the lockdown
of the Highlands' longest,

darkest and most overwhelming
season.

It'll be April before the sun rises
clear of these peaks again.

Some take flight, seeking refuge
in the warm south,

but those that remain will need
every drop of resilience they can
muster.

Only the toughest will survive what
the elements are about to throw

at the Highlands.

Here among the mountains you have
to be perfectly adapted

to make it through.

With four of the five highest peaks
in the Highlands,

this is the most extensive
alpine terrain in Scotland.

At these altitudes, heavy snow can
arrive in almost any month,

and it lies here all year round.

But one animal has got what
it takes to live here.

Once extinct in these mountains,

but living and breeding here
once again...

..they're reindeer.

Reintroduced in the 1950s, after an
absence of over 8,000 years,

they're better adapted to these
extreme conditions

than any other Scottish mammal.

Like many of the world's
reindeer herds,

people look after these animals.

But for most of the year they're
left to fend for themselves on these
wild hills.

Calves are born in the spring...

..but reindeer are large animals
with an eight-month gestation
period.

So to make the most of the good
times, they need to mate now,

before the winter lockdown
takes hold.

In their short rut, triggered by
decreasing day length,

a dominant male will try to mate
with as many females as possible.

Each will only be receptive
for a short time,

so it's crucial the rut happens now.

This distinctive dark male has
ruled the herd for two years...

..but this year,
he's got competition.

This paler bull is
exactly the same age,

but he's never beaten the dark male,

so he's been unable to father
even a single calf.

This year could mark the end
of his losing streak,

but he'll need to pick exactly the
right moment for his challenge

and he's only got
a few days to do it.

The Cairngorms National Park is by
far the biggest in the UK.

Larger than Luxembourg, it contains
more native forest

than any other part of Britain.

Much of this is evergreen
Scots pine...

..but there are over 10,000 acres
of broadleaf woodland here, too.

In these forests, autumn is a
fruitful time,

with the trees casting berries
and nuts on the forest floor.

They're a critical food source
for red squirrels.

This little female has already seen
more than her fair share of
winters.

At six years old, she's already
lived double the average for a red
squirrel.

Perhaps it's the richness of
this place,

with its supply of beech and
hazelnuts,

which has sustained her for
so long.

She's not alone here.

Bearing a distinctive
battle-scarred nose,

her neighbour is almost as old.

Outside the breeding season,
red squirrels are usually
tolerant of each other,

but these two constantly compete
over the available resources.

Tail swishing means keep
your distance.

But all this scrapping is
using up valuable energy...

..and the long haul hasn't
even started yet.

Although the Highlands are known for
their clear autumn days,

October and November are amongst
the wettest months of the year,

with rain falling on
two out of three days.

But this autumn deluge is a critical
part of the life cycle of one
animal...

..Atlantic salmon.

Here at the falls of Shin,
30 miles North of Inverness,

big numbers are gathering.

Returning from their 2,000-mile
ocean migration,

they're getting ready to
move upriver.

Their eggs can only survive
in the shallow headwaters
of Highland rivers,

high up in the mountains.

So raised water levels present
them with their best chance

of reaching the spawning grounds.

They must time it right, if their
offspring are to survive

and make their own journey
out to sea.

But there's a problem.

The falls are blocking
the salmon's path.

There's only one way to get
around them,

and that is to go over them.

It's a game of
persistence and luck.

Launching themselves above the sill

requires formidable acceleration.

Their muscles are adapted for
short, sharp bursts of energy.

Leaps can cover more than
three metres.

And although they fail
time after time,

their desire to push on is so
strong, they never give up.

But clearing the falls is only
the first challenge.

Ahead of them lies a gruelling
journey

to their spawning grounds on the
Western fringes of the Highlands.

Back on the Cairngorm plateau,
the pale reindeer bull

has made the decision to challenge
the dominant male.

It's a well-timed move.

The dark bull has been mating
and he's tired.

To win the fight, the pale bull will
need to force his way up the hill

and drive the ruling male
down into the valley.

REINDEER GRUNTS

But the dark bull takes the
initiative and moves down

to block his rival's advance.

Grunting and pacing are all part
of the build-up.

Game on.

Reindeer battles can carry on
for many hours...

..but they rarely fight to
the death.

They're equally matched -
it's all about who'll tire first.

They're close to exhaustion,
but neither will back down.

Little by little, the pale bull
pushes his rival up the slope.

A quick turn...

..and it's all over.

They're both completely exhausted.

The dark male doesn't have
the spirit for another round

and heads for the edge of the herd.

For the first time, the pale bull
will have his chance to breed.

In the forest, the red squirrels
are working frantically.

Hoarding food is an important way of
getting through the coldest months,

and the old squirrel is burying
nuts on the forest floor.

Before each nut is stored,
it's assessed.

Weight and smell will tell her
if it's good or bad.

And as she handles each one,
it's marked with her unique scent.

A good spatial memory and a highly
developed sense of smell

will allow her to find it later
in the winter.

But the forest floor is a dangerous
place for a tree-loving mammal.

A pheasant is no threat...

..but birds of prey like buzzards
will readily snatch an off-guard
squirrel.

She freezes on the spot with her
eyes fixed on the danger.

She's safe.

But while she's been sitting tight,

her neighbour has been helping
herself to the cache.

Remarkably, the old squirrel has a
strategy to deal with this

and confuses her thieving neighbour
by pretending to bury a nut

before moving it elsewhere.

It looks like a game, but these
preparations are urgent and serious.

A cold front is sweeping
in from the East.

The Highlands are on
the cusp of winter.

80 miles East, on the Aberdeenshire
coast, near the loch of Strathbeg,

visitors are arriving for winter.

Pink-footed geese.

They've travelled more than
600 miles nonstop

from their breeding grounds
in Iceland.

To them, the Highlands offer
a sanctuary

from the unbearable conditions
further North.

Over the next few months,
they'll spread out across

the fertile wetlands
on the edges of the Highlands.

More than 80,000 will arrive
on these beaches

after their marathon journey.

But they can't rest here long.

It's 48 hours since they've fed

and they must head to more
fertile grounds.

It's early November and animals are
making their final preparations for
winter.

90 miles north, on Copinsay
in the Orkney Islands,

one of the last and most dramatic
events of all is playing out.

Every other Highland animal
completes their breeding cycle
in summer,

but grey seals are an exception
to the rule.

Breeding now, because it takes the
whole of summer and early autumn

to feed themselves into peak
condition for pupping.

Once they're on the beaches, neither
females or males will feed...

..and all births will happen
in just a few weeks.

This pup was born weighing
13 kilos...

..but because grey seal milk is
50% fat, he'll gain two kilos a day,

more than trebling his weight
in just three weeks.

Once he's weaned, the mother will
turn her attention to the bulls.

She's looking for one type
of bull in particular -

the biggest and strongest.

This huge battle-scarred male
controls the beach

and its harem of females.

The smaller bulls daren't
challenge him.

They sit on the waterline,

testing each other's strength
in the shallows.

SEALS GROWL AND SNARL

But the dominant bull doesn't get
involved in small skirmishes -

he doesn't need to.

The female seals swim
straight to him...

..bypassing the younger,
less dominant males.

Grey seal courtship starts
with splashing and scrapping.

But unusually for a large mammal, it
then relaxes into a tender embrace.

Soon both mating and pupping
will have to cease...

..as the biggest storm
of the season is on its way.

Back on the mainland,
the weather is settled...

..and the salmon are on the move.

Their journey from coast to spawning
grounds can cover many miles...

..and the complete trip can take
more than six months.

They don't eat anything
on their migration,

so why they strike at an angler's
fly is still a complete mystery.

But the vast majority evade even
the most skilled fishermen.

The fish are driven ever onwards by
an ability to sense unique chemicals

from the remote mountain burns

where they spent the first
few years of their lives.

After an extraordinary journey,
they finally come home.

And now they're ready to complete
their life cycle.

Females seek out sheltered
positions where their eggs

will have the best chance
of survival.

The males have changed dramatically.

To show dominance, their jaws
have curved upwards,

exposing rows of
ferocious-looking teeth.

Charged with testosterone,

this male's intolerant
of any impostor,

even a juvenile salmon.

He moves in on the female.

Using her body, she digs a hollow
in the riverbed,

where she'll safely lay her eggs.

She's ready.

The male moves in...

..releasing his sperm as
the eggs appear.

The salmon have completed
their breeding cycle.

Conditions may be calm
in the northwest,

but on Copinsay it couldn't
be more different.

The storm has arrived.

Wind gusts can exceed 100mph
on this exposed coast...

..and the waves tower to
more than 12 feet.

Climate change may be behind the
increase in huge storms like this.

Potentially disastrous for wildlife.

The grey seal pups are
too young to swim,

so they're hauling themselves up
onto the field beyond the beach.

This one's become separated from
its mother.

It's tired and hungry.

SEAL PUP WHIMPERS

At just a few days old, it needs
2? litres of milk a day to survive.

If it can't find its mother quickly,

it'll die.

Other females are highly territorial
and attack pups in their patch,

so it must keep moving
to stay alive.

In sheer desperation, it tries to
suckle from another pup's flippers.

It's weakening fast

and burning precious energy.

Malnutrition is the most common
cause of death in seal pups.

But astonishingly, the mother has
found her way back to the lost
pup...

..and at last, it's safe.

As the sea calms, something
remarkable happens...

..cannibalism.

The dominant bull is feasting on
the carcass of a pup.

Possibly one swept into the waves
by the power of the storm.

This strange and disturbing
behaviour is a recent discovery.

Hardly ever seen and never
filmed before,

scientists aren't sure why grey
seals have turned cannibal.

It could be pure hunger,
or dwindling fish resources,

but whatever the reason,
the behaviour seems
to be on the increase.

With the breeding cycle completed,

the male salmon lies exhausted
in the water.

As spawning salmon don't eat once
they enter the breeding cycle,

their muscle fat will only
sustain them for a limited period.

He's a shadow of the powerful fish
that leapt the falls
back in early October.

Despite these incredible challenges,

5% of salmon actually make it
back to the ocean.

But not this one.

His body will now become food,
for the same tiny creatures

that will sustain his own offspring
once they hatch.

It's now mid November and the
Highlands are looking straight

into the jaws of winter.

For the first time since March,
temperatures drop below zero...

..and it starts to snow.

A heavy fall like this early in
the season is rare...

..but soon the entire region -

from Glencoe in the West,
to the high tops of the Cairngorms -

is coated in fresh powder.

But this is the beginning of
the winter lockdown.

With grass and heather buried
beneath the snow,

the struggle for the animals will
inevitably become tougher

over the next few weeks.

But these conditions are perfect
for one species,

which is flocking
to the mountains in droves.

Humans.

With five resorts and up to
100 days of snow a year,

the Highlands have been an important
ski area since the 1950s.

The ski centre on Cairngorm Mountain
is also a magnet for wildlife.

A ptarmigan.

This Arctic member of the
grouse family

is at home on the very highest peaks

of the Cairngorms
and Western Highlands.

Able to survive on a meagre
diet of heather,

they moult into a pure
white plumage for the winter.

There are white mountain
hares here, too.

They can also survive
on the withering shoots
at the edge of the snowfield.

There's a reason why the ptarmigan
and hares choose to live here.

As the winter lockdown sets in,
predators like golden eagles

range widely to find food.

But they're shy birds and will
stay away from human activity

at all costs.

So, as long as the ptarmigan and
hares stay close to the skiers,

they should remain safe.

But it's a dangerous game.

Although the eagles
won't venture near people,

they're less troubled by
the lifts and buildings.

So the ptarmigan and hares
need to keep watch at all times.

By December standards,
it's been a huge dump of snow.

In Abernethy Forest, at the foot of
the Cairngorms, the drifts lie deep.

Small birds like crested tits
are now vulnerable.

In the UK, they're only found in
these Highland forests.

The breeding population
is around 2,000 pairs,

but a harsh winter can decimate
their numbers.

A resident of the canopy
in the summer,

winter brings them down to
the forest floor to feed.

Like red squirrels,
crested tits cache food...

..and it's a matter of urgency
to dig up the stash of seeds
for fresh energy.

Small song birds are unable to
carry much fat,

so they need to feed constantly.

They've got competition.

Coal tits will raid
crested tit caches.

And even though the crested
tits are bigger,

persistence pays off.

But squandering energy through
fighting would be dangerous now.

The lockdown has only just arrived
and far worse is on the way.

Pressure is falling...

..and storm-force winds hammer
in from the west.

It's a blizzard.

But these are the conditions
that make reindeer

such masters
of the Highland winter.

Reindeer coats are double layered.

A dense, fuzzy underfur
provides a warm base.

And the long outer hairs
are hollow and filled with air

to provide superb insulation.

Even feeding is no problem.

The powerful winds prevent
the build-up of snow

and having huge spade-like feet
means that reindeer can easily

dig up heather and lichens.

Ptarmigan also take the blizzard
in their stride.

Their thick winter plumage includes
feathers around the feet

that act like snow shoes.

The snow bunting also has warm
feathers around its tiny toes.

Up to 15,000 of these migrants
arrive in the Highlands in winter

and often follow animals like
reindeer to take advantage

of the food exposed
by the scraping and digging.

The blizzard is easing...

..but 60% of the Highlands
have now been covered by snow

for the best part of three weeks.

And the flakes just keep on falling.

For the red squirrels,
food caches are a life-saver.

But supplies are running
desperately short...

..and now, where there were
once two squirrels,

just one remains.

Unable to cope with this
savage opening to winter,

the older female has
already succumbed.

The old squirrel's death has thrown
a lifeline to her neighbour.

Able to exploit
twice as many food caches,

her chances of surviving
this brutal winter
have been significantly raised.

The Highlands are now approaching
the winter solstice -

the longest night of the year.

In the Highlands, this means more
than 18 hours of darkness.

But the rule of night is challenged.

The northern lights.

Generated by gas
in the Earth's atmosphere

colliding with charged
particles from the sun,

the lights can dance until dawn.

And now, each day, the sun
will rise a few minutes earlier.

The light is returning.

The weather is warming, too.

Although the snow still lies deep

from the Trossachs
to the Cairngorms,

the thaw has begun.

The small rise in temperature
is triggering new behaviour

from the ptarmigan and hares.

The beginnings of courtship.

Female mountain hares can come into
season in the depths of winter

if temperatures
climb above freezing...

..and males will try and find as
many receptive mates as they can.

But the females are picky.

They'll outrun, outbox
and vault clear of any male

they don't consider fit and
athletic enough to mate with.

Unlike the hares and most
of their grouse relatives,

ptarmigan will seek out
a single mate.

But at this point in the season,

it's more about chasing
other males around the resort.

The white creatures will
need to be very careful now.

Their lives depend
on their camouflage

and the thaw has started
to expose clear patches of heather.

If the snow melts early, they'll be
an easy target for the eagles.

Further down the mountain, the hills
are now completely clear of snow.

Black grouse - close relatives
of the ptarmigan -

are also starting
their mating displays.

Although the females won't
appear at these courtship sites
- called leks - until the spring,

the males compete year round.

They're working out who's
the dominant bird.

It's a three-way contest to gain
control of the best spot in the lek.

The wheezing calls
and plumped-up feathers
are all part of the display.

But the real clincher
is the eyebrows.

Large eyebrows are a sign of
high testosterone,

and the bigger and brighter
the brows,

the more attractive the male will
be to females in the spring.

As the hours of sunlight increase,
the thaw picks up pace.

Even high on the peaks, the patches
of exposed heather are growing.

Perfect camouflage for red grouse.

But the hares are now at risk
of attack from the eagles.

Mountain hares always flee uphill.

Because eagles need
height to strike,

this closes the gap and reduces
their ability to manoeuvre.

The eagle flushes a ptarmigan
and switches target.

But the eagles aren't
the only predators here.

Ravens can also kill a tired hare.

But hares can run at nearly 45mph.

So it stays out of reach...

..and slips into
the heather just in time.

It's unusual for snow to lie
in the whole Highland region

for more than a few weeks.

Although it's still only January,
the temperatures have at last

started to climb above freezing.

Rivers and burns now churn
with meltwater.

And the Highland animals are at
last granted a brief reprieve

from the onslaught of winter.

Even now, there are signs of
the season's end.

New spring salmon have started
to enter the river systems,

embarking on the same epic journey
that ended for others

only two months ago.

HE PLAYS SCOTLAND THE BRAVE

These spring salmon
are revered by Highlanders.

On the great rivers like
the Dee, Tay and Spey,

they're given a hero's welcome
before the river is opened

for the fishing season.

Lord of creation,

we ask that you will bless
this living water of the Spey,

flow river flow, fill our hearts
with joy and gladness

and thanksgiving always.

Amen.

Whisky is poured into the river -

a gesture to wish
the salmon good health.

And at last,
with great anticipation,

the anglers can cast their lines.

The seasons have come full circle.

And spring feels close at last.

The animals that have survived
the challenges of the long haul

will now face up to
the intensity of spring.

With an uncertain future
for our climate,

living wild in the Highlands
looks set to become
more extreme than ever.

But this living landscape
has been changing

and renewing itself for millennia.

So the Scottish Highlands
will always be

one of the world's most magical,
wild places.

Next time - the people
of the Highlands.

Over the centuries,
many of the riches of
these wild places have been lost.

With forests cut down and wild
animals driven to extinction.

But now they're returning.

Never before have so many people
found new and surprising ways

of putting back what we've lost.