Original subtitles

Scoured by ice and weathered by storms.

20,000 sguare miles of rugged coastline...

.lochs and mountains.

On the face ofit, 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.

(Flame whooshes)

İt's late March in the Cairngorm mountains... and the hills are on fire.

The old heather is being put to the torch to stimulate new growth for the grouse season.

Traditionally this inferno marks the end of winter and the start of spring in this wilderness.

But spring is the most unpredictable of all the seasons in the Highlands.

Temperatures regulariy range from -10 to 20 degrees.

So to achieve success here, animals have to battle with the extremes.

İt's all about timing.

Mate, nest, or give birth at the wrong time and lives can be İost.

But get it right, and these mountains, forests and rivers

provide the perfect place to the raise the next generation.

(Chirping)

İt can be so good that some travel thousands of miles

to reap the bounty the Highlands has to offer.

İtf's an osprey...

...newly arrived from his wintering grounds in West Africa

and heading back into the heart of the Highlands.

200 pairs of ospreys make the Highlands' vast network of river, loch and mountain their home.

The hilis start to rise Just 20 miles north of the country's central belt

and cover two-thirds of the entire nation.

To most of the world, the Highlands define what Scotland is all about.

(Birds cawing)

ÖOne mile south of iconic Loch Ness,

this valley has been home to breeding ospreys for a decade.

(Trilling)

The female is already on the nest, waiting for her mate.

They've spent the winter in different parts of Africa but ospreys mate for life.

And now they're reunited on the same nest they used last year.

But after the gales of winter, it needs some urgent home İmprovements.

Already more than five feet wide,

this platform will need to withstand strong winds, heavy rain and maybe even sleet or snow.

They need to complete the makeover as gulckly as possible.

Because once the eggs are laid,

the female won't leave the nest until she's raised her family.

For the next 13 weeks, she'll be completely dependent on the male.

Spring's the busiest time for the animals in the valley.

Brown hares, curlews and stoats are all getting ready for the breeding season.

(Birds chirping)

This male roe deer is keeping close watch on a female...

.but she won't let him near.

She's already heavily pregnant and searching for a gulet spot to give birth.

The next few days will be critical for all the wild animals here.

A new generation is about to arrive.

But the conditions are still far from settled.

Although it's now April, the temperatures still haven't climbed above 10 degrees

and clouds hang heavy from Loch Awe in the West to the Cairngorms in the East.

But in the great Caledonian pine forest of Abernethy, there's change in the air.

İt's a red sguirrel.

Although they've been displaced by grey sguirrels in most of Britain,

they're thriving here in the Caledonian forest.

There are 120,000 of them in Scotland,

75 per cent of the British population and they're increasing.

The habitat here is ideal for them with abundant food and plenty of potential nest sites.

With double-jointed ankles and small sharp claws,

they can get up and down trees fast.

Early spring is a busy time for red sguirrels.

(Chirping)

Already pregnant with kittens,

this female is looking for a comfortable nest site, away from predators.

She'll either build a drey from twigs and leaves or use an uninhabited tree hole.

She'll need to keep searching.

But this female's territory is large.

She's got 17 acres of pine forest and river to search yet.

50 miles beyond the forest, on the River Braan,

a pair of special Highland birds have already built their nest.

They're dippers - birds that are marvellousiy adapted for life

in this fast-changing environment.

Britain's only aguatic songbird, dippers have waterproof plumage to keep them dry

and long flexible feet for gripping slippery rocks.

Their white bibs and dark bodies keep them well camouflaged

as they dive for insect larvae amongst the boulders and rapids.

İn spring, these are in plentiful supply.

The dippers are working non-stop as they've already got hungry mouths to feed.

Carefully covered by a neat moss dome, the nest position may look dangerous.

But it offers total protection from predators like stoats and weasels.

Food goes in...

and waste comes oult.

Even a large fish is delivered,

an indication that the chicks are well grown.

For now, the river's level is just right for the chicks to make an easy exit.

But if heavy rain arrives,

the waterfall will become a torrent which could sweep the nest away.

At last the weather is warming.

For the first time this year, temperatures climb to 15 degrees.

İ€'s now a priority for the Highland animals to feed themselves up,

ready for the next phase of spring.

Över the next couple of months,

the male osprey will need to catch more than 400 fish to keep his family going.

(Caws)

He makes hunting look easy but if's a game of stealth and patience.

Önly one in four strikes are successful.

He needs to find a fish in the right position

and get the speed, angle and point of entry exactly right.

After hitting the water and grabbing the fish,

the game still isn't over for the osprey and its guarıy.

He needs to get airborne again.

His talons are eguipped with adhesive scales

and long curved claws for an unbreakable hold.

But a big trout can match him weight for weight

and the instinct of the fish is to swim down.

There are tales of weak and hungry öospreys being dragged to the bottom,

unable to release the fish or lift off from the water successtully.

But osprey wings are adapted to give maximum lift from the water.

And this male is young and strong.

This is a struggle he's destined to win.

He carries the fish headfirst,

making it easier to fly the 20-mile journey home.

Back in the valley, the female waits in the nest.

Their need to feed is even more urgent now.

She's no longer alone in the nest.

There are definitely chicks in there.

They're not the valley's only new arrivals.

Deep in the long grass at the edge of the field lles another new baby.

With immaculate camouflage, it instinctively lies motionless.

The roe deer has given birth.

Leaving her offspring alone like this seems like a high-risk strategy.

But the mother needs to feed

and the youngster is too young to run away from danger, so hiding is the only option.

(High-pitched yelping)

The mother approaches warily.

She musitn't reveal the location to any watching predators like eagles or foxes.

(Yelping continues)

But it's not predators that are the greatest threat to young roe deer.

A sudden drop in spring temperatures could be fatal.

(İnsistent chirping)

The male osprey is back with the fish.

He's now got a lot more mouths to feed.

There are three hungry chicks in the nest.

Fuelled by their high-protein fish diet,

osprey chicks become full size in just five weeks.

And once they're 12 weeks old, they face an even bigger test...

.a flight to distant Africa.

Just öone mile north of the ospreys' valley llies the Great Glen.

Önce a mighty glacier, it divides the Highlands in two.

At its heart is the most famous body of water in Scotland...

.Loch Ness.

İt deserves its legendary reputation.

23 miles long, it contains more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined.

As for the monster...

.Jt still hasn't been found.

But the Highlands are full of mysterious creatures.

(Rustling)

İt€'s 4am in Abernethy Forest...

...and something is stirring.

(Rustling and popping)

(Popping)

Capercaillie - the world's biggest grouse.

There are jJust over 1,000 left in Scotland

and their stronghold is here in the pine forest.

Their bizarre popping call penetrates deep into the forest.

İt attracts the females to a ritualistic display called a lek.

Here, in a forest clearing,

the males will compete for the right to mate exclusively with all the females.

Weighing in at more than four kilos, this young male is in superb condition.

(Popping call)

But an older male is up for the fight too.

This veteran with a bald patch on his neck has been king of the lek for many years.

The females look on from the tree tops,

desperate to see which suitor will be victorious.

İt's time to raise the stakes.

Game on.

(Screeching)

They're evenily matched.

İtf's simply a guestion of who gives way first.

The younger male is on the run...

handing victory to the dominant, older bird.

(Popping)

Like an emperor of the forest,

he's retained mastery of the lek.

All the females are his.

Nearby, the female sduirrel is feeding on pine cones.

The small seeds between the scales are a protein-rich food source

and she needs extra nourishment now.

She's just given birth.

There are two new kittens, hidden deep in her drey high up in a Scot's pine.

Soft moss is ideal for lining the nest.

Sauirrels are fastidiously clean animals.

But the tiny and blind babies can't leave the nest for a toilet break.

So regulariy changing the bedding is an important part of the female sauirrel's routine.

Although the drey is only ten inches across,

it takes at least six mouthfuls of moss to fill it up and make it snug.

Önce the youngsters are able to grip and climb,

they'li start leaving the drey to explore.

But that's still many weeks away.

So for now...she's stuck with this time-consuming chore.

High above Abernethy Forest,

snow is still İying thick and deep on Cairngorm, Cairn Toul and Ben Macduli.

But it's 1st May and spring is picking up pace.

Further down on the moorland edge, wild flowers are coming into bloom.

Bumblebees are buzzing and new-born lambs are playing.

(Bleating)

FARMER: There we go. Shall we empty your bucket, Ernestine?

But despite the sunshine,

the hill farmers know that it's still too early to risk taking the sheep onto the mountains.

Even in May, heavy snow can fall in the Highlands,

so for now, they'li feed them here in the valley, close to the farm.

But for the wild creatures of the Highlands,

there's no chance of holding back and waiting for better conditions.

They just have to make the best ofit, whatever the weather.

Tawny owl and wagtail chicks are already on the verge of independence.

And the osprey chicks are growing fast too,

demanding more and more fish from the male.

(Chirping)

The roe deer can sense change is coming.

Her youngster is now more mobile

and she's instinctively moving it towards higher ground.

İt could be a wise move.

This valley has flooded many times in the past.

She can't help it across the fence.

Now it's a week old, it has to work the problem out for itself.

(Wind howling)

The weather has taken a turn for the worst.

İt's deteriorating fast.

Temperatures are sliding into single figures

and a cold front is now sweeping in from the Atlantic.

Heavy rain is on its way.

(Distant thunder rumbles)