我们的岛屿曾经被冰雪覆盖 Our isles were once covered by ice.
随着地球变暖 As the Earth warmed,
草成为开垦土地的第一批植物 grasses became the first plants to reclaim the land.
今天 Today,
它们覆盖了超过40%的土地 they cover more than 40% of it.
大部分都是养殖的 Most of that is farmed,
但当这些土地得到妥善管理 but when these lands are well managed,
它们仍然为野生动物提供家园 they still provide homes for wildlife.
现在是早春 It's early spring.
在一大片麦田里 In a field of barley,
一只雄性棕色野兔正在寻找雌性 a male brown hare is searching for a female.
利用它出色的嗅觉 Using his excellent sense of smell,
它就知道附近有一个 he can tell that there is one nearby.
但要和她交配并不容易 But getting to mate with her won't be easy
它必须应对三个挑战 He must deal with three challenges,
她才会考虑它 before she'll consider him.
第一 First
拳术 boxing.
为了打动她 To impress her,
它的力量必须和她相匹配 he must match her strength,
但小心别伤到她 but be careful not to hurt her.
除非她能坚持住 Only if he can hold his own,
它会成功进入下一阶段吗 will he be allowed to move to the next stage.
它奋力拼搏 并通过了她的第一次考验 He puts up a good fight and, so, passes her first test.
她的第二个测试？ Her second test?
耐力 Stamina.
野兔是英国跑得最快的哺乳动物 Hares are Britain's fastest mammal,
时速可达每小时45英里 and can reach speeds of 45mph.
这种追逐吸引了其它雄性 The chase attracts other males,
充满激情且渴望交配 all fired up and eager to mate.
它最后的考验 His final test
就是除掉它的对手 is to get rid of his rivals.
尽管它们竞争激烈 Despite their competition,
它一直稳坐榜首 he hangs on to the top spot.
但分心的野兔必须小心 But distracted hares must be careful.
它们的求偶竞赛使它们引人注目 Their courtship competitions have made them conspicuous.
金雕在两英里外就能发现目标 A golden eagle can spot one from two miles away.
在直线上 鹰的速度更快 In a straight line, the eagle is faster,
但是通过扭转 but by twisting and turning,
野兔能躲避它的攻击 the hare dodges its attacks.
尽管如此 它还是坚持不懈 Nonetheless, she is relentless.
金雕曾经追捕野兔的景象 Golden eagles once chased hares
遍布我们所有的岛屿 across all of our isles.
但随着我们的野生草原逐渐减少 But as our wild grasslands have diminished,
这些捕猎已成为一种罕见的景象 these contests have become a rare sight.
当我还是个孩子的时候 在1930年代的莱斯特长大 When I was a boy, back in the 1930s, growing up in Leicester,
我花了几天时间骑自行车在当地的乡村探险 I spent days on my bicycle exploring the local countryside.
那时很容易找到像这样的草地 Back then, it was easy to find hay meadows like this one,
遍地野花 rich with wild flowers
还有成群的蝴蝶 and swarming with butterflies
各种各样的昆虫 and insects of all kinds.
但从那以后 我们损失了95%以上的 But since then, we have lost more than 95%
这些奇妙的栖息地 of these wonderful habitats.
本期节目中 In this episode,
我们将展示为什么野生动物需要富饶的野生草原 we will show why our wildlife needs rich, wild grasslands
带你踏上一段旅程 从稀有的沿海花卉草地 and take you on a journey from the rare coastal flower meadows
到苏格兰赫布里底群岛 of the Scottish Hebrides,
一直延伸到石南荒原 right up to the heather moorlands
的高山上 in the high mountains.
很少有东西能驯服这片凶猛的土地 Few things can tame this fierce landscape
但是草可以 but grasses can.
在赫布里底群岛 Here in the Outer Hebrides,
它们的根把松散的沙粒粘在一起 their roots have bound the loose grains together
形成了一道强大的屏障 and created a formidable barrier.
绵延数英里的沙丘形成了天然的海堤 Miles of sand dunes form a natural sea wall,
保护世界上最重要的栖息地之一 protecting one of the most important habitats in the world
马沙尔草原 the machair grassland.
5500年的传统非集约化农业 5,500 years of traditional, non-intensive farming
在沙土壤上创造了这些丰富的野花草地 on shell-sand soils has created these rich, wild flower meadows,
唯苏格兰和爱尔兰独有 unique to Scotland and Ireland.
且不含杀虫剂 Free from pesticides,
它们是数百种稀有花卉和昆虫的家园 they are home to hundreds of rare flowers and insects.
每年春天 马沙尔就会成为地面筑巢鸟类的育儿室 Each spring, the machair becomes a nursery for ground-nesting birds.
到处都是小鸡 It's alive with chicks,
都在努力逃离父母 all doing their best to escape from their parents.
自1960年以来 Since 1960,
英国和爱尔兰的田凫数量 lapwing numbers in Britain and Ireland
下降了80% have dropped by 80%
这使得这些小鸡 which makes every one of these chicks
非常有价值 very valuable.
刚出生一天的这只小田凫 Just a day old, this youngster is starting off on
执行它的第一次觅食任务 its first food-finding mission.
海鸥在苗圃里巡逻 Common gulls patrol the nursery,
希望能捕捉一只粗心的小田凫 hoping to pick off an unwary chick.
成年田凫视力极佳 Adult lapwings have excellent eyesight,
一旦有威胁就发动攻击 and attack at the first sign of threat.
这里还有其它的涉禽 And there are other wading birds here, too
一支多物种的空军开始升空 and a multi-species air force takes to the wing.
警报声警告着所有的小鸡 Alarm calls warn all the chicks,
不管它们是什么种类 whatever their species, to stay hidden.
但是海鸥知道草地上满是雏鸟 But the gull knows that the grass is full of chicks
不会放弃 and won't give up.
这一次 一只年幼的蛎鹬被抓走了 This time, it takes a young oystercatcher
小田凫回到了妈妈身边 and the lapwing chick gets back to its mother.
横跨英国和爱尔兰 Across Britain and Ireland,
集约化农业导致栖息地丧失 habitat loss to intensive agriculture
使得这种鸟的数量大大减少 has caused numbers of birds like these to greatly reduce.
但是多亏了良好的自然耕作方法 But thanks to nature-friendly farming methods,
赫布里底群岛仍然是重要的庇护所 the Outer Hebrides remain a vital sanctuary
保护这些濒危的地面筑巢物种 for our most endangered ground-nesting species.
我们所有的草原现在都是由人管理 All our grasslands are now managed by people.
但并不总是这样 But they weren't always like this.
曾经有一片灌木丛生的荒野 Once there were vast scrub-covered wildernesses,
点缀着一片片草地 studded with patches of grassland.
在它们之间自由漫游的 Roaming freely across them
是成群的野牛 were herds of wild cattle
还有野马 and wild horses.
在一些地区 这些物种正在被重新引入 In some areas, such species are being reintroduced
希望能重现这些曾经广阔的草原 in the hope of recreating these once extensive grasslands.
在剑桥郡有大群散养的马 In Cambridgeshire, there are large free-ranging herds of horses.
这个马群有五个家庭单位 There are five family units in this herd
每匹马都由一匹占统治地位的种马统治 each ruled by a dominant stallion.
它们经常在移动 They're regularly on the move,
寻找最好的食物 searching for the best food.
它们吃树苗 They eat young trees,
从而防止草原变成森林 and so prevent grassland turning into forest.
通过影响地面 By disturbing the ground,
它们让许多曾经在这些地方很常见的物种 they allow many species that were once common in such places,
返回 to return.
现在是晚春 It's late spring,
马群的数量在增加 and the herd's numbers are increasing.
只有24小时大的小家伙正蹒跚地迈出第一步 Just 24 hours old, this youngster is taking his first faltering steps.
公马紧紧地守护着母马 The stallion guards the mare closely.
刚生完孩子 Having just given birth,
她很快就会准备好再次交配 she will soon be ready to mate again.
一匹敌对的种马注意到了她的状况 A rival stallion notices her condition
紧张局势开始升级 and tensions begin to rise.
占统治地位的种马可能会容忍它的外表 Looks might be tolerated by the dominant stallion
但是任何其他出格的事都会带来麻烦 but anything else will bring trouble.
踢得好 A well-placed kick
这可能会造成严重的伤害 could do serious damage.
这次挑战者撤退了 This time, the challenger retreats.
传统品种的马现在正逐渐被重新引进 Traditional breeds of horses are now being gradually reintroduced
穿越英伦三岛与世隔绝的草原 to isolated grasslands across the British Isles.
通过扩大和连接这些保护区 By expanding and connecting these reserves,
我们就能恢复大片我们失去的荒野 we could restore large swathes of our lost wilderness,
如果我们愿意的话 if we wanted to.
当野草被允许生长高大 Grasses, when allowed to grow tall and wild,
可以隐藏很少人能看到的动物 can conceal animals that few people get to see.
这里有一个隐藏的小径网络 Here, there is a network of hidden trails,
由英国数量最多的哺乳动物创造 made by Britain's most abundant mammal.
然而 尽管英国有5000多万人 Yet, despite there being more than 50-million of them
这种小啮齿动物也很难被发现 this little rodent is tricky to spot.
不是老鼠 It's NOT a mouse.
这是田鼠 一种小型啮齿动物 牙齿特别适合 It's a vole a small rodent with teeth specially adapted
用来嚼草 for chewing grass.
这只雌鼠很着急 This female is in a hurry
因为是时候喂饱她的孩子了 because it's time to feed her babies.
有六只 She has six.
它们才出生十天 They're just ten-days-old
依然得靠她来提供乳汁和体温 and still reliant on her for milk and body heat.
每次她不会离开她的孩子 She doesn't leave them
超过半个小时 for more than half an hour at a time.
但要养活它们和她自己 But to feed them all and herself,
她必须吃下几乎和她体重一样重的草 she must eat almost her entire body weight in grass
每一天 every day.
她知道迷宫中的每一个过道 Knowing every turn in her maze of trails,
可以在不被发现的情况下到达它最喜欢的觅食点 she can reach her favourite feeding spots without being seen
但她能被听到 but she can be heard.
短耳猫头鹰的听力极好 Short-eared owls have excellent hearing,
它们的食谱田鼠占了90% and field voles make up 90% of their diet.
只要有一点点危险的迹象 At the slightest hint of danger,
母田鼠会展开最好的防御 the mother vole deploys her best defence.
她僵住了 She freezes.
短耳猫头鹰能听到胡须刮擦草地的声音 Short-eared owls can hear a whisker scratching against grass.
但她必须尽快回到她的孩子身边 But she must get back to her babies.
当草没有被剪短时 田鼠能成功繁殖 Field voles breed successfully when grasses aren't cut short,
意味着猫头鹰的下一顿饭就有着落了 meaning the owl's next meal won't be far away.
在英格兰南部 有几个珍贵的 In southern England, a few precious pockets
白垩草原 数千年来一直保持不变 of chalk grassland have remained unchanged for thousands of years.
轻度的牲畜放牧保持了它们丰富的植物种类 Light grazing by livestock maintains their rich variety of plants.
在多切斯特附近的山坡上 On a hillside near Dorchester,
一个看似空的蜗牛壳正在移动 an apparently empty snail shell is moving.
一只石匠蜂 A mason bee.
在英国有十几种不同种类的石匠蜂 There are a dozen different species of mason bee in Britain.
大多数都在洞里筑巢 Most nest in holes.
但这一只双色石匠蜂 But this one, the two-coloured mason bee,
更喜欢在蜗牛壳里抚养她的家人 prefers to rear her family in snail shells.
当然 其中许多仍然被占领 Many of those, of course, are still occupied.
她需要帮助 She needs help.
萤火虫的幼虫总是很饿 Glow worm larvae are always hungry.
这些小昆虫可能行动缓慢 These little insects might be slow
但这不重要 but that doesn't matter
当你利用它捕猎蜗牛时 when you're hunting a snail.
这顿饭可能要吃一个星期 The meal may take a week,
但一旦完成 剩下的就只是一个空壳 but once it's finished, all that is left is an empty shell.
那就太完美了 And that is perfect
为了小蜜蜂 for the bee.
新鲜的贝壳是最坚固的 Fresh shells are the strongest
能给她的孩子最好的生存机会 and will give her young the best chance of survival.
她开始往里面装花粉 She sets about filling it with pollen,
当她产下的卵孵化时 能为孩子提供食物 food for her young, when the egg she lays inside hatches.
用碎石和嚼碎的树叶制成的胶水 Using tiny pieces of rubble, and glue made from chewed-up leaves,
她小心地把前门封上 she carefully seals the front door.
但这位母亲的护理并未结束 But that isn't the end of this mother's care.
而她最后一个 是非凡的魔术 And her last trick is extraordinary
因为这只蜜蜂是个女巫 because this bee is something of a witch!
英国有250多种野生蜜蜂 There are more than 250 species of wild bees in Britain,
但这是唯一一个会骑扫帚的 but this is the only one that rides a broomstick!
她收集了成百上千的干草茎 She's collecting hundreds of dry grass stems
用来隐藏她的蜗牛壳巢穴 to hide her snail-shell nests.
她可能会搭建20多个这样的巢穴 She may build up to 20 of them.
我们大约三分之一的食物来自蜜蜂授粉的植物 About a third of our food comes from plants pollinated by bees,
但由于栖息地的丧失和杀虫剂的使用 but due to habitat loss and use of pesticides,
野生蜜蜂的种类正在逐渐减少 wild bee species are in decline.
我们可以帮助它们恢复 We can help them recover,
通过恢复我们集约化管理的田地和野生区域 by restoring wild areas between our intensively-managed fields.
如果草原要变得丰富多样 就必须放牧 If grasslands are to be rich and diverse, they have to be grazed.
我们要感谢罗马人和诺曼人带来的 And we can thank the Romans and the Normans for bringing with them
自然界最好的割草机 one of nature's best lawnmowers
兔子 rabbits.
不像它们较大的表亲 Unlike their cousins,
野兔 the larger hares,
它们挖隧道 they dig tunnels.
巢穴至关重要 Bolt holes are essential
如果你是鹰最喜欢的食物的话 if you're the favourite food of a buzzard.
一个脚步声就会引起警报 A foot-thump raises the alarm.
但并不是每个人都注意到这一点 But not everyone pays attention.
少了一个年轻人 One less youngster,
但兔子很擅长繁殖 but then, rabbits are rather good at breeding.
一只公的 A male a buck
会给母的两种礼物 offers a female two kinds of gift.
第一 香水 First, perfume.
它下巴下面的腺体产生一种混合信息素 A gland under his chin produces a cocktail of pheromones.
它的第二份礼物就没那么浪漫了 His second gift is rather less romantic.
它在她身上撒尿 He pees on her.
它独特的气味帮助她决定是否 His particular smell helps her decide whether or not
让它做孩子的父亲 she will let him father her babies.
然而 她选择了离开 His choice of aftershave, however,
还没能说服她 hasn't yet convinced her.
悠闲的黑夜也不能 Darkness does nothing
降低它的热情 to dampen his enthusiasm.
最后 雄兔是幸运的 Finally, the buck is in luck!
这个多塞特郡 This giant warren in Dorset
是英国最大的大杂院 is one of the largest in Britain.
这里是一千多只兔子的家园 It's home to more than a thousand rabbits
到了晚上它们都信心满满 and at night, they all feel sufficiently confident
离开了洞穴 to leave their burrows.
狐狸也知道这点 And foxes know that.
所以这是它们通常捕猎的时间 So this is when they usually hunt.
那只是田鼠 That was just a vole.
回到巢穴 Back at the den,
雌狐正在照顾它们四只饥饿的幼崽 his vixen is looking after their four hungry pups.
是五只 Make that five!
兔子们密切地注视着狐狸 The rabbits watch the fox closely.
只要它们能看到它 As long as they can see him,
它们就能跑得过 they can outrun him.
但它们躲不了 But they can't hide.
认为在地洞里总是安全的想法是错误的 It's a mistake to think that you are always safe in a burrow.
如果只有一条出路 If there is only one way out,
隧道可能会变成陷阱 a tunnel could become a trap.
兔子的生活充满了危险 A rabbit's life is full of danger.
一个大杂院每年会损失几百只 A big warren can lose hundreds each year,
但狐狸和鹰倒没有损失 but without losses to foxes and buzzards,
兔子很快就会把自己吃得饿死 rabbits could soon eat themselves into starvation.
随着农业的发展 As farming has intensified,
我们大部分传统的草地都消失了 most of our traditional meadows have disappeared.
物种丰富的草原现在只占土地的1%左右 Species-rich grasslands now occupy only about 1% of the land.
它们数量减少的原因之一 Their reduction in numbers is one of the reasons
是我们有一半的蝴蝶物种现在面临灭绝的危险 why half of our butterfly species are now at risk of extinction.
但在格洛斯特郡 有一个物种正在卷土重来 But, in Gloucestershire, one species is making a comeback.
它的生命周期是所有昆虫中最不寻常的 It has one of the most extraordinary lifecycles of any insect anywhere.
大多数毛毛虫在花中觅食 Most caterpillars find their food among flowers.
然而 这个特殊的物种以完全不同的方式进食 This particular species, however, feeds in an entirely different way.
道路充满风险 A way that is full of risks.
蚂蚁吃毛毛虫 Ants eat caterpillars.
但这只毛毛虫是个骗术大师 But this caterpillar is a master trickster.
首先她从背上的腺体释放出一滴蜜露 First, she releases a droplet of honeydew from a gland on her back
鼓励工蚁来照顾她 encouraging the worker ant to tend to her.
接下来她做了一件更了不起的事 Next, she does something even more remarkable.
她呼吸着空气 She takes in air,
给她的身体充满气 inflating her body
然后释放了它 and then she releases it
发出类似蚁后求救的声音 making a sound that resembles the distress call of a queen ant
同时让工蚁沐浴在令人陶醉的信息素之中 whilst bathing the worker in intoxicating pheromones.
作为回应 工蚁抬起毛毛虫 In response, the worker ant picks up the caterpillar
然后把它带回巢穴 就像是在拯救它 and takes it back to the nest as if rescuing it.
但其它蚂蚁会接受毛毛虫为蚁后吗？ But will the other ants accept the caterpillar as a queen?
她继续她的蚁后吱吱声 She continues her royal squeaking
令人惊讶的是 它确实做到了 and, amazingly, they do.
一旦进入巢穴 Once inside the nest,
毛毛虫可以去任何她喜欢的地方 the caterpillar can go wherever she likes.
被成千上万只蚂蚁包围着 这些蚂蚁本可以轻易杀死她 Surrounded by thousands of ants that could easily kill her,
她的诡计终于得到了回报 she finally gets the reward for her trickery.
这只毛毛虫是世界上极少数 This caterpillar is one of the very few in the world
会变成食肉的动物 that becomes carnivorous.
在接下来的六个月里 Over the next six months,
这个假蚁后吃掉了毫无防御能力的蚂蚁幼虫 this fake queen eats the defenceless ant larvae,
直到她变成原来的一百倍 until she's 100 times her original size.
在吃掉了几乎整个蚁群后 Then, having consumed almost the entire ant colony
她化蛹 she pupates
变成一只蛹 and becomes a chrysalis.
将近一年后 Nearly a year later,
在一个温暖的春日 on one warm spring day
她表演了最后一个魔术 she performs her final trick.
她从蛹的裹尸布中出现 She emerges from the shroud of her chrysalis
变成一只成年的蓝色大蝴蝶 as an adult Large Blue butterfly.
40年前 大蓝蝶就在英国灭绝了 40 years ago, the Large Blue was extinct in Britain.
但一旦了解了它非凡的生命周期 But once its extraordinary life cycle was understood,
它从欧洲被重新引入这里的草地 it was reintroduced from Europe to restored meadows here
现在我们拥有世界上最密集的种群之一 and now we have one of the densest populations to be found anywhere.
不列颠群岛到处都是崎岖的高地 Throughout the British Isles there are rugged uplands,
那里的草被其它种类的植物所取代 where grasses are replaced by other kinds of plants.
几千年来 人们在这些看似荒芜的地方耕作 For thousands of years, people have farmed these seemingly wild places,
形成了现在以石楠为主的景观 creating a landscape that is now dominated by heather.
在更狂野的地方 And in the wilder parts,
生活着英国最稀有的鸟类之一 lives one of Britain's rarest birds
黑松鸡 black grouse.
雄性在黎明时分来到这里竞争性地展示 The males come here at dawn to display competitively
在一个叫列克的特殊地方 throughout the spring in special places called leks.
每只雄性都在争夺列克中心的一小块区域 Each male competes to claim a small area in the centre of the lek
然后邀请雌性前来拜访 and then invites females to visit him
通过创作一首非凡的鸣叫歌曲 by producing an extraordinary bubbling song.
凯恩戈姆斯的这条特别的河 This particular lek in the Cairngorms
被一只强大的雄性所统治 is dominated by a formidable male,
绰号老大 nicknamed The Boss.
每天早上它都会击退挑战者 Each morning, he fights off challengers.
但现在一只新的公鸡出现了 But now, a new cock on the block has arrived
半尾 Half Tail.
它对打架并不陌生 He's no stranger to a fight,
已经失去了一些尾羽 having already lost some of his tail feathers
还曾与一只金雕擦肩而过 in a close shave with a golden eagle.
现在它把目光投向了老大的王冠 And now, he's set his sights on The Boss's crown.
在过去的一周里 它们两个一直在互相打量 For the past week, the two of them have been sizing each other up.
现在到了摊牌的时刻 And now, it's the showdown.
半尾成功了 Half Tail has triumphed.
这个列克有了新老大 This lek has a new boss.
它的时机恰到好处 And his timing couldn't be better.
一只母的来了 A female has arrived.
这是它给人留下深刻印象的机会 This is his chance to impress.
今年她可能只会来这里一次 She might only visit this lek once this year.
它今天早上运气不错 He's been lucky this morning,
但半尾必须坚守在列克的权力中心 but Half Tail must hold his position at the centre of the lek
如果它还有机会的话 if he's to get another chance.
我们的高地有严酷的冬天 Our uplands have harsh winters.
但也有一些庇护和未受干扰的地方 But there are some sheltered and undisturbed places
这正适合一位令人惊讶的全年居民 that suit one surprising year-round resident.
春日的阳光温暖了诺森布里亚的山坡 As the spring sun warms these slopes in Northumbria
一种罕见的爬行动物变得活跃起来 a rare reptile becomes active.
一条雄性蝰蛇蜕去了冬天的皮 A male adder sheds his winter skin,
露出了它的锯齿状条纹 revealing his zigzag stripe,
这种独特的花纹 the distinctive pattern that identifies
是英国唯一的毒蛇 Britain's only venomous snake.
现在它需要找一条雌性 Now, he needs to find a female.
靠敏锐的嗅觉引导 Guided by an acute sense of smell,
这条40厘米长的雄蛇开始寻找雌性 this 40cm long male sets off to find a female.
它可能要走一英里或更远 He may have to travel a mile or more.
但它很幸运 But he's in luck.
一条刚从冬眠中苏醒的雌蛇 A female, newly emerged from hibernation.
从她背上滑过 Sliding over her back
它开始了一段微妙的求爱 he begins a delicate courtship.
但它不是这里唯一一个寻找伴侣的人 But he's not the only one around here searching for a mate.
尽可能地往上伸 Rearing up as high as he can,
它用尽全身力气试图把对手按倒在地 he uses his whole body to try and pin his opponent to the ground.
这些决斗可以持续长达一个小时 These duels can last for up to an hour.
最终挑战者放弃了 Eventually, the challenger gives way.
雄蛇继续求爱 The male continues his courtship,
用它的头轻轻地拍打着雌蛇 gently tapping the female with his head
同时用它的线圈的身体给她按摩 while using his coils to massage her
直到她允许交配 until she allows him to mate.
但随后更多渴望交配的雄性到来 But then, more eager males arrive.
它必须和她保持足够长的时间来转移精子 He must stay attached to her long enough to transfer his sperm.
幸运的是它正好有所需的装备 And fortunately, he has just the equipment needed
帮它做到这一点 to help him do that
有倒刺的性器官 a penis with barbs.
一旦交配开始 Once mating has started,
蝰蛇会锁在一起长达一个小时 the adders remain locked together for up to an hour.
也就是说无论雌性去哪里 And that means wherever the female goes,
雄性也会被拖着走 the male is also dragged along.
在接下来的几个月里 她将与许多雄性交配 She will mate with many males in the coming months.
所以对于她的其它追求者 So for her other suitors,
一切都没有失去 all is not lost.
在春末 一场更为轻松的求爱开始了 At the end of spring, a more relaxed courtship takes place
在苏格兰高地的天空中 in the skies of the Scottish Highlands.
空中之舞 A sky dance.
一只雄性白尾鹞 A male hen harrier.
在空中穿梭翻滚 Weaving and rolling through the air,
它在尽力吸引雌性的注意 he's doing his best to catch the attention of a female.
但是引人注目的行为会带来危险 But conspicuous behaviour can bring danger.
几十年来对沼泽高地上的白尾鹞非法狩猎 Decades of illegal persecution of hen harriers on some grouse moors
意味着这种舞蹈几乎从我们的天空中消失 has meant that this dance almost vanished from our skies.
幸运的是在一些受保护的地方 Fortunately, in a few protected places,
白尾鹞现在开始慢慢恢复 hen harriers are now slowly starting to recover.
这只雄性的努力有了回报 And this male's efforts have paid off.
但是成为一个优秀的空中舞者 But being a great aerial dancer isn't enough.
还必须为配偶提供一顿饭 He must also provide his mate with a meal.
它必须以正确的方式传达 And he must deliver it in exactly the right way.
被它的表现所折服 Convinced by his performance
她选择了石南丛深处的一个巢穴 she chooses a nest deep in the heather.
六个星期后这里就满是等待食物的饥饿的嘴巴 Six weeks later, it's full of hungry mouths waiting for food.
雌性选择了一个好配偶 The female has chosen a good mate.
只有在父母都全职工作的情况下 Only with both parents working full-time
雏鸟才能得到足够的食物来长出羽毛 will the chicks get enough food to enable them to fledge
最终帮助这些稀有鸟类恢复数量 and eventually help these rare birds to recover their numbers.
即使在我们拥挤的小岛上 Even in our crowded isles,
仍有一些地方保留着它们的野性 there are still places that retain their wildness.
在爱尔兰的克里郡 有一片看起来几乎未被开发过的土地 In Ireland's County Kerry lies a land that looks almost untouched.
这是一片正在回归荒野的风景 This is a landscape being returned to wilderness.
这也是一个古老的战场 And it's the scene of an age-old battle.
这只赤鹿整个夏天都在山里觅食 This red deer stag has spent his summer feeding in the mountains.
但随着秋天的临近 But as autumn approaches,
它来到地势较低的地方 he comes down to lower ground
在发情期竞相争夺雌性 to compete in the rut and fight for females.
但是 一只更有经验的雄鹿 But a more experienced stag
已经夺走了这群雌鹿 has already claimed this group of females.
新来的鹿表明了它的意图 The newcomer declares his intentions.
为了赢得这些雌鹿 To win these females however
它将不得不战斗 he will have to fight.
一个鹿角插在眼睛里会弄瞎它的 An antler in the eye would blind him.
一旦鹿角插在身体上可能会要了它的命 An antler to the body could kill him.
它经验缺乏使它失去了这次胜利 His inexperience has cost him this victory.
但输掉一场战斗并不意味着 But losing one battle doesn't necessarily mean
失去了交配的机会 that he's lost his chance to mate.
在接下来的几个星期里 Over the next few weeks, the dominant stag
雄鹿忙着保护它的妻妾以至于它都不吃东西 is so busy guarding his harem of females, that he doesn't eat.
这让它很虚弱 And that leaves him weak.
这是新人一直在等待的机会 This is the opportunity the newcomer has been waiting for.
领头的雄鹿疲惫了 The dominant stag is tired,
但如果想留住雌鹿 它就必须再次战斗 but he has to fight once again if he is to keep his females.
对于新人来说 机不可失 时不再来 For the newcomer, it's now or never.
后宫已被新人所接管 The harem has been taken over by the newcomer.
在这一季结束的时候 At the end of this season,
它将凯旋而归 he will return to the mountains, victorious.
我们岛上几乎所有的草原 Almost all the grasslands in our isles
现在都是由人们管理 are now managed by and for people.
未来我们选择是否在其中为野生动物腾出空间 Whether in the future we choose to make room in them for wildlife
取决于我们 is up to us.
以前野生鹰狩猎 从未在英国被拍摄到 Wild eagles have never been filmed hunting in the UK before.
挑战难点就在于捕捉这些行为 The challenge was to capture this behaviour
不仅仅是金雕 with not just golden eagles,
还有更大更稀有的白尾鹰 but also the larger and rarer white-tailed eagles.
这支队伍将前往苏格兰赫布里底群岛的艾莱岛 The team travelled to Islay in the Scottish Hebrides.
这里鹰的数量一直在逐年增长 The eagle numbers here have been increasing year-on-year
在一个好的年份 你可以发现八到十只不同的鹰 and in a good year, you can have eight or ten different eagles
在冬季造访这个保护区 visiting this reserve during the winter.
该保护区是农场的一部分 The reserve is part of a working farm
并以有益于自然的方式进行管理 and managed in a way that benefits nature.
保护区经理詹姆斯·豪是第一个见证 Reserve manager James How was the first to witness
回归的白尾鹰做了一些不同寻常的事 the returning white-tailed eagles doing something extraordinary.
大概是四年前 It was probably four years ago
我们开始看到老鹰飞进来 that we started to see the eagles coming in
在看着雁群 and having a look at the geese.
在那个阶段它只是一只路过的鹰 At that stage it was just one eagle.
在过去的几年里 这种行为有所增加 Over the last few years, that behaviour has just increased.
这里有数量惊人的雁群 So you've got these phenomenal flocks of geese here
现在有顶级掠食者在猎杀它们 and now we have apex predators hunting them, which
不知怎么的 感觉一切变得完整 It feels complete somehow.
但并不总是如此 But it wasn't always like this.
白尾鹰曾经生活在英国和爱尔兰 White-tailed eagles once lived across Britain and Ireland,
但由于受到严重迫害 它们灭绝了 but were so heavily persecuted that they became extinct
在20世纪初 at the start of the 20th century.
这些巨兽需要帮助才能回归 These giants needed a helping hand to return.
第一次尝试释放是在1968年 The first attempt at releases was back in 1968.
我当时真惨 I was, crikey,
27岁 在菲亚莱德岛上 27, on the island of Fiaraidh.
我老板说 And my boss said,
“瞧 我要从挪威找四只年轻的白尾鹰 "Look, I'm going to get four young white-tailed eagles from Norway
“我要你把它们重新带回岛上” "and I want you to reintroduce them to the island."
在当时 重新引入新事物并不总是受欢迎的 Back then, re-introductions were new and not always welcome.
但这些早期的努力最终得到了回报 But these early efforts eventually paid off
如今在苏格兰有超过100对白尾鹰繁殖后代 and today, there are more than 100 breeding pairs across Scotland.
在艾莱岛 研究小组将工作重点放在鹰最喜欢的猎物上 On Islay, the team focus their work around the eagles' favourite prey
野兔和黑雁 brown hares and barnacle geese.
我们要做的事太难了 What we're trying to attempt is so difficult here
因为我们在拍摄鸟类 because we are filming birds
它们能在五到十分钟内翻过两座山 that can be over two mountains in five or ten minutes.
为了赶在它们前面 And to get ahead of them
试着找出它们的狩猎地点 and try and work out where their pray are going to be,
别无选择 there's no choice,
你只需要投入大量的时间 you just have to put hours and hours and hours into it.
队员们分散开来 尽可能多地观察黑雁和野兔 The team spread out to watch as many geese and hares as possible.
我们必须有静态摄影小组 隐蔽摄影小组 We have to have static camera teams, hide camera teams,
和巡回摄影队 roving camera teams.
我们还需要一个庞大的观察员队伍 And we also have to have a huge team of spotters.
但是著名的赫布里底群岛的天气却有其它的想法 But the famous Hebridean weather had other ideas.
哎哟 这些冰雹的直径约为2毫米或3毫米 Ouch! These hailstones are about 2mm or 3mm across.
感觉就像被BB弹击中一样 They are like being hit with BB pellets!
我们怎么能在这种情况下拍摄？ How are we supposed to film in this?
难怪今天早上没有老鹰 No wonder there are no eagles this morning!
有一个队员甚至连大陆的另一边都无法到达 And one team member couldn't even make it across from the mainland.
我们被禁足了 We've been grounded.
因为恶劣的天气和暴风雨 Because the bad weather and the storm,
渡船都停了 the ferries are not going any more.
但我所能做的就是等到风暴结束 But all I can do is wait until the storm finishes
然后我就可以过去看它们了 and then I can head over and see them.
一旦风暴过去 整个团队都安全上岛 Once the storm blows through and the whole team are safely on the island,
拍摄终于可以开始了 filming can finally begin.
塔楼隐藏在美丽的草原上 The tower hides enable views right across the grassland
鹰的猎物聚集的地方 where the eagles' prey congregate.
但首先团队需要了解每只鹰的习性 But first, the team need to learn the habits of the individual birds
每天的挑战就是找到它们 and each day, the challenge is to find them.
好的 我想我已经把车开到东边很远的地方了 OK, I think I've got them very distant, way to the east.
白尾鹰在一群寒鸦的陪同下飞走了 完毕 The white-tails went off with an escort of jackdaws, over.
好的 有一只起飞了 正往东南方向飞去 OK. One's taken off and is flying south-east now
现在它离你更近了 哈姆扎 towards the fields. Hamza, be much closer to you now.
不 我们还没有看到它 No, we don't have eyes on it just yet.
如果你能给我指个路那就太好了 If you guys can direct me to it, that would be ace.
还在田野上 Still just going over the field.
它看起来不像是在狩猎 It doesn't look like it's got any hunting on the brain
以目前来看 at the moment though.
鹰并不总是为了食物而捕猎 Eagles don't always hunt for their food.
雏鹰常以觅食为主 Young birds often scavenge for an easy meal.
因此了解它们何时处于狩猎模式对团队来说很重要 So learning when they are in hunt mode is key for the team.
窍门是搞清楚谁是谁 Getting the hang of who's who,
因为我们现在能认出四只不同的雏鹰 because we can recognise four different young eagles now
它们有自己的模式 也有最喜欢的地方 and they do have a pattern and they do have favourite places.
它们之间还有一种等级制度 互相指使 There is a hierarchy where they boss each other around.
我们今天发现已经有四种不同的金雕了 We've had four different golden eagles today.
还有六种不同的白尾鹰 We've had six different white-tailed eagles.
而且我们还在期待更多的种类进来 And we're still expecting more to come in.
随着摄制组对这些鸟的深入了解 As the team get to know these birds intimately,
这地方的特别之处就显而易见了 it becomes clear how special this place is.
你只能把它描述成一所老鹰学校 You can only really describe it as an eagle school.
你知道这些幼鸟是来这里学习捕猎的 You know, these young birds are coming here to learn to hunt.
基本上就是老鹰队的壮志凌云 It's basically Top Gun for eagles.
我们被老鹰包围了 太神奇了 We are surrounded by eagles. That is amazing.
我们刚刚看到有鹰打架 We've just had birds fighting.
非常非常可爱的镜头 它们有点像在翻滚 Really, really lovely footage of all of them, kind of, like, tumbling.
六个星期后 杰西捕获了它们狩猎的时刻 After six weeks, Jesse captures their first hunt.
一只年轻的金雕在平地上追赶野兔 A young golden eagle flushes a hare out on the flats.
野兔穿过矮草丛 径直冲了出去 He bolted straight out across the short grass.
它左右闪躲 He jinked from side to side.
鹰在直线上所具有非凡的力量 The power that the eagle would have had in a straight line,
它本可以把兔子给宰了 he could have just mown down the hare.
谁需要狮子?谁需要北极熊? Who needs lions? Who needs polar bears?
这也同样令人印象深刻 This is just as impressive.
经过几周的观察和学习老鹰的日常生活 After weeks of watching and learning the eagles' routines,
白尾鹰终于开始在摄像机的拍摄范围内捕食 the white-tails finally begin hunting in range of the cameras.
老鹰 Eagle!
平地上的鹰正在降落 Eagle on the flats just going down.
哇 Whoa!
杰西的耐心给了他前排座位的机会 Jesse's patience in the hide gives him a front row seat
在追逐开始时 at the start of the chase.
在塔里 约翰和瑞秋可以继续他们的工作 And in the tower, John and Rachael can pick up where he left off.
噢 它抓住了它的尾巴 然后用爪子抓头 Oh, he caught it by its tail and then claws at the goose
现在正提着它的脖子和头 and is now carrying it by its neck and its head.
哇 太不可思议了 Whoa, that's incredible!
就那么回事 That was something else.
它就这么径直走进了雁群 She just took off and went straight into the flock.
一只被挑了出来 One went up, singled one out,
从半空中拽着它降落了 plucked it out of mid air and landed with it.
那是一个非常特别的见证 That was a very special thing to witness.
这支队伍顽强的坚持得到了回报 The team's dogged persistence has paid off
他们第一次拍摄到了这些野生鹰的捕猎过程 and they film these wild eagles hunting for the first time.
我很高兴我们成功了 I feel so happy that we managed to get it. Like
言语无法表达我有多兴奋 words can't explain how excited I am.
这些雄伟的猎人回归需要数十年的努力 The return of these majestic hunters has taken decades of effort
罗伊现在把视野扩大到了英格兰南部 and Roy is now broadening his horizons to the south of England.
这是一只年轻的雌性白尾鹰 This is a young female white-tailed eagle
它来自斯凯岛 and it's come from the island of Skye.
明天还会有两只从赫布里底群岛送来 Two more will arrive from the Hebrides tomorrow.
然后它们将乘飞机去怀特岛 And then they will go by plane to the Isle of Wight.
在我生命的早期 大自然正在失去 In the early part of my life, nature was losing.
突然间在过去的20年里 And suddenly in this last 20 years
人们已经意识到我们的未来离不开大自然 people have realised that we can't live a future without nature.
像鹰这样的顶级掠食者扮演着关键角色 Top predators like eagles play a key role
维持健康、强健的自然栖息地 in maintaining healthy, robust, natural habitats.
这项至关重要的工作将确保鹰再次回归 This crucial work will ensure eagles might once again
在英国和爱尔兰随处可见 be seen across all of Britain and Ireland.
下一集 淡水 Next time freshwater.
生命之源 From source
向大海 to sea
它连接了一切 it connects everything.
英国开放大学制作了一张免费海报 The Open University has produced a free poster,
探索我们的野生岛屿及其多样化的栖息地和物种 exploring our wild isles and their diverse habitats and species.
通过致电订购您的副本 Order your copy by calling
或前往 or go to
然后点击链接进入开放大学 and follow the links to the Open University.
如果你想为恢复我们的荒岛尽一份力 If you'd like to play your part in restoring our wild isles
了解更多关于你能做些什么 and learn more about what you can do to help,
请在BBC网站上搜索Wild Isles just search Wild Isles on the BBC website.