Filmed in Newport Wetlands. An excellent swimmer and diver. Feeds mainly on fish, but also on small crustaceans, insects and little frogs.
Filmed at Boughrood Bridge at Llyswen in the Wye river.
The sea lampreys swim up-river to spawn. They only spawn for the first couple of weeks in June. After spawning the adults die.
They move the rocks so that they can lay their eggs in the gravel.
Llŷn Peninsula
Paul [Kay, underwater cameraman] and the diving team chartered a boat from Pwllheli out to just off the coast of Abersoch, an area well-known for seals. They dived for about an hour to get shots of the seals.
The grey seal is one of two kinds of seal in the seas of Britain, the other being the common seal. The bull can reach 2.5-3.0m in length and weigh up to 300 kg. The cows are much smaller, typically 1.6–2.0m long and 100–150 kg in weight. Grey seals are found around the Llŷn peninsula and in Cardigan Bay, and there is a colony of them on Skomer Island.
Steve and John used a jib to get nice shots of fungi, lichens and mosses in this ancient woodland which is the perfect wet and warm environment for them.
Coed Crafnant wood, together with Coed Dolbebin wood, make up the Coed Crafnant Nature Reserve. 49 hectares in size, the reserve is important for its variety of primitive plants like mosses and liverworts.
Fallow Deer, Location – Coed-y-Brenin, in the south of Snowdonia National Park near Dolgellau. Covers an area of some 9,000 acres around the valleys of the rivers Mawddach, Eden, Gain and Wen. To the west lie the Rhinog mountains, to the east the Rhobell Fawr and to the south, Cader Idris.
Filming fallow deer, we had to put up scaffold hide so that Steve was high up and out of sight so the deer could not smell or see him.
Fallow deer live in isolated groups in the forest. They range over large areas and spend only a short time in one area.
Red Squirrel Hide, Location – near Brechfa
We had to put hazel nuts out to bait them into the area. Huw [Denman, Forestry worker] knows they are in that area as they trap grey squirrels there and there is a feeding station for the red squirrels there. Steve had to sit in hide for about six hours for two days in row.
The red squirrel population in Britain has declined dramatically since the introduction of the grey squirrel from North America. At birth, a squirrel weighs 10-15 grams (a tablespoon measure) and is blind and deaf. By 21 day, its coat has grown, and by 42, it has developed all its teeth.
Choughs in Cave, Location – Llŷn Peninsula
Steve had to set up a hide in a cave. This was dangerous because the mouth to the cave has a big drop that goes down a long way so Steve has to use a harness and ropes for his safety. This species is protected so we had to have a licence from CCW and be under the supervision of Kelvin from the Welsh Raptor Group.
Lesser Horshoe Bats, Location – Hafod Garregog National Nature Reserve, one of 50 reserves run by the Countryside Council for Wales.
Had to use the infra-red to film the bats in the loft space of the barn. We had to film from outside the loft space so as to not disturb the bats so the camera is operated remotely and footage viewed on a monitor. We had to have a licence and be under the guidance of Doug Oliver, CCW worker. Was nice because we found out new information about the bats' behaviour before they exit the roof space to feed.
A montage of some of the incredible life that abounds off the Welsh coast.
Some of the various little creatures from around Wales.
© 2012 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales