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I'm cooking dinner early so we can all sit down as a family and watch, excited about the red kites, woodpeckers and Charlie Hamilton James!

Springwatch needs to be longer than an hour..!!

We have only a small garden in North Shields and have made a lot of effort to make it wildlife friendly but I'm worried it has become a victim of its own success. On the same day this week I observed a male sparrowhawk, two magpies together, a rook and a cat which killed a young blackbird, all in our small garden.
Today the sparrowhawk caught a young songbird and presumably in the panic a young goldfinch ALSO died after flying into the patio windows.
I tried to rescue both the blackbird and goldfinch by placing them in a cardboard box somewhere quiet and warm but both died after a few minutes. I don't really want to create a larder for every apex predator in the area, should I be trying to deter some of the predators?? Any advice anyone??

Just over ten minutes to go, kettle on and biscuits at the ready YEY !

My wife and I visited Ynys-hir today, it is a fantastic location and plenty to see. We saw baby blue tits, greattits, baby redstart, and baby willow warblers! Not to mention all the adult birds including buzzard, pied flycatchers, swallows... well worth a visit!! Didn't spot any celebrities though!

Welcome back to Springwatch. In last year's series I counted 154 items described as 'fantastic', and 173 as 'amazing'. Personally I think that seven of the fantastic sights should really have been described as amazing, and thirteen of the amazing sights were actually fantastic. But why quibble. By contrast Attenborough's vocabulary is so limited that he has never managed to use either word.

In Argyle you should use avon skin so soft it keeps the midges at bay, The only thing that works.

We have a blue tit box with a camera fitted and we have loved watching the blue tits building their nest and for the past 3 weeks a blue tit has been sat on the nest virtually all day - however they seem to have forgotten to lay any eggs!! What's going on? Any ideas?

Does Martin's feather belong to a goose?
Matthew and James Churcher (aged 14 & 11)

I think the feather may be from a Grey Heron

Hi, I think the feather comes from an Osprey

great to see you in mid-wales. you picked a great place for your base.

is the feather an osprey feather?

The starlings in my garden, whilst most welcome, are very greedy. I try to hard to outwit them so they don't scoff all the food. I've even resorted to sneaking out at different times of day to refill the ground feeders with suet pellets and mealworms but I'm sure they're watching me!!!!

The feather is a red kite flight feather. I have one attched to my mountain bike which I found in a lane in the south Chilterns

It's a primary feather from a Red Kite

hi team in the last few days i have seen a hedgehog in my garden in the daytime on it's own, is this common and should i keep a watch on it.

Welcome back springwatch!!!! Can you tell us more or show film about the Cuckoo and where do all the caterpillars go of the ermine moth to pupate?? Keep up a fantastic programme and Chris I think your graphs are good (creep creep) :-). Jo

Feather belongs to the Ospreys

It's primary wing weather from a Heron. Jax

osprey or buzzard

Repeated use of superlatives devalues the language. As has already been pointed out, David Attenborough provides clear, articulate and informative commentary with minimal use of superlatives and without talking down to viewers. The photography is excellent (sorry :-) but the commentary, especially from Chris Packham and Kate Humble isn't.

Started bird watching this year... Loving every minute. Seen Woodpeckers, Nuthatches and some coal tits in our garden at the moment... Along with the usuall stuff...

Changed our minds, is it a Buzzard's feather?

Matthew and James

Could the feather belong to the Ring Billed Gull

HI, IS THE FEATHER FROM A HERON XX

i think the feather is heron...

Chris Packham is a breath of fresh air with his comments about the buzzard. Ok ducklings are cute but they are also food for other animals.

The Feather is a Red Kite

I think the feather could be that of a red kite, really glad the show is back, we're watching this with the back door open so we have the sound of gentle rain and a blackbird and dunnock singing outside.

CAN I JUST SAY MARTIN YOUR LOOKING VERY GOOD THIS SEASON XX

That feather's got to be from a red kite!

It's an eagle's feather!!

I think the flight feather is from a stork.

I think the feather belongs to a Magpie

We love this area, we visit further south from where you are. Earlier this year I photographed a pair of buzzards sitting in a field on the fresh body of a lamb near Aberaeron.

Loving the new hair Mr. Hughes-Games!!

Welcome back, looking forward to the next 3 wks. Is the feather a red kite?

The feather you showed is a Canada goose wing feather
cheers
Colin

My husband and i think the feather could belong to either a Red kite or an osprey

Is it a Storks feather :)

We believe that the feather belongs to an Osprey.

Chris & Helen Weir

RED KITE FEATHER

II think its a primary from a white tailed eagle

We have two pairs of Gold Finch in our back garden with at least one young, as well as blackbirds, bluetits, great tits, coal tits, wren, robin and sparrows, and recently we had a visit from a sparrow hawk who stayed for some time. We live on the outskirts of a midland town.

Is the feather from a Canada Goose?

I think the feather belongs to a white stork or a common crane

I think its a heron feather. By the way Chris please don't stop being pragmatic....they are lovely sweet firry/ fluffy things but also food and it is a part of nature.

I think the feather is from a red kite

I think your feather is from an osprey which i was lucky enuf to have been watching 2 juveniles on a hunting lesson at fontburn reservoir where I'm a ranger :-)

My 3 year old daughter, Sophie saw the feather and said ' that feva is from a really big big animal, a bird I fink!" Watch out Kate Humble!!

I think the feather is from a Canada Goose.

Just seen the bit about Minnows. I thought Minnow Traps (mentioned in the program) had been outlawed years ago?

Brilliant film from Dr Redfin ( Mark Everard). One of my angling heroes. Love the little river fish like minnow and bullheads ( also called Millers Thumbs for obvious reasons) Great film Mark.

I think the feather is from a Heron(end feather on wing)

That feather must be from the ospray down the road

And whilst we're on badgers something trashed our sweetcorn last year and apparently it was badgers - is this likely and if so is there anything we can do to stop it happening again this year?

Barcud;

Just love Springwatch. I am pretty sure the feather belongs to the beautiful Red Kite. It is just wonderful to see them in flight - recently seen near Ilkley and the kite trail near Derwent valley- fantastic!!!

canada goose

I think this is a feather of a Godwit.

The feather could be a Canada or Brent goose

i think the feather is of a osprey

The feather is from a red kite.

I think that today's feather is from a red kite. In 2000, my wife and I spent a week near Rhayader to celebrate my umpteenth birthday. We had planned to visit Gigrin Farm to see the feeding station, but I was delighted to see my first red kite on my birthday a day or two before.

I think the feather could be from a Red Kite

use avon skin so soft and that will cure your midgie problem :) happy to help

think feather is a heron

We need more of Chris' facts on the show, we love him!
Alan & Amanda

Wonderful pictures and amazing birds in beautiful wales...but where's Simon King?

Hi Springwatch,
We live in Nottinghamshire and this year we've noticed a number of Oak trees with withered and damaged leaves, some trees are so bad they look almost dead. Could this be due to the recent long period of very dry weather ? If not, do you have any idea what might be causing it ?

what happened to my comment? not gonna wait for moderation as someone who's been on here a few years... :::sigh:::

Great to see the red kites we have seen them in a number of places in the Rhondda valleys

Loving the beavers - I think they should be here in Yorkshire. See Red Kites outside my house nearly every day and did not get the feather right.

i also think it maybe a red kite feather

Does Springwatch think it's a soap opera?? We don't need 'cliffhangers' on a nature show. Why wait to show us whether the beaver fells the tree until tomorrow rather than today? Show more respect to your viewers please.

Last Autumnwatch was the first series of the show I watched, and low and behold it was hosted by one of my fondest childhood memories, Chris Packham presenting. 25 years later, and he looks and sounds exactly the same! Must be oil of ulay. Kudos also to Martin, Kate and the rest of the springwatch team. Absolutely brilliant show championing the beauty we have on our very doorstep to rival any in the world.

hOW DO i ATTACH A PHOTO FOR YOU AR THE bbc TO LOOK AT?

Get rid of midges by tucking a sheet of 'Bounce' clothes softener inside your collar - they'll give you a wide berth!

I really enjoy your programme and after last years Springwatch, I bought a nest box and camera exactly like the one you used.
I carefully fixed this in a tree with the box facing north in October last year, but to my great disappointment - no nests.
I had three BlueTits examine the inside, but none stayed. The box is 2M from the ground and the tree has been inundated with sparrows, which now number about 40 approx. in my garden.
Can you help with any explanation whether I have sited the box in the wrong place please.
Thank you
PETE

Where is Simon King?

Saw two tiny blue tits today that had fallen out of a nest. Wondering if they would have any chance of getting back?

just watched springwatch, one word AMAZING!
I'm loving the redkite and the Beavers simply beautiful to watch well not the eating habits of the redkite needs table manners lol x

magpies are killing our fledgling woodpeckers. 2 taken already, today... parent bird unable to keep them off...any suggestions? not sure how many left...

Great programme tonight, but when is Unsprung on????

Hey to the Springwatch team. I have been finding bird eggs in the garden that have a hole in the side and have been cleaned out, and I am afraid to say I think it's the nesting Magpies that have moved in to the area that are the culprits. Last year I had load of tits and other small birds visiting my garden and this year although the tits nested in my bird box I never heard the babies knocking on the box. Do you think the Magpies have scared them away? I really don't like to scare the Magpies away but I resorted to running down my garden like a screaming banshea to make them fly off. I am sure the neighbours just shake their heads and say they always knew I was nuts.

Early this morning using a wireless camera feeding our television, we watched 'our' brood of 7 Great Tit chicks leaving the nest box on our shed. Although the eggs were laid and the chicks eventually hatched approximately 1/day, they all left within 30 minutes, varying in size from large to quite small. The past few weeks have been such an education for us and a good excuse for spending hours on end watching the television!

Good to see you all again. I work in a garden centre near Truro, Cornwall and for the second year in a row we have blackbirds nesting in our top canopy, last year the first nest was in a ceanothus pot and she had 3 young, she then went on to produce another brood of 4 a month later between a shed and a bit of fencing. This year she is now on her second brood in the same place and they have just hatched! All the plant staff are behaving like proud parents!! Both mum and dad Blackbird are fantastic parents although will look very slightly tatty at the end of it all.
from Jane Patecka

66.At 20:48 30th May 2011, saul patric wrote:
use avon skin so soft and that will cure your midgie problem :) happy to help

A friend of mine, who served with 22 SAS says a lot of his colleagues swear by Avon's stuff to ward off mozzies. If its good enough for them,..... !!!
I've used it, and it works a traet!

I am utterly disgusted with the Welsh Assembly for authorising the going ahead of the badger cull in West Wales.!! They will be slaughtering hundreds of badgers, without ANY proof that this will halt the spread of bovine TB. Shame on them!!!

I had been watching blue tits building there nest in a nest box attached to my garage, like they do every year, after a couple of weeks i noticed that they were in and out far more often, so i new that they were now feeding there chicks. Every day i would have a look several times every thing was fine, until one day i came home from work to find the perch was on the floor and something had had a right good go at getting in the box, score marks all around the hole, i did notice that the tits were still feeding and hadn't been deterred, i phoned a friend of mine to see if he could shed some light on this and he said it might be a squirrel, the next day was a Saturday so i sat and watched the box from the minute it got light and was amazed to see a great spotted woodpecker trying to smash his way into the nest box, i have never herd of this before, and every body iv spoken to says the same,Chris could you tell me was this just a deranged woodpecker or is this normal for them to do this, ? i thought they ate flies and grubs i would be grateful for some more information about this,
Regards Steve

I am putting a small pond in my garden what are the best plants to plant around it to attract wildlife.

In developing a wildlife garden I now find that I have a couple of Brown Rats - I think they may be holed up in the insect tower. Should I be concerned?

Very well done on a great start. I do hope that we more of the wildlife and LESS of the presenters, after all the wildlife SHOULD be the stars of the show. Well done all of you and good luck this season.

Steve

Pity no badgers on the first show. Maybe Chris could entice them out with a nice bag of chips!

I loved last night's show - especially the beavers - great idea.

My question is about bird feeders. I have two feeders out in my garden permanently and - until about ten days ago - was only filling them about once or twice a week. Then, suddenly, the birds started to eat a lot more of the food. I now need to fill one of them daily.

Is that just because there are a lot of fledglings about? Or is it because the weather has turned colder and there aren't as many insects around?

It's a really dramatic difference. Have other people noticed the same effect?

Hi, Welcome back, at last there is something worth watching on tele!
You mentioned Bird nest boxes in last nights programme but a word of CAUTION re Tree Bumble Bees and Bird boxes.

Over the last two years one of my several bird boxes have been inhabited by the Tree Bumble Bee. This is not a native species and has been very aggressive. Last year I was working about 6-10 feet away from a bird box when I was attacked by at least 5 of these bees, one managed to get under my glasses and stung me repeatedly below the left eye, very painful. I looked on the internet to find out more and one article suggested that several male Tree Bees would circulate around the entrance looking for a suitable female. However I watched and videoed for several hours over the next few days and found that the circulating Tree Bees were in fact guarding the hive. On one occasion we observed a 鈥渘ormal鈥� Bumble Bee stray into their 鈥渁ir space鈥�. It was immediately set upon by the Tree Bees and, after an air battle similar to the Battle Of Britain, it was beaten to the ground where one of the Tree Bees jumped on the back of 鈥渘ormal鈥� Bumble Bee which eventually flew off still with the Tree Bee on its back. Although on this occasion as I was so excited I forgot to switch on the video camera!!

So if you see Bees flying around a Bird nest box just be aware not to step into their air space.

I have recorded several minutes of the activity around this nest box last year but so far I've not plucked up courage to see what's happening this year!

Chris said it has been "3.7% warmer." Sounded a bit like the gutter press when they say "it has been twice as warm." I hope it was a slip of the tongue and he meant 3.7 degrees warmer.

This is the first year that I have decided to watch Springwatch all the way through (and Autumnwatch when that comes on too)... I really enjoyed the first episode, as I am just getting into recording the sounds of wildlife... and I noticed that there were loads of recordings of birds chirping in your show.

I was wondering, I know that you can get involved by submitting photos of wildlife, but is it possible for me to submit some of my sound recordings for you to take a listen to? I dont have very good equipment at the moment but would have in time for Autumnwatch, so perhaps I could submit them in Autumn?

Keep up the great work, its a shame the show is so short really, but nonetheless awesome.

Thank you for Springwatch, I love it.

I have a very clever magpie in my garden. The other day I broke up a crust from a loaf of bread and put it on my bird-table (I know bread isn't really good for them, but they like it). On a flagged area of the garden there is always a bowl of water for my dog. A magpie came to the table and took a piece of the rather dry bread, flew with it to the dog's water bowl, dipped it in the water then dropped it onto the flags and started eating the now-moist piece of crust ! Is this very clever, or quite common behaviour?

Eileen Lester, [Personal details removed by Moderator] Lancs.

Like the viewer in North Shields, I too have been visited by a sparrowhawk. Not a regular visitor but a frequent one. I usually know of its presence by the commotion in the garden. I had the fortune to see it catch one of the pigeons that visit the garden and after dashing into the house for my camera took a not very good photo, not good enough for Springwatch, unfortunately. However my question is where is it roosting/nesting? What type of areas should I be looking at? I would be grateful for any information. My location, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex not far from the Thames.