The Magical Moors - A Hidden Paradise For Wildlife (Wildlife Documentary HD) | The Moors | Real Wild

paper was light gold in medieval times i want tobacco sugar [Music] that everything we thought we knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong [Music] [Music] a colorful community of creatures a habitat with many faces [Music] it's wet here and impenetrable land like this is considered eerie even dangerous yet there are amazing discoveries to be made here [Music] [Music] after the last ice age upland moors formed in northern and central europe in places where water surplus slows the decomposition of plant material the melting snow reveals signs of life large animal droppings from last year and the cranberry's frost resistant fruits and a tiny caterpillar that has survived the cold of winter on the upland moor it is the lava of the endangered moorland clouded yellow butterfly whether in the north or south an upland moor perches on the landscape like a slightly arched watch glass with trees around the edge and a black pool the bog pond somewhere in the middle upland moors are easily recognizable low growing birches and pines berry bushes and sedges and a thick cushion of swagnum ground cover forming massive layers of vegetation that soak up water like a sponge carnivorous plants interspersed among these mats of moss unfurl from winter buds in the spring [Music] the leaves of the common sundew contain over a hundred sticky tentacles an ingenious trap [Music] once a sundew has caught an insect it envelops it and begins digesting it slowly it normally preys on small insects and seldom captures such large prey [Music] [Music] the european golden plover is one of the most beautiful and rare wetland birds in central europe only a dozen pairs still breed in northern germany today golden plovers are a common sight on scandinavian moorland even for the black grouse golden plovers are highly specialized breeding only in areas with no bushes and short grass mating itself is a straightforward affair [Music] black grouse live here in the north country all year round these cranes on the other hand have just returned from wintering in southern [Music] europe the cranes are sure-footed enough on the wet wobbly pete to perform their courtship displays and to mate although most cranes mate for life pairs still reaffirm their partnership and get each other in the mood with courtship behavior after arriving in their breeding grounds the hen signals she's ready to mate through cooing and by assuming an unequivocal posture something has disturbed the couple the two of them are not alone another crane is encroaching on their turf and is immediately driven off the snow and ice have vanished the days grow longer and the vegetation springs to life the foliage of the bog bilberry will soon be ripe and the moreland clouded yellow caterpillar waits patiently as like all caterpillars it has an astonishing appetite what is that in the bog bilberry snake jackets the remnants of the year's first moatings [Music] the common adder sheds its skin at the start of the mating season the male snakes which can be either two-tone or black then convene on set sparring grounds [Music] a ritual battle male adders engage in a bloodless test of strength [Music] they engage in battle for up to half an hour in the downey's edge the blackout finally gains victory and the lighter a colored male is forced to head off many of the plants are busy reproducing as well small silver heads emerge from brown blades these are female hair's tail cotton grass buds [Music] days later these same flowers will go through a metamer forces they become male and send their pollen on a voyage when the cotton grass is in bloom an incessant lugging sound reverberates throughout some mowers it's the call of the moor frog in spawning season male frogs turn blue in color this helps them differentiate between males and females when looking for a mate in the malay more frogs live in low moors just like water rails this secretive bird loves bodies of water with expansive marshy banks when a shallow lake slowly becomes overgrown and silts up it becomes a fen or lomur as is the case with all more land more dead plant material accumulates in such areas than microorganisms can break down fenwoods begin to grow on the banks of such dying lakes perfect breeding sites for cranes they can use their long legs to stroll to their nests which are inaccessible to egg thieves like foxes the crane is not the only animal that breeds in the lomo the harvest mouse will raise its young here later in the year [Music] the marsh of the upland moor offers safety too the whole moor rises higher as the vegetation grows it is no longer in contact with the groundwater [Music] common teal bear and raise their young here because the bog promises refuge from nest robbers floating grasslands water holes marshland this is the realm of the carnivorous sundew after unfurling its sticky leaves it begins to blossom [Music] yet as if the insects have decided not to pollinate them to exact revenge the blossoms do not open at all this plant can pollinate itself from within its own flower buds [Music] somewhere in the moor frequently in areas where the terrain is uneven and groups of shrubs grow is the adder's mating spot the fighting is far from over here in this neck of the moor a black male keeps a female under careful watch he wants to mate with her not far away a light-colored male has picked up the scent [Music] the black male has nearly made it to the finishing line [Music] the brownish female is now besieged by two admirers but she will not mate until one of the males has driven the other away [Music] this skirmish could go on for hours the two-tone male suddenly goes on the attack and forces the blackadder to flee if they're able to mate successfully the female adder will give birth to about a dozen baby adders in the summer in the bilberry bush the moorland clouded yellow caterpillar prepares to pupate it has already fastened itself to a branch with a silken thread now at dusk a peculiar sound can be heard in some areas of the large untouched borlands of northern and eastern europe it's the courtship song of the great snipe this bird doesn't hit top form until after nightfall in the run-up this well-camouflaged bird makes its way through the moor to the courting arena somewhere in the moor there are predefined meeting points sometimes as many as 30 males vie to outdo the others and impress the females with their singing prowess and show of feathers [Music] [Applause] [Music] the courtship display goes on until dawn these peculiar birds then fly off as if they've received some secret sign at one time the song of the great snipe could be heard in the moors of central europe even in germany however about a century ago those populations died out sweden norway and lithuania have lost half of the moorland they once had denmark and the countries to itself and west have managed to destroy 99 of their moorland excavators and cutters are used to scrape away the top layer of peat from the surface every hectare of moorland that dries up releases up to 30 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually because once the plant remains are exposed to air they begin to decay the european union is second to only indonesia when it comes to releasing harmful greenhouse gases into the environment through the destruction of moorland approximately two-thirds of europe's moors have been destroyed by desiccation and there is no end in sight delicate treasures from the plant world grow in the moors that remain such as this dwarf birch in amore in southern germany this tree which grows no higher than cotton grass is a rarity here in the rough climate of scandinavia however dwarf birches thrive in nearly every more as long as their habitat remains intact grazing ungulates like the elk cannot harm this tiny tree's population all plants whether birch or cotton grass arm themselves against animals that are out to feast on them by producing large quantities of seeds the wet gullies between the islands of cotton grass are home to more ants they like the dwarf perch are relics of the ice age [Music] more ants are more experts in many regards they use bridges and live inside the damp cushion of pete moss [Music] the most amazing thing about these ants is how they get their food more ants hardly ever hunt for themselves they let the sun do hunt for them snatching away nearly three quarters of all the insects a plant catches [Music] [Music] the stolen goods are then taken into the nest and used to feed ant larvae flourishing golden plover and more ant populations assure signs of healthy moorlands on the edge of an intact layer of pizza fish covering one often finds a forested ridge this is often surrounded with an ecologically valuable belt of wet meadowlands and fen woods the borders between these boggy habitats are fluid as the diversity of the landscape grows so does the number of animals who call it home the road grazes on the fresh foliage of the berry bushes eating as many tender shoots and buds as possible [Music] signs of life from the bilberry bush the chrysalis of the moorland clouded yellow butterfly still hangs by a silky thread from one of its branches we can already see the colour of its wings and the shape of its antennae through the puparium the hatching process which always happens in the early morning takes only two minutes [Music] nothing less than a small miracle it takes a while for the wings and kitiness outer shell of the butterfly to harden and take on their permanent form time for its virgin flight but the clouded yellow butterfly isn't flying off for the sake of [Music] amusement the band of low more surrounding the upland moor is of special importance to the clouded yellow butterfly the wet meadows are where the clouded yellow butterfly will find life-sustaining nectar this high sugar food is essential in ensuring it will be able to reproduce the meadows in the lomowa are home to strange plants like this white flower a butterfly orchid they come into their own at nightfall [Music] when all is dark a pleasant scent of vanilla rises over the wet meadow it's being emanated by the butterfly orchid which only tempts pollinators with nectar at night time [Music] butterfly orchids are pollinated by moths which are now being enticed with a lovely smell and a sweet reward the harvest mouse is busy at night too the grass cover provides more protection from predators at night than it does in the daytime well-structured low moors with waterways running through them and lined with healthy woodlands on one side and upland wars on the other are true natural treasures particularly beautiful example of this in central europe can be found in the bohemian forest in the heart of the schumacher national park in the czech republic it's home to an array of fascinating more flora and fauna such as round-leaved sundew thieving more ants are not the only thing that make life difficult for this carnivorous plant sun dew plume moth caterpillars feed on its sticky leaves and that's not all sanju plume moth caterpillars eat the leaves and the insects the plant has captured it's a nutrient-rich feast salad with a meat garnish if you will the caterpillars can use the energy stools for they too are about to pupate and they usually do so on a sun dew pedicle [Music] the water laden peat is releasing lots of moisture into the air right now the moor is hot and humid and that attracts the roebuck moors are usually bereft of humans and as such offer a peaceful spot for the deer heavy water-logged clouds signal the coming of the lifeblood of an upland moor [Music] upland moors are said to be ombrotrophic that is rain fed this is because their water is supplied exclusively by the heavens and not from groundwater or any other source [Music] this rainwater will never reach the bottom of the moor thanks to the highly absorbent peat moss it will remain stored in the sponge-like body of the moor [Music] [Music] black ponds form in depressions on the surface of the peat only certain plants and animals can flourish in this highly acidic water [Music] cypriots like the prussian and crucian carp are able to live in this peaty water as do mosquito larvae their staple food [Music] they also enjoy dining on the larvae of the white-faced data dragonfly the mosquito larvae for their part filter minuscule more algae and other microscopic creatures out of the water [Music] other predators lurk above the water's surface as well [Music] the night heron's preferred meal is fish so the constant cycle of eat and be eaten the more vegetation however doesn't appear subject to this the omnipresence of water keeps dead vegetation from becoming humus meaning that layer upon layer of plant matter builds up and the more becomes ever more formidable growing roughly a meter every thousand years bilbray bushes grow on the edge of the bog pond their leaves are dotted with little red specks these are the eggs of the moorland clouded yellow a rare sight nowadays as a destruction of moorland has greatly endangered this butterfly survival a few days later tiny caterpillars hatch the female moorland clouded yellow has nearly white wings the male on the other hand does the name justice in no time at all the bilbrey leaves look odd the culprit the very hungry moorland clouded yellow caterpillar the caterpillars that hatch in spring feed on tender butts while leaves are all that are left for those born a generation later in the summer however as the leaves are too thick and leathery the little caterpillar eats only the tissue between the veins of the leaf and leaves only the framework [Music] from a distance one notices the bushes and trees but the lion's share of the plant biomass in an upland moor is moss a plant like swagnom moss that is so successful in such a habitat must have a secret when it comes to reproduction if the rainfall and air temperature are right svagnum or peat moss form spores in dark coloured capsules at the tips of its branches amazingly the pressure inside the tiny capsule is the same as in the tyre of a lorry that's all of five bar the wind carries this precious cargo across the moor to where it can germinate the countless little bodies of water in amour are home to unusual creatures many of which can only be found in the nutrient-poor acidic water of these pint-sized ponds they have spent two years living underwater as larvae now these white-faced data are emerging from the swagnom to live life as flying insects for a few short weeks their purpose is to find food and a mate so they can reproduce [Music] yet another carnivorous plant lives in the moors periodically dry waterways or gullies the english sundew [Music] it's one of the few plants that can take root in the groundless pete maya which contains almost no nutrients this means it must get the nitrogen vital for survival from another source [Music] english sanju also feeds on captured insects it is however capable of attracting and coping with larger prey than its round-leaved cousin [Music] [Applause] me [Music] one is hard pressed to find another habitat in the moor as extreme as this the lack of nutrients is just one of many problems the water comes and goes for the most part the dark water channel is exposed to direct sunlight and heats up very quickly [Music] sun dew and adder can find new old homes in renatured moorland nonetheless what has been lost can only be restored over the course of decades the heather growing on the peat along the banks of this artificial channel and more pond is nice to look at but it is a sign that something is not quite right here heather loves dry ground wherever lots of it grows the absorbent function of the upland moor has been destroyed by desiccation when a drained moor land is re-flooded animals that have become rare are likely to settle the large marsh grasshopper is benefiting from such nature conservancy measures it's one of our most colorful and biggest indigenous grasshoppers large marsh grasshoppers are easily recognizable by their song which is produced by a rhythmic snapping of their hind legs [Music] the carnivorous sun jew poses no threat to this powerful grasshopper on the contrary it is more likely to devour the sundew although the marsh grasshopper mainly feeds on grasses these insects are impressive jumpers and flyers and tenacious rivals when it comes to finding a female to mate with the large marsh grasshopper pier marches across the wet ground this will be their breeding ground the eggs can only develop if the ground moisture is high enough in recent years many marsh grasshopper populations in europe have gone extinct more and more of their habitat which was for centuries considered too low quality for cultivation has been turned into farmland today crops are being grown for biomass to generate power where wet meadows once flourished [Music] breeding grounds for adders have also become rare especially in central europe this female adder has incubated about a dozen eggs inside its body now in mid-summer her young break out of their transparent paper-thin shells immediately after being laid the little adders moat shortly after hatching [Music] their mother stops caring for them [Music] immediately moors often look dreary from a distance one doesn't easily recognize the biodiversity within them on the blossoms of the round-leaved sunju the sanju plume moths are hatching from their pupae it took two weeks for the tiny hairy monster-like creatures that attacked and devoured the sundew's sticky traps and prey to transform into delicate lepidoptera with feathery wings they set out to look for mates and a sundew to lay eggs on and if chance should have it they might just end up in a new moor that no sanju plume moths call home another new generation is being born on the edge of the upland bore in the bog forest too [Music] after a month-long incubation period a chick has emerged from one of the two crane eggs [Music] barely a day old the newborn crane can already stand and walk yet its mother still tries to roll the little one into the middle of the nest like an egg possibly out of habit although the sustenance from the yoke will keep the fledgling crane going for two days its parents waste no time bringing it fresh food from the lomur [Music] the chick is quick to learn the dragonfry larvae can be eaten it just can't fathom how [Music] there we go upland moor marsh fenwood the ground sways everywhere and is full of peat in various stages of development the water rail finds its favorite insects to eat and a sheltered spot between the rush reeds and horsetail for its offspring as well so [Applause] those who prefer it dry yet still wish to enjoy the protection of the marsh against four-legged predators simply needs to brood above water level among the blades of reeds like this eurasian reed warbler the harvest mouse our smallest native rodent finds its food on the top floor among the meadow sweet seeds this little mouse is also building its own little floodproof nest here its offspring lay in the center of it not even 48 hours old and barely larger than a coffee bean the mother has left the nest for a moment to eat fruit from the great burnet although we're all more or less familiar with morse's habitat there are perhaps many more animals and plants to discover here than we are generally unfamiliar with than elsewhere the upland more wax cap for example one of the most brilliantly colorful mushrooms found at our latitude no one knows why this mushroom is so brightly colored [Music] the first cold nights turn the birch foliage color autumn is starting the cranes get ready to migrate south large open moorlands will serve as places to rest and convene [Music] then comes winter a time when no life well nearly no life stirs for months in the morning until the black grass once again chime in the new year with their graceful licking display [Music] a show that can be observed in many places in scandinavia black grouse have long vanished from most moors in central europe [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 79,317

Keywords: Bog Wildlife, Conservation Efforts, Enchanting Moors, Great Snipes, Insect Digestion, Moor Kingdom, Moorland Ecosystems, Moorland Flora, Moorland Species, Moorland Treasures, Moorland Wildlife, Mushrooms, Nature Surprises, Rare Habitats, Rarest Creatures, Real Wild, Species Conservation, Species Protection, Wetland Ecology, Wetland Habitat, Wildlife Haven

Id: 033zYstULZI

Length: 50min 19sec (3019 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 19 2021