BBC: Wings 3D

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1

[CAWING]

NARRATOR:

It's a universal dream...

...to y like a bird.

To soar on wings into the heavens.

[HONKS]

But it's nothing compared to the reality.

[AIR WHISTLING]

Experience our planet as never before:

Through the eyes of birds.

[PEEPING]

This is a journey

that will embrace the world.

A flight across the earth

on feathered wings.

It's a fantastic voyage...

...following the changing seasons...

...and taking in some

of the greatest events on Earth.

Experience a year

in the life of our planet...

...from the lush tropics...

...to the frozen North...

...and catch a glimpse of our world...

...as never before:

From a bird's-eye view.

[HONKING]

It's spring in North America...

...and families of snow geese

begin an epic 2000-mile journey...

...across the continent.

[STEAMBOAT HORN BLARING]

They've spent the winter

in the far South, but now...

...they have to fly

all the way to the Arctic to breed.

They won't be traveling alone.

[HONKING]

They join other snow geese families...

...united by a common goal.

The ock grows in strength...

...until snow geese...

...fill the sky.

Then hundreds become thousands.

Within a few days...

...their ranks are over a million strong.

They gather at these

traditional staging posts...

...to wait for the perfect weather

and favorable winds...

...that will help power their migration.

They become a vast army...

...ready to take over a continent.

[HONKING]

But where flocks gather...

...so do predators.

The bald eagle.

America's national bird.

A creature of cunning and power...

...and the Hook's greatest enemy.

There is safety in numbers.

Many eyes to watch for danger.

They react as one...

...the message rippling

through the ock.

The eagle appears spoiled for choice.

But it's not that easy.

Their sheer numbers confuse the predator.

They form a blizzard of geese...

...impossible to target or see through.

[AIR WHISTLING]

She must try her luck elsewhere.

[DUCK QUACKING]

[SCREECHING]

True skill comes from years of practice.

What goes down

must come up.

[DUCK SQUAWKING]

With a fair wind blowing...

...the snow geese

take their cue to leave.

[HONKING]

They become part

of a spring migration...

...across a greening continent...

...one that features

millions of other birds.

In Europe, common cranes

crossing the Mediterranean...

...lead a similar mass

invasion from Africa.

Like snow geese,

they travel as a family...

...the younger birds gaining

from the knowledge of their parents.

They'll spend the next three weeks

traveling to their breeding grounds...

...on a continent now blossoming with life.

[HONKING]

They follow traditional routes,

a flight path that, for many...

...includes Western Europe's

largest river delta.

The Camargue in France.

Below are the famous white horses...

...an ancient breed...

...that has roamed

the sea marshes for centuries.

[HORSES WHINNYING]

[WHINNYING]

As well as horses...

...the marshes provide shelter

for a wealth of birdlife.

Four hundred varieties in all.

The cranes speed onwards

to Northern Europe.

They still have a journey

of 1500 miles to go.

[HONKS]

To keep on course...

...birds use a magnetic sense...

...that tells them their position

at any one time.

They also use the sun

as a compass point...

...even allowing for its changing position

as it arcs across the sky.

But despite a sophisticated

navigation system...

...they prefer to trust their eyes.

Landmarks, such as Chateau

de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley..

...are used as a guide

from year to year.

Young birds on their first migration

can see a landmark just once...

...and remember it for a lifetime.

[HONKS]

One day, they'll use such sites

to guide their own families.

Below, the trout in the river...

...are full of the joys of spring.

But not for long.

A migrating osprey had spied...

...his meal from above.

But there's always one that gets away.

He plunges at 50 miles per hour.

It's this seasonal abundance of prey...

...that makes the osprey's 5000-mile

journey from southern Africa...

...worth all the effort.

Over the Baja Peninsula

at the southern tip of North America...

...another spring gathering

is assembling.

Brown pelicans are attracted

by the vast anchovy shoals...

...that migrate to these rich waters

at this time of year.

The drab juveniles are still

learning the ways of the ocean.

They rely on their more colorful

elders to show them the way.

The youngsters watch

their every move...

...benefiting from their greater

experience and wisdom.

They must understand

the habits of every sea creature...

...that might lead them to a meal.

Humpback whales have traveled...

...two and a half thousand miles

from the Arctic...

...to breed here.

Adult pelicans know

that whales announce their arrival...

...by breaching.

For the younger birds,

it's a new and baffling sight.

But by learning

to follow whales...

...pelicans are often

rewarded with a meal.

But today, these ocean giants...

...have courtship on their minds.

The pelicans must find

alternative guides to food.

They can appear without warning.

Devil rays.

A sea creature

that seems to envy the birds.

Why they take flight is a mystery.

Some think it's to shed parasites.

More likely...

...the splashes

corral fish and plankton...

...making them easier to catch.

It's tempting to think

they do it just for fun.

But wherever rays are fishing...

...there's food for pelicans too.

On a good day, their pouches...

...can trap three gallons

of fish and water...

...in a single gulp.

Like most birds, the pelican's seasonal

journeys are driven both by food...

...and the desire to breed.

[HONKING]

Back in the U.S.A...

...the snow geese

have traveled northwards nonstop...

...for over a thousand miles.

Exhaustion is already taking its toll.

Ahead lies their greatest challenge.

Monument Valley in Arizona.

For a tired family...

...this unforgiving desert

is a dangerous place to be.

The valley is all that is left

of an ancient seabed...

...but there's no water here now.

The pinnacles were formed

through the action of wind.

Some now rise a thousand feet

above the valley oor.

For the migrating birds...

...this awe-inspiring landscape...

...provides no comfort at all.

The effort is relentless.

[AIR WHISTLING]

For every breath they take...

...their wings beat three times.

Once their fat reserves are gone...

...they will start to metabolize muscle.

But despite the young birds' fatigue...

...the parents must keep

to a tight schedule...

...to reach their nesting grounds

with enough time to breed.

They drive...

...their flagging family on.

They have no plans

to break the grueling journey.

But birds are masters

of the wind and air.

And the sandstone buttresses

deflect the slightest breeze...

[WIND RUSTLING]

...giving the family a free ride

to the main flock above.

But they still have another...

...thousand miles to go.

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