Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2016 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

A few years ago I had the great pleasure of spending an afternoon and evening at the home of wildlife artist and photographer Robert Fuller and his wife Victoria. I went to see Robert’s studio and gallery, but while I was there he took me on a tour of the area to see the work he was doing monitoring a large number of owls’ nests. Later we watched a family of young tawny owls coming to a platform opposite his kitchen window on which he had provided food. It is a favourite memory of wildlife watching, so it was with great envy that I read Amy-Jane Beer’s account of seeing Robert’s latest project to observe the lives of the weasels he has taken great pains to accommodate in his garden…

WHERE Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, DG7 1RX SENIOR RANGER Karl Munday WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT The National Trust for Scotland’s Threave Garden and Estate is home to the first bat reserve in Scotland and has a network of trails and hides running through farmland, woodlands and wetland. Visit in August to admire peregrine falcons nesting on the castle. WHAT YOU CAN SEE We have a self-guided bat-trail leaflet that visitors can use to locate hotspots where they can look and listen out for noctule, soprano pipistrelle and Natterer’s bats. TOP WILDLIFE SPOT Ospreys, which have nested here since 2009, are a major attraction in the summer. Visit our public viewing platform near the car park to see them. JOIN ITS EVENT Take part in a Threave Garden and Estate…

Gender is determined genetically in mammals and birds, but for many reptiles it is the temperature at which the eggs are incubated that governs whether they will hatch as males or females. For bearded dragons, though, it is neither one nor the other – or, rather, a bit of both. These spiny Australian lizards start off genetically male or female. However, a genetic male incubated at a temperature above 32°C becomes a fully functional female. And according to new research, it gets even stranger. These individuals resemble males in both appearance and behaviour – unlike ‘normal’ females, for example, they are particularly bold and active. In fact in many measures they are even more male-like than genetic males. It is not clear whether these ‘transgender’ individuals are favoured by selection…

EVOLUTIONARY PRESSURE HAS LED TO SOME OF NATURE’S MOST FASCINATING AND COLOURFUL ADAPTATIONS. Caterpillars get their name from the Old French chatepelose, meaning ‘hairy cat’, since many are hairy. Yet the most significant thing about them is that they’re eating and growing machines. Their primary purpose is to convert as much plant material to animal protein as they can, as quickly as possible. But the more nourishment a caterpillar takes in, the more nourishing it becomes to predators. If it is to survive, something has to be done. And this evolutionary pressure has led to some of the most fascinating and colourful adaptations in nature. One way to avoid predators is simply to stay hidden inside your foodplant. So the stem-boring caterpillars of moths such as the currant clearwing and…

“IS CLIMATE CHANGE REAL?” GO GANNET GO! A gannet from Alderney in the Channel Islands has been recorded flying 2,700km in less than one week. The record-breaking foraging journey took the seabird – called Cosmo – up and across the North Sea and almost to the coast of Norway, and was more than five times the distance of a gannet’s average fishing trip. BOLIVIAN BOOTY A scientist working in Madidi National Park in Bolivia has recorded the 1,000th bird species found within its 19,000km2 . Victor Hugo Garcia, of the Bolivian NGO Armonía, identified the dusky-tailed flatbill when listening to recordings he’d made in the park on his last trip there. The question that the new environment secretary and former Conservative leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom is reported to have asked…

My wife Maria and I have been monitoring dormice for 10 years. We already did a lot of conservation-related work, and when Sussex Wildlife Trust asked for people to help with dormice, we thought, “Why not?” I make all the nestboxes and we put them up – there are 58 on one site alone. I get the plywood from a local company, but we do have to pay for it ourselves at times. Once a month between April and November, five of us go and check the boxes to see if they’ve got any dormice (or woodmice) in them. We weigh and sex any we find then put them back in the box. One of the things we’re looking for is to see if they are in su ciently good…

Gorilla Dawn By Gill Lewis Oxford University Press £8.99 Murderous rebel soldiers in the African jungle have caught a baby gorilla and intend to sell it into captivity, and two child prisoners are the ape’s only hope of rescue and a return to the wild in this thriller from the bestselling author of Sky Hawk. Gill Lewis isn’t afraid of writing about emotive wildlife issues in her books, and Gorilla Dawn is no exception. JP Beetle Boy By MG Leonard Chicken House £6.99 This fast-paced, witty whodunnit sees three pupils set out to solve the mysterious disappearance of a top Natural History Museum scientist. Having discovered they can communicate with beetles, the trio enlist an insect army to outwit a grotesque baddy, Lucretia Cutter, and her dim and disgusting henchmen.…

ESTONIAN NATURE TOURS Matsalu National Park covers 486 square kilometers and is one of the most important bird wetlands in Europe. It boasts plenty of habitats suitable for use as staging posts or for breeding, including one of Europe s largest wet meadows and 3,000 hectares of reedbeds, and the shallow, brackish, nutrient-rich waters of the Matsalu Bay which has a 165-kilometre coastline. It is not surprising that avian diversity is unequalled in northern Europe in spring and autumn and it is easy to see why more than 170 species breed here.The record for the highest day list of bird species in Northern Europe was achieved from Haeska tower in May – 128 species by nightfall.Watch tower is located just in the neighbourhood of a guesthouse you will stay at…

OUR EXPERTS ISABELLE GROC is a writer and photographer who specialises in endangered species. STUART BLACKMAN is a science writer who is mildly obsessed with evolution. MIKE TOMS is an author and associate director at the British Trust for Ornithology. BEN GARROD is an evolutionary biologist who specialises in both primates and skeletons. SAM HOBSON is a wildlife photographer who regularly contributes to BBC Wildlife . BIOLOGY Q Is there such a thing as a shark ‘highway?’ A Yes. Scientists from the University of California, Santa Barbara, have discovered that sharks readily access the lagoons of the Palmyra Atoll – a 12km2 ring of reefs and islets in the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean – via a deep channel dredged during World War II. They even found that this…

Summer’s here and it’s time to hit the beach. But when packing your bucket and spade, don’t forget your camera kit – there are plenty of photographic opportunities beside the seaside. Craggy cliffs and sandy beaches make for stunning seascapes, while dunes are great habitat for wildflowers and lizards. However, the most diverse and interesting wildlife can be found on rocky shores at low tide. Boulders and crevices shelter barnacles, limpets and crabs, while tidal pools contain rich marine ecosystems, like natural aquariums. Just remember that sand and salt water are the photographer’s worst enemy! Sam Hobson MUSSEL MAGIC It’s easy to overlook clumps of inanimate mussels, but scour the larger rockpools of the middle shore and you might find a partially submerged group still feeding, filtering water through their…

AMY-JANE BEER Amy is a naturalist and BBC Wildlife columnist (see p11). She says, “They may be our smallest carnivore, but the hectic daily lives of weasels are filled with high drama, if you can only find a way to keep up.” See p20 BEN GARROD Ben is an evolutionary biologist and broadcaster. He says, “Whales and dolphins have always fascinated us. Studying strandings can give us a unique glimpse into their mysterious lives ” See p80 JONATHAN & ANGELA SCOTT Photographers Jonathan and Angela have carved out a life among Africa’s great predators. “Forty years later Angie and I are still following the same pride of lions ” says Jonathan. See p86 GET YOUR DIGITAL COPY Buy a digital edition of BBC Wildlife Magazine for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire,…

“BRITAIN’S NATIVE HOGWEED IS A HERO PLANT TO THE NATURALIST” 19 COMMON HOGWEED Unfortunately common hogweed is somewhat blighted by its name, which not only sounds like a Shakespearean insult but brings confusion with its much larger, invasive and toxic-sapped relative, giant hogweed. Both plants are umbellifers, the group that includes carrot, parsnip, celery and their wild ancestors as well as a plethora of other flowers. In fact, Britain’s native hogweed is a hero plant to the naturalist. It’s a source of edible seed and hollow dead stems to make hibernacula for overwintering invertebrates, an excellent scaffold for spiders’ webs, and its young shoots are popular with foragers. But it is late summer when common hogweed really comes into its own, with its ‘open house’ policy of producing doily-like flowerheads…

It’s not just humans who teach their offspring the basics of communication with baby-talk. Research suggests zebra finches do something very similar. Like many birds, zebra finches learn their songs, at least in part, from their parents. “Songbirds first listen to and memorise the sound of adult songs and then undergo a period of vocal practice – in essence, babbling – to master the production of song,” said Jon Sakata of McGill University, Montreal, who led the work. The team found that juvenile birds that had learned their song from a real-life mentor sang better as adults than those who had learned from recordings of adult song. Further investigation revealed what was going on. “Adult zebra finches slow down their song by increasing the interval between phrases and repeat individual…

CO-EVOLUTION When evolutionary changes in one species lead to changes in another, and vice versa, their lives can become intimately entwined. Such co-evolution can be based on conflict – eg arms races between predator and prey – or co-operation. After seeing a Madagascan orchid with a foot-long nectar tube, Darwin predicted the existence of an insect with a foot-long proboscis. Darwin’s hawkmoth, with its foot-long tongue, eventually turned up. As a result of co-evolution, the orchid has a dedicated pollinator, while the moth has an exclusive source of nectar.…

SEA-SNAKE SENSE Terrestrial snakes and lizards have organs on their head that they use to feel objects by touch. In sea snakes, though, these scale sensilla are more prominent and numerous, according to new research published in Open Biology. The organs may detect tiny movements of the water around them. WORLD-RECORD TREE A Malaysian tree has beaten the record for the tallest tropical tree. At 89.5m the yellow meranti is nearly the height of Big Ben, though some temperate trees such as giant redwoods can grow 30m taller. The scientist who climbed the tree to measure it was attacked by bees and an eagle. PURPOSEFUL PORPOISES Harbour porpoises hunt and feed almost constantly. Research published in Current Biology reveals that these small cetaceans hunt around the clock, launching up to…

“RUTH ISN’T SCARED OF CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY ARISE FROM TELLING THE TRUTH” The pre-dawn smells wonderful. It’s dry, heady, perfumed and carries the portent of soon-to-be satisfying heat, an aroma of pleasure, a taste of the Mediterranean, of fresh bread and thick wine. But then a barrage of gunfire rings out, a turtle dove explodes, plummets dead to the ground and your heart sinks. Welcome to Malta in spring. I had said I’d never go there, that I wouldn’t support the nation that allows legal spring turtle dove and quail hunting, or supplement its economy lest it might benefit the hideous illegal slaughter of other migrating birds. I had nagged wildlife charities for years about reminding their members of this issue, and said I’d be happy to front a campaign…

CATERPILLAR-LIKE Sawflies are related to bees and wasps, but have leaf-eating larvae resembling moth or butterfly caterpillars. It’s an instance of convergent evolution, where unrelated groups of animals develop similar adaptations. ACTIVE Some larvae have slim, flattened bodies with long legs, and can move quite fast – most are predators. Examples of active larvae include ground beetles, ladybirds ( above ), lacewings and snakeflies. WORM-LIKE Slim, cylindrical and short-legged, worm-like larvae often tunnel in soil, rotten wood, plant stems or roots. Craneflies have larvae like this, as do click beetles ( above ) – called wireworms, they can ruin potato and root crops. GRUB This fat, short-legged, C-shaped larval type is typical of beetles such as chafers, scarabs, stag beetles and weevils. It lives in the earth, rotten wood, dung…

There’s been a double dose of good news for the Critically Endangered spoon-billed sandpiper. In Russia, 30 chicks have hatched from eggs taken from the wild in a strategy known as headstarting. The idea is to release the birds back into their environment when they fledge, giving them a small but significant advantage in their fight to survive. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust said headstarting, which is into its fifth year, is definitely working because birds reared in this way are known to have returned to breed. In a separate development, spoon-billed sandpipers were discovered breeding at a location where they haven’t been seen for 10 years.…

“THE IMPACT OF THE CUTTING CAN BE REDUCED IF IT IS CARRIED OUT IN THE WINTER” Only discovered by biologists by chance in the late 1970s, the golden Alpine salamander is a highly distinctive subspecies of the all-black Alpine salamander and lives in just one small part of north-east Italy. Indeed the salamander – which has bright yellow patches on its back – is restricted to just a few localities and less than 100km2 of the Altopiano dei Sette Comuni, one of the protected sites in the European Union’s ecological network Natura 2000. The key location for the subspecies is the Bosco del Dosso forest, where it emerges, after hibernation, in April. During the day it rests under stones, pieces of wood or in the soil, and it only…

28,000km 2   TOTAL AREA OF LAND IN THE UK COVERED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION’S BIRDS DIRECTIVE IN 376 SPECIAL PROTECTION AREAS 80,000km 2   THE AMOUNT OF UK TERRITORY DESIGNATED AS 650 SEPARATE SPECIAL AREAS OF CONSERVATION UNDER THE HABITATS DIRECTIVE 108,000km 2   THE COMBINED AREA OF UK LAND AND OFFSHORE SITES PROTECTED FOR WILDLIFE BY EU DIRECTIVES 71 THE NUMBER OF UK SPECIES COVERED BY THE BIRDS DIRECTIVE 43 THE NUMBER OF UK SPECIES COVERED BY THE HABITATS DIRECTIVE 18 %   OF LAND AREA 6 %   OF MARINE TERRITORY ARE DESIGNATED ACROSS THE WHOLE OF THE EU BY THE BIRDS AND HABITATS DIRECTIVES UNDER THE NATURA 2000 NETWORK OF PROTECTED AREAS…

By restoring natural habitats and working with landowners, we are helping threatened species to recover. Visit our stand in Marquee 7 at Birdfair to find out more about the charity and our activities in your area. Help attract butterflies to your back garden with our top tips for pollinator-friendly planting. Meet some incredible moths and learn which of the UKs 2,500 species live in your region. Tell us about your recent sightings and find out how to get involved in our recording and monitoring schemes. Plus, become a member on the day and enjoy a full year’s membership absolutely free. All members receive three issues of Butterfly magazine every year, plus a welcome pack full of colourful information about moths and butterflies. Can’t make it to the Birdfair? Visit www.butterfly-conservation.org…

The systematic recording of cetaceans, marine turtles and basking sharks stranded along UK coasts dates from 1913, when the Natural History Museum began to collate data. For the past 16 years this has been undertaken by the nationwide Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) based at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which documents each case and retrieves tissue samples for investigation at a postmortem to establish a cause of death. Recently the CSIP team joined a growing number of scientific organisations that carry out ‘live’ postmortems in order to help improve public engagement with science – its first event, at ZSL in May, involved a freshly dead common dolphin and was watched by a sell-out audience via a video link to the pathology lab. As Rob Deaville, CSIP project manager,…

 Why did you choose to start rescuing animals? “WE NEED TO WAKE UP AND SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING TO OUR PLANET” When I was growing up, one of the neighbours where my family lived took in injured wild animals. Years later, after I had grown up and bought a house in Surrey with some land, the neighbour turned up one day with a gull that was missing a wing and asked if I could home it. The gull was Patient Zero, and from there people heard that I took in animals. Why did you set up a wildlife sanctuary in the grounds of your home? As word spread, more and more people would knock on my door with wildlife that had been hurt, or call to report stranded and injured animals.…

1 HAWAIIAN HOARY BAT K – ke’e State Park, Kauai Experts believe that Hawaii’s only endemic terrestrial mammal must have been blown over from either North or South America, where it is known simply as the hoary bat. 2 MANTA RAY Olowalu, Maui Olowalu Reef has a cleaning-station visited by 350 filter-feeding elasmobranchs. The Hawaii Association for Marine Education and Research is campaigning for better protection for these gentle giants. 3 I’IWI Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge The i’iwi, or Hawaiian honeycreeper, is just one of at least 51 honeycreepers that evolved from a single ancestor between four and five million years ago – and may be the most spectacular of them all. 4 NENE Hawai’i Volcanoes NP Reduced to a population of about 30 in the 1950s, the ne…

Though you could argue that they are more Kandinsky than Picasso, there’s little doubt that these patterns are a work of art. A native of tropical Africa, the Picasso bug belongs to a family of plant bugs that bear an extension to their thorax that protects their wings and abdomen. This ‘scutellum’ gives the bugs a remarkably beetle-like appearance (though unlike the wingcases of beetles, it is composed of a single piece, not divided down the middle). The patterns adorning this canvas probably serve as a toxicity warning to predators. Indeed the bug’s nymphs feed on the flowers of a plant called bitter leaf, which is sought out by sick chimpanzees to rid themselves of parasitic infections.…

“JELLYFISH ARE ANCIENT SURVIVORS THAT HAVE CRUISED OUR SEAS FOR AT LEAST 565 MILLION YEARS” Resembling a flotilla of alien spacecraft, a swarm of jellyfish moves gracefully through the shallows, gently pulsing as they go. Underneath each animal’s thick, domed ‘bell’ trail four pairs of frilly arms. The beautiful frills are deadly weapons – stinging tentacles used to trap plankton and other food, and pass it to dozens of tiny waiting mouths. These are the medusa, or adult, stages of barrel jellyfish, nicknamed dustbin-lid jellyfish for their distinctive shape when stranded and deflated on the shore. “July and August see a surge in sightings of the species, which is attracted to Britain’s southern and western coasts by blooms of plankton prey” says Richard Harrington of the Marine Conservation Society. “We’ve…

Summer brings a peak in the bizarre hedgehog behaviour known as self-anointing. A hedgehog will compulsively chew on any one of a number of strong-smelling substances to produce a froth of scented saliva, which it then spreads over its spines. These triggers include the flesh of dead animals (especially toads), bitter leaves and faeces. The behaviour has never been fully explained, but theories include that the animal is attempting to disguise its own scent with whatever is dominant in its local environment, or that it’s coating its spines in potentially toxic substances. Hedgehogs are themselves resistant to a variety of natural poisons, including some snake venoms.…

WHAT The Art of Seabird Photography WHEN 1.30–1.50pm on Saturday 20 August WHERE Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre Wildlife photographer David Tipling will be sharing anecdotes from the field and revealing how he takes fantastic photographs of seabirds at this year’s Rutland Birdfair (see p57). Using images from his latest book Seabirds of the World to illustrate his talk, the lensman will discuss how he captured each photograph. “Attendees will get a sense of how I go about taking pictures and my thoughts on what makes a good image” says David. A Rutland Birdfair day ticket costs £15 (£13.50 in advance online). Visit www.birdfair.org.uk/birdfair-2016-event-guide for a complete list of speakers at the event. Seabirds of the World by David Tipling is out now (New Holland, £16.99). View a gallery of David’s…

“DESCRIBED AS THE BAROMETER OF LIFE, THE IUCN RED LIST IS RECOGNISED AS THE BEST MEASURE OF HOW WILDLIFE IS FARING” WHAT IS THE RED LIST? The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the most authoritative, objective and comprehensive list of animals, plants and fungi that have been assessed for their risk of extinction. Described as the Barometer of Life, it is widely recognised as the best measure of how the world’s wildlife is faring. The first official list was published in book form in 1966, but nowadays much of the information is online, in a searchable database that is accessible to anyone. WHY IS IT NEEDED? Because it provides critical information and analyses on the status of tens of thousands of species, subspecies, varieties and even sub-populations, and…

“MUCH OF THE WILDLIFE OF TSITONGAMBARIKA IS ENDEMIC TO THIS PARTICULAR CORNER OF MADAGASCAR” The Rutland Birdfair is more than just an annual opportunity to celebrate all things avian – it’s also a significant fundraising event. Proceeds from the fair are used to support conservation projects all around the world, through the organisation BirdLife International, of which the RSPB is the UK partner. For the next three years the recipient of this fundraising initiative will be Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), special places recognised as being globally important for the conservation of birds and other wildlife. “More than 12,000 IBAs have been identified to date,” says Richard Grimmett, director of conservation at BirdLife International. “They make up the largest global network of important sites for biodiversity, and are…

Chromatic aberration A blue or purple fringe around pale objects, or around dark ones against a paler background. Also known as colour-fringing, the effect should be kept to a minimum. Dielectric coating In most roof-prism binoculars the prisms need a mirrored (often with silver) or dielectric-coated surface. Dielectric coatings transmit more light than silver. ED/HD/Fluorite Extra-low dispersion (ED) and high-definition (HD) glass doesn’t split light into its component colours to the same degree as non-ED glass, producing sharper, brighter images. Fluorite is a type of crystal used in optics for its low-dispersal properties. Exit pupil The ‘circle of light’ on the eyepiece. Larger exit pupils deliver more light, making it easier to align your eyes with the exit pupils. Eye relief The correct distance between your eye and the eyepiece.…

When did you first research virtual reality? About 17 years ago. We created an experience of riding a chariot around a stadium, which blew my mind! But the medium was not right yet. Then, about five years ago, super-slim new headsets started appearing, as did the possibility of incorporating smartphones into the technology. I knew something exciting was coming, so I got Sir David on board. What are the most suitable contexts for wildlife VR? You have to drop people into a world they can become immersed in – a cave, for example, or a coral reef. VR has to offer localised, intensified experiences. You couldn’t do it with, say, a lion eating prey. What’s your favourite VR moment so far? In First Life, a huge Cambrian predator called Anomalocaris…

Coastal Path TV BBC One (regional) August, BBC Two (national) October. See RT Hugging more than 1,000km of the Devon and Cornwall coast, the South West Coast Path is England’s longest waymarked footpath and something of a national treasure. This new five-part series, presented by explorer Paul Rose, celebrates everything to love about the trail, including its history, heritage, wildlife, folklore and food. Wildlife stars to spot include seals and dolphins on the Lizard; spectacular displays of blooming thrift; razorbills, guillemots and fulmars nesting off Lynmouth; and spider crabs around Burgh Island.…

What does the charity do? We promote the study, protection and conservation of Scotland’s badgers. We also work to prevent their persecution. What do your volunteers do? There are two main roles: sett monitors and event volunteers. Sett monitors check and photograph designated setts at least once every three months, and note any changes in the dwelling or its surroundings. Event volunteers man stands at shows, providing members of the public with information about badgers and the threats they face. Why is sett monitoring so vital? It creates a photographic record of a sett over time, and reveals any unlawful interference. It’s especially important in spring and autumn when badgers – and badger-baiters – are most active. How much time do your volunteers need to offer? Two hours every three…

Helpful hunting Mark Carwardine captures many of the downsides to trophy hunting (At a Glance, July), but fights shy of highlighting when it can work. Zimbabwe’s Communal Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) projects in the late 1980s and early 90s specifically distributed income from trophy-hunt fees to local villagers on whose land animals were shot. This provided a substantial boost for the rural poor, as well as making animals that were at best a nuisance, and at worst killing people, valuable. Unfortunately CAMPFIRE’s initial success was wrecked by Zimbabwe’s political collapse in the late 1990s, though the trophy hunting kept going, which suggests that the hunters’ professed interest in helping local people was only skin deep. Nevertheless, the approach can work if well managed, at least where political…