Innholdsfortegnelse for 1-Aug 2015 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

Strong thorax This section between the damselfly’s head and abdomen houses the massive muscles that power its wings. The thorax is a very robust, rigid structure with internal bracing to withstand the forces exerted by the muscles. Display colours Male demoiselles are territorial and display to the bronzy-green females by flicking their wings open to show off the bright blue patches – both when perched and also in flight, seeming to flutter like a butterfly. Compound eyes Damselflies and dragonflies have large compound eyes with many facets. This provides enough resolution to detect and capture insect prey in flight. Damselfly eyes are separated on either side of the head; those of the larger dragonflies join in the centre. Spiny legs The legs of banded demoiselles are covered in long spines.…

BRACHYCEPHALUS FROGS WHAT ARE THEY? Brachycephalus frogs are remarkable for their small size (few exceed 10mm in length), their direct development (eggs hatch into fully formed froglets rather than tadpoles) and reductions in the number of digits. The bright orange and green colours of these seven new species are believed to advertise their toxicity to predators. WHERE ARE THEY? Their discoverers report in PeerJ that each species appears to be restricted to a few adjacent mountaintops – possibly just one – in the cloud forests of Brazil’s Atlantic coast. This puts them at high risk of extinction.…

Does it depress you that the new UK government felt the urgent need – just weeks after the General Election – to slash support for clean onshore energy and try to water down the fox-hunting ban in England and Wales? Our government actually seems proud to flaunt its warped view of nature and its appalling complacency about the environment crises facing us. At times like this, I can’t help wondering: what will it take? What catastrophe will finally nudge us over the edge? What tragedy will wake us all from our lethargy and shake us into action? What will be the dire news that at last compels each of us to say, “Enough is enough – it stops here”? Will it be the last male cuckoo, heard in a lonely…

The pumas of Patagonia are bolder than their northern counterparts, probably because they’ve been the top predators in this South American region for some 10,000 years. They take what they want – including thousands of sheep each year. As a result hundreds or even thousands fall victim to retaliatory killings by farmers, says Mark Elbroch, though the exact number of deaths is unknown. Hunting pumas is illegal on the Chilean side of the Andes, but there’s still a bounty on them in Argentina. Panthera is launching a project in the region in the hope of mitigating the conflict. One factor in the pumas’ favour is that ecotourists will pay big money to see them, especially in the area around Chile’s spectacular Torres del Paine National Park. But though the cats…

Six out of Africa’s eight species of vulture should be classified as ‘Critically Endangered’ because of their catastrophic declines in the past 50 years, say a team of international researchers. White-headed vulture numbers have plummeted by an estimated 96 per cent and there may now be just 5,500 individuals left in the world, said Dr Campbell Murn of the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Populations of other species – including lappet-faced, Cape and Rüppell’s vultures – have dropped by 80–97 per cent. According to the scientists, 61 per cent of vulture deaths can be attributed to poisoning. Vultures are targeted by elephant poachers, because their presence can help rangers track their activity; for their heads, which are used in traditional medicine; for their meat; or they can be the indirect victims of…

A polar bear has been recorded feeding on white-beaked dolphins for the first time in the Norwegian High Arctic, offering some hope the species can adapt to climate change. The dolphins are known visitors to Svalbard in summer, but have not been reported this far north in spring until now. In the words of the report, “An increase of white-beaked dolphins in areas where the sea-ice shifts northward may, given the significant sizes of these animals, offer a new prey or carrion food source to bears in an environment where access to ringed seals and bearded seals may decline.” But new prey species will not prevent a significant reduction in the range of polar bears, said scientist Jon Aars. “In the future, we are likely to find them in areas…

Captive-bred Amur leopards may be taken to the Russian Far East within the next two years as part of a bold reintroduction project to boost numbers of this Critically Endangered big cat. Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources has given its formal agreement to the plan in Lazovsky State Nature Reserve. Established pairs will be taken to the location, where they will live and hopefully breed in specially constructed enclosures. These individuals will never be released into the wild, but the plan is that their cubs will be once they are ready to disperse. There are believed to be 50–70 Amur leopards in the wild, with 220 in zoos in Europe, Japan, North America and Russia. + FIND OUT MORE  www.altaconservation.org/ amur-leopard…

Jamie Hall has been running a photographic project on urban deer since 2011, but he only recently discovered how they tackle the challenge of major sections of infrastructure such as the M25. “I was doing a lot of driving on the motorway and I’d see groups of deer walking in a line towards it, so I wanted to know what they were up to” he says. “I realised that they could be using drainage ditches to safely cross from one side of the motorway to the other, so I set up a camera-trap in one and two nights later I got my first images. In Europe green bridges are provided to allow movement of wildlife, and I also figured out that deer in the UK are using farm-access bridges. My…

Human beings are an evolutionary experiment that has accidentally been rather successful. About 90 per cent of our genes are redundant, which indicates that most of them were innovations that failed, often introduced by viral epidemics over millions of years. And the battery that powers all of us came from a free-living bacterium that used to swim in the prehistoric oceans. There are 20–30 of these mitochondria in every cell of our body, and we share these clever little ex-organisms with every living creature and plant on the planet, because this method of generating energy has been adopted in species ranging from oak trees to ants, and from slugs to human beings. Homo sapiens is really not that special. But when we don’t look after these mitochondria we become more…

Most mammals in temperate climates display winter adaptations of one kind or another, such as weight gain, food hoarding, migration, hibernation or torpor. Seasonal moulting is usually triggered by the length of daylight hours, known as photoperiod. This is the most accurate means by which an organism can perceive seasonal change, because temperature and other weather conditions are much more variable. The transformation isn’t necessarily complete – for example, snow leopards moult from buff-coloured to white but keep their spots, while stoats adopt a coat of pure white except for their tail-tip. Mountain hares may retain a variable amount of buff or brown (especially on the head), while the tips of their ears also remain black.…

Eyebrook Bird Feeds is a family business, dedicated to producing high quality birdseed using as many of their own and locally grown ingredients as possible. The birdseed is produced on a beautiful conservation farm, therefore you can guarantee your seed is produced in a place dedicated to improving the environment for birds.The company pride themselves on good old fashioned customer service and great quality products. Visit them in marquee 6 stand 19 at the Birdfair or visit their shop and website for fantastic offers over the Birdfair weekend. Contact details Web eyebrookwildbirdfeeds.co.uk Tel 01536 770771 Email rectoryfarm@eyebrookwildbirdfeeds.co.uk…

The Costa Rica Nature Pavilion offers an exciting up-close and personal encounter with nature. Whether beginner, experienced birdwatcher, or a nature lover of any age, this National Geographic and Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Tour Destination is for you. Reforestation has contributed to this nature park becoming a home and feeding ground to over 225 bird species, one of the highest diversities of bird species in Costa Rica. Visit the hummingbird gardens, or photograph toucans from the viewing balcony, or spot exotic river birds and iguanas by the Sarapiqui River. Contact details Web centralamericarevealed.co.uk Tel 01932424252…

Get closer to nature than ever before and experience its wonders with high definition intensity on the Leica stand at Rutland Water from 21 to 23 August. Join them to try out the latest in their market-leading range of Ultravid HD-Plus binoculars and see how state-of-the-art Schott HT™ glass prisms, combined with new plasma lens coatings, give you the brightest images yet. You’ll also be able to explore the rest of their tried-and-tested best-selling nature observation optics, including the handy compact range and their rugged, rubber-armoured Trinovids, plus the equally durable Duovids, which give you two magnification options in a single pair of binoculars.What’s more, you can experience enhanced views of the Rutland Water reserve through their APO Televid spotting scopes and find out about how the digiscoping adaptors and…

Loch Lomond Bird of Prey Centre is located in the natural woodland. With purpose built housings, it is an ideal setting for nearly 40 birds of prey and owls.The centre is home to over 20 owls, representing every native species as well as unique or unusual species from around the world. See “Orla”, the magnificent golden eagle and learn of our successes in rehabilitation of wild birds of prey and owls. An educational day out for all ages, and a chance to relax in wonderful surroundings. Contact details Web llbopc.co.uk Tel 01389-729239…

7-9 August RSPB BIG WILD SLEEPOUT Spend a night in your garden or another nearby outdoor space to get closer to nature and discover the wildlife with which you share your home and surroundings. If you’d prefer to join an organised sleepout, visit an RSPB nature reserve. http://rspb.org.uk/sleepout Ongoing IN WITH THE SPIDERS Visit the UK’s first-ever walkthrough spider exhibit at ZSL London Zoo to come face to face with amazing arachnids from around the world, including a Mexican red-kneed tarantula ( below ). Entry is included in the zoo’s regular ticket price. www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo Ongoing WHAT’S UNDER YOUR FEET? Schoolchildren are asked to sample a square of playing field measuring 300mm by 300mm to contribute to a survey into the distribution of British soil invertebrates. http://jointhepod.org/campaigns/campaign/51 Until 6 Sept NEW…

1 AT THE EDGE I had been trying to capture this distinctive row of houses overlooking Bristol Marina in a unique way for a while. I lay flat on the ground close to the water to photograph this group of eight mute swans as they swam towards me. I thought that their vibrant beaks complemented the colourful homes very well. Doug Jewell, Bristol, UK 2 WISHFUL THINKING While standing on the deck of a whale-watching boat near Forster, New South Wales, I hoped to see a humpback fully breach. We didn’t have long before the vessel had to head back to port. Thirty seconds later my wish was granted and I saw two cetaceans cresting. This photo captures the moment the first whale splashed down as the second leapt out…

This picture shows what was once a quintessential English scene. But old orchards such as this one in the Malverns are an exceedingly rare sight nowadays, as is the lesser spotted woodpecker visiting its nesthole in a veteran apple tree. Ella, the orchard’s owner, farms organically and likes things to look “a little on the scruffy side”. The result is a rural idyll that is overflowing with invertebrate life – and birds. “Visiting Ella’s place is like stepping back in time to the 1960s” says Ben Macdonald, a naturalist and researcher for natural-history TV. “This summer her land has hosted three calling cuckoos, four pairs of redstarts and 15 pairs of spotted flycatchers. But best of all it boasts breeding lesser spotted woodpeckers, which still thrive in this part of…

No fewer than 22,784 species of plants and animals are now officially threatened with extinction, according to the latest IUCN Red List of Threatened Species – a shocking 681 more than this time last year. Compiled by the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature, this is the most authoritative and up-to-date inventory of the conservation status of plants and animals. So far 77,340 species around the world have been assessed. That’s an impressive achievement, of course, considering the phenomenal amount of fieldwork necessary for each and every one. But it’s still barely scratching the surface. We have identified scarcely 14 per cent of the species alive today – 1.2 million out of an estimated 8.7 million – let alone evaluated their conservation status. So here’s the real shocker: given…

On a rare windless day in the Falkland Islands, sheep are grazing between the old sheds and chicken coops at the Saunders Island settlement. Behind one of the ramshackle structures Keith Bildstein hammers a metal stake through a freshly butchered leg of lamb, pinning it to the peaty soil. He lays a ring of nylon foot-snares around the bait, then takes a few steps back. The trap is set. Within seconds, a dark, hawk-like bird swoops down from the roof of a nearby barn. This is the bird that Keith is after – the striated caracara, or ‘Johnny Rook’ as it’s always known around here. Rarest of the 10 species of caracara, it is found only on the Falklands and a few small islands dotted around Cape Horn, the stormy…

The July issue’s article on Britain’s wildlife in 2050 was thought-provoking. The idea of colonisation by Mediterranean species such as hoopoes, mako sharks and pink sea fan is a common one, but ideas like this often ignore projects that could potentially reduce or reverse man-made climate change. The feature spoke about rewilding. Rewetting peat bogs and restoring woodland (including reintroduction of lynx and wolves to control numbers of deer) would have the effect of storing huge quantities of carbon, which could reduce the impact of global warming. In this scenario, the climate would not be so radically altered as predicted in the article. Snow buntings and dotterel may still, in fact, be breeding by 2050. The presence of wild boar, which disturb the soil, creates a greater diversity of ground…

A male peregrine falcon comes screaming out of the afternoon sun. Moments before a lesser black-backed gull pounces on its young, the world’s fastest bird hurtles from the sky with all the wrath of a protective parent. The gull turns in mid-air, falling backwards with its webbed feet and snapping bill facing its attacker. The pair engage and release in a fraction of a second. It’s a minor skirmish in a long Cold War fought on sea cliffs around the world: two birds at the pinnacle of the food-chain reminding one another of their strengths. But the whole episode plays out far from any cliff or coastline, high on the Victorian steeple of St John’s Church in the historic city of Bath. “An urban existence is now the norm for…

ROBIN Urban behaviour observed Night singing. Factors driving change In winter when daylight hours are short, the urban glow often tempts robins to carry on foraging and singing after dusk. Nocturnal song may carry further because there’s less background din. But an alternative theory is that robins are being fooled by the bluish neon lighting in cities, and that the effort of the extra singing outweighs any benefits. PIED WAGTAIL Urban behaviour observed Mass roosts. Factors driving change Wagtails naturally roost in reedbeds, but the heat-island effect of cities on cold winter nights has led to large roosts in the sheltered courtyards of places such as shopping centres, offices, hospitals and airports. Birds seem unconcerned by hubbub around them. GREAT TIT Urban behaviour observed Singing at a higher pitch than…

A favourite of biology textbooks, this classic evolutionary story began during the heavy, coal-fuelled days of Britain’s early industrial centuries. A speckled, black-and-white species called the peppered moth dramatically changed its coloration to become mostly black – whiter moths on smog-blackened walls were easily picked off by predators. But after clean-air legislation came into force in 1956, the black moths were themselves superseded by a resurgent white population.…

A DOSE OF NATURE This initiative encourages doctors to reconnect their patients with local green spaces, where they can relax, learn forestry or gardening, or improve their sense of wellbeing. www.facebook.com/ ADoseofNature HEALTH AND NATURE In 2014 a meeting of academics, NGOs and health professionals in Wisconsin created a Declaration on Health and Nature: “Everyone affirmed the positive health benefits from spending time in nature, and the imperative to use health as an important lens in guiding conservation”. http://healthandnature.org THE WILD NETWORK Organisations including the RSPB, the National Trust and the Woodland Trust have teamed up to get more young people connecting with nature. http://projectwildthing.com/ thewildnetwork…

In Ireland mountain hares Lepus timidus are often known as Irish or blue hares, and rarely turn white in winter. Whether this is a result of random mutation or an inherent genetic flexibility it’s not yet possible to say, but the difference is a factor prompting a call to promote the Irish hare to a full species. “There’s an element of national pride in such decisions,” says ecologist Glenn Iason. “But there are also practical conservation reasons, because full species are more likely to be protected.” The long-running debate over what constitutes a species is a thorny one. Irish and Scottish mountain hares could interbreed, given the opportunity – but then so can mountain and brown hares, which often hybridise in Sweden (where the latter were introduced).…

Provide natural foods Plant fruit- or berry-bearing trees such as rowan, holly, hawthorn and honeysuckle as well as shrubs such as cotoneaster, berberis and pyracantha to encourage birds to visit your garden for shelter and to forage for natural foods. Install a bird bath If you want birds to see your garden as a one-stop shop for their daily routine then a bird bath is essential. Water is particularly vital for seed-eating species that need to be able to wash these dry meals down. Vary your feeders Provide different types of feeders and spread them around your garden to attract a variety of species. Dispersing food also helps to prevent individuals from squabbling over meals, and gives smaller species a chance to claim their share. Put up nestboxes If you…

Avian Adventures specialises in quality birdwatching and wildlife holidays to destinations throughout the world.They have an extensive network of world-class guides and tour leaders, backed by years of experience and research. Their itineraries are well planned, tried and tested to bring you the birdwatching or wildlife holiday of a lifetime. Program includes Alderney & Normandy • Finland & Norway • Lesvos • Isles of Scilly • Extremadura • Pyrenees • Botswana • Morocco • Tanzania • Australia • Alaska • Arizona • New York • Cape May • Costa Rica • Honduras • Chile • Falklands • Brazil • Peru • Trinidad • St. Lucia Bird Fair Stand MQ3-17/18 Contact details Web avianadventures.co.uk Email avianadventures@btinternet.com Tel 01384 372013…

Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre is home to a large collection of birds of prey eagles, owls, hawks, vultures and falcons including the striated caracara. Experience the thrill of handling and flying these majestic birds for yourself or buy a voucher as an ideal gift for someone special. They also have photographic days which are run by photographers for photographers of all levels of ability and are based either at the centre, in their studio or in the New Forest. Photograph these magnificent birds up close and personal for some truly amazing images. Contact details Web libertyscentre.co.uk Tel 01425 476487…

Thirsk Birds of Prey centre is located in North Yorkshire, where they have over 80 birds from 30 different species including Edwina their striated caracara from the Falkland Islands. They do three daily flying demonstrations with different birds in each demonstration. The centre also runs a selection of experience days starting from £30 where you can handle and fly an excellent selection of their birds including a golden eagle on the full day experience. Photography workshops are also run throughout the season.Thirsk Birds of Prey Centre, Sion Hill Hall, Kirby Wiske,Thirsk, North Yorkshire,YO7 4EU. Contact details Web falconrycentre.co.uk Tel 01845 587522…

At The Owl Box Sanctuary, the most popular box is the Barn Owl Nest box with a shelf for £62.50 plus p&p.They also make Tawny and Little Owl boxes which are £44.50 each plus p&p. All the owl boxes are made of 9mm exterior plywood, painted with water based wood preserver and have their roofs felted.These boxes have been specially designed for each individual bird or animal and are made in their own workshop in Anglesey. All profits go to The Owl Box Sanctuary where they look after most wildlife. aiming to return them all to the wild as soon as possible. Contact details Web ›XLIS[PFS\›GS›YO Tel 01248 421091…

NEXTINCTION By Ceri Levy and Ralph Steadman Bloomsbury £35.00 The amazing artwork of cartoonist Ralph Steadman returns in the follow-up to his award-winning Extinct Boids . This time he is focusing not on the species that we have lost but 192 Critically Endangered birds on the IUCN Red List. Conservationist and film-maker Ceri Levy has provided the commentary. “The disappearance of our world’s habitats and the loss of so many birds are akin to an atom bomb being dropped upon our wildlife, which now faces daily destruction,” he says. Steadman’s expressive paintings depict species such as the hooded grebe and red-fronted macaw. Look out too for surprise additions including the orange-beaked spotted bald emulsion cootflake. Jo Price Staff writer Find out more at www.bloomsbury.com…

WHO? JONATHAN EAMES is an adviser to BirdLife International who has spent the past 25 years working in South-East Asia, mainly in Cambodia and Vietnam. WHAT? TAKIN WHERE? SHAANXI, CHINA What’s the most dangerous animal in China? The internet tells me it’s the Chinese cobra, but my own rather hair-raising research suggests that it is a seldom seen and poorly known species known as the takin. It all started in the Qinling Mountains in the north-west of the country, where I was a member of a small group on the trail of the giant panda. I’d been told that March was the best month to visit because it was mating season, so there was a chance that we’d see groups of males chasing terrified females up and down trees. The…

SMALL COPPER FREE SPIRIT One of our feistiest butterflies, the small copper flies rapidly and seldom settles for long, so it’s easily overlooked and infuriates photographers. It also lives in small, widely scattered colonies, meaning you rarely see more than a couple at a time. The year’s second generation is on the wing in August – look for these restless beauties along sunny hedgerows, woodland rides, banks and road verges, and on brownfield sites. TOP TIP Look closer: males are smaller and have more pointed wings. ELEPHANT HAWKMOTH SNAKE-ALIKE Every August and September BBC Wildlife is inundated with calls and emails from readers asking us to identify a ‘snake’ in their garden. Invariably it turns out to be an elephant hawkmoth caterpillar. Named for its resemblance to an elephant’s trunk,…

Male tiger sharks have been recorded undertaking huge annual migrations that are more typical of birds or turtles than fish. Research led by James Lea of the University of Plymouth reveals that the sharks make a round trip of over 7,500km between breeding grounds in the Caribbean and summer feeding areas in the north Atlantic. The sharks rarely took the shortest route, though – one travelled over 44,000km in three years. “It looks like the migrations may be relatively consistent within an individual, but quite varied between individuals” Lea said. “The sharks tended to perform similar migrations over subsequent years, but the exact timing and location varied between animals” Lea said the sharks might use the Earth’s geomagnetic field to navigate, or “a combination of environmental cues, including currents, temperature…

The emergence of Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) has affected not only Tasmanian devils. The dramatic decline in these apex predators since the 1990s has led to a boom in feral cats, for example, which have taken their own toll on eastern quolls (see Discoveries, December 2013). But other native species have seized an opportunity, according to new research. Brushtail possums have already responded to a reduction in devils by foraging farther from the safety of trees. Where devils have declined by 90 per cent, possums behave like those on devil-free islands. “The loss of anti-predator behaviours occurred in just a few years,” said Tracey Hollings, who led the research at the University of Tasmania. “But we know possums remain vigilant against other predators, such as birds of prey.” Tasmanian…

Mark Elbroch shimmied under the fallen log and emerged with a mewing, hissing kitten clasped between two thick, yellow gloves. She was all paws, claws and wide, lapis lazuli eyes. After a health check Elbroch – a wildlife ecologist – fitted her neck with an expandable radio-collar and clipped a red tag, reading F99, onto her right ear. Then he carefully returned the feisty furball to her den – and to whatever fate would befall her. It’s never been easy being a baby Puma concolor . Nonetheless this stealthy felid – which goes by several names, including mountain lion, puma and cougar (see box, p30) – is among the most adaptable big cats in the world. “It has the largest range of any native land mammal in the western hemisphere,”…

The future of Scotland’s marine reserves is in the balance after fishermen rejected government proposals to increase protection of key sites. The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) had urgent talks with environment secretary Richard Lochhead in the light of a consultation document detailing plans to close large areas off Scotland’s west coast to both scallop dredging and langoustine trawling. “We were astonished when the document came out because it stepped outside what had been agreed,” said SFF chief executive Bertie Armstrong. “It’s like the old adage – you could put an end to all traffic accidents if you shut down all road transport, but do you really want to?” Marine Scotland set out its management measures for important wildlife sites around the Scottish coast in June after a consultation exercise that…

The RSPB has tracked the migratory route of Britain’s fastest-declining bird for the first time, providing data that could be vital for conservation. Researchers satellite-tagged a turtle dove called Titan to map its 5,600km journey from breeding sites in Suffolk to wintering grounds in Mali. “This is a bird that spends up to eight months of the year away from the UK,” said the RSPB’s Dr John Mallord. “We know a great deal about the turtle dove when it’s in the UK, but very little about the problems the bird encounters during migration. However, the drivers of their decline could be happening anywhere en route.” This was the only one of four tagged birds to successfully make the journey. “When Titan left the UK last September, the legal hunting season…

Wildlife campaigner and guitarist Brian May did his bit, but it was the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon who knocked out proposals to relax the restrictions on fox hunting. By instructing her MPs to vote against Conservative proposals, she exposed David Cameron’s narrow parliamentary majority. It is possible the exemption to permit packs of hounds, instead of just two dogs, to flush foxes to guns will return. But the fact is that foxes are still controlled, mainly by shooting. And the question some people ask is not whether hunting should be legalised, but whether we need to kill foxes at all. Many would argue that farmers have to protect lambs, piglets, chickens and game birds. “If you have a fox visiting a poultry run, then you need to defend it,” said Jonathan…

In the only place in the city of New York where fresh spring water still bubbles from the ground, a population of salamanders clings to a hillside – the last vestige of a once common local amphibian. The remaining salamanders have had their habitat sliced in two by a bridge and are now isolated from one another. Ecologist Jason Munshi-South found that the two populations had become significantly genetically different. “We built this single piece of infrastructure that has changed their evolutionary history” he says.…

Some of the most dramatic seasonal changes on the planet occur in uplands across temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. The transition from late summer to winter whiteout, and from thick blankets of old snow to glorious, full-blown spring, can take place in a matter of days. So for mammals that rely on a change of coat for winter camouflage, such as the mountain hare and its American cousin the snowshoe hare, timing is everything. For millennia these two lagomorphs have got it more or less right. But what if the rules of the game were to shift? In fact it’s happening already: climate change is rapidly reducing the average duration of winter snow cover. In Montana, USA, biologist Scott Mills began to notice camouflage failures in the snowshoe hares…

Scotland’s mountain hares have been killed for food and sport for centuries, but surveys in 1995–6 and 2006–7 suggested that the total number taken increased by 32 per cent in the intervening period, and that reasons for the killing are changing. In the first survey, 60 per cent of hares killed were shot for sport; 10 years later, that figure had fallen to 40 per cent, surpassed by culling for management purposes. One reason cited for the culls was to limit the spread of the tick-borne viral disease louping ill (which infects both grouse and hares) on managed grouse moors. Scottish conservationists including Adam Watson and Roy Dennis have condemned this practice, and Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Land & Estates, and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust have urged restraint…

1 Watch the bird-ringing There are a host of activities to get involved in, such as pond dipping and moth-trapping, but the BTO’s bird-ringing events are particularly popular. Try to catch an earlier session, because these tend to see a larger number of birds in the mist nets. You can then watch them being ringed and hear why this is such an important way of collecting data. 2 Travel the world Dedicate at least half a day to visiting the various tourist board and travel operator stands. These represent destinations worldwide and usually have a local birding expert on hand to tell you about the species and habitats unique to their country. It’s a fantastic way for independent travellers to find inspiration. 3 Get…

South America has some of the world’s greatest wildlife preserves, its rich and varied ecosystems encompassing dense jungles and wetlands. Immerse yourself in this wildlife wonderland where, with the help of expert guides, you can seek the likes of caimans, jaguars, capybaras, giant river otters and a myriad of colourful birds including guans, aracaris, tanagers and hummingbirds. Rainbow Tours’ Best of Pantanal & Amazon Wildlife 14-day itinerary costs from £4,270pp. Africa beckons wildlife and birding enthusiasts. From the vast savannahs and plains of Southern and Eastern Africa, to the lush rainforests of Central Africa and Madagascar, the continent offers an unbridled variety of experiences. Enjoy incredible encounters with the fauna from the Big Five of South Africa, mountain gorillas of Uganda and Rwanda, leopards and cheetahs of Namibia, hippos and…

Out of the Woodwork produce one off handmade pieces of garden art in the form of bird boxes to customer’s specific designs and requirements. These pieces of art are bespoke, unique and can be personalised for any occasion, such as birthdays, retirements or anniversaries. They can be themed, such as sport (football, rugby, golf, cricket), cars (classic, sports, vintage), garden (fork, trowel), hobbies (birdwatching, photography) or anything that you can think of. Let your imagination run wild! Visit them at Rutland Bird Fair and remember... ”Think outside the birdbox!” Contact details Web outofthewoodwork.co.uk Email simmo@outofthewoodwork.co.uk…

The viVOS Ar tframe brings sound out of your photos, collages, and drawings, without the use of computers. Whether printed or hand-drawn, you can add comments, birdsounds or music. Just tap to listen or record, you can even add songs from CDs to make your own audio artwork. Images of seabirds, garden birds or maps, can all be bought to life for the whole family to enjoy. For Birdfair offers and more information on other BirdVoice products, such as the BirdVoicePEN, visit www.birdvoice.net Contact details Web birdvoice.net Email info@birdvoice.net…

A truly awe-inspiring experience, the Gathering of Elephants at the Minneriya National Park is a prime opportunity to see families of gentle giants in their natural environment. It is estimated that each year nearly three hundred elephants gather every evening during this season around the periphery of the tank in order to obtain food, water and shelter and maybe even try out a bit of courting.At Jetwing Vil Uyana wildlife enthusiasts are also ensured of an added bonus when they set out on their expedition - Chaminda, who is the resident naturalist at Jetwing Vil Uyana.With Chaminda’s experience and guidance this phenomenal outing becomes even more unforgettable as he is able to carefully explain the social behavioural patterns of elephants and their intricate group dynamics in action. Coming back to…

INGLORIOUS By Mark Avery Bloomsbury £16.99 Timed to hit the shelves ahead of the start of the grouse-shooting season, this campaigning book by former RSPB conservation director Mark Avery makes a persuasive case for abolishing driven grouse hunts. Expansive in scope yet forensic in detail, it examines both sides of the argument, accumulating hard-hitting facts about the intensive management of red grouse moors and the relentless persecution of the protected hen harrier. Some of the statistics are surprising, in particular the relatively small number of people who actually engage in expensive driven grouse shooting (roughly the same as a Centre Court crowd at Wimbledon). This clearly reasoned and well-written book is inspired by the author’s exasperation at the sport’s failure to “clean up its act”, and he uses it to…

FOCUS ON: Garden birds One of life’s simple pleasures is the joy of watching birds frolicking in your own garden. Many things can be done to attract birds and other wildlife to your own personal green space. With habitat loss being a major reason for the decline of many of our British birds, there has never been a better time to turn your own garden into a nature haven. Providing food for birds is one of the most helpful things you can do for your garden visitors. Year round feeding is suggested but your priority should be on the colder months. Dawn and dusk are the times to ensure food is present. Fine dining options might include seeds, mealworms, fatballs, fruit and even fresh coconut. Along with your feeding stations…