Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

 Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth is a place I’ve had earmarked for years but have not yet managed to visit. You can see on page 62 why it’s such a draw for a wildlife watcher. In my case, I’d be battling seasickness to get there (a row on a park lake can make me queasy) but I reckon it would be worth it. I formed an affection for gannets on a visit to Yorkshire’s Bempton Cliffs. It was a blustery day on the tops. Gannets were sailing southward at head-height, searching out a nest site. They would glide past and then do a handbrake turn, holding themselves in the wind that was blowing strongly from the north with tiny adjustments of wing and tail angles. When they were…

MATING SYSTEMS Species vary in how they organise their sex lives. In polygynous mating systems, the most desirable or powerful males monopolise multiple females via attraction or aggression. Polyandrous species, in which those sex roles are reversed, are rare. Polygynandrous species opt for complicated ‘ménages à trois,’ (or quatre or cinq), making childcare tricky. Good old-fashioned monogamy and biparental care is common among birds, though unfaithful flings are routine.…

“Katmai National Park is remote even by Alaskan standards. Nearly 500km from any road or track, it is accessible only by floatplane at high tide or, with a tricky beach landing, by wheeled aircraft at low tide. And if getting there is hard enough, broadcasting bears, wolves, sharks and orcas live is another matter altogether. The task falls to a very special engineering manager, Gareth Wildman, who oversees all of the BBC’s tech for Springwatch and Glastonbury Festival. He was also responsible for getting us those unforgettable live images of the blue whale in Big Blue Live last July. But our new location has really tested Gareth. Not only did we reduce our crew size – everyone has doubled up on job roles and is sharing tents – but we…

Aren’t there more polar bears today than ever? In the 1960s, it became clear polar bears had been seriously depleted by commercial, subsistence and sport hunting. Regulating this activity in 1973 allowed populations to increase but large areas remain unstudied, making global trends uncertain. We do know that some of the 19 polar bear populations are stable, some may be growing and others are declining, with recent losses of up to 50 per cent. What’s the biggest threat to polar bears? Climate change is causing significant changes in sea ice extent, condition and duration throughout the Arctic. Polar bears need sea ice to hunt seals, and these reductions are leading to fewer cub births and reduced survival rates. Sea ice is disappearing at different speeds across the Arctic, so each…

WHAT DEFINES FOX HUNTING? It is a fieldsport in which hunters follow a pack of trained dogs as they pick up the scent of a fox, chase and kill it. They follow on foot, on horseback, in cars and on motorbikes. It has been banned in many countries, but is still popular in Australia, the United States, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy and elsewhere. WHEN DID IT BEGIN? A Norfolk farmer’s attempt to catch a fox using farm dogs in 1534 marks the beginning, but it didn’t become a sport until much later. The accepted father of modern fox hunting was 18-year-old Hugo Meynell, who began to breed hunting dogs for their speed, stamina and keen sense of smell, in Leicestershire in 1753. ISN’T IT BANNED IN THE UK? Years of…

THE MOUNTAIN OF DATA BEING ACCRUED IS DOWN IN NO SMALL PART TO THE OBSERVATIONS OF MAGGIE SHEDDAN. Rising out of the Firth of Forth on Scotland’s east coast, the Bass Rock is something of a chameleon. In winter, it sits there like a brown, barren lump, a desert with no signs of life. Come summer, however, it dazzles in the sunshine, as if someone has taken a paint brush and roller and covered it in brilliant white gloss. The transformation is due to the arrival each year of over 150,000 birds, for this is the world’s largest colony of northern (or Atlantic) gannets. Lying just 1.5km off the picturesque town of North Berwick, the volcanic granite outcrop is easily accessed by scientists and members of the public on boat…

Why replace Dippy with a blue whale? The blue whale is the largest species on the planet and also the first that humans took the decision to save. Hunting saw populations plummet from 350,000 to 10,000, and though numbers have gradually increased since the 1966 whaling ban, the species is still threatened – for instance by ship strikes and pollution. The message is that we need to sit up and protect the natural world – the blue whale is an emblem for that. How risky was the move? Very. The team had no idea what condition the skeleton would be in, whether the hall could take its weight, and if they could even get its massive skull through the entrance. There was also the constant worry that something would break,…

H is for Hawk: A New Chapter TV BBC Two Due to be broadcast in the autumn. Check RT for details In 2015, falconer and author Helen Macdonald chronicled her experiences training a goshawk to hunt. The result was the best-selling novel H is for Hawk, in which Helen shared how her relationship with the bird – named Mabel – helped her to come to terms with the sudden loss of her father. Part of the BBC’s Natural World series, this film uncovers a new chapter in Helen’s story, as she delves further into the goshawk’s world, taking on a new bird to train and following a family of these charismatic raptors in the wild.…

1 LONG-TAILED BROADBILL Doi Inthanon NP Nestled in the Himalayan reaches of Northern Thailand, Doi Inthanon is one of the country’s birding hotspots. This colourful and gregarious broadbill – the only member of its genus – makes a satisfying sighting. 2 ASIAN ELEPHANT Khao Yai NP Enjoy close encounters with these giants in the monsoon forests of Thailand’s oldest national park, just a few hours from Bangkok. Other mammals to spot here include barking deer, macaques and otters. 3 FLYING FOX Wat Pho Bang Khla The trees around this vivid Buddhist temple are home to a staggering 6,000 flying foxes. Their dusk emergence is quite spectacular. 4 MANTA RAY Similan Islands NP The 11-island archipelago is renowned for its marine life, with Koh Bon in particular regarded as a diver’s…

ISABELLE GROC Isabelle is a writer based in Vancouver, Canada. “Pacific salmon are resilient and have unique adaptations,” she says. “They are also the lifeblood of rich ecosystems in Alaska.” See p20 JULES HOWARD Science writer Jules says, “Every museum specimen has the potential to inspire wonder in the natural world, even a lowly dead fly.” See p30 CHELSEA WALD Journalist Chelsea has reported on water crises that threaten wildlife. She says, “Florida’s gorgeous springs show us that it’s not only deserts that face big fresh water challenges.” See p54…

LIGHTING UP Scour rough grassy banks and hedgerows for female glow-worms bioluminescing after dark. The ethereal glimmer is similar to that of sound-system LEDs, and shows most clearly on moonless nights. Find a list of guided glow-worm hunts at www.glowworms.org.uk FAIRIES TAKE FLIGHT One of our most extraordinary moths is on the wing in July. The white plume moth flits along fairy-like, with super-stretched wings that look too spindly to be capable of flight. Its caterpillars eat bindweed, or Convolvulus. LIFE’S A BEACH Common (harbour) seals now have new pups. The mothers suckle them on sandflats, or in Scotland in rocky coves. Watch them safely by taking a boat trip from Blakeney in North Norfolk or from Oban and the Isle of Skye in the western Highlands. SUMMER STARS Our…

As one of South Africa’s largest private game reserves, Tswalu Kalahari is a major conservation success story, protecting some 110,000 hectares of grasslands and mountains in the country’s Southern Kalahari and home to 80 species of mammal. Visitors to the reserve – who are limited to just 30 guests at any one time – can expect to see giraffe, zebra and cheetah, alongside more unusual encounters with the likes of critically endangered desert black rhinos, black-maned Kalahari lions, the elusive pangolin and many rare antelope such as roan, sable and tsessebe. South Africa is a great safari destination for family travel and Tswalu Kalahari is ideal for young adventurers; malaria-free and offering a programme of activities which actively involve the next generation in its conservation effort. Couples meanwhile will find…

TRAVELLING TOGETHER Puffin pairs raise more chicks if they follow the same migratory route between their oceanic wintering grounds and their breeding colonies. This makes it easier to synchronise early arrival at the colony, reports Marine Ecology Progress Series. PLASTIC DIET Wax moth caterpillars, which feed on the wax from bees’ nests, can also eat and digest polythene bags, according to new research in Current Biology. Working out the biochemistry of the digestion process might provide new approaches to reducing plastic waste. WHISPERING WHALES By attaching microphones to migrating humpback whales, scientists have recorded intimate vocalisations between suckling calves and their mothers. Functional Ecology reports that the grunts and squeaks allow the animals to maintain close contact without attracting the attention of killer whales. HITCHING A RIDE Zimmermann’s poison frog…

HEADING HOME As early as June, schools of sockeye salmon leave the ocean and enter fresh water, running the gauntlet of waiting salmon sharks and other predators. They spend time in cold lakes at the mouths of streams, where they stop eating and start their transformation. CHANGING COLOUR While they are in the ocean, sockeye salmon have a silvery torpedo shape, but when they get ready to spawn their bodies dramatically transform. Within two weeks they become bright red. Males develop a humped back and hooked jaws filled with visible teeth. LAYING EGGS Once the physical transformation is complete, the fish migrate upstream to their natal stream where they will spawn. With their tail, females start digging a nest, or redd. A female lays 3,000 eggs on average, and will…

To me, Dippy the diplodocus was more than just a replica dinosaur skeleton. It was more than just a Victorian statue and it was more than just a welcoming host to London’s Natural History Museum. Seeing Dippy as an adult was like walking into a photo from my childhood; the sight of that skeleton provided me with a connection to an earlier part of my life, when I was a child, filled to bursting point with awe and excitement at visiting a place full of such incredible treasures. But perhaps more than anything else, dinosaurs teach us that nothing lasts forever. They gave way to the mammals and this month Dippy’s place in the museum’s Hintze Hall will be taken by an (as yet nameless) blue whale skeleton that will…

There are a number of reasons why the Arctic fox is of particular importance to Iceland. For a start, it is the country’s only native terrestrial mammal, and secondly, among the Nordic countries where the far-ranging species is found, Iceland is probably its most important stronghold. Finally, while more than 90 per cent of Arctic foxes throughout the rest of their range turn white in winter – the so-called ‘white morph’ – in Iceland more than 70 per cent are the ‘blue morph’ and retain their brown coat all year round. There is a good reason for this: Iceland is an island, and coastal areas tend to stay snow-free, so turning white in winter would not be the advantage it is elsewhere. Arctic foxes are controlled on Iceland, largely by…

“ I ALLOW IVY TO STRANGLE TREE TRUNKS AND PROVIDE NEST-SITES.” What is this book about? It’s about my relationship with my back gardens from a young age, and vice-versa. Over the years they have gone from a veritable death trap for domestic animals to a surreal fantasy land. So, ludicrous then? That rather callous insult came from my wife. I think it is a compliment. It indicates my attempt to avoid clichés and predictability. More conventional gardeners may consider a dozen or so mirrors in the shrubs as absurd, and a lilac tree festooned with kitchen implements as plain silly. My latest addition is an old tenor saxophone that is well past its blow-by date. It looks great up a tree with campanulas spurting from its bell. How do…

Do humans have the power to bring something back from the near-dead? Sudan: The Last of the Rhinos (BBC iPlayer, available until end July) does what it says on the tin, telling the story of the very last male northern white rhino on Earth, and the fight to preserve the subspecies he represents. Taken from the wild 40 years ago, Sudan (above) was installed in a zoo while his wild relatives left behind on the savannah were picked off by poachers. Attempting to prevent an impending extinction, a team of scientists are using cutting-edge fertility treatment to breed a new generation of this African giant. Sticking with the topical, prepare for some uncomfortable but important viewing with The Undercover Tourist (BBC iPlayer, available until spring 2018), a series of four…

What does ERIC do? ERIC NE is the Environmental Records Information Centre for North-east England. We collate, manage and distribute data concerning the species and habitats of the region. We currently hold over 3 million species records. What do your volunteers do? Work is almost entirely computer based. Due to the many different sources and primary uses of the data we receive, there is a lot of formatting to do. This can involve transcribing documents into a spreadsheet or using mapping software to convert paper maps. How does this help wildlife? The data is used by many organisations including ecological consultancies who work to mitigate the effects of development. Local authorities and government bodies also refer to our data when making decisions, to ensure that wildlife receives appropriate protection. Who…

“OUR COMMON BUTTERFLIES ARE DECLINING FASTER IN UK TOWNS AND CITIES.” July’s a fantastic month for butterflying, with several dozen species on the wing, from widespread beauties to sought-after rarities. The exquisitely patterned marbled white pictured here is one of those doing reasonably well in Britain, having extended its range by 11 per cent since the 1970s. While still predominantly a southern species, it is greatly helped by its ability to thrive on unsprayed waste ground and verges, even using wide grassy strips down the middle of dual-carriageways. For the past few years, July has also been a time of not just observing but counting butterflies. The annual Big Butterfly Count has become hugely popular, yet it’s a misconception that the survey is concerned only with flowery rural idylls: roadsides,…

NICK BAKER REVEALS A FASCINATING WORLD OF WILDLIFE THAT WE OFTEN OVERLOOK. Stare into a pond and let your gaze fall on the silty bottom and you might notice tiny, slate-grey slithers of animal life. They’re not obvious at first as, being just a few millimetres long, they are easily overlooked. Even a water flea oozes more charisma than a flatworm. But don’t ignore flatworms, of which Britain has about 12 freshwater species, on account of their initial appearance. There are few pond creatures quite as bizarre as the class Turbellaria. You really will need a hand lens to appreciate the turbellarians’ world of weird. The first thing to notice as you peer at their flattened form is that flatworms have a definite front end, and from the middle of…

• MAMMALS HUMANS ARE AN EASIER MEAL DENTAL CHECK OF MAN-EATING LIONS REVEALS TOOTHACHE COULD BE THE CAUSE OF THEIR BEHAVIOUR. The skulls of three notorious lions are preserved at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. Two of them, known as the Tsavo man-eaters, killed and ate about 35 people between them before they were shot in Kenya in 1898. The third consumed at least six people in Mfuwe, Zambia, in 1991 – and new analysis of their dentition has yielded fresh insights into what drives a lion to hunt humans. One long-held theory is that man-eating is a consequence of starvation. Indeed, the Tsavo lions went rogue during a time of drought and a rinderpest epidemic that ravaged prey populations. But analysis of the lions’ teeth doesn’t support that…

“THE ONLY ONES TO FLY ARE THE MAD ONES, THE ONES WHO ARE MAD TO FIGHT OR MATE.” We came out on the quarter chance of catching a peep at the fox cubs who have a filthy squat beneath a fallen oak. Flies buzz over their scraps, Scratch has a long sniff and two chews on the shrivelled pinion of a pigeon’s wing and deliberately ignores the limbless torso of a panda, one of Itchy’s toys nicked from the lawn years ago. Too foxy for him, too sad for me, so we shuffle on – a listless man, a hot dog. Over-washed – bleached-out – yellowed, the woods are limping through the afternoon. Barely motivated, the trees are bored and a flop of exhausted apathy slouches over the fat sofas…

DIPPY @NHM_Dippy Natural History Museum, London Dippy has left the Natural History Museum’s Hintze Hall to embark upon a tour of UK museums. This social media account charts the skeleton’s progress. GLASS JAR OF MOLES @GlassJarOfMoles Grant Museum of Zoology, London The 18 moles crammed into this large glass jar (right) speak as one, offering a zoological perspective on subjects ranging from politics to the status of other exhibits in the museum… and occasionally interact with the other London museum specimens on Twitter. HORNIMAN WALRUS @HornimanWalrus Horniman Museum, London “Queen Victoria called me a fine specimen and she knew her onions,” boasts the profile of this charismatic walrus with 4,500 followers. As well as the occasional humorous take on world events, the media-savvy mammal also encourages visitors to take a…

TECHNICAL SPECS Field of view at 1000m 124m Transmission 90% Eye relief 17mm Weight (in grams) 650 Length x width (mm) 130x117 Waterproofing (to depth in m) 4 Price (RRP) incl VAT £825 Accessories: neoprene bag, eyepiece cover, objective lens cover Leica’s latest generation of Trinovid HD 8x32 are compact and rugged, and perfect for wildlife watching. The German optics brand guarantees an exceptionally bright, clear view, pin-sharp resolution, and superb colour fidelity and contrast, so you can spot every detail of the animals you see, whether on safari or at the bottom of your garden. Thanks to their compactness and lightness, the Leica Trinovid 8x32 HDs are the perfect travel companions, too. The rubber armoring provides not only a good grip in all weather conditions, but also offers durability…

THE PANEL BIRDS Q Which bird has the furthest carrying sound? A It’s the male bittern, whose famous low-frequency spring ‘boom’ can carry up to 5km. Bitterns don’t use their syrinx to vocalise, instead exhaling hard to create something akin to a human attempting to make a cuckoo call by blowing over the top of a milk bottle. You’re more likely to hear a bittern than see one – this shy bird is one of our rarest breeding species. SM MARINE MAMMALS Q Why do seals breathe out when they dive? A When we dive, we fill our lungs with air and then hold our breath. Seals, in contrast, empty their lungs before submerging themselves. If you ever happen to be close to an individual that’s about to go…

A holiday treat I have just returned from the BBC Wildlife Magazine reader holiday to north Wales. I’m an undergraduate student of ecology and wildlife conservation and decided to go on the tour as a special treat. My only complaint is that I’ve now well and truly caught the ‘birding bug’ and have never been into birdwatching and general wildlife watching as much as I am now! Our guides Alan and Ruth were the stars of the trip. They are excellent spotters and serious experts, keen to share sightings with us and very happy to explain ID, calls, behaviours, etc. I learnt so much and from the first moment felt part of a family. Wildlife highlights included lekking black grouse, courting sandwich terns, an evening watching badgers, the chance to…