Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2018 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

• WHITETHROAT SCRATCHY SERENADE Rapid bursts of scratchy warbling coming from hedgerows or overgrown nettle beds this month are often whitethroats. A singing male can be skulking, but wait patiently and you should eventually see him climb to a prominent sunny perch, typically on a hawthorn, bramble or cow parsley flowerhead. You might also see the song flight, in which he sings while rising straight up into the air or darting between cover. FIND OUT MORE Listen to whitethroats on Tweet of the Day: https://bbc.in/1xtpOHC • PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY SPRING JEWELS Peer at the underside of this butterfly’s hindwing, and you’ll see the necklace of pearls for which it is named. Confusingly, there’s another species – the small pearl-bordered fritillary – though that flies slightly later, usually peaking in June. Both…

When we had heavy snow in March I remember lying in bed and thinking I should put some food out for the foxes. The vixens were likely to be pregnant and close to giving birth, and there wouldn’t be much natural food about in the sub-zero temperatures. So I grabbed a handful of dog biscuits and scattered them across the frozen garden before quickly rushing back to my warm duvet. But whenever I provide food for foxes or other wildlife, I am conflicted over whether it’s the best thing to do. Perhaps like many of you, my approach has been to garden in such a way that my patch supports an abundance of natural foods, rather than to put out supplementary food. Yet we are increasingly encouraged by conservation organisations…

When we think of orchids our minds likely conjure images of jungles and humid cloudforests in faraway lands, festooned with improbably exotic blooms. And yes, many of the world’s estimated 25,000 species of orchid flourish in those sorts of surroundings. But here in the British Isles there are orchids every bit as beautiful, charismatic and highly evolved as their tropical counterparts. Indeed, some of our native orchids are probably rarer and more vulnerable than almost any other wildflower you’d care to name. We have around 52 species (since orchid taxonomy is complex, the exact number is open to debate) and the more plentiful ones are all around us. You seldom have to travel far to enjoy common spotted or early purple orchids. Other often-abundant species include the southern and northern…

What do Dirk Bogarde, Diana Dors and Ian McEwan have in common? How about Barry Humphries, Libby Purves and Sting? They are all dukes and duchesses of the fantasy realm of Redonda, a small but surprisingly tall island jutting out of the Caribbean Sea. Due to a quirk of history, for more than 150 years it has been the notional seat of a string of charismatic ‘kings’ who have awarded ‘peerages’ to friends in the arts. In the real world, Redonda is uninhabited and belongs to Antigua and Barbuda, 50km away. Over the past two years, it has become the focus of an exciting conservation project that aims to save its wildlife – including several endangered reptiles and major seabird colonies – and to restore the island to its former…

Animal welfare and wildlife conservation campaigners have called on the Scottish Government to monitor and regulate the culling of mountain hares more tightly. A coalition of campaigning groups claims that covert footage taken on private estates has revealed the “brutal, military-style mass killing of Scotland’s mountain hares on grouse moors”. Harry Huyton, the director of one of the groups involved, OneKind, says one of the problems is that little is known about the overall hare population in Scotland because the species is very poorly studied. “The correct response to this uncertainty, given that this is a species of conservation concern, is to extend the close season, which currently runs from April to July, so that it applies all year round,” Huyton says. “This would have the effect of introducing a…

“ ONTO MY NEXT JOB, TRYING TO SAVE RHINOS FROM EXTINCTION!”Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen announces his move into wildlife conservation after retiring from cricket – an unexpected switch-hit, just like the shots he used to play out in the middle. CAUGHT ON CAMERA A pine marten has been recorded by a trail camera in Northumberland, believed to be the first ever footage of this native mammal in the county. The camera is one of 10 placed in locations across Northumberland as part of the Back from the Brink project that has been funded by a grant from the National Lottery. GOLDFINCH RISE Sightings of goldfinches, long-tailed tits and coal tits all rose in January’s Big Garden Birdwatch, while those of blackbirds and robins both dropped, according to the…

Beetles are arguably the most important and diverse organisms on Earth. The trouble is: we don’t actually know how many species are out there. About 400,000 species have been described in scientific books and journals, and representative specimens are housed in the world’s museums, but surveys in the tropics suggest the true total may be anywhere from three to 33 million species. Even the experts can’t agree, not even to within an order of magnitude. What’s not in doubt is that there are a lot of them and they occupy almost every nook and cranny in the world. So how did beetles get to own the planet? 1 BEETLES HAVE BODY ARMOUR Aristotle is credited with coining the term Coleoptera, the name we still use today for the beetle insect…

Rainforest by Tony Juniper Profile £16.99 Rainforests, in all of their glorious diversity, are the among the most extraordinary features of our planet, yet we are doing our level best to erase them. In this book, environmental campaigner Tony Juniper explores how vital these places are and the many far-reaching consequences of their destruction. It is very clear that the real value of rainforests does not come from timber or the mineral wealth beneath the trees, but from their incomprehensible variety of life, which this book encourages us to celebrate and cherish. As well as examining each of the Earth’s main rainforest regions in detail, Juniper proposes some ways to halt and reverse the damage that has already been done. Rainforest is a little vertebrate-centric – much more could have…

Despite a passing resemblance to Gizmo from Gremlins (that’s the cute, furry mogwai with the ears, obviously), the crested owl is one of a kind – the sole member of its genus, Lophostrix. The species is widespread and fairly common across large swathes of Central and South America, yet its basic biology remains largely mysterious. Its call is known to be more k-k-kkk-krrrrrrao than twit-twoo, and pairs are often seen snuggling up to roost together during the daytime, but its nest has not yet been described and it’s not even clear what prey animals it targets. Whatever those turn out to be, let’s just hope the owl doesn’t eat them after midnight. Stuart Blackman…

Wildlife Gardeners’ Day Learn practial skills at this meeting organised by WWT London Wetland Centre and the Wildlife Gardening Forum. The theme this year is water in the garden and the day will include keynote talks by experts such as Kate Bradbury, Chris Baines and Adrian Thomas. Workshops aimed at beginners and experienced gardeners will take place at the Wetland Centre in Barnes and there will be a wildlife gardening fair with stalls from a range of wildlife organisations, including the British Dragonfly Society, the British Trust for Ornithology and Butterfly Conservation. • 19 May,WWT London, see website for details: https://bit.ly/2IfRibz Telling tales Travel back in time to the 1970s with bone enthusiast Ric Morris ( below ), who began collecting animal skulls as a teenager. This Worcestershire Wildlife Trust…

“CITIZEN SCIENCE HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY POPULAR ACROSS A RANGE OF SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES OVER THE PAST DECADE.” On clifftops across Britain and Ireland last spring and summer, an army of puffin fans clicked their cameras as thousands of these much-loved seabirds flew back to their burrows, silvery fish clutched in glowing orange, yellow and blue beaks. Co-opted as citizen scientists by the RSPB as part of an initiative called Project Puffin, the 602 puffin enthusiasts – dubbed the ‘puffarazzi’ – then uploaded 1,402 photographs to the project’s website, together with an explanation of where and when each had been taken. The images were scrutinised by a team of six specially trained citizen scientists led by RSPB seabird specialist Ellie Owen, in an effort to identify the species and size of fish…

ANTIGUAN RACER Once dubbed the world’s rarest snake, the Antiguan racer (right) was virtually wiped out by invasive small Asian mongooses until only 50 remained on one small, mongoose-free (but rat-infested) island. Together with its partners, FFI eradicated the harmful aliens from 15 Antiguan islands; today, the over 1,100 racers have become a tourist attraction. SAINT LUCIA WHIPTAIL Below: stoats Invasive mammals nearly have pushed somehow gained a this handsome lizard – whose on South males sport the black, yellow Ronaldsay , blue and white of the Saint Lucian mainland flag – to extinction; it survived threatening only on Orkney vole the tiny pest-free Maria Islands. It is being reintroduced to other islands cleared of rats, mongooses, opossums, goats, sheep and cane toads. Numbers have already risen to over 2,300.…

Britain’s most important nightingale population is still at risk after Medway Council in Kent published a new draft Local Plan that designates the area where they nest as being suitable for new housing. The RSPB says the council has ignored the views of 12,000 people who objected to proposals to develop the former Ministry of Defence site of Lodge Hill, on the Hoo Peninsula, last year. It also says Medway has not – as it should under national planning guidance – explored all other options for where the houses could be built instead, or put in place ways in which the impacts of the development can be mitigated or found a new location where the nightingales can breed that compensates for the loss of this one. With only about 5,500…

Some sea turtle hatcheries around the world are cashing in on tourists but achieving nothing for turtle conservation, according to an ethical holiday company. Responsible Travel has accused some projects of unnecessarily keeping hatchling turtles in tanks purely so that tourists can pick them up and take ‘selfies’. They are kept in overcrowded conditions in which diseases can be passed between the turtles. “Sea turtle experts don’t recommend tanks,” says Responsible Travel’s Vicki Brown, who drew up a set of guidelines for people wanting to visit turtle conservation projects. “I’ve read through several reports, and there are no benefits listed [ for them].” Responsible Travel says anyone wanting to visit a turtle conservation project should ask a number of questions before committing themselves. FIND OUT MORE Responsible Travel’s Guidelines: https://bit.ly/2oLW3kT…

MANGROVES Mangroves are salt-tolerant bushes that form coastal forests in tropical and subtropical regions. They provide a defence against tsunamis and storms, nurseries for fish, and wood. WWF cites a report that estimates the value of these services at $186m a year, while a paper published in 2012 calculated that the predicted loss of mangroves in South-east Asia would cost $2.2bn a year by 2050 GREAT TITS A study published in 2007 found great tits in Dutch orchards reduced caterpillar damage to the apple crop. Putting up nestboxes encouraged great tits to occupy the orchards and eat the caterpillars, increasing the apple yield by 1,200kg/ha. The authors did not put a value on this, but assuming a wholesale price of 80p/kg (Source: Defra), great tits provide ecosystem services worth £960…

HARVESTING WATER In Africa’s Namib Desert, darkling beetles of the genus Onymacris bask in fog. They condense water on hydrophilic (water-attracting) bumps on their elytra, then channel it down hydrophobic (water-repellant) grooves to their mouths (above). This technology could be adapted for human water-catching projects in many of the world’s arid zones. MAKING WHITENING AGENTS The body scales of ghost chafers (genus Cyphochilus) are amongst the whitest known objects in nature (above). They are not albino – that is, unpigmented – but each scale is filled with an array of random light-scattering nanotubules. These scatter the different rainbow colours in natural light equally and highly efficiently, with no single colour predominating. Mimicking the fibre arrays could be used to create whitening agents for paper coatings, dentistry and pigment manufacture. DETECTING…

PELICAN TOURS SPLIT Croatia is a country of many natural wonders and historical beauties worthy of a visit. National parks and nature parks in Croatia are some of the most beautiful artworks of nature, and lucky for us all they are relatively close to the city of Split.We organise National parks trips from Split to Plitvice Lakes, Kornati Islands and Krka Waterfalls and we are proud to be among the leading tourist agencies in Split. pelicantourssplit.com WILD SLOVENIA Enjoy wildlife in one of the smallest, but most biodiverse countries in Europe! Watch brown bears, ural owls and woodpeckers in wild forests or take a trip to the Alps to see wallcreepers and an amazing endemic flora. Join us on guided tours for general wildlife or choose a customised trip for…

Plugging the Gaps What is Plugging the Gaps? It’s a two-year North Pennines AONB Partnership project – funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund – to boost the number of rare wildflower meadows. The North Pennines is a stronghold for this incredibly important habitat, which has been in decline nationally since the 1950s. The project was launched last summer, with 100 or so volunteers signing up. What do your volunteers do? Volunteers are trained to collect wildflower seeds from flower-rich sites, propagate them over the winter and then plant out the resulting year-old plug plants. We also need volunteers to help set up and run a new wildflower nursery, and to survey potential planting sites (training for this will be given in early June). Which species are you targeting? We are…

1 A FEAST FOR THE EYES While visiting friends in California in February, I went in search of monarch butterflies. After failing to find any in Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz, we went to Lighthouse Field State Beach, which is an overwintering site for the insects. I was not at all prepared for the sight we witnessed. Hundreds of monarchs were clinging to the trees. I used a long lens so I could get a close-up shot without disturbing them. It was a magnificent spectacle. Ray Brown, Huddersfield, UK 2 FROZEN IN MID-AIR While visiting Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming with some friends, I was lucky enough to glimpse this red fox hunting a small mammal. The canids are nocturnal but during the winter they increase their activity around dawn…

Bittern Smaller than a grey heron and with a dagger-like bill, the bittern’s mottled brown and black plumage helps this shy and elusive bird (below) blend in effortlessly amongst the reeds. departing for their breeding grounds. Reed warbler This warm-brown, unstreaked warbler (right) returns each spring from central Africa to rear either one or two broods deep in the reedbed. Its song is a noisy, repetitive and low-pitched chatter. Hobby A summer migrant to Britain from southern Africa, this diminutive version of a peregrine falcon with an orangey-red undertail and thighs usually nests in woodland edges. However, upon arrival in May, hobbies can often be seen feeding above reedbeds before Marsh harrier Similar in size to a buzzard, the marsh harrier is slimmer and possesses long, broad wings and a…

Biologists have discovered the first known example of an egg-laying snake providing care for its hatchlings. After laying their eggs in the burrow of an aardvark, female Southern African pythons stay around to defend them and keep them warm – not easy for a cold-blooded animal. “Our pythons bask near to the burrow entrance until their body temperature is almost 40°C – within a few degrees of lethal temperatures,” says Graham Alexander of South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand. “They then coil around the eggs to warm them.” Breeding females even turn black, in order to absorb more heat from the sun, and this care continues for weeks after the eggs have hatched. The whole breeding cycle takes about six months, during which the females do not eat and lose…

In theory, animals might respond to intense competition for food in either of two opposing ways. First, they could concentrate on becoming really good at finding certain foods, while ignoring others completely. Alternatively, they could become less fussy and wolf down anything that might be vaguely edible. But what do wild animals actually do? Among bands of banded mongoose, at least, it seems they specialise. “Social animals can gain many benefits from group living, but they also suffer from competition over shared food resources,” says Michael Cant of the University of Exeter. Each of a mongoose’s favourite foods – millipedes, ants, termites, beetles, frogs, mice and reptiles – leaves a distinctive chemical signature in the predators’ tissues. By plucking whiskers and analysing them, Cant’s team showed that as group-size (and…

“CHILDREN ARE BORN INTO A WORLD OF SCREENS, SELFIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA. CONKERS SEEM OUT OF DATE.” Spring’s arrival is always a welcome tonic for the winter blues, but this year was extra special. I watched a dull, grey world burst into bright and brilliant life through the eyes of my baby daughter. Chatting to other new mums, I remarked on the pure joy of watching the grass tickle her tiny toes for the very first time, and was shocked to be met with disapproval – even fear. As their toddlers swiped and clicked on an array of digital devices, these concerned parents listed the dangers of allowing my five-month-old to play in the dirt. It’s no secret that the young people of our ultra-connected electronic age are more disconnected…

In BBC One’s Blue Planet II mobula rays were seen on a night dive lit up by bioluminescent plankton. Filippo Borghi’s arresting image was taken in the same area as the Blue Planet sequences – the Sea of Cortez, Baja California. In spring, mobula rays migrate in numbers along the Mexican coast hunting mysid shrimps. Also known as devil rays, these animals are the close but smaller cousins of giant manta rays. They have an amazing characteristic that has not so far been conclusively explained: they leap out of the water to heights of 2m, remain in the air for several seconds and then belly flop back with a loud bang. This behaviour happens when the fish congregate in large numbers, as seen in this picture. Scientists are divided on…

Join wildlife photographers David Tipling and Brydon Thomason in the enchanting Shetland Islands on this exclusive BBC Wildlife reader holiday. Organised by Shetland Nature, the specially designed itinerary is aimed at people with a passion for wildlife who want to get more out of their nature photography. Learn about the fascinating cultural heritage of the Shetland Islands, enjoy the archipelago’s unspoiled beauty and encounter an array of exciting species, including puffins, red-necked phalaropes, frog orchids and orcas (this is one of the best places in the UK to see them). With the support of two experienced leaders and the Shetland Nature team, you will have hands-on photography tuition throughout your stay. Most of the excursions will be in small groups, apart from rotations when using purpose-built hides to see northern…

Early March in Iceland and I’m aboard a beautiful wooden ex-fishing boat, the Láki, braving the elements with a group of enthusiastic whale watchers. The brooding, glacier-capped Snæfellsjökull volcano – the inspiration for the Jules Verne classic, Journey to the Centre of the Earth – provides a majestic backdrop as we cruise the waters of Breidafjordur. A cry goes up from our skipper Gisli as he spots the towering fin of a male orca surfacing just off starboard. It makes perfect sense when Gisli tells us that the Icelandic name for orca is Háhyrningur, meaning “high horn”. Orca dorsal fins with their nicks and scratches are as unique as our fingerprints, and photographs of them are collated and used to identify individuals. A quick scan through an ID catalogue confirms…

“The fight for the rhino is one we can still win,” says Map Ives, watching two white rhinos munching contentedly on the lush green grass close to his vehicle. Map is the director and visionary conservationist behind Rhino Conservation Botswana (RCB), a home-grown charity based in Maun in northern Botswana, and he’s determined that poachers won’t succeed in driving Africa’s rhinos to extinction. “If poaching continues at the current rate, we could lose the rhino in the wild within 10 years. But that’s not going to happen – not on my watch,” he says fiercely. Poaching for horn eradicated Botswana’s wild rhinos by 1992, but since 2002 an ambitious reintroduction programme has been rebuilding the country’s lost rhino populations in the Okavango Delta. One of the world’s most pristine ecosystems,…

“GARDEN MINI-DRAMAS FEATURE SLUGS MIGRATING UP OAK TREES AND PARASITIC WASPS.” Springwatch TV BBC Two Starts 28 May, 8pm, airing Mondays to Thursdays for three weeks After what has felt like an interminably long winter, the season of blossom and buds has finally arrived. And how better to celebrate than with the seasonal wildlife extravaganza that is BBC Two’s Springwatch? Beaming into our living rooms this May, the new series will be fronted by old hands Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan, with roving reporter Gillian Burke bringing the latest from up and down the country. HQ will be once again be the National Trust’s Sherborne Estate in Gloucester, marking for the first time on the Watches a full year of broadcasting from one location. “We’ll be looking back at 12…

Nature’s Biggest Beasts ONLINE available on BBC iPlayer until 19 May When it comes to wildlife, it’s often the largest that most catch the imagination. However, the privilege of super-size comes with its own challenges. Narrated by comedian Miles Jupp, this lively, fact-packed new film – the latest in BBC Two’s new Natural World series – hops around the globe investigating how the kings of the animal kingdom have adapted to survive: how do African elephants travel 25km each day without damaging their feet? How do giraffes control their blood pressure when bending their necks to drink? How do red kangaroos keep their large bodies cool in the intense heat of the Australian Outback? We also meet the giants of their own worlds – get ready for bird-eating crickets, enormous…

Bombs and biodiversity I was interested in the Salisbury Plain article (Wildlife in a War Zone, April 2018), because it brought back to me memories of my visits in the late 1990s to the garrisons at Fallingbostel and Hohne in Germany when I was a Territorial Army (TA) padre. In the surrounding area (a part of Lüneburg Heath) were the ranges used by the British Army for live artillery and tank firing. We were preparing the process of handing back the area to the local community and a series of public lectures revealed that the Heath was thriving. Experts concluded the presence and activities of the Army had preserved and enhanced an important wildlife habitat, with some insects and plants returning after decades of absence, not to mention the increased…