Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2018 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

This month we have two shows to go to where I’ll get the chance to meet readers and chat about nature – which I love. At the beginning of the month (2–5 August) we have a stand at Countryfile Live, in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Then later in the month (17–19 August) we’ll be exhibiting at Birdfair, on the shores of the Rutland Water reservoir at Egleton in the East Midlands. This issue has a special section (pp71–97) all about Birdfair, which this year celebrates its 30th year of giving over its profits to conservation projects. The 2018 proceeds will help in the creation of Argentina’s largest national park, to protect a unique and precious habitat for millions of flamingos and shorebirds, and establish a network of…

Beadlet anemone The commonest anemone found on rocky shores around Britain can even be seen in rockpools on the upper shore. When the tide is out the anemone contracts into a jelly-like reddish blob, but under water its crown becomes covered with short, thick tentacles. Prey is caught with the stinging tentacles and passed to the mouth. Common prawn This is the largest and most common of the inter-tidal prawns. Reaching up to 11cm in length, its flattened body is translucent and hatched with darker bands. The shrimp possesses a long upwardly curved rostrum, which juts out from between its eyes and antennae. Shore crab This crustacean is predominantly green, but varies through yellow, brown and black. It has paddle-like rear legs and a carapace that reaches no longer than…

HIDE AND SEEK The best time to see wolverines is between April-September from a baited hide such as those used by Wildlife Safaris Finland (+358 400 380878; wildfinland.org). Other tour operators that run Finnish mammal-watching trips include Finnature (+358 45 129 4264; finnature.com), Naturetrek (01962 733051; naturetrek.co.uk) and Wildlife Worldwide (01962 302086; wildlifeworldwide.com). Meanwhile, Wildlife Sweden (+46 651 80151; wildlifesweden.se) offers wolverine viewing from a floating hide. Wolverines can also be seen on wildlife tours to Alaska and Canada, although the use of baited hides is less common in North America.…

Hoopoes love nothing better than a big, fat, juicy grub. Their decurved bill is perfect for winkling a choice larva out of the earth or from among leaf litter, then flipping the tasty morsel into the air to swallow it whole. This one, photographed on a river bank in India’s West Bengal, has extracted a mole cricket larva – only to catch the eye of a black drongo in a tree. Swooping from its perch, the drongo has turned pirate, harassing the hoopoe to steal its meal. Being faster and more agile, black drongos are often successful in such raids; sometimes they will even target birds as big as cattle egrets. Other members of the drongo family, which has 25 representatives in Asia and Africa, have also become experts at…

GREEN HAIRSTREAK One great success story was recording the sound of the pupa of a green hairstreak butterfly. They mimic the sound of a queen ant to trick the ants into taking them into the nest to overwinter. It’s an extraordinary sound, and we were the first to record it. RED KITE A red kite in Glen Esk was apparently stealing underwear from wild swimmers. We left out a pair of One Show pants and, sure enough, they vanished. The RSPB checked the bird’s nest and found an old pair of pants, but alas not ours. The mystery of the thief continues... BEEWOLF We were very excited to be in the right place at the right time to see beewolves bringing in paralysed honeybees to stock their underground nests at…

What’s so special about these giants? Almost everything about them is odd. They are the world’s largest amphibians – reaching almost two metres in length. They are an ancient lineage of living fossils that split from other amphibians in the Jurassic, 170 million years ago. As sit-and-wait predators at the top of the food chain, they are more like crocodiles. What’s their problem? They had a wide distribution across China, so it’s been assumed that there must be enough left to sustain the species. Our survey suggests otherwise. We found animals in only four of almost a hundred sites with optimal habitat, and these were likely farm escapees. We’re not confident that we’ve found a single wild salamander in four years. It’s a far worse situation than anyone thought. What’s…

WHAT IS IT? This stumpy little crustacean, less than a centimetre long, is distinguished by the plentiful hairs adorning its walking legs. It has been named Odontonia bagginsi after the famous hairy-footed Hobbit. WHERE IS IT? Collected off the island of Tidore in Indonesia, it was found living inside the body of a sea squirt – appropriately bijou accommodation for a Hobbit. It’s not yet known what the crustacean feeds on or whether it provides its host with any favours in return for shelter. Bilbo’s nemesis Smaug the dragon is already honoured in the scientific names of African girdled lizards, a Patagonian shield bug and a Madagascan ant. SOURCE Read the ZooKeys article: zookeys.pensoft.net/article/25277/element/7/odontonia-bagginsi/…

On a short walk around Knepp, the estate’s ecologist Penny Green stops to point out three different oak trees. One is a tiny sapling, no more than a foot or so high that is doomed to be browsed to oblivion in the next year or so. Nearby is a 400-year-old gnarled and stately veteran, home to a little owl, that lives in a burrow at its base, and a rare bracket fungus. A fine specimen, but one that tells us little about the Knepp experiment because it was already mature centuries before anyone felt the necessity to consider coining a term such as ‘rewilding’. It’s the one of medium stature, perhaps a decade or two old, that is of most significance, because around its base, growing up to a height…

Rutland Water is the largest reservoir in England and its surface area covers over 10km2. It is man-made and provides drinking water, via Anglian Water, to the East Midlands. The reservoir has a very wide appeal. As well as being popular for many types of recreation, such as fishing and sailing, it’s very important for an amazing array of wildlife – in particular, wintering wildfowl. The number of birds that Rutland Water attracts means it’s protected by law. In winter the site can hold over 30,000 wildfowl and an internationally important number of ducks – including six per cent of the UK’s overwintering population of gadwall and 4.9 per cent of shovelers. Banking on success On the western end of the reservoir is a nature reserve managed by the Leicestershire…

Photography is a fantastic way to document your travels and share your discoveries with your friends and family on social media. But whether it’s a stunning landscape or an intimate animal encounter, many of us rely on the humble smartphone to capture those moments. If you want to take your photography to the next level, it pays dividends to upgrade to a dedicated camera, which will enhance your image quality, zoom range and creative options. Combining the portability and long zoom range usually associated with point-and-shoot compacts, with the ergonomic build and manual modes found on professional DSLRs (digital single-lens reflex cameras), bridge cameras literally ‘bridge’ this gap, providing you with the best of both worlds. The size of the imaging sensors found in these cameras strikes the perfect balance…

LOOK OUT FOR WILDLIFE You’ll be surprised just how many species you can spot during Birdfair while in and around the stalls on site: Butterfly Conservation (Marquee 7, Stands 18-19) will have moths from their overnight trapping sessions; BTO ( above ) will be running their bird-ringing demonstrations; and listen out for the sound of Roesel’s bush-crickets as you walk between the Birdfair marquees. ON THE MAIN STAGE As usual, the schedule for the main marquee (left) is packed with a superb range of talks, debates and fun quizzes. On the Friday evening a panel made up of Patrick Barkham, Craig Bennett, Mark Cocker, Mary Colwell, Simon King, Kerry McCarthy MP and Chris Packham will discuss The State of Nature and answer questions from the audience. On Saturday the BTO’s…

A Yetis and humans aside, this record goes to the Yunnan (or black) snub-nosed monkey, which lives on the Tibetan Plateau at altitudes of up to 4,700m. The survival of the species on the roof of the world is no doubt aided by its dark fur, which efficiently absorbs heat from the sun. Counter-intuitively, these mountaineering monkeys move to the highest elevations during the winter. The drop in temperature seems to be offset by an increase in sunlight, which melts fresh snow quicker to expose the lichens and foliage on which they feed. Fewer than 2,000 individuals now remain, and they are vulnerable to becoming caught in snares set for deer.…

A Very much. In fact, for a male living off the Pacific north-west coast of North America, social standing can be a matter of life and death. In years when populations of Chinook salmon are low (numbers can drop as a result of El Niño-driven temperature fluctuations and increased fishing activity), the mortality rate of the males nearest the centre of their social networks is 67 per cent lower than that of their least connected counterparts. Males on the social sidelines may be unaware of the whereabouts of their salmon prey, and could be excluded from shared meals, making them more likely to starve in leaner times. A female’s social position, in contrast, doesn’t alter her chances of survival.…

A Wing-shape determines the type of flight to which a bird is best suited. The short wings of robins are great for manoeuvrability, for instance, while the tapered wings of swifts allow for speed. Most birds can make some adjustments by flexing the wrist (a wing joint) or altering the angle of the hand bones (at the end of the wing). Extreme wing shapes come with limitations. Short wings must be flapped rapidly to maintain lift, while very long ones make take-off tricky. Some species, such as red kites, try to have it all, sporting long-ish wings with slotted tips for both efficiency and fine control – the position of the primary feathers can be adjusted to catch or spill air.…

The white stork reintroduction in Sussex (Wild News, July 2018) is an exciting development, but I do wonder if it will ever be possible for conservationists (and politicians) to concentrate on the real, underlying problems of biodiversity loss. It is relatively easy to reintroduce big, charismatic species when the underlying cause of their demise is removed. But an unfortunate side effect of this success is that it gives the public a false sense of security and hope. The truth is that despite these successes there is a huge, unprecedented loss of species diversity, as well as a massive loss of natural biomass. I live in the middle of agricultural East Anglia, and most of it is a biodiversity desert. Over the past decades I have watched the populations of almost…

1 | HARVEST MOUSE Small but mighty “A prehensile tail acts like a fifth limb… she’s as agile as a monkey clambering around a tree.” David Attenborough was not describing an exotic species from faraway lands, but one of the British stars of Planet Earth II: a female harvest mouse moving nimbly, like a miniature tightrope-walker, through a forest of grasses, hogweed and thistles a metre or so above the ground. From Planet Earth II in 2016 to Autumnwatch in 2017 and Hugh’s Wild West earlier this year, the BBC’s wildlife film-makers love featuring harvest mice for their extraordinary agility, tiny size and – let’s face it – cuteness. Weighing slightly less than a 10p piece, they are Europe’s smallest rodents. But their name is a misnomer nowadays. It arose…

The sound of the wolverine struck me before I saw it. I confess I was texting at the time – a message back home to say that after 14 hours in a hide deep in the Finnish forest, all I’d seen was a small rodent, possibly a lemming, running across some logs. Then a crunch, tooth on bone. I looked up and the ‘ghost of the forest’ had arrived, just 10m in front of me, tearing at the dead pig buried just beneath the snow. I watched as it worked on the carcass, occasionally glancing up, its beady brown eyes fixing two ravens cawing from a nearby spruce, waiting for their turn to feed. After 10 minutes, with a chunk of pig clasped in its jaws, it moved off, padding…

The twitch of a blunt tipped, dark-ringed tail in the shadow of a hawthorn; an amber eye fixed on the rabbit feeding just three bounds away. The quarry barely has time to realise what’s happening as the wildcat’s muscular limbs propel it out of the scrub. After a short, squealing, kicking struggle, a meal fit for her kittens is secured. Many a wildlife-watcher has travelled to Scotland in the hope of witnessing such an encounter. But once upon a time this scene did not only play out in the Highlands. The unwary rabbit I have pictured may just as easily have met its demise after straying too far from its warren in the lowlands of England or Wales some 300 years ago. Many people still refer to the last remaining…

ARE YOU READY for your most fulfilling bird watching experience yet? All too often, the smallest distractions can get in the way of seeing all your favourite species up close, whether it’s a slightly shaky hand or the tiniest unplanned movement. Canon’s latest range of binoculars is specifically designed to solve just that. The 10x32 IS, 12x32 IS and 14x32 IS models are the first to feature Canon’s new ‘lens-shift’ Image Stabilizer (IS) system, which offers users higher optical quality and a much more stable viewing experience. The Standard IS mode reduces handshake while the user is spotting their subject, and once the subject is acquired, Powered IS mode provides a rock-steady view. That means you won’t lose sight or focus on whichever prize bird you’re looking at, leaving you…

Tinamous, toucans, tanagers, treerunners… over 50 endemic species of bird live in the Chocó forests. Britain has only one. 1 Andean bear Most bears make seasonal journeys in search of short-lived treats, and this one – also called the spectacled bear, though children might know it as ‘Paddington’ – is no exception. An inordinate fondness for the ripe fruit of the cloudforest’s massive pacche trees (in the genus Nectandra ) sees it spending several weeks gorging on the fatty, avocado-like delicacies. I’m too early for pacche fruiting season, typically November to December, but at the Maquipucuna cloudforest reserve, eagle-eyed guide Arcenio Barrera shows me territorial claw-marks freshly raked across pale tree-bark and half-eaten bromeliad flowers that foraging bears have dropped to the forest floor like banana skins. Later, I’m shown…

Animals around the world are becoming more nocturnal in response to the presence of humans. “The effects of human activity on wildlife extend far beyond the direct removal of individuals or habitats,” says Kaitlyn Gaynor of the University of California-Berkeley. “Our mere presence can have subtle but consequential impacts on animal behaviour. “We ultimately included 141 case studies in our analysis, and 83 per cent of these showed some increase in nocturnal activity around people,” she says. “When we pooled these individual cases together, the result was powerful and striking: human activity is creating a more nocturnal natural world.” On average, mammals become 1.36 times more nocturnal in areas of human activity. Coyotes, for example, usually split their activity evenly between night and day, but in popular hiking areas they…

THE DRAMATIC ISLAND of St Helena has to be one of the world’s best kept secrets. Stranded between the coastlines of South Africa and South America, it’s a sub-tropical paradise begging to be explored. Not so long ago, the only way to reach St Helena was by sea, but with weekly flights from Johannesburg now scheduled, a new host of birdwatchers, wildlife enthusiasts and walkers will be able to share in its delights. St Helena is an island of contrasts. From rolling hills, soaring peaks and breathtaking views, to rugged coastline, striking geology and inviting waters, it has it all. But it’s the rich and varied flora, fauna and wildlife that sets it apart – some you won’t find anywhere else in the world. BIRDWATCHING Whether you go on a…

1 GET AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN While a zoom is handy for shooting faraway subjects, this makes images more prone to camera shake so it’s worth getting as close as you can to your subject without disturbing its behaviour. 2 TRY A HIDE If you’re struggling to get close by moving towards your subject it’s worth checking out a wildlife hide. Here you can wait patiently and let animals come to you. Then you can take a photo when there is an opportunity. 3 FOCUS ON THE NEAREST EYE Ensure the animal’s eye closest to the camera is the one you focus on for a headshot. Place the active autofocus point over the nearest eye and half press the shutter to focus, then push it down to take it.…

We knew about the plastic problem long before Blue Planet II , but it wasn’t until the series aired six months ago that there has been an impetus collectively to do something about it. Across the land people are finally starting to ditch their guilty plastic pleasures, making beeswax wraps, ditching the straws and swapping single-use for sustainable. To keep momentum afloat, the BBC has launched a new initiative called Plastics Watch . The clue’s in the title, but this is essentially a hub of content on the box and online to help you learn everything you didn’t already know about plastic: how it circumnavigates the globe; why it can’t all be recycled; how you can reduce your own use of the stuff; and what alternatives we might expect in…

This beautifully illustrated book will be pulled off the shelf time and time again, artfully combining rhythmic verse for younger listeners with interesting and accurate content to keep older children engaged. Flipping through the pages is rather like floating over a real reef, with colourful new vistas and different species at every turn. The huge cast of both familiar and lesser-known reef characters is introduced on the inside covers, adding a puzzle dimension to the book as you search for the royal blue tang, star coral and cone snail. Though it ends with a strong ecological message about coral bleaching, featuring key facts and the actions we can all take to safeguard the sea, it first and foremost immerses children in the colourful, diverse and fascinating world of the coral…

KAYAK AFRICA Kayak Africa’s camps on Mumbo Island and Domwe Island. Mumbo and Domwe are deserted tropical islands within the Lake Malawi National Park, covered in pristine miombo forest and surrounded by the deep, clear and clean freshwater of Lake Malawi. Each island hosts a small island-style eco-camp. Ideal for romance, active family holidays, or healthy outdoor fun with friends. kayakafrica.com KUBU LODGE Small owner operated lodge on 30 hectares along the Chobe River in Northern Botswana. 11 thatched en-suite chalets on raised decks on lawns extending down to the river’s edge. Experience the amazing wildlife of Chobe National Park by boat cruise or game drive; cruise to the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi Rivers; day trip to Victoria Falls; visit a working crocodile farm or the Wildlife Centre.…

A Indeed. Sphagnum mosses, which blanket many peat bogs and fens in the UK, are a natural antiseptic and were collected on an industrial scale during World War One and – to a lesser extent – World War Two. With cotton in short supply, entire communities were mobilised across the UK, Ireland and northern America to harvest what was then known as ‘bogmoss’ – specifically Sphagnum papillosum and S. palustre – with children given days off school and Scouts and Guides organising foraging expeditions. The plants were turned into dressings and dispatched to the battle front, where they proved far more effective than cotton bandages. Wounds dressed in sphagnum were less likely to become infected, and the moss was far more absorbent than any fabric alternative, thanks to a cell…

The first national park in France was created in 1963 to protect the declining population of ibex after hunting became more widespread. Located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region it borders Italy’s Gran Paradiso National Park, and the French and Italian parks twinned in 1972. Covering 1,250km2 they constitute the largest protected site in western Europe. Area: 528km2 Highest peak: 3,855m Hiking trail coverage: 600km When to go Late June is a great time to visit for amazing wildflower spectacles, a profusion of butterfly species, emerging marmot pups and rutting ibex. GO THERE WITH •Naturetrek •High Point Holidays •Simply Savoie…

“The bear regained its composure, got up and charged at the tiger.” The mysterious jungles of central India can be surprising places. It’s difficult to name my favourite location but if I had to choose one it would be the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district, which is Maharashtra’s oldest and largest park. I try to visit about three or four times a year. One afternoon in January, I went on a safari ride with a work colleague through the Junona ‘buffer’ zone – an area of villages and forests. While passing the gates to the Dewada and Agarzari zones, we spotted a villager on his motorbike who was frantically waving at us and pointing to the dry bed of a stream. “Look! Sloth bear!” he said. Sloth bears are…

“Concern for the oystercatchers is swiftly eclipsed by my second thought: “Aaarghh! My budget.” Good news: we can get the drone up,” says Louis. “An aerial shot will show just how close the birds are to the dual-carriageway. I can’t believe it! It’s such a strange place to nest.” Louis Rummer-Downing is director of this sequence and, importantly, also a drone pilot. The nest in question belongs to a family of oystercatchers that, remarkably, have made Rheged Centre services on the busy A66 their home for the past 16 years. Getting this far has been a long journey. Permission to fly the drone has been the final piece of the jigsaw, and I’m hoping that the actual filming – famous last words – will be relatively straightforward. The oystercatcher chicks…

More than 20 years after the last detailed assessment of Britain’s terrestrial mammals, a major study has revealed large population declines in many species – and many inconsistencies in what we know. The new survey, Britain’s Mammals 2018, was carried out by The Mammal Society. Previously, the ‘go-to’ source for information about wild British mammals was a 1995 review, long considered out of date. “The data we had been relying on was terribly old,” says Prof Fiona Mathews, chair of The Mammal Society. One of the report’s innovations is a ‘Red List’ threat-ranking system using IUCN criteria, similar to the one for birds. It classes three mammals as Critically Endangered: the wildcat, black rat (which may already be extinct) and greater mouse-eared bat (of which a single male survives). Eighteen…

The fate of a rare sand dune system in north-east Scotland is now in the hands of the Scottish Government after Highland Council’s planning committee backed proposals to develop a golf course on it. Renowned for providing a habitat for terns, geese and waders, Coul Links is part of the much larger Loch Fleet Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and is also a European protected reserve. Scottish ministers must now decide whether to let the development go ahead or call it in for a public inquiry. RSPB senior conservation planner Kate Bellew says the development could set a terrible precedent. “If triple-protected Coul Links is allowed to be destroyed for a golf course, is anywhere safe from development?” she writes. Highland Council’s North Planning Committee chair Maxine Smith says…

Few four-legged animals cut figures as distinctive as giraffes. And new research suggests they do things differently, too. Animals form groups for a variety of reasons but, as a general rule, the greater the risk from predators, the bigger the group. However, a new study suggests that the opposite is true of Rothschild’s giraffes in Kenya. University of Bristol biologists have found that groups are actually smaller in lion-inhabited areas. What’s more, females with calves – the most vulnerable to being taken by lions – were found in smaller groups than those without calves. “This is surprising, and highlights how little we know about even the most basic aspects of giraffe behaviour,” says Zoe Muller of the Bristol team. They are now looking to test whether the same holds for…

IT’S OBVIOUS, ISN’T IT – a species that is predominantly white to blend in with a snowy landscape will be more at risk in a warming planet. More heat leads to less snow cover – and a ‘camouflage fail’ for the animal in question. “A new study in Bialowieza Forest, Poland, has shown that weasels are adapting to a changing climate.” But that needn’t necessarily mean the extinction of that species – because some have the option of whether or not to take on a white coat. In the UK there are several that do this – stoats, mountain hares and ptarmigans – but on mainland Europe, some weasels do too, and a new study that was carried out in Poland’s Bia›owiez•a Forest has shown they are slowly adapting to…

PURPLE EMPEROR No purple emperors had been recorded at Knepp before 2009. Numbers have slowly increased, with 388 sightings in 2017, which is a UK record. Trends for the rest of Britain are unclear, but Knepp is said to have the largest population in the country. TURTLE DOVES In 2017, 16 singing males were recorded in Knepp’s southern block alone, compared with just three on the whole of the estate in 1999. In the UK, the population has crashed by a catastrophic 96 per cent since the 1960s and it’s regarded as the bird most likely to go extinct in Britain. BROWN HAIRSTREAK Numbers of this butterfly exploded in 2017, such that there were 222 observations where there had been just one in the previous decade. The estimated population trend…

Their breasts pressed close, the dancers race and circle, never breaking eye contact through every switchback turn. Another couple dip, shimmy and plunge, spin away and rush back together. The sheer uninhibited exuberance of the dance captures the mood of the watchers, for whom being here today is a triumph of determination, endurance and hope. Few birdwatchers have seen this spectacle, or ever will. Only discovered by science in 1974, hooded grebes breed on the remote, high-altitude, wind-torn plateaux of southern Patagonia. To reach the habitat requires hours of slow 4x4 driving over the most unforgiving terrain, and an hour or more hiking. The winds scour the plateaux, blowing hard day and night, rarely dropping below 50kph. This might as well be a moonscape. There is no cover or shelter.…

NOT ALL SAFARIS are the same. Go on an adventure with Asilia and you’ll see firsthand the positive impact this pioneering company has on ecologically and economically vulnerable areas. It makes bold investments into these wildernesses, turning them into viable conservation economies. And it’s not only nature that benefits, but also the people who live surrounded by it. Now you can play your part. One incredible location offered by Asilia is Rubondo Island, a sub-tropical paradise set just off the shore of Tanzania and a haven for threatened elephant families, chimpanzees, and other rare species. With only a handful of people inhabiting the island, a stay here in one of its waterfront cottages offers the thrill of adventure in a truly wild place, while immersing you in this lush and…

Sony RX10 IV PRICE: £1,799 Inside the dust and moisture-resistant DSLR-styled body, you’ll find a Bionz X image processor, allowing an autofocus time of 0.03 seconds. The RX10 IV can shoot 24 frames per second and has a large Exmor sensor that allows freedom when placing your subject in the frame. It has a 25x optical zoom and can record ultra high-definition 4K movies. Panasonic Lumix FZ2000 PRICE: £899 Despite taking on a compact, DSLR-shaped design, the FZ2000 has a large 20.1MP (megapixel) MOS sensor, designed for better image quality and enhanced performance in low light. Its 20x optical zoom gives a focal length of 24-480mm (full-frame equivalent) so it’s adept at shooting wide landscapes and faraway subjects. It also records 4K movies. Nikon Coolpix P900 PRICE: £529 Nikon’s top-flight…

SIMON LITTEN is a professional wildlife photographer based in Norfolk where he runs photography workshops throughout the year. See more of his photography at simonlitten.com…

Since 1985, family owned Tarangire Safari Lodge has catered to wildlife enthusiasts and those seeking rest and relaxation among one of Tanzania’s most popular national parks. Perched at the edge of a natural bluff, Tarangire Safari Lodge is renowned for its panoramic views of the savannah and Tarangire River below, “providing one of the best views in Africa.” Carving out the landscape below the lodge is Tarangire River, a favorite watering place, which attracts impressive numbers of wildlife from the surrounding ecosystems that come together in large numbers to drink, just below our wide-stretched terrace. A variety of ecosystems exist within the park boundary, with 94 species of mammals and over 500 bird species recorded. The scene unfolds before you while lounging on the outdoor patio, allowing you to appreciate…

A Brimstones are fast and adventurous fliers, a contrast to the many sedentary butterfly species that move barely a few metres between emerging from the chrysalis and egg-laying. This is why brimstones have colonised almost every site in Britain where their buckthorn and alder buckthorn foodplants occur. But for a nomadic insect there is always the danger of not being able to find a mate in what is – to a tiny insect – an almost infinite landscape. The sulphurous yellow that gives this beautiful butterfly its common name allows females to find and recognise the wandering males, and vice-versa. In early spring, males emerge from hibernation a week or two before the females in any given locality, allowing them time to set up small territories that they defend vigorously.…

“During peak nesting season we can work five or six days a week.” For the past three years retirees Rich Harris and Paul Watkins have been making, installing and monitoring owl boxes in Gloucestershire after discovering the county’s lack of suitable nest sites. “To date we have built and put up over 300 boxes,” says Paul. “We specifically target barn, tawny and little owls, and more recently the kestrel.” Experience has taught Rich that barn owls are more likely to occupy internal nestboxes sited in barns rather than external nestboxes, which are often taken up by jackdaws and squirrels. “In modern barns there is nowhere safe for owls to breed and old stone barns have either been converted into houses or have fallen down due to age,” he explains. Prior…

Stand up for wildlife Mark Carwardine’s column (My Way of Thinking, July 2018) opened my eyes far wider than they were already. I knew about the killing of (and crimes committed against) conservationists worldwide, but I had no idea of the scale, nor the number of fatalities. I am frankly shocked. I’ve always had a deep love for the natural world, and an ongoing dream of mine is to work with anti-poaching teams to combat the illegal animal trade. I fully support his views and think it is utterly heinous and wrong to kill people who are simply working for a better tomorrow. I will always be ready to stand up for the natural world. I just can’t believe that in the 21st century to do this would mean putting…