Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2020 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

Summer’s here, and though the time isn’t yet right for dancing in the street, it’s perfect for getting out in the garden. One of the hottest topics that readers ask us about is how to get more wildlife on their plots. So, we’ve assembled an inestimable panel of experts to answer your questions, and offer their advice on how to go completely wild at home. If this issue leaves you gasping for more, download our free Garden for Wildlife digital magazine, full of top tips, projects and expert advice – see page 22 to find out how to get your copy. There’s a prize* for anyone who manages to encourage anything as spectacular as this burrowing owl into their garden. It may seem unlikely, but that’s exactly what’s been happening…

1 RSPB Balranald on North Uist is managed by traditional crofting with little or no herbicides and pesticides. Surely the best place in Scotland to see corn buntings and the elusive corncrake. 2 Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire was bought by the RSPB in 1999 to trial farming techniques that can produce food cost effectively while benefitting wildlife. The site turns a profit and supports populations of farmland birds. 3 Ranscombe Farm in Kent, managed by Plantlife and Medway Council, is arguably Britain’s best location for arable plants. The working farm, nature reserve and country park host a huge array of nationally rare species. 4 College Lake is cared for by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust and has been reclaimed from a worked-out chalk quarry. Its ‘cornfield’ plants put…

WHAT IS IT? This impressive reptile, which reaches nearly 1m in length, can be distinguished by the bold, dark patterns on its skin, which get more pronounced with age and may be an adaptation to warming up quickly in its windswept coastal habitat. WHERE IS IT? Iguana melanoderma occurs on two of the Caribbean Leeward Islands – Saba and Montserrat. It may have been introduced from one island to the other by Amerindians who occupied the islands hundreds of years ago. An immediate threat to its survival is posed by interbreeding with other iguana species introduced to the islands. FIND OUT MORE ZooKeys: zookeys.pensoft. net/article/48679/…

One positive outcome of the coronavirus could be an end to commercial trade in wild animals. If ever there was a wakeup call, this is it. So much human suffering – plus a global financial bill of trillions of pounds – all because the Chinese eat bats and use them in traditional Chinese medicine. As Humane Society International warns, the coronavirus is a “tipping point that governments must not ignore”. COVID-19 is believed to have originated in a so-called wet market in Wuhan, China (‘wet’ because of the melting ice used to preserve goods, and the copious amounts of water used to wash away blood from butchered animals). Wet markets are where traders sell fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables, but also countless wild and domestic animals – everything…

According to the Wildlife Gardening Forum, “The key thing about wildlife gardeners is that they are aware of and interested in the creatures in their garden and they manage their gardens with wildlife in mind.” So how does wildlife gardening differ from gardening? In a wildlife garden, efforts for wildlife are integrated with every other use for the garden – a wildlife gardener considers how their choices could affect nature. Whether you have been wildlife gardening for years or have recently taken an interest in your patch due to the unprecedented crisis we are all facing, our special Q&A has picked the brains of experts to bring you the information you need to tweak or transform your green space into a haven for many species. 1 | POLLINATORS What habitat…

GARDEN BUMBLEBEE Bombus hortorum One of several bumblebees with yellow stripes and a white tail. This species is most easily distinguished by its elongated, almost horse-shaped head, and long tongue – used to extract nectar from tubular flowers. SOLDIER BEETLE, Rhagonycha fulva Soldier beetles are easily recognised, elongated, rust-coloured beetles with black tips to their wing cases. In addition to feeding on flowers, soldier beetles prey on small insects such as aphids, providing pest control. CINNABAR Tyria jacobaeae These unmistakeable scarlet-and-black moths are commonly found anywhere where the foodplant ragwort grows. The adult moths sit about on flowers, and flutter away rather feebly when disturbed. TREE BUMBLEBEE Bombus hypnorum A pretty and easy-to-identify bumblebee with a distinctive pattern of brown thorax, black abdomen and white tail. Tree bumblebees colonised the…

Pond species to keep an eye out for COMMON BLACK DIVING BEETLE Agabus bipustulatus This 10mm-long predator has a shiny black body, and red antennae and front legs. WATER SCORPION Nepa cinerea A predatory bug with huge pincers and a long ‘sting’ (a breathing siphon). Lurks in weedy margins. POND SKATER Gerris lacustris A predator and scavenger found gliding across the surface. Flies well and rapidly colonises new ponds. GREAT RAMSHORN SNAIL Planorbis corneus Grazes algae and rotting matter. Its shell is 30–35mm across. GREAT WATER BOATMAN Notonecta glauca Also known as the backswimmer. Rows under the surface with oar-like legs. DRAGONFLY NYMPH various species A predator fond of tadpoles. Its fat, stocky body is about 40mm long and lacks ‘tails’. MORE ONLINE For more species, visit discoverwildlife.com/ id-pond-wildlife…

SUN BEAR The species occurs patchily through much of its former range in South-East Asia. It is extant in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. MOON BEAR Over half the total range of this species is in China. It’s also found in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Iran, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia,Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. SUN BEAR Helarctos malayanus LENGTH 120–150cm (average) WEIGHT Smallest bear species in the world. Males weigh 27–70kg, females 27–50kg. DIET Generalist omnivores, feeding primarily on termites, ants, beetle larvae, stingless bee larvae and honey, and a large variety of fruit species. They have massive jaw muscles and large canines to bite through the bark/stem of hardwood trees, long tongues to extract insects from crevices,…

We started brewing alcohol 9,000 years ago, but nature has been doing it much longer, via yeast fermentation in rotting fruits and other sugary substances. The (aptly named) bohemian waxwing may gorge on so many fermented rowan berries in winter that it’s unable to fly or even walk in a straight line. But one of the keenest mammalian boozers is a tiny Malaysian tree shrew, whose nectar diet is 3.8 per cent alcohol by volume, akin to drinking beer all day.…

Enter an augmented reality with this new mobile wildlife game. Look through the virtual forests to find and learn about four species of ape, all of which are based on real individuals in the wild – Fio (Bornean orangutan), Chili (white-bearded gibbon), Buka (western lowland gorilla) and Aida (chimpanzee). Working with scientists, you’ll help to conserve the apes through various missions, such as looking for tracks and poo, and finding out what food the apes have been eating. Working with scientists from real wildlife organisations – Goualougo Triangle Ape Project and Borneo Nature Foundation – the developers had planned for users to play the game outdoors, but with the outbreak and spread of coronavirus, they worked to adapt it for playing indoors.…

BOOK EDITED BY JAQUELINE MITCHELL, BODLEIAN LIBRARIES, £16.99 Filled with poems, journal entries and book extracts, this anthology amounts to a collective love letter to birds. Whether it is Dorothy Wordsworth describing young bullfinches, which “bustle about among the blossoms, and poise themselves like wire-dancers”, or John Milton praising the “liquid notes” of the nightingale, each writer offers such beautifully articulated observations as to capture something of the sublime. Jaqueline Mitchell presents literary gems that stretch from current times as far back as Ancient Greece. This book stands as testimony to our ongoing love affair with birds – it seems impossible that we could ever exist without them.…

I was interested in the news article (Teaching new dogs old tricks, April 2020) about the wolf cubs playing fetch. About 10 years ago I had four fox cubs from the wildlife hospital where I volunteered, which I released into the wild when older. One of them regularly visited our garden after release. I never tamed the cubs, but she was always more friendly than the others –probably because she’d been hand reared. I tried playing ball with her one evening, and was surprised how readily she raced after it, but would only pick it up in her mouth and then drop it – making me go and pick up the ball to repeat the exercise. One day, the ball went into our neighbour’s garden. The fox dived under the…

Why is the hummingbird hawkmoth special to you? I saw my first a couple of years ago, feeding on some Verbena beside my road. To begin with, I genuinely thought it was a hummingbird, but then I took a video and watched it back in slow motion. I could hardly believe such a creature existed in the UK! Ever had one in your garden? Yes! I immediately planted some Verbena bonariensis at home – it’s great for all kinds of butterflies and moths – and, sure enough, the following year ‘hummers’ visited my garden. My favourite thing to do is sit there in the middle of summer and watch them. How did you get into wildlife? We never had much outside space where I grew up. But when I was…

GILLIAN BURKE The Springwatch presenter shares her thoughts on how lockdown will affect this year’s programme. “There has never been a more important time to bring nature to our screens,” says Gillian. See p34 KATE BRADBURY Gardening guru Kate is on hand with top tips for creating wildlife-friendly habitats at home, no matter what kind of space you have. Her advice? “If mammals and amphibians can’t access the garden, focus on birds and insects.” See p40 STUART BLACKMAN When it comes to intellect, the animal kingdom offers plenty of candidates for top of the class, as science writer Stuart uncovers: “Intelligence doesn’t necessarily require a brain or even a nervous system.” See p64 KARINE AIGNER Photographer Karine got to know Florida’s burrowing owls and the people protecting them. “This is…

When paddling on a rocky shore in spring and summer, it’s not unusual to find clumps of pink ‘silly string’. These egg masses are often more obvious than the animals that produce them. But if you’re up for the challenge, then get down on your knees and start to scrutinise the rockpools for sea hares, Aplysia punctata. Since they take on the colour of the algae they consume, sea hares blend in with their surroundings so to be almost invisible. What you’re looking for are brownish blobs with varying levels of black or white speckling. These mad-looking marine molluscs are frequently lumped together with sea slugs and other superficially similar, shell-less animals. Don’t be put off by what seem to be ugly, glutinous masses – I guarantee that they’re fascinating…

In 2009, having just completed her PhD, Amy Dickman moved to a small village on the southern edge of Ruaha National Park, slap bang in the middle of Tanzania, where she established a small bush camp. Some nights, she was kept awake by local people celebrating lion kills – strange as it may sound, it was the reason Dickman was there. Having worked on cheetah conservation in Namibia, and other big-cat projects, Dickman was drawn to the issue of why people kill carnivores – lions especially – and what can be done about it. “During my studies, I found there was a lot of reported conflict locally, but no one admitted to doing much killing,” she recalls. “This didn’t seem right. I didn’t feel we were getting to the truth…

Do different species need different types of nestboxes? The RSPB’s downloadable plan gives measurements for a small and a large box. For starlings and great spotted woodpeckers, use the dimensions for the large box; all the others need the small one: bit.ly/rspbplan How do I maintain a nestbox? Fleas and parasites reside in the nests of most birds and remain to infest chicks that hatch the following year. When the breeding season is over, old nests can be removed and the box cleaned out, as long as the nesting residents have stopped using the box. Bird-protection law permits the cleaning out of nests between 1 August and 31 January. If dead eggs are found in the nestbox, they must be destroyed during this period only. It is quite normal for…

STEP 1 Cut water-impermeable sheeting to cover the roof, with a slight overhang. Tack it to the sides of the shed. STEP 2 Screw lengths of fence board around the roof, to create a frame. Drill 2cm drainage holes at the lower end. STEP 3 Put a small block of wood in each corner, screwing through the frame to secure them. This adds strength to the structure. STEP 4 Pour a layer of gravel (2–3cm deep) into the frame. This improves the drainage, which helps to aerate plants. STEP 5 Cut weed matting to cover the roof and the inside of the frame. Lay it over the gravel and tack it to the frame. STEP 6 Add soil and plants or place potted plants on the gravel instead and surround…

The world’s finest human minds have struggled to pin down exactly what intelligence is. No one is quite sure how to define it (though it’s probably something along the lines of an ability to absorb and apply knowledge) or measure it (even IQ tests might simply assess a person’s ability to perform in IQ tests). And if it’s an elusive concept in humans, what chance have we got when it comes to probing the intellectual worlds of other species? Happily, we tend to know it when we see it. So, here’s our survey of the brightest of the bunch. CLEANER WRASSES Meet a spectrum of species whose mental agility and problem-solving skills will put some humans to shame. An ability to recognise oneself in a mirror has long been regarded…

LESSER FLAMINGOS Pretty in pink, flocks of flamingos create beautiful abstract patterns when seen from the air. They are part of a huge nomadic population of up to 2.5 million birds that shuttles between the shallow salt lakes of East Africa’s Great Rift Valley. The algae-rich waterbody pictured is Lake Logipi in Kenya, though Lakes Natron and Bogoria are perhaps better known with wildlife photographers and other ecotourists. The lakebed is perfectly flat, but appears to have a slope, due to the different shades of its algae and sodium compounds.…

The Pembrokeshire edition in the New Naturalist series does not disappoint! This is an area known for its wildlife and beauty. The book delves deeper into the history of the place but also the people who helped to shape locations such as Skokholm and its wildlife. The detail and personality within the text take you on a journey of each find and creation but we also get to meet the people who have long since been forgotten to many. Pairing the storytelling ways of Mullard with the beautiful and stunning images and artwork found throughout the book truly does make this a must for any natural history lover. and a welcome addition to the New Naturalist series. ³ Turn to p88 for a chance to win a copy.…

DAMP PATCH As the latest generation of amphibians start to branch out from ponds, pile logs in a shady spot to give the creatures a cool, damp place to use as shelter. PUT UP WITH PESTS Birds are busy looking for insects to feed their chicks, so avoid using pesticides to get rid of aphids or the like. If desperate, you can wash pests from plants by spraying water mixed with washing-up liquid. LET THE GRASS GROW With lawn-mowing starting in earnest, try to leave a section to grow unruly. Flowering ‘weeds’ and long grass will attract all manner of insects.…

BEARDEDTIT.PODBEAN.COM Following the COVID-19 lockdown, wildlife photographer Jack Perks decided to take advantage of his new-found abundance of free time by starting a podcast, to “give me something to do and stop me murdering my family,” he jests. With his peers dialling in for a chat, Jack covers an eclectic mix of topics and issues, such as underwater and eco photography, rewilding and the reasons why everyone should love frogs, to name a few. Conversations contain details of personal experiences and wildlife encounters (as well as some colourful language unsuitable for younger ears), and provide plenty of interesting insights and professional tips for those with a passion for photography.…

For your next challenge… try spotting this curious character. Another much smaller species of sea hare, found around the coasts of Britain and Ireland, is even harder to find. Elysia viridis is a dainty sea slug that sucks the ‘sap’ from seaweeds. But here comes the clever bit. Elysia steals the still-functioning green chloroplasts (the structures that contain the engine for photosynthesis) from inside the seaweed cells. Then it utilises them to harness the sun’s energy, thereby providing itself with sugars. Really, it is nothing less than a solar-powered sea slug!…

Dolphins can also call in unison, it seems – though this may not strictly be classed as singing. WANT TO COMMENT? Email wildlifeletters@ immediate.co.uk VOCALISTS LINED UP and belting out love songs in close harmony has long been a pop music cliché, but new research published in April challenges the notion that humans are the only ones to do it. Marine biologists studying a population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins at Shark Bay, on the coast of Western Australia, noticed that small groups of males team up to call together. They produce series of rapid ‘pops’ at exactly the same intervals and rate, perhaps as a form of male bonding or to attract females. It used to be thought that vocal displays by male animals were either a form of competition,…

It was on a particularly wild and blustery day in early March that BBC Wildlife emerged from the Natural History Unit in Bristol. We’d spent a lovely afternoon with the Springwatch team, catching up on plans for the new series. We were full of ideas of how we might cover it – it was to be our grandest coverage yet. Within a fortnight, all our plans were cast aside as the country descended into lockdown. Much like our colleagues on Springwatch, we stayed at home, trying to work out how to continue to bring our audiences the great natural history content they love. An incredible amount of work goes into Springwatch. As presenter Iolo Williams tells us overleaf, it takes some 120 people to put the show together, making it…

JOEL ASHTON (JA) of the Butterfly Brothers and co-author of Wild Your Garden HELEN BOSTOCK (HB) senior horticultural advisor, RHS KATE BRADBURY (KB) nature writer and author of Wildlife Gardening: For Everyone and Everything DAVE GOULSON (DG) author of The Garden Jungle PAUL HETHERINGTON (PH) director of fundraising and communications, Buglife JULES HOWARD (JH) zoologist and author of The Wildlife Pond Book (The Wildlife Trusts) ANDREA HUDSPETH (AH) Scotland officer, British Dragonfly Society CHARLIE LE MARQUAND (CLM) data and information officer, Mammal Society SHIRLEY THOMPSON MBE (ST) honorary education officer, Bat Conservation Trust MIKE TOMS head of communications, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) FAY VASS (FV) chief executive, British Hedgehog Preservation Society Additional questions and answers supplied by the BBC Wildlife team.…

1. PEANUTS Favoured by chaffinches, great spotted woodpeckers and nuthatches. Best fed in a mesh-feeder and in small quantities to prevent the peanuts from going off if there is a low turnover. By placing a length of plastic tube in the middle of the feeder you can reduce its volume. 2. NIGER SEEDS (above) Favoured by goldfinches, robins and siskins. You’ll need a special type of seed feeder, because this variety of food is so small. 3. SUNFLOWER HEARTS (above) Favoured by garden finches (goldfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches), house sparrows, robins and siskins. Rich in protein and unsaturated fats that don’t require the effort of removing the husks. 4. MEALWORMS (above) Favoured by blue tits, song thrushes, blackbirds and robins. These live larvae are…

Wildlife friendly plants to grow PRIMROSE Primula vulgaris Attracts bees, butterflies and the distinctive bee fly. Likes neutral to acid soil in part shade or full sun if moist soil. CHIVE Allium schoenoprasum This is an excellent plant for bees. It does well in fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. ASTERS Symphyotrichum A useful late source of nectar for butterflies such as painted ladies. Likes moist, well-drained soil in full sun or part shade. FENNEL Foeniculum vulgare The flat-topped flowers are perfect for hoverflies, other flies and solitary wasps. Likes well-drained soil in full sun. HEATHER Calluna vulgaris Loved by honeybees, among others. Enjoys humus-rich, acid soil in full sun and is slug resistant. COSMOS Cosmos bipinnatus Single-flowered forms are good for bees and butterflies. Place in moist, but…

DAVID AND JANE These moon bears were rescued in Bokèo province, a 12-hour drive north-west of Luang Prabang. They were confiscated at about five months old, from a man who was selling them – a government sting operation ensured he was arrested. The youngsters were unbelievably frightened and malnourished but taken to Matt Hunt’s house for 24-hour care, as there was no space at the sanctuary for them at the time of their rescue. It was great to see both bears exhibiting natural behaviour as they realised they didn’t have to be scared. TONG AND NUNGE In February 2019, Free the Bears travelled to Pak Lai, an eight-hour drive south of Luang Prabang, to confiscate these three-year-old moon bear brothers from a family who were keeping them as pets. The…

The reproductive potential of these fecund mammals preoccupied the Italian mathematician Fibonacci as far back as 1201. Pondering the problem in his Book of Calculations, he came up with the Fibonacci Sequence, still used today. His answer was 466. However, as he was more mathematician than naturalist, his assumptions were not all squarely rooted in biology. So, BBC Wildlife decided to ask statistical modeller Tom Fiddaman of Ventana Systems. Assuming European rabbits produce an average litter of five kits, the offspring are sexually active at three months, mature females produce a litter a month, litters alternate between three females/ two males and three males/two females, and none die… there will be 1,182 bunnies by New Year’s Eve. If that seems like a lot, there would be 345,000 at the end…

In a sense, the honeybees kept in hives are wild. They come and go as they please, and are dependent on the surrounding environment for sustenance – ‘feral’ might be a better word. They are descended from a truly wild species that colonised Africa, Asia and Europe under its own steam, building its own nests in tree cavities. Remarkably little is known about the range or abundance of these wild honeybee colonies, which is reflected in the species’ Data Deficient status. Truly wild colonies were long suspected to be extinct in Europe, until a recent survey identified nests in Poland and Germany. The study estimated there could be up to 80,000 wild colonies across Europe.…

The Explainer Mimicry usually involves one organism copying features of another – a harmless hoverfly, say, adopting the warning colours of a wasp. But some creatures mimic themselves, or rather, they mimic one part of their body with another. The eyespots at the tail-end of a butterfly fish, for example, draw predators’ attention away from the vulnerable head. Some species of pygmy owl have false eyes on the back of their head, giving assailants approaching from the rear the impression that they’ve already been spotted.…

I was anxious when I opened Dara McAnulty’s diary. It isn’t fair to expect greatness from a 15-year-old – let alone from one known to be painfully self-deprecating and burdened with eco-anxiety and existential angst. The book covers an ordinary, extraordinary year in which the autistic young campaigner (now 16) lingers on the brink of adulthood – still as likely to skip and clap as he is to belt out a rousing oration to thousands of people. Dara writes of his family in Northern Ireland and the nature he loves with passion, humour and eloquence. It made me laugh, cry, cringe and sigh, and reminded me startlingly of who I once was and who I once wanted (deep down still want) to be.…

YOUNGER READERS From the off, it’s clear that this is an impressive book. Gorgeous illustrations flood every page, and short, accessible chunks of copy offer an incredibly full introduction to botany. We begin at the beginning with an overview of flower families, anatomy and pollinators, before delving deeper. Why are roses red and violets blue? What are flowers actually for? How do seeds disperse? Can plants defend themselves? And so on. Beyond science, we learn about flowers in different cultures, and how and why we might grow them ourselves. As with all the best children’s reference books, this title comes highly recommended for grown-ups, too. Every time my son gleaned some nugget from the book and turned to me asking “Is that true, Daddy?” I was conscious not only of…