Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2020 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

1 | GOLDFINCH The gilded goldfinch God knows the world needs all the good it can get right now – Out in the gardens and fields, Goldfinches are gilding the land for free The opening lines of Goldfinch, a poem in Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’s new book The Lost Spells, remind us that garden birds are joy-bringers in difficult times, yet not something we can take for granted. Canaries in the coal mine, their fortunes should concern us all. Perhaps this is why we feed birds, and the goldfinch is a perfect example of how doing so can change the populations and behaviour of individual species. In Britain, our relationship with this glittering gem with the tinkling voice is particularly close. Always a prized cage bird, it nowadays is…

At first glance, churchyards may simply appear to be parcels of grass with a few trees dotted among the gravestones, providing a moment’s quiet contemplation en route to the church itself. Yet a closer look reveals that many are not just significant as burial grounds and cultural landmarks, but also as sanctuaries for an array of wild species struggling in Britain’s farmed and postindustrial landscapes. It now seems accepted that Christianity arrived in the British Isles close to 2,000 years ago, with the foundations for the subsequent churches and churchyards lain some time afterwards. However, archaeologists have discovered that many early Christian structures were either built into, or alongside, established pagan sites, meaning many churchyards may be older than the churches they encircle. Yew trees are frequently a feature of…

In the absence of old bulls, males can become hyper-aggressive. Elephant society revolves around stable herds of females who raise and educate calves cooperatively under the leadership of an elderly, experienced matriarch. But new research suggests that mature males, too, play a crucial educational role – a discovery that has implications for the regulation of trophy hunting. Rather little is known about the social lives of males after they leave their natal herd in adolescence, says University of Exeter biologist Connie Allen, who conducted the research in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Pans National Park. Certainly, the males do have a social life, though their friendships are more casual than those of females. “Some males have regular friends, but in general male groups are very fluid and changeable,” explains Allen. “If you talk…

WHAT IS IT? Truffles may not be to everyone’s taste, but these subterranean fungi are totally reliant on being eaten, if their spores are to be spread. This new species apparently appeals to the sophisticated palates of bonobos, who use their hands to dig them out of the earth. WHERE IS IT? Hysterangium bonobo, as it has been formally named, was identified at Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the species was already known to the local human population, who call it simbokilo and use it to bait traps for duikers, porcupines and other mammals. FIND OUT MORE Mycologia: bit.ly/3dqBMKO…

Many of us, at one time or another, will have paused to admire ants scurrying up and down the cracks between our patio slabs or among the blades of grass in our lawns, working efficiently in their co-operative societies to build nests, retrieve food and feed their young. In the UK, the species you’re most likely to encounter is the common black garden ant, which lives in colonies of up to a few thousand individuals. But further afield, in rainforests around the world, there are ants that take cooperation and efficiency to another level. They move as a single giant battalion, overwhelm prey animals many times their own size and create ‘buildings’ out of their own bodies. These are the army ants, whose spectacular behaviour and biology has inspired the…

It was summer 1994 when, with a gleaming property brochure in my hand and apprehension running riot in my stomach, I drove up a windy, wooded glen shadowed by towering Scots pines. When the trees petered out, Ballintean Farm came into view – its yard littered with dilapidated caravans and an eclectic mix of rusty machinery. I had no idea what I’d expected, but this wasn’t it. An hour or so later, I thanked the farmer for showing me around but told him: “It’s too big, too much money and too much work.” I was glad to drive away. Six months later, I moved in. I spent the first 15 years of my working life trawling Britain’s motorways driving trucks. Chomping on endless chocolate bars, I had plenty of time…

Star photo City break Every summer, lesser and greater flamingos visit Mumbai in large numbers to feed and roost. But during the COVID-19 lockdown, about 150,000 came to a lake near a housing society. Never before has the lake seen such a huge surge in flamingos. So, I decided to go there one April evening and photograph them using a drone. It took me many attempts to get this image, which showcases the birds in an urban environment. I'm so happy I managed to capture them. Aishwarya Sridhar, Mumbai, India ENTER TO WIN A HANDCRAFTED CAMERA BAG This month, our star photo wins a Billingham Hadley Small Pro Camera Bag, worth £200. Handmade in England from waterproof fabric and top-grain leather, it is designed to protect a mirrorless or small…

“More and more buffalos followed, until the river was a seething mass of bodies.” No quiet moment in Africa should be taken for granted, as I discovered during a boat safari in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park. Motoring gently downstream, I could see elephants picking through the tall grass on the riverbank, while pods of hippos appeared sporadically in the water, exhaling through their gigantic nostrils. It was all very peaceful – until we rounded a bend. There, on the Zambian side, was a herd of cape buffalo preparing to cross the water to Zimbabwe. Joseph, my guide, quietly brought the boat to a halt in the papyrus, as we anticipated the buffalos’ next move. The bovids were searching for a spot to cross. Some of the older bulls and…

Snow moose When Matthew spotted the moose – in Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba, Canada – it was snowing heavily. Using his car as a hide, he waited as the moose walked through the snow towards him, her wide hooves like snowshoes. Females don’t have the huge antlers of males, but their long noses make them instantly recognisable. His chance of a creative shot came when she paused to drink from a puddle. Every few seconds, she would glance back, her head outlined against her dark, wet fur. The heavy snowfall stopped Matthew’s auto-focus working, but he had just enough time to experiment with shutter speeds and capture both the effect of snowfall and the details of her face. Nikon D800 + 70–200mm f2.8 lens; 1/1600 sec at f4; ISO…

A mean mouthful On a diving holiday in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sam stopped to watch the behaviour of a group of clownfish. He was intrigued by the expression of one individual, the result of its mouth being constantly open, holding something. When Sam downloaded his photos, he saw tiny eyes peeping out of the clownfish’s mouth. It was a tongue-eating louse, a parasitic isopod that swims in through the gills as a male, changes sex, grows legs and attaches itself to the base of the tongue, sucking blood. When the tongue withers and drops off, the isopod takes its place. Its presence may weaken its host, but the clownfish can continue to feed. Nikon D300 + 105mm f2.8 lens; 1/250 sec at f18; ISO 200; Nauticam Housing + two INON…

The fox that got the goose It was on a summer holiday in Helsinki that Liina, then aged 13, heard about a large fox family living in the city suburbs on the island of Lehtisaari. So, Liina and her father spent one long July day watching the two adults and their six large cubs. In another month, the cubs would be able to fend for themselves, but in July the parents were still bringing food for them. It was 7pm when the vixen arrived with a barnacle goose. Feathers flew as the cubs began fighting over it. One finally gained ownership. Dragging the goose into a crevice, the cub attempted to eat its prize while blocking access to the others. Lying just metres away, Liina was able to capture the…

Yew With flaky, reddish-brown bark and needle-like leaves that grow in two rows, the yew looks like no other native conifer. It also, unlike most conifers, does not bear its seeds in cones – instead, each is enclosed in a red, fleshy, berry-like structure called an aril, which is open at the tip. The tree reaches heights of 20m. Maidenhair spleenwort A dainty little fern, maidenhair spleenwort grows in tufted fashion on church walls. It has long fronds, consisting of short, round and paired leaflets, emanating from a black central stem. In Britain, the species is found mainly in western areas, but it has a large global distribution. Ivy This familiar evergreen climber carpets many churchyards, clambering up the gravestones. Ivy has two leaf forms: the typical five-lobed leaf only…

The public’s health is being put at risk by the millions of live wild animals being legally imported into the UK from emerging disease hotspots, which are then sold as exotic pets, according to the global animal welfare charity World Animal Protection (WAP). Using a Freedom of Information request to the Animal and Plant Health Agency, an agency of Defra, researchers found that between 2014 and 2018, more than three million animals were imported into the UK to supply the exotic pet trade, one of the major commercial purposes for importing live wild animals. These animals included African pygmy hedgehogs, snakes and tortoises. Many of these animals were taken from countries that are considered to be emerging disease hotspots – Cameroon, El Salvador and Indonesia, for example. According to WAP,…

Science is full of surprises, including sometimes the fact that something you thought was bound to be known, actually isn’t. In Britain, as elsewhere, small rodents form a key food-chain link. As grazers and seed dispersers, they are essential to forest and grassland health, while their abundance places them centrally on the menus of predators, both furred and feathered. How and why their populations change seasonally and annually has been studied for nearly a century. So, it comes as a surprise to learn that how the species interact among their small and furry selves is, in fact, very little known. A team of scientists from Oxford University, led by Marc Brouard, studied how two species, the common wood mouse and bank vole affect each other’s growth rates, looking at individual…

GLEN AFFRIC, HIGHLAND Rewilding work has been shaping this most magical of Scottish glens for over 60 years. The ancient, isolated pines that once saw wolves walk beneath them, are now surrounded by a new generation of trees, freed from the pressures of over-grazing and commercial extraction. Today, Glen Affric is part of a fledgling landscape-scale initiative to create a mosaic of rich habitats that will benefit nature, climate and people. CARRIFRAN, SCOTTISH BORDERS The Carrifran Wildwood is an inspiring example of what can be achieved when a group of passionate individuals comes together. The story began at the turn of the century when a bare glen in the southern uplands was purchased to recreate an ecological oasis, a tapestry of native woodland, open glades and high-altitude vegetation. Today, the…

JAVAN RHINO The three subspecies of Javan rhino once occurred across a vast area of Asia. Rhinoceros sondaicus inermis disappeared from India, Bangladesh and Myanmar a century ago, while the last R. s. annamiticus was found poached in Vietnam, in 2010. Just R. s. sondaicus now survives and only in Java. SUMATRAN RHINO Two out of the three subspecies remain. Northern Sumatran rhino, once distributed across Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar, are now presumed extinct. There are 2–15 Bornean rhinos surviving in Kalimantan. While western Sumatran rhinos now survive solely on the island.…

The Eurasian lynx, which, as its name suggests, has a broad range extending across Europe and Asia, has had a turbulent history in Switzerland – hunted to extinction by the early 20th century, then reintroduced in the 1970s. Nearly 50 years on, this solitary, elusive cat clings on in the Jura Mountains, threatened by loss of habitat and prey, road collisions and poaching. Captivated by the species since childhood, Neil spent three years seeking this phantom feline, eventually sighting one in winter 2012. It was another three years before he managed to capture a quality image. Since then, spending up to 60 hours a week in the forest, Neil has come to know four individuals well. NEIL VILLARD hails from the Swiss Jura. He works in chemical ecology and is…

Rabies scare Whilst reading James Fair’s article on wildlife markets (August 2020) I was curious to note rabies being considered in animal to human spread of disease. This reminded me of when an Alsatian dog and her pup were shot next door to us because they had contracted rabies. We were questioned as to whether we had been in contact with them, as they were very friendly towards us children. This was in Egypt in 1956. The dogs’ owners and their little girl went to hospital where we were made to understand they would undergo very painful treatment. Unfortunately, we never saw the family again, as shortly afterwards, women and children were evacuated from the Canal Zone, due to the Suez Crisis. I sometimes wonder what happened to them as…

Caught in the act Kryštof woke to a beautiful day, high in the Austrian Alps. He was staying in a hut with members of his young naturalists’ club. While everyone else was still asleep, he and his friend crept out to take pictures. Spotting a male chamois grazing in a meadow, they began to stalk it. Native to the mountains of central-southern Europe, the Balkans and the Near East, northern chamois are nimble, hoofed grazers and browsers that walk on two toes (as do sheep and deer). Females live in herds but older males are solitary. The boys approached slowly as the chamois moved up the slope, still grazing. Then it disappeared behind a rock. Following up the steep terrain, Kryštof worried about falling into the abyss with his camera.…

City signature A signature spider hangs in its web over a roadside in Bangalore, India. Vidyun had watched it every weekend for a month, noticing how often it rebuilt its web – and changed its signature. Signature spiders are orb-weavers that decorate their webs with stabilimenta – letter-like zigzags. The purpose of these stabilimenta is still not clear, but it may be that they warn birds of the web, so saving on web-building. Or they may attract insects by reflecting UV light. This spider had a leg span of 6cm but when it lined up its legs with the stabilimenta, it looked bigger, perhaps warning off certain predators. Vidyun set out to capture his subject against the backdrop of a tall apartment complex, to show how “the spider was living…

Treetop douc When his father planned a business trip to Vietnam, Arshdeep researched the country’s wildlife online. It was after he read about the endangered red-shanked douc langur that he asked his father to take him along. The meeting was near Son Tra Nature Reserve, Vietnam’s last coastal rainforest and a stronghold for the langur. Found only in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the primate is threatened by habitat loss, hunting and trade. Douc langurs live in the canopy, which is a challenge for a photographer. Arshdeep had just three days at Son Tra. On the second day, he was rewarded when a male appeared. It was a struggle to shoot at an angle clear of leaves but, just for a second, the langur glanced at him. Nikon D500 + 500mm…

Chick with a chance A little tern chick calls for its breakfast as its parent arrives with a fish. Filip was with his father and friends in a hide, watching the birds on an island in the Kalensko reservoir beside Poland’s Odra River. It is part of the Islands of Life conservation initiative, bringing ground-nesting birds back from the brink. The group had arrived at the hide in the dark. As the sun rose, the island had become busy with life – little ringed plovers, oystercatchers, common and little terns, all of them feeding chicks. Filip chose to focus on a little tern, a chick with a chance here of fledging safely. Nikon D5 + 500mm f4 lens; 1/6400 sec at f4; ISO 1600; tripod + Wimberley 200 head; hide.…

Badger caught worming In Karula National Park, Estonia, which Fred’s family visit every summer, there is always a chance of seeing a badger. As the summer nights are very short, the badgers emerge in daylight. Out with his camera one evening at sunset, Fred spotted a badger feeding on a hill a distance away. What excited him was the chance to photograph it against the evening sky. Staying downwind, he began to creep closer. After half an hour of stalking, his shoes wet through with the evening dew, he managed to get close enough to hear the omnivore digging with its long claws for earthworms. Though badgers will eat most things – insects, small mammals, frogs, birds’ eggs, fruit or grain – earthworms can comprise the majority of their diet,…

Black panther Excess amounts of melanin – the dark pigment found in skin and hair – can cause all sorts of animals to lose their characteristic coloration, as they take on a striking all-black appearance. Among big cats, the leopard (pictured here, its spots only just discernable) and the jaguar are thought to exhibit melanism in about 10 per cent of their populations. Often referred to as ‘panthers’ in their melanistic state, these arresting felines have gained an almost mystical status. Winter waters A northern pike swims through the eerie tangle of an underwater forest. Located in central Spain, between the provinces of Albacete and Ciudad Real, Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park is home to 15 lagoons, which offer divers “underwater landscapes of tremendous beauty, full of life,” says photographer…

A young baboon has become a symbol of conflict between animal rights activists and city authorities in Cape Town, South Africa. The population of chacma baboons around Cape Town has swelled in recent years – to some 500 in 15 different troops. Conflict arises as increasing numbers come down from mountain ground to roam residential areas and take food from gardens, scavenge from bins or enter houses. To deter this, Cape Town employs a Baboon Technical Team, with scores of rangers who watch the baboons and use paintball pellets to scare them from suburbs. Rarely, animals deemed particularly troublesome are euthanised. These tactics have enraged people who welcome the baboons in their neighbourhood. A young male from Slangkop Mountain, known to activists as Kataza, began raids on a coastal village…

SINCE THE SUMMER, orcas have repeatedly rammed yachts in the waters off Spain and Gibraltar, leading many conservationists to suggest the animals are in distress. The unprovoked group attacks have damaged rudders and alarmed crews. Worldwide, accounts of whales and dolphins deliberately ramming boats are mostly rum-fuelled tales of old, or fiction – like the vengeful sperm whale in Moby Dick. At the time of writing, the Spanish encounters have not been witnessed by scientists. However, they follow a consistent pattern, so are not in doubt. Orcas are disappearing from this area, and the pod thought to be involved has as few as 30 adults. Researchers speculate that stress, perhaps caused by whale-watching boats, marine pollution or prey scarcity, might be affecting their behaviour. “Orcas gather around the tuna-fishing fleet…

Since last year, Marc Bekoff, emeritus professor at the University of Colorado, has been among a group of people fighting a cull of Canada geese in Denver by biologists from the US Department of Agriculture. The city’s park officials say droppings from thousands of resident geese, which live around many of the most popular parks and lakes, are getting into waterways and spreading disease, and numbers need to be reduced. “They round them up, put them in portable cages and onto a truck and take them somewhere and gas them,” Bekoff tells me. Last year, he says, they killed about 1,600 geese, this year it was going to be 4,000. “But I was [recently] told that the killing has stopped at about 500, and I believe that the discussions we’ve…

We’re woken with a jolt by panicked shouting in the forest. When the commotion is followed by thunderous crashing just outside our tent, we’re well and truly pulled from our jetlagged slumber. It’s 4am in the Javanese jungle – we arrived and made camp just a few hours ago, exhausted after an eight-hour trek. Pulling on our jungle-wear, expedition partner Kyle McBurnie and I cautiously head out to investigate. We find Chenglus, our expert tracker, sitting by the campfire looking dazed and unnerved – his mouth hanging open in shock as he slowly shakes his head. I gently ask what’s happened. Chenglus tells me that he made a small fire on the beach by the lagoon next to our makeshift camp and slept there, until he was woken by a…

It’s nearly December. The madness of Christmas is upon us, the light is hardly light at all, and the days are becoming apologetically short. The countryside seems to sleep under frost or gloom. Many nature lovers resign themselves dolefully to the indoors, assuming that there isn’t much to see, other than reindeer, holly and mistletoe (and robins wearing hats). A year or two back, I felt the December doldrums approaching as usual, but then a thought struck me: is this month really so bad for wildlife watching, other than the odd starling roost? Is there anything that is at its best in the last month of the year? Is everything sleeping, hiding or laying low, or is it just wildlife watchers who do this? Are there hidden riches in December,…

“The diversity of species here, with the historical poignancy and archaeological interest, make this a fascinating dive site.” On 6 October 1941, the SS Thistlegorm was anchored in the Red Sea, awaiting passage to the Suez Canal. It was the fourth voyage of her 18-month life – and would be her last. At 1.30am, the Sunderland-built steamer was bombed by two German Luftwaffe planes dispatched from Crete. SS Thistlegorm was an enormous supply ship, packed with vehicles and equipment – including motorbikes, trucks, tanks, rifles, munitions and even two heavy steam engines – all destined for the British Eighth Army at Tobruk. With the bombs landing in the ammo hold, the ship crumpled like a tin can, sinking in less than 10 minutes. A new incarnation Nearly 80 years on,…

Wildlife after dark Join Tom Hiddleston for an exploration of nocturnal species. EARTH AT NIGHT IN COLOR APPLE TV PLUS, FROM 4 DECEMBER With the latest camera technology being used by wildlife documentary filmmakers, we have become accustomed to some incredible sights and scenes finding their way into our homes via our TV screens. But now these series can promise something truly extraordinary – enabling us to see in the dark. Following in the footsteps of Night on Earth (released on Netflix in January), this new Apple TV Plus series offers another thrilling dive into unseen nocturnal worlds. While night-time cameras might once have shown us grainy pictures in monotone colours, Earth at Night in Color makes use of powerful low-light cameras, which are 100 times more sensitive than the…

Alex Morss’s ‘What plants are Britain’s biggest bullies?’ (Q&A, November 2020) should have included native plants, as two of these cover an area much greater than that invaded by the aliens you list. I am referring to bracken and soft rush, which have replaced countless acres, often of species-rich grassland, with monocultures of limited ecological value. Areas of flower-rich hay-meadow in the Scottish Highlands, which I knew in my youth, are now jungles of bracken where dry, and solid rushes where wet. Both species are definitely ‘bullies’ and sterilise many areas that should be open for regeneration of native woodland. Just because plants are native does not mean they’re not serious ecological problems, if we’re aiming for biodiversity. Robin Noble, via email Alex Morss replies: You highlight a challenging conservation…

Perfect balance In spring, the meadows near Andrés’ home in Ubrique, Andalucia, Spain, are bright with flowers, such as these sweet-scented Sulla vetches. Andrés had walked there a few days earlier and seen European stonechats hunting for insects, but they were on the far side of the meadow. Andrés asked his dad to drive to the meadow and park, so he could use the car as a hide, kneel on the back seat and, with his lens on the windowsill, shoot through the open windows. He was delighted to see stonechats flying close by, alighting on any stem or stalk as a vantage point to look for prey. It was already late in the day, and the sun had gone down, but it seemed that the low light intensified the…

The perfect catch A brown bear pulls a sockeye salmon from the shallows of a river in Alaska’s Katmai National Park, which contains Pacific coastline, mountains, lakes, rivers and an estimated 2,200 brown bears. In spring, when bears emerge from hibernation in their mountain dens, many of them head down to feed on sedges in open meadows and forage for clams on the mudflats. Then they feast on the vast numbers of nutrient-rich sockeye salmon that start arriving, gathering in the estuaries before heading upstream to spawn. The presence of the salmon until autumn ensures the bears’ survival through the winter. The greatest concentration of bears is around the waterfall at Brooks River, where viewing platforms enable visitors to watch bears catching salmon leaping up the falls. Hannah chose to…

Paired-up puffins A pair of Atlantic puffins in vibrant breeding plumage pause near their nest burrow on the Farne Islands. Every spring, these small islands off Northumberland attract more than 100,000 breeding pairs of seabirds. While guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars crowd onto the cliffs, puffins nest in burrows on the grassy slopes above. When wintering at sea, their plumage is a dull black and grey, but by the time they return to breed, they are sporting black ‘eyeliner’ and brightly coloured bill plates that have fused into an unmistakable beak – one which, to other puffins, also glows with UV light. Evie had longed to see a puffin, and when school broke up, she and her family managed two day trips to Staple Island in July, before the puffins…