Home/Science/BBC Wildlife Magazine/March 2022/In This Issue
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Don’t miss National Nestbox Week!discoverwildlife.com Spring will soon be underway so now is your last chance to install a nestbox in your garden before breeding commences. National Nestbox Week takes place from 14th February and you can find all the best advice on choosing and locating yours at discoverwildlife.com. Keep in touch wildlifeletters@immediate.co.uk instagram.com/bbcwildlifemagazine twitter.com/WildlifeMag facebook.com/wildlifemagazine…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Newts are making a moveIT MIGHT LOOK LIKE THIS MACEDONIAN crested newt is flying through space, away from a cumulous green galaxy, but it is actually gently swimming across a pond in Serres, Greece. The ‘galaxy’ is in fact a mass of filamentous algae. In spring, amphibians across the northern hemisphere will be emerging from hibernation and heading towards watery places to breed. In the UK, we have three native species of newt: the similar-looking and -sized smooth and palmate newts, both common and widespread, and the great crested newt, which is larger and widespread across much of lowland England, but restricted elsewhere. Once back in their ponds, newts perform courtship dances, where the male uses his tail to waft pheromones towards the female. If she’s interested, he will deposit his spermatophore near her…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022“Worst outbreak” of avian flu in wild birdsAS MANY AS 4,000 BARNACLE GEESE that were wintering on the Solway Firth, on the border between England and Scotland, have died from an ongoing and unprecedented outbreak of avian flu. The geese, which breed in Svalbard in arctic Norway, have been seen falling from the sky in distress and staff at the RSPB’s Mersehead reserve have been removing hundreds of carcasses that have washed up on the beach. Conservationists now fear that more birds will die from the disease. “The classic avian flu pattern is for the outbreak to peak in early winter, followed by a second wave later in the season that can be more deadly,” says Martin Fowlie, senior media officer at the RSPB. The current outbreak of avian flu was first detected last autumn, and while…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022ORIGIN OF PIECESAN ANATOMICAL MISCELLANY JELLYFISH, CORALS, ANEMONES, WHICH are collectively called cnidarians, perform one of the fastest moves in nature. Their potent stings are delivered by tiny barbed harpoons, each packed into a single cell full of venom. When triggered, they discharge explosively, like an inverted finger of a rubber glove popping back out under pressure, accelerating faster than a bullet in a gun barrel.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 202210 monogamous speciesThe following animals will tend to form lifelong pair bonds, with some exceptions 1. Swan 2. Wolf 3. Black vulture 4. Shingleback lizard 5. Gibbon 6. California mice 7. Eurasian beavers 8. Bald eagle 9. Prairie voles 10. Macaroni penguins IN BRIEF Seaside snacks Keen’s mice are only found on islands off British Columbia’s coast. While females eat insects and seeds in the island interiors, males are beachcombers, scavenging seaweed, dead fish and seasnails. As islands are generally resource-poor, biologists believe this reduces inter-sex competition, making best use of what little food there is.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022DiCaprio treeWHAT IS IT? A tropical tree in the ylang-ylang family, this species was the first addition to the 2022 new plant species list by the scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who were working with the National Herbarium of Cameroon. It is 4m tall, with bunches of large and glossy yellow-green flowers on its trunk. WHERE IS IT? Uvariopsis dicaprio was found in the Ebo Forest, which is one of the largest intact rainforests in Cameroon and makes up half of the Yabassi Kew Biodiversity Area. The area has been relatively unknown to botanical science, and scientists have been working to document its array of species. WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND THE SCIENTIFIC NAME? The species was named in honour of the actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who used…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Roving rodentsENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS WORKING TO rewild Scotland have welcomed the Scottish government’s decision to support the expansion of Scotland’s beaver population to areas beyond its current range. While the Scottish beaver population is booming with an estimated 1,000 beavers largely found around the catchment areas of the rivers Forth and Tay, their presence is not welcomed by some farmers and landowners. In 2020, 115 beavers were killed under 19 licences. There are now plans to move beavers judged to be causing problems to more suitable locations. Sarah Robinson, director of conservation at the Scottish Wildlife Trust says: “We strongly welcome the Scottish government’s support for expanding the range of beavers into new areas of Scotland. There are more than 100,000 hectares of suitable woodland habitat around the country. Much of this…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Ed Sheeran’s tree-planting missionPopstar Ed Sheeran has pledged to try to offset the carbon emissions his tours generate by buying up land and rewilding as much of it as possible. The 30-year-old millionaire intends to plant as many trees as he can on the plots he’s purchasing. Starfish stranding Thousands of starfish were found washed up on Pembrokeshire’s Coppet Hall Beach in early January. Extreme weather is believed to be the most likely cause for the strandings. A similar stranding of starfish occurred on Culbin Sands, near Nairn, in Scotland in November 2021, after Storm Arwen.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022POO CORNERID GUIDE Although it doesn’t have a strong smell, the poo of tapirs is distinctive, as it’s typically full of fibres and seeds from the plants they eat. As large herbivores, the Baird’s tapir and other tapir species are important for the dispersal of large seeds and, in the process, combating climate change. “These seeds often come from slow-growing trees with dense wood; these same trees are typically the trees that are the most carbon dense,” says Christopher Jordan, director of Latin America for Re:wild.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022LET’S DANCECOURTING GREAT CRESTED GREBES WITH STRICTLY COME DANCING ALL wrapped up by Christmas, many readers may be missing their weekly dose of dancing come early spring. If, however, you find yourself unable to wait for the new series, but are prepared to exchange your sofa for a warm coat and binoculars, there is a spectacle on offer right now that may just eclipse anything provided by cavorting celebrities dressed in sequins. Great crested grebes may look drab out of the breeding season, but they more than make up for their nondescript winter plumage with the extraordinary outfit ushered in by their second partial moult. Keen to impress their dance partner, the end result is a gorgeous headset, composed of a frill or ‘tippet’ of chestnut and black-tipped feathers that surrounds…4 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022A FRAGILE SUCCESSWINSTON CHURCHILL ONCE described Uganda as “the Pearl of Africa”. His words come to mind as I take in my surroundings. I’m in the lush, green foothills of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, whose dark interior shelters the country’s most famous wild residents: mountain gorillas. My guide, Peace, is a powerhouse of enthusiasm and knowledge. “You are very lucky. Today you will meet the Rushegura group,” she exclaims. “There are two big boys: the leader, we shall call Obama. And his second-in-command, we shall call Biden.” A chuckle ripples through our group of eight tourists. The silverback’s name is actually Kabukojo, but, spurred on by our amusem*nt, Peace continues. “Obama has been busy making babies. There are now 21 family members.” Covid-19 is a potential disaster for a gorilla population that has…11 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Duchy of CornwallTHE DUCHY OF CORNWALL LANDHOLDINGS ARE concentrated in the western half of Dartmoor, and despite its wild beauty and iconic granite tors, wildlife in the national park is a pale shadow of what it once would have been. Only a few isolated spots, such as the haunting Wistman’s Wood – a fern-rich, lichen-clad but tiny 3.5 ha oak woodland – give a hint of its true nature. Much of the Duke of Cornwall, Prince Charles’s Dartmoor estate is let out to sheep farmers, and over the past 100 years or so it has been subjected to intensive levels of grazing. Reducing sheep numbers, or better still getting rid of them altogether and replacing them with lower densities of livestock that have a less devastating impact on biodiversity, would be a…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Duchy of LancasterTHE DUCHY OF LANCASTER IS OWNED BY THE Queen and, though it doesn’t cover an extensive area of the Forest of Bowland, there is a substantial holding at Whitewell, near cl*theroe. Bowland’s moorlands ought to be fertile territory for species, such as hen harriers and other raptors, but in recent decades they have largely failed to flourish. One of the biggest conservation issues in Bowland is grouse-shooting, which requires the cultivation of a heather monoculture at the expense of greater plant diversity. A spokesperson from the duchy told BBC Wildlife that game-shooting of grouse, partridges and pheasants only takes place on a “limited scale”, but to really live up to Prince Charles’s words, should it not commit to abandoning these pursuits entirely? That could have a domino effect, persuading other…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022FLIGHT PATHHUMANS HAVE BEEN FASCINATED BY BIRDS FOR millennia. Images of owls, cranes and emus adorn cave art sites believed to be up to 40,000 years old. Birds have been revered in religions and cultures throughout time and across regions, while flight itself plays an important role in myth and legend. From the Athabaskan stories that explain why only some birds migrate to the legend of Icarus who made his own wings, humans have always looked to the sky for inspiration. Yet it wasn’t until the early 1900s that we found a way to fly. And, unsurprisingly, we did it through lessons learned from our feathered friends. We adopted the lightly curved shape of a bird’s wing – an aerofoil – and designed planes around it, because it was so efficient…9 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022WHERE ARE ALL THE WOMEN?LOOKING THROUGH THE WINNERS OF the Natural History Museum’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) contest last year, I was struck by just how few were female. But should I really have been that surprised? There has, after all, been a long-standing asymmetry between men and women in wildlife photography. As an article on the Natural History Museum’s website states, “The number of female WPY entrants and winners is representative of the amount of women working in wildlife photography.” The reasons for this imbalance are myriad, as are the opinions on it. Some claim inherent bias. Others feel that women lack one or all of the qualities required to get ahead in this field, qualities traditionally associated with men: competitiveness, assertiveness, technical know-how, physical strength, fearlessness. And, historically at…9 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Why do cobras have hoods?SAMIR KUMAR SINHA ANSWERS Animals adapt specific physical features and behaviours to deal with their enemies. Those adaptations might be as simple as hiding or fleeing, or may extend as far as camouflaging, changing colour, bluffing, using spikes and spines on their body, expelling or injecting poisonous chemicals, smelling bad or relying on a venomous bite. Displaying an exaggerated body size before enemies, as cobras do with their hoods, is another such strategy. The snake stretches its specialised rib bones and muscles in the neck region to form the hood. When frightened, a cobra will rear up off the ground and unfurl its hood, displaying a bigger size in the hope of warning off its enemy. If that warning is disregarded, it’s followed by a strike. BBC WILDLIFE EXPERTS STUART…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Stirring mossStare at this verdant scene from a Panamanian forest for long enough and strange things start to emerge. There’s the uncanny symmetry in the vegetation, the clawed foot on the end of a skinny leg and a pair of long, slender antennae. It all adds up to something more than a simple moss-encrusted branch. So good is the camouflage of stick insect Trychopeplus laciniatus that, even once you’ve spotted it, it’s hard to discern the boundary between animal and vegetable. No doubt it’s good enough to fool insectivorous predators too. Perhaps it’s the vegetarians it should be afraid of. SB…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Chromosomes: the instructions for lifeWITH EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST JV CHAMARY CHROMOSOMES ARE THE STRUCTURES in cells that carry genes – the instructions for making and maintaining life. Humans typically have 23 pairs of chromosomes, but both the number and type of chromosomes varies greatly among the organisms that make up the living world. Do all organisms have chromosomes? Yes. Simple cells such as bacteria usually have just one circular chromosome, whereas complex cells tend to contain linear structures. But being more complex or multicellular doesn’t necessarily mean more chromosomes: the male jack jumper ant has only one chromosome, for example, but the single-celled, amoeba-like organism Sterkiella has 16,000 chromosomes – almost one for each of its 18,500 genes. What are chromosomes made of? Mostly genetic material, the molecule DNA. In complex cells, DNA strands are…3 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022The Lodge Castbit.ly/LodgeCast Very suitably named (since a lodge is a beaver’s home), this podcast from the Beaver Trust enters its third season this year. The hosts, Sophie Pavelle and Eva Bishop, discuss beaver news and research, and look at a variety of topics relating to beavers. Previous guests include environmentalist and actor David Oakes on why trees and woodland are fundamental, scientist Emily Fairfax on how the habitats created by beavers can create natural firebreaks, and GP Amir Khan on the connection between spending time in nature and our mental health.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022BitchIT WILL COME AS NO SURPRISE TO BBC Wildlife readers that zoologist and author Lucy Cooke is interested in female animals, what with the recent introduction of her Female of the Species column from our November 2021 redesign issue. In her latest book, she writes a muchneeded review of the work being done on female animal behaviours and how that affects our understanding of evolution. There are numerous examples from across the breadth of the animal kingdom, including tiny barklice dwelling in caves that have swapped genitalia, hermaphrodite fish, territorially defensive ring-tailed lemurs and menstruating orcas. There are also plenty of overviews of, and interviews with, the scientists who have studied them. Even readers who are familiar with how often female animals have been overlooked by scientists will learn something…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022SNAP-CHATWhat made you first get into photographing wildlife? I always wanted to be a marine biologist, but passed when I realised how much maths and science was involved. After college I temped and travelled, then eventually lied my way into my first photo-editing job on a psychology magazine. Later, after nine years at National Geographic, I finally became a full-time photographer. What’s your most meaningful shot? On return from a backpacking trip with friends, we did a slideshow. I’d taken a picture of an Akha woman in Thailand, posing with a small boy. When my friend’s mother saw it, she started crying. She connected with the moment. It was then that I realised the power of photography. You often describe wildlife as ‘badass’. What’s the most ‘badass’ species you’ve photographed…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022The crosswordACROSS 6 Making a noise like a lion, perhaps (7) 7 Everglade state (7) 9 Spherical seedhead of a dandelion (5) 10 ___ von Humboldt, a German naturalist and scientist (9) 11 Long-bodied fish in the family Zoarcidae (7) 13 ___ pheasant, forest bird found in South-East Asia (6) 15 Ostrich-like bird of South-East Asia (6,7) 19 In flower (6) 20 Fly order (7) 23 Sandstone region of south-east England, noted for its forest and heathland (4,5) 24 Subclass of mites (5) 26 Hoofed ruminant,Capreolus capreolus, widespread in Europe (3,4) 27 Fish noted for its whisker-like barbels (7) DOWN 1 ___ palm, tree widely cultivated for starch. Also a popular houseplant (4) 2 Ancient genus of non-flowering seed plants, with only one living representative (6) 3 Sweetbriar rose (9) 4…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Why are most wildlife photographers male?I’m the fifth editor in the 20+ years I’ve been reading BBC Wildlife, and only the second man. And, while it may not have always been this way, if you flick through the pages of a typical issue these days then you’ll find at least as many women (or gender neutral) writers as men. When it comes to photographers, however, it’s a different story. A good 90 per cent of those who contact us are men. To mark International Women’s Day on 8th March, we asked award-winning wildlife photographer Melissa Groo to investigate why this is the case. Her feature (p74) shows a snapshot of a profession where motherhood can still remain an apparent barrier to success. But as times are changing, and thanks to women like Melissa, Daisy Gilardini…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Brave butterfliesTHE FIRST BUTTERFLY OF THE YEAR ALWAYS lifts the spirits – and it’s often a comma. This butterfly seems to glow orange like the embers of a bonfire, instantly lighting up any March day. On closer inspection, the upper wings are a rich mix of oranges and browns, which, complete with the insect’s ragged wing outline, brilliantly impersonate an autumn leaf. In fact, the butterfly is named for the small white mark on the underside of its hind wing, but you’ll need a clear view of a resting individual to see this well. Commas are seen so early in the year because, like brimstones, peaco*ck butterflies and small tortoiseshells, they hibernate as adults. All it takes is a bit of March sunshine to lift the air temperature, and the hardy…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Build me up buttercupMARSH MARIGOLD IS LIKE A MASSIVE version of lesser celandine, whose cheerful, bright yellow flowers are such a harbinger of spring. Both species are in flower by March and belong to the buttercup family, but they favour different habitats. Whereas lesser celandine is found in all kinds of open woodland, often on banks or beside paths, marsh marigold likes its feet wet. It thrives everywhere from ditches and marshes to flooded woodland, and is an excellent choice for garden ponds. Frogs like to hide among its tangle of huge, glossy green leaves. It was once known as kingcup and has an unusual structure. Curiously, its half-a-dozen or so regal golden ‘petals’ are actually sepals. Ordinarily, a flower’s sepals hang low beneath the petals, which are the showiest and most…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022GILLIAN BURKEREMEMBER ALL THOSE NEW YEAR’S resolutions? Me neither. Luckily, spring gives us another shot at new beginnings. March is the time of northern hemisphere’s vernal or spring equinox – one of two points in the year when the Earth’s orbit around the sun means day and night share the stage in equal measure, and the northern hemisphere ‘leans in’ for its turn basking in the sunshine. Changes in daylight hours and temperature, on both ends of the globe, combine to trigger animal migrations on every scale as the perennial search for rich feeding grounds and safe breeding grounds ramps up. From migratory birds, whales and fish to amphibians and even insects, the world’s great animal wanderers are busy crossing oceans and continents, while others are simply heading for higher ground…3 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022April WindleApril Windle is fascinated by the small things in the world. She considers the humble hand lens to be her most valuable piece of equipment. It is lichens in particular that have so captured her attention – and her imagination too. “They are small things in landscapes, but when you get a hand lens on top of them they don’t appear small things anymore,” she says. “When I am looking at lichens I feel that I am looking at a miniature landscape – like I am entering an entirely different world.” April’s journey to becoming a lichenologist is an interesting one as she arrived there via a youthful interest in falconry. “I have always been absolutely fascinated by birds of prey and I wanted to study zoology because I wanted…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022COLLECTIVE NOUNSWHAT’S IN A NAME? THE TERM ‘A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS’ comes from The Chronicles of Narnia novels, written by CS Lewis in the 1950s. It’s a reference to Chaucer’s poem The Parliament of Fowls, where the world’s birds gather to find a mate. Lewis adapts Chaucer with a council of owls who meet to discuss the affairs of Narnia. Owls are thought to be wise ever since the Ancient Greeks depicted the birds accompanying and representing Athena, the goddess of wisdom.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022FEMALE OF THE SPECIESOLIVE RIDLEY TURTLE TURTLES HAVE GREAT TASTE IN beaches. They will only lay their eggs on beaches with the finest sand. The Pacific coast of Nicaragua is one such spot: a string of golden beaches, with sand so soft it squeaks underfoot, rank among the world’s most popular nesting grounds for the olive ridley turtle. Playa La Flor, in particular, is one of just a handful of beaches worldwide where this solemn maternal quest has morphed into one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Over the course of two to three nights, tens of thousands of females drag themselves onto this one beach to partake in a synchronised birthing event known as an arribada. We don’t yet understand the precise trigger for this event – it could be to do with sea…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022MARK CARWARDINEOPINION DOES GLUING YOUR FACE TO THE M25 make the rest of the country care more about climate change? No, it doesn’t. Will it make politicians leap into action? Absolutely not. Never has a campaign been as self-defeating as Insulate Britain’s recent disruptive tactics. These annoyingly sanctimonious do-gooders think they’re being clever by staging headline-grabbing roadblocks. But they’re utterly naïve. It’s true that this little gang of fewer than 200 active protesters wouldn’t be on our radar if they hadn’t caused some level of inconvenience. An offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, they’re certainly getting publicity. But it’s all hot air. The headlines are about them and their antics – their intended messages about climate injustice and global warming end up lost and meaningless. Like many people, I share their profound anxiety…3 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022TOPFIVE PLACES1 RSPB LOCHWINNOCH Only 30 minutes from Glasgow city centre, this reserve has easily accessed hides and viewing points from which to spot grebes 2 RUTLAND WATER Managed byLeicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust, this is the largest reservoir in England by surface area. Hides give great views across the water, making it one of England’s best grebe-spotting sites. 3 WWT LONDON WETLAND CENTRE Made from four disused Victorian reservoirs tucked into a loop of the River Thames, it may be the easiest place to see displaying grebes in Greater London. 4 TRING RESERVOIRS Composed of fourreservoirs just north of Tring, this was the first place where the grebes’ courtship was described by evolutionary biologist (and eugenicist) Julian Huxley in 1914 5 RSPB VALLEY WETLANDS On the Isle of Anglesey in…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022The gorilla familyThere are two species of gorilla – the eastern and the western gorilla – each of which is formed of two subspecies Western gorilla WESTERN LOWLAND GORILLA The most numerous and widespread gorillas are slightly smaller with grey-brown tinged fur CROSS RIVER GORILLA Similar in appearance to western lowland gorillas but with different sized skulls and teeth Eastern gorilla MOUNTAIN GORILLA Thicker fur than other species enables the mountain gorilla to live above 2,400m of elevation EASTERN LOWLAND GORILLA The largest and stockiest gorilla, the eastern lowland also has a shorter muzzle than its relatives…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Gatcombe ParkPERCHED ABOVE THE NAILSWORTH VALLEY IN the Cotswolds, Gatcombe Park differs from the other estates covered here in that it’s relatively small. On the whole, rewilders prefer to see nature restoration over a larger scale than this. Though just under a third of the park is woodland, that’s not enough space for forest predators such as pine martens or wildcats. But the estate stretches right down to the valley floor, and there’s already a sizeable lake here. Perhaps this could be the place to bring beavers back to the Cotswolds. It’s a relatively lived-in landscape, so a full-on reintroduction might be controversial, but putting captive animals into a large enclosure as a kind of demonstration project would surely be feasible. After very heavy rainfall, the downstream town of Nailsworth has…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022SandringhamSANDRINGHAM IS THE BIGGEST AND BEST-known lowland estate owned by the royals. It’s already largely certified organic, but as rewilded sites such as Knepp in West Sussex have shown, much more can be achieved for nature by a far more radical approach. But how? Knepp has abandoned arable agriculture, turning instead to livestock such as Tamworth pigs, longhorn cattle and Exmoor ponies. These domestic animals replicate the behaviour of wild boar, extinct aurochs (a wild bovid) and tarpan (a wild horse), setting in train dynamic processes within woodlands, grasslands and wetlands that lead to greater floral diversity, allowing invertebrates and birds to thrive as well. Hedges are left to grow out like billowing sails, and brambles and other scrubby plants to colonise anywhere they like, providing nesting areas for dunnocks…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Wing shapes explainedHigh-speed wings Swallows have very thin wings that taper to a point to keep drag low. These wings are at their most efficient at high speeds, and such birds can maintain that speed for a long time. Passive soaring wings Bald eagles have broad wings. This allows them to be very manoeuvrable in flight, and they are able to take off and land in relatively confined spaces, as well as ride thermals. Elliptical wings Blackbirds have elliptical wings that make them acrobatic flyers, able to take off in an instant. High speeds can be achieved, but only for short distances. Active soaring wings Albatrosses can glide for long distances without flapping, thanks to their very long, narrow wings. They’re experts at exploiting turbulent winds to supercharge their speed.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Winning womenWendy Shatil 1990 Wendy claimed the first overall title of the 1990s with this photo of a fox cub, and received the prize from David Attenborough (right) Angie Scott 2002 A family of African elephants is distracted from enjoying a drink in a river in Zambia by a grey heron looking for fish in the same spot Julia Kemp 1984 A photograph of a goosander diving underwater to catch its prey earned Julia, and her husband Richard, 1984’s grand prize. (Unfortunately the image is unavailable for licence.) Cherry Alexander 1995 Adélie penguins gathered on the edge of a blue iceberg in Antarctica’s South Sandwich Islands won for Cherry in 1995. Capturing the shapes and shades of the ice from a moving boat was quite an achievement.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Why do herbs taste and smell they way they do?DAVE HAMILTON ANSWERS Many of our culinary herbs, such as mint, rosemary and thyme, come from the Mediterranean region. In this dry, rocky habitat, where few other plants grow, it helps to have strong defences against any prey. Aromatic oils and bitter compounds in these herbs make the plant unpalatable to prey animals such as aphids, caterpillars and rabbits. For herbs such as rosemary, these insect-repelling oils can be at their highest concentrations when the plant is about to flower, and in other herbs it’s when they send out new shoots. The high concentrations of volatile oils may put off prey but can be appealing to us due to their unique flavours and scents. The time when the plant is at its most vulnerable is, for us humans, the best…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Do other animals take drugs?LEOMA WILLIAMS ANSWERS If you think that humans are the only species partial to mind-altering substances, you would be quite wrong. The animal kingdom is full of recreational drug users, including some that use the same ones that we do. Bennett’s wallabies in Tasmania, for example, seem to enjoy opium, with reports of them “entering poppy fields, getting as high as kites and going around in circles”. Black lemurs are fond of narcotics of a different kind. They gather millipedes but not to eat. Instead, they gently bite into the arthropods, causing them to release a defensive chemical. The lemurs then rub this into their fur before entering an ‘intoxicated state’. In perhaps the most amusing example, dolphins have been observed antagonising a puffer fish until it secretes toxins that…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022GO WILDBOOK HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH A journey of loss and transformation Bird Brother RODNEY STOTTS HAS always loved and been fascinated by animals, but particularly raptors. “Ever since I was a kid, birds of prey amazed me,” he says. He would bunk off school in order to visit the zoo. “Raptors, vultures, eagles – they were so fierce with their sharp killer talons. The birds of prey were also feared and misunderstood, just like I was.” The book opens with Rodney getting distracted during a drug deal by a redtailed hawk landing near the window with its rodent prey. Whilst Rodney’s supplier weighs out the co*ke, Rodney is mesmerised by the bird instead. Strangely, it’s the drug dealing that prompts a career in nature. In order to own an apartment,…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022The Extraordinary World of BirdsWRITER AND AUTHOR DAVID LINDO, also known as the Urban Birder, brings his passion for birds to his first book for children. It’s an exciting journey through the avian world, from the basics of what a bird is to the wide range of marvellous and fantastic adaptations of species worldwide. There’s sections on different groups of birds (such as parrots, seabirds and waterbirds), behaviours and conservation, and it’s absolutely packed with facts. For example, did you know that the bee hummingbird is the smallest bird species in the world, with the males measuring only 5.5cm in length? Or that songbirds can breathe through one lung at a time, so they don’t have to pause for breath? Photographs combine with illustrations by Claire McElfatrick to bring the book alive. This is…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022“Anytime I am free, I am recording wildlife”HAVING SUBMITTED 3,500 RECORDS ON iNaturalistUK during the three days of the global City Nature Challenge in 2021, Amanda Cogan Barber was chosen as the runner-up in the terrestrial category of the 2021 National Biodiversity Network (NBN) Awards for Wildlife Recording. How did you get into volunteering? Wanting to find something to do that I would really enjoy and learn from, I decided to join the Grey to Green project held by Greater Manchester Local Record Centre at Manchester University. The aim of the project was to teach people how to record wildlife and to enter records. Since then, I have volunteered for a range of different projects and anytime I am free, I am recording wildlife through iNaturalistUK. What does your volunteering involve? I am currently contributing to many…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022DISCOVERT WildlifeThe best wildlife photography books Indulge in image collections from talented amateur photographers and experts with decades of experience. These books will bring the wildest animals right to your armchair. BIRDS by Tim Flach The latest tome from the renowned British photographer is a stunning visual study of its chosen subject and features a wide range of species. HILL AND DALE: MY SHROPSHIRE YEAR by Andrew Fusek Peters Explore the wildlife of this region through the seasons, from close-ups of insects to wide shots of landscapes. FORGOTTEN LITTLE CREATURES by Victoria Hillmanover It took four years to create this examination of the animals and plants within a 60km radius of Frome in Somerset. SEE THE FULL ROUND-UP (plus more book recommendations) at discoverwildlife.com…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022A passion for paintingIN 2017, I WAS UNEXPECTEDLY diagnosed with a serious cardiac illness and my identical twin sister, Sarah, encouraged me to pick up the paint brush. Sarah and I are opposite in every way, she’s left-handed, I’m right-handed; she is a meticulous botanical watercolour artist and I’m drawn to paint wildlife in a looser, more impressionistic style. Because Sarah was so successful as an artist, I naturally thought I wouldn’t be, so I hadn’t even been tempted to try my hand at painting. After all, Sarah can knit and sew exquisitely, I can’t even sew on a button! When I cook, its plain dishes, for example roast beef and apple pie, not brandy snap baskets served with raspberry coulis! I basically learnt how to paint from tutorials on YouTube and, more…5 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022INTRODUCTIONThink of nature documentaries and you usually think of animals and movement. It might be eagles soaring through the skies, wildebeest stampeding across the Serengeti or whales bursting up from the deep. Recording these animals’ dynamic and dramatic behaviour has resulted in many unforgettable moments of TV. But there’s another type of life on this planet. One that’s all too easy to overlook, perhaps because the movements it makes are slower, smaller, much more subtle and often out of sight. But it’s a vital type of life – without it there would be no life elsewhere on Earth, not in the skies, on the land or in the sea. It’s plant life, and it’s the focus of the new BBC series The Green Planet, fronted by Sir David Attenborough. Here,…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Every month, only in BBC WildlifeNICK BAKER The dipper gets its name by dipping on land, before dipping its entire body into water to fish P.36 GILLIAN BURKE The many signs of spring highlight the complex interplay of biological and astronomical systems P.17 MARK CARWARDINE “These sanctimonious dogooders think they’re being clever by staging headline-grabbing roadblocks” P.29 LUCY COOKE Olive ridley turtles are connoisseurs of fine beaches and know just how to find them P.27 MIKE DILGER It’s breeding season for the great crested grebe, which means new plumage and a lot of dancing P.32…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Juniper secures second termENVIRONMENT SECRETARY GEORGE Eustice has confirmed that Tony Juniper will serve a second three-year term as chair of Natural England, which will see Juniper in position until 2025. Juniper said: “Looking to the future, there is a lot to do. In this second term my focus will be even more firmly on the delivery of the government’s ambitious goals for nature recovery, including implementing biodiversity net gain, delivering programmes for key habitats such as peatlands, gearing up species recovery programmes, initiating more landscape-scale nature projects, and harnessing all of that to establish the Nature Recovery Network, which is so vital for overall success.” Juniper will take Natural England through a key period as we transition from the CAP farming subsidies to a system based on rewarding farmers for ‘public goods’.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022A buzz in the airDARTING HYPERACTIVELY AMONG THE first spring flowers of a garden, park or hedgerow, this fast-flying bee can seem intent on not letting you have a good look. But persevere, because it is a lovely insect and one of the few bees active in March. Often also called the featherfooted flower bee, it has distinctive brushlike tufts of long hair on the lower part of its legs. The bee likes to hover in front of flowers, sometimes with its tongue out. The hairy-footed flower bee is found in Wales and England as far north as Yorkshire (but is more common in the south-east). Due to its large size, it is often mistaken for a bumblebee. Its coloration is a giveaway, though: females are black with orange fur on the back legs;…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022DISTANT SOUND OF DRUMSOur tiniest woodpecker is probably most noticeable in March, as territorial males drum on trees and call to prospective mates. Now rare in Britain and invariably shy, the sparrow-sized species is tricky to see, but at least the woodland canopy is still leafless this month. A recent study found that competition with its great spotted relative is not behind its mysterious precipitous decline.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022A bit of a whiffNEVER HAVE WE BEEN MORE ACUTELY aware of the microscopic biological matter floating around in the air that we breathe. While much of the world has been filtering viruses from the atmosphere with facemasks, biologists working in zoos in England and Denmark have been employing similar methods in order to identify animals using only airborne fragments of DNA. “A zoo is just the perfect place to test this,” says Elizabeth Clare of York University in Toronto, Canada, who led one of the studies at Hamerton Zoo Park in Cambridgeshire. “To validate that the signal you’re getting is real, you have to find a place where the signal could only come from one source. If we pick up tiger DNA in the British countryside, there’s only one place that could have…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022THE QUEEN’S FAVOURITESaid to be a favourite flower of the Queen, the primrose is appreciated by other queens too – bumblebees. In March, the plant’s yellow rosettes are a lifeline for newly emerged white-tailed and buff-tailed queens, as well as early bumblebees, bee-flies and butterflies. Find a primrose patch and enjoy a few mindful moments in nature as you wait to see what turns up. IN BRIEF Covered in dung Plants in Ecuador’s Chocó desert make dung beetles think their seeds are dung, due to a covering of hairs that pick up monkey dung. When the seeds are excreted, the beetles are fooled into removing them and burying the seeds away from potential predators and pathogens.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Little islandersMOST HEDGEHOGS WAKE FROM hibernation in April, but on the Channel Islands, where they were introduced in the 1950s or 1960s, they’re already stirring by March. It’s been suggested that some of the archipelago’s hedgehogs don’t hibernate at all, though this seems unlikely, given that hibernation is the norm for the species across continental Europe. At any rate, hedgehogs are thriving here in the absence of predators such as foxes and badgers. Fortunately, unlike on the other islands where hedgehogs have been introduced, these egg-munching mammals do not appear to have had a severe impact on nesting birds. The hedgehogs on Alderney have an unusual claim to fame: well over half of the population have blonde fur and spines. This striking colour variant, known as leucism, occurs naturally in all…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Inbound from AfricaMARCH IN BRITAIN IS A FICKLE MONTH in terms of the weather: sometimes bitterly cold, at others balmy enough for short sleeves. But whatever the weather has in store, March is when the first migratory birds arrive from their wintering grounds in Africa. Among them are wheatears, perky members of the chat family (and relatives of the robin). Males are smartest, with their black ‘mask’, grey upperparts and sandy underparts, but both they and the browner females have a pure white rump. The earliest wheatear sightings – typically in mid-March – come from grassy headlands and cliffs on the south coast of England. By mid-April, sightings will be coming thick and fast, as the birds move to their upland breeding areas in Wales and northern Britain, always favouring areas of…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Reds hurt by conifersIT HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR A WHILE THAT THE recovery of the pine marten in Ireland over recent decades has led to a corresponding increase in red squirrel numbers. This is because the pine marten preys on the invasive grey squirrel, which both competes for food with the red squirrel and carries a disease which is lethal to the native mammal. However, new research from Queen’s University Belfast and the University of St Andrew’s, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, reveals that the situation is rather more complex. It suggests that current conservation policy may have the complete opposite effect from that intended and actually harm the red squirrel recovery. Although, overall, red squirrel numbers have increased at the expense of the grey following pine marten numbers recovering, there…3 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022TAKE ME TO THE RIVERDIPPER THE DIPPER IS A SURPRISING BIRD FOUND almost exclusively around fast-flowing, high-energy, upland streams and rivers. Observe one perched atop a rock and, at first glance, it doesn’t look that special – even, dare I say it, a bit dull to the untrained eye. A slightly dumpy, thrush-like bird with brown plumage, except for a white throat and chest. However, part of the dipper’s attraction is that its muted appearance belies a highly specialised and, at times, high-octane occupation. Watch one long enough and not only will it bob or ‘dip’ up and down on its perch (behaviour that inspired its name), it will also plunge, beak first, into the wildest torrents and disappear below the surface in the flick of a wing. I can recall the first one…3 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022ROYALREPORTCARDAS ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR PUBLIC FIGURES TO promote organic agriculture, Prince Charles undeniably has some pretty lush green laurels to garland the head that will one day wear the crown. In that context, he was a natural choice to address last year’s COP26 climate change conference, telling world leaders that “restoring natural capital” and “accelerating nature-based solutions” were part of the solution to the environmental crisis. But, as the saying goes, fine words butter no parsnips – even organic ones – and Prince Charles and his family could do a lot more to live up to the aspirations he has set for the rest of the planet. With this in mind, a campaign was launched in 2021 by a group called Wild Card calling on the royals to…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022BalmoralWHILE REWILDING AGRICULTURAL LAND DOES have some negative connotations north of the border, just a few salmon leaps from Balmoral, there’s a brilliant nature restoration project the royal family could borrow from without being accused of repeating the 18th-century Highland Clearances – Cairngorms Connect. Here, a coalition of conservation groups and private landowners is restoring biodiversity across a vast 600km² landscape by reducing deer numbers and planting native trees such as Scots pine, alder, birch, juniper and willow. Pete Cairns, a wildlife photographer and conservationist, says his own small landholding of 50ha, which is in the middle of the restoration area, is benefiting greatly. “There’s a much greater diversity of species, a broader suite of bugs, bees, butterflies and birds,” he says. Goshawks now breed in the area and pine…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022NIGHT FLIGHTDeadly cousin Despite their ant-like appearance, termites are actually more closely related to co*ckroaches, and belong to the same insect order, Blattodea. That doesn’t stop those larger, faster predators from hunting their cousins. “This co*ckroach was one of many feasting on termites that congregated under a lightbulb on the floor of a cowshed,” explains Ripan. Pack hunters Weaver ants (left) form colonies comprising up to several thousand individuals, and hunt in numbers to tackle larger prey – here, an unfortunate termite. Alates can’t stay in the air for long, and are essentially defenceless when on the ground. These ants are carrying the ill-fated termite to their football-sized nest. Easy pickings Each alate is focused on following a light source and finding a mate, so pays little attention to where it…5 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Champion fliersLONGEST FEATHERS: Long-tailed widowbirds are well named – males’ tail feathers are half a metre in length. But the world-record holder for the longest feathers was a Yokohama chicken, which had a 10.6m-long tail. FASTEST DIVE SPEED: The peregrine falcon can reach speeds in excess of 380kmh when it dives after prey. That’s almost as fast as the top recorded speed of a Formula 1 car! FURTHEST MIGRATION: Every year Arctic terns fly from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle and back again. In their long lifetimes (some live over 30 years), they might fly 2.4 million km. WIDEST WINGSPAN: Reaching over 3.5m, the wandering albatross takes the crown for the flying bird with the widest wingspan. Millions of years ago, the skies were home to a bird called…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Which bird lays the smallest egg?Email your questions to wildquestions@immediate.co.uk STUART BLACKMAN ANSWERS It depends how you look at it. Eggs don’t come any smaller than those laid by the bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world. Measuring 6mm in length and weighing just 0.2g, bee hummingbirds’ eggs are 1/10,000th of the weight of a 2kg ostrich egg. And yet, as a proportion of the size of the birds that lay them, an ostrich’s egg (1/50th of the weight of the mother) works out to be much smaller than a bee hummingbird’s (1/12th). An ostrich the size of a bee hummingbird would lay an egg weighing just 0.05g. And the egg of an ostrich-sized hummingbird would weigh 8kg. In absolute terms, an ostrich egg is the biggest laid by any living bird, but relative…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022How do cone snails hunt?LAURIE JACKSON Beneath a cone snail’s decorated exterior hides an arsenal that makes slow-motion life no hurdle for this seafloor predator. A snorkel-like siphon sniffs out prey and, once it’s detected, the snail moves closer for the next stage of attack. Its long proboscis, guided by receptors at its tip, extends towards the fish, before spearing it at close range and injecting a fast-acting venom. Some species even secrete chemicals, including insulin, into the water to make their prey lethargic and more easily caught. The worm-hunting imperial cone snail also releases chemicals as it hunts. These mimic pheromones used by worms during courtship and allow the copycat to lure the worms from the safety of their hiding places, where they can be harpooned and engulfed by the snail’s vast, extendible…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022FAST ANSWERSAre jackrabbits rabbits? No, jackrabbits are hares. Six species are found in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Their name is derived from their old moniker of ‘jackass-rabbit’, in reference to their enormous, donkeylike ears. A jackrabbit’s ears are a key adaptation, enabling it to hear well and regulate heat: blood flow is increased or decreased depending on whether an individual needs to cool down or warm up. SM Can ancient seeds germinate? It’s rare, but if stored in the right conditions, ancient seeds can indeed germinate. Date seeds carbon-dated to between 155BC and 64AD, that had been stored in a jar in the Judean desert, were successfully germinated in 2005, and grew into a palm tree. In 2007, scientists extracted an embryo from a 31,800-year-old campion seed, found in the…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Rodney StottsWhat prompted the shift from drug dealing to working with nature? It didn’t happen overnight. It was mostly just a shift into trying to do something better, something that made a difference – a positive difference. At first, working to clean up the Anacostia River was just a job for me. Working with nature gave me time to think, and the more I thought, the more I wanted to start turning my life around. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. As I tell the young people I work with: sometimes you have to get out of your own damn way. How did you transition from clearing rubbish on the Anacostia River to becoming a falconer? After working on the Anacostia, the group I was working with – Earth…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Early spring insectsIncreasing sunlight hours and warmer temperatures means that spring is on the way and, with it, our invertebrate friends. Look out for buzzing bees and their lookalike flies. For more ID guides, head to our website: discoverwildlife.com/identify-wildlife TAWNY MINING BEE The females have dense orange-red fur and are larger than the males (which can look similar to other species). BUFF-TAILED BUMBLEBEE Queens can be identified by the colour of their tails, but workers look the same as white-tailed bumblebee workers. DARK-BORDERED BEE-FLY The most common and widespread of the bee-flies, it lays its eggs in the nests of solitary bees.…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Photo CLUBPRIZE-WINNING PHOTO Cannibal frogs Generally when rain season comes outside my house, it is like a musical concert outside with all the frogs’ and toads’ mating calls. I lay down in the muddy ground in my garden to photograph some Asian common toads with my Nikon D90, Nikkor 105mm, 2.8 microlens and a DIY soft box made with cardboard. I saw multiple juvenile toads here and there, and was taken aback to see this larger individual capture one. It was over quickly, but I managed to take a number of images of the cannibalism. Chamara Sulakkhana, Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka I believe I can fly In September 2020, I had the privilege of spending several hours with a humpback whale mother and calf during a wildlife photography trip in Monterey Bay.…2 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 20223 ISSUES FOR £5*When you subscribe to GARDENS ILLUSTRATED SPECIAL OFFER Your first 3 issues for £5* Continue at just £9.70 every 3 issues by Direct Debit – SAVING 35% Never miss an issue of your favourite magazine Free UK delivery direct to your door Subscribe online at PROMOTION CODE GIH22 buysubscriptions.com/GIH22 or call our subscriber hotline on 03330 162114† †Calls from landlines will cost up to 9p per minute, depending on provider. Calls from mobile phones will cost up to 55p per minute, but are included in inclusive call packages. Lines are open 8am-8pm weekdays and 9am-1pm Saturdays. Overseas readers call +44 1604 973722. *Three issues for £5 is available for UK subscribers paying by Direct Debit only. After your first 3 issues, your subscription will continue at £9.70 every 3 issues…1 min
BBC Wildlife Magazine|March 2022Going the extra mileRIVER DEE, WALES I’M WHAT MIGHT BE CALLED A fish twitcher, and an underwater photographer – I’ll never pass up an opportunity to poke my camera beneath the surface and spot something unusual in British waters. On this occasion it started with a tip off from someone I know at Natural Resource Wales – an opportunity to see a fish spawning event I’d only ever read about. It was April 2020 and the UK had just started to allow travel again. The location was in North Wales on the River Dee, a good two-hour drive from my home in Nottingham, so I was a bit worried the fish in question might not be around. I say fish, but river lamprey are incredibly primitive and, in fact, we are more closely…2 min
