BBC Wildlife

TRY OUR NEW LOOK!

4 New discoveries 4 Wildlife photos 4 Naturalist skills 4 Conservation

April 2014 Volume 32 Number 5

FENNEC FOX s Otter
s Grey seal
How political uprising s Puffin
threatens this rare s Red deer
desert species s Golden eagle
s Kingfisher
GARDEN s Dolphin
FOR s Stag beetle
BEES s Gannet
s Barn owl
PLUS s Dormouse

O Tune into birdsong BRITAIN’S

O Watch frogs develop HERO

WHAT APMHOATZOINSG 17wildlife spectacles you
HAPPENED
SPECIESmust see this spring
NEXT?

SEE PAGE 6



WELCOME

DID YOU
KNOW?

THE SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS
WAS ONCE CONSIDERED TO BE
EXTINCT, BUT THE WORK OF ONE
JAPANESE CONSERVATION HERO
SAVED THE SPECIES. See p80

Tui De Roy/rovingtortoise.com Welcome WHAT IN BBC WILDLIFE THIS MONTH
WE’VE
You’ll notice some changes this MIRANDA KRESTOVNIKOFF CONTRIBUTOR
issue: a new photo series (p62) tLhEiAsRiNssEuDe President of the RSPB Miranda says,“We
as well as sections on animal should feel honoured that basking sharks, the
behaviour (p71) and scientific A concert second biggest fish in the sea, choose to feed
discoveries (p26). We’ll sharpen celebrating the and breed around our shores.”See p34
your naturalist skills (p14), brief sound of whales
you on conservation news (p49) is just one of the TUI DE ROY CONTRIBUTOR
and show you how you can make Tui travels the world with a camera to capture
a difference (p53). You’ll find features on wildlife events in our its wildest places. She says,“Spending 19 days
gardening (p74), spectacles to see this month (p12) new Reviews photographing short-tailed albatrosses on
and our readers-turned-Local Patch Reporters (p17). Torishima was a dream come true.”See p80
We want even more of you to get involved with section
the magazine, so why not join us on International See p105 KENNY TAYLOR CONTRIBUTOR
Dawn Chorus Day on 4 May? We’ll all be heading Kenny has barely begun to explore Norway’s
out with cameras and sharing the results on our 2,401 wildlife riches.“Hardangervidda mountain
website and social media. Why not do the same and plateau is a vast place,”he says.“I’d like to
report on your experience? Find out how at www. The number of return to see Arctic foxes there.”See p86
discoverwildlife.com. And if you’re in Bristol, drop illegal trapping or
me an email and join me, and you can tell me what shooting incidents STEPHEN MOSS CONTRIBUTOR
you think of the magazine over a post-chorus cuppa. su ered by Maltese Naturalist and BBC TV producer Stephen is
Finally if you’d like to see more of our new look birds in 2008 See p50 a lover of birdsong. He says,“Listening to the
then you can try three issues for just £1 on p32! dawn chorus, particularly the song thrush, is
The biomass of krill the best possible start to the day.”See p92
Matt Swaine Editor is 379m tonnes:
[email protected] find out how they GET YOUR
DIGITAL COPY
April 2014 sustain the ocean’s
biggest creatures Buy a digital edition of BBC Wildlife
Magazine for iOS, Android, Kindle
See p78 Fire, PC or Mac. Visit iTunes, the
Google Play store, Amazon or
www.zinio.com to find out more.

ON THE COVER: Pu n: Drew Buckley; fox: Bruno D’Amicis; bee:
Chris Shields/naturepl.com; seal: Amos Nachoum

BBC Wildlife 3

CONTENTS April 2014 SPECIAL
OFFER
34
FREE ONE-
Pine marten: one of our MONTH TRIAL
17 British hero species
ON BBC WILDLIFE
SEE P32

Wild Features Agenda

06 Wild photos 24 34 Britain’s 17 hero species 49 Red deer cull
Amazing leopard seal Could this be the way to
hunting a gentoo penguin Best entry-level binoculars The wildlife experiences protect Scottish woodland?
Plus Pygmy seahorse and you must have this year
elephant over Victoria Falls 22 Tadpole diaries 50 Malta’s bird hunt
Follow the miracle of how 60 New BBC Wildlife A referendum could signal
12 See it this month! tadpoles turn into froglets photo award launched the end to illegal hunting
Spring’s seven best wildlife Plus Beavers in the UK
spectacles in the UK 24 New Gear Review Your chance to win a major
We pick the five best wildlife photo assignment 51 Mark Carwardine
14 New Instant Naturalist binoculars under £200 On China’s demand for
How to identify mammal 62 New Photo Story illegal animal parts
skulls Plus Gardenwatch 26 New Discoveries
Latest scientific research How political turmoil has 53 Preserving peat bogs
17 Local Patch Reporters from around the world increased fennec-fox trade How you can help save
New Nightwatch series these vital ecosystems
80 Short-tailed albatross
19 Your Wild Challenge 54 Birth of a nature reserve
A colourful minibeast Back from brink thanks House building and wildlife
safari of 12 garden beetles to one conservationist working together

20 New Discover oakwoods 86 Discover Arctic wildlife 56 Your Feedback
Expert advice on how to Signs of spring, Tassie
explore your local patch Make Norway’s wilderness devils and nestbox advice
your next adventure

92 How to decode birdsong

Heighten your senses and
experience the dawn chorus

4 BBC Wildlife April 2014

80 Join our

Short-tailed WILDLIFE
CLUB
albatross: saved
CAL PATC
from extinction
TWEILDALIFME
REPORTERSLO Pine marten: Danny Green/naturepl.com; albatross: Tui De Roy; Richard: Quinton Winter;
chiffchaff: Andy Sands/naturepl.com; fox: Bruno D’Amicis; whale: Tom Connell/The Art Agency
29 p17
H
Richard Mabey: Britain’s MEET THE LOCAL
top natural-history writer PATCH REPORTERS...

62 Plus

Discover the world Tell us what you
have seen p19
of the fennec fox Debate wildlife
topics with other
92 readers p56
Ask the experts a
How to wildlife question p71
Send us your wildlife
decode photos p120

birdsong JOIN US ON
SOCIAL MEDIA...
Discover Reviews Regulars
facebook.com/wildlifemagazine
71 How do snakes mate? 99 Orangutan exhibition 29 Richard Mabey twitter.com/WildlifeMag
Plus Vegetarian spiders and A Brush with Nature
Unique photo exhibition OR GET IN TOUCH…
knuckle-walking gorillas Plus Best of BBC iPlayer Snowdrop spectacle: but
are they really British? EDITORIAL
74 New Garden for bees 100 Book reviews Tel 0117 314 7366
31 Bill Oddie Wild at Heart Email [email protected]
How to make your garden Trees, predators, wildlife Post BBC Wildlife Magazine, Immediate
a haven for wildlife art and beautiful butterflies Chasing mice around Media Company, 9th Floor, Tower House,
Plus Best birdsong apps the Oddie household Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN
78 New Photography skills SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES
102 TV and Radio 32 Try three issues of Tel 0844 844 0251
How to shoot bluebells BBC Wildlife for just £1 Email [email protected]
Whale hunting in the UK Post BBC Wildlife Magazine, FREEPOST
78 How baleen whales feed and a minibeast adventure Fantastic offer to celebrate LON16059, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8DF
our new-look magazine OTHER CONTACTS
Their key adaptations 105 Local wildlife events App support immediateapps@
118 Crossword Solve our servicehelpline.co.uk
April 2014 Things to do this month Advertising enquiries Laura Gibbs 0117
brain-teaser to win a prize 314 8760; [email protected]
Syndication Emma Brunt 0117 314 8782;
119 Next Month [email protected]

120 Your Photos BBC Wildlife 5

Our readers’ finest shots

78 122 Tales From the Bush

Discover how Definitely not twitching

whales feed a snowy owl in Holland

4 LEOPARD SEAL & GENTOO PENGUIN May 2014

Penguin suit

It may look as though this leopard seal is about to swallow the
gentoo penguin in one giant pinnipedian gulp. But that’s not
what happened according to photographer Amos Nachoum, who
witnessed this encounter o Pleneau Island in Antarctica. The seal
first drowned its prey. Then, grasping the penguin by its feet, it cut
through the skin before holding the carcass out of the water and
shaking it violently until the feathers and skin had been completely
removed, e ectively unwrapping its meal. “Only when you could
see the bare meat did the seal start to feed,” Amos says. Gruesome
for human observers, perhaps, but a fascinating insight into the
behaviour of one of Antarctica’s top predators.
Photograph by Amos Nachoum/biganimals.com

6 BBC Wildlife

WILD APRIL
WHAT TO SEE O NATURALIST SKILLS O DISCOVERIES

May 2014 BBC Wildlife 7

8 BBC Wildlife May 2014

WILD APRIL

4 PYGMY SEAHORSE

Perfect match

In 1969, while scientists in South-East Asia were inspecting some
soft coral collected for an aquarium, they were stunned to find a
2cm-long seahorse. An exquisite facsimile of its sea-fan host, it
was covered with protuberances just like the polyps on the surface
of the coral. The fish, named Bargibant’s pygmy seahorse after
its finder, lives in the Coral Triangle region of the western Pacific,
and remains little known. Heather Koldeway of Project Seahorse
says that she often dives within 1m of pygmy seahorses (of which
seven species have been described) before noticing them.“We
have created the iSeahorse iOS app to encourage underwater
photographers to share their images, as they provide a valuable
source of information about these elusive fish,” she adds.

Photograph by Tim Laman/naturepl.com

May 2014 BBC Wildlife 9

4 AFRICAN ELEPHANT May 2014

Head for heights

While scientists have spent many hours trying to demonstrate
whether elephants fall in love or feel grief, none as far as we
know has ever wondered if they get vertigo. This photo – taken
from the Zambian side of the world-famous Victoria Falls in
Southern Africa – suggests they don’t, though it could just be
that this elephant was simply very hungry. Photographer Marsel
van Oosten, who was there taking pictures for a book on African
safaris, says that elephants rarely venture this close to the Falls.
So this really is a unique image – but one that came at personal
cost. “I had to inch as close to the edge as possible to be able
to see the maximum amount of water falling down, which is not
the greatest thing to do when you’re afraid of heights,” he says.
Photograph by Marsel van Oosten/squiver.com

10 BBC Wildlife

WILD APRIL

May 2014 BBC Wildlife 11

DEC WILD APRIL

NOV 1 WATER VOLE T
Ratty has declined by 90 per cent in Britain
over the past 40 years, yet there are still plenty
of places to see this plump rodent. Quiet canals,
pools and wetland reserves (especially in mink-
free urban areas) are strongholds. The voles enter
water noisily and eat noisily too, so listen out for a
sudden plop or the chomp of teeth on vegetation.
For more vole-watching tips, see p44.
BEST SPOT WWT London Wetland Centre

OCT

SEP

AUG 2 BADGER CUBS S
A moist snout protrudes, sni ng the night air;
JUL SEVEN a white face with dark eye-stripes cautiously pokes
WILDLIFE from a sett – then a cub, no more than two months
JUN 5 old, emerges into the dark woodland for the first
time. For your best chance of watching young
3 badgers take their first shambling steps into the
4 open, book a session at a badger-watching hide or
join a walk organised by a local Badger Trust group.
67 BEST SPOT Badger Watch Old Henley Farm, Dorset
1
+ GET INVOLVED
2
MAY SPECTACLES Share your top
spring locations at
TO SEE THIS MONTH wildlifemagazine@
immediate.co.uk
– email us with
“Wild Spectacles”
in the subject line.

APR

JAN FEB MAR 3 BLUEBELL WOODS S
A purple haze is drifting across ancient woodland floors,
1. Drew Buckley; 2. Laurie Campbell; 3. David Tipling a tide of diminutive drooping lilies blooming beneath beech
and oak. It’s a particularly British spectacle – over half of
12 BBC Wildlife the world’s bluebells bloom in our woods. Stoop for a closer
look: cream-coloured, pollen-bearing anthers emerging
from tubular flowers show that you’re gazing at true native
bluebells, not hybrids or the invasive Spanish species.
BEST SPOT Hackfall Wood North Yorkshire

April 2014

4 GREAT CRESTED
GREBES X

Head to a lake, reservoir or gravel
pit to enjoy one of Britain’s most
expressive wildlife performances:
the courtship of great crested
grebes, resplendent in breeding
dress with orange-black ru s and
full ear tufts. Pairs swim face to
face, shaking their heads; some
displays build to a climax where
birds dive for and pro er weeds.
BEST SPOT Attenborough Nature

Reserve Nottinghamshire

5 CURLEW X m TWEET OF THE DAY
For these long-billed waders newly arrived on
moors and wet meadows from the coast, it’s time to www.bbc.co.uk/tweetoftheday
make sweet music. In the breeding season curlews
utter an evocative, bubbling song in mid-air – watch
for their arcing flights above nest sites as their song
builds in intensity to a rhythmic warble.
BEST SPOT Insh Marshes Scotland

6PIED FLYCATCHER T
A highlight of the spring soundtrack
of western oakwoods is the jaunty, three-
second melody of this dapper migrant,
fresh from its West African winter quarters.
In late April, the adult male – resplendent
in a black cape and white shirtfront (left)
– watches his brown and white mate dart
into nestboxes or holes in sessile oak
trunks carrying nesting material. But both
sexes are often unfaithful: so-called ‘extra-
pair copulations’ are rife in this species.
BEST SPOT RSPB Ynys-hir Ceredigion, Wales

4. Eric Médard; 5. Bill Coster/FLPA; 6. Frederic Desmette; 7. David Kjaer 7CUCKOO S
The cuckoo’s seesaw song has become
April 2014 rarer, but visit wetlands after mid-April and
you may hear the sound that spells trouble for
dunnocks, meadow pipits and reed warblers –
the favoured hosts of this brood parasite.
BEST SPOT Wicken Fen Cambridgeshire

BBC Wildlife 13

instant naturalist

Essential feldcraft, skills and knowledge you need to discover the natural world.

how to identify Rabbit key features
animal skulls
● Big upper incisors with a long
Skulls can tell you a lot about an gap behind on this compact
animal’s diet and lifestyle. Start 50mm-long skull. The cheekbones
the detective process with size. are parallel, and you’ll see blunt
Vole, shrew and mouse skulls are the oval surfaces on the cheek teeth.
size of an adult thumbnail, those of
rats and moles are half as long as an key features Mole
index fnger, rabbit and squirrel skulls
are the length of a thumb, and badger ● This is a very elongated skull
and fox skulls are the size of one or about 30mm long. It features tiny
two clenched fsts. Any bigger and incisors in both jaws, with no gap
you probably have a deer, sheep, cow behind. You’ll see other teeth are
or horse skull. Next look at the teeth – small, pointed and tightly packed.
carnivores have pointed teeth with no
gaps; herbivores have ridged grinding
surfaces on their teeth and a long,
toothless gap between the cheek
teeth and the front of the jaw.

top tips

● Clean skulls
by leaving them
outside under a
fowerpot with a
gap for beetles
to crawl inside.

● Whiten skulls
with hydrogen
peroxide diluted
several times,
not with bleach.

Red fox

Bank vole key features

● Long canines and the pointed
incisors are good for ID. The skull
is 8–11cm long, quite elongated
and has huge eye sockets with
concave pits above them.

Niall Benvie/niallbenvie.com key features + find out more

● Big incisors have a gap behind To learn how to
while cheek teeth have zigzag clean and identify
surfaces.You often fnd this 20mm- bones check out
long skull in carnivore droppings www.skullsite.co.uk
and it has prominent eye sockets.

14 BBC Wildlife April 2014

WILD APRIL

BEHAVIOUR BEN’S 60 SECOND EXPERT
BREEDING NEWTS TOP TIP
Phenology
In spring courting male newts develop brighter bellies Look at an
and chase females to dance an underwater flamenco. You insect or flower KATE LEWTHWAITE
may spot one rise to the surface, but will have more luck
if you scan weedy shallows with a torch at night. Smooth through the What on earth is phenology?
wrong end of It’s the study of when natural events take
and palmate newts occur in gardens, while rarer great your binoculars place each season, such as flowering (early
crested newts (above) live on farmland and waste ground. and get a few purple orchids, above), bud burst in trees,
centimetres away and the arrival or departure of migratory
O To help survey newts, visit www.arc-trust.org – your ‘bins’ will birds. By comparing records in di erent
work just like years, you gain insights into how climate
a magnifying change a ects plants and animals.

glass. So are spring events changing?
They are occurring days or even weeks earlier
Ben Hoare than 40 years ago. But species respond
BBC Wildlife features editor di erently, raising concerns about ecological
connectivity. For example, will nesting birds
GARDEN WATCH miss the peak of caterpillar availability?

Four wildlife highlights to enjoy on your home turf this month. How can I get involved?
Jot key dates in your nature diary.You can also
OBlackbirds ferrying beakfuls of food OSlow-worms are legless lizards that contribute records to the Nature’s Calendar
(often earthworms) mean a nest is near. hide under open compost heaps. They’re project, created by the Woodland Trust and
mostly nocturnal, but like basking in sun. the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
Pairs raise two or three broods a year.
What kind of things should I record?
OComma butterflies have distinctive OHouse martins scoop up wet mud Spring events could include the first flowers Newt: Simon Booth; orchids: Paul Hobson; blackbird: Simon Litten;
ragged silhouettes. Ones you see on the in April and May to build or repair their opening on bluebells, first blue tits collecting slow-worm: Jack Perks; comma: Colin Varndell; martin: Mike Lane
wing in spring overwintered as adults. nesting material, first swallow and first leaves
cup-shaped nests under the eaves. on oak trees, but the sky’s the limit. For more
recording ideas, see the project website.

What happens to the data?
More than 50,000 people have sent us their
records since Nature’s Calendar launched in
2000. This national network of recorders is
very powerful because it generates data for
academic researchers and the Government.

OKate Lewthwaite runs the Nature’s
Calendar project for the Woodland Trust.
Join in at www.naturescalendar.org.uk

April 2014 BBC Wildlife 15

DISCOVER NORWAY’S INCREDIBLE COASTAL BIRDLIFE

REAL EXPERIENCES & BREATHTAKING BEAUTY

FANTASTIC SAVINGS!

6-days from just

£794pp including full board!

Kirkenes – Bergen

THE BEAUTIFUL LOFOTEN ISLANDS THE MIDNIGHT SUN AT NORTH CAPE

WITNESS THE MAGNIFICENT SEA EAGLE ATLANTIC PUFFINS SAILING INTO BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPES

A voyage along the iconic coast of Norway on the fabled ‘post ship’ is an experience that cannot be equalled. These ships have been
a lifeline to the villages, towns and cities along the Norwegian coast since 1893. In the summer, we sail beneath the 24-hour glow of
the Midnight Sun whilst winter brings with it the beauty of the frozen landscape and the chance of witnessing the incredible Northern
Lights. In between, spring and autumn bring their own charms as the landscape transforms. And with this incredible nature comes a
fascinating array of coastal birdlife, viewable both from the ship and as part of a choice of optional Birdwatching excursions with local
experts. Get up close to the sea eagles in the Trollfjord or take a trip to the incredible bird cliffs of the northerly Varanger peninsula.

For more information or to book please call 020 3740 5663,

see your travel agent or visit www.hurtigruten.co.uk

V7545 Price based on two people sharing an inside cabin on a full board basis travelling in September 2014. Not included: flights, transfers, optional excursions,
travel insurance and portage. Offer applies to new bookings only, subject to availability and Hurtigruten’s normal booking conditions.

WILD APRIL

David Tipling OCAL PAT CH Our first 20 Local Patch Reporters are BBC Wildlife readers
aged between 10 and 64 who live from Dorset in the south
L TEAM to Shetland in the far north. Throughout the year they will be
exploring and reporting on wildlife in their surrounding area, so
WILDLIFE make sure to check out their online diaries, photos and videos.
Recent highlights include an encounter with a capercaillie,
REPORTERS some strange ‘Dulux’ deer, photos of Bristol’s urban peregrines,
a camera-grabbing toad and several close badger encounters.

SARA FROST WEST SCOTLAND RICHARD COMONT OXFORDSHIRE

“I set up cameras in my garden and “As I watched a huge queen red-tailed bumblebee
loft (because I heard a scuttling prospecting a nest site, I noticed several comfrey
sound coming from there) to see plants were looking distinctly ragged. A closer
which species were showing up look revealed 36 yellow-and-black, inch-long hairy
when I wasn’t around. I’m pleased caterpillars – the larvae of scarlet tiger moths.”
the food was much appreciated –
I captured footage of pheasants, ZOE CHEADLE STAFFORDSHIRE
cha nches, a robin, a rabbit, a roe
deer (below) and a house mouse “I wanted to catch a glimpse of the great crested
with a soft spot for peanut butter.” grebes on my local lake doing the famous mating
dance. Despite my patience I had no luck. But I
did spot one carrying ‘nesting material’. Then, as
I looked closer, I realised it had a pike in its beak!”

Visit www.discoverwildlife. JONATHAN PROUD YORKSHIRE
com to see Sara’s video of
a roe deer in her garden. “In February I joined a beach clean at Flamborough
Head – the first clean there since the tidal surge
in December 2013. We found the usual rubbish,
but also two catshark egg cases, clusters of whelk
eggs, a guillemot skull and fossils in the rocks.”

+ Watch videos and read the photo diaries of our Local Patch
Reporters at www.discoverwildlife.com/localpatchreporters

NIGHTWATCH APRIL Hear the bizarre
squeaks of roding
woodcock at dusk.

OBSERVE WOODCOCK treetop height, uttering croaks
DISPLAY FLIGHTS and squeaks. Andrew Hoodless of
the Game & Wildlife Conservation
Woodcock are nocturnal wading Trust says that the males usually
birds that nest in damp woods. rode for longer on cold, moonlit
Their bat-like display flight over nights.“When there is a new moon,
forest clearings, tracks, rides and the birds tend to rode at dusk and
heaths, called roding, is carried dawn. But when the moon is full,
out by males looking for receptive they can rode all night,” he explains.
females during the breeding season Visit www.woodcockwatch.com
from late March to the end of June. to find out more.
The birds fly a circuit, just above

APRIL 15 22 29 7 MAY 14 MAY LOOK OUT FOR the April Lyrids meteor
MOON
PHASES FULL LAST NEW FIRST FULL shower, which is visible from 16 to 26 April.
MOON QUARTER MOON QUARTER MOON Produced by dust particles from a comet,
it will peak on the night of 22 April. Find
out more: www.skyatnightmagazine.com

April 2014 BBC Wildlife 17



Your WILD APRIL

WchallIeLngDe

BEETLES

For your quest this Dor beetle Devil’s coach horse Violet ground beetle
month we’ve picked
a dozen common GEOTRUPES STERCORARIUS OCYPUS OLENS CARABUS VIOLACEUS
beetles. Photocopy
this page or you can 15–25mm. Shiny with a bluish tinge, 20–30mm. Long body and very large 20–30mm. Shiny body has purplish
download it at www. spiky legs and grooved wingcases. jaws. Lifts tail if alarmed. Hides under sheen. Active nocturnal predator;
discoverwildlife.com Larvae feed on dung in grassland. logs, stones or leaves; hunts at night. by day hides under logs and stones.

As the weather warms up, Ground beetle Ground beetle 2-spot ladybird
invertebrates are much in
evidence – and in Britain POECILUS CUPREUS NOTIOPHILUS BIGUTTATUS ADALIA 2-PUNCTATA
few groups are as colourful and 4–5mm. Usually two black spots on
varied as the beetles. We have 11–13mm. Green or coppery sheen; 5–6mm. Small, with proportionately red wingcases; forms with red spots
over 4,000 species, including no grooved wingcases. Open, dry, grassy huge eyes. Hunts tiny springtails and on black also exist. Now declining.
fewer than 300 ground beetles. areas; less common in north. mites on paths and in flowerbeds.
So to make things simpler for this
challenge, the ones pictured are 7-spot ladybrid Harlequin ladybird Leaf weevil
abundant and easy to identify.
COCCINELLA 7-PUNCTATA HARMONIA AXYRIDIS PHYLLOBIUS PYRI
Most of your dozen target
species are active by day and 5–8mm. Seven black spots on red 7–8mm. Very variable; often red with 5–7mm. Elongated head and ‘beak’;
can be seen in parks or gardens, wingcases. The most abundant black spots, or black with red spots. green with gold spangles, becoming
though a couple will take a bit and frequently seen native ladybird. Non-native; predator of UK ladybirds. darker with age. On trees and shrubs.
more searching. The dor beetle,
Illustrations by Dan Cole/The Art Agency for example, is mostly found on Lily beetle Sexton beetle Thick-legged
dung-strewn grassland, while the flower beetle OEDEMERA NOBILIS
sexton beetle – undertaker of the LILIOCERIS LILII NICROPHORUS VESPILLOIDES
beetle world – seeks out corpses 8–10mm. Iridescent green, with long,
to bury as a larder for its grubs. 6–8mm. Non-native; feeds on lily Up to 30mm. Attracted to dead birds
leaves and buds. Spreading north, and mammals, which its larvae eat. narrow wingcases and swollen thighs.
Good methods to find beetles recently reaching Scotland. Also called burying or carrion beetle.
include sifting leaf litter, peering Feeds on pollen in flowery places.
under logs and stones, checking
foliage, and burying ‘pit’ traps in BBC Wildlife 19
flowerbeds overnight. Good luck!

TELL US WHAT
YOU FIND!

We would love to know which
beetles and other British
wildlife you spot this April.

I Email your photographs
and stories to us at
wildlifemagazine@immediate.
co.uk with “Wild Challenge” in
the subject line, for a chance
to appear in print or online.

NEXT MONTH’S WILD
CHALLENGE: WEEDS

April 2014

WILD APRIL

DISCOVER oakwoods

Our ancient oakwoods are Britain’s answer to rainforests and bursting with life in spring.

Clockwise from left: Jason Smalley/NPL; Philippe Clement/NPL; Dead wood Wildflowers
Andy Sands/NPL; Philippe Clement/NPL; Gianpiero Ferrari/FLPA; Andy Rouse/NPL
OExplore rotting branches OMany oakwood flowers
and tree trunks for an array bloom before the canopy has
of fungi and lichen. Peel back fully unfurled and casts the
loose bark and moss to look ground in deep shade. In April
for minibeasts (take small widespread species to look
plastic bottles to examine for include bluebells, ramsons
your finds). Also hunt for signs (wild garlic), red campion,
of small mammals, including wood anemones, dog violets
droppings and nibbled seeds. and greater stitchwort.

Oak trees are long-lived (many are at least April 2014
500 years old) and support more wildlife
than other native UK trees, including
over 280 species of insect alone. This diversity
of species is greatest in ancient oakwoods,
making them superb places to see the endlessly
repeating cycle of death and renewal in action.
You’ll get more out of a visit if you experience
the habitat as a whole, so seek representatives
of each part of the web of life in the wood, from
recyclers such as fungi and beetles to a predator
such as the sparrowhawk. Spring is the most
exciting time to explore oakwoods as birdsong
and wildflower displays both peak now.

20 BBC Wildlife