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OAK TREES TO MACAQUES: NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

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The document is the November 2017 issue of BBC Wildlife magazine. It features articles on tawny owls in Yorkshire being studied by an artist to gain insights into their behavior, Barbary macaques in Gibraltar that people should be careful around, and "ugly" overlooked species that deserve more appreciation according to the author of The Gruffalo. It also promotes upcoming nature events, the latest scientific research, and has a cover story about whether orcas or great white sharks dominate in a predator turf war off South Africa.

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WHOAREYOU CALLING UGLY? The creators of The Gruffalo champion the less beautiful The big attraction that draws in thousands of birds MACAW MAYHEM ALTHOUGH THEY ARE ALL-SEEING N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 MONKEY BUSINESS How to behave in the company of a Barbary macaque November2017Volume35Number12 ORCA vs GREATWHITE Who will be the winner? WILDLIFEPHOTOGRAPHEROFTHE YEARStunning images fromthis year’s Portfoliowinner WHATISA BEEWOLF ...and why is it special? WHY OWLS ARE WISE n’t
LUCY JONES Lucy is an author, and wildlife journalist.“How we decide which species to like,dislike,which are ugly,which are beautiful and therefore what we look after is complex and,I think, fascinating,”she says.See p WELCOME BBC WildlifeNovember 2017 3 Unless you have been completely out of contact with TV, radio, internet and newspapers for the past two or three weeks, you will know that the big TV event of this month is the start of the BBC series, Blue Planet II. For an insider view of the filming, we chatted to some of the producers and put together the special supplement included with this issue. Their words convey such enthusiasm for their work, as you will read, and whet the appetite for what’s in store in the next few weeks. The patience and skill of the film crews, and the amazing technological advancements since the last Blue Planet series, will give us unprecedented views of animals and habitats. And these films will not only entertain and inform but will, in many cases, also assist scientists in their understanding of marine life. To enhance your enjoyment, the Blue Planet II book is available to buy, or as a gift if you subscribe to BBC Wildlife. Enjoy your plunge into Blue Planet II! Welcome... Contributors Sheena Harvey Editor sheena.harvey@immediate.co.uk ON THE COVER: Tawny owl: Lukas Gojda/ Shutterstock; macaque: Arnold Monteith; warthog illustration: Axel Scheffler Jan–Dec 15 total 35,934 Apr 14–Mar 15 241,000 ImmediateMediaCompanyBristolisworkingtoensurethatallofits paperissourcedfromwell-managedforests.Thismagazineisprinted onForestStewardshipCouncil(FSC)certifiedpaper. This magazine can be recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging. Please remove any gifts, samples or wrapping and dispose of it at your local collection point. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES UK phone number 03330 162 121 Overseas phone number 01604 973 729 Email bbcwildlife@buysubscriptions.com Website www.buysubscriptions.com Post BBCWildlife Magazine, PO BOX3320,3 Queensbridge,Northampton,NN4 7BF Subscriptions UK £55.25; Republic of Ireland £65.25; Europe £65.25; Rest ofWorld £70.25 OTHER CONTACTS App support immediateapps@ servicehelpline.co.uk Ads Neil Lloyd 0117 300 8276; neil.lloyd@immediate.co.uk Syndication Emma Brunt 0117 314 8782; emma.brunt@immediate.co.uk EDITORIAL Tel 0117 314 7366 Emailwildlifemagazine@immediate.co.uk Post BBCWildlife Magazine,Immediate Media Company,2nd Floor,Tower House, Fairfax Street,Bristol BS1 3BN facebook.com/wildlifemagazine twitter.com/WildlifeMag Get in touch “THE SEYCHELLES HAS ONE OFTHE LASTHEALTHY POPULATIONS OF COCONUTCRABS.” Find out more on p78 JO WIMPENNY Writer Jo visited Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru. She says, “Responsible ecotourism demonstrates to local communities the long-term value of preserving the rainforest.”See p ARNOLD MONTEITH Arnold reports on Barbary macaques in Gibraltar.He says.“The chance to see Europe’s last remaining free- roaming primate (not including humans) shouldn’t be taken for granted.” See p GET YOUR DIGITAL COPY CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE Buy a digital edition of BBC Wildlife Magazine for iOS, Android,Kindle Fire,PC or Mac.Visit iTunes,the Google Play store,Amazon or www. zinio.com to find out more. Find breaking news,fascinating facts and amazing photos: www.discoverwildlife.com THE BIG BOOK OF MAMMALS Discover the world’s most exciting animals in this fact-packed collectable from BBC Wildlife, revealing everything from the fastest to the fiercest and the brilliant to the bizarre. Only £7.99+P&P (P&P is free for UK subscribers). www.buysubscriptions.com/mammals ThomasPeschak
4 BBC Wildlife November 2017CONTENTS Features AgendaWild 6 Oak trees Admire the glory of autumn as the leaves turn from green to golden 8 November highlights Look out for whistling ducks, forest fruits and carnivorous snails 11 Hidden Britain Nick Baker on the spiders that spit venomous silk 12 Wild events Join a nature writing workshop and take part in a wader survey 14 Latest science research Chimpanzees playing rock, paper, scissors and goldfish manufacturing alcohol in their bodies 53 To the rescue Saving the world’s rarest and largest butterfly 54 Latest on the badger cull Critics say the Government has failed to justify culling 55 Beyond the headlines Are Harris hawks really a threat to joggers? 56 Knock on wood Could luck be changing for the demonised aye-aye? 59 Mark Carwardine All you need to know about conservation hotspots 60 Orca vs great white Cover story A predator turf war is taking place off the South African coast 20 Why owls aren’t wise Cover story A Yorkshire artist is gaining unique insights into tawny behaviour 30 Wise words Nature writing in the UK 34 Sliding back Partula snails return to Polynesian islands November 2017 For 18 years artist Robert Fuller has been helping tawny owls near his home to stay wild 20 36 Monkey business Cover story If macaques want your food, they’re not going to ask for it 44 Who are you calling ugly? Cover story Standing up for overlooked species 51 Encounter brown bears Join our reader holiday 64 Macaw mayhem Cover story Parrots head to favoured spots in Peru 72 Sniffing out the beewolf Cover story A wasp with an acute sense of smell 78 Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 Cover story Stunning images of Seychelles species Packham’s walk is interrupted 19 SAVEWHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE SEE P42 SPECIAL OFFER
Every month 19 Chris Packham A cantankerous buzzard complicates a walk 42 Subscription offer Get your BBC Wildlife digital subscription today 86 Book reviews 88 TV and radio 100 Q&A Which is the most sociably nesting bird? 106 Your feedback 108 Inside the image 110 Your photos 113 Puzzles 114 Tales from the bush 5BBC WildlifeNovember 2017 EDITORIAL Editor Sheena Harvey Features Editor Ben Hoare Environment Editor James Fair Section Editor Sarah McPherson Production Editor Jo Price Art Editor Richard Eccleston Deputy Art Editor Lisa Duerden Picture Editor Tom Gilks Editorial Assistant Megan Shersby Contributors Rob Banino, Liz Turner,Veronika Geroc, Wanda Sowry, Paul Jarrold, Katherine Hallett ADVERTISING Group Ad Manager Tom Drew 0117 933 8043 Ad Manager Neil Lloyd 0117 300 8276 Brand Sales Executive Heather Candlish 0117 300 8500 Brand Sales Executive Dan Granville 0117 300 8523 Direct Advertising Consultant Max Spalton 0117 300 8530 INSERTS Laurence Robertson 00353 876 902208 MARKETING Subscriptions Director Jacky Perales-Morris Digital Marketing Manager Mark Summerton Direct Marketing Manager Aimee Rhymer Direct Marketing Executive Chris Pipe Direct Marketing Assistant Emma Hunter Head of PR Dom Lobley LICENSING & SYNDICATION Rights Manager Emma Brunt 0117 314 8782; emma.brunt@immediate.co.uk Director of Licensing & Syndication Tim Hudson PRODUCTION Ad Co-ordinator Charles Thurlow Ad Designer James Croft Production Director Sarah Powell Production Co-ordinator Ian Wardle IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY BRISTOL LTD Publisher Marie Davies; Publishing Assistant Rosa Sherwood; Managing Director Andy Marshall; CEO Tom Bureau BBC WORLDWIDE, UK PUBLISHING President of UK and ANZ Marcus Arthur; Director for Consumer Products and Publishing Andrew Moultrie; Director of Editorial Governance Nicholas Brett; Publishing Director Chris Kerwin; Publisher Magazines and NPD Mandy Thwaites; Publishing Co-ordinator Eva Abramik UK.Publishing@bbc.com;www.bbcworldwide.com/ uk--anz/ukpublishing.aspx BBCWildlifeMagazineispublishedby ImmediateMediaCompanyBristolLimited underlicencefromBBCWorldwide. BBC Wildlife provides trusted, independent travel advice and information that has been gathered without fear or favour. We aim to provide options that cover a range of budgets and reveal the positive and negative points of the locations we visit. The views expressed in BBC Wildlife are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the magazine or its publisher. The publisher, editor and authors accept no responsibility in respect of any products, goods or services that may be advertised or referred to in this issue or for any errors, omissions, mis-statements or mistakes in any such advertisements or references. © Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited 2017. All rights reserved. No part of BBC Wildlife may be reproduced in any form or by any means either wholly or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Not to be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended retail price (subject to VAT in the Republic of Ireland) or in mutilated condition. Printed byWilliam Gibbons Ltd. BBC Wildlife champions ethical wildlife photography that prioritises the welfare of animals and the environment. It is committed to the faithful representation of nature, free from excessive digital manipulation, and complete honesty in captioning. Photographers, please support us by disclosing all information – including, but not restricted to, use of bait, captive or habituated animals – about the circumstances under which your pictures were taken. Amazonian clay licks are vital to parrots64 How you should behave around a Barbary macaque Meet one of Europe’s most spectacular insects 72 36 The ‘Ugly Five’ deserve love says The Gruffalo author 44 Owls:RobertFuller;macaws:GlennBartley/Minden/FLPA;beewolf:MilanRadisics/naturepl.com;TheUglyFive:AxelScheffler;macaque:ArnieMonteith;buzzardillustrationbyOwenDavey/Folio
WILDNOVEMBERWHAT TO SEE kk WHERE TO LOOK DavidTipling The canopy of Thursford Wood in Norfolk, seen from a drone. It contains many of the county’s oldest oak trees, some estimated to be more than 500 years old.
7BBC Wildlife A s foliage turns fiery and seeds and fruit ripen, our deciduous woods take centre stage. November is a fabulous time for woodland rambles, when wildlife lovers can join fungi forays, photograph atmospheric glades on misty mornings and watch squirrels, nuthatches and jays harvest autumn’s bounty. After dark a mammalian army – mice, voles, badgers – takes over, making the most of the seasonal glut. Britain may be one of the least wooded European countries, yet it is blessed with more ancient trees than any other. So far 13,000 have been recorded, mostly by volunteers, in the Ancient Tree Inventory. (The still-growing dendrological database also includes 143,000 younger but still notable trees.) Of the 3,400 mighty medieval and Tudor oaks known to survive in Britain, four-fifths have already seen 400–600 autumns, and the oldest up to 1,100. Yet many ancient trees remain unrecorded – often isolated, alone in fields or by roads, with little legal protection. Now the Woodland Trust hopes to safeguard this remarkable natural heritage by capitalising on the 800th anniversary of the 1217 Charter of the Forest issued by Henry III. Together with other leading charities, it launches a new Charter for Trees, Woods and People this month. Q CITIZEN SCIENCE 13% Tree cover in Britain – the highest level since the early 1700s, but still some of the lowest of any European country. The EU average is 37 per cent. GOLDEN TIME ` IT IS SAID THAT AN OAK SPENDS 300 YEARS GROWING, 300 YEARS LIVING AND 300 YEARS IN SLOW DECLINE.” CHRIS PACKHAM’S MUSTSEE GET INVOLVED Visit www.treecharter.uk and www.ancienttreehunt.org.uk JUDI DENCH’S SECRET WOODLAND ON BBC ONE LATERTHISYEAR Lookoutfor
WILD NOVEMBER November 20178 BBC Wildlife UK HIGHLIGHTSThe essential wildlife events to enjoy this month , compiled by Ben Hoare. Folklore dictates we should only collect mussels in months with the letter‘r’. Dog whelks don’t take any notice of such niceties.These sea snails target mussel beds year-round, albeit less intensively in winter. Having chosen a victim they drill a hole, pour in digestive enzymes and suck up the resulting soup.Attacks take a few days. If, when beachcombing, you find an empty mussel shell with a neat circular hole in it, you can be sure the occupant met a grisly end. FIND OUT MORE Searchable directory of UK marine life: www.marlin.ac.uk/species Q DOG WHELK SNAIL’S PACE DISAPPEARING ACT The first full moon in November is said to be a ‘woodcock moon’, as it often coincides with an influx of these nocturnal waders. Tracking studies have shown that they visit Britain from as far away as Siberia and stay faithful to the same wintering sites. Worm- eaters, they forage in boggy clearings and damp pasture and moorland next to woods. So perfect is their camouflage, your only chance of a winter sighting is if you flush one from its daytime hiding place. FIND OUT MORE More about the woodcock study: www.woodcockwatch.com Q WOODCOCK Hornbeam:BobGibbons;widgeon:OliverSmart;bryony:AlexHyde;moth:JohnBebbinngton;ladybirds:AlexHyde; bracketfungi:Fieber/blickwinkel/Alamy;woodcock:DavidTipling;dogwhelk:NickUpton/NPL BLOWING IN THE WIND WHISTLING DUCK Q HORNBEAM Q WIGEON One of Britain’s most overlooked native trees, hornbeam is frequently mistaken for beech. Its oval leaves are smaller, with deeper veins. But the clearest difference is the dangling clusters of papery winged fruit. Like beech, hornbeam was traditionally pollarded to encourage new growth. It’s found mainly in south-east England and East Anglia; Epping, Hatfield and Hainault forests are famous for their many veteran pollarded specimens.. GET INVOLVED National Tree Week is 25 November – 3 December: www.treecouncil. org.uk/Take-Part/National-Tree-Week m TWEET OF THE DAY www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/tweetoftheday November sees numbers of many duck species swell dramatically, as migrants flock to Britain’s wetlands to escape the harsher winters of the Baltic, Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland. The visitors include over 400,000 wigeon. Drake wigeon are among our smartest ducks, their plumage a mixture of bold-brush contrasts on the head and subtle grey and peach tones elsewhere. Yet the first thing that draws attention is often a chorus of high-pitched whistles. As nature writer Mark Cocker wittily observed, their gleeful calls have “something of the child down the slide.” TOP TIP Listen to whistling wigeon calls at www.xeno-canto.org
ALSO LOOK OUT FOR… SPLIT STRATEGY One of the most intriguing moths on the wing in November is the red-green carpet. Having mated the males all die; only the females survive winter in a torpor.After emerging in spring, they lay eggs to continue the cycle. BANK DEPOSITS With the long breeding season over, water voles become less territorial. Look out for communal latrines – huge piles of droppings by the waterside. Discover more about the species’year at www.watervole.org.uk PUPPING SEASON Inspired by Gillian Burke’s moving Autumnwatch film of grey seals pupping? Be a responsible wildlife-watcher: don’t ignore signs and fences at the well-known breeding beaches in Norfolk and Lincolnshire to get your ‘dream’close-up photo. IN THE PINK Spitsbergen’s pink-footed geese are back on traditional winter haunts. Head to RSPB and WWT reserves in the Wash, north Norfolk, Lancashire and the Solway Firth for the unforgettable experience of enormous bugling flocks.The drama is greatest at dawn and dusk. HIBERNATING HARLEQUINS Today, clumps of ladybirds indoors are, unfortunately, likely to be non-native harlequins. Expert Helen Roy advises leaving them, as native 2-spot ladybirds may be there, too. In any case, removing them won’t have population-level effects on the invasive species. Catchupwith AUTUMNWATCH ON BBC IPLAYER THIS NOVEMBER WILD NOVEMBER HEDGEROW GARLANDS Q BLACK BRYONY FRUITFUL PARTNERSHIP When it comes to fungi,some trees make more attractive hosts than others.Oaks – especially if decrepid,dying or decaying – are particularly rich in species.Among them are several distinctive bracket fungi.One to search for this month is oak bracket fungus,which looks fabulous,like oozing bread dough studded with glistening jellied fruit or droplets of honey.It persists well into winter, sometimes in groups of fruiting bodies,usually near the base of gnarly old trees. FIND OUT MORE Discover more about fungi at www.britmycolsoc.org.uk Q OAK BRACKET FUNGUS As hedgerow leaves die back in November,the shiny berries of black bryony suddenly become visible,appearing almost shockingly bright among the drab twiggy skeletons of bare trees and shrubs.“Redder than remembrance poppies, riper than a bunch of tomatoes,poisonous as hell”is how nature writer Paul Evans describes these gaudy garlands in his book Field Notes from the Edge.Black bryony is a climbing,vine-like member of the mostly tropical yam family.But while many yams are important human foods, black bryony is best left well alone. FIND OUT MORE Learn about Britain’s plants at www.plantlife.org.uk
Please visit nationaltrust.org.uk/gifts-in-wills, call us on 01793 817699, or email legacies@nationaltrust.org.uk quoting ‘NTB1W’ © National Trust 2017 Registered Charity No. 205846 © National Trust Images / John Millar You might never imagine losing a special place that’s always been there for you, but the future of our coastline, countryside and historic homes is far from certain. By leaving a gift in your Will you can help make sure these unique places live on to inspire the next generation. Where you choose to support is up to you and we’re here to help with any questions you might have. Ask us about getting free help with your Will Dear future den builders and woodland wild things, I leave this place for you.
The bolas spiders of the Americas,Africa and Australia hunt by hurling a line with sticky blob of silk on the end. DID YOU KNOW ? WILD NOVEMBER November 2017 11BBC Wildlife substance. When the spider stumbles into a booklouse or similarly small invertebrate, it contracts the muscles of these sacs. The goo they contain is then forcibly ejected through the tips of the raised chelicerae (the spider’s ‘fangs’). The attack is fast and deadly accurate: the goo fires from the tips of the chelicerae at a speed of around 30m per second and can pin down a future dinner standing more than 1cm away. It’s almost incredible, given the spider is doing this in the dark by detecting the minuscule vibrations caused by the prey. The two times I’ve seen spitting spiders hunting, the catch happened so quickly that it didn’t register. One moment there was a spider and a booklouse; the next the booklouse was pinned to the ground under a delicate zig-zag of grey stitches. The process that produces the zig-zag pattern is even faster than the speed at which the venomous silk is spat out. As the spider lifts its fangs, they vibrate at a rate of 300–1,800Hz, causing the strands of fluid to flick from side to side. The final, beautiful detail is that, upon impact, the strands contract by 50 per cent, tightening the net around the spider’s next meal. IllustrationsbyPeterDavidScott/TheArtAgency NICK BAKER is a naturalist, author and TV presenter. REVEALS A FASCINATING WORLD OF WILDLIFE THAT WE OFTEN OVERLOOK. S P I T T I N G S P I D E R Spitting spiders spray adhesive ‘silk’to immobilise their hapless prey. eye. I always ‘twitch’ spiders, but this one was different to anything I’d seen before. It was the way the spider was moving that made me do a double-take – it walked with a deliberate, stealthy cat-crawl over the white-washed stone wall. Those eight legs – spindly and smooth save for a scattering of sensory hairs called trichobothria – were distinctive, as was the colouring of its body, a waxy, jaundiced-yellow speckled with brown. But it was the unmistakable humped appearance of the cephalothorax (the front portion of a spider’s two main body divisions) that clinched the identification. No other British spider bulges with such intent. The hunting strategy of this arachnid puts you in mind of a more vicious Peter Parker. For just as Spiderman, Parker’s superhero alter ego, slings webs to ensnare villains, so our spider relies upon a similar approach to catch its prey, but with one crucial difference: the spitting spider’s webbing isn’t just sticky, it’s venomous. Protruding from its head are two sacs, one containing a venom, the other a silky glue-like O n misty mornings their silken webs – made from a mix of protein, air and water – seem to ensnare the very essence of autumn. The low dew point, caused by the cool air, bedazzles the strands with moisture and the watery baubles bring their clandestine creators to the forefront of our minds. Yes, it’s spider season. Every season is, to be truthful, but it’s now that spiders mature and are at their biggest. One spider that stands out from the eight-legged crowd, due to the fact that it’s rarely found outdoors and doesn’t use silk much, is the spitting spider, Scytodes thoratica. These oddballs are particularly fond of old buildings and museums. It has been suggested that they may well be non-natives imported on construction materials and have since become naturalised in the southern half of the UK. Whatever their origin, they’re a fascinating addition to our more furtive fauna. I found my first spitting spider by accident: a late-night B-movie and a thirst for an accompanying beer had me heading for the kitchen. I snapped the light on and it immediately caught my NICK BAKER BRITA N Hidden THE MONEY SPIDER MYSTERY Eyes at top of eye-turret It's enough to make your eyes bulge out on stalks While the spitting spider has a clear reason for its strange shape,there is another,even weirder,member of the British spider fauna.Walckenaeria acuminata is a widespread species of money spider,around 4mm in length.Males have the most spectacular towering eye-turret, which can be over twice as high as the spider is long.Its purpose is unknown,making it another one of those everyday enigmas. Actual size: 5mm
November 2017BBC Wildlife12 WILD NOVEMBER Pintail:Shutterstock;Swan:AlexGilfillan;LucyWebster:SASACrownCopyright;SabaDouglas-Hamilton:SamGracey; Weasel:GenevieveLeaper;Pipestrellebat:AmyLewis;Redknot:ElisSimpson Natural words A Life with Elephants NOVEMBER EVENTS IN BRIEF EVENT SPOTLIGHT Wetland celebration The annual North West Bird Watching Festival returns to WWT Martin Mere in Lancashire this November. Set over the weekend, the festival includes guided tours and a range of lectures and activities including bird ringing and a floodlit swan spectacle. Join BBC Wildlife columnist Nick Baker for a walk on the reserve and listen to talks from photographers and conservationists, including WWT’s Sacha Dench who flew 7,000km by paramotor in 2016, following the Bewick’s swans' migration. O 18–19 November,WWTMartin Mere.Normal admission prices apply, plus additional prices for some talks/tours,bit.ly/2iVxMcE Join Saba Douglas-Hamilton (above) for an evening during her UK tour. The conservationist and TV presenter of The Secret Life of Elephants and Big Cat Diaries will be sharing exciting animal stories and intimate tales of life in Kenya with her family. O 3–24 November,various locations around the UK.Prices vary, bit.ly/2wB7wr1 SCOTTISH MAMMALS The lead editor of the MammalAtlas of NE Scotland and the Cairngorms will be discussing the comprehensive publication in this evening talk for the Aberdeen RSPB Local Group. 14 November, bit.ly/2gEb6MY WADER WATCH Get involved with an international citizen science survey in November by looking for wading birds as part ofWorldWaderWatch. 4–5 November, bit.ly/2eVobxW HAMPSHIRE BATS Learn all about bat behaviour and the best locations to see them with local bat expert Nik Knight. Nik will explain how to hear the flying mammals’echolocation calls at this talk for the Hampshire and Isle ofWightWildlifeTrust. 27 November, bit.ly/2iXpFMK A WILD WALK Explore the less known paths of NationalTrust’s Marsden Moor Estate in WestYorkshire on this walk.Wildlife could include kestrels,short-eared owls and mountain hares. 4 November, bit.ly/2xd7mcG EVENTS As part of RSPB Loch Leven’s 50th anniversary celebrations author and poet Anita John is leading a nature writing workshop in Perth and Kinross. Attendees will get to try out techniques and activities, both inside the classroom and outside, while watching the reserve’s whooper swans (below) and pink- footed geese. O 19 November, RSPB Loch Leven. RSPB members £10, non members £15, bit.ly/2xJnbVs Discover the world of wildlife crime forensics in this talk for Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Glasgow Group. Dr Lucy Webster (below) from Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture will be discussing her work in analysing non-human DNA evidence. Her talk will cover the techniques she uses and include casework examples involving the illegal wildlife trade, raptor persecution, badger baiting and more. O 22 November, Hyndland Secondary School (Glasgow). Suggested donation of £2 per person, bit.ly/2gOqSVQ BLOOD, SWEAT AND DEERS Learn how forensic experts help investigate wildlife crimes. Visit Martin Mere and you could spot one of the pintails that winter there.
WILD NEWS November 201714 BBC Wildlife DISCOVERIESThe latest in scientific research from all over the animal kingdom. Q MAMMALS I t’s a traditional means of settling playground disputes, but new research shows that chimpanzees can learn the rules of rock, paper, scissors, too. Many animals can grasp the rules of linear hierarchies – A beats B, which beats C, etc, and such rules are necessary to maintain social pecking orders, for example. But rock, paper, scissors is more sophisticated than that, as no one strategy can beat all the others. The hierarchy is circular: rock blunts scissors; scissors cut paper; paper covers rock. A team of Japanese and Chinese biologists have compared the abilities of chimps and children to learn the rules of the game. Individuals of each species were taught to pick the winner of randomly chosen pairs of pictures of the gestures shown on a computer screen. “The chimpanzees’ performance was similar to that of four-year-old children,” says Jie Gao of Japan’s Kyoto University, although it did take the chimps much longer to learn the rules. According to Gao’s colleague Tetsuro Matsuzawa, there is no evidence yet that the animals can play the game themselves. But that’s something the team is working on. Neither is it known whether chimps use their ability to understand circular relationships in any natural setting. It’s possible that it allows them to process complex social interactions but it may simply be a by-product of a flexible cognitive system. Matsuzawa draws a comparison with chimps’ ability to learn aspects of human language. “Chimps do not speak as we do; they do not use the language as we do. But it does not mean that they completely lack the ability to learn language,” he says. “Look at the wonderful performance of young chimpanzees memorising Arabic numerals,” he tells BBC Wildlife magazine. “Their performance (at this task) exceeded ours.” ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS DID YOU KNOW? Q Acontestsimilarto rock-paper-scissors isplayedbetween Californianside- blotchedlizards. Orange-throatedmales dominatesmallerblue- throatedones,whoout- competethesmallest, yellowtype.But,by mimickingfemales, yellowsescapethe oranges’attentionand canpoachfemalesin theoranges’territories. CHIMPANZEES TAUGHT TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GESTURES IN CHILDREN’S GAME Written by STUART BLACKMAN PrimateResearchInstituteofKyotoUniversity The winning hand: chimps have been taught to understand which gesture wins in rock, paper, scissors. SOURCE Primates LINK bit.ly/2vXHlwf
WILD NEWS November 2017 15BBC Wildlife Q BIOLOGY MACHO MEN TIDY UP In a discovery that might surprise at least half of the human race, the most macho of males can also be the most fastidiously house-proud. Male golden-collared manakins attract females with colourful, noisy, acrobatic displays on the forest floors of Central America. And the birds are very careful to keep their display arenas tidy, removing fallen leaves and other clutter that might obscure a female’s view. Their tidiness seems to be fuelled by testosterone. Males given a boost of the hormone became even more obsessed about the tidiness of their display arena and would make considerable efforts to remove leaves, even if they were weighted down. A testosterone fix also induced non-displaying juveniles to keep their patch of the forest spick and span.“They removed significantly more leaves than untreated males and even pulled up small tree seedlings,” says Ioana Chiver of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. EXPLAINER The 6FLHQWLĶF WHUPV SXW LQWR SODLQ (QJOLVK IRU WKH UHVW RI XV SOURCE Scientific Reports LINK http://go.nature.com/2w2vSvv PARTY ANIMALS If goldfish have a bit of a glazed, faraway look in their eyes, there might be a good reason for it. They are rare among vertebrates in being able to manufacture alcohol in their own bodies. And now biologists have shown they do it in much the same way as brewer’s yeast does. Most vertebrates survive short periods without oxygen by switching to an anaerobic mode of respiration to fuel their bodies, but this produces toxic lactic acid as a by-product. Goldfish and their wild relatives, crucian carp, instead utilise an anaerobic pathway that produces alcohol instead of lactic acid and this can be flushed from their bodies via their gills. “During their time in oxygen-free water in ice- covered ponds, which can last for several months in their northern European habitat, blood-alcohol concentrations in crucian carp can reach more than 50 mg per 100 millilitres. That’s above the drink drive limit in the countries [in this region],” says the University of Liverpool’s Michael Berenbrink. HYBRIDISATION The distinction between species is not always clear-cut, especially when they’re capable of interbreeding to produce hybrids, which can lead to two species merging. But hybrids can also keep the parent species separate. That’s because hybrids are often sterile or lack the specialisations of either parent, putting them at a reproductive disadvantage. Sometimes, however, hybridisation can turn up genetic recipes that thrive – many species of plants have been created this way. Fish:WillWatson/naturepl.com;manakin:JuanCarlosVindas/BIA/Minden/FLPA; zonkey:QuirkyChinaNews/REX/Shutterstock(captive);bat:DrDebWright SOURCE Animal Behaviour LINK bit.ly/2xxGqDx SOURCE Records of the Australian Museum LINK bit.ly/2unYX56 WHAT IS IT? The scientist who described this new species has suggested the common name happy tube-nosed fruit bat due to its chirpy- looking expression. But the alternative moniker, Yoda fruit bat – after its resemblance to a certain Jedi Master – also seems to be catching on. WHERE IS IT? The species seems to be widely distributed across New Guinea, where it can be distinguished from its closest relatives by its facial features. It is also unusual in that it seems to roost alone rather than in groups. NEW SPECIES SPOTLIGHT HAPPY TUBE-NOSED FRUIT BAT Mix a zebra and a donkey and you get a hybrid that could be a zonkey… or a zedonk. Q BIRDS With or without fruit, this bat always looks happy to see you. Goldfish may replace newts as an analogy for drunkenness. Testosterone increases male golden-collared manakins’propensity for cleaning up.
WILD NEWS 16 BBC Wildlife SUN SENDS WHALES ASHORE Q MIGRATION The aurora borealis is a sight to behold for many, but for sperm (and possibly other) whales it could be a bad omen. It has long been known that whale strandings appear to coincide with solar storms, in which the Sun ejects charged particles that interfere with Earth’s magnetic field and produce the aurora borealis. New research offers a possible explanation for the link between the two phenomenon. The study focused on 29 apparently healthy sperm whales stranded on German, Dutch, English and French beaches in early 2016 following strong solar storms. These animals would normally have been expected to travel down Britain’s west coast to southern breeding grounds. Instead, they entered the shallow waters of the North Sea. The whales took the wrong turn, argue the scientists, because they navigate using local features of Earth’s magnetic field. During the period in question a magnetic landmark around Shetland that points the way west was obscured by the storms. The findings, write the scientists, “may also be of relevance to other animals migrating through comparable areas.” What prevents closely related species interbreeding and merging into one? New research provides evidence for the theory that hybrids lack the finely tuned characteristics of either parent. Biologists tested the theory by microchipping 456 roach, bream and roach-bream hybrids in a Danish lake. Three years later, they scoured nearby cormorant roosts for microchips that had been regurgitated by the fish-eating birds. Their search turned up only 14 per cent of the chips that had been implanted in the roach, nine per cent of those put in the bream, but 41 per cent of those put in the hybrids. “The hybrids may not have the trait combinations that help the parental species to survive encounters with their natural enemies and they get eaten,” says Kaj Hulthén of Sweden’s Lund University. Indeed, measurements showed that the hybrids had neither the roach’s speed nor the body-shape that make bream hard to swallow. “Predators maintain the boundaries between species and keep hybrids at low densities,” adds Hulthén’s colleague Anders Nilsson. Q BIOLOGY Whale:DanKitwood/Getty;hybrid:ChristianSkov;seasnake:ClaireGoiran;cuckoo:HennyBrandsma/Minden/FLPA SOURCEBiologyLettersLINKbit.ly/2hxohA5 CROSSED PURPOSES WILDLIFE UPDATES THE NEW BLACK Turtle-headed sea snakes living on polluted reefs in the Indo-Pacific lack the species’usual light bands and are almost all black.According to research in Current Biology,the snakes’dark skin pigment, melanin,binds to pollutants such as nickel and zinc. ROYAL DECREE Royal jelly,a substance secreted by worker bees to feed future queens, has long been thought to have medicinal properties. Research published in Scientific Reports has now identified a molecule in royal jelly that accelerates wound healing in humans. SOCIAL SNEEZING Biologists report in Proceedings of the Royal Society B that they can predict when a pack of African wild dogs will move on after resting by the frequency of sneezing among its members. The behaviour appears to function as a voting mechanism to facilitate collective decision-making. LAST LAUGH Cuckoos look uncannily like sparrowhawks,but Nature Ecology Evolution reports that they sound like them, too.After laying an egg in a reed warbler’s nest,female cuckoos issue a hawk-like chuckle that keeps the parents away until the parasite has left the crime scene. SOURCE Journal of Astrobiology LINK bit.ly/2vHX6ZD Sperm whales’ ability to navigate is inhibited by solar storms interfering with Earth’s magnetic field. From top: a bream, a roach-bream hybrid and a roach.
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OPINION 19BBC WildlifeNovember 2017 Illustration:OwenDavey/Folio A time of gentle dying, the sigh and twitch and limpening grip, the wheeze of wet air… November, and there is no glory, no spectacular crash, no rip or roaring in the trees, no frost to bite, no snow to suffocate, not even a sudden shiver to spark notice of its arrival… just that dispassionate dying, the press of grey and brown and all its sorry mud. Winter is coming and the walkers trudge out into the kingdom of drab. He definitely didn’t want to go; I didn’t really want to go. We’ve come because we have to… to tick the habit box. And so we huff and pant, scuff and can’t raise any joy from this mourning among the trees. Along the droveway, on a spare rib jutting from the skeleton of a smashed oak, an old buzzard straightens, shakes his overcoat, peers, sneezes and scowls. We wait for him to get himself sorted – we’re polite and don’t rush the miserable – but he lifts and folds his foot, draws it back into his sodden jumper and stares. We have ourselves a stand-off. We squelch tactfully forward beneath his frown until I can see his daggered eyes. But still the beggar sits, rudely trying us with his glowering. We advance again and he draws his cloak tighter, his foot flinches and he very slowly lowers its clasp to the wood. Again we stop – the buzzard really doesn’t want to go – but just as I consider backing up, he turns and flops off, lurches low over the path like a soggy blanket and reels away to sulk in some other sopping spot. And then it starts to drizzle again. In an attempt to achieve something beyond mundane exercise, we divert to the badger sett where I wet my knee on the black earth to retrieve the card from a trip camera that snoops on their sober lives. Scratchy perks up and jogs from heap to hole, sticking his nose into way down the hill, ‘spanieling’ after some long-gone game. The buzzard sees him too, and eyes his furtive circling. I can’t ruin another hunt on a rainy day, but I can’t shout for Scratch either – he’s quite deaf and out of range, and it would surely scare the veteran bird. So we wait. And wait. My boy is a fluffy blob in the distance and far from bored with the smell of an old deer. I lose interest in these two fools and check my Twitter feed. Abuse, the usual trolls who are either paid or stupid, or paid to be stupid… email… nothing exciting. A message from Charlotte telling me to read an unexciting email. Um, well, the screen is too wet to use, so I trouser my phone and look up – no buzzard, no dog. Damn. I sigh and take two steps before I see them: together, face to face, about three metres apart on the sloping ground. Both of their tails are down, the bird’s neck is stretched up and it’s displaying a spiky crest, the dog’s neck is down and he’s all wet-look perm. Neither is moving. Honestly, what are they like? After a few seconds, Scratchy goes sideways and backs away, then lopes up the field. The buzzard shakes and looks the other way. When Scratch arrives, I kneel and ask him what happened, and in classic poodle he says: “Leave your phone at home, because even when nothing is happening, something happens.” Meanwhile, the buzzard has vanished. I LOOK UP AND THEN DOWN THE EDGE AND GUESS WHO IS THERE? THAT SENILE BUZZARD.” ` CHRIS PACKHAM is a naturalist and TV presenter. Watch him in Autumnwatch on BBC Two on 23–26 October, or catch up on BBC iPlayer. OUT WITH THE DOG ON A DANK AUTUMN DAY, OUR WAY IS BLOCKED BY A BEDRAGGLED BUZZARD WITH DAGGERS FOR EYES. From CHRIS PACKHAM Notesfrom an English wood the olfactory version of their business. I wonder if he knows them all, if he recognises the scent of each of the players who enter this dark stage to repeat verses of scratching and snuffling each night. But their latrines hold surprisingly little interest for him: a quick sniff and he’s off to the next spoil heap, a far cry from the days when he and his brother relished a roll in that bitter paste, anointing their necks and cocky-trotting through the bush so proud of their fetid perfume. Done, he ducks out into the field and as I contort through the sagging fence I look up and then down the edge and guess who is there? That senile buzzard. The codger must be after moles, or worms, and merely casts Scratch a glance as he skirts under his tree. Then he turns to me – pure disdain, his brows prominent, his gaze sharp… he is so pissed off. I raise myself slowly, he cranes to nibble his toes, I see Scratch going all the
Young tawny owls often perch together so the adults can keep a watchful eye on them. Parents will defend their offspring vigorously from predators. By thinking outside the box, aYorkshire artist is gaining unique insights into the lives of his local tawny owls, discovers Amy-Jane Beer. Photos by Robert Fuller Tawnytactics
T he theme from The Great Escape has been in my head for days, ever since I scooted down the tunnel leading from Robert Fuller’s house to his new wildlife hide. Access is via a trolley – you lie down and haul yourself along by a rope, just like Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. As well as getting you into the hide unnoticed, it’s also jolly good fun. The view from the hide is pretty unusual. To the right is a drystone structure with a den for stoats and a wooden maze to test their flexibility. To the left, an artificial badger sett is under construction. Behind us, a weasel snoozes in a heated nestbox (as seen in the August 2016 issue of BBC Wildlife). Outside is a bird table loaded with defrosted day-old chicks, strapped down so they can’t be carried off – Robert wants his visitors to feed where he can see them. Tonight we’re concentrating on tawny owls, which Robert has been watching, photographing and painting here for 18 years. “They’re challenging,” he says. “Really secretive. The first time I saw one on a fence-post just down there I ran for my camera but, of course, when I got back it had gone. I built a nestbox out of an old stump, mounted it in a tree and there have been tawny owls there ever since.” This was good for the owls but, for Robert, getting good photos means luring the birds into the open. “The supplementary feeding started when I decided to help a young male kestrel,” he recalls. “I began putting out mice that I caught for him. When he had a family, I put the food out late at night so he’d have something first thing. It
November 2017BBC Wildlife22 ROBERTIS REGULARLYATTACKED. “IT’S LIKE SOMEONETHROWING HALFABRICKATYOU.AHALF- BRICKWITH CLAWS.” wasn’t long before the owls cottoned on and soon I was feeding them every night, too.” Robert’s expertise with owls soon became local common knowledge and people started bringing him ‘rescued’ owlets. Most of these were tawny owls. “The thing about tawnies is they fledge too soon and end up on the floor,” says Robert. “People assume they’ve been abandoned when, in fact, the parents are still close by.” Hand-rearing is a last resort because owlets have so much to learn from their parents. Since Robert knew the adult pair he was feeding would never struggle to find food, he decided to try fostering the owlets with them. “We were winging it,” he admits. “We didn’t have nestbox cameras then, so we had no idea what was going on inside. But tawny owls are phenomenal parents and they’re used to rearing chicks of varied ages because their own broods naturally hatch over several days.” These days, when spring ‘orphans’ arrive, those that are large enough are ringed by Jean Thorpe – an amazing woman who rehabilitates most of North and East Yorkshire’s injured raptors – and Jack Ashton-Booth, another local raptor specialist. Robert transfers the owlets to the box on the first night, which occasionally means adding more than one at a time. Does that mean the parents can’t count or recognise their own? “No, they can’t. They’re pretty stupid really,” he chuckles. “They’re not colonial, so there’s no real benefit in recognising their own chicks. They have such a strong urge to nurture – much better than barn owls. You wouldn’t want a barn owl as a mother, but the tawnies are formidable.” Formidable is no exaggeration. Pioneering bird photographer Eric Hosking famously lost an eye to a tawny owl he had been watching and Robert is regularly attacked when returning owlets to the box. “It’s like someone throwing half a brick at you. Two owlets make themselves at home in Robert’s nest stump.Above: an adult tawny snoozes in a kestrel nestbox.
November 2017 BBC Wildlife 23 Above: a male and female perch side by side in October, having re-established their territory by driving the young birds out of the area. Left: Robert checks a rescued owlet before introducing it into a nestbox. A half-brick with claws. I’ve been punctured on my back and my head. I used to wear a chainsaw helmet with a visor, but they come in so hard, I was worried they might hurt themselves. So now I wear a leather hat with ear flaps, a visor and two Buffs around my neck.” FAMILY LIFE IS COMPLICATED Earlier that evening, we’d walked down the valley to a nestbox, one of three made from tree stumps and now home to tawny and barn owls, and kestrels. On the way, Robert explained that last year the tawny pair raised 10 chicks – four of their own and six surrogates. This year, however, didn’t start so well. The female laid three eggs, but one failed to hatch. The first owlet to emerge was killed by the male, which unusually, is supporting two families in 2017. “He started pinching food from the nest to take to the other brood, which had TAWNY OWLS GROUNDING For fledging tawny owls, grounding is an occupational hazard. Often a chick can climb back into its tree, so it should only be taken to a vet or rehab centre if it’s obviously injured or unwell. If not, return the chick to the nest or a nearby branch. Chicks smaller than a clenched fist are more vulnerable, but taking them into care may rob them of the natural upbringing they need. If in doubt, ask a local wildlife rehabilitation expert. WET PLUMAGE It’s different if a bird is wet, as waterlogged down loses all of its insulating volume. Following overnight rain, Robert brings any grounded chicks he finds inside to dry off on top of the boiler in a closed cardboard box lined with shredded newspaper. He returns them to their nest the same evening. SAFETY FIRST If you do decide to pick up a tawny owl, put on a hat, gloves and goggles or a visor. Be vigilant for the parents – some won’t hesitate to attack if they are nearby. If you sense an airborne assault, don’t look up. BARN OWLS You can tell barn owl chicks from tawnies by their pure white down and dark eyelids (tawny owls’are pink). Barn owls fledge later and don’t ground as often, but are less able to self-rescue so may need help returning to the nest.As a more stringently protected species, however, a licence is required to touch them unless they’re injured or suffering. WHEN DOES A BABY OWL NEED HELP? TAWNY OWLS Tawny owl chicks often end up on the ground when fledging. Barn owl chicks have white down and dark eyelids. AnnSteveToon/naturepl.com
November 2017BBC Wildlife24 already hatched,” says Robert. “I think he got confused. He arrived in the box, the female raised up to show him his baby and he just took it.” The female tried to intervene but it was too late. So, as it turns out, only one of the owlets she is caring for is the pair’s own. The first surrogate owlet also perished after being attacked by sheep. “That happens a lot,” explains Robert. “You’d think the main risk to fledglings on the ground would be foxes, badgers or stoats, but no. Sheep see them moving and trample or head-butt them into the ground.” Like many of the birds released on Robert’s patch, this year’s adoptee owls came from Jean Thorpe. None of them are true siblings. “You can see they’re different,” Rob tells me. “Normally owlets in a family have similar coloration, but these ones are a mixture – some are really pale.” We arrive under a glorious spreading wych elm. “They love this tree,” says Robert. “The way the branches twist creates level perches with good shelter. They only really use the nestbox when there are no leaves on the trees, so after the young fledge, they’re out all the time. There’s Above: Robert reproduces the owls on canvas. Below: Tree stumps make great nestboxes, although they are heavy. one now.” I crane my neck. Robert has to guide my eye – at first all I can see is leaves and branches, but then I see the owlet. It’s big, almost fully grown. Its plumage is cinnamon and buff, fluffy on the chest, but developing the tree-bark adult texture on its back and sides. Its face swivels in the surrounding hood of feathers, like the bezel of a watch. Robert sets up a telescope and I take a squint. The ‘wise owl’ idea is nonsense; these aren’t brainy birds by any measure. But you can see why they have gained that reputation. Their big eyes appear all-seeing. Having spotted one chick, we quickly see another, and another. In a few minutes, all five are accounted for, then Robert spots their mother, watching us. I can clearly see the fleshy pads of her toes pressing into the branch, while the scalpel-tips of her talons rest lightly on the bark. Tawny owls have moved from a ‘Green’ to ‘Amber’ listing due to their declining THE‘WISEOWL’IDEAIS NONSENSE…BUTYOU CANSEEWHYTHEY GAINEDTHATREPUTATION TAWNY OWLS
November 2017 BBC Wildlife 25 numbers, though the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) points out that standard survey methods (the species’ last national survey was in 2005) may be unreliable for such secretive birds. Bad weather, infanticidal parents and sheep aren’t the only threats. Over 65 per cent of dead tawnies reported to the BTO are killed by traffic. This is a skewed statistic, because road fatalities are more likely to be recorded than other deaths, but the risk is still significant, especially as roadsides are good places to find carrion or hunt small prey. If an owl killed on a road is a parent, the entire brood may be doomed. SERIOUS RISK Disease is a serious problem too, especially trichomonosis. This is caused by a protozoan parasite that infects the moist tissues of birds’ mouths and throats. It’s the same condition that has devastated greenfinch numbers, but it’s also common in pigeons (where it’s known as canker) and birds of prey (in which it’s called frounce). Like kestrels and sparrowhawks, tawny owls eat dead or sickly birds and are thus highly susceptible. As the infection progresses, lesions on the throat prevent feeding. “It’s really unpleasant – they’re weak and wheezing, and if you open the beak it’s all yellow inside,” says Robert. HOW TO ATTRACT NESTING TAWNY OWLS Robert Fuller has put up nearly 200 nestboxes for owls and kestrels. Here are his top tips. Clockwise from top left: a young owl comes to feed in front of Robert; a female tawny broods her own owlets and surrogates; wet chicks are brought inside to dry off before being returned to their nest; a young owls’ cryptic plumage helps it avoid predators, such as buzzards. KNOW YOUR AREA Tawny owls live in open woodland but also large suburban gardens, parks and cemeteries.Your success in attracting local tawnies will depend in part on how many natural nest sites there are in the area. SAFE AND SECURE Don’t make the mistake of siting owl boxes where you can get a good view – being looked at is the last thing an owl wants. For breeding success, tawnies need to feel safe: they’re very susceptible to disturbance. THE RIGHT SPOT Place the nestbox on a mature deciduous tree at least 3m off the ground, with branches nearby for fledgling chicks to climb onto. It needs to be sheltered from the rain, prevailing winds and sun. SIZE MATTERS Many commercial tawny owl nestboxes are too small, usually just 25cm2 at the base.They’re too cramped for fledglings to flap or for the adults to sit together during courtship and egg laying.They also tend to have the nest cavity at the bottom of a tall box, making it hard for adults to get in without damaging their tails or landing on their eggs. AVOID THE TUBE Tube-shaped nestboxes that are designed to be strapped under a branch, also present problems. Their open tops mean there’s no cover from the rain and if they get too wet, the bases of these boxes often rot. NESTING MATERIAL Tawny owls seem to prefer nestboxes designed for kestrels – they’re bigger than owl boxes but are too easy for owlets to climb out of. My own design (above) is bigger than a typical owl box, with a base that’s at least 30 x 35cm, and an elevated entrance to keep owlets inside until they’re ready to fledge.The lower door lets me add wood chippings for nesting material. UNWANTED GUESTS Jackdaws and grey squirrels often colonise owl nestboxes.There is no simple solution to this.You just have to clear out any material these hijackers put in until you have resident owls that will then hopefully chase their rivals away. You’ll need to add nesting material as tawny owls don’t gather it. A helping hand: with luck, tawny owls will move into your box.
November 2017BBC Wildlife26 AMY-JANE BEER is a natural- history writer and regular BBC Wildlife QA contributor. “It affects whole families, because parents feed infected prey to their young, or they die and the owlets starve.” After confirming the family are safe and well, we go to check on their neighbours. Another huge nestbox, a few trees along is home to barn owls. They’ve managed to foul the lens of the camera mounted inside the box, so Robert has to clean it. There are eight owlets inside, he tells me, as he scales the ladder. He reaches in and immediately a fury of hissing erupts – the same sound as air escaping from several inflatable mattresses. CUTE… BUT TOUGH Robert ducks as a shuttlecock of white feathers explodes over his shoulder and parachutes into the grass. “Oops. Keep an eye on that one!” he grins. “I’ll get it back in a minute.” Five minutes later, the lens is clean again, the owlet is safely back in the box and we’re heading back to the ‘Great Escape’ hide. Soon after 10pm, the calling starts: a chorus of ‘kerrr-icks’ all around us. The female appears on a fallen branch at the end of the garden and is joined by an owlet, then I make out the silhouettes of two more on a high feeding table. After a minute or two, the adult takes off and flies towards us. Her huge wings are cloud-soft, but she lands with a heavy clunk on the table. She seems as surprised as I am and looks down at her feet, bobbing as if trying to work out whether they really are as big as they look. I suppress a giggle and she turns towards us. There’s something teddy-bearish about her round face and obsidian eyes. Then she bends, seizes one of the day-old chicks and pulls. She lifts her wings for balance, revealing muscular legs that flex to take the strain. I hear sinew ripping as the meal is dismembered. This is one badass teddy-bear. They’ll keep coming until September, Robert expects. “The adults parent them Above: a male tawny arrives with a meal for a youngster. Right: a young tawny owl takes cover from mobbing blackbirds under Robert’s car. Below: grounded owlets can end up waterlogged in bad weather and unable to fly. until August, but then things start to break down and by October it’s war.” Autumn is the time for young to find territories of their own. These chicks might not go far though. Young from previous years have moved to the next valley, where Robert has erected more nestboxes. “They remember this place and sneak back for food when they have their own young. I know it’s them because I find day-old chicken remains in their boxes.” There must be special satisfaction in knowing so many of these birds would not have survived without help. “Yes, it’s magic,” agrees Robert. “Rescuing them is one thing, but a natural start is the only way they can learn everything they need to know. My job is to help them stay wild.” TAWNY OWLS FIND OUT MORE Discover more about Robert Fuller’s artwork at www.robertefuller.com. Watch his clip of tawny owlets preparing to fledge, on our website at bit.ly/2hnAcwp. +
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Vast swathes of untouched tropical rainforest provide the harpy eagle with a rich hunting ground
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE W hile many countries in South America have featured on the hit lists of adventure seekers and nature lovers alike, it’s something of a miracle that the magnificent country of Guyana has remained largely untouched and undiscovered. Tucked away in the north-eastern corner of this fascinating continent, Guyana stretches 270 miles along the sweeping Atlantic coast, extending into areas of pristine rainforest and broad savannah. At every turn, it’s a feast for the eyes with mighty rivers, cascading waterfalls and numerous species of flora and fauna. It’s nature lovers who really have the most to gain from exploring this tropical paradise.There’s wildlife in abundance – jaguars roam the rainforest, the cries of howler monkeys resound through the trees and the black caiman lurks in the rivers of the Rupununi. And for bird watchers, it’s a glorious treasure trove, with over 900 migrant and resident birds to be found in this beautiful wilderness. A GIANT OF THE AIR Whether you explore on foot, by boat, light aircraft or road, you’re sure to discover a vast array of birds – many that you will have never seen before. Keep your eyes peeled for the tell-tale flash of scarlet, yellow and blue as the macaw darts across the forest canopy, or spot the rare and extremely beautiful Guianan cock of the rock. But the real star of the show is the magnificent harpy eagle.With slate-black feathers, a snow-white body and striped, feathered tarsi, it’s an unmistakable sight. It’s also one of the largest and most powerful birds of prey in the world – a mean predator with large, viscious talons that leave little chance of escape. As it hunts in the canopy of the rainforest, it strikes with deadly precision, targeting anything that crosses its path, all the while keeping a keen eye out for sloths and monkeys – its food of choice. Guyana is one of the best places in the world to see this splendid bird. Although globally the harpy eagle is threatened with extinction and listed as an endangered species, there’s a healthy population here, particularly in the Kanuku and Iwokrama mountains.That’s thanks to the vast swathes of untouched tropical rainforest that provide this majestic eagle with such a rich hunting ground. A bird lover’s paradise, Guyana is an extraordinary corner of South America that’s just waiting to be discovered Where eaglesdare Discover Guyana for yourself at guyana-tourism.com #comediscover Photocredit:AmandaRichards Photocredit:DeonarineChan
BBC Wildlife30 November 2017 Britainhasoneofthe world’srichesttraditions ofwritingaboutthe naturalworld. Mark Cocker examinesthe rootsofthiscreative floweringandwhyitgoes fromstrengthtostrength. WILD WORDS WHY WE LOVE NATURE WRITING A nyone remotely interested in wildlife cannot have failed to have noticed that since the beginning of this century there has been a remarkable upsurge in the quantity and quality of literature about the natural world. Alongside the more conventional scientific works – field guides, ecological studies and academic monographs – there are also hundreds of new titles of a very different style and content. All are broadly defined as ‘nature writing’, and while this classification might be devilishly difficult to pin down, the appetite of the book-buying public for it seems to expand annually. Publishers have been equally keen to meet these demands, inspired in part by the enormous success of international bestsellers such as Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk (2014) and Amy Liptrott’s The Outrun (2015). These wonderful books and the writing of other authors, including Miriam Darlington, Tim Dee, Dave Goulson, Jay Griffiths, Kathleen Jamie, John Lister-Kaye, Richard Mabey and Robert Macfarlane, have created an enormously wide and enjoyable field. There are titles on subjects as diverse as walking and wilderness, bumblebees and birdwatching, beechwoods and beaver reintroduction, hoverflies and holloways. The sheer range of writing indicates a time of enormous fertility. A good illustration of its NATUREWRITING FEATURES ON AUTUMNWATCH Catch up on iPlayer.
November 2017 BBC Wildlife 31 IllustrationsbyShellyPerkins t a l k i n g P O I N T wider impact is the knock-on consequence in other cultural areas. Novelists, poets, bloggers, online essayists, film-makers, playwrights, photographers and scientists have all been motivated by the fresh approaches mapped out in the recent nature-writing surge. There are now cultural festivals to celebrate all this activity and university courses have included it on their syllabuses, under headings such as ‘wild writing’ or ‘ecocriticism’. T he sudden and seemingly unprecedented focus on nature begs questions about where exactly this genre has come from, and also how we can place such a heterogenous literary form under one heading. For once, it is possible to clarify both issues by looking at a single early work. It is The Natural History of Selborne, which first appeared in 1789. In the intervening 228 years, the book has never been out of print and has run through more editions than any work except the Bible. It entails a sequence of gently digressive letters about the encounters and feelings for the wildlife and rural folk ways of a Hampshire village by its country vicar Gilbert White. The book appears somewhat structureless in its random journal-like evocation of daily life, yet White’s observations are always meticulous and recorded in precise, balanced prose. The tone of the whole book is clear even in the opening paragraph, where the author introduces the famous Hanger Wood in his Selborne parish: “The covert of this eminence is altogether beech, the most lovely of all forest trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy foliage, or graceful pendulous boughs. The down, or sheep-walk, is a pleasing park-like spot, of about one mile by half that space, jutting out on the verge of the hill-country.” In what are, in effect, the opening lines for an entire genre, you can spot several defining characteristics. The immediate warmth and personalised manner established by White in his use of the word we – as if he and the reader were already on amicable terms – is one of his great gifts to all those writers who have come afterwards. It is certainly the ingredient that separates nature writing from natural historical writing. The second kind of book is essentially one in which the author’s own feelings or reflections are scrupulously purged from the page. The subject is discussed objectively. Natural-history science has no we or I – no self-declared narrator – mediating on the reader’s behalf between the words and the wild world described. It is, by contrast, this personalised voice in nature writing that partly explains its enduring appeal. The author is often steeped in his or her subject, but the expertise is worn lightly. Scientific knowledge is softened, enhanced and made relevant with private anecdotes, digressions, authorial insights and wider reflections. In one sense, nature writing is the truest form to describe the subject of ‘nature’, because like all of the other animals and plants, humans are a species too. For the author to exclude his or her own subjective world of emotion from the story would be to THE MANNER ESTABLISHED BY GILBERTWHITE IS ONE OFHIS GREATGIFTS.
BBC Wildlife32 November 2017 warm spring sky to roam at will through all the far provinces of light. Along the escarpments of the river air he rose with martial motion. Like a dolphin in green seas, like an otter in the startled water, he poured through deep lagoons of sky up to the high white reefs of sirrus.” N ot only has Baker’s prose inspired enduring admiration, but his model of a passionate quest for a single species has been enormously influential. Among recent writers, Hugh Warwick’s A Prickly Affair: The Charm of the Hedgehog (2008), Miriam Darlington’s Otter Country (2012) and Patrick Barkham’s Badgerlands (2013) indicate Baker’s legacy. Not everything in nature writing, however, is owed to the past. One significant achievement of the new flood of books is to create more diversity among authors in terms of their identity, gender, age and social background. The nature writer is now as likely to be a working-class resident of the city as the more traditional countryman. A classic form of the new nature book explores what Richard Mabey referred to as “the unofficial countryside” in his seminal 1973 work of the same name. More recently the poets Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts called it the Edgelands (2011). Now there is a small library of books on such places, including Rob Cowen’s Common Ground (2015) and Dave Goulson’s witty and humorous Bee Quest (2016). All describe hybrid landscapes that lie around and even inside British city and town boundaries. Edgelands are places where nature and man- made structures interlock. This is a fascinating and very British subgenre of nature writing. And it seems to tell us several important things. On the one hand, it expresses an innovative approach and open-minded attitude to what constitutes nature and wildness. Yet it is often also the main type of landscape that many British people experience as they grow up. For we are essentially a very urban people. Today, almost 54 million of us live in towns and cities. Do these background details tell us something about why the British are so responsive to books of this kind? For one of the striking aspects of the genre is its lack of impact elsewhere in Europe. Nature writing has more lately acquired a dominant place in the German publishing world, but the Spanish, French, Italians and Greeks have nothing like this literary tradition. Yet these latter countries are far less densely populated and have retained a higher proportion of their rural populations. The average Briton now owns just seven one-hundredths of an acre. We are, by and overlook a central truth: we are part of nature. White’s book illuminates a second defining characteristic of nature writing, which is the very quality of its prose. The aesthetic impact of the words is both an end in itself, but also it serves to heighten the reader’s awareness of nature’s wider beauty. An aspiration to write well, to achieve both lyrical and original words, has been a central goal of almost all subsequent nature writers. There is a long lineage of authors whose fine writing has linked White’s example to the modern age. They include the Victorian Richard Jeffries, the novelist and proto- environmentalist W H Hudson and the late Gavin Maxwell, whose Ring of Bright Water, his bittersweet tale of misadventure with pet otters published in 1960, is probably the biggest-selling title about nature since White’s own book. Another undisputed inspiration for most 21st-century authors is the person credited with creating the gold standard for all British nature books – J A Baker. His book The Peregrine (1969) is a distilled account of the author’s 10-year quest to record hunting peregrines in the winter fields and estuaries of Essex. Open it at any page and you will discover writing of rapturous intensity and iridescent beauty. Here is Baker’s description of his bird: “Free! You cannot know what freedom means till you have seen a peregrine loosed into the FORTHEAUTHOR TOEXCLUDETHEIR EMOTIONFROM THESTORYWOULD BETOOVERLOOKA CENTRALTRUTH. t a l k i n g P O I N T
November 2017 BBC Wildlife 33 large, a landless people, evicted from intimacy with the soil through the 18th- and 19th-century enclosures. Could nature writing be a means by which urban-dwelling readers restore at least some of their relationship to non-human life? T he recent surge of books also reflects other aspects of contemporary society. One notable innovation is the increased presence of female authors. As one observer noted in a major recent essay, whenever he thought of the nature writer he pictured a man and “it would always be a man: bearded, badly dressed, ascetic, misanthropic.” Today, this has changed and two outstanding writers have been at the heart of the development – Jay Griffiths and Kathleen Jamie. They have expanded the possibilities of how to write about nature, but in very different ways. In her extraordinary book Wild: An Elemental Journey (2006), Griffiths combines a blistering critique of Western attitudes to nature with a remarkable worldwide investigation of the way that tribal peoples relate to the rest of life. It tells of a savage pilgrimage in which its author experiments with Amerindian hallucinogens in the Amazon rainforest, or goes hunting for whales with harpoon- MARK COCKER is an author and naturalist who writes for The Guardian Country Diary.His recent books include Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet. wielding Inuit. The writing is exuberant, impassioned and volatile. The Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie, in two celebrated essay collections Findings (2005) and Sightlines (2012), deploys a prose that is, in contrast, immensely controlled, wry, elliptical and precise. Far from telling us of globe-trotting adventure, Jamie describes the life of a working mother who evokes the otherness of wild creatures as she goes about her domestic routine. Here are oystercatchers feeding on town roundabouts or peregrines seen through the bedroom window. Yet Jamie dares to reminds us that nature is not just the sublime and the enchanting. It can also be darkness, pain and misery. One of the essays in Findings, about the Surgeon’s Hall in Edinburgh, explores the preserved specimen jars that contain cancerous breasts and deformed limbs. These items chart the pathology of human disease, but they too are the consequences of the life force that gives us stock stuff of nature writing – beautiful places or lovely animals. There is one other major question looming over all this creative activity. Namely, what is the relationship between these secondary products about nature and the dismal fortunes of Britain’s actual OPEN ITATANY PAGEANDYOUWILL DISCOVERWRITING OFRAPTUROUS INTENSITY. wildlife? Is there possibly a link between the two? Certainly, the State of Nature reports of 2013 and 2016 catalogue in unequivocal terms the enormous declines in biodiversity from these islands. Measured by one index, Britain is among the most denatured countries on Earth and in the last 60 years has lost 42 million breeding birds and 99 per cent of its flower-rich meadows. A number of books have highlighted the predicament and offered policies to counter the decline, notably George Monbiot’s Feral (2013), in which he showcases the concept of rewilding as a means to restore some of our most blighted landscapes. Yet with a few exceptions, there has been little direct interconnection between all the literature of nature and those who are engaged in the politics of the environment. The outpouring of new writing has, for example, had little discernible impact on membership of our key wildlife charities. Equally, the major conservation organisations have not obviously capitalised on the upsurge in these creative responses to nature. One thing we can do is look across at two artists in another literary sphere to clarify what effect nature writing could and should have on the real world. For while W H Auden once suggested that “poetry makes nothing happen”, the Romantic author Percy Shelley declared that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”. Who can say which of these two great figures describes the impact of nature writing upon nature itself? GET INVOLVED+ CHOOSE YOUR FAVOURITE NATURE BOOKS The universities of Leeds, St Andrews and Sussex, in association with the Arts Humanities Research Council, have launched ‘Land Lines’, a two-year research project into nature writing since the 1780s – and they want your input. HOW TO TAKE PART Simply submit 100 words on your favourite UK work of nature writing at www.ahrc. ac.uk/favouritenaturebooks. The survey is open 25 October to 30 November, after which a panel will use the suggestions to compile a shortlist of 10 popular books. In January an online poll will then find the UK’s favourite piece of nature writing. O For more details see BBC Two’s Autumnwatch on 25 October, or catch up using BBC iPlayer.
inFOCUS Silvery trails are once again winding their way through forests on remote South Pacific islands after a long absence.A little over 30 years ago, endangered Partula tree snails were gathered up from their native homes in French Polynesia and sent to zoos around the globe, in a desperate attempt to save them from extinction. Now hundreds of the thumbnail-sized snails are being reintroduced. Behind their plight lies a sorry saga. In the 1960s, giant African land snails were brought to French Polynesia for food. Local people weren’t fond of the chewy meat and snail farming never took off, but the snails escaped and began munching through gardens and crops.To try to halt the invasion, another snail species was introduced, the rosy wolfsnail, a voracious predator with a huge appetite for snails. But the wolfsnails didn’t like the giant snails either and much preferred the smaller, native varieties found on the islands. Like Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos, there used to be a remarkable diversity of Partula snails dotted around Polynesia. In the late 1980s, scientists were studying Partula evolution when they noticed species quickly disappearing. Besides wolfsnails, invasive plants and habitat loss were hastening their decline. The situation spun out of control and soon 50 Partula species were extinct; another 11 survived only in captivity. Breeding programmes at London, Bristol, Chester and Marwell zoos continue to nurture the rare snails. In 2016, several species were packed up, flown across the world and released in Polynesian forests, with more planned for 2017. Early signs suggest the captive-bred snails are settling into life in the wild. But there’s a new problem.While wolfsnail numbers have naturally dropped, a predatory flatworm from New Guinea has arrived.Will flatworms hunt the last wolfsnails or will they turn on the native Partula? It’s too soon to say. O Helen Scales is a marine biologist. Catch up with her Discovery documentary on Partula snails for BBC World Service on iPlayer Radio. PARTULA SNAILS are returning to French Polynesia after a 30-year absence. Helen Scales explains why. SLIDING BACK
IN FOCUS SOS SNAILS HEARHELEN SCALES’SDISCOVERY DOCUMENTARY Catch up on iPlayer JoelSartore/GettyImages Poor beleaguered Partula snails have survived one set of hazards, only to be faced with new and different ones.
Barbary macaques are thriving on the Rock of Gibraltar. But is there enough space for both people and monkeys? Words and photos by Arnold Monteith ANIMALS BEHAVING BADLY DON’TMISS Coming to BBC One soon MONKEY BUSINESS
November 2017BBC Wildlife38 W henever I dreamt of my first encounter with wild monkeys the setting would always be somewhere exotic. Amazonian jungles, shadowed by the dense rainforest canopy, with spider monkeys swinging overhead. Above the clouds in Ethiopia’s highland plateaus, surrounded by troops of grazing geladas. Snowy alpine landscapes in Japan, watching macaques find respite from freezing temperatures in thermal springs. I wasn’t expecting to meet my first non-human primates in a highly urban, densely populated corner of Europe. “Just up the hill, a couple of hundred metres from the ticket office,” as one friendly local put it – not the kind of tip-off I had anticipated in my quest to see monkeys in the wild. Car horns and Gibraltar’s bustling dockyard provide the background noise, rather than the evocative calls of parrots, trogons and other colourful birds. But though the setting may lack tropical glamour, it does not take anything away from the thrill of meeting monkeys face to face. I notice the leaves rustling in the olive trees ahead of me. I slowly edge closer along the dirt path behind a disused military bunker. I freeze 10m from the trees when I spot a pair of eyes glaring out at me through the branches. I’m staring into the eyes of a Barbary macaque. My initial reaction is to crouch low and back off to give her room, but my presence doesn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. The macaque rapidly loses interest and continues feasting on the olive foliage. To my joy, a second set of eyes turns to look at me. They belong to a baby, clinging to its mother’s back. His young and comically wrinkled face is fixated on mine and full of inquisitiveness. While most Gibraltarians know the macaques as ‘apes’ – they fit the ape characteristic of lacking a tail – they are in fact a species of African monkey that happens to be tailless. It is believed that they were first introduced to the Rock of Gibraltar in the 17th century. Recently, DNA analysis has shown the animals present now are of Moroccan and Algerian descent, disproving previous theories that they are remnants of a much larger population inhabiting southern Europe before the last ice age. But how did the macaques get to Gibraltar? The locals tell stories of them swimming here, but this is bit of a stretch, given that the Strait separating the continents is 14km wide and swept by strong currents. There are no records of macaques being brought to Gibraltar, though travelling Moors may have introduced them as pets.At any rate, the macaques have MYINITIALREACTION ISTO CROUCH LOWAND BACK OFF,BUT MYPRESENCE DOESN’TSEEMTO BOTHER HER INTHE SLIGHTEST. Above: a Barbary macaque seizes an opportunity for a quick bite. Below: enjoying the sunlight and the breeze blowing in from the docks.
BARBARY MACAQUES BBC Wildlife 39November 2017 Snowmonkey:CyrilRuoso/Minden/FLPA Top: despite appearing calm around people, the macaques are by no means tame and should be approached with caution. Above: food can be scavenged from Gibraltar’s landfill sites if it’s in short supply elsewhere. Right: macaques live in large social groups in which grooming is key to ensuring cohesion. been deeply rooted in Gibraltar’s history since their arrival, particularly since the peninsula was ceded to Britain in 1713. It is said that as long as the macaques stay, the Rock will remain under British rule. During World War II, Winston Churchill famously found time to leave his war-room duties to order the colonial secretary to find ways to increase the macaque population and “maintain it thereafter”. And maintained thereafter it was. The population now stands at over 300, split between seven troops. Their lifestyle differs extensively from their relatives across the Strait, however. In winter in Morocco and Algeria, macaques shiver in icy cedars and huddle to keep warm; a stark contrast to Gibraltar’s population. They also range across wide forested areas, while Gibraltar’s macaques are restricted to a single square kilometre, no higher than 500m above sea level. DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS Perhaps surprisingly, there is plenty of wild food on the Rock for the macaques. Their varied plant diet ranges from olive leaves and fruits to the roots of introduced Bermuda buttercups, and this is supplemented with live prey, such as small lizards and numerous invertebrates. Inevitably, being highly intelligent and adaptable, the monkeys also are fond of human handouts – and therein lies the problem. I hear an approaching vehicle, and the macaques I am watching leave their tree, clearly in search of something. I follow them through the woodland to a road where we are met by a hoard of tourists. Two minibuses have pulled up and people are flooding out, wielding their smartphones. Young macaques climb onto the roofs of the buses, with one hanging precariously onto a wing mirror, tapping at the AFRICA’S SNOW MONKEYS Japanese macaques are the monkeys most often associated with snowy conditions, but aren’t the only ones that have to contend with cold winters. In their native range, the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, Barbary macaques have to deal with snowdrifts and freezing temperatures. Like their Japanese relatives, they have evolved thick fur to survive and an omnivorous diet that enables them to eke out a living when food is scarce. In winter, this includes bark and the evergreen needles of cedar trees in their montane forest home. It is thought that their ancestors retreated to the Atlas Mountains after climatic changes forced them to leave their original homelands further south.With the Sahara Desert now blocking any route out of the mountains, the macaques have become isolated.
November 2017BBC Wildlife40 BARBARY MACAQUES “THEY’RE SMARTANIMALS, SMARTERTHAN MOSTPEOPLE THINK.IFTHEYWANTYOUR FOOD, THEY’RENOTGOINGTOASKFORIT.” Before my visit to Gibraltar, I read numerous news stories about macaques attacking people and of tourists being bitten. The articles demonised the macaques and victimised the humans. I also saw people get bitten while I was there. Bites and scratches can lead to severe infection, or even disease transmission, yet each incident I witnessed was down to macaques being fed illegally – they bit only when food was forcefully taken away. During my stay, the same routine plays out each day: macaques are fed and assert dominance through intra- troop fighting, while tourists become frightened. What’s frustrating is the solution could be quite simple. Better education of tourists could provide both visitors and macaques with a much better experience on the Rock. I meet local primatologist Brian Gomila, who is the first to organise informative, non-intrusive macaque-watching tours on Gibraltar. Through his organisation, Monkey Talk Gibraltar, Brian offers small-group tours that involve Clockwise from top left: the signs are there for your benefit; get too close and anything that looks like it might contain food could be snatched away; females take care of much of the parenting but unlike other macaques, the males are heavily involved too; hand-feeding the macaques is illegal but still happens frequently. glass. Tourists crowd around macaques to take selfies. One of the bus drivers hands out peanuts. Behind the crowd, signs pinned to lampposts say: “Please do not feed the macaques”, and “WARNING: Feeding macaques is an offence”. Yet here was a tour guide hand- feeding the macaques in front of about 40 tourists. If he’s doing it they must surely be encouraged to do the same. Small wonder that macaques have developed a reputation for erratic behaviour in Gibraltar. And its tourist boom – the peninsula hosts over 10 million visitors each year – is only making matters worse. The macaques will snatch food from the hands of tourists and steal anything from smartphones to number plates. They are also renowned for their ferocity, towards both tourists and lower-ranking macaques. The easily available food heightens competition in a macaque troop, increasing aggressive behaviour. BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS The macaques can hardly be blamed, they’re just responding to opportunities we create. “They’re smart animals, smarter than most people think. If they want your sausage roll, they’re not going to ask for it politely,” one taxi driver tells me. “These tourists need to be smart too. If they don’t want their food taken, don’t bring it into the macaques’ home, and definitely don’t get it out in front of them.”
BBC Wildlife 41November 2017 Gibraltar is a wonderful place for a naturalist to visit. It sits on a major bird-migration highway, with enormous numbers of raptors and passerines passing through in spring and autumn. There are plenty of exciting resident species to seek out too, from the blue rock thrush and Barbary partridge to ocellated and wall lizards, with great dolphin-watching in the bay. Above all, however, its macaques are a natural treasure. Across their North African range, Barbary macaques are in decline: their wild population here may be as low as 6,500 individuals, and since 2008 the species has been classed as Endangered. Capture of baby macaques for the pet trade has long been one of the main threats, though in a positive step this was banned by the 2016 meeting of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). In Gibraltar, at least, the macaque population seems to be stable. This is why we must try to preserve the wild nature of the Rock’s Barbary macaques, the only free-roaming non-human primates in Europe. If we can recognise that their lives matter, then our efforts to protect them will be much more effective – and our experiences in their environment will be much more rewarding. viewing the macaques in wild environments, along similar lines to responsible primate-watching in other countries. “Away from the tourist hotspots, that’s where people should see them,” he says. “There’s so much more to the macaques’ lives than most people see,” Brian adds. “If only people could adopt a little more patience and let the macaques go about their business, I guarantee they would be able to get just as close as they can at the current locations used by minibus and coach tours. But the beauty of doing it this way is that the encounters would be on the macaques’ terms.” Brian recognises that close-range encounters may be necessary to satisfy tourists, but believes that the way such interactions take place needs to change. “By keeping a low profile, we can immerse ourselves in their world as they groom, forage and socialise only feet away, without intruding upon them.” Close-up encounters do have a positive side. They offer great opportunities for public education, for example. Meeting a macaque might even help to inspire the next young Jane Goodall or Gerald Durrell. IMMERSED IN THE MACAQUES’ WORLD After spending time with Brian I see the macaques in a new light. It would have been easy to come to Gibraltar and notice nothing except what is wrong… the paparazzi- like frenzy with which tourists stalk the monkeys or the taxis noisily roaring around the nature reserve. But Brian enables me to see past all of this. I’m able to observe macaques grooming one another in the treetops, keeping a watchful eye on their youngsters beneath. I see five-month- old siblings play-fighting on vines before finding myself surrounded by one- and two-year-olds learning the ropes. ARNOLD MONTEITH is a photographer.This was his project for Falmouth University’s Marine and Natural History Photography course. www.arniemonteith.co.uk Above: Brian Gomila leads a Barbary-watching tour in which people get to see the macaques in a much more natural setting. FIND OUT MORE Brian Gomila’s macaque tours: www.visit gibraltar.gi/monkey-talk Barbary macaque conservation: www. barbarymacaque.org +
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Enjoy our PremiumApp experience now available from Young tawny owls often perch together so the adults can keep a watchful eye on them. Parents will defend their offspring vigorously from predators. By thinking outside the box, aYorkshire artist is gaining unique insights into the lives of his local tawny owls, discovers Amy-Jane Beer. Photos by Robert Fuller T he theme from The Great Escape has been in my head for days, ever since I scooted down the tunnel leading from Robert Fuller’s house to his new wildlife hide. Access is via a trolley – you lie down and haul yourself along by a rope, just like Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. As well as getting you into the hide unnoticed, it’s also jolly good fun. The view from the hide is pretty unusual. To the right is a drystone structure with a den for stoats and a wooden maze to test their flexibility. To the left, an artificial badger sett is under construction. Behind us, a weasel snoozes in a heated nestbox (as seen in the August 2016 issue of BBC Wildlife). Outside is a bird table loaded with defrosted day-old chicks, strapped down so they can’t be carried off – Robert wants his visitors to feed where he can see them. Tonight we’re concentrating on tawny owls, which Robert has been watching, photographing and painting here for 18 years. “They’re challenging,” he says. “Really secretive. The first time I saw one on a fence-post just down there I ran for my camera but, of course, when I got back it had gone. I built a nestbox out of an old stump, mounted it in a tree and there have been tawny owls there ever since.” This was good for the owls but, for Robert, getting good photos means luring the birds into the open. “The supplementary feeding started when I decided to help a young male kestrel,” he recalls. “I began putting out mice that I caught for him. When he had a family, I put the food out late at night so he’d have something first thing. It Tawnytactics BBC Wildlife Magazine is full of breathtaking photos and fascinating features on the most interesting animals and habitats in the UK and around the world. Withthelatestnewsandconservationissues,practical expertadviceandideasforreallywilddaysout,youwill understandandenjoynaturemore.
November 2017BBC Wildlife44 GOOD LOOKIN’ Hey, The Gruffalo authorJulia Donaldson and illustratorAxel Scheffler are standing up for ugly animals.LucyJones finds out why. THE HIGHWAY RAT DON’T MISS Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s on BBC ONE this Christmas
November 2017 BBC Wildlife 45 Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler think some animals deserve as much love as the Gruffalo. KenMcKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock light-hearted survey recently pointed out that our awareness of endangered species is patchy. In a study of 1,000 people, the Zoological Society of London found that while 78 per cent had heard of The Gruffalo, only three per cent knew about the solenodon, a Caribbean mammal filling a similar niche to shrews. Our capricious attitudes to certain animals was something Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, had encountered while on safari in South Africa. She had seen the ‘Big Five’ – the lion, leopard, rhinocerous, buffalo and elephant. But it was while watching wildebeest with her husband Malcolm that the idea for her latest book popped into her head. Malcolm commented to the ranger that wildebeest looked rather noble but they got a bad press. “Sorry to tell you this, but the wildebeest is one of the ‘Ugly Five’,” he replied. He meant the wildebeest, lappet-faced vulture, spotted hyena, marabou stork and warthog – animals that deserve to be protected but get overlooked because they’re… well, less than pretty. Julia’s imagination was immediately fired by this unattractive quintet. “I thought, ‘well, are they really ugly?’” she says. “I’m sure other wildebeest wouldn’t think they’re ugly.” She loved watching a “gloriously ugly” warthog wallowing about in the mud and was surprised to find the elegant maribou stork had been included in the five. She had seen some of the birds for herself in Hong Kong. “These lovely maribou storks were preening and loving each other – it was very endearing,” she remembers. A THE UGLY FIVE
THE UGLY FIVEXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Which was why the Ugly Five became the central characters in her latest collaboration with illustrator Axel Scheffler. The five amble across the African savannah singing and delighting in the wildebeest’s chunky chest, the vulture’s vile mealtime habits, the hyena’s groaning voice, the marabou stork’s dangly throat pouch and the warthog’s bristly chin. The story is funny, catchy and gleeful. Like Julia and Axel’s much-loved earlier books, which include The Gruffalo, Stick Man, Room on the Broom, Tiddler: the story-telling fish, Tabby McTat and Zog, its irresistible rhymes trip off the tongue. From the five leading characters to the supporting cast of dung beetles, powder-puff trees and greater blue-eared starlings, Axel’s pictures are witty and full of character. He researched a variety of South African species, but his imagination was required for drawing one of the characters. “I couldn’t find any references for the lappet-faced vulture chicks, so I had to make them up,” he says. “Probably BBC Wildlife readers will say, ‘They don’t look like that, they’re green!’” Surprisingly perhaps, for a children’s book, The Ugly Five contains illustrations of animals eating carrion. It was an opportunity Axel relished. “For once, I was able to draw things I’m not normally allowed to,” he says. “Usually these get censored out. Death, blood, bones and dead animals are not allowed in picture books. But children find them so fascinating.” Although Julia has always rejected ‘preachy’ messages in her books, The Ugly Five addresses an important issue in conservation and the relationship between humans and wildlife. Animals that are perceived to be cute, big or friendly tend to attract more attention, money and protection than those that are ugly, small, strange or deemed to be a nuisance. The bias has even made its way into children’s books. Apart from a few exceptions, the vast majority of children’s authors cast cats, cows, bunnies, dogs and other cute, fluffy, wide-eyed animals as their heroes. Even the ugly duckling didn’t remain ugly for very long. The Ugly Five wasn’t written to change children’s minds, but Julia gets animated about people’s negative perceptions of certain species. “I don’t tend to think, ‘Urgh, that animal’s disgusting’,” she says. “I hate it when people say, ‘Grey squirrels! Kill them!’ A grey squirrel can’t help being a grey squirrel; a rat can’t help being a rat. I don’t like this attitude that just because humans don’t like a particular animal, it’s somehow disgusting.” ‘ACORN’ OUT, ‘CUT AND PASTE’ IN Julia’s interest in the natural world was fostered by a book, the I-Spy Guide to Wild Flowers, which she used to find yellow irises and other flowers on Hampstead Heath when she was growing up in the 1950s. She laments today’s children’s lack of knowledge of the natural world. “I find it very shocking that children don’t know the names of common wildflowers,” she says. “The Oxford Children’s Dictionary took out ‘acorn’ and put in ‘cut and paste’, which in no time at all will be an outdated concept. It’s dreadful. Acorn was one of the first words I knew. It’s important for conservation and protecting the planet. It’s all very well to say we must protect the planet, but if you don’t genuinely like nature, it’s hard.” Axel is also a wildlife-lover and he’s worried. “I’m terribly pessimistic about the planet… [But] if the world is going to be destroyed tomorrow, we should still plant an apple tree. I feel very strongly about that. We should fight on and not give up.” There are a couple of pages at the back of The Ugly Five that detail various species “FOR ONCE IWASABLE TO DRAWTHINGS I’M NOTNORMALLY ALLOWEDTO… DEATH, BLOOD,BONES.” Antlion larva: hideous but astonishing.
FIND OUT MORE The Ugly Five is published in association with Tusk, the African charity that supports people and wildlife (www.tusk.org), It is out now from Alison Green Books, at £12.99. + O Africa’s ‘Big Five’ are the lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino. (In fact, there are two species of African rhino, black and white). Originally the phrase referred to the hardest, most dangerous animals to hunt on foot. O Hunters from North America and Europe targeted these animals mercilessly. In 1910, the former US President Theodore Roosevelt returned from East Africa with thousands of trophies, including many from the Big Five. O As safaris grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century, the term was adopted by tour guides to mean watching, not killing, these amazing species. O All of the Big Five are declining in numbers. The black rhino is rarest, classed as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN, while the lion, elephant and leopard are considered ‘Vulnerable’. ORIGINS OF THE BIG FIVEthat are small but just as important as the bigger animals, reinforcing the message that it’s not just the charismatic creatures that deserve notice. Among them is the antlion, which Axel loved drawing and describes with obvious glee: “They look so vile, so horrible.” APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOUR Vile-looking they may be, but some species of antlion engage in astonishing predatory behaviour: digging pits to trap their prey. Often the ugliest, smallest animals are the ones most crucial to ecosystems, but they rarely receive much attention. But perhaps things are starting to change. There are signs that aesthetically challenged animals are becoming more fashionable. The blobfish was voted world’s ugliest species in a humorous campaign by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society that later spawned T-shirts, artwork and a stand-up comedy show. And a recent study by scientists at Johns Hopkins University, in the US, suggested that people aren’t as put off by ugly animals as you might think. The research found that people would be more willing to donate to help ‘ugly’ animals, such as bats and rodents, if they were simply marketed in a different, more prominent way. Julia and Axel’s new book can only help in that respect. But who’s to say bats and rodents are ugly? As Julia points out, beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. Turn to page 48 for more on changing minds…
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OAK TREES TO MACAQUES: NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

  • 1. WHOAREYOU CALLING UGLY? The creators of The Gruffalo champion the less beautiful The big attraction that draws in thousands of birds MACAW MAYHEM ALTHOUGH THEY ARE ALL-SEEING N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 7 MONKEY BUSINESS How to behave in the company of a Barbary macaque November2017Volume35Number12 ORCA vs GREATWHITE Who will be the winner? WILDLIFEPHOTOGRAPHEROFTHE YEARStunning images fromthis year’s Portfoliowinner WHATISA BEEWOLF ...and why is it special? WHY OWLS ARE WISE n’t
  • 2.
  • 3. LUCY JONES Lucy is an author, and wildlife journalist.“How we decide which species to like,dislike,which are ugly,which are beautiful and therefore what we look after is complex and,I think, fascinating,”she says.See p WELCOME BBC WildlifeNovember 2017 3 Unless you have been completely out of contact with TV, radio, internet and newspapers for the past two or three weeks, you will know that the big TV event of this month is the start of the BBC series, Blue Planet II. For an insider view of the filming, we chatted to some of the producers and put together the special supplement included with this issue. Their words convey such enthusiasm for their work, as you will read, and whet the appetite for what’s in store in the next few weeks. The patience and skill of the film crews, and the amazing technological advancements since the last Blue Planet series, will give us unprecedented views of animals and habitats. And these films will not only entertain and inform but will, in many cases, also assist scientists in their understanding of marine life. To enhance your enjoyment, the Blue Planet II book is available to buy, or as a gift if you subscribe to BBC Wildlife. Enjoy your plunge into Blue Planet II! Welcome... Contributors Sheena Harvey Editor sheena.harvey@immediate.co.uk ON THE COVER: Tawny owl: Lukas Gojda/ Shutterstock; macaque: Arnold Monteith; warthog illustration: Axel Scheffler Jan–Dec 15 total 35,934 Apr 14–Mar 15 241,000 ImmediateMediaCompanyBristolisworkingtoensurethatallofits paperissourcedfromwell-managedforests.Thismagazineisprinted onForestStewardshipCouncil(FSC)certifiedpaper. This magazine can be recycled, for use in newspapers and packaging. Please remove any gifts, samples or wrapping and dispose of it at your local collection point. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES UK phone number 03330 162 121 Overseas phone number 01604 973 729 Email bbcwildlife@buysubscriptions.com Website www.buysubscriptions.com Post BBCWildlife Magazine, PO BOX3320,3 Queensbridge,Northampton,NN4 7BF Subscriptions UK £55.25; Republic of Ireland £65.25; Europe £65.25; Rest ofWorld £70.25 OTHER CONTACTS App support immediateapps@ servicehelpline.co.uk Ads Neil Lloyd 0117 300 8276; neil.lloyd@immediate.co.uk Syndication Emma Brunt 0117 314 8782; emma.brunt@immediate.co.uk EDITORIAL Tel 0117 314 7366 Emailwildlifemagazine@immediate.co.uk Post BBCWildlife Magazine,Immediate Media Company,2nd Floor,Tower House, Fairfax Street,Bristol BS1 3BN facebook.com/wildlifemagazine twitter.com/WildlifeMag Get in touch “THE SEYCHELLES HAS ONE OFTHE LASTHEALTHY POPULATIONS OF COCONUTCRABS.” Find out more on p78 JO WIMPENNY Writer Jo visited Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru. She says, “Responsible ecotourism demonstrates to local communities the long-term value of preserving the rainforest.”See p ARNOLD MONTEITH Arnold reports on Barbary macaques in Gibraltar.He says.“The chance to see Europe’s last remaining free- roaming primate (not including humans) shouldn’t be taken for granted.” See p GET YOUR DIGITAL COPY CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE Buy a digital edition of BBC Wildlife Magazine for iOS, Android,Kindle Fire,PC or Mac.Visit iTunes,the Google Play store,Amazon or www. zinio.com to find out more. Find breaking news,fascinating facts and amazing photos: www.discoverwildlife.com THE BIG BOOK OF MAMMALS Discover the world’s most exciting animals in this fact-packed collectable from BBC Wildlife, revealing everything from the fastest to the fiercest and the brilliant to the bizarre. Only £7.99+P&P (P&P is free for UK subscribers). www.buysubscriptions.com/mammals ThomasPeschak
  • 4. 4 BBC Wildlife November 2017CONTENTS Features AgendaWild 6 Oak trees Admire the glory of autumn as the leaves turn from green to golden 8 November highlights Look out for whistling ducks, forest fruits and carnivorous snails 11 Hidden Britain Nick Baker on the spiders that spit venomous silk 12 Wild events Join a nature writing workshop and take part in a wader survey 14 Latest science research Chimpanzees playing rock, paper, scissors and goldfish manufacturing alcohol in their bodies 53 To the rescue Saving the world’s rarest and largest butterfly 54 Latest on the badger cull Critics say the Government has failed to justify culling 55 Beyond the headlines Are Harris hawks really a threat to joggers? 56 Knock on wood Could luck be changing for the demonised aye-aye? 59 Mark Carwardine All you need to know about conservation hotspots 60 Orca vs great white Cover story A predator turf war is taking place off the South African coast 20 Why owls aren’t wise Cover story A Yorkshire artist is gaining unique insights into tawny behaviour 30 Wise words Nature writing in the UK 34 Sliding back Partula snails return to Polynesian islands November 2017 For 18 years artist Robert Fuller has been helping tawny owls near his home to stay wild 20 36 Monkey business Cover story If macaques want your food, they’re not going to ask for it 44 Who are you calling ugly? Cover story Standing up for overlooked species 51 Encounter brown bears Join our reader holiday 64 Macaw mayhem Cover story Parrots head to favoured spots in Peru 72 Sniffing out the beewolf Cover story A wasp with an acute sense of smell 78 Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 Cover story Stunning images of Seychelles species Packham’s walk is interrupted 19 SAVEWHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE SEE P42 SPECIAL OFFER
  • 5. Every month 19 Chris Packham A cantankerous buzzard complicates a walk 42 Subscription offer Get your BBC Wildlife digital subscription today 86 Book reviews 88 TV and radio 100 Q&A Which is the most sociably nesting bird? 106 Your feedback 108 Inside the image 110 Your photos 113 Puzzles 114 Tales from the bush 5BBC WildlifeNovember 2017 EDITORIAL Editor Sheena Harvey Features Editor Ben Hoare Environment Editor James Fair Section Editor Sarah McPherson Production Editor Jo Price Art Editor Richard Eccleston Deputy Art Editor Lisa Duerden Picture Editor Tom Gilks Editorial Assistant Megan Shersby Contributors Rob Banino, Liz Turner,Veronika Geroc, Wanda Sowry, Paul Jarrold, Katherine Hallett ADVERTISING Group Ad Manager Tom Drew 0117 933 8043 Ad Manager Neil Lloyd 0117 300 8276 Brand Sales Executive Heather Candlish 0117 300 8500 Brand Sales Executive Dan Granville 0117 300 8523 Direct Advertising Consultant Max Spalton 0117 300 8530 INSERTS Laurence Robertson 00353 876 902208 MARKETING Subscriptions Director Jacky Perales-Morris Digital Marketing Manager Mark Summerton Direct Marketing Manager Aimee Rhymer Direct Marketing Executive Chris Pipe Direct Marketing Assistant Emma Hunter Head of PR Dom Lobley LICENSING & SYNDICATION Rights Manager Emma Brunt 0117 314 8782; emma.brunt@immediate.co.uk Director of Licensing & Syndication Tim Hudson PRODUCTION Ad Co-ordinator Charles Thurlow Ad Designer James Croft Production Director Sarah Powell Production Co-ordinator Ian Wardle IMMEDIATE MEDIA COMPANY BRISTOL LTD Publisher Marie Davies; Publishing Assistant Rosa Sherwood; Managing Director Andy Marshall; CEO Tom Bureau BBC WORLDWIDE, UK PUBLISHING President of UK and ANZ Marcus Arthur; Director for Consumer Products and Publishing Andrew Moultrie; Director of Editorial Governance Nicholas Brett; Publishing Director Chris Kerwin; Publisher Magazines and NPD Mandy Thwaites; Publishing Co-ordinator Eva Abramik UK.Publishing@bbc.com;www.bbcworldwide.com/ uk--anz/ukpublishing.aspx BBCWildlifeMagazineispublishedby ImmediateMediaCompanyBristolLimited underlicencefromBBCWorldwide. BBC Wildlife provides trusted, independent travel advice and information that has been gathered without fear or favour. We aim to provide options that cover a range of budgets and reveal the positive and negative points of the locations we visit. The views expressed in BBC Wildlife are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the magazine or its publisher. The publisher, editor and authors accept no responsibility in respect of any products, goods or services that may be advertised or referred to in this issue or for any errors, omissions, mis-statements or mistakes in any such advertisements or references. © Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited 2017. All rights reserved. No part of BBC Wildlife may be reproduced in any form or by any means either wholly or in part without prior written permission of the publisher. Not to be resold, lent, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade at more than the recommended retail price (subject to VAT in the Republic of Ireland) or in mutilated condition. Printed byWilliam Gibbons Ltd. BBC Wildlife champions ethical wildlife photography that prioritises the welfare of animals and the environment. It is committed to the faithful representation of nature, free from excessive digital manipulation, and complete honesty in captioning. Photographers, please support us by disclosing all information – including, but not restricted to, use of bait, captive or habituated animals – about the circumstances under which your pictures were taken. Amazonian clay licks are vital to parrots64 How you should behave around a Barbary macaque Meet one of Europe’s most spectacular insects 72 36 The ‘Ugly Five’ deserve love says The Gruffalo author 44 Owls:RobertFuller;macaws:GlennBartley/Minden/FLPA;beewolf:MilanRadisics/naturepl.com;TheUglyFive:AxelScheffler;macaque:ArnieMonteith;buzzardillustrationbyOwenDavey/Folio
  • 6. WILDNOVEMBERWHAT TO SEE kk WHERE TO LOOK DavidTipling The canopy of Thursford Wood in Norfolk, seen from a drone. It contains many of the county’s oldest oak trees, some estimated to be more than 500 years old.
  • 7. 7BBC Wildlife A s foliage turns fiery and seeds and fruit ripen, our deciduous woods take centre stage. November is a fabulous time for woodland rambles, when wildlife lovers can join fungi forays, photograph atmospheric glades on misty mornings and watch squirrels, nuthatches and jays harvest autumn’s bounty. After dark a mammalian army – mice, voles, badgers – takes over, making the most of the seasonal glut. Britain may be one of the least wooded European countries, yet it is blessed with more ancient trees than any other. So far 13,000 have been recorded, mostly by volunteers, in the Ancient Tree Inventory. (The still-growing dendrological database also includes 143,000 younger but still notable trees.) Of the 3,400 mighty medieval and Tudor oaks known to survive in Britain, four-fifths have already seen 400–600 autumns, and the oldest up to 1,100. Yet many ancient trees remain unrecorded – often isolated, alone in fields or by roads, with little legal protection. Now the Woodland Trust hopes to safeguard this remarkable natural heritage by capitalising on the 800th anniversary of the 1217 Charter of the Forest issued by Henry III. Together with other leading charities, it launches a new Charter for Trees, Woods and People this month. Q CITIZEN SCIENCE 13% Tree cover in Britain – the highest level since the early 1700s, but still some of the lowest of any European country. The EU average is 37 per cent. GOLDEN TIME ` IT IS SAID THAT AN OAK SPENDS 300 YEARS GROWING, 300 YEARS LIVING AND 300 YEARS IN SLOW DECLINE.” CHRIS PACKHAM’S MUSTSEE GET INVOLVED Visit www.treecharter.uk and www.ancienttreehunt.org.uk JUDI DENCH’S SECRET WOODLAND ON BBC ONE LATERTHISYEAR Lookoutfor
  • 8. WILD NOVEMBER November 20178 BBC Wildlife UK HIGHLIGHTSThe essential wildlife events to enjoy this month , compiled by Ben Hoare. Folklore dictates we should only collect mussels in months with the letter‘r’. Dog whelks don’t take any notice of such niceties.These sea snails target mussel beds year-round, albeit less intensively in winter. Having chosen a victim they drill a hole, pour in digestive enzymes and suck up the resulting soup.Attacks take a few days. If, when beachcombing, you find an empty mussel shell with a neat circular hole in it, you can be sure the occupant met a grisly end. FIND OUT MORE Searchable directory of UK marine life: www.marlin.ac.uk/species Q DOG WHELK SNAIL’S PACE DISAPPEARING ACT The first full moon in November is said to be a ‘woodcock moon’, as it often coincides with an influx of these nocturnal waders. Tracking studies have shown that they visit Britain from as far away as Siberia and stay faithful to the same wintering sites. Worm- eaters, they forage in boggy clearings and damp pasture and moorland next to woods. So perfect is their camouflage, your only chance of a winter sighting is if you flush one from its daytime hiding place. FIND OUT MORE More about the woodcock study: www.woodcockwatch.com Q WOODCOCK Hornbeam:BobGibbons;widgeon:OliverSmart;bryony:AlexHyde;moth:JohnBebbinngton;ladybirds:AlexHyde; bracketfungi:Fieber/blickwinkel/Alamy;woodcock:DavidTipling;dogwhelk:NickUpton/NPL BLOWING IN THE WIND WHISTLING DUCK Q HORNBEAM Q WIGEON One of Britain’s most overlooked native trees, hornbeam is frequently mistaken for beech. Its oval leaves are smaller, with deeper veins. But the clearest difference is the dangling clusters of papery winged fruit. Like beech, hornbeam was traditionally pollarded to encourage new growth. It’s found mainly in south-east England and East Anglia; Epping, Hatfield and Hainault forests are famous for their many veteran pollarded specimens.. GET INVOLVED National Tree Week is 25 November – 3 December: www.treecouncil. org.uk/Take-Part/National-Tree-Week m TWEET OF THE DAY www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/tweetoftheday November sees numbers of many duck species swell dramatically, as migrants flock to Britain’s wetlands to escape the harsher winters of the Baltic, Scandinavia, Russia and Iceland. The visitors include over 400,000 wigeon. Drake wigeon are among our smartest ducks, their plumage a mixture of bold-brush contrasts on the head and subtle grey and peach tones elsewhere. Yet the first thing that draws attention is often a chorus of high-pitched whistles. As nature writer Mark Cocker wittily observed, their gleeful calls have “something of the child down the slide.” TOP TIP Listen to whistling wigeon calls at www.xeno-canto.org
  • 9. ALSO LOOK OUT FOR… SPLIT STRATEGY One of the most intriguing moths on the wing in November is the red-green carpet. Having mated the males all die; only the females survive winter in a torpor.After emerging in spring, they lay eggs to continue the cycle. BANK DEPOSITS With the long breeding season over, water voles become less territorial. Look out for communal latrines – huge piles of droppings by the waterside. Discover more about the species’year at www.watervole.org.uk PUPPING SEASON Inspired by Gillian Burke’s moving Autumnwatch film of grey seals pupping? Be a responsible wildlife-watcher: don’t ignore signs and fences at the well-known breeding beaches in Norfolk and Lincolnshire to get your ‘dream’close-up photo. IN THE PINK Spitsbergen’s pink-footed geese are back on traditional winter haunts. Head to RSPB and WWT reserves in the Wash, north Norfolk, Lancashire and the Solway Firth for the unforgettable experience of enormous bugling flocks.The drama is greatest at dawn and dusk. HIBERNATING HARLEQUINS Today, clumps of ladybirds indoors are, unfortunately, likely to be non-native harlequins. Expert Helen Roy advises leaving them, as native 2-spot ladybirds may be there, too. In any case, removing them won’t have population-level effects on the invasive species. Catchupwith AUTUMNWATCH ON BBC IPLAYER THIS NOVEMBER WILD NOVEMBER HEDGEROW GARLANDS Q BLACK BRYONY FRUITFUL PARTNERSHIP When it comes to fungi,some trees make more attractive hosts than others.Oaks – especially if decrepid,dying or decaying – are particularly rich in species.Among them are several distinctive bracket fungi.One to search for this month is oak bracket fungus,which looks fabulous,like oozing bread dough studded with glistening jellied fruit or droplets of honey.It persists well into winter, sometimes in groups of fruiting bodies,usually near the base of gnarly old trees. FIND OUT MORE Discover more about fungi at www.britmycolsoc.org.uk Q OAK BRACKET FUNGUS As hedgerow leaves die back in November,the shiny berries of black bryony suddenly become visible,appearing almost shockingly bright among the drab twiggy skeletons of bare trees and shrubs.“Redder than remembrance poppies, riper than a bunch of tomatoes,poisonous as hell”is how nature writer Paul Evans describes these gaudy garlands in his book Field Notes from the Edge.Black bryony is a climbing,vine-like member of the mostly tropical yam family.But while many yams are important human foods, black bryony is best left well alone. FIND OUT MORE Learn about Britain’s plants at www.plantlife.org.uk
  • 10. Please visit nationaltrust.org.uk/gifts-in-wills, call us on 01793 817699, or email legacies@nationaltrust.org.uk quoting ‘NTB1W’ © National Trust 2017 Registered Charity No. 205846 © National Trust Images / John Millar You might never imagine losing a special place that’s always been there for you, but the future of our coastline, countryside and historic homes is far from certain. By leaving a gift in your Will you can help make sure these unique places live on to inspire the next generation. Where you choose to support is up to you and we’re here to help with any questions you might have. Ask us about getting free help with your Will Dear future den builders and woodland wild things, I leave this place for you.
  • 11. The bolas spiders of the Americas,Africa and Australia hunt by hurling a line with sticky blob of silk on the end. DID YOU KNOW ? WILD NOVEMBER November 2017 11BBC Wildlife substance. When the spider stumbles into a booklouse or similarly small invertebrate, it contracts the muscles of these sacs. The goo they contain is then forcibly ejected through the tips of the raised chelicerae (the spider’s ‘fangs’). The attack is fast and deadly accurate: the goo fires from the tips of the chelicerae at a speed of around 30m per second and can pin down a future dinner standing more than 1cm away. It’s almost incredible, given the spider is doing this in the dark by detecting the minuscule vibrations caused by the prey. The two times I’ve seen spitting spiders hunting, the catch happened so quickly that it didn’t register. One moment there was a spider and a booklouse; the next the booklouse was pinned to the ground under a delicate zig-zag of grey stitches. The process that produces the zig-zag pattern is even faster than the speed at which the venomous silk is spat out. As the spider lifts its fangs, they vibrate at a rate of 300–1,800Hz, causing the strands of fluid to flick from side to side. The final, beautiful detail is that, upon impact, the strands contract by 50 per cent, tightening the net around the spider’s next meal. IllustrationsbyPeterDavidScott/TheArtAgency NICK BAKER is a naturalist, author and TV presenter. REVEALS A FASCINATING WORLD OF WILDLIFE THAT WE OFTEN OVERLOOK. S P I T T I N G S P I D E R Spitting spiders spray adhesive ‘silk’to immobilise their hapless prey. eye. I always ‘twitch’ spiders, but this one was different to anything I’d seen before. It was the way the spider was moving that made me do a double-take – it walked with a deliberate, stealthy cat-crawl over the white-washed stone wall. Those eight legs – spindly and smooth save for a scattering of sensory hairs called trichobothria – were distinctive, as was the colouring of its body, a waxy, jaundiced-yellow speckled with brown. But it was the unmistakable humped appearance of the cephalothorax (the front portion of a spider’s two main body divisions) that clinched the identification. No other British spider bulges with such intent. The hunting strategy of this arachnid puts you in mind of a more vicious Peter Parker. For just as Spiderman, Parker’s superhero alter ego, slings webs to ensnare villains, so our spider relies upon a similar approach to catch its prey, but with one crucial difference: the spitting spider’s webbing isn’t just sticky, it’s venomous. Protruding from its head are two sacs, one containing a venom, the other a silky glue-like O n misty mornings their silken webs – made from a mix of protein, air and water – seem to ensnare the very essence of autumn. The low dew point, caused by the cool air, bedazzles the strands with moisture and the watery baubles bring their clandestine creators to the forefront of our minds. Yes, it’s spider season. Every season is, to be truthful, but it’s now that spiders mature and are at their biggest. One spider that stands out from the eight-legged crowd, due to the fact that it’s rarely found outdoors and doesn’t use silk much, is the spitting spider, Scytodes thoratica. These oddballs are particularly fond of old buildings and museums. It has been suggested that they may well be non-natives imported on construction materials and have since become naturalised in the southern half of the UK. Whatever their origin, they’re a fascinating addition to our more furtive fauna. I found my first spitting spider by accident: a late-night B-movie and a thirst for an accompanying beer had me heading for the kitchen. I snapped the light on and it immediately caught my NICK BAKER BRITA N Hidden THE MONEY SPIDER MYSTERY Eyes at top of eye-turret It's enough to make your eyes bulge out on stalks While the spitting spider has a clear reason for its strange shape,there is another,even weirder,member of the British spider fauna.Walckenaeria acuminata is a widespread species of money spider,around 4mm in length.Males have the most spectacular towering eye-turret, which can be over twice as high as the spider is long.Its purpose is unknown,making it another one of those everyday enigmas. Actual size: 5mm
  • 12. November 2017BBC Wildlife12 WILD NOVEMBER Pintail:Shutterstock;Swan:AlexGilfillan;LucyWebster:SASACrownCopyright;SabaDouglas-Hamilton:SamGracey; Weasel:GenevieveLeaper;Pipestrellebat:AmyLewis;Redknot:ElisSimpson Natural words A Life with Elephants NOVEMBER EVENTS IN BRIEF EVENT SPOTLIGHT Wetland celebration The annual North West Bird Watching Festival returns to WWT Martin Mere in Lancashire this November. Set over the weekend, the festival includes guided tours and a range of lectures and activities including bird ringing and a floodlit swan spectacle. Join BBC Wildlife columnist Nick Baker for a walk on the reserve and listen to talks from photographers and conservationists, including WWT’s Sacha Dench who flew 7,000km by paramotor in 2016, following the Bewick’s swans' migration. O 18–19 November,WWTMartin Mere.Normal admission prices apply, plus additional prices for some talks/tours,bit.ly/2iVxMcE Join Saba Douglas-Hamilton (above) for an evening during her UK tour. The conservationist and TV presenter of The Secret Life of Elephants and Big Cat Diaries will be sharing exciting animal stories and intimate tales of life in Kenya with her family. O 3–24 November,various locations around the UK.Prices vary, bit.ly/2wB7wr1 SCOTTISH MAMMALS The lead editor of the MammalAtlas of NE Scotland and the Cairngorms will be discussing the comprehensive publication in this evening talk for the Aberdeen RSPB Local Group. 14 November, bit.ly/2gEb6MY WADER WATCH Get involved with an international citizen science survey in November by looking for wading birds as part ofWorldWaderWatch. 4–5 November, bit.ly/2eVobxW HAMPSHIRE BATS Learn all about bat behaviour and the best locations to see them with local bat expert Nik Knight. Nik will explain how to hear the flying mammals’echolocation calls at this talk for the Hampshire and Isle ofWightWildlifeTrust. 27 November, bit.ly/2iXpFMK A WILD WALK Explore the less known paths of NationalTrust’s Marsden Moor Estate in WestYorkshire on this walk.Wildlife could include kestrels,short-eared owls and mountain hares. 4 November, bit.ly/2xd7mcG EVENTS As part of RSPB Loch Leven’s 50th anniversary celebrations author and poet Anita John is leading a nature writing workshop in Perth and Kinross. Attendees will get to try out techniques and activities, both inside the classroom and outside, while watching the reserve’s whooper swans (below) and pink- footed geese. O 19 November, RSPB Loch Leven. RSPB members £10, non members £15, bit.ly/2xJnbVs Discover the world of wildlife crime forensics in this talk for Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Glasgow Group. Dr Lucy Webster (below) from Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture will be discussing her work in analysing non-human DNA evidence. Her talk will cover the techniques she uses and include casework examples involving the illegal wildlife trade, raptor persecution, badger baiting and more. O 22 November, Hyndland Secondary School (Glasgow). Suggested donation of £2 per person, bit.ly/2gOqSVQ BLOOD, SWEAT AND DEERS Learn how forensic experts help investigate wildlife crimes. Visit Martin Mere and you could spot one of the pintails that winter there.
  • 13.
  • 14. WILD NEWS November 201714 BBC Wildlife DISCOVERIESThe latest in scientific research from all over the animal kingdom. Q MAMMALS I t’s a traditional means of settling playground disputes, but new research shows that chimpanzees can learn the rules of rock, paper, scissors, too. Many animals can grasp the rules of linear hierarchies – A beats B, which beats C, etc, and such rules are necessary to maintain social pecking orders, for example. But rock, paper, scissors is more sophisticated than that, as no one strategy can beat all the others. The hierarchy is circular: rock blunts scissors; scissors cut paper; paper covers rock. A team of Japanese and Chinese biologists have compared the abilities of chimps and children to learn the rules of the game. Individuals of each species were taught to pick the winner of randomly chosen pairs of pictures of the gestures shown on a computer screen. “The chimpanzees’ performance was similar to that of four-year-old children,” says Jie Gao of Japan’s Kyoto University, although it did take the chimps much longer to learn the rules. According to Gao’s colleague Tetsuro Matsuzawa, there is no evidence yet that the animals can play the game themselves. But that’s something the team is working on. Neither is it known whether chimps use their ability to understand circular relationships in any natural setting. It’s possible that it allows them to process complex social interactions but it may simply be a by-product of a flexible cognitive system. Matsuzawa draws a comparison with chimps’ ability to learn aspects of human language. “Chimps do not speak as we do; they do not use the language as we do. But it does not mean that they completely lack the ability to learn language,” he says. “Look at the wonderful performance of young chimpanzees memorising Arabic numerals,” he tells BBC Wildlife magazine. “Their performance (at this task) exceeded ours.” ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS DID YOU KNOW? Q Acontestsimilarto rock-paper-scissors isplayedbetween Californianside- blotchedlizards. Orange-throatedmales dominatesmallerblue- throatedones,whoout- competethesmallest, yellowtype.But,by mimickingfemales, yellowsescapethe oranges’attentionand canpoachfemalesin theoranges’territories. CHIMPANZEES TAUGHT TO UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GESTURES IN CHILDREN’S GAME Written by STUART BLACKMAN PrimateResearchInstituteofKyotoUniversity The winning hand: chimps have been taught to understand which gesture wins in rock, paper, scissors. SOURCE Primates LINK bit.ly/2vXHlwf
  • 15. WILD NEWS November 2017 15BBC Wildlife Q BIOLOGY MACHO MEN TIDY UP In a discovery that might surprise at least half of the human race, the most macho of males can also be the most fastidiously house-proud. Male golden-collared manakins attract females with colourful, noisy, acrobatic displays on the forest floors of Central America. And the birds are very careful to keep their display arenas tidy, removing fallen leaves and other clutter that might obscure a female’s view. Their tidiness seems to be fuelled by testosterone. Males given a boost of the hormone became even more obsessed about the tidiness of their display arena and would make considerable efforts to remove leaves, even if they were weighted down. A testosterone fix also induced non-displaying juveniles to keep their patch of the forest spick and span.“They removed significantly more leaves than untreated males and even pulled up small tree seedlings,” says Ioana Chiver of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. EXPLAINER The 6FLHQWLĶF WHUPV SXW LQWR SODLQ (QJOLVK IRU WKH UHVW RI XV SOURCE Scientific Reports LINK http://go.nature.com/2w2vSvv PARTY ANIMALS If goldfish have a bit of a glazed, faraway look in their eyes, there might be a good reason for it. They are rare among vertebrates in being able to manufacture alcohol in their own bodies. And now biologists have shown they do it in much the same way as brewer’s yeast does. Most vertebrates survive short periods without oxygen by switching to an anaerobic mode of respiration to fuel their bodies, but this produces toxic lactic acid as a by-product. Goldfish and their wild relatives, crucian carp, instead utilise an anaerobic pathway that produces alcohol instead of lactic acid and this can be flushed from their bodies via their gills. “During their time in oxygen-free water in ice- covered ponds, which can last for several months in their northern European habitat, blood-alcohol concentrations in crucian carp can reach more than 50 mg per 100 millilitres. That’s above the drink drive limit in the countries [in this region],” says the University of Liverpool’s Michael Berenbrink. HYBRIDISATION The distinction between species is not always clear-cut, especially when they’re capable of interbreeding to produce hybrids, which can lead to two species merging. But hybrids can also keep the parent species separate. That’s because hybrids are often sterile or lack the specialisations of either parent, putting them at a reproductive disadvantage. Sometimes, however, hybridisation can turn up genetic recipes that thrive – many species of plants have been created this way. Fish:WillWatson/naturepl.com;manakin:JuanCarlosVindas/BIA/Minden/FLPA; zonkey:QuirkyChinaNews/REX/Shutterstock(captive);bat:DrDebWright SOURCE Animal Behaviour LINK bit.ly/2xxGqDx SOURCE Records of the Australian Museum LINK bit.ly/2unYX56 WHAT IS IT? The scientist who described this new species has suggested the common name happy tube-nosed fruit bat due to its chirpy- looking expression. But the alternative moniker, Yoda fruit bat – after its resemblance to a certain Jedi Master – also seems to be catching on. WHERE IS IT? The species seems to be widely distributed across New Guinea, where it can be distinguished from its closest relatives by its facial features. It is also unusual in that it seems to roost alone rather than in groups. NEW SPECIES SPOTLIGHT HAPPY TUBE-NOSED FRUIT BAT Mix a zebra and a donkey and you get a hybrid that could be a zonkey… or a zedonk. Q BIRDS With or without fruit, this bat always looks happy to see you. Goldfish may replace newts as an analogy for drunkenness. Testosterone increases male golden-collared manakins’propensity for cleaning up.
  • 16. WILD NEWS 16 BBC Wildlife SUN SENDS WHALES ASHORE Q MIGRATION The aurora borealis is a sight to behold for many, but for sperm (and possibly other) whales it could be a bad omen. It has long been known that whale strandings appear to coincide with solar storms, in which the Sun ejects charged particles that interfere with Earth’s magnetic field and produce the aurora borealis. New research offers a possible explanation for the link between the two phenomenon. The study focused on 29 apparently healthy sperm whales stranded on German, Dutch, English and French beaches in early 2016 following strong solar storms. These animals would normally have been expected to travel down Britain’s west coast to southern breeding grounds. Instead, they entered the shallow waters of the North Sea. The whales took the wrong turn, argue the scientists, because they navigate using local features of Earth’s magnetic field. During the period in question a magnetic landmark around Shetland that points the way west was obscured by the storms. The findings, write the scientists, “may also be of relevance to other animals migrating through comparable areas.” What prevents closely related species interbreeding and merging into one? New research provides evidence for the theory that hybrids lack the finely tuned characteristics of either parent. Biologists tested the theory by microchipping 456 roach, bream and roach-bream hybrids in a Danish lake. Three years later, they scoured nearby cormorant roosts for microchips that had been regurgitated by the fish-eating birds. Their search turned up only 14 per cent of the chips that had been implanted in the roach, nine per cent of those put in the bream, but 41 per cent of those put in the hybrids. “The hybrids may not have the trait combinations that help the parental species to survive encounters with their natural enemies and they get eaten,” says Kaj Hulthén of Sweden’s Lund University. Indeed, measurements showed that the hybrids had neither the roach’s speed nor the body-shape that make bream hard to swallow. “Predators maintain the boundaries between species and keep hybrids at low densities,” adds Hulthén’s colleague Anders Nilsson. Q BIOLOGY Whale:DanKitwood/Getty;hybrid:ChristianSkov;seasnake:ClaireGoiran;cuckoo:HennyBrandsma/Minden/FLPA SOURCEBiologyLettersLINKbit.ly/2hxohA5 CROSSED PURPOSES WILDLIFE UPDATES THE NEW BLACK Turtle-headed sea snakes living on polluted reefs in the Indo-Pacific lack the species’usual light bands and are almost all black.According to research in Current Biology,the snakes’dark skin pigment, melanin,binds to pollutants such as nickel and zinc. ROYAL DECREE Royal jelly,a substance secreted by worker bees to feed future queens, has long been thought to have medicinal properties. Research published in Scientific Reports has now identified a molecule in royal jelly that accelerates wound healing in humans. SOCIAL SNEEZING Biologists report in Proceedings of the Royal Society B that they can predict when a pack of African wild dogs will move on after resting by the frequency of sneezing among its members. The behaviour appears to function as a voting mechanism to facilitate collective decision-making. LAST LAUGH Cuckoos look uncannily like sparrowhawks,but Nature Ecology Evolution reports that they sound like them, too.After laying an egg in a reed warbler’s nest,female cuckoos issue a hawk-like chuckle that keeps the parents away until the parasite has left the crime scene. SOURCE Journal of Astrobiology LINK bit.ly/2vHX6ZD Sperm whales’ ability to navigate is inhibited by solar storms interfering with Earth’s magnetic field. From top: a bream, a roach-bream hybrid and a roach.
  • 17. SP150-600 G2 EN REGISTER NOW FOR FREE 5 YEAR WARRANTY 5years.tamron.eu
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  • 19. OPINION 19BBC WildlifeNovember 2017 Illustration:OwenDavey/Folio A time of gentle dying, the sigh and twitch and limpening grip, the wheeze of wet air… November, and there is no glory, no spectacular crash, no rip or roaring in the trees, no frost to bite, no snow to suffocate, not even a sudden shiver to spark notice of its arrival… just that dispassionate dying, the press of grey and brown and all its sorry mud. Winter is coming and the walkers trudge out into the kingdom of drab. He definitely didn’t want to go; I didn’t really want to go. We’ve come because we have to… to tick the habit box. And so we huff and pant, scuff and can’t raise any joy from this mourning among the trees. Along the droveway, on a spare rib jutting from the skeleton of a smashed oak, an old buzzard straightens, shakes his overcoat, peers, sneezes and scowls. We wait for him to get himself sorted – we’re polite and don’t rush the miserable – but he lifts and folds his foot, draws it back into his sodden jumper and stares. We have ourselves a stand-off. We squelch tactfully forward beneath his frown until I can see his daggered eyes. But still the beggar sits, rudely trying us with his glowering. We advance again and he draws his cloak tighter, his foot flinches and he very slowly lowers its clasp to the wood. Again we stop – the buzzard really doesn’t want to go – but just as I consider backing up, he turns and flops off, lurches low over the path like a soggy blanket and reels away to sulk in some other sopping spot. And then it starts to drizzle again. In an attempt to achieve something beyond mundane exercise, we divert to the badger sett where I wet my knee on the black earth to retrieve the card from a trip camera that snoops on their sober lives. Scratchy perks up and jogs from heap to hole, sticking his nose into way down the hill, ‘spanieling’ after some long-gone game. The buzzard sees him too, and eyes his furtive circling. I can’t ruin another hunt on a rainy day, but I can’t shout for Scratch either – he’s quite deaf and out of range, and it would surely scare the veteran bird. So we wait. And wait. My boy is a fluffy blob in the distance and far from bored with the smell of an old deer. I lose interest in these two fools and check my Twitter feed. Abuse, the usual trolls who are either paid or stupid, or paid to be stupid… email… nothing exciting. A message from Charlotte telling me to read an unexciting email. Um, well, the screen is too wet to use, so I trouser my phone and look up – no buzzard, no dog. Damn. I sigh and take two steps before I see them: together, face to face, about three metres apart on the sloping ground. Both of their tails are down, the bird’s neck is stretched up and it’s displaying a spiky crest, the dog’s neck is down and he’s all wet-look perm. Neither is moving. Honestly, what are they like? After a few seconds, Scratchy goes sideways and backs away, then lopes up the field. The buzzard shakes and looks the other way. When Scratch arrives, I kneel and ask him what happened, and in classic poodle he says: “Leave your phone at home, because even when nothing is happening, something happens.” Meanwhile, the buzzard has vanished. I LOOK UP AND THEN DOWN THE EDGE AND GUESS WHO IS THERE? THAT SENILE BUZZARD.” ` CHRIS PACKHAM is a naturalist and TV presenter. Watch him in Autumnwatch on BBC Two on 23–26 October, or catch up on BBC iPlayer. OUT WITH THE DOG ON A DANK AUTUMN DAY, OUR WAY IS BLOCKED BY A BEDRAGGLED BUZZARD WITH DAGGERS FOR EYES. From CHRIS PACKHAM Notesfrom an English wood the olfactory version of their business. I wonder if he knows them all, if he recognises the scent of each of the players who enter this dark stage to repeat verses of scratching and snuffling each night. But their latrines hold surprisingly little interest for him: a quick sniff and he’s off to the next spoil heap, a far cry from the days when he and his brother relished a roll in that bitter paste, anointing their necks and cocky-trotting through the bush so proud of their fetid perfume. Done, he ducks out into the field and as I contort through the sagging fence I look up and then down the edge and guess who is there? That senile buzzard. The codger must be after moles, or worms, and merely casts Scratch a glance as he skirts under his tree. Then he turns to me – pure disdain, his brows prominent, his gaze sharp… he is so pissed off. I raise myself slowly, he cranes to nibble his toes, I see Scratch going all the
  • 20. Young tawny owls often perch together so the adults can keep a watchful eye on them. Parents will defend their offspring vigorously from predators. By thinking outside the box, aYorkshire artist is gaining unique insights into the lives of his local tawny owls, discovers Amy-Jane Beer. Photos by Robert Fuller Tawnytactics
  • 21. T he theme from The Great Escape has been in my head for days, ever since I scooted down the tunnel leading from Robert Fuller’s house to his new wildlife hide. Access is via a trolley – you lie down and haul yourself along by a rope, just like Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. As well as getting you into the hide unnoticed, it’s also jolly good fun. The view from the hide is pretty unusual. To the right is a drystone structure with a den for stoats and a wooden maze to test their flexibility. To the left, an artificial badger sett is under construction. Behind us, a weasel snoozes in a heated nestbox (as seen in the August 2016 issue of BBC Wildlife). Outside is a bird table loaded with defrosted day-old chicks, strapped down so they can’t be carried off – Robert wants his visitors to feed where he can see them. Tonight we’re concentrating on tawny owls, which Robert has been watching, photographing and painting here for 18 years. “They’re challenging,” he says. “Really secretive. The first time I saw one on a fence-post just down there I ran for my camera but, of course, when I got back it had gone. I built a nestbox out of an old stump, mounted it in a tree and there have been tawny owls there ever since.” This was good for the owls but, for Robert, getting good photos means luring the birds into the open. “The supplementary feeding started when I decided to help a young male kestrel,” he recalls. “I began putting out mice that I caught for him. When he had a family, I put the food out late at night so he’d have something first thing. It
  • 22. November 2017BBC Wildlife22 ROBERTIS REGULARLYATTACKED. “IT’S LIKE SOMEONETHROWING HALFABRICKATYOU.AHALF- BRICKWITH CLAWS.” wasn’t long before the owls cottoned on and soon I was feeding them every night, too.” Robert’s expertise with owls soon became local common knowledge and people started bringing him ‘rescued’ owlets. Most of these were tawny owls. “The thing about tawnies is they fledge too soon and end up on the floor,” says Robert. “People assume they’ve been abandoned when, in fact, the parents are still close by.” Hand-rearing is a last resort because owlets have so much to learn from their parents. Since Robert knew the adult pair he was feeding would never struggle to find food, he decided to try fostering the owlets with them. “We were winging it,” he admits. “We didn’t have nestbox cameras then, so we had no idea what was going on inside. But tawny owls are phenomenal parents and they’re used to rearing chicks of varied ages because their own broods naturally hatch over several days.” These days, when spring ‘orphans’ arrive, those that are large enough are ringed by Jean Thorpe – an amazing woman who rehabilitates most of North and East Yorkshire’s injured raptors – and Jack Ashton-Booth, another local raptor specialist. Robert transfers the owlets to the box on the first night, which occasionally means adding more than one at a time. Does that mean the parents can’t count or recognise their own? “No, they can’t. They’re pretty stupid really,” he chuckles. “They’re not colonial, so there’s no real benefit in recognising their own chicks. They have such a strong urge to nurture – much better than barn owls. You wouldn’t want a barn owl as a mother, but the tawnies are formidable.” Formidable is no exaggeration. Pioneering bird photographer Eric Hosking famously lost an eye to a tawny owl he had been watching and Robert is regularly attacked when returning owlets to the box. “It’s like someone throwing half a brick at you. Two owlets make themselves at home in Robert’s nest stump.Above: an adult tawny snoozes in a kestrel nestbox.
  • 23. November 2017 BBC Wildlife 23 Above: a male and female perch side by side in October, having re-established their territory by driving the young birds out of the area. Left: Robert checks a rescued owlet before introducing it into a nestbox. A half-brick with claws. I’ve been punctured on my back and my head. I used to wear a chainsaw helmet with a visor, but they come in so hard, I was worried they might hurt themselves. So now I wear a leather hat with ear flaps, a visor and two Buffs around my neck.” FAMILY LIFE IS COMPLICATED Earlier that evening, we’d walked down the valley to a nestbox, one of three made from tree stumps and now home to tawny and barn owls, and kestrels. On the way, Robert explained that last year the tawny pair raised 10 chicks – four of their own and six surrogates. This year, however, didn’t start so well. The female laid three eggs, but one failed to hatch. The first owlet to emerge was killed by the male, which unusually, is supporting two families in 2017. “He started pinching food from the nest to take to the other brood, which had TAWNY OWLS GROUNDING For fledging tawny owls, grounding is an occupational hazard. Often a chick can climb back into its tree, so it should only be taken to a vet or rehab centre if it’s obviously injured or unwell. If not, return the chick to the nest or a nearby branch. Chicks smaller than a clenched fist are more vulnerable, but taking them into care may rob them of the natural upbringing they need. If in doubt, ask a local wildlife rehabilitation expert. WET PLUMAGE It’s different if a bird is wet, as waterlogged down loses all of its insulating volume. Following overnight rain, Robert brings any grounded chicks he finds inside to dry off on top of the boiler in a closed cardboard box lined with shredded newspaper. He returns them to their nest the same evening. SAFETY FIRST If you do decide to pick up a tawny owl, put on a hat, gloves and goggles or a visor. Be vigilant for the parents – some won’t hesitate to attack if they are nearby. If you sense an airborne assault, don’t look up. BARN OWLS You can tell barn owl chicks from tawnies by their pure white down and dark eyelids (tawny owls’are pink). Barn owls fledge later and don’t ground as often, but are less able to self-rescue so may need help returning to the nest.As a more stringently protected species, however, a licence is required to touch them unless they’re injured or suffering. WHEN DOES A BABY OWL NEED HELP? TAWNY OWLS Tawny owl chicks often end up on the ground when fledging. Barn owl chicks have white down and dark eyelids. AnnSteveToon/naturepl.com
  • 24. November 2017BBC Wildlife24 already hatched,” says Robert. “I think he got confused. He arrived in the box, the female raised up to show him his baby and he just took it.” The female tried to intervene but it was too late. So, as it turns out, only one of the owlets she is caring for is the pair’s own. The first surrogate owlet also perished after being attacked by sheep. “That happens a lot,” explains Robert. “You’d think the main risk to fledglings on the ground would be foxes, badgers or stoats, but no. Sheep see them moving and trample or head-butt them into the ground.” Like many of the birds released on Robert’s patch, this year’s adoptee owls came from Jean Thorpe. None of them are true siblings. “You can see they’re different,” Rob tells me. “Normally owlets in a family have similar coloration, but these ones are a mixture – some are really pale.” We arrive under a glorious spreading wych elm. “They love this tree,” says Robert. “The way the branches twist creates level perches with good shelter. They only really use the nestbox when there are no leaves on the trees, so after the young fledge, they’re out all the time. There’s Above: Robert reproduces the owls on canvas. Below: Tree stumps make great nestboxes, although they are heavy. one now.” I crane my neck. Robert has to guide my eye – at first all I can see is leaves and branches, but then I see the owlet. It’s big, almost fully grown. Its plumage is cinnamon and buff, fluffy on the chest, but developing the tree-bark adult texture on its back and sides. Its face swivels in the surrounding hood of feathers, like the bezel of a watch. Robert sets up a telescope and I take a squint. The ‘wise owl’ idea is nonsense; these aren’t brainy birds by any measure. But you can see why they have gained that reputation. Their big eyes appear all-seeing. Having spotted one chick, we quickly see another, and another. In a few minutes, all five are accounted for, then Robert spots their mother, watching us. I can clearly see the fleshy pads of her toes pressing into the branch, while the scalpel-tips of her talons rest lightly on the bark. Tawny owls have moved from a ‘Green’ to ‘Amber’ listing due to their declining THE‘WISEOWL’IDEAIS NONSENSE…BUTYOU CANSEEWHYTHEY GAINEDTHATREPUTATION TAWNY OWLS
  • 25. November 2017 BBC Wildlife 25 numbers, though the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) points out that standard survey methods (the species’ last national survey was in 2005) may be unreliable for such secretive birds. Bad weather, infanticidal parents and sheep aren’t the only threats. Over 65 per cent of dead tawnies reported to the BTO are killed by traffic. This is a skewed statistic, because road fatalities are more likely to be recorded than other deaths, but the risk is still significant, especially as roadsides are good places to find carrion or hunt small prey. If an owl killed on a road is a parent, the entire brood may be doomed. SERIOUS RISK Disease is a serious problem too, especially trichomonosis. This is caused by a protozoan parasite that infects the moist tissues of birds’ mouths and throats. It’s the same condition that has devastated greenfinch numbers, but it’s also common in pigeons (where it’s known as canker) and birds of prey (in which it’s called frounce). Like kestrels and sparrowhawks, tawny owls eat dead or sickly birds and are thus highly susceptible. As the infection progresses, lesions on the throat prevent feeding. “It’s really unpleasant – they’re weak and wheezing, and if you open the beak it’s all yellow inside,” says Robert. HOW TO ATTRACT NESTING TAWNY OWLS Robert Fuller has put up nearly 200 nestboxes for owls and kestrels. Here are his top tips. Clockwise from top left: a young owl comes to feed in front of Robert; a female tawny broods her own owlets and surrogates; wet chicks are brought inside to dry off before being returned to their nest; a young owls’ cryptic plumage helps it avoid predators, such as buzzards. KNOW YOUR AREA Tawny owls live in open woodland but also large suburban gardens, parks and cemeteries.Your success in attracting local tawnies will depend in part on how many natural nest sites there are in the area. SAFE AND SECURE Don’t make the mistake of siting owl boxes where you can get a good view – being looked at is the last thing an owl wants. For breeding success, tawnies need to feel safe: they’re very susceptible to disturbance. THE RIGHT SPOT Place the nestbox on a mature deciduous tree at least 3m off the ground, with branches nearby for fledgling chicks to climb onto. It needs to be sheltered from the rain, prevailing winds and sun. SIZE MATTERS Many commercial tawny owl nestboxes are too small, usually just 25cm2 at the base.They’re too cramped for fledglings to flap or for the adults to sit together during courtship and egg laying.They also tend to have the nest cavity at the bottom of a tall box, making it hard for adults to get in without damaging their tails or landing on their eggs. AVOID THE TUBE Tube-shaped nestboxes that are designed to be strapped under a branch, also present problems. Their open tops mean there’s no cover from the rain and if they get too wet, the bases of these boxes often rot. NESTING MATERIAL Tawny owls seem to prefer nestboxes designed for kestrels – they’re bigger than owl boxes but are too easy for owlets to climb out of. My own design (above) is bigger than a typical owl box, with a base that’s at least 30 x 35cm, and an elevated entrance to keep owlets inside until they’re ready to fledge.The lower door lets me add wood chippings for nesting material. UNWANTED GUESTS Jackdaws and grey squirrels often colonise owl nestboxes.There is no simple solution to this.You just have to clear out any material these hijackers put in until you have resident owls that will then hopefully chase their rivals away. You’ll need to add nesting material as tawny owls don’t gather it. A helping hand: with luck, tawny owls will move into your box.
  • 26. November 2017BBC Wildlife26 AMY-JANE BEER is a natural- history writer and regular BBC Wildlife QA contributor. “It affects whole families, because parents feed infected prey to their young, or they die and the owlets starve.” After confirming the family are safe and well, we go to check on their neighbours. Another huge nestbox, a few trees along is home to barn owls. They’ve managed to foul the lens of the camera mounted inside the box, so Robert has to clean it. There are eight owlets inside, he tells me, as he scales the ladder. He reaches in and immediately a fury of hissing erupts – the same sound as air escaping from several inflatable mattresses. CUTE… BUT TOUGH Robert ducks as a shuttlecock of white feathers explodes over his shoulder and parachutes into the grass. “Oops. Keep an eye on that one!” he grins. “I’ll get it back in a minute.” Five minutes later, the lens is clean again, the owlet is safely back in the box and we’re heading back to the ‘Great Escape’ hide. Soon after 10pm, the calling starts: a chorus of ‘kerrr-icks’ all around us. The female appears on a fallen branch at the end of the garden and is joined by an owlet, then I make out the silhouettes of two more on a high feeding table. After a minute or two, the adult takes off and flies towards us. Her huge wings are cloud-soft, but she lands with a heavy clunk on the table. She seems as surprised as I am and looks down at her feet, bobbing as if trying to work out whether they really are as big as they look. I suppress a giggle and she turns towards us. There’s something teddy-bearish about her round face and obsidian eyes. Then she bends, seizes one of the day-old chicks and pulls. She lifts her wings for balance, revealing muscular legs that flex to take the strain. I hear sinew ripping as the meal is dismembered. This is one badass teddy-bear. They’ll keep coming until September, Robert expects. “The adults parent them Above: a male tawny arrives with a meal for a youngster. Right: a young tawny owl takes cover from mobbing blackbirds under Robert’s car. Below: grounded owlets can end up waterlogged in bad weather and unable to fly. until August, but then things start to break down and by October it’s war.” Autumn is the time for young to find territories of their own. These chicks might not go far though. Young from previous years have moved to the next valley, where Robert has erected more nestboxes. “They remember this place and sneak back for food when they have their own young. I know it’s them because I find day-old chicken remains in their boxes.” There must be special satisfaction in knowing so many of these birds would not have survived without help. “Yes, it’s magic,” agrees Robert. “Rescuing them is one thing, but a natural start is the only way they can learn everything they need to know. My job is to help them stay wild.” TAWNY OWLS FIND OUT MORE Discover more about Robert Fuller’s artwork at www.robertefuller.com. Watch his clip of tawny owlets preparing to fledge, on our website at bit.ly/2hnAcwp. +
  • 27. 2,208 customer reviews AS OF 11/09/2017would travel with us again With Explore you get: Over 36 years’ travel industry experience Arctic and Antarctica voyages Regular shore landings Expert on-board expedition staff Wide choice of ships and voyages Call: 01252 888 956 Visit: explore.co.uk/wildpolar NEW Polar Voyages Brochure Coming Soon! Book early for a FREE upgrade! On all departures of our Arctic and Antarctica voyages aboard the Expedition, book a twin-share category 2 cabin and you will automatically receive a FREE upgrade to a twin- VKDUH FDWHJRUDOO XV WRĆQG RXW more details and availability. Polar Voyages Visit explore.co.uk/brochures to pre-order your copy
  • 28. Vast swathes of untouched tropical rainforest provide the harpy eagle with a rich hunting ground
  • 29. ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE W hile many countries in South America have featured on the hit lists of adventure seekers and nature lovers alike, it’s something of a miracle that the magnificent country of Guyana has remained largely untouched and undiscovered. Tucked away in the north-eastern corner of this fascinating continent, Guyana stretches 270 miles along the sweeping Atlantic coast, extending into areas of pristine rainforest and broad savannah. At every turn, it’s a feast for the eyes with mighty rivers, cascading waterfalls and numerous species of flora and fauna. It’s nature lovers who really have the most to gain from exploring this tropical paradise.There’s wildlife in abundance – jaguars roam the rainforest, the cries of howler monkeys resound through the trees and the black caiman lurks in the rivers of the Rupununi. And for bird watchers, it’s a glorious treasure trove, with over 900 migrant and resident birds to be found in this beautiful wilderness. A GIANT OF THE AIR Whether you explore on foot, by boat, light aircraft or road, you’re sure to discover a vast array of birds – many that you will have never seen before. Keep your eyes peeled for the tell-tale flash of scarlet, yellow and blue as the macaw darts across the forest canopy, or spot the rare and extremely beautiful Guianan cock of the rock. But the real star of the show is the magnificent harpy eagle.With slate-black feathers, a snow-white body and striped, feathered tarsi, it’s an unmistakable sight. It’s also one of the largest and most powerful birds of prey in the world – a mean predator with large, viscious talons that leave little chance of escape. As it hunts in the canopy of the rainforest, it strikes with deadly precision, targeting anything that crosses its path, all the while keeping a keen eye out for sloths and monkeys – its food of choice. Guyana is one of the best places in the world to see this splendid bird. Although globally the harpy eagle is threatened with extinction and listed as an endangered species, there’s a healthy population here, particularly in the Kanuku and Iwokrama mountains.That’s thanks to the vast swathes of untouched tropical rainforest that provide this majestic eagle with such a rich hunting ground. A bird lover’s paradise, Guyana is an extraordinary corner of South America that’s just waiting to be discovered Where eaglesdare Discover Guyana for yourself at guyana-tourism.com #comediscover Photocredit:AmandaRichards Photocredit:DeonarineChan
  • 30. BBC Wildlife30 November 2017 Britainhasoneofthe world’srichesttraditions ofwritingaboutthe naturalworld. Mark Cocker examinesthe rootsofthiscreative floweringandwhyitgoes fromstrengthtostrength. WILD WORDS WHY WE LOVE NATURE WRITING A nyone remotely interested in wildlife cannot have failed to have noticed that since the beginning of this century there has been a remarkable upsurge in the quantity and quality of literature about the natural world. Alongside the more conventional scientific works – field guides, ecological studies and academic monographs – there are also hundreds of new titles of a very different style and content. All are broadly defined as ‘nature writing’, and while this classification might be devilishly difficult to pin down, the appetite of the book-buying public for it seems to expand annually. Publishers have been equally keen to meet these demands, inspired in part by the enormous success of international bestsellers such as Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk (2014) and Amy Liptrott’s The Outrun (2015). These wonderful books and the writing of other authors, including Miriam Darlington, Tim Dee, Dave Goulson, Jay Griffiths, Kathleen Jamie, John Lister-Kaye, Richard Mabey and Robert Macfarlane, have created an enormously wide and enjoyable field. There are titles on subjects as diverse as walking and wilderness, bumblebees and birdwatching, beechwoods and beaver reintroduction, hoverflies and holloways. The sheer range of writing indicates a time of enormous fertility. A good illustration of its NATUREWRITING FEATURES ON AUTUMNWATCH Catch up on iPlayer.
  • 31. November 2017 BBC Wildlife 31 IllustrationsbyShellyPerkins t a l k i n g P O I N T wider impact is the knock-on consequence in other cultural areas. Novelists, poets, bloggers, online essayists, film-makers, playwrights, photographers and scientists have all been motivated by the fresh approaches mapped out in the recent nature-writing surge. There are now cultural festivals to celebrate all this activity and university courses have included it on their syllabuses, under headings such as ‘wild writing’ or ‘ecocriticism’. T he sudden and seemingly unprecedented focus on nature begs questions about where exactly this genre has come from, and also how we can place such a heterogenous literary form under one heading. For once, it is possible to clarify both issues by looking at a single early work. It is The Natural History of Selborne, which first appeared in 1789. In the intervening 228 years, the book has never been out of print and has run through more editions than any work except the Bible. It entails a sequence of gently digressive letters about the encounters and feelings for the wildlife and rural folk ways of a Hampshire village by its country vicar Gilbert White. The book appears somewhat structureless in its random journal-like evocation of daily life, yet White’s observations are always meticulous and recorded in precise, balanced prose. The tone of the whole book is clear even in the opening paragraph, where the author introduces the famous Hanger Wood in his Selborne parish: “The covert of this eminence is altogether beech, the most lovely of all forest trees, whether we consider its smooth rind or bark, its glossy foliage, or graceful pendulous boughs. The down, or sheep-walk, is a pleasing park-like spot, of about one mile by half that space, jutting out on the verge of the hill-country.” In what are, in effect, the opening lines for an entire genre, you can spot several defining characteristics. The immediate warmth and personalised manner established by White in his use of the word we – as if he and the reader were already on amicable terms – is one of his great gifts to all those writers who have come afterwards. It is certainly the ingredient that separates nature writing from natural historical writing. The second kind of book is essentially one in which the author’s own feelings or reflections are scrupulously purged from the page. The subject is discussed objectively. Natural-history science has no we or I – no self-declared narrator – mediating on the reader’s behalf between the words and the wild world described. It is, by contrast, this personalised voice in nature writing that partly explains its enduring appeal. The author is often steeped in his or her subject, but the expertise is worn lightly. Scientific knowledge is softened, enhanced and made relevant with private anecdotes, digressions, authorial insights and wider reflections. In one sense, nature writing is the truest form to describe the subject of ‘nature’, because like all of the other animals and plants, humans are a species too. For the author to exclude his or her own subjective world of emotion from the story would be to THE MANNER ESTABLISHED BY GILBERTWHITE IS ONE OFHIS GREATGIFTS.
  • 32. BBC Wildlife32 November 2017 warm spring sky to roam at will through all the far provinces of light. Along the escarpments of the river air he rose with martial motion. Like a dolphin in green seas, like an otter in the startled water, he poured through deep lagoons of sky up to the high white reefs of sirrus.” N ot only has Baker’s prose inspired enduring admiration, but his model of a passionate quest for a single species has been enormously influential. Among recent writers, Hugh Warwick’s A Prickly Affair: The Charm of the Hedgehog (2008), Miriam Darlington’s Otter Country (2012) and Patrick Barkham’s Badgerlands (2013) indicate Baker’s legacy. Not everything in nature writing, however, is owed to the past. One significant achievement of the new flood of books is to create more diversity among authors in terms of their identity, gender, age and social background. The nature writer is now as likely to be a working-class resident of the city as the more traditional countryman. A classic form of the new nature book explores what Richard Mabey referred to as “the unofficial countryside” in his seminal 1973 work of the same name. More recently the poets Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts called it the Edgelands (2011). Now there is a small library of books on such places, including Rob Cowen’s Common Ground (2015) and Dave Goulson’s witty and humorous Bee Quest (2016). All describe hybrid landscapes that lie around and even inside British city and town boundaries. Edgelands are places where nature and man- made structures interlock. This is a fascinating and very British subgenre of nature writing. And it seems to tell us several important things. On the one hand, it expresses an innovative approach and open-minded attitude to what constitutes nature and wildness. Yet it is often also the main type of landscape that many British people experience as they grow up. For we are essentially a very urban people. Today, almost 54 million of us live in towns and cities. Do these background details tell us something about why the British are so responsive to books of this kind? For one of the striking aspects of the genre is its lack of impact elsewhere in Europe. Nature writing has more lately acquired a dominant place in the German publishing world, but the Spanish, French, Italians and Greeks have nothing like this literary tradition. Yet these latter countries are far less densely populated and have retained a higher proportion of their rural populations. The average Briton now owns just seven one-hundredths of an acre. We are, by and overlook a central truth: we are part of nature. White’s book illuminates a second defining characteristic of nature writing, which is the very quality of its prose. The aesthetic impact of the words is both an end in itself, but also it serves to heighten the reader’s awareness of nature’s wider beauty. An aspiration to write well, to achieve both lyrical and original words, has been a central goal of almost all subsequent nature writers. There is a long lineage of authors whose fine writing has linked White’s example to the modern age. They include the Victorian Richard Jeffries, the novelist and proto- environmentalist W H Hudson and the late Gavin Maxwell, whose Ring of Bright Water, his bittersweet tale of misadventure with pet otters published in 1960, is probably the biggest-selling title about nature since White’s own book. Another undisputed inspiration for most 21st-century authors is the person credited with creating the gold standard for all British nature books – J A Baker. His book The Peregrine (1969) is a distilled account of the author’s 10-year quest to record hunting peregrines in the winter fields and estuaries of Essex. Open it at any page and you will discover writing of rapturous intensity and iridescent beauty. Here is Baker’s description of his bird: “Free! You cannot know what freedom means till you have seen a peregrine loosed into the FORTHEAUTHOR TOEXCLUDETHEIR EMOTIONFROM THESTORYWOULD BETOOVERLOOKA CENTRALTRUTH. t a l k i n g P O I N T
  • 33. November 2017 BBC Wildlife 33 large, a landless people, evicted from intimacy with the soil through the 18th- and 19th-century enclosures. Could nature writing be a means by which urban-dwelling readers restore at least some of their relationship to non-human life? T he recent surge of books also reflects other aspects of contemporary society. One notable innovation is the increased presence of female authors. As one observer noted in a major recent essay, whenever he thought of the nature writer he pictured a man and “it would always be a man: bearded, badly dressed, ascetic, misanthropic.” Today, this has changed and two outstanding writers have been at the heart of the development – Jay Griffiths and Kathleen Jamie. They have expanded the possibilities of how to write about nature, but in very different ways. In her extraordinary book Wild: An Elemental Journey (2006), Griffiths combines a blistering critique of Western attitudes to nature with a remarkable worldwide investigation of the way that tribal peoples relate to the rest of life. It tells of a savage pilgrimage in which its author experiments with Amerindian hallucinogens in the Amazon rainforest, or goes hunting for whales with harpoon- MARK COCKER is an author and naturalist who writes for The Guardian Country Diary.His recent books include Claxton: Field Notes from a Small Planet. wielding Inuit. The writing is exuberant, impassioned and volatile. The Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie, in two celebrated essay collections Findings (2005) and Sightlines (2012), deploys a prose that is, in contrast, immensely controlled, wry, elliptical and precise. Far from telling us of globe-trotting adventure, Jamie describes the life of a working mother who evokes the otherness of wild creatures as she goes about her domestic routine. Here are oystercatchers feeding on town roundabouts or peregrines seen through the bedroom window. Yet Jamie dares to reminds us that nature is not just the sublime and the enchanting. It can also be darkness, pain and misery. One of the essays in Findings, about the Surgeon’s Hall in Edinburgh, explores the preserved specimen jars that contain cancerous breasts and deformed limbs. These items chart the pathology of human disease, but they too are the consequences of the life force that gives us stock stuff of nature writing – beautiful places or lovely animals. There is one other major question looming over all this creative activity. Namely, what is the relationship between these secondary products about nature and the dismal fortunes of Britain’s actual OPEN ITATANY PAGEANDYOUWILL DISCOVERWRITING OFRAPTUROUS INTENSITY. wildlife? Is there possibly a link between the two? Certainly, the State of Nature reports of 2013 and 2016 catalogue in unequivocal terms the enormous declines in biodiversity from these islands. Measured by one index, Britain is among the most denatured countries on Earth and in the last 60 years has lost 42 million breeding birds and 99 per cent of its flower-rich meadows. A number of books have highlighted the predicament and offered policies to counter the decline, notably George Monbiot’s Feral (2013), in which he showcases the concept of rewilding as a means to restore some of our most blighted landscapes. Yet with a few exceptions, there has been little direct interconnection between all the literature of nature and those who are engaged in the politics of the environment. The outpouring of new writing has, for example, had little discernible impact on membership of our key wildlife charities. Equally, the major conservation organisations have not obviously capitalised on the upsurge in these creative responses to nature. One thing we can do is look across at two artists in another literary sphere to clarify what effect nature writing could and should have on the real world. For while W H Auden once suggested that “poetry makes nothing happen”, the Romantic author Percy Shelley declared that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world”. Who can say which of these two great figures describes the impact of nature writing upon nature itself? GET INVOLVED+ CHOOSE YOUR FAVOURITE NATURE BOOKS The universities of Leeds, St Andrews and Sussex, in association with the Arts Humanities Research Council, have launched ‘Land Lines’, a two-year research project into nature writing since the 1780s – and they want your input. HOW TO TAKE PART Simply submit 100 words on your favourite UK work of nature writing at www.ahrc. ac.uk/favouritenaturebooks. The survey is open 25 October to 30 November, after which a panel will use the suggestions to compile a shortlist of 10 popular books. In January an online poll will then find the UK’s favourite piece of nature writing. O For more details see BBC Two’s Autumnwatch on 25 October, or catch up using BBC iPlayer.
  • 34. inFOCUS Silvery trails are once again winding their way through forests on remote South Pacific islands after a long absence.A little over 30 years ago, endangered Partula tree snails were gathered up from their native homes in French Polynesia and sent to zoos around the globe, in a desperate attempt to save them from extinction. Now hundreds of the thumbnail-sized snails are being reintroduced. Behind their plight lies a sorry saga. In the 1960s, giant African land snails were brought to French Polynesia for food. Local people weren’t fond of the chewy meat and snail farming never took off, but the snails escaped and began munching through gardens and crops.To try to halt the invasion, another snail species was introduced, the rosy wolfsnail, a voracious predator with a huge appetite for snails. But the wolfsnails didn’t like the giant snails either and much preferred the smaller, native varieties found on the islands. Like Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos, there used to be a remarkable diversity of Partula snails dotted around Polynesia. In the late 1980s, scientists were studying Partula evolution when they noticed species quickly disappearing. Besides wolfsnails, invasive plants and habitat loss were hastening their decline. The situation spun out of control and soon 50 Partula species were extinct; another 11 survived only in captivity. Breeding programmes at London, Bristol, Chester and Marwell zoos continue to nurture the rare snails. In 2016, several species were packed up, flown across the world and released in Polynesian forests, with more planned for 2017. Early signs suggest the captive-bred snails are settling into life in the wild. But there’s a new problem.While wolfsnail numbers have naturally dropped, a predatory flatworm from New Guinea has arrived.Will flatworms hunt the last wolfsnails or will they turn on the native Partula? It’s too soon to say. O Helen Scales is a marine biologist. Catch up with her Discovery documentary on Partula snails for BBC World Service on iPlayer Radio. PARTULA SNAILS are returning to French Polynesia after a 30-year absence. Helen Scales explains why. SLIDING BACK
  • 35. IN FOCUS SOS SNAILS HEARHELEN SCALES’SDISCOVERY DOCUMENTARY Catch up on iPlayer JoelSartore/GettyImages Poor beleaguered Partula snails have survived one set of hazards, only to be faced with new and different ones.
  • 36. Barbary macaques are thriving on the Rock of Gibraltar. But is there enough space for both people and monkeys? Words and photos by Arnold Monteith ANIMALS BEHAVING BADLY DON’TMISS Coming to BBC One soon MONKEY BUSINESS
  • 37.
  • 38. November 2017BBC Wildlife38 W henever I dreamt of my first encounter with wild monkeys the setting would always be somewhere exotic. Amazonian jungles, shadowed by the dense rainforest canopy, with spider monkeys swinging overhead. Above the clouds in Ethiopia’s highland plateaus, surrounded by troops of grazing geladas. Snowy alpine landscapes in Japan, watching macaques find respite from freezing temperatures in thermal springs. I wasn’t expecting to meet my first non-human primates in a highly urban, densely populated corner of Europe. “Just up the hill, a couple of hundred metres from the ticket office,” as one friendly local put it – not the kind of tip-off I had anticipated in my quest to see monkeys in the wild. Car horns and Gibraltar’s bustling dockyard provide the background noise, rather than the evocative calls of parrots, trogons and other colourful birds. But though the setting may lack tropical glamour, it does not take anything away from the thrill of meeting monkeys face to face. I notice the leaves rustling in the olive trees ahead of me. I slowly edge closer along the dirt path behind a disused military bunker. I freeze 10m from the trees when I spot a pair of eyes glaring out at me through the branches. I’m staring into the eyes of a Barbary macaque. My initial reaction is to crouch low and back off to give her room, but my presence doesn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. The macaque rapidly loses interest and continues feasting on the olive foliage. To my joy, a second set of eyes turns to look at me. They belong to a baby, clinging to its mother’s back. His young and comically wrinkled face is fixated on mine and full of inquisitiveness. While most Gibraltarians know the macaques as ‘apes’ – they fit the ape characteristic of lacking a tail – they are in fact a species of African monkey that happens to be tailless. It is believed that they were first introduced to the Rock of Gibraltar in the 17th century. Recently, DNA analysis has shown the animals present now are of Moroccan and Algerian descent, disproving previous theories that they are remnants of a much larger population inhabiting southern Europe before the last ice age. But how did the macaques get to Gibraltar? The locals tell stories of them swimming here, but this is bit of a stretch, given that the Strait separating the continents is 14km wide and swept by strong currents. There are no records of macaques being brought to Gibraltar, though travelling Moors may have introduced them as pets.At any rate, the macaques have MYINITIALREACTION ISTO CROUCH LOWAND BACK OFF,BUT MYPRESENCE DOESN’TSEEMTO BOTHER HER INTHE SLIGHTEST. Above: a Barbary macaque seizes an opportunity for a quick bite. Below: enjoying the sunlight and the breeze blowing in from the docks.
  • 39. BARBARY MACAQUES BBC Wildlife 39November 2017 Snowmonkey:CyrilRuoso/Minden/FLPA Top: despite appearing calm around people, the macaques are by no means tame and should be approached with caution. Above: food can be scavenged from Gibraltar’s landfill sites if it’s in short supply elsewhere. Right: macaques live in large social groups in which grooming is key to ensuring cohesion. been deeply rooted in Gibraltar’s history since their arrival, particularly since the peninsula was ceded to Britain in 1713. It is said that as long as the macaques stay, the Rock will remain under British rule. During World War II, Winston Churchill famously found time to leave his war-room duties to order the colonial secretary to find ways to increase the macaque population and “maintain it thereafter”. And maintained thereafter it was. The population now stands at over 300, split between seven troops. Their lifestyle differs extensively from their relatives across the Strait, however. In winter in Morocco and Algeria, macaques shiver in icy cedars and huddle to keep warm; a stark contrast to Gibraltar’s population. They also range across wide forested areas, while Gibraltar’s macaques are restricted to a single square kilometre, no higher than 500m above sea level. DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS Perhaps surprisingly, there is plenty of wild food on the Rock for the macaques. Their varied plant diet ranges from olive leaves and fruits to the roots of introduced Bermuda buttercups, and this is supplemented with live prey, such as small lizards and numerous invertebrates. Inevitably, being highly intelligent and adaptable, the monkeys also are fond of human handouts – and therein lies the problem. I hear an approaching vehicle, and the macaques I am watching leave their tree, clearly in search of something. I follow them through the woodland to a road where we are met by a hoard of tourists. Two minibuses have pulled up and people are flooding out, wielding their smartphones. Young macaques climb onto the roofs of the buses, with one hanging precariously onto a wing mirror, tapping at the AFRICA’S SNOW MONKEYS Japanese macaques are the monkeys most often associated with snowy conditions, but aren’t the only ones that have to contend with cold winters. In their native range, the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, Barbary macaques have to deal with snowdrifts and freezing temperatures. Like their Japanese relatives, they have evolved thick fur to survive and an omnivorous diet that enables them to eke out a living when food is scarce. In winter, this includes bark and the evergreen needles of cedar trees in their montane forest home. It is thought that their ancestors retreated to the Atlas Mountains after climatic changes forced them to leave their original homelands further south.With the Sahara Desert now blocking any route out of the mountains, the macaques have become isolated.
  • 40. November 2017BBC Wildlife40 BARBARY MACAQUES “THEY’RE SMARTANIMALS, SMARTERTHAN MOSTPEOPLE THINK.IFTHEYWANTYOUR FOOD, THEY’RENOTGOINGTOASKFORIT.” Before my visit to Gibraltar, I read numerous news stories about macaques attacking people and of tourists being bitten. The articles demonised the macaques and victimised the humans. I also saw people get bitten while I was there. Bites and scratches can lead to severe infection, or even disease transmission, yet each incident I witnessed was down to macaques being fed illegally – they bit only when food was forcefully taken away. During my stay, the same routine plays out each day: macaques are fed and assert dominance through intra- troop fighting, while tourists become frightened. What’s frustrating is the solution could be quite simple. Better education of tourists could provide both visitors and macaques with a much better experience on the Rock. I meet local primatologist Brian Gomila, who is the first to organise informative, non-intrusive macaque-watching tours on Gibraltar. Through his organisation, Monkey Talk Gibraltar, Brian offers small-group tours that involve Clockwise from top left: the signs are there for your benefit; get too close and anything that looks like it might contain food could be snatched away; females take care of much of the parenting but unlike other macaques, the males are heavily involved too; hand-feeding the macaques is illegal but still happens frequently. glass. Tourists crowd around macaques to take selfies. One of the bus drivers hands out peanuts. Behind the crowd, signs pinned to lampposts say: “Please do not feed the macaques”, and “WARNING: Feeding macaques is an offence”. Yet here was a tour guide hand- feeding the macaques in front of about 40 tourists. If he’s doing it they must surely be encouraged to do the same. Small wonder that macaques have developed a reputation for erratic behaviour in Gibraltar. And its tourist boom – the peninsula hosts over 10 million visitors each year – is only making matters worse. The macaques will snatch food from the hands of tourists and steal anything from smartphones to number plates. They are also renowned for their ferocity, towards both tourists and lower-ranking macaques. The easily available food heightens competition in a macaque troop, increasing aggressive behaviour. BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS The macaques can hardly be blamed, they’re just responding to opportunities we create. “They’re smart animals, smarter than most people think. If they want your sausage roll, they’re not going to ask for it politely,” one taxi driver tells me. “These tourists need to be smart too. If they don’t want their food taken, don’t bring it into the macaques’ home, and definitely don’t get it out in front of them.”
  • 41. BBC Wildlife 41November 2017 Gibraltar is a wonderful place for a naturalist to visit. It sits on a major bird-migration highway, with enormous numbers of raptors and passerines passing through in spring and autumn. There are plenty of exciting resident species to seek out too, from the blue rock thrush and Barbary partridge to ocellated and wall lizards, with great dolphin-watching in the bay. Above all, however, its macaques are a natural treasure. Across their North African range, Barbary macaques are in decline: their wild population here may be as low as 6,500 individuals, and since 2008 the species has been classed as Endangered. Capture of baby macaques for the pet trade has long been one of the main threats, though in a positive step this was banned by the 2016 meeting of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). In Gibraltar, at least, the macaque population seems to be stable. This is why we must try to preserve the wild nature of the Rock’s Barbary macaques, the only free-roaming non-human primates in Europe. If we can recognise that their lives matter, then our efforts to protect them will be much more effective – and our experiences in their environment will be much more rewarding. viewing the macaques in wild environments, along similar lines to responsible primate-watching in other countries. “Away from the tourist hotspots, that’s where people should see them,” he says. “There’s so much more to the macaques’ lives than most people see,” Brian adds. “If only people could adopt a little more patience and let the macaques go about their business, I guarantee they would be able to get just as close as they can at the current locations used by minibus and coach tours. But the beauty of doing it this way is that the encounters would be on the macaques’ terms.” Brian recognises that close-range encounters may be necessary to satisfy tourists, but believes that the way such interactions take place needs to change. “By keeping a low profile, we can immerse ourselves in their world as they groom, forage and socialise only feet away, without intruding upon them.” Close-up encounters do have a positive side. They offer great opportunities for public education, for example. Meeting a macaque might even help to inspire the next young Jane Goodall or Gerald Durrell. IMMERSED IN THE MACAQUES’ WORLD After spending time with Brian I see the macaques in a new light. It would have been easy to come to Gibraltar and notice nothing except what is wrong… the paparazzi- like frenzy with which tourists stalk the monkeys or the taxis noisily roaring around the nature reserve. But Brian enables me to see past all of this. I’m able to observe macaques grooming one another in the treetops, keeping a watchful eye on their youngsters beneath. I see five-month- old siblings play-fighting on vines before finding myself surrounded by one- and two-year-olds learning the ropes. ARNOLD MONTEITH is a photographer.This was his project for Falmouth University’s Marine and Natural History Photography course. www.arniemonteith.co.uk Above: Brian Gomila leads a Barbary-watching tour in which people get to see the macaques in a much more natural setting. FIND OUT MORE Brian Gomila’s macaque tours: www.visit gibraltar.gi/monkey-talk Barbary macaque conservation: www. barbarymacaque.org +
  • 43. Enjoy our PremiumApp experience now available from Young tawny owls often perch together so the adults can keep a watchful eye on them. Parents will defend their offspring vigorously from predators. By thinking outside the box, aYorkshire artist is gaining unique insights into the lives of his local tawny owls, discovers Amy-Jane Beer. Photos by Robert Fuller T he theme from The Great Escape has been in my head for days, ever since I scooted down the tunnel leading from Robert Fuller’s house to his new wildlife hide. Access is via a trolley – you lie down and haul yourself along by a rope, just like Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. As well as getting you into the hide unnoticed, it’s also jolly good fun. The view from the hide is pretty unusual. To the right is a drystone structure with a den for stoats and a wooden maze to test their flexibility. To the left, an artificial badger sett is under construction. Behind us, a weasel snoozes in a heated nestbox (as seen in the August 2016 issue of BBC Wildlife). Outside is a bird table loaded with defrosted day-old chicks, strapped down so they can’t be carried off – Robert wants his visitors to feed where he can see them. Tonight we’re concentrating on tawny owls, which Robert has been watching, photographing and painting here for 18 years. “They’re challenging,” he says. “Really secretive. The first time I saw one on a fence-post just down there I ran for my camera but, of course, when I got back it had gone. I built a nestbox out of an old stump, mounted it in a tree and there have been tawny owls there ever since.” This was good for the owls but, for Robert, getting good photos means luring the birds into the open. “The supplementary feeding started when I decided to help a young male kestrel,” he recalls. “I began putting out mice that I caught for him. When he had a family, I put the food out late at night so he’d have something first thing. It Tawnytactics BBC Wildlife Magazine is full of breathtaking photos and fascinating features on the most interesting animals and habitats in the UK and around the world. Withthelatestnewsandconservationissues,practical expertadviceandideasforreallywilddaysout,youwill understandandenjoynaturemore.
  • 44. November 2017BBC Wildlife44 GOOD LOOKIN’ Hey, The Gruffalo authorJulia Donaldson and illustratorAxel Scheffler are standing up for ugly animals.LucyJones finds out why. THE HIGHWAY RAT DON’T MISS Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s on BBC ONE this Christmas
  • 45. November 2017 BBC Wildlife 45 Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler think some animals deserve as much love as the Gruffalo. KenMcKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock light-hearted survey recently pointed out that our awareness of endangered species is patchy. In a study of 1,000 people, the Zoological Society of London found that while 78 per cent had heard of The Gruffalo, only three per cent knew about the solenodon, a Caribbean mammal filling a similar niche to shrews. Our capricious attitudes to certain animals was something Julia Donaldson, author of The Gruffalo, had encountered while on safari in South Africa. She had seen the ‘Big Five’ – the lion, leopard, rhinocerous, buffalo and elephant. But it was while watching wildebeest with her husband Malcolm that the idea for her latest book popped into her head. Malcolm commented to the ranger that wildebeest looked rather noble but they got a bad press. “Sorry to tell you this, but the wildebeest is one of the ‘Ugly Five’,” he replied. He meant the wildebeest, lappet-faced vulture, spotted hyena, marabou stork and warthog – animals that deserve to be protected but get overlooked because they’re… well, less than pretty. Julia’s imagination was immediately fired by this unattractive quintet. “I thought, ‘well, are they really ugly?’” she says. “I’m sure other wildebeest wouldn’t think they’re ugly.” She loved watching a “gloriously ugly” warthog wallowing about in the mud and was surprised to find the elegant maribou stork had been included in the five. She had seen some of the birds for herself in Hong Kong. “These lovely maribou storks were preening and loving each other – it was very endearing,” she remembers. A THE UGLY FIVE
  • 46. THE UGLY FIVEXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Which was why the Ugly Five became the central characters in her latest collaboration with illustrator Axel Scheffler. The five amble across the African savannah singing and delighting in the wildebeest’s chunky chest, the vulture’s vile mealtime habits, the hyena’s groaning voice, the marabou stork’s dangly throat pouch and the warthog’s bristly chin. The story is funny, catchy and gleeful. Like Julia and Axel’s much-loved earlier books, which include The Gruffalo, Stick Man, Room on the Broom, Tiddler: the story-telling fish, Tabby McTat and Zog, its irresistible rhymes trip off the tongue. From the five leading characters to the supporting cast of dung beetles, powder-puff trees and greater blue-eared starlings, Axel’s pictures are witty and full of character. He researched a variety of South African species, but his imagination was required for drawing one of the characters. “I couldn’t find any references for the lappet-faced vulture chicks, so I had to make them up,” he says. “Probably BBC Wildlife readers will say, ‘They don’t look like that, they’re green!’” Surprisingly perhaps, for a children’s book, The Ugly Five contains illustrations of animals eating carrion. It was an opportunity Axel relished. “For once, I was able to draw things I’m not normally allowed to,” he says. “Usually these get censored out. Death, blood, bones and dead animals are not allowed in picture books. But children find them so fascinating.” Although Julia has always rejected ‘preachy’ messages in her books, The Ugly Five addresses an important issue in conservation and the relationship between humans and wildlife. Animals that are perceived to be cute, big or friendly tend to attract more attention, money and protection than those that are ugly, small, strange or deemed to be a nuisance. The bias has even made its way into children’s books. Apart from a few exceptions, the vast majority of children’s authors cast cats, cows, bunnies, dogs and other cute, fluffy, wide-eyed animals as their heroes. Even the ugly duckling didn’t remain ugly for very long. The Ugly Five wasn’t written to change children’s minds, but Julia gets animated about people’s negative perceptions of certain species. “I don’t tend to think, ‘Urgh, that animal’s disgusting’,” she says. “I hate it when people say, ‘Grey squirrels! Kill them!’ A grey squirrel can’t help being a grey squirrel; a rat can’t help being a rat. I don’t like this attitude that just because humans don’t like a particular animal, it’s somehow disgusting.” ‘ACORN’ OUT, ‘CUT AND PASTE’ IN Julia’s interest in the natural world was fostered by a book, the I-Spy Guide to Wild Flowers, which she used to find yellow irises and other flowers on Hampstead Heath when she was growing up in the 1950s. She laments today’s children’s lack of knowledge of the natural world. “I find it very shocking that children don’t know the names of common wildflowers,” she says. “The Oxford Children’s Dictionary took out ‘acorn’ and put in ‘cut and paste’, which in no time at all will be an outdated concept. It’s dreadful. Acorn was one of the first words I knew. It’s important for conservation and protecting the planet. It’s all very well to say we must protect the planet, but if you don’t genuinely like nature, it’s hard.” Axel is also a wildlife-lover and he’s worried. “I’m terribly pessimistic about the planet… [But] if the world is going to be destroyed tomorrow, we should still plant an apple tree. I feel very strongly about that. We should fight on and not give up.” There are a couple of pages at the back of The Ugly Five that detail various species “FOR ONCE IWASABLE TO DRAWTHINGS I’M NOTNORMALLY ALLOWEDTO… DEATH, BLOOD,BONES.” Antlion larva: hideous but astonishing.
  • 47. FIND OUT MORE The Ugly Five is published in association with Tusk, the African charity that supports people and wildlife (www.tusk.org), It is out now from Alison Green Books, at £12.99. + O Africa’s ‘Big Five’ are the lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino. (In fact, there are two species of African rhino, black and white). Originally the phrase referred to the hardest, most dangerous animals to hunt on foot. O Hunters from North America and Europe targeted these animals mercilessly. In 1910, the former US President Theodore Roosevelt returned from East Africa with thousands of trophies, including many from the Big Five. O As safaris grew in popularity in the second half of the 20th century, the term was adopted by tour guides to mean watching, not killing, these amazing species. O All of the Big Five are declining in numbers. The black rhino is rarest, classed as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the IUCN, while the lion, elephant and leopard are considered ‘Vulnerable’. ORIGINS OF THE BIG FIVEthat are small but just as important as the bigger animals, reinforcing the message that it’s not just the charismatic creatures that deserve notice. Among them is the antlion, which Axel loved drawing and describes with obvious glee: “They look so vile, so horrible.” APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOUR Vile-looking they may be, but some species of antlion engage in astonishing predatory behaviour: digging pits to trap their prey. Often the ugliest, smallest animals are the ones most crucial to ecosystems, but they rarely receive much attention. But perhaps things are starting to change. There are signs that aesthetically challenged animals are becoming more fashionable. The blobfish was voted world’s ugliest species in a humorous campaign by the Ugly Animal Preservation Society that later spawned T-shirts, artwork and a stand-up comedy show. And a recent study by scientists at Johns Hopkins University, in the US, suggested that people aren’t as put off by ugly animals as you might think. The research found that people would be more willing to donate to help ‘ugly’ animals, such as bats and rodents, if they were simply marketed in a different, more prominent way. Julia and Axel’s new book can only help in that respect. But who’s to say bats and rodents are ugly? As Julia points out, beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. Turn to page 48 for more on changing minds…