Page 10 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #11
P. 10
WILDNOVEMBER
ON RADIO
TWEET OF
5 | JUNIPER THE DAY
Weekdays at 05.58
Merry berry
The current craze for artisan gin has,
ironically, coincided with a decline in the
wild plant whose ‘berries’ (actually fleshy
cones) provide the flavour. Juniper is
among the most ancient trees in the British
Isles, having colonised quickly after the
end of the last ice age. It is one of just three
native British conifers, the others being yew
and Scots pine. In recent decades, juniper
has fallen victim of overgrazing by sheep,
deer and rabbits, which strip out seedlings.
Conservation projects are underway in its
two strongholds: uplands in the north, and
chalk downs in the south. 6 | REDWING
Winter thrush
FIND OUT MORE Learn more about
juniper conservation: plantlife.org.uk No natural sound is more
redolent of autumn than the ‘seep
seep’ of migrating redwings passing
overhead at night – contact whistles
that help flocks to keep in touch.
They have a thin, reedy quality, so
at ground level the effect is of half
hearing something above you in the
darkness (listen at xeno-canto.org).
Redwings pour into the UK in their
tens of thousands from Iceland,
Russia and Scandinavia, staying
until March. Despite the name of
our smallest species of thrush, it is
the creamy markings on the head
that first catch the eye.
TOP TIP Watch a BTO video
on identifying thrushes: bto.org/
about-birds/bird-id
7 | GREAT GREY SLUG
ONLINE Slugging it out
IN PURSUIT OF
THE RIDICULOUS Unlike the sodden summer of
Matthew Oates meets slug experts 2017, this year’s heatwave was
hardly ideal for slugs in Britain.
But now, thanks to early autumn
rain, malacologists – like the soft-
bodied molluscs they study – are
back in their element. One of our
most impressive slugs is the 15cm-
long great grey, also known as the
leopard slug. Hunt for this spotted
beauty in damp corners and under
dead wood or logs, or scan your
flower beds with a torch on a wet Redwing: Mike Lane; slug: Robin Chittenden; Juniper: Laurie Campbell
evening. It eats rotting matter and
fungi, not living plants.
FIND OUT MORE How
to identify slugs and snails:
https://bit.ly/2Pc6HgJ
10 BBC Wildlife November 2018
