Page 8 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #12

WILDDECEMBER

2 | KELP
Storm oferings

Now is the perfect time to go
fossicking along the strandline of
a local beach. As well as getting
lungfuls of fresh air, you may find
storm-blown marine treasures.
Look out for kelp ‘holdfasts’. These
tough, thick anchors grip seabed
rocks – kelp lacks roots – but heavy
seas wrench them off and toss
them ashore. Living kelp can be
harvested sustainably to extract
alginates, used in toothpaste, ice
cream and drugs, but there is
controversy over plans for a large-
scale harvest off Scotland (see p59).

FIND OUT MORE Discover
marine life at marlin.ac.uk

3 | MAGPIE
One for sorrow… ONLINE

Magpie counting rhymes have THE ONE
many variants and apparently date SHOW
back at least as far as the 1700s. Magpie PR makeover
Strange, then, that gatherings
of magpies pass most of us by.
These members of the crow family
roost communally year-round, but
especially in winter. Unlike other
corvids, which favour tall trees,
magpies like to roost quite low
in dense, thorny trees and scrub.
They turn up in groups, settling
down after sunset. Usually, the
roosts are small – a few dozen
birds at most – though assemblies Kelp: Laurie Campbell; magpies & hare: David Tipling
200–250 strong are known.

FIND OUT MORE Discover
magpie facts at bbc.co.uk/earth/
columns/the-truth-about-animals

8 BBC Wildlife December 2018