14 BBC Wildlife December 2019
WILDDECEMBER
‘Marcescence’featured
recentlyinoneofthenature
writerRobertMacfarlane’shugely
popularWordoftheDaypostsonTwitter.
Wonderfullyobscure,thetermdescribes
a curiousphenomenonthat’sactually
quitecommoninwinter.Deciduous
treessometimesretaindried-outleaves
longafterautumn,eventhoughthedead
foliagecannolongerphotosynthesise
andmakesthemmorevulnerable
togales.Marcescenceis particularly
prevalentinyoungoakandbeechtrees,
andis theruleinbeechhedges. But why?
Noonereallyknows.
FINDOUTMORE FollowRobert
Macfarlane on Twitter:@RobGMacfarlane
5 |OAK
Holding on
Giventhatin 2018 theMammal
Societyestimatedtherecouldbe 41
millionmolesinBritain,it’samazing
howfewofushaveseena liveone(the
molepicturedwasspottedmoving
aboveground).Sadly,yourbestchance
is if youowna cat– moggiesarea
majorpredator.Butsoggywintersare
whenwe’remostawareofthesevelvet-
suitedtunnellingmachines.Sincewet,
heavysoilbringswormsto thesurface,
somethinggullsknowtoo,moles
digmuchshallowerruns.Rainalso
causestunnelcollapses,whichneed
repairing,meaningmore molehills.
GETINVOLVED Shareyour
sightings:mammal.org.uk/
volunteering/mammal-mapper
7 |MOLE
Moving mountains
Gull: Steve Round; oak: Laurie Campbell; mole: Genevieve Leaper
6 |COMMONGULL
Raindance
Nexttimeyouspota winterflockof
gulls,youmightnoticesometap-
dancing.Gullshaveperfectedtheart
ofpatteringthegroundwiththeirfeet
toattractearthworms.Thoughtheir
‘wormcharming’wouldn’tgetpastthe
firstroundofStrictlyComeDancing,
asfeedingbehaviourit works,perhaps
becauseit mimicsraindrops.Herring,
lesserblack-backedandblack-headed
gullsalldothis,asdoesthepoorly
namedcommongull(left), identifiableby
itsgreenishlegs and friendly expression.
TOPTIP HowtoIDgulls:
bto.org/develop-your-skills/
bird-identification/videos
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ChrisWatsonrecords
an oak wood.