BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

To r t o i s e s h e l l : D a v e P r e s s l a n d / F L PA ; g r a i n : G e t t y

18 BBC Wildlife

WILD DECEMBER

Tawny owl

Mottled reddish-brown

and with a ring of dark

feathers surrounding

a paler face containing

dark-coloured eyes, surely

there is no mistaking the

commonest of all British

owls. Traditionally a

woodland species, tawny

owls have colonised any

town and city centres with

large parks, gardens and

churchyards as they hold

their territory through the

winter months.

Pied wagtail

Our only pied bird with

a long tail, which it

constantly bobs, the

pied wagtail is a familiar

visitor to towns and cities

during the winter months.

On the constant search

for invertebrates, males

defend a winter territory

before then gathering at

favoured urban locations

to communally roost for

the night.

Coot

This dumpy slate-grey

waterbird with a white

bill and forehead is a

common sight across

any town and city park

with a decent-sized pond

or lake. In winter, coots

gather together on the

larger water bodies, with

populations in southern

and eastern England often

boosted by continental

coots from across the

North Sea.

Fox

Is there a more

unmistakable wild animal

in our towns and cities?

Probably not. Only moving

into our urban areas

during the inter-war

period, leafy suburbs and

public parks proved the

ideal habitat for this

canny opportunist. Most

often spotted at dawn

and dusk, winter is

when the blood-curdling

screams are heard, which

signal the start of the

breeding season.

Tortoiseshell

buttery

A wonderfully familiar

sight, with its scalloped

wing edgings and

distinctive markings, the

‘small tort’ is one of a

select group of butterflies

to regularly overwinter

in the UK as an adult.

Often choosing roofs,

outhouses and other

human habitations to

see out the winter, the

camouflaged underwings

of a hibernating adult in an

unheated park shelter can

often be tricky to spot.

1 Hogganeld Park in Glasgow’s

northeast is dominated by a large,

shallow loch with a wooded island.

Easily accessed by footpaths, the main

attraction is provided by the wild

whooper swans arriving from Iceland.

2 Seon Park in Liverpool is a

Grade-I listed park opened in 1872

“for the health and enjoyment of the

townspeople”. It consists of footpaths,

green spaces and watercourses, flowing

into a man-made lake.

3 Derby Arboretum is one of Britain’s

first public parks and contains a fine

collection of unusual tree specimens

from around the world.

4 Regent’s Park is one of eight Royal

Parks in London and consists of formal

gardens, shrubberies, sports pitches,

grassland, a small wood and a large lake

with several reedbeds.

5 Bute Park on the banks of the River

Taff, close to Cardiff’s city centre, is one

of Wales’s largest urban green spaces. It

consists of mature parkland containing

the greatest number of ‘champion trees’

of any UK public park, plus a wildflower

bat meadow.

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to ca

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the d

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the p

each

thrushes, which were considered

traditionally woodland creatures, are

now being found at higher densities in

parks and gardens than in their ancestral

homes. Additionally, with park wildlife

often accustomed to the frequent

comings and goings of anyone, from

joggers and cyclists to ramblers and dog-

walkers, the birds and mammals tend to

be far more tolerant of disturbance than

in many comparable nature reserves

beyond the green belt.

However, despite the wildlife in urban

parks being reasonably approachable,

the best nature encounters will

inevitably occur when the park is at its

least populated. So visits close to dawn

or dusk should represent the optimum

times for either spotting a prowling fox

or hearing a hooting owl.

Finally, with cash-strapped councils

seeing their park budgets cut, it can only

be hoped that, in the future, parks will

continue to be creative with their finances

instead of resorting to the quick, easy fix

of an entrance fee, which would be to the

obvious detriment of all who want

to escape the hustle and bustle.

Visits close to dawn or

dusk should represent

the optimum times for

spotting a prowling fox

or hearing a hooting owl.

CHOICE LOCATIONS

3

5

2

1

4

SPECIES TO LOOK OUT FOR

Tortoiseshells

hibernate in unheated

park buildings.