BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

52 BBC Wildlife May 2020

blackbird: Nigel Blake/rspb-images.com; elephant: Benny Marty/Alamy; blossom: Deborah Vernon/Alamy Stock Photoof Britain & Ireland; The David H Koch Hall of Fossils: Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History; Plant in pavement: MBFSE/Alamy; red dead-nettle; trampoline: Roxanne Furman: Pete Stroh/Botanical Society

11 SIGN UP TO THE GARDEN

WILDFLOWER HUNT

The Botanical Society of Britain and Northern

Ireland has just launched a new wildflower

survey for gardens (and, of course, balconies,

walls, driveways, roof terraces and planters),

with results submitted via an app. Use your

lockdown to help the society – which has been

running since 1836 – to learn more about the

ecology and distribution of the nation’s wild

flora, and to develop your own ID skills.

bsbi.org/garden-wildflower-hunt

8 JOIN CHRIS PACKHAM’S SELFISOLATING BIRD CLUB
Even those taking isolation to the next level can’t have missed the fact that the
Springwatch presenter and his step-daughter Megan are spending lockdown
sharing the wildlife of their New Forest home with the outside world. Catch the
duo live on Twitter at 9am every morning for nature chat, and become part of a
passionateonlinecommunity.@SIBirdClub#wildmorningswithchris

10 CREATE A HIDE UNDER
YOU R T R A M P OL I N E
Roxanne Furman – AKA Roxy the Zoologist

• is spending quarantine filming garden
  wildlife from her new hide: her trampoline.
  It's a genius idea, as local birds and
  mammals have long been habituated to
  the apparatus. Roxy's aim is to photograph
  muntjac deer, but she’s sharing videos of
  other wildlife she encounters along the
  way, which so far includes rabbits and
  pheasants. Follow her progress on her
  YouTube channel – and, of course, if you
  have a trampoline, you could try it yourself.
  bit.ly/2yhEvpq

9 FIND WONDER IN WEEDS
More Than Weeds, run by Sophie Leguil, is a
project aimed at changing our perceptions
of these much-maligned urban wildflowers.
Sophie has been uploading photos and
videos to Twitter of the species that have
colonised the pavements, walls and tree
pits of her local streets, viewed on her
daily walk. @morethanweeds