BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-08)

August 2020

WILDAUGUST

Englishoakis a misleadingname

forthecommonestbroadleaf

treeintheBritishIsles.So,

it’sa shamethat‘pedunculate

oak’is sucha mouthful!Many

ofourancientspecimensare

notinforestsinthemodern

sense,butstandproudinwood

pasture,a traditionallandscape

wherelivestockgrazedfreely

amongpollardedtrees.Inthis

parkland-stylesetting,theyserve

asvaluablesteppingstonesfor

wildlife.Thelargestmayproduce

over100,000acorns.If youfind

an‘Ent’,besuretologit (sorry)

ontheAncientTreeInventory.

GETINVOLVED Recordancient

treesatati.woodlandtrust.org.uk

“Haveyoueverhada dragonfly

eyeballyou?”asksJiniReddy

inherbookWanderland. “Itis

a funnysensation,likebeing

anointedbya tinyastronaut

ina helmet.”If anyspecies

willgiveyouthisexperience,

it’sthecommondarter.

Abundantandwidespread,it

visits gardens and parks until

autumn,sometimesfarfrom

water,andhappilyrestsontop

ofanystick,bamboocaneor

gardenfork.Trypositioninga

convenientperchtotemptone

closer.Malesarered,females

(below) golden-brown.

FINDOUTMORE Dragons:

british-dragonflies.org.uk

3 |PEDUNCULATEOAK

Old timers

2 |COMMONDARTER

Eye to eye

Darter: Bob Gibbons; oak: James Warwick; seal: Genevieve Leaper