BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

14 BBC Wildlife

WILDSEPTEMBER

Evena smallgardencanattract

a varietyofbees,butterfliesand

hoverflieswellintoSeptember.

Onehandsomehoverflytolook

outforthismonthisHelophilus

pendulus, nickamedthe‘footballer’

foritssnazzystripes(presumably

thisspeciesis particularlypopular

withsupportersofWatfordFC).As

summershadesintoautumn,make

surethereis stillplentyofnectar

fortheinsectsinyourgardenby

includinglate-floweringplantssuch

asredvalerian,commonknapweed,

sedums,hebe,Verbenabonariensis

andcertainvarietiesof buddleia.

GETINVOLVED Adviceonwildlife

gardening:discoverwildlife.com/

how-to/wildlife-gardening

Britainis a wadernation.After

all,it hasa hugecoastline,

witha quarteroftheestuaries

innorth-westEurope.That’s

a lotoftidalmud– perfect

forwadingbirds.Thenthere

is thecountry’spositionat

theintersectionofseveral

importantavianflyways.The

ruffis justoneofa dozen

or more southbound wader

speciesthatpassthrough

betweenJulyandOctober.

ResearchbytheBritishTrust

forOrnithology(BTO)shows

thatmaleruffswillmostly

winterinsouth-westEurope,

whilethefemales will head on

toAfrica.

FINDOUTMORE Blog:

wadertales.wordpress.com

3 |FOOTBALLERHOVERFLY

Sporting stripes

2 |RUFF

Passagemigrant

Ru

: RobinChittenden.co.uk; hoverfly: Genevieve Leaper; pine marten: Scotland:The Big Picture/NPL

THELIFE

SCIENTIFIC

EricaMcAlisteronthe

beauty of flies.

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