BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

December 2019

Star
letter

Fataldesignaw

Wanttogetsomething

oyourchest?This is

theidealplace

Fe e d b ack

Mysticmoss

InresponsetoAdrianDavies’

letterinyourOctober 2019

issueentitled‘Protecting

Woodlands’I wouldliketosay

thatI livelocallyandthisis

oneofmyfavouriteplacesto

visit.Whilstit is unclearwhen

thecarvingoftheeyeappeared

intothemossontherocks,it

is certainlynotverynew,and

I believethereis littlereason

tobeconcerned.Thefraction

ofmossremovedtocreatethis

featureis minutecomparedto

theamountofmossinthisarea.

If anything,thedesignaddsto

themysteriousandmystical

feelsofthisancientwoodland.

Inmyopinion,thereare

farmoreimportantissues

forvisitorstoDartmoortobe

concernedabout.Forexample,

wehavea hugeproblemwith

thelightingofcampfires(which

is illegalonDartmoor),littering,

thedeathoflivestockdueto

speedingdrivers,andfeeding

ourbelovedDartmoorponies.

SophieBarrett,Devon

Pointsofview

I reallyenjoyBBCWildlife

Magazine, includingthe

interestingviewsofother

readersinFeedback.Oneletter,

byKenNealofDevon(October

2019),however,annoyedme

withhisslightlypatronising

commentsaboutyoungclimate

crisisprotesters,andhis

assumptionthattheyprobably

aren’t travelling sustainably, etc.

Butterynumbers

Isit justmeinSomerset?

Becausenobodyelseis talking

aboutallthebutterfliesand

mothsthissummer.

It’sbeenthebestever

forallspeciesnearme,

includingsmallwhite,large

white,commonblue,small

tortoiseshell,paintedlady

andmanymore.

I can’tremembera summer

herelikeit!Wemustbedoing

somethingright.

DavidAnderson,viaemail

RichardFoxfromButterfly

Conservationreplies:It is great

thatyousawlargenumbers,

butthewiderpicturedoesnot

suggestanexceptionalyear.This

summer’sBigButterflyCount

andpreliminarydatafromother

recordingschemessuggestthat

overallbutterflynumberswere

onlymarginallyupon2018,

whichwasonlyjustabove the

long-term average.

Nocturnalramblings

I foundTiffanyFrancis’article

fascinating(Who’safraidofthe

dark?September2019).I enjoy

walkinginmylocalwoodland

atnight– it’sa differentworld,

fullofmysticaltreeslooming

outofthedarkshadowslike

twistedghostlybeings,theeerie

screamingoffoxesconjuringup

visionsofsupernaturalevents,

andbatsflittingaroundmy

headlikephantomsswooping

in and out of sight.

HereinWales,wealsohave

theElanValleyInternational

DarkSkyPark,thefirstprivately

owned,publiclyaccessiblepark

intheworldtoachievethis

status.This182km^2 valleyis a

protectedsanctuaryfromlight

pollutionandit hasexceptional

viewsonstarrynights.Sadly,

lessthan 10 percentoftheUK

populationcannowseetruly

darkskiesfromtheirhomes,

duetobadoutdoorlighting.

Lisa Franklin, Vale of Glamorgan

I wonderedwhetheranyotherBBC

Wildlifereaderswereexperiencinga

similarproblemtomewiththeirbird

feeders.Thiswasthefifthbaby

goldfinchthisyearthat

hadbecometrappedby

theneckinthesame

lowerholeonthis

feeder.Fortunately,I

managedtosavetwo

ofthebirdsasI saw

themindistressand

wasabletoextract

andreleasethem.

Thisproblemseems

tobecausedbybadly

designedbirdfeederentry

points,andonlyoccurswhen

there are just a few seeds

leftinthebottom,andthebirdsget

trappedwhiletryingtoreachthem.

Unfortunately,it is notalwayspossible

torefillthefeederassoonas

it becomesempty,butI

believethisfaultcould

beeasilyrectified

bymanufacturers

makingtheentry

pointscircular.

Asthesefeeders

area verycommon

design,I have

absolutelynodoubt

thatotherreaderswill

haveexperiencedthesame

sadlossofyoungbirdsin

theirgardens.

Ron Channon, via email

EMAILUS

[email protected]

FOLLOWUSfacebook.com/wildlifemagazine;

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WRITETOUSBBCWildlife, EagleHouse,

Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST

OURWILD WORLD

Bycontactingus,youconsenttoletusprintyour

letterinBBC Wildlife Magazine. Letters may be edited.

Goingfora walk

atnightcanbe

a magicalway

to see wildlife.

Themystery

moss carving.

Isthisa common

designflawin

bird feeders?