BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

14 BBC Wildlife December 2019

WILDDECEMBER

‘Marcescence’featured

recentlyinoneofthenature

writerRobertMacfarlane’shugely

popularWordoftheDaypostsonTwitter.

Wonderfullyobscure,thetermdescribes

a curiousphenomenonthat’sactually

quitecommoninwinter.Deciduous

treessometimesretaindried-outleaves

longafterautumn,eventhoughthedead

foliagecannolongerphotosynthesise

andmakesthemmorevulnerable

togales.Marcescenceis particularly

prevalentinyoungoakandbeechtrees,

andis theruleinbeechhedges. But why?

Noonereallyknows.

FINDOUTMORE FollowRobert

Macfarlane on Twitter:@RobGMacfarlane

5 |OAK

Holding on

Giventhatin 2018 theMammal

Societyestimatedtherecouldbe 41

millionmolesinBritain,it’samazing

howfewofushaveseena liveone(the

molepicturedwasspottedmoving

aboveground).Sadly,yourbestchance

is if youowna cat– moggiesarea

majorpredator.Butsoggywintersare

whenwe’remostawareofthesevelvet-

suitedtunnellingmachines.Sincewet,

heavysoilbringswormsto thesurface,

somethinggullsknowtoo,moles

digmuchshallowerruns.Rainalso

causestunnelcollapses,whichneed

repairing,meaningmore molehills.

GETINVOLVED Shareyour

sightings:mammal.org.uk/

volunteering/mammal-mapper

7 |MOLE

Moving mountains

Gull: Steve Round; oak: Laurie Campbell; mole: Genevieve Leaper

6 |COMMONGULL

Raindance

Nexttimeyouspota winterflockof

gulls,youmightnoticesometap-

dancing.Gullshaveperfectedtheart

ofpatteringthegroundwiththeirfeet

toattractearthworms.Thoughtheir

‘wormcharming’wouldn’tgetpastthe

firstroundofStrictlyComeDancing,

asfeedingbehaviourit works,perhaps

becauseit mimicsraindrops.Herring,

lesserblack-backedandblack-headed

gullsalldothis,asdoesthepoorly

namedcommongull(left), identifiableby

itsgreenishlegs and friendly expression.

TOPTIP HowtoIDgulls:

bto.org/develop-your-skills/

bird-identification/videos

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an oak wood.