BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

May 2020

WILDMAY

Thisisn’ttheplantwithwhichtheGreek

philosopherSocratesis saidtohave

killedhimself,butit is likewiseextremely

poisonous.Superficiallyresemblingcow

parsley,it producesneatclustersofwhite

flowersinsummerandhaslacyleaves

ratherlikegiantcorianderorflatparsley.

Thegroovedstemsmightremindyou

ofcelery.Hemlockwaterdropwortloves

tohavewetfeet,growingalongditches

andbesidemuddystreamsandrivers.

Perhapsalarmingly,it is also abundant

• butbestleftalone.

FINDOUTMORE GuidetoBritish

plants:bit.ly/plantlife-guide

5 |HEMLOCKWATERDROPWORT

Toxic bloom

With 12 nativespeciesaswellas

severalintroducedones,thecarp

andminnowfamilyis Britain’s

biggestgroupoffreshwaterfish.

Oneoftheirquirks(thoughyou

needtobeananglertoseeit)

is a lackofteeth.Manyofthese

fishbreedinwarmweather

thismonthandnext,sobriefly

becomemuchmorenoticeable.

Roachspawninshoalsaround

reedsorothervegetation,

thrashingaboutasmaleschase

females.Theyhavea chunky

silverbodywithbrightred fins.

FINDOUTMORE Freshwater

fishgallery:jackperksphoto

graphy.com/freshwater-fish

7 |ROACH

Spawning season

Kittiwake: Getty; dropwort: David Chapman; roach: Jack Perks

6 |KITTIWAKE

Namecalling

Togetherwiththechiffchaffand

cuckoo,jackdawandcurlew,the

kittiwakeis a birdthatcallsits

ownname.Intruth,theendlessly

repeatedcrysoundsmorelike

‘kitti-waaaake’,butnevertheless

is impossibletoescapeatmany

crowdedseabirdnestingcliffs,

especiallyinthenorthandwest

of the UK. Unlike other British

gulls,thisis a trulypelagicspecies

thatonlyfrequentscoastsduring

thebreedingseason.Youwon’t

findit inland,exceptforone

remarkableurbancolonyonthe

buildingsandbridges of Newcastle

andGateshead.

TOPTIPWatcha BTOidentification

video:bto.org/about-birds/bird-id

TWEETOF

THEWEEK

Weeklybirdsongpodcast

with guest hosts.

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