BBC Wildlife - UK 2020-07)

88 BBC Wildlife July 2020

Seenorhearda nestingswift?

There’sanappforthat!

Launchedearlierthisyear

bytheRSPBandswift

conservationorganisations,SwiftMapper

is a citizensciencerecordingappwhere

youcansubmityoursightingsofbreeding

swifts.Thisincludesswiftnestsandthe

recordsofswiftsflyingat roofheightand

screaming(whichindicatesnestsnearby),

butnotfeedingswifts.Therecordscan

thenbeusedto focuslocalconservation

actionforswifts,suchasprotectingactive

nestsandchoosingthebestlocationsfor

newnestingopportunities.Theappis easy

to useandalsoincludesa handyIDguide

onthedifferencesbetweenswifts,house

martins,swallowsandsandmartins.If

youdon’thavea smartphone,it’salso

possibleto submitrecordsonlineat

swiftmapper.org.uk.Megan Shersby

“It’sthecoldestplaceonEarth.A world

lockedawayundersnowandice.So

hostileandinaccessible,it haslong

concealeditssecretsfromus.”A

mysteriousstartto thisnewBBC

Fourdocumentary,narratedbyDavid

Attenborough.Thisprogrammefollows

thejourneyofa scientificexpeditionon

MVAlucia,exploringtheicywaters

aroundAntarctica.Onaverage,theocean

heremeasuresbetween4,000–5,000min

depth,sotheteammustusedeep-sea

submersiblesthatcancarrypassengers

anddescendto 1,000m– thefirsttime

thishasbeendonehere.Thedivesreveal

a diversityofextraordinarycreatures,

manyofwhicharenewto science.They

alsofindastonishinglylargespecies,a

phenomenonknownaspolargigantism,

including squids and jellyfish.MS

SwiMapper

APP

AVAILABLE ON IOS AND GOOGLE PLAY, FREE

WILD STREAM

SERIES

Springwatch 2020

Catchupwiththeteamduring

lockdown,if youmissedanyof

theshowsthisseason.

BBC iPlayer, until May 2021

SERIES

WildAmazon

Exploretherainforestandthe

incrediblearrayoffloraandfauna

foundthere– frominsectsand

treesanddeadlypredators.

All 4, streaming now

SHORTCLIP

Indonesia’sForestFloor

Takea six-minutetouroflife

amidtheleaflitter,includingthe

camouflageddead-leafmantis.

NationalGeographic,

bit.ly/2AFzs3k

DeepOcean:Giantsof

theAntarctic Deep

TV

BBC IPLAYER, STREAMING NOW

OURWILD WORLD

Butterfly: Matthew Oates and Neil Hulme

A femalepurple

emperorrestson

bramble,having

rejected a male.

BYMATTHEWOATES,BLOOMSBURY, £20

BOOK

HisImperial

Majesty

Thepurpleemperoris Britain’s

largestbutterflyandit once

carrieda cachetandmystique

reservedformythicalcreatures.

Sightingswerefleeting,high

abovetheoakcanopy.Knownlocalities

werecloselyguardedsecrets.First-hand

observationsformeda bodyofarcanelore

sharedbyaficionadoswholuredit tofeed

onfreshfoxscatsorrancidshrimppaste.

Butthebutterfly’sempireis expanding–

rewilding,possiblyclimatechange,and

certainlyOates’zealoushalf-centuryof

deep ecological study, have shown it to be

morewidespread,andspreadingstill.

Tos a yO a t e si s f a s c i n a t e db yt h ep u r p l e

emperoris anepicunderstatement.

It is clearfromhisrichprosethat

hehasbeenobsessedfor 50 years.

Henowwriteswiththeauthority

andgravitasofthetruedoyen,

butyoucanstillimagine

thetwinkleinhiseye

ashepoursouthis

boyhoodhearttothis

wonderfulinsect.

RichardJones

Entomologist

ReadMatthew

Oates’guideto

purpleemperors

onourwebsite:

discoverwildllife.

com/purple-

emperors