|
Badger (Meles meles)Light summer evenings are ideal for watching badgers, especially the cubs. Most were born underground in February, or March further north, so are now 3–4 months old. Apart from their smaller size, cubs stand out for their high spirits as they play tag near to the sett at dusk, or romp around the family’s ‘playing tree’ – you can often spot this by the flattened earth and lack of vegetation at its base
|
Rose chafer beetle (Cetonia aurata)
Glittering in warm June sunshine, these metallic-green beetles love to bask on garden roses and hedgerow dog roses. Chafers make heavy work of flying and after dark often buzz around porch and security lights. Unlike most beetles, they fly with their wing-cases lying flat – the flight wings flick out from underneath.
|
|
|
|
Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea)As with any flower, the foxglove’s appearance reveals its pollination strategy. The magenta hue is our first clue – this is the colour, along with yellow, that is most visible to bees. The petals’ tubular shape forms a funnel, at the bottom of which lies the sweet nectar, indicating that the pollinator needs a long proboscis. Sure enough, foxgloves are pollinated mainly by long-tongued bumblebees, such as the common carder bee and garden bumblebee. But short-tongued bees cheat by biting holes in the tubular blooms to steal the nectar.
|
Pipistrelle bats (Pipistrellus sp.)Most bats give birth now, almost invariably to a single pup. Nursing bats gather in single-sex maternity roosts, occupying buildings with warm, south- facing roofs where temperatures can exceed 30°C under the tiles or roofing felt.
|
|
|
Night-flowering catchfly (Silene noctiflora)
This understated member of the pink family is coming into flower this month, but to appreciate it at its best you need to venture out at night when its petals unfurl, unleashing their strong fragrance.The scent of night-flowering catchfly is irresistible to moths, which are drawn in to pollinate them. As an annual, this catchfly is found along arable field margins and other disturbed ground – particularly on calcareous soils – and often grows in large populations. The stem of night-flowering catchfly is lined with sticky glands, which makes it an unappealing meal for herbivores.
|
Common toad (Bufo bufo)
Toads spend most of their time away from water, hunting invertebrates under the cover of night. Their annual pilgrimages to ancestral breeding ponds during February are well known, but perhaps overlooked is the reverse migration of toadlets that begins in June. After four months feeding on algae, detritus and small invertebrates, the tadpoles have transformed, growing back and then front legs, and reabsorbing their tails. The tiny army assembles and, following rain, wave after wave of them emerge from ponds.
|
|
|
Little owl (Athene noctua)
Little owl chicks are becoming restless in June, and soon move from peering out of their nests to standing on adjacent branches or ‘branching’. Adults can be seen perched on fence posts watching for a potential meal of invertebrates, small mammals or birds. If something catches its eye, this compact predator will swoop down and pounce, and may even pursue prey on foot.
|
Meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)Grasslands are filling with the short, rattling song of the meadow grasshopper this month, with chorus lines formed by groups of males vying for the attention of the females. Although meadow grasshoppers are usually green, they are one of several species that can produce vivid pink individuals, a phenomenon known as erythrism.
|
|
All information from , British wildlife in April | BBC Wildlife Magazine - Discover Wildlife