October 2021
CONTENTS
WILD MONTH
12 Seven species to spot
What to look out for in October
18 On the mud ats
Be awed by flocks of migrating birds along the shoreline this autumn
23 Nick Baker’s hidden Britain
The ancient British cave shrimp
24 News
Beaver numbers have experienced a boom in Scotland over recent years
28 Truth or ction?
Do the blades of wind turbines pose a threat to golden eagles in the UK?
31 Mark Carwardine
Why are those responsible for damage to the natural world not held to account?
32 Meet the scientist
Alexander Bond studies the impact of plastic waste on oceanic birds
FEATURES
36 Photo story: Two Worlds Ocean photographer David Doubilet
COVER STORY
shares some of his favourite images revealing life at the water’s surface
COVER STORY
46 Fadingqueen Meet the Fatu Hiva monarch – a small
Polynesian songbird in need of help
COVER STORY
52 California’s redwoods The USA’s famous and celebrated giant trees have been with us for hundreds of years. We investigate their future
COVER STORY
60 Riddle of the roan Africa’s second-largest antelope has suffered worrying population declines. Can two new conservation projects turn things around?
68 Saving whales in the Thames News stories of stranded cetaceans abound. Find out why it happens and how they can be helped
COVER STORY
OUR WILD WORLD
82 At home
Natural history TV, books and more
86 Your photos
88 Feedback
Your letters and Tales from the Bush
91 Puzzles
REGULARS
6 In focus
Kamchatka brown bear, aphid nymph, black caiman crocodile
74 Behind the image
A jaguar in the forests of French Guiana
76 Q&A
Which lizard packs the most power? Why do squirrels strip bark?
98 Megan McCubbin
The TV presenter tells us why she has taken a shine to sand lizards
The people behind our stories
DAVID DOUBILET The photographer shares his love of life beneath the waves. “These photographs invite you to look through the surface, imagine, dream and come to know the sea,” he says.
See p36
LIV GRANT
“The trusting innocence of the Fatu Hiva monarch is an anachronism,
a relict of a time before humans wrought calamity on these islands and taught the birds to fear,” says the film-maker. See p46
LYNN HOUGHTON The travel writer heads to Highway 128 in California. “Redwoods dominate the landscape for miles, a breathtaking sight that compels drivers to stop and stand among giants.” See p52
EMMANUELRONDEAU The wildlife photographer, writer and film-maker lugged 150kg of equipment through a Guianan jungle to get his prized shot of a jaguar. “Amid this vast ocean of forest I felt insignificant,”
he says. See p74
October 2021
BBC Wildlife
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