The Realm Of Nature

Welcome to the August issue of The Realm magazine and this is a bumper issue! Check out our guide on feeding the birds that visit your garden with tips and advice on providing for a variety of species. Following the discovery of what is thought to be the world's smallest snake, we take a look at some of the tiniest vertebrates in the world living at the limit of what minimum sizes can be!

In this issue:

Nature News

Feed the Birds

Salad Diaries

Mini-Beasts

The Invertebrates - Flights of Fancy

New Releases - The Natural World DVDs

ACT NOW!

Eye on Nature Contest - Enter Today!

Letters & Comments

A run-down of some of the top wildlife news making the headlines over the last month.

New rainforest species are thought to have been discovered on an expedition to Guyana filmed for the BBC. Among them are two fish, a frog and a number of bat flies. Other Guyana wildlife filmed include the jaguar and anaconda.

Read more - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7531537.stm

Malaysia's pen-tailed tree-shrew is nature's heavyweight boozer sipping at nectar with an alcohol content of around 3.8% and yet never getting drunk.

Read more - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7530720.stm

Some amazing photos of a leopards taking on a crocodile were captured on camera by a man on safari.



View all the photos here - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/07/18/ealeopard118.xml

Though summer is in full swing, now is the time of year to start thinking about those little feathered friends that visit our gardens. Though to us winter may still seem far off, for the birds that have used up much of their reserves raising their demanding chicks the brief summer flush of food is vital for them to build themselves up ready for harder times. By placing feeders now, there is time for the birds to discover your garden as a valuable resource before the winter sets in and you have time to watch and record what the birds are eating so you can better supply them through the winter.

For birds, energy content is vital. Many cheaper bird seeds are bulked up with millet and green peas, neither of which are suitable for feeding the garden birds. Instead they need high-energy supplies such as the popular sunflower hearts. These are sunflower seeds without the husks. This both reduces the effort for the birds to get at the nutritious part of the seed, and reduces the amount of waste that ends up on your lawn or patio. Of course, you can still opt for the black sunflower seeds which still give birds lots of energy. If you are fortunate enough to have the charming goldfinch paying your garden a visit, niger seed is one of the best to offer these colourful garden visitors. The traditional peanut is also good to offer particularly if you have birds such as woodpeckers and nuthatches local to you. Meanwhile, for the ground feeders offer a variety of fruits. Apples will be much appreciated by blackbirds, thrushes and may even help bring down autumn migrants such as fieldfare as too will sultanas and raisins - remember to soak these before feeding though to stop them swelling in the birds stomachs. Live food such as mealworms and waxworms are also an excellent option - and if you are squeamish you can always offer dried mealworms which don't wriggle. Robins, blackbirds, thrushes and various other species all appreciate a tasty wriggling treat! And then of course there are the fat cakes. It is easiest to make these yourself with the feed you have already bought. Check out the guide to the left to find out how to make your own fatcake especially for the birds...

A variety of table scraps can be offered to the birds as long as they don't contain much salt and sugar. Unsalted bacon both raw and cooked (chop up first) will be appreciated as will left over cereals, fruits and plenty of other things. Don't feed the birds bread though as this is low in energy and fills them up.

Try to offer food in as many ways as possible. A table alone will often be dominated by larger birds such as pigeons, starlings and jackdaws but these struggle to get food from hanging feeders giving finches and tits the advantage. Buy feeders with multiple perches so a number of birds can feed at a time to reduce competition, the more feeders you have the less completion there will be between species. Ground feeders are best for blackbirds and thrushes, though fruit can just be thrown direct onto the lawn. Place your feeders close to cover so that should an aerial predator such as a sparrowhawk appears, but far enough away to prevent a domestic cat taking advantage of the birds you have attracted in.

One type of bird is dominating my feeders and scaring away the other birds, what can I do?

Firstly look at how you are feeding and consider spreading the feeders out a bit so that those for the smaller birds are away from where the larger birds are feeding. There are a variety of feeders on offer that will feed small birds while preventing larger birds eating the lot. Fatcakes are popular with starlings and these can draw them away from the other feeders. If squirrels are a problem there are various squirrel proof feeders on offer that should do the job.  

Sparrowhawks are a natural part of the ecosystem and though it may not be pleasant to have them around they are part and parcel of feeding wild birds. They too have to survive and they have to hunt to do so. They don't have feeders to visit to offer them the food they need. These predators help pick out the weak and sick members of the flock keeping the overall population healthy. This is better for the other birds as it means there is then more food to go around for the fittest and disease is less likely to spread.

Another way of providing food for the birds is to plant for them. There are numerous varieties of shrubs that offer berries and fruit that the birds can eat as well as providing shelter. A patch of wildflowers provides both seeds and attracts insects that many birds eat - this is especially important in the spring as the chicks of most birds that feed on seeds when adults actually depend on insects for their first few weeks of life. Visit your local garden centre for help and advice on what shrubs and plants you can add to your garden that will be good for the birds. Another important thing is to provide a fresh water supply for the birds. A large dish with stones to allow birds to climb in or out will be ideal for supplying birds, or you can buy a decorative bird bath from the vast choice available.

Health

Remember it is vital to ensure that the feeders and the surrounding area are kept clean to prevent the spread of disease. Thoroughly clean your feeders on a regular basis. Normal household bleach that has been diluted down is fine for cleaning feeders, just remember to rinse thoroughly.

Links

CJ Birdfood - www.birdfood.co.uk

Garden Bird Supplies - www.gardenbird.com

Haiths - www.haiths.com

Those of you who read last months issue of The Realm will remember that I was attempting to grow my own salad. So how is it growing?

As said on the seed packet, my mixed salad leaves were ready in 30 days - or at least the rocket and basil were neither of which I like! The taste of the rocket was very strong, but a few weeks later other leaves were starting to grow so now there is a variety of leaves in the container, though I can't really tell which is which! They are very easy to grow though and produce a good number of leaves for a decent salad bowl. The carrots and beetroot are not yet ready to eat, but they are coming on nicely and I have since been inspired to adopt the abandoned greenhouse and see if I can get something from that. This time though 'm not using packets of mixed seeds, instead just growing single crops in each tub. So far I've planted carrots, beetroot, tom thumb and little gem lettuce, cucumber, kale, mini-turnips and mini-parsnips as well as buying myself a grape vine! I have seed potatoes on order that should arrive soon, and be ready to eat for Christmas, and I've also ordered some patio apple trees though these won't bare fruit until at least next year. All in all, I've gone a bit growing my own mad and have yet to actually get a crop of anything! Fingers crossed though over the winter I will have a nice crop of vegetables to keep me going (and my tatties!).

Silvershark

With the recent discovery of what is thought to be the worlds smallest snake, here is a look at some of the smallest vertebrates on the planet.

This newly-discovered snake is thought to be the smallest in the world and at the limit of how small a serpent can be. At just 10cms long, this reptile remained unknown, though specimens had been collected previously they had been misidentified, until others were found under a rock on the Caribbean island of Barbados and it was realised that they were a new species. These snakes are so tiny that they lay just a single egg, the hatchling emerging at half the size of the parent. Any smaller and the baby snake may end up struggling to find small enough prey to feed on.

Though the Barbados Thread Snake may be tiny, it is huge compared to the smallest vertebrate known - Paedocypris progenetica, a member of the carp family that lives in Sumatran forest swamps. At a mere 7.9 millimetres long they resemble fish larvae and have semi-transparent bodies and a reduction in skeleton on the head leaving the brain unprotected. And if that wasn't amazing enough, this tiny fish lives in acid water that would be fatal for many other species!

The Bee Hummingbird, Mellisuga helenae, is the smallest of all known birds at about 5cms long and it is thought to be close to the smallest size a warm-blooded vertebrate can be. The hummingbird has to consume as much as half their body weight each day to give them the energy they need to survive and they also need to consume eight times their body weight in water. With the second-fastest heart rate of all warm blooded vertebrates, these tiny birds live life at high speed. And they break other records to - they also have the highest body temperature of any bird at 40° C yet they can drop their body temperature to just 19° C at night to conserve energy.

The bumble-bee bat is one of the smallest mammals in the world at no more than 33mm long. They live in Parts of Thailand and Burma where they make their homes in limestone cliffs living in colonies of around 100 individuals though up to 500 have been recorded in a single colony. These bats live on invertebrates catching spiders from leaves and snatching flying insects on the wing. They spend little time foraging - just 30 minutes in the evening with a shorter foraging trip at dawn leaving the species highly vulnerable to cold spells or wet weather.

Another Caribbean species - and also another reptile - is also the main contender for being the smallest lizard, and the smallest of all reptiles, mammals and birds at just 16mm long - small enough to curl up on a dime. The Jaragua lizard, Sphaerodactylus ariasae, lives in the Dominican Republics Jaragua national park on a remote island called Beata. Despite living in a protected area though the tiny lizard is far from safe as illegal logging goes on even in the national park threatening the survival of this miniature reptile. It's title is shared with one of it's relatives - Sphaerodactylus parthenopion.

These two species both share the title of the world's smallest frogs. Psyllophryne didactyla, the Brazilian Gold Frog, is the smallest known species of frog living in the Southern Hemisphere and are named as a result of their gold colour. These tiny frogs reach just 9.8mm long, just a fraction smaller than the other contender - Eleutherodactylus iberia, that lives on the island of Cuba. It is thought that this species lays just one single egg at a time resulting in relatively large offspring when compared to the size of the parent.

Comparatively large compared to the other smallest vertebrates is Homopus signatus - the Cape Speckled Padloper Tortoise that lives in South Africa and is thought to be the smallest member of the turtle family in the world at around 95mm long. Their main diet is made up of succulent plants that as well as providing food give the tortoise all the moisture that they need. Like many other of the smallest species, these tortoises also lay only a single egg as a result of their small body size and this leaves them highly vulnerable to extinction as they can't reproduce and rebuild their numbers quickly after heavy losses.

A monster among our list of miniatures is the West African Dwarf Crocodile, Osteolaemus tetraspis, the smallest member of the Crocodilians but at 190cms long a giant compared to the other mini-vertebrates listed here! These predators patrol the waterways hunting for fish, amphibians and crustaceans that are swallowed whole. During the day they rest in burrows away from the heat only emerging in the cool of the night to hunt for prey. Like all crocodiles, they are good mothers guarding their nests from potential predators and giving the hatchlings a lift down to the water where the mother remains to guard them until they are large enough to take care of themselves. This species of crocodile has been fortunate in that is doesn't have a valuable skin and therefore has been no interest to the trade which has decimated populations of other crocodiles however they are hunted for their meat and vulnerable to habitat change.

The earliest butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) appeared in the Jurassic period. Fossils of them though are very rare as they don’t tend to live in areas that are favourable for fossilisation of such delicate animals. The oldest of this group lacked the proboscis that is a feature commonly associated with them today. Instead, they were equipped with biting mouth parts for chewing up decaying matter. With the explosion in diversity of flowering plants, the caterpillars of butterflies and moths started feeding on the soft vegetation.

Today, butterflies and moths are among the most brightly coloured of insects and many play an important role in pollinating flowers. They are also a food source for a variety of animals. In the spring, numerous breeding birds depend upon caterpillars to feed their growing chicks. If there are too few caterpillars, breeding success for those that depend on them most can be severely reduced. Adult butterflies and moths too are prey for numerous animals including birds, bats and spiders.

To avoid becoming a meal for something else, butterflies and moths have evolved a variety of defences. Some harbour toxins they gained from the plants they feed on making them unpalatable. Bright warning colours developed to advertise this, warning any potential predators that they are not good to eat. These warning colours have been adopted by species without the toxins that mimic those that do. Others, especially moths, have developed camouflage that makes them extremely difficult to spot. Yet another method to deter predators are they eyespots that decorate the wings of some species.

The caterpillars of some species are also protected by long, spiky hairs. Others have evolved to use other animals - particularly ants - to protect their offspring. Some caterpillars produce a sweet liquid that some ant species love to drink. In order to get this liquid, the ants will farm the caterpillars, protecting them from predators and keeping them clean.

The BBC is releasing another six episodes of the documentary series The Natural World onto DVD.

A stunning documentary on the most elusive of big cats - the snow leopards. A film crew return to Pakistan where the previous year astonishing footage of snow leopards was captured for the Planet Earth series and once again they film some amazing scenes including an almost identical repeat of the hunting sequence filmed for Planet Earth! The documentary gives a rare insight into the life of the snow leopards - and an insight into the methods used to track them when the female is collared with a tracking device posing the question are such tracking techniques worth it for the data they collect?

The true story of Lobo, a large male wolf, and Ernest Thompson Seaton - the man that came to New Mexico to kill him. With extracts from Seton's personal diary an insight is given into the world of this famous hunter destined to bring an end to Lobo - and by doing so change his view on the natural world and bring about a change in America's attitude towards the wolf.

A bit different to the other documentaries in the series, Earth Pilgrim takes a more spiritual view as Satish Kumar spends a year amongst the wildlife and landscapes of Dartmoor National Park..

Think you've seen it all when it comes to badgers? Well this documentary reveals that there is still a lot to find out about these, one of the most familiar of British mammals. With footage of a mother giving birth to her young in the darkness of her sett to their emergence in the spring into the environment of a working farm the badgers entertain and captivate their audience.

Henry Williamson wrote his famous book, Tarka the Otter, in 1927 based on a river in Devon. Now the search is on for the descendants of this famous otter. Do they still roam the waterways that Tarka once did? A combination of extracts from the book and filming of the behaviour of real otters along the river makes this a top choice documentary for otter-fans exploring the changing attitudes towards these animals that were once heavily persecuted and are now one of the nations favourite mammals.

The tale Charlie Russell - an incredible man who has devoted his life to the protection of the grizzly bears in the Kamchatka Peninsula. With four cubs to care for and train in the survival skills they will need to live in the wild, he cares for them as they grow under the constant threat from other bears and poachers.

The Great Barrier Reef - one of the largest protected marine areas in the world. So the sharks should be safe here from the perils of fishing that are driving many species to extinction right? WRONG! The Queensland Government have proposed establishing a fishery in the area for sharks to service the international trade in shark fins. Already sharks numbers in the area have declined by 80% despite protection, and these proposals risk wiping out those that are left damaging the entire reef ecosystem by removing the top predators in the area.

Help to stop this madness here: http://www.amcs.org.au/default2.asp?active_page_id=490

Mediterranean bluefin tuna is on the brink of commercial and biological collapse, driven by the uncontrolled demand for its high quality meat for sushi around the world.

The root cause lies in decades of mismanagement. But the solution is now in the hands of restaurant owners, chefs, retailers and consumers, like you, to bring this magnificent species back from the brink.

Take action to now to protect this amazing species before it is too late...

Find out more and take action here -
http://passport.panda.org/campaigns/campaign.cfm?uNC=23715273&uCampaignId=1781

An aquarium in Norway has plans to display Amazon River Dolphins in it's aquarium. These species are difficult to breed and like many other cetaceans don't do well in captivity with only 5-6 currently surviving in captivity.

Find out more and send a protest e-mail here -

http://www.wdcs.org/view_e_protest.php?e_protest_select=16&&select=105

Welcome to the Realm of Nature's summer art contest, Eye On Nature!

The aim of this contest is to create a portfilio of work about one particular species of animal, plant, fungi or any other living organism on the planet. All types of artwork are included such as:

Each portfolio can contain up to eight pieces of work, mimimum three pieces, and one of these MUST be a factual introduction to the species. Each person can submit up to three portfolios. The work you submit must be your own, including all images used in digital manipulations.

Every effort should be made for the subject to be a WILD animal (non-captive), however its understood that when choosing an exotic species it isn't always possible in the field of photography - whilst it is still enouraged to get out and see nature for yourself, if a zoo or other captive situation be the way to go, then please be creative but state what is captive so it can be judged accordingly.

The winner will be decided in the autumn after a vote.

The winners prize options are as follows (DVD's will be region 2 so if you don't have a region 2 or multi-region DVD player then please chose one of the book options):

Tiger: Spy in the Jungle Book and DVD

OR

Planet Earth OR The Blue Planet Book

OR

Planet Earth OR The Blue Planet DVD

The runner-up also wins a prize - a choice between the Tiger: Spy in the Jungle DVD OR the Tiger: Spy in the Jungle book

The winning article may also (if you chose) be featured in October issue of The Realm magazine.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Submissions thread opens: 1st August - you can start submitting your work now!

Submissions deadline/voting start: 7th September

Voting end/Winner Announced: 28th September

To enter the contest you will need to register on The Realm of Nature Forum where you can gain access to the submissions thread when it opens for you to submit your work, slternatively you can e-mail your submissions to therealmofnature@hotmail.com with your name (either screenname or first name) and contact e-mail and your portfolio will be added to the thread on your behalf.  If you win the contest you will be notified by e-mail. If you have any questions or queeries, please let us know in the comments box below.

Have your say about this issue of The Realm Magazine and let us know what YOU would like to see in future issues!  Remember, you are free to offer your own contributions to the magazine by e-mailing me at therealmofnature@hotmail.com