For my first attempt at the art of blogging, I have decided to stick to familiar territory and address the topic of urban wildlife. At first sight, our towns and cities may not seem to be havens for wildlife but after researching the subject, I discovered that there is a lot more life amongst the concrete than is immediately obvious.

Urban areas are often built up and covered by paving and tarmac, but also include rivers, canals and suburban areas with gardens and parks. The fact that urban environments are so densely populated means that there is often food readily available for scavenging and many places for creatures to find shelter and nesting places. In Britain, the urban landscape is heavily populated with a variety of wildlife. Red foxes, rodents, a variety of birds, squirrels, insects, amphibians, bats and sometimes even badgers can be found scavenging on scraps of food left by humans and nesting in buildings.

A couple of years ago I realised just how much urban wildlife there was when I found a mouse nesting inside one of my trainers which I promptly put outside in my garden, only to find that a fox had run off with it and it was then never to be seen again. In fact, I later discovered in my garden in south east London, that there was a whole family of foxes living there which seemed to be multiplying rapidly much to the horror of my next-door neighbour who was keeping chickens. Suddenly I realised that my own garden was full of wildlife- not only foxes, but visiting cats, birds, insects and many other creatures appeared on a daily basis.

Foxes
Red foxes are widespread in urban areas throughout the world. They populate many Australian, European, Japanese and North American cities and thrive in the urban environment. Fox populations are generally higher in urban areas than rural areas.

Colonies of foxes were first established in Britain in cities such as Bristol and London during the 1940s. They survive well in cities because they are not limited by food in urban areas. Most eat a wide range of food items and food is often deliberately provided by householders. Foxes also eat a large variety of wild food stuffs including fruit, invertebrates, and small mammals and birds.

Tips for spotting urban wildlife
• You can attract garden birds and animals by providing food, water and nestboxes
• Lakes, ponds and canals are great places to spot waterbirds, as well as plantlife, insects and amphibians
• The best time of day to spot wildlife in city parks is early in the morning, before people appear and disturb the wild creatures
• Night time and evening are the best times to see foxes and badgers can sometimes be seen in some suburban areas

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Written by Ellen Parnevelas

I’m just back from a remarkable month on the Cook Islands. No, I’d never heard of them either. They are a collection of fifteen tiny dots in the Pacific, about four hours flight from Fiji. Remote doesn’t quite do them justice.

They are amazing islands though. Hot, sunny, lazy and with just enough scarce regional specialities to keep me happy. Having said that, they are rather short on landbirds – just six endemics. No doubt there used to be a few more that were eaten into extinction long ago.

The main island, Rarotonga, is stunningly beautiful if a bit bleak for the birder. The only species you are likely to see outside the mountains are Common Myna – which have reached plague proportions – and, erm, Red Jungle Fowl. The two endemics – Rarotonga Flycatcher or Kakerori and Rarotonga Starling – just about cling on in the mountain forests. Both are very hard to find, and the starling in particular is in serious trouble.

Spot the starling.

The best place in the Cooks to see land birds, by far, is the awesome island of Atiu, a forty-minute flight away. Black Rat-free, Atiuan birds are able to get on with life without having to worry too much about predators or habitat loss. I was lucky enough to spend a day on the island in the company of local guide Birdman George. George is able to whistle up pretty much anything, from the endemic Cook Island Fruit Dove to Chattering Kingfisher via Kakerori, a population of which has been introduced to the island (and, with 150 pairs and rising, is doing spectacularly well).

Chattering Kingfisher - noisy and common in Atiu

The star of the show, though, is the recently re-introduced Rimitara Lorikeet. This stunning parrot is also doing well on Atiu, helped by George and a few other like minded souls, who have been bumping off the mynas with poison and buckshot. They’re doing a great job.

Birdman George (left) prior to a healthy myna-poisoning session

I had an amazing time, but didn’t see perhaps my favourite bird of all – Bristle-thighed Curlew. I am unable to explain quite why I am so exceptionally fond of this wader. But I dipping on it gives me a good excuse to vanish to the South Pacific again next year …

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Maybe this book hold’s the clues for Jim’s fascination with that curlew.