Nature watch: August

Stake out badger setts and hear the sounds of tawny owls and noctule bats

When the full moon falls, if the weather is kind it could be ideal for badger watching. In Dorset, where I live, the greensand hills and hedgebanks are honeycombed with badger setts. Quietly, in the lee of a hedge, I settle down to wait. A tawny owl calls and high-flying noctule bats appear as the western sky turns apple green. The first moths are out: yellow underwings, mostly, and a ghost swift whirring on white satin wings. Suddenly, a furtive black-and-white snout emerges from the sett. Others follow, until five badgers are trundling through the bracken. Not that I need to leave home to see them. Most nights they come into the garden, scrumping strawberries and ripping divots out of the lawn to reach the worms. A nuisance? Of course. But I would hate to see them go.

Fish don't come much bigger than the basking shark. Even at birth it is 1.5 meters in length. By the time it is fully grown it can reach 11 metres and weigh in at 3,000kg. Yet, despite its formidable size, it is harmless to humans. In summer, it is a regular visitor around our Atlantic shores, its floppy dorsal fin breaking the surface as it swims with mouth agape, sieving plankton through its gills. Other sharks found in British waters include the blue, thresher, mako and porbeagle, which preys on shoals of mackerel. In fresh waters, the pike is the top predator aong our native fishes.  A denizen of lakes, ponds and slow-moving rivers, it can sometimes be seen cruising in summer among the weeds and lily pads. With its streamlined body and needle-sharp teeth, the jut-jawed pike is every inch a killer, preying on frogs, water birds and most other fish including pike smaller than itself. 

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