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To my mind, the asparagus beetle, Crioceris asparagi, is one of our most beautiful insects. The Mondrianesque juxtaposition of its red border, creamy yellow squares and inky blue-black outlining is just astonishing.Although only 5-6mm long, it's a

of the lawn, then zoomed up and away. Several holly blues were skipping about over the ivy-covered fence at the weekend, all probably freshly emerged form chrysalides buried deep inside the tangled thatch.But what really caught my eye was the pas de deux dance

.Elsewhere gardeners fret over a superabundance of magpies, or sparrowhawks, choosing not to celebrate these wonderful birds’ beauty, poise or cunning, instead blaming them for decimating the local populations of blue tits and goldfinches. Yet further afield deer seem

Saturday, at last, this is when the weather finally broke; in south-east London, at least. Clear blue sky met me when I traipsed downstairs at half past seven, and as I stepped out through the Kitchen door I felt something I had almost forgotten

of them in the trees (this MUST be the correct collective noun for such a noisy congregation). Unlike starlings and sparrows, which stick to their own kind when they want to hang out together, this was a mixed bunch. Blue, great, and long-tailed tits were

. Previous clearings of the weed have led to some interesting discoveries.The first signs of dragonfly colonization were revealed in the several large larvae dredged up at once. I had seen the common blue damselfly, Enallagma cyanthigerum, often enough

the lens they are strikingly coloured, metallic blue and black, whilst others are grey (cluster flies), green (green bottles) or even bronzy gold.It only stayed a few minutes before flying off. Now it's raining, and there are still no insects out there

. Its preference for wild flowers (ladies’ smock, garlic mustard and hedge mustard) rather than cultivated brassicas means that it's less persecuted, but is also more easily overlooked.A few minutes later a holly blue, Celastrina argiolus, appeared

these impressive beasts can get airborne, until you realize that despite their huge size they only weigh about 5 grams. Compare that to a blue tit, with similar body size which weighs at least 10 grams.A few days later there are two more. I'm not sure whether

, frogs and toads wander through occasionally. Blue tits, pigeons and magpies were about on Sunday morning, and when a Siamese cat strutted along the back wall we contemplated the Mammal Society's and RSPB's calculations that cats kill some 55 million