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, just where the water is deepest, and it is here that the 15 or so amphibians were frolicking.These normally taciturn creatures are in the mood for love, and they are having a party. The last few weeks have seen a gradual increase in numbers, but until

What's the point of having a compost heap unless it's to breed fruit flies. That's the way my entomologist's mind works. During the summer great clouds of them billowed up every time I dumped the kitchen waste. They got in my eyes and hair

, I stressed. So long as the cats did not see it, it would find its own way back to some suitable shelter.Despite our pond housing a successful smooth newt colony, we have never had frogs breeding in it. They do climb into the water, and one year we

In the 1950s, the UK was home to some 30 million hedgehogs. Now it's estimated that there are just one million, according to a recent report published by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). It’s not known exactly why hedgehogs

rectangular or square pond can still be wildlife friendly. Straight edges can easily be disguised with plants, both in and outside of the pond.To attract the widest range of wildlife, create areas of shallow water (around 2-3cm deep), which are essential

most of our countryside is now a series of monocultures which represent few opportunities for wildlife to forage, shelter and breed. By contrast, Jan claims, brownfield sites have become unlikely areas of high insect biodiversity, some of which are now

sited under a hedge and dutifully packed with fallen leaves and hay.Attracting wildlife to your garden can be a bit hit and miss. Bumblebees and butterflies, for example, will happily come to our gardens to forage for food, but often choose to breed

I have cats. Every so often I have to live with the guilt that they kill the local wildlife. It's usually one of the mice breeding in the compost heaps or a blue-tit fledgling. The main hunter is the black and white one; lovely and soft and over

of North Africa and Southern Europe, it migrates north each year with the good weather, establishes new breeding colonies and the local offspring move north again. It reaches the UK most years, and sometimes in spectacular numbers; 2005 and 2006 were good

providing them with safe places to roost and raise their young, as well as a year-round supply of food.But I'm worried. I know that feeding birds is a good thing, it helps many survive the miserable winter to live and breed the following spring. But as I