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Last weekend was the 2013 Garden BioBlitz, an online Twitter-originated collaboration to observe, identify and record garden wildlife. There is a special #gbb13 hashtag on Twitter, and a series of iSpot pages specially to put experts on hand to help

, it doesn’t have long legs, it doesn’t scuttle, it doesn’t lurk, and it doesn’t come out at night to creep across the living room carpet.Instead, it is bright and breezy, it has short shapely legs, it hops, jumps and skips, it struts carefully across a fence

garden. No bees. A shame, poppy pollen can be a striking jet black.PS - Whilst we were planting up the container, we were careful not to trample the mole hills nearby. I had thought they could have made something of an added wildlife interest

and they saunter past without a care. One sniffed at the guinea-pig hutch, then squeezed through the gap in the fence and was gone.We city dwellers have a soft spot for these animals. For most of us, foxes are probably the most impressive wildlife we ever see

strands with its claws. It carefully gathered the silk, which seemed to just vanish. Whether this was because it scrunched up so tightly, or the spider was eating it, I could not see.Although I'd known that spiders do eat the silk, (it's too valuable a

quickly rush to the spot armed with a Petri dish.A paint kettle has been upended over the bug of weird redness in question. Carefully lifting it off, I am met with a ruby tiger moth — lovely.Ruby tiger moth (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) is a common insect

in the morning. Examined carefully in the hand of nearly four-year-old, we discussed what could have happened to them, and what funeral arrangements might be appropriate.This is a vulnerable time for these popular and fascinating insects. Having spent several

, but it gave me quite a shock.I don’t believe the fox thought it was attacking a baby. It was more likely to have been attracted by the smell of fermenting drool, food and sweat that had impregnated the cloth. We take care never to leave soft toys outside

are also on the rebound after the snow damage and I can see tight curled buds on the currant bushes. We're a bit pressed for time at the moment, and I just know the place will be a sea of weeds if we're not careful, and then we'll get a ticking off from

.It's eagerness to fly is probably linked to the fact that it is unlikely to be eaten by predators - its bright colours are a warning of poisonous and distasteful chemicals inside its body. So it takes to the wing without a care and dashes brazenly about to a new