Search - Articles

pallid nymphs make the white frothy gobs of cuckoo spit as they feed by sucking plant sap. There are dozens of them. And not only are they hopping about on the sunny foliage, they’re busy having sex too. Perhaps this is a bit ambitious, given that they

robins were collecting material but now just the one flies to and from the shed with insects to feed the other one, so Chris assumes the eggs have been laid and the female is brooding them (usually up to five). The eggs are normally incubated for around

chestnut leaf miner. The tiny caterpillars, only a few millimetres long, chew away the inside of the leaf, feeding between upper and lower surface, and leaving the pale air-filled void. Each leaf can have up to 50 mines in it. The moth, a massive 7 mm from

I'm always looking for ways to make wildlife in my garden feel more welcome and at home. After all, it has just as much right to be there as I do. Of course I question the big things (can I justify having a lawn and patio, or would creatures prefer

been chewed.My interest in dead sycamores is in the insects associated with them. There are a whole series of rare beetles that feed on the black soot-like spores of the fungus. The largest is a whopping 4.5 mm long. Next time I pass I'll have to make

and inquisitive children, eager to find out all about the wildlife they have found and held in their own hands. Their eyesight is so good, and they're all immensely proud of the often tiny specks of protoplasm which would be passed over in a blink by their parents

Although autumn hangs heavier in the air with each day, it only takes a brief break in the clouds to bring shy wildlife back out into the open. So it was on Friday last week when I headed for the horticultural delights of North Woolwich. Here

on mildew on the leaves, it being one of the several mould-feeding ladybirds rather than the aphid-eating species. Nowadays it is most usually found on sycamore and lime trees and is much more abundant than ever before, especially in urban areas.It has a

bird-feeding.For the last two years, I've been able to get really close to long-tailed tits, but this is nothing to do with my bird table, but my choice of holiday cottage. Two years running we rented a small cottage near Carisbrooke Castle, in the Isle

for food at this time of year, but robins really do get up close, and don't appear to be scared.You feel as if they would feed out of your hand, but perhaps that is hoping too much. Instead, any worms turned over during digging are picked out and thrown a