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When the swifts first returned on May 2nd there were only three or four of them. Last year we had a huge gang of about 15, wheeling in the sky and screaming down the street at top speed, just above the lamp-posts. I always take these wonderfully

.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

It's cold, there's snow on the ground, and all is quiet in the garden. But I've just been outside feeding the wildlife. In my case that does not mean putting up nut-filled bird feeders or hanging fat balls, it means tipping the kitchen waste

Walking back from the Horniman Museum last week took me past a large oaktree growing just inside a front garden. The tree looks like an old pollardand must pre-date the early 20th century houses hereabouts. What caught myattention were all

earlier.We regularly get a pair in the garden, or sitting on the fence. There were four earlier this year, and I’m guessing this represented two generations. We don’t have large enough trees in our garden, so the nest must be in one of the Lombardy poplars

It's ten to nine on a weekday morning and the start of the last week of school. It's only a short walk to school and there is always the opportunity of peering over fences and hedges to see what else is going on in other people's gardens

There's not much happening in my garden this week. I think we're scaring everything away. And I can't just blame the cats stalking their quarry; Saturday's bouncy castle and baker's dozen of squawking three- and four-year-olds hasn't added much

gardens are even more wild and overgrown. Since my main interest is in insects, these are obviously going to feature pretty heavily here, but we also get our fair share of birds and beasts through too. A few days ago I noticed that the lilies growing in a

it to chase off birds. He quotes an example from the Reverend H.L. Ewen's Rectory at Offord D'Arcy near Huntingdon, reported in the Journal of Horticulture in July 1883. The cat was tethered, by a short chain from its collar, the last link of the chain ran

2007 will be remembered as a very good year for wasps. But before people start complaining about their vicious stings and bad tempers, I must point out that wasps are actually our friends. After birds and spiders, they are the most important insect