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Monday morning and a jay visited the kitchen window. I always think these are incredibly handsome birds and the small blue wing feathers still give me a childish thrill when I find one dropped. I can't resist picking it up to stick in my hat

I'm not overly fond of grey squirrels. Compared to the reds, which the greys have replaced, they are great lumbering brutes. But I suppose I'm lucky that they do little damage in my garden other than digging up a few tulip bulbs, so I can appreciate

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

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

-footed bee hovered briefly outside the kitchen.I've just been wandering about the garden in my shirtsleeves, feeling the real warmth of the sun catch me, and it seems that all the wildlife has just been queuing up ready for this sunshine. The trouble is, I

outline of what was probably an old lady flapping past. What was a surprise was the sudden swoop of an animated black handkerchief come paddling over the garden. A bat! During my 11 years in East Dulwich, I have caught a glimpse, just a flash as it zoomed

This weekend is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch, the world's largest bird survey. In last year's Birdwatch, over 400,000 people sat for an hour and noted which species visited their gardens; six million birds were counted. The Big Garden Birdwatch

and the local pet-shop owner happy.But could he have been responsible for the latest corpse? A swift! Unlike the usually trophies, it was not presented just outside the back door, nor left half eaten in the kitchen. It was dumped, half buried, in the soil of one

Our first barbecue of the season was Sunday 3 May, so much pottering about in the garden sunshine. It's all happening out there now. Last week there were 13 newts in the pond, we couldn't move for holly blues and then the swifts were back. It

At 11 o'clock in the morning, the bowl of Bob-the-Builder pasta shapes was either a late second breakfast, or an early first lunch - whatever, it was interrupted by the announcement from nearly-three-year-old: "Look, there's a magpie". Sure enough