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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

garden as such; stepping across the grass track from the plunge pool seems to take us straight into the Garfagnana countryside, which was obviously partly cultivated in terraces at some point in it's long history, but which is now reverting to beautiful

I'm just back from a weekend visiting an old friend in Banwell, near Weston-Super-Mare. Always envious of his rambling house and large walled garden, we got to talking over garden wildlife and the troubles of traipsing fox dung through the kitchen

, most of the ivy flowers are over and many of the large black berries are already well-developed.I’m rather depressed by the fact that yet another front garden is being concreted further up the road, so I peer out with the binoculars, from the fire

Hardy tulipsIf you find tulips difficult to grow, you may find species tulips easier. These are quite unlike their large-flowered cousins, which can frustrate gardeners by dazzling in their first year, then all but disappearing the next

(gardeners insert your own reasons here), and, I'm afraid, to bemoan the fact that not enough funding or political clout is given to insect study and education.I'm one of a number of 'international entomologists' who has been invited to blog about their daily

them into defensive action.Wasps are handsome creatures, and well worthy of respectful study. These ones (pictured, above) were beautifully snug and dry under the bark of a large oak log in Beckenham Place Park.I recently found this group of related

to the edges of the pond liner like miniature paper dragons.Since I had to replace the pond liner early in 2008 I have not seen any adults in my garden. I did dredge up a damsel larva one day, so I am hopeful they are still about despite the large number

I think we have foxes living under our garden shed. I first noticed the scratching in the soil a week or so ago. It didn't look like very much excavation had occured and the hole didn't appear to go very far. But now we have more earth-moving going

I used to see foxes all the time. Whenever I looked out of the window there was almost certainly one sniffing about in the garden or strolling nonchalantly down the street. Winter nights were alive with the unearthly yelps and screams of the males