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bee buzzing around the place - the door is open as the afternoon is sunny. For some extraordinary reason he seems to prefer to be in here amongst the paperclips and whatever gamma rays are emitted by computers rather than whizzing around making use

up and down the lawn where migratory herds appear to have trampled. As far as I can make out, these are the combined footprints of our two cats, that fox, and several squirrels. They must have made the journey dozens of times.The fox prints

pumping up their curled wings, ready for the first flight early next morning. This one was missing a front leg, and was rather unsteady. Its wings were fully expanded, but did not quite have that crinkly stiffness that makes these magnificent creatures

disadvantage.I must make sure I send my record to the London Wildlife Trust’s stag beetle survey. Mr Beetle flew off into the dusk. Good luck to him.

Last year I wrote about autumn tidying and the effect this can have on wildlife. I left my garden untouched over winter, leaving hibernating creatures snuggled under a duvet of fallen leaves and rotting stems. None of my plants died or were ravaged

their acrobatics.It is a strange habit of these endearing and pretty little birds that, come winter, they congregate together in mixed-species flocks. And sure enough, as I struggle to adjust the focusing to keep up with their quick movements, I can make out a

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

change the direction of its gaze without moving its body — a neat trick for any stalker. According to some reports I’ve read, you should be able to see this, as it makes the eyes change colour slightly when the internal eye elements move. I peered close

and fish and chip wrappers dumped on the ground, it's the leftovers of family picnickers. And it's not picnickers being lazy, because they have done their best to gather it all up and put their rubbish in the bins. Unfortunately, a local wildlife form has

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