Search - Articles

Spring has sprung. All at once. The guinea pig and his hutch are back outside. Shieldbugs, in their purple-brown winter colours, are sunbathing on the fence. The first bumblebee of the year, a queen buff-tailed, floated past and a male feather

woodpeckers, witnessed blackbirds and robins fighting over territory, and sat a little too close to a wasps' nest.It's generally a very good habitat for wildlife: there's a mass of ivy to provide food and shelter for all manner of creatures, and something

' appearance in life.The snow has gone completely now, and I take these latent packages as a good sign that spring is coming. Most hoverflies overwinter as larvae, only pupating in spring when they arouse from hibernation torper. I'll let you know when I see

Sunday, and the spring sunshine hit East Dulwich with a blast of warmth that has got everything moving again. The blue sky was almost painful to the eyes, after so much grey recently. Our south-facing fence, covered with ivy, was alive

and peered at the surrounding trees and bushes through our small cheap binoculars. It’s very much a waiting world out there. Hardly anything is moving and the various birds are huddled against the cold; like me they all seem to be thinking “come on, spring

wagtails visited during the coldest weather).In spring a pair of great tits and a blue tit used my garden to snack on peanuts while foraging for their young. They were all gone by July and my garden was, once again, Pigeon City. In October there were still

While many plants have been late to flourish this year, I’m pleased to report that the blue and great tits that forage in my garden every spring are bang on schedule.Regular readers of this blog will know that every year my tiny courtyard garden

sitting in their centrally heated kitchens, but since it is part of the natural order, wildlife ought to be expected to cope with it each year. However, it is the false start, which is perhaps the most dangerous weather phenomenon. The biological clock

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

bucketBuilding a bug box for insectsBuilding a hedgehog houseMaking a bird boxInstalling a window bird feederMaking a bat boxBrowse a variety of plants that are attractive to wildlifeView a selection of spring flowering bulbs