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A short while ago I was driving past Peckham Rye, when my eye was caught by a series of white halos on the grass under some of the trees. It looked as if several small snow storms had targeted some of the larger and more handsome specimens across

Last weekend, for the benefit of wildlife and nature conservation in south-east London, I cut down a tree. Despite their iconic status and green credentials, it is often necessary to cut down trees, and this one had plenty of reasons to go. First

.A more usual use for squirrel teeth is visible on several of the sycamores in the park. I've been watching these trees all year; they looked a bit peaky earlier and they are now completely dead, killed by a sooty bark disease, the fungus Cryptostroma

A few days ago some bright yellow no-parking cones were lined up along the kerb a few doors down from me. Tree works, it seemed, were taking place. It wasn’t until the whine of the chainsaws started up that it dawned on me what trees were being

have pointed out, snow does make birds all the more obvious. When I peered out later in the day, the apple tree was bending under the burden of several plump … birds. They were silhouetted against the morning light so not immediately identifiable

Going for walks in Dulwich and Sydenham Hill Woods, Peckham Rye or Nunhead Cemetery, I often hear the tap-tap-tapping of great spotted woodpeckers from high up in the trees as they test the dead boughs for tasty insect morsels. We have no large

and three-year-old laughing in the wheelbarrow as we bumped down the site. Suddenly my eye was caught by a strange bouncing red thing moving away to the trees. It was an animated strawberry making its way down the path ... in the mouth of a squirrel. Pah

Up to town today, and while waiting for the number 12 bendy bus, 12-year-old and I examine the trunk of a lime tree overhanging the stop. There's a whole ecosystem in just a few square feet of bark.Most prominent are the white waxy remains of horse

A plaintive mewling took me to the end of the garden a couple of days ago. At first I thought a cat had caught a bird or had cornered a fledgling. As I got closer I realised it was coming from a tree and wondered if some strange seagull was lost

high up on the trunk of an old tree at the edge of the clearing. It’s a nuthatch. From this distance its grey-blue plumage makes it look elegant and sleek, rather than the ‘plump’ suggested by all the birding guides. Maybe it’s just had a tough winter