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to the serenity of the place.So I was very pleased to see a pair of goldfinches this morning. I'm not a birdwatcher, but even I know the unmistakable red face, white sideburns and yellow wing flash of these pretty creatures. They were not in my 'wildlife haven

of the event. I did the macho lumberjacking bit, in my suitably butch steel-toe-capped boots and very bright white hard hat. My partner did much of the shredding into eco-bags for recycling (it was all her fault I got involved - she's a governor at the school

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

uncamouflaged against the white. It does not need to be hidden, its bright colours are a warning that it is revoltingly poisonous should anything be foolhardy enough to try and eat it.My garden pond has got a puncture. We were really proud of the original design

stubs, but she is still quite unable to fly. Instead, she emerges from her cocoon and gives off a pheromone scent to attract the night-flying males. These rather unassuming moths are mottled brown with a small white spot on each forewing. She mates

wings (upper and lower sides), the meadow brown has a single white spot, but the gatekeeper has two. You can't see them in the photo above, because the butterflies have adopted their 'secure' resting position, with front wings tucked behind

Friday, Saturday and Sunday just past were fabulous, and as the sun burned down it was a thrill to see so many insects still about. A very late speckled wood butterfly was fluttering about the allotment, along with a last few large whites. A huge

in West Sussex; a black one in the New Forest; a grey one breeding in the overflow of the rather unsavoury bathroom basin in a student flat when I lived in Brighton; and these almost pure white ones in my current garden. They look very good against