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For anyone who thought the cold winter might have been a bit harsh for wildlife, I hope the recent heatwave has been an eye-opener. I’ve certainly never seen so much insect life in April before. The garden has been awash with orange-tips, holly

The foxes have been busy in my garden again. I haven’t seen them recently, but they leave their tell-tale signs. Occasionally I have cause to curse them, notably when I move the kids’ climbing frame to mow the lawn and find a putrescent latrine in the damp grass. Other times they...

It’s been fascinating to follow the tweets of butterfly enthusiasts as they marked the arrival of warm weather during the last fortnight, by discoveries of green hairstreaks, Duke of Burgundy Fritillaries and even some large tortoiseshells in the Isle of Wight. I can’t match any ...

I have to admit, I do have some slightly unusual behavioural traits. I enjoy clattering down the pavement on my daughter’s old chrome microscooter, although only my 8-year-old son will be seen with me, and only if he is riding his bike. I like bow-ties, but only in discrete burgu...

Within days, two scientific reports on Britain’s wildlife have made national news headlines because of their dire prognoses. The State of the UK’s Birds 2012, produced by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, British Trust for Ornithology

Although, yes, technically it is a spider, I’m almost positive that nobody could really be scared of the zebra spider, Salticus scenicus. It lacks all those sinister characteristics that can cause unease among some people — it isn’t black and hairy, it doesn’t have long legs, it ...

Sapphire Class at Ivydale Primary School are now experts on bumblebees. We did a workshop on climate change so I took in a tray of bumblebee specimens and we talked about the potential consequences for these well-known and much-loved insects.First we looked at a few basic aspects...

No, it’s not quite time for hibernation yet. Just a bit of sun in the garden and all kinds of intriguing insects are out again. I thought maybe I’d seen the last of this year’s hoverflies, but a drowsy marmalade fly, Episyrphus balteatus, is twitching its wings on an ivy leaf. I ...

It was only to be expected at this time of year, parent talk in the playground turns to frogs and toads. I haven’t seen any yet — too blistering cold, either for them to be moving or for me to out rootling in the garden — but I have just been shown photos of one on someone’s phon...

A few weeks ago, I was rather disparaging about some gardens local to me, which are so immaculately laid out, so minimalist, and so trimmed, that they are all but devoid of wildlife. I now intend to take my anti-gardening stance further (this may