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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

UK butterflies to overwinter as an adult - peacock, comma and brimstone are the others, although the red admiral might start qualifying if it continues to survive our warmer winters. Any of these insects ought to have a head start as soon

to chalk up 15 of my 124 target actions. These are mostly by the simple expedient of not cutting the grass, not winter deadheading, clearing out the pond when I repaired it and by having more than my fair share of thickets.The thickets are obviously paying

out of reach up in the foliage. I've only ever seen it once in summer, when dozens of specimens were flying about under a large tree in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. In winter it heads for the bark and is always there. I show them to the boy

, this male keeps trying to stab me with the end of his tail in mock attack. The males don’t last long, after mating they and the last remaining workers die, leaving just the fertilized queens to live through winter, hibernating under loose bark, in log piles

habit of clustering together in small knots over the winter; the photograph here shows four I found snuggling down on a carved stone angel in Nunhead Cemetery a few years ago. The early arrivers give off a 'safety' pheromone (chemical scent) which

well and good, but they have also got to have somewhere to live - shelter. When their 'visit' is over, they have to go home to - you guessed it - shelter. Night-time roosting is important, but at this time of year over-wintering sanctuary is paramount

After the wet and dismal weekend, I take a tentative stroll in the garden on a clear and bright Tuesday morning, and discover the first newt of the year sitting motionless at the bottom of the pond. I know it has been down there all winter

go through this behaviour in autumn, and only the fertilised queens (females) survive through winter. In the 'solitary' species, the bees develop in their mainly subterranean nests, and although the grubs may finish feeding on the stored stocks

-worshipers, and the last few warm weeks have seemed perfect for them. As in bumblebees, it is only the mated queen wasps that survive the winter. When they emerge, they must each found a new nest from scratch. For several weeks, the queen must chew wood pulp to make