BBC Gardeners World Magazinehttps://www.gardenersworld.com2025-10-15T10:42:47.000Zhourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00Wildlife watch: Brimstone butterflyhttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-brimstone-butterfly/2025-01-30T12:45:30.000ZThe brimstone is one of the earliest butterflies to emerge from hibernation, and may be seen on mild February days – keep an eye out for your first brimstone of the year when the sun shines and it feels like spring, out of the corner of your eye you might spot one, flying at speed at the edge of woodland or a bank of trees. Sightings peak in April, however, when spring is in full swing and there are plenty of flowers to feed from. The male is a bright buttery yellow – it’s thought the word ‘butterfly’ can be attributed to the ‘butter yellow’ of the male brimstone – while the female is paler, almost white. Both sexes have a small orange spot on each wing.

Found throughout the British isles but rare in Ireland and Scotland, the brimstone feeds on a variety of flowers, such as dandelions, chives, red clover, wallflowers, buddleia, scabious, red campion and Verbena bonariensis. Mating and egg-laying take place from May to June, typically on leaves of buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) and alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus). Caterpillars are found from June to July and are well camouflaged. These caterpillars pupate and emerge in August, when the second peak of sightings occurs, before hibernation begins.

The brimstone hibernates as an adult, typically behind stands of ivy or other evergreen plants like holly. It is perfectly camouflaged as its wings resemble that of a leaf.

How to help brimstone butterflies

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You can help brimstone butterflies at all stages of their lifecycle by growing buckthorns. Alder buckthorn is best for acidic soil, while purging buckthorn is best for chalky soil. Grow a hedge of buckthorn in full sun for the best chance of success, and don’t trim it in summer to avoid accidentally disposing of brimstone caterpillars.

For adults emerging from hibernation in spring, fill your garden with spring flowers such as primrose, wallflower, dandelion, cowslip, bugle and bluebell. Then, in summer, grow devil’s bit scabious, teasel and betony.

For hibernation, avoid cutting back your ivy and ensure there is plenty of scrubby material for them to hunker down in.

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]]>Wildlife watch: Waxwingshttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-waxwings/2024-12-30T14:20:34.000ZWith its striking mohican-like crest, a black throat, and a black mask round its eye that looks like eyeliner, the waxwing is the 1980s pop star of the bird world. Slightly smaller than a starling, it’s pinkish to brownish grey in colour, with yellow and white flashes on the wings, and a yellow-tipped tail. Despite all of this, it gets its name from the red tips on its wings, which look like drops of sealing wax.

The waxwing doesn’t breed in the UK but is a winter visitor from Scandinavia and Russia. Most years only a few hundred waxwings arrive on our shores, but in some years several thousand will arrive. These irruptions occur when a good breeding year coincides with a shortage of food in their usual range. Birders will travel miles to catch a glimpse of them.

In winter, waxwings eat berries, particularly rowan and hawthorn, as well as cotoneaster and rosehips in gardens. They turn up in the most unlikely of locations, from supermarket car parks and industrial estates to city centres and tiny gardens. Where there are berries there may be waxwings – it’s always worth keeping an eye out.

How to care for waxwings

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As winter visitors in search of food, the only thing you can do for them is provide them with something to eat! Plant berrying trees and shrubs such as rowan and hawthorn. Avoid planting Cotoneaster horizontalis as it’s considered invasive and is listed on Schedule 9 of the wildlife and countryside act. They also eat apples – both windfalls and shop-bought apples – simply halve them and hang them from trees for the birds to find.

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]]>Wildlife watch: Sparrowhawkhttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-sparrowhawk/2024-11-29T15:29:13.000ZThe sparrowhawk is one of our smallest birds of prey. The male is around the size of blackbird and has blue-grey back and wing feathers with orange-brown stripes on the chest and belly. The female is slightly larger than a mistle thrush and is more brown in colour, with brown stripes on the chest and belly.

Both sexes hunt small birds such as sparrows, tits and finches, although the larger female may also take thrushes, starlings and pigeons. Small mammals are also taken. They're well adapted to hunting birds in confined spaces like woodland, so do well in gardens, where they will easily take a bird from a feeder or tree branch.

In spring, sparrowhawks build a nest of twigs high up in a tree in woodland, parks and larger gardens. The female lays up to five eggs and incubates them for around a month. Both parents feed the chicks the remains of birds and small mammals.

How to help sparrowhawks

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Some people don’t like seeing sparrowhawks prey on ‘their’ garden birds, but rest assured this is nature, and sparrowhawks are a sign of a healthy bird environment. To ‘help’ them specifically, make sure you have plenty of trees and shrubs for them and other birds to take shelter. If you have a large garden, tall trees, particularly conifers, can encourage them to nest.

If you want to even out the stakes between sparrowhawks and their prey, you could stop feeding garden birds, which would mean sparrowhawks have less of a sitting target. Some suggest elevated feeding can deter them rather than feeding on the ground, but removing feeders altogether will reduce incidences of small birds gathering in one place, which makes it easy for predators to attack.

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]]>Wildlife watch: European hornethttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-european-hornet/2024-10-29T13:20:19.000ZBritain’s largest social wasp, Vespa crabo is an impressive beast. Queens are still on the wing in late autumn, taking the last of the nectar from ivy flowers, along with pulp from fruit such as windfall apples. At 35mm long, they have a red-brown thorax with yellow and brown stripes along the abdomen, and red-brown legs.

Despite its fearsome reputation, the European hornet is much less aggressive than common and German wasps. It makes paper nests in dark, secluded areas such as tree holes. The queen (or reproductive female) founds the nest in spring and the workers (or non-reproductive females) gather insect food to feed the grubs. In late summer, daughter queens and males mate with those from other nests, before the males die and the queens hibernate. They establish a new nest the following spring.

Don’t mistake Vespa crabo for the Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, which is smaller than our native hornet and is mostly black with a yellow band on its fourth abdominal segment, and yellow legs. If you see an Asian hornet then take a photo to confirm your sighting and download the Asian Hornet Watch app on your phone, to report it.

How to help European hornet

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The main way to help hornets is to give them space. Many nest in holes in trees, holes in walls, outbuilding and even abandoned beehives. Let them get on with their nesting activities and remember that nests are annual, so will be gone with the first decent frosts.

Hornets feed insects to their young so make sure there are plenty in your garden. Grow lots of native plants for leaf munchers such as aphids, thrips and caterpillars, along with plenty of flowering plants for bees and other insects, including flies. Don’t begrudge them some of your home-grown fruit. While it can be frustrating, there’s usually plenty to go around. If you leave windfalls on the ground the hornets may be less likely to eat those still on the tree.

Potentially, our native European hornet could be confused with the Asian hornet, and vilified or killed as a result. Make sure you know how to tell the difference between these two species and educate your friends and family. You never know, this could prevent our beautiful native hornet from being squished or having its nests removed, while more accurate reporting will help scientists keep an eye on population movements of the Asian hornet.

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]]>Wildlife watch: House martinshttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-house-martins/2024-09-30T16:58:25.000ZA close relative of the barn swallow and a distant relative of the swift, the house martin is a summer migrant from Africa, and uses mud to make its cup-shaped nest under the eaves of houses, to raise its young. It’s a small bird with blue- black upper parts and all-white under parts. It has a short forked tail, which is shorter than both the male and female swallow’s tail. It feeds on insects, and spends most of its time in flight, collecting prey – often alongside swallows and swifts. You may have spotted them gathering mud from puddles in spring. 

Arriving in May, house martins use mud to repair or build new nests, and then mate. The female lays up to five eggs, which take three weeks to hatch, and then both parents feed their young. They typically have two broods but may sometimes have a third, which means some pairs will still be in the UK now, in October. Of our three similar looking species, house martins are the last to leave, with swifts leaving in early August, swallows a few weeks later, and house martins waiting it out until the last brood has fledged. 

How to help house martins 

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In a dry spring, make them a mud bath so they can make and repair their nests. Simply get a bin or compost bin lid and fill two-thirds with soil and then add water so the mud is tacky and wet but not sloppy. Add more water as and when you need to. If you have a bigger space, use rainwater to make a muddy patch in your garden, that they can help themselves to. 

Otherwise, the best thing to do for house martins is to grow plenty of plants that support insects. These include native plants for caterpillars and other ‘leaf munchers’ but also flowering plants that provide nectar and pollen for pollinators, including flies. Planting a mixed native hedge will not only support insects but also provide shelter in which insects can gather, while a pond will provide a home for aquatic insects and aquatic larvae, which all adds up to make for full bellies of house martin chicks. 

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]]>Wildlife watch: moleshttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-moles/2024-08-23T09:43:15.000ZRarely seen, the mole (Talpa europaea)  has the most gorgeous crushed-velvet fur, huge shovel-like paws, a bright pink snout, and tiny eyes. It lives underground, using its paws to dig tunnels and hunt for earthworms and other soil invertebrates, such as carrot fly larvae. You’re most likely to see molehills than the moles themselves. These are heaps of soil which moles push to the surface from shallow tunnels. However, most mole tunnels are deeper underground. They vary in depth, with the deepest tunnels used in times of drought. Each tunnel system has at least one nest chamber, used for sleeping and breeding.

Moles are solitary but in late winter males expand their territories, in search of females. Females give birth to three or four pups in spring. The young become independent after four weeks and leave to set up their own territories after five to six weeks. They tend to come above ground to disperse, which is when you’re most likely to see them. They are sexually active the following year.

How to help moles

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The best thing to do for moles is to let them get on with being moles. It may be frustrating when they create molehills in your borders, but recognising the valuable work they do beneath the surface of the soil, and using the friable soil from their molehills to sow seeds should help compensate for any disruption in the garden.

It should go without saying that you should avoid using any pesticides in the garden, that includes weedkillers and insecticide, which leach into the soil and can harm earthworms and other invertebrates that moles eat.

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]]>Wildlife watch: Elephant hawk-mothhttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-elephant-hawk-moth/2024-07-31T08:44:28.000ZOne of our most striking moths, the elephant hawk-moth is a large species, mainly golden green but with bright pink patterning on its body and wings. It’s named after its caterpillar, which has large, fake eye spots and is said to look like an elephant.

Adults fly from May to July. They’re nocturnal and feed from a variety of nectar-rich plants, including honeysuckle. They’re attracted to light and are regularly found in moth traps – a safe ‘trap’ that uses light to catch moths so they can be observed in the morning. They mate and the female lays eggs on willowherbs, bedstraws, Himalayan balsam and also (particularly in gardens) fuchsias. The caterpillars can be green or brown and are unmistakable, due to their large ‘eye’ markings. They’re most often seen on the ground at the end of the season, when looking for somewhere to pupate. They pupate in leaf litter or just below the surface of the ground, and overwinter in. this state, emerging as adults the following spring.

How to help elephant hawk-moths

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Elephant hawk-moths feed on a variety of long-tubed flowers such as honeysuckle, red valerian and buddleia, so growing plenty of these in your garden will provide food for them. To complete their lifecycle they need caterpillar foodplants, including willowherbs and fuchsia, so growing plenty of these can help them, too. If you have fuchsia plants that you don’t want to be eaten, consider having a sacrificial fuchsia at the back of the garden that you can transfer caterpillars to. This will help you save your display and help the moths complete their lifecycle – a win for you and the elephant hawk-moth!

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]]>Wildlife watch: Long-tailed tithttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-long-tailed-tit/2024-06-01T08:55:55.000ZThe long-tailed tit (Carduelis carduelis) has blush, black and white colouring with a long tail, which is longer than its body. Usually seen in small family groups, it has a bouncy flight and a ‘deet-deet’ call. It’s common in parks and gardens, where it eats invertebrates, particularly the eggs of moths and butterflies. In gardens it will visit feeders for peanuts and suet.

In spring, males and females pair up and spend three weeks building an intricate domed nest in trees or hedges, using lichen and cobwebs, lined with thousands of feathers. The female lays usually one clutch of up to eight eggs. Both parents share feeding duties when the chicks hatch, but unpaired relatives also chip in – it’s not uncommon for ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’ to help with raising the family.

How to help long-tailed tits

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To garden for long-tailed tits is to garden for invertebrates. Grow native plants such as hawthorn, hazel, blackthorn and spindle for butterflies and moths to lay their eggs on so they have plenty of caterpillars to feed their chicks. Some of these eggs will remain on the shrubs in winter and long-tailed tits will scour them for a source of winter sustenance.

Creating log and leaf piles, letting areas of grass to grow long and planting plenty of nectar-rich flowers will also have an indirect effect on long-tailed tits, which will find anything from insects and their eggs, spiders and other invertebrates to eat, plus spider webs and lichen to build their amazing nests.

If you have space, plant a hedge so they can build their wonderful domed nest in your garden. You’ll be glued to your windows for weeks.

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]]>Wildlife watch: Orange-tip butterflyhttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-orange-tip-butterfly/2024-04-30T15:47:16.000ZThe orange-tip is one of the first butterflies of the year to emerge and can be found nectaring on spring flowers such as bluebells and cuckoo flower. The male is white with orange wing tips while the female has black wing tips – both sexes have beautiful mottled underwings, which are visible when mating and resting. After mating the female lays eggs on the flower stalks of cuckoo flower and hedge mustard, but in gardens may also lay on honesty and sweet rocket.

These eggs are greenish at first but mature to orange, and the first instar caterpillars are orange, too, becoming green after the first moult. The caterpillars nibble on developing seedpods and flowers, and are brilliantly camouflaged, often resting lengthways on the stems and seedpods. They pupate in summer, attaching to an upright stem, where they remain throughout winter, emerging as adults the following spring.

How to care for orange-tip butterflies

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The best thing you can do for orange tips is to grow their caterpillar foodplants: cuckoo flower and hedge mustard, honesty and sweet rocket. Ensure also that there is plenty in flower for them to nectar on in spring, from April to June. It’s really important to respect their lifecycle: orange tips overwinter as a chrysalis on or near the stems of their foodplants, so you will need to leave these in place throughout winter.

This means not clearing away spent honesty, sweet rocket, cuckoo flower or hedge mustard foliage until the following spring, or at least clearing it away but hanging the stems somewhere the chrysalises won’t be disturbed. This will ensure they emerge as adults safely in spring, ready to repopulate your garden with tiny orange caterpillars.

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]]>Wildlife watch: Ashy mining beehttps://www.gardenersworld.com/premium/show-and-tell/wildlife-watch-ashy-mining-bee/2024-03-27T12:56:51.000ZThe ashy mining bee is a solitary, ground-nesting bee, roughly the size of a honeybee. Females are blue-black with two ash-grey hair bands on the thorax, and ash-grey hairs on the face. Males are smaller and slimmer and have more grey hairs across their thorax, face and sometimes the abdomen. They also have long antennae.

Flying from March to June, they feed on a variety of flowers such as willow, blackthorn, and dandelions, and are an important pollinator of oil seed rape.

After mating, the females burrow into bare ground or ground with short vegetation such as a well-clipped lawn. Despite being ‘solitary’, they often nest together in large aggregations. Their burrowing activity creates volcano-like mounds around the nests which, together with the number of females nesting close together, can make nests quite conspicuous.

Each ashy mining bee nest has several cells, into which the female lays one egg on a ‘cake’ of pollen and nectar. The eggs hatch into grubs which eat the store of pollen and nectar and then pupate and emerge as an adult the following spring.

How to help ashy mining bees

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Like all bees, the ashy mining bee feeds on flowers, so ensure you have plenty in bloom in early spring. Typically, they feed from spring flowering plants such as buttercup, hawthorn, blackthorn, gorse and fruit trees, but they will visit other spring-flowering plants, too.

If you’re lucky enough to have ashy mining bees nesting in your lawn and borders then be kind – avoid mowing the lawn and avoid digging over your borders during the short time they are nesting – usually about three weeks. As soon as they have stopped nesting you can resume your gardening but do try not to dig too deep in your borders as you may unearth some unsuspecting bee grubs! They will remain there throughout the year and emerge the following spring to mate and lay eggs again. What a treat to have this going on in your garden!

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