• Minority report

    A male yellowhammer making himself heardI'm constantly amazed and hugely impressed by the work people put in to their community spaces around London. It puts my own garden efforts to shame.

    In the last week I've visited an inspiring allotment site where the imagination of the allotment holders add magic to what had once been a brownfield site. It's now full of wildlife, flowers, fruit and veg. I also heard about a community who lost their orchard…

  • Let history be the judge

    Cutsey blue tit - not afraid of the Grenadier Guards and constantly breaches security by flying over the walls.Our office is in central London and we look out on to a building site at the back and, at the front the imposing concrete bulk of Wellington barracks; presently home of the Grenadier Guards.

    It's not the sort of place you'd expect much biodiversity. This year, we've recorded a leap forward. Not only do we have blue tits and great tits nesting in the tree-lined street at the front, we've breeding blackb…

  • From Africa on a rush of wind

    They're here, they're noisy and they're most welcome. Swifts are once again soaring, swirling and diving over my home. It's amazing that they find their way back here year after year, all the way from their African wintering grounds. I like Hackney, but you have to ask, why do swifts come here?

    The answer is that with the watery, damp riches of both Hackney and Walthamstow Marshes and the River Lee nearby…

  • Holidaying at home? That's where charity begins.

    It's May and there's still no sign of the swifts that performed amazing sky dances over my house last year. Where are they?

    A black headed gull looking for a clean, safe place and some tasty, un-polluted grub. Can you help? Yes you can, join us today to make a real difference to the world.I've been away over the Bank Holiday, enjoying the Suffolk coast and fresh sea breezes and was hoping the swifts would be back to welcome me home. We went to Orford, where swallows and martins put on a good show, but they simply can't compare with the grace, style and sheer exuberance…