Every year the RSPB asks people to take part in the Big Garden Bird Watch. It’s really good fun and as simple as counting the birds you see in your garden, from your balcony or in your local park for one hour between 28 and 30 January 2022. In 2021, more than one million people took part in Big Garden Birdwatch, all coming together to look out for birds and to find out how they are faring. Why not join in and be one in…

The team at the Flatford Wildlife Garden have enjoyed being involved with the Dedham Vale AONB led Hedgehog Friendly Village project with East Bergholt. Further information about the project can be found here. 

Earlier in the year we ran a free trail around the RSPB wildlife garden with information about hedgehogs to encourage helping them in our own gardens. The RSPB website also has lots of advice about helping hedgehogs.

As you may know…

 
 (Credit Aardman/Netflix).  

We’re delighted to be partnering with Netflix and Aardman on Robin Robin, a half-hour, stop-motion, festive story for the whole family, about a young robin trying to fit in. It’s debuting on Netflix on 24 November – get the date in your diary! 

To celebrate, we’re inviting you to join exclusive Robin Robin-themed adventure trails right here at the RSPB this Christmas season. 

Over 30…

Now that Halloween is here, it’s time to carve the pumpkin! But before you get set to cut out the classic pumpkin face, perhaps you’d like to try a new design this year? Group of three young girls birdwatching from viewing screen alongside seasonal pumpkin whilst enjoying special Halloween trail, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen Nature Reserve, Norfolk, October. Photo: Phil Barnes (rspb-images.com)

Take a look at these inspirational…

Bat Week runs from 24th - 31st October to raise awareness of these amazing nocturnal creatures we have little contact with. They are the only flying mammals, have good eyesight (contrary to belief) and can live for up to 30 years!

Horseshoe Bat: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Bats are an important part of our eco system pollinating plants and spreading seed through their nutrient rich droppings, and they reduce the need for…

Thursday 14th October is World Sight Day, a global event bringing awareness to vision impairment, blindness and eye health. For humans, sight can be the sense we most strongly rely on to the extent that we perhaps may not give enough attention to the joy our other senses can bring to us. 

 Blue-tit on flowering honeysuckle: Ray Kennedy (rspb-images.com)

When we talk about gardens and especially wildlife gardens, we focus very…

Wednesday 6th October is National Badger Day, a day to celebrate, learn about and potentially help one of the British Isles, oldest native wildlife species.

Badger: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

They are our largest land-living carnivore that can live up to 14 years in the wild in a family group of 3 -14 individuals. Their setts can be quite extensive covering distances underground of anything from around 20 to 100 meters and…

As our autumn gardens change, so does the visiting wildlife. Pollinator numbers have diminished as they either dye off or prepare themselves for over wintering, amphibians become less visible as they seek out damp, dark shelters to hibernate in and even our birdlife changes. You may see more Jays about as they scavenge for acorns to feed on and store away for the winter. They can carry three or four at a time taking them…

We are familiar with the spring and autumn equinoxes. Our Autumn equinox occurred yesterday at about 8.20pm when the earth's equator in the northern hemisphere was directly below the centre of the sun making the length of daylight and darkness equal ... well, almost.

 Sunset over lagoon, Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve, Staffordshire. Photo: Colin Wilkinson (rspb-images.com)

The word  Equinox is derived from the Latin words…

The Great Big Green Week starts today Saturday 18^th September and runs all through next week.

It’s the largest event for climate and nature ever seen in the UK where thousands of events will take place across the country to highlight the urgency of climate change and get communities taking action towards preserving their green spaces. You can find the nearest events near you on the Big Green Week interactive map

Although we have had butterflies and moths fluttering about our gardens over the last 3/4 months or so, there are still some rather large caterpillars about. Have you ever encountered a Hawk-moth caterpillar?  

 Elephant hawk-moth caterpillar. Photo: Nancy Brown

They're quite spectacular and some are 9/10cm long; the Deaths head hawk-moth can grow as large as 12.5cm! but they are rarely seen as it's actually a migrant moth…

It's Organic September! a month long incentive to raise awareness of organic practices and products.

 photo: Rosemary Despres (rspb-images.com)

"Organic" refers to agricultural practices that actively work with nature as much as possible for environmentally friendly production using crop rotation, natural manures and embracing natural pest control. The concept avoids the use of artificial pesticides, fertilisers…

Autumn Dahlias are magnificent at this time of year, they are fantastic border fillers to put in gaps or areas of the garden where there is little colour or fading vegetation.

 Nancy Brown: Flatford Wildlife Garden Visitor Centre & Bishop of llandaff dahlias in bloom.

It is the Single-flowered Dahlias that are beneficial to our bees, butterflies and other garden pollinators because they expose the centre of the plant where…

So many of us were keen to experiment with wild-flower meadow areas in our gardens this year; allowing the grasses to grow long, sewing wild flower seeds, or seedlings ... but many of these areas are now past their best. In late summer, these wilder areas evolve to look somewhat brown and scraggly rather than fresh and vibrant! If like me, you still have some wild flowers blooming, it can feel a bit contradictory to cut the…

Although there's lots to see and do at the Flatford Wildlife Garden, there are of course many other Wildlife Gardens to visit throughout the UK.

 Photo: David Levenson (rspb-images.com)

Even though the early flourish of romantic summer wild flowers such as cuckoo flower, oxeye daisies, cowslips and campions may have bloomed and gone, there are many later flowering species to enjoy, still offering nectar for our garden pollinators…

Many of our early summer blooms have faded and can leave the garden looking untidy and browny-tinged spoiling all that lush green! It’s amazing how a bit of dead-heading and cutting down spent perennials can make everything look so much better but there are few plants we could hold back on that benefit our garden wildlife.

White tailed bumblebee on Cornflowers: Jenny Tweedie (rspb-images.com)

Sunflowers may look tatty…

What exactly is a herb? Is it simply a plant that we eat?

Hummingbird hawk moth on red valerian: Ernie Janes (rspb-images.com)

It’s actually more specific than that because vegetables, fruits and legumes are also plants that we eat; a herb is a plant with fragrant or flavoursome leaves that are also used for medicinal purposes. They are not usually the main dish, they tend to be added to dishes for flavour. Herbs also …

The Big Butterfly Count is the world’s biggest annual survey collecting numbers of UK butterflies and day flying moths.

 Speckled wood butterfly: Genevieve Leaper (Rspb images)

This year, it runs for three weeks from this Friday 16^th until Sunday 8^th August when participants are encouraged to spend just 15 minutes counting and recording their sightings online or with the app. The top five butterflies from last year…

Our native amphibians that we may come across in the garden are toads, frogs and newts but they are only likely to be spotted if there is water nearby.

 Common toad: Ray Kennedy (rspb-images.com)

The word Amphibian comes from the Greek word 'amphibious' which means to live a double life, in their case on land and in water. This is where they differ from our garden reptiles which only live on land.

Although amphibia…

Borage is a tall blue wild flower that grows up to 60cm high and its flowers can be used as pretty garnishes in summer salads and drinks.

 Borago Officinalis / Common Borage: Ernie Janes (rspb-images.com)

It can sometimes be confused with Green Alkanet or pale purple Comfrey, or even a purple Vipers Bugloss but that’s because they are all in the same family known as Boraginaceae.  Plants in this family share many similar characteristic…

Monday 21^st June is our summer solstice, our longest day followed by our shortest night; a perfect time to sit outside in the evening to look out for bats.

Brown Long-eared Bat: Dale Sutton (rspb-images.com)

We have 17 breeding species of bats here in the UK, and some of the most common we are likely to see flying in and around our gardens are the common Pipistrelle, the Soprano pipistrelle which is smaller than the common…

Swifts, swallows and house-martins are not known as "garden" birds as they don't land or feed in our gardens but at this time of year they are often flying around and over our gardens.

Swallows feeding: Richard Bowler (rspb-images.com)

The high pitched purring call of a swift is a delightful sound of summer that we hear from May to July as they swoop through the air to feed on flying insects. Paul Stancliffe from…

What is the difference between a weed with flowers and a wildflower? Well, not very much really, the RHS says “Weeds are wild plants in the wrong place.” So if you like the look of it and it’s not a problem in your garden, you can call it a wildflower!

Scarlet Tiger Moth on Green Alkanet: Richard Revels (rspb-images.com)

Garden flowers have been deliberately bred and cultivated over time for gardeners, maximising…

Do you know your common caterpillars?  They come in such an array of colours, shapes and textures and it’s their time now and through early summer to get munching through your precious veg seedlings and young plants in preparation to pupate!

  Dot Moth Caterpillar: Jennie Smith (rspb-images.com)

Try not to reach immediately for the pest control spray, there are lots of things we gardeners can try to protect our precious…

World Bee Day was set up by the United Nations to raise awareness of the importance of bees. They are one of the world’s leading pollinators of plants and their numbers are dramatically decreasing, mainly due to loss of their natural habitat.

White-tailed Bumblebee: Tom Mason (rspb-images.com)

They not only need the pollen end nectar of flowers to feed, they also require undisturbed places to nest like dry ground and…