Wildlife in your garden by Dr Colin Ryall

February and March see first signs of spring, as the weather warms and days lengthen wildlife becomes more active, but unpredictable warm snaps encouraging emergence and breeding can be interrupted by a sudden freeze. Wild food is still hard to find, berries and nuts are mostly gone and insects, slugs, worms may still be hiding. […]

Through December and January, insects are hard to find so many birds depend on berries and other fruit. Insects survive winter in various ways. Most species overwinter as eggs or pupae. Some butterflies (brimstones, comma, peacock, small tortoiseshell, red admiral) and queen bumblebees slow down metabolism and enter a dormant state called diapause. If the

October and November is a time of change for our garden birds for several reasons. From August birds leave gardens to take advantage of a glut of natural food – berries, nuts, seed and invertebrates – and they haven’t fully returned yet. As breeding ends some birds, like tits, finches, starlings and corvids forget territories

June and July see wildlife at its peak activity. Swifts are screaming, bees are buzzing and grasshoppers chirping. Almost every flower has an insect searching for nectar and/or pollen. And don’t forget flying ants! What to look out for Native flowers showing best from June include Oxo-eye, Knapweeds, Orchids, Vetches, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Scabious, Yellow Rattle,

In August and September we expect pollinators to be plentiful, but with rain and wind, numbers can be down. Insectivorous birds like swifts, swallows and flycatchers are declining long-term because of ever decreasing numbers of flying insects. High summer is a peak for various nectar-rich flowers including knapweed, thistles and birds-foot trefoil. Seeds are setting