The Urban Garden as a Refuge for Wildlife
The beauty of our wildlife is its adaptability and willingness to live alongside its human neighbours, taking full advantage where it can. It knows nothing of our arbitrary boundaries and will happily inhabit any area that is suitable to its needs, whether city, town or countryside. It is estimated that two-thirds of London’s land area is green space (private gardens, parks, sports grounds, wildlife habitats, cemeteries, railway embankments and wasteland) or water (rivers, canals, lakes, ponds, marshes and wetlands). With increasing pressure on our green spaces, destruction of natural habitats and the anti-wildlife approach of modern industrial farming, it is the humble garden that is becoming a valuable refuge for a lot of wildlife, especially birds.
Even a modest sized garden can provide opportunities for attracting numerous species. In return you will be rewarded by the sound of birdsong, the joy of identifying visiting bird species, the entertainment of acrobatic squirrels, and the wonder of watching a colourful butterfly or meandering bee. At the same time you can be happy in the knowledge that, especially in harsh winters, your efforts are contributing to the survival of each of the amazing characters that will regularly visit.
This page shows the wide range of wildlife that regularly visits my urban garden.
Even a modest sized garden can provide opportunities for attracting numerous species. In return you will be rewarded by the sound of birdsong, the joy of identifying visiting bird species, the entertainment of acrobatic squirrels, and the wonder of watching a colourful butterfly or meandering bee. At the same time you can be happy in the knowledge that, especially in harsh winters, your efforts are contributing to the survival of each of the amazing characters that will regularly visit.
This page shows the wide range of wildlife that regularly visits my urban garden.
The most exciting visitors to the garden are a pair of foxes.
Garden Birds
With wild habitats increasingly under threat our gardens have become a life line for many birds. They need our help, not just in winter, but all year round. In spring they are raising young and adult birds are run ragged, constantly flying backwards and forwards to provide for their demanding offspring, so having a convenient refuelling stop will be welcome. In summer, following the moving out of their offspring, the adults are in desperate need to building up reserves. At the same time the hot weather makes a clean supply of fresh water critical to their survival.
Many familiar garden species are in decline, including song thrushes (increased chemical use on farms has seen a near catastrophic decline in numbers), starlings (despite often seen in large and spectacular murmurations starling numbers have declined by 66% since the 1970s) and house sparrows (numbers of which have declined so sharply that you are considered lucky to see more than 1 in your garden), all of which I am delighted to say are common visitors to me garden.
Birds know a good thing when they see it and our gardens can easily be adapted to create a welcome place for them to visit. Provide food, water, security (in the form of hedges and shrubs in which to take refuge when threatened) and nesting sites and sooner or later they will find you.
Here are the birds that are regular visitors to the garden.
Many familiar garden species are in decline, including song thrushes (increased chemical use on farms has seen a near catastrophic decline in numbers), starlings (despite often seen in large and spectacular murmurations starling numbers have declined by 66% since the 1970s) and house sparrows (numbers of which have declined so sharply that you are considered lucky to see more than 1 in your garden), all of which I am delighted to say are common visitors to me garden.
Birds know a good thing when they see it and our gardens can easily be adapted to create a welcome place for them to visit. Provide food, water, security (in the form of hedges and shrubs in which to take refuge when threatened) and nesting sites and sooner or later they will find you.
Here are the birds that are regular visitors to the garden.
Bluetit and a windswept Robin.
Chaffinch and Collared Dove.
Long-tailed Tit and Coal Tit.
Great Tit and Starling.
Goldfinch and Song Thrush.
Blackbird and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Magpie and Nuthatch.
Greenfinch (right of long-tailed tit) and Jackdaw.
Feral Pigeon and a pair of Wood Pigeons.
Bullfinch
Additional visitors include:
Redwings
Wrens,
Siskins
Jays
House Sparrows
Parakeets
Redwings
Wrens,
Siskins
Jays
House Sparrows
Parakeets
Even more exciting is when the adult birds bring their fledglings into the garden and introduce them to the feeders.
While one young robin demands to be fed and another pair try to work it out for themselves.
Young Jackdaws are amongst the most comical and grumpy looking of the new visitors.
Juvenile Bluetits and Goldfinches have only a hint of the colouring of adult birds.
While the juvenile Nuthatch is happy to take a plunge in the bird bath the young Starling appears far from impressed at the prospect.
Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers can be differentiated from adult birds by their red skullcaps.
With lots of siblings there is always plenty of squabbling amongst the young starlings (which don't take on their adult plumage until they moult at the end of summer.
Young Blackbird and Dunnock begging to be fed by parent.
Attracting Birds into the Garden
When it comes to attracting birds into the garden there are 3 simple steps.
1. Provide food by hanging up bird feeders with high-calorie food, such as fat balls, suet, peanuts and sunflower seeds. These can be hung anywhere there is space and some feeders can be stuck to windows, so a lack of a garden need not necessarily be an insurmountable problem. When positioning feeders it is best to locate them close to trees, hedges or shrubs to provide quick cover should any birds feel threatened. It is also worth noting that some birds - e.g. robins and blackbirds - are essentially ground feeders so prefer their food to be available either on the ground or from a platform. Again, if feeding close to the ground be aware of predators, especially cats.
1. Provide food by hanging up bird feeders with high-calorie food, such as fat balls, suet, peanuts and sunflower seeds. These can be hung anywhere there is space and some feeders can be stuck to windows, so a lack of a garden need not necessarily be an insurmountable problem. When positioning feeders it is best to locate them close to trees, hedges or shrubs to provide quick cover should any birds feel threatened. It is also worth noting that some birds - e.g. robins and blackbirds - are essentially ground feeders so prefer their food to be available either on the ground or from a platform. Again, if feeding close to the ground be aware of predators, especially cats.
2. Provide a regular supply of clean water for drinking, but equally importantly for bathing. Birds with clean feathers are more able to insulate themselves and are therefore more likely to survive a cold spell than birds with dirty or greasy feathers. As with feeders it important that birds feel safe, so positioning water close to cover will be a benefit, although not so close that the birds could be ambushed. Remember that wet feathers will make it harder for a bird to take to the air.
3. Install nest boxes (preferably in sheltered spots away from direct sunlight – NE facing is often best). Come the lengthening of daylight at the start of the year garden birds will begin searching out nesting sites, so this is a good time to clean out existing boxes and put new ones up.
Having plenty of nesting material close by will add to the attractiveness of your nest box as a potential home - bundles of straw, wool, dried grass, feathers, hair and coir fibres can all tied up and placed close to the nest box.
Having plenty of nesting material close by will add to the attractiveness of your nest box as a potential home - bundles of straw, wool, dried grass, feathers, hair and coir fibres can all tied up and placed close to the nest box.
Other Visitors
Nectar-rich plants will attract all kind of invertebrates, such as butterflies - Peacock, Comma (above), Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral (below) and White (bottom).
No garden would be complete without its spiders.
Grey squirrels are common visitors to many gardens and often entertain with their acrobatic attempts to raid bird feeders.
Amongst the rarer visitors were this Buff Ermine moth and a cricket.
Care should always be taken when tidying up during winter as frogs (such as the common frog pictured), toads and newts often like an untidy pile to pass the coldest months.
Attracting Invertebrates
One way to make your garden attractive to a host of beneficial insects, including spiders, ladybirds and solitary bees, that will repay you by pollinating your plants and helping to remove pests, is to create a bug house.
Bug houses don't require anything expensive or complicated and are a great way to find a use for all those broken pots, tiles and bricks, bits of wood and bamboo, and pine cones, rocks and stones. You can be as simplistic or as inventive as you like - insects are not fussy tenants. Bug houses are also a great project for involving children and for introducing them to the amazing world of mini-beasts.