December is a time when traditionally we have brought greenery into our homes as festive decorations. Prominent amongst these are the Holly and the Ivy, made famous by the Christmas carol.
November may well bring us the first real signs of winter and confine our wildlife watching to the back garden. Around twenty years ago I planted a Christmas tree with a few roots on it
October will see a reduction in the number and variety of species to be seen in our gardens so this is a good time to undertake a bit of maintenance that will benefit your local wildlife.
September will herald the changing seasons, although I’m sure we are all keeping our fingers crossed for an Indian summer. One of the first signs of autumn is the sight of swallows gathering restlessly on the telegraph wires.
August brings those lazy days of summer for we humans, but for many animals it is a busy time of year with new mouths to feed. Bumblebees are reputedly the busiest animals in the garden
July should present us with a better chance of seeing birds of prey now that the young have fledged and are out and about. Sparrowhawks are increasingly common these days
June is a month when some spectacular jewels can appear in the garden, hopefully taking advantage of the summer sunshine. Amongst the brightest of these are the various species of damselfly.
May should see more animals out and about as the weather warms up. Butterflies that overwintered as pupae, such as orange tip and holly blue, will now have hatched.
April should see most of our common garden birds settled in their territories with nesting well under way. Our blackbirds nested last year in an overgrown clematis, but as this has now collapsed they will have to find somewhere new.
March will hopefully bring the first serious signs of spring and amongst these will be
animals coming out of hibernation. The defining feature of mammalian hibernation is that the body temperature drops to 10 degrees Celsius or less
