W i l d l i f e   G a r d e n    

[Updated on 18^th November 2005]


The wildlife garden

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Introduction

The wildlife garden was originally a specific area of the garden but due to the need to squeeze in a shed, the area is much smaller so I've had to incorporate more for the wildlife around the rest of the garden. The remains of this area are now set aside for native wildflowers which wouldn't do well in the rest of the garden.

Around the rest of the garden there are:

	H e d g e h o g   N e s t i n g   B o x We definitely have at least one hedgehog which visits the garden but the hedgehog box was added late this year so it may have already chosen somewhere else to hibernate.
	B a t   B o x The bat box had at least 3 small bats in it last winter but they moved out somewhere else for the summer. Hopefully they'll be back again this winter.
	B i r d   B o x e s So far none of the boxes have been used for nesting, possibly because they were in the wrong places. So this year I've moved them to see if I can get better results.
	I n s e c t   H o u s e s These are bundles of hollow stems used by ladybirds and lacewings etc. to overwinter.
	L o g   P i l e This is now in the woodland corner and seems so be rotting down nicely. I haven't had a look to see what is in there, but I do see the occasional frog hanging around this area so I guess it must be doing its job.
	B i r d   T a b l e This is where all of the country's missing sparrows have gone. We have dozens of them. Also sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes, robins, various tits and finches. And one kestrel.
	B i r d   B a t h This is mostly used by Ben as a place to wash pebbles, but the birds do get to use it occasionally as well.

There are separate sections below for plants for birds and insects and there will eventually be a list of which visitors I get.

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Planting Guide

Wildflowers Ragged Robin [lychnis flos-cuculi] Red Campion [silene dioica] Cornflower [centaurea cyanus] Common Fumitory [fumaria officinalis]	? silene ? ? ?
Hedging Firethorn [pyracantha] [cotoneaster] Snowberry [symphoricarpus albus] Blackthorn [prunus spinosa] Hawthorn [crategus monogyna] Virginia Creeper [pathenocissus quinquefolia] Filbert [corylus maxima 'Purpurea'] Hazel [corylus avellana] Pheasant Berry [leycesteria]	corylus corylus prunus leycesteria crategus
Berries for birds Pheasant Berry [leycesteria] Cotoneaster [cotoneaster] Roses [rosa] Snowberry []	leycesteria cotoneaster rosa ?
Flowers for insects Butterfly Bush [buddleia davidii]

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Wildlife

Mammals Grey Squirrel [sciurus carolinensis] Hedgehog [erinaceus europaeus] Pipistrelle bats [pipistrellus pipistrellus, pipistrellus pygmaeus] Red Fox [vulpes vulpes]	Hedgehog
Birds Blackbird [turdus merula] Blackcap [] Blue tit [parus caeruleus] Chaffinch [fringilla coelebs] Coal Tit [] Dunnock [prunella modularis] Goldcrest [regulus regulus] Goldfinch [carduelis carduelis] Great tit [parus major] Greenfinch [carduelis chloris] House sparrow [passer domesticus] Jay [garrulus glandarius] Kestrel [falco tinnunculus] Magpie [pica pica] Pied wagtail [motacilla alba] Robin [erithacus rubecula] Song thrush [turdus philomelos] Starling [sturnus vulgaris] Woodpigeon [columba palumbus]
Amphibians Common frog [rana temporaria]
Butterflies/Moths Comma [polygonia c-album] Tortiseshell Red admiral [vanessa atalanta] Cabbage White Hummingbird Hawkmoth	Red Admiral Tortiseshell
Other invertebrates Leafhopper Ladybird White-lipped banded snail [cepaea hortensis] Brown-lipped snail Shield Bug Lacewing Sawfly Bluebottle Greenbottle Garden Spider Harvestman Crane-fly Earthworm Ground beetle Bee Wasp	Dragonfly

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Additional Information

This section will contain links to additional related information both within this site and elsewhere on the web. If any of the links here are broken, please E-Mail a description of the problem to

• Martin & Anna's Website - Bug Report
• HTML validated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

	ARKive	Useful information about endangered wildlife
	Web of Hope	Practical steps you can take to improve your environment.
	RSPB	Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
	Garden Bird Supplies	Food etc. for garden birds
	British garden birds	British garden birds