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My daughters laugh at me. Openly. I've checked my flies and they're closed; there's no spinach stuck between my teeth and no one drew a moustache on me whilst I dozed in my chair. So, I was forced to ask, 'what's so funny?' It's when I start to talk about nature and...

The successful development of the Thames Estuary is our birthright. That was the assertion of the Rt Hon Eric Pickles, above, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. The Banner behind him reads 'Greater Thames' and he was speaking at the official launch of our Futurescape...

My day started with a real bang the other morning, when my bike tyre exploded. Everyone stared, wondering if it had been a gunshot. Forced to find another way in to work, I took full advatage of being on the bus and tube with commuters to eavesdrop ... and the conversation was not typical for a grey...

Dig out the bunting and buy the ingredients for a celebratory cake, it may soon be time to party. Thank you to everyone who contributed to our 2012 house sparrow survey , updating one completed in 2002. We asked you to tell us where sparrows live in London so we could compare the findings...

I was contacted by the Daily Mail this week about some photos they'd got of a fox looking for an easy meal at Barnes. Nothing unusual in that; it's what foxes do. It was what happened next that was fun. All the ducks, geese , coots and cormorants ganged-up in a rare moment of solidarity, effectively...

If you're going out with mates this evening and everyone's having a great time, stop it dead by saying the following out loud: "Today marks the fifth anniversary of laws preventing people from paving over front gardens without planning permission". Life and soul of the party you...

Autumn has fallen. Not with the gentle floating of a golden-brown leaf settling gently on the ground, but the subtlety of a lead pipe delivered by a cold-blooded thug. With a resounding thwump, leaves have carpeted the ground overnight, falling only slightly faster than the temperature. Not that I'm...

Walking along one of the boardwalks at Rainham with the sun washing your face and nothing demanding your attention is, in my book, one of the greatest luxuries in the world. If you ever get the chance to experience this level of bliss, then treasure it. There's something primal about the wide...

It's a bit like Sleeping Beauty rousing from her slumber .. I was so captivated by the Olympics (and will soon be an armchair expert in Paralympic sports too) that I had failed to notice, time had passed. Our garden birds, flitting busily around feeding their young, have completed their short...

Look out the window right now. Do see any house sparrows? I don't. In the nineties, London lost seven out of every ten sparrows and there were fears the cockney sparra could soon be extinct in the Capital. Bear in mind that this little grey and brown bird has more or less colonised the world,...

Role reversal is something we should play with. This week, in my family's eyes, I have been the evil developer laying waste to nature, spluttering a defence of: "Honest, it's for the best, you'll understand once I've finished this development..." The words sounded hollow...

The weird weather's still around but nature's soldiering on and is alight with action. The lawn I laid earlier this year is now thriving and has brought in a much wider range of birds to my garden. I've more thrushes, a wren, more finches and even a new blackbird challenging the resident...

What started as a failed £100 bet with my good friend last year,  turned into a bird challenge that I will never forget. Last May my cousin, my friend Joe and I attempted to prove that we could see 100 birds within the M25 in just 48 hours. Despite our best efforts, and because of events...

Cold, hard rain hit my face on the cycle ride in to work this morning, but the clear and loud song of a blackbird from a garden square in Bloomsbury is my over-riding memory of the commute. It's clarity and volume stood out from the rumble of London, adding a touch of magic to the usual soundtrack...

I apologise. I give in. I didn't mean it. SORRY! When I said there are no starling murmurations in London anymore in an interview about the Big Garden Birdwatch on BBC London, what I meant was that you don't see those huge, dense clouds of starlings that London once enjoyed. Yes. I know there...

How was it for you? I gave up smoking years ago but even I wince at the notion of £7.50 for a pack of twenty. £5 for your average bottle of wine may help me drink less and I rarely buy beer in London pubs 'cause I can't then afford the bus fare home. On the plus side for London...

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman's reassuring the RSPB, and the thousands who voiced concerns , that legal protection for the environment will remain as " strong as ever ". Phew. Job done? Not yet! While her announcement is welcome, the details of the full "Red Tape Challenge"...

Two new reports have shed new light on life on earth. The first claims to have found the world's oldest living organism and the second writes off that old phrase... 'there are plenty more fish in the sea'. The Mediteranean Sea is home to a organism that DNA testing dates as being 200,000...

Coots, moorhens, mallard, swans, geese, pigeons, crows, grey herons and even a couple of smew dotted the ice covering Regent's Park's lakes yesterday morning. They all seemed happy enough and some poked their heads under water through holes in the ice. Sometimes I wish I was a bird. That I...

This year's Big Schools' Birdwatch is underway and students across Greater London and the rest of the UK will be peering through their dusty classroom windows to see what birds they can spot enjoying the weak winter sunshine. It's certainly very different from this time last year, when...

The stormy winds have passed, leaving London's gardens looking grey and battered, so let's dream of better days ahead. The RSPB, along with 24 other organisations, want to transform our Capital’s grey spaces into colourful fields where Londoners can feel cool fresh grass between their...

This is going to be the year of the performer! The fastest. The most athletic. The ones that put in the effort to make a difference. I'm talking about volunteers and wildlife. Both actively pursue their goals; whether it's a speedy peregrine falcon diving on its prey over St Paul's cathedral...

Two of the many great things about London are the River Thames and the large number of open spaces you can escape to, spaces where you can cycle, fish, run, play, walk your dog, watch the world go by or simply rage against the machine. Much of London's infrastructure, from its sewers right through...

I whole-heartedly congratulate London Mayor Boris Johnson on his latest inflammatory comments . In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, the Conservative Mayor of London, has attacked the Government over its cuts to solar subsidies ; warning that halving the “feed-in tariff” would “slowly...

A silvery thread of sparkly water is the current focus of my life. It's a mental stream that bubbles and gurggles, carrying hope and energy as it gathers strength to become a swift flowing surge and then a powerful current out into the magnificent ocean of the world's conscience. Fancy words...