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Wasn't the weekend glorious? Saturday was the first day this year I was able to get outdoors and tart-up my garden. I cut the grass, forked over borders, gathered up fallen leaves, cleared old growth, sowed some seeds and enjoyed coming across some of the things that share this space. There was...

Dr. Michael Short is a Southwark resident, living within a few minutes walk of Mayor Boris Johnson's City Hall HQ, in the shadow of Tower Bridge. Like many Londoners, he cares about his community and the changes being done to it . Changes which all too often, forget what's there already, especially...

A dwarf daff is not a mighty oak. The one I'm talking about has bright yellow petals, which stand out proudly against the hard grey landscaping of our street. Best of all, the sight of some of these tiny flowers makes me smile. I helped do that. Some of my neighbours organised the planting...

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...

The Christmas dinner leftovers have been eaten and the overflowing recycling box collected, drawing a line under the festive excesses. Last year, my youngest daughter still played with the empty cardboard boxes her presents had arrived in. At one point this year she did hurl into the air the corn...

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...

Have you ever stared at the side profile of City Hall? For years now I've wanted to stick a sparrow's head on it's teardrop shape, as it it would make a wonderful giant sparrow. A monumental nod to the cockney sparra's brave and chirpy character and its similarity to the London...

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...

I'm in danger of sounding like a doom-monger, but the fact is, London's blackbirds are vanishing. Yet another common garden bird to add to the list of species no longer thriving in the Capital. The difference with blackbirds is that your sightings (reported via our Make Your Nature Count survey...

Common Agricultural Policyzzzzzzzzzz. No. Don’t fall asleep. This is really important. The UK has no wilderness. Almost every inch of the UK is managed in one way or another. We live on a relatively small island that packs tons into its 94,500 square miles. Compare us with France’s 260...

Thousands. No millions. Sorry, forget that, it's probably billions. Yes, billions of ants have taken to the skies of London in their annual mating flight, and those that survive hungry birds and spiders' webs will soon shed their wings and die. The point to this apparently futile existence...

It was a beautiful morning in the city of Sondon but the Fat Controller was not happy. "My really useful engine is in the wrong place and its all the fault of those nasty conservationists." He harumphed, stamped his foot and clenched his fists. The previous day, Thomas, a cheeky, fussy little...

Interest's high and the question on everyone's lips is: "will the final statement be in the red , or the black?" I refer not to the banking crisis, not to the world economy, but to our Cockney Sparrow Count . It closes on Thursday 12 July, with a few days grace to submit results...

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,...

Lobbyists have been working hard cajoling reporters and editors this past week or two. What they must have spent pushing their pimped plans for a glossy airport they claim will solve all our ills could probably write off the national debt. Yes, I agree they could reclaim land from the Thames Estuary...

Frazzled. Everyone's frazzled and it's not just the air temperature. Defra's been frazzled by proposals to control buzzards around country estates where people pay to shoot pheasants. Suggestions included capturing buzzards and destroying nests around the estates. Eviction and imprisonment...

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...

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 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...