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The countdown to the Big Garden Birdwatch is on! It’s now just three weeks until it’s time to sit down, perhaps in your favourite chair, and look out your window for just one hour, counting the birds in your garden. So, how can you make the most of your Birdwatch? Just how are you going...

Add a splash of colour to your garden this weekend by turning your balcony, patio, or window ledge into a miniature garden. Although window boxes , hanging baskets , planters and tubs may not be the largest of areas, you'll find lots of insects more than grateful for your efforts. Just imagine being...

The weather at the weekend was perfect for a picnic. And where there's food, there also always seems to be no shortage of wasps hoping to take advantage of it! In-between quite a bit of arm flapping and strange dancing, it's hard to find time to really look at wasps. But this image of one...

You get a call from the window, 'come quick, we've got long-tailed tits on the feeder again'. You rush over as fast as you can, but it always seems too late - they've flown off without giving you as much as a glimpse of their tails! If this sounds like your experience of 'watching'...

January is a quiet month in most gardens, so it’s a great time to take advantage of the lull in time-consuming jobs like mowing lawns and tending veggie plots, by plannin g for the year ahead. Gardens are a vital resource for Britain’s wildlife, and it’s not just the big gardens...

Don't forget Christmas stockings for your garden birds... these recycled bird feeders make a great holiday activity for the children: http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/makeanddo/activities/birdfeeder.asp?step=0 And, as ever, don't forget to share your photos once your feeders are up!

The past few weeks have been tough. The weather's made our lives difficult, but it's been even tougher for our birds and wildlife. So it's a good job that we can do our bit to help. I've been trudging up my snowy garden to feed the birds every morning - before feeding myself, of course...

It's almost a year since we dug a pond in our garden - with the wholehearted blessing of our conservation-friendly landlord. What a year it's been. I only wish I'd done it earlier. There was hard work initially, when we dug a hole measuring 3.5 m x 2.5 m, and 0.75 m deep (about 11'...

Hi! How did you get on with Big Garden Birdwatch ? Hope you had time to sit down for an hour, grab a cuppa, a bacon butty, a few biscuits or maybe a slice of cake, depending on the time of day... Here are my results: Chaffinch , 8 Jackdaw , 5 Blackbird , 3 Dunnock , 3 Great tit , 3 Starling , 3 Blue...

As you may have read, this year sees the 30th Big Garden Birdwatch . To mark this special anniversary, I'm already putting together a cunning plan for my best Birdwatch ever... Strictly speaking, you don't need to do any special preparation for Big Garden Birdwatch. It's fine not to put out...

18 months ago, I planted a tree in my garden . It's had a tough time since. This most spindly of saplings has been bent double by autumn gales and prompted more than one bout of emergency midnight ‘staking’ in my dressing gown and slippers. But, against the odds, it has survived through...

Sometimes, it feels like my neighbours get all the best things on their side of the garden boundary. Sparrowhawks sitting on the fence, preening for hours. A young brown hare taking refuge from pouring rain, under their plastic garden furniture. Green woodpeckers drilling into their turf for ants. Song...

I'll admit it - I've become a terrible bore. In the three weeks since the big hole in my garden was filled with water, I've been unable to stop talking about it. I'm besotted by my new pond and its contents. Creating it wasn't easy. It took two days of hard labour by me and my mother...