The following features in this garden help wildlife:

• berry-bearing plants have been planted.
• seed heads are left on plants to provide food.
• log-piles have been provided for insects and other invertebrates.
• piles of leaves are left to provide winter homes for insects and nesting materials for hedgehogs.
• ivy is allowed to climb trees.
• bird feeders have been set up October 2003.
• bird bath provided (July) 2003.
• all weeds when pulled out are left nearby to rot.
• only the following plants have been treated with insecticide due to leaf cutters: Polygonatum multiflorum and Magnolia 'Star Wars'.
• no slug killer has been used on the "wild" part of the garden only around the hostas in the more formal part of the garden
• several pools have been created - the largest has been in existence since 1994, the small pools on spring lines have been made during June/July 2003.

These points above need to be reviewed in relation to work done by the BUGS project, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield University. For a summary of this research project - see thoughts. This has been paraphrased and summarised (with permission) from an article published in "The Garden" Journal of the RHS, vol. 129, part 5, May 2004. This particular volume has been dedicated to Biodiversity and gardening - a very significant contribution to this topic - the RHS should be congratulated on highlighting and bringing together such articles into one volume. Let us hope that further articles are forthcoming in the near future.

Nov. 17th 03 - the birds are eating the bird seed at such a rate that the feeders need filling every day, amazing! Coal and blue tits are the main visitors, but finches are frequent. Around the feeders there is always a robin, blackbird and thrush.

The largest pond is now being cleaned of surface growth and leaves, ready for the frogs and toads which have appeared as early as January in previous years. All material from the pond is left on the edge of the pond for any aquatic animals to easily find their way back. (top)

Dec. 14th 03 - frogs are already in the largest pond. The birds mostly tits and finches are eating the seeds from the feeders at an amazing rate - the feeders have to be filled almost every day and 8 fat balls disappeared in one week. By the way there are no squirrels feeding on these yet! A black bird is a constant visitor beneath the feeders including two cheeky robins. Collared doves also visit to take some of the seed. Bees are madly working the Mahonia if it is sunny for a few hours around midday. I Red Admiral (Vanessa atlanta) seen on Mahonia.

Dec. 23rd 03 - miserable with heavy sleety showers, but as a compensation the bird feeders have been incredibly busy. Very difficult to give accurate figures of how many birds have visited, but the surrounding bushes have been like an aviary. One had the pleasure of watching these birds and it was especially pleasing to see the Greater Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major) consuming peanuts and attacking the fat balls. The following species were noted at 3 p.m. over a half hour period:

It must be borne in mind that not all of the above were eating from the feeders but were seen around in the close vicinity.

Dec. 30th 03 - Solitary Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) bullies his way with all the other birds visiting the feeders. Bumble Bee (Bombus terrestris) seen flying from Prunus subhirtella in Criccieth. (top)

Jan. 2nd 04 - Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) seems to have got the hang of attacking the fat balls! Bumble Bees very active on the Prunus subhirtella in Criccieth - at least 6 working the blossom. Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) very active on the Mahonia 'Charity' again.

Jan. 4th 04 - Finches in general seem very fond of eating the flowers and buds of Prunus subhirtella. Solitary moth seen several evenings - last night 6.00 p.m. and previous night. A flock of Long-Tailed Tits (Aegithalos caudatus) descended on the peanut feeders (at least 12 birds).

Perhaps this is the Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria) - only a guess and if you can confirm or identify, please contact.

January 26th 2004 - The weather has really turned cold and looks like snow. On Sunday (Jan. 24th) 3 buzzards were above the garden mewing for well over an hour. Honey bees are active whenever there is sunshine and not too much wind. Again on Sunday they were working the Galanthus clumps throughout the garden. No bumble bees have been seen yet, although in a Criccieth garden about 2 miles away, bumble bees have been very active on Mahonia japonica/bealii. The birds eat frantically and no new species have been noted, although when peanuts are spilt when filling the feeders 2 jays come down on the patio area. The long tailed tits are fascinating to watch, little lumps of feather and are quite tame as well.

A further development to increase biodiversity in part of this garden, has been to change the nature of the lawn along side the road. At the moment, this is mowed regularly as a more formal lawn and due to treatment with fertilizers containing herbicides, there are hardly any other species other than Festuca rubra. Even Bellis perennis has been successfully eradicated. This is being redressed and will be managed as a wild flower grassland. The first step has been to heavily dress the area with a mixture of crushed limestone and magnesium limestone to alter the overall pH from an average of 6.0 to hopefully over 7.00. This will allow a wider range of wild species to be planted and maintained. This has now been left to settle until the spring when wild flower plugs will be planted. (top)

Frog spawn 1st Feb.. 2004	Frog spawn all at one end of pool	Frogs ready to spawn	Frogs everywhere	Frogs mating

February 1st 2004 - Spring is here!! - Frog spawn and frogs mating - straight after last weeks snow (very little here), ice and hard frosts. Camellia flowers lost due to the frosts, but are quickly being replaced by new ones. Hamamelis and the Daphne remain unscathed as does Sarcococca confusa. Galanthus nivalis is at it's best and when the sun comes out, the bees fed on its pollen. The same bird species continue to feed voraciously!
February 6th 2004 - At their height (2nd - 3rd) there were well over 100 frogs mating in the pool, there is much more frog spawn than usual produced. Today there are only a few frogs left(Feb. 9th - only one adult frog seen).
February 15th 2004 - newts seen coming up for air in pond. Few years back all the tadpoles disappeared - was it because of the newts eating them? This was a possibility so I am told. Will it happen again? Bumble bees (3) seen foraging in the garden in the early afternoon - don't know which species though. Honey bees everywhere, working everything in flower; most collecting nectar rather than pollen, the exception being those bees working the Crocus. Birds very active, no new species but a wren seemed oblivious to my presence for most of the afternoon. A number of daffodils are now opening. The Galanthus are nearly over and looking bedraggled.
22nd February 2004 - first cut for lawn.

Starling on fat ball	Blue tits on feeder	Robin feeding on peanuts	Hamamelis and birds on feeder	Birds on feeder 27 Feb. 04

27th February 2004 - previous week very cold and culminating in this heavy snowfall. Difficult to keep up with the demands of these birds to keep them fed! (top)