Just listened on i-player to BBC Radio 4's "A guide to garden wildlife" (Radio 4 Monday 9.30 am).
I have always hoped that the pile of cuttings I have rotting away under my wisteria is a good refuge toads and insects in winter. It seems that it could be particularly good for hibernating queen bumblebees. And hellebores are a good food source for them when they come out of hibernation, and I have several of them.
(I like hellebores, as they flower for ages!)
They were also talking about providing a home for red mason bees (whoops, didn't write down their name straight away so might not have got that right) as they are very good pollinating insects at the beginning of the season. I saved the stalks of the fennel when I cut it down in the spring and could use these to make nests next spring. Needs to be put in a sunny position, which severely limits its location in my garden in the springtime!
There was a comma butterfly in my garden this morning. Cycling back from helping out at the after school club at the kayak club, I passed the short grass near the ice skating rink where there were two green woodpeckers sitting in the grass. I've seen them flying before, but never still like that,
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