Wildlife in a Wirral Garden

I hope you enjoy this informal selection of photographs, which aims to share just some of the wildlife which regularly visits my garden here in Wirral, England.

Since we began keeping chickens, we have a continual stream of wild birds who take advantage of the available poultry mix.  They treat the garden like a free buffet, and we're repaid with a continual symphony of birdsong - and a vastly reduced insect population.  My roses have never looked so good! 

Robins, wrens, collared doves, wood pigeons, sparrows, goldfinches, blue tits, great tits, thrushes, mistle thrushes, blackbirds, magpies, black-headed gulls and crows are among the regular visitors here, along with hedgehogs, frogs, toads and bats.  At the height of summer we even get occasional hummingbird hawk-moths, which are attracted by the red valerian which spreads itself freely along one garden border.

Enticing birds and insects, or other wildlife, into your garden is easier than you may think, even if you live in a city. If you provide food and water, the wildlife will find its way to you.

There's no need to purchase a fancy bird table. Feeders can easily be hung up on an old nail or hooked over a small branch. Birds like seed and seeds pressed into fats best. If you place a shallow dish of water on the floor, you'll be able to enjoy watching them bathe too.

Insects require food too, and if you grow pollen-rich flowers like lavender, red valerian, foxgloves, buddleia, poppies or other wildflowers native to your locale, then your garden or veranda will soon be visited by butterflies, bees and moths.

Encouraging children to watch the wildlife which visits their own garden is a great way to get them interested in the natural world. Maybe you could create a wildlife corner, with a small pond, as part of a summer science project?