Little Things Count

While you might see a robin, blackbird or blue tit regularly in your garden or green space, there are in fact more 140 species of birds that have been spotted in British gardens.

Birds are a great indicator of biodiversity in a green space as they need trees/ hedges for shelter, a clean water source (like a pond or stream) to drink from and plenty of insects and berries to feast on.

In return, having lots of birds in your garden can help keep the space healthy. Birds will happily munch on caterpillars and aphids which in turn stop these eating your plants.

How many insects do you think there are in the world?

For every human alive it is estimated that there are 20 million insects or 16 billion for every square mile of dry land. That’s a lot of mouths to feed !

We like to use the name ‘minibeasts’ when talking about small animals like insects, snails, woodlice and worms.

Some have six or more legs whilst others like slugs, snails and worms have none .  And, they have needs too. You may have noticed that you get more spiders and insects in the house during the autumn and spring periods? They are looking for warm dry areas to live in, just like us

Did you know that every 3rd mouthful of food we eat, is because of the hard work of bees?

We need bees to help us pollinate some of our favourite foods such as apples, strawberries, tomatoes and blueberries.

From honey bees, to bumble bees to solitary bees, every one is important and the Little Things you can do in your garden or green space can help these little pollinators.

Did you know that your garden, however large or small, is part of a huge network of 15 million gardens across the UK.

Of course public open spaces like our woodlands and parks add considerably to this space, as do pots on balconies and window boxes.

By making a few careful choices, you can help make the plant spaces near you a biodiversity paradise, supporting birds, bugs, butterflies, and bees.

All of our British Butterflies tend to fly during the daytime whilst the majority of moths are nocturnal.

All moth and butterfly caterpillars feed on plants, some eating the leaves and some the stems. Some even live inside the plants that they are eating. Almost all adult butterflies and moths feed on nectar which they drink from flowers through a long tongue called a proboscis.

Most butterflies have a very short life cycle generally controlled by their favourite food source and the need to breed again quickly before they become a tasty morsel for another animal.