Season’s Greetings: Working with Wildlife

BY ROWAN LANNING

As spring begins to unfold in full force, there are many ways that individuals and communities alike can work with wildlife to help look after our non-human neighbours, promote biodiversity, and help amplify the beauty of our natural environments. There are many ways to do this, on all kinds of budgets and spaces both big and small. For example, a bird feeder will feed hungry birds for as long as it is filled, while an oak tree either planted or left to grow un-altered can support at least 67 species of moth, whose caterpillars feed woodland birds and provide bursts of protein to their young hatchling chicks or feed other bird and insect species with its sap. Even making the decision to avoid removing caterpillars from garden plants can help to feed birds such as blue tits.

A blue tit feeds on a green caterpillar on the branch of an oak tree (source: birdfact.com)

as blue tits.

Now is also the time to sow wildflower seeds in order to enjoy their blossoms and work with our pollinators. The most suitable time for sowing is anywhere from March to June, after the last of the frosts give way to warmer weather. To make the most of your wildflower seeds, it is ideal to prepare the seedbed in advance so that it is free of grass, weeds, and other plants which could risk out-competing the wildflowers. You may be familiar with No-Mow-May, or No-Mow-Summers, which we

will cover in greater depth when the summer season approaches, and its general principle applies here of delaying work until absolutely necessary to avoid disturbance of wildlife as much as possible. When in doubt, nature almost always knows best! So we can help our wildlife by observing and mimicking the patterns of nature in our own actions too.

Try paying careful attention to the nature around you this month –what lessons do your observations offer?

A wildflower meadow with species including trefoil, vetch, meadowsweet, yellow rattle, red clover, and more (source: connecting to nature ie)