Towns and gardens

Built up areas and gardens might at first sight seem unlikely places for finding wildlife. Surprisingly they can provide homes for some of our most spectacular wildlife, from city peregrines to urban otters.

Gardens often support higher population densities of birds such as blackbirds, dunnocks and song thrushes than the wider countryside. Foxes, badgers and hedgehogs are all at home in our towns and gardens. Garden ponds provide refuges for frogs, common toads, newts and even grass snakes, and swifts, house martins and pipistrelle bats make our homes and buildings their breeding sites. Other wildlife, such as brown rats and house mice, may be less welcome, but have long thrived in urban areas.

Some birds, such as herring gulls and lesser black-backed gulls, have declined at their wild coastal breeding sites but are increasing their numbers in towns and cities. Even disused industrial wasteland can be fantastically rich in wildlife from bee orchids to rare minibeasts. Making your garden wildlife friendly can really benefit wildlife. For example house sparrows, song thrushes, dunnocks and starlings have all declined in the countryside, and are species of high conservation concern. They can benefit from simple actions to provide food and breeding habitats in our gardens.

Growing the right garden flowers will attract bumblebees and butterflies. Buddleia, hebe, red valerian, rosemary, marjoram and red currant are useful nectar providers. Street trees and urban parks also provide wildlife habitats.

Did you know?

There are estimated to be more than two million garden ponds in the UK and these are fantastic habitats for frogs and newts – vital now for these species as many countryside ponds have been filled in.

Wildlife to look out for:

Birds: Blackbird, song thrush, house sparrow, starling, collared dove, greenfinch, goldfinch, woodpigeon, dunnock, great tit, blue tit, wren, robin, and starling.

Mammals: grey squirrel, fox, hedgehog, house mouse, brown rat, muntjac deer, bank vole, common shrew.

Plants: Common poppy, Canadian fleabane, yarrow, rosebay willowherb, elder, oxford ragwort, thistles and even bee orchids.  

Minibeasts: Butterflies such as large white, small white, small tortoiseshell, red admiral and painted lady. Ladybirds, honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, hoverflies, migrant hawker dragonflies, ants, spiders, woodlice, craneflies (daddy longlegs), moths.