Do you have a pond, and if so have you checked it recently to see if you have any frog or toad spawn yet? Frog spawn can sometimes be seen before Christmas but March is the normal time for frogs and toads to start spawning, and they can often be seen crossing the roads at dusk as toads in particular are very particular about where they breed and often migrate back to their ancestral breeding ponds each year.

To help the toads cross the roads to get to their ponds, the Toads on Roads project by Froglife registers these sites as ‘migratory crossings’ and helps coordinate local Toad Patrols. There are several across Bedfordshire and you may see signs like this one in Heath and Reach. Then when conditions are right, you can see people in the evening on Toad Patrol wearing bright yellow jackets by the side of the road carrying buckets ready to help toads cross the road.

And don’t worry they help frogs across too.

Christmas seems a long time ago now but there’s still plenty of time before school starts again and there’s plenty of things you can do to help the wildlife in your garden on these cold winter days.

• Birds struggle to find food and you can help by putting out food for the birds. Getting a good set of feeders and the right mix of food can have a major impact on the birds. Here are some of the birds to look out for in your garden this winter and the best food to attract them.
• Birds need water too and as water freezes quickly, you can help by making a bird bath and topping it up with fresh water every day.
• If you made the Minibeast Hibernation Home from our newsletter, on sunny days you could have a look to see if any insects have left their home for a while to enjoy some sunshine. Remember, don’t disturb them though. Don’t worry if you haven’t made one yet, there’s still time.
• If you have a pond in your garden, keep a close watch on it and if you see a frog swimming under the ice of your garden pond this winter, it may need your help. You can help by floating a ball on the pond surface or gently breaking the ice or thawing it with warm water to allow more oxygen to penetrate.

We would love to hear what is happening in your garden this year, so please let us know.

The YounGnats Autumn/Winter Newsletter is now available so why not download a copy for ideas of what you can do this half-term.

The BNHS YounGnats Programme for this winter is now available. We have arranged some events especially for families and young people so why not come along and explore the wildlife of Beds. Visitors are always welcome so why not bring your friends along?

The events are listed under Forthcoming Events so remember to check soon to see if any more events have been added.

It’s still summer holidays but autumn is fast approaching so we’ve developed a list of some of the wildlife you can see in Autumn. And remember, don’t forget to tell us what you see.

It’s the start of school holidays, yeah, and we all want to be outside having fun so we’ve added three new things for you to do now, or at any time of the year – Make a Bird Bath, Make a Bee Hotel and Make a Pooter to look for tiny insects.

The big butterfly count is a nationwide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment. It was launched in 2010 and has rapidly become the world’s biggest survey of butterflies. Over 46,000 people took part in 2013, counting 830,000 individual butterflies and day-flying moths across the UK.

big butterfly count 2014 will take place from Saturday 19 July – Sunday 10 August 2014.

Simply count butterflies for 15 minutes during bright (preferably sunny) weather during the big butterfly count. We have chosen this time of year because most butterflies are at the adult stage of their lifecycle, so more likely to be seen. Records are welcome from anywhere: from parks, school grounds and gardens, to fields and forests. Please submit your records here.

We have a wonderful collection of antlers, beetles, crickets, dragonflies and much, much more. We take our Nature Table to various events around the county, the last one was at Studham May Fair on the 10th May, and the next one is at Kempston Fun Day on 23rd August.

Why not come along and feel the weight of the deer antlers and try one of our quizzes.

Aided by our friend Peter Topley, we have another activity to help you amuse yourselves and learn more about wildlife in your very own gardens. Snails and Slugs are commonplace in our gardens and Peter has produced for us a photographic Identification Sheet for you to download and see what you can see what Snails and Slugs you can find on your own door step – well, close to it, anyway. 🙂