Books to help protect urban wildlife in England

this is how a robin drinks

Wildlife does not just live in the countryside! Here are some good books to inspire, and tips to help urban dwelling friends.

This is How a Robin Works is by an American naturalist, showing how nature can be a jumping spider on the screen or moss on bricks. She even takes out a dragonfly that landed on her hand in a hat store! But would other people have noticed, and rescued it too?

Weaved into 52 short essays, mostly focusing on habitat loss. A dead sparrow (perhaps due to preventable bird strike) makes her sad, but the dawn chorus makes her heart leap.

She is a gift to the trees, the bees, the bats, the birds and me – as well as anyone else who is looking for microhabitats of hope on a fractured planet. She is my new favourite nature writer. Nancy Lawson

How to help urban city wildlife

Wildlife-friendly urban gardens

  • Only cut and prune vegetation from September to February, outside breeding periods.
  • Provide wildlife-friendly gardens and ponds (for amphibians)
  • Safe havens for garden birds (what not to feed birds and how to buy, site and clean feeders/houses and bird baths – keep cats indoors at dusk/dawn when birds are feeding – avoid ‘climbable’ poles).
  • Stop bird strike (switch off unused lights, avoid facing indoor foliage to gardens and know where to place feeders, if used (it’s quite complicated but important).

Also learn about pet-friendly gardens and use nontoxic humane slug and snail deterrents.

Living with Urban Wildlifeis a book by the late John Bryant, who was England’s best expert on humane wildlife deterrence. He gives practical advice on how to humanely deter squirrels, pigeons and moles, without causing distress.

Exploring nature with Lucy Lapwing!

love is a toad

Love is a Toad is a book where the author (whose real name is Lucy Hodson but she’s known as ‘Lucy Lapwing!. In  this book she traverses meadows, bogs and hedgerows with fellow nature enthusiasts, to dig down into our relationship with the natural world.

Over a year she meet blackbirds, slugs, dung beetles and toads. From a river swim to wanders through woodlands, she explores how nature makes us feel – from wild grief and anger, to soaring joy and hope.

A sample of Lucy’s writing (not from the book)

How anyone can mow a cowslip I don’t understand. These butter-yellow wildflowers are the sunny faces of spring! They cause no harm, nor do they obstruct views on roads, or scratch or sting. Yet we mow them down – it’s heartbreaking. I bend down and pick up a slightly wilting, severed flower, twirling it between my fingers.

A horrible sensation sits in my tummy for the rest of the day. I find myself feeling sad as I drink my brew after lunch. This incident is just one small patch of cowslips, but it’s indicative of a bigger problem. The same can be said for my mood. The amount of time I spend in a state of worry seems to be on the up. Fret is always there, nagging like the incessant itch of a fresh horsefly bite.

Lucy Lapwing grew up in West Lancashire, always fascinated by nature and wildlife. Now a wildlife campaigner, she works behind the scenes on BBC Springwatch. She lives on the Isle of Bute in Scotland.

Lucy has written an excellent post on what she thinks of Scottish environmental policies in her new adopted home. Despite the SNP saying they are ‘green’, she’s inclined to disagree. Saying the manifesto only mentions the word ‘nature’ once, its policy of salmon farms means ‘shoving fish in cages and drenching them in formaldehyde’ and their policy on oil and gas is ‘too wishy-washy’.

More good books on urban wildlife 

Wild City (also in audio for blind readers) is a journey to meet badgers of central Brighton to tunnel-dwelling Black Country bats. And even insects on the London Underground.

The author then offers a compelling manifesto for city wildlife, suggesting how we may take action to protect the often over-looked residents that live alongside us.

Florence Wilkinson is a journalist and filmmaker, who has written for Telegraph Magazine. She is also cofounder of Warblr, an app that recognises any bird by its song.

London in the Wild is a guide to a city with over 15,000 species of flora, fungi and fauna (marsh frogs, hedgehogs, short-eared owls, dragonflies, foxes, stag beetles and pigeons!) London’s 800km of surface railway lines also is home to wildlife. And learn about the daily life of a London tube mouse!

This is by London Wildlife Trust whose volunteers manage free-to-access nature reserves (you can get married there, with profits helping local creatures). It’s also helping to transform London’s 3 million gardens into mini-nature reserves. Record your sightings to help them monitor welfare of:

  • Deer
  • Dragonflies and damselflies
  • Hedgehogs
  • Owls and kestrels
  • Glow worms
  • Stag beetles
  • Water voles

Ring-necked parakeets live wild in London, due to escaping from the pet industry. Native to Africa and Asia, they nest in tree holes in gardens and parks, and can roost in noisy flocks – eating nuts, seeds, berries and fruits.

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