Wildlife Photographer of the Year

I visited the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London today. The photos were fantastic and inspiring. The sort of thing most of us can only dream about taking.

What is most impressive is the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. The winner of the under 10 years category, taken in a 'backyard' in Finland, is an exquisite greenfinch. The reflections on the breast of the greenfinch make the photo. The overall winner 'Clash of the Yellowhammers' taken in Perthshire garden demonstrates real talent. You can see the photo, along with others from the competition on the Museum's website www.nhm.ac.uk

The whole thing has certainly opened my eyes as to how children could be inspired by the outdoors simply by taking pictures. A camera is definitely a tool that should not be overlooked. and opens up all sorts of possbilitites. Projects on documenting a day, seasons, year in the life of a garden or the life cycle of a plant all spring to mind.

BTW the museum's wildlife garden - an oasis in that part of London - is currently closed for the winter, but reopens on April 1 and is worth a visit.

Cbeebies - Gardening and Nature

Sitting watching Dirt Girl World with my son last night got me wondering how much these sorts of programmes will influence our children. There is a plethora of nature type programmes on CBeebies (my son has yet to graduate to CBBC, except for 'the Deadly 60').

Dirt Girl World is in fact my least favourite - something about the animation and those faces - spooky. I prefer the Green Balloon Club and the CBeebies version of Springwatch. Gordon the Garden Gnome was OK and although is not being broadcast at present there are two fun games on the Cbeebies website.

Others have pointed out that even quite young children can list different types of inanimate objects e.g. makes and models of cars and their favourite TV characters, but how many can name more than a couple of plants and shrubs in their gardens. I have to admit that in the fog of sleepless nights with my son it took me a little while to note that all of the Flowertots are named after flowers. Yet I wonder how many children ever realise that violet and pansy are also the names of garden flowers.

Will those who watch grow up to become generation of budding gardeners and eco-warriors? I certainly hope so. Will these programmes encourage children and their families to get out there and have a go? They might. At least they are a starting point. I know I now have a demand from my son for us to grow more vegetables. So that is what we are doing this year.

Its Back Again

Well I got it wrong in my last post. We have over an inch of snow today. The garden looks lovely with a fantastic frozen washing line. One of my best Christmas presents, a ladybird house, although not being used yet, also looks great. Has anyone got any ideas where would be the best place to hang it in the garden? I thought in a tree or against a fence.

After the Snow

Here in London the snow has just about all gone. I have one rather active squirrel in my garden, busy reburying nuts - perhaps he knows that there is more to come. My 5 year old has loved spotting the different birds visiting our garden over this coldspell. Long tailed tits, great tits, blue tits, blackbirds and pigeons have all been seen.