The Nature Garden: gardening, wildlife and nature notes · The Weekending Show

Frost & moths

·43 min·2 clips

Dr Zoe Randall says there are around 2,500 UK moth species and more day-flying moths than butterflies.

The Nature Garden starts the year with a one-off mid-winter special. It treats winter as a time for looking rather than stopping. Tom Pattinson brings the garden-side practicalities and keeps the focus on what still needs doing when the weather is bleak. The show lingers on the idea that winter often gets called a pause, but the garden never quite agrees. Tom Cadwallander then reflects on the good and the bad as the show moves into a new year of birding. That discussion opens out into seabirds and the pressures they face when food supplies come under strain. There is concern about commercial fishing and what heavy extraction in the north-east of the North Sea could mean for birds. The programme points back to the northern isles as a warning. It remembers how factory ships vacuumed up huge numbers of sand eels and left terns unable to raise young. Climate change sits behind the whole conversation. As sea temperatures rise, sand eels may shift further north and the birds will follow. Puffins, guillemots, and razorbills are already at the southern edge of their range. Terns, which come from the south to breed, bring a different kind of question altogether. Dr Zoe Randall from Butterfly Conservation then takes the spotlight. She brings the episode into the magical, mystical world of moths. That shift keeps the programme grounded in field notes while also widening the seasonal picture. Another sinister tale from the Anik Poison Garden adds a local thread of unease and curiosity. The closing stretch returns to simple winter advice. Listeners are urged not to give up on gardening, to get outside in short bursts, and to wrap up warmly. The episode ends by suggesting that even a few minutes with the plants, birds, and weather can keep the season alive.

As heard by us

A mid winter wander through garden jobs, birding concerns, and moths.

This mid winter special gives winter gardening a clear place, but it works best when it moves between garden jobs, birding, and moths. Tom Pattinson keeps the focus on practical seasonal tips, Tom Cadwellander opens it out with thoughts on a new year of birding, and Dr Zoe…

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Press play for a one-off mid-winter wander through the garden, with birds, moths, and seasonal tips.

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