Find out which early species to watch for, how to make your patch more butterfly-friendly and where to record your sightings for science

Nadia Shaikh goes synaesthetic for the start of spring, almost tasting the orange tang of an early butterfly

Red kites, great spotted woodpeckers and pink-footed geese are only a few of the birds doing brilliantly in the British Isles right now. Mark Cocker celebrates their success stories and looks at what might be learnt from them

Handsome, chunky and often brightly marked, shieldbugs emerge in spring, quietly shaping the life of hedgerow and garden

April shifts up a gear for wildlife-watchers, writes James Lowen …

St Valentine’s month may be bitterly cold, but the capricious charms of Vanellus vanellus never fail to warm the heart, says John Lewis-Stempel