Those words will be familiar to many of you from your childhood, heard in the distance as you disappeared for another afternoon of tree-climbing and den-building. Apparently today's youngsters are increasingly denied this simple pleasure by a risk-averse world which offers them much which is virtual, but little which is reality.

According to 'Natural Childhood', a recent National Trust Report, children are missing out on many benefits because they are not given the freedom to explore and experiment outdoors which previous generations enjoyed. Amongst the Report's findings are:
 Fewer than ten per cent of kids play in wild places; down from 50 per cent a generation ago
 The roaming radius for kids has declined by 90 per cent in one generation (thirty years)
 Fewer than a quarter of children regularly use their local 'patch of nature', compared to over half of all adults when they were children.
 One in three could not identify a magpie
 Half could not tell the difference between a bee and a wasp
 But nine out of 10 could recognise a Dalek.

This is despite the fact that many local woodlands, wetlands and open spaces are safer, more accessible and more welcoming than ever before. There are also more organised and supervised activities for children than there used to be, including holiday play schemes and forest school activities. Whilst these equip children to be safe in outdoor environments, they are different to two hours spent with friends exploring and investigating whatever comes to hand. Scratches and grazes are just as much badges of honour as a lollipop from the play leader.

So wary are we now of children being out unsupervised that the sight of a group of youngsters is likely to cause alarm: either for their safety or for fear of anti-social behaviour. Of course there are risks and of course not all children are well-behaved, but this has always been the case. Surely the overall benefits of giving more freedom to more children outweigh the disadvantages?

You might well not agree - that's fine, the National Trust wants to hear what people think. They are asking people to answer the following questions:
1. What do you think are the most important barriers to children spending more time outdoors?
2. What can individuals and families - including grandparents and godparents, as well as the parents themselves - do to help their children engage with nature?
3. How can community groups, local and national organisations support families in getting outdoors and closer to nature?
4. What policy changes are needed ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop a personal connection with the natural world?
Go to http://outdoornation.org.uk/ for more information and details about how to respond.

During a recent visit to Lincolnshire I was pleased to see the local chaffinches seemed to be doing well. They were feeding in gardens and their characteristic song was ringing out from every hedgerow. (The song is a series of short notes ending in a twisty trill, often described as h-e-b-r-e-w-s-hebrews.) Their presence may seem unremarkable, but these birds, and their greenfinch cousins, have been suffering from a disease which has significantly reduced their numbers.

The disease, called trichomonosis is caused by a tiny internal parasite. It particularly affects the pigeon family and birds of prey that feed upon them. It damages the birds' throat and gullet, making it difficult to swallow food. According to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) the strain infecting finches appeared in Britain in 2005. In 2006 in the Midlands and West of England chaffinch breeding success declined by 20% and greenfinch breeding success by 35%. It is estimated that half a million greenfinches died. Since then the epicentre of the disease in this country has moved east.

To make things worse migrating birds carry the disease with them. Whilst everyone is familiar with migrating swallows, cuckoos and warblers, and often aware that many waders, geese and ducks are winter visitors, the migrations of small birds that also have resident populations are not so well known. In this case thousands of chaffinches move to Britain from Scandinavia, the Baltic countries and Denmark, whilst many greenfinches from the same area winter in the Low Countries. It is now feared that the disease, which has appeared in Germany, will become more widespread on the European mainland.

Various bird-watching and recording schemes have helped enormously in tracking and monitoring the spread and impacts of the disease. These include the BTO's Big Garden Birdwatch and Breeding Bird Survey. By coincidence, at the time of the outbreak the BTO had 750 volunteers investigating bird diseases under what they called the Garden Bird Health Initiative. The data that they collected were combined with reports from vets and more casual observations reported to the RSPB, before being passed on to research scientists. This enabled a better understanding of the outbreak to be developed and for sound advice and information to be given to help to mitigate its consequences.

One thing to learn from this is that things are not always as straightforward as they seem. People often say to me, for example, that they are not seeing small birds in their garden 'because there are too many magpies about'. Apart from the fact that 'too many' is a very vague term, largely unrecognised by nature, we would all do well to remember that populations of any animal or bird are subject to sometimes large fluctuations caused by a wide range of factors. These may act alone or, more usually, in concert with each other: simple cause and effect is rarely the answer.

Continuing the gardening theme from my last column I have come across an interesting project being run by Pond Conservation called 'The Big Pond Dip'.

For the past three years they have collected information about garden and school ponds - how big they are, how deep, and what sorts of plants they contain, and have linked this information to the ponds' inhabitants. The exercise continues this year. It will help to refine advice about how to build and maintain garden ponds for the maximum benefit of both wildlife and people. This is important because easily accessible fresh water is much rarer than it was even forty or fifty years ago.

Ponds are about the only wildlife-friendly garden feature consistently advocated by the decking-and-pot-plant instant garden brigade. As a result there must be thousands of garden ponds although most of them are small, no more than three or four square metres. Any pond is better than no pond, but there is much that can be done to improve their worth to birds, insects and amphibians. These in turn help you the gardener: birds and frogs are natural pest controllers, and what garden is not improved by having its own supply of brilliantly coloured dragonflies and damselflies?

The Big Pond Dip results, published by Pond Conservation, show that two thirds of ponds had breeding dragonflies and damselflies, and three quarters of them contained water snails, pond skaters and water beetles. Although nine out of ten ponds were visited by frogs, toads and newts, only six out of ten were used by them for breeding. This shows that they are fussier than many people think. Newts and toads are definitely more picky than frogs. Any old piece of water will not do, unless perhaps it is isolated from other, better, places. One very good finding is that half of the ponds involved were topped up with rainwater which is much to be preferred to tap water. (Having said this, there is probably a bias amongst the self-selecting respondents to the survey to manage their ponds in this way.)

The old conundrum about mixing fish and amphibians was not really solved. Frogs were found breeding more often in ponds with fish than without (although this could be that there are fewer ponds without fish to choose from). Toads do not bother too much about fish because their tadpoles are not very tasty.

When all is said and done it is the insects and snails that will be the judges of how good your pond is for wildlife. If they move in then other things will follow. Having submerged, floating and emergent plants in clean clear water is the basis for a healthy pond with thriving and varied wildlife.

If you want to know more, or join in this year's Big Pond Dip, contact Dr Jeremy Biggs or Dr Angela Julian at Pond Conservation. E-mail:info@pondconservation.org.uk, Tel: 01865 48311.

This country has more gardens, covering a greater proportion of the land than almost anywhere else. If an Englishman's home is his castle, his garden is his estate. Between us we have 19 million gardens, which together occupy more space than all of our nature reserves put together.

No wonder then that organisations like the Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) are encouraging people to make their gardens more wildlife-friendly. Their top tips include putting up birdfeeders, nesting boxes (for birds, insects and small animals like hedgehogs) planting nectar-rich flowers and building a pond. The RHS even has a 'Perfect for Pollinators' logo to look out for when you are at the garden centre.

Gardeners who want to help the wider environment can do so by not using water worn limestone quarried from our diminishing limestone pavements, using peat-free composts and being very careful when disposing of potentially invasive plants like water fern when carrying out major work in their gardens.

To encourage more people to think about and help wildlife the two organisations are running the 'Big Wildlife Garden' competition. The competition - a little-noticed commitment in the Government's Natural Environment White Paper - is being funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Anyone can participate, including individual householders, community groups, businesses and schools, and anything from a window box to a playing field or retail park is eligible. There are six categories: small, large and new residential, educational, community and business. Entry is free and full details can be found at http://www.bigwildlifegarden.org.uk/wildlife-garden-competition

More help is available from the British Trust for Ornithology which is organising National Nest Box Week starting on 14 February. Go to http://www.bto.org/nnbw/index.htm to learn where, when and how to put up nest boxes, and to order a free information pack.

You have plenty of time to make your entry, the competition closes on Sunday 20 May 2012. Prizes include a wildlife gardening master class at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, where the prize-giving ceremony will take place, along with membership of The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society.

Launching the competition, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, said: "No matter how big or small, every garden is a home for wildlife, and this competition gives gardeners the chance to be recognised for what their hard work has achieved, inspiring others to do what they can to make their gardens more wildlife-friendly."

Paul Wilkinson, Head of Living Landscape for The Wildlife Trusts, said: "The UK's wildlife is under pressure from loss of habitat. But, we can all make a difference by gardening with wildlife in mind. We want to see nature reserves around the UK being connected through pockets of healthy habitat within the wider landscape, in both urban and rural areas. Clearly, gardens are an essential part of this vision."

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Midwinter is a very revealing time. With most trees and shrubs stripped of their leaves it is easier to see birds, the shape and architecture of the trees and various other things which are obscured at other times of the year.

Often prominent now are marble galls on oaks, especially young and scrub oaks.

As their name suggests marble galls are hard, round and about two centimetres in diameter.

They are brown and have a generally smooth surface. They are very easy to spot on small branches, sometimes singly but often in groups of three, four or more.

My New Year resolution is to try harder to believe the public statements of government ministers and others to whom environmental regulation and protection is a bane. The trouble is that they do so much which appears to go against their pronouncements that it will be a very difficult resolution to keep.

The Government for instance said that it would be 'the greenest Government ever', and its members continue to claim environmental credentials. This is whilst, amongst other things, denigrating and threatening the planning system, watering down every initiative which might help nature (such as the provision of Marine Conservation Zones) changing the rules on solar power generation and setting up badger culls against all available scientific advice. It has also apparently provided trillions of pounds to the banks' begging bowls, but cut and cut and cut again the infrastructure for nature conservation and environmental protection and enhancement, an infrastructure which only cost a few tens of millions in the first place.

As for house builders and developers, well, they are past masters at presenting a less than balanced view. One of their favourite complaints is that the planning system is too slow, and causes too much delay. Ask any ecological consultant and you will hear tales of developers working hard to comply with whatever regulations affect their project - except those relating to environmental or wildlife protection. When this oversight is revealed, often late in the process, suddenly it's the 'fault of the system' and something must be changed. They are right: their approach to compliance must be changed.

Things became about as extreme as they can get just before Christmas. A spokesperson for house builders blamed the nation's housing shortage on wildlife protection legislation. I had to check that I had not hibernated and woken up on the first of April. This person seemed unaware of the recession, a generation of policies against building council houses, and the extreme difficulty first-time buyers have securing mortgages. These seemingly count for nothing, the problems are apparently all down to people trying to protect our dwindling wildlife.

There is a saying that if you think training is expensive, try costing ignorance. We could have no clearer example of that than the current approaches to the twin economic and environmental crises that face us. Wealth is ultimately created by adding value to natural resources. Until the economists become ecologically literate enough to understand this the problems will multiply, especially if we continue to move money from where it is needed (the natural environment) to where it may be frittered away (so-called economic development).

I would love to get to the end of the year with my resolution intact, but I suspect that it may be broken by the time you are reading this.

Trees Are Not Just For Christmas

One of the favourites of the festive season is the Christmas tree. Whether majestic municipals or delightful domestics we wouldn't be without them. The down side is that when the fun is over most of them are consigned to the chipper in January.

Thank goodness then for organisations like Birmingham Trees for Life. It is the latest in an honourable line of tree-planting bodies in Birmingham, and is doing sterling work making sure that we plant and nurture many more trees in the City. Earlier this month they launched their 'Big Tree Plant' programme. This follows a successful bid to the Government's national tree planting campaign which has resulted in a first year grant of just over £25,000 being awarded. The Big Tree Plant is part of the Government's 'Big Society' initiative, which aims to encourage the involvement of local people in issues and activities in their own communities.

The programme was launched by the Lord Mayor and the event was hosted by the Birmingham Civic Society. (Birmingham Trees for Life is a partnership between the City Council and the Birmingham Civic Society - all trees are planted on public land owned and managed by the Council.)

David Clarke, Chairman of the Birmingham Civic Society, said "We are absolutely delighted to have been selected in the first wave of projects by the Big Tree Plant, and this grant will enable Birmingham Trees for Life to extend its tree planting to even more areas of the city, particularly those with less tree coverage".

A key factor in obtaining the funding was the organisation's excellent track record in this field. Since it was created in 2006, Birmingham Trees for Life has planted almost 15,000 trees all over the city, involving hundreds of local volunteers, school children and business people. The aim now is to plant new trees in every constituency area. To complete all that is planned some matching funds will need to be secured from the City Council and local businesses and individuals. Success will ensure that Birmingham will retain its well-deserved reputation for the abundance and variety of trees in its streets, parks and open spaces. This will be good for people and good for wildlife.

So, enjoy your Christmas tree, but remember that the world in general, and Birmingham in particular, needs trees. You can help to make sure that more are planted and cared for in your neighbourhood. You can even sponsor a tree through the 'Plant a Tree for Life' scheme - for more information go to the website www.btfl.org.uk .

In the meantime have a merry Christmas and enjoy the Christmas trees.

Artificial light is everywhere all the time in our towns and cities, and is increasingly intrusive in the countryside. We don't give it much thought, except, ironically when it is not there. It is though very different for wildlife: the impact of so much light when the world should be dark is considerable. From robins who sing all night instead of resting, to insects being snapped up by bats who have learnt to hunt around lights, and moths fluttering around windows, light pollution affects behaviour and increases risks.

I remember some years ago appearing at a public enquiry into whether or not a business park should be built somewhere in Warwickshire. In the middle of someone's evidence the lawyer I was with suddenly hissed 'What effect does 24 hour lighting have on wildlife?' I was at a loss to give him anything more than a general answer.

I also recall visiting a new town development in Florida which was designed to be as environmentally-friendly as possible. One of its features was 'dark skies' street lighting. This consisted of fairly standard lights fitted with large shades which ensured that whilst the street below was well lit none of the light escaped upwards or to the sides. Not wholly effective because of course the roads and cars reflected some light, but better than nothing.

Help is now at hand for hapless conservationists needing to answer the lawyer's question. Earlier this year Buglife (the Invertebrate Conservation Trust) published a report (A Review of the Impact of Artificial Light on Invertebrates) on the impacts of light on insects. Some of the issues raised may be surprising. Street lighting is an obvious problem, but how about solar panels and plastic sheeting? Their surfaces polarise light (that is break it into its different components, as with a rainbow). For most of the planet's history only water surfaces did this and many creatures evolved to respond accordingly. Now many insects lay their eggs on and around these artificial surfaces because they are fooled into treating them as if they are water.

The Review suggests a number of things which might help: switching off external lights in the middle of the night, avoiding the use of ultra-violet emitting light bulbs, taking more account of sensitive areas close to nature reserves and ponds, and doing more to provide dark skies locations. The most obvious 'Lighting should be kept to a functional minimum in all areas' should be both easy and welcome - after all every light that is shining is costing somebody money.

The full report is available to download from Buglife's website (www.buglife.org.uk). Follow the links to News and News Archive.

Life is not easy for white-clawed crayfish. Once found almost everywhere in suitable waters in England and Wales this miniature cousin to the lobster is declining everywhere.

Overall its numbers are down by between 50% and 80% compared to 20 or 30 years ago, and in some places it has become extinct or has been reduced to a few small and isolated populations.

The Midlands remain one of its strongholds but the species which, outside Britain and Ireland, is only found in north-west Europe (from the Balkans to Spain) is endangered everywhere.

Slow-moving and unobtrusive white-clawed crayfish are up to 12 cms long, olive-green or brown and look just like little lobsters complete with big claws.

They need clean calcareous water with places to hide such as overhanging banks, tree roots and rocks. They are mainly nocturnal and will eat plants, animals, or detritus, and can live for ten years or more.

Apart from the usual problems for freshwater wildlife, such as pollution, engineered changes to streams and rivers and the clearance of bank side plants, this, our only native crayfish, suffers from competition from an introduced species - the American signal crayfish - and a deadly fungal disease which the interloper carries.

Its situation almost exactly mirrors that of the red squirrel: in both case the native species is both smaller than its American relation, and is susceptible to a disease carried by, but not seriously affecting, the newcomer.

For this reason the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is appealing for help following the discovery of the disease in the Sherbrook on Cannock Chase, where there is a good population of white-clawed crayfish.

The trust's senior wetlands ecologist, Nick Mott, said: "This is devastating news as Cannock Chase has always been a stronghold for our native crayfish. The disease can be transferred to them via a number of 'wet pathways' including direct contact, footwear, animal coats, fishing kit or pond nets."

To help prevent the disease spreading, people are being asked to avoid entering the Sherbrook for the next few months or until there is confirmation that the disease has died out.

Once confirmation has been received, stream users can help to stop it returning by removing all mud and plant matter from footwear, pond-dipping nets or anything that has come into contact with water, then washing in clean water at home and drying thoroughly or disinfecting it before using it again in another pond or stream.

Dog owners and horse riders can also help by keeping their animals out of the water.

These precautions could usefully be applied whenever and wherever people have been in and around rivers, streams and ponds. The more protection we can give our native crayfish the better.

If you want to know more a booklet about freshwater crayfish is available free from the Trust: call 01889 880100, or download a copy from http://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/page/white-clawed-crayfish.

Autumn is the prime time for a very common and numerous, but little known, group of spider-like animals called harvestmen. In Britain there are about two dozen species of these otherwise mainly tropical creatures of which there may be 10,000 species worldwide. They are close cousins to spiders (with several hundred species in Britain) for which they are often mistaken. Harvestmen though lack the poison glands and silk-making ability of spiders, and are probably more closely related to mites and scorpions. The average garden or park will probably be home to nine or ten species, a higher than average proportion of the total number of species in this country when compared to other groups.

Harvestmen are remarkable creatures. Like spiders they have eight legs and in many species these are very long and thin, perhaps the longest legs in relation to their bodies of any other animals. The second pair is always the longest and act as sensory organs as well as being used for walking. They seem to perform the same functions as antennae do in insects, with harvestmen constantly waving them and using them to probe the ground ahead. Their small and round one-piece bodies are suspended above the ground by the legs, and are often topped by a turret-like appendage called an ocularium. This carries two outward facing eyes. Here is another difference to spiders, which have six or eight eyes. Overall many harvestmen look like miniature monsters from science fiction.

Those long thin legs are easily and frequently lost, but they do not regrow. When a harvestman loses one whilst being attacked by a predator the detached leg continues to move and jerk about, thus acting as a decoy whilst the harvestman limps away.

Harvestmen are nocturnal hunters and scavengers. They eat almost any animal and vegetable matter, alive or dead, including bird droppings. During the day they rest in leaf litter, grass and other plants or on trees and walls. They prefer shady places, so may be found beneath window sills or in deep cracks in bark. When disturbed they move surprisingly quickly considering their ungainly appearance.

The name 'harvestman' arises from the huge numbers of these creatures found at this time of the year. Because of their habit of sheltering in grasses and other plants many of them were disturbed during hay-making and harvesting. They are also sometimes referred to as 'daddy-long-legs', although that epithet really belongs to crane flies, which are also prominent in late summer and autumn. If you disturb a 'spider' whilst gardening at this time of the year take a closer look - the chances are you have roused a sleepy harvestman.