Even the smallest garden can be an important haven for wildlife, and this authoritative guide enables everyone to explore this wealth on their back doorstep. It covers all the main animal groups – including pond life – likely to be found in a garden in Great Britain and Ireland. Detailed descriptions and information on life history, behaviour and occurrence are provided for more than 500 species, as well as practical information on creating a pond for wildlife, making nestboxes and feeding birds. Richard Lewington, acknowledged as one of the finest natural history artists in Europe, has teamed up with his brother Ian, one of our most respected bird artists, to provide nearly 1,000 superbly detailed colour artworks to complement the text. Presented in an accessible, easy-to-use format, this fully updated and expanded edition covers everything from blue tits to bumblebees and hedgehogs to hawkmoths.
Richard Lewington is widely considered one of Europe's finest wildlife illustrators. He studied graphic design at the Berkshire College of Art and, since leaving in 1971, has specialised in natural-history illustration. His meticulous paintings of insects and other wildlife are the mainstay of many of the modern classics of field-guide art, including The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland and Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. He has also designed and illustrated wildlife stamps for several countries. In 1999 he was awarded Butterfly Conservation's Marsh Award for the promotion of Lepidoptera conservation, and in 2010 the Zoological Society of London's Stamford Raffles Award for contribution to zoology.