A poll in the BBC's Gardeners' World Magazine has given a good insight into the shape of garden wildlife in 2009. 

This survey of magazine readers shows that there appears to be increases to the number of bees, moths and butterflies that we are seeing in our gardens. This may be due to the dry Spring that we had earlier in the year, or instead may be down to the fact that more of us are now creating wildlife areas in our back gardens.

It isn't all good news though. Amphibians and small mammals appear to have dropped in number since 2008. In particular sightings of frogs, toads and hedgehogs are down. Even still though, 27% of those surveyed said that they regularly see hedgehogs. Having only seen one in the last 5 years I was actually surprised at how high this figure was, but in 2008 this figure was up at a whopping 44%.

The survey's results certainly show just how much of an impact we have in wildlife in both the positive and negative things that we do. The increases in bees and butterflies may well be down to the number of us growing plants that attract them in our gardens. On the flip side it is thought that the human destruction of bats' habitats is the reason why their numbers are dwindling. 

If ever you needed facts to back up why we should try to ensure that our gardens not only look nice, but also provide for wildlife then surely this is it.

Full details of the survey and results can be found in the December 2009 edition of the Gardeners' World magazine.