The Spring Equinox - one of my favourite days - as it heralds the start of my favourite season. I have been noticing the drifts of blossom as I walk my rescue dog around the park - it is as if there has been a wedding - confetti-like piles that accumulate by the kerb!

Birds are seriously back in business - though I am struggling with how to deal with a new predator on the block - a neighbour has got a cat that hunts in my garden. Neighbour is a friend. And despite my protestations to the contrary, I do love cats too ... see photo with a different neighbourhood moggy! Sensible - nonviolent - top tips to deter cats are very welcome.

But obviously Spring means one very important thing ... hedgehogs are on the way - in fact, judging by the Hedgehog Highways Facebook Group, some have been out and busy for quite a while ... share your sightings on there ... and if you want to add to the great wealth of hedgehog knowledge - the Big Hedgehog Map is another place that your information would be very usefully received. This is also a useful spot to see whether hedgehogs are being seen around your neighbourhood ...

What can we do? My top tip for today is to suggest you spend a little time thinking like a hedgehog ... if you have a garden - or can get out into a park - take a moment to look at it from the perspective of a hedgehog - can you identify the bits that are good and useful - like some scruffy undergrowth or fences with holes? Can you spot problems - like litter or impenetrable fences? Then have a think about how you can make things better. A full list of top tips can be found here.

Now - something a little different - someone else has written a book about hedgehogs!!! My mate Tom Moorhouse is a really great ecologist and has written some brilliant kids books about his special subject of water voles - look them up, they are great. A while back he called me and was unusually shy - he was admitting that he had been asked to write a book about hedgehogs ... and was embarrassed to ask for an interview with me ... well, I am all for people learning more and BOOKS - love them - so happy to help and the finished product is officially released on Thursday - Ghosts in the Hedgerow is great - very different from my style - and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

So - given that Tom has written about hedgehogs ... what did I ask for my next book to be about???? 

That's right .... water voles!!! And that is out on 20th April (but you can pre-order now).

Updates are a little thinner on the ground just now as I am trying to finish my latest book before end of April ... and then I have two more books to write this year. For those who think this means I will be minted ... well ... I chuckle at that ... this is no way to get rich. Nor is asking for help to maintain the campaigns I run ... but it does help, thank you.