Even those of us with the most modest yards or gardens can find numerous ways to attract all manner of creatures and while there are many books on the subject of gardening for wildlife, few deal with the actual identification of any visitors to our secret oases.

This recently published, lavishly illustrated paperback does just that, covering the mammals, birds, amphibians, insects and such that are most likely to be encountered in many a British garden.

Of course not all of us will be lucky enough to sight roe deer or stag beetles in our back yards but there are pages here also dedicated to the identification of numerous slugs, moths and common garden birds, (the latter illustrated by ace bird artist Ian Lewington) and we all surely receive visits from some of those once in a while!

I really wish this book had been around when I was a kid, the dusty old volumes I had access to did little justice to the array of spiders, caterpillars and bees that I followed around the garden and at a very affordable price of £12.95 I really cannot recommend it enough to those with a interest in what's lurking in the woodshed.