If you want song thrushes in your garden,

you need to leave out apples and jam.

Leave out mealworm for blackbirds and robins, 

sunflower seeds for finches.

Hedgehogs will come through your fence 

if you offer accessible entry, shallow water

in saucers. 

Squirrels are partial to hazelnuts in their shell. 

To encourage corvids, like magpies and crows, 

put out peanuts and small objects that glint

like hope. 

Wrens love grated cheese.

Foxes will find you if you give them space; 

they will visit every year, bringing their cubs to safety 

in Spring. Dig a pond for frogs,

plant marigolds for snails, lavender for bees.

Look at all this life. How easy it is 

to share our home.

Ella B. Winters (she/they) is a social worker, writer, and double immigrant, living on the South-East coast of England with her partner and a sausage dog. Her work often explores themes of identity and locating yourself in the world. She is currently working on her PhD in Health Science. You can find her on Instagram at: @ella.b.winters