I was laid low by the wretched flu again last week but being housebound afforded me an unexpected opportunity to do some wildlife watching.

Although winter can be a bit barren, it doesn't mean there aren't things going on out there in the wild. And with lemon and honey drink in one hand and binoculars in the other, I realised there was actually lots of activity happening just outside my window.

Among the garden birds feeding on the rotting apples on next door's trees, there were all the usual contenders such as blackbirds and a robin - but then I noticed a new addition with a gingery cap and pale breast.

I've come down with a stinker of a cold and have been up all hours coughing. It was in the early hours that I found myself aware of a bird singing. In winter, and at night - what could it be?

This week, Nature's Top 40, continues its countdown to the UK's number one wildlife spectacle.

Wildlife experts have been ranking suggestions from the public in order to compile a list of Britain's most amazing natural sights and sounds - and this got me thinking about what I might pick as my favourite wildlife wonder.

I've just heard that salmon are now spawning on the rivers Wye and Usk after their epic journey.

This is one of the few stages of salmon migration that you can actually witness for yourself. In Wales, a good place to see them right now is on the river Usk at Brecon promenade.

With winter just around the corner, some of our best-known species are getting ready to hibernate - and your garden could provide the perfect place for many creatures looking for somewhere to shelter during the cold spell.

With wildlife, mess is definitely more! In fact it's probably a good idea not to tidy your garden too much at all at this time of year because the leaves and debris makes an ideal hiding place for a whole range of animals.

Indeed, it doesn't just provide shelter but also a walk-in larder of bugs and insects for species like frogs, toads and hedgehogs to munch on while they're sheltered.

Newborough Forest on Anglesey served up a treat as we looked into one of the largest raven roosts in Europe as part of this year's Autumnwatch.

Just being at the roost is a pretty amazing experience but it's the sound that gets you. As the ravens come into the roost the noise just keeps building and building.

Phew! We're already halfway through this year's series of Autumnwatch and we've been busy criss-crossing the country solving some of nature's mysteries. From Dorset to Petworth then to Birmingham and now we've just landed on Anglesey where we'll be taking a look at Britain's largest raven roost.

To see the fallow deer at Petworth in the rutting season was magical. It was fascinating hearing the noises made by the bucks - their deep Barry White grunting sounds being a constant soundtrack to our visit!

With it raining so much this Autumn, it's been a good year for fungi - and there are loads around at the moment.

Fungi are really interesting to find and I'm always intrigued by the array of shapes and sizes they come in.

I recently found a whole lot of large fungi around a tree - which was pretty special.

To me, fungi seem to have an air of the fairytale about them and I half expect to see a fairy or pixie hanging about. Not very natural history, I know. (Don't worry I havn't been eating them!)

Things are hotting up here as we get ready for the new series of Autumnwatch - and I can't wait.

This year, presenter Simon King will be witnessing some truly amazing autumn spectacles and trying to unravel some great wildlife mysteries. Expect small ninja deer in surprising places and a gargantuan conger eel plus a few surprises in between.

In the mean time, I seem to have stumbled across a mystery of my own - which I'm hoping you might be able to help solve.

When I was a boy messing about on the River Taff (at the weir just near the Millennium Stadium) I remember distinctly finding a tiny eel, but at the time I wasn't sure what it was. It was in fact a juvenile eel called an 'elver'.

Some animals are just plain cute. So cute in fact that you just want to have one!

It's been an unusual week, to say the least. Saturday saw me on a rubbish dump waiting for seagulls to land. We were making a radio programme about seagulls that inhabit rubbish tips and were with some scientists who were using cannon netting in order to capture and ring them.