Thanks Alison, I think it definitely was considered a nature reserve by the other plotholders before we got it, as it hadnt been touched for 12 months, so nature had run wild!
So far we've seen toads and frogs in the pond (and around the plot), a sleeping hedgehog (in the back bit we started to clear today - he got covered back up and the spot marked so we wont disturb it till the spring), 2 friendly robins (who come and say hello every time we are down there), squirrels in the trees nearby (fun to watch them running along the hedges at the bottom of the plots) and evidence of the field mice (runs and moving plastic ground cover) and evidence of the foxes (footprints on the newly dug bed that was left uncovered!) that live nearby!
I dont mind wldlife, in fact I am quite happy to see it there, but whether my view will change if our crops start getting eaten is another thing!