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Bountiful Britain! A Year of Wildlife Watching

19th January, 2009

Whether it’s the mass migrations in the spring and autumn or the plants changing with the seasons, there are some great National Trust places to catch some amazing wildlife spectacles and you can now find out the best places to go with a brand new online wildlife calendar.

David Bullock, Head of Nature Conservation at the National Trust says “One of the best things about the countryside is how it changes throughout the year as seasons come and go, each with its own unique character. There’s always something happening and it’s such a pleasure to watch things change, to keep a finger on the pulse of the natural world.”

With all this activity, a year passes in a flash, so make the most of every moment and keep your eye on the ever changing world with this handy online guide to a year of wildlife from the National Trust.

January

Frosty winter days and early dusks make January a great time to see some of our larger mammals and impressive flocking birds.

Foxes – Foraging in the open around dusk and dawn in towns and cities.
Brown hares – Starting their mating rituals between now and April with unreceptive females boxing off the amorous advances of males.
Flocks of birds – Starlings roost in reedbeds, on bridges and in buildings; lapwings and golden plovers flocking on farmland.

February

Winter reigns but the first hopeful signs of spring begin to show in the plant world.

Early flowers - Snowdrops poke their way through lifeless woodland floors the country over, yellow coltsfoot flowers appearing on disturbed ground before their leaves.
Herons - Sticking their neck out for bizarre and wonderful courtship displays on huge stick nests in woodlands.
Rooks – Form large, raucous tree-top colonies for early breeding.

March

Spring tip-toes in and many animals take a calculated risk, emerging from hibernation if it’s warm enough.

Waders – Large flocks of winter migrants remain in estuaries; knot, dunlin and oystercatchers.
Woodland flowers – Lesser celandine, wood anemone and violets bring a first flush of colour.
Migrant birds - The first chiffchaffs and wheatears should be arriving from Africa from the middle of the month.

April

Life finally erupts as blackthorn blossoms and lambs fill the fields.

Cuckoos – Catch this welcome sound of spring.
Badgers –The young take their first shy steps outside the sett.
Bats – Emerge to skim the skies at dusk after roosting through the winter.

May

The world turns green as leaves bud on trees and hedgerows, and birds begin nesting. Woodlands are covered in a carpet of bluebells.

Hawthorn - Branches droop with the weight of the sickly sweet-scented flowers.
Natterjack toads – The internationally rare amphibians can be seen, and heard, mating in dune slacks.
Swifts - These magnificent aeronauts twist and turn in screaming flocks after winging their way from Africa.

June

Summer takes hold and fields are filled with colour while the main breeding season kicks in.

Common seal pups – Undeniably adorable, excellent spotting in North Norfolk and Strangford Loch.
Dragonflies – Very active in the warm summer sun, batting their way around ponds, lakes and rivers.
Elder- The muscatel scent of the creamy white flowers contrasts with the cow dung smell of hogweed in hedgerows in mid summer.

July

A time of wildlife plenty as plants flower abundantly and animals occupy every possible space.

Basking sharks – These marine behemoths are often spotted feeding off the west coast and as far north east as the Farne Islands.
Reptiles – All six of our native species can be seen basking in the sun.
Glow worms – Twinkling their mating message across the dusky countryside.

August

Its high summer: an ideal time for wandering through wildflower meadows and taking in the scent of summer.

Bell heather – In full and gorgeous flower across the moorlands.
Butterflies – Purple hairstreak, white admiral, silver-washed fritillary and many more besides..
Coastal birds – Tern chicks screech in their coastal colonies and manx shearwaters glide in to sea cliffs in the Irish Sea and Bristol Channel.

September

A month of change as summer draws to a close and the wild world turns its thoughts to the approaching winter.

Swallows – Gather at the coast before departing over the seas for another winter.
Berries – Rosehips, elder berries and blackberries create an autumn food glut.
Orchids - White helter-skelter flowers of autumn ladies tresses bring the orchid season to a close.

October

Leaves fall and beech nuts litter the woodland floor as autumn hits full flow with some real wildlife spectacles.

Deer – Males vie for a mate during the annual loud and eventful rut.
Ivy – Flowering provides one last vital nectar source for hoverflies, honeybees and moths.
Waxcaps – The most colourful fungi to be found with bright red, yellow, orange and pink forms to be found on short grass across the UK especially where rainfall is high.

November

Winter takes hold as many species go off-radar but many more arrive from the continent.

Geese - Huge numbers of pink-footed geese arrived from Iceland and Greenland.
Salmon – Atlantic salmon leap upstream in the west.
Grey seal pups – This species births on sandbars and rocky bays around the coast at this unseasonal time.

December

In the bleak midwinter, the UK’s birdlife is still buzzing.

Garden birds – Easily seen at feeders throughout the winter months, siskins come from Scandinavia whilst warmer winters and seed feeders tempt goldfinches to stay.
Overwintering flocks – Pale bellied brent geese from north-east Canada and Greenland rub shoulders with Siberian wigeon in Northern Ireland.
Birdsong – Listen out for the first of it to join the year-round robins by boxing day, ready to cheer you through to spring.

More details about the best National Trust places to witness the wonder of nature can be found online at www.nationaltrust.org.uk and type in ‘wildlife calendar’ into the search engine.

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