Wildlife and bird watching in the South West of England
County by county
Recent South West news
- Cornwall Wildlife Trust pioneering ‘pingers’ to keep dolphins & porpoises away from fishing nets
- Spectacular starlings fill the winter skies
- Camera traps catch Cotswold Water Park nocturnal mammals
- Swallow now a regular at nearly all West Country farms
- Budget-tightening threat to stone curlew’s resurgence
- Leucistic Dunnock
- Survey of 20 years of Cetacean strandings around Britain
- Great season for cetacean sightings in Isles of Scilly
- Stone curlews finally spread their wings… and head for Wiltshire
- Great crane reintroduction update – One crane missing, others flocking
- Variable damselfly first for Worcestershire
- Great time to see starling 'swarms'
- UK’s rarest bats found in Wiltshire woodland
- Cornish island gulls spotted in France
- Severn Barrage abandoned
More South West news
- Otter recovery has reached every UK county – Except Kent
- Record year for Devon’s threatened fritillaries
- Regional differences in UK butterfly count
- 21 Cranes released onto the Somerset Levels
- Over 1,000 different moth species in UK treetops
- Unearthing wildlife facts in the New Forest
- Endangered Bank cormorant dies in Torquay Zoo
- 'Butcher bird' breeds in England for the first time since 1992
- White stork in Dorset
- Decade of garden surveys in the West reveals relationship between man and bird
- 143 marine mammals stranded in Cornwall in 2009
- First record of unusual bat species in Somerset
- Bat cam: get a unique insight into lesser horseshoes
- Basking shark count off Cornwall – 546 in 1 month
- Britain’s bittern population is booming
Severn Barrage abandonedA barrage like the one proposed between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare would not only destroy huge areas of estuary marsh and mudflats used by 69,000 birds each winter and block the migration routes of countless fish, but, as confirmed by this report, it would dramatically increase risk of flooding to residential properties.
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21 Cranes released onto the Somerset LevelsSo, the day in question finally arrived and it was time to release the cranes. Although it was a bit more blustery than we might have liked, we decided that, because of the nature of the release site and the bird's clear attachment to their grey suited parents and release site, things would be ok.
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Mega rare white-tailed plover turns up at WWT Slimbridge
With only a handful of records in the UK ever - one of which at WWT Caerlaverock, Dumfriesshire in 2007, WWT Slimbridge has just confirmed the sighting of a white-tailed plover on the reserve in Gloucestershire.
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Sperm whale sighting off Torbay, South DevonObservers were surprised to see a large whale very close to the shore off Torbay in South Devon. It was identified as a Sperm whale, the largest of all the toothed whales.
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Four Great bustard chicks hatch in the wild in the UKOne of the most spectacular birds on the planet, the Great Bustard looks set to consolidate its return to the UK with the news that four chicks hatched so far this year and that there are 4 confirmed nests.
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75 starlings die in mystery crash landing Mystery surrounds the death of 75 starlings which crashed to the ground and died on a single driveway in Somerset.
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Huge Fin whale strands in CornwallThe body of a huge whale has been found on the north coast of Cornwall; The Cornwall Wildlife Trust believes it to be a Fin whale, which had been reported floating close to the shore off Pendeen.
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Are Sea eagles coming back to Suffolk? Vote on what you think should happenIn any debate about conservation, it is always important to discount 10% of the arguments at either end of the range, as some people will support all conservation, no matter what the cost or practicalities, and others would complain about spending 5 Euros to save the last elephant. Somewhere in the middle is a rational debate and, usually, the right answer.
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Basking shark strands in CornwallA young basking shark, which stranded on a beach in west Cornwall in August, was the first of its kind in England to be examined by veterinary pathologists. At over four metres long, the fish was so huge it wouldn't fit on the examination table and was too heavy to be weighed on their scales.
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The First Great Bustard chicks hatch in the UK for 177 yearsFor the first time since 1832, the Great Bustard - one of Europe's most threatened birds - has nested in the UK with two separate females successfully hatching chicks.
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UK Seahorse tagging project at Studland Bay in DorsetSince the discovery of Seahorses at Studland Bay, the site has proven to be internationally important and has thrown up some amazing surprises. The bay has a surprising concentration of Seahorses; with more than 40 in recorded in 2008. This density has made it a site of international importance as nowhere else in the British Isles, or indeed for that matter in the world; except the Rio Formosa in Portugal is there this concentration of Seahorses.
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Unusual whale and dolphin wash up on the Scilly IslesTwo highly unusual marine mammals, a Sowerby's beaked whale and a Risso's dolphin, have been washed up on the western shores of the Isle of St Agnes within days of one another.
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Mass dolphin stranding in Cornwall - at least 26 dolphins deadOn Monday 9th June, 26 common dolphins stranded and died near St Mawes in Cornwall.
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Lyme Bay Reefs devastated.
Devon Wildlife Trust has collected evidence that the Reefs in Lyme Bay have been trashed by some fishing techniques.
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Great bustards released on Salisbury PlainThe Great Bustard Group released 19 birds on Salisbury Plain at the end of September, the fifth annual release that is part of the UK reintroduction project scheduled to continue until 2013.
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DEFRA announces protection for Lyme Bay Reefs - one of the UK’s top marine wildlife sitesOne of the finest marine wildlife sites in the UK's is to be protected from damaging scallop-dredging, thanks to the introduction of a new 60sq mile exclusion zone in Lyme Bay.
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Adonis unexpectedly reappears in the CotswoldsThe beautiful Adonis Blue butterfly has unexpectedly reappeared in the Cotswolds having become locally extinct more than 40 years previously.
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Glossy ibis flock arrives at Slimbridge.Usually only seen in the UK every 5 years, a flock of seventeen have recently settled at Slimbridge.
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Minke whale stranded in CornwallA 7 metre long Minke whale washed up on Porthcothan beach. Minke sighting are unusual at this time of year.
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Basking shark sighting and a code of conduct
With the recent surge in basking shark sightings off the UK coast, especially Cornwall and the Isle of Man, the Marine Conservation Society has devised a code of conduct as to how to behave when near the sharks, whether in a boat or swimming (not advised). More.Lyme Bay Reefs devastated by fishing.
Lyme Bay Reefs devastated by fishing.
Devon Wildlife Trust has collected evidence that the Reefs in Lyme Bay have been trashed by some fishing techniques. To see the full story, and to see a video of the destruction, Click here.
Devon Wildlife Trust has collected evidence that the Reefs in Lyme Bay have been trashed by some fishing techniques. To see the full story, and to see a video of the destruction, Click here.
Seashore safaris
Best activity book of the year
Summer is here, we have warm weather, and the beach is beckoning. A swim, build a couple of sandcastles, a bit of beach cricket, but what to do next?
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Large blue butterfly ‘open day’
On Sunday 20 June staff and volunteers will be showing visitors round taking them to the best places to see these little blue beauties during their short life.
Wildlife of the Jurassic Coast
If you are visiting the southern coast of England, anywhere between Exmouth and Swanage, and you are vaguely interested in wildlife, you should get your hands on this book.Read full review »