The Adventure of the Wild 2023

In which I share some wildlife highlights...

Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some end-of-year posts. As you may know, I am very much into my wildlife and I have been very lucky to have had some utterly incredible wildlife encounters in 2023. To avoid this being a novel-length post I've kept it down to ten moments and they are, more or less, in chronological order. 

Red Squirrels

I managed to attend an event on the beautiful Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour back in April, an early morning walk before the island is usually open to the public. This in itself was great but we could stay after the walk had finished and the island was still very quiet as it had only just opened. Brownsea Island is home to one of the few populations of red squirrels in the South of England. This is our native species of squirrel that has been lost from the majority of England due to the arrival of grey squirrels from North America. Early morning in April is the peak time to see them and I headed into the woods and perched myself on a log in an area that looked suitable. Suddenly there were squirrels everywhere, scurrying along and seemingly unbothered by my presence if I kept still. Several came within touching distance of me and I had sat there for an hour watching these gorgeous creatures going about their business.

Otter

There's a local route that takes me along a stretch of the River Stour and then onto some local lakes which are a haven for wildlife. I've had many happy moments along this regular walk this year. On one occasion in the Spring, I had completed a circuit of the lakes and was crossing the bridge back over the Stour. Like much of the rest of the year, the water level was very high and the banks had been burst. Suddenly I spotted an otter diving into the deep water. It was hunting over what would normally be a riverbank, disappearing into the muddy waters for a few seconds and then re-emerging, gradually making its way downstream in this fashion. I've had brief views of otters before but they are a difficult mammal to see being largely nocturnal and usually very shy. By pure luck of being in the right place at the right time, I had stunning views from the bridge.

Wall Lizards

On a sunny Spring day, I took a walk along the clifftop around Southbourne and Bournemouth's East Cliff. This is an interesting area of wildlife as the combination of being South-facing and largely covered in plant life means the average temperature is about as warm as anywhere in the UK gets, meaning less common wildlife can be found here. One such creature is the wall lizard. This species is not a native species and is more commonly found in Southern Europe- I saw a couple when I visited Rome for example. They are unusual compared to other lizards in that they spend so much time on vertical rock faces. A population exists here and can be seen on the zig-zag pathways that lead from the top of the cliffs to the beach. It was quite busy on the day I was there but no-one else seemed to spot the very obvious lizards on the walls. 

Night Heron

I spent much of my Easter holidays walking up and down a stretch of the River Stour that is relatively close to me but not an area I usually visit because it's fairly urban. I had heard that there were several black-crowned night herons present there. These birds are relatively common across Europe and Asia but rarely come over to the UK so this was a unique opportunity for me. As the name suggests, they are more active at night and were spending much of the day hidden deep in the foliage. I tried going at dusk but didn't see them, I was there at dawn one day and was told by someone I had missed it by five minutes. I kept promising myself that I would give up and not return but I couldn't resist and on my fifth visit, I was finally treated to a view of this magnificent bird.

Barn Owl

On several occasions, I included the night heron sight as part of a longer walk, essentially as an excuse to go back there. One of these included following a footpath across a golf course and I was casually crossing a fairway when a ghostly figure flew out of a nearby tree. It was a barn owl, a rare sighting in broad daylight, and it flew a short distance into another tree. I'd never seen one in the wild before and there it was, flying close to me without making a sound. Sometimes you can go out looking for something specific but some of the best encounters come completely out of the blue.

Peregrines

Many town centres are home to breeding peregrines and Poole is one of them. They have been breeding for the last few years on an old office building that is currently empty. I popped by the building several times and was excited to see views of both the adults and the chicks- the chicks leave the nest but still hang around the building for some time before they can fly properly. Unfortunately, it has not been a good year for this family. Both adult peregrines were found dead this summer and tests confirmed they had contracted avian influenza- an outbreak occurred on Brownsea which was a favourite hunting area. The disease has decimated birds across the world over the last couple of years. The good news is that at least one of the chicks managed to survive into adulthood and is still seen regularly around the area. 

Puffins

This year I've taken several wonderful boat trips with the excellent local charity Birds of Poole Harbour- I highly recommend them! The best of them all though was back in June when I went on a Puffin Cruise. On a glorious evening, we sailed out of Poole Harbour, past Old Harry's Rocks and along to Dancing Ledge. Lots of cool seabirds like gannets and razorbills were seen but sure enough, we got amazing views of puffins. I've always wanted to see these birds and they were as beautiful as I had imagined. Unfortunately, the colony along the Dorset coast is struggling with numbers decreasing year-on-year. It looks likely that within a few years, there will be no puffins here any longer.

Nightjars

I took part in the Wildlife Trust's 30 Days Wild campaign once again this year which encourages you to do something wild every day during June. It pushes me to try to connect with nature more, especially on workdays where I usually don't go outside much. I decided to head over to the local heath one evening in the hope of catching up with nightjars. These are weird birds unlike anything else we really have in the UK. They nest on the ground so people sometimes spot them but I've never been so lucky. I positioned myself on the heath which was very quiet apart from the local teenagers smoking weed on the hill opposite. As the sun fell I began to hear the distinctive 'churring' of the birds, a noise unlike anything else. It was just light enough that I was able to follow the noise and spot several of the birds. I've got no photos of these guys, it was too dark, but it was a magical experience. 

Kestrel Nest

For a good few weeks, I started seeing local wildlife photographers post photos of some kestrel chicks in an old barn. Annoyingly I didn't know where it was but eventually, I found out. I arrived to see that the first of the chicks had just left the nest and was sitting on top of a nearby building. I then found the barn and was treated to incredible views of these beautiful birds only a few feet away from me. Several others apparently left the nest that day and within a few days they were all gone and much more difficult to see. I see kestrels regularly but seeing them at such a young age in such a beautiful place was really special.

Spotted Flycatchers/Sparrowhawk

At the end of the summer, I was doing my usual walk around the lakes. I was delighted to see some spotted flycatchers, charming birds that visit in the summer from Africa. They were another new species to me and I spent some time stood watching them in the trees. I turned to continue on my way to discover that I wasn't the only one taking a keen interest in the flycatchers- just a few feet away was a beautiful sparrowhawk looking for some lunch. This one was two brilliant encounters rolled into one- I thought I had got close to the kestrel chicks but this was a whole other level! Its golden eye considered me for a moment before it flew off to look for prey elsewhere. 

And those were my wildlife highlights of 2023! You can find lots more of my wildlife stuff on social media (Links here). I'll be back next week looking back at 2023 from a completely different angle.