Wild Watch

Alpinre Grove Touring Park, South Somerset

After erecting two tawny owl boxes donated from the owl trust we are delighted to find that one breeding pair of tawny owls have produced young. Mrs Helen Gurd.

Arrow Bank Holiday Park, Herefordshire

I spotted a green finch sitting on the telegraph pole above our tent. Megan Cook.

Barlows Camp Site

My caravan is next to a farm field which had bulls and rams inside. 2 of the bulls were jabbing their horns into each other and 1 of the rams tried to split them up then the 2 bulls started chasing it around the field. Robyn Oliver.

Cambridge, Club Site

Following on from a huge Thunderstorm over night on Tuesday 27th there were many large waterlogged puddles across the site. One of these had 2 mallard ducks by it and a heron wadding in it. Very unusual. Mike Waller.

Canterbury Site, Kent

We saw grey aquirrels, rabbits, rooks, crows and a barn owl. Mr S Woodcock.

Canterbury Site, Kent

We saw about 30 rabbits,  and they would be all around us first thing in the morning and last thing at night -  we had to be careful not to step on them when going for a shower. We had 6 grey squirrels that were not afraid to come to see what was going on in our caravan we had 1 that even ventured in to the awning to steal a few crumbs.

We heard a barn owl the second night screeching away in the tree above our caravan, the squirrels would play lets annoy the campers by dropping seeds on our roof there were varying insects from woodlice to big harvest spiders bird life too pigeons blackbirds thrush's and robins all going about their business not bothering that there were about a 100 humans invading their space. Jane Woodcock.

Canterbury Site, Kent

Numerous rabbits around the site at various times of day. Rabbits about 6 feet from caravan as person on next pitch leaving vegetable peelings out. Squirrels running around especially in early evening when they were dropping berries from trees onto roof of caravan then running after them. Lots birds i.e. rooks crows and pigeons. S Woodcock

Cayton Village Caravan Park

A male and female barn owl has been spotted at Cayton Village Caravan Park.

Chertsey Club Site

Here at the Chertsey Club Site We have a flock of Parakeets, a pair of Egyptian geese and a pair of nesting swans.

You can also walk to Hampton court along the river and watch all the river birds, going the other way along the river.

Coxwold North Yorkshire Brenk House, CS Site

We spotted a pair of hares jousting in a field across the road from the site. Iain Jack.

Eskdale Club Site Lake District Cumbria

A Cormorant (phalacrocoacidae) was spotted on the site last Thursday, it was busy catching eels. It was a very large long black bird, very odd to see one so far in-land. Nearest sea is over ten miles away and there are also two pairs of bussards living in the area and we have a family of voles living under one of the Camping pods eating worms. Because the Eskdale Club Site is surrounded by woods lots of owls and foxes can be heard most nights.

Golden Cap, Dorset

We spotted rabbits, woodpeck green wigtails buzzard blakbirds gold fich, seagulls, robins, badgers and a fox. Mrs  Kyte.

Hertford Site

There has been a nuthatch and a jay visiting the bird feeders together with the squirrels and wood pigeons.

When there are not so many campers around we see male and female pheasants, mallards, moorhens, green and lesser spotted woodpecker, rooks, crows, magpies, two or three varieties of tits, robin, chaffinches, bull and green finches and field fares. The nuthatch and jay come in a pair usually. There are hedgehogs, an enormous fox and sometimes deer. In the pond there are enormous carp who come to the surface for bread. We have not seen any rabbits or starlings though. Mrs Anita Louise Carr.

Kingsbury Water Park

At Kingsbury Water Park we have bunny rabbitts eating next to our BBQ. Jonathan Tinsley.

Moreton Club Site

At every site I visit I put out a bird feeder, and to my surprise I have noticed a crow trying to take the nuts from the feeder. This i have never seen before. David Messenger

Moreton, Club Site

At every site I go to I put out a bird feeder and to my suprise i had a crow trying to take the nuts from the feeder. This i have never seen before. David Messenger.

Oham Lakes, CS Site

A badger was nuzzzling around the back of the caravan on his way back to the sett in the bank around the site (this is apparently a breeding sett with several families living there) and a heron was standing very still looking into the water waiting for a fish to surface. Neil Harrison.

Oldbury Hill Site, Kent

We spotted crow's, robin's, daddy long legs, spiders, may bugs, beetles, worms, flies, caterpillers,centapeedes, earwigs, moths, butterflies and magpies. We could hear many birds, but the best and most interesting was the 3 bats that flew over our tent every night. Sarina & Raffaele Tulino.

Oswestry Site

List of 129 varieties of plants seen on the site which was collated in 1978 is available.  During the renovations, Shropshire Wildlife Trust showed great interest in the abundance of Viper's Bugloss a wild flower which blooms from May - September with vivid blue flowers. 

There are masses of Scarlet Pimpernel on the site which open their red heads in the sunshine and close tight when the sun goes down.  Forget-me-nots also proliferate in the spring/summer months.  The Lilac trees have a fantastic display in May and in the Autumn the Horse Chestnuts are laden with conkers. 

During January/February a carpet of snowdrops can be seen on the bridleway adjacent to the site.  The summer months see the Buddlia positively teeming with many varieties of butterflies.

Also, during Winter 2007 many species of bird were seen surrounding the site at Oswestry including:- Pheasant, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrior Crow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch.

Sandy Balls Campsite

We were walking along a path which we don't think is used very much when a small badger popped its head out of the grass. It stayed there for about 25 minutes moving around in the grass and was in touching distance. We didn't touch it though! We were surprised to see a badger in the middle of the day. We have pictures and videos of it. Laura Griffiths.

Scone, Club Site

We saw a grey heron and a orange tip butterfly, in glen lui I saw a adder. Gillian Bryce.

Secret Garden Bosavern House, Cornwall

We spotted basking shark, rabbits, crows, buzzards, magpies, gannets, shags, cows, sheep, fury catterpillars, slow-worms, butterflies; blue & white, meadowpippet,rock pippet, swift, swallow, great black backed gull, jackdaw, beetles, coal tit, crab and fairy shrimp. Emma Bendall.

Theobalds Park

The following wildlife was spotted at Theobalds Park: Muntjack Deer, Green woodpecker, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Rabbits and Foxes.

Thetford Forest Site

We here at Thetford Forest plan to hold a 2 hour walk on Sunday 25th May (weather permitting!) We had one out last Sunday which was a success so therefore going to do another one.

Thetford Forest Camping and Caravanning Club Site, Puddledock Farm, Great Hockham, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 1PA

Thetford Forest Site

We spotted a large deer lying in the sun in clearing along with a fox. Chris & Dave Collier.

Visit a Wildlife Trust reserve during NCCW 2008

The Wildlife Trust look after over 2,200 nature reserves across the UK so there is likely to be one near you wherever you are.

The vast majority are free and are havens for wildlife – from wildflower meadows to woodlands, and from wetlands to coastal hideaways.

Late spring and early summer is a great time to pay a visit as trees and flowers burst into bloom, migrant birds arrive for the summer, dragonflies and butterflies emerge and the longer days allow plenty of time for exploring.

To find a Wildlife Trust nature reserve near you visit their website.

Bellingham Club Site

We have a family of Roe deer that reside on the hill side overlooking the site. Numerous spottings by the campers, usually in the evening. You have to keen eyed because its amazing how well they blend into the moorland colours.
 
We also have two buzzards who must live close by. We see them flying over the bottom end of the site looking for their dinners! Again another camper spotting.

Cardigan Bay Club Site

At Cardigan Bay you can see red kites hovering and flying quite low over the site, you can also see seals and dolphins in the bay at New Quay which is about three miles from site.

Charmouth Club Site

We have a selection of wildlife around us as we have our own private woodland attached to the site which is home to a breeding pair of buzzards that hover over the site on sunny Summer days.

The woods also contain deer and badgers. We’ve also got a wide variety of birdlife including woodpeckers and jays.

Two years ago we had a keen moth-hunter on site who spent a night in the woods with a moth trap who identified 27 different species of moth, including one that had only been seen in the UK five times before.

Delamont Country Park Club Site

The site is within Delamont Country Park (Northern Ireland) which is situated on Strangford Lough, where seals can be seen.

There is a Heronry and a bird hide within the park and other inhabitants include Badgers, Owls and Stoats. We see a variety of birds on the site and at the moment get regular visits from an Albino Magpie.

Inverewe Club Site

“We booked two nights on the Inverewe campsite intending to travel on to Skye.In the end we stayed for 11 nights, attracted by the numerous and close wildlife encounters around the site.

The foreshore reveals a large seaweed area between tides,which attracts Greenshanks, Redshanks, Ringed Plovers as well as Red Breasted Mergansers; but the real treat is the sight of an Otter playing in the bay catching fish in full view. One even came a shore on the seaweed in front of the campsite.

At high tide we were rewarded with close views of Black Throated and Great Northern Divers, while further out Slavonian Grebes were in their summer plumage ready to leave for their breeding sites.

Inverewe Gardens is with in easy walking distance of the campsite and its Pine Wood Trail boasts an inquisitive Pine Marten. Sadly we only saw its photograph in the excellent and free wildlife hide on the foreshores.

At dusk Bats flew around the campsite, their silhouettes clearly seen against an amazing purple and orange sky which was reflected in the bay’s water.

We never did get to Skye …..”

Lee and Bernadette Kitchingman  April 2008

Lydford Club Site

Wild birds (woodland, heath land, farmland) bats, owls. We have foxes visit at night and the odd badger and even the occasional deer.
 
More interestingly we have May Bugs here. As you might imagine they are usually seen in May, but do carry on into June and July. They are rare large brown furry flying beetles. Unfortunately for them they can be taken for cockroaches although they are generally bigger and fatter with ginger furry tummies. We spend a lot of time persuading folk not to jump on them, especially in the ladies facilities from where a loud scream means they have arrived!

Nairn Club Site

Red Squirrels can be seen – usually fairly early in the morning! There are a wide variety of birds on site including tree creepers, chaffinches, blue tits, coal tits and bullfinches.

Oban Club Site

Deer, Pipascal Bats, Pine Martin, Seals, Sea Eagles, Siskins, Ring Collar Doves have all been spotted from Oban Club Site.

Ravenglass Club Site

We have owls up at Muncaster Castle, which are the headquarters of the World Owl Trust and has one of the largest collection of owls from fish owls to pygmy owls.

Rhandirmwyn Club Site

As well as an abundance of different species of garden birds including the Greater Spotted Woodpecker and the Nuthatch, Dippers in the river and Buzzards circling around, this particular area is renowned for the presence of the Red Kite, often seen gliding over the site especially on clear days.

The Red Kite is a very striking looking bird of prey, very distinctive with its fork tail. They are chestnut red with white patches under the wings and a grey head. They were virtually wiped out in the UK by the end of the 18th century except for a few pairs left in rural mid Wales. Thanks to the local landowners setting up protection programmes over the last hundred years, Wales now has around 600 pairs of breeding Red Kites.

It’s surprising the amount of people who come back year after year just to see these magnificent birds. For a guaranteed sighting there are two feeding stations in the area around 15 minutes drive away, these give people a superb view of the Red Kite dining.

Rosemarkie Club Site

Here at Rosemarkie, dolphins, seals and porpoises are the norm. Otters have been seen quite a lot recently along the beach eating fish. Occasionally we see a kestrel hunting and from nearby red kites are often seen. Herons often visit the rock pools along with cormorants and various other gulls, ducks and oyster-catchers.

Sennen Cove Club Site

We get a lot of basking sharks here during the summer, plus dolphins and seals. Also headlands around us attract lots of different migrating birds.

St Neot's Club Site

From St Neot's the following have been seen Kingfishers - when in season, Green Woodpecker (rare), along with many other birds.

Also one absolutely beautiful male fox can be seen crossing the site very early or very late at night.

Thetford Forest Club Site

The egret which was with us flew on the 12 April after entertaining the campers for some time.

There are wild boar in the forest a little away from the site but have been seen 10 miles away. Also there is the Thetford wild cats which visitors say they have seen. 

Troutbeck Club Site

Red squirrels can be seen on site.

We have squirrel boxes all over the site and they can also regularly be seen down at the beck (Troutbeck) that runs along the perimeter of the camping field.