RFI mammal sites Southern UK late April, early May
Hi,
I am planning a two-week trip to southern Engeland late April – early May with my family.
I have read all reports and I have the guide book “Where to watch mammals in Britain and Ireland”
-Are there any sites I really should consider as a mammalwatcher in late April – early May?
-Is water shrew really likely or a long shot?
-Are the bat sites like the sites for barbastelles and greater horseshoe worthwhile in early May? Feels a little early for the breeding colonies.
Nice species would be: water vole, water shrew, weasel, otter, badger, good bats
The ideal picture is picteresque family friendly countryside with some like clear streams nearby with water vole, otter and water shrew, and habitats for mustelids and bats.
Itinerary so far:
ferry Calais – Dover
? Southern Downs NP and WTT Arundel castle for water vole
Isle of Wright for a short week.
?
?
ferry Calais – Dover or Harwich – Hoek van Holland
Sites I have noted down (some are in Norfolk, hope to find some below London too):
WTT Arundel for water vole
Fowlmere RSPB reserve water shrew, otter, water vole
Minismere reserve water shrew, otter, water vole
Wicken Fen?
Weeting Heath : stone curlew and stoat
Strumpshaw Fen water vole, water shrew, otter
Thanks a lot for any replies
Maurice Tijm
Post author
5 Comments
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shortclaws
We saw water shrew early in the morning at the pond at Minsmere reserve, it’s a small pond and so seems a consistently good spot. Our various sitings of otter have all been in different places at random times, so we can’t really help there. Maybe Shapwick Heath in Somerset is another option to put on your list, there at least we saw the otter twice from a hide after patient waiting.
I would point out that otters were eradicated from many English counties until the 1990’s, and although they have now recovered to pretty much everywhere, Kent, Sussex & Surrey were the *last* counties that they returned to. So I would expect it to be extremely hard finding otter in those parts of the south. The south-west or Norfolk are much better options.
The Isle of Wight is a lovely place, and good for families, but unless you are going there for a specific purpose then there is plenty of equally (or more) beautiful countryside on the mainland: the Dorset and Devon coasts in particular, but also Sussex and Kent. Just a thought. : )
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Eduardo Ruiz
If you want to see european badgers you can try one of the numerous Badger hides around new Forest (Undercastle Cottage, for example) or the Tewin Orchard badger hide, although this is in north west London, these will give you a nice chance for photography. The Tewin Orchard hide is also unexpensive. If you don’t want to visit a hide and you are arriving into London, i can recommend you a local park in north west London that is completely open at night and everytime i run there at night i see 2-3 badgers (including a female that had babies recently, these babies will start coming out the sett end of April/early May), if you are interested i can tell you the location of this park in a private message, i don’t want to make it public because badger culling is a thing in the UK due to the spread of bovine tuberculosis and the local community is still trying to figure out what to do since they only moved in recently, many of them have been hit by cars and some neighbours don’t enjoy having them get into their gardens at night.
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maurice-tijm
Dear Jeff, Shortclaws, Eduardo, thank you for your info on these sites! Looking forward to this trip and to visit these small but interesting reserves. I will keep you updated on my itinerary. There are some sites in the report of John Wright I still would like to look into: Water shrew in The Logde, Otter in Blandford forum, Otter in River Little Ouse, Suffolk. I am aware that conditions vary but such sightings at least bring us to promising areas. I don’t want to drive to much so I will make a decision to do either south + west of london or north of london. Yes that pond in Minsmere appears to be a consistent spot for water shrew and water vole. I have seen water vole in the Netherlands by waiting patiently but I haven’t heard about water shrew watching at particular stakeouts as a tactic in the Netherlands yet.
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shortclaws
Just for info: we visited Blandford Forum twice last year to look for otters and had no luck. A local wildlife spotter told us they hadn’t been seen for a year or two, and this seems to be confirmed by other comments online. So unless you have new information from this year, I think Blandford Forum may be a waste of time for otter.
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JeffHigdon
I was in southern England in mid-April 2023 and there was good bat foraging activity over waterways in London (River Thames, ponds in Richmond Park) and Woking, Surrey. Mostly foraging pipistrelles (based on detector results), but I assume May wouldn’t be too early to see animals at colonies.
I saw a water vole in the Bassingstoke Canal in Woking. I wouldn’t recommend it for that species though, I just happened to be there for work. I had hoped to get to London Wetland for voles but never had time. It seemed like a very dependable location based on my research.
Good luck!