UK wildlife in April: what to see, and where

Happening in April

• Bitterns booming
  Bitterns boom from the Broads’ reedbeds at dawn. Seeing one is another matter. Bittern
• Puffin season
  Puffins are back on Skomer, bills full of sand eels, with razorbills and guillemots on the cliffs. Puffin, razorbill and guillemot

Moments worth waiting for

What the animals are up to this month, the most seasonal first.

• Sky-dancing pair Buzzard · day
  Two buzzards rise on a thermal, then one folds its wings and plunges in a looping display.
• Puffins arriving back Puffin · dusk and dawn
  Hundreds of puffins wheel in a great circle above the clifftop before dropping onto the turf.
• Spring awakening Peacock · day
  A peacock, freshly out of hibernation, opens its wings on a sunny wall and shows all four eyespots.
• Plastering the nest hole Nuthatch · day
  A pair carries beakfuls of mud to a tree hole, shrinking the entrance to fit.
• Excavating a nest hole Crested tit · dawn and day
  A crested tit clings to a rotten pine stump, pecking out chips of wood and flicking them away to make a nest hole.
• Piggyback pairs Common toad · night and dusk
  A tiny male clings to a female's back on her walk to the water.
• The male dance Adder · dawn and day
  Two males rear and twist around one another in a slow, silent wrestle, watched by a coiled female.
• Wing-clapping display Short-eared owl · dusk and dawn
  A short-eared owl climbs into the air, claps its wings and dives in an ancient courtship flight.
• Lek display Black grouse · dawn
  The blackcocks fan their lyre tails, lower their wings and bubble, jumping and clashing on the wet grass at first light.
• Cock on the lek Capercaillie · dawn
  A huge black cock stands on a mossy stump at first light, tail fanned, beard bristling, and begins his clicking and popping display.
• Ducklings in a line Mallard · day and dawn
  A mallard leads a line of fluffy ducklings across the canal, one straggler paddling to catch up.
• Piping display Oystercatcher · dawn and day
  Two oystercatchers run side by side, bills pointing down, in a shrill piping duet.
• Drumming Great spotted woodpecker · dawn and day
  A rattle of drumming rolls out of the canopy as a woodpecker leans against a dead branch.
• Male on his rock Red grouse · dawn
  A cock grouse stands on a boulder with red combs swollen, then launches into a low display flight, calling 'go-back go-back'.
• Walking underwater Dipper · dawn and day
  The dipper steps off a rock and vanishes, walking along the riverbed before popping up with a caddis larva.
• Sky-dance Marsh harrier · day and dawn
  A male climbs high, folds and tumbles towards the reeds before swooping up again.
• Cliff-edge aerobatics Chough · dawn and day
  Two choughs tumble and dive along the cliff edge on the wind, calling as they twist together.
• Courtship dance Smooth newt · dusk and night
  A crested male faces a female and fans his tail, quivering, in the shallows.
• Food pass Peregrine falcon · day
  The male arrives with a kill and the female rolls in the air to take it from his talons.
• Boxing hares Brown hare · dawn, day and dusk
  Two hares rear up and box, fur flying, in the March sunshine.
• The toad crossing Common toad · night and dusk
  Dozens of toads plod across the wet road in the torchlight, all heading for the same pond.
• Cubs emerge Badger · dusk and dawn
  Two pale-faced cubs tumble out of the sett for the first time, sniffing everything, then bolt back inside at the smallest sound.
• Spring basking Common lizard · dawn and day
  A lizard flattens its ribs to soak up the sun on a warm log, tail curled, one eye on you.
• Calling male Cuckoo · dawn and day
  A grey male leans forward on a gorse tip, wings drooped, calling 'cuck-oo' again and again.

Where to look

At their best in April, quickest to see first, with the best time of day.

Rare visitors

Not here most of the time, but April is when these can turn up: Hoopoe and glossy ibis.

Moths on the wing

Coming to a garden moth trap in April: March moth. All the moths, and how to trap them kindly.

Nature notes for April

• When do hedgehogs hibernate in the UK?