UK wildlife in September: what to see, and where

Happening in September

• Seal pups in Pembrokeshire
  Grey seal pups are born in the Pembrokeshire coves. Watch from the clifftop, never the beach. Grey seal
• The deer rut
  Red deer stags roar and fallow bucks groan. Red deer and fallow deer

Moments worth waiting for

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

• Newborn adders Adder · day
  A pencil-thin newborn adder, already venomous, basks beside its mother.
• Burying acorns Grey squirrel · day and dawn
  A squirrel digs a small hole, drops an acorn, pats down the soil, and looks around.
• Feeding on windfalls Red admiral · day
  A red admiral spreads its wings on a fallen apple, uncoiling its tongue to sip the juice.
• Eyespot flash Peacock · day
  Disturbed, the butterfly flicks its wings open and hisses, eyespots glaring.
• The rut Red deer · dawn and dusk
  A stag stands rigid on the ridge, throws back his head and roars; the sound rolls across the glen while hinds huddle nearby.
• Burying acorns Jay · dawn and day
  A jay lands with a bulging throat, pushes an acorn into the moss and covers it with a leaf.
• Hovering inspection Southern hawker · day
  A southern hawker hovers half a metre from your lens, then zips away along the hedge.
• Mother and hoglets Hedgehog · dusk and night
  A mother hedgehog leads several pale, soft-spined hoglets across the lawn.
• Chasing swifts Hobby · day
  A pack of swallows scatters and mobs as a hobby scythes past.
• Autumn group flight Bearded tit · dawn
  A party of bearded tits pings up above the reeds and flops down again.
• A charm on the teasel Goldfinch · day
  A charm of goldfinches clings to a teasel head, picking seeds and tinkling to each other.
• Worm hunting Buzzard · day
  A buzzard walks across a wet field on its long legs, pulling up earthworms.
• White-coat pup Grey seal · dawn and day
  On a quiet beach a white-coated pup lies motionless while its mother watches the surf, ready to nurse.
• Airing the bedding Badger · dusk
  A badger shuffles backwards out of the sett clutching a bundle of dry bracken under its chin.
• Drinking at a woodland pool Scottish crossbill · day and dawn
  A small flock drops to a rain-pool on the forest track, males and females drinking with a quick dip of the crossed bill.
• Bow-riding school Common dolphin · day
  A school of dolphins races in from the side, then surfs the bow wave, flashing tan-and-grey flanks just below the surface.
• Vole on the path Skomer vole · day
  A chestnut vole pops out of the bracken, sits up on the path and eyes you with no fear at all.
• Eel on the bank Grey heron · day
  A heron wrestles a slippery eel and swallows it whole.
• Feeding loops Common pipistrelle · dusk
  A pipistrelle loops repeatedly round a street light, turning sharply on midges.
• Feeding on a grass stem Water vole · dawn and day
  A water vole holds a stem in its paws, nibbling like corn on the cob.
• Cubs learning to swim Otter · dawn and dusk
  A mother otter noses her cubs into the water, chirping to keep them close.

Where to look

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

Rare visitors

Not here most of the time, but September is when these can turn up: Hoopoe, glossy ibis, rose-coloured starling, yellow-browed warbler, Leach's storm-petrel, grey phalarope, humpback whale, white-tailed eagle and snowy owl.

Moths on the wing

Coming to a garden moth trap in September: Large yellow underwing, angle shades, Jersey tiger, ruby tiger, brimstone moth, green carpet, convolvulus hawk-moth, death's-head hawk-moth and Clifden nonpareil. All the moths, and how to trap them kindly.

Nature notes for September

• Where to see grey seal pups in the UK, and when they're born
• When is the red deer rut, and where can you see it?