Puffins on Rathlin Island, Northern Ireland
Rathlin Island, the northernmost point of Northern Ireland, is home to the country’s biggest seabird colony. The star is the puffin, which arrives in April to breed and heads back out to sea in late July. Other birds to see at the West Light Seabird Centre, a refurbished lighthouse, include razorbills, guillemots, kittiwakes and fulmars. The Roonivoolin Reserve in the south of the island attracts choughs, lapwings, corncrakes and snipe, while eider ducks laze around the harbour.
• Admission free, return ferry fare from Ballycastle is £12 adult, £6 child and £32 family, rathlincommunity.org
Swans at Abbotsbury, Dorset
The Abbotsbury Swannery was founded by Benedictine monks in the mid-11th century and today is the only managed colony of nesting mute swans in the world. The 600 free-flying swans live in a 25-acre sanctuary; fluffy cygnets hatch from mid-May to the end of June, and learn to fly in September and October. Visitors can walk among the swans and help at feeding time (midday and 4pm). There are also lots of geese, ducks and other waterfowl.
• From £10 adult, £7.60 child, abbotsbury-tourism.co.uk
Ospreys at Loch Garten, Highlands
In 1954, a pair of breeding ospreys nested in Abernethy Forest next to Loch Garten – the first seen in Scotland since 1916. Since 1959, a pair has nested there every year, and today there is an Osprey Centre with binoculars, telescopes and CCTV views of the nest. The ospreys can be seen from April to August, while the capercaillie, Scotland’s largest grouse, put on courtship displays in April and May. Other inhabitants include crested tits, goldeneyes and Scottish crossbills.
• £5 adult, £2 child, £10 family, rspb.org.uk
Nightingales at Whisby nature park, Lincolnshire
Nightingales are on the Red List of UK birds, which means urgent action is needed to save them from extinction: according to the RSPB, their numbers have dropped by 90% over the past 50 years. As well as the challenge of crossing the Sahara twice a year, and finding food during winter in west Africa, they need a suitable breeding site when they return in spring. One such site is Whisby nature park, reclaimed gravel pits now run by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, which organises guided nightgale walks in late April. Warblers, swallows and terns also flock to the lakes, woodland and meadows.
• Free, small car-parking charge, lincstrust.org.uk
Eagles on the Isle of Rum, Inner Hebrides
The white-tailed eagle is the UK’s biggest bird of prey. It became extinct in Britain in the early 20th century but has since been reintroduced. The Isle of Rum, where the first eagles were released in 1975, now has more than 50 breeding pairs, and is also home to golden eagles. The eagles are outnumbered by the colony of Manx shearwaters, however: more than 60,000 pairs nest in mountain burrows from late March to September.
• Admission free, return ferry fare from Mallaig is £8.30 adult, £4.20 child, isleofrum.com
