Natural England - East Dartmoor: seasonal highlights

East Dartmoor: seasonal highlights

There is always something to see on East Dartmoor NNR.

Spring

From April the woodland is full with the song of blackcap, chiffchaff, willow warbler, whilst grey wagtails and ravens are already nesting. By mid-April there are pied flycatchers, redstarts, wood warblers.

On the heath and moor there are stonechats and linnets everywhere and cuckoos can be seen displaying and calling. Trendlebere Down is alive with the song of skylarks and meadow pipits as well as Dartford warblers and whitethroats. Nightjars are the last of the migrant species to return to the site and can be seen and heard at dusk from mid-May onwards.

During early May look out for pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies in the woodland clearings and also on Trendlebere Down.

Summer

By June most of the woodland birds have finished feeding young at the nest and are moving through the woodland in family groups. Noisy parties of small birds attract the attention of nesting sparrowhawks whose young hatch out just as the availability of this prey is at its peak.

On the heathland species such as Dartford warblers are particularly noticeable as they 'scald' humans who wander too close to the nest sites. At dusk nightjars are displaying and 'churring' on Trendlebere Down. In July look out for grayling butterflies on the short grass of the mown firebreaks - although found here in good numbers they are much more common on coastal sites.

Autumn

By early September all of the summer visitors have gone from the woodland. Flocks of migrating swallows and house martins are regularly seen catching insects over Trendlebere Down, occasionally pursued by a lone hobby. The last chiffchaff of the year is usually heard in mid-late September.

By November the flocks of redwing and fieldfares start to return and set to work on the rowan and holly berries. The colder the weather in the north the more of these there are. They may be joined by flocks of siskins and redpolls which feed on the birch trees.

Out on the heath and moorland there are only the resident Dartford warblers and meadow pipits plus the occasional over-wintering stonechat.

Winter

Feeding takes place from the hide at Yarner Wood from November until mid-March providing close up views of species such as marsh tit, great spotted woodpecker as well as the more common species. By February the days start to get longer and this is the best time to see the elusive lesser spotted woodpecker which starts drumming and displaying.