Natural England - Kingley Vale: seasonal highlights

Kingley Vale: seasonal highlights

Kingley Vale NNR is a fantastic place to visit at any time of year

Spring – a great time to see brown hares boxing in the fields and young animals, especially rabbits, deer and fox. This is also the best time of year to hear Kingley Vale’s fantastic dawn chorus, with wheatears, yellowhammers, finches, warblers and tits nesting all over the reserve. You can also watch young buzzards fledging in the coombe, and spring also sees the male yews explode in clouds of pollen.

Summer – the peak season for activity on the reserve, with flowers in full swing, butterflies galore and the air full fo swifts and swallows. Look out for adders, grass snakes and slow worms basking in the sun.

Autumn – the annual deer rut begins, while female yews turn red with berries and thousands of wintering thrushes, fieldfares and redwing flock to gorge themselves for winter.

Winter – with the trees bare this is a great time for birdwatching, while the first snow fall makes the reserve perfect for animal tracking, with footprints everywhere