January 1 Wild goose chases and whisky chasers Argyll & Bute for barnacle goose, Greenland white-fronted goose, white-tailed eagle, otter, goose barnacle 2 Meres, fens and washes Cambridgeshire for Chinese water deer, bittern, Bewick's swan, whooper swan, hen harrier 3 Larking about Hampshire for red deer, roe deer, wood lark, great grey shrike, hawfinch 4 Seal of approval Durham for harbour seal, grey seal, long-eared owl, waxwing, snow bunting 5 Seaduck go Forth! Fife & East Lothian for velvet scoter, long-tailed duck, Slavonian grebe, white-tailed eagle, sea buckthorn bracket February 6 Touting for Tarka Northumberland for otter, red squirrel, Mediterranean gull, willow tit, twite 7 Whirling waders, gathering geese, aerial attacks Lancashire for otter, whooper swan, pink-footed goose, starling roost, scarlet elf cup 8 Kite-flying and Welsh witches Powys for red kite, raven, dipper, witches beard, Wilson's filmy fern 9 Dark Peak, white hare Derbyshire for mountain hare, peregrine, curlew, raven, red grouse March 10 From rifles to Ratty Greater London & Kent for water vole, heronry, Caspian gull, long-eared owl, rook roost 11 Serpents of the sandlings Suffolk for adder, Mediterranean gull, Dartford warbler, brown hare, mossy stonecrop 12 Daff's in t'dale North Yorkshire for wild daffodil, red grouse, goshawk, gannet, kittiwake 13 Wailing heath chicken run Suffolk & Norfolk for stone-curlew, stoat, grape hyacinth, Breckland speedwell, fingered speedwell April 14 Sand and deliver! Devon for sand crocus, sand lizard, narrow-headed ant, rockpool species, cirl bunting 15 A rabble of reptiles Dorset for eight species of reptile, natterjack toad, sika, early spider orchid, emperor moth 16 Snakes and snake's heads Gloucestershire & Wiltshire for wild boar, adder, goshawk, pied flycatcher, snake's-head fritillary 17 Highland spring, famous grouse Highland for black grouse, osprey, golden eagle, pine marten, Kentish glory May 18 Dukes and ladies Kent for lady orchid, bluebell,shingle plants, Duke of Burgundy, dew moth 19 Fantastic fish - and fishers Radnorshire & Carmarthenshire for sea lamprey, brook lamprey, badger, osprey, wood warbler 20 Pembrokeshire parrots, mystical Manxies Pembrokeshire for Manx shearwater, puffin, gannet, bluebell, red campion 21 Does the lady's slipper fit? Yorkshire & Cumbria for lady's slipper, coralroot orchid, pearl-bordered fritillary, white-spotted sable, natterjack toad 22 Machair marvels, streaming skuas Outer Hebrides for machair plants including orchids, corncrake, breeding waders, long-tailed skua, moss carder bee July 27 Butterfly high season Cumbria for high brown fritillary, mountain ringlet, large heath, dune helleborine, dark-red helleborine 28 Island intensity Northumberland for Arctic tern, roseate tern, puffin, dune helleborine, ballan wrasse 29 There be dragons... and dolphins Inverness-shire for northern emerald, northern damselfly, bumblebee robberfly, creeping lady's-tresses, bottlenose dolphin 30 Snorkelling and skippers Dorset for corkwing wrasse, Lulworth skipper, small red damselfly, heath tiger beetle, Dorset heath 31 Shark! Cornwall & Devon for blue shark, harbour porpoise, beaver, greater horseshoe bat, silver-studded blue August 32 Basking on the Lizard Cornwall for Cornish heath, bog asphodel, chough, basking shark, red-veined darter 33 Mad Manx and mountains Ceredigion & Snowdonia for Manx shearwater, osprey, sand lizard, marsh helleborine, feral goat 34 Pelagic paradise Isles of Scilly for Wilson's storm-petrel, great shearwater, common dolphin, grey seal, rockpool life 35 Dragonfly delights Essex & Kent for southern migrant hawker, scarce emerald damselfly, shrill carder bee, water vole, great crested newt September 36 Chiltern challenge Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire for edible dormouse, brown hairstreak, silver-spotted skipper, glowworm, Chiltern gentian 37 Webs, willows and wanderers Suffolk for fen raft spider, willow emerald damselfly, convolvulus hawk-moth, badger, polecat/ferret 38 The Flamborough front East Yorkshire for gannet, sooty shearwater, pomarine skua, red-backed shrike, rockpool life 39 Blubber and bucks Norfolk for harbour seal, fallow deer, bearded tit, yellow-browed warbler, dune waxcap October 40 Winner takes all Suffolk for red deer rut, otter, bearded tit, bittern, little stint 41 Scilly season Isles of Scilly for migrant birds, lesser white-toothed shrew, basking shark, prickly stick-insect, crimson speckled 42 Don't spurn the chance East Yorkshire for migrant songbirds, estuary waders, long-eared owl, woodcock 43 Estuarine exodus Cheshire & Conwy for pygmy shrew, harvest mouse, feral goat, short-eared owl, chough 44 Leap of faith North Yorkshire for the salmon run, roe deer, red squirrel, dipper, common crossbill November 45 Yew and yours Sussex for huge yews, fly agaric, water shrew, water vole, brent goose 46 Otterly fabulous! Argyll & Bute for pine marten, otter, red squirrel, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle 47 Weekly pupdate Lincolnshire for pupping grey seal, brent goose, knot, peregrine, Lapland bunting 48 Murmuration Somerset, Avon & Gloucestershire for Cheddar whitebeam, starling roost, Eurasian white-fronted goose, Bewick's swan, crane December 49 Hundreds and thousands Norfolk for pink-footed goose, whooper swan, wader spectacular, shore lark, snow bunting 50 Hoary and holy Northumberland for pale-bellied brent goose, long-tailed duck, common scoter, Slavonian grebe, waxwing 51 Ruling the roost Norfolk Broads for starling roost, rook roost, crane, Chinese water deer, grey seal 52 Capital birding Greater London for red deer, black-necked grebe, bittern, jack snipe, ring-necked parakeet roost Further Information 217 Index of sites 219 Index of species 223
