Wildlife to see in the United Kingdom in August

3 spectacles at their peak in the United Kingdom in August, and 9 more still going on. Wild animals only: no zoos, no wildlife parks, no hunting. Open United Kingdom in August in the interactive calendar for listening times on the day you pick.

At their peak in August

• Bat emergence & autumn swarmingUnited Kingdom · Bats · peak 1 Jul–30 SepMostly ultrasonic: echolocation and feeding buzzes, social calls. Noctule social calls and some horseshoe calls are partly audible.
• Bottlenose dolphins from the shoreUnited Kingdom · Marine mammals · peak 1 Jun–31 AugWith a hydrophone: whistles, clicks, and burst pulses. Above water: blows and splashes very close to shore.
• Late-summer bush-cricket & grasshopper chorusUnited Kingdom · Insects · peak 1 Aug–31 AugLoud sewing-machine buzz of great green bush-crickets from coastal scrub; ticking of dark bush-crickets; the electric drone of Roesel's in rough grassland.

Also going on in August

• Manx shearwaters returning at nightUnited Kingdom · Nocturnal · peak 15 May–15 JulHundreds of thousands of birds crashing in, with cackling, choking, hoarse calls from the air and burrows all around you.
• Nightjars churringUnited Kingdom · Nocturnal · peak 1 Jun–15 JulContinuous mechanical churring with changes of gear, wing-claps, 'coo-ick' flight calls, with tree pipits and woodlarks at dusk.
• Seabird citiesUnited Kingdom · Seabird colony · peak 20 May–15 JulA wall of seabird calls: gannet grating, kittiwakes calling their name, guillemot growls, puffin burrow moans, sea and wind below.
• Corncrakes callingUnited Kingdom · Nocturnal · peak 15 May–30 JunThe rasping 'crex-crex' from iris beds and meadows, with snipe, redshank and the sea behind.
• Grey seal puppingUnited Kingdom · Marine mammals · peak 10 Nov–15 Dec and 10 Sep–20 OctEerie wailing 'singing' of cows, bawling pups and bull snarls, with the surf.
• Snettisham wader spectacularUnited Kingdom · Migration · peak 1 Sep–31 OctTens of thousands of knot flying in smoky clouds with a roaring wing-rush, then a low twittering murmur as they pack onto the roost banks.
• Storm petrels at Mousa BrochUnited Kingdom · Nocturnal · peak 5 Jun–20 JulPurring and hiccupping from inside the Iron Age broch walls, and the bat-like flutter of returning birds passing your head.
• Swift screaming partiesUnited Kingdom · Dawn chorus & song · peak 1 Jun–15 JulHigh-speed screaming packs racing around rooftops, doppler passes at head height, and the sound of summer evenings.
• Tyne kittiwakes — the urban colonyUnited Kingdom · Seabird colony · peak 15 May–15 JulAbout 800 pairs of oceanic gulls calling 'kitti-wake' from the Tyne Bridge girders and the Baltic art gallery ledges, echoing between the bridges over the river and city traffic.

More: United Kingdom all year · August along the whole flyway