Wildlife in September

If the wind is in the north-west, early September can be the best time of the year for watching seabirds migrating past the Norfolk coast. You may see Manx and sooty shearwaters, arctic skuas and possibly rarer species such as Leach’s storm-petrels and long-tailed skuas.

Along the North Norfolk coast, this is also a fine month for visiting a rockpool. Choose a very low tide, wear tough, non-slippery footwear and head off in search of beadlet anemones, velvet swimming-crabs, black squat-lobsters, and long-spined sea-scorpions. Just inland of West Runton’s rockpools the heaths of the Holt-Cromer Ridge are at their finest now with common ling, bell heather and western gorse ablaze with flower.

In secret corners of woodland the strange roar of rutting red deer stags is to be heard in September. Closer to home ivy is flowering in almost every Norfolk garden attracting common wasps, red admiral butterflies and many hoverflies including the abundant marmalade hoverfly.