Spring and Summer Wildlife to Watch in the UK (and how to support it)
It’s got to that time of year. Longer days, brighter evenings, sun, and most importantly, wildlife.
Spring and summer bring an awakening of wildlife across the UK, from bumblebees in our gardens, to little scutterings of hedgehogs in the evenings. During this time of year, our local ecosystems are suddenly teeming with life.
Garden life in Spring and Summer
Nothing says summer quite like the gentle humming of a bee around flowers, or the occasional flaps of fear when wasps are around. But like all parts of nature, they have a purpose.
Pollinators
Bees and wasps are our planet's ultimate pollinators, without them, our wildflowers, gardens, and crops won't survive.
If you want to support pollinators, like bees, consider growing nectar-rich plants like lavender and foxgloves. To find more flowers, look at the Royal Horticultural Society guide on flowers for bees.
Animals
On a warm summer's day or a mild evening, look out for these common garden visitors:
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Bumblebees & Butterflies: Busy collecting nectar from your summer blooms.
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Ladybirds: Striking little beetles hunting down aphid pests on your plants.
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Garden Birds: Robins, House Sparrows, and colorful Goldfinches teaching their fledglings how to forage.
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The Soil Clean-Up Crew: Woodlice, earthworms, and centipedes hard at work under logs and pots.
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Hedgehogs: Snuffling through the undergrowth at dusk looking for a midnight snack.
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May Bugs (Cockchafers): Large, clumsy beetles that buzz around outdoor lights on mild summer evenings.
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Grey Squirrels & Wood Mice: Darting up trees or scurrying safely through the long grass.
Night-time neighbours
Hedgehogs start to wake up from hibernation in spring, scuttling around to find food, water, and a mate. As hedgehogs are nocturnal, you are most likely to spot these prickly friends around dusk or dawn. As well as being very cute, hedgehogs are a gardener's best friend, acting as natural pest controllers, eating through slugs, snails, and beetles.
Read more on why hedgehogs matter and what we can do to protect them.
Birds
In late spring, the skies fill with the breathtaking aerial acrobatics of migratory birds. Swifts and swallows travel thousands of miles from Africa to breed in the UK. You can spot swallows by their deeply forked tails and white bellies, while swifts look like dark anchors slicing through the evening sky.
Pond life
If you have a pond, or live near a local park with a lake or pond, you can start to see some incredible transformations in the summer. You'll spot clumps of jelly-like frogspawn turning into wriggling tadpoles, and if you shine a torch into the water at night, you might just spot smooth or palmate newts performing their underwater courtship dances.
Amphibians are a vital part of the wetland food web and are incredibly sensitive to environmental changes, making them great indicators of a healthy ecosystem.
Stepping Up for British Wildlife
Connecting with nature isn't just great for the environment, it’s amazing for our own mental well-being too. Taking five minutes out of a busy day to watch a ladybird on a leaf or listen to the morning birdsong is the perfect way to ground yourself.
Here at Hedgy, we believe that small steps can lead to a massive impact. That’s why sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, from our plastic-free packaging to our naturally breathable, chemical-free bamboo fabric.
Best of all, we proudly donate 10% of our profits directly to incredible wildlife charities, including the Vale Wildlife Hospital & Rehabilitation Centre. So, whether you are wearing our bright ladybird socks, rocking a hedgehog print, or tracking birds in a pair of our comfy kestrel socks, you are actively helping to fund the rescue, care, and rehabilitation of vulnerable UK species.
