Exploring Somerset's nature

Wherever you are in Somerset, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to experience the county’s wonderful wildlife. Somerset is home to the merlin (the UK’s smallest bird of prey), red deer (the UK’s largest native land mammal), as well as the bittern Britain’s loudest bird! Along with Exmoor National Park and the Somerset Levels, there are several National Landscapes (previously Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) including the Blackdown Hills, Quantock Hills and Mendip Hills. There are 23 Local Nature Reserves, 13 National Nature Reserves (NNR),  two Super NNRs, and 128 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). There are also plenty of wildlife havens close to our towns, so wherever you live, you’re never far from nature.

As we continue to develop Somerset’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy and review the feedback we have received via our public survey, we are aware that nature in Somerset faces significant challenges. But we also know that our natural places can be a source of great joy and wonder. So, we thought we would share some of the fabulous wildlife experiences Somerset has to offer.

This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but we hope it will give you some pointers to start exploring. Before you visit, please read up on the local information – we've provided plenty of links to further information. Some sites have facilities such as carparks and toilets, while others are more rustic and harder to access. Please check whether dogs are welcome and keep them on a lead in areas where there are ground-nesting birds or grazing animals.

Woodland wildlife

Swell Wood near Langport has the largest colony of breeding grey herons in South-West England nesting between March and June. Look out for little egrets, nuthatches, woodpeckers and several species of bat.

In the Quantock Hills ancient sessile oak woodland of provides excellent habitat for wood warblers and the three species of woodpecker: green, greater and lesser spotted. Pied flycatchers migrate from Central Africa to the woodlands in summer. There is also a significant and nationally important population of nightjars in the Quantock Hills.

The wet spring line woodland of the Blackdown Hills provides great conditions for round-leaved sundew, oblong-leaved sundew, bog pimpernel, pale butterwort and marsh spotted orchids. Sphagnum mosses and tussock sedges, not normally thought of as woodland plants, can also be found here.

Heathland and moorland

High moorland, with internationally important wet and dry heathland, can be found at Dunkery and Horner Wood National Nature Reserve. The reserve supports a wealth of wildlife including rare and endangered species. If you are lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a merlin, the UK's smallest bird of prey, or a heath fritillary, one of Britain's rarest butterflies.

In late August, the heather starts to burst into bloom covering the landscape in a blanket of purple.

Head to the moors of Exmoor and the Quantock Hills for a chance to see red deer and native British ponies.

Wonderful wetlands

Avalon Marshes is one of the largest and most important wetlands in the UK and has some of Britain's best nature reserves. Home to marsh harriers, cranes, otters, water voles, dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies, and seven species of heron. The first great white egrets to nest in the UK chose Avalon Marshes to raise their young, and the population has grown significantly since then. Having returned from the brink of extinction in the UK, Britain's loudest bird, the bittern, is literally booming! Despite being very well camouflaged, the bittern has a distinctive booming call which sounds a bit like a foghorn!

At Ham Wall nature reserve extensive reedbeds give way to open water, creating a paradise for wetland birds, mammals and minibeasts, including water voles, otters, bitterns and kingfishers.

Greylake is an ideal place to get up-close with wading birds like lapwing, redshank, snipe and golden plover and watch egrets and herons fishing.

Catcott has a diversity of habitats including traditional hay meadow and grazing marsh, heath and fen, reed-beds and open water, and wet woodland. These support a magnificent diversity of wildlife, including rare species such as the ram’s-horn snail and marsh pea.

Down by the riverside

Rivers provide vital habitat and corridors for wildlife and can be wonderful places for us to enjoy the natural world.

On Exmoor, clear and fast running rivers support a wide range of species including brown trout, salmon, dippers, kingfishers, otters and, more recently, beavers. Beautiful places to experience Exmoor’s Rivers include Dulverton, Tarr Steps, and Withypool. 

Alongside the River Cary at Babcary Meadows, plants such as meadowsweet, cuckoo flower, creeping Jenny, pepper saxifrage and corky-fruited water-dropwort enjoy the damp conditions. In June and July there are large numbers of butterflies, including meadow browns and marbled whites. 

Coastal adventures

Bridgwater Bay Nature Reserve, at the mouth of the Rivers Parrett and Brue is one of the largest areas of intertidal mudflats in Britain. It is an internationally important feeding and roosting site for many waterfowl and wading birds. Around 200 bird species have been recorded at the reserve, including dunlin, knot, shelduck, reed and sedge warbler, oystercatcher, ringed plover and avocet. Birds of prey include peregrine, merlin and sparrowhawk.

Kilve Beach is a wonderful place to explore rock pools. Look out for crabs, limpets, clams, scallops, oysters, shrimps, and sea-slaters (they look like woodlice).

Lime-rich grassland

In Somerset, calcareous (lime-rich) grassland provides habitat for a wide range of plants, beetles, butterflies and birds.