Animals and Wildlife

The Isle of Wight’s climate and physical makeup makes it the perfect place to do a spot of wildlife watching

The island is home to over 200 species of birds, and with plenty of areas of water (lakes, rivers, creeks and of course, the sea) it’s a great place to spot wading birds, ducks and waterfowl

You’ll also find 43 of the UK’s 61 butterfly species, as well as plenty of exciting plants, insects and of course; red squirrels. No matter what kind of wildlife and nature you enjoy, there is sure to be somewhere you’ll enjoy in our list below

1. Red squirrels

Once you realise around 3,500 endangered red squirrels roam the Isle of Wight, they’ll become your number one must-see !

Perhaps considered the island’s best-kept secret once upon a time, today you can’t miss the dedicated signposts dotted along the wooded roads, placed there by concerned residents. However, the signs left by the squirrels themselves are much more subtle. Look out for split hazelnuts and acorns, plus pine cones nibbled down to their spindle, particularly in woodland around Newtown and nearby Fort Victoria Nature Reserve, Borthwood Copse, the Parkland Forest and Alverstone Mead Nature Reserve.

There are no greys on the Isle of Wight, unlike on the mainland, but still be sure to tread carefully. When you explore the woods, move slowly and quietly, keeping any dogs out for walks on a lead. Sit still from time to time, and the red will reveal itself to the most patient of wildlife watchers. Listen out for the skitter of their claws on the tree trunks and the gentle rustle of leaves. Given enough time, they’ll eventually emerge. When they do, the Wight Squirrel Project is keen that visitors report any sightings to help population preservation and research.

2. Glanville fritillary butterflies

The downlands in summer (though not June, which is commonly known as the June gap among butterfly folk) is usually alive with the tiny jewel-esque wings of the adonis and chalkhill blue, and the large and impressive dark green fritillary.

However, there is one species which is famously restricted in its range to a few places on the under cliffs in the Isle of Wight’s south: the Glanville fritillary. The treacherous and dynamic geology of this area creates the ideal conditions for this heat-loving insect – south-facing sun traps and wild, unfettered, flower-rich grassland, in which caterpillar food plants can thrive.

Its caterpillars – which are rarely sought with the same passion but are just as interesting – can be found clustered on the leaves of its food plant (ribwort and buck’s horn plantain) in spring and late summer. This is when the spiky, black and silver caterpillars with orange head capsules can be seen feeding in twinkling clusters.

3. The white-tailed eagle

White-tailed Eagles were once widespread along the whole of the South Coast of England, from Cornwall to Kent, before being driven to extinction by relentless persecution that began in the Middle Ages.

The last pair bred on Culver Cliff on the Isle of Wight in 1780, but starting last year, a long-term project to release young birds from a secret location on the island began, with the aim to re-establish a population of this magnificent raptor.

The release is part of a project, led by the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation and Forestry England, to establish a breeding population of white-tailed eagles in southern England.

Re-establishing a population of White-tailed Eagles on the South Coast will restore a lost species, and help to link populations in Scotland and Ireland with those in the Netherlands and France.

While the release site remains a well-kept secret, the white-tailed eagle can turn up just about anywhere as they wander freely around the island. Chances of a sighting are far from guaranteed (but with a two-and-a-half metre wingspan, you’ll know when you’ve seen one) – though its reward in itself for any wildlife enthusiast to know that the eagle is back, out there, somewhere on the island.

4.Water voles

Water voles are some of Britain’s rarest mammals. Prior to the 1950s, water voles were common on the mainland, until American mink released from fur farms annihilated the population. On the Isle of Wight, it’s somewhat like a land forgotten in time, and the calm waterways are a natural haven for these riverine rodents. They can be seen striking out for the opposite bank, or more often heard. They make a distinctive ‘plop’ as they enter the water.

Sometimes, confusion arises after an often-too-brief sighting, because water voles are surprisingly about the same size as a brown rat, and indeed both species are excellent swimmers. Just as Ratty, from Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows, was also a water vole. To distinguish them, see if you can focus on a few features – water voles appear much darker,with very short tails, and have a rounded, blunt head with reduced ears.

5. Great green bush crickets

Great green bush crickets mature in the summer, and are one of the few insects that you can hear from the car as you whizz by – the grating song of the males as they rub parts of their wings over each other can be heard over the roar of an engine at 60mph. It sounds a bit like your wheel bearings have gone. Listen for them late in the afternoon on warm days, until the first of the frosts. Even better, a stroll through long grass might just reveal one, flopping lazily ahead of your footfalls.

Noisy, but these carnivorous, predatory crickets are handsome insects, and one of the biggest British insects, too. A larger female can be nearly five centimetres long, with an egg-laying tube and wings adding at least another three centimetres.