Natural History Writing

UK Vagrancy

Nature-related news has never been bigger. Large swathes of the population are taking more of an interest as it moves up the agenda. Realisation has spread that the fate of the planet's other inhabitants and our own destiny are more connected than we once thought. More than half of us feed our garden birds and the BBC's Watches programmes are amongst their most popular. During 2020's pandemic-induced lockdown, interest in nature and wildlife soared whilst recently a wandering walrus has boosted tourism in the Welsh coastal town of Tenby and a number of records of whales in recent years in rivers such as the Thames has drawn hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of curious and bemused onlookers. People are interested in this stuff when it turns up on their doorstep. Starting with Lost & Found - my newly commissioned monthly column or 'vagrant species diary' in BBC Wildlife magazine - I have self-styled as a wildlife reporter highlighting some of the recent out-of-range species that have wandered to our shores.  Many records of vagrant taxa go unnoticed but more seem to be coming to light with the rise in popularity of wildlife photography and social media and a new generation of field guides covering all manner of wildlife.  My Lost & Found articles are available here: Unexpected wildlife visitors to the UK | BBC Wildlife Magazine - Discover Wildlife 

STOP PRESS***LATEST SIGHTINGS 2026

Rare sightings in the UK this year have included Britain's 1st Western Reef heron, present at Caernarfon, N Wales. Other Avian rarities seen this year have included Lesser Kestrel, Killdeer, Stejneger's & White-winged Scoter; and in Ireland, Harlequin duck and Redhead.

Other wildlife has included Yellow-spotted Whiteface in Surrey (a dragonfly with just a handful of UK records and a potential colonist), a well reported Walrus in Scotland, a reported Pale Clouded Yellow Butterfly, Another Willowherb Hawkmoth (certainly getting commoner here now) and 1-2 Bearded Seals (Yorkshire & Shetland) while in the winter there was a distinct influx of Loggerhead Turtles, some rescued alive which are still in care.

In Jersey a Smalltoothed sand tiger shark was found on a beach, following the 1st British record of this tropical species (also beached) on the English S coast a few years back.