The sun is shining, the trees are in full leaf, bees are buzzing, fledglings are on the wing, and everybody is outside and looking good. Unlike in hot countries, prolonged warm weather spells are much beloved by the English, the Welsh and the Scottish; they're almost a novelty and they bring us out in our droves. Now the summer has arrived, how are you going to spend it?
For Summer Holiday Watch, holidaycottages.co.uk has teamed up with the RSPB to celebrate and highlight the joys of summer and help you enjoy the warmest, and longest of days in our woodlands, countryside and coast. We’ve compiled a fun and thorough guide to inspire you. Thrumming with life, the natural world is full of wonder and we want to share the best of it with you all.
There is a whole host of exciting activities from the RSPB to enjoy; discover below how you can join in on the fun.
Summer activities
Below we have gathered a whole host of great activities and challenging tasks for you to get involved in during June, July and August this year. It’s time to unpack your swimming costume, break out the sun cream, and say goodbye to your wellington boots and spring jackets for a while.
Get ready to conquer the wilder elements of England, Scotland and Wales to catch sightings of fledgling birds, bats, butterflies and so much more – summer is here!
Read how you can get the most out of your summer holiday with the RSPB by getting closer to nature and doing your bit to help out. Make this summer an unforgettable one.
At home – How does your garden grow?
What have you planted in your garden in preparation for the colour rush of summer? As time has passed, the importance of keeping your garden full of flowers for bees, insects and birds has become well known. It is within our power to provide havens for all wildlife. For example, we could build bee corridors or attach swift boxes to our houses (during winter or spring in preparation for summer) and do our bit to contribute to the success of a wild species. Consider installing a water butt in your garden to pre-empt summer droughts – this way you can keep your plants watered responsibly. Read the RSPB's Gardening for Wildlife guide for ideas on how to build your own wildlife havens at home.
Butterflies and bees: Grow flowers that bees love
You can help bees by planting flowers and shrubs that produce lots of nectar and pollen in your gardens or allotments. It’s no longer an obscure fact that bee populations are dwindling rapidly across the globe. The RSPB’s guide to bee-friendly flowers shows you which seeds to sow, and specifies which ones are best for producing what bees need to thrive. Team up with neighbours to make bee corridors/streets, which are suitable habitats linked by hedgerows or plants that bees can draw vital resources from. This will also help the bees in your area survive.
Introducing Swift Mapper
Each May we begin to experience our first sightings of swifts. They breed in the north (in countries like ours) after months of congregating in huge flocks on the African continent. When you hear their distinctive screams you know that spring is in full swing and summer is just around the corner.
The RSPB has introduced Swift Mapper so that they can help conserve swifts as they build a bigger picture of where they are nesting or can be seen wheeling through the sky. They mate for life with the same partner and favour nesting sites that are in the eaves of old buildings, which are of an increasing premium and are becoming scarcer and scarcer as our towns and cities continue to swell out into the countryside. Where possible, we recommend building a swift box to attach to your house below your roof guttering and play a CD of their call from a loop to attract them.
Swift Mapper is a mobile app and internet-based mapping system for building up a good record of where the swifts are and where the RSPB can protect them and provide new nest sites for them. Check out the Swift Mapper.
Bring butterflies into your garden
Summer is the time for butterflies. You can normally find butterflies in places with warm thermals like sunken lanes and holloways, or chalk grasslands. However, you are never far away from a butterfly in the countryside, and they are a spectacular and lovely organism to behold. You can encourage butterflies into your gardens by growing nectar-rich flowers and fruit trees; grow these in the sunspots and make window boxes too (if you have a small garden).
Most of all, avoid pesticide usage at all costs as these are harmful and deadly to butterflies and bees (amongst others). Gardens, the woods, and the tall grasslands come alive under summer skies with these delicate and vibrantly coloured insects. The most common butterflies to keep an eye out for in the UK are red admirals, large whites, painted ladies, small skippers, and speckled wood butterflies.
Try to resist over-weeding your garden as this is where the caterpillars gain sustenance. Butterfly caterpillars are big fussy eaters, and they only lay their eggs in certain places – you will often see their eggs on the leaves of nettles. Among less obvious treats on the menu, caterpillars love to eat honeycomb, grass, ants, moss, lichen and hair!
Find more more about helping butterflies.
Re-wild your garden
The RSPB would like us to think of our gardens as miniature nature reserves and with a little bit of imagination and determination, it's not that much of a stretch to make this a reality. Here are some handy tips on how to make your garden a haven for wildlife. If you have space, then maybe consider growing trees, or introducing bird tables, ponds, and even small water troughs. In summer, avoid leaving out dry morsels of food like bread for birds as this can lead to dehydration; birds also eat aphids and greenflies to keep them refreshed.
You could have fun creating a mini pond or a hedgehog house, both of which are really accessible ways of introducing a desirable habitat to your garden. In the daytime, keep your feeders full as many fledglings are out and about looking for a snack. Also, consider fostering an unmown patch of grass around the base of a tree, or scatter seedheads around your lawns and patios.
Around July, you will begin to notice moths more often if you grow honeysuckle in your garden and it’s also a lovely time of year for night-scented flowers; look out for bats as the sun goes down too. All of these additions work wonders for insects, birds, and other wildlife. Many of our self-catering holiday properties offer guests beautiful gardens that can teem with wildlife each summertime. Why not have a look at just a few in our collection and be(e) inspired?
On the shore – Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside
Where better to enjoy the UK under summer skies than at the edge of the land? The British coast draws us natives out each summer like bears to honey, and it’s no mystery as to why. As a species, we celebrate the beauty of nature at the coast by embarking on long walks with sea views, rock pooling, swimming, playing and exploring habitats such as dune systems, clifftops, beaches and estuaries.
Beaches and clifftops
On any given summer's day, most of us would like to be at the beach. It’s not only us humans that love the beach either; the wildlife also teems here. A beach or a cliff face can offer shelter and a safe harbour for birds and their young, and there are lots of places to find food too. Clifftops are a nursery for the young as predators like foxes cannot reach the nests, and there’s strength found in sheer numbers.
Elsewhere, in the rock pools is a dazzling cornucopia of interesting sea creatures like crabs, limpets, and fish and they renew their contents with the rise of each tide – no two days are the same. Beaches and estuaries are feeding sites for birds like sanderlings, turnstones, and oystercatchers – all common sights around our shoreline. Out to sea, you can see all manner of cetaceans like whales, dolphins, and porpoises – and look out for seals too – all of which are rewarding sightings due to their majesty and relative scarcity. There’s no end of birdlife and wildlife to discover at the coast.
Beach activities and staying safe
If you are holidaying with young children on your beach break, why not print off our fun beach treasure hunt task? Get involved as it's great fun ticking off all the beach features and creatures and getting a little competitive to see who will earn the most points. For even more inspiration, check out our alternative beach activities guide for all the family.
Stay safe
Beaches are fun places to while away your time, but care must be taken as not all beaches are lucky enough to have a lifeguard service. The sea is a natural force that cannot be tamed or regulated, so to limit accidents in the water, on the beach, on clifftops, or at their bases and in sand dunes, please look after yourselves and others, and stay safe. Read our helpful guide to staying safe at the beach.
Into the woods
On the odd occasion that the summer sunshine has become a little overbearing, why not head under the cool canopies of the UK’s shady woodlands? It’s a good alternative to the beach or a day of hillwalking as woodlands invite you to slow your pace and take in the cool, green, refreshing sights and scents around you. In the summer, they can be quiet places, yet they are also full of life. Some of our rural holiday cottages around the UK are located in or close to wooded habitats.
Woodland and wildflower walks
As the canopies close over and the trees are in full leaf, wildflowers and plants thrive, spring’s flowers fall away and foxgloves, red campion, primroses, wood anemones and many more arrive to take their places. Ferns grow up giving shady cover to animals like foxes and badgers. Out in the meadows, under summer skies, you will see poppies, buttercups, daisies, and more, giving you fantastic photographic opportunities. There are wild and commercial flower fields all over the country that should inspire some awe-inspiring portraits.
Enjoy the lush green leaves
The summer explodes into pillows of lush green leaves. It’s a wonderful time to take a walk through the countryside, wander in between the giant walls of rich green hedgerows and listen to the trees shimmer and sing in the breeze.
It’s also a great time to pick a few flowers (in moderation) to put into a flower press, just to look at in years to come to remind you of summers past.
Be brave and go on a bug hunt
During the summer, a whole world of insects emerges from the earth’s surface. Why not go on a voyage of discovery and invent a bug safari? Keep an eye out for scurrying wonders like beetles, ants, ladybirds or earwigs. You may also see spiders, mites, centipedes and larvae on your quest. The RSPB has put together an interesting primer for your kids to enjoy on their big bug hunt.
Restoring woodland
holidaycottages.co.uk and the RSPB have teamed up to raise funds and awareness for the RSPB’s woodland restoration projects. In the Lake District and Scotland, important work is being done to restore and maintain a total of 14 hectares of habitat at RSPB Haweswater, RSPB Gwenffrwad Dinas, and RSPB Glenborrodale. All three sites are home to rich natural habitats such as mossy woodlands, moors, heath and bog.
Funds raised will go towards the continuation of natural regeneration practices.. Find your nearest RSPB woodland reserve to visit on your next holiday.
Under summer skies by night
At the end of the day, as you begin to wind down, it’s the optimum time to take in some summer sky theatre. One of nature’s finest shows is simply the night skies. These dark canvasses, swathes of rich colours, back-lit clouds, and bold shadows are worth stepping outside in the evening for. Heralding the end of a fun day, these displays are the best part of the holiday for some of us.
If you are staying in a Dark Skies Park, then you can see the immediate universe in all its brilliance. You don’t even need a telescope to see some of our neighbours like Venus, Mars or Jupiter on a completely clear night. Learn more about the best places to enjoy stargazing in the UK.
See the Northern Lights
When the summer begins to blend with the autumn, you may wish to seek out the Northern Lights in Scotland. More commonly sighted in the winter and inside the Arctic Circle, you can witness this life-affirming natural phenomenon on some of the far north Scottish island groups of the Orkneys and Shetlands, as well as other places in Scotland.
The Big Wild Sleepout
Join in on the Big Wild Sleepout this summer. You can enjoy it on holiday or even in your garden. Stretch out on your back and marvel at the night nature on show. Also, use your ears: can you hear the nocturnal animals on the move, or spy bats swooping overhead in search of tasty insects to eat? Enjoy a campfire and swap spooky stories over toasted marshmallows, a classic way to spend a wild sleepout. Check out the RSPB’s guide to stargazing as a part of the Big Wild Sleepout.
The Big Wild Sleepout
More inspiration
To discover even more about the British Great Outdoors this summer, read some of our inspiring blogs. Check out the best summer forest and woodland walks, the best summer beaches, along with secret summer staycations. Explore the wilds of the UK this summer with a stay at one of our self-catering holiday cottages.
Browse our collection of holiday accommodation for a summer break. We have thousands of properties throughout England, Scotland and Wales for you to select your ideal holiday home from.
Browse collection
Need inspiration for your Summer Holiday Watch?
Have a look at some of this stunning imagery in two of our blogs below: