When the sun goes down and most people drift off to sleep, England’s wild side stirs to life. The night brings a shift in the countryside and city parks as secretive creatures step out to hunt, feed, and roam.
Some of the country’s most iconic animals only show their true nature when the stars are out. Get to know these masters of the night, from garden visitors to rare woodland wanderers.
Click each link, to find out more about each species, and how to help! Also learn of reasons to avoid light pollution (to help birds, native wildlife and marine creatures like sea turtles).
If planting green spaces (say for bats and moths), read about pet-friendly gardens and wildlife-friendly gardens. And trees to avoid near horses (including yew, oak and sycamore).
Spiky Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are among the most beloved nocturnal mammals in England. Curling up during the daytime in piles of leaves or under sheds, they only venture out after dusk. They shuffle through gardens and hedgerows, sniffing out beetles, worms, and slugs. Read more on how to help endangered hedgehogs.
Lack of natural habitat has led them to end up being blinded by car lights, which is why so many are in car accidents. Read our post on making roads safer for wildlife.
Wise wild Owls
Owls have long been tied to English folklore as shadows in the night. Tawny owls, barn owls, and little owls are the most common across fields, woods, and even churchyards.
They glide silently, using sharp eyesight and hearing to catch mice, voles, and insects. Their eerie calls define the soundscape of the English countryside at night and let other wildlife know a top predator is on patrol.
Again, owls have suffered due to lack of natural habitat, and again often are at risk of roads, water troughs and rat poison. Read more on how to help our wild owls.
Beautiful Bats
England’s bats wake up when the light fades. These skilled flyers (England’s only flying mammals) hunt for insects through dusk and into the small hours, using echolocation to pinpoint their prey. Pipistrelles are the tiniest British bats, yet they are frequent guests in urban and rural areas alike.
From old barns to modern attics, bats find roosts in unlikely places, returning each night to patrol the skies. Yet again, they have suffered due to lack of habitat.
Read more on how to help endangered bats.
Fantastic Foxes
Urban and rural foxes alike are sometimes seen during the day. But favour the cooler, quieter hours of night. Foxes thrive in cities, villages, and farmland, often heard barking or seen as swift shapes darting through the dark.
Their diet adapts to what’s locally available, from rats and rabbits to leftover scraps and berries. Night-time gives foxes the freedom to move safely and hunt with less risk. Lack of habitat and people dropping litter are their main hazards.
Read more on how to help wild foxes.
Stripey Badgers
Badgers are among Britain’s most secretive animals. Strong but shy, they live in family groups called clans in networks of tunnels known as setts. At dusk, badgers slip out to search for earthworms, roots, and insects.
Although their digging expertise is unmatched, they rarely show themselves in daylight. Look for signs of their tracks and well-trodden paths near woods and open fields.
Read more on how to help wild badgers. Also read our post on preventing bovine TB (without culls) to help cows, badgers and farmers.
Yellow-bibbed Pine Martens
Pine martens stick to remote, wooded areas in northern England but are making a slow comeback. With bushy tails and cat-like agility, they travel through the treetops and forest floor.
Whilst mainly active at night, pine martens seek birds, small mammals, and fruit. Silent and wary, they stay out of sight, rarely spotted except by patient wildlife enthusiasts or camera traps.
Pine martens are rare in England, but are natural predators of grey squirrels, so rewilding projects are bringing them back, as part of a natural way to help endangered red squirrels, without poisoning greys.
Sleepy Dormice
Hazel dormice are star sleepers by day, tucked in nest balls high up in shrubs and trees. At night, they wake to feast on pollen, berries, and nuts. Dormice are rarely seen due to their tiny size and nocturnal habits, but their presence hints at a rich, healthy habitat. They move carefully among branches (they love hazelnut trees!), keeping safe above ground.
Learn more on how to help our sleepy endangered dormice.
African (visiting) Nightjars
Nightjars are summer visitors, returning each year to heathlands and open woodland in southern England. During the daytime, their camouflaged feathers keep them hidden from view.
At dusk, they arrive with strange churring calls, hunting moths and insects. Mysterious and cryptic, nightjars fly close to the ground and rest hidden in leaf litter.
Read our posts on creating safe havens for garden birds, and help to stop birds flying into windows.
Mysterious Moths
Not all butterflies fly by day—many of England’s most striking species are moths that live for the night. Large and small, moths come in a variety of colours and patterns, many drawn to garden lights or wildflower patches after dusk.
Moths are key pollinators, keeping many native plants thriving. Their fluttering presence supports bats, birds, and other night-time hunters.
Learn more on why moths matter.
A Wild Child’s Book of Nature at Night
A Wild Child’s Book of Nature at Night is a stunning illustrated guide to the creatures that wake up, when we all go to bed! Both beautiful and informative, this is a gorgeous book for night-time reading for big children too!
The book includes info on making bird-feeders. Learn of safe foods, cleaning and placement in our post on safe havens for garden birds. And how to prevent birds flying into windows (where you place bird feeders is very important).
If building a terrarium, read our post on pet-toxic plants to avoid.
Embark on a night-time adventure! You’ll learn how to use all your senses to experience the wonders that unfold at night, through five habitats across Britain and Ireland (the author is from Northern Ireland). You’ll meet:
- Hedgehogs and moths in the garden
- Bats, owls, foxes and badgers in woodlands
- Corncrakes and dormice in the countryside
- Pine martens, glow-worms and mountain hares in heathlands
- Animals that lives as constellations, in our sky!
This book is packed with interesting facts about our nocturnal animal friends, plus tips on how to protect the natural world around us. One you understand just how amazing our beautiful planet is, you’ll want to do all you can to protect it.
Dara McAnulty first came to attention when his incredible debut book Diary of a Young Naturalist was published in 2021, and immediately won him the Wainwright Nature Writing Prize, when still a teenager. It told his story of how as an autistic young man, he would cope with his condition by getting out into nature, encountering blackbirds, whooper swans, red kites, hen harriers, frogs, dandelions and Irish hares.
Since then, he’s written and presented many natural history programmes for BBC radio and television, and become an ambassador for the RSPCA, the Jane Goodall Institute and the iWill campaign (he’s also the youngest ever recipient of the RSPB medal for conservation).
Dara currently is reading Natural Sciences at Cambridge University, and lives with his family (including a rescued greyhound) in Northern Ireland.
