I stepped outside at dusk last night for ten minutes and saw more wildlife than I had seen all day. There were well over fifty moths on a single buddleia bush, pipistrelle bats following their usual route along the hedge, a barn owl crossing the field, a hedgehog rustling through the undergrowth loud enough to hear from several metres away, and a sky that was still holding onto the last of the daylight long after sunset.
None of this required a nature reserve, a pair of binoculars, or a long drive. It required a back door, ten minutes, and the willingness to stand still for a while. If you want to see wildlife in July, dusk is one of the best times of day to do it.
1. The moths
July is one of the best months for moths in Britain, and a flowering buddleia bush after sunset can attract remarkable numbers of them. Buddleia is often called the butterfly bush, but on warm evenings it may attract even more moths than butterflies.
Last night I counted more than fifty moths on a single bush. The flowers were covered with them. Common wainscots, silver Ys, and several species I couldn't identify in the fading light moved constantly between the flower heads. Britain has more than 2,500 species of moth and only around 60 species of butterfly, yet most people rarely notice them because the vast majority fly after dark.
The easiest way to see moths is simply to stand outside after sunset near a scented flowering plant. Buddleia, honeysuckle, jasmine, and evening primrose are all good places to start. You do not need specialist equipment. You just need to be outside at the right time.
2. The bats
Common pipistrelles usually emerge around half an hour after sunset. They are Britain's smallest and most widespread bat, weighing about the same as a 20p coin.
A single pipistrelle may eat as many as 3,000 tiny insects in a night. Once you realise that, you begin to appreciate how much insect life is moving through the air around you at dusk.
In July, many female bats are feeding young in maternity colonies, and they often follow regular flight routes along hedges, woodland edges, and garden boundaries. Once you notice the route, you can watch the same bat pass repeatedly, turning sharply and changing direction with a speed that seems impossible.
They navigate using echolocation, producing calls far above the range of human hearing and interpreting the returning echoes to build a picture of the world around them. Shakespeare called them "flitter-mice with leathery wings", which remains a surprisingly good description.
3. The owl
A hunting barn owl flies so quietly that it appears almost silent. Often the first sign is a pale shape moving across a field at the edge of your vision. By the time you look directly at it, it has already crossed the field and disappeared into the dusk.
July is a particularly good time to see them because many adults are feeding young and begin hunting before full darkness. A warm evening beside rough grassland or pasture gives you a reasonable chance of a sighting.
Barn owls rely heavily on their exceptional hearing to locate voles and mice moving through the grass below. Their specialised feathers help reduce the sound of flight, allowing them to approach prey with extraordinary stealth.
In Cornwall, hearing an owl close to the house was sometimes considered an omen of death. Watching one cross a field at dusk, it is easy to understand how such beliefs developed.
4. The hedgehog
You will usually hear a hedgehog before you see it. A rustle in the hedge, a snuffle in the grass, or the sound of something pushing steadily through undergrowth often turns out to be a hedgehog going about its nightly routine.
They can travel more than a mile in a single night in search of beetles, caterpillars, worms, and other invertebrates. Despite their small size, they make a surprising amount of noise while doing it.
Their eyesight is relatively poor, and they rely largely on smell and hearing. If you stay still and keep quiet, a hedgehog may come remarkably close without paying you much attention at all.
For an animal that has become increasingly rare in many parts of Britain, seeing one at dusk still feels like a privilege.
5. The sky
One of the best things about July evenings is simply how long they last. Sunset may come late, but daylight lingers well beyond it. Even at ten o'clock, there is often enough light to make out the shape of distant hedges, trees, and field boundaries.
The long twilight gives wildlife an extended period of activity. Moths begin to arrive at flowers, bats emerge to hunt, hedgehogs leave their daytime shelters, and owls start moving across the landscape.
Most of this happens while many people are indoors. Yet the transition between day and night is one of the busiest periods in the natural world. If you are outside when it happens, you begin to notice how much activity takes place in what can seem, at first glance, like an ordinary field or garden.
From the shop
The July Almanac Box is open, containing two original signed prints, a 28-page illustrated zine exploring the Dog Days of Summer and the hedgerow at high summer, a golden-hour tea blend, a Common Blue Butterfly from the collectible wooden series, and a printed moon phase calendar.
The flower press is now available, a hand made wooden press, perfect for pressing and saving your wildflower and garden herbs and flowers
Ten minutes is enough. Open the back door, step outside, and stand still for a while. You do not need to go looking for wildlife in July. At dusk, it is often already there, carrying on with its evening whether anyone is watching or not.