| Monthly Guide| January | Wintersweet flowers, also known as winter heliotrope. Whooper and possibly Bewick swans usually seen in the fields south of Ballacain Straight on the Jurby Road. Goldeneye are seen feeding out to sea at Onchan's Port Jack, in Castletown Bay and off the Grand Island Hotel, Ramsey. Large flocks of Golden Plover winter in the Ayres. |
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| February | Lesser celandine is in flower in sheltered sunny places such as Bradda Glen, Port Erin and along many roadside verges. Song and mistle thrushes are in full song around the Island. Rooks are becoming active in their communal rookeries. Ravens are already nesting on many of the Island's rocky sea cliffs including the Marine Drive Douglas, coastal footpath south of Peel and along the coastal footpath from Port Erin towards the Sound. |
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| March | Primroses and the delicate flowers of wood sorrel in many glens. Small tortoiseshell butterflies are usually the first to be seen. Look for them in the Breagle Glen Reserve. |
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| April | Marsh marigolds bloom at Port Cornaa in Maughold, and near Ellanbane, Lezayre. Wood anemones in the Island's glens. Ferns beginning to unfold. The first orange tip butterflies can be seen on a cuckooflower, or lady's smock. Willow warblers arrive on the Island and breed in the Curraghs Ballaugh. |
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| May | Sea pinks or thrift, from the Whitebridge over the Sulby River in Ramsey and at Scarlett and Langness. Spring squill is in flower in coastal grassland and bluebells flower in the glens. Burnet rose flowers on the Ayres and bilberries are in leaf on the Island's hills. Swallows and martins are common in May. |
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| June | Woodcocks in the Ballaugh Curragh. Orchids at Close Sartfield Nature Reserve. Yellow flag iris in damp meadows. Seabirds in spectacular concentrations are present at the Chasms and on Peel Hill. |
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| July | Traditional Manx hay meadows especially at Close Sartfield, Ballaugh. Seabirds off the Ayres coast - gannets, terns, shearwaters further offshore or storm petrels if there is a strong onshore wind. Basking sharks off the west coast. Grey seals off Peel Castle and on Kitterland Rock in the Sound. |
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| August | Red admiral and painted lady butterflies feeding on buddleia and hebe shrubs etc. Wetland plants such as purple loosestrife, marsh woundwort and meadowsweet and in flower in the Ballaugh Curragh. Sea holly in bloom at Ramsey. Skuas may be seen chasing terns along the Ayres coastline. |
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| September | Heather and Manx (Western) gorse turn the hills purple and yellow. Scarlet fuchsia hedges along the country roads. Divers, particularly red-throated, appear off the coast between the Point of Ayre and Kirk Michael. |
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| October | Winter thrushes, redwing and fieldfare. Royal fern at Ballaugh Curragh and Close Sartfield. Fungi in the glens. Seals at the Sound and below St Catherine's Well on Maughold Head. |
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| November | Hen harriers roosting at Close Sartfield. The Ballaugh Curragh is believed to support the largest winter roost in Western Europe. Ducks in their breeding plumage - mallard, wigeon and teal at Langness. |
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| December | Carpets of mosses and liverworts at Dhoon Glen, Glen Helen, Tholt-y-Will and Cooildarry Nature Reserve. Mountain hares in white winter coats seen on the slopes of the north eastern mountain range between Slieau Lhean and North Barrule above 200m. |
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