Seasonal calendar
Last reviewed 23 August 2026. 12 dated windows and 3 that have no fixed dates. Every one carries the instrument or the organisation it comes from, and the nations it applies to — the four do not agree, and a calendar that hid that would be worse than none.
On 23 August
- Close season: wild duck and geese — 1 February to 31 August, Great Britain.
- Close season: partridge — 2 February to 31 August, Great Britain.
- Close season: pheasant — 2 February to 30 September, Great Britain.
- Hedge cutting prohibited — 1 March to 31 August, England.
- Close season: female deer — 1 April to 31 October, England and Wales.
Dates apply where the instrument applies. Check the nation before relying on a row, and check the instrument before relying on this page.
The year
Every window, with its source
Toads move to breeding ponds
1 January – 30 April · Observed window · UK
Common toads migrate to the pond they were spawned in, often crossing roads to get there, and they travel on mild wet evenings. Froglife, which coordinates the volunteer patrols, says migration “can run from as early as January to as late as April”.
Source: Froglife, Toads on Roads.
Close season: wild duck and geese
1 February – 31 August · In law · Great Britain
Section 2(4) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 sets the close season for wild duck and wild geese at 1 February to 31 August. Below the high-water mark of ordinary spring tides it begins later, on 21 February.
Close season: snipe
1 February – 11 August · In law · Great Britain
1 February to 11 August, under the same subsection.
Close season: partridge
2 February – 31 August · In law · Great Britain
2 February to 31 August.
Close season: pheasant
2 February – 30 September · In law · Great Britain
2 February to 30 September. Woodcock runs 1 February to 30 September, except in Scotland, where it ends on 31 August.
Hedge cutting prohibited
1 March – 31 August · In law · England
Regulation 6 of the Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024 prohibits the cutting and trimming of an important hedgerow “during the period beginning with 1st March in any year and ending on 31st August in that year”. The regulations cover hedgerows on or beside agricultural land. Exceptions include a hedge overhanging a road or footpath so as to obstruct or endanger users, and one that is dead, diseased or insecurely rooted and likely to fall.
Source: The Management of Hedgerows (England) Regulations 2024, reg 6.
Close season: female deer
1 April – 31 October · In law · England and Wales
Schedule 1 to the Deer Act 1991 closes 1 April to 31 October inclusive for hinds and does of every listed species — red, sika, fallow, roe and red/sika hybrids — and for Chinese water deer of either sex. Scotland sets its own seasons under the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996.
Source: Deer Act 1991, Schedule 1.
Fledglings on the ground
1 April – 31 July · Observed window · UK
A fully feathered young bird sitting on the ground is usually not in trouble. The RSPCA says that between April and July as many as 20,000 fledglings a year are picked up and passed to it by people who believe they have been abandoned, when in most cases the parents are nearby and still feeding them.
Source: RSPCA. What to do instead.
Close season: male deer, except roe
1 May – 31 July · In law · England and Wales
1 May to 31 July inclusive for red, sika and fallow bucks and stags, and for red/sika hybrids.
Source: Deer Act 1991, Schedule 1.
Close season: red grouse and ptarmigan
11 December – 11 August · In law · Great Britain
11 December to 11 August, which is why shooting opens on 12 August. Black grouse runs 11 December to 19 August.
Close season: roe buck
1 November – 31 March · In law · England and Wales
1 November to 31 March inclusive — the one season in Schedule 1 that runs through the winter rather than the summer.
Source: Deer Act 1991, Schedule 1.
Hedgehogs hibernate
1 November – 31 March · Observed window · UK
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society says hibernation starts once the surrounding temperature becomes and stays relatively low, “which in Britain is usually November, December or even January”, and ends “about mid-March to early-April”, varying with the weather. Hedgehogs wake and move nests during the period, so activity on a mild winter day is not by itself a sign of trouble.
Seasonal, but not on fixed dates
Three things that come up every year and that a calendar would have to invent dates for. They are set out here instead.
A nest in use is protected whenever it is in use
No fixed dates · In law · UK
There is no statutory nesting season. Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes it an offence to take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built, at any point in the year. The March to August dates above are when most nests are occupied and when the hedgerow rules bite — they are not the limits of the offence.
Avian Influenza Prevention Zone
No fixed dates · In law · Varies by nation
An AIPZ is declared when the risk requires it rather than on a set date, and it can restrict how birds are kept and handled. Check whether one is in force before handling a wild bird, and report dead wild birds to Defra and APHA whether or not one is.
Source: Defra, bird flu guidance. Handling advice.
Firework night hours
No fixed dates · In law · Great Britain
Regulation 7 of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 prohibits the use of fireworks during “night hours”, meaning 11pm to 7am. The exceptions run to midnight on 5 November and to 1am after Chinese New Year, Diwali and 31 December — three of which move each year, which is why they are here rather than on the chart.
This page reports dates; it does not say whether any activity they govern should happen. What the law is across the four nations is on the law comparison, and the terms are in the glossary.