A guide to the wildlife and nature reserves of the UK.
Wildlife and bird watching in the UK
You don't need to go far to see some great wildlife, there is some near you. There are very well known sites across the UK, National Parks, National nature reserves, RSPB reserves and WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) reserves, but there are many other great wildlife spots all over the place. Every county has a wildlife trust that will run a series of local reserves, county councils have their own nature reserves and there are plenty of other places where there is ample wildlife.
We will point you in the direction of all the best sites in any given area, though we have no doubt that there are plenty we don't know about (please let us know by emailing us about anywhere that you can recommend).
For information and recommendations on whale and dolphin watching in the UK, click here.
Region by region
Recent UK & Ireland Wildlife news
- 10 years of bird crime in Scotland – Not a single jail sentence
- RSPB & BTO call for birdwatching break during the freeze
- Gamekeepers given suspended jail terms for targeting birds of prey
- 99% call for urgent action to protect seals
- Unpredictable UK weather bad for wildlife in 2008
- World's biggest Birdwatch gears up for 30th anniversary
- Leucistic robin on London’s Hampstead Heath
- Mount Grace Priory stoats predict a cold winter.
- Look after your Robin this Christmas
- European wildlife targets ‘unlikely’ to be met
- Corncrake recovery stalls as numbers drop in 2008
- Abseiling rangers create new peregrine eyrie in Kielder
- £200 reward for Basking shark satellite tag from St Ives beach
- Wigeon, teal, plover and lapwing move into new wetlands at Welney
- Dunsdon National Nature Reserve expansion a boost for butterflies
More UK & Ireland Wildlife news
- Garden birds use nest boxes all winter – if they are in the right place
- Carmel National Nature Reserve wins £45,000 from public vote
- Report stranded marine animals in Devon & Cornwall
- GrantScape Launches £1.6 million Biodiversity Fund
- How will migrant species be affected by climate change?
- Rare moth reintroduction a success – with cows help
- 18 seal pups clubbed to death– man charged
- UK Populations of harbour seals in steep decline
- Huge pod of Bottlenose dolphins seen off the Isle of Man.
- UK basking shark hotspots - Urgent protection needed
- UK Government announces a marine bill - Reaction
- Paul O’Grady (AKA Lilly Savage) bitten by an adder
- Are sea eagles the cause of high lamb mortality?
- EU set to miss wildlife target
- Machair under threat
WildCare scheme boosting rare birds on UK farmsFigures released by the wildlife habitat scheme, WildCare, show that declining species such as brown hares, yellowhammers and even the humble house sparrow are making a dramatic comeback on participating farms.
Read more »
Norwegian beavers arrive in UK for Scottish reintroductionThe Scottish Beaver Trial took a major step when four beaver families arrived in Heathrow
Read more »
Satellite tagged Loch Garten osprey ditches in AtlanticOne of two young ospreys from the famous Loch Garten nest has died during his first migration.
Read more »
_Orkney_Seal_Rescue@small.JPG)
Thousands of seals shot in Scotland every year – Marine bill must actMany people are unaware that thousands of seals are needlessly shot in Scotland every year.
Read more »
Unusual whale and dolphin wash up on the Scilly IslesTwo highly unusual marine mammals, a Sowerby's beaked whale and a Risso's dolphin, have been washed up on the western shores of the Isle of St Agnes within days of one another.
Read more »
Spoonbills breed in Scotland for the first timeA pair of spoonbills have successfully bred for the first time in Scotland and only the second time in the UK. An adult pair have raised and fledged three chicks on Kirkcudbright Bay in Dumfries and Galloway.
Read more »
Blue Marlin found on Welsh beach. Remarkably, just a few weeks after a Swordfish was found on a beach in South Wales, a Blue Marlin has washed up onto another Welsh beach.
Read more »
Chris Packham asks –‘What’s the point of nature reserves?’Without nature reserves we would have nowhere to go on Sundays to meet fellow minded geeks and discuss the minutiae of our passions. We wouldn't be able to stand hands on hips and smugly gaze at a living representation of what we imagine our green and pleasant landscape once looked like.
Read more »
New species of ‘ghost’ slug discovered in WalesThe bizarre subterranean Ghost slug has been named Selenochlamys ysbryda by experts at National Museum Cardiff, Wales.
Read more »
Giant 'extinct' British Beetle found in GloucestershireAn amazing giant insect, thought to be extinct in the UK, has been discovered on a pavement in Gloucestershire.
Read more »
Swordfish found on South Wales BeachA rare and endangered swordfish has been discovered dead on a South Wales beach.
Read more »
Mass dolphin stranding in Cornwall - at least 26 dolphins deadOn Monday 9th June, 26 common dolphins stranded and died near St Mawes in Cornwall.
Read more »
Government may lift bird import banDespite Tony Blairs promise to ban the import of wild birds permanently, the government has recently revealed that the ban may only be temporary.
Read more »
Two Sightings of Northern Bald Ibis in Middle East Bring a Spark of Hope
Sightings of this incredibly rare bird in Djibouti and Ethiopia have raised hope that it might avoid extinction.
Read more »
Scotland's wildcats down to the last 400Research shows that probably only 400 true wildcats are left in Scotland. Persecution used to be the main problem, but now hybridisation with domestic cats threatens the future of Scottish wildcats.
Read more »
'Extinct' dove breeds at London Zoo.A Socorro dove, extinct in the wild for 30 years, has bred for the first time at London Zoo.
Read more »
First wild beavers in Scotland for 250 years to be caught.A pair of beavers has been found living in the wild in a remote Scottish Loch near the Bridge of Earn.
Read more »
Otter comeback is good news for water voles, bad news for mink.A recent fall in mink numbers in the UK has been attributed to a rise in Otter numbers.
Read more »
Lyme Bay Reefs devastated.
Devon Wildlife Trust has collected evidence that the Reefs in Lyme Bay have been trashed by some fishing techniques.
Read more »
Top wildlife and bird watching in the South East
GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE
Lorraine Kelly launches the 'Wild about gardens' campaign in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society and the UK Wildlife Trusts. More.
Plants recommended for a wildlife garden
The RSPB and RHS have got together to create a list of plants recommended for wildlife gardening.See the full list.
Top recommendations for wildlife watching activities in the UK.
- Five of the best seal-watching spots in Britain
- Click here to see the ten best National Trust butterfly sites.
- Where to see glow worms in the UK.
- Watch the deer rut this autumn with the National Trust.
- Best places to watch whales in the UK.
- National Trust Coastal Wildlife Walks.
- A Year of Wildlife Walks with the National Trust.
- National Trust's top wildlife walks.
England nature
Read about the nature of England, and see a guide to nature reserves in England.
Click here to see more about English Nature
