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
- White-tailed sea eagles to be released in Norfolk?
- Wallasea Island to be transformed with Crossrail spoil
- First otter ever recorded on Farne Islands
- Decking and ornamental plants responsible for 70 percent decline in house sparrows
- Norwegian beavers arrive in UK for Scottish reintroduction
- UK’s biggest ever Countryside Survey results published
- EU to remove protection for wildlife
- Seabirds on the Farne Islands buck the national trend
- Record brood of 9 Whooper swan cygnets arrive at Martin Mere
- Scottish bird crime still far too high
- Twin leucistic moorhens in the north west UK
- Starling spectacular at Leighton Moss
- A million tonnes of fish dumped in the North Sea every year
- ‘Eco-towns’ will harm wildlife
- Woolly Rhino fossil discovered at the Cotswold Water Park!
More UK & Ireland Wildlife news
- Lundy Manx Shearwaters booming since rats removed.
- Devon dormice turning to birdfeeders for food.
- Farmland birds reach lowest levels for 40 years - RSPB urges swift action
- Mapping Britain & Ireland’s birds – you can help to plug the gaps.
- How to help wildlife in your garden through the winter
- BTO nest box challenge 2008
- North West bird watching festival at WWT Martin Mere
- Winners of WWT Nikon photography competition announced
- Reaction to the decision to let Donald Trump build over an SSSI
- Somerset Wildlife Trust creates new bat habitat
- Forth islands cleared of invasive plant that is forcing puffins out
- Dire year for kittiwakes, Arctic terns and Arctic Skuas in UK
- Grouse and Hen harriers living in harmony on Langholm Moor
- Bad weather brings record year for wild birds at WWT Slimbridge
- Corncrake found in Manchester car park
Norwegian beavers arrive in UK for Scottish reintroductionThe Scottish Beaver Trial took a major step when four beaver families arrived in Heathrow
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Satellite tagged Loch Garten osprey ditches in AtlanticOne of two young ospreys from the famous Loch Garten nest has died during his first migration.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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New species of ‘ghost’ slug discovered in WalesThe bizarre subterranean Ghost slug has been named Selenochlamys ysbryda by experts at National Museum Cardiff, Wales.
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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.
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Swordfish found on South Wales BeachA rare and endangered swordfish has been discovered dead on a South Wales beach.
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Mass dolphin stranding in Cornwall - at least 26 dolphins deadOn Monday 9th June, 26 common dolphins stranded and died near St Mawes in Cornwall.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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'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.
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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.
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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.
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Lyme Bay Reefs devastated.
Devon Wildlife Trust has collected evidence that the Reefs in Lyme Bay have been trashed by some fishing techniques.
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Harriers and Peregrines being persecuted in Northern Ireland.It appears that there has been an upsurge in raptor persecution in Northern Ireland in the last 3 years.
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Top recommendations for wildlife watching activities in the UK.
- National Trust Coastal Wildlife Walks.
- A Year of Wildlife Walks with the National Trust.
- National Trust's top wildlife walks.
- 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.
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.
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