365 Days Wild. Lucy McRobert

heading out on a boat to watch seabirds or seals, our shores offer endless possibilities for experiencing wildlife. Discover starfish, crabs and shellfish living in rockpools, wonder at wading birds like sanderling and turnstone as they scurry along the shore, and enjoy the overwhelming noise (and smell!) of a seabird colony teeming with puffins, guillemots, razorbills, gannets and gulls.

      Fields, farmland and meadows

      Fields and farmland are pretty much what you’ll think of when you imagine the countryside: over two-thirds of the land in the UK is farmed in one way or another. The best farmland to enjoy wildlife on is managed in a traditional way: thick hedges, smaller fields and a mix of crops or grasses. This is farmland at its best: where you’ll find barn owls, kestrels and yellowhammers; huge flocks of finches, partridges and buntings. They’re making the most of the seeds and grasses on offer, as are the many small mammals that might live here – voles, mice and shrews. The bigger fields that only have one crop growing in them, like rapeseed, aren’t as rich in wildlife, but you can still scan down the hedges for a wildlife surprise. Look for boxing brown hares in March, or skylarks singing loudly overhead. Meadows are a much rarer habitat, brimming with wildflowers, lush grasses and, in the summer, hundreds of butterflies, moths and other insects. Most meadows are protected now and carefully managed using traditional methods; flowers like poppies, oxeye daisies, bee orchids and cornflowers are particularly stunning.

      Hedgerows and country lanes

      Okay, so hedgerows and country lanes aren’t really wild places in themselves, but you can often find wildlife around the edges of them. I’ve included them because they’re ideal foraging spots in the spring, summer and autumn. They’re wonderful places to find edible gems like elderflowers, wild rosehips, blackberries, damsons, sloes and crab apples, and this feast will bring in great wildlife, too: birds, mammals and insects. Just make sure you have correctly identified any fruits, nuts, fungi or berries before you tuck in, as you could accidentally eat something poisonous.

      Rivers, streams and ditches

      Who doesn’t love Wind in the Willows? The picturesque scene of a gently meandering river, lined with lush green vegetation, overhanging willow trees and reeds sprouting along the banks. Smaller brooks babble alongside fields, canals cut straight paths through our towns and countryside, and smaller ditches might lurk beneath a hedgerow or in a woodland. All can be bursting with wildlife: a healthy river might be home to water voles, kingfishers or maybe even otters. Stately grey herons or little egrets will stand motionless in the water, and of course there may be fish, too. Rivers and streams make wonderful locations to experience wildlife; search among the reedbeds in the summer for more elusive wildlife like sedge warblers or Cetti’s warblers – even if you don’t see them, you’ll hear them! Always be wary near these waters though; some rivers and streams are perfect for a wild swim, while others may hold fast currents beneath their serene surfaces. Make sure you know the waterway well if you’re planning to do more than walk beside it.

      Lakes, ponds and wetlands

      Lakes and ponds are hugely diverse wild places, which offer delights all year round to any wild explorer. They vary season by season, so if there’s one near you, make sure you check back throughout the year to see how it changes. Wetlands come in all shapes and sizes; from reservoirs to old quarries; Scottish lochs to woodland ponds; marshland, bogs and fens. These places are all about the ducks, geese and swans in the winter, as well as otters and water voles. In the summer, you might get visitors like the osprey, a huge bird of prey that only eats fish. You’ll also be in for a treat with elegant dragonflies and damselflies in the summer, too. Great crested grebes perform an elaborate courtship dance in early spring, while moorhens and coots will be around all year. Wading birds like oystercatchers and redshanks might skitter around the edges looking for food in the mud. A vast wetland with plenty of reedbed might even have birds like marsh harriers or bitterns.

      Mountains, moorlands and uplands

      For most people living in the UK, mountains and moorlands are the settings for wild and romantic novels (Wuthering Heights, anyone?), or maybe holiday destinations. Most of us don’t live nestled among snowy peaks or on the tops of windswept hills. I’ve included them here though, because these landscapes are so different from any other and because they make up a third of our land. A walk atop the hills might bring you into contact with red grouse, wading birds that breed on the high tops (like dotterels or golden plovers) or birds of prey like peregrines, merlins or hen harriers (which are now very rare in England). You might also be lucky enough to see a mountain hare or red deer. The flowers and plants make the uplands really special; heather will look at its most beautiful in late summer, and you can also look out for wildflowers, bracken and bilberry. Sphagnum mosses make up much of the vegetation in blanket bogs (and let’s face it, ‘sphagnum’ is a great word, too).

      A note on nature reserves

      I haven’t included nature reserves as one of my favourite habitats because each one is unique: it’s hard to generalise and compare. The experiences you can have on them vary so much that they’re not a habitat in their own right – rather they are made up of a mosaic of ecosystems. They are of course great places to explore and discover wildlife. The Wildlife Trusts have the biggest network of nature reserves in the UK, and 93 per cent of people living in England live within six miles of one of these special wild places. They’re always carefully managed and protected for wildlife, so can be perfect if you’d like to take up volunteering in your local area. A lot of them will have ‘hides’ – special buildings, usually made from wood (glorified sheds) – that you can sit in to watch the wildlife up close. Hides are an acquired taste: most of them can be a bit draughty and you have to sit very quietly so as not to disturb the nearby wildlife. I wouldn’t recommend hides as places to inspire children; stick to the immersive experiences where they can get hands-on and run around a bit. For the seasoned wildlife-watcher, though, they can be tranquil and enjoyable. Many nature reserves have special ‘designations’ – meaning that they’re protected for a reason – and many can’t allow dogs in. When on a nature reserve, always stick to the paths; don’t pick any plants or disturb the wildlife.

      Really wild life

      The UK is a hugely diverse country, full of so many different animals that it would be impossible to list them all. I have pulled out the main groups of animals you might encounter on your adventures, with a few ideas on the best ways to enjoy them. Where you could have a really wild experience, it’ll be listed as a full-blown Random Act of Wildness, and I’ll give some handy hints and tips on the best ways to get up close and personal to our star species.

      Fur

      There are loads of different species of mammals living on land in the UK; we know most of them from children’s books – Mr Badger, Ratty and Mole from Wind in the Willows, or Beatrix Potter’s Mrs Tiggy-winkle – but in reality they’re quite difficult to see. Squirrels, rabbits and foxes might be spotted easily in towns, villages and cities, but having a wild encounter with a hedgehog, badger, water vole or otter is much trickier. There are also seventeen species of bats living in the UK, not to mention different kinds of mice, voles and shrews; a family of mammals called the ‘mustelids’ (which includes stoats and weasels); mountain and brown hares; two species of squirrel (the native red, which is now only found in the northern parts of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland; and the non-native grey, now found across much of England and Wales); and no fewer than six species of deer. Add to these, animals like beavers and wildcats, and you’ll see that there’s an awful lot of fur out there. Most mammals are highly secretive or nocturnal, and some are incredibly rare, but I’ve included several Random Acts of Wildness that will help you get a little bit closer to our furriest of neighbours. None of our mammals are dangerous or predatory to humans, but some will give you a nasty nip if you venture too close. Never try to stroke or pet wild mammals; if you find an injured mammal, phone a local wildlife rescue