Top wildlife walks

Brownsea Island, Dorset

This wildlife-rich island at the entrance of Poole Harbour in Dorset is home to one of the few remaining indigenous red squirrel colonies in the UK. Keen-eyed walkers will spot them foraging on the woodland floor, particularly in the autumn when they feed on sweet chestnuts and beech nuts.

Amid the sea lavender and spotted orchids on the island’s lagoons and reedbeds you can see kingfishers, little egrets and shy water rails, which are said to have a shrill call, reminiscent of a pig’s squeal. You may also catch a glimpse of the bar-tailed godwit, an internationally protected species of water fowl, which migrates to Western Europe from its breeding grounds in Alaska and arctic Asia. Other elusive residents of the wetlands include water voles, common lizards and Sika deer.

Click here for details of this National Trust walk

Photo: Brownsea Island. © NTPL/Joe Cornish

SAVE up to 47% - Subscribe Now