52 Wildlife Weekends

Bradt's popular guidebook 52 Wildlife Weekends suggests inspiring itineraries for 52 unforgettable British wildlife-watching breaks, stretching from the Isles of Scilly to northern Scotland each perfectly timed for every week of the year. Thoroughly updated to reflect Britain's ever-changing natural history, this second edition integrates the latest information on the country's most thrilling wildlife experiences, suggests new target species and showcases fabulous new locations. Written by award-winning author and experienced naturalist James Lowen, 52 Wildlife Weekends remains the only guide to package Britain's nature-watching highlights into deftly timed, user-friendly holiday suggestions. Say it's February and you want to watching otters. Or May: time for spring flowers and bewitching butterflies. Or July, and you fancy marvelling at dragonflies. Or October: the height of bird migration. Whenever in the year you get a chance to escape, this book suggests 48 hours' worth of brilliant wildlife-watching perfect for staycations, whether as a weekend or part of a longer holiday. 52 Wildlife Weekends suggests a year's worth of short breaks celebrating the full range of Britain's most exciting wildlife, from tiny silver-spotted skipper butterflies to gargantuan basking sharks, and from seabird skyscrapers to ostentatious orchids. Covering more than 40 counties or regions, this unique guide offers engaging descriptions, detailed directions (including grid references and postcodes), accommodation suggestions, and assessments of accessibility and (new for this edition) child-friendliness, plus 180 mouth-watering colour photographs. Find out how, where and when to track down such thrilling creatures as beavers and basking sharks, eagles and otters, dolphins and dragonflies, glow worms and grey seals. Why not open the New Year on a real-life wild goose chase in the Inner Hebrides? Or make a spring pilgrimage to Yorkshire to see truly wild daffodils? Or experience underwater life by peering into rivers for rare fish in Powys, snorkelling in Dorset, or rock-pooling in Devon? Or gawp at starling murmurations, shape-shifting through the autumnal sky, in Suffolk or Somerset. Combining the very best of travel and wildlife guides, and covering both well-known spectacles and less familiar species, Bradt's 52 Wildlife Weekends has something for everyone wildlife experts and novice ecotourists alike.

'A diarised walkthrough of 52 wildlife-filled weekend destinations to explore and experience in every corner of the British countryside, this is a guide that will find a home in the caravans, tent pockets and backpacks of nature-lovers just about everywhere...... 52 Wildlife Weekends will provide many with the inspiration to get close to nature somewhere across our islands, and might add a few destinations to the bucket lists of those already enthused. This is a guide well worth buying?-?regardless of your location, interest or expertise on anything wildlife-related. Let yourself be inspired!' www.birdguides.com 'Packed with stunning wildlife photography, this is an ideal guide to the range of British wildlife you can see as well as where to see it and when.' Powys County Times and Express 'Each chapter is an invitation to pack a picnic, pull on the walking boots and head out in search of our wonderful wildlife.' The Simple Things 'The text is, like the rest of the book, simply superb and full of feeling, as if the author has actually taken you there.' Highland News 'A pleasurable and practical read that aims to inspire and inform... an indispensible resource for anyone interested in British wildlife.' Outdoor Photography 'A year of wildlife-watching ideas divided into handy weekend breaks' Countryman Magazine 'Packaged in a handy-sized and beautifully illustrated book. The sumptuous photographs on the front cover provide a taster of the wonderful variety of wildlife that can be enjoyed across Britain... a great addition to any bookshelf' The Biggest Twitch 'An invaluable, inspirational guide and a real bargain to boot.' BBC Wildlife "A good idea and a useful guide... packed with information and well written... a good reminder that Britain has plenty of wildlife if you go to the right places, at the right times" Mark Avery, British Wildlife. 'Offers inspiring itineraries for a year of unforgettable wildlife-watching breaks across the UK' Sussex Wildlife Trust 'This would suit non-specialists as well as seasoned naturalists, and, accompanied by some fine photographs, contains evocative accounts of varied landscapes, from balmy evenings in the Chilterns to the saturated fens of Norfolk.' Good Book Guide 'This book provides an excellent starting point for a novice or for a 'wild' family to explore nature across beautiful Britain!' Dorset Wildlife Trust 'Britain is rich in wildlife, and now, thanks to a new book, seeing all these creatures in their natural habitats has suddenly been made a lot easier.' Evergreen 'Learn where to spot basking sharks, forage for fungi, track red squirrels and more, with maps, itineraries and great photos.' National Geographic Traveller 'Who needs BBC's Springwatch when this book has 52 good reasons to get out and see British wildlife for yourself?' Wild Travel

Autorentext

James Lowen (jameslowen.com) has been immersed in all aspects of natural history since he was able to walk - his love for nature initially inspired by a chance encounter as a toddler with a buzzard amid South Devon's leafy lanes. Upon fledging into adult plumage, James flirted with careers as a tropical conservationist and UK diplomat, before becoming an award-winning wildlife and travel writer, editor, guide and photographer. Upon his return to Britain from several years leading wildlife tours in South America and Antarctica, James had an irrepressible desire to renew his relationship with British nature. His books 52 Wildlife Weekends and A Summer of British Wildlife (winner, Travel Guidebook of the Year, 2016) are the result. James's 11 other books include Bradt's 52 European Wildlife Weekends (winner, Travel Guidebook of the Year, 2018) and Much Ado About Mothing (a travel narrative longlisted for the 2022 James Cropper Wainwright Prize).

Klappentext

52 Wildlife Weekends - unique guidebook proposing a wildlife-watching break in Britain for every week of the year. Staycation suggestions stretch from Cornwall to northern Scotland and cover all aspects of natural history: mammals, birds, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, other insects, reptiles, amphibians, underwater life, plants and fungi.

Inhalt
January 1 Wild goose chases and whisky chasers Argyll & Bute for barnacle goose, Greenland white-fronted goose, white-tailed eagle, otter, goose barnacle 2 Meres, fens and washes Cambridgeshire for Chinese water deer, bittern, Bewick's swan, whooper swan, hen harrier 3 Larking about Hampshire for red deer, roe deer, wood lark, great grey shrike, hawfinch 4 Seal of approval Durham for harbour seal, grey seal, long-eared owl, waxwing, snow bunting 5 Seaduck go Forth! Fife & East Lothian for velvet scoter, long-tailed duck, Slavonian grebe, white-tailed eagle, sea buckthorn bracket February 6 Touting for Tarka Northumberland for otter, red squirrel, Mediterranean gull, willow tit, twite 7 Whirling waders, gathering geese, aerial attacks Lancashire for otter, whooper swan, pink-footed goose, starling roost, scarlet elf cup 8 Kite-flying and Welsh witches Powys for red kite, raven, dipper, witches beard, Wilson's filmy fern 9 Dark Peak, white hare Derbyshire for mountain hare, peregrine, curlew, raven, red grouse March 10 From rifles to Ratty Greater London & Kent for water vole, heronry, Caspian gull, long-eared owl, rook roost 11 Serpents of the sandlings Suffolk for adder, Mediterranean gull, Dartford warbler, brown hare, mossy stonecrop 12 Daff's in t'dale North Yorkshire for wild daffodil, red grouse, goshawk, gannet, kittiwake 13…