A very British safari
AN OUT OF AFRICA EXPERIENCE CAN BE HAD CLOSER TO HOME, IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. RACHAEL OAKDEN FINDS EXOTIC AND NATIVE WILDLIFE ON YOUR DOORSTEP – OR NEAR ENOUGH
Taking slow, careful steps along the woodland path, I am grateful for the squidgy moss that’s silencing my boots. Neck aching from being bent back, I daren’t take my eyes off the tops of the tallest conifers, which look like spindly green pagodas against the colourless sky. Gentle puffs of afternoon breeze make them sway occasionally, and every time they do, my heart goes into a flutter. Will there be a flash of russet, a scamper of feet, a glimpse of red bushy tail disappearing behind a branch? Or could there be an audacious rodent performing a trapeze act behind me while I peer in the wrong direction?
I’m at Whinlatter Forest Park in the Lake District, hoping to spot a red squirrel. These once-common native mammals are suffering long-term decline in Britain (due largely to competition from their bolshy American Grey cousins, for which we have the Victorians to thank). Only 15,000 reds are thought to remain in England, and this coniferous mountain forest is one of a handful of Cumbrian wildlife sites where they thrive. The Forestry Commission has waymarked a ‘squirrel scurry’ footpath here, dotted with squirrel feeding boxes to maximise the chance of an encounter. Sadly, these small, shy woodland icons are not inclined to appear on demand.
Information boards tell me that red squirrels spend most of their time in the treetops, where they’re less likely to be eaten. I scrutinise stands of spruce, larch and pine for dreys – round squirrel nests built close to the trunks – but the greenery is too dense to see through. After an hour I change tack, standing still and silent, peering into the forest’s understorey. In some places it’s dark and forbidding, like the scene of a Danish crime drama. In others it’s mossy and magical, light filtering through the sparse broadleaf canopy onto damp boulders that are carpeted bright green.
My ears are sensitive to every rustle; my eyes peeled for falling scales (the telltale shower of debris from a nibbled pine cone). I see squirrels shinning up trunks and leaping
“I’m soon like a whale watcher who’s been at sea too long, interpreting every wave as an emerging fin”
from branches – but only in the way that a whale-watcher who’s been at sea too long starts to interpret every wave as an emerging fin.
I come to a clearing and am stopped in my tracks by a view of Derwent Water – the lake that inspired Beatrix Potter’s illustrations for The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. Sadly, no reallife squirrels appear to want to share it with me. But I realise I don’t mind. Just being among them, knowing they are here, has transformed this woodland walk into an immersive brush with nature. Were I not on the lookout for tufty-eared forest-dwellers, I’d have marched noisily along these paths, oblivious to the calls of siskins, not noticing the different shapes and sizes of fallen cones on the woodland floor.
Wildlife-watching sure beats a phone app for inducing mindful contentment. Whether you’re staking out a water hole in Botswana or a peat bog in West Wales, it trains your attention on the moment. Every sound, smell and sight takes on grave significance; the natural world intensifies into high- definition slow motion. Let your mind wander, even for a second, and you might miss the … Oh my!
BINOCULARS AT THE READY
If, by ‘safari’, you imagine a thrilling encounter with a rare and/or beautiful animal in its natural environment, you don’t need to hotfoot it to Africa to experience one. Just head towards your nearest green space. Britain has a rich variety of different wildlife habitats, from ancient woods to urban parks, peaty uplands to chalky meadows, soggy salt marshes to sun-baked heaths. Each has its own particular residents: brown hares on the edges of meadows and woodland; warty newts in ponds and gravel pits; marsh harriers
soaring over reedbeds; red deer in the forests and heaths of Scotland, Lakeland and southern England.
To find out which birds and beasts thrive in your area, contact your local Wildlife Trust: 47 separate trusts cover every corner of the UK, managing nature reserves and running events (wildlifetrusts.org).
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Much of our native wildlife comes out only when the sun goes down. Night transforms familiar paths and parks into wild and mysterious places, where badgers shuffle, nightingales sing, otters go swimming and bats flit across the sky (and sometimes into your face). Few outdoor experiences feel quite so intrepid as an after-dark safari. Take a torch and go it alone, if you’re brave enough – parks might close at night but fields and woods stay open – or join a guided night-time walk: the National Trust (nationaltrust.org.uk), RSPB (rspb.org.uk) and Wildlife Trusts (see above) all run local events. Noctural Wildlife Tours in Dumfries and Galloway uses thermal imaging and night-vision technology to enable up-close encounters with some of the countryside’s shyest creatures (wildlifetours.co.uk).
SHORE THING
A day trip to the seaside almost guarantees easy wildlife spotting. Our 7,000-mile coastline offers great diversity of habitats, from seabird rocks and shingle beaches to sand dunes and salt marshes. Some have sights and sounds to astonish: the honking throngs of seabirds and waterfowl in places such as Morecambe Bay, The Wash and Solway Firth, for example (see rspb.org.uk to find your nearest reserve), or the massed croaking of natterjack toads on the protected dunes of north-west England.
For the most thrilling wildlife safaris, go to sea. Boat trips can take you to see puffins (on the Farne Islands, Northumberland or Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire), or spot dolphins (off West Wales, Land’s End and in Scotland’s Moray Firth). And for a once-ina-lifetime encounter with a giant of the seas,
head to Cornwall, western Scotland or the Isle of Man to join a basking-shark watch ( you’re gonna need a bigger boat).
WORTH A SPECIAL TRIP
The rarest wildlife lives in the wildest places, and the Caledonian forest of Highland Scotland is the closest thing we have to true wilderness in the UK. This ancient wildwood is home to many of our most elusive and beautiful creatures, including the Scottish wildcat. To be fair, this gravely endangered native cat is the rarest mammal in Britain – fewer than 100 are thought to survive in the wild – so you’ll be extremely lucky if you spot one. But the remnant pine forests and Highland glens where it prowls are also home to other rare Scottish species, including the golden eagle, Scottish beaver, pine marten and capercaillie (a massive and majestic grouse). The Cairngorms National Park (cairngorms.co.uk) is a wildlife hotspot; both the Highland Wildlife Park ( highlandwildlifepark.org.uk) and Aigas Centre (a field centre, aigas.co.uk) have captive populations of Scottish wildcats.
FOREIGN BODIES
Crouching in a wildlife hide all night in the hope that a pine marten might drop by isn’t everyone’s idea of fun. If you fancy an easier encounter with creatures both native and exotic, you could try one of the many safari parks dotted around our countryside.
At Port Lympne in Kent, the lions and tigers and bears live in large enclosures that resemble their natural habitats, and you can get up close to giraffes, zebras and rhinos on African-style truck safaris (aspinallfoundation.org).
Knepp Safaris offers half-day 4x4 tours of the native wildlife (deer, Exmoor ponies, slow worms) that thrive on the rewilded Knepp Castle estate in West Sussex ( kneppsafaris.co.uk). Some of the more traditional safari parks such as Longleat in Wiltshire and Woburn in Bedfordshire also offer walking safaris, guided jeep tours and other up-close encounters with animals.
“Our 7,000-mile coastline offers sights and sounds to astonish in salt marshes, sea cliffs, shingle beaches and sand dunes”