Wild Places Uk

Book excerpt: The UK is known for its natural beauty and its wildlife and in Wild Places UK television naturalist Iolo Williams picks his favourite forty wildlife sites from the many nature reserves around the country. From Hermaness on Shetland to the London Wetland Centre, from Dungeness in Kent to Loch Neagh, Williams criss-crosses the country. His list takes in coastal sites from marshes to towering cliffs - and distant islands - mountains, valleys, bogs, meadows, woods and land reclaimed from industry. These wild places vary in size from the vastness of The Wash to the gem that is Skomer Island. They include sites of international significance, like estuarial Slimbridge, and the wild marshes of Forsinard Flows. As this informative and lavishly illustrated book demonstrates, all the sites are packed with the widest variety of trees, plants, birds, animals and insects. Williams draws on his considerable knowledge to guide readers and visitors to the natural delights of each site. Wild Places will show them rarities like the osprey, where to find almost six hundred different species of moths, and the site for an incredible 51 species of caddis fly. Readers will learn where to find birds, both rare and in huge numbers, where hares box and otters swim, where to spot dolphins and salmon, and where to see whales and sharks. Each entry includes a survey of what is to be found there, a brief description of the facilities, and directions to reach the site. Illustrated in beautiful detail and with glorious images of the site by top nature photographers, Wild Places UK confirms the country's stunning landscape inhabited in abundance of all manner of life. Author and book aim to introduce a new audience to the delights of the UK, be they armchair naturalists or, more importantly, visitors to the forty sites Williams has selected.