Where to watch wildlife

From the BBC:

• Find a wildlife place or event near you with help from BBC Breathing Places
• BBC Wales: Places to go
• Nature's Calendar: Wildlife locations and spectacles
• Hands on Nature: Discover Nature activities near you

From elsewhere:

• National Trust: Top places to visit for wildlife
RSPB reserves

• Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
• The Woodland Trust: Directory of Woodland Trust woods
• The Wildlife Trusts: Wildlife Watch (for children)
• Forestry Commission: The UK's forests
• Natural England: Information on English nature reserves
• Countryside Council for Wales: Which species are special in Wales
• Scottish Natural Heritage: Scotland's national nature reserves
• Environment and Heritage Service Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland's nature reserves
• Birdwatch: Where to watch guides

How to watch wildlife:

• RSPB: Watching birds
• BTO: Birdwatcher's code

Some of the best:

Grey seals:

• Cornish coast
• Blakeney Point, Norfolk
• Farne Islands, Northumberland
• Donna Nook, Lincolnshire
• Cardigan Bay, Ceredigion
• Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli), Gwynedd
• Isle of May
• Monach Isles
• Murlough National Nature Reserve, County Down

Bats:

• Arlington Court, Devon
• Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall
• Sence Valley Forest Park, Leicestershire
• Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Barnes, London
• Bushy Park, Richmond
• Woodchester Mansion, Gloucestershire
• Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
• Radipole Lake, Dorset
• Carew Castle and Tidal Mill, Pembrokeshire
• Culzean castle in Ayrshire
• Knapdale Forest, Argyll and Bute
• Crom Estate, Fermanagh

Seabirds:

• Bempton Cliffs, East Yorkshire
• St Bees Head, Cumbria
• Farne Islands, Northumberland
• Lundy Island, Devon
• Berry Head, Devon
• Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire
• South Stack Cliffs, Anglesey
• Fowlsheugh, Aberdeenshire
• Sumburgh Head, Shetland
• Mull of Galloway, Dumfries & Galloway
• Bass Rock, North Berwick
• St Kilda, Outer Hebrides
• Rathlin, County Antrim

Dolphins

• Chanonry Point

Basking sharks
Basking sharks are seen all around the UK and Irish coasts, but the best places to see them are along the west coast of the UK, and both the east and west coasts of Ireland.

Look at the Basking Shark Project's website for more information. They also have a code of conduct for approaching them. Manx Basking Shark Watch's website is a mine of information about these wonderful fish too.