In this chapter I will list the locations which seem to me to be the cream of the wildlife sites in our islands, together with details of what is there and when to go. There are already many good books detailing good sites to visit for wildlife encounters in Britain and Ireland. Here I provide a short list of the best, partly to help balance the very negative messages that appear in many of the earlier chapters. I will conclude with a few treasured memories of days in the field at these and other places.

Cley and the north Norfolk Coast

This unspoilt area of coastal marshes is a national treasure for birds and is good in both summer and winter. As well as Cley, which is more or less in the middle of the north coast, places such as Titchwell, Salthouse and Snettisham (just round the corner facing west) are also must-see places. In summer there are lots of avocets and marsh harriers at Titchwell and Cley, also ruff and black-tailed godwits, together with bearded tits and occasional bittern, and often evening sights of hunting barn owls. The heath up above Salthouse is also famous for its nightingales and nightjars.