“Shhh… there it is!”

An amazing place to experience several iconic British birds and mammals, including the fluffy but fiery red squirrel is RSPB’s Haweswater reserve, thanks to a purpose-built hide.

The RSPB at Haweswater (in partnership with United Utilities) is dedicated to restoring “wild connections” in the landscape to demonstrate how hillside farming and habitat restoration can be achieved side by side for the benefit of people, water, nature and agriculture.

When we went in autumn, huge flocks of migrating siskin were easily seen from the hide: so many bright yellow birds that littered the ground, hopping about in search of fallen seeds.

As we sat captivated by the buzzing birdlife, a red ball of fluff shimmied down a tree and bounded across the clearing, making a beeline for a log where it sat cautiously, watching intently for immediate danger before foraging furiously amongst the branches until, success! It pulled out a huge nut.

Click click click

Our cameras went crazy all morning. All up, seven or so red squirrels and a croissant and hot cup of tea later, we left feeling completely mesmerized by the past few hours in nature.

And, if you head down the driveway in springtime, keep your eyes open for flocks of bright-red bullfinch, nibbling on the buds of flowering blackthorn trees!

You don’t usually need to travel very far for this one! With data showing that over half of UK households feed wild birds, backyard bird feeders are a great place to start experiencing and appreciating our feathered friends.

Although the assemblage of regulars varies depending on where you live across the UK, some of the usual suspects you might expect to see include the iconic robin red-breast, a collection of colorful tits (great, blue, coal – and even long-tailed tits if you’re lucky!), the striking goldfinch and the zooming nuthatch. From dawn ’til dusk, these cuties take turns on the feeder, darting in to take seeds before rushing back to the safety of the surrounding branches. Seeds fly everywhere! Down on the ground, the chaffinch hops about and clean up these fallen seeds.

House sparrows, who nest high in the rafters, often buzz around the birdfeeder, the noisy socialites that they are! Quiet and unobtrusive in contrast, the blackbird and the dunnock are probably two of the most overlooked of our backyard birds as they creep through the bushes surrounding the feeder. If you’re lucky, you might even observe a visit from the mighty woodpecker or a squirrel!

Spending time watching your local bird feeder is a great way to get to know your feathered neighbours in an intimate way from the comfort of your kitchen window, and experience their antics!

Another must-have wildlife experience, again at RSPB’s Haweswater Reserve is in the badger hide. Such an intimate experience! We had glimpsed badgers once or twice before, skulking away in a distant field, or dead on the side of the road – but never like this.

Dusk in Cumbria.

The darkness gathers on the fells. The light drains away from the land until only the shadows are left behind. The sky glows in contrast until that too fades.

We sat in the wood cabin, excited. Our eyes, unsure where to look, scoured the shadows and strained into the growing darkness for signs of movement.

The minutes slipped past. Our eyes flick towards the clock and back to the scene in front of us. Will they show up? We listened to the birds in the nearby woodlands, singing their final notes before bed. An owl calls from just outside the hide.

And all of a sudden, we looked up and there it was!

The silhouette of a badger glides down the hill slope and waltzes across the grass in front of the cabin. Its fur shines beneath the spotlight in unmistakeable black and white.

Fearlessly, it makes a beeline for the rocks.

We caught our breath… and smiled. You can’t help but smile when watching this incredible creature.

Click, click, click

Our cameras are out, snapping furiously to capture the moments, the nuances of the badger.

It waddles across the grass, effortlessly uses its paw to move a rock to one side, exposing a dish of peanuts. Success! We watched it dig into the ground then looks up slowly, surveying its surrounds.

Click, click, click

It looked directly at us.

Instinctively, we froze, holding our breath. Even though the badger can’t see us through the reflective glass, I am always blown away by how humbling and powerful these moments feel.

Fingringhoe Wick Nature Discovery Park offers badger watching evenings, here in Essex.