Wildlife

In a landscape this rugged you'd expect to find plenty of wildlife and Lake District National Park has plenty to see.

Plan Around Wildlife

A good stop is not just something to read about. Once it belongs on the day, move into a saved trip and build the route around it.

Add to trip View park guide

Use this detail page to confirm that the stop is worth it, then carry that decision into a trip draft while the park context is still fresh.

Wildlife Details

In a landscape this rugged you'd expect to find plenty of wildlife and Lake District National Park has plenty to see. But if you're here looking for native wildlife, just look around. As this is a fairly wild park, you'll have plenty of opportunities to see wildlife just by settling in, getting still and quiet, and observing. Red fox is commonly sighted. You may spy a badger, but if you're in Martindale, a valley near Ullswater, you're more likely to see a red deer. You may even see the smaller roe deer if you're alert. One animal you will want to see is the red squirrel. This red-furred, tufted-eared squirrel is endangered but you can still see them with some frequency in the forests near Keswick and Penrith. They're also found elsewhere in the western, southern and central Lake District despite the invasion of the grey squirrel, its introduced American cousin Birds are abundant. Peregrine falcon, buzzard, raven and osprey, are all spotted here, as are wood warblers, woodpeckers, nuthatches, pied flycatchers and a number of other woodland birds. As you can imagine, geese and waterfowl, both resident and migrant, are common sights, and near the coast you'll find one of England's largest colonies of sea birds around St. Bee's Head just outside the park.

Difficulty

Open

Distance

N/A

Estimated time

N/A

Region

Learn About the Park