Whether you route takes you through bustling cities or rural landscapes, you will always be in with a chance to spot a variety of wildlife species who call our canals home.
There are over 80 species of kingfisher worldwide, but only one native to Britain.
1. Owls on the Aire & Calder
The Aire & Calder Navigation flows from Leeds to the tidal River Ouse at Goole, and it's still a busy freight artery after 300 years, despite competition from road and rail. Yet, regardless of its industrial nature, you can see wildlife along its 34 miles.
This waterway has undergone a 30-year-long project to provide barn owls with nest boxes and rough grassland, where these predators might feast on shrews, voles and mice. Since 1998, these next boxes have fledged over 180 young barn owls.
Look for barn owls in ghostly silent flight along our riverbanks and canal towpaths at dusk.
2. Creatures at Caen Hill
If you're looking for an abundance of different species on your cruise, a trip down the iconic Caen Hill will bring opportunities for spotting beavers, otters and plenty of other creatures.
The infamous lock flight is a great place to search for kingfishers, damselflies and dragonflies.
The strip of woodland between the side pounds and the new Jubilee Wood provides shelter and security for animals like rabbits and hedgehogs. These spiky creatures, along with the earthworms, slugs and other invertebrates found here, provide important food sources for badgers.
Badgers live in communal underground setts, which are passed from generation to generation.
3. Bats in Birmingham
In Birmingham, the heart of the nation's canal network, you can find all sorts of waterfowl, birds and bats. If you're lucky, you may even see a black redstart or peregrine falcon.
Earlswood Lakes, a stone's throw from the North Stratford Canal, is a nature reserve in Birmingham where you can soak up the beautiful scenery while looking out for bats at dusk. The common pipistrelle, soprano pipistrelle and noctule are the species you're most likely to see emerging around sunset. Daubenton's are also often seen by water.
Daubenton's bats have short ears with fluffy brown fur, grey undersides, and a pink face.
Boasting a unique ecosystem, the Monty is home to many plants and a variety of animals, like dragonflies, damselflies, aquatic beetles, mussels, clams, bats, and kingfishers. Otters and water voles have also been spotted along its length.
Water voles build their burrows close to water and never stray far.
5. Caldon to Consall Forge
If you're keen to get away from the busier stretches and cruise a more rural route, head to the Caldon Canal. This small, quiet waterway branches off from the Trent & Mersey at Etruria and meanders into the rolling hills of the Staffordshire Moorlands.
At Hazelhurst, the Caldon splits again. The Leek Branch continues another two miles to the Leek Tunnel, where there is a winding point to turn around. Along here, you might see kingfishers and herons.
Standing tall and as still as a statue, grey herons are a distinctive sight.
