Visit one of Britain’s most famous bird-watching sites at Cley, where reedbeds, beaches, marshes and lagoons provide an ideal breeding sanctuary
Look out for one of the most impressive seal colonies in England at Blakeney Point
Enjoy a floodlit swan watch from a heated hide at Welney
“I very much enjoyed this tour; it was well-organised and very well run with a varied programme from a communicative expert who showed us how to look and how to see different waders and sea birds”
– ACE customer on a previous Wildlife in Norfolk tour
The wetland reserves of Norfolk are internationally renowned for their unspoilt coastlines and outstanding natural habitats. With its vast skies and shimmering frosts, winter offers one of the very best environments to experience the region’s rich and dynamic wildlife – from rapidly wheeling migratory flocks to the grey seals that visit each winter to birth their pups.
Our tour will offer an array of the bird-watching opportunities for which Norfolk is famous, both for beginners and more experienced observers, with local wardens sharing their unparalleled knowledge of the reserves.
At Cley, where the salt marshes and sand dunes are of major importance for over-wintering birds, we will follow one of the most celebrated bird-watching routes in Britain. The RSPB reserve at Titchwell, meanwhile, offers remarkably close views of geese, waders and gulls; and at the Ouse Washes at Welney, we will take part in a floodlit swan watch from the comfort of a heated hide.
At Snettisham on the Wash, Britain’s most vital estuary for wintering birds, we look out for knots, godwits and oystercatchers wading across the mud flats, while stately Holkham Park offers us possible sightings of flocks of pink-footed geese, marsh harriers and barn owls.
A highlight of our tour will be an excursion by boat off Blakeney Point, during which we hope to spot seals, waders, divers and grebes. We also look forward to a visit to Lynn Museum to learn about ‘Seahenge’, a unique timber circle discovered off the North Norfolk coast in 1998, dating back over 4000 years to the Early Bronze Age.
We will stay in Old Hunstanton at the characterful four-star Le Strange Arms Hotel, positioned a stone’s throw away from the sea.
This tour will be led by conservationist and environmental consultant Kevin Hand, MSc, MCIEEM, a long-standing ACE Tour Director with a special interest in birds, mammals and ecotourism. Kevin has led a team providing access to the British countryside for hard to reach groups, as well as a project on eagles, vultures and other wildlife in Albania. In 2017 he was appointed President of the Cambridge Natural History Society.
Wildlife in Norfolk is Kevin’s longest running ACE tour, and he and ACE are delighted to have now worked with three generations of the Bean family, who operate the seal watching trips from Blakeney Harbour. Kevin says, “I have been leading this tour for over 25 years, and I always find it exciting and full of interest! The coastal changes are incredible to observe, and the wildlife holds new surprises every year.”
5
£1245
WILN-24
Included: accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, four breakfasts, four dinners with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities & all taxes.
Not Included: travel insurance, single room supplement £35.
