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Date: Sunday 28th September 2025
Price: £60 places available
Price Includes: Services of the guide for the day 09:00 – 17:00, trip report
Not included: Lunch, drinks & snacks, car parking charges (allow up to £10) entry into reserve (allow £6)
Meeting place: By the Car Park Pay Machine in the NWT Car Park, Cley Next the Sea. The address of the Visitors Centre is The Coast Road, Cley NR25 7SA. The Lat/Long location is 52.9544, 1.0563. The What Three Words Location is ///cunning,sprayer.enhances
Leader: Carl Chapman
Group Size: Minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 guests plus 1 leader
Conservation donation: Norfolk Wildlife Trust
Holiday Highlights
- Enjoy an autumn day out on the beautiful North Norfolk coast for a leisurely day of birdwatching
- Led by local naturalist & guide Carl Chapman, who knows & loves the area & its wildlife intimately
- We will visit key locations to look for bird migrants arriving for the winter and passing through the area to winter further South
- Relaxed pace to full appreciate watching the birds & to allow time for photography
We invite you to join us for a day of birdwatching on the North Norfolk coast this autumn, led by local guide Carl Chapman, who has lived in the area and loved it for 40+ years!
Your Guide
It’s not often a Yorkshireman praises another county above his birthplace but I’ve now lived in Norfolk for almost 40 years and I wouldn’t change a moment of my time here.
Birds first drew me to Norfolk. It is without doubt the centre of bird watching within the whole of the UK. Indeed, I qualified at the UEA (University of East Anglia) with a certificate in Ornithology. Although it must be said I have a penchant for a variety of wildlife, not just birds, and am currently the county’s Marine Mammal Recorder assimilating and checking records of pinnipeds and cetaceans. In addition, every bird watcher knows that there’s a period in mid-summer when it perhaps goes ‘a little quiet’ it’s from those quiet periods I developed an interest in Dragonflies and Butterflies.
So, in summary if it has wings or flippers … I’m your man.
It was this interest for all things wild which led me down the tour leading route which has been my mainstay since 2008. When I started tour leading someone in the business gave me some good advice. He said, ‘it’s not about the wildlife … it’s about the people!’ There’s nothing I like better than showing someone something for the first time. The kick I get equates to the ‘buzz’ of seeing it for the first time myself.
North Norfolk is a fabulous location for bird watching. There is a section of path we will visit during our morning walk at Cley where there has been more rare birds seen than anywhere else in the UK. That one fact sets the scene for our day. The weather plays an important part in what birds we will see but we hope there may be such birds as a Wryneck moving south from Scandinavia. Or maybe a Yellow browed Warbler which should be making its way down the East coast of China. The number of this species occurring has increased in line with the breeding range spreading Westward. It really is unpredictable what species we will encounter.
Generally speaking, the paths are good, but walking boots are recommended as the paths can be uneven There are quite a few slopes involve. There are no hills and no steep slopes.
We will meet in the car park of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust Reserve Centre at Cley next the Sea. This wonderful reserve may hold species such as Cattle, Little and Great White Egret along with the occasional Bittern. Raptors will be well represented, and it wouldn’t be outlandish for a Hen Harrier to pop up over the reserve among the Marsh Harriers. At sea we have the chance of seeing Skuas, Divers and Scoters of varying species. We will walk the whole perimeter of the reserve before returning to the Reserve centre for lunch.
In the afternoon we may visit the hides on the reserve to see any waders that may be around but afterwards we will travel in our own vehicles to the nearby Salthouse Marshes; a migration hotspot. A journey of just a few miles.
We will then walk among the various bushes and vegetation on the sea wall where Stonechats and Pipits; Water, Meadow and Rock may be found. It may be a rarer pipit such as a Tawny or Richards Pipit will put in an appearance.
We will then walk back to our vehicles to finish our day.
To follow
New trip – reviews will appear later
New tour so reports will follower at a later date
