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Winter in the Norfolk Broads (Day Trip)
Tour Code: GBR179A trip to the Norfolk Broads which, in winter, sees large gatherings of wildfowl and is also excellent for raptors.
£50
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Summary
Winter can be a busy time in north-east Norfolk’s Broadland area. Despite the chilly weather of a British winter, conditions are actually relatively mild here and many birds head here to escape the less favourable conditions of a continental winter. The Broads region is justly famous for its large gatherings of wintering wildfowl and this is a truly international meeting place, as Pink-footed Geese from Greenland and Iceland rub shoulders with Wigeon and Teal from Scandinavia and Russia. With them come many other species, the highlight of which would be a glimpse of a small but regular group of Taiga Bean Geese, which are ever elusive but always an exciting possibility! Redwings and Fieldfares feed on berries in the hedgerows and large flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plovers gather on the grazing marshes.
As spring moves forward, the exodus of wintering ducks, geese and wild swans from Broadland gets underway and passage birds begin to move through the county offering constantly changing opportunities. At this time resident Broadland birds break into song and the first spring migrants will also appear.
While the masses of wildfowl will impress us, we’ll also be keeping an eye out for wintering raptors – especially Marsh and Hen Harriers, Peregrine and Merlin. Our chances of seeing these birds will be increased by visiting a winter roost site. This site regularly holds an interesting selection of wildlife and, as well as the raptors, the local population of Common Cranes likes to spend the night here too, while Barn Owl and Chinese Water Deer are often to be found out and about. Every winter is different, so there will doubtless be some nice surprises in store for us!
Led by a naturalist, these Day Trips will start at 9am at Buckenham and will cover around 3-4 miles over the course of the day on easy dirt trails. Please also allow up to £10 for car parking charges.
- A wealth of wintering wildfowl
- Common Cranes
- A good variety of raptors
- Barn and Short-eared Owls
- Large flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plover
Day Trip Location
Dates & Prices
2026
Tour Leader: John Williamson
Born in Norfolk, John has been birdwatching in the county for almost 40 years. He is currently the county liaison with the British Birds Rare Breeding Birds Panel, and has been involved in the production of the Norfolk Bird & Mammal Report for over 25 years. More recently John has worked in wildlife conservation for over 15 years filling various roles with RSPB, Natural England and Norfolk Wildlife Trust. John has also travelled quite extensively to over 20 countries, many of which were visited on birdwatching or wildlife trips. His experience gained working within Norfolk on breeding shorebird protection along the North Norfolk coast from Scot Head Island to Stiffkey Binks for Natural England (including several years working on the Holkham Estate NNR), on monitoring CAP agri-environment schemes and barn owl projects with RSPB, and operating wildlife watertrails on boats at Hickling Broad NNR and at Ranworth Broad nature reserves for Norfolk Wildlife Trust means he has acquired a broad knowledge of the fauna and flora of the county. John also has his own environmental consultancy and has been working on a long-term bird monitoring scheme (15 years to date) in operation on a lowland organic mixed farm in North-west Norfolk. His interests extend to all forms of natural history but John also has an extensive understanding of the past history of Norfolk and is particularly well-versed in the areas of Broadland, North and North-west Norfolk.
Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
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