Go Slow in the Brecks & Fens

Summary

During this week-long break we will discover some of East Anglia's best kept secrets and less known sites for wildlife. As you travel into central East Anglia, you enter a unique area known as the Brecks (or Breckland) and the look and the feel of the landscape changes dramatically with wide vistas, vast skies and sandy fields divided by rows of twisted pines. The local landscape has a distinctive quality and wildlife abounds - almost a third of species are considered rare in the UK. For some, the Brecks is their last refuge. Thetford Forest is the largest lowland planted forest in the UK, which we will be criss-crossing on our way to other sites, stopping when we spot something, but we will also take time to visit Lynford Arboretum where Crossbills and Firecrests can be found. You cannot ignore the characteristic areas of lowland heath that form a mosaic with the farmland across much of the area and it is here that some of the real treasures of the Brecks can be found. Among the sites that we will be visiting are Cavenham and Cranwich Heaths, Lackford Lakes and Lakenham Fen as we look for a whole host of birds, mammals, insects and plants.

• Visiting the unique and ancient Brecks and nearby fens
• Look for Crane, Bittern and Marsh Harrier at Lakenheath Fen
• Encounter Red Deer, Crossbills and Woodlark in Thetford Forest
• Options to listen for Nightjars at dusk
• Enjoy orchids and invertebrates in the beautiful valley fens
• Discover ‘pingos’, an ice-age relic, and the dazzling dragonflies that live there
• Search for Stone Curlews at Cavenham Heath