This was a day trip to this beautiful ancient woodland, which is home to some very interesting wildlife, both flora and fauna. The guide was excellent with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things wild. It was the perfect day to see the Heath Fritillaries, one of the rarest butterflies in the country, plus many other bugs and insects. Naturetrek stole a march on the other wildlife travel companies by introducing these one day tours, which have proven to be very successful. They are the premier tour company in the field.
G.B. Essex, Jun 21
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Heath Fritillaries - Hockley Woods, Essex (Day Trip)
Tour Code: GBR221Enjoy a summer’s day in Hockley Woods with all-round naturalist Chris Gibson, looking for Heath Fritillaries, one of Britain’s rarest butterflies, and all the other woodland insects, plants and birds we can find.
£60 (land only)
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Summary
In a good year (they fluctuate!), Hockley Woods is one of the most reliable places in the south-east to find one of Britain’s rarest butterflies, Heath Fritillary. Re-established here some 30 years ago, they continue to thrive because of ride-side management aimed at securing their larval food plant, Common Cow-wheat. We will be looking for them at the peak of their flight season, which may also coincide with other woodland butterflies such as Silver-washed Fritillary, White Admiral and White-letter and Purple Hairstreaks. One of the largest continuous ancient woods in East Anglia, we will also be looking for everything else we can find, including the Cow-wheat Shield Bug at one of only two places which it occurs in Essex. Southern Wood Ants’ nests, again scarce in the county, are always fascinating and sometimes support the distinctive beetle Clytra quadripunctata, whose larvae are both predators and scavengers in the nests. Other interesting plants could include Wood Spurge, Enchanter’s Nightshade, Butcher’s-broom and Wild Service-tree, and a range of typical woodland birds includes Nuthatch, Treecreeper and woodpeckers.
We aim to walk 6km during the course of the day. If travelling by public transport, it is a 20-minute walk from Hockley railway station.
- Heath Fritillaries along secluded woodland rides
- Other butterflies may include White-letter Hairstreak, White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary
- An interesting array of insects and wildflowers
- Led by an expert all-round naturalist - Chris Gibson
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Dates & Prices
2025
Tour Leader: Chris Gibson
Chris is an experienced and enthusiastic all-round naturalist, based in Essex, though still a Yorkshireman at heart. He recently retired (early!) from a long career with Natural England, during which he worked on such varied projects as the notification of SSSIs in Essex, offshore wind developments and the issues surrounding the potential reintroduction of Eurasian Lynx to the UK. Although a conservationist by profession, and an ecologist by training, everything Chris have done has been linked to his life-long passion for natural history. In 2009 he was lucky enough to receive the David Bellamy Award of the British Naturalists’ Association, recognising ‘a naturalist of distinction’. He’s also written and co-written many books and articles. Now he has the time and opportunity to return to his roots as a naturalist, and to do what he does best – trying to enthuse others about the natural world.
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We are delighted to offer a series of Naturetrek Day Trips which visit a wonderful selection of reserves and habitats across the UK, each guided by one of our expert naturalist tour leaders, many of whom are leading our Day Trips on their own ‘local patch’! Meeting at around 9am, and exploring largely on foot until around 5pm (though note that specific Day Trip timings do vary slightly by location and season), these trips are designed to spend a full day out in the fresh air, in search of a wide range of special British wildlife.
Whether you would like to explore a new area in the company of a local, expert naturalist tour leader, try a guided wildlife day out for the very first time, or perhaps you simply wish to spend the day learning more about your own local wildlife, you will find yourself most welcome on one of our Naturetrek Day Trips. We also offer days out specifically aimed at beginner birders and amateur wildlife photographers, and some trips even extend after sunset to allow us to take you on a guided tour of the night skies above. Whatever the trip focus – be it birds, botany, fungi, photography, butterflies, dragonflies, geology or a mix of just about everything – your leader will take you to the very best places to search for wildlife, and will share their knowledge generously along the way.
Our Day Trips have been fully risk assessed, and all activities are carried out in line with UK government and industry Covid-19 guidance. Most Day Trips from 17th May 2021 onwards will have a maximum number of 7 people, with a handful, such as cruises with a slightly higher number. We have also been certified as 'Good to Go'; the domestic tourism industry standard mark for Covid-19 protocols. Your safety is paramount, and we will be complying fully with UK government guidance throughout all of our Day Trips.
How to Book
The price for all our standard Naturetrek Day Trips is £50 per person and payment is by debit card only. You can book online, or you are very welcome to book over the phone by calling us on 01962 733051. Some Day Trips operate seasonally, and we are continuing to add additional departure dates for our fully booked Day Trips, so if you would like to be added to our wait list for any of these trips please just email info@naturetrek.co.uk or register your interest via the tour page.
Joining Instructions for Day Trips
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- Upon booking we will email you with a designated meeting point and confirmed timings, along with contact details for your tour leader.
- During some Day Trips we will each use our own vehicle to move the short distances in between sites (group transport is not provided).
- Please do not bring your dog, or other pets, as they may disturb the wildlife!
- Please bring your own lunch.
- Please bring plenty of water, snacks, hand sanitiser, tissues, your own face covering (this will not be compulsory whilst we are out in the fresh air and wide open spaces throughout during the day but may be required to enter toilets, visitor centres, etc.) along with anything else that you might need for the day. You will need to be able to carry everything yourself. Suitable footwear (walking shoes or walking boots) will be essential, along with sensible layers and waterproofs plus sun hat and sun cream or woolly hat and gloves etc., depending on the weather forecast.
- Wherever possible, we will try to arrange comfort breaks during the day. On some of our more remote Day Trips this isn’t always possible, and on those occasions you will need to be prepared for the odd ‘bush stop’! If this is likely, we will alert you in the joining instructions beforehand. Please be stringent with hygiene when using public facilities.
- We ask you to respect minimum social distancing AT ALL TIMES (currently 2m where possible between households at the time of writing, but could be updated at any time). To help ensure this, we ask group members and tour leaders not to share optics, field guides or any other equipment.
- Finally, please do share your photos and favourite wildlife sightings with us … we love seeing them! Tweet @naturetrektours, Instagram @naturetrek_wildlife_holidays or find us on facebook.com/naturetrekwildlifeholidays
Should the dates we offer not suit you, or should you wish to have a private, tailored Day Trip, we will be delighted to arrange this for you. Please just call Georgie Head on 01962 733051, or fill out our quick enquiry form and we will get back to you. For inspiration for a Tailormade UK break, please see our Tailormade UK holidays.
Tailormade Day Trips
Reviews:
'The Naturetrek £50 days out have been a lifesaver this year. What better way than to spend a day in the open with four other like minded people in the company of a brilliant guide who can tell you all about the geology, flors and fauna of the area. I’ve been on three of these days with more booked for the future. The days are full, meeting at 9.00am and not finishing until 5.00pm, maybe slightly earlier in the darker winter months, with about 45 minutes for our picnic lunch but never have I ever looked at my watch and wished the time would pass more quickly. Quite the opposite in fact, the time passed so quickly I was amazed when we found ourselves back at the car park. Value for money? Yes, definitely. Thank you Naturetrek.'
VB – The Naze and Walton Backwaters (Essex)
‘The Upper Teesdale Day Trip was brilliant and Andy Bunten was an exceptional guide. So very knowledgeable and an expert spotter, but equally important he had great communication skills so that no-one felt remotely patronised or afraid to ask the most basic of questions. The organisation of the day was impeccably planned too. This was my first Naturetrek outing but I have friends who regularly use you and have spoken of your trips in glowing terms. So I will certainly look at your website and I will hope to travel with you at some point in the future.’
KS – Teesdale‘We had a lovely day on Monday; Matt was terrific - particularly with us being beginners at bird watching! The other attendees were very interesting and one in particular was extremely knowledgeable. So we learned a lot - just got to remember it now! We are looking at the other day trips available to see if we can do another one.’
Ashdown Forest‘I wanted to write to thank you for organising your new Day Trips. It’s an excellent idea and something to give hope to many people, who are keen to get out and about, and to experience the beauty of nature closer to home. Our trip to the Ashdown Forest on Friday was excellent. The weather was kind to us, a lovely sunny, English summer day, but it was our guide, Matt Eade, who made it special. Quite how Matt managed to arrange Goshawk, two Honey-buzzards, Hobby, Treecreeper, and a whole host of other species was remarkable.
Spotted Flycatcher is the personal favourite of my husband Simon – and Matt knew where to find two of them. Simon was over the moon!It was a top day. Matt was informative, very knowledgeable, engaging, encouraging, always happy to help, provide insights and share his knowledge and experiences. He paced the walk just right, thoughtful about short breaks where needed. I worked for 8 years as a Tour Director around Europe and I know how exceptionally hard it can be to keep everyone happy!’
Ashdown Forest‘The trip exceeded our already high expectations. Andy Bunten was kind, humorous, thoughtful and his knowledge of the wildlife truly exceptional. It was a real pleasure and privilege to be in his company.’
KE – Teesdale‘So nice to be on a Naturetrek trip again and had a thoroughly enjoyable day with Russ and our other companions. Everyone just got on even though we had not met before. Looking forward to our next day trip!’
LD – Smardale‘We had a great day, thank you. Matthew Capper was an excellent guide, giving us a wealth of information about the ecology, conservation and social history of the area as well as the wildlife, and having an amazing ability to detect birdlife out of nowhere. The Lammergeier before we'd even left the meeting point was of course spectacular, but it was Matthew's commitment to searching for the birds and Mountain Hares which impressed me even more. We also appreciated his patience and good humour, and his determination to make sure that all 5 of us got to see everything. These day trips are a brilliant idea. We are really looking forward to our next Naturetrek Day in a couple of weeks.’
AB – Peak District
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.
EnquireWhy Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!