Hoopoe – what a wonderful bird to see close to home.
It has been an exciting time here at Birdwatching Trips…..
North Norfolk September 2026
15 September – Great start to our Norfolk visit, wasn’t planned but here we are! RSPB Titchwell was our birding stop soon after the long drive from North Wales. After a short wait we spotted the Spotted Crake! A beautiful bird creeping along the edge of the reeds, long time since our last one. As always lots of birds at this wonderful reserve. Eight Pink-footed Geese came in off the sea & landed & immediately began drinking perhaps a sign they had literally just arrived. Also Avocets, 3 Curlew Sandpiper, Ruff, Black & Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Marsh Harriers, 2 Great Egrets. What will tomorrow bring?
16 September – Pre-breakfast birding Thornham Norfolk – Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Red t Diver Gannets, Sandwich Terns, 9 Spoonbills, Great Egret, Marsh Harrier, 4 Greenshank, Grey & Ringed Plover, Pink-footed Geese good start! Pic Bar and Black tailed Godwits juveniles.
Back to hotel for breakfast.
Then headed east towards Sea Palling. Stopped for a comfort break at Cley NWT & became a “Pec Break”! Pectoral Sandpiper in front of Bishop’s Hide along with Avocets, Ruff, loads of Teal.
Eventually reach Sea Palling, after huge diversion due to road closure! Then eventually found the long staying Black-winged Kite long overdue UK tick! Have thought about going many times but never got around to it. Distant views, very glad to have enjoyed this beautiful raptor many times in Spain so much closer!
While looking for the rarity we found a gorgeous juvenile Little Gull & two Mediterranean Gulls.
Then the slow drive back to Thornham, was it worth it? Definitely yes!
17 September – Began the day on The Wash at RSPB Snettisham. The tide was pushing many thousands of birds across the vast mudflats – what a spectacular sight. Clouds of Red Knot & Bar-tailed Godwits took to the air in front of the advancing water. Huge flocks of Curlew, Oystercatchers, Common Redshank & Black-tailed Godwits added to the spectacle. Golden, Grey, & Ringed Plover walked quickly in front of the rising tide. Hundreds of Dunlin joined the ranks of advancing waders along with Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstones, Greenshank. Spoonbills flew past along with Mediterranean Gulls & a Sparrowhawk shot along the shoreline. Hundreds of Barn Swallows were heading south.
On the lagoon behind the beach we counted 61 Eurasian Spoonbills roosting – a sight unbelievable recently in the UK. Also 5 Spotted Redshank dropped in, 4 Common Terns were on an island & 2 Great Crested Grebes at the south end.
We met up with our great friend Andrew from Wild Ken Hill to enjoy the magnificent bird spectacular & then we headed for an excellent brunch at the nearby Rose & Crown pub – highly recommended.
We then headed over to Holkham & walked out to the Joe Jordan Hide where we watched a tiny Red-necked Phalarope feeding on a rather distant pool. Also a Green Sandpiper here & in adjacent fields 5 Cattle Egrets fed around cows. A Hobby gave us wonderful views almost directly overhead with the soundtrack of hundreds of Pink-footed Geese dropping down on to the fresh marsh. A great day!
18 September – Bit of a later start today taking advantage of a great full breakfast at The Lifeboat Inn, Thornham. We walked the seawall from Thornham to Holme-next-Sea. Incoming tide at Thornham saw plenty of birds pushed towards us. A woman walked along the outer beach flushing everything & then tried to wade the channel!! Water up to her chest she turned back, what an idiot. Five Pale-bellied Brent Geese rested on a sandbank, unusual here usually Dark-bellied birds. Twelve Spoonbills showed well with some feeding in the creek below us. Two Greenshank best of a good selection of waders.
Strong southwest wind kept small birds mostly hidden, but we did enjoy great views of Stonechats.
At Holme we tried a seawatch pretty slow, but we kept at it and ended up with a reasonable selection of birds – breeding plumage Black-throated Diver, 2 juvenile Arctic Skua harassing Sandwich Terns, a Little Tern, 3 Common Terns, Gannets, Common Scoter, 2 Razorbills.
Few birds in the trees but Great Spotted Woodpecker & Coal Tit were new for our trip list.
We then walked back to Thornham & then drove to RSPB Titchwell. Plenty to see as always. Two additions to our trip list with Pochard & Tufted Duck. Super views of Ruff, Golden Plover, Black-tailed Godwits, Common Snipe from the Island Hide. A beautiful male Marsh Harrier floated over the saltmarsh; 2 Great Egrets flapped over the reedbeds.
19 September – A Day of very strong SW winds in North Norfolk today not what us birders pray for in September. We headed east, ignoring the road closed signs at Wells-next-the-Sea & got through just fine saving us a huge diversion! At Cley NWT it was great to see Chris Galvin doing an optics demo for Opticron & we had a good catch up over coffee & birding from the deck.
We headed out on to the reserve and near Daukes Hide we enjoyed a lovely juvenile Whinchat – great scope views – and shared this migrant bird with other birders. Nice selection of birds from the hide including two Sandwich Terns on the mud. Good to catch up with Steve Gantlett too. As we walked back a Hobby drifted overhead & off to the west.
After an early lunch & the visitor centre we headed back west to RSPB Titchwell. Super close views of waders from the Island Hide & Ruth got some good photos. We enjoyed Ruff, Common Sandpiper, Common Snipe, hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits, Avocets, & a lone Pink-footed Goose. Also Great Egret & Marsh Harriers watched from the seawall.
But the highlight was meeting up with our great friends David Slater & Lynda Slater we haven’t seen each other for ages! Lots to catch up on & lots of laughter as always.
A lovey meal at The Orange Tree in Thornham finished the day perfectly. Back to Wales tomorrow.
20 September – A tale of two sandpipers a long way apart today.
With the wind forecast to drop on the North Norfolk coast a dawn visit to RSPB Titchwell for one last try before heading back to Wales. Sadly the wind hadn’t dropped much & was still from the south-west. At least the morning sky was stunning. A short sea watch did produce a juvenile Black Tern, Sandwich & Common Terns, a Red throated Diver, & juvenile Gannets aka sooty shearwaters locally lol.
A few skeins of noisy Pink-footed Geese battled in off the North Sea. The lagoons had huge numbers of gulls early morning but Mediterranean Gull being the best picked out. A Great Egret showed well along with Ruff & loads of Black tailed Godwits, Marsh Harriers rose out of the reedbeds against the rising sun.
Back for a full breakfast then headed for Wales.
We hoped there would be news from RSPB Frampton Marsh in Lincolnshire en route and as we neared Kings Lynn – Buff-breasted Sandpiper still present. Good timing as we would have been turning away in a few minutes! We walked the seawall at the reserve seeing beautiful Yellow Wagtails & our first Northern Wheatear of the trip & then joined a small group of birders scanning a large area of dry ground. We quickly picked out the Buff-breasted Sandpiper & got others onto it. A beautiful juvenile bird reminiscent of a tiny Ruff. The bird fed with two Ringed Plovers always a bit distant but super scope views. Back to visitor centre for tea & cake where we added Northern Pintail to the trip list.
We then headed west and eventually to Cheshire. A small pool in a farmer’s field near Nantwich was the very unlikely venue to see a Baird’s Sandpiper. Luckily the bird was on the near edge of the pool & we soaked up great scope views. Such an elegant wader with its oh so long wings. Great to catch up with lots of friends here. Also an adult Yellow-legged Gull dropped in with LBB Gulls, a very strange twitch to a spot we didn’t know existed until today!
Then back to Llandudno. Tired but two wonderful sandpipers enjoyed.
24 September 2026 – Custom Birdwatching Trips Tour Anglesey
Alan guided three lovely guests around Anglesey and enjoyed an impressive 78 species! They visited Beddmanarch Bay, Cemlyn, Cefni Reservoir, and Cors Ddyga taking plenty of time to enjoy each sighting and learn about the identification of some of the more tricky species especially waders. Highlights included a beautiful Kingfisher that posed for frame filling views, three Spotted Redshank, 3 Ruff, gorgeous Golden Plover, Pale-bellied Brent Geese, a Marsh Harrier on the ground.
Back home Alan had just walked through the door when news of a Hoopoe in Llandudno!! Nine minutes later we were watching this amazing bird, wow! Hoopoes are always a cause of great excitment and such exotic looking birds. Amazing to have one so close to home.
Come and join us for wonderful birds, please email us for full details of day trips and longer tours here…
We have some availibility for day trips in the next few months – come and join us!