UNITED KINGDOM
Norfolk in Summer June 28 – July 1, 2021 from £995 per person | with Mark Welch
Blakeney
• Explore Norfolk’s important and increasingly rare heathland at Kelling and Salthouse, alongside its distinctive wildlife • Enjoy a boat trip from Morston Quay to Blakeney Point before investigating the impact of the last Ice Age on the landscape around Blakeney • Take a guided walk through Dersingham Bog National Nature Reserve, a part of the Sandringham Estate, and learn about the practicalities and challenges of frontline conservation in the UK In a landscape where vast flawless beaches stretch for miles, where wind-tousled reeds bob their heads beneath huge summer sunsets and flint-walled churches cleave to the coastline, we will step out to experience some of the UK’s most captivating wildlife. July is a particularly dynamic time to enjoy Norfolk, which comes alive in early summer with bird, insect and plant life. We expect to see woodlark, waders and warblers, and will enter the mysterious twilight world of the nightjar. Tour Director Mark Welch will adopt a holistic perspective, with commentary ranging from the distinctive formation of the landscape itself to the insects that call it home. Kelling Heath, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Salthouse Heath are both important glacial outwash plains formed by retreating glaciers of the last Ice Age. They provide habitats for a variety of heathland birds among the heather, gorse and bracken, as well as other inhabitants including adder, roe deer and brown hare. An evening visit to Salthouse Heath
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will offer an opportunity to see nightjar, woodlark and, possibly, tree pipit. Blakeney will welcome us for a day both on land and sea, taking in the colonies of common seal and their pups that loaf in the summer sunshine, as well as terns and early returning migrants. At St Margaret’s Church in Cley we will view the village’s lasting impression of a rare North American visitor, a white-crowned sparrow, immortalised in a stainedglass window after this tiny bird was discovered in the vicar’s garden. To finish the day, we shall visit the Blakeney esker, a remnant of the last Ice Age, which offers a fascinating insight into the area’s geological history. A special highlight will be a morning visit to Dersingham Bog National Nature Reserve, part of the Sandringham Estate. Incorporating rare lowland “acid” mire habitat, heath and mixed woodland, the reserve is the perfect place to discover unusual species of plants and insects, including the black darter dragonfly. We will enjoy a privileged walk with a Natural England Reserves Manager, who will explain more about the challenges and joys of taking care of this beautiful environment for conservation. Indeed, conservation is a theme throughout our tour, which will celebrate Norfolk’s distinctive natural history while appreciating the need to protect its habitats. We stay throughout at the four-star Pheasant Hotel, a relaxing country house hotel close to Blakeney village, and our tour finishes with a delicious lunch at the award-winning Rose & Crown Pub in Snettisham.
Tour Director Mark Welch, BSc, PhD, has had an active interest in natural history since he was a boy in Dorset, where he roamed the heaths, woods, beaches and cliff-tops in search for birds and insects. A former Regional Representative for Cambridgeshire for the British Trust for Ornithology, Mark has for the past 27 years been a research scientist in the Department of Earth Sciences at London’s Natural History Museum. He has led many field trips in the UK as a geologist and naturalist, including in Cornwall, East Anglia and northern Scotland, and is delighted to be directing this ACE tour to Norfolk. FITNESS / PRACTICALITIES: This tour will involve some walks over rugged terrain, including through bracken and heather and on shingle beaches. Most walks will last for as least one hour, with some lasting up to two hours. While the programme of visits will be relaxed, participants should have a good general level of fitness. Day 1 Tour assembles 1345 at King’s Lynn Station for transfer to The Pheasant Hotel for three nights, with en route stop at Titchwell RSPB Reserve. Welcome and introduction. Day 2 Morning visit to Kelling Heath followed by afternoon visit to Cley Marshes reserve. Evening talk followed by optional evening visit to Salthouse Heath (nightjars, woodlark). Day 3 Whole day visit to Blakeney for boat trip from Morston Quay (terns, other migrants and breeding colony of common seal) followed by Church of St Margaret, Cley (window featuring white-crowned sparrow) and the Blakeney esker (a glacial feature from the last Ice Age). Evening talk. Day 4 Morning visit to Sandringham Estate for Dersingham Bog National Nature Reserve (guided conservation walk). Lunch at the award-winning Rose & Crown pub, Snettisham. Tour disperses 1515 at King’s Lynn Station.
Please note that the itinerary represents a guide to what we hope to offer, and some elements may be subject to change or confirmation nearer the time. Certain visits are dependent on local weather conditions and tides.
Cost of £995 includes: accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room, breakfast, three lunches (two packed), dinner with water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities. Not included: travel insurance, double room for single use supplement £135. TOUR CODE: NORF21
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