NEW! SUSSEX, HAMPSHIRE & KENT in SPRING

SAT 18 MAY – SAT 25 MAY 2024

PRICES: from £1845pp

Single supplement: £295 Deposit: £300pp

Max group size 7. Leader from our experienced team.

An exciting holiday combining bird-rich Sussex with day visits to The New Forest in Hampshire to the west and to the Dungeness reserves on the Kent coast to the east. Split over two centres, much of our time will be spent local to our first accommodation in West Sussex where we have ample opportunity to explore nearby hotspots including Pagham, Selsey Bill, the Arun Valley and less visited West Sussex Heathlands. Two nights further east at the end of the week will bring our tour to a great climax, with exciting locations such as Rye Harbour and Dungeness on our doorstep.

Tour highlights will be frequent and varied. Sussex is one of the few remaining counties where purring Turtle Dove still occur in reasonable numbers and we should also encounter breeding White Stork as part of one of the UK's largest re-wilding projects. Birding on heathland at dusk, we hope to encounter churring Nightjar and roding Woodcock, with calling Tawny Owl contributing to a stunning evening’s birding. We visit known sites to scan for displaying Honey Buzzard, with singing Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Woodlark and one of the best kept secret views in Sussex. Nightingale belting out their song and reeling Grasshopper Warbler are familiar sounds and an early morning visit to a wetland reserve may allow us a glimpse of both species too. Also likely are many waders in breeding plumage, the sounds and sights of breeding tern colonies alongside recent colonists such as Cattle Egret moulting into breeding plumage.

A day trip to the unique New Forest looking for its special wildlife will be another trip highlight. Here, a range of raptors including Goshawk, Hobby and shy Honey Buzzard may be possible as well as scarce Firecrest, Dartford Warbler and Hawfinch. Latter stages of the tour will be spent exploring sites in East Sussex and Kent, where Rye and Dungeness both combine good numbers of breeding birds and exciting migration. Booming Bittern may be possible, as are breeding Great Egret, Avocet, Marsh Harrier and there are good chances of rarities too. All combine for a thrilling week’s birding in fantastic coastal and woodland scenery. Number of centres: 2.