Norfolk
Introduction
The summer of 2024 I went on a birding tour in Norfolk with Marcus Nash. It was fantastic. In four days I saw 113 species, 17 lifers. Marcus is a great guide and birder. He’s conscientious about making sure that all of his clients get on the birds he shows us and he showed us a wide variety of Norfolk birds. When I found out I’d be in London for the winter I reached out to see if I could go on his winter tour. That’s how it came about that I went on this tour. I’m going to cheat a little on this trip report. I am leaving my notes short. I will include links to Marcus’s blog entries. They give a very detailed review of each day and his photography is absolutely gorgeous.
Walking to Mary’s
January 7, 2026
In the earlies on Wednesday I took the train from Liverpool Street to Norwich. I took a bus from the train station to a major bus interchange. From there I took the X29 to Foulsham Road, about four miles from Mary's. I birded from there to Mary's. At one point I took a permissive path and it wound me around to a village I'd already been through. I had to laugh. No new birds but I did flush a little owl. According to Marcus they are getting scarcer here in Norfolk. When I got to Mary's she was as gracious as ever. Her husband Tim showed me my room. Then I had tea and cake with my fellow birders. A very pleasant group and all experienced birders. Dave, who is an outstanding birder I birded with last time I birded with Marcus is along as well.
31 species seen
January 8, 2026
After a great English breakfast Marcus met us at 8:00 AM. We birded all over Norfolk and saw lots of birds. The highlights were thousands of pink footed geese all day long and four velvet scoters in a giant raft of common scoters as the light was fading in late afternoon.
Marcus’s report January 8, 2026
71 species seen, 2 lifers
January 9, 2026
Friday the weather was wet and windy. Marcus did a great job of piecing together a full day of birding. We started with two rarities, white-throated dipper and eastern black redstart. The dipper was under a bridge and flew only 50 yards away for great views. The black redstart was on someone's lawn. Then we went to a field loaded with plovers. At a turnaround Marcus pointed down a stony beach and said a snow bunting had been reported there. I told him he was killing me. Gradually most everyone decided to go looking for the snow bunting. The wind was really blowing. We got to the spot and a stonechat and skylarks popped up. As we started walking a snow bunting flew up, a ball of white. I was so, so excited. It could easily be my bird of the year. We birded various spots the rest of the day but we were glad to be back to Mary's after a blowing wet day. Happy Birthday Scott
Marcus’s report January 9, 2026
48 species seen, 1 lifer
Swans, Geese, Owls
January 10, 2026
Yesterday we started early. Marcus picked us up at 7:00 because we had a long drive to the Fens. Our first stop was to see whooper swans and we saw hundreds. Then we saw long eared owls not once but twice and a short eared owl as well. Corn bunting and tree sparrow stops finished a very full and fulfilling day.
Marcus’s report January 10, 2026
61 species seen, 2 lifers
Owls and Tundra Beans
January 11, 2026
We went to the Broads today and there were two highlights for me. We went to a beach and we flushed short-eared owls. It was a treat to see them flying around. Towards the end of the day Marcus scanned through a "small" flock of 5,000 pink-footed geese and found us two tundra-bean geese.
Marcus’s report January 11, 2026
51 species seen, 2 lifers
January 12, 2026
I had breakfast at Mary's early and I birded the village common area. There was a very large flock of mixed passerines. There were many chaffinches. A nice little session of birding. Then I went to wait for the Norwich bus. The birdiness continued and low and behold three brambling flew into a tree by the bus stop. What a great way to end a super fun Norfolk birding trip.
27 species seen, 1 lifer
Trip summary: 123 species seen, 8 lifers