Overlooking the Holkham National Nature Reserve, The Lookout is a RIBA award-winning building that functions as a hide from which to watch the wildlife, as well as educating visitors about the reserve. Facilities include toilets and a small café.
The building sits above flood level on an earth mound, elevated to provide better views. The circular form has a steel superstructure and the vertical slatted Larch fins mask human activity so as not to disturb the reserve wildlife.
Holkham National Nature Reserve stretches from Burnham Norton to Blakeney, covering almost 4,000 hectares, and can be explored by footpaths that cross most of the reserve. It is one of England’s largest nature reserves.
A beautiful stretch of beach, along with fascinating habitats like grazing marsh, sand dunes, woodland and saltmarsh, make up the reserve. These diverse habitats are home to many species of birds including breeding birds and wintering wildfowl.
Holkham Beach
The start of April to the end of August is the breeding season for shorebirds on Holkham Beach. There’s a dogs-on-leads policy during this time in certain areas, and roped cordons are put in place to protect ground nesting birds. Please keep clear of the cordons.
Sand Dunes
Oystercatchers and Ringed Plovers ground-nest in the dunes, laying pebble-patterned eggs. Little Terns are often seen hovering and diving for fish just offshore.
Grazing Marsh
Many breeding birds like Lapwing, Redshank and Oystercatcher are frequently seen on the grazing marsh, along with thousands of wintering wildfowl including Pink-footed Geese, Brent Geese and Wigeon.
Saltmarsh
The saltmarsh provides a habitat for a wide range of species including the Redshank, which feeds in the creeks and muddy saltpans. In the winter the marshes are grazed by Brent Geese, Shelduck and waders.
Foreshore
Hidden in the mud are hordes of lugworms and cockles, perfect food for wading birds with long beaks. The tideline attracts Ringed Plovers and Sanderlings, running to and fro between the breaking waves.
The Lookout
On the edge of the Holkham National Nature Reserve is The Lookout. This unique building offers spectacular views, along with interpretation about the wildlife and habitats on the reserve. Binoculars & bird guides are provided to make the most of the outside panoramas. It also offers food & drink to eat-in or take-away.
Cley and Salthouse Marshes is one of Britain’s best known nature reserves, famous for its wide open marshes, huge skies and never-ending beaches.
Formerly two separate Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves, they are now linked together creating a single coastal reserve of more than 300 hectares.
The shingle beach, saline lagoons, grazing marsh and reed beds support large numbers of wintering and migrating wildfowl and waders, as well as bittern, marsh harrier and bearded tit.
Birdwatching at Cley and Salthouse Marshes brings thousands of visitors each year. The six hides give fantastic views across pools and scrapes that attract breeding and migratory birds. The spectacular spoonbill is one of the most popular sights.
The award-winning Visitor Centre with café and gift shop offers panoramic views across the marshes and coastline. Discover more about Norfolk’s wildlife at the Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre.
Cley Marshes is the NWT’s oldest nature reserve. It was purchased by Dr Sydney Long, the founder of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, in 1926, making it the first Wildlife Trust nature reserve in the country.
RSPB Titchwell Marsh is a popular nature reserve with diverse habitats such as reedbeds, saltmarsh, freshwater lagoons and a beautiful sandy beach.
There are nature trails with seating, bird hides and viewpoints that are great for spotting wildlife and offer outstanding views over the reserve.
The West Bank path is the main trail that takes walkers and birdwatchers from the Visitor Centre to the beach. It passes windswept reedbeds, twisting saltmarsh creeks and bird filled lagoons, where you’ll see wading birds and wildfowl. You may also catch sight of a Barn Owl hunting for prey.
The North Parrinder hide overlooks the Volunteer Marsh, home to Oystercatchers and Redshanks, while the South Parrinder hide overlooks the Freshwater Marsh, where you’ll find nesting Avocets.
The East Trail affords views over calm pools & ponds and Patsy’s Reedbed, where families of ducks and visiting geese gather. Every winter, huge numbers of ducks arrive in search of food and warmer weather, including Teal, Mallard, Wigeon, Goldeneye and Pintail.
Spring is the best time to watch the Marsh Harriers as they display, or ‘sky dance’ over the reedbeds.
View the Trail Map (pdf file) for more information.
RSPB Snettisham is a nature reserve with panoramic views across brackish lagoons, salt marsh and a vast expanse of mudflats.
There are three signposted nature trails to explore the beautiful reserve and four hides to observe the wildlife that lives there.
From late summer to early winter, tens of thousands of wading birds gather on the mudflats. As incoming tides push the birds closer to the beach, vast flocks of Knot, Dunlin and Oystercatchers take to the air.
The swirling flocks creates an exhilarating spectacle known as the ‘Wader Spectacular’ or the ‘Snettisham Spectacular’ This event only happens on certain days. See the 2025 Spectaculars Guide (pdf file) for dates and times.
During the winter months, up to 40,000 Pink-footed Geese gather on The Wash. At sunrise, they take flight in extraordinarily large flocks against the backdrop of a pink morning sky, creating a stunning spectacle. Details for this event are also in the guide.
Blakeney National Nature Reserve, owned and managed by the National Trust, boasts wide open spaces and uninterrupted views of the beautiful North Norfolk coastline. The sand & shingle spit of Blakeney Point is home to common & grey seals and large numbers of residential & migratory birds.
Thousands of breeding Sandwich terns migrate there every March until late August, and the area is famous for the dazzling displays of terns in summer.
Several tern colonies nest at Blakeney Point, including Sandwich, Common, Little and Arctic terns. Shorebirds such as oystercatchers, ringed plovers, dunlin and turnstones can also be observed nesting.
The best way to see the wildlife on Blakeney Point is to take a Seal Boat Trip from Morston Quay.
Blakeney Freshes is an important area for breeding birds and overwintering wildfowl, and for ground-nesting birds. As the weather gets colder, this area becomes the feeding & roosting spot for thousands of migrating pink-footed and brent geese.
To the east of Blakeney is Friary Hills, a mixture of grassland, trees & gorse that overlooks the Blakeney Freshes. Friary Hills is another great birdwatching spot as it’s the first place that migrating birds flying in from the continent are able to stop and rest.
Pensthorpe is an internationally recognised, species-rich nature reserve. The 700 acre site also has five gardens teeming with flora and fauna. Trails take you through wetlands and hedgerows, woodland and riverbanks, farmland and water meadows.
Settle into one of the seven family-friendly bird hides across the reserve and you’ll see seasonal migrant and an increasing number of wild resident birds.
Once a favourite filming location of BBC Springwatch, the wader scrape is the perfect place to spot breeding waders, wintering waterfowl, and birds of prey.
Head to the wader aviary to see some of the world’s rarest species up close. Observe waders and other water-loving species feeding, resting and nesting as they would in the wild.
Birdwatching at Pensthorpe is a rewarding experience. There’s always a good mix of birds to see, varying from season to season. All the birds recorded on the reserve are listed in the Spotter Sheet (pdf file).
Off-road adventures, pond dipping, sculpture garden, fantastic children’s play areas, gift shop & café. Pensthorpe offers tonnes of fun for the whole family!
Holme Dunes nature reserve sits where The Wash meets the North Sea, making it the perfect location to see migrating birds. The wide open space, big skies and sea air make Holme Dunes a popular spot.
Holme Dunes is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) and boasts a beautiful sandy beach, saltmarsh, pine trees, grazing marshes and pools.
Birdwatchers are attracted to the high number of migrating and vagrant birds that pass through, and to the scarce migrant birds such as wryneck, yellow-browed warbler, and barred warbler.
Holme Dunes is a vital stop-off and overwintering site for thousands of wading birds, as well as large numbers of ducks and geese.
The beach is important for ground-nesting birds like little terns, ringed plovers & oystercatchers, and visitors are asked to follow any restrictions.
Birdwatching at Holme Dunes is a rewarding pursuit all year round. The site is also a nationally important site for the natterjack toad.
The Visitor Centre has a café and gift shop.
