Norfolk May 2025
We are regular visitors to Norfolk, a great county in which to pursue our hobbies of Birding and Photography. We chose to stay in Hoste Barn, having looked for holiday properties in North Norfolk . What a find Hoste Barn was and what a delight to be near such a wonderful garden. Paul and Sian were great hosts and very welcoming. We took up their offer to wander through their amazing garden.
Every day of our holiday we visited a birdwatching site and many, many photographs were taken! So many fabulous places to visit but our favourites were:
Strumpshaw Fen
A lovely reserve, caught sight of an Otter fishing and a Kingfisher likewise! Sightings of Cranes, Bittern and Marsh Harriers were also wonderful to see.
Hickling Broad Norfolk WT
The highlight here was the beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly, a first sighting for us and a thrill to see. The Swallowtail, the UK’s largest butterfly, is found only in Norfolk and it’s where their main source of food, Milk Parsley, grows. The Swallowtail eggs are laid on the plant ready for the caterpillars to feed on. The Broad has so much to see during May. We took a boat ride onto the Broad (arranged by NWT) , a lovely quiet and peaceful ride across the water and into the little channels. Whilst in Hickling we saw Marsh Harriers, Bittern, Common Cranes, Red Footed Falcons and Common Terns to name but a few.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley-Next-the-Sea
This is a particular favourite place. Many waders are here but the highlight of our sightings were the Temmicks Stints, Knot and Spoonbill. Thirty eight species were spotted here.
Wroxham
Norfolk Broads electric boat trip – Broad Tours Electric Day Boat Hire
Once you get used to the controls (it’s easy) it was a lovely way to spend a day. We took a picnic with us and moored at Ranworth for lunch. (Ranworth is also worth a visit) We journeyed on to St Benet’s Abbey before turning back down the River Bure to Wroxham. Seeing a family of Swans with cygnets on the mum’s back was such a lovely sight and I was delighted to get a few photos.
Horsey
We cannot come to Norfolk without seeing the seals! Always a delight to see and it’s almost always guaranteed that several seals will be on the beach. Just along from Horsey Windpump is Poppylands Cafe – a 1940’s themed eaterie with lots of memorabilia and knitted ‘Dad’s Army’ tea cosies!
In total we were privileged to see 93 different species of birds during our stay.
We had a wonderful holiday and Hoste Barn was a perfect base.
Kay Ingamells
Instagram @kaybirder
