A single day tour including a morning watching the Wader Spectacular up on the Wash

Wader Spectacular

We will make an early start and head up to the Wash to catch the high tide. This is one of the most amazing wildlife spectacles it is possible to see in the UK, when huge numbers of wading birds congregate around the mudflats of the Wash, in north-west Norfolk, at the end of the breeding season, to moult or to spend the winter. Well in excess of 100,000 birds can be present here at times, the largest number being Knot, plus the likes of Bar-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover and Dunlin.

There is usually a very good variety of other waders present too. It is a good time of year to find juvenile Curlew Sandpipers and Little Stints in with the Dunlin, on their way from their arctic breeding grounds to West Africa for the winter. Sometimes, something rarer is found too.

Only on the highest tides each month, the mud is entirely covered with water. At this point, all the birds are pushed off the Wash and fly inland, gathering on the old gravel pits at Snettisham or on the fields beyond. It is a truly amazing sight to see them whirling in huge flocks over the Wash and then flying overhead to roost, thousands at a time. If one of the local Peregrines is around, the flocks twist and turn out over the water. An unforgettable experience!

We will then head over to the RSPB reserve at Titchwell where, after a break for lunch, we will spend a couple of hours looking at the different species of wader there more closely.

You can read about our 2025 tour here and our 2026 tour here.