Ouse Washes/Snettisham in the Reserve Group lists?

hi fm, can yougive me any tips re snettisham, as helen my wife and i are going to norfolk

for a week starting nov 13th, best spots ect, i have been in the summer, but it is so huge,

i saw an egret then, but we would love to see the mass of birds, which we keep seeing on

the t.v. or indeed any other spots you can recomend, cheers best regards mac

fittmonk said:

Am I being thick or are the Ouse Washes and Snettisham reserves not included within the seemingly comprehensive set of Groups for RSPB Reserves?  Was planning to post a few pics from recent trips.

Neither are listed as a Group in their own name, but I wondered if they are included under a more generic heading  - like Nagshead is covered by the Gloucestershire Reserves Group.  I couldn't spot an obvious candidate though.

Hopefully the mods will enlighten me!

FM

 

Hi,

you need to check when the high tides are- it needs a VERY high tide to get everything pushed right up onto the pits. There are plenty of birds at Snett but they  ( obviously) stay out on the Wash during low tide .

Maybe a call to the Lodge or Titchwell RSPB would give you info on any good tides that week

As to other sites, see my posts about good places to walk and  winter Birding day routes in NW Norfolk :) Titchwell is always good anyhow in winter.

:)

S

Mac

You're spoilt for choice in Norfolk - it depends a bit what you hope to see I suppose.  I'm just a visitor myself nowadays but I'll hopefully be able to shed a little light on your deliberations!

Snettisham can be good for waders when the tides are right - at low tide the mud stretches for miles and the birds will spread far and wide! The wader spectaculars depend on the right combination of time and tide to force the birds on to the inland lagoons - suggest you email the RSPB snettisham@rspb.org.uk for advice on whether your visit will coincide with favourable conditions. 

.  The reserve itself starts a bit unpromisingly - the car park adjoins small fishing lakes and there is quite a long path to get to the shoreline and the hides.  Oh, and there are no facilities!  Snettisham does get some nice sunsets - as despite being in the East it is a West facing coast - a golden sun on shimmering mudflats can be much prettier than it sounds ...

If you're based in West Norfolk then the Ouse Washes (RSPB) or the WWT at Welney are good to visit for wildfowl and especially whooper swans.  Welney has a heated hide with big glass windows to watch the swan feeds through - could be welcome if the weather turns nasty! 

But the jewel for West Norfolk I think is the invasion of pinkfooted geese.  I lived in Sandringham for years, and some winter nights the flocks overflying were so large they interfered with TV reception!  Birding spots abound along the A149 Coast road, Holme, Titchwell (RSPB), Holkham, Blakeney, Cley, Stiffkey .. Titchwell & Cley are the best known and most frequented, but I know many avow that Holme is better!  Best to ask locally where & when to see the geese - depends a bit on tides - but generally it'll be just inland of the Coast Road between Hunstanton and Brancaster, or gathering in the mudflats of Snettisham.

If you're staying a bit further East in Norfolk it gets out of my old haunts - but I have enjoyed some good visits to the Horsey area - and Hicking Broad.   I've only been to RSPB Strumpshaw in the summer for the swallowtail butterflies, and have yet to make Buckenham Marshes (also RSPB) - suggest you look at the main RSPB website reserve pages or hope someone else chimes in with more ideas..

Final word of advice- all coastal reserves can of course be quite bleak when the winds whip in off the sea - but wrap up extra well along the North Norfolk coast if there is a north wind, because there's nowt but sea between you and the North Pole!

I'm sure you'll enjoy your trip.

i am new to this site and forum. i came across an ad for rottweiler puppies and sent an e-mail. i have not heard anything like e-mail several times now. i told him that the image is not a woman holding a puppy. if something is for sale on this site people to withdraw their ads or just keep running? i think i wonder if a game. site, or you know. thanks .....

Hello Pasbanrule

This is the RSPB forum - a place to discuss birds and wildlife. I think you have posted on the wrong forum for your query and we certainly do not advertise animals for sale.

Best wishes

Pipit

Hi Fittmonk

Great information about the Norfolk area

Norfolk is an area that has so much going on your will always find something of interest in the bird department going on in the area.  You could spent a whole year there and never run out of places to visit and re-visit once more.

I did not know that there was an issue with Bird sightings in certain 'Norfolk' areas over others.  No doubt this is will be thought over, and a solution is got for the future.

I have been to Snettisham recently myself, and we arrived in the early afternoon to see what was there.  We wanted to see what the place was like to visit.  So we knew what to expect next time around.  It is a place you need to spend a good day wandering about.  It was good to see Goldeneye there, and hundreds of Wigeon outside the first hide that you come too from the car park.

There are no 'toilet' facilities at all.  It is very exposed to the winds and rain so an extra layer of clothing is a necessary thing to consider.

We will look into the tide timetables next time we go to get the best of the area in the 'near' future.

Regards

Kathy and Dave