Birdwatching walks

A brown and white bird with orange legs walking in a marshy pool — Redshank in a pool at Cley Marshes, Blakeney National Nature Reserve, Norfolk | © National Trust Images/Rob Coleman

The places we care for are home to a wide variety of native and migrant birds, including wildfowl, waders, songbirds and birds of prey. Choose from our selection of walks and combine coastal or countryside scenery with birdwatching opportunities all year round.

Please don't feed waterfowl

Feeding ducks, swans and other waterfowl can be harmful to the birds and may pollute waterways.

Blakeney National Nature Reserve, Norfolk: Blakeney Freshes is a popular spot for birdwatching. In autumn and winter, large swirling flocks of golden plover move between the harbour and the marshes, while the fields and salt marsh provide grazing for wigeon and brent geese from Siberia. Look out for marsh harriers hunting over the reed beds.Spot birds at Blakeney Freshes
Brownsea Island, Dorset: Brownsea Island's habitats include heathland, woodland and a lagoon – internationally important for overwintering and summer-nesting birds. Look out for wading birds, including black-tailed godwit, redshank and large numbers of avocet. Another rare bird to see is the spoonbill, which can often be seen in groups feeding or sleeping on the far side of the lagoon. Please note that Brownsea Island is open 15 March-2 November 2025.Spot birds on Brownsea Island
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire: As well as a grand Baroque mansion, Calke has secret walled gardens and a large parkland, much of which is a National Nature Reserve. You can see birds of prey such as hobbies, buzzards and red kites here, particularly in the summer months, along with woodland birds such as woodpeckers, tree creepers, nuthatches, starlings and tits. Autumn visitors include bramblings and siskin finches.Spot birds at Calke Abbey

Oystercatchers in flight along the coastline at the Norfolk Coast — Oystercatchers in flight at the Norfolk Coast | © National Trust Images/Rob Coleman

Cwm Ivy, Gower: Grab your binoculars and head out to the developing salt marsh around Cwm Ivy, which has become a wildlife haven since the sea wall was breached in 2013. There are two bird hides along this route, which makes this a great place for a day of birdwatching – look out for egrets, kingfishers and lapwings.Spot birds at Cwm Ivy
Embleton and Newton Links, Northumberland: Keep a look out for eider ducks, know locally as Cuddy's ducks, in the sheltered rockpools along this walk. On the shoreline, you might see waders such as oystercatchers, dunlins, ringed plovers, turnstones and redshanks. You may also spot linnets and yellowhammers in the scrub and grassland behind the dunes and castle.Spot birds at Craster and Low Newton
Lizard Point, Cornwall: Choughs are the national bird of Cornwall, but by the mid-20th century they had vanished from Cornish shores. Your donations allowed us to buy land at Lizard Point and recreate the conditions for choughs to thrive. In 2001, wild choughs were once again sighted on the Lizard and have been breeding here ever since.Spot birds at Lizard Point
Quarry Bank, Cheshire: Walk through fields and acres of woodland where you'll find huge redwood conifers, rare varieties of rhododendron and folly bridges, once used by the former owner Robert Hyde Greg to connect his home to the mill. If you are lucky, you may see a flash of blue as kingfishers dart over the water in their quest for small fish.Spot birds at Quarry Bank
Sandilands, Lincolnshire: Look out for coastal birds at the developing nature reserve at Sandilands including avocet, redshank and marsh harrier. Right on the Lincolnshire coast, it's also on the East Atlantic Flyway; a route for migrating birds and hosts wildfowl and other winter visitors. 'Passage migrants' fly along the coast, stopping to rest and refuel before continuing their journey south to warmer regions in Europe, Asia, and Africa.Spot birds at Sandilands

Swallows are often seen in the summer — Two young swallows perching on a branch in the wildlife garden at Souter Lighthouse and the Leas, Tyne & Wear | © National Trust Images/Dougie Holden

Sizergh, Cumbria: Once an area of degraded farmland, Park End Moss on Sizergh’s estate has been transformed into a haven for a variety of bird species and wildlife. The circular walk takes you to the wetland area, where you might spot reed warblers in the summer, snipe during autumn and wigeon in the winter. One of Sizergh’s best sights during the spring is the Hawfinch – a beautiful, elusive and increasingly rare bird.Spot birds at Park End Moss
Souter Lighthouse and the Leas, Tyne and Wear: The Leas and Whitburn Coastal Park are hotspots for migratory birds to the UK. Pay a visit to the bird hide in autumn to see snow buntings, waxwings and dunnocks arriving from the north, as many summer birds depart for places with hotter weather. The limestone rocks form stacks, arches and headlands that are suitable nesting sites for seabirds such as cormorants, shags, kittiwakes, fulmar and herring gulls.Spot birds at Souter Lighthouse
St Helens Duver, Isle of Wight: You can see brent geese and wigeons at St Helens Duver between October and March, feeding on the eelgrass beds off St Helens Ledges and in the harbour. The area is also important for migrant wading birds such as dunlins, redshanks, sanderlings and turnstones. On the dunes, you may spot common whitethroats, wheatears, chiffchaffs and linnets.Spot birds at St Helens Duver
Tennyson Down, Isle of Wight: The cliffs, fields and high downs around Tennyson Down, and at the Island’s most southerly point near Knowles Farm, are excellent sites for birdwatching. Peregrine falcons and ravens patrol the coast, migrant terns and ducks pass by out at sea and the scrub attracts migrant warblers and chats.Spot birds at Tennyson Down
Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire: This nature reserve is teeming with wildlife, including a wide variety of bird species. In the summer and early autumn there are swallows and martins. As they depart to fly south for the winter, migrants such as wigeons, redwings and fieldfares begin to appear, along with hen harriers returning from their summer breeding grounds in northern Britain.Spot birds at Wicken Fen