The February meeting of the Nature and Wildlife Group will take place at Cley Marshes Reserve
The land that comprises the reserve was purchased in 1926 to be held in perpetuity as a bird breeding sanctuary and has provided a blue print for nature conservation across the UK. In 2012 an appeal helped purchase a further 57 hectares linking the two reserves at Cley and Salthouse. Together creating a single coastal reserve in excess of 300 hectares. Six hides (four accessible by boardwalks) gives fantastic views across pools and scapes that are specially managed to attract breeding and passage birds
Cley and Salthouse Marshes is justifiably popular with birders as over the years the marshes has hosted a huge number of rare birds, the reserves position in the middle of the Norfolk coastline makes it ideally placed to receive scarce visitors. Although Spring, Autumn and Winter are the best times of the year for rarer birds to show up, almost anything is possible at any time. Check at the visitor centre for the latest sightings.
Meet in the car park at 10am. There is no charge to enter the reserve but there is a car park charge.
The visitor centre is large and includes a shop, cafe and toilet facilities
Photography at Cley Marshes
Spoonbill
One of the most spectacular birds that visitors to NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes might spot, is also one of the UK’s most recent avian colonists. Similar in build to a grey heron, though slightly smaller, the spoonbill’s plumage is completely white, except in the breeding season when adults show a small patch of yellowish feathers on their chest. But by far their most noticeable feature is the one for which they are named – that enormous, spatula-like bill. The species had not bred in Norfolk for over 300 years until, in 2010, a colony was discovered at Holkham marshes, where six pairs raised ten chicks. Birds from the colony frequently visited Cley’s pools to feed, and will hopefully continue to do so in years to come.
Snow bunting
A little bigger than a sparrow and with predominantly white plumage, mixed with patches of warm brown and chestnut, the snow bunting is a frosty jewel of a bird. Despite its colouration, the species can be surprisingly hard to pick out as it feeds among the shingle – its plumage makes perfect camouflage, moulding into the winter landscape. Snow buntings visit the UK’s coastline in small numbers each winter, with around a thousand individuals settling on the beaches of Norfolk between November and March. Salthouse is arguably the best site in the county to watch this species, with a small flock often present.
Marine Life
An amazing array of colourful marine life lives just offshore from Cley and Salthouse Marshes, around various shipwrecks, and as part of the 32km (20 mile) Cromer Shoal Chalk Reef which stretches east from Cley to Trimingham. Among the many colourful species found are the comical Tompot blenny and various crabs, anemones, sea squirts and sea slugs. It was designated a Marine Conservation Zone in 2016.
Marsh harrier
You shouldn’t have to sit long before a marsh harrier drifts into view. The initial clue is usually a sudden scattering of flocks of gulls, ducks and wading birds from the pools and scrapes. Present all year, NWT Cley and Salthouse Marshes is one of the best places in the UK to see this spectacular raptor.