England Birds & Gardens: Southeast

• Acclaimed gardens with varied designs and styles in the green rolling English countryside, and excellent birding in the well-established network of nature reserves and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) sites that occur across England.
• Late April and early May is a delightful time to be in southeast England; mild and pleasant, fine evenings. The breeding season for birds has just started, and delightful spring flowers in gardens.

Tour Overview

This very special tour combines birding with the great British tradition of gardens! We take in gardens that deservedly have international reputations – the incomparable Kew Gardens, Beth Chatto’s Garden, Hyde Hall RHS, East Ruston, Wyken Hall, Bressingham Gardens, Barnsdale Gardens and many others not on regular tourist routes and with attractions all their own.

Our birding is at nature reserves and national parks, although naturally there is a suite of birds in the gardens themselves. We target several choice species – Pied Avocet, Dartford Warbler, Bearded Reedling, Cetti’s Warbler, Western Marsh Harrier, Stone Curlew, Nightingale and many more.

Starting in London, we first head to the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew before turning northeast to East Anglia, arguably the best birding area in England, where we visit Minsmere, Titchwell, Hickling Broad and Cley among several RSPB nature reserves.

We also offer the England Birds & Gardens: SW tour in odd-numbered years.