Wildlife in Norfolk
Published on
by Keys Holidays Cottages
Whether it's huge flocks of migratory birds on the north Norfolk marshes, rare avocets and bitterns on the Broads, or more exotic animals in one of the county's many wildlife parks and zoos, Norfolk is the perfect place for anyone with an interest in animals and wildlife.
We have pulled together ten of our favourite places to see wildlife across the county. Some of them require you to put on your walking boots and get out in the wild, while others are more accessible - but all of them promise a real treat for any animal lover.
Cover image: Amy Asher/Unsplash
- Table of contents
- Watatunga Wildlife Reserve
- Cley and Salthouse Marshes
- Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens
- Pensthorpe Wildlife Park
- Ranworth Broad and Marshes
- The Seals at Blakeney Point
- Snettisham Park
- The Bug Parc, Lenwade
- Titchwell Marsh
- Amazona Zoo, Cromer
Watatunga Wildlife Reserve
Watatunga is a stunning reserve based in West Norfolk, covering over 170 acres of woodland, grassland, wetland and lakes. This diverse habitat makes it an ideal environment for all of its animals to thrive; they include over twenty types of deer and antelope and rare bird species. With the aim that the animals live as natural lives as possible, they have the space and freedom to roam at their will.
Guests experience the reserve via guided safari tours in self-drive electric buggies, offering an immersive experience to get up close and personal with the animals. Guided by an expert in a separate electric vehicle using a radio system to tell you about the birds and animals you see on your visit, each trip is different, depending on the animals’ behaviour, influenced by the weather and season.
Watatunga is open from Easter to the end of October.
Image: Newman Associates PR
Find out moreCley and Salthouse Marshes
With wide-open marshes, huge skies and never-ending beaches, Cley and Salthouse Marshes are a huge sanctuary for birds, and a magnet for ornithologists. The vast swaying reed bed is alive with birds and insects in summer, and all year the vast skies, wide-open marshes and long stretching beaches create a sense of freedom and space.
Run by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the visitor centre offers panoramic views across the coastline and makes the perfect spot to rest and refuel while exploring this magnificent reserve. You can discover more about Norfolk's incredible wildlife at the Simon Aspinall Wildlife Education Centre, enjoy refreshments at the cafe, and buy vital birdwatching accessories including binoculars, books and guides.
The visitor centre is open every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. From March to the end of October the opening hours are 10am-5pm; from November to February it's 10am-4pm. The reserve is open every day, from dawn until dusk.
Image: Richard Osbourne/NWT
Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens
Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens was opened in 1979 by Ken Sims, who had just returned from Malaya where he had been a rubber planter, poisonous snake farmer and a crocodile keeper. Plantation work and travels in South East Asia gave a first hand insight into the dramatic loss of habitats, particularly of the rain forests: that loss highlighted the realisation that progressive zoos had a positive role to play helping save at least some species from extinction by the hand of man.
Today the zoo is home to a variety of animals, including a Sumatran tiger, a red panda, snow, clouded and amur leopards, meerkats, gibbons, otters, alligators and crocodiles, reptiles and snakes, and many species of birds.
The zoo is open every day from 10am to 5pm, except in the winter months when it closes at 4pm.
Find out morePensthorpe Wildlife Park
Opened in 2003, Pensthorpe is a 700 acre wildlife park with a focus on conservation, which was for several years home to the BBC's Springwatch programme. The reserve offers family-friendly bird hides, unique habitats, enchanting wildflowers, unique experiences, and off-road adventures. You ca explore wetlands and hedgerows, woodland and riverbanks, and farmland and water meadows, all from easy-to-follow trails.
The 'Pensthorpe Explorer' is a special off-road vehicle which offers 45 minute tours to hidden corners of the park which are inaccessible on foot, showing farming practices and conservation projects as well as conservation crops and lots of wildlife along the way.
Pensthorpe is open seven days a week from 10am-5pm; the Pensthorpe Explorer runs during school holidays and at weekends during term time.
Image: Fay Lowe/Unsplash
Find out moreRanworth Broad and Marshes
Right in the heart of the Norfolk Broads is Ranworth Broad, one of the best places the enjoys this National Park's extensive wildlife. A boardwalk through tress and reed beds leads to a floating visitor centre, from where you can watch large gatherings of wildfowl from the raised platform, including marsh harriers, kingfishers, crested grebes and even a pair of ospreys which sometimes spend the summer here.
Much of the reserve is inaccessible on foot, so one of the best ways to enjoy Ranworth is by joining one of Norfolk Wildlife Trust's watertrail boat trips. Various itineraries run from April to October, exploring Ranworth Broad and the River Bure.
The reserve is open every day of the year; the visitor centre is open from Easter to the end of October, from 10am-5pm.
Image: Jimmy King/NWT
Find out moreThe Seals at Blakeney Point
Blakeney Point is home to England's largest grey seal colony with around 4,000 pups born each year. The best way to get up close and personal with the wildlife on Blakeney Point is to book onto one of the locally operated ferry trips departing from Morston Quay.
A number of local businesses operate boat trips to see the seals throughout the year, running at different times depending on the tide. These trips are very popular, so we recommend booking in advance. They last approximately an hour.
Image: Nicola Nuttall/Unsplash
Find out moreSnettisham Park
Snettisham Park, incorporating Park Farm, is a working 329 acre working Norfolk farm growing wheat for animal feed, malting barley, sugar beet and grass, and is grazed by a flock of 400 ewes, a herd of red deer, and horses and ponies.
A trip to Snettisham Park can involve many exciting adventures from seeing lambs being born to a spectacular 45 minute deer safari where you will meet the magnificent red deer herd. You can bottle feed lambs, collect fresh farm eggs and ride ponies as well as taking a walk on one of three wonderful trails.
Snettisham Park is open daily from 10am to 4pm.
Find out moreThe Bug Parc, Lenwade
The Bug Parc is the largest all invertebrate zoo in the UK, where you can see hundreds of incredible tropical insects, millipedes, spiders and tarantulas. You can even book an hourly handling session where you will handle several large insects and other invertebrates. You can explore 15 different bug zones housed in three tropical houses showing over 200 different live minibeasts.
The parc is constantly growing, with a tropical butterfly walk-through experience planned for 2025; the ambition is to be the biggest tropical invertebrate zoo in the world.
The Bug Parc is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 5pm; during school holidays it is open every day 10am-5pm.
Image: The Bug Parc
Find out moreTitchwell Marsh
Run by the RSPB, Tichwell Marsh is a nature reserve which is blessed with diverse habitats including reed beds, saltmarsh and freshwater lagoons. Here you will find species as varied as avocets, bearded tits and marsh harriers.
An easy walk leads from the car park through woodland glades to the visitor centre. From here, the West Bank path opens up to wild landscapes of saltmarsh, reed beds and freshwater lagoons fed by a natural spring and on to Titchwell's vast and undeveloped beach. The East Trail lends itself to quiet contemplation with outlooks across quiet pools full of wildlife. Secluded seating set amid vistas of wildflowers and yellow gorse affords views of birds of prey scanning reed beds and saltmarsh for prey.
The reserve at Titchwell Marsh is open 24 hours every day; the visitor centre is open from 9.30am-4.30pm.
Image: Joshua J Cotten/Unsplash
Find out moreAmazona Zoo, Cromer
Amazona is a small zoo which is home to over 200 tropical animals originating from South America. Among them are a jaguar, monkeys, snakes, a ocelot, pumas, flamingo and tapir, as well as a tropical house with spectacled caiman, green anaconda and leaf cutter ants.
The zoo's mission is to promote and achieve worldwide conservation for animals and their habitats and work with all conservationists and other zoos towards the goal of full protection of all wild species and their wild homes.
Amazona is open from 10am-5pm every day.
Find out more