North East Norfolk Bird Club

About us

North East Norfolk Bird Club [NENBC] was launched in January 2015 and covers the population centres of Melton Constable, Holt, Sheringham, Cromer, North Walsham and Aylsham. We are a friendly club catering for all levels of birding experience with members and supporters from the local area as well as seasonal visitors and those from much further afield who wished they lived here!

We have a comprehensive programme of club events and activities throughout the year at which non-members are always very welcome, including:

  • Monthly evening talks on the last Thursday of the month from September to November and January to April at our home base Gresham Village Hall [NR11 8RT] - plenty of refreshments always provided, a 2nd hand nature books stall too. Also available live via Zoom 
 
  • Monthly mid-week bird walks around the National Trust’s Felbrigg Park estate at the centre of our recording area on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from September to July

  • Varied monthly weekend bird walks to a range of local and regional birding hotspots from September to July

  • Pop-Up events at short notice for seawatching, a seasonal treat or "I am going for a walk - come and join me!"

  • Occasional evening walks in the spring or summer for specific species such as Nightjar

  • An annual Birding for Beginners workshop series combining practical and theoretical elements of birdwatching from which we now have over 70 graduates

  • A range of special events throughout the year such as: a New Year’s Day Birding Challenge to get the year off to a good birding start; a Big Sit birding event in May, recording the total number of species seen from one spot between dawn and dusk; an annual Coordinated Seawatch event along the coast in the autumn recording visible migration; a combined Christmas Social and AGM Evening in December
    
Our members receive a monthly e-newsletter, the Pied Flyer, which includes contributions from across the membership in every issue and we publish a comprehensive annual Bird Report for our recording area, covering not only the bird data, photos and artwork submitted by our members, but articles on our activities and projects too.

We have a Star Scheme where members are awarded lapel badges for the number of bird species recorded in the club area since joining - the self-certified Bronze [100 species] and the peer-reviewed Silver [200], Gold [250] and Platinum [300]. We also have an Eco-Badge Scheme for the number of bird species recorded in the NENBC area at or from home without the use of motorised transport since 1st January 2020 (or date of joining if later). Members enjoy the challenge of working towards Green [75 species for inland records, 100 if including coastal locations] and Super-Green [125 inland, 175 coastal]. Our latest addition is a Seawatching Badge for species seen and dedicated time spent seawatching along our coastline.

We work with partners on a variety of projects. Many of our members volunteer with local wildlife conservation charity Felbeck Trust undertaking practical volunteering activities to support birds and other wildlife. We have also been working with the University of East Anglia for a few years now, supporting 3rd year UEA Environmental Consultancy students with 'real-life' projects for the club which have been most rewarding and resulted in some really interesting reports from the students. We have recently introduced a Young Birder Bursary scheme for our 16-24 year old members to get support for something birdy to promote their engagement or education.

Our Club Sponsor is Bird Ventures in Holt at which members are eligible for a discount on their own-brand bird food.

Full details on our upcoming events and much more can be found on this website. We have an NENBC BlueSky account @nenbc.bsky.social  for local info and other birding news and we also run 3 WhatsApp groups - North East Norfolk Seawatching (open to all) for 'live' reporting of seabird movement along the north Norfolk coast; a member-only NENBC Alerts for sharing news of interesting birds within our recording area; and a member no-reply NENBC Coms one for general event notifications.

The NENBC recording area covers eight 10km squares as per the Ordnance Survey tetrads TG03, TG12, TG13, TG14, TG22, TG23, TG24 and TG33 in north east Norfolk. They stretch in a cross shape from Swanton Novers in the west to Happisburgh in the east, and from Sheringham in the north to Hevingham in the south. Within our designated area there are some of the county's premier birding sites, both coastal and inland, together with acres of under-watched or undiscovered habitats which have hosted over 350 species!

With around 450 members, our aim is to bring together people with a love and concern for birds in our area, to share knowledge and information, encourage participation in exploring our rich wildlife heritage and promote awareness of our threatened natural environment. We strive to be a sociable, inclusive and informative club which plays a vital role in the local birding community.

Club membership is currently just £12 per annum per household or £15 with a copy the club’s Bird Report from the previous year included.

If you have a love of birds, come and give us a try - we'd love to meet you! 

Contact Carol on nenbc@aol.co.uk



  • Spring walk around the Runtons with Trevor Williams Outdoor Event

    Date
    Location
    The Runtons
    Spring walk around the Runtons Saturday 18 April 2026 | 9:00am to 1:00pm LEADER: Trevor Williams By mid-April spring migration should be getting started. This walk, around the villages of East and West Runton, will explore a variety of coastal ...
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  • EVENING TALK: "The Holkham Spoonbills" with Andrew Bloomfield Indoor Event

    Date
    Location
    Gresham Village Hall but possibly not Zoom this time tbc
    "The Holkham Spoonbills" with Andrew Bloomfield DATE: Thursday 30th April 2026   TIME: 7.30pm to 9.30pm   JOIN IN: Gresham Village Hall   A BIT ABOUT THE SPEAKER AND THEIR TALK: Andrew is the reserve warden at Holkham National Nature Reserve and...
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  • The Big Sit and a couple of walks! Outdoor Event

    Date
    Location
    Felbrigg Park and Beeston Common
    The Big Sit  Coinciding with Global Bird Day / World Migratory Bird Day we will also be fundraising for worthy bird causes   DATE: Saturday 9th May 2026   TIME: dawn to dusk   The aim of the Big Sit is to record as many species as possible from a...
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  • Avatar of a Demoiselle crane on a rose background

    Glaucous Gull, European Herring Gull, Common Gull and 6 other species seen at West Runton

  • Avatar of a Warbler on a emerald background

    Northern Wheatear, Egyptian Goose, European Green Woodpecker and 1 other species seen at Felbrigg Park & Lake

  • Avatar of a Black vulture on a zinc background

    European Shag seen at Sheringham

  • Avatar of a Robin on a yellow background

    Coal Tit, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird and 3 other species seen at Kelling Heath

  • Avatar of a Skylark on a yellow background

    Eurasian Reed Warbler seen at Weybourne Camp