In addition to our regular winter indoor meetings the Club organises occasional other events including social events and, for the last few years, Big Bird Days.
Big Bird Day 2025
Our now annual Bird Race and casual birding
PURPOSE
To discover how many species are present in the Cley 10-km Square in January 2025.
Open to both Cley Bird Club members and non-members to provide an opportunity for people to have an enjoyable day’s birding either on their own, with family or friends and/or to take part in the Cley Square Bird Race.
The highest number of bird species recorded at this event in previous years was 129 in 2024. Come along and see how many you can help us get this time.
DETAILS
The CBC Recording Area comprises the 10km square TG04 (but extended in the north-west to include the tip of Blakeney Point) as shown in the map above. Any birds seen out at sea are also countable.
You can start birding at any time of the day but must submit completed checklists at the NWT Education Centre by 5pm on 4th January.
A room will be available in the education centre (behind the NWT Visitor Centre) from 4pm where free hot drinks and other refreshments will be available. Please come along and meet up with others who have been out in the field birding during the day and compare notes as we collate the results, determine who won the race and compile the total number of species seen by all participants.
If you finish birding earlier and don’t want to wait around until late afternoon, there will be a box at Reception in the Visitor Centre where you can leave your completed checklists.
THE BIRD RACE For the keen ones amongst you.
Teams can consist of up to four people who must travel together throughout the day. Teams cannot split up to cover different areas of the Square. Birds will only count for the bird race if seen or heard by at least two members of the team at the same time; this, of course, does not apply if you are a team of one.
All birds seen or heard must be recorded on the BBD Race checklist which which can be downloaded below.
Species only seen or heard by one person should still be recorded to enable us to see how many species are in the square on the day although they will not count towards your total.
Teams can start birding at any time of the day but must submit their completed checklists at the NWT Education Centre by 5pm on Saturday 4th January.
There will also be a box in the visitor centre throughout the day on 4th January for people to submit their results if they cannot stay around until after 4pm.
To help with the organisation please let us know by emailing janicedarch@gmail.com by the end of December if you are planning to enter a team, along with your team’s name and, if you know, the names of participants.
.The highest winter record for the race stands at 105 species recorded by ‘The Dippers’ in 2024 – can you beat that?
CASUAL BIRDING
We want to make the day accessible to everyone. One or more people can bird together for as much or little time as they want in part(s) of the Square on the day. This will help in our effort to get as much information on birds in the Square on the day as possible. We would like to capture information such as numbers present in an area. Every little will help. If you can’t walk far, you can still take part by counting everything you can see from your car (please only park where it is safe to do so) or, if you live in the Square, your garden or from your window.
All birds seen or heard must be recorded on the Big Bird Day Casual checklist which can be downloaded below. It would be most helpful if you can give counts of birds seen in any site that you visit but if not, just tick the species.
To get included in the main count, completed checklists should be brought to the NWT Education Centre by 5pm on Saturday 4th January. However, if you cannot do that, any sightings added to the website or emailed to cleybcrecords@gmail.com by midday on Sunday the 5th will be included in the overall count. Note that birds just reported by WhatsApp or the information services wil not get included. There will also be a box in the visitor centre throughout the day on 4th January for people to submit their results if they cannot stay around until after 4pm.
GENERAL (applies to both formats)
All birds recorded must be within the area of the Cley Square.
You must stay on public rights of way and if you are not an NWT member, please remember to buy a permit from the visitor centre before visiting any of the hides. Also, if you are not an NWT member there is a charge for parking at the Cley Visitor Centre and Beach car park.
The welfare of the bird must come first so tape luring is not permitted.
It would be helpful if you could also record any mammals you see during the day.
If you find a good bird, please put the news out so that everyone participating can enjoy it. either on the Cley or Norfolk WhatsApps, the information services or ring it into the NWT Visitor Centre on 01263 740008.
DOWNLOADS
Maps
Cley Square map
Cley Square Recording sites (for use for Casual Birders)
Checklists
Bird Race checklist and Race completion Notes
Casual Birding checklist and Casual completion notes
PLEASE WATCH THIS WEBSITE FOR UPDATES.
Past events – Reviews
Blakeney Point Plant Walk – Saturday 20th July 2024
A decent number of would-be plant spotters game for a trudge across the shingle gathered at the Cley Beach car park in near perfect weather – warm but not too hot, sunny but with enough high cloud to take the edge off, and a light breeze. We were ably let by Richard Porter, whose enthusiasm for the subject is matched by his detailed knowledge and familiarity with the Point. There were many species to see that it is hard to find elsewhere, and it was fascinating to hear how some of these plants survive the rigours of the harsh environment.
We were fortunate also to have Andy Clarke with us: Andy is a marine wildlife expert who interpreted the flotsam of the tideline for us. We also kept an eye out for birds, butterflies and other animals, but there was not much about. The highlights were a flock of five Whimbrels that came in off the sea, and a Roesel’s Bush-cricket which posed nicely on a fence post for photographs.
There’s a full list of the plants we saw, and a summary of the other wildlife, here.
Big Bird Day – Saturday 6th January 2024
Once more this year, the activities on the day took two forms. There was a traditional bird race where teams of up to 4 people birded around the Cley Square to see who could see the most species. For the less energetic we asked that people visit whatever areas they could and record all birds (and mammals) that they saw and, where possible, get counts.
The weather was better than the last few years, generally dry, around 3-6°C but with a cold NW wind.
A total of 129 species were recorded – the highest yet.
Thanks and congratulations to all who took part.
THE RACE
Six teams (21 people) took part this year.
The results were:
- The Dippers (Ed Betteridge, Ollie King, Kate Fox & Riley Woodhouse) – 105 species
- Weynor Gardens Wanderers (Steve Stansfield, William Earp & Janice Darch) – 99 species
- Happy Birders (Lin Pateman, Phil Borley & Julia Peters) – 97 species
- The Flight Club (Mark Boyd, Chris Tucker, John Swallow, Seán Dempster) – 95 species
- The Norvicensians (Tim Hill, John Fisher & Ben Parker-Wright) – 80 species
- The Bulldogs (Mike Harcup, Ian & Sue Griffin, George Baldock) – 78 species
The members of the winning team were each awarded a voucher generously donated by Cley Spy.
THE REST
A further 7 groups of people did ‘casual’ birding around the Cley Square during the day, submitting data via the official casual birding checklists adding to the list an dthey aded some species not recorded by the racing teams.
WHAT WAS SEEN
The FULL LIST of all species recorded can be downloaded by clicking here.
Interesting information about species seen and omitted.
The following birds were only seen by one person or team
- Tufted Duck – Ann Gladwin, Nick Kimber & Tessa Rose
- Great Crested Grebe – The Dippers
- Black-tailed Godwit – Ann Gladwin, Nick Kimber & Tessa Rose
- Iceland Gull – David Griffith
- Green Woodpecker – The Flights
- Raven – David Griffiths
- Blackcap – Steve & Sue Gantlett
- Lapland Bunting – The Dippers
Birds recorded this year but not on previous Big Bird Days
- Mandarin Duck
- Little Gull
- Cattle Egret
- Raven
- Lapland Bunting