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.
The 2026 Big Bird Day
Date:10/01/2026
Time:Dawn till dusk!
Venue:The Cley Square
Cost:Free to all
Help us determine how many species are wintering in the Cley Square
This year’s Big Bird Day will take place on Saturday 10th January 2026.
This will be followed by free refreshments in the NWT Centre from 4:15-6:00pm while we check the results.
Please lend a hand – or at least eyes and ears – to give us maximum coverage. Non-members welcome!
PURPOSE
To discover how many species are present in the Cley 10-km Square in January 2026.
Anyone can take part, on their own, in family parties, or just a group of birding friends, you don’t have to belong to the Cley Bird Club or even live in the area. Spend your day, or part of it, in the Cley Square counting and recording as many birds as you can. The idea is to have some fun kick-starting your 2026 year-list, and to discover and record the birds present throughout TG04 in January in as much detail as possible.
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 year.
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. Any birds seen out at sea are also countable.
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 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 a hide, 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.
You can start birding at any time of the day on 10th January (from midnight on 9th for owls if you like!) but must submit completed checklists at the NWT Education Centre by 5pm on 10th.
All birds seen or heard must be recorded on the Big Bird Day checklists which can be downloaded below, collected at the indoor meeting on 18th December or from the NWT Visitor Centre from 1st January.
A room will be available in the education centre (behind the NWT Visitor Centre) from 4:15pm on the 10th 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 or, if you cannot do that, any sightings for the 10th added to the website or emailed to cleybcrecords@gmail.com by midday on Sunday the 11th will be included in the overall count. Note that birds just reported on WhatsApp or the information services will not get included.
Although you can just turn up on the day it would help with the organisation if you could please let us know by emailing janicedarch@gmail.com in advance if you plan to attend, so we have an idea how many people may be coming to the Visitor Centre in the evening.
THE BIRD RACE For the keen ones amongst you.
Teams can consist of one to four people who must bird 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 place/time (not applicable if you are a team of one!). 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.
If you are planning to enter a team, please email janicedarch@gmail.com along with your team’s name and, if you know it, the names of participants by 7th January.
The highest winter record for the race stands at 105 species recorded by ‘The Dippers’ in 2024 – can you beat that?
GENERAL (applies to all)
– 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 Recording sites (for use for Casual Birders)
Checklists
Bird Race checklist and completion notes this is a simple list where you can, generally, just tick the species or add a single number.
Casual Birding checklist and completion notes these checklists allow for counts and multiple sites in the Square.
PLEASE WATCH THIS WEBSITE FOR ANY CHANGES NEARER THE TIME.
Past events – Reviews
Big Bird Day – Saturday 4th January 2025
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 dry but icy with some frozen pools and a cold westerly wind. As had been the case for the preceding few weeks, bird numbers were low.
A total of 119 species were recorded, well below last year’s record 129.
Thanks and congratulations to all who took part.
THE RACE
Only four teams (21 people) took part this year.
The results were:
1. Weynor Gardens Wanderers (Steve Stansfield, William Earp, Riley Woodhouse & Janice Darch) – 93 species
2. The North-easterners (Trevor & Jane Williams & Phil Hall) – 85 species
3. The Norvicensians Reserve team (Ben, Owen & OscarParker-Wright) – 62 species
4. The Whitstable Warblers (Kevin & Jill White) – 55 species
The members of the winning team were each awarded a voucher generously donated by Cley Spy.
THE REST
A further 10 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. They added some species not recorded by the racing teams.
WHAT WAS SEEN
The FULL LIST of all species recorded can be downloaded by clicking here.
The following birds were only seen by one team or group:
- Long-tailed Duck – Steve & Sue Gantlett – 1 off Kelling
- Grey Partridge – Kath & Mick Claydon – 3 at Langham
- Great Northern Diver – Weynor Gardens Wanderers
- Cattle Egret – David Griffiths – into N Foreland at dusk
- Gannet – David Griffiths
- Goshawk – Ann Gladwin, Nick Kimber & Tessa Rose – seen at Bayfield
- Hen Harrier – Andrew Cannon
- Coot – Whitstable Warblers – 2 were seen in the Catchwater Drain opposite Walsey
- Bar-tailed Godwit – David Griffiths – 12 Blakeney Harbour
- Sanderling – David Griffiths – 6 Blakeney Harbour
- Green Woodpecker – Whitstable Warblers on Salthouse Heath
- Peregrine – North-easterners
- Marsh tit – Jenny & Mark Johnson, Lynn & Barry Loader at Bayfield
- Blackcap – Tom Green in his Blakeney garden
- Goldcrest – Weynor Gardens Wanderers
- Brambling – Jenny & Mark Johnson, Lynn & Barry Loader at Glandford
- Twite – The North-easterners
Birds recorded this year but not on previous Big Bird Days
- Goshawk
For comparison
Results from previous years
2019 116 species
2020 124 species (choice of Saturday or Sunday due to bad weather)
2021 – cancelled due to Covid
2022 123 species
2023 115 species
2024 129 species.
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