Hotels for bird watching

From the spring dawn chorus at La Sablonnerie on Little Sark, a veritable orchestra of Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Garden Warbler song, to the coastal call of Herring Gulls, Lesser and Greater Black-backed Gulls and Fulmars. It’s not just hotels themselves that make for an enchanting escape, but the surrounding wildlife as well – as all bird watching enthusiasts will know.

Perhaps you will venture to Norfolk, often described at the birdwatching capital of Britain. Here, the salt marshes and vast open skies around The Blakeney Hotel and the Blakeney National Nature Reserve, are an important breeding area for sea birds and a wide variety of other birdlife that changes with the seasons. It’s little wonder that the National Trust wardens live and work to protect and conserve the wildlife and landscape.

Those visiting The Pig at Combe are in for a treat, as bird watchers report sightings of Peregrines resting on the river bank, flocks of Pied Wagtails, Herring Gulls, Cormorants, Mallards and Canada Geese close to the River Otter.

Equally, at the coastal paradise of Burgh Island at Bigbury on Sea, those seeking a 1920s escape in the famously Art Deco style hotel, are also wowed by the seascapes from the private island. Accessible only across a stretch of sand where the tide comes in from both sides, via the hotel’s unique sea tractor, nature loving guests combine elegance and style with mesmerising natural beauty. From the Long-billed Dowitcher to the Blue-winged Teal, the Glossy Ibis to the Ring-necked Duck and the Western Cattle Egret, it’s a destination that’s enchanting in every way.