One of Norfolk’s great wildlife spectacles is the sight and sound of huge flocks of pink-footed geese in winter. The best viewpoints to see geese flying in and out of traditional roosts at dawn and dusk are at
Snettisham RSPB reserve in West Norfolk and on the coast at Brancaster and Wells next the Sea in North Norfolk.
Sunset or sunrise between November and February are the best times to view big numbers. The fields either side of Lady Ann's Drive at Holkham (
https://www.holkham.co.uk/nature-reserve-beach/introduction) are excellent places to view big numbers of geese during the day and as well as pink-footed geese, you are likely to see Brent geese, greylag geese, Canada geese and white-fronted geese. The Washington hide at Holkham (15 minutes walk west on the inland side of the pines from Lady Anne’s Road) is a great goose viewing point and at dusk birds fly on to the marshes to drink and bathe before going to roost.
You may also see large flocks of pink-footed geese feeding on sugar beet fields several miles inland of the North Norfolk coast – the Docking to Burnham Market area is a good area but exact locations vary each year. Please avoid disturbing these feeding birds by going on to private farmland.
Flocks of pink-footed geese may number several thousand but flocks of other species, such as Brent geese, are usually much smaller numbering in the hundreds.
Picture by Elizabeth Dack