Sussex Songbirds 2025

SUMMARY

Dates: Thursday 24th April to Monday 28th April  – 4 nights/3.5 days walks

Guide: Madeline Holloway

Walking Grade: 1 Goat – walks are varied and at a very steady pace giving time to see birds, wildflowers and to be immersed in the beautiful Sussex countryside.

Max elevation 140m this is a virtually flat walk hence Goat 1

Terrain good underfoot but always bring sticks if you need them

Max distance is 5 miles or 8km

Base: The Amberley Black Horse – a traditional elegant local pub in the heart of the village. Amberley is a lovely village to amble around pre or post walks. It is a typical English rural village.

There is a station to get to Amberley is Houghton Bridge with trains coming via London’s Clapham Junction. It is walkable to your accommodation but with luggage a taxi might be preferable which we will advise on.

The nearest airport is Gatwick.

Arrive for a 3pm check in, settle in and time for a short walk around Amberley, Your guide will be there from 5pm for a welcome briefing before dinner in the Black Horse restaurant serving great local food. There is a dining terrace and garden if we are lucky with the weather.

Departure is after a Monday morning walk. Arrange travel after 14.00.

Price: £1196 per person for a fully inclusive long weekend or £996 if sharing.

The price is based on solo occupancy. We will adjust your final payment if you are sharing.

• Half Board (all Breakfasts and 2 course Dinners) ensuite accommodation in your own room.
• Packed lunches on 3 walking days
• All local transport required for walks
• Expert guiding by Madeline – a naturalist with extensive knowledge of the birds and wildflowers of the area.

Not included:Travel to Amberley. Drinks.Entrance to RSPB nature reserve.
Please note that there is no parking at the pub. Parking is available in nearby roads in the village.

DETAILS

This trip is great for lovers of nature, wildlife and especially birds and their bird song. Madeline our guide and freelance ecologist will help you explore this fascinating part of England rich in bird song and wildlife.

Walks are 1 Goat . All slow pace as we stop to experience the wildlife and nature.No walk is more than 6 miles.

Things may change depending on the weather. Our guide will always discuss the next day’s activities with the group the day before.

ITINERARY

Itinerary may change depending on the weather and we will provide more information nearer the time. Your guide will discuss with you the evening before. 

Arrival  in Amberley by 3pm. Welcome briefing around 5pm followed by dinner.

Walks will include :

Pulborough Brooks RSPB nature reserve

Distance: 5 miles maximum. Ascent/Descent: 50 metres

Some slopes on muddy, bumpy, paths: one goat level  

The trails in this superb nature reserve take us through a range of wetland and heath habitats in the beautiful Arun Valley, nestled at the foot of the rolling South Downs.  These threatened landscapes support a variety of breeding birds and we’ll hear the ‘peewits’ of tumbling and looping lapwing, the haunting songs of shy nightingales and the persistent churrs of grasshopper warblers.  We’re also likely to see some very handsome whitethroats, bullfinch, skylarks and shelduck and may even catch a glimpse of a sea eagle.  

 Knepp Estate.    https://knepp.co.uk/home

Distance: 5 miles maximum. Ascent/Descent: 10 metres

Virtually flat with some muddy footpaths: one goat level

We spend our day in the heart of West Sussex exploring the Knepp Estate, a previously intensively farmed arable area that has been allowed to ‘re-wild’ over the past 20 years or sowith a minimum of human intervention and with herds of free-roaming animals.  An astonishing and spectacular array of natural habitats have established themselves across the Estate and these are now teaming with wildlife.  We will pause frequently to enjoy the wildlife and listen out for, and even spot, melodious nightingales, soft purring turtle doves, breeding white stork and a whole host of other wildlife delights.  

 South Downs chalk grassland

Distance: 5 miles maximum . Ascent/Descent: 140 metres

Hilly countryside with some muddy footpaths: one/two goat level  

Today we spend our time walking across the scarp slopes of the South Downs between Edburton and Devil’s Dyke.  Here significant areas of species-rich chalk grassland have somehow survived intact and avoided the fate of much of the Downs, which has been ploughed up for arable crops.  In fact, there is so much diversity in a good patch of chalk grassland that we may find ourselves on our hands and knees to really appreciate the 20 or 30 different kinds of plants (which includes lots of orchids), in just one square metre. A number of typical downland birds breed here such as the kestrel, corn bunting, grasshopper warbler and meadow pipit and, finally, a huge range of uncommon butterflies and moths are also in abundance.

Half a day in Amberley Wild Brooks.

Distance: 3 miles maximum. Ascent/Descent: 10 metres

Virtually flat with some muddy footpaths: one goat level  

We walk northwards from our accommodation across Amberley Wild Brooks, one of just a few surviving areas of grazed marsh in West Sussex, which supports one of the most important breeding populations of redshank in the UK.  This species-rich landscape is also home to several plants which are rare in West Sussex, amidst which we should spot the jewel-like colours of darting dragonflies and, perhaps, a hobby swooping in to catch one.  

Additional Options

On one morning we’ll experience the magic of a dawn (or at least early morning!) chorus starring mellow blackbirds, thrushes and wrens and joined by warblers like blackcap, whitethroat and, perhaps, more nightingales.  We may also have a rare opportunity to visit a peregrine nest.  

On one evening we’ll go out to watch countless bats leave a bat roost at dusk and then listen out for hooting tawny owls, perhaps even catching a glimpse of one hunting through the dark skies.