Arrival in Newquay: Arrival is flexible, just let us know in advance your time of arrival and mode of transport (whether it be bus, train or plane!). We will come and collect you and take you to the accommodation. Once all guests have arrived, we will take a walk around the headland and onto the beach before heading back to the accommodation for dinner and to discuss the week ahead!

After breakfast, we will travel over to the beautiful Padstow to head out on a private boat tour with the renowned Padstow Sealife Safaris. They are a small, family-run, local operator with some of the best boat tours in the county. Conservation is at the heart of what they do, and on each trip, they record their sightings for Cornwall Wildlife Trust. Each tour is carried out safely and securely with wildlife ethics at the forefront. We will spend two hours out at sea looking for cetaceans, seals, gannets and anything else that makes an appearance! Plus this time of year we may even spot some puffins! This tour will be led by one of their expert guides with lots of photography opportunities. Warm clothes and waterproofs are required as the rib can pick up some speed.

Ferry across to Rock - Lunch

After lunch we will hike The South West Coast Path towards Pentire Point and the Rumps. The area is known to be one of the most breath-taking stretches of the North Cornwall coast. It’s a hotspot for skylarks, peregrines, and corn buntings, as well as a chance to spot common and bottlenose dolphin pods. We will delve into the fascinating geology and history of the area and make the most of photo opportunities before heading back to Newquay where we will have dinner together.

We will stay a little closer to home before our big night ahead and visit a favourite site, Porth Reservoir. Tucked away in a valley close to where you will be staying is a beautiful location surrounded by woodland and a designated sanctuary. The surrounding woodland is home to deer and the reservoir is known for its great crested grebes and kingfishers.

Lunch

After lunch we will head to the famous Cornwall Beaver Project. One of the flagship sites here in the UK that has championed beaver reintroduction since the arrival of their first beavers in 2017. We will spend the afternoon with one of the experts on site and have our very own private tour hearing all about the habitat and the further rewilding progress happening at Woodland Valley Farm. The site itself has become an oasis for wildlife since the beavers have been there and it truly is one of Cornwall’s gems! The beavers are active all year round and we can stay well into the evening to hopefully get some great views of these spectacular mammals as they emerge from their lodges at dusk. The site at this time of year is also exceptional for bird life, bats, amphibians and mustelids (especially pole cats!)

We will have an early start this morning as we head to one of the best wildlife hides in Cornwall which we have special permission to access. Located near Wadebridge close to the famous Camel Estuary Walmsley Sanctuary is one of the best locations in the county for any wildlife enthusiast. We will aim to arrive on site just before dawn and head to the hide where we have the opportunity to spot kingfishers, numerous wading birds and the elusive otter! We will spend a few hours in the hide and make the most of this fabulous location! We will then travel to some of the best bluebell woods in Cornwall for lunch.

Lunch

In the afternoon we will explore the beautiful bluebell filled woods at Lanhydrock. A spectacular site especially this time of year which is amazing for all bird life, but also for photographing dippers, our only aquatic songbird in the UK. After spending our afternoon here we will head to a secret location for some evening badger watching and photography. We have various locations which are excellent for badger photography at dusk, so we shall head to one of our locations and settle in for an evening of badger action before heading back to the accommodation.

This morning we will head further West in the morning after breakfast, with our first stop of the day being Stithians Hide. This is a superb hide to practice your photography skills and has an excellent set up with feeders which are frequented by great spotted woodpeckers, jays, long-tailed tits, goldfinch, all of our garden birds, and even bullfinch. A fantastic spot to spend the morning and take photos or just sit and enjoy the wildlife.

Lunch

In the afternoon we will head Botallack, which has one of the most famous views in the county, but is also an amazing location for choughs. Appearing on the Cornish coat of arms, these fantastic corvids had all but disappeared from Cornwall until their surprising comeback after their 28 year absence! And now thanks to stringent conservation efforts the population is going from strength to strength! Here we will have the opportunity to watch these mesmerising birds as they wheel above us and have some excellent photography opportunities at sunset before we head back to the accommodation.

For our final day we will stay closer to home, heading to the Gannel Estuary, a site of special scientific interest. We will make our way over to Crantock Beach and Polly Joke and across Kelsey Headland. This is a fantastic walk where we will aim to see seals and discuss the conservation efforts going on to protect our colonies here in Cornwall. This walk is excellent for the likes of gannets, fulmars and close views of kestrels.

We will stop for lunch along the walk before heading back to the accommodation and that evening, we will all head out for a slap up meal at a local restaurant, the price of which is covered by us including your first alcoholic drink.

Check out of the accommodation will be 12pm, so feel free to have a bit of a lay in before your onward journey home!