A farm stay is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in the British countryside with the opportunity to spot a wonderful array of wildlife in its natural environment.
This collection of hand-picked cottages on working farms are ideally placed for prime birding locations across the British Isles close to nature reserves, wetland habitats, and coastal landscapes. So, grab your binoculars and field guide, and make a bird watching farm holiday your next break.
Situated on a 70-acre arable farm in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape, Sally’s Nest is a cosy barn conversion perfect for a couple or solo traveller looking for a peaceful rural escape. The barn is just 6 miles from RSPB Minsmere where a stunning mosaic of reedbeds, wet and acid grassland, lowland heath, and woodland support a rich variety of birdlife including some of Britain’s rarest species like bitterns, stone curlews, marsh harriers, and nightjars.
In spring, good numers of migrating waders arrive such as black-tailed godwits, grey plovers, and green sandpipers, while in summer young avocets, common terns, and spotted redshanks can be seen. Winter is also an excellent time to visit when vast flocks of geese and ducks come to roost, and birds of prey are spoted hunting over the marshes.
The National Trust’s Dunwich Heath is also close by, home to Dartford warblers, skylarks, whitethroats, and Cetti’s warblers, as well as herds of deer, and many types of bees and wasps.
Sally’s Nest sleeps 2 guests in 1 bedroom. Book your stay.
One of four stylish barn conversion on a family-run arable farm, Daffodil Barn is a beautifully-appointed rural retreat close to the South West Coast Path and North Cornwall’s rugged cliffs and beaches. For bird watchers, the RSPB’s Hayle Estuary nature reserve is within walking distance where each year up to 18,000 migrant and wintering waterfowl gather, drawn by its mild climate.
At Carnsew Pool tidal lagoon all six species of British waders have been recorded as well as grebes, cormorants, shags, and sea ducks. Copperhouse Creek is another excellent area for watching gulls, ducks, and waders, particularly during the hours before and after high tide, while Ryan’s Field, a wet meadow with a pool is good for golden plovers, dunlins, and little egrets.
For seabirds, head to Porthkidney Sands, a vast, often deserted expanse of beach at the mouth of the River Hayle, where you can watch gannets diving offshore and terns roosting amongst the golden sand.
Daffodil Barn sleeps 3 guests in 2 bedrooms. Book your stay.
Designed with wheelchair users in mind, The Old Stables is a stylish, contemporary barn conversion with a wood burning stove and a wealth of accessible features on a family-run livestock farm. Within easy reach is Rutland Water set in 4,200 acres of open countryside and one of the best bird watching spots in the country.
The network of lagoons and wetlands support a wide range of waders including great white egrets, lapwings, redshanks, and little stints, as well as rare ducks such as smews and velvet scoters. Venture into the meadows, woodlands, and plantations where in spring nightingales and cuckoos can be heard calling from amongst the grasses and trees.
Rutland Water is also a prime spot for ospreys with a self-sustaining breeding population. Visitors can watch them bring up their chicks via nestcams, and in autumn, see them hunting for fish before departing on migration.
There are over 20 wildlife hides as well as a variety of nature trails, many of which are accessible for wheelchairs, with an electric buggy also available to hire.
The Old Stables sleeps 6 guests in 3 bedrooms. Book your stay.
Lapwing Lodge is a beautifully presented timber-clad chalet with a wood burning stove set in the heart of a traditional Scottish estate with a dairy herd and a focus on conservation farming.
The mudflats, salt marshes, and intertidal sand at nearby RSPB Mereshead are excellent for breeding waders and winter waterfowl, while in autumn starling mumurations can be swirling around the reedbed as they come into roost.
A little further afield, Caerlaverock Wetland Centre is a haven for wildfowl where flocks of knots, curlews, and golden plovers feed at high tide which in turn attracts raptors such as peregrine falcons, buzzards, and the endangered hen harrier. In winter, they are joined by vast numbers of barnacle geese and whooper swans after spending the summer in Scandinavia and Iceland.
The estate itself is also home to a good variety of wildlife with roe deer, brown hares, red squirrels, badgers, and otters making regular appearances.
Lapwing Lodge sleeps 4 guests in 2 bedrooms. Book your stay.
One of two barn conversions on a working farm with woodland walks, apple orchards, and duck ponds, The Cider Barn is an attractive rural retreat ideal for families or couples. Just a few miles away is the Exe Estuary, one of the most important wildlife sites in South West England.
At Bowling Green Marsh managed by the RSPB, marsh, reedbeds, and a freshwater pool attracts swifts, swallows, and house martins in spring, while in autumn, hundreds of ducks, including wigeons, pintails, teals, and shovelers gather to roost, alongside lapwings, avocets, and curlews.
Matford Marshes is another excellent place for wildfowl and waders supporting water rails, green sandpipers, snipe, and grey herons, with buzzards and peregrine falcons circling in the skies above.
In the wildlife garden at Cricklepit Mill, an oasis in the heart of Exeter, bird feeders attract goldfinches, greenfinches, great tits, and robins, and the water course provides a home for kingfishers, moorhens, and grey wagtails.
The Cider Barn sleeps 4 guests in 2 bedrooms. Book your stay.
With direct access to the coast, Oswald’s Rest is a bright and airy cottage on a working farm with Poll Dorset sheep and Aberdeen Angus cattle. Close to the seaside village of Seahouses, it’s ideally placed for hopping on a boat for a guided tour around the Farne Islands where vast number of seabirds gather each year to breed including terns, guillemots, razorbills, shags, and comical puffins.
Its surrounding mudflats and sandbanks also attract curlews, redshanks, eider ducks, fulmars, and oystercatchers, and between late October and early January, a large colony of grey seals pup on the rocky shores.
A little further up the coast is Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, that supports internationally important populations of wintering birds such as wigeons, pintails, teals, bar-tailed godwits, and the rare pale-bellied brent geese.
Oswald’s Rest sleeps 2 guests in 1 bedroom. Book your stay.
A pretty stone retreat with a cosy wood burner, Easter Duthil Cottage is situated on a working farm in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. Just a few miles away is the RSPB’s Loch Garten, where the Caledonian pine forests are home to crested tits, black grouse, capercaillies, ptarmigan, and Scottish crossbills.
Raptors are often sighted too including kestrels, sparrowhawks, ospreys, and the magnificent golden eagle, while on the loch look out for goldeneyes, goosanders, and occasionally red-throated divers.
Towards the coast lies Culbin Sands, a dramatic sweep of saltmarsh and sand dunes which support a variety of rare plants, fungi, and butterflies. In winter, sea ducks such as common scoters, long-tailed ducks, and velvet scoters arrive in good numbers to feed on the mussel beds.
Easter Duthil Cottage sleeps 6 guests in 3 bedroom. Book your stay.
With a charming nautical-themed interior to reflect the beautiful sea views, Cysgod y Bugail is a cosy shepherd’s hut with a wood burning stove on a working livestock farm ideal for a couple or solo traveller. The nearby countryside is a haven for wildlife with RSPB South Stack nature reserve on Holy Island within walking distance.
The reserve is particularly important for breeding choughs as well as ravens and peregrine falcons, while the cliffs are home to colonies of seabirds including shags, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, and kittiwakes.
In summer, the surrounding heathland bursts into colour with heather and gorse providing a home for linnets, common whitethroats, and meadow pipits. South Stack is also a good vantage point for spotting seals, porpoises, and dolphins in the waters below.
Cysgod y Bugail sleeps 2 guests in a studio style space. Book your stay.
Tulip is a gorgeous, eco-friendly barn conversion with a wood burning stove and bubbly hot tub set on a working vineyard on the edge of the High Weald National Landscape. Just a short drive towards the coast is Dungeness nature reserve managed by the RSPB and home to a fascinating variety of birdlife.
The landscapes, including open shingle, freshwater pits, wet grassland, and wildflower meadows support breeding lapwings, garganeys, and redshanks, as well as hundreds of swallows, swifts, and martins. Spring is also a great time to listen out for the call of the cuckoo and the resonant boom of the bittern.
Migrants include whinchats, redstarts, wheatears, and ring ouzels, while in winter, large numbers of wigeons, teals, gadwalls, tufted ducks, and pochards arrive along with fieldfares, redwings, and goldcrests.
Between the reserve and the sea is a vast, barren beach with a skyline dominated by a nuclear power station. Amongst this unique landscape, which is home to dozens of rare plants and insects, are abandoned fishing boats, old railway carriages converted into homes, and Derek Jarman’s garden with hardy coastal plants, driftwood sculptures, and flnts.
Tulip Barn sleeps 4 guests in 2 bedrooms. Book your stay.
