Normandy Birding Business Venture (1 Viewer)

Hello Birdforumers,

I have posted once about this idea before but have rewritten it with a different focus.

My name is Jack, I am 25 and work for the NHS in London. I have been an avid birder for the last 4 years and have not felt as passionately about anything before. Being a birder in London can be very frustrating especially when compared to my previous address' in Somerset and Essex/Suffolk!

I am thinking of starting a small business in Normandy near Mt St Michel where I have the opportunity to run a B&B for birders / naturalists for a couple of weeks in the Autumn and organise tours to local birding, nature & cultural sites. My interest for conservation and wildlife alongside my experience in the hospitality industry can be utilised to a run a friendly B&B with a focus on the surrounding habitat and local natural produce. I am going over to france next week where I will start the transformation of the garden to create a garden for wildlife to attract as many local species as possible.

The amount of Nature activities in the area are very diverse, Blessed with its fair share of rivers, the region is considered one of the best in France for salmon and sea-trout fishing, whilst brown trout are multiplying faster here then elsewhere in the country. Normandy has a distinct passion for horses and you can ride across the extensive salt flats to the picturesque Mt St Michel.

During migration an average autumnal month it is possible to see the passage of 300,000 Chaffinches, 75,000 Starlings, tens of thousands of Meadow Pipits, several thousand Siskins, Linnets, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Bramblings, Swallows and House Martins, and hundreds of Woodlarks, Serins, Crossbills, Grey Wagtails & Pied Wagtails. Other regular species at this time of year include Hawfinch, Lapland Bunting, Richard’s Pipit, a variety of waders, and birds of prey such as Short-eared Owl, Hobby and Marsh Harrier — all heading south, together with migrant insects that may include hundreds of Red Admiral butterflies and Common Darter dragonflies amongst other species.

Other species that we will hope to see aside the migration are;

(*breeding birds)

Black-necked Grebe*
Night Heron
Great White Egret
Black Stork
White Stork*
Sacred Ibis*
Garganey*
Honey-Buzzard*
Black Kite*
Montagu's Harrier*
Little Bustard*
Whiskered Tern*
Grey-headed Woodpecker*
Black Woodpecker*
Middle Spotted Woodpecker*
Bee Eater*
Bluethroat*
Black Redstart*
Fan-tailed Warbler*
Melodious Warbler*
Crested Tit*
Short-toed Treecreeper*
Rock Sparrow*
Cirl Bunting*
Ortolan (Aug/ Sept only)

I would plan to run a small organised group of maximum 6 people (to start) for 5 days at a time where I would have a basic itinery for the guests but this could all change depending on their needs and weather conditions. I would have the tours given by a local guide.

Other larger companies have been charging £700 pp for 5 days, this normally includes meals, travel once at Hotel/B&B, entrance to National Parks & cultural sites with a professional guide and other activities. I would be asking for £350 pp for the 5 days. This would include all of the above but with a flexibility in place to incorporate all interests of the group. So this is just a small amount of information about what’s on offer.

I would just like some feedback from the more experienced holidaying birders on if they think this is a profitable business venture before I make my boldest/maddest move to this date.

Any comments will really be appreciated.

Happy Birding,

Jack

Hi Jack,

That is an interesting and attractive idea you have there and I wish you every success.

I suspect that Normandy has rather been off the radar for British birders, which is perhaps surprising as it is so easy to get to. However, there seems to be little information on birding trip reports to the area, which is a great shame. I have done a half-hearted search on birding information for Normandy as we are taking a family camping holiday there in a couple of weeks time, based on the Cherbourg peninsular. I have not even looked for a site guide yet - is there one for the area? (I think there is a Gosney for Northern France and a Birdwatching Guide to France north of the Loire - do these cover many sites in Normandy?) I am not expecting to get much birding time, with three young children, but your species list has certainly listed some species I would not have expected so hopefully I can negotiate some time off...

Perhaps you can recommend some sites?

I think your offering sounds excellent and at a very reasonable price, if you compare to even guiding costs across Europe. Your focus will need to be on marketing the area, as travel to previously more difficult destinations, such as eastern Europe, is now so much easier.

Regards,

Robin

Jack,

Having never been on a birding holiday, I am not able to offer an insight. However the idea of going on one after reading your imminent venture, sounds great to me.

Add me to your list when you have my info/dates, I might come by train and cycle to Mt St Michel. Details on the area and the location of the B&B would be helpful.

Go for it, you know you want to.


All the best
David

I think you need to do some analysis of what is out there now.

What tours offer a similar mix of species to yours? Is your species list just a subset of theirs or do you have some extras that would make a tour selling point?

Where are they based? Is your tour going to be cheaper because it is in a marginal area for the species mix rather than core territory?

Is cost a selling point? If so, is anyone offering the same mix (or a wider one) for less? If they are, you are doomed before you start.

Places I suggest you should check out for species and cost include the Camargue, Pyrenees passes, Lesvos, Baltic states, Gibraltar (don't assume this is comprehensive).

Hope this helps

John

Hello all,

First off, thanks for your replies, these are all aspects I need to consider. Here are some replies to your comments.

The house is situated in a little village called Precy, not too far from Avaranches (20mins) & Mt. St. Michele.

My pricing is the cheapest I have found in the area. This is because pursuing this is going to be experimental for a couple of years so want to keep the costs low and as its something I enjoy I will be hugely benefitting from this. If I was only to make a small amount for each 5 days offered that would be fine with me, I’m not looking to become rich off this I'm hoping to gain some experience and spend time with likeminded people from all different back grounds. If the business is a success I would think about raising the prices but I would still want to offer quality at a really affordable price. I would be using a mini bus to collect people from the ferry ports and this would be beneficial to people looking to holiday on the budget as they could get a foot passenger ticket for as little as £20! This might give a foot up in comparison to paying for flights abroad.

I am going over to the House next month to do some work on the garden (I am creating a garden for wildlife) so will take some pictures of the house and surrounding area and hopefully some of the birds that frequent the garden!

Unfortunately I don’t have any secret bird locations as of yet that would give my tour a USP but I’m really hoping I can find some! The USP I will be trying to get across is the house itself as it is a lovely old 4 bed farm cottage, the garden - built for wildlife & the enjoyment that a holiday such as can offer apart from just ticking.
I have compared the prices to some of those that you mentioned John and mine is a lot cheaper but of course would not offer the large amount of exotic birds that some of these tours do.

Robin if you would like to private message me your email address I have quite a few word docs written up on the local area and would be happy to include them. If you are going to be travelling through the area between the 7-10th of September please let me know and feel free to drop in and see what you think, I’m sure I can provide some refreshments!

Thanks again all, anything else you could add would be appreciated.

Jack

dnic,

I will keep you posted on anything that happens this year although it will probably be next year now as I may not be able to get the time off work. but if your ever in London and fancy going birding just let me know.

Jack

one key thing would be to find (or try to find) a local bird group who can tell you where the local good birding sites are and you can form some sort of basic itinerary from there