I've already shared the walk to the beach along the West Bank path, and the beach so I thought it was time to share more from the actual RSPB Reserve, where my dad volunteers each week.

As we headed back from the beach, guess what we saw?

Yes, I know I shouldn't have been surprised to see a bird given where I was, but it was the first one I'd seen. And as I tried to get closer he hopped off over the bank on the right and scuppered that plan.

Having walked back inland we took a left instead and headed off around the Meadow trail on the boardwalk. The older wooden boardwalk is gradually being replaced with a plastic kind of boardwalk, made from used carrier bags - which sounds like a great use for them to me.

We were back up near the Reed beds and that meant I could snap some pictures of the bullrushes close up.

As we got closer to the visitor centre there were plenty of examples of how to give nature a home, which coincidentally (or not) is one of the RSPB's campaigns. You can see how you can give nature a home in your garden too.

Below is a dead hedge for wildlife, and if you want to make one at home you can use cut branches and stems which make a great habitat for insects, small mammals and roosting birds. And you can make one in three easy steps:

Knock some uprights into the ground in two staggered rows
Lay the smaller branches or pruning sideways on top of each other, alternating in front and behind the uprights in the ground
Fill any gaps with leaves, then pile on the rest of the stems - and top it up throughout the year.

And there were a couple of bug hotels too - I've still not got around to making mine, but it's still on my garden to do list (along with many other things!)

The next area was full of shells and represents the sea bed, which given we're so close makes sense.

The volunteers maintain this garden and there's plenty to keep everyone interested, and you can lift planks up to see what wildlife is underneath - I delegated that part to my dad!

Opposite the visitors centre is an elaborate bird feeding station, well what else would you expect? I suspect for the local bird population it's the equivalent of a Michelin starred restaurant!

And as we left, I spotted this sign leading to an area where you could make a bug hotel - perhaps I should have stopped and picked up some tips!

It wasn't what I expected from an RSPB reserve, there was a lot more going on than I expected and it was more accessible for non-bird watchers too. It's definitely somewhere I'd go back to - and having a cafe is a bonus, as it's always useful to know where potential cake stops are if I were to be cycling by!

I've got bird feeders - that reminds me, I'll need to buy some fat balls soon and I plan to build a bug hotel at some point, but what do you do to encourage wildlife into your garden?

Today I'm sharing some greenery with a difference, and that's because it's the walk along the West Bank path at the Titchwell Marsh nature reserve. It's just 1km to the beach, but there's so much packed into that short walk.

And it doesn't have a bad view either!

The nature reserve is to our right as we walked along and quite soon we passed the Reedbed pool, where often bearded tits, marsh harriers and bitterns can be seen. Sadly we didn't spot much, either because we weren't looking well enough or because there wasn't anything to see - I'm not sure which!

Following the Reedbed pool there's the Freshwater marsh with its two hides, that's quickly followed by the Volunteer marsh and then the Tidal marsh. And I bet like me, you just thought there was just marshland, not different sorts - it seems there's more to it than that. The main difference here is saltwater and freshwater, I was paying attention!

There were plenty of benches along the way to sit and enjoy the view, or for the twitchers a chance to rest their equipment and capture some beautiful shots of both the landscape and wildlife alike.

With the dunes in sight, our walk to the beach was almost done and I think this has to be one of the most scenic walks to any beach I've ever been to. And that sky, blue but sadly not quite as warm as it looked, but if the temperature's right I'm convinced that Norfolk could rival any Mediterranean beach resort.

And with that I'm leaving you wondering what's over the dunes, I'll share a post in the next few days of what I found on the beach.