25 FEBRUARY 2026 – A WALK ALONG THE RIVER STORT TO TWYFORD LOCK

I’d already planned a walk, but the forecast was for exceptionally mild and sunny conditions, although it was a tad chilly to begin with, so I donned a coat - which I took off within 20 minutes in favour of a short-sleeved tee-shirt as it was so warm.

There was very little activity on the river up to Southmill Lock, where I hoped to see a Grey Wagtail or a Kingfisher, but council workers were cleaning the bridge over the weir, so I moved on to Rushy Mead Reserve, and on the way notched up my first Canade Geese to be seen locally this year, and the cackle of a Green Woodpecker somewhere.

Before turning into the reserve I perused the woodland as thoroughly as I could and spied a movement in the larches, which turned out to be a lone male Common Redpoll (the first I’d seen locally for thirteen years) keeping company with several Eurasian Siskins; then a loud almost piercing call of a Nuthatch gave rise to an almost frantic search in the treetops before the said male was found. Despite a crick in my neck, it proved a very pleasing few minutes indeed. Nothing much stirred on the reserve itself, the highlight being a small troupe of Long-tailed Tits and the lovely sight of a Red Admiral butterfly on the newly open flowers of a Blackthorn.

Back on the towpath a pair of Eurasian Buzzards, mewing constantly, soared overhead, then a female Sparrowhawk, both of which I managed to photograph, though it was difficult in the extreme, given the immediacy of the sightings and the fact that the birds were virtually directly overhead.

I took a route through Twyford Lock Fields but apart from a huge swathe of snowdrops and daffodils (the latter yet to burst into flower) there was nothing much on view until I reached the fishing lake at the railway crossing, when I saw up to four Brimstone butterflies (all were males as far as I could tell), which were a welcome sign that spring was just around the corner; then made my way home. 

LARCH CATKINS

IVY ON BEECH

LONG-TAILED TIT

RED ADMIRAL ON BLACKTHORN

SNOWDROPS ON TWYFORD LOCK FIELDS

EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK

14 FEBRUARY 2026 – SOUTHERN COUNTRY PARK (SCP).

I was getting stale! I hadn’t been out for a walk for well over a week, largely down to the weather …………it has rained virtually every day for the past two weeks, with little in the way of meaningful sunshine. Consequently, everywhere has been saturated and is now incredibly muddy, and quite slippery and dangerous for us oldies who use a stick (or, in my case a Nordic pole) for support.

So, SCP seemed the logical choice, as place I could avoid the worst of the muddy conditions; and anyway, it was a good place to try and see target birds I hadn’t yet seen locally thus far this year – namely Rook and Nuthatch, which I knew occur there. So, in bright sunlight, with a cold north-westerly, I set my course, passing through Thorley Wedge on the way, which was largely bird-free.

Amazingly, I got both my target species within a few minutes of arriving on the northern outskirts, of the park, so I plodded on, in the hope that one or two more might come my way.

I could see that the reedbed had been cut back of late, leaving some open areas north of the walkway, which might suit birds like the Water Rail, which I knew resident there, although usually they would feed around dusk or very early in the morning, so not always accommodating, to the casual observer. But for the moment, just Mallards; Black-headed Gulls (including a ringed gull); Moorhens and a lone Coot were utilising the space. Some families were feeding the ducks and gulls, so I avoided them.

I hadn’t intended to walk around the lake as it was obvious that, apart from the species already mentioned, there were very few birds around - although there were several Blackbirds and Robins (male Robins were singing heartily, and were very confiding, allowing some decent close-up photography); and anyway, most of the footpaths (except those around the lake itself) were seriously muddy, so I wanted to avoid those areas. Consequently, I turned back in the attempt to get to St. James’ Church via the road - which of course was virtually mud free, except for some puddles, and of course road traffic.

I had another brief view of the Nuthatch (in the same woodland location); a probable Treecreeper (although I didn’t count it as the view was fleetingly brief) and a pair of Stock Doves perched high in a Beech - I believe they are first I’ve ever seen at this location, although they are not at all a common bird locally.

On the way to St. James’ Church, I saw several Jackdaws, most of them paired up, looking quite charming, perched together quietly in the trees, and a Magpie, busily making a nest.

St. James’ Church was a quiet place to sit and rest for a while and take in the lovely array of snowdrops growing amongst the gravestones, but the hoped-for Mistle Thrush eluded me, only a Song Thrush and some Robins and Blue Tits were seen here. Behind the church, the open farmland had been planted with root crops (these looked like turnips) and I had hoped to hear the tinkling songs of Skylarks, but the air was strangely silent in that regard. At that point I made my way back home, with no views of the usual Red Kites I’d seen on recent visits.

SNOWDROPS IN WOODS ON THE NORTHERN APPROACHS TO SCP

OVERLOOKING THE LAKE AT SCP

BLACK-HEADED GULLS

BLACK-HEADED GULLS

COOT

DRAKE MALLARD FILTERING WATER THROUGH ITS BILL

MALLARD PAIR

ROBIN

ROBIN

STOCK DOVES

GOLDFINCH

JACKDAWS

SNOWDROPS IN ST. JAMES' GRAVESTONES

 

 

8 JANUARY 2026 – ABBERTON RESERVOIR

This was our first birding trip of the new year and right from the start it seemed from forecasts that we were going to be fighting the weather - the first part of the day being still extremely cold, with light winds, drizzle and fog, followed by heavy rain and strong southwesterlies from about 14.00 hrs. possibly turning wintery by late afternoon - early evening; all courtesy of storm Goretti. So, we set off from mine shortly after 08.00 hrs expecting that we’d likely back home by mid-afternoon.

We had no problems on the road with traffic, but a detour around Coggeshall, meant that we were forced to approach Abberton Reservoir from the Layer de la Haye concourse as opposed to the Layer Breton concourse which was our intended route.

Straight away it was absolutely apparent that the reservoir south of the road here was almost entirely frozen, with hardly a bird on it, except for a couple of Great Egrets and a Carrion Crow, whereas the northern sector was less frozen with isolated groups of Goosander; Wigeon; Tufted Duck; Teal, with the odd Great Crested Grebe; Goldeneye and Pochard. There were a couple of Redshank; Black-tailed Godwits, and Oystercatchers  on the eastern bank, but not much else of note. John picked at least three Red Crested Pochard in his scope and a couple of distant Bewick’s Swans. But we missed out on Black-necked and Slavonian Grebes which had been observed in recent days.

On the way round to the Layer Breton concourse, we looked in at one of the hides at Billet’s Farm, but views of birds were restricted by fog that seemed to be becoming denser by the minute. Regrettably, we just missed a Long-tailed Duck, but there wasn’t a great deal on show here, although once again John came to the rescue with a singleton Mediterranean Gull and a drake Pintail. A female ring-necked Pheasant; a flock of about ten Dunlin, and a flyover Golden Plover helped boost our year lists too.

At Layer Breton virtually the first bird we latched onto was a stunning drake Smew, a species I hadn’t seen here for several years, and despite swimming and diving over a wide area, it kept a reasonable distance from the birders watching it.  There was a lot of activity here as it wasn’t as extensively frozen as from the southern section at Layer de la Haye, but there were many Mute Swans and Egyptian Geese interspersed with Grey Lags; Tufted Duck; Wigeon and other duck species, including a Red-head Smew (a female) which I found near to the left bank, initially ‘hiding’ beneath a fallen tree and which seemed very reluctant to come out at times. A Eurasian Buzzard was seen flying over the frozen waters and was something of a surprise. The southern part of the lake was almost entirely frozen with hardly a bird on it save for Black-headed and Herring Gulls, and I think at least one Mew (Common) Gull. But although there were a few Great Egrets, we saw absolutely no Little Egrets or Cattle Egrets (all of which had bred here); obviously the conditions were too harsh for them here, and they’d moved out to outlying fields; streams and rivulets.

After speaking to a fellow birdwatcher, John discovered that there was a ‘permissible footpath’ nearby where Tundra Bean Geese and White-fronted Geese had been observed of late, so we made a beeline for that, almost immediately connecting with a large flock of 80 or so Egyptian Geese on open fields, and behind them the three Bean Geese. Quite a bit further along, we connected with a large flock of wary Grey Lags with some Canada Geese, interspersed with the Whitefronts - where John scoped at least 14, with a good 100 or so Canada Geese further away. A pair of Stock Doves flew over, and good numbers of Redwings were seen flying out of Hawthorn bushes that lined the path.

We returned to Layer de la Haye concourse - where Mike and I spotted what we initially thought was a second drake Smew swimming around ice-free areas of water - although we soon discovered that the drake at Layer Breton was seen to fly north, so was almost certainly the same bird.

Later, we visited the Visitor Centre and the bird hides there, without seeing much more of interest due to the lack of birds on frozen waters, although two more Bewick’s Swans; a Sparrowhawk; an obliging Green Woodpecker on a wooden fence, and a few small passerines such as Titmice and Starlings were seen. By this time the whole reserve was shrouded in a truly dense fog, which virtually obliterated views of the birds and everything else.

After a welcome Cappuccino we left for home arriving at mine at 15.00 hrs in extremely dense fog, fortunately without experiencing the forecast heavy rain and high winds ………….which came after darkness fell.

A ritual that most of us ‘birders’ partake in is keeping a list of birds seen in any one year. Some are arguably a tad over-zealous in this regard, but I’d like to think that we three don’t take it that seriously. That said getting our lists off to a good start for the year is something probably most birders who keep lists adhere to well, almost religiously - and we are no different.

We achieved up to 32 ‘year ticks’ between us which we all felt was quite an exceptional tally, given the adverse weather conditions - indeed, none of us could recall seeing so much frozen water at Abberton previously, and I’m certain that helped us to some degree.

DRAKE GOLDENEYE

GOOSANDER (F)

GOOSANDER (M)

GREEN WOODPECKER

KERRY (?) SHEEP (near the 'permissible footpath)

SMEW (DRAKE)

SMEW (DRAKE)

 SMEW (DRAKE)

SMEW (FEMALE or REDHEAD)

EURASIAN WIGEON

5 JANUARY 2026 – SPELLBROOK; TEDNAMBURY MARSH and THORLEY WASH

There was a light dusting of snow outside, but otherwise pristine, extremely cold, sunny conditions; just right for a morning’s walk along the River Stort, with the aim of attempting to get as many bird species as possible - to boost my bird list (thus far a rather paltry 29) for the new year.

I chose to take a bus down to Spellbrook, then walk along the towpath, south towards Tednambury Marsh (hoping to connect with Ravens that I saw here for the first time in September 2025); then walk back along the towpath north through Spellbrook and finally Thorley Wash. Rather stupidly, I gave myself about three hours, but in fact I was out for a total just exceeding five - and that was without any resting time whatsoever!!

As soon as reached Spellbrook and crossed the level crossing and reached the bridge over the Stort, I got my first Kingfisher of the year; then a Eurasian Buzzard flew over. Taking the towpath southwards, there were quite a few Redwings flying around – all seemingly quite restless - and a Goldcrest flitting over the catkins of a larch. Nearby, at least three little Grebes were making their way south along the Stort, but were always extremely wary, and were difficult to photograph. And rather surprisingly a lovely drake Northern Shoveler flew past along the river heading back towards Spellbrook - a species I hadn't seen in these parts since December 2014. Then two more Buzzards were seen, but no sign of any Ravens, regrettably.

As I approached the tributary leading to Tednambury Marina, I saw a Fox skulking along a line of reeds out in the open, but I wasn’t quick enough to capture an image with my camera, and it was soon gone. Nearby, a small passerine alighted on a prickle - it was a female Stonechat - a species I don’t ever recall seeing here in Winter. At this point, and all the way to Tednambury Lock, the river was frozen, with a light dusting of snow on the surface, and here I saw a large Roach lying dead on the ice (and in otherwise prefect condition) and wondered how it got there, concluding that it had possibly been left by an Otter as the water froze; I couldn’t think of any other rationale.

I walked past the lock, with Redwings passing over me continually for a while, but turned back at that point, with very little else on show, except for several Blackbirds (all males); a Wren; a couple of Robins, and a few Woodpigeons, and walked back towards Spellbrook and Thorley Wash.

I couldn’t find the Stonechat again, but three Cormorants were perched atop a dead tree as the river coiled north-east, then south again, where I saw a large flock of 30 plus Jackdaws perched in a tree beside the railway (I’ve never seen so many together); then the Little Grebes came into view again, but were as wary as ever, and were extremely difficult to photograph. A Kingfisher gave me a closer, better view before I crossed the road into Thorley Wash.

Across the road just past the weir (opposite Walbury Estate) there were several birds on the river - mainly a few Mallards and Moorhens; three Mute Swans and two Gadwall - the latter are quite rare at Thorley Wash - I’ve only seen the species three times here previously since my first in 2007. I attempted to photograph them and managed a couple of shots, when a cyclist whizzed by on his bike and disturbed the birds, which promptly took to the air, along with four other Gadwall that I hadn’t seen - making six in all (three drakes and three ducks) the largest number I’ve yet recorded here. Along this stretch there was a Grey Heron behind the weir; at least ten Cormorants perched in a dead oak; a Dunnock on the opposite bank; and a lone Common Teal that I observed overhead, which was also a less common occurrence at the Wash. Apart from a couple of Blackbirds and Robins, I didn’t see another passerine until I got onto Thorley Wash Reserve, when I saw two more Goldcrests and a group of four Long-tailed Tits. A little further north along the Stort Navigation a Red Kite was seen briefly, and a lone Little Egret was seen perched in a Larch along the bank, before it too flew off as a dog walker passed by. Approaching Twyford Lock I saw another Fox snuggly resting quietly amongst some dead bramble, but as soon as I lifted my camera, all I managed was a partial image as the animal shot off into the bushes behind. I did feel kind of guilty for disturbing its slumbers.

It had been an interesting walk with me adding 13 new birds for the year - now standing  at 40; but that was insignificant compared to the super birds and mammals I’d seen today. I did feel extremely privileged. But at slightly over five hours out walking in extremely cold conditions, I arrived home very tired indeed.

SPELLBROOK LOCK - TOWARDS THORLEY WASH

MUTE SWAN AND LITTLE GREBE

LITTLE GREBE

LITTLE GREBE

REED MACE

FROZEN WATERS AT TEDNAMBURY LOCK

FROZEN ROACH AT TEDNAMBURY

CORMORANTS AT WALBURY ESTATE

GADWALL

GADWALL - TWO OF SIX

MUTE SWANS

MUTE SWANS

SOUTH TOWARDS SPELLBROOK

ALONG THE STORT BY THORLEY WASH RESERVE

1 JANUARY 2026 – A WALK ALONG THE RIVER STORT

Traditionally (weather permitting) I do a walk along the Stort down to Thorley Wash Reserve, not just for the exercise, but to kick-start my birding list for the New Year; and hopefully, to take some photographs too.

On this occasion the weather was fine, with fairly clear skies and sunshine, but with a bracing north-easterly; but at least it was dry. I started out at 9.0 a.m. thinking that three hours should be sufficient time to achieve a good species count. But right from the outset, I could tell I was likely to struggle because, quite frankly, the birds just weren’t around. I’d had something of a clue from the lack of birds in my gardens that morning – just three species in a brief spell of watching from my kitchen window shortly after rising from my bed at around 8.00 a.m. namely, a single Blue Tit; a Collared Dove, and a lone Robin.

So, venturing out, a few Woodpigeons were seen, along with a small group of House Sparrows around the corner from my house - but none of the usual species such as Carrion Crows; Jackdaws; Blackbirds and Starlings. A few Goldfinches were seen overhead, but nothing more until I took the towpath along the Stort in the direction of Southmill Lock, when I saw a lone Blue Tit and a Coal Tit, then my first Mallards and a couple of Moorhens. But surprisingly no other species until I turned at the entrance to Rushy Mead Nature Reserve (managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust) when after a while I spied a single Winter Wren; a few Redwings; a couple of Magpies and more Blue Tits - and that was about it for the Reserve.

Back along the Stort towpath I took a slight detour into Bluebell Wood but it was completely devoid of birdlife, so I turned back to the towpath, walking a few hundred yards without seeing a single bird, until I came to a bend in the river shortly before reaching Twyford Lock, when I heard a loud call that was familiar but I couldn’t quite place it to a particular species, but persevered until in a tree in a someone’s garden (which adjoined the river) and which had a Little Egret perched in it only a week before (and which wasn’t here today) I found what was making the call - a lone Rose-ringed Parakeet, a bird I’d never seen anywhere near this site previously. A Jay flew out of the same group of trees, together with a couple of Magpies, and a Green Woodpecker ‘cackelled’ in the distance. Down at Twyford Lock, the usual Mallards and Moorhens were absent – and so were birds I usually saw along this stretch, such as Long-tailed Tits; Great Tits; Goldcrests and Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

So, crossing the road, I took the gate onto the towpath with the intention of going down to Thorley Wash Nature Reserve (managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust) - and after a few steps located an adult Great Cormorant perched high on a dead tree, managing just the one photograph before the bird was disturbed by a walker's barking dog. I also had a very brief view of a Common Buzzard before that was lost to view behind some trees. A little further along the muddy towpath and there was a flurry of activity as a flock of ‘finches’ alighted in a larch, although I couldn’t identify them until they moved into another larch where the light was more accommodating - they were Eurasian Siskin, a small flock of some twenty or so, with at least two Goldfinches amongst them. In a nearby larch, a large group of about fifteen Redwings were perched with a single male Greenfinch - all three species I’d found hard to see at this location in 2025. A Great Tit and a Robin were also seen here. A pair of Mute Swans - always elegant - were seen here too.

I wanted to walk on, but the conditions became muddier and more slippery, so for me with my walking stick (actually, a Nordic Pole that I’ve been using as support due to a failing right hip) really quiet dangerous - I didn’t relish falling into the river, especially with my photographic equipment - so I decided to turn back and call it a day at that point. On the walk back. I saw a few Jackdaws and a lone Red Kite at Thorley Wedge, just around the corner from my house. I’d managed a paltry 27 species, quite a disappointing species count for the first day of the new year. But I have 364 days left to rectify that, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom!

GREAT CORMORANT

MUTE SWAN

MUTE SWAN

MUTE SWANS - COB AND PEN

8 DECEMBER 2025 – NORFOLK (LYNFORD ARBORETUM and SANTON DOWNHAM

John gave Mike and I a choice of venue and we came up with Lynford Aboretum for Hawfinch as our main quarry, and Santon Downham for Brambling.

Leaving at 8.00 a.m. from mine we arrived at Lynford Arboretum shortly after 9.30 a.m. when John picked up a Firecrest within seconds of getting out of his car, with excellent views of a male (we believe we had at least two birds within minutes of the initial sighting) flitting around high up in  trees (a mixtures of pine and beech) with Goldcrests, several tit species and a Treecreeper, until the male flew across the road into a small maple (?) where we were eventually sated with stunning views within a mere few feet - although it proved almost impossible to get decent photographs due to a combination of poor light and the extremely flighty nature of the bird (they move like lightening) but we weren’t at all disappointed.

A short distance away - just behind the Shepherds Baa café - there was  a tree (species unknown) in the grounds of a ‘residential home’, with a flock of Red Crossbills atop it (Mike and John counted 24) - where the birds were constantly flying down to the roof of one of the buildings in the complex – Mike says it was known that they were likely drinking from pools of rainwater collecting on the roof. The light was appalling, but I managed a few photographs of up to fifteen Crossbills (comprising mainly red plumaged males and a few (green plumaged) females.

Along the way, the renown feeding station behind a gated fence had not been set up yet, so we were unlikely to see Hawfinches here - although Mike and I did have a brief view of a probable Firecrest (our third of the day). We made our way down to the bridge where we were expecting to see another feeding station - but that too was absent with the consequence that very few birds were feeding in the vicinity, which was very disappointing – although John did hear Siskins and flyover Crossbills. I also saw a Marsh Tit which John and Mike failed to see.

In the ‘Paddock’ nearby, we spent several minutes waiting to see if there were any Hawfinches which had been seen here of late, before I found one atop a distant pine, and got reasonable views in John’s telescope, before the bird (which was a probable male - although it was difficult to tell) flew nearer and was seen in better light briefly before flying off, followed by a second Hawfinch (a probable female) that we hadn’t realised was there too. Small flocks of Siskin flew over, and in addition the occasional Crossbill or two. A Buzzard was seen in the Paddock field too.

Back at the bridge, we were lucky to observe up to four Crossbills flying down to drink at a small pool at foot of Larches, and I managed a reasonable photograph of a red male (although, once again the light was abysmal). At the gated feeding spot, John found another Hawfinch feeding in the leaf litter; a couple of Nuthatches and Redwings were seen here too - but no Bramblings or Yellowhammers.

After a welcome cappuccino  at the newly expanded Shepherd’s Baa café (where there was a  roaring log fire) we returned to the car with no further sightings of Firecrests or Crossbills and made our way to Santon Downham.

At the St. Helens car park we had two Red Crossbills virtually immediately, but struggled for quite some time before finally we had our Brambling - a probable female; although it was difficult to see the bird well due to a combination of failing light and the heavy leaf litter that the bird was feeding in - together with several Chaffinches; a lone Coal Tit; Blue and Great Tits; Robins and Blackbirds. We tried birding at another location nearby (where we’d seen Woodlarks earlier in the year) but apart from several (deafening) F11 jets that were on exercises out of Lakenheath, the birdlife was sparse with only a male Stonechat, and a Sparrowhawk of interest. At that point we made a beeline for John’s car and journeyed homewards.

FIRECREST (MALE)

RED CROSSBILLS

RED CROSSBILL (MALE)