DAVID'S NATURE BLOG

6 APRIL 2024 – THORLEY WASH

I was certain I wanted to go out this weekend as I hadn’t been down to Thorley Wash for around a month or so, and as the weather promised warm sunshine (despite very high southerly winds), I chose the Stort option.

I took the bus down to Spellbrook, then walked along to the Stort Navigation (across the railway), with the intention of walking northwards along the towpath. But I’m so pleased I decided on utilising my half-wellingtons because the towpath was like a mire in most places up to the bridge leading to Thorley Wash Reserve - and was even decidedly dangerous, because it would have been so very easy to slip and fall into the river; and with my particular predicament having to use a Nordic stick for support (my regular readers will know the reasons by now) it just wasn’t an easy option by any means. So, I was cautious in the extreme; possibly over so.

Before I started on the route northwards, a lovely songster in the form of a male Song Thrush, made itself known, with another male not far away, and then two male Chiffchaffs in full song, came into view, with my attempt to photograph them only marginally successful. Then, a familiar raucous sound filled the air, and it wasn’t until I saw the perpetrator that I realised what was making it, as this (I assume, a male) Rose-ringed Parakeet flew along the river and over my head before I could even flex the camera into the appropriate mode. It was my first Rose-ringed Parakeet since January 2008, so really, quite a rare occurrence, and I was chuffed to bits.

Two Eurasian Buzzards came into view over the Wallbury Estate (which sidles the Stort until reaching Thorley Wash Reserve), with a few Jackdaws obviously nest-building in tree holes, and a pair of Stock Doves too. Then the sound of a Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming briefly very nearby (although it wasn’t going to show itself). At few more singing Chiffchaffs were almost impossible to see in the extremely strong winds; along with a male Blackcap which I only just glimpsed as it too had trouble in the wind. At least five male Cetti’s Warblers sang vociferously (as they always do) without revealing themselves, but all along the towpath one could see where the river had overflowed into (or from) the Wallbury Estate, and the consequential muddy mire to evaluate before moving forward. Several runners passed going both ways, and I had to admire their skills in negotiating the watery/muddy areas without seeming to slip (though I guess it was a close-run thing for them). Then I walked around the entire Thorley Wash reserve, without seeing anything of note (with the exception of a lone Grey Heron and hovering male Kestrel) before I was back on the towpath walking northwards in the direction of Twyford Lock, where I overheard a couple of walkers commenting on seeing four Swallows around the stables there - so I too went slightly out of my way to see them as they were the first Swallows I’d seen this year. They also happened to be the earliest I’d seen the species at this location.

Not many butterflies, presumably due to the high winds, but 2 Peacocks and a male Brimstone, plus a Holly Blue at Twyford Lock were the only species seen.

On the way I stopped occasionally to photography plant species and birds, where I could, so by the end of my walk - almost four hours in total, and I was most definitely feeling it in my legs; so, I knew I needed to make my way home.