20 DECEMBER 2025 – ALONG THE RIVER STORT TO TWYFORD LOCK

It was a lovely clear, crisp morning and I really didn’t want to give up the chance of some winter landscape photography along the River Stort; and anyway, I hadn’t been out of the house for a week or so - except for minor shopping - so the exercise would do me good, both physically and mentally.

It had been my intention to take a bus to Spellbrook, then walk north along the Stort Navigation towpath, but I just missed the bus, so instead I walked southwards along the towpath to Twyford Lock. It turned out to be a wise move, largely because walking south into the bright sunlight meant that the photography would be considerably more atmospheric than otherwise might have been the case.

I wasn’t expecting much in the way of wildlife - especially given the fact that I was starting out quite late in the morning - around 9.45 a.m.; and indeed that proved to be the case, with (mostly) only birdlife on show, including my first local Eurasian Siskins this year - a small gathering of around half a dozen birds atop some larches at Rushy Mead Reserve (roughly halfway to Twyford Lock); a couple of Little Egrets (one of which was ‘ringed’) perched in trees in different locations; and a flock of about fifteen extremely flighty Redwings. The remaining species made up of various Tits; Robins; Mallards and Moorhens; Crows and Magpies. The only other wildlife was a fleeting glimpse of a (probable) Common Shrew as it flashed across the towpath in front of me.

However, as it turned out, the gorgeous winter light, and wonderful misty conditions combined to provide the wherewithal for me to test my photographic skills, although that wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds, as the light was really quite harsh at times; and anyway, for reasons I wasn’t able to fathom out, my camera settings proved a tad uncompromising when I really didn’t need them to be. So, here is a small selection of the sixty or so images I took.

ALONG THE STORT (NORTH)

APPROACHING SOUTHMILL LOCK

SOUTHMILL LOCK

SOUTHMILL LOCK

SOUTHMILL LOCK

MIST ON THE STORT

BEECH AND GRASSES

MALLARDS

MUTE SWAN

CARRION CROWS

LITTLE EGRET

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)