From Down Under to East Anglia: 13-16 October 2024

This is a blog about days out for a party of just three. Honeyguider Ceri from Queensland, Australia was with our group in the Spanish Pyrenees during the first week of October, after which she was keen to see some of East Anglia while she was in the UK. In other circumstances I might have invited local Honeyguiders to join us. However, a dose of Covid meant that wasn’t wise: we restricted this to three of us, namely me, Ceri and Ann, who had all tested positive. Chris Durdin

Sunday afternoon, 13 October: I picked up Ceri from Norwich bus station then, after a late lunch, we met Ann and walked around the main broad (gravel pit) at Whitlingham Country Park. A close little egret was a good start, and other water birds like great crested grebes, Egyptian geese, numerous cormorants and tufted ducks were also easy to see, being well used to people here. Ceri appreciated a chance to compare gulls: lesser black-backed, herring, black-headed and common.

Monday morning, 14 October, started wet, though happily that soon cleared. It’s good to watch birds though the eyes of a visitor from down under. So the well-stocked birdfeeders at RSPB Strumpshaw Fen were a boon, with a procession of blue, great and coat tits. From Fen Hide there were good views of marsh harriers and the ‘ping’ of bearded tits. We walked the Woodland Trial (the Fen Trail was under water anyway) where we saw our first Chinese water deer of the day.

From Fen Hide, Strumpshaw Fen.

We moved onto nearby Buckenham Marshes, where there was immediately another Chinese water deer. Looking towards Strumpshaw Fen we could see two red kites. The big numbers of winter birds were still to arrive here, but there were rooks, jackdaws and starlings in groups. The scrape area had wigeons, shovelers, teals and lapwings.

Lunch was back at Thorpe St Andrew, after which we headed to NWT Hickling Marshes. We started again by watching bird feeders, this time with a greenfinch, chaffinch and goldfinches. Our route was alongside Brendan’s Marsh to Stubb Mill, now in sunshine. On the marsh a great white egret stood tall above the many wigeons, teals and lapwings. Volunteer Mike Dawson stopped for a chat and to pass on useful information. We followed a spotted redshank as it fed. On the field on the other side, two of the several flying stock doves settled long enough to be seen properly.

Common darters warming themselves on wood.

The sun brought out dragonflies, and on one gate we counted 30 common darters warming themselves: they also liked landing on us. There was also a willow emerald damselfly, a very confiding male migrant hawker and a lovely red admiral.

Koniks at Hickling, their ancestors brought from Poland a few decades ago. Stubb Mill is in the background.

Cranes had been calling and, exactly as we arrived at Stubb Mill, a stroke of luck – 17 flew past. Two could be seen in the distance on the grazing marshes of Heigham Holmes. A kestrel settled on the mill. Cranes continued to be vocal as we walked back, as were many red deer, as it was the time of the rut. On the way back, two more mammals: a hare that ran then somehow hid from view in a stubble field, and a close view of a muntjac.

Cranes at Stubb Mill, November 2021. 

Hickling collage. Top left, male migrant hawker. Right: common darter on a hat.
Bottom:left: a great white egret on Brendan's Marsh. Bottom right: more darters.

Tuesday, 15 October: south-east to Suffolk, starting at RSPB Minsmere nature reserve. Outside the visitor centre were impressively big parasol fungi. We walked along north wall to east hide, from where there were hundreds of ducks: wigeons, teals, shovelers, gadwalls, mallards, a few shelducks and two pintails. Waders were very thin in numbers, just a single dunlin, a couple of both black-tailed godwits and avocets.

At Minsmere: parasol fungus by the visitor centre, and wigeon among buttonweed on the Scrape.

On the beach, Ceri’s first sighting of the North Sea, we quickly saw groups of dark-bellied geese flying south. One group had a single pink-footed goose at its head, others had some cormorants joining the procession. Two birders were standing by one of the WW2 concrete blocks, one of which was my old friend John Grant, now president of the Suffolk Bird Group, clicker (for counting birds) in hand. They’d been counting since first thing and had already logged 700 brent geese. Later I heard that they finished for the day at 14:30 with 1,428 brent geese counted to be entered onto BirdTrack.

Sea watching with John Grant (centre, behind my telescope) on Minsmere's beach (Ceri Pearce).

At the sluice we turned to complete the loop around The Scrape. Three bearded tits dashed past, and the avocets were close to South Hide. There was a late-flowering marsh mallow. Back at the visitor centre, it was time for lunch and shopping.

For the afternoon, we drove the short distance to the National Trust’s Dunwich Heath. The ‘best-bird-near-the-car-park’ rule kicked in when a Dartford warbler sat on a scrubby bush. After that there were few birds to see, not even a stonechat, perhaps not helped by the grey weather. Ann noticed a common darter caught in a spider’s web, and we saw the garden spider circle then grasp the dragonfly. Western gorse and a few springs of bell heather were in flower. We found more parasol fungi, a fly agaric, birch milkcap and tiers of birch polypores. It was time to head back to Norwich.

The above mentions mostly bigger wildlife, so would be only fair to add that Ann, being Ann, was finding a steady trickle of mini-beasts from bees to galls to willow emerald egg-laying scars, and dozens of caddis-flies.

Dunwich Heath: birch milkcap (Ceri Pearce), death of a darter.

Wednesday 16 October: knowing Ceri was heading for York, nice though York is, local pride meant it seemed only right to give her a gentle tour of Norwich’s equally good highlights this warm October morning. Our route was Norwich Castle, Royal Arcade, the market and Guildhall, The Lanes, Elm Hill, Cathedral and Pull’s Ferry, then back via London Street to take in various old banks and Jarrolds, all done with plenty of time to catch a lunchtime train. A peregrine twice flew over us near the cathedral, where you could see its nesting box. 

Hickling guided walk, 19 August 2024

As we gathered in NWT’s Hickling Broad and Marshes nature reserve’s car park, the talk was on a strange subject, namely galls on alder catkins. This was prompted by two things: alders in the car park, and photos in the printed holiday report I passed to Ann, which included alder catkins with galls that she’d found in Bulgaria’s Western Rhodopes, in that case on grey or speckled alder Alnus incana rather than our common alder, Alnus glutinosa. More on these later.

The introductory chat with Rachel at the visitor centre was punctuated by observing a black-tailed skimmer on the ground and hornets going into the centre’s roof. We started by failing to find a wasp spider in the long grass, which was a star find on the Honeyguide group’s visit this time last year, on 24 August 2023.

Ruddy darter.

There were dragonflies everywhere today. Ruddy darters and common darters were especially numerous, and many more black-tailed skimmers landed on paths throughout the morning. Blue emperors, brown hawkers and a southern hawker – that was when we were back near the visitor centre later – added to the mix.

Twice willow emerald damselflies landed and posed for us. Other species today were blue-tailed and common blue damselflies.

Willow emerald damselfly.

Much of the interest today was in various invertebrates. Three of these (a fourth, Roesel's bush-cricket, jumped too quickly for a photo) are in the photo collage below: dingy footman, green shield bug and the chrysalis of a drinker moth, which – from the hole on the side of the pupa’s case – had either been parasitised or predated.

Top: green shield bug and dingy footman moth. Bottom: drinker moth chrysalis and female black-tailed skimmer.

Birds in the reedbed area were fairly quiet, as you might expect in August: distant calling cranes, a chew chew of a greenshank, Cetti’s warbler, glimpses of bearded tit. But it paid to look up from time to time, such us twice when a spoonbill flew past, and for that other big white bird now regular at Hickling, great white egret.

Ah yes, those galls on female alder catkins, which are caused by the ascomycete fungus Taphrina alni. The best place for these, we found, was on alders by the viewpoint over Hickling Broad, where we’d stopped to see the usual great crested grebes and herd of mute swans. There were at least 10 of these galls here, plus a few later, and the photo collage gives a feel for the variation in size, colour and shape, all in a range of tongue-like shapes.

Galls on female alder catkins,  caused by the fungus Taphrina alni. 

In late summer and early autumn, we all instinctively turn over oak leaves to look for galls. It’s interesting how the number of these vary from year to year. As well as many common spangle galls, what caught the eye this year were egg-shaped galls on the veins of oak leaves caused by the gall wasp Neuroterus anthracinus. Some were green, others 'ripening' to red and turning blotchy.

Galls on oak leaves caused by the gall wasp Neuroterus anthracinus.

It was too late in the year to see the rare fen mason wasp, though we did look closely at patches on the ground that had been fenced to protect them. We found one distinct ‘chimney’ or ‘turret’ from an underground nest. Back at the visitor centre, warden John Blackburn was saying that the soil pellets discarded by burrowing females are equally distinctive and therefore a good indicator of the wasps' presence: these are also evident in the photo.

Fen mason wasp ‘turret’.

Farther round there were three freshly emerged small tortoiseshell butterflies on hemp agrimony. Gatekeepers were also fairly numerous.

Small tortoiseshell on hemp agrimony. 

Even creeping thistle had two points of interest. The swelling on the stem is a gall caused by the picture-winged fly Urophora cardui. The creamy-white foliage is explained by this quote: "This is caused by Pseudomonas syringae, a bacteria that produces a chemical called tagetitoxin, which poison chloroplasts and causes chlorosis." 

Creeping thistle: gall and bleaching caused by a bacterium.

Brendan’s Marsh was relatively quiet here, though we returned to look over it from the other side after we’d had our picnic lunches. From the viewing platform it was easy to find two nests of spoonbills: this species is nesting at Hickling for a second year. There were also two spoonbills on Brendan’s Marsh, at least three great white egrets and several little egrets. These were mixed in with many geese (Canada, greylag and Egyptian), ducks in eclipse plumage, namely mallard, gadwall, shoveler and teal, lapwings and a single ruff.

Spoonbill collage of digiscoped images:two on Brendan's Marsh and distant nest.

Brendan's Marsh: great and little egrets and various wildfowl (digiscoped).

Back in the car park, now we’d got our eye in for them, we found a few more galls on the alder catkins over our parked cars, which we showed to Rachel. Perhaps not as showy for sharing with visitors as last year’s wasp spider, but certainly a point of interest.

Chris Durdin

Plumstead and Holt Country Park, 8 August 2024

This was a guided walk with a difference, starting at the house of my late father, John Durdin, the Old Post Office in Plumstead, the walk on this occasion supporting the Honeyguide Charitable Trust. It would be fair to say that six Honeyguiders enjoyed their tour of the garden, house, cellar and small cottages in the grounds, with various historic features discussed. At one point there were four buzzards in the sky.

Pond at Plumstead Green.

We set off for a local walk, stopping first at St Michael’s church, which happened to be open as some Plumstead residents were meeting there for coffee. We took a look inside this compact and attractive church, which has two large paintings by John Durdin. At Plumstead Green we stopped at the village pond, restored a decade and a half ago. A blue emperor hunted over the pond and there were distant blue damselflies, but these were trumped by a female southern hawker that landed on a hogweed stem, allowing close views and photos in its characteristic upright perched position. 

Southern hawker, female.

We walked around the adjacent conservation meadow, now (paths apart) with high vegetation dominated by hogweed and wild carrot, plus a patch of tansy and birdsfoot trefoil here and there.

Plumstead's conservation meadow.

On the edge of a sugar beet field we looked at arable ‘weeds’, including black bindweed, which in my flower book is classified as a dock, though in more recent references it’s put in Polygonaceae (knotweeds, such as redshank). Redshank, field pansy (heartsease), fat hen and hedge mustard were among the other ‘weeds’. We turned left in the wood, and obvious marble galls on oak prompted some leaf turning, and we found silk button and spangle galls. By the sheltered edge of the words there were about 20 hunting dragonflies, mostly migrant hawkers. We returned to Plumstead up Jericho Lane, passing a nice clump of yellow toadflax. We had picnic lunches in the garden, and it was hot enough for us to seek the shade of the large cooking apple tree. A red kite passed by, over the field behind the Old Post Office.

The weather had become overcast as we arrived at Holt Country Park, and there was briefly a hint of drizzle, though not enough for a coat. The grey sky meant no butterflies on the buddleias in the car park, and we walked steadily through the woods past the big pond and onto the dry heath part of Holt Lowes. Here the tall common (European) gorse was not in flower; instead the generally shorter and unscented western gorse was flowering, as is typical in August. Despite the lack of sunshine, on the heath there seemed to be plenty of butterflies, mostly gatekeepers, meadow browns and peacocks.

Western gorse, bell heather and heather.

The wide, sandy path had various little holes on account of solitary bees and ants, and in two places we found what I was hoping we'd see: bee wolf. The first disappeared quickly down a burrow, the second we watched digging for a good while before it disappeared. It’s a species spreading further north and a recent colonist here.

Bee wolf.

The wet edge of Holt Lowes meant various difference species, starting with lots of lesser spearwort and ragged robin. The weather was against us for the star invertebrate, keeled skimmer, just two brief views of flying blue-grey males, though again there were plenty of migrant hawkers in the wing, plus a ruddy darter. There was plenty of botanical interest: bog pimpernel (though it took a while to find some last, lingering pink flowers), tormentil, marsh lousewort, clubmoss and pink crossed-leaved heath to add to the bell and common heathers in drier areas. A single heath spotted orchid was a surprise, this late in the year, and there was lots of round-leaved sundew.

Round-leaved sundew.

Tormentil - a four-petalled cinquefoil.

Ann and I were searching alder buckthorn bushes for traces of brimstone butterflies, but we found only nibbled leaves. However, Ann did find a fine female speckled bush cricket. That was not long before we’d completed our circuit of Holt Lowes, and we then returned to the car park

Speckled bush-cricket on an alder buckthorn leaf.

The walk plus additional donations for books and other items raised £400 for the Honeyguide Charitable Trust.

Chris Durdin

‘Big Yellow’ bee orchids 2024

Today (6 June) I made my annual visit to Big Yellow Self Storage on Canary Way in central Norwich to count bee orchids. I have been keeping an eye on them here for 16 seasons, since I first found a few flowering spikes in 2009.

Bee orchid at Big Yellow Self Storage, 6 June 2024.

I thought there was a risk that my visit might be a little earlier in the year than ideal, but not so. Though it hasn’t felt like summer weather, as the UK has had its warmest May on record the bee orchids were well advanced. I found 15 spikes, most in flower, the odd one still in bud. It’s not a large number, but good to know that they are still there.

Oxeye daisies opposite Norwich City FC.

The main visual impact of the ‘meadow in the city’ now, as in recent years, is a sheet of oxeye daisies. Bee orchids often grow on quite bare ground or short turf, so I was more pleased than disappointed with this modest count. The orchids are tucked away around the back, rather than on the big area left uncut opposite Norwich City FC.

Oxeye daisies around the back, a new digital display hoarding and, if you look carefully, the pink sepals of a bee orchid (foreground, centre). 

Common broomrape (Orobanche minor) in two colour forms.

Ragged robin.

A few broomrapes, a ragged robin, crested dog's-tail grass and some perforate St John’s-wort added interest. About 10 of the oxeye daisies had green beetles on them: female thick-legged flower beetles, I think (only the males have the chunky thighs). Common blue damselflies drifted among the long grass, here far from water.

Thick-legged flower beetle, female (I think).

There is a change around the railway station side of the L-shaped meadow, with two large digital advertising hoardings having been installed last winter. For now, the vegetation around these is cut, though as it grows back it could provide the barer, nutrient-poor ground that wild flowers like.

Bee orchid across the road.

The biggest surprise was when I crossed Canary Way to look at the uncut grass on the other side of the road. This is the area that is full of canary-yellow crocuses in early spring close to the football ground. There, by the base of a tree, was another bee orchid, so the 16^th today. Big Yellow cannot take credit for the uncut vegetation here, and I don’t know who is following the No Mow May advice and extending that into June – presumably one of the local authorities. However, it’s fair to give Big Yellow the likely credit for the source of seed for the orchid here.

Cigarette end container turned blue tit nest box.

I called into Big Yellow’s office to give them my results and point them towards the orchid across the road. They shared another bit of wildlife news: an outdoor box for cigarette stubs has become a blue tit nesting box, and was suitably labelled as such. Curiously, on yesterday’s Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 there was a similar story, about a cigarette stub box used by blue tits at Norwich Research Park. There they were reported as having fledged: here, at Big Yellow, the adult blue tits were actively feeding young.

Chris Durdin

Previously on Big Yellow’s bee orchids (selected): 
Photos on Facebook 2022 
Bee orchids bonus in lockdown (2020) 
Bee orchids bounce back (2019) 
Bee Orchids get my vote (2017) 
Big Yellow bee orchids are back (2016) 
The Meadow in the City (2015)

 

Spring Bird Walk in Eaton Park, 2 May 2024

 

Guest blog by Helen Mitchell, Friends of Eaton Park

This year’s bird walk with Chris Durdin took place on the most perfect May day. The sun shone down from a blue sky. The park is stunning at this time of year. Many trees are just in leaf and are the freshest of greens. On the pitch and putt the hawthorn trees are clouds of fluffy white and Bluebell Wood is doing its thing, beautifully.

We kicked off with blackbird song in the rose garden before stopping for a while to enjoy a greenfinch. It had settled in to sing on the edge of one of the narrow-leaved ashes beside the Crazy Golf. Chris set up his scope and passers-by joined us to peer at the little bird. Later we heard a second greenfinch, on the North side of the park. This assured us that there are at least a two greenfinches in Eaton Park. Numbers have been down and we haven’t spotted them on previous walks so this was a real pleasure.

'Islands of meadow saxifrage in the meadow'

A walk down walnut tree avenue then to the rotunda and on to North Park Meadow. There we heard and watched blue tits and wrens and admired the islands of meadow saxifrage in the meadow. The tiny white flowers of this ancient meadow plant only come out at this time of year. We were also happy to see little forests of yellow rattle starting to grow.

The group on the edge of the meadow.

Walking down the north side of the park towards Bluebell Wood we admired the blossom on North Park Avenue’s Judas trees – their bubble gum pink branches unmissable. An eagle-eyed member of the group spotted a pair of blue tits nesting in the top of a street light post that had lost its cap (pictured for interest but sadly without birds!).

Street light that had a blue tit nesting in it.

Above the cricket pitch we spotted a buzzard and stopped for a while to watch it circling overhead. Several of us had seen these handsome birds of prey over gardens in West Norwich. Having suffered a steep decline in numbers, there are now four times as many buzzards in the UK as there were in the 1970s.

In Bluebell Wood, we listened to a chiffchaff. Named after their onomatopoeic song, these small warblers have becoming increasingly common. They usually migrate to southern Europe and North Africa but climate change has seen more of them overwinter in the UK. In Norwich they’ve been heard near the ring road and even close to Unthank Road shops.

There was a possible parakeet in Bluebell Wood which triggered a report of regular sightings of whole families living on Marston Marshes. These walks are always about sharing sightings, knowledge and enthusiasm as much as enjoying birds and nature.

Spotted medick as we entered the wood. 

In Bluebell Wood, the wildflowers were an absolute picture. Friends of Eaton Park have laid down woodchip on the pathway over a couple of years. In a spring of constant rain, the path has remained largely passable keeping walkers on track and away from the wildflowers. As well as bluebells there’s the dazzling white of great stitchwort, an increasing proliferation of the delicate umbellifer pignut and the glorious pink of red campion and herb robert.

In Bluebell Wood

Bluebell Wood.

With sunlight pouring through gaps in the ancient oaks and wildflowers all around us, bluebell wood was quite stunningly beautiful.

Heading back to the rose garden we were treated to the sight of a couple of sparrows hopping about in a silver birch, pecking at the leaves and twigs for insects and caterpillars. As always we ran over time, and people peeled off, most of them also after 7.30pm, to pick up bikes they’d parked earlier, or take the best exit home.

Common polypody on the old putting green hut.

For details of nature walks and other events and activities in Eaton Park visit friendsofeatonpark.co.uk/events-activities/ or follow the Friends on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/eatonparkfriend/

John Durdin 1926 – 2023

My father, John Durdin, died on 20 December. He was 97 and eight months old.

John Durdin, South Africa's Garden Route, November 2009.

It may seem a little strange to announce your father’s death through a blog, but it feels apt as he was such a regular presence on Honeyguide holidays over so many years and therefore known to many Honeyguiders.

There is a potted biography for Dad here, from a parish magazine in Plumstead, north Norfolk, where he lived for several decades. This blog is more about noting his Honeyguide links. Naturally it’s highly encouraging when your father enjoys the holidays that you run that he should choose to come on 27 holidays – nearly one a year before a combination of Covid restrictions and age drew a line.

With cheetah, Drakensbergs 2017 (Jean Dunn).

Dad’s first was in Honeyguide’s first year, 1991, to The Lot in France, where he returned in 1997. Other European destinations cover a big proportion of Honeyguide’s back catalogue: Mallorca, Spanish Pyrenees (twice), Eastern Greece, Slovakia, Menorca, Crete, Algarve, Lesvos, Madeira, Poland, Extremadura, French Pyrenees and the Dordogne (three times – where the wildlife and Cathy and Keith’s hospitality at Castang prompted return visits, including his final overseas trip in 2019.)

Dad had a particularly strong connection to the Danube Delta, with five visits. Holiday reports note that he was a guest of our local partners, Ibis Tours, a mark of mutual affection, also reflecting that we are both family firms.

With Geoff Crane, Table Mountain, 2015.

Some my father’s happiest days – and mine – were with Geoff Crane in southern Africa (and provided some of the best photos, too). The Western Cape in 2005 and 2015, Garden Route in 2009, Drakensbergs & Zululand in 2017 and finally Namibia in 2018, then aged 92.

Robberg beach, South Africa, 2009 (no, he wouldn't have minded).

It’s partly that Dad liked the mix of wildlife that Honeyguide offers, and the sensible pace. It was also the social side: he quickly made friends with Honeyguiders, and the mutual affection is shown in emails arriving recently.

Kate Dalziel in Cornwall says: “I count myself lucky to have been on two trips with him - the Danube Delta and the Dordogne.  He was delightful, knowledgeable but unassuming and with a real twinkle.“ Martin Kelsey in Extremadura says: “I remember him extremely well, he was a delightful and rather mischievous fellow!” From Rob Lucking, Honeyguide leader: “I have fond memories of him in Lesvos - he was excellent company and had a great sense of fun!” 

The sense of humour extended, at times, into anecdotes, often concluded with a Sidney James type of laugh, which had a knack of carrying you with him, whether or not the story was a good one. Yes, there were a couple of slightly embarrassing ‘Dad moments’ from brief speeches on last evenings, though it came from a pride in Honeyguide and especially for the conservation contributions through the Honeyguide Wildlife Charitable Trust. And there were a couple of holiday highlights that had everyone in stitches: one that comes to mind is “I’m wondering what the blokes down the pub will say when I tell them I’ve been watching penduline tits!” Perhaps you had to be there. 

Post-Covid, there are two cameo appearances to note. Two days in north Norfolk, 17 & 18 August in 2021 was in the second of the two years when Honeyguide was restricted to the UK. The two days were for regular Honeyguiders Sue & Peter Burge and Helen & Malcolm Crowder and included a visit to my father’s garden and exotic plant collection in his conservatory – a good wet-weather option in north Norfolk. Then, as recorded in News 2022, an exhibition and sales of my father’s paintings raised a little over £600 for Honeyguide's charity, plus a tidy sum for his village church.

Back row: Chris Durdin, John Durdin, Malcolm Crowder. Front: Helen Crowder. Rietvlei, SW Cape, Oct 2015.

I should add the traditional note that John had four children and six grandchildren, and that his wife, Yvonne, pre-deceased him by several years; they had divorced some years earlier.

The funeral will be help at Baconsthorpe Church in north Norfolk on 15 January. Tributes and donations to Norfolk Wildlife Trust can be made via this Just Giving Link. 

Chris Durdin

Whitlingham Country Park, 15 December 2023

The forecast sunshine didn’t appear, though at least it was dry for the group of five on this ‘Honeyguide social’ event. By the edge of Whitlingham Great Broad, the usual mallards and Egyptian geese fed by visitors were joined by many gulls, and we picked out one common gull among the many black-headed gulls.

We took a clockwise circuit. Pausing by a near group of tufted ducks, with a great crested grebe beyond, Tricia pointed to a pale duck by the far bank. It was female goosander, and it moved into open water and showed well through the telescope, including for passers-by.

Goosander and great white egret: both poor digiscoped images, though you can see what they are.

Ann went to the water’s edge to look at an overhanging willow and found the egg-laying scars of willow emerald damselfly.

A scan of Whitlingham Little Broad revealed egrets perching on alders on the far bank: two great white egrets and at least three little egrets. One or two great white egrets have been here regularly of late, according to records on the Norwich Bird News WhatsApp group. Like little egrets, they are increasingly a routine sighting.

Common inkcap.

Along the far side of the Great Broad, it was rich in fungi on dead wood and in leaf litter. Species we identified with confidence included jelly ear, coral spot, turkeytail, yellow brain, purple jellydisc and candlesnuff. Common bonnet and common inkcap were added later; thank you to James Emerson for his advice.

Top left:candlesnuff fungus. Top right: common bonnet, growing high on a poplar.
Bottom left: yellow brain. Bottom right: purple jellydisc (centre), with silverleaf fungus (top and bottom right).

At the ‘conservation area’ there was a close gadwall and about 30 cormorants. Scanning beyond the cormorants on posts we could see a male goldeneye, though you had to be quick as it spent more time under the water than on it.

We heard from other walkers that the paths were flooded at the eastern end of the circuit, so we retraced our steps back to the car park and Barn Café.

Chris Durdin