Winter at Thorpe Marshes

Winter can have a stark beauty at Thorpe Marshes, Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s nature reserve on the eastern edge of Norwich. Sunny days are best for enjoying the subdued colours. These are mostly browns and greens ... apart from that added magic when it snows, as it did in early January.

Thorpe Marshes in snow, 11 January 2026, from the railway bridge.

That cold spell brought an influx of ducks onto the unfrozen parts of St Andrews Broad: about 50 teals, 25 shovelers and, unusually, six wigeons. Having open water is a valuable part of the mix at Thorpe Marshes: when the marshes are relatively quiet, there are usually ducks on the gravel pit. Numbers are highest in the early part of the year, especially tufted ducks – a diving duck – and gadwalls, which are dabbling ducks.

Tufted ducks, pochards and gadwalls on St Andrews Broad  (Derek Longe).

Elsewhere on the marsh, getting out may be more about fresh air and exercise than seeing lots of wildlife. However, there are birds you can hear, even if they stay hidden. Several water rails overwinter, a mostly secretive bird but with a range of calls, the most remarkable of which sounds like a squealing piglet.

Winter view at Thorpe Marshes, 16 December 2025.

Cetti’s warblers sing their explosive song from cover, especially on bright days. Two stonechats are often on show, perching on vegetation tops, especially on sunny days. This winter a chiffchaff – sometimes more than one – is a surprising regular bird, as they are best known as migrants. It helps if you know its soft contact call.

I lead NWT’s monthly guided walks at Thorpe Marshes, and on quiet winter days it’s good to know where to find wildlife that doesn’t fly or sing. In general, marshes are not the best place for finding fungi, but happily there are several reliable species on various bits of dead wood on the nature reserve.

Blushing bracket: on the left with 'blush' colouring; right as it looks now.

Near the railway bridge, a willow tree has a blushing bracket fungus. The photo on the right shows it as it looks now: in the autumn it was redder in colour, hence the name.

Jelly ear fungi.

Close to the tidal flap, a dead elder always has jelly ear fungi. How they look depends on the weather. When dry, the fungi are black and shrivelled. The photo is after a damp spell, and you can see its ear-like form.

King Alfred's cakes fungi.

On a dead ash stump by the riverside path, there are several weird black lumps. These are called King Alfred’s cakes. You couldn’t call them pretty, but it’s a great descriptive name. We all know the story of King Alfred burning cakes. Whether or not that’s true, you can see that it’s an apt name.

Yellow brain fungi.

An intriguing winter fungus is yellow brain. It’s small, so you need sharp eyes to see its delightfully revolting, though colourful, form.

Red-necked grebe, January 2026 (Drew Lyness).

Looking back on 2025, there were two stand-out wildlife highlights at Thorpe Marshes. In January, a red-necked grebe spent three days on the gravel pit, before a longer stay at Whitlingham Country Park. It earned itself a cover picture in February 2025’s Just Thorpe St Andrew magazine.

Scarce chaser dragonflies, 15 June 2025.

Scarce chaser dragonfly was a new colonist in June. Previously there were a few records, but they were absent as a breeding species. Scarce chasers have a limited distribution in the UK, hence their name, though this includes several Broadland nature reserves, and to reach Thorpe Marshes they haven’t had to come far, as there are good numbers at the RSPB’s Strumpshaw Fen nature reserve a few miles to the east in the Yare Valley. On 17 June, on a guided walk, we counted nine male scarce chasers and one female. The photo shows a mating pair of scarce chasers, proof of breeding, of course. 

Chris Durdin lives in Thorpe St Andrew. He runs Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays www.honeyguide.co.uk and is the guide for the monthly guided walks at NWT Thorpe Marshes.

More information about Thorpe Marshes, including recent sightings, on www.honeyguide.co.uk/thorpemarshes.htm

News, wildlife highlights, events and more - straight to your inbox from Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Turn your inbox wild today: norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/SignUp

Chris Durdin, 11 January 2026

This blog was first written as an article for Just Thorpe St Andrew.