I had 2 visits today and to 2 very different sites: Santon Downham and WWT Welney.
These visits,
together with my visit to Amwell Nature Reserve yesterday, enabled me to add 9 species to my 2025 UK year list, taking it to 119 species.
Amwell Nature Reserve: Smew, Red-crested Pochard, Chiffchaff, Cetti's Warbler
Santon Downham: Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Grey Wagtail
WWT Welney: Whooper Swan, Tree Sparrow
Santon Downham is a village in Suffolk located within Thetford Forest, the largest lowland coniferous forest in the UK, and on a meander of the River Little Ouse on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. Thetford is 4 miles to the south east and Brandon is 2 miles to the west.
The first impression of Santon Downham and its immediate surroundings is that of a small village in the middle of forestry plantations. To some extent, this is true but a quick walk around soon reveals more than just wall-to-wall conifers. Dense blanket plantations of conifers do not offer much for wildlife but Thetford Forest has been sympathetically managed for many decades and now provides a rich variety of habitats that support a wide diversity of wildlife.
Santon Downham is
situated in a region known as Breckland.
This term is also used to describe the habitat which is primarily sandy
heathland, an important and much-threatened habitat. A fifth of Breckland has
now been covered with forest. In the 1920s, planting of conifers began to
produce what is now known as Thetford Forest. This replaced the open heaths with tree cover.
However, apart from coniferous forest, the area also contains other valuable habitat including deciduous forest, mixed forest, woodland clearings, heathland, rivers and other wet areas.
Santon Downham used to be an important site for Red-backed Shrikes with numerous pairs in and around the area and occupying any suitable habitat. The national population had been declining for over a century and was about 300 pairs by the early 1950s. By the early 1970s, this population had fallen to 50 pairs and the last pair in the UK bred at St Helen's picnic site in 1988. A loan male returned in 1989 and called for a mate with no success. Since then, a few pairs have returned to the UK but not to Breckland.
The primary target species during my visit to Santon Downham were Woodlark, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Otter. I failed to see any of them despite being successful in previous years!
Nonetheless, a walk along the Norfolk side of the River LittleOuse did add 3 species to my 2025 UK year list: Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Grey Wagtail
I also saw my first Red Admiral of the year.
The highlights from my visit were as follows: Siskin (3), Lesser Redpoll (5), Grey Wagtail (male and female), Brambling (1), Chaffinch (c.20), Linnet (1), Coal Tit (2 plus others heard calling), Nuthatch (1 heard calling), Stock Dove (1 heard calling), Great Spotted Woodpecker (3 plus 2 heard calling), Cetti’s Warbler (1 male heard singing), Sparrowhawk (1), Kestrel (1), Little Grebe (1), Moorhen (2), Mallard (3 pairs), Mute Swan (6), Red Admiral (1)
Here are some photos from my visit ....
Photo: River Little Ouse at Santon Downham
Photo: Grey Wagtail
Photo: Mute Swan
Photo: Mute Swan
Photo: Wren
Photo: Red Admiral
After an enjoyable morning at Santon Downham, I drove 25 miles west to WWT Welney.
WWT Welney is part of the Ouse Washes, a linear 6211 acre Site of Special Scientific Interest stretching from near St. Ives in Cambridgeshire to Downham Market in Norfolk, England.
It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Protection Area for birds and a Special Area of Conservation.
The 2500 acre WWT Welney site is one of 10 wildfowl and wetland reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. It has a visitor centre and café overlooking Lady Fen and additional viewing facilities over the washes include an observatory with two wing hides. There are further hides to the south and to the north.
En-route to WWT Welney, I saw c.200 Whooper Swans and 4 Brown Hares in a field between the Denver Sluice and Ten Mile Bank plus a pair of displaying Great Crested Grebes on the River Great Ouse adjacent to the single track road. Whooper Swan was a target species for my 2025 UK year list but I recorded it before I had even reached WWT Welney.
Here are some photos ....
Between Ten Mile Bank to WWT Welney and within a mile of the visitor centre, there was a massive flock of at least 1000 Whooper Swans on the arable land which provided excellent photo opportunities, including flight shots.
In this same area, I also saw singles of Red Kite, Marsh Harrier and Kestrel.
Here are some photos ....
After spending over an hour watching and photographing the Whooper Swans, I drove on the short distance to WWT Welney.
Here I was able to add, as expected, a further species to my 2025 UK year list: Tree Sparrow.
I had an exceptionally good visit with a large number of species recorded overlooking Lady Fen from the visitor centre and on the washes from the observatory hide: Whooper Swan (c.20), Bewick’s Swan (1), Wigeon (c.500), Shoveler (c.50), Mallard (c.30), Teal (c.30), Pintail (c.10), Shelduck (c.10), Tufted Duck (c.10), Common Pochard (1), Black-tailed Godwit (c.100), Lapwing (c.50), Curlew (c.10), Dunlin (5), Common Snipe (2), Oystercatcher (1), Ruff (1), Common Redshank (1), Spoonbill (2), Great White Egret (3), Cattle Egret (4), Little Egret (1), Grey Heron (3), Greylag Goose (c.50), Canada Goose (2), Coot (c.50), Moorhen (2), Cormorant (3), Common Gull (1), Greater Black-backed Gull (1), Lesser Black-backed Gull (4), Herring Gull (2), Black-headed Gull (c.50), Common Buzzard (2), Peregrine (1), Marsh Harrier (3), Sparrowhawk (1), Kestrel (1), Reed Bunting (2), Tree Sparrow (c.10), House Sparrow (c.30), Chinese Water Deer (10)
Following my visit to WWT Welney, I drove the indirect route back to Ely via Pymore. From the narrow and very bumpy road to Pymore, I saw another 4 Cattle Egrets plus I had a very obliging Kestrel which allowed a photograph.
Photo: Cattle Egret
Photo: Cattle Egret
Photo: Kestrel
Love nature .... act now
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