Nature Notes columnist Jono Forgham takes a six-mile wander from Twyford Lock upstream and back to Rushy Mead Reserve and then Great Hallingbury

My last Nature Notes was hampered by a lack of car for transport. This episode was messed up by having electricians in from early morning.

Consequently, I headed off to the library to process my photos following a most enjoyable wander, having left the house early as the men went to work on rewiring the kitchen.

Arriving in Pig Lane car park in my not-so-new car (it still plays cassettes!), I picked up the towpath at Twyford Lock and headed upstream.

Over the last few months I have covered all of the Stort from Grange Paddocks to Sawbridgeworth, apart from the stretch I was walking today. I planned to head as far as Tees House in London Road, Bishop’s Stortford, before returning to look around Rushy Mead Reserve and then off to Great Hallingbury.

Mallards and moorhens populated the river. A robin sang from a nearby bush as I checked for the resident grey wagtail. He was about as I could hear him, but no sightings.

A large willow tree had shed a bough into the river, making it difficult, if not impossible, for narrowboats to get by. This will have come down in the previous day’s Storm Bert. Several other willows were also noted to have suffered bough loss.

More mallards at the canoe club near South Mill Lock, where colourful narrowboats were moored. A noisy jay bounced overhead and into Rushy Mead. I checked around the weir near the railway bridge, but no fish nor little egrets which can often be seen here.

I retraced my steps. Mallards had decided it was time for washing. Spray flew everywhere, lit by a shaft of sunshine. I adjusted the shutter speed to try to capture the spray, particularly from the female. who was extremely exuberant in her morning ablutions.

Nearby, out of sight on the far bank, I heard the alarm calls of magpies, great tits, blackbirds and a wren. A tawny or little owl roosting in some ivy, I thought. Be my first owl photo for the Indie.

I approached warily, checking the boughs where the birds were very agitated. There, on a branch, in full view was… a cat! Well, the first cat photo for this piece, I suspect. I left them to their disagreement, the cat appearing to be totally not bothered by the commotion.

I entered Rushy Mead. A green woodpecker yaffled and posed for a photo, blue tits and great tits made themselves known and another jay appeared.

I followed the meandering footpath through the alder carr. Long-tailed tits called from willows as I studied a variety of moss and lichen growing on the bark of wetland tree species.

Soon, I crossed the Hallingbury Road and headed up Jenkins Lane. An open field – owned, if my memory serves me well, by Bishop’s Stortford Town Council – was worth a check. Plenty of seedheads here that attracted a small charm of goldfinches. All a tad distant for a photo, but I snapped away merrily, nevertheless.

Jenkins Lane ends in a muddy footpath that heads downhill and crosses Hanging Hill stream on a rather slanting but solid concrete footbridge. The path continues to a tunnel under the M11 and emerges in fields with views of St Giles’ Church in Great Hallingbury.

This was my designated picnic spot, so I picked up the path that runs alongside high hedges. Fieldfares “chack chacked” overhead and several redwing disappeared into an oak, still covered in orange and brown leaves.

A common buzzard mewed, so I fired off a few shots in what was now pleasing light before it became overcast again as I entered the churchyard and found a bench to take a rest. Following my picnic, I changed lenses and checked around the gravestones for any insects or late flowering plants.

Some years ago, I was involved in checking this churchyard for biodiversity, and the parishioners have got together to try to aid nature with some thoughtful planting and management. I organised a few moth and bat nights.

A pleasing sign explaining that the grass remains uncut was great to see. So too was noticing many plant additions around the edge of the church building. Tall hollyhocks, with a few still in flower, albeit rather frostbitten now.

Several trees had also been planted near a good, strong stand of bramble adjacent to a marvellous beech tree.

In late spring and summer, this churchyard is a haven for insects. Also growing around the edge of the church were hart’s-tongue ferns (Asplenium scolopendrium). Good cover for roosting moth species as well as other insects. So pleasing to witness.

I swapped back to my larger lens just as a magpie landed, with once again the sun shining. I was constantly changing the camera setting as the light was rarely the same for more than a few minutes. I missed a great photo of a great spotted woodpecker due to incorrect settings as I headed south towards the Hallingbury Road.

Here was a large herd of donkeys. These all watched somewhat lugubriously as I sauntered by. They all looked smart in their jackets. A cormorant and several black-headed gulls flew by, heading for the water and sewage works back at Jenkins Lane.

Just after crossing the M11 there is a splendid sign by the side of the road. It remembers John Rosebrook, who was killed by lightning at this spot in August 1866. I encountered this sign some years ago on a previous wander. Then, it was very overgrown, and I was pleased to see that it now has been made more prominent and the vegetation around it has been cut right back. Lovely piece of local history.

Soon after, I came to a footpath sign and stile into a field. I have used this footpath on numerous occasions and not once have I discovered where it goes as it becomes very overgrown. I know it finishes at Latchmore Bank, opposite Pig Lane, so one time soon I must approach it from the other direction.

From this field with no known exit, I recorded several bird species, including song thrush, bullfinch and more redwing.

The large clumps of bramble here make for excellent cover, and the wide variety of tree species, including several conifers, offer many feeding opportunities for finches and tits.

It appears to be a place rarely disturbed by passers-by and contains plenty of muntjac and badger trails, but no footpath apart from the wide track running from the entrance.

Back on the road there is a good view over Bishop’s Stortford, with both St Michael’s Church and the water tower by the rugby club being prominent.

Soon I was back in Pig Lane, having checked the stream that runs under the road at Latchmore Bank. On the opposite side to Pigs Lane, I noticed a wonderful red brick-built bridge over the stream. I presumed this must have been the original road. The bridge will soon be totally covered by vegetation, but at present remained partially visible and home to a pair of dunnocks.

I arrived back at Twyford Lock and had some refreshment on the bench by the mill race weir. Again, the grey wagtail was calling from out of sight as a moorhen ploughed through the leaf litter now floating upon the water.

My pedometer registered six miles for this walk, which, considering the rough weather encountered the previous day, was not hampered by quagmires nor fallen trees. Plenty of small branches of dead wood on the towpath, nothing more apart from the few willows that had fallen into the river and will require chainsaw work by the Canal & River Trust.

A most pleasant circular walk taking in a pleasant array of habitat types and therefore offering a wider selection of wildlife than just one habitat would offer. However, a tabby cat was not expected in an arboreal setting.