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Description
Surprisingly, given its proximity to Norwich city centre, Thorpe St. Andrew's Broad (locally referred to as Thorpe Marshes) is an excellent place to see a variety of bird species, some of which you might not expect in such an urban setting. The reserve consists of a short circular walk, including a viewpoint over the lake, and bridge crossing a railway to access the reserve.
Throughout the year, Thorpe Marshes is home to a variety of common wetland birds including labod grbec, mlakarica, konopnica and čopasti ponirek. The reedbed holds svilnica and trstni strnad, while prosnik may be adorning the tops of bushes in the marshland area. The river offers chances to see vodomec on any visit to the site. At dawn and dusk, Pegasta sova may be sighted hunting around the reserve.
In winter, the lake (broad) make hold čopasta črnica, zvonec, kreheljc, žličarica and mali ponirek. In periods of colder weather, veliki žagar, mali žagar and črnovrati ponirek may put in appearances for lucky spotters, as well as bobnarica . The marshland will hold good numbers of kozica and even a few puklež, although these will be difficult to find. A few travniška cipa will also be found here.
It is sometimes worth wandering up the river to Thorpe Green, where familes feed the ducks and gulls. Have a look through groups of rečni galeb and sivi galeb for colour-ringed birds from eastern europe. Wildfowl including nilska gos will also be seen here.
In spring, there is always a chance of finding a rarer visitor on the broad including crna raca, polarna čigra, mali galeb and črna čigra, while navadna čigra are expected to be seen from April onwards. Large number of feeding hirundines congregate over the broad, including breguljka, kmečka lastovka and mestna lastovka, usally joined by hudournik in May.
The marshland fills with the sound of singing warblers in April and May, including črnoglavka, vrbji kova ek, bičja trstnica, srpična trstnica, rjava penica and smaller numbers of severni kovaček, mlinarček and even kobiličarcan be heard! Both močvirska trstnica and trstni cvrčalec have been recorded at the site, but are very rare.
In the summer and autumn, škrjančar may be seen feeding over the reserve, and expect large numbers of siva gos in the area. Waders may be found at the broad, including školjkarica and mali martinec if the water levels are low. You may encounter the local aleksander population at Thorpe Green, which are slowly increasing in the area.
Details
Access
To access the reserve, walk along Whitlingham Lane, located at the traffic light junction with Yarmouth Road. At the end of this short road there is a footbridge over the railway line which gives access to the reserve. Please note there is no parking on Whitlingham Lane. The site is easily reached via bus from Norwich city centre. The paths can often be muddy and flooded so wellingtons are recommended in the winter months.