I was but six miles to the west, at Woolston Eyes, which I know shares quite a lot of the avian wildlife that moves through our connected mosslands, flowing from Barton through Holcroft, Rixton and Woolston. This conduit of the wild must, in my opinion, never be broken.

A relaxed start time found us wandering into number three (dredging) bed which, having come to the end of its role as an area to take in the dredgings from the Ship Canal, now sits in its tranquil dotage, with a slew of wildlife bounding about. Like a grandparent with constant toing and froing of a large brood of grandchildren.

In truth the open waters of the reed beds looked quite tame with but a few coot pootling about....but teal were there in good number judging by the calls coming from the reed beds.

Eventually, the wild incremented onto the scene with shelduck, wigeon and tufted duck taking centre stage as the sun spread about the water in its wintry way.

Then that puppeteer of the wild, a sparrowhawk, then seemed to pull the strings of at least 60 greenfinch, which were at the feeding station adjacent to the hide. The smaller birds fled out of sight.

I forgot to mention that this day’s Wild was being noted from the comfort of an excellent hide, the money for which was raised by the dedicated group of volunteers who set up this reserve - with the landowner’s blessing - back in the eighties.

A wander over to another part of the reserve which is being transformed into a marshland/wetland to bring in more wildlife to the area brought us in contact with redwing, which were themselves being chased by another sparrowhawk

Then it was time for one of my convoluted returns home that ensures that I gain a taste of the wild on the moss - a couple of large flocks of winter thrushes were showing their appreciation of the welcome that our Greenbelt offers to them.