Return To Emsworthy Mire

When the car stopped in the car park, we got out and started the trek. To get to the reserve we had to go down a sloped hill, which was where we saw our first and second birds. Before we went down the hill, I noticed a male wheatear sat quite close, hopping about the rocks. As I walked down the hill, I heard a willow warbler sat singing in a thick tree but I didn’t see him.

Once I made it to the entrance of the reserve, there were 2 big ravens sat on the rough grass. I kept on walking towards the mire, not seeing anything until I got down there. I walked towards the pond, staring at the rock I had sat on when I saw my first meadow pipit.

That was when I heard it. That sound of summer on the moor. The call that is disappearing from our country at an alarming rate. It was a cuckoo. I could not see him at the moment but he was very distorted due to the wind. I decided to walk up through the mire to where I thought the cuckoo was.

As I ploughed through marshland, I could hear the crows mobbing him so I knew he was close. I clambered over a wall and sat listening to the cuckoo. After about 5 minutes, I carried on following the wall.

Then I saw it. Above a lump in the wall, there was a smudge of grey sat in a tree. It was he. Looking right at me, he was calling but there was no reply. It seemed that there were less cuckoos here than last year. I decided to move on.

When I neared the end, there was a pipit sat in the tree but I did not know what type. I got out my Collins bird guide and discovered it was a tree pipit! He sat in the tree for a minute before flying away across the moor.

I am so sorry but I did not have my camera so I could not take any photos. Here is a link if you want to learn more about emsworthy mire