The Bovey Birder

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

Memories: The Crow With A Catch

A while ago, I was walking round the ponds. There was a faint chill in the air and it was a bit grey but the sun still shone through the clouds. As I was walking across the uneven paths, there were mallards swimming across the pond and a goose sat on the bank. I carried on walking across the path, finding it bumpy and lumpy. I nearly tripped over!

Carrying on, I noticed a heron sat in the trees, adopting that long necked, proud pose. Also, a carrion crow was sat in the trees on the other side of the pond so I could barely see him but I decided it wasn’t much and moved on except, when I went out onto a jetty by the ponds, a wonderful event happened.

The crow, now lower than I saw him at first, was adopting a position as if he were about to dive! Then, he struck. He flew down at speed and in the end, caught a fish! This was a great spectacle! Sorry, but I did not have my camera then so I did not get a photo. Here is one for the meantime. I saw it as a fish when I looked through the binoculars and followed the crow struggling to fly away with the extra weight in its beak.

You are probably wondering, “What’s the big deal about a crow catching a fish?”

Well, for a start, you have probably seen crows pecking at rubbish or more unlikely a crow tearing away at a carcass. You see for crows, it’s all about opportunity, a bit like in some wildlife documentaries; you see monkeys in cities stealing food and even mobile phones! This is pretty much the same but a crow catching a fish, that is extremely, tremendously, stupendously rare!

Here is a link if you want to find out more about a crow’s intelligence-clever crows

I put this link in because it describes what I can’t and it gives a whole lot more information.

An Unexpected Visitor

When I left the house this evening, I saw a woodpigeon fly past. As I carried on down the street, there was not much around apart from a few blackbirds and sparrows. As I walked round the field, it was pretty much the same there.

When I got to the ponds, I could not see anything but when I moved on further around, 3 mallards and a moorhen appeared. The mallards consisted of two dark green-headed males and 1 streaky brown female. I could not tell the gender of the moorhen but the one thing I did know was it was calling its bubbly loud call.

As I carried on down the paths, 2 Canada geese sat on the bank, one rather sheepish and keeping its distance but the other was bolder and came right up guzzling down grasses on the soil.

This was when I saw the grey heron. Just sat there with his neck coiled and looking proud. I could not see him very well so I carried on round the ponds hoping to see him better. Then, the chance came. He was still sat there in the same stance. As soon as I’d admired him enough, I moved on further across the sloped bumpy uneven paths. You may have to squint to spot Mr heron!

After about five minutes of not seeing much else, a small blue object zoomed passed me and landed in the tree, all as fast as lightning. Then, I saw him again zooming past the line of trees that surrounded the pond. On that time, I noticed a flash of orange as well as blue so I was certain it was a kingfisher. This really made my day as I have never seen one at these ponds!

The Mystery Duck

Monday 11^th of May 2020

When I left the house this evening, I saw a few woodpigeons and house sparrows but not really much. As I carried on down the road, a wagtail sat on the other side of the road. It was quite cold and a bit cloudy and grey but excitement waited at the ponds. Nothing at all as I walked through the field.

When I got to the ponds, I could clearly see 3 mallards but then a strange duck swam out from beneath the trees so I quickly took a picture with my Nikon d5100 and zoomed in on it. A white eye stripe and mostly brown. The criteria only matched one bird. It was a male garganey. At first I could not confirm the sighting but as I snuck around the ponds, closely following its every move, I was able to confirm that it was a garganey.

It swam around the ponds quite quickly and it was very tricky to follow. Finally, after about 15 minutes of a wild goose chase, the garganey flew to the other side of the ponds and swam out of sight. Sorry about the hard to see photo – he stayed in the middle of the pond and my camera lens wasn’t strong enough to zoom right in!

If you do not have much knowledge on birds, then I’ll tell you how rare it is. It is a very scarce breeding summer visitor and passage migrant and I imagine this was a passage individual. To see a garganey is quite rare but if you do, it is very striking. The white-eye stripe and the brown body really are beautiful in a way.

When I went looking the next day, he was gone.

An Introduction

Hi! I am Henry and I am 8 years old. I live in the town of Bovey Tracey in Devon and I have a wonderful wilderness right on my doorstep. Just a short walk away from my house, I have a group of ponds home to plenty of birds and wildlife. There are mallards, herons, geese and moorhens, just to name a few. In the garden, I have a large variety of birds that visit including chaffinches, blue tits, house sparrows, great tits, dunnocks and goldfinches but this is not much. A massive tree growing in the garden has bought me many exciting birds. There have been goldcrests, treecreepers and jays. As for other habitats, Dartmoor is minutes away and the variety of species includes meadow pipits, cuckoos, redstarts, wood warblers and wheatears.

I am also very close to Stover country park where there are birds like mandarin ducks and coots with the addition of black headed gulls and cormorants. I got into birdwatching when I got a book, which I could use to tick off what I’ve seen. Then, I was off! Looking for birds here, looking for birds there. When I got my binoculars, it went to another level. I recently got a scope and a camera so it is even better!