Morning visit to Emsworthy Mire

A group of 14 assembled on a beautiful Autumn morning and we made our way to the gate leading into the Devon Wildlife Trust reserve, passing a very vocal wren.

We walked slowly down to the barn, stopping frequently to look for ring ouzels and other thrushes.  A flock of starlings was on the wing, as were a few mistle thrushes. There were virtually no berries on the hawthorn bushes, where a small number of blackbirds were seen and checked carefully for any sign of white! The lack of berries was no doubt responsible for the lack of wintering thrushes and ring ouzels. The only berries which I noticed were on the holly bushes. Pied wagtails were spotted on a wall and raven and buzzard were overhead. A chiffchaff was flitting in the sunshine on some trees.

We made our way into the edge of the mire, which Richard warned would be very wet and I wished that I had worn my wellies! In fact, there are boardwalks in the worst areas, so it wasn’t too bad. Dave pointed out 2 common darters which were mating above a small pond. In the trees adjoining the lower side of the mire there were the usual small birds including a flock of long-tailed tits.  We also had a brief view of a green woodpecker on the ground and a sparrowhawk on the wing. 

Walking back up from the mire, some of the group saw a kestrel.  We also saw one or two swallows during the morning. In all, 24 species were recorded. Thanks to Richard for leading this enjoyable walk, ably assisted by Dave.

Pat Thomson

24 bird species seen: Wood Pigeon, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Kestrel, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Swallow, Long-tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Wren, Starling, Mistle Thrush, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Linnet.