As I walked back along the canal yesterday morning it occurred to me that you can see, and enjoy some truly exciting and memorable wildlife experiences right here on your doorstep. Of course it may not appear quite as exotic but thats just as much about the “grass being greener” than the actual fact. It also depends on how hard you look and how receptive and observant you are. I always remind myself that when we have visitors from the USA here in Europe, they are always really excited to see our common birds, Blue Tits and Robins for example, birds that we take for granted and sometimes hardly even look at. So when I made a special visit back to Exminster Marsh, and specifically the canal area, I was looking again for the Grey Heron that has a territory along the Turf stretch. I located him quite easily and stood as still as him, he was fishing…… and so was I in a sense. I was of course, on the towpath but he was thigh deep in water his eyes intently fixed on the surface and just beneath. Suddenly he darted forward and his dagger-beak emerged from beneath the flowing weed with a small Pike. He quickly swallowed it and flew past me, settled and began his wait and stalk once more.
I followed him, not content with the picture I had from his first success. It wasn’t long before he ignored me and was again darting forward, emerging yet again, with a bigger fish. This time I was more prepared and in any case, he stood motionless with his prey as he waited for it to go still before he tossed down his massive neck.
He plunges in to grab the pike.