Hi, I'm Rudi, i'm 8 years old and my favourite book is 'Tarka the Otter' by Henry Williamson. Its about the life of an otter named Tarka and British Wildlife. One night i was reading the book with my dad and i said that i wanted to see all the animals in the book, he said i should do it and call it the Tarka Challenge. My Tarka Challenge started on 1st January 2012. The book contains 89 birds, 54 land based animals, 120 plants and 56 aquatic organisms.

The rules are simple, i must either see each thing myself or photograph it using my trail camera. I will try and see each thing on my local patch (Ogmore River Catchment) but may need to look somewhere else in Britain.

Easter Weekend



Meadow Pipet (Anthus pratensis)
Mallard (Anas platyrhychos)
Bluebell (Scilla non-scripta)
Reed (Phragmites australis)

We saw this Pipit which we think was a Meadow Pipit althought it was quite close to an area where Rock Pipits live. It is what some bird watchers call an L.B.J. (Little Brown Job), they are called this because a lot of the little brown birds are very difficult to tell apart.


This pair of Mallards were sitting in the sunshine at Parc Slip nature reserve. The male is the one with the green head and the female is the one with the brown feathers. When someone mentions a duck these are what most people will think of.



The wild dafodils over the wood have faded and have now been replaced by Bluebells. The flowers appear just as leaves begin to come out on the trees. British Bluebell woods are famous and are propbably known as one of the best wildflower displays in the whole of Europe.



The Reeds are still brown at the nature reserve but they will be turning green soon as they start to grow. Reeds can grow in fresh water or brackish water. Brackish water is found where rivers meet the sea and has sea water mixed with the riverwater which makes it a bit salty. Reeds can spread by thier roots which are called 'rhizomes'.
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