A plastic heron that has been gracing a creekside bench for the last two decades went on an adventure during Storm Emma.

Don Bell lives near Bowcombe Creek and built a simple bench at the bottom of his paddock around twenty years ago, so he could sit and enjoy the view. He then bolted a plastic heron that someone had given him to the bench, and there it stayed for years until Storm Emma hit the South Hams two weeks ago.

“When the tide came in, it lifted the top of the bench, heron included, off the base”, Don explained, “and I got a call from a neighbour to say ‘your heron is drifting out to sea’. It was dark, so I couldn’t see it, but the next day I took a set of binoculars out to look for it but I couldn’t find it. I assumed the heron and the top of the seat was gone forever.”

Don said that he went down to the pontoon to look for the heron, and saw some Harbour Office staff so he mentioned his missing heron to them.

“I was worried that it might be a hazard to boats and also, its full size and made of plastic, so I was worried about the environment too, so I asked them to keep an eye out for it.”

Amazingly, Don received a call from the Harbour Office about a week later, telling him they had found his heron.

“They rescued my heron!” Don said, “They found it with its neck tangled in mooring ropes for one of the yachts in Salcombe, so it travelled around three miles. I went to pick it up and it is now back where it should be.”

The heron is now back looking out over Bowcombe Creek, seemingly no worse for wear from its ten-day adventure along the Kingsbridge and Salcombe estuary.