May 12th – Slowly recovering from my tribulations, I headed off to Birmingham along the canals and through Sandwell Valley Park for some light relief. It was a dreadfully dark, rain-spattered day but the birdlife I saw was incredible. From the bluetits near Park Hall to the young waterfowl all along the canals of the area, multiplication really is the name of the game.

Glad to see the six cygnets all present and correct at Catshill Junction, and who knew gulls could yawn?

May 11th – Less hard to spot is Mrs. Muscovy, the Newtown One. Now feral, the flock she should have been part of has moved on, and this uncaged canard who escaped and subsequently survived nearly 18 months of canalside freedom is now a permanent fixture of the canal between Middleton Bridge and the aqueduct over the railway at Newtown.

When I passed this rather unique duck today, she was preening and bathing determinedly in the water, and making quite a splash.

And long may she continue to do so…

May 11th – Still in recovery downtime, I pottered out around the canals and commons to try and find the cygnets and deer. I drew a complete blank on the Watermead swans – nothing unusual there, swans possess an almost unique ability to disappear when you’re looking for them – and the dear nearly defeated me too.

I say nearly, as we more or less bumped into each other unawares. I was poking around the scrub on the old rail line near Engine Lane looking for industrial remnants, and these two ladies were heading the other way. I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or them.

A real pick-me-up on an otherwise fruitless journey.

May 10th – Going stir crazy, I escaped again at sunset, and headed up to Chasewater, just for the hell of it. I was captivated by the colour of a late-spring sunset, by the huge, yellow moon over Sandhills and the mist rising off the surface of the canal due to an inversion.

It’s a long time since I caught a sunset and dusk as lovely as this. After a very trying few days, it was lovely to be out in the dead calm and still, to feel the night chill encroaching and hear the soft sounds of Chasewater at dusk – calling birds, lapping water and the chatter of ducks and geese.

Recovery needs many things, but one thing that really does help is peace and beauty when you least expect them.

May 10th – I pottered into Brownhills for a mid-afternoon recovery ride to do so errands, and with the warm afternoon sun, everything was beautiful and felt right: the canal at Silver Street is wearing it’s summer jacket of green and blue, the boats and waterfowl were quietly busying themselves and all was right with the world for a change. 

Also busy, but probably busy doing nothing, a black and white resident of the canalside who took up a better vantage point to observe me, observing him.

The canal cats really are wonderful at the moment.

May 9th – A terrible, hurried phone photo, but I noticed that the Canada geese had hatched a new brood in the last 24 hours near Catshill Junction. In the dawn light they were resting, and dad was stood guard nearby, whilst mum had the rest of her clutch under her right wing.

Canada geese get such a hard time from wildlife purists but they’re fascinating creatures. With a very tough day ahead, the sight of this new family really brightened my day.

May 9th – I had to be out very early for something I couldn’t cycle to, so took in an early circuit of the canal at 5:30am. Not seeing a soul, I enjoyed the peace and quiet. Fascinated at the moment by the sheer quantity of organic flotsam and jetsam in the canal, with everything from blossom petals to dead reed foliage. I suppose it’s a feature of the season, but never really noticed it to this extent before.

There’s something very otherworldly about breaking out of your routine and just riding for the hell of it very early in the morning.

May 8th – The one blossom that’s always overlooked, but is actually beautiful is Elder; elderflowers of course make great wine and soft drinks,not to mention the berries but the blooms look pretty too, and smell divine – all the more welcome as often elder grows in margins, edgelands and waste ground otherwise considered ugly. 

Here on the cycleway at Goscote there’s a prolific and strong showing of the creamy white blossom which most be a good sign for the home-brew types this year too.

May 7th – I went to see the swans down at the Watermead, and found them at Silver Street, enjoying the sun and learning from mum and dad how to forage.

They are still very much grey balls of fluff and adorable, and I spent a lovely ten minutes watching their antics as they splashed, bickered and tried to copy their parents.

So good to see this young family grow and develop.

May 7th – First decent ride out for a week or to, to be honest. An afternoon spin up through Lichfield, Alrewas and Cotton to Rosliston Forestry Centre for tea and cake, then back via Coton in the Elms, Netherseal, Chilcote, Honey Hill and Harlaston.

A harsh northern was challenging, but blew me home, and the sights were beautiful in the warm sun. The ducks are still about at Coton and if that one doesn’t have the spirit of Elvis in him, I’m a Dutch uncle.

Not sure what I did to offend the striped cat at Whittington, but it was well cross with me…

A lovely ride, marred only by the unwelcoming attitude, poor cake and service at Rosliston: a piece of advice to fellow cyclists – go to the Honeypot instead. Not only was I served heavy, poor cake in a polystyrene takeaway box, but was treated like an irritation at 4:30pm when advertised closing is 5pm, but staff having a break discussing how ‘cyclists shouldn’t be on the road’ made me vow never to give the place my custom ever again.