Tag: birds

March 24th – Compression of the neck… herons are more and more common now. Barely a towpath ride goes by without seeing one, and on longer rides like last week, I’ll see five or six, which must be a symbol of how clean the waters are now and how the fish population must by bountiful, too. 

This proud bird was on the towpath in Pleck, just by the wall of Rollingmill Street Cemetery, pretty much the industrial heart of Walsall. Wary of me but not skittish, by dismounting the bike and taking things gently I got close enough for some decent pictures, I think.

I adore herons.

March 8th – The year marches on, and so do the seasons. Slipping out into steady rain at lunchtime, I noted the Catshill swan couple seem to be returning to the old nest. One (probably the male) was loafing near the reeds, and the other was carefully weaving and packing torn fronds of rushes into a nest.

This seems way too early to me – but hen, they know what they’re doing, I guess. Wonder if they’ll top last year’s total of 8 cygnets?

March 4th – A beautiful day, but still windy. The golden light of spring shone its benevolent best over the canal at Walsall, and it felt good. What was really impressive was that I saw the Pleck kingfisher again – well, actually kingfishers, as one seemed to be seeing another off the territory near the Scarborough Road bridge. I couldn’t get the camera out in time to take a picture, but there was no mistaking the twin cobalt blue flashes. They both seemed to go for cover in the trees somewhere in the bottom picture.

Interestingly, I rode the canal through to Goscote on the way home in the light, too, and saw one there. It’s clearly a great year for these beautiful little birds. I hope I get a good picture of one soon.

January 24th – A lost day to technical battles with the computer and other silliness. I got out late and shot over to Chasewater in the dark hoping for a decent moonlit night – but it wasn’t to be. All I got was light pollution, but it made for an interesting shot, anyway.

The lake is refilling well now, and I was intrigued to note all the separate swan families and their cygnets now dwelling on the lake had congregated together by the dam bridge. Not sure why.

Safety in numbers, perhaps? But from what?

December 27th – The birdlife at Chasewater carries on with little regard to the weather. The robins, blackbirds and tits flitted around, hunting for food, and on the lake, the waterfowl – from coots and grebes to swans – loafed and preened as usual.

I must read more about swans and their social behaviour. I note adults and cygnets from last summer still hang around together, though in much looser, informal-seeming groups. A few days ago I saw all seven of the Catshill brood on the lake by the north end of the dam together with mum and dad; but often, I just see one adult and on cygnet, or groups of solo cygnets.

It’s almost like they’re still family, but go their own ways and meet up later. They really are most fascinating birds, and I really should learn more about their habits.

December 19th – I don’t know why I think this, but I always consider cotoneasters a Christmas plant. The bright red-orange berries are a favourite with blackbirds who will strip a bush in days, all the time protecting it from the hungry beaks of other birds.

Something odd is going on though. Last year, there were huge bounties of such berries still on the bushes well into spring, seemingly barely touched. This year, these I pass on the way to work are already nearly stripped. This seems to be the same everywhere.

Why? Was preferential food available in abundance last year? Perhaps not so many blackbirds? Did something about that previous summer make the orange fruit less nutritious or maybe unpleasant?

Really puzzled by it.

August 27th – A run out mid afternoon on an errand. I headed up the canal from Pelsall Road to Silver Street bridge, then over Clayhanger Common and the new pond to Walsall Wood. 

The herons are getting really, really confident; this one was on the canal by the Watermead estate. He wasn’t a bit bothered by what was going on around him.

The Swan family were grazing by the embankment restoration near the Black Cock Bridge. The seven young I’ve followed since hatching are adult-sized now, and the first hints of adult, white plumage are beginning to show. I don’t know what the bank works have disturbed, but these graceful birds were very engaged with eating it!

August 16th – This young grey heron was fishing in the canal, just by the old marketplace on Silver Street in Brownhills. You know, right by Tesco. On a Saturday afternoon.

I’ll let that sink in a bit.

I’d never have believed we’d see this kind of thing in Brownhills when I was a lad.

Hello, heron – I wish you an excellent day’s fishing.

August 8th – In contrast to recent days, it was dark and overcast with a very threatening atmosphere for most of the day. Racing home, I could smell rain on the wind, and it felt ominous. 

A bit of rain is welcome; it’s needed. But we haven’t had weather like this for any length of time for a long period, and this felt dramatic and alien.

As I rode down Mill Lane in Stonnall, I noticed a flock of starlings had settled on the field, hedgerow and overhead lines. Perhaps it’s just the Hitchcock thing, but even those little birds in silhouette felt menacing…

June 21st – An abortive ride terminated early due to a silly mechanical problem I hadn’t got the tool on me to fix, but I still got 20 miles in. Over at Anglesey Basin, the swan family were contentedly preening together on the canal bank between the towpath and the water, and weren’t troubled by my presence at all.

Still seven cygnets, all growing well. Lovely to see.