May 4th – Nice to see a new year’s worth of youngsters on the canal: Goslings and ducklings compete to out-cute each other, guarded closely by their attentive parents.
There are cygnets, too, apparently although I’ve yet to see any of the local families, which is a bit remiss of me.
A beautiful, cheering thing.
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June 20th – Undeterred by the mower, the latest gosling family on the canal near Silver Street were in good spirits, and one of the parents stared me out while the other attacked my stationary bicycle.
Geese are odd creatures, but their chicks have all the cute.
May 27th – The birdlife on the canals of Birmingham and the Black Country is wonderful at the moment – everywhere there are goslings, cygnets and ducklings, and the herons were performing well, too – I particularly liked this guy’s Eddie Cochran impression.
Iff these don’t make you go ‘ahhh’, you’ve no soul…
March 12th – Ah, the waterbirds of Birmingham are also getting busy. Cormorants, tufted ducks (not goldeneye as I said on Twatter), herons and Canada geese are all regrouping for the spring. Good to see the herons back, I haven’t seen many at all lately, and the prehistoric appearance of the cormorants is always a great thing to see.
June 1st – It may have been the first day of the meteorological summer, but it was cold, wet and blustery. Again.
Cheering me up in the gloom, though: Clayhanger’s latest family: seven Canada goose goslings, clearly very recently hatched. When I spotted them, they were scrambling to hop out of the overflow they’d been paddling in.
Mum and dad were very attentive and impressive parents, it has to be said.
May 15th – Springtime canal cycling. I got 99 problems, and most of them are truculent, obstructive and aggressive geese.
Patience and gentle coaxing a must.
November 29th – ‘Go into town, they said. You’ll meet other geese, they said. Seems to be working.’
Not much nous in your average Canada Goose.
You wouldn’t believe how many shots I had to take of this before I got one where the bird hadn’t moved.
February 22nd – Spring certainly felt on her throne in and around Walsall Wood. The crocuses were coming into bloom on the High Street, the Canada geese were developing their customary mating territorial aggression on the towpaths and the display outside the florists was gorgeous. Sadly, on what was probably the best cycling day of the year, I had other stuff to do, and my ride was short – but oh my, it was enjoyable. It’s been so long since the weather felt as favourable as it does now.
More, please.
February 5th – I feel sorry for the waterfowl during this cold snap, really, which is probably a bit daft. As I took a gentle spin down the canal today, I noticed lots of forlorn looking ducks, canada geese, coots and moorhens loafing around disconsolately on the frozen canal, which itself was covered in a messy layer of slush. I watched as birds struggled to land, skidding frantically along the ice. They are, to coin a phrase, like ducks out of water. I did notice something though, today. Moorhens don’t have webbed feet. I find that a bit surprising, but as these footprints show, they haven’t got the best feet for swimming. There must be an evolutionary reason for this. Wonder what it is?
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