Tag: ducks

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. 

August 4th – The bachelor boys – the mongrel domestic/mallard ducks that live on the canal in Walsall Wood –  are sadly down to two now from the original four. Probably lost to age or a fox, it’s always sad to see such close groups decrease in number, and their loss was in the summer, coincidentally at the same time as the local fox cubs would have been learning to hunt.

I spotted the two remaining ducks on the canal by the overflow at Clayhanger Bridge, loafing and preening. The two were relaxed and content in each other’s company and for all the world were like an old married couple.

It’s hard not to love the ducks, although mother nature seems to consider them very expendable.

September 19th – I was wrong when I said last week must be summer’s last breath; we’ve been blessed with another fine weekend of warm, sunny weather.

It was an 80 mile loop of east Staffordshire, and on the way I passed again through Coton in the Elms. The small flock of ducks that wander between the village green and Pinfold House are local celebrities, frequently holding up village life, seemingly oblivious to the delay they cause.

That tufted chap is wonderful, but all the others are stars too. The secret of happiness, it seems, lies in being a duck.

September 12th – Another great ride on a sunny, beautiful transitional day. In some ways it was late summer, but in others, autumn, and there was a keen wind, but the loop around Whittington, Rosliston, Coton in the Elms, Lullington and Harlaston was gorgeous.

The cyclamen at Lullington were breathtaking, and having to stop for a flock of ducks in Coton was lovely – especially since once clearly had a bit of Elvis in him. 

Really enjoying being back in the saddle for more leisure rides. The weather is lovely at the moment, too.

May 8th – On the canal at Walsall Wood in steady rain, an interesting group of mallard crossbreed ducks, which I think are fed and loosely tended by a household near the water. I notice there’s mallard in there, of  course, but also white ducks and the one with the grey/blue bill suggests a ruddy duck is somewhere in that one’s genes.

That’s the thing about ducks, they’ll freely interbreed…

April 30th – I returned the same way, but the deer had moved on. This wee fellow though, was busy watching the ducks on the canal at the back of Barrow Close in Walsall Wood. I’m pretty much convinced it’s the same cat I spotted recently sheltering in the lee of a plant pot in the same area. He’s a fine lad with great whiskers and a collar with a bell – so clearly a bit of a hunter. But I think he was a bit ambitious with the mallards, to be honest…

19th March – On the Walsall Canal at Park Hall, having left work early in the afternoon to head to Birmingham in the decent weather, I come upon a small, kitchen sink drama. 

Young cat fancies it’s paw at a little waterfowl: maybe mallard, or even Canada goose. The concentration is huge… the tension… then the cyclist spoils it.

Of course, the birds knew the cat was there. But puss’s ambition was impressive.

March 21st – Off to the new Screwfix at Walsall Wood in the morning for some odds and ends, I made a point of checking out the flooded bowling green in the old, neglected and dilapidated Oak Park. Still flooded, but with waters receding, it’s still a tragic sight. This used to be the pride of the community, left to become a waterlogged marsh with no sign of resolution. Walsall Council have allowed this to happen with poor maintenance, and stood by as it continued from one year to the next.

This land is supposed to be held in trust for the community to benefit.

The only community benefiting from this sorry mess is the wildfowl one – these two mallards were having a ball.