Tag: flock

#365daysofbiking Flocking hell

January 9th – I had to nip up to Newtown in the morning, and went via the canal  and Ogley Junction. I was intrigued on the bridge by a quiet but fairly large roost of birds in the trees behind the old lock cottage by The Long Pound.

It turned out they were just wood pigeons.

Whilst very familiar with these ambling, affable birds, I can’t recall seeing flocks of them like this before, but I guess it must be normal.

An intriguing thing on an otherwise very dull morning.

This journal is moving home. Find out more by clicking here

from Tumblr https://ift.tt/304iRi5
via IFTTT

#365daysofbiking Oh flock

Boxing Day – Another day pressed for time, so another short but fast run up the canal. Intrigued to see that there is a flock of several hundred sheep grazing on what I think might be kale on Home Farm, Sandhills.

I don’t think I’ver ever seen livestock on this land before.

I wonder if the sheep are resident on the farm now, or if the crop has been sold for grazing?

This journal is moving home. Please find out more by clicking here.

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/2Sh9rLo
via IFTTT

February 4th – At Middleton, spring said hello once more. Softly, this time, in small clumps of snowdrops, in the comical antics of the small birds at the feeding station, and in the huge flock of pink-footed geese in the water meadow that must have numbered a very vocal 500, and was impossible to photograph.

I’m rapidly discovering that when I’m down, Middleton has all the ingredients I need to lighten my fug – good tea, cake, interesting wildlife, flowers and birds and places to explore.

A lovely trip, but oh, so cold when darkness fell…

August 20th – Something else I was pleased to note on my long, slow return was the portly, waddling form of Mrs. Muscovy, or the Newtown One, the duck that escaped from the flock at the smallholding by the canal between the Lichfield Road and Chase Road bridges. 

Defying all attempts to return her to the comfort and security of a kept flock, this steadfastly singular duck likes a spot just by the aqueduct at Newtown, from which to watch the world go by.

I had thought the local fox had made lunch of her, but she appears to be fit and well. Which is good news, really.

February 21st – Today, I saw an old familiar, I thought was lost – the white domestic goose from Chasewater with the bump it’s head. Originally part of a cohort of six kept as guards for the boatyard at Ogley Junction, they were cast into the wild when the yard closed. Living on the canal by the Chemical for a few years, two were lost, presumably to the local fox’s belly. When the Chemical was redeveloped, the geese moved to the main lake at Chasewater, where they lived seemingly contentedly amongst the Canada geese and swans.

One bird was lost to the cold in 2013, and another disappeared last year; for a couple of months now I’ve only seen the one, and assumed this bird was lost, but today I saw it preening by the waterspouts club.

The flock would be probably over ten years old now, and it shows in their eyes – these are venerable birds. Truculent, permanently cross and hostile to anything that didn’t give them food, they were hard to like. But I’ve always loved them. Such pure, white plumage, always tidy birds who knew their mind.

I hope they see another summer, and feel the warm sun on their backs once more.

December 28th – I’ve heard of this before, but never seen it. In the Three Spires precinct in Lichfield, as dusk fell, a barely-noticed commotion of bird fuss broke the gentle susurration of continued consumerism below. One single tree out of several, decorated in Christmas lights in a fashion that must have taken someone bloody ages, what must have been a hundred or more pied wagtails.

I’d heard they flock. These nippy, twitchy little birds live off bugs generally, and are a common sight in car parks and factory yards and other areas of open hardstanding where they can hunt unhindered, but usually in ones and twos.

I don’t know if they came for the berries, or just a party. Certainly, nothing was bothering them. A remarkable sight I was lucky indeed to see.

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.

August 22nd – The sun came out, and whilst riding over Anchor Bridge I’d noticed the swan family were headed off up the canal at a determined pace. I snatched a frankly awful picture, then went on my way. My mission in Brownhills aborted, I doubled back to get some better pictures, and quickly found the swans in a morass of at least 200 Canada Geese on the canal between Catshill Junction and Silver Street. 

The swans are in fine fettle – I had been concerned last week after not seeing them awhile, and there had been a surplus of white feathers on the water near the bridge, but it turned out volunteers had been ringing them. According to reports, they spent a couple of days sulking in Aldridge, then came back.

Quite what’s attracting the numbers of geese here, I have no idea. I note there’s some outrage about Sandwell having undertaken a cull recently, but with few predators, goose numbers are skyrocketing, which increases pressure on food supplies. It’s a tricky question I guess.

After all, one does get so attached to these birds…