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…
May 21st – On my way back via Chasewater, I spotted the huge Canada goose family near Catshill Junction; remarkably, 12 of the 13 chicks survive, with mum and dad being a good bit more protective and aggressive than formerly – one suspects the loss and protectiveness are related.
The young are growing well though. Lovely to see.
May 13th – Returning to Brownhills, I noted the new families are arriving thick and fast. At Catshill junction, a pair of proud Canada geese with a huge brood of 13 goslings, all seeming in good health. At Silver Street, the Watermead swans have 9 cygnets – all busy little balls of grey fluff.
I love to see the waterfowl breeding, and the antics of the chicks.
June 6th – A pootle into Birmingham through Sutton Park, down past Witton Lakes and on the canal through Aston. I returned on the canal to Smetwick, then up through the Sandwell Valley and home.
The wind was fearsome and this was a wolf of a day again – but the canals looked fine and it cheered me up no end.
I loved the swan des res on WItton Lakes – a great idea for a safe nesting site!
The geese are really aggressive at the moment. The one that drew blood pecking my ankle really wasn’t messing about – so take care!
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.
April 24th – First of the year for me, spotted on the riverbank in north Leicester, these goslings were very cute. Not at all nervous of me, mum and dad were quite content to let me get close. They clearly weren’t very old and had cute in shedloads.
The photos didn’t work out too well, but I think you get the idea!
Now there’s a sign of spring!
March 27th – This seems unusual to me – well developed Canada goose goslings near Heathtown. Bear in month this is in March. Looking at them they must be a couple of months old. Has anyone seen this before?
Maybe it’s a sign of a mild winter…
June 15th – It was only a short run around Brownhills and up to Chasewater, as I wasn’t feeling to clever and it was a dreadfully overcast, grey afternoon.
My mood was lifted though by all the young animals I saw around and about – two families of goslings at different stages of development at the Watermead; a foal grazing on a lush meadow yellow with buttercups at Brownhills Common; the Catshill swan family, still numbering seven, growing all the time.
Inbetween, too quick to capture, I saw terns, a couple of herons, rabbits, squirrels and buzzards.
I particularly liked what I assume to be the foal’s mum, who was wading through the pool in their meadow munching on the lush green shoots growing from it.
I might not have felt any better physically, but the sights I saw cheered me up no end.
May 9th – Also introducing their offspring to the big, wide world were Birmingham’s Canada geese. I saw a couple of families on the canal in central Birmingham, each with 3 goslings. These charming yellow chicks are gorgeous, but fiercely guarded by mum and dad who hiss and head-bob at me while I take pictures.
Late spring – multiplication, it’s the name of the game. Delightful to witness.
June 24th – Technically, although summer has only just started, it feels midway right now. The late spring flowers and blossom have receded, and the chicks have hatched. Now it’s the time of the water lilies on the canal, the hardier summer blooms, the goslings and young visibly growing up. This brood of eight Canada geese chicks have survived remarkably well agains predators – including the local foxes – and are beginning to develop adult plumage. They’re still button-cute, though, and mother and father still stand eagle eyed in defence of their family.
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