July 4th – Also out, but altogether busier was this juvenile heron. A lovely bird, clearly maturing and in very good condition, although still small for an adult.
This is a healthy, native heron fishing in a waterlily-swathed canal in the shadow of a huge scrapyard in the heart of the industrial Black Country.
Tell me this place isn’t wonderful and surprising. I dare you.
June 21st – Another high summer day, the longest as it happens, and from here on in, the days shorten to darkness; but there’s plenty of summer left and it’s been glorious so far, so I’m not too sad.
On the Walsall Canal heading for Darlaston, life is busy hunting, blooming and multiplying, with herons hunting on the far bank, families of geese making their way through dense waterlily beds and flowers looking gorgeous in the hot sun.
A Walsall Top Lock, basking on a piece of drifting wood, I even saw a terrapin, about the size of a saucer. Sadly, it slipped away before I got the camera out but these poor creatures, often released into the wild when too large for captivity are becoming a common sight in canals and pools of the UK.
A great day to be on a bike in the place I love.
May 4th – In the past couple of days I’ve mused on the sudden explosion in the number of herons on the local canals around Walsall, and also noted the amount of fresh waterfowl hatchlings.
In one journey from Walsall to Darlaston this morning, I saw four lurking herons. But only one coot chick.
It was lunchtime before the connection struck me. The herons are finding food in the tiny new lives that have been nurtured in canalside nests in the last few days and weeks.
I can’t grumble – the herons are doing what herons do, and the reason many clutches are so large or certain species are prolific breeders is precisely because of the attrition of new generations by predators.
But it’s a grizzly thought. These very attentive coot parents were very attentive of their offspring – only 10 metres of so from a patient, waiting heron.
May 3rd – Nice to see the herons out and about again. They went a little scarce over the winter and I was concerned we were losing them, but as the spring settled in I started seeing more of these dishevelled, mad looking fishers.
This one, on the canal bank between two scrapyards at Darlaston, was large and healthy-looking and regarded me with interest as I stopped to photograph it.
I love these remarkable and beautiful birds.
April 1st – While I’ve been obsessing over leaves and flowers, the canals have, as ever, been doing their own thing, and the birdlife is following it’s spring imperative.
Herons, scarcer during winter, are out and about again, and birds are nesting, from coots to the Watermead swan couple.
Everywhere, life if kicking off again for the coming summer, and I love every single sign of it.
October 16th – Still, one can’t deny the beauty of the season. A far more positive ride out over the Chase, into that open, cinematic landscape where it’s hard not to feel utterly connected to the surroundings. The leaves and bracken are turning and it really is beautiful out there.
The chilliness of the day also kept a lot of folk at home and it was a lot more peaceful than during the summer. That’s the first time I’ve seen Stepping Stones deserted for ages.
I came back over the Shugborough Estate and noted that while it’s changing custodians from Staffordshire County Council to the National Trust, there’s an awful end-of-days, deserted, unloved feel to the place. Sad, really, as autumn is the best time of year to see it.
The heron, fishing in the river by the Packhorse Bridge seemed oblivious, though…
September 9th – A ride into Birmingham mid-afternoon along the canal was enjoyable, but the wind a little harsh. Despite the dullness of the day there was plenty to see, but as usual in darkest industrial Birmingham, the wildlife stole the show: this time, herons.
I clearly caught the one in Smethwick napping; perching on one foot with everything tucked in, he watched me grumpily as I took his picture, whilst the one in Ladywood was far more active, but just as suspicious of the human on the bike.
I love to see the herons, almost unthinkable a few short years ago that they’d be in such urban environments.
July 17th – A very hot day with no little wind, and I set off on a ride cursed by mechanical problems, but I still got 57 miles in which was well worth it and very enjoyable. What was noticeable with the sudden arrival of summer was the active animal life. The deer were still showing well at Home Farm, and a rather hung-over looking heron was preening and looking a little mad near Wharf Lane. In between the two, a cat with remarkable whiskers was languidly patrolling his canalside patch.
July 9th – On the canal near Ogley Junction, one of my favourite mad fishermen was stalking the bank, looking as eccentric and slightly dishevelled as ever.
I adore herons. This one seems unusually dark in colour, and was very bold, not moving on until I got very close. Is it possible a juvenile?
Wonderful birds, but probably not if you keep a fishpond…
June 10th – I slipped out of work for the day near lunchtime, and pottered through the Black Country down the canals into Brum, then back home on the waterways to Aldridge. Unlike Brownhills, I had a mostly dry, temperate afternoon, and life is everywhere, from the lounging cat to the aggressive geese. Flowers and greenery are everywhere, and as ever, the landscape was the star.
It wasn’t a long ride at 35 miles, but the stop at a favourite Jamaican cafe for curried mutton, rice and peas and a good mooch around the architecture was good for my soul.
A lovely afternoon.
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