August 16th – This young grey heron was fishing in the canal, just by the old marketplace on Silver Street in Brownhills. You know, right by Tesco. On a Saturday afternoon.
I’ll let that sink in a bit.
I’d never have believed we’d see this kind of thing in Brownhills when I was a lad.
Hello, heron – I wish you an excellent day’s fishing.
July 11th – I returned via the Trent Valley Canal, which was alive with activity. Linesmen performed feats of acrobatics on the electricity lines above me as I drank tea beneath them, watching in awe. Herons were prolific, and I saw at least 7 – yes, there are three there in just one photo. The local cat population was also languidly active, hunting bugs, birds and furry things in the newly mown opposite embankment.
And beyond? The dull rumble of traffic on the motorway, trains, and of industry, breathing. This is a peaceful artery and a wonderful place.
June 1st – I nipped home, then off out for a longer ride. I hadn’t been down to Blithfield Reservoir for a year of so, and thought I’d check it out. It’s still gorgeous. Stockwell Heath, with the lovely village pond was ace too. It was a day for head-down stoking the miles in, and I got a good sixty or so in and blew the cobwebs away.
The heron was loafing about all day, and I finally got a pic on my way home. He seems to have decided the canal by the winding hole at Catshill is his territory. He’s a fine bird.
May 27th – Just on the canal in Aldridge, this skittish fellow. I gently placed the bike down to take a better picture. By the time I raised the camera again, he’d flown off.
This journal can never have too many herons. I adore these gangling, shabby and patient fishers. To me, they’re a symbol of the cleanliness of todays canals, and how far they’ve come. When I was a kid, you’d never, ever see this.
It’s a thing to treasure.
May15th – I finished up early, had something to eat and then returned to Birmingham on the Snow Hill line. I used to trave that service a lot, but for five years now I’ve barely troubled it. Many of the landmarks from the line I knew have gone, or changed.
When I got to Brum, it was too nice to hop on another train, so I dropped onto the canal, and rode home through Bordesley, under Spaghetti Junction, over to Pipe Hayes and along the Plant’s Brook Cycleway to Sutton. From there, I rode through the park home. A great ride – Brum canals are at their best in sunshine, and even the heron was out sunning itself. The dogroses at Tyburn were beautifully scented, and the canal limpid and lazy.
Plant’s Brook cycleway is lovely, and I shall use it more often. Even the rabbits in Sutton Park performed for the camera.
A wonderful afternoon.
April 8th – Another heron. I think the spring has brought them out – this one was near Bentley Bridge, stood watching the word go by from, ironically enough, a fishing peg. Older than the one I saw last Friday, and larger, he was a an impressive bird.
Can’t get enough herons – never saw them as a kid; they’re a sign of a healthy fish population, I’d tenure.
April 4th – Riding a bike is a cyclic antidepressant, and riding one once a day keeps the black dog at bay. I was sad, really sad, but something on the way home cheered me right up. A young heron, fishing by Clayhanger Bridge on the canal. I can’t ever recall seeing one here before, but I love these comical, dishevelled fishers. He was hungry, and young enough not to be skittish. He tolerated me taking photos for ages. He made me remember what I was doing, and what I was about.
I adore herons. Such complex, fascinating birds.
It’s taken me all weekend to pluck up the balls to write this sequence.
August 7th _ I spotted this strutting juvenile heron on the Tame Valley Canal at Hamstead, Birmingham, on a sunny afternoon. Displaying a good bit more bombast than most herons, he wasn’t scared of me and performed wonderfully on the opposite bank, stalking, preening and strolling.
I love herons. They always look like eccentric old men; dishevelled, preoccupied and slightly mad.
May 26th – Caldmore Village Festival, then back to Walsall and on to the canal. Up through Darlaston, down to Toll End, then along the Tame Valley Canal to Rushall Junction, then back home via Aldridge. A lovely run. The birdlife was great. Plenty of cygnets, goslings and herons. Common Terns are stalking the water everywhere, but too fast for this slow photographer to catch. The canal was gorgeous. A fine day.
April 14th – I was in the house all morning, listening to the rain and wind, dreading the afternoon ride I was planning on taking. Slipping out mid afternoon, what I actually found was way different to that which I expected. Yes, it was raining with a gusty wind. But the warmth was welcome and lovely. The landscape was grey and the sky dull, but as I zipped up to the new pool at Clayhanger, there were signs all around of spring kicking off; birds buzzed about with nest building materials in their beaks, swans sat on nests at Clayhanger and Catshill. I saw the first Heron on the new pool I’d ever seen there. Green shoots of lupin glistened along the canal banks. At Chasewater, the reservoir was still in overflow and the marsh formed by the overspill seems to be growing marsh grasses. Tits, wagtails and pipits flitted about. There were distinct splashes of emerald green on the commons and heaths.
I think that’s it, finally. The end of the 7 month winter is at hand.
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