April 4th – The people living by the pool formed from the Trunkfield Brook at Cathedral Walk in Lichfield have a rare treat right outside their front door: nesting swans. Presumably, mum is sitting while dad stands cautious (and probably bombastic) sentry. How lovely to be able to watch cygnets grow at such close quarters.
Not so lovely perhaps for any pet cat or dog at the same house who will be unable to go about their business without the noisy attentions of a protective swan…
March 8th – The year marches on, and so do the seasons. Slipping out into steady rain at lunchtime, I noted the Catshill swan couple seem to be returning to the old nest. One (probably the male) was loafing near the reeds, and the other was carefully weaving and packing torn fronds of rushes into a nest.
This seems way too early to me – but hen, they know what they’re doing, I guess. Wonder if they’ll top last year’s total of 8 cygnets?
March 1st – On a distinctly un-springlike day, I headed into Pelsall in the morning, and came back along the canal via Nest Common. The canal here is as stark and beautiful as it every is; a shimmering sky-coloured ribbon stretching off on three directions. However, the journey back – along muddy, churned towpath until I reached the better surfaced part at Ryders Hayes – was awful.
Walsall Council and the Canal & River Trust are said to be investing, like Birmingham, in canal routes that don’t need surfacing, while ignoring spots like this and the canal through Rushall. It doesn’t make sense to me.
October 5th – Still feeling rotten, I slipped past the border guards and spun through the principality, entering via the Cannock Extension Canal. At Pelsall Junction, the old tonnage house has been up for sale for a bit and I assume from recent clearance works that it’s been sold. It’ll make an interesting house, but living there could present challenges, especially for access.
The canal, commons and trees looked beautiful on a grey and dismal afternoon, which despite an occasionally interesting sky, was thoroughly uninspiring.
A ride that was better than expected, to be honest.
May 26th – The family that preens together, stays together. Cute as buttons, fighting fit – 8 cygnets on the canal at Catshill, Brownhills.
The music is ‘Peppermint Patty’ as played by the remarkable George Winston, but originally by Vince Guaraldi.
This one’s for Woz, because he’s off his feet at the mo, and can’t go look for himself.
May 26th – After not seeing them for two weeks, my swan magnet was finally on again as I headed up the canal at Brownhills. On this warm but generally overcast afternoon, it was clearly time for the family ablutions and the whole family of 2 adults and 8 cygnets were preening and bathing. They’ve approximately doubled in size since I last saw them, and look healthy and contented.
So pleased the couple finally got a brood after all these years.
Please though – if you see them, and want to feed them – give them seed, not bread. Bread has no nutritional value to wildfowl like swans and ducks, and can kill the little ones.
April 6th – Bless her, she’s sitting again. For what is the third (or maybe fourth) year, the Catshill swan couple have made a nest in the remnants of the one from the previous year, and they appear to be sitting.
In previous years, the labour has been fruitless; despite laying eggs, the couple have so far been cygnetless.
I’ve felt sorry for them for too many seasons. Let’s hope they get it together this year, eh?
March 21st – Off to Chasewater for the first time in a while, I took the canal up from Brownhills. Spring is everywhere; in the hedgerows, in the fields, on the water. Despite a grim wind, birds were bountiful, and the sun, when you caught it, was warm.
My favourite tree at Home Farm is still in winter mode, but the field surrounding it is a warm green. At Catshill, the swan-pair with three unsuccessful breeding years behind them are having another go, and the landmarks of Hammerwich tested the zoom on the camera.
At Chasewater, the canal valve is now open again, and we’re about 40mm off maximum level now, but the wind drove waves onto the spillway weir quite ferociously. Due to the same wind, the Wakeboard lines were closed, but workmen were busy around the boating lake laying lovely new tarmac paths instead of the uneven old slabs.
A great afternoon to be at Chasewater, for sure.
June 7th – The waterlife went mad today. Riding along the canal to Chasewater, I noticed the tadpoles had hatched en masse; they seem very, very late. They swarmed and clumped on the algae at the canal side, and fish and birds were picking them off. I watched a common tern take something from the water, and sadly, Mrs. Swan has finally vacated the nest at Catshill. Whether she actually hatched any chicks or not, I don’t know, as there was no trace of either parent, but Mrs. mallard and brood seem to have taken advantage of the empty nest.
Pedro Cutler will appreciate this entry. This one was for you, old chap…
June 2nd – I’m very sad that the swan couple that every year build a nest and lay eggs on the canal near Catshill in Brownhills appear to have had another barren year. I’ve followed their progress for three years now, and she sits, sleeps and waits patiently for her brood to hatch. Last year, after over a month of sitting, she abandoned the nest still with eggs in. I can’t see any this year, but she’s been sitting for over a month again. I don’t know why, but I find the swan couple’s patient vigil tragic. I’d love to see them with a brood.
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