#365daysofbiking A bit Woody:
September 5th – Good to see the singular Walsall Wood cygnet christened Woody has survived and thrived. This couple haven’t historically had large clutches of eggs and I was concerned this year to see just the one chick, late in the season.
It has however thrived and is now nearly the size of it’s parents, and they remain a tight family group.
A wonderful thing to see.
#365daysofbiking Swanning around
August 28th – Oh hello guys, not seen you for a while.
Just at Bentley Mill Way aqueduct, the swan family seem to come from Moxley were determinedly heading towards Walsall – mum dad and five cygnets, now nearing adulthood. They were in a perfect line and a wonderful thing to see,
It’s nice to see another generation maturing.
July 20th – I met the. Walsall Wood swans near Clayhanger bridge. Woody, their single cygnet this year, is growing and developing very well indeed, and the family are confident, wary of humans, but relaxed.
Woody posed happily for the camera, which was lovely.
But I still can’t get used to how alien swan feet are…
July 10th – This one has puzzled me. An unknown family of swans has appeared in Pleck, Walsall on the canal near the Rollingmill Industrial Estate.
Mum, Dad and six cygnets (a smaller, slightly runty looking one was hiding behind the weed on the right) were sunning themselves and preening at the back of a factory, while a man worked noisily through the door in the workshop behind.
I don’t know this year of any local family with six surviving chicks, and the adults don’t seem to be ringed.
They look in rude health though, and weren’t at all skittish.
Wonder if they’re now resident or just passing through? Where are they from, any ideas people?
June 20th – Undeterred by the mower, the latest gosling family on the canal near Silver Street were in good spirits, and one of the parents stared me out while the other attacked my stationary bicycle.
Geese are odd creatures, but their chicks have all the cute.
June 19th – Walsall Wood’s lone cygnet appears to be in rude health, thankfully. Now christened Woody, they grey ball of fluff, hatched to attentive parents who rarely achieve a clutch of more than 2 or 3 is very active and busy.
It’s good to see this pair who nest late and long so proud and protective of their offspring – with one of the parents making concerted efforts to peck my feet and pull my laces!
June 13th – One of the more fascinating things about the commonly derided and scorned Canada goes is their propensity to social support between families.
On the way home from work this evening, four adults (one dallying out of shot) and two broods of goslings numbering a dizzying total of 12 youngsters in two distinct stages of growth indicated that two families were hanging out together and probably sharing childminding and security duties.
Can’t think of any other wild birds that do this.
Lovely to see, and I got hissed at in quadrophonic!
June 8th – On the local canals, it’s still multiplication time, and I was pleased to note in passing that the swans nesting in the Walsall Wood canalside garden had hatched a single cygnet. This pair have never had big broods, and last year hatched a pair.
Good to see the little grey ball of fluff and nice to see how attentive the parents are. I look forward to watching this wee one grow.
Meanwhile the Canada geese continue to promenade in their lines, share chick-care duties with other mums and hiss aggressively at observers.
This is always such a lovely, busy time on the canals.
May 15th – I’m a scientific and cultural atheist, as most readers know and I’m a really strong believer in evolution. It’s just the way I am. But even my stoic scientific approach falters sometimes.
Like in the case of coot chicks.
What evolutionary advantage does looking like they really had a moorhen as a father create? And just what made them so ugly that probably even their mums find them a bit grim?
They have cute in shedloads but bless my soul they’re not lookers.
April 5th – There will be a series of muggings on the canal in coming months.
A pair of familiar criminals met me on my way home – gone for the winter, these fair weather foes appear in the spring every year, and raise a local brood, surviving on the abundant local greens – but also on the tidbits and seed they bully out of passers by whom they harass for treats.
If you’re on the canal between Clayhanger Bridge and The Black Cock, take seed or something to shoo them off with…
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 