March 22nd – Still a nip in the air, but all along the canals of the Black Country, life is waking up, shaking off the taper of a long winter and getting on with nature’s imperative – and that included the waterfowl.
I notice lots of ducks, Canada geese and swans now closely paired for mating, busily courting each other and nest building.
A lovely sign that better days are on the way…
March 16th – There may be a return to winter forecast for the weekend, with impending snow and freezing temperatures, but on the canalside near the Watermead Estate in Brownhills, it’s spring and therefore reconstruction time again.
At dusk, the swan couple who have nested here in previous years were busily engaged in rest building, following their springtime imperative. Yes, it’ll be cold for them for a couple of days, but they know good weather and warm days are coming and they must prepare for this year’s brood.
I wish them warm days and good luck. I shall, as usual, watch with interest.
March 14th – Returning home after a long day as dusk fell, I’d hit the canal at Walsall Wood, but the towpath was very muddy so I decided to hop back on the High Street at Anchor Bridge and continue by road.
Stopping near Chandlers Keep, I noticed the swan couple feeding, and they seem in separable at the moment. I’m hoping they might get the urge to nest build soon. I think they’re youngsters, so if the do nest, it could well be a dry run, but I’m always keen to see swans nesting locally.
We never saw swans on the canal when I was a kid. They’re still a treat.
December 20th – A day of horrid weather – wet snow and cold winds. I stayed indoors after an awful night’s sleep, waiting until dusk to dash out on a circuit of Brownhills, which I have to say, against expectations, I enjoyed.
I passed the Watermead Estate swan couple, preening and feeding in the snow. They seemed unconcerned by the cold, which I guess they don’t feel. But I wonder if it annoys them?
It’s almost like they don’t notice it. Birds are odd.
December 26th – I headed to Chasewater, which was brooding and quiet.
Quiet that is, apart from the bickering, squabbling flock of waterfowl of every shape and size gathering around the boardwalk balcony as someone fed them seed.
The water boiled with desperate pecks and defensive wing flaps. There were fights, squabbles, pecked heads and nipped tails.
We all love these lakeside clowns. But man alive, they have no manners…
July 29th – I met the Watermead swan family who were making fair speed along the canal back from Chasewater towards Brownhills, but old habits die hard and they drifted from their central course to see me, just in case I had food. I didn’t, and they were visibly irritated.
The five youngsters are now pretty much the size of their parents and their adult, white plumage is starting to come through.
Another successful brood for these experienced parents marks out another good year for local swans. But where are the youngsters going every year?
June 19th – Returning from work I noted the Catshill Canada goose commune which appears to consist of two inseparable families was thriving. They don’t seem to have lost any of the goslings, and the older set are developing apace now, losing their mousey fluff and growing adult plumage, and the first wing feathers.
They have healthy appetites and are healthy, busy birds.
I noticed not far up the bank Mrs. Mallard with her newly hatched brood, which may well be her second set of the summer.
She was very proud and relaxed. I love to follow these little families on the canal.
June 12th – Here’s something to gladden the heart.
It was sad to lose one of the Watermead swan brood, but a lady who’s been nesting for an awful long time in a Walsall Wood canalside garden has finally hatched a pair of chicks.
As I returned from work, mom and day were proudly taking to the water with their two cygnets – one for a while tucked protectively under mum’s wing.
Watching it emerge and swim excitedly with it’s sibling was a real joy.
I honestly thought her eggs were not going to hatch. A wonderful sight.
June 11th – On a post repair test ride, bad news.
The Watermead swan family are now down to five from the original six. The remaining cygnets looked healthy and well though.
Most likely the victim of a hungry fox, it’s normal to lose a cygnet or two to predators in every urban clutch – we’ve been lucky in recent years to be relatively unscathed, but one has to remember the prodigious clutch sizes of these birds and consider that maybe some population control is natural.
When the youngsters start ground roosting separately as opposed to in a protective huddle, they are easy prey to Reynard and hopeful, the loss has been a warning to the remaining five.
Sad, so very sad – but it’s nature, red in tooth and claw.
June 8th – Passing Catshill Junction on my way to Brownhills High Street on my return home, I noticed the Canada goose family was resting near to Chandlers Keep, on the unused side of the bridge.
Curiously, there’s still two broods there mixed together, with three young chicks than the main group, but they’re all growing now, but clearly not to large to form a cuddle puddle for warmth and safety.
I’m fascinated by their tiny, nascent wings. It’s never really occurred to me before, but it’s some months before waterfowl can fly – and I’ve never seen geese or swans learning to do so. That must be a thing worth watching…
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