June 26th – Another hot and sunny day, and on the way to work, it was clear that fish has been breeding successfully in the canal at Pleck: Looking into the green water under Scarborough Road bridge, tends of thousands of tiny fry had had hatched. Further up the canal, larger fish were heading in that direction, one presumes fo lunch.
Who’d ever have thought these canals would be so green, beautiful and full of life?
June 22nd – It was a great ride for the animals, clearly enjoying the sun and warmth. The heron population is booming on the Birmingham canals at the moment, and their comical antics are a joy, as were the cackling ducks in the heart of the city.
I just loved the disdain visible on the face of the snoozing embankment cat whose nap I so clearly wrecked.
I love canal riding on a warm evening.
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 17th – Obvious cat is obvious.
This puss with high hopes and lofty ambitions was hunting by the canal at Rugeley – a roosting mallard had been spotted in the grass with her ducklings, and the story unfolded. Not a great hunter, no ducks were harmed in the making of this post and indeed, they seemed to be mocking the cat in the end.
The cat’s facial expressions are wonderful, particularly in the second image ‘Just a doin’ ma thang, nothin to see here’
Better luck next time puss.
June 14th – On the way to work on a warm but windy and wolfish Thursday, I stopped to look back down the canal I’d just ridden along. It’s so green and verdant now, sow beautifully limpid and peaceful. Hard to imagine that a few short weeks ago this was barren and grey, and soon enough it will return to the dormant, winter state.
Bless the summer, bless the green, bless the weather.
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 10th – Good deed for the day, though I don’t know if it did any good.
Slipping through Oldbury, something grey moving in the water caught the eye, and stopping to investigate I found that it was a sodden, floating and stricken wood pigeon that had somehow fallen in the water, and couldn’t get out. Although floating on it’s outstretched wings, it looked tired and frightened and was clearly going to die if it couldn’t get out.
Forty minutes later, using a spare inner tube as a gentle lasso, I finally got the struggling, terrified bird onto the towpath. It was saturated, and exhausted.
I placed him carefully in a patch of sun to dry out in the undergrowth. A couple of boaters nearby said they’d keep an eye on it.
I think it probably died: It was so wet, so shocked, so tired. But I couldn’t leave it to drown without trying. Hopefully, foxy didn’t find lunch, the sun was enough to dry him and the grass around provided enough nutrition to get him to safety.
Hopefully. Call me a fool, but I couldn’t leave it there.
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 24th – It’s not often you see a proud swan momma doing the Hokey Cokey to entertain her cygnets, but it’s a longstanding tradition, in my head.
This wonderful sight of the mother watching over young, sleepy hatchlings was at Stubbers Green, mid-morning, and an absolute joy to the heart.
This pic was taken from the road, and the nest’s proximity to the traffic is my only worry.
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