Swans charge at the ice to break it, so they can reach bread scattered on the surface of the frozen canal. Ducks try to waddle across the top of the ice. Filmed from my narrowboat, moored opposite the boatyard in Rodley on the Leeds and Liverpool canal.
wildlife
Moored outside Hampton Court
How’s this for a pretty fine spot for our first night on the Thames, moored outside the gates of Hampton Court? In the evening we were mobbed by hungry birds: it’s the coots I feel sorry for.
Terrapin spotted in canal
I’d heard about the turtles that get dumped in the canals but never seen one before. Saw this one on the Grand Union Canal near Kensal Rise.
Coots nests
Coots nests are built out of of twigs and any rubbish they can pull out of the canal. Coots are happy to make use of anything they find.
The urban myth of Swan Bake
I moored Bristol Fashion near the Horse and Barge pub in Denham, overlooking Harefield Marina. Because I was having trouble mooring in shallow water, a chap helped me pull the boat in. We chatted and he told me a story I’d heard somewhere before. He said that there were fewer swans around these days because […]