As I mentioned yesterday
we have been moored here at Lapworth for a month. We are at the junction of the
North Stratford, South Stratford and Grand Union canals so any walk that takes
in a canal will be on one or more of these.
I mention this because since we have been here we have seen kingfishers
and herons on the North Stratford and Grand Union but not a single one on the
South Stratford.
There is a young fisherman
that I see most days when I walk down the South Stratford who does wildlife photography
whilst waiting for a bite; he also has not seen either bird on this bit of
canal. I saw him again on Thursday down
at Lowsonford and ironically, soon after I left him, a heron flew
overhead. Even though it was flying
perpendicularly to the canal it was still technically on the South Stratford –
it was probably flying to the Grand Union.
Having seen the heron I
then came across my first flowering Lesser Celandine of the year.
 |
Lesser Celandine by the
overspill to lock 28
|
This plant belongs to the
buttercup family and I hadn’t realised it is poisonous to livestock. Anyway, to me, it is one of the harbingers of
spring so the plants brought a smile to my face.
A bit further along I came
across a hawthorn bush that was starting to leaf – again, another harbinger of
spring. It must have been in a
particularly sheltered position as no other hawthorns had leaves on.
 |
Leaves appearing on a
hawthorn bush
|
As for the marquee in the
field opposite us, there was more activity on Wednesday. It now has curtains, tables and chairs
inside. With two days left until the
weekend I think there’s still time to get it ready for a party or wedding. Let’s see what Thursday brings.
No comments:
Post a Comment