Blue stuff near Rugby at last

Moored Clifton Upon Dunsmore, Oxford Canal

Yep blue stuff above me, and shiny fields!.. At last the sun is out this evening.  That’s a bit better I must say, and as I touch type this blog looking across the canal to the field on the other side I can see rabbits enjoying the late sun, charging around all over the place.  I can also see a moorhen pair with 5 very tiny chicks.. they are in the field too.  Also one moorhen chick on its own.. but older.

There is also a family of ducks.. Mum, dad and 7 small ducks.  Certainly they are this year’s chicks but already they are very nearly as big as their parents.

There is a kestrel or sparrowhawk hovering above, I do hope the baby rabbits are aware.

I very much doubt that the moorhen chicks will all survive around here.  There are a lot of hire boat bases close by, and with the excitement of ‘first hour aboard’, the new holiday makers are forgetting to not slowing down past our boat let alone the speed they are doing along the canal where there are no narrowboats moored.  For sure they are travelling much too fast with a huge wave behind them washing the banks as they go.

These waves do actually drown the moorhen chicks.. They are also at risk from the notorious hidden threat of the pike.

I must take a stroll with Lucy this evening and enjoy this rarity of an hours sun at the end of the day.. we are moored by the golf course, we might find some golf balls between us.  The golfers here are not very good shots and are hooking the ball from the tee about 100 yards along from where we are moored.. we have had three balls bounce off the roof into the canal this afternoon!

The kestrel/sparrowhawk has just flown off to the other side of the distant woods.. the rabbits are safe this time..