September Morning - Pt 2 Grey Heron and Vole

Continuation of my morning at Church Lock Grove.

 

A Grey Heron had been stalking through the canal-side field and suddenly struck pulling out a vole....

 

….before manoeuvring it in its bill.... 

 

….and swallowing.

A bit gruesome but necessary in the balance of nature.

September Morning - Pt 1 Church Lock Grove

Not getting up early enough to see the sun rise, I made my way to Church Lock at Grove.

 

I managed to surprise a Grey Heron lit by the early morning sun.

A Grey Wagtail arrives looking for flies on the dew covered roof of a narrow boat.

 

Swallows were feeding young sitting on a telephone wire....

 ….which was shared by the odd House Martin juvenile (top left).

 

Goldfinches including a juvenile were flitting about in the field feeding on the thistle heads.

More next post

Church Lock Grove Buckinghamshire - House Martins & Swallows

A week ago on a visit to Church Lock at Grove Bucks, I found that the House Martins were still feeding their second brood.....

 

.....whilst there were the first brood on the nearby cables, interspersed with adults.

There was also the odd Swallow taking a rest.  I think that these were juveniles.



  Amazing that within the next few weeks they will all be making their way South to warmer climes (although there have been recent records of swallows over wintering in the UK due to less severe winters caused by global warming.)



Church Lock Grove Buckinghhamshire and Puttenham Hertfordshire - Frozen Canal

Freezing morning during the clear and cold snap on the last day of November this year.   Two days of this weather had caused the canal to freeze overnight which gave me an opportunity to take some more photographs of the canal, initially at Church Lock at Grove, and a little later at Puttenham Hertfordshire (not to be confused with the Surrey village of that name).

 

The Grand Union Canal at Grove as the sun was beginning to break through the early morning mist.

 

Narrow boats at Puttenham...

 

....with narrow boats awaiting repair.

 

Frost on the cobweb at Grove.

Ice on the canal at Puttenham....



 

... with a Mute Swan finding the conditions challenging as it half slid and crawled to a small patch of open water next to a habitated narrow boat, hoping to be fed.

Finally I spotted these frosty leaves lying on the worn stones by the side of Church Lock.  Reminded me somewhat of Bugs Bunny