Walking The Walk Again

Yesterday I finally managed to go for a walk along my usual patch of the canal again. My resolution to go every week has lapsed recently but it was great to get out and see how things have been changing over autumn.


As you can see from the photos the leaves have almost all fallen now and with the morning sun behind me on the walk out there was a definite feel of winter in the air. Despite this, even in mid November there are still flowers in amongst the hedges. A welsh poppy and some purple and pink flowers that have been there since I moved here in early September. It's nice to be reminded that even in the season we associate with decay and winding down new shoots and petals are pushing through.

The canal path was busy yesterday, with lots of dog walkers and joggers as well as a man fishing patiently. I wish I'd stopped to ask him what he normally catches. I've only ever seen one fish in the canal, a pike last spring, but there must be lots of fish in there. Unlike the fish the birds were easy to spot. Still in their morning flurry of activity there was lots of birdsong and I easily spotted most of my normal species. Pigeon (always the first one as they live under the bridge I walk down to the canal by), sparrow, great tit, black headed gull, mallard duck, moor hen, swan, as well as the more unusual blackbird, starling and pied wagtail.


Almost all the berries have gone from the hedges now and the sparrows are hooked on the bird feeder in the garden. They're still only eating from one of the two seed feeders though, it's definitely their favourite.

Flowers in the Rain

I managed to find almost an hour of no rain yesterday for my walk. It was still very damp and dreary but nice to be out in the fresh air. Now it's part of my routine it's easy going out for a walk but the trickier thing is remembering to take my headphones out. When I remembered yesterday there wasn't much to hear other than the wind in the trees. Occasionally I heard sparrows but there were very well hidden, hopefully in the middle of nice dry hedges.

It wasn't just the sparrows hiding from the rain. I saw my usual pigeons and mallard ducks but even they were sheltering under branches and reeds. There were moor hens, which were quite happily bobbing around on the canal, and I saw my first blackbird on my weekly walk. In fact there were two blackbirds, chasing a pigeon for some reason. The black headed gulls were numerous overhead but noticeably quiet, it was one of those days where everything feels muffled.
The most exciting bird was right at the end of my walk. Just before leaving the canal I saw a grey wagtail! These birds are really pretty, grey on top with a very long tail and a yellow tummy. This yellow tummy always makes me think they should be called yellow wagtails but looking at their pictures on the RSPB website the one I saw really was more grey.
I didn't think I'd seen many birds but now I've written it down it doesn't seem too bad!

There were less people around because of the rain too. Normally I see about 6 people or couples out for leisurely walks but yesterday there were 3 very quick dog walkers trying to get home as fast as possible. Once I was actually out in the cold and wet it wasn't too bad but after the heat wave of a few weeks ago it's definitely Autumn here in Preston with warm coats and scarves all round.

Despite being October there are still lots of flowers out along the canal. Mostly pinks and purples but also yellows and whites. I took some photo's of them so I could identify them at home. Here are my attempts (from left to right, top to bottom), if you can fill in my blanks or if you think I've got any wrong please let me know!
Welsh Poppy, Dandelion, Hedge Bindweed, unknown, Spear Thistle, Herb Robert, Himalayan Balsam, Some type of Hawkweed?, unknown, unknown.

 

After a week of strong winds across the country I expected almost all the leaves to have been blown off by now but there is still a surprising amount of green on the trees. The pond weed has also grown back on the canal so it's green too at the moment! Here are my pictures from the top of the canal from the last few weeks.

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1