Is there anything more lovely than a waterfront walk in springtime? We live near a canal that, incidentally, is the fastest route into the village, and it is teeming with birds. And the songbirds in the hedges and trees are always singing. Even when it’s rush hour on the M6 and pouring down rain in anticipation of an imminent thunderstorm, they don’t frickin’ care! It don’t matter to birdies!
I usually find some reason to walk in to the village every other day or so, and in the last week I’ve seen:
* 2 swans and their 4 cygnets. One of these swans (presumably the male) likes to pretend he is a mustachioed villain and swims around terrorizing the many ducks, which has prompted at least three people to offer the following solutions: pelt him with small rocks, get out the shotgun, not prohibit their personal dog from assaulting him. I may or may not be related to 2/3 of these suggesters.
* 2 different pairs of moorhens building nests—one swims around looking for appropriate materials and then hands (beaks?) them to the one who is arranging the nest.
* 1 pair of moorhens that already has 6 chicks—and if those aren’t the ugliest ugly baby birds that ever came down the pike. In the words of Cher Horowitz, they are full-on Monets: from far away, they’re ADORABLE, but up close they’re a big ol’ mess.
* 1 coot who pretty much just swims around.
* 1 heron who pretty much just stands around.
* 1 wood pigeon in a nest that appears to be constructed of approximately 4 twigs and, I don’t know, bird spit?
* Lots of mallards, and in particular this pair and 12 ducklings who jetted across the canal to me in hopes of food. I think it may have been a ducky daycare situation, as I’ve not seen as large of a pack on the canal before. (Don’t worry about that little guy in front; he’s just scratching his head). I kind of feel sorry for mallards because they’re so pretty, but no one cares because they’re so very common. Them’s the breaks, I guess.
And did I mention that an ice cream truck rolls through our neighborhood every afternoon? An ice cream truck! It is a good time to be in England.
