It’s been nearly a month since I was last on here, boring you all to tears (if anyone reads this). It’s a strange day for me today I was another year older last week and today would have been my sister’s birthday. I always struggle on her birthday, even though she’s been gone for a long, long time. I can’t sit around the house moping all day so I’ve dragged myself out to Forest Farm again. I make it sound like it’s a chore, but you know what I mean. I’m not expecting much, as the last time I was here, it was dead. The birds have other things on their minds at this time of year.
Skipping the first hide, I set off towards the second one (Cliff Hide), which always seems to be the preferred haunt of the kingfishers, egrets, and herons. Today, however, there was bugger all about. All the birds were conspicuous by their absence. I sat patiently, if that’s what you can call it, and waited and waited some more. I reached into my pocket for some nuts and threw them out in front of me, hoping to attract something, anything, even a squirrel. I was rewarded with a Jay swooping down collecting a nut and flying off again. I never got a shot off, however, I got the next one that flew in.
No matter how often I see a Jay they always creep me out. Their eyes are so freaky. They have a look as though they are permanently stoned or psychotic. I imagine them flying back to their nest saying ‘Hey Man’ or ‘Here’s Johnny’ when they arrive. Perhaps it’s just me, but if I saw someone walking towards me with eyes like that I’d give them a wide berth, just in case. After waiting a while longer I made my from the hide to go for a walk along the canal. Stopping at the gate I laid some nuts on the gate post to see if there were any smaller birds around. I didn’t have to wait long before a blue tit appeared selected a tasty morsel and flew off. This was followed by a succession of small birds including a great tit, robin, and a dunnock.
Walking on I made my way to the canal, pausing briefly to check on the heron tree. I was rewarded with the sight of a lone heron perched on the topmost branches of this long-dead tree. Grabbing a few shots I walked on towards the canal which after the recent rain, was a quite a high level. As this is a disused canal the water level is not regulated and in dry weather parts of the canal are devoid of water. The sight of a canal without water always fills me with sadness, I feel the canal has lost its soul when it is empty. I took a slow walk along the canal bank, stopping from time to time to listen and look in the hedgerows.
I paused before reaching the swamp to take a closer look at the heron tree, and sure enough, the heron I saw earlier was still there. I managed to grab a few shots before he spread his wings and flew off in the direction of the River Taff.
Moving on, I scanned the canal and the tree-lined far bank for any trace of blue flashing by, a kingfisher on the wing. Nothing, not a hint of a kingfisher—oh well, you can’t have it all. Reaching the old Forest lock, I stopped to spread some seeds and nuts on the lock wall. Surely there must be something here. I straddled the wall, my left foot dangling above the drop to the water, and I waited.
In a matter of minutes, I was rewarded by a procession of small birds, blue tits, coal tits, great tits (like the one at the top of the page), and dunnocks, all eager to get their share of free food. This continued for a few minutes until the resident ducks muscled in on the act.
Moving on, I began my walk to the end of the canal, depositing small amounts of nuts on fence posts as I went. I reached a turning and put a small number of nuts on top of a litter bin and waited. It wasn’t long before I was joined by a nuthatch, blue tits, great tits and what was that? I looked up and stared into the tree top to see the demented eye of a Jay staring back at me. Slowly, I lifted my camera, adjusted my focus and exposure, and started taking photographs, all the while focusing on that eye.
I gently stepped back, hopefully out of sight, in the hope that he would come down out of the tree to collect some food. As soon as I moved, he swooped down, much too quickly for me, and I managed to snatch a photo of its arse disappearing into the trees.
I made my way back the way I had come, stopping at the old lock mostly for a rest but to see what was about. All was quiet so I continued on my way. Reaching the swamp, I placed a few nuts in my upturned palm out of curiosity to see if I could tempt a small bird to feed out of my hand.
As I stood as still as I possibly could, I watched a great tit make his way from branch to branch, getting closer to me every step of the way. He sat there about six inches from my hand, warily eyeing the nuts, then me. After what seemed like an age, he flew to my hand and perched on my fingers, his gaze alternating between me and the nuts. Holding my breath, steeling myself not to move, he stepped into my palm and selected a nut before flying off. I can’t describe the feeling of having a wild creature trust you enough to step onto your hand to feed. Sadly, I didn’t get a photo, but I will always have the memory.