Along Bingley Canal

It's that time of year again, the canal is alive with the sounds of mallards - male chasing harasses females, geese squabbling for the best nesting sites and the mute swans mating. With beautiful weather it is the ideal time to visiting the canal near Micklethwaite wharf.

Aylesbury duck copyright annmackiemiller

 At the boat yard the assorted aylesbury and other domestic ducks are back in residence. For a while the entrance was blocked so they had moved to Greenhill. Good to see Ailsa the duck with the deformed beak is still there. Wonder if there will be any chicks there this year?

Canada Goose, copyright annmackiemiller

Canada Goose on bright water, copyright annmackiemiller

As usual there Canada geese are present though there are still only a couple. I suspect more will arrive shortly. I often wonder whether I am photographing the birds or the water - I just love the effect of light, movement and reflections that are ever changing and these ones are delightful.

Male mallard copyright annmackiemiller

One thing that always fascinate me about mallard ducks is the differences in colours you can see. Here there is the more common colouring of the male and below - another male that is predominately brown. We have an increasing number of white mallards along this stretch though I didn't do well photographing them yesterday - the sun was a bit bright and I managed to burn out the white.

Male mallard copyright annmackiemiller

Mute swan copyright annmackiemiller

It's good to see a pair of mute swans have moved into this range. Old Grumps much loved character, died a couple of years ago, and it has taken time to see a new pair here. The question is, where/if they will nest here. I see the male is taking his legacy to heart, yesterday he was chasing the Embden and Canada geese off his canal. 

Mute swan copyright annmackiemiller