Twopath and CB 17/3/08

The towpath and CB walk had the good the bad and the ugly contained within it this morning. And it was nothing to do with the fact I watched a Clint Eastwood DVD last night !

The good, was the fact that I watched the Herons changing over at the nest this morning, absolutely fascinating to watch the display between the two birds as they changed over. As one bird came flying in the sitting bird became very excited, with lots of calls and head shaking. As soon as the other bird touched down both birds started to rub bills (almost like a butcher putting an edge on a knife) and then spent some time preening each other neck feathers. I made a discrete exit at this point in case they became even more intimate :-))

The bad sadly occurred as I walked along the edge of Tag Meadow towards the river. I thought I heard voices and shots and sure enough as I got to be able to see the river I spotted two baby Rambo's in full camouflage gear shooting over the river above the weir. From a safe distance I politely asked them to stop shooting as it was private land and a nature reserve. They seemingly were not too keen on this idea and one pointed his gun at me a took a pot shot. As I was at least 50 yards away this came nowhere near me but I did hear it whistle over above me. As I lay on the floor I pulled out my mobile and to my horror discovered the battery was flat. Fortunately the Rambo's were not aware of this fact as disappeared rapidly into Strangstry wood (threatening me with death and destruction the next time we met), when they saw me stand up and hold the phone to ear as though calling the police. I made my way down to the river bank after a safe interval to let them get well away up into the woods. I did not find any dead birds but the river was completely devoid of any birds at all, so I assume they had been there sometime potting at ducks.

The ugly part occurred when I reached the disabled ramp that is being built at the end of the iron bridge over the river. Someone has obviously decided that it would be amusing to walk up and down the wet concrete on the ramp. This has left an area of deep footprints in the ramp near the base. A classic example of mindless vandalism at its worst. A sorry, but only too common tale of an urban wildlife site, wonderful wildlife and scenery, ruined only by the sad people who see no beauty only the reflected ugliness that's inside themselves :-((