Pheasants.

0 Locks 13 miles and 1 tunnel, Now moored at Welford junction.
Total of 236 locks and 275 miles and 12 Tunnels since 5th Nov 2006

It was an early start for us again so that we could get through Crick tunnel before the rush started. Except for another north bound boat ahead of us we had the tunnel to ourselves or so we thought. When we were about 300yards from the northern portal we could see bats flying around catching insects and one of them actually flew across our bow several times picking off insects attracted to our headlight.
It’s been a beautiful cruising day except for the cool wind which has been getting stronger as the day wore on. The bright yellow fields of Rape seed have been absolutely glorious. Along the way we passed n/b Black Bess who called out that they follow our blog. Hi guys, next time perhaps we can stop for a chat.
We were talking about the fact that we had seen plenty of pheasant cock birds but no hens when we turned a corner and here was a pair of pheasants walking along the tow path. The plain brown colouring of the hens is quite a contrast to the brightly coloured cock birds.

Mum, Dad and their four Goslings - the first we have seen.

A few days back I reported seeing a Halifax bomber flying overhead and mentioned it on the blog with an attached photo. Robin, a friend of ours in NZ questioned this and I have since done a Google search which came up with the info that the only flying Halifax is in fact in Canada. This was raised off the bottom of a Norwegian fiord after 50 something years and then loving rebuilt by volunteer enthusiast’s. So the aircraft I saw must have been a Lancaster, sorry about that.
Another apology to Geoff and Gill on n/b Petroc. I mispelt the boat name and this was brought to my attention by Big John of n/b Epiphany who is a friend of Geoff and Gill. Thanks John.
We are now moored at Welford junction along with 5 other boats sitting here blazed in glorious sunshine. We have been watching gliders which have been making the most of today’s wind and fine weather. They were launched by catapult from somewhere close by and then circling in the thermals.