Wootton Bassett (Wednesday 16th August 2017)

As is sometimes the way with Blip, yesterday I had nothing and today too many choices. Last week I didn't make it to the far end of the watered Wilts & Berks canal at Wootton Bassett to see the cygnets there, so I made it my goal for today.

As it is market day I went first to the town centre, parking near the stone poppy memorial, a potential blip to which I may return one day after dark, when it is illuminated, and did some shopping and had lunch.

I then drove to the Wilts & Berks at Chaddington Lane Bridge, currently the end of the canal open to the public, though there are plans to replace the bridge so that the watered section beyond the bridge can also be walked.

I could see the swan family in the distance and as I walked towards them I found a row of mallards in a gulley beside the towpath. My blip shows the whole family including all six cygnets. They have reached the stage when they are beginning to show their individual personalities. One of the female cygnets became fascinated by me and followed me up and down the towpath, grazing very close to where I stood, for quite a long time.

As a reminder that the modern world is ever present, alongside the natural world, as I walked along the towpath watching a family of moorhens, the Red Arrows flew past overhead.

L.
16.8.2017 (2016 hr)

Blip #2198 (#2448 including 250 archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #000
Blips/Extras In 2017 #259
Day #2701 (519 gaps from 26 March 2010)
LOTD #1433 (#1559 including 126 on archived blips)

Wootton Bassett series
Wilts and Berks Canal series
Canals series
Swan series
Landscape series

A Visit To The Wilts & Berks In Wootton Bassett, 16 August 2017 (Flickr album)(Work in progress)

Taken with Pentax K-1 and Pentax HD P-D FA 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6ED DC WR lens

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Max Richter - On The Nature Of Daylight (2016)
I ended the day watching Denis Villeneuve's brilliant film Arrival which is bookended by this highly evocative Max Richter composition.