Unusual things you see when not expecting anything

I thought I'd indulge myself with a trip to the local canal, to a spot Io can just see in the distance from the vantage of my desk. Kim has  mentioned that she often sees kingfishers when she runs to work along the canal towpath close to Ham Mill, near Brimscombe. I thought I'd go and take a peek at lunchtime.

Much has changed since I was last there, with the canal having been dredged as part of the improvements to that stretch or cut between Bowbridge and Brimscombe, and a new surface to the towpath. As a result there were many more people enjoying using the canal:dog walkers, runners, cyclists, walkers, a woman knitting on a bench in her lunch hour and of course wildlife. I stalked/followed a heron from perch to perch in the canal's reed beds, watched coots and moorhens, ducks sitting and flying, a pair of jays flitting amongst the big trees' branches and what I think was a pair flycatchers dancing in the air above the water next to an old brick bridge. 

I crossed the classic canal bridge built for horses and carts, which takes the ancient track across the valley to Bownham and Minchinhampton. The path immediately goes through a short tunnel under the railway embankment before climbing the steep hillside which has grassy meadows and small orchards. I thought I might see the jays which had flown off in that direction.

Instead three strange heads appeared over a fence and I was rather amused to find this beast staring back at me with a rather convoluted head, munching on grass and being only faintly curious. I had loads of other pictures but think this llama deserves to be blipped.