Solace Day 13 Grass Snake

A lovely day after a damp start! 

Today we were going to reach the marina, TOO SOON. So we just cruised on by towards Chester. "Let's just go on a bit round the corner to get away from the rail line." we thought. Mistake! We came upon 2 miles of privately owned "live-aboards". When you pass a moored boat on the canal system you have to slow down to tick-over, otherwise the moored boat gets badly shaken.

As a general rule you don't drive fast enough to allow your wash to erode the bank, so the limit is 4mph and we normally cruise at 3mph. We pass moored boats at 2mph or less. So a slow journey.

When we were back out in open country I got off the boat with my 100-400 lens on the camera to get a bit of exercise and look for kingfishers. I saw none BUT there was movement by my feet! I couldn't focus the camera quick enough but the grass snake obliged by dropping into the water and winding across the canal. They are known for their ability to swim.

Keeping focus was difficult. As you can imagine the wriggling action of a snake and their narrow bodies means that they easily go out of focus and the water has no sharpness to focus on, either. 20% success rate.

I'm so delighted I got this, it hasn't been a good trip for wildlife.