Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

In calm fine weather we left the marina and headed north.  We were in a "pod" of 3 because as we emerged from the marina a boat was passing.  Arriving at the first lock the skipper waved us through explaining that he was travelling with the boat behind us.  Katkatkat was keeping a list of birds seen for one of her volunteers at work.  During the day she spotted 7 Kingfishers we didn't bother to count the hundreds of Canada Geese or 
other common birds. 

The weather worsened and "The Mate" and I donned full wet weather gear.   Over lunch we heard the water pump running when nobody was drawing water.  I decided it should be investigated.  This meant crawling, (well wriggling would be more correct) into the space under the well deck.  Horrors!  The water pump had a steady drip drip of water.  This was ending up in what should be a dry blige and with a cubic metre or more of water to go at could be disastrous.  A quick phone call to frank (one of the local and technically knowledgeable owners) advised, draw off water into as many containers as we could and switch off the pump.  This greatly reduced the drip so I wriggled again and placed a "drip catcher" under the pump.

One of the joys for me of narrowboating is the wildlife.   This Heron perched an a fence beside the canal as we glided past with the engine on tick over.   It seemed to think "if I don't move they won't see me".