Bosley in the rain

While Roger was taking the car back this morning I watched a mother duck and her 17 ducklings. She was teaching them to catch flies and they were jumping in and out of the canal onto the overspill opposite the boat.

We set off after lunch, went through Fool's Nook road bridge and passed several patches of wild garlic in full bloom. The smell was wonderful!

Fool's Nook road bridge

fully automated, closing to traffic

open to boats

wild garlic 

If you want recipes for wild garlic you can find some here

There are quite a few Mandarin ducks on the Macclesfield canal and one of them had mated with a female mallard and produced a fine brood. The males seem to be better fathers than ordinary mallards and he was shepherding the ducklings as well as the female.

 We did the washing on the way and filled up with water at the service station at the top of Bosley Locks.

As I'm still not allowed to do any heavy lifting or strenuous exercise, Roger worked the locks and I drove but I found it quite boring and would much rather do the work.

We got into lock no. 2 and the heavens opened. It rained all the way down but as we haven't had any rain for over a month we can't complain.  The nest which we saw in lock 6 on 26th April now has 3 chicks in it. The parents were carrying large insects to them, but keeping a careful eye out as we passed through the lock. Unfortunately I couldn't get a clear photograph but the chicks seemed healthy and hungry.