Tuesday 22 May 2012

The Big One (8-3)

Tuesday 22nd May 2012


Boston Visitors moorings to Bardney Lock Visitor Moorings.


I was taken by surprise, sunlight was streaming in through the portholes. A quick look highlighted that the sluice was running off a lot of water. So rather than push against the flow we delayed our start. Giving us chance to walk the dogs. At 11 am the sluice was closed and with a wave of goodbyes to our new friends we set off.

We set off with the pram cover down to enjoy the sun, though the wind was cold for the first hour. We trundled on up river. Very few boats were observed going the other way. One small boat was called Ratty and this stimulated a discussion about "Wind in the Willows" and all the various characters. We did encounter a few large rafts of weed which we managed to avoid. I had to put the engine in reverse a couple of times to help clear weed pick-up. But we did not need to go down the weed hatch.

On our arrival at Bardney, we managed to secure a mooring with an electrical pylon. The Memsahib started to get on with the washing and by close of play we had done four loads. The boat is now festooned with drying clothes. 


We came across Nb Dacha once again and Poppy and Twiggy had a chase up and down the pontoon before Twiggy came aboard and sat in front of the cupboard with the dog treats in. 


Wildlife: A pair of Buzzards were spotted turning on a thermal. Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Common Terns  all in good numbers. A Kite with a white wing tag.  Two pairs of Oystercatchers were added to the days list. Many Greylag geese with chicks and a fair few Mallard with chicks. We also detected a few Pipistrelle and Daubentons bats.


A mystery bird that I instantly thought was a Little Owl but then I observed to be black, slightly smaller than a Rook but larger than a Jackdaw, with a very short tail. The blunt thick wings and short tail gave it a silhouette similar to a fruit bat. It was not a Rook or Crow sans tail feathers, because it was a very capable and agile flyer.



Later....




Daily Total
Miles: 23.6
Locks: 1
Swing / Lift Bridges: 1
Tunnels: 0
Pump Outs: 0
Engine Hours: 6.3





Accumulated Totals
Miles: 727.7
Locks: 653
Swing / Lift Bridges: 116
Tunnels: 6
Pump Outs: 9
Engine Hours: 2138.8

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