After a couple of drinks I then went back to the Nutbrook Trail and on to the Erewash Canal, which I took all the way back to The Bridge at Cotmanhay and then home. The Erewash Canal part is about 3.75 miles. I didn't take a camera with me as I was just trying out the bike. I hadn't ridden one for more than 10 minutes for over 30 years.
Wednesday, after work, I went for another ride - this time from The Bridge and along the Erewash Canal up to Langley Bridge (also known as the Great Northern Basin) where the Cromford and Nottingham canals (both disused) also meet. It's about 2.25 miles and is effectively a dead end. This time I took my Fuji.
The Erewash Canal runs pretty much north-south and I was travelling north in the evening. The first part of the journey is on the east bank so any photos on or across the water are taken into the sun.
I must admit I struggled with the camera and will have to consider taking the Nikon next time. There were quite a few swallows about and this was where the Nikon would have been useless. I aimed the Fuji and set it up for continuous mode. It will take 15 photos in about 2 seconds at 4 megapixels (even faster at 2 megapixels) because it doesn't refocus or check light levels. I aimed the camera and waited. In about 10 attempts at various times I managed to catch 3 swallows, 1 in consecutive frames.
There are three locks along this section, the first being Shipley Lock.
Several times I saw this dark coloured duck, sometimes with ducklings. I think it's a tufted duck but I never saw any evidence of a tuft. And this is the best photo I could get.
I saw plenty of mallards and ducklings.
Over here!
There were a couple of moorhens - again struggling to find a good photo.
The next lock is Eastwood lock where you cross to the other bank. I wondered why it was called Eastwood because I thought that town was a long way off. I also wondered why the traffic noise so so loud until I looked on Google maps back home. Sometimes my geographical awareness is awful. For most of the way now I'm in the shade of trees and haven't got the sun in my eyes or camera.
I was just about to sit down for a drink and snack when I spotted a flash of orange and blue flying into some low hanging branches. It didn't stay long before flying over the water again in the opposite direction. Almost certainly a kingfisher. Other birds I think I saw were sand martins (seemed too brown to be house martins which I also saw) and a kestrel (photo is inconclusive). I also saw this reed bunting.
I didn't know it was until I got home and even at x18 it is tiny. Must remember binoculars next time. These two were very friendly.
The last lock is Langley Bridge, which is actually the 14th lock on the old Cromford Canal. When I saw KFC I realised whereabouts I was. There are lots of boats here but it's a private mooring and no access for me. I headed back home, with just a couple of stops, finally managing to get a half decent photo of some coots. I'm back on the east side of the canal here.
I didn't know how far I was going to be able to get so had set my phone to go off after an hour. I was enjoying myself too much to return then, and was gone 2 and a half hours in the end.
