Monday 11 August 2014

Spring Summer Cruise 2014 ❹❻



Black Country Museum  BCN to Sheepcote Bridge.

Overnight the weather was frequent rain showers and the wind had started to abate. This was the remains of what was left of hurricane Bertha.


Morning: We stayed and extra night longer than planned because of the bad weather conditions. The morning brought with its some welcome sunshine. The wind was still gusting at times. We delayed our departure for an hour before setting off. We then decided to return back towards the centre of Birmingham along the Wolverhampton level. This is a new section of the network for us. We noted that the water level was obviously low by a few inches. Near the old railway bridge Between Pitchfork Bridge and Randalls Bridge there was a shopping trolley in the bridge hole. We were unable to reach it with the boat hook, it looked like it had been struck several times.

Afternoon:
The section of the canal between Kiers Bridge and High Bridge has a large number of bags (bin liners and plastic carrier bags) of waste floating on the water. Some of which have already burst. As we reached the High Bridge section of the canal we found a weir was being refurbished and so this would account for the lowering of the water level.
 
Evening: We had Steph come and join us for tea then settled down for a night with the goggle box.

Wildlife:

Birds: House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Carrion Crow, Rook, Magpie, Blackbird, Mallard, Mute Swan, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch, Robin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Pied Wagtail, Black Headed Gull, Canadian Goose, Coot, Waterhen, Grey Heron, Wood Pigeon, Herring Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Greater Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull, Common Tern, Swallow, House Martin, Swift the highlight being a stunning Yellow Wagtail.

Butterflies: Meadow Brown, Comma, Red Admiral and Orange Tip 
Bats: Pipistrelle,
Dragonflies: Common Damselfly, Four Spot Chaser.
 
Today's Total.
Miles: 8.5
Locks: 3
Swing / Lift Bridges: 0
Tunnels: 1
Pump Outs: 0
Engine Hours: 29.4
Solar Panels: 1032 Ah
 
Accumulated Total.
Miles: 1961.3
Locks: 1203
Swing / Lift Bridges: 297
Tunnels: 34
Pump Outs: 20
Engine Hours: 29
52.4
Solar Panels: 17224 Ah

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