Drowning Dragons and swimming snakes...

I had a hundred things I needed to do. I'd been putting off servicing the car, using the bad weather as an excuse, but today it was so sunny.....Suddenly I found myself speeding down a country lane, the kayak already strapped to the roof. I couldn't miss a day like today, it had been raining for sooooo long.

The canal up by Dunstall was really busy with longboats and everyone seemed to be in a good mood, waving and shouting hello. All the wildlife was out too. Kingfishers, swallows, fish galore. The Mallard chicks were pretending to be invisible as the kayak approached and the Moorhen chick had to be shooed away and eventually led back to its home after mistaking me for mom!

As I passed through Hopwas into the wooded section of the canal, there was a commotion ahead. The water was splashing as the fish were showing a keen interest in something. As I got closer I could see what they were after, a huge dragonfly trapped by the surface tension.

It grasped onto the outstretched paddle with obvious relief. Transferred onto a dry sponge it proceeded to unstick its wings.

After a while it seemed much revived, and as I held him in the sunshine to dry I swear it had a grin on its face!

Some pre-flight checks and a quick wipe of the eyes and it was ready to go. With a clatter of wings it was off.

Just as one drama was over, another one unfolded. The wooded side of the canal has a shallow earth bank but the other side towards the river is a vertical steel edge bordering the towpath. I could see a snake lunging at this in a vain attempt to get out. Paddling over to see if I could help, I was quickly spotted. The little chap, (well I say little it was about one and a half foot long) decided to head my way and see if it could get out on the kayak.

Luckily, while I was debating in my head as to whether I wanted to share such a small boat with a snake, it decided to carry on past.

Then as I swung the boat around, it was off. I never realised they could swim so fast, a good walking pace at least.

Two flicks of a tail and it was home and dry.

On the way back to the car I spotted two more Grass snakes. Until this year I had not seen any since I was a kid, now I see them all the time. I assume it is the mild winters we have now that favour them. Nice to know that global warming isn't all bad....