Extended Family

I walked a stretch of the Kingfisher Way in Hertfordshire yesterday. The over all walk is 21 miles but I did about 11.5 miles from Tempsford to Biggleswade. Regrettably I didn't see any Kingfishers, and the reality is that the walk should be renamed the Stinging Nettle Walk because for at least two miles we were walking though stinging nettles which at times were up to our shoulders. We could have made good use of machetes to cut our way through! It was a lovely walk, though, along the rivers Ivel and Great Ouse, and apart from the general bird and insect life, we were rewarded with the sight of an extended family of ducks. (Does anyone know the variety?) 

There were 8 attentive and protective parents and I counted at least 30 ducklings. A fascinating sight.

Pete Bissell