A break in the weather - First Kayaking session of 2012

On Friday the weather finally got better the wind had died down and the rain had stopped leaving us with a very warm day for testing my new kayak and taking it out on its maiden voyage and after loading it onto its wheels and taking it 15 minutes away to test on the canal it was a abit of struggle at first due to the banks being so muddy.  After getting on the water I felt very comfortable in my new kayak and felt slightly nervous being higher up as in my old kayak I was sealed in and much lower in the boat but at least with my new craft theres no chance of a puncture with its strong structure. 

Two Swans joined us as we sailed over to the deeper water of the flashes I am hoping they will settle this year hopefully in reed beds further up the canal as I would not want them to settle on the flashes due to the terrible threat that a pair faced last year when I think the male was killed as some thoughtless individuals who wanted to fish there mush have been chased off by the territorial Mute Swan and there thought was to shoot it rather than take the hint and respect the Swans and fish some where else.

After half an hour of paddling around checking Otters pass for Otter spraint which I found abit of and this time last year the area was cut off and inaccessible due to the whole area of water being frozen over. This year it is warm and calm with no ice or snow anywhere to be seen and on my way back I spotted a floating piece of polystyrene that seemed to have green plants and various weeds growing into the base of it so its a floating garden that I am sure the ducks will appreciate when they begin nest building on the flashes.

One last thing I noticed was the large amounts of Waders 30- 40 hiding in the reed beds I think I spotted a Snipe or two but most of the were Sandpipers of some sort. I could not get close enough to get any footage or a photograph due having no camo or anything to hide me so I have a modification idea of adding the hood part of a chair hide to my kayak so I can pull over me to create a floating hide.

More on that in a future post when I find time to experiment with the idea.

Thanks for reading

Mike