Autumn/Wintry walk by my local canal

Another stunning Autumn day here with the sun beaming down between heavy rain and sleet showers and after popping to the boat get it ready for the cold winter weather that were expecting over the next few weeks. 

Rather than move the boat today I thought we might as well take a walk into the countryside to check out a few areas of interest down by the canal. We saw the local Kingfishers and they were very active as we walked to our first stop which is a Owl box in a local woodland that has been put up ready for some Tawny's to use in the spring time but there were no pellets there today and hopefully the local pairs will be checking out once the full courtship of the Tawny's which begins now and continues till early spring. Hopefully I can record the calls on my phone while out on the boat this weekend as I will be moored up a one of my local dark sights where the stars own the sky and Tawny's call to attract a mate. On the way back we spotted 2 waterrails sneaking off into cover and a few Goosanders have returned to the lake for the winter months and hopefully I can get a photo soon using my kayak and gillie suit to get a close shot of them.  
A perfect afternoon in the fresh air surrounded by the countryside that I love so much.

Almost forget while mooring up the boat the other morning I spotted a few bats flying by the canal underneath trees feeding on any remaining insects but all I could see is the silhouettes of them so I had no idea of what type they were but this weekend I shall take my Bat detector with me to see if I can identify them. Plus found an Otter log to film.... but that will be in a few weeks before I can get there with my Night-vision kit.

Regards

Mike