I'm lucky enough to live 2.5 miles from my workplace, and I can walk there along National Cycle Route 66 – the Aire Valley Towpath. The first half mile is built up, and there's a noisy, smelly road to endure, but then I step away from the traffic onto the canal towpath and into nature. It matters to me that I do what I can to keep my carbon footprint low to protect the nature that I love. The RSPB is doing its bit too - Show the Love.
Over the course of the year, I can watch the seasons change. Right now I'm seeing buds appear on the trees and the birds are starting to think about nesting. Goosanders have been on the canal since November, and are now paired up. Pretty soon they will disappear to nesting sites on rivers further north, and I will look forward to their return again in November.
Pair of goosanders
I've named the first section of my walk "The Bird Zone". At this time of year birdsong starts to build, lifting my spirits as the sound of traffic fades. Along here I see and hear goldcrests, chaffinches, bullfinches, blue tits and great tits, wrens and goldfinches. In the water – in the summer – I see tench and pike, perch and roach.
The next section, below Spring Garden Lock, is nicknamed Moorhen Meander. It isn't strictly a meander, but it works for me. There is usually a pair of moorhens along here. A couple of years ago, they raised three broods among the reeds. That aren't the prettiest of babies.
I get my chicks on Route 66.
I often see a kingfisher on this section, perched on a branch across the canal, watching the water. Sometimes there's a grey heron here too. Fishing must be good!
Kingfisher
Grey heron
A liitle further on, I reach Bream Bottom. This sheltered corner of the canal is home to a small shoal of bream that can easily be seen on a bright day when the sunlight penetrates the still water. There is a busy population of blue tits in the trees here, and some of the residents in the flats that overlook the canal put out feeders on their balconies, a great boost for the birds here. There are greenfinches, robins, chiffchaffs, great tits, blackbirds and dunnocks aplenty in the bushes and trees here.
Beyond the bridge, round the next bend, is Goldfinch Alley. It's no more an alley than Moorhen Meander is a meander, but there are always plenty of goldfinches! There's often a flock of long tailed tits, and I've seen blackcaps here, singing from the top of the hawthorns. At the moment the local song thrush is singing well, and a blackbird joins in when he can. Just last week, I saw this beautiful dunnock trilling among the catkins.
Dunnock among the catkins. Spring is upon us!
The mute swans are usually here, or hereabouts. The resident pair got together two years ago. In their first year they didn't manage to breed, but last year they succeeded in nesting over on the river. Of the four eggs that hatched, only one cygnet has survived to adulthood – and will soon be chased off to independence as the adults nest again. These swans get lots of attention from passers by, and are probably the most photographed birds in Leeds!
Nesting last spring
I'm in the city centre by now, and there's another road to negotiate, but there's one last treat before I arrive at the office. Along the river behind Asda House I often see cormorants, either fishing in the river or perched on top of the buildings opposite, drying their wings or just watching the world.
Cormorant drying its wings
The final bend in the river, between late March and September, provides a home to a small colony of sand martins. They nest in holes in the river wall. I love watching them swooping for insects over the river. I'm looking forward to the first ones arriving in the next few weeks!
Sand martin on its doorstep
Over the course of the year, I see so much on my commute. I haven't even mentioned the insects and the plant life. Every day is different. What might I see tomorrow?