Flutter of wings on the Grand Canal

I WAS travelling in my boat on the Grand Canal recently, enjoying the wonderful autumn colours of the trees and shrubs growing along the bank.

The intense dark red of the leaves of guelder rose were particularly dramatic, only upstaged when I passed a spindle tree covered in pale pink berries.

The bird life was interesting too. I had very close views of herons, some less than 10 metres away, and I was able to study the subtle differences in plumage that distinguished the birds hatched this year from the more mature specimens.