One of our pleasures whilst boating is the wildlife (and none of us are paid up twitchers, in fact the bro in law thinks Bill Oddie is some kind of bank charge) but on our impromptu run yesterday down the Cam with a turn to port and up the Old West River for a few miles we had never seen so many herons - constantly taking to the air and swooping across our bow. We were also treated to a rarity - a Little Egret, seen before but until the recent publicity on them breeding down in the SW had never been able to name them. There were of course geese and swans in large numbers, a small hawk we did not get close enough to to identify... and oh we saw a man-made bird, the only airworthy Vulcan flew over us and on to Norfolk (now BrianJ can tell you all about them as he used to be a navigator on them - mind you we have plenty of evidence that he can't read a road map!)

Whats the wildlife like down your way (and I don't mean at the riverside pubs)?

Had a Kingfisher perched on the bow hand rails once whilst in the marina. Very rare to get that close. Was in the cabin at the front trying to reach my camera phone very carefully and still the lovely little blighter flew off once i got hold of the damn camera. There's a heron that constantly walks along the pontoon and for some reason we get loads of swallows there too. None of yer cheap common house martins and swifts  

We get Ducks, those diving things, Grebes, we think, Swans, including the lovely Black ones, and at Bray, what appear to be tropical Birds, like large yellow Budgies!

Ramage knows what they are.....

Oh, and huge, Grey Herons. Surly, but so elegant!

we get to see Kingfishers in the more wooded parts of the river (which are few and far between) but usually only a distant flash. And as for a picture - well we have the odd shot with about a single blue pixel of evidence of the sighting!

Oh we get those greeny yellowy coloured parakeets that escaped captivity and are now flourishing along our stretch of the river. They are becoming a pest now apparently. Not sure if thats what you mean but its not doing any good for the resident british birds

There's a SSSI across the river from our marina and, last month, we went for a quick walkabout there.  Loads of grey herons flying round and round and also, perched in a tree, this thing...



A cormorant in its 'classic wing-drying pose'.  

Taken from a goodly distance away and further proof that I need a longer zoom lens!