Photos taken today by Charlie Fleming. The bird is on the new fishing ponds viewable from the canal towpath just N of the Double Locks Hotel. Please note the following request from Charlie, who is volunteer Biodiversity recorder for the EA, and has permission to be on the land there:
'At the moment it is not open to the public and is Private. Could you please make that clear when you post it by saying something like.. "view from the canal towpath just before Double Locks, do not enter the pond site. " If we don't adhere to this we will start off with a bad reputation which will be bad for us in the future. The ponds have been designed to be viewed from the canal bank anyway.
The bird left the ponds and went either on to the canal or perhaps the river, it was not there at 1530. It was very "skittish" and easily disturbed.'