Bears' Garden Bird Watch

Hanley Bear and I spent a whole hour looking out of the kitchen window today, because we were helping Polar do the "Big Garden Bird Watch".  She explained that this is a survey done every year to see which types of birds and how many of each are visiting gardens.  The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) organises it and thousands of families take part.

'We have to watch for an hour,' said Polar, when she woke us up and got us out of our bear basket.  'We're supposed to record all the different birds that we see and the most we see of each type at any one time.  Can you bears manage to do that?  I'll lend you a small camera so you can take photographs of any birds you don't recognise.'

'That sounds like fun!' cried Hanley Bear, picking up Polar's little blue camera.  'I've spotted a duck already - and I've taken his photograph!'

'I'm afraid we can't count your City of Culture Tim Beak duck,' Polar told him.  'The RSPB only want us to count wild birds visiting the garden.'

Polar set the camera up on the kitchen scales and loaned us Grizzly's little pocket binoculars, which balanced on the other side of the scales, and she opened a fresh page of her bird spotting book where we could write down the birds we saw.  She also gave us some toast and marmalade to keep our strength up while we concentrated on our important job.

Soon, Hanley Bear and I had seen our first birds - a pair of blackbirds.  We thought it was very strange that they did so much running about on the ground when they had wings and could fly, until Hanley looked through the binoculars and saw one of them catch and eat a big squishy worm.

'Urgh!' said Hanley.  'I'm glad I'm not a blackbird if that's what you get for dinner!'

Some of the other birds had much nicer food.  Some starlings landed on the bird table and ate up the toast crumbs and some mixed seeds, then we saw a dainty little goldfinch eating sunflower seeds out of one of the feeders in the pear tree.  Hanley counted three starlings and I wrote the details down in Polar's little book.  Suddenly, they all flew away, as a big pigeon landed on the roof over the bird table, but it was too big to fit underneath it and eat the seeds and crumbs.

We also saw sparrows, dunnocks, a blue tit, a collared dove and even a tiny little wren - thanks to Hanley Bear's sharp eyes and Grizzly's binoculars.  After half an hour, however, it started to rain very hard and no more birds came into the garden.  Hanley and I carried on watching, hoping to see more birds, but we didn't see any new ones.

'Never mind, bears,' said Polar, looking at our list.  'You tried your best and you've done very well.  You could always sit in the kitchen window tomorrow or Wednesday, and see what you can see.  We always seem to get more birds, or more unusual birds, when it isn't a Big Garden Bird Watch day!'

We said we would be very happy to do more bird watches, but would need to put our coats and hats on in future, because it was quite cold sitting in the kitchen window.  'There needs to be a Royal Society for the Protection of Bears!' I said.

'Poor little bears - you are rather chilly,' said Polar, feeling our paws.  So she fed us some leek and potato soup to warm us up and then we went back to our nice, cosy bear basket in the living room and had an afternoon nap, so we can stay up late and watch Winterwatch.    

Wet Weather Gear

Hanley Bear and I were looking forward to playing in the snow again this week but, unfortunately, the snow that fell was wet and splodgy and didn't settle, so we have stayed indoors.  

If I want to go out in the rain I can, because I have a good set of waterproofs which Polar made for me soon after we came onto the Grand Union Canal at Brentford.  Hanley Bear will need some too, if he is going to be a proper Boat Bear, as it often rains on the canals.

One of the first things I noticed about being on the canal instead of the Thames was that it rained a lot more.  This was not too much of a problem for me as I didn't have any important boat jobs to do.  I could stay inside Uppie's cratch cover and watch through the window, sitting on some little tins Polar had painted. 

 Grizzly and Polar had to go out in the rain to steer the boat and work the locks.  There were lots more locks on the canal.  They were smaller than the Thames locks - wide enough for two boats and only long enough for one each side - but all the pushing and pulling and winding has to be done by the boat crews, as there usually aren't any lock-keepers.  I wanted to help but knew I would soon be a very soggy bear if I went out in the rain.

Polar and Grizzly have waterproof coats and trousers to keep them dry, so I decided I would make myself a coat like Grizzly's and a hat to stop my head getting too wet.  I rummaged about in the saloon and found just the thing - an orange plastic bag!  Small bears, human cubs and other creatures have to be careful not to get tangled up in plastic bags because they can be dangerous for us, as you can't breathe through them, so I waited until I had Polar's help before I started making holes in it and wearing it.  Because it would tear if we stitched it, Polar fixed the sleeves to the body with thick, sticky tape, making sure all the stickiness was stuck to the coat so I didn't get my fur stuck to it.  She used the tape to trim around the edges of the coat too. 

We used lots of sticky tape to make the brim of the hat stiff, so it kept the rain off of my nose and stopped it running down the back of my neck.  It was like a proper deep-sea fisherman's sou'wester!  I was very pleased with my new Boat Bear outfit and, when it was finished, I went to show Grizzly, who was steering our boat through the rain.

'Very smart, Sonning,' he said.  'As well as keeping you dry on days like today, you'll find that will come in very handy when we're in tunnels.'

I couldn't imagine why I would need a raincoat in a tunnel, unless it was so big that it had clouds and weather.  However, it was nice to have my raincoat when we stopped for the day on a very wide section of the canal near Uxbridge, because I could look out of the side hatch and talk to the London water birds without getting too wet.   

Although my ears got slightly soggy, if they had been under my hat I might not have been able to hear what my fellow creatures were saying.  They told me about the different fish in the canal and that there were eels too and I asked them if there was weather in tunnels, but they didn't know.  I would obviously have to wait to find out for myself.

A Small Bear at Brentford

Hanley Bear and I hoped there would be enough snow overnight for us to go sledging and make an even bigger snowbear.  Unfortunately, there is only a tiny dusting of snow on the ground this morning, not even enough to make small bear snowballs, so I am going to write some more of my blog instead.

As you might remember, Polar, Grizzly and I had a very exciting and rather frightening journey down the Thames to Brentford and I was very relieved when Uppie and Zodiak, our friends' boat, got into the big Thames Lock on the Grand Union Canal.  A woman called Annie was in charge, who closed the gates behind us and then let the water in to lift us up to the level they keep the Brent River at above the lock.  We went along this, past more big houseboats, to another lock and here there was another team of volunteers to help us. 

When we came out of that lock, we were in a basin full of other boats surrounded by a mixture of old dock buildings and new apartments.  It was all very interesting but I was so tired after my alarming journey that I fell asleep in the lifebelt, so Polar carried me downstairs into the back cabin, took off my little hat and life jacket and tucked me up in the bed.

'Poor little Sonning!' she said.  'You've had rather too much excitement for a small bear!'

When we stopped for elevenses - or I should say nineses, as it was still early - I saw we were surrounded by trees and green space again, even though we were still in London.  The canal was much narrower than the River Thames had been and I was very relieved indeed to see there was not much of a current in it.  I was feeling much better by now and enjoyed munching some toast and marmalade. 

 Grizzly gave me a guide to London's waterways to look at, which Annie the lock lady had given him.  'We have a flight of six locks to go up soon,' Grizzly said, pointing them out on the map.  'But Bob and Lesley will be coming with us, so we can share the big locks, and you can stay here in the cratch and watch.'

These were the Hanwell locks and although they were much smaller than the huge Thames locks, they were still big for canal locks and the gates were heavier than the gates on the River Wey.  These had to be opened and closed by pushing, rather than using electric power, and there was nobody around to help.  It was hard work for Polar, even though she is a big human, but even harder for Lesley, who is bigger than a small bear but quite a little person.  Half way up the six locks they found a couple of volunteers were there to help, although these men wandered about doing things in a funny order and sometimes seemed to make things more confusing rather than helping.

A little way up the flight of locks, I noticed something very odd indeed about the canal.  It looked as if instead of being full of water, it was covered in grass!  This was because there was a very thick growth of bright green duckweed all over the surface - so thick, it actually slowed our boats down. 

I think if Hanley Bear had been with me, he would have tried to play football on it because it looked so neat and level.  Because he is such a little bear and the weed was very dense, I don't know whether he would have sunk through it or skipped about on the top.  Whatever had happened, he would have got covered in slimy, green weed.  By the time we reached the top of the locks, Uppie certainly was!

Here we saw something very unusual.  The Grand Union Canal passed over the top of a railway line, on a special type of water bridge called an aqueduct, and a road went over the top of the canal.  I had never seen anything like this before.  It was quite confusing to be on water and on a bridge at the same time.  Grizzly said there would be lots of other aqueducts to see on our journey, so I decided to make a special effort to look out for them, because they are a very clever invention.   

At a canal junction we reached after the Three Bridges, I saw a sign to Paddington.  I thought that if we went that way we could visit the famous Paddington Bear and I asked Grizzly to turn Uppie in that direction, but he explained that the sign wasn't pointing to the bear but to a district in London with the same name, and he showed me where it was on the map.  Bob and Lesley were going to go that way but our route was to the north, up the Grand Union Main Line. 

We stopped both boats near the junction so we could say goodbye to our friends.  Polar brought me to meet Bob and Lesley, and Millie, their boat dog.  Lesley used to run a business helping small bears to find new homes with human families, which was very kind of her.  Polar and I had our photo taken with them and then, as it was still light and we had a long way to go, we set off again up the Main Line of the canal.  It was very different to being on the Thames, as there were factories and railways and sometimes litter and bad smells, but it was all very interesting.

Hanley Bear - Football Manager!

This weekend, Polar boiled up the last of the runny marmalade Hanley and I made, adding extra sugar, extra lemons and some apple pectin, and this time it set.  We helped by staying away from the very hot pots and sitting in the kitchen scales to supervise, although Polar wasn't very pleased when she found we had got sugar on our trousers and bear fur on the scales.  However, because we had to add lots of extra things to it to make it set, we have much more marmalade than we planned to make. 

Polar and Grizzly already have plenty of jars in their larder, enough to enjoy toast and marmalade for elevenses all year, Polar says, so she put some of the rest into small jars, as little late Christmas presents for some of her friends, and set aside twelve medium-sized jars to sell to raise money for our Paddington Fund.  These have special 'Paddington Fund' labels on them and there is a poster showing us hard at work, so people can see what busy bears we have been.  We have asked for the jars back so we can make more in future.

We took a jar of our best non-drinking marmalade to Mrs Kay and Mr Steve on the Oatcake Boat to cheer them up, after they had a flood caused by some very bad people throwing scrap metal into the canal, which got tangled around the boat's propeller.  While we were at the Oatcake Boat we met Doris, the Oatcake Boat dog, who is quite big and scary.  Fortunately for us, she doesn't eat small bears, she just sniffed us to make sure we were behaving ourselves.  Mrs Kay said that the other boat people and fans of their oatcakes had been very generous with the help they gave them after their flood and, because everyone was so kind, they would be back in business very soon.  This made Hanley Bear cheer, as he had a plan for his favourite football team which needed lots of oatcakes.

You might remember that Hanley wanted to give Stoke City's players drinking marmalade, to help them win games, but Grizzly said what they really needed was a good new manager and Polar said she didn't think the drinking marmalade would keep until the next home game.  So Hanley decided he would apply for the football manager's job.  He said that, if he was in charge, the players would have oakcakes from Mrs Kay's boat for their lunch before every home match, plus a jar of drinking marmalade each at half-time, for extra energy.  For away games near canals, he said he would hire Mr Rob the Locks to help Mr Steve and Mrs Kay to get the Oatcake Boat as close as possible to the opponents' stadium, so the players could have fresh oatcakes before those games too.  I thought that was a brilliant strategy and had just started helping him draft a job application letter to the club chairman, when Polar interrupted us to say another human had been appointed.

'Boo!' cried Hanley Bear, who had set his heart on the job.

'Perhaps Hanley could manage Southampton?' Polar suggested, but Hanley Bear said that wouldn't be fair, because he would have to make sure they lost when they played against Stoke.

I suppose that if Hanley Bear isn't going to be a football manager, he will have more time to help me with projects for our Paddington Fund, which I am very happy about, as it helps to have a little bear buddy about to discuss ideas with.  I don't think Grizzly will be taking him to the next match either, in case he boos the new boss.

Sonning's Most Dangerous Mission

The day after my adventures at Hampton Court, Grizzly and Polar steered Uplander II further down the Thames.  Although the river was very wide and very busy with big trip boats, I felt quite safe in my life-jacket.

Our destination was a place called Teddington.  When I first heard Polar and Grizzly planning our day's journey, I thought they said we were going to Teddy Town. 

'That sounds like a place where other small bears would live,' I said to myself.  'I'll have to take a look around.'

Polar and Grizzly said they were going to visit Kew Gardens, by train, and wanted to look at Brentford Creek where we were going to leave the Thames.  They told me to stay on the boat, because there was a very big weir near our moorings and they didn't want me to fall in.  I'm usually a very good bear and do what I'm told, but I was so curious to see if there really were bears living in Teddy Town that I sneaked out to see, scrambling nervously over the high bridges across the lock and the weir and dodging behind walls and hedges to make my way into the town. 

There were lots of very busy people, a few sniffy dogs on leads and some cats, who were particularly suspicious of me.  I asked one if she had seen any bears in Teddy Town but she just laughed, as if I had said something stupid, and flicked her tail at me.  I walked a very long way, up and down streets of little brick terraced houses, without meeting any other bears, so I went back to our boat, feeling quite sad.

'I wonder if there are bears at Brentford, where we are going tomorrow,' I thought, as I munched one of my favourite herby crackers for lunch, so I opened Grizzly's guidebook to see what it said.  I got quite a shock.  Alongside the map was a whole page full of important Navigational Notes with warnings in bold type.  As I read I learned that, below Teddington Lock, the River Thames rises and falls with the tides, like the sea.  Grizzly and Polar would have to be very careful not to get stuck on the mud or swept all the way down the river to the City of London.  'Goodness me!' I cried.  'How frightening!' 

My first reaction was to hide in my bear cave behind the settee.  However, I felt a little less scared after eating some nice, juicy grapes and, when Polar and Grizzly got home, I settled down to sleep.  It seemed no time at all before Polar was lifting me off of my cushion and helping me into my dungarees and life-jacket.

'We have to go through the lock on the next High Tide,' she explained.  'And we have to get to Brentford by half-past eight, or we might not have enough water to get into the lock to the Grand Union Canal.'

I wanted to stay on my cushion but Polar said I had an important job to do.

'When wartime pilots had dangerous missions to fly, some of them took lucky mascot bears with them, to give them confidence.  You're going to be our lucky bear!' 

Polar sat me in the lifebelt on top of the hatch as Grizzly steered us into the lock.  It was early morning and a cool breeze ruffled my fur, so I was glad I had my hat on.

'Uppie isn't as fast as the other boats,' Grizzly told me.  'Luckily, Bob and Lesley on Zodiak have said they're going to follow us, to make sure we're alright.'

The other boat's crew had a small dog as their lucky animal, who trotted up and down on the roof of the boat and told me not to worry.

'Bob knows lots about water,' barked Milly the dog.  'He used to work as a diver.'

I didn't know if that was really a good thing, since divers work under the water and I very much hoped we were going to stay on top of it.

Below the lock, the water looked murky and dirty and the current seemed to be going the wrong way.  Uppie, Zodiak and some other boats set off down river.

'It can't quite be high tide yet,' said Polar, after we had been on the move for a little while.  'The current is still against us and we're making quite slow progress.'

Looking at the land, I was shocked to see that some of the roads and gardens beside the river were under water.  Polar took lots of photographs.  Grizzly kept looking at his watch and looking at the map.

'I think the tide has turned,' said Grizzly, a little while later, looking at the water.  'We're going faster, now the current is with us and so are the other boats.'

Several narrow boats came past us, their engines making loud put-put-put noises.  Polar was pleased, because it helped her to see where we had to steer when we got to Richmond, where there is a lock at low water but not when the tide is up.  There were some very sleek patrol boats belonging to the Port of London Authority moored along jetties.  

'I hope they don't have to rescue us!' I said to Polar, seeing how fast the river was now running.  She gave my paw a little squeeze to reassure me and waved to our friends on Zodiak, who were following us and making sure we were safe, but I was still a very scared little bear.

'Not far now, Sonning,' said Grizzly, as we came around a bend near Syon Park.  I was glad to hear it.  By now, the water wasn't over the roads at all - it had dropped so much I could see slimy mud all along the banks.  We had to keep off of the shallows and out in the channel between buoys, but the current was almost pulling them under the water.

'That's Kew Gardens,' Polar said, pointing to the right bank of the river, where there were lots of huge trees I would like to have been allowed to climb.  'We're almost at Brentford.'

'There are some boats turning into the creek,' said Grizzly.

Ahead of us, I saw two narrowboats sideways on to the current, trying to turn around to go up the creek to the lock.  With my sharp little eyes, I could see that they were struggling against the current.
'Oh no!' I thought.  'Uppie will never turn there!'

I wanted to cower down and cover my eyes with my paws until I remembered that Polar and Grizzly were relying on me to be their lucky mascot bear for this most dangerous mission, so I gripped the lifebelt and wished hard for everything to be alright.  Grizzly swung the tiller right over and Polar gave the engine a sudden burst of extra power and, although we rocked about quite alarmingly and seemed to come to a complete stop for a few moments, facing into the current, Polar gave the engine another burst and we gradually crept round the turn into Brentford Creek.  

Suddenly, as we moved out of the fierce Thames current, we found we were going too fast towards lots of moored boats.  This time I did cover my eyes with my paws but I need not have worried; Grizzly and Polar had Uppie under control, Zodiak was right behind us and, just ahead, some people were waving to us from beside some big, black lock gates.

We had reached the Grand Union Canal.