The Canoe River Cleaner

The Canoe River Cleaner I'm simply a guy with a canoe keeping the river tidy for the wildlife and local residents 🛶🛶
(2)

23/06/2026

Well THIS is annoying 😡

I ask a friend to help with a litterpick, and next thing I know, he's sending emails !!

PickWalks
The Canoe River Cleaner

At long last....genuine treasure 🏴‍☠️I pulled this out of Louth Canal today. Turns out it’s a ThunderCats Sword of Omens...
23/06/2026

At long last....genuine treasure 🏴‍☠️

I pulled this out of Louth Canal today. Turns out it’s a ThunderCats Sword of Omens toy from 1984 😲

This is from the classic 80s cartoon where Lion-O would shout ‘ThunderCats, Ho!’ and summon his team.

Would i get away with that with the Freshney Comrades ? 🤣

Not sure how it ended up in the water, but a cool little piece of nostalgia rescued and bizarrely, it's worth a few quid 😊

PickWalks
The Canoe River Cleaner

23/06/2026

It could have been all over 😳

Shenanigans this afternoon during a litterpick with Zac



PickWalks
The Canoe River Cleaner

23/06/2026

Totally in our element !!

An afternoon with my litterpicking husband Zac

PickWalks
The Canoe River Cleaner

Swans and gulls don't mix 🦢Yesterday, me and a couple of students enjoyed watching a swan family. We fed them a small am...
23/06/2026

Swans and gulls don't mix 🦢

Yesterday, me and a couple of students enjoyed watching a swan family. We fed them a small amount of appropriate swan and duck food, then left them in peace. All good.

Shortly after, a family arrived with (I assume) their granddaughter. They had a lovely interaction with the swans and were very polite when I asked them to limit the bread.

Unfortunately, things quickly turned into a frenzy as it often does. Small amounts of seed don’t attract gulls, but large pieces of bread do. The gulls swooped in, stressing the swans, with the male trying to drive them away and protect the family.

Here’s the main issue....

Herring and lesser black backed gulls (which we often see here) are large and very opportunistic. I’ve seen them take water voles, rats, ducklings, and even a newborn swan on one occasion. It’s not a nice sight.

Nature is nature, which is true in a balanced ecosystem. The issue here is that we’re changing that balance. By feeding bread, we’re not just feeding swans, we’re effectively inviting gulls in, concentrating them in a place they wouldn’t normally dominate, and making it easier for them to prey on more vulnerable wildlife 🐥

Moreover, if we’re replacing part of their natural diet, we need to do it responsibly. Bread has very little nutritional value, and young birds especially need to learn to forage naturally.

(Photos by my friend Marc Lawless show just how indiscriminate gulls can be when feeding.)

That went rather perfectly for a Monday 🤣As part of a project led by myself and Sarah Palmer, we’ve been working with ch...
22/06/2026

That went rather perfectly for a Monday 🤣

As part of a project led by myself and Sarah Palmer, we’ve been working with children to help them better understand rivers and the wildlife that depends on them.

Today, we were joined by the brilliant pupils from Ormiston South Parade Academy. They happened to be missing a maths lesson, so unsurprisingly, they arrived in very high spirits 🤣

Sarah led a nature noticing session, taking the children on a short walk and encouraging them to slow down, stop, and really observe their surroundings. They captured what they discovered through sketches in their own little booklets, a simple but powerful way to connect with nature.

Meanwhile, I was out on the boat, giving the children the chance to experience the river from a completely different perspective. Many of them are local, so it was great for them to see it from the water rather than just passing by it on their way to school.

They helped with litter collection (so I didn't have to 🤣), picked up some basic paddling skills, and spotted plenty of wildlife thriving along the river’s edges. Highlight was probably the Banded Demoiselle which is a metallic looking damselfly which looks amazing in the right light ✨️

We also made sure to give something back to nature with a litterpick. And the children assisted Freshney Comrades Jo and Kev to prevent rubbish from reaching the river in the first place.

It really was a wonderful morning.

A big thank you to Elaine from Grimsby in Bloom for the refreshments and use of the garden room, and to the brilliant Baize for helping get everyone safely on and off the boat and making them feel comfortable.

Oh, and a MASSIVE thank you to the children for representing their school in the manner they did. Your parents should be proud 👏

I'm already looking forward to the next one!

22/06/2026

What a wonderful experience 🦢 💚

This moment was clearly lovely for Charlie and Lola, but hopefully it went further than that for Lola as she has a fear of geese and swans.

After a minute, she plucked up the courage to feed them, which was very brave !

The swans know the canoe, so they came and took the food without fuss or bother which really helped.

Ormiston South Parade Academy

22/06/2026

Very jealous 😅

My friend Sam sent me this wonderfully atmospheric video of one of the parent swans on her patch.

Lovely 🦢

Call yourself a killer? 😂I headed up to Louth Spire to photograph the peregrines and ended up watching a brilliant lesso...
21/06/2026

Call yourself a killer? 😂

I headed up to Louth Spire to photograph the peregrines and ended up watching a brilliant lesson in bird behaviour instead.

One young falcon got a bit cocky and decided to square up to a wood pigeon on the ledge. This is a bold move, especially before you’ve mastered the 240mph dive that makes peregrines what they are.

It didn’t go to plan 🤣

The pigeon stood its ground, had a brief scrap, and actually put the young falcon firmly in its place and knocked it off the ledge. This is not something you expect when you’re looking at the fastest animal on Earth 😮

That’s the key though. Peregrines aren’t built for brawling. They’re built for speed, surprise, and impact.

That said, I’ve got a feeling that mum has already marked that pigeon for later 🤣

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
BBC Springwatch
Louth Leader
Louth Navigation Trust

Hazel and the deer 🦌 I spend a good amount of time dressed in green hiding out for the perfect wildlife shot, and my dau...
21/06/2026

Hazel and the deer 🦌

I spend a good amount of time dressed in green hiding out for the perfect wildlife shot, and my daughter in her bright outfit, walks straight up to a baby deer like they’re old friends 🤣

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