River and City

Looking North East from the top of the Ring Road, I see plumes of smoke rising from a triptyich of factory chimneys. Golden, copper and deep-red coloured leaves light up the landscape. A rose of the palest pink peeps through a hole in a garden fence. On the riverside this morning, I get a glimpse of a kingfisher speedily fly upstream towards Richmond Bridge. A mallard duck makes circular ripples in the water as it swims upstream. On the roof of a warehouse I count ten cormorants, two are hanging out their wings to dry. Closer to the city centre I pass a barge called Morning Mist moored by the Royal Armouries. A man in a red waterproof jacket sets up his fishing tackle on the dock area near to the Canal and River Trust building.

When I arrive in the city, I see a circle of wood pigeons fly over the roof of the Direct Line office building on Dortmund Square. As I walk through the city centre three seagulls swoop across the Headrow heading west. I spot acorns lodged between stone paving slabs in Victoria Gardens. Yellow ochre leaves form a collage on pale grey paving.