Walk with Gilbert along the River

Today Gilbert and I had a couple of long walks.  These are the photos along the way.  Spring is upon us. I loved the sun today.  
I always enjoy the mallards.
I
The heron sometimes is in the river but today it was up in the trees. I think it's a Great Blue Heron, but probably female or young because it doesn't have the big beard the older Great Blue male sports. 
Gilbert isn't very patient with my stopping to take pictures. You can see he's looking back to see why i'm doddling.

I miss my brother. When we were kids I'd be able to ask him what the birds were. We were both keen on watching birds (ornithology) He'd be able to tell me if this was a Great Blue.  I wasn't sure about the Song Sparrow either. I have to check the bird book repeatedly sometimes. When he's around I just ask and he knows.  After taking thousands of bird pictures he's got a pretty good idea. 

I liked the kingfishers so much I uploaded them by themselves. 
The trail itself is pretty.There's damns on the river and I especially like the fences ..
At the end of the second long walk Gilbert was ready for a nap.  He does at least a hundred steps to my one. He moves a lot faster too.