ASs some regulars may know I sometimes have a few health problems that at times restricts my access to the countryside so many of the restrictions that we have endured, and are still enduring, do not feel strange to Chris and myself. My immune system is pretty shot up at times so I'm quite good at avoiding numbers of people, I'm maybe not as anti social as it seems, and I've never been a lover of shopping unless its books. When we were recommended to shield in our own homes we actually realised we could walk the riverside fields with permission from the owners and had little chance of meeting anyone so we felt quite happy there. When restrictions eased we have four small nature reserves within a couple of miles of home with plenty of space to avoid close contact but still both watch birds and talk about birds with others doing the same, quite a little anti social bird club we are. There has been good birds aplenty and as winter has drawn closer the wintering Thrushes arrived we have been doing counts on them. One of our local reserves has got a wonderful Starling murmuration,60,000 birds at least, which we managed to social distance the grandsons to. We have found by visiting the busiest of the reserves late afternoon most birders have gone home and we enjoy the spectacle of birds going to roost. We do miss visiting our local moorland but they are outside the 3 mile radius we put on ourselves, they will still be there when all this is over and we settle down to our new normal. Because I am in that at risk category we seem to be swimming in hand sanitiser but Chris keeps an eye on what I get up to. I just hope other folk are coping as well as us and getting the support we have been getting, take care out there we will beat this lot somehow.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
I saw on the BBC that a Sikh charity (can't remember the name) is delivering hot food to the drivers. The Sikhs have a good reputation for providing meals for those in need. eg the Golden Temple in Amritsar
Unknown said:Can it get any worse?
Yes. The people responsible for this mess could fail to catch the new variants.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
It was Maidenhead's KhalsaAid, who made the journey and fed the drivers.
Covid-19: Charities send food to stranded truckers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-55421924
It's a challenging time with Covid19, though I'm sure if it wasn't for Covid19, then both sides of the borders would do their utmost to get as many as possible back home for Xmas.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
I got my booster jab of the Pfizer vaccine this afternoon. I think I was quite lucky because it was too late to cancel appointments so the Surgery had to get special permission to carry on with the clinic. I think from now on people who have their first vaccination will have to wait 12 weeks for the second. This will mean that the vaccination can be rolled out more quickly to more people but still give a good level of protection. If you're offered it please go for it, there's nothing to worry about and it's our way out of this endless cycle of lockdowns.