Lockdown

Herring gull, Lostock School

Well, here we are again.

It was a glorious sunny January day but I decided not to go out for an exercise walk today. I'm not sure why not.

The sparrows dropped anchor in the garden half an hour after sun up and scarcely budged until sundown. The only time they dispersed at all was when I nipped out to refill the feeders and accidentally spill a load of birdseed on the patio. The great spotted woodpecker made an appearance, the first time this year, giving the last of the pine cones a hammering.

Over on the school playing field there was the usual twenty-odd black-headed gulls and thirty jackdaws. Today's selection of herring gulls (it's different every day lately) was an adult, a third-Winter and two or three first-Winter birds. The third bird comes under the "probably a herring gull" category: a tall, rangy bird with a very pale head and a very long bill. I'd barely reached for my binoculars before it was off and away so I didn't have the chance to check its particulars one way or another. Gull-watching can drive you barmy if you can't reconcile yourself to mystery.