Yesterday started with a bit of a surprise – 12 Greenfinches in the garden. They’ve been scarce so far this autumn/winter and other observers in Northumberland have noticed the same lack of birds. The worry is that many of our local birds may have fallen victim to trichomoniasis, so it was good to see, and hear, this small flock.
Most of the rest of the day was spent in a waiting room at our local hospital. I’m not generally good with hospitals/needles etc so after arriving at my scheduled appointment time (11:30) I had nearly 4 hours to contemplate the forthcoming minor op, before finally being taken to theatre at 3:15pm. There weren’t even any birds visible from the windows of the waiting room so I had to amuse myself reading Fowler and Cohen’s ‘Statistics for Ornithologists’ (see, I thought there might have been a bit of a wait so I went prepared). The hospital were very kind and provided a light lunch. However, given the number of posters about healthy diet etc that plaster the hospital walls you have to wonder about the contents of the lunch; a packet of crisps, a cheese savoury sandwich (note to anyone not from this part of the world – cheese savoury is grated cheese in mayonnaise, you could probably use it to fill cracks in walls) made with sliced white bread and a chocolate cupcake. You couldn’t make it up.
By the time I was discharged it was dark outside so no chance of birdwatching. And today my birding will be mainly from the office window again as I’ve got no less than 5 meetings to attend; 2 as Chair of Governors at our local school, 1 as Chair of the Friends of Choppington Woods and 2 as Secretary of Outdoors Northumberland. Then there were another 2 meetings that I’ve had to give my apologies for. At least tomorrow should be back to ‘normal’…