Trouble With Lichen

(John Wyndham 1960)

I was feeling a bit fed up with this current lockdown this morning.  I guess it's partly to do with the weather, and partly to do with the police state that's taking control (maybe a little harsh but I heard today people were being prevented by the police from entering the NT property they had booked slots for at Calke Abbey).  

The issue with people not being able to isolate in their cars whilst driving to wide open spaces is that more are going out for walks locally.  All very good, I'm all for a daily walk, but the chances of catching something have to be greater on narrow canal tow paths and pavements, especially when some people are still disregarding the one to one meeting rule.

Anyway enough moaning, as I said, I'm just feeling a bit low.

So I spent this morning preparing a lunch of roasted red onions stuffed with risotto rice.  After lunch I went on my daily, local, walk to Bishopton.  Attempting to avoid everyone with the same idea.  Outside the office block on Timothy's Bridge Road where Tom works the branches of the bushes were covered in yellow lichen.  This is the subject of yesterday's entry in Andy Beer's book Every Day Nature so I was on the lookout for it.

The extra is something I watched play out as I was crossing the canal bridge.  A moorhen had spotted a dead fish floating in the water.  It went over to investigate, took a couple of pecks at it, then decided it was just too large to handle.  There was a lot of squawking between the original moorhen and its mate whom it joined at the bankside, without the fish!