Bedraggled

Another quarter inch of rain this afternoon after the torrential rain we got yesterday evening with the thunder and lightning. I managed to get this photo of a bedraggled long tailed tit on the way to the feeder in a micro gap in the rain. One of the blue tit chicks managed to get out of the bowl part of the nest today, I feel so sorry for the little ones being squashed and stood on by the bigger ones. The live mealworms seem to be appreciated.

Day 435 / Day 9 of Step 3 of Roadmap Easing (for my record only)
The Royal Bolton hospital is taking 'urgent action' to manage a surge in Covid patients. There's confusion over the Govt website changing a few days ago to advise people not to travel into and out of the areas worse hit by the Indian variant. This was not communicated at a briefing or by Govt spokesperson, although the Govt did advise people to be cautious in those areas. Also the Govt is changing from mandatory requirements to advice, but this hasn't been well communicated either. I'm not sure most people will get the nuance between local restrictions on travel and advice to avoid travel into and out of the area. Booster jabs will be available for use in Sept, but the clinical decision might be that they're given later than this. Moderna is saying its jab is 'highly effective' in 12 to 17 year olds. Britain borrowed another £31.7bn in April due to Covid and the fiscal year to end Mar 21 saw a revised £300.3bn deficit - eek!