A Golden Dawn

I was up at 4am this morning to get to Sculthorpe Moor for a 5am Dawn Chorus walk - a back to back favourite morning after the bluebell woods yesterday. It was a glorious sunny morning, with a haze of mist and really quite warm (it reached 21.5C this afternoon). One of the young men employed at the reserve was leading the walk this year, supported by a couple of similarly aged colleagues, they were very knowledgeable. The birds were singing well, we heard wrens, blackcaps, robins, blackbirds, blue tits, cuckoos, and chiffchaffs. We had an extra treat, a visit to the newly built 52 acre fenced off section of the reserve where beavers have been introduced, and I did see the back of one as it dived under the water - they're big! We also had a wander through the new wetlands section which it's hoped will open to the public in late summer. The low sun through the mist was stunning, please see Extra, and the golden light showed up the cobwebs really well. We arrived back to the visitor centre a couple of hours later, where our breakfast of sausage, bacon or egg baps was ready. A fab morning. Later in the morning I walked into town to get some dried mealworms to soak as extra food for the blue tits - no live mealworms this year. 

Day 778 / Day 69 of no Legal Covid Requirements in England (for my record only)
The weekly ONS infection survey of private households to 30th Apr (1st May Scotland) showed rates continuing to fall across the UK with an estimated 2m having the virus that week (high, but the largest weekly drop as a percentage since the survey started). 1 in 35 people had the virus in England (down); 1 in 30 in Scotland (down); 1 in 25 in Wales (down); and 1 in 40 in NI (down).  The ONS also reported that an estimated 1.8m in the UK are suffering from long Covid in the 4 weeks to 3rd Apr, with 791,000 having it for over a year. Fatigue is the most common symptom (51%); shortness of breath (33%); loss of sense of smell (26%) and difficultly concentrating (23%). Figures suggest that if you're double jabbed, you're 50% less likely to suffer long Covid symptoms 4-8 weeks after infection with the BA.1 strain of Omicron, than with Delta. in the US, the FDA said the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome after being given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine warrants them limiting its use. India's govt is furious after the WHO reported yesterday that the country saw almost a third of all fatalities worldwide related to Covid, with 4.7m excess deaths, which is c10 times the official death toll. Durham Constabulary has said that following the receipt of significant new information over recent days.....an investigation into potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations will be conducted. This is 'beergate', the allegation that Sir Keir Starmer broke lockdown rules whilst drinking with colleagues during campaigning for the Hartlepool by-election in Apr 2021.