Osmanthus x burkwoodii

Today we attended  the  annual meeting of the Hampshire Ornithological Society (HOS), held at the  local girls ' private school. There was an interesting bird/ wildlife - related exhibition(birding holidays, books, information on gardening for wildlife, etc), as well as a programme of excellent speakers. This  included James Aldred, who gave a wonderfully illustrated talk about his work filming goshawks in the  New Forest during the Covid pandemic  in  2020, which he has also described in his book,"Goshawk Summer: a New  Forest Season Unlike Any Other". As he was finishing his  talk the fire alarm sounded and we all had to vacate the  hall for about thirty minutes!  After a chilly wait in the  car park we were  allowed back in to hear a great talk by the  Urban Birder , David  Lindo. He was very entertaining and spoke about his travels, including to a town  in Serbia where there are dozens of Long Eared Owls to be found living in the parks in the  centre of town! 

It was then a quick return  home and then out again to attend a local quiz. 

My blip is unrelated to either of these events, being  a picture of this Osmanthus  shrub in my garden, which is just coming into bloom. The  flowers have an attractive scent.