Elm

The daylight hours yesterday were completely taken up with meetings so I didn't manage to get out with my camera. I spoke briefly to Chris who's now gone down with Covid.

Today is his 31st birthday and it's one of the few times in his life that I've not been able to celebrate with him. He's pretty much lost his sense of taste, but is otherwise not too bad - the symptoms have been like a nasty cold. Fortunately, Lizzy seems to be improving after a rough couple of days. So far all  my tests have proved to be negative but I do seem to be developing a bit of a cough tonight...

It was a glorious winter's day, which would have been perfect for one of our bird-watching trips. After a morning report writing I went for a walk round Etton and Maxey pits, which were generally pretty quiet in terms of bird life. All the most interesting species were seen after sunset - the flash of a Kingfisher across the Maxey Cut, a Barn Owl hunting along its banks and over twenty Goosander roosting on the Silt Pit.

This area of the Welland valley has been extensively worked for gravel, but there are a scatter of old trees especially along the drains and parish boundaries. These are mostly Oak, Ash and Willows. This stately Elm is on the bank of the South Drain, one of very few mature Elm trees in the area  - most survive as shrubs and suckers in hedges and woods. It looked magnificent against a perfect winter sunset.