Great Spotted

It's time this blog had another go at being a daily record. I had an interesting day yesterday doing chaplaincy at Hereford Cathedral. It's such a lovely building, and visitors receive a very friendly welcome. A lot of folk from around Ely and Cambridge were there yesterday, and I met others from Leicester, Birmingham, Kent, and a family from Australia. Prayers of course focused on the sad events in London on Wednesday, and on victims of terrorism and violence in so many parts of our world. Unusually, and perhaps because of London, the cathedral was completely still for every occasion of hourly prayers.

Back home for a good practice with Guilsfield Singers. Only two more weeks till our concert on 8th April. We need to sell every last ticket to stand a chance of breaking even, so I hope we do. The pieces (Stainer's "Daughter of Jairus", Parry's "I was Glad" and the Schubert Mass in G) are lovely. A few of us wandered across to the King's Head afterwards - Peter H has a plan to make this a regular occurrence, I think.

Although this is really my Thursday blog, I'm writing it on Friday morning, and I've just been out to replenish the feeders in our back garden. Sharp and cold - and in the cold air, a sudden drumming. I've heard our local great spotted woodpecker drumming at the other end of our road (or, to be strict, the woodland we back on to), but he clearly has now found a good sounding branch in the great oak more or less just behind us. When he is drumming from somewhere that close, it is an incredibly loud sound! And it will carry a good long way. The bird itself flew to the smaller oak immediately behind us, then off in to the back woods. Great spotted's are regular visitors to the fat chunks in one of our feeders, and a couple of local blackbirds have obviously been watching, because they are giving it a try now, and succeeding, albeit in a rather clumsy fashion. I can't imagine them drumming, though (not would it be possible, as a woodpecker's head and bill are specially structured).