Police report a 34% rise in dog attacks in the last five years, despite recording only a 15% rise in the number of dogs over the same period. I’m surprised by the second figure, but not the first. It seems like everyone in Asselby owns a dog, or two, or three, though no one seems to enjoy the company of their pets. All I seem to hear is barking and shouting. Pub landlord Paul seems very proud of the fact that his alsatian doesn’t like me…
A quiet corner of Howden, yesterday...
I was alone, yesterday afternoon, in Singleton hide at Blacktoft Sands, watching dark curtains of rain sweep across the reedbeds. I heard wigeons whistling, and a Cetti’s warbler: an explosive song from such a small and reclusive bird. I heard a bittern booming for the first time this year. The birds seem to think that spring has arrived, even though snow is forecast for tomorrow. Then, as the light faded, a barn owl came out to hunt, followed by the female hen harrier which I saw a few days ago. The slimmer build, white rump and graceful flight makes it easy to recognise among the more numerous marsh harriers. I think I'm enjoying my time with the birds more than ever.
Licensed today: St Mary's Church, Hitchin, Hertfordshire…
Back in 2016 Donald Trump won the Republican nomination and then the presidency by being the great disruptor. And now, following four disastrous years in the White House, he is launching his next bid, at the CPAC event in Maryland, by saying “In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution. For seven years you and I have been engaged in an epic struggle to rescue our country from the people who hate it and want to absolutely destroy it. We are going to finish what we started. We’re going to complete the mission, we’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory. We’re going to make America great again”.
Trump insists that Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because of the US’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. “We’re going to have world war three if something doesn’t happen fast. I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent world war three.” This is the authoritarian battle cry, from a would-be dictator, that “I alone can fix it”…
News today, in the Guardian, that nine of Hull’s cream-coloured telephone boxes are to be saved for a grateful nation. The K8 phone boxes are cream, not red, because Hull is the only place in England where the local council ran the public telephone network. The grade II listing is news to me. I thought that the phone boxes of Hull had already been repurposed… as urinals…
