I’m reminded of Maggie Smith’s line in Downron Abbey – “What is a weekend?” For the upper classes and, it seems, retired people, the concept does not exist. Every day is a holiday and it is easy to lose track of the days, as I did this week. We were all geared up for our grocery delivery when I realised it was Friday, not Saturday. Part of the problem is the bin day – it has been Friday for the last 36 years in Nottingham, but here it is Thursday. At the back of my mind I am often a day out at the end of the week. Eventually, I suppose, I will get used to it.

It’s the Big Garden Birdwatch today.  It was also yesterday, but I always think of it as a weekend activity. Records of 350,000 birds have been submitted so far (10.30 Saturday) with the House Sparrow coming out on top with Blue Tit second and Starling 3rd. The Wood Pigeon has fallen to 4th, nudged out by Blue Tits overnight. In Cambridgeshire, the county I am in today, the order is currently Wood Pigeon, House Sparrow, Starling. We have had no House Sparrows since we moved in and very few Starlings, so we might be bucking the trend in this garden.

I am going to finish this post, have a late breakfast and spend an hour with a notebook, recording birds. It always seems better when you have something unusual to report, but even if you don’t, it’s all part of the process – even seeing no birds is some sort of result. When you see how some bird populations have declined over the years (and set this against the broader picture of a general decline in numbers) I wonder if there will be a year when that is the report I submit. It’s not a  good thought.