Mixed messages

I really enjoyed birding at Morton Bagot yesterday.

Today, it seems I was in the wrong. The advice on the news this morning (if it was out there yesterday I must have missed it) is that no one is allowed to leave their homes for non-essential journeys. Birding counts as non-essential.

The reason I went birding was that on Tuesday I had seen a Government spokesman saying it was OK to go to the countryside and walk around. I didn't hear anything about time restrictions. I checked the Heart of England Forest website (most of the land at Morton Bagot is owned by HOEF) and it said their land was open to visitors.

The irony is that I'm absolutely certain that by visiting Morton Bagot I was putting no one in danger, and that I am at far more risk going on my weekly shop, or visiting the newsagent than wandering around Morton Bagot on my own.

But above all, I feel guilty for enjoying myself in the field when (almost) everyone else is sticking to their gardens and making the best of it.

So that's what I'll be doing in future. I'll be Morton Bagot Birder in name only for the foreseeable future.

The garden list starts today.