As lockdown continues, people have taken a keen interest in the habits of birds, from geese to gulls and even a kookaburra. Meanwhile, the singer Mabel and actors David Hasselhoff and Matt Lucas have revealed what they will be doing once the restrictions end.
Mother Goose of York station
With travel curbs in place, one enterprising goose has taken advantage of the now quiet railway station at York by taking up residence in a flowerbed and laying four eggs.
British Transport Police first spotted the bird, nicknamed Mother Goose, two weeks ago but presumed she had moved on when they did not see her for a couple of days.
📣 HONK
— London North Eastern Railway (@LNER) May 4, 2020
She missed you too. Catch up with Mother Goose and her four eggs in the latest edition of #goosecam from #York station! pic.twitter.com/kSdNt2GVky
She has since returned, laid four eggs and can be seen patrolling the railway station, sometimes with a companion. Staff – who are posting updates on social media – have placed some fencing around the flowerbed for safety. “It’s such a gorgeous, gorgeous story and we all need a bit of this in our lives at the moment,” said a spokeswoman for LNER, which owns the station.
Looking forward
What do you dream of doing once the lockdown ends? Stars reveal all in a video launching the Prince’s Trust campaign, Looking Forward, to encourage us to share positive vibes on social media and help us feel happier.
Mabel says: “The first thing I’m going to do when I get out of isolation is go to the studio.” Hasselhoff will head straight to the beach: “No, not Brighton beach, Baywatch beach where I belong.” Lucas, meanwhile, jokes: “When all this is over I’m looking forward to just staying in, just relaxing at home for a bit and for a change.”
Clap for gulls
Apart from showing their appreciation for frontline staff, Worcester residents have been advised of an extra benefit of their weekly “clap for carers”. The city council has tried a number of measures to target a “significant” problem with gulls, said to include noise and mess and even attacks. In one area, the use of acoustic devices that emit recorded gull distress calls is being trialled to deter them from nesting on city rooftops. Now one resident has reported gulls flew during the applause.
Lockdown, with less waste discarded in the city centre, had reduced the gulls’ food supply, Joy Squires, the chair of the council’s environment committee told the BBC. “I’d also encourage Worcester residents to keep on clapping and cheering in support of key workers. Not only is it helping to raise morale, but it appears to be helping to keep our gull population at bay too,” she said.
A pet by the name of Siren
Kat Tate, a wildlife rescuer, has been causing some double-takes on her daily exercise walk around Walcott, Norfolk, as she is not only accompanied by her two dogs but also her tame kookaburra, Siren.
Siren was a star of educational events and school talks, but since lockdown, he has become restless and bored. “So we just decided to take him out with the dogs on our daily walk to see if it helped lift his mood,” said Tate. “He absolutely loved it and seemed to perk up and come alive whilst out, so we just made a habit of bringing him with us.”
And finally … camping for charity
Derbyshire siblings William and Sophie Lacey, 15 and 7, have taken lockdown to new levels by camping for one month in their garden in aid of a local hospice. The two spent the whole of April in a tent at their home in Borrowash, raising more than £2,200 for Treetops Hospice Care in Risley, Derbyshire.
“It was cold sometimes and water sometimes got in from the sides but it was all good otherwise,” William told the BBC. Julie Heath, the chief executive of the hospice, said: “Between them, they’ve raised enough for the hospice to provide three more weeks of overnight nursing care for some of our most poorly patients out in the community.”
