American Robin

It wasn't that reference I was being so sensitive about ! Can't help it - find the word used casually really offensive.

What's going on with this use of the word "bitch" ? Post-feminism ? I think not. Please stop. It is offensive.

Yes nest building is definitely happening. Two collared doves collecting grasses in their beaks. And a pair of coal tits checking out the nesting box on the back wall. Also, the greater spotted woodpecker appears to have found a mate. He's been hammering on all the TV ariels in the road, broadcasting for company ? Never seen this behaviour before. Has anybody else ?

Thanks everybody for all your advice and comments etc re: appealing. If you can't double park outside your house (when they're space for cars and vans to pass you) while you're legitimately loading heavy loads (or people and children) into your car, then this seems to me to be an unnecessarily punitive interpretation of the regulations.

Lovely to read that so many people have seen redwings and fieldfares. Last Saturday a flock of redwings with a few fieldfares with them, arrived in Peckham and stripped the pyracanthus and cotoneaster bushes. They were a fantastic sight. Never seen them in London before. They stayed all week, stripping the berries from the bushes and then flying into the high trees with the berry tresses still in their beaks. They seem to have gone today though. I read in my book that they leave in February and March for their migration back to Scandinavia. And it is very unusual to get them in the middle of cities. They only make the journey from the countryside when they need more food. And the snow certainly drove them here. But today my first sight for 2010 of the greater spotted woodpecker, tapping away at a eucalyptus tree. That and six goldfinches feeding on the nylar feeder. A gorgeous sight.

Has anybody else fallen foul of the Southwark mobile parking enforcement teams ? We live in Peckham on a road with no parking restrictions - so it's difficult for residents to park because everybody leaves their cars here while they nip onto the train at Peckham Rye or don't want to pay to park their second car in their own street. We double parked outside the house so we could load our car up with heavy gear - let me be clear we didn't block the road - plenty of space for a van to get past - and with the tailgate of the car up, we rushed in and out of the house loading up. A mobile unit drove up and immediately put a ticket on the windscreen. We said we were loading but he said it didn't matter - double parking isn't allowed. We're going to appeal but it seems incredibly punitive. I've lived here for years and there's definitely a far more stringent - and unreasonable - interpretation of the rules. In effect you can't then double park outside your house if you're unloading shopping; helping an elderly relative into the house or loading heavy equipment into your own vehicle. Infuriating and unfair. Presumably all about commission and money raising.

Thanks Siduhe. I use that service all the time and withdrawing it would have a terrible effect on the commuting options in the area.

Thanks for that. I've been trying to search for the other thread but having problems finding it. Search very slow today. Will keep trying though.

Does anybody know the very latest re: the London Bridge-Victoria train service. I read that South Eastern trains is planning to withdraw this service from 2012 - too shocking for me to compute ! Does anybody have any more up to date/reliable information ? Also, any advice on the most effective way to continue lobbying for this decision to be reversed ? I wrote to South Eastern about a year ago when this plan was first mooted - and then hoped it had gone away.