ianr

Do you have any binoculars? My first ever sighting of swifts was when I was lying in the park, trying out some 10x25s. Nothing at all within plain sight, but when I was playing around with the focus -- presumably for clouds or planes -- suddenly there they were. I've still never heard any in real life though. The sample I heard on the BBC website sounded fairly high frequency and not very loud, so I suppose I might miss some; but then there have been precious few reports I've seen here of any being heard. The only one I remember is Jenny1's last year.

Do they put anything in any of their bins?

See page 37 (re vaccine to be used - Pfizer or Moderna) of Ch.14a of the compendious NHS Green Book on Immunisation. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67d8a1979dc953ac3bfe9382/GreenBook-chapter-14a-COVID-19-17_3_25.pdf And from page 32: "Spring 2025 The committee has recommended that those eligible for COVID-19 vaccination are: ● adults aged 75 years and over ● residents in a care home for older adults ● individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosupressed (as defined in the "immunosuppression" row of table 3 and table 4)"

I've always thought, though without seeking any supporting information, that any mildish transient side effects were at least confirmation of the immune system's being able to detect incomers, and without going out of control -- so generally to be welcomed. (That doesn't btw mean that I take their absence to be a bad sign.)

The sticker I was given at Kristal in December said Pfizer/Cominarty. I see it now comes in ten-packs of preloaded syringes, and though initially stored ultra-cold, can now be delivered and stored for up to ten weeks at 2-8 degrees C, and then kept at 8-25 degrees for no more than twelve hours.

And you can access all the various Southwark licence registers via https://app.southwark.gov.uk/. It took me some time to find this last week so I've been meaning to pass it on anyway. The register you'll want for pubs is the premises licence.

I can't find any evidence that the Norwood Road, Herne Hill PO is a Crown office, even in an FOIA reply of 2014 listing them all then: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lists_of_crown_owned_and_franchi/response/505799/attach/6/Post Office Crown Branches List.pdf; but it does seem to offer some road tax and passport service: https://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder/1330071/herne-hill. So may there be some degrees of freedom?

I think EastDulwicher was probably referring to the Extended Primary Care Service (EPCS) which also uses the TJ Health Centre and one of whose functions seems to be to provide some kind of backup service for South Southwark GP practices.

Have there been any happy outcomes yet? I was reminded of this thread by Kate Bradbury's recent two minute Radio4 Tweet of the Day spot on swifts and swift boxes. She too plays their calls out of her window hoping to attract them. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0029yp8 Coincidentally, last week I came across a planning condition attached to the permission (24/AP/3592) granted to the old Melbourne Grove GP premises, that they install "no less than four bee bricks." They're specifically for so-called solitary bees, who seem to be regarded as equally busy and deserving. Kate B. mentioned that Brighton now attaches a similar condition, requiring swift boxes in all new-builds. Might Southwark be doing so too?

Increased privacy and security are typical motivations. I'm very amateurish in using Google Street View, but am I right in thinking that the properties are shown blurred there?

Why the S?

Who do you mean by 'Southwark Council'?

There's an article about some of its residents, "Greendale - Who lived in a road like this?", by Sharon O’Connor, at https://www.dulwichsociety.com/the-journal/winter-2022/greendale.

I was under the age of criminal responsibility when I took the goosegogs, m'lud, and it still remains on my conscience.