22nd April. National Pie Awards

Yet again I appear to have missed an important event in the pie calendar. Namely the British Pie Awards in Melton . It was good to see that the winner of the Savoury Pie Category, AJLeermont , from Jedburgh, seeing as our Scottish friends have a natural flare for all things savoury and do not fear saturated fats like us south of the border. I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of Lasagne Pies - surely it is time for our nation to embrace this multicultural delicacy.
The elitist category of Melton Mowbray Pie is only open to entrants from the Leicestershire area which is just as well because as pies go they're pretty bland and tasteless (feel free to send me samples to prove me wrong). Maybe next year I will enter myself, though not in the asexual sense.

As far as birding goes it's been pretty quiet round these parts since the winds changed and the sun came out with just a noticeable increase of common migrants particularly Willow Warblers.


Up North Rob seems to have embarrassed himself by finding potentially Britain's first Wood Duck - not quite the first for Britain he had hoped for! The list master has given it a ringing (should that be unringed) endorsement despite apparently not paying it a visit though at least one high profile local will be hoping otherwise.