HAVING yesterday revealed how York people are being targeting by suspicious letters from an alleged Spanish lottery, it is refreshing to turn to one which is definitely legitimate.

We refer, of course, to our own National Lottery, and the news that Yorkshire has been revealed as a lucky Lotto hotspot.

Since it launched more than 12 years ago, more than £900 million in prizes has been paid out to Yorkshire folk by the National Lottery - with more than 200 of these lucky people joining the exclusive "Millionaires' Club".

With the total payout figure now nudging towards £1 billion, do let The Diary know about any big wins.

Who knows - the winning ticket that pushes the lottery beyond the £1 billion mark could have been sold in York or North Yorkshire.


The Diary would like to give a big thank-you to Press reader and ornithologist Dale Minks.

Mr Minks has pointed out that the row of seagulls pictured in last week's Diary were not, in fact, seagulls.

The Press would hate to cause any offence to the eight birds - which were pictured perching on a sign outside the Bonding Warehouse during the recent floods that afflicted the city - by incorrectly identifying them.

Mr Minks advised The Press that the winged creatures were more likely to be black-headed gulls than seagulls.

"But they didn't have black heads," we replied.

This was because, Mr Minks said, in winter, these birds do not have a black head, but merely a black speck behind their eye - which gave rise to our unfortunate assumption that they were seagulls.

Mr Minks said: "I would like to be among the flock of many twitchers' (bird watchers) who are likely to inform you that the birds portrayed are not of the naval type - they are in fact landgulls', army pongos', in winter uniform (plumage).

"In your defence and possibly due to the wet, windy and cold weather we have been experiencing lately - these seagulls' could have been queuing up to join the navy, as Arctic terns (turns)."

Next time we will leave no stone "un-terned" before we make assumptions about avine identity.