NORTH DOWNS & BEYOND

It might be time for me to accept that I am in a high risk group when it comes to Covid 19 (I'm on the flu jab list owing to a prolonged period of chemotherapy a few years ago). Up until now I have happily entered public places but probably need to be more cautious, not just for myself but also for my immediate family. A spot of self-isolation might be best, with an open-ended time scale. I still intend to get out birding (an isolated event normally anyway) but do not plan any visits to reserves or places where groups of birders congregate (not that this normally applies to my Uber-patch sites). Searching out for plants, checking the moth trap and other assorted natural history tasks will be welcome diversions in these times of uncertainty. And, God forbid, I find myself having to actually stay inside 100% of the time, I have a pile of books that are demanding my attention - assuming, of course that I will be well enough to read them. There are also household tasks that could do ...

Something had to sweep Brexit off of the table and it just so happens that Covid 19 is the new kid in town. We now find ourselves living in a sci-fi film with leaders and presidents declaring states of emergency, panicking proletariat and an invisible virus stalking the world preying on the old and weak. It isn’t funny. I ventured out today, away from people and the media, and in the warm sunshine it was easy to forget the troubles at large. I found myself at Denbies Hillside, ironically the same place I fled to after the Brexit vote debacle. A small northward passage of Chaffinch and Meadow Pipit, an enormous female Goshawk and a parade of freshly minted Brimstone butterflies bathed the soul in calming balm. I also had the pleasure of the company of fellow Surrey birder Steve Chastell mid-morning. We knocked elbows rather than shake hands - very 2020... Canons Farm carried on my birding self-isolation in the afternoon. A Woodlark, flushed from the footpath that crosses Broad Field...