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| Say hello to a Wren on the wall outside the study a few minutes ago. Say hello to plenty of dodgy through-double-glazing photos, too.... |
Silver linings - they're everywhere if you look hard enough, and many are right in front of us. We should be in the desert right now, surrounded by our #FlywayFamily and in the thick of the kaleidoscopic riot that is spring bird migration hitting its peak in southern Israel; but 'should' sounds redundant and entitled in these fast-changing days, and it's a good time to celebrate what we have, not what we wish we had.
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| One of many Meadow Pipits enjoying the decrease in disturbance on Carr Naze this morning |
Here in the UK we woke up this morning to the (near) lockdown - too little too late, but that's for another time - and the restrictions require some creativity to make the most of nature while playing by the rules. Under current regulations I can still go out birding locally, as my one-a-day 'exercise allowance', and I count my blessings I live in a place with access to beautiful and life-affirming country/seaside close to my doorstep.
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| The view from Carr Naze this morning (looking towards Scarborough) |
I went out for a walk this morning and, in stark contrast to the weekend (which was, shockingly, like a Bank Holiday here in Filey), my circuit was almost deserted - heartening, and I hope a sign of difficult truths finally hitting home. Not to be too misanthropic but being able to hear the birds and the sea, unpolluted by engines, dogs, aircraft and human voices, was an unfamiliar joy, and the birds were noticeably more settled.
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| The study, aka the Obs, aka Mission Control, aka as-good-as-it-gets-before-too-long |
But many - possibly all in a future worst case scenerio - of my nature kicks will be coming from my study window over the coming weeks. Unfortunately we don't have the luxury of a garden, and the terrain is mostly bricks, mortar, concrete and tarmac. But - and it's all about the buts - there's a big piece of sky to scan, and the potential for flyovers will be a much-needed incentive over the coming weeks; I've had some good stuff over the last few years as it happens, but let's save that for when my material is even thinner, eh?
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| My piece of sky, to be scanned many thousands of times in the near future |
Challenging times and the limitations that come with them can provide genuinely valuable, refreshing new perspectives, and I've never taken nature and my enjoyment of it less for granted than I do now. Anyone who's dipped into these pages over the last decade has probably gathered how deep my love of birds and wildlife runs, but I'm as guilty as anyone of overlooking the superficially commonplace, the familiar and the myriad wonders that are right in front of me.
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| A Goldcrest from a few hundred metres into my 'exercise' this morning |
So this will, in all likelhood, be the beginning of that shift in perspective, and a rolling journal of my (re)discovery of the simple pleasures and dramas unfolding from an ordinary window, in an ordinary street, in an ordinary northen English town. There'll hopefully be some excepts from my 'exercise' birding within striking distance of the house too, but for how long, we'll see. Either way, silver linings abound; hopefully for you too.
