Ooooo it's nice to be out. Out Out.

CV19 the daily record Friday 15^th May.

53 days in Lockdown.

Firstly 2 apologies one for not writing up my diary for Thursday (nothing to report) and two for putting the wrong date on the previous entry. No wonder people were getting confused. Anyway I am back on track with yesterday’s adventures.

We have both woken up feeling low, the need to do something different and the NUFC saga are dragging us both down. Even I have started looking at NUFC online and the Chronicle (Newcastle local paper), in the hope that something positive is happening.

After much debating we decide that we will go to Aston Rowant for a walk, this is a walk that we do with our RSPB group and takes us through the Wormsley estate.

We exit the M40 just off junction 5 Stokenchurch and then take a turning which makes you feel like you are entering the motorway again but going down the wrong side. It’s very unnerving I hate this junction, but we are ok on the right road and not heading against the traffic on the M40. Phew. As we drive along it is noticeable how little traffic there has been on the road as the trees are hanging right down and almost form a tunnel, normally the lorries would have clipped off the lower branches. It makes for an extremely pleasant drive. Shortly we turn into Cowlease Wood car park, it’s a bit of a gamble as a lot of the country parks and car parks have been shut, however we are in luck as this one is open.

We walk through the wood, the morning sun dappling through the trees, the bird song is terrific and not a soul in sight either. We emerge from the woods onto a field where they normally grow Sweetcorn. The field has recently been sown and is bare, the soil is just chalk; so pale and fine its like dust. Huge flints emerge from the ground and there are hundreds of them, we wonder how anything can grow here its looks so poor. We walk down the hill and across another field; Red Kites glide overhead in the clear blue sky. It is very warm and sunny a beautiful morning. Once we get down onto the Wormsley drive, it’s up a very steep hill which gets the heart and calf muscles working. I have to stoop for a breather or 2 but Ian seems to manage just fine. Across the main road and we are looking down from the top of the cut onto the M40. You know where I mean, Sarah Kennedy used to say Red Indians or should I say Native Americans would be sat astride a horse up there waiting to attack.

All too soon we are back at the car, the walk has not been long enough and we are at a loss as to what to do now. I take the roof down on the SAAB and we drive home the long pretty way, through Nettlebed and Henley.

We have a spot of lunch and then decide that we will go to Otmoor RSPB reserve just outside Oxford. This is also shut, but I have inside information that the car park is open and you can walk through the reserve along the public bridleway.

40 minutes later we are there, cameras and binoculars at the ready. Otmoor is one of our favourite places to go at this time of year. It is so lovely peaceful and some top birds are here if you like that sort of thing.

One of the Wardens is in the car park, I stop for a chat, he is a very happy man as this is his first day back on the reserve for 7 weeks. The birding is excellent he beams. 20 Hobbies up at one time, Turtle Doves, a Bittern and lots of others too. I can hear the Turtledoves purring already and we are only in the car park.

The Feeders have only just been filled up so nothing on them, heading up the track to the farm gate, the wetland opens up and we are greeted by the sight of Greylag Geese their heads popping up through the sedge. Warblers, Reed and Sedge sing out as we walk past, very difficult to spot. Little Egrets and black-headed gulls paddle about in a shallow pool and the Hobbies soar overhead. See I told you it was a lovely place.

We know where the Turtle Doves will be as there are a few photographers with the obligatory long lenses pointing up into a tree. There are 3 Doves on the reserve this one is a male; the other 2 have flown off somewhere. The Turtle Dove is the UK’s fastest declining species and is on the brink of extinction. It breeds in Lowland England and winters in Sub Saharan Africa. Huge numbers of them are shot when travelling through France, Spain and Morocco and also when they reach Senegal. Loss of habitat in the breeding areas is also adding to the decline.

Ian is itching to talk cameras and lenses with the men but they are engrossed with talk about a new lens one of them has bought, I move off. Scanning the sky I spot 7 hobbies, a Buzzard a Marsh harrier and a Grey Heron. Chiffchaff call from the hedgerow and a Reed Bunting flies across in front of us.

The Hide is closed but we walk down there and are reward by another Dove (might be the same one) feeding off a path. Ian gets some good photos here. We chat to another birder and scan the wading pool and Bittern booms in the distance but we don’t see it.. Baby Coots are being fed their little read heads all fluffy and wet; they are ugly and cute at the same time. Lots of Goslings are out on the pasture field but no Brown Hares today. A Marsh harrier flies over and is instant mobbed by Lapwings; the Harriers and Red Kites will take the Chicks or eggs.

Some walkers disturb the TD and apologise but are interested when we tell them about it. We decide to take a different path back to the car and walk along a bridle path. It’s not long before I think we are lost but we are both convinced that we are heading in the right direction. We do eventually come out roughly where we though we would.

The drive home was great, the roof was down, the sun on our backs, we had a lovely day. Topped it off with a G&T whilst we chatted to Joyce on FT.

The BBT’s are holding their own, only 3 left now but they have survived another night. Wild Marlow have a nest box and only 3 of theirs are still alive too.

Lemon Sole chips and peas for dinner.

Thursday’s dinner was a sumptuous slow cooked short rib of beef, mashed potatoes and cabbage, it was divine. The washing up after however was not ideal; Ian can be a messy chef at times. (I know I should count my blessings and I do)

Other points of note.

I saw an item on the news today about a hotel room in the Ukraine that is full of cots (33) with new-born babies in them. These are surrogate babies and at present cannot be united with their parents due to travel restrictions. I am astounded by the magnitude of this.

They say it’s too risky for schools to open but thousands of people are entering the country everyday. Apparently 170 flights came into Heathrow in one day and there are no health checks.

People are reportedly still going on holiday to Mexico, the US, Japan and Hong Kong.

I am worried that our holiday in July will have to go ahead.

Confusing data from the Government as they say infection rate is going down but the R rate is going up. Different parts of the country are at different stages. London they report is almost clear of the virus whilst in the North East it is on the increase.

Boris is loosing weight after his CV experience and was told that he would not have suffered so much if he were not overweight.

The good weather is set to return and there are worries that holiday hot spots and parks will be over crowded and there are no restrictions on going out apart from the 2 metre distancing.

Trump says US to open up vaccine or no Vaccine.

 Italy to lift travel restrictions.