This morning I made my usual sortie to the forest with a friend, aligning ourselves to the new ‘COVID’ normal by going early to avoid other human beings. We’ve been visiting this same small forest almost every week for almost a year, save for a few weeks when infections were at highest rates.
We are now close to seeing a full-blown year in the forest and are getting more adept at noticing the changes. The forest floor is now almost covered in green by small plants which look as if they will burst into flower soon. The trees are coming into leaf and despite the cold, there is a sense that spring is truly here.
We notice that we see more birds and are getting better at identifying their regular hangouts. Today we saw numerous woodpeckers, robins, a redwing, thrushes, blackbirds, jays, ducks, blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits and herons.. and more! and also a brief glimpse of the hawk circling high in the trees. Not only is it wonderful to see such a variety of birds so close to home, but it also brings home again how precious our ecosystem is.
We’ve seen now almost a year’s worth of changing seasons with the sense that while our world has changed so dramatically for us, the forest and it’s inhabitants have followed their usual course. Let us hope they can continue to do so, undisturbed by our activity.