Green Woodpecker

There was actually sunshine this morning! As I was beginning to tire of my immediate surroundings, I took a short car journey to Etton-Maxey NR - where access is limited to members of the Langdyke Trust. As I expected it was fairly quiet and I only saw a handful of distant walkers. 

I enjoyed the soft winter colours of this wetland site - the ochre of dried reeds contrasting with the soft blue sky, already obscured by the next bank of high cloud. The usual range of birds was around, but most were very distant, and as the sunshine disappeared and the breeze was quite chilly, I contented myself with a fairly short walk. 

I drove back through the country lanes, but was shocked at how many people were out, and how much damage parked cars were inflicting on some of our flower-rich verges, 

The pandemic has really highlighted how little accessible open space there is in many parts of the UK, and how poor the supporting infrastructure is. In an ideal world, more people would walk or cycle to the countryside, but there needs to be some sort of car-parking provision for the elderly, disabled, city dwellers and those with small children. A network of small designated parking sites with a cycle rack, close to footpaths and other accessible areas would disperse people more evenly and prevent much of the damage that's currently taking place.