It may be starting to feel a bit like Groundhog Day with social distancing and only being able to have one period of exercise a day in the form of a jog, cycle or as in my case a walk incorporating the dog’s first walk of the day, but at least we have been blessed with dry and warm weather these past few days. As I said in my blog yesterday my daily route is now becoming bit of a ‘ Local Patch’ with me, however it does amaze me although the route is the same and in cases at the moment so are some of the birds, Sedge warbler, Reed bunting, Whitethroat and I have never had a year where I have seen so many Grasshopper warblers.

But some birds and mammals are only making an appearance now and again, for instance there were no Roe deer today whereas I nearly always see at least two or three, for the second day in a row I saw Barn Owl but this is the only time in these last 14 days that I have seen two individuals, one of them appears to be slightly darker than the other and they were both hunting in separate areas.

The first and lighter of the two Barn Owls was at the 2 mile mark on my route, almost ghost like in the morning light, at first it was ahead of me along the footpath flying low along the bank, twice it dropped down on to the ground, perhaps it had managed to catch a vole?, but it seemed to take off again with out any reward, it then crossed the river and started coming towards me on the opposite bank, as it was almost level with me I had to shield my eyes against the rising sun which highlighted the Owls wing feathers making it all the more ghostly, a mallard drake on the footpath seemed curious as to what the Owl was looking for.

The Owl carried on North along the river looking for any movement below, it carried on until it reached the railway bridge then promptly turned and headed South again along the river, it paused at times in a slight hover and I watched it disappear along the opposite bank, I have been transfixed by the Owl and it was almost as if someone had turned a volume switch up as I became aware of the Sedge warblers and then a Grasshopper warbler.

This has almost become a daily game now locating the Grasshopper warbler, cup one ear, cover the other (stand on the dogs lead to make him stay) and located, there he was low in the vegetation turning his head from side to side, I am really loving this little warbler and I am wondering if this is a record year for them.

We got to the bridge that goes over a small dyke after locating another Grasshopper warbler, this is the point we turn back (Sammy now anticipates this), on the way back the Whitethroats are singing to my left, the Sedge and Grasshopper warblers to my right, just up ahead the distant call of a Cuckoo but no appearance this morning, we walk back along the path stopping now and then to look, listen and take in the morning as another day gradually wakes up around us, we cross the railway line at the small gated crossing, there are linnets on the path just on the other side of the crossing and a Whitethroat sings in the brambles.

We carry on along the path to the new bridge that takes the Ely Southern bypass over the railway lines and the river, as we emerge from underneath the bridge and walk beside a fenced off area of reedbed there is suddenly an alarmed call from an unseen Water rail and infact all the Sedge warblers have stopped singing, all of a sudden from behind us and to our right a Sparrowhawk flies low lazily over the reedbed to sit in a tree on the other edge. I am now a mile or so from where we turned round and I have retraced our route out and as I look in the distance there is the second, darker Barn owl hunting, almost a copy of the the first Barn owl in it’s pattern of hunting, unfortunately this one is also on the opposite bank and further ahead, but I am able to get close enough to get a photograph before it disappears Northwards over the road and along the river.

All in all another good walk to lift the spirits and face another day in lockdown, it is true that nature does give you a lift and hopefully more people have engaged with the wildlife and countryside close to them and I hope that it continues when all this is over, so I look forward to tomorrow and my daily dose of ‘natural medicine’ via my ‘Local Patch’.