The opening picture here is of two black-tailed godwits flying off Faversham Creek onto the East Flood at Oare marshes. It is a picture I took back in October, on, as it turned out, one of my last visits to Oare in recent times.

As I noted in my last entry, England went into "lockdown 2" a month ago to try to reduce Covid infections. Whether a second lockdown was necessary and proportional remains a matter of controversy, but it finished a couple of days ago. Across England, infection rates are now coming off their highest levels, with the R (reproduction rate) below 1.

That is the good news. But here in Kent, we are in Tier 3, the highest level of restrictions. Even during the lockdown, infection rates carried on escalating in areas of North Kent, especially Swale, Gravesham and Thanet. You can see on the screenshot below of the latest 7-day rolling average cases the way that the virus has spread. None of the areas shown in red were that high before lockdown, so we come out of the lockdown with more severe restrictions than when we went into it.

The virus seems to have taken its own time spreading across the country. Areas such as Liverpool started their second wave early, and began to decline noticeably before lockdown; in others, the second wave hit during the lockdown.

Anyhow, the long and the short of it is that for the last few weeks, I have stopped my usual walks at Oare.

Oare marshes are on the eastern edge of the red area of Swale. Oare is an important wildlife reserve, and it is the closest bird reserve to where I live, just a short drive away. As much as it is good for the soul to go for an exercise walk there in the open air next to the water and watch the wild birds, the proximity of such a high density of Covid cases takes away all the joy.

The rolling 7-day case number for Swale has come off the top, but it remains stuck about four times higher than where I live. For the moment, the continued spread of Covid is denying the pleasure of watching the birds and the sea, and listening to their sounds.