Idea and Reflection for Feb 23

Idea: A local winter wildlife walk

Did you know we have a lot of wildlife on our doorstep?

We went for a birdwatching walk from home on a cold afternoon towards the end of January. We headed up to Foxhill via the path from Lynbrook Lane off Entry Hill, and to begin with we saw a lot of crows and woodpigeons, and not many other birds. When we got to the fields at the top, we started to hear other bird song. Then we saw a green woodpecker, then a bullfinch. We were then surrounded by great tits, and suddenly a kestrel flew into a nearby tree.

Walking down Foxhill, we enjoyed watching blue tits and great tits feeding in an adjacent garden. Then we saw a wren, and tiny goldcrests high in a tree above us. We made our way across the valley and up into Lyncombe Fields, the area below Beechen Cliff. There we saw flocks of redwing, a goldcrest right near us, another kestrel (or possibly the same one), a great spotted woodpecker, more small birds on the feeders and a heron, flying down the valley towards the heronry, which is visible from the bottom of Perrymead.

Lyncombe Fields has been managed really well for nature by a group of local volunteers (the Friends of Lyncombe Hill Fields) in the past few years. Do visit – it’s just along Greenway Lane, not far from St Luke’s.

Reflection: Rest (Genesis 2.1-3)

Creation was not finished until the seventh day, when God created rest. God’s beautiful world is full of complex cycles and changes of season, but rest is essential. God blessed this day of rest and made it holy. As we look on a succession of financial crises worldwide, we might reflect that a major reason our world has slipped into chaos might be because we have ignored rest. Humanity has continued to use up resources, without any thought of giving time to replenish stocks. Our economic system is based on the concept of continual growth, and yet our planet is finite. When we rest, our minds and bodies are restored and renewed. Rest periods are characteristic of all life on earth. Rest gives us the time to reflect on the other parts of our life. It is also a statement that we are content to have enough and not to work endlessly for more. We have worked our planet without rest, and the ecological crisis is a predictable result.

(From Green reflections, by M & M Hodson, BRF 2021).