Covid-19

For a long time I've walked or used buses to reach birding spots away from where I live. (Yesterday I walked to Mixenden). But I'm an OAP with time to do this; and it's bothering me that there are conflicting views on whether it's ok to drive to a remote spot to exercise and watch birds. Because this is what many of you on the blog have done regularly, with many great birds found.

What we have to focus on is that all the guidelines and laws that have come in are about one thing only: not spreading the virus.

We shouldn't drive out of our home area (say Calderdale) in case we take the virus to an area without any. And we shouldn't park in a car park with several other cars, in case we pass on the virus to someone parked close to us. But if one parks where there is no-one else around, there is no risk.

The crux is that we have to obey the law of the land. We don't have to go along with what everyone on the telly says, when some politicians and others have themselves probably not fully understood the legislation that was passed on 26 March.

The list of reasons people can leave home, in that legislation, has been very well thought out. One is that we can go out to exercise, (but we MUSTN'T mingle with other people). The law does not limit how often we go out, and it does not say we cannot drive to a quiet spot in our local area to exercise.

We cannot spread the virus as we drive along, and we would actually walk past a lot fewer people at Whiteholme than in a residential area!

(This is my personal interpretation of current rules. I could be wrong, and it's up to each of us to interpret them for him/herself before deciding what to do).