When we are out and about in our car-free-dom we often see and hear wildlife. A few weeks ago we went away for the weekend – as usual we took the train. It wasn’t far – a direct train for two hours. It’s always good a Friday trip away with a drink or two on the train and some snacks to shift into a weekend gear.

For this trip we were heading to the North East coast of England to do some birding – i.e. bird watching – at Bempton Cliffs Nature Reserve. Mostly the weather was not so great but we had a cracking weekend of spots of the feathered variety as well as dolphins, porpoises and seals.

On the Saturday evening as we were walking back from the nature reserve heading for the train station we had one of our best spots.

Barn owls are a challenge to spot as they are typically night hunters but if the weather has been poor i.e. wet and windy – they need calm conditions to be at their most effective hunting – then you can sometimes see them in the day time.

Walking back to the train station we saw one of these fabulous birds out hunting. It was out cruising around looking for a meal. We had not seen a barn owl for ages and so it was a massive treat to see this one.

Had we been chugging along down the road in a car we would not have seen the barn owl. As I have written about before you miss a lot in a car – life behind a windscreen/windshield dulls your sense of connection to the places that you are travelling through and between. So hears to a car-free life where you can enjoy the best of our world.