Birding in the time of Coronavirus (1 Viewer)

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Excellent, and nice rewards for the jail break 🙂

You are now official partisans... great photos as well. Bravissimo!

John

Cheers both, it did feel good! The only problem is it can be a bit addictive!

Very windy today with (unfortunately) only a little bit of rain in the small hours of the morning, so only 4 species seen: a pair of Black Redstarts were the first birds out of the window this morning then Swift, Blackcap and Blackbird. I thought I heard Great Spotted Woodpecker too, but it was difficult to tell with the wind.

To keep myself busy I updated my lockdown checklists and here they are with an (h) for the "heard only":

List 1 - Total species seen/heard from the beginning of lockdown (March 11), including those contacted during my trips to my mum's and those seen yesterday around our local patch.


1. Mallard
2. Pheasant
3. Cormorant
4. Cattle Egret
5. Little Egret
6. Great White Egret
7. Grey Heron
8. Golden Eagle
9. Short-toed Eagle
10. Red Kite
11. Buzzard
12. Sparrowhawk
13. Kestrel
14. Moorhen
15. Little Ringed Plover
16. Yellow-legged Gull
17. Wood Pigeon
18. Collared Dove
19. Turtle Dove
20. Cuckoo
21. Swift
22. Hoopoe
23. Bee-eater
24. Roller
25. Green Woodpecker
26. Great Spotted Woodpecker
27. Wryneck (h)
28. Skylark
29. Woodlark
30. Crested Lark
31. Swallow
32. House Martin
33. Grey Wagtail
34. White Wagtail
35. Robin
36. Nightingale (h)
37. Common Redstart
38. Black Redstart
39. Stonechat
40. Song Thrush (h)
41. Mistle Thrush (h)
42. Blackbird
43. Blackcap
44. Subalpine Warbler
45. Zitting Cisticola
46. Cetti’s Warbler (h)
47. Melodious Warbler
48. Chiffchaff
49. Firecrest
50. Wren
51. Pied Flycatcher
52. Great Tit
53. Coal Tit
54. Marsh Tit
55. Blue Tit
56. Long-tailed Tit
57. Nuthatch
58. Short-toed treecreeper (h)
59. Woodchat Shrike
60. Jackdaw
61. Hooded Crow
62. Magpie
63. Jay
64. Starling
65. Italian Sparrow
66. Tree Sparrow
67. Chaffinch
68. Brambling
69. Goldfinch
70. Greenfinch
71. Siskin
72. Serin
73. Hawfinch
74. Corn Bunting
75. Cirl Bunting

List 2 - Species seen/heard from home and in our town


1. Mallard
2. Buzzard
3. Sparrowhawk
4. Moorhen
5. Collared Dove
6. Wood Pigeon
7. Cuckoo
8. Swift
9. Hoopoe
10. Bee-eater
11. Green Woodpecker
12. Great Spotted Woodpecker
13. Wryneck (h)
14. Barn Swallow
15. House Martin
16. Grey Wagtail
17. White Wagtail
18. Robin
19. Common Redstart
20. Black Redstart
21. Song Thrush (h)
22. Blackbird
23. Blackcap
24. Chiffchaff
25. Firecrest
26. Wren
27. Pied Flycatcher
28. Great Tit
29. Coal Tit
30. Blue Tit
31. Marsh Tit
32. Long-tailed Tit
33. Nuthatch
34. Short-toed treecreeper (h)
35. Magpie
36. Jay
37. Jackdaw
38. Hooded Crow
39. Starling
40. Tree Sparrow
41. Italian Sparrow
42. Chaffinch
43. Brambling
44. Goldfinch
45. Greenfinch
46. Siskin
47. Serin
48. Hawfinch
49. Cirl Bunting


List 3 - Species seen/heard from home only


1. Buzzard
2. Sparrowhawk
3. Collared Dove
4. Wood Pigeon
5. Cuckoo
6. Swift
7. Hoopoe
8. Bee-eater
9. Green Woodpecker
10. Great Spotted Woodpecker
11. Wryneck (h)
12. Barn Swallow
13. House Martin
14. White Wagtail
15. Robin
16. Common Redstart
17. Black Redstart
18. Blackbird
19. Blackcap
20. Chiffchaff
21. Firecrest
22. Wren
23. Pied Flycatcher
24. Great Tit
25. Coal Tit
26. Blue Tit
27. Marsh Tit
28. Long-tailed Tit
29. Nuthatch
30. Short-toed treecreeper (h)
31. Hooded Crow
32. Magpie
33. Jay
34. Starling
35. Tree Sparrow
36. Chaffinch
37. Brambling
38. Goldfinch
39. Serin
40. Greenfinch
41. Siskin
42. Hawfinch

Another blustery day with little birding done. Species seen/heard include: Black Redstart, Swift, Blue Tit, Chiffchaff, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Serin, Hoopoe.

Today the wind was even stronger than yesterday and with a terrible white sky to boot, not exactly a birder-friendly day, but we did pay a quick visit to our most local patch in the afternoon which afforded terrible views of 2 Honey Buzzards, a year first for me, and a Buzzard, we also saw Swallows, Stonechat and Corn Bunting and heard Nightingale.

In town Swift, Hoopoe, Black Redstart, Great Tit, Tree Sparrow, Blackbird, Chiffchaff and House Martin. Also, while I was queuing outside the chemists, a Nuthatch landed on the trunk of the lime tree in front of the bakery two doors down, made its way down to the pavement, picked up a large chunk of something bread-coloured and flew back across the street disappearing into another lime tree. I had never seen a Nuthatch eating bread before, also they are usually quite shy so I was surprised to see it in a busy (well, not as busy as before Covid) shopping street.

Another muggy and windy day, the southerly wind not as strong as yesterday, but still pretty annoying. We still did manage another afternoon escape to our wider patch, taking the same route as Sunday.

Despite not seeing much, I added three species to my lockdown list: Quail and Great Reed Warbler (both heard only) and Coot, but the real highlight of the afternoon was a territorial skirmish between three Rollers, complete with their spectacular displays, which we watched with delight for a good half hour. Other species were the ubiquitous Corn Buntings, Swallows, Nightingale, Skylark, 2 pairs of Turtle Doves, Kestrel and Buzzard, I also had a glimpse of a probable Montagu's Harrier disappearing behind a hillock, but we failed to locate it again, so it hasn't been added to the list. We have pics of the Rollers but we got home late and haven't downloaded them, so I'll post them tomorrow.

In town Blackbird, Swifts, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Tree Sparrow and Black Redstarts.

Rubbish weather here, too! Windy and cloudy, no birds seen form home apart from Swifts and Blackbirds. A very brief escape to our local patch provided good views of two Short-toed Eagles, Swallows and a Stonechat, but nothing else.

To make up for the lack of birds I am attaching below some not very good pics of yesterday's Rollers that should at least give you an idea of what it was like.

Amazingly similar weather we are having. Had we been doing this 15 years back, could have commented on similarity with Rollers ...long gone here now though

I think I no longer qualify for this thread as we are free to move around Poland now. The easing of restrictions, repair of our car, my work duties and weather came together marvelously and thus we made a 4 day trip through NE Poland, netting 120 birds and 10 mammals, our best number of bird species from a single trip in Poland. I know people can get 160 for a Big Day, but we suck at songs (we only count the most obvious birds if not seen) and we have missed 10-15 relatively obvious species because we didn't do a targeted search for a high score.

This spring is very unusual. After a long dry period, the water levels are low, rivers are not overflowing and many marshes are dry. Now however it's cloudier and actually colder than April, so bloom is delayed and everything looks different from a typical spring - together it made the landscapes really vibrant this week, even without the water in the landscape. Also, no mosquitoes so far, which is really unheard of! The low water levels also expose great shorebird habitats in the Siemanowka reservoir.

We did see a Corncrake! The grass is unusually low and it's easier. Also, and this I will have to have confirmed first from photos, but I am pretty sure the "dog" we saw from 50 meters in broad daylight was a Wolf.

Well done Jan! Very envious of your Corncrake, also of 120 species and 10 mammals. Even if from Monday we'll be free to travel within Tuscany (hooray!) there is no way we could match your (and Jos') figures! But do post your sightings (here or somewhere else - I still have to decide where to take/end this thread, I have become quite fond of it after more than two months!), as they still make an enjoyable reading for us southerners! And fingers crossed for your canid!

It's colder here as well and we got a little rain today and a little more is forecast for early next week (of course the weather was glorious when we were in full lockdown :-C ).

Not much seen today due to the weather: Swift, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Hoopoe, Black Redstart, House Martin, Jay, Tree Sparrow, Blackbird... the usual stuff.

3Italianbirders said:

I still have to decide where to take/end this thread, I have become quite fond of it after more than two months!), as they still make an enjoyable reading for us southerners!

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Just amend the title a little and keep it going ...'Birding in Italy, Coronavirus et al' or something similar?

3Italianbirders said:

It's colder here as well and we got a little rain today and a little more is forecast for early next week (of course the weather was glorious when we were in full lockdown :-C

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Exactly the same here ...had a 'highly productive' day searching for butterflies today in strong winds, much cloud and heavy showers!

With 75 species you have just in the lockdown list, it doesn't seem to me that unlikely to get similar numbers if you can travel around a bit, does it? You know some of your species are equally exciting for us in the north.

The canid is indeed a wolf. I think I have finally cracked the algorithm for mammal watching: give up on any targeted searches and long nights spotlighting, just watch birds and hope you come across mammals in the process. Last year I randomly bumped into a Lynx in Georgia and a Bear in Armenia, now a Wolf in Poland

Jos Stratford said:

Just amend the title a little and keep it going ...'Birding in Italy, Coronavirus et al' or something similar?

Click to expand...

Good idea!

opisska said:

With 75 species you have just in the lockdown list, it doesn't seem to me that unlikely to get similar numbers if you can travel around a bit, does it? You know some of your species are equally exciting for us in the north.

The canid is indeed a wolf. I think I have finally cracked the algorithm for mammal watching: give up on any targeted searches and long nights spotlighting, just watch birds and hope you come across mammals in the process. Last year I randomly bumped into a Lynx in Georgia and a Bear in Armenia, now a Wolf in Poland

Click to expand...

Actually it's up to 79 now! You are probably right, we could probably reach 100 if we went to the coast, but to reach 120 we would need to travel outside Tuscany and when we'll be allowed to do it it will be too late! Never mind, there's always next year!

Do you have photos of the Lynx? Our daughter would be REALLY envious.

3Italianbirders said:

Actually it's up to 79 now! You are probably right, we could probably reach 100 if we went to the coast, but to reach 120 we would need to travel outside Tuscany and when we'll be allowed to do it it will be too late! Never mind, there's always next year!

Do you have photos of the Lynx? Our daughter would be REALLY envious.

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Probably the easiest way is to link my report - https://www.mammalwatching.com/wp-content/uploads/georgia-armenia-EBR.pdf - the photo there is the only good one anyway, it was already quite dark.

Thanks! She loved it! And she even knew (sort of) where Georgia was (Geography is not her strong point ).

Sunny today and a bit calmer. From my usual post at the kitchen window I saw Swift, Chaffinch, Hoopoe, Black Redstart, Jay, Tree Sparrow and heard a distant Cuckoo.

A brief drive round our patch in the late afternoon started with two Honey Buzzards heading north, then a Buzzard, Zitting Cisticola, a lone Kestrel, a roost of about 15 Cattle Egrets and shortly afterwards a Grey Heron. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew across the track in the middle of wheat fields, no trees for hundreds of metres around! Then, finally a Montagu's Harrier, my first of the year and the 80th species of my total lockdown list, followed by a Short-toed Eagle. Plus obviously the usual Corn Buntings (1 every 30 metres or so), House Martins, Swallows, Turtle Doves, Nightingale, Chiffchaff.

You get Montagu's in the hills? It's quite late for migration (they are already here).

opisska said:

You get Montagu's in the hills? It's quite late for migration (they are already here).

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They breed in several places here.

When the alarm went off at 6.40 I jumped out of bed because this was the day that tennis resumed. I had been missing it a lot especially since I hadn’t played since mid-October due to a lingering injury, so I was really straining at the the leash (and hoping that the injury wouldn’t resurface).

The morning was overcast, with a forecast of rain in the afternoon, but as I sped downhill on my bike towards the courts, Swifts chasing each other above, I could hear Chaffinch, Blackbirds, Great Tits and Black Redstarts singing. House Martins were flying around a block of flats next to the high school (one of the few places where they are seemingly nesting this year) and as I reached the tennis club I heard the welcome sound of the resident Firecrest calling. At times it was so loud that I could hear it over the din of the digger working right next to the court. A Common Redstart was singing too and there were masses of Swifts circling above. Despite the effort, after months sitting on the couch, I had a big grin on my face throughout the morning, also because my arm felt ok, or anyway better than expected.

I couldn’t have imagined a better start to the day!

Later from my usual post at the kitchen window, I had good views of Jay, Common Redstart, Hoopoe and Great Spotted Woodpecker and heard another Firecrest.