Birding in the time of Coronavirus (1 Viewer)

dragnil · Apr 24, 2020

Still in "full" lockdown here and we're lucky to have a reasonable garden away from the city but the frustration is mounting. We have a wren building nests (still) and I've spent time in a portable hide trying to get a picture to do justice to a lovely bird.
He's become used to the hide now and deafens me by landing just above my head and then singing loudly in my ear!
This morning it was so bad that I was reduced to capturing images of woodies flying over the garden until, at last, a brief chance of the wren as he returned to a nest with more bedding.

opisska · Apr 24, 2020

A good selection indeed - interesting combination of southern and highland vibes!

Here, we are more limited to the "lowland marsh" vibes

I couldn't go out yesterday because our neighbors got mental and we had to have a mediation session with the house owner. I am still not sure what them putting a stone under my front viper and an empty PET bottle under the rear one was supposed to signify and I probably never will.

On the flip side, that finally forced me to wake up early and go in the morning and for the first time in like six weeks also my wife was outside with me. We went 40 minutes in a different direction to a small reserve, which we found on the spot that has been nicely renovated with new boardwalks into peat bogs - amazing! We added Common Snipe, Common Whitethroat, Dunnock, Yellow Wagtail, Buzzard, Black Woodpecker, Skylark, Thrush Nightingale and Rook.

Sadly during the trip our car started to show weird problems with oil pressure so we had to put it to a repair shop and with my bike having been stolen, I have lost all mobility - considering the unappealing state if public transportation in the times of corona. Back to window birding for a while.

pianoman · Apr 24, 2020

Farnboro John said:
You mentioned your House Martins arriving and then disappearing: could that be because they can't find mud for nest-building?

John

On my patch swallows and House Martins arrive first, but most are just passing on their way to their final destinations. Then most of them, except a few HM, are gone. But soon they are replaced by Sand Martins which arrive last and they do stay in my area (coastal clay cliffs).

3Italianbirders · Apr 24, 2020

dragnil said:
... This morning it was so bad that I was reduced to capturing images of woodies flying over the garden ...

I know it's bad when I start counting Collared Doves, Hooded Crows, Magpies and Blackbirds...

3Italianbirders · Apr 24, 2020

opisska said:
... Thrush Nightingale ...

Well done! I have never seen a Thrush Nightingale! Sorry about the car, and the bike. I have a borrowed car at present, my bike is still functional, but it can only be used for "necessary" travel: i.e. shopping etc. like any other means of transportation.

Very slow today. It was windy and not much was around: Swifts, Black Redstart, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, White Wagtail, Collared Dove, Blackbird, Tree Sparrow, a few passing House Martins, but also, just before dinner, first a female than a male Common Redstart, one of my favourite birds!

Pianoman: yes they do that here, too, but until a few years ago they used to nest in the building across the road, too and in other places around town and now they are a rare sight.

opisska · Apr 24, 2020

We are far enough east that thrush nightingale is the default here. I honestly struggle with the ID - visually there isn't much difference and even the voice is hard, so unless I am particularly suspicious, I put every bird as thrush nighingale here.

wolfbirder · Apr 25, 2020

Its really weird, I am certainly not a sharp or very capable birder (genuinely) when it comes to precise visual detail or identifying song, but one thing I have generally been able to do is judge the difference between Thrush Nightingale and Common Nightingale, though its not that we have lots to compare of course here in UK. Probably the best bird I have found in UK was a Thrush Nightingale at Spurn. I just knew instantly what it was due to the heavier and slightly slower song.

Getting back to migration, House Martins have arrived back here at my house and have been here over a week but they are just flying high and not really visiting nest sites, not even the old mud nests that are still here under my house eves. Only other birds we see are Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Starling, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, and Buzzard overhead. Some more regular than others. Collared Dove just seen frantically chasing a Magpie that I suspect has been raiding it's nest.

Our local spot at the end of the estate is a small meadow that holds Bullfinch, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Chaffinch, as well as those species mentioned above, along with Blackcap and Whitethroat. Occasional Swift and Swallow overhead, along with Canada Geese flocks. Green Woodpecker has been heard. Goldcrest in winter.

Oh for something exciting! Still, I do enjoy the short ten minute walk.

3Italianbirders · Apr 25, 2020

wolfbirder said:
... Oh for something exciting! Still, I do enjoy the short ten minute walk.

... I know that feeling, but I tell myself that there's always tomorrow! I do enjoy my walks too, and today's was pretty productive. Today and tomorrow are EBN Italy's "Big Day in Lockdown", a team birding contest. The Big Day is held every year with three-people teams from the same province, with sightings restricted to the same province. This year people do the same only each one from home, so it pays to have team members in different habitats. There was no one else in our province so we were allowed to team up with two birders in the Florence area.

Let's see what happens!

Meanwhile today:

The day started very well, with a Hoopoe calling close by and a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers chasing each other on the trees right in front of our kitchen window. Swifts and a few House Martins above, Blackbirds, Tree Sparrows and Collared Doves around and a Cuckoo calling too. Also heard Great Tit, Coal Tit, Chaffinch and Firecrest. A male Common Redstart flew across the window and its cousin Black Redstart sung from the roof at the back. A brief walk around the block produced Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Blackcap, Nuthatch, Magpie, Jay, Starling, Robin and two unexpected species: Long-tailed Tit (seen only once last month) and Cirl Bunting, seen/heard on my drives to my mum’s but never in town, so an addition to my lockdown list.

G also heard Bee-eaters and Woodlark and saw a Hobby, but it was out of town so it doesn’t count.

3Italianbirders · Apr 26, 2020

So today was the big day, and even if I didn’t see anything new (oh for something exciting, as Nick said), the total was 32 species, 7 more than yesterday, with some very good sightings (some of which I shared with the reluctant teenager that I had managed to prise from her bedroom/device) like a close by Firecrest and Common Redstart and Great Spotted Woody in front of the window. The total for our team should be around 55 species, but the day is technically not over so we’ll know the overall result tomorrow. Two species that I hoped to get and failed were Marsh Tit, that has disappeared from the radar (last sighting on the 23rd) and Bee-eater, which was seen by one of my team members. Also the prolonged absence of BOPs is really starting to get to my nerves!

Anyway, here’s my list (in chronological order, first seen to last), tomorrow I'll post the one of my team:

1. Great Spotted Woodpecker
2. Common Swift
3. Collared Dove
4. Coal Tit
5. Blue Tit
6. Great Tit
7. Firecrest
8. Blackbird
9. Magpie
10. Blackcap
11. Robin
12. Wood Pigeon
13. Hooded Crow
14. Chaffinch
15. House Martin
16. Common Redstart
17. Swallow
18. Starling
19. Jay
20. Short-toed Treecreeper
21. Tree Sparrow
22. Black Redstart
23. Greenfinch
24. Nuthatch
25. Long-talied Tit
26. Cirl Bunting
27. Cuckoo
28. Chiffchaff
29. White Wagtail
30. Hoopoe
31. Serin
32. Wren

Tero · Apr 26, 2020

Haven't missed out on shorebirds yet. But there was one spot in town where a lot of shorebirds showed up. Photographers were after the avocets but we left them alone. It was the birders that all wanted to come 6ft away and talk loudly to you.:eek!: I had to look at one guy's pictures on his camera as he usually helps me out.

Generally have avoided the areas with picnickers and fishermen.

3Italianbirders · Apr 27, 2020

My team's total tally was 58 species! We really did much better than expected, especially thanks to the strategic location (countryside west of Florence) of one of our team members. Now we’ll have to wait until all the checklists come in and see how we fared in the overall ranking. Below pics of our observation posts: mine, Vinci and Florence.

1. Mallard
2. Pheasant
3. Grey Heron
4. Little Egret
5. Buzzard
6. Sparrowhawk
7. Kestrel
8. Marsh Harrier
9. Peregrine Falcon
10. Yellow-legged Gull
11. Turtle Dove
12. Collared Dove
13. Wood Pigeon
14. Cuckoo
15. Tawny Owl
16. Little Owl
17. Scops Owl
18. Swift
19. Hoopoe
20. Bee-eater
21. Green Woodpecker
22. Great Spotted Woodpecker
23. Wryneck
24. Swallow
25. House Martin
26. White Wagtail
27. Grey Wagtail
28. Blackbird
29. Common Redstart
30. Black Redstart
31. Nightingale
32. Robin
33. Blackcap
34. Sardinian Warbler
35. Subalpine Warbler
36. Chiffchaff
37. Firecrest
38. Wren
39. Great Tit
40. Blue Tit
41. Coal Tit
42. Long-tailed Tit
43. Nuthatch
44. Short-toed Treecreeper
45. Magpie
46. Jackdaw
47. Hooded Crow
48. Jay
49. Starling
50. Golden Oriole
51. Tree Sparrow
52. Italian Sparrow
53. Greenfinch
54. Serin
55. Chaffinch
56. Goldfinch
57. Cirl Bunting
58. Rose-ringed Parakeet

Warixenjalka · Apr 27, 2020

Vinci has quite a view from his balcony. :t:

3Italianbirders · Apr 27, 2020

Warixenjalka said:
Vinci has quite a view from his balcony. :t:

He does, doesn't he? A balcony like that really makes a difference in a lockdown!

Anyway, not much to report today as, after two full days at the window, I took a break from birding and tried to concentrate on other things (not sure I succeeded though), but brief looks out of the above window produced Swift, Robin, Great Tit, Common and Black Redstart, Collared Dove, Tree Sparrow, Blackbird, Starling, and two flyby Serins.

opisska · Apr 27, 2020

The car returned from the repair already on Friday with the verdict "oil gauge broken, thus very little oil in, we filled oil and replaced gauge, now fine". During weekend we stay home to avoid crowded nature, so I went today and added Kingfisher, Greenshank and Sparrowhawk. The car problem is decidedly NOT solved as became apparent on the way back and now I am waiting under a highway underpass for roadside assistance. Luckily a lorry driver had the presence of mind to stop with enough distance behind me that he could quickly push the car out of the way.

Richard Prior · Apr 27, 2020

Hope you get home safe Jan.

3Italianbirders · Apr 27, 2020

opisska said:
The car returned from the repair already on Friday with the verdict "oil gauge broken, thus very little oil in, we filled oil and replaced gauge, now fine". During weekend we stay home to avoid crowded nature, so I went today and added Kingfisher, Greenshank and Sparrowhawk. The car problem is decidedly NOT solved as became apparent on the way back and now I am waiting under a highway underpass for roadside assistance. Luckily a lorry driver had the presence of mind to stop with enough distance behind me that he could quickly push the car out of the way.

Ouch! Sorry about that! Hope the car gets fixed (better) soon! And let us know how it goes!

opisska · Apr 27, 2020

3Italianbirders said:
Ouch! Sorry about that! Hope the car gets fixed (better) soon! And let us know how it goes!

Luckily I live in a country where human work doesn't cost anything (but do not work in said country myself) so I could just call roadside rescue and had the car promptly ferried to my backyard for minimum cost. Now I am properly confined though... at least we managed to smooth out the neighborhood issues (by helping the problematic neighbors with their bathroom breakdown) so we can be here happily. The only problem would be if the car turned out completely broken, because due to our wonky paperwork status, we can't easily buy a new one here.

etudiant · Apr 27, 2020

opisska said:
The car returned from the repair already on Friday with the verdict "oil gauge broken, thus very little oil in, we filled oil and replaced gauge, now fine". During weekend we stay home to avoid crowded nature, so I went today and added Kingfisher, Greenshank and Sparrowhawk. The car problem is decidedly NOT solved as became apparent on the way back and now I am waiting under a highway underpass for roadside assistance. Luckily a lorry driver had the presence of mind to stop with enough distance behind me that he could quickly push the car out of the way.

Sounds like a leak in the system, can you check underneath to see if there are evident leak areas?
With luck, perhaps just the oil filter is not screwed on right.
You might refill the oil again, but only if you can accept the prospect of a large oil patch on your driveway.

opisska · Apr 27, 2020

etudiant said:
Sounds like a leak in the system, can you check underneath to see if there are evident leak areas?
With luck, perhaps just the oil filter is not screwed on right.
You might refill the oil again, but only if you can accept the prospect of a large oil patch on your driveway.

I don't think there is a leak, the car is always parked at the same spot and it's clean. This reminds me though of another story (with another car of mine, that is long gone) when I kicked a stone on a rough track one day and then went for a 250 km twitch the next day (Slaty-backed Gull!). After parking close to the target lake I noticed oil visibly dripping from the car, so I turned around and embarked on a search for a repair shop. I left the car there and walked back to the lake, noticing that the whole village feels ... oily. Yep, it took some searching to find the shop and I oiled most of the streets of that tiny place. On the flip side, I managed to see the gull while the leak was being welded shut and drove back home that day.

I think this will be something more devious. The "stop low oil pressure" only happens when I stop for a junction and also the car felt weird jerky when driving today, as if power was fluctuating. The "oil problem" may be a false flag and this can be a symptom of bad injection (which the car kinda has). We'll probably see soon...

etudiant · Apr 27, 2020

opisska said:
I don't think there is a leak, the car is always parked at the same spot and it's clean. This reminds me though of another story (with another car of mine, that is long gone) when I kicked a stone on a rough track one day and then went for a 250 km twitch the next day (Slaty-backed Gull!). After parking close to the target lake I noticed oil visibly dripping from the car, so I turned around and embarked on a search for a repair shop. I left the car there and walked back to the lake, noticing that the whole village feels ... oily. Yep, it took some searching to find the shop and I oiled most of the streets of that tiny place. On the flip side, I managed to see the gull while the leak was being welded shut and drove back home that day.

I think this will be something more devious. The "stop low oil pressure" only happens when I stop for a junction and also the car felt weird jerky when driving today, as if power was fluctuating. The "oil problem" may be a false flag and this can be a symptom of bad injection (which the car kinda has). We'll probably see soon...

Uggh, loosing so much oil on one trip without obvious leaks is not good.
The oil has to have gone somewhere, a couple of liters don't just disappear.
Absent leaks, there should be clouds of blue exhaust smoke if the oil is leaking into the engine, not simply an apparent loss of power.

Birding in the time of Coronavirus (1 Viewer)

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