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Birding in the time of Coronavirus (1 Viewer)

etudiant said:
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.
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There is no oil missing though (I checked today after letting it settle, first use of my new gauge :)), it just registers the system oil pressure too low once in a while. It may be a bad sensor, faulty oil pump, loose belt or something completely unrelated, because these cars are legendary that at some point their electronics goes completely mental.

The car actually started and I drove it to the repair shop - it died exactly when crossing the entrance, so I could slide it into a parking spot using inertia ... I should probably stop this being a motoring thread now :) But it's mildly on topic, because birding in the time of coronavirus is extra difficult without a car.
 
A rainy day ☔️. Which is a good thing, we would need more, but it's better than nothing.

Just a few species seen before it started to rain: Coal Tit, Robin, Great Tit, Hoopoe, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie and in the afternoon a Jay seeking shelter from the deluge.
 
opisska said:
There is no oil missing though (I checked today after letting it settle, first use of my new gauge :)), it just registers the system oil pressure too low once in a while. It may be a bad sensor, faulty oil pump, loose belt or something completely unrelated, because these cars are legendary that at some point their electronics goes completely mental.

The car actually started and I drove it to the repair shop - it died exactly when crossing the entrance, so I could slide it into a parking spot using inertia ... I should probably stop this being a motoring thread now :) But it's mildly on topic, because birding in the time of coronavirus is extra difficult without a car.
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Does the car have a two cycle engine?
Otherwise I can't understand the oil loss, the plugs should be fouled completely with no leaks yet so large an oil consumption.
 
3Italianbirders said:
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
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Lovely to see those views, adds a real perspective to your posts!
 
3Italianbirders said:
A rainy day ☔️. Which is a good thing, we would need more, but it's better than nothing.

Just a few species seen before it started to rain: Coal Tit, Robin, Great Tit, Hoopoe, Collared Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie and in the afternoon a Jay seeking shelter from the deluge.
Click to expand...

Please send a bit of rain this way, we need it too!

Chris
 
Here the weather has turn crazy. At this point of a day (its about 2pm now) has already rained water, snow and hail. Now the sun shines from the dark clouds. It will soon rain old ladies. |>|
 
Cold and blustery today, so I didn't keep the window open much. Had a peek early in the morning and then in the last afternoon, recording: Jay, Chiffchaff, Common Redstart, Magpie, Black Redstart, Wood Pigeon, Swift, and the last bird of the day was the by now "usual" Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Lockdown should be relaxed in the next few days, which will mean that we'll be able to walk/run/cycle beyond the 300 m. limit that had been set, but not driving somewhere and then walking (or birding for that matter...). Still, it's something to look forward to.
 
Car still in repairs and the garden went a bit silent - not sure what happened to the Great Tit pair from the nesting box, they disappeared - maybe they are just laying low? It was always difficult to see them going in/out even before
However today a big surprise appeared - a singing Blackcap. It stopped by twice, then flew into distance, seems to have a surprisingly large territory.
 
opisska said:
Car still in repairs and the garden went a bit silent - not sure what happened to the Great Tit pair from the nesting box, they disappeared ....
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Tits are less visible here too. You can hear them singing in the morning and sometimes you can catch them for a second when they move around, especially the Greats and the Blues, but with foliage growing it becomes more difficult every day. It's funny because the most visible in winter are Coal and Marsh Tits, but we never see them in spring and summer.

Nice and sunny in the morning which made it possible for me to cycle to the supermarket. Not an easy feat these days as it's hard to pile 5 days of shopping for three people on a bike. Before lockdown I used to shop almost every day to minimise waste and to get fresh fruit and veg, now I shop Tuesdays and Fridays, but tomorrow it's a national holiday so I decided to go today and Saturday too, so I had less to buy and I could make it all fit in my two baskets.

Anyway sightings were limited to the morning as in the afternoon the weather turned windy and cloudy like yesterday.

Species seen/heard: Robin, Swift, Hoopoe, Chiffchaff, Common Redstart, Black Redstart, White Wagtail, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird.

Robin and Chiffchaff must be nesting in the bushes just above the garage because I seen them every morning.
 
Today was the first day of the new, looser, lockdown rules here in Tuscany, while the rest of Italy will have to wait until Monday.

Again, the first bird out of the kitchen window early this morning was a Robin. Swifts above, a Hoopoe calling from a pine tree, the usual Chiffchaff, a female and then a male Common Redstart, a Great Tit, a Serin flew by and I had a brief glimpse of the resident Great Spotted Woodpecker. I heard a Firecrest and a distant Cuckoo, and while I was waiting for the kettle to boil for my mid-morning cuppa I heard the sound which I had been hoping for for the past 10 days or so: a flock of Bee-eaters just above, flying north-eastwards! Yes! :king:

A little later, another unexpected addition to my “from home” list: while I was sitting exactly where I am now, reading the paper, a Buzzard was framed in the window, rather low, struggling against the wind, eventually disappearing to the east.

In the afternoon, taking advantage of the new rules, G and I walked to the local pond, about which I have written in the early stages of lockdown, seeing White and Grey Wagtail, Moorhen, Mallard, House Martin, Swallow, Blackcap, Blue Tit and Tree Sparrow. Back home, almost at dusk, a pair of Common Redstarts were engaged in courtship behind the garage.
 
3Italianbirders said:
Today was the first day of the new, looser, lockdown rules here in Tuscany, while the rest of Italy will have to wait until Monday.

Again, the first bird out of the kitchen window early this morning was a Robin. Swifts above, a Hoopoe calling from a pine tree, the usual Chiffchaff, a female and then a male Common Redstart, a Great Tit, a Serin flew by and I had a brief glimpse of the resident Great Spotted Woodpecker. I heard a Firecrest and a distant Cuckoo, and while I was waiting for the kettle to boil for my mid-morning cuppa I heard the sound which I had been hoping for for the past 10 days or so: a flock of Bee-eaters just above, flying north-eastwards! Yes! :king:

A little later, another unexpected addition to my “from home” list: while I was sitting exactly where I am now, reading the paper, a Buzzard was framed in the window, rather low, struggling against the wind, eventually disappearing to the east.

In the afternoon, taking advantage of the new rules, G and I walked to the local pond, about which I have written in the early stages of lockdown, seeing White and Grey Wagtail, Moorhen, Mallard, House Martin, Swallow, Blackcap, Blue Tit and Tree Sparrow. Back home, almost at dusk, a pair of Common Redstarts were engaged in courtship behind the garage.
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That's a pretty good day - can never complain about a day with Bee-eaters 👍
 
Actually it was the sequence Bee-eaters - Buzzard that made my day (it says a lot about my mood...) and the being able to venture further than the 300 m. previously allocated. It was a pretty dizzying feeling! Also Grey wagtails are very nice, I never tire of watching them.
 
Is it true that the Grey Wagtail is called "Ballerina" in Italy? I've a feeling someone told me that, and it's such a fitting name.
 
dragnil said:
Is it true that the Grey Wagtail is called "Ballerina" in Italy? I've a feeling someone told me that, and it's such a fitting name.
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Yes! White is obviously Ballerina bianca, Pied is Ballerina nera and somewhat confusingly Grey is called Ballerina gialla, while Yellow is called a different thing altogether: Cutrettola (no idea where this comes from). And yes it is a fitting name, one of the few ones in Italian I think.

As for today, when I got up this morning the wind was howling (we had heard it overnight too) and it was overcast, but by mid-morning it had died down and when I stepped onto the balcony to check on our potted wild strawberry plant I heard an unmistakable call no too far away: Wryneck! We had never heard it from home, although G told me that a long time ago it was present in the area of the old mercury mine, which was where the call was coming from. I wonder if this has something to do with the lockdown and wildlife reclaiming habitats which had been lost to humans.

From the back I could see House Martins and Swifts and hear Common Redstart, Firecrest and Great Tit.

After lunch we all went for a walk past the mine, where we heard the Wryneck again and also saw two Swallows, unusual in town, and into the forest, mostly chestnut, with some pines and firs, becoming beech higher up. At the start of the path G almost stumbled on a nest, presumably blown away from its rightful place by the night’s and morning’s winds, photos below 10 cm in diameter, lined with down and built also with pieces of paper! I wonder who made it, does anyone know? I suppose I could post it in the ID forum.

During the walk we saw only a pair of Jays, but heard Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Blackcap, Wren, and Song Thrush. Passing the one again a couple of hours later we saw Cirl Bunting and Serin.
 

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Not much birding done today, due to other things that needed doing, also first thing in the morning, when I did have a bit of time, it was very quiet at the back. Then I went out for a brief cycle ride as I had to drop off something at a friend's house, which is very close to the aforementioned pond, where I saw Black Redstart, Moorhen with chicks and Mallard. Swifts and House Martins above, Firecrest calling from the firs of the tennis club.

Back home species seen/heard were: Cuckoo, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Blackbird, Blackcap, Hooded Crow, Collared Dove, Firecrest, Tree Sparrow, Common Redstart and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
 
Another busy day, very little time dedicated to birding, so more or less the same species as yesterday. Sorry folks.

The only thing is that every time I write that one species has become a regular and thus I think it might be nesting nearby they tend to disappear. It happened with the Hawfinches (well, it was a long shot), and now with Robin and Chiffchaff, which I haven't seen for a few days (tbh I haven't been very thorough).

The one species which I now see first thing while waiting for the kettle to boil is Common Redstart, usually both male and female, so that could be a possibility. Black Redstart on the other hand is becoming less visible, although it can easily be heard and today just before dusk it was at its usual perch on the roof opposite. Also the Great Spotted Woodpecker is always around, even if I don't see it I can always hear it nearby, and also Firecrest.

No new species since the Wryneck, apart from Italian Sparrow, usually absent in town, which I saw during a visit to a small supermarket right on the edge of town where I don't often go.
 
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Obviously no Common Redstarts to be seen this morning, after I had said that they were certainly nesting nearby (although I did hear one or two later), but the first bird of the day was nice enough: a Hoopoe singing on a branch, and immediately afterwards a Cuckoo started calling too, very close but I didn't manage to lock my binoculars onto it. The background noises were the usual: Great Spotted Woodpecker, Serin, Great Tit, Firecrest, Chiffchaff, also Greenfinch, which I had not heard/seen for a while. Swifts above, Black Redstart on the roof across the street and, while I was cycling to the supermarket, a Green Woodpecker flew over, nice as I hadn't seen one for weeks now.
 
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