Week 3 Lockdown Birding in Cornwall

House Martin returning from Africa

Throughout the Coronavirus lockdown  I've found myself missing the little things in life and have realised that there are many things that I take or have taken for granted and I'm sure everybody reading this can relate to that in one way or another. I've found myself adapting my lifestyle to get the most out of what there is in life and concentrating on the things I can still do and this outlook has kept me (fairly!) sane so far!

These two male Blackcap where so preoccupied in fighting for a small territory in St Columb Major hat I managed to get close enough for these photos. Notice the brown markings around the base of the bill , this is caused by pollen when they fed in the Mediterranean or North Africa before setting off to England, a sure sign these birds were fresh in.

Last week I mentioned I would be having a go at recording birds overnight as they fly over the house calling on their migration. What a whole new world this has unearthed in the way I think about birds migrating! You don't need to live anywhere fancy to get results from 'Noc-migging' anywhere will produce and so far I've enjoyed it immensely. I've recorded several Grey Herons, multiple Moorhens and even a Little Grebe flying right over my house at 2am! Searching through the recordings the next day is an art in itself as you filter through different sonograms which aren't just birds! For instance  I've heard myself weeing in the upstairs toilet (!), recorded every cow mooing, sheep bleeting and horse neighing within at least 3 miles and also very unnervingly recorded what could only be a demon sucking blood on my roof! (A quick email to Pete confirmed this ID and he was happy that he didn't live at my house!). The best part though for me is learning so many new bird calls of species which I thought I was very familiar with. As a birder in the day I am very confident with bird songs and calls but by night I realise I am a total novice which is refreshing in a nice way.

Analysing bird sounds in the garden

Me and Libbie are still walking once a day and whilst the places remain the same the birds are changing! More Willow Warbler have arrived in the area whilst House Martin's and Swallows have now taken up residence in the local farms and villages. My early morning walks have produced two more Red Kite and a rarity for me from home in the shape of a singing Sedge Warbler which was really exciting and kept my hopes up of something a little more out of the ordinary on my rambles as it quickly moved on and had gone by the next day.

Hundreds of Pheasants (including leucistic birds like this one) roam the countryside where I live. Recently there has been some debate from conservationists about trying to control the number of the millions of birds that get released each year as they can damage habitat and eat the eggs of ground nesting birds. I think however that maybe without Pheasants landowners may get rid of their rough land and cover crops which are vital for wild birds. So hopefully a compromise may be reached one day.

We have been counting our local rookeries (which are easy to find as the Rooks are very noisy and the nests are large and always in groups amongst mature tree's. The BTO are doing a rookery survey at the moment so it's a good thing to do if you have them near home. 

My garden bird list hasn't increased in the CBWPS lockdown challenge with 53 species seen (see more here https://www.cbwps.org.uk/cbwpsword/garden-lockdown-listing/ ) but we've seen several more butterfly species bringing the total up to eleven.

The Orange Tip butterfly is one of my favourites and a sure sign of spring as they emerge in April. Best found around woodlands and country lanes the male is easy to recognise owing to the vivid orange patches on the upper-wing (above). Females (below) are more subtle but they share the marbled green under-wing of the male and have vivid black outer wings and two prominent black spots on the mid wing. If you look closely you can also see feint orange fringing on the edges of the upperwing. Females are also noticeably smaller than the Large White and Small White.  Be warned they very rarely land!

Nature and birding have also been keeping my family connected as my sister has been listing the birds and wildflowers that she see's on her daily exercise and sends us messages and pictures of various butterflies and wildflowers to identify and admire. Even my Dad showed a compassionate side to nature today by walking up to some rapidly drying puddles by our house with a net and bucket save some tadpoles and repatriate them in our pond. These little acts of helping nature can help you feel good too in these unprecedented times. I hope people reading this will be inspired to try something new with nature or birding in these coming weeks, you may find that the things you are missing out on don't feel like such a big deal and the days might just go that little bit quicker.
Why not have a go at the Cornwall Birds garden bird race on Sunday this week? More info below!


Garden Bird ‘Race’ Sunday 19th April: We were hoping to run a County Bird Race this spring and we still can, albeit slightly differently. General garden birding rules apply (see page here), essentially from one minute past midnight on Saturday to midnight on Sunday, all birds seen or heard in or from your garden! If we have enough participants we will have categories such as coastal, rural or solely suburban, with virtual prizes (ie kudos) for best bird, most surprising bird-related event, most birds seen etc. Contact gardenlisting@cbwps.org.uk to register beforehand or to tell us how you got on at the time. 

Newly emerging Early Purple Orchid was found just below the house