Week 4 of Lockdown - Migration , Garden Bird Races and losing my mind with no Interent or Phone!

This cryptic Grasshopper Warbler was a great surprise on the local farm

So this last week has been the most frustrating without a question! Our phone and internet crashed and for me at least it was the final straw as I've based a lot of my time around projects on the laptop with the blog,birding and photography. I also felt sad for my parents who couldn't keep in touch with friends and family. So after I realised I couldn't fix it and it seemed unlikely it would get mended owing to lockdown I had a mini meltdown and sulked off to bed for an hour! After a pep talk from Lib (who explained the world wouldn't stop because I couldn't write a blog post!) and a little bit of swearing and sulking about lockdown and internet providers ( " I'm done with lockdown, everything's s##t etc etc!) I was back to myself by tea time, anyway...

Spring birding has really gathered pace in the last week or so around Cornwall with reports coming in of Cuckoo's , Swift's, Redstart's and Pied Flycatcher dotted around the county. It's always nice to hear that they are arriving safely from Africa even if I can't see them for myself at the moment. Still even around our village there have been signs of migration with a wonderful Grasshopper Warbler reeling from the lane beside my house early one morning, Reed Warbler at the local pond and a singing male Whitethroat in the field next door. Whilst at night I have recorded over 40 Whimbrel which have been migrating back from Africa on their way to breeding grounds much further north in the Arctic Tundra. All of these sightings have given me a lift each day and I feel lucky to spot anything different from my landlocked village.

Coal Tit is a garden regular

On Sunday we took part in the Cornwall Birdwatching Garden Bird Race! From midnight to midnight any bird seen or heard from the garden was logged by birdwatchers from all over the county! My more leisurely start was from the comfort of bed with the window open at dawn listening to the dawn chorus. It's really worth waking up for this spectacle if you've never heard one as all the birds sing their hearts out as the sun comes up and we enjoyed the cacophony of sounds from Blackbirds, Song Thrush , Wren and Robin and we could even hear the subtle song of the UK's smallest bird; the Goldcrest.

This male Blackbird was born last year (note the old, brown tinged feathers which have yet to be moulted)

I then got up and sat on the garden bench for a couple of hours as the birds moved through the garden. Highlights included three Shoveler (a garden tick!), a singing Skylark and a few warblers including Blackcap and Chiffchaff. After taking the dog for a walk and doing some chores I was a bit behind with the race but as the sun came back out we sat on the front lawn to watch for raptors. Soon a kettle of Buzzard's drifted overhead and as they gained height they were harassed by a male Kestrel (unusual over the garden) and better still a sub-adult Peregrine Falcon. My most memorable moment was a frantic phone call from Pete (who was also taking part from his garden in the next village along) to say a Lesser Black Backed Gull was drifting towards my garden! Now usually when I get such a call it's about a much rarer bird and it was funny to think we were both so excited about such a sighting, too much time in the sun I reckon!

I'm not sure what has happened to this Peregrine Falcon's wing. I don't think it's moult? It could have collided with something and it hopefully isn't from a gun shot

As the afternoon went into the evening I had a surprise Snipe fly overhead calling and finally a Tawny Owl hooting away in the copse below. As I stood admiring the darkening sky ready to call an end to the race I noticed a series of bright lights travelling across the sky in unison at lightning speed! My mind went from Plane to Helicopter to satellite and ended up to the most plausible answer, UFO's! As we watched these 40 plus lights (I was now joined by a very logical slightly sceptical  girlfriend and my dad  (a true believer who thought we were about to get abducted!) I called Pete who also likes a bit of drama but he couldn't find them. It was time to turn to trusted google to find the answer and a search for ' UFO's 10pm Cornwall' resulted in the boring but cool answer that we had been watching Elon Musk's starlink satellites: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2020/04/20/elon-musks-starlink-satellites-will-grace-uk-skies-tonight-see/.

This 1st summer male Common Whitethroat was a welcome addition to the lockdown list

A great day ended with both me and Pete level on 45 species (which was the highest tally from the race day) so we will have to share the spoils of Kudos , I'm sure Pete hated my Snipe whilst I wasn't very happy about his late night plan of waiting to hear Barn Owl and Moorhen which meant he crept back up to finish level with me!

This Dunnock is a familiar sight in the area, ringed by Pete last year it feels like seeing an old friend when we see it

For the next week it's just nice to have our phoneline and internet back so I can keep in touch with the outside world and our friends and family. Next week I'm really looking forward to sharing  my post about all of the animals we have seen since lockdown and using the footage from the trail cam we've been using around the garden and local farmland...