Bob and I spoke over the phone yesterday which allowed me to let rip and all my pent-up aggression poured out! Thankfully given the current dreadful situation we are all finding ourselves in, my woes were frankly, pathetic!
The most severe annoyance that passionately poured from me was my current hatred of Sheep. Yes, that’s right I currently well-up at the thought of the wool clad beasts and their squealy little babies and for good reason. Like so many others in the birding fraternity I have been thinking about getting the equipment necessary to partake in the wonderful world of Noc-migging and the lock down gave me the kick up the arse that I needed. It’s a simple process really. You essentially leave a recording device and microphone out over night and the next day using some clever (free) technology you can turn the sounds you have recorded into pictures (sonograms) and this in most circumstances allows you to identify the call to species! Fascinating stuff and you can learn more about this here:
nocmig.com/ and here:
birdguides articles . Its been going well and I am damn sure you will be bored rigid with some of our nocturnal findings in the next week or two. However, now that the spring has sprung, and the grass has started growing again with some earnest the old bleating stink mounds have discourteously decided it would be a good time to give birth and now the fields that surround my house are full of screeching young lambs that have decided the middle of the night is a good time to sing the song of their people! So much for a memory card full of interesting bird songs to filter through each morning.
Not perturbed by my nocturnal conquests, I have endeavoured to salvage the spring by trying to make the most of my allotted daily exercise time and ventured to nearby localities that might throw up a good bird or two. I am and have been lucky in that I have caught up with a few of our more common returning migrants and am thankful that I still have the opportunity to do this on a daily basis. Although never quite as profitable as the autumn I still love a bit of “viz-mig” action, and I had been having some luck with the returning hirundines and the occasional oddity to help salvage my sanity. However, the rural sanctuary that I yearn for each day has been shattered by (yes you guessed it) woollen heathens and their screaming babies. Even worse this lot have decided that it might be best to sing their ancestral song when I am trying to use my ears and concentrate on birds that might be flying overhead!
I urge you all to disregard the requests of our Vegan community and buy British Lamb for your Sunday lunches for the future sanctity of a Cornish Birder! After all Carbon emissions are falling and yet the agricultural community is carrying on as normal, so it really isn’t livestock farts causing so much damage after all its us and our industrial ways, who would have guessed? Take a look here:
Carbon emissions are falling sharply due to coronavirus
 |
| A quintessential beauty of British Spring time or troublesome noise pollutant? I will let you decide. |
My second gripe that I confronted Bob with was the fact that we were stuck at home and potentially missing some good birds! He quickly reminded me that I was a lot luckier than most people due to where I lived and the fact I had no underlying health issues so could get out for an hours walk each day. For once I thought he was right and that there is no sneaky solution to this. The only thing to do is strictly adhere to the government guidelines and respect the necessity for there placement. I do though miss some of my regular haunts, I miss carrying out the bird ringing activities and I miss the people that I bumped into on a regular basis. I know I am not alone with these frustrations! We just have to do the right thing for a little while longer. Stay strong people this will all be behind us before you know it! Here is a little selection of recent photos showcasing what the immediate area around my home has to offer. Actually come to think about it, its not so bad after all!
 |
| Chiffchaff are well and truly back with several seemingly on territory in my village now. Common Whitethroat also seemed to arrive a little earlier than previous recent years and I look forward to seeing these going about their daily lives in the coming weeks. |
 |
| I am also grateful that a scattering of Northern Wheatear have showed face and brightened up even the dullest of mornings. I have been pleased that our Skylarks are also in full choral flow each morning and seemingly good numbers seem set to breed in nearby habitat. |
My third and final plight of anguish was what to write about on the Chough Junior Blog Spot? I am so used to writing shortly after a recent interesting or exciting event that it just seemed to flow out with little effort (you may read into that however you wish)! Now I had the time and inclination to write some posts but lacked the topics. I had been flicking around other blogs that I enjoy following and was starting to get infuriated by the same subjects being covered. How to feed your garden birds, lets make a list of our garden birds, lets look at other wildlife in your garden blah blah blah. All lovely stuff and something that I feel passionately about and partake in even when we don’t have a Covid-19 Pandemic taking place. But holy cow I was so sick of reading the same topic I nearly pulled my bird feeders down in protest! So, after another nudge by Bob I now have a whole list of subjects that I have been meaning to cover or not had the time. Now that I don’t have any excuses and have your undivided attention I am sure you will be hearing from me again in the next couple of days! Stay safe everyone. Here are some further photos taken very near to the front door:
 |
| This Raven has been showing me his honking splendour in recent weeks. A truly underrated bird in my opinion! |
No comments:
Post a Comment