As we came into Mid -March it was very evident that the UK was going to be swept up in the Covid 19 epidemic; predictably little by little the country began to shut down; foreign travel was halted – unfortunately our Spring Holiday to Cyprus was cancelled. Then came the ‘Lockdown’ and by the beginning of April all but essential travel was stopped, pubs, restaurants, businesses, cinemas, universities and schools were all closed, sporting fixtures were cancelled, social distancing was put in place and in a matter of days the UK had closed its borders. Back gardens and local walks from home became the new norm. So at the beginning of April I started a Garden list; the criteria was that any bird that actually visited the garden, or that I saw or heard from the garden would be counted – an extra bonus was that I could hopefully photograph some birds too. At the beginning of April there was a huge night migration of Common Scoter from Liverpool Bay into the North Sea; amazingly I heard a few flocks of the sea ducks as they underwent their West to East coast migrations – thanks to the on- line Twitter birding community I could haphazardly track their progress across the country and put the rest down to luck!! Sitting out until 1am in the garden was rather chilly, but hearing the Scoter was magical and there was an added bonus; a lone Grey Plover giving a mournful whistle added to the garden tally and they were also new birds for the Lockdown list !!! New birds were being added daily and I was very pleased when a low flying female Sparrowhawk came zipping over, quite high so its intricate barring could not be seen in great detail. Another bird of prey was added in the form of local Common Buzzards. Back in September 2009, I left the UK to work in the Gulf, Common Buzzard certainly was not common then and only a few birds were recorded. Wind on another 9 years and now I can see Common Buzzards most days from my garden, which is amazing. As April went on, we were well into migration- and for any birder this is a busy time chasing early migrants and rarities along the coast – not this year though. Local patch walking and waiting for the first migrants to arrive took on special emphasis this Spring. Finally on the 8th April the first House Martins and Swallows were spotted flying over the house a great feeling – Spring had arrived. On local walks Blackcap, Chiff Chaff and Willow Warblers were all recorded in the second week of April proclaiming new territories. It wasn’t only birds that were recorded in the garden due to the gorgeous weather we had some great butterfly sightings; including; Brimstone, Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Cabbage White and two new species Holly Blue and Orange Tip. Not only were new bird and butterfly species added to the garden list, for the first time a Woodmouse was also recorded in the garden. As the month comes to a close, Swifts were added to the list also Peregrine – the garden list now stands at 48 – hopefully we can reach 50 – what the other 2 species will be I have no idea. Keep watching the skies folks and above all stay safe.
