Since my last update on day three of lockdown, I've now settled into a new, hopefully, short-term routine. To be honest Dazza and I haven't been as greatly affected by the situation as some poor folk! We have no children, both my parents are passed away and Dazza's mum and Dad are locked-down in a very rural area of France. In fact, with Dazza now working from home, our weekly food delivery and a drive once a week to the local post office and general stores for other provisions we can survive quite happily.
Plus, we're lucky enough to live on a marina as you know, which has it's own grounds and is just a short walk from Napton Reservoir, which I now visit once a day and so we can't complain.
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| A typical Blackcap Song Sonograph |
So to the birding and nature and during the last three days, I've managed to complete full nighttime recordings, although things have been generally quiet. There are still a small number of
Redwings passing through in the darkness, with more around dawn, when the sonograph just goes nuts with birdsong. On Friday morning a
Blackcap managed to beat the local
Blackbird to the 'first singing bird of the day' accolade, but after a few brief bursts of song, he moved on. A highlight during my nocturnal recordings was a
Water Rail, my first recording at the marina!
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| Kingfisher ~ Once regular around the area but not in recent times |
I've been the only person at Napton Reservoir during my walks and as with the lack of public, there's been a distinct lack of spring arrivals too. Although high pressure has dominated recently the wind direction has been mostly from the north or north-east and this is perhaps having an effect on any migrants hoping to push north, mind you, it's still March! There are still
Chiffchaffs singing, which are now well established and during today's visit (Monday) a small group of eleven
Redwings passed over. A
Kingfisher, strangely rare around here, was the highlight during Sunday's walk with Dazza but despite our best efforts not a single hirundine, similar to my other visits.
The water at the reservoir is still high, with little scrape for any passing waders to make use of, although two
Snipe have been a regular feature during my visits. The reedbeds are quiet, with only
Reed Buntings and the odd
Chiffchaff to be found. Wildfowl consists of
Tufted Duck,
Great Crested Grebe, many
Coots and the odd
Little Grebe pops out of the reeds occasionally. Gulls too have been thin on the ground but
Common,
Herring,
Lesser &
Great Black-backed are all on my 'Lockdown List' (basically my daily walk list) which now stands at 58
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| My daily walk |
