The Lockdown - Part 1

Well as the Coronavirus / Covid-19 gripped hold of the country, desperate times, called for desperate measures and on Tuesday 24/03 a country-wide lockdown was enforced by the government - eek!! This meant leaving the house only to buy food / medicine and for one bit of exercise a day.

Drastic, but necessary stuff. I was determined to make the best of it and I, like others began to compile a lockdown garden list, which became a good opportunity to boost the all-time garden list too!







Nothing crazy to begin with, however my first Blackcap of the year was singing on 31/03. Then garden gold with x3 new garden birds - a vocal Nuthatch appearing on 30/03, a singing Willow Warbler on the drizzly morning of 06/04 and a flyby adult Peregrine on 08/04.

More excitement on 03/04 - with everyone paying more attention to what was going on from our gardens, Noc-migers alerted us all to an impressive movement of Common Scoters across the country. After a bit of effort sitting out after dark, I was rewarded with the sound of a small group heading over on 03/04. Bonus calling Teal and Barn Owl were also heard - 3 garden ticks in one night. How good is that!?

My garden's other wildlife also delivered some enjoyment. It was a real bumper spring for Common Frogs, proving to be a constant and welcome distraction, with numbers peaking at an impressive 23!





I got round to acquiring some Emperor Moth pheromone lure. I was super excited to give it a go in the garden, hopefully resulting in me seeing my first one. It only bloody worked too and on the second attempt, one eventually landed for a short while. I marveled the beauty of it - those pinks and yellows and of course those eyes - brilliant!



In addition to all the time spent in the garden, I also got a regular 2-ish mile walk going, once a day to keep me active, in between my working from home. Down to St. James Park lake and out to the SW edge of Brackley and back was the route, which soon produced a handful of 'Brackley firsts' - a very unexpected Short-Eared Owl circling overhead on 09/04, a surprise singing Cetti's Warbler throughout, singing from the wetland pocket park and a singing Grasshopper Warbler in a scrubby patch in the park early on 12/04.



As well as the Gropper, other summer migrants began to appear, as winter migrants Fieldfares and Redwings clung on in small numbers. I just managed to sneak my first Swallow into March, on the 31st as it zipped north, Yellow Wags appeared pretty much daily from 10/04, Willow Warblers could be heard singing in small numbers dotted about, the first Whitethroat appeared on 13/04 and my first House Martin on 05/04. An extended weekend walk to Croughton Quarry across the fields at least gave me a chance to have a look at a decent sized bit of water - a Green Sand and a calling LRP were nice.







The lockdown has definitely encouraged me to get out on foot more often and appreciate what's around locally. It's certainly made me realise what a strong population of Skylarks and to a lesser extent Yellowhammers there are - my ears ringing with Skylark song wherever I seemed to go!