Covid-19 and its effects on birding.

I´m writing this article simply as a humble reflection on how the Covid-19 situation has impacted on our world of birding, and how we can take just a few positive points from what is obviously a severe and terrible situation.

Firstly, and above all else, we of course send out our love and best wishes to everyone, and wish you all the very best of luck at all levels as we progress through such unprecedented times.

Lock-down

The lock-down hit us here in Spain just over two weeks ago. At the time, I was with my family in our house in the mountains. At first, apart from the obvious financial hit of losing all of our work, the prospect of having to stay in what is as close to paradise as I´ve ever seen, didn´t feel too bad. Having the time to focus on garden birds thrilled me, especially when up there, our “garden ticks” include Crested Tit, Golden Oriole, Red-necked Nightjar, Scops Owl and Eagle Owl!!

Then, the news came through that everyone had to return to their primary residence and stay there, with heavy fines been threatened for anyone who disobeyed. With a heavy heart, we left behind the peace, space and rural tranquility and returned to Valencia. I have to say, I feel constantly grateful of being in such a fortunate position to have two homes in two such beautiful places, so none of this is meant to sound like a pathetic and unjustified moan! But right at that moment, the impact of such a sudden and unexpected shock took some adjusting to.

Having never spent more than a day without going outside, I began, like millions of others to prepare myself for what was to come – practically, emotionally and psychologically. I did what most of us would do, and reached for my binoculars! Now, the view from our balcony looks out onto a small tree-filled square, but with neighbouring apartments on all sides, I guessed that someone standing there with binoculars looking right out at the square would not be met with much in the way of approval. So, instead I turned towards the east, where we look out across the northern ring road, then farmland, eventually to the sea. I felt more comfortable peering out in that direction, and of course straight up to the sky.

Strategies and Philosophies

During these past two weeks, there has been a creation of various online communities, sharing sightings and building ever increasing lists of species, often aiming to maximise such. This is wonderfully interesting and just shows how we can follow our passion wherever we may be. It also generates some extremely important and useful data. But I decided to take a simpler approach, slower and more relaxed, and one that I hope brings joy to many others too.

Despite the over-riding awfulness of this situation, there are some positive points to seize upon, one of them is for many people, a change of pace. With that in mind, I turned my attention to enjoying the birds in more detail, watching their behavior, taking a step back and just trying to observe their lives a little closer without the pressure of species lists or numbers. A couple of interesting examples of this is the size and extent of the breast and belly stripe on Great Tits or the black bib on House Sparrows, both details that we might otherwise overlook.

Species

Now, to take a look at the species that I´ve enjoyed watching from the balcony. The trees in the square below our apartment regularly hold passerines such as White Wagtail, Serin, Blackbird, Great Tit, House Sparrow and Goldfinch, as well as providing a roosting site for Spotless Starling.  One morning, a male Sardinian Warbler made a brief visit to a plant pot on the balcony.  The fields and surrounding trees that I can see relatively easily often give views of Cattle Egret, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Ring Necked Parakeet and sometimes Monk Parakeet.

As the Valencian coast forms part of a major European migration flyway, when weather conditions have been favourable, I´ve seen Marsh Harriers passing over in good numbers. Other raptors have included Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Booted Eagle and Short-toed Eagle. The Swifts, House Martins and Swallows that were initially continually passing through have now been added to by birds that appear to be staying around and calling, hopefully soon to begin nesting.

A species that has caught the attention of a few “urban birders” in Valencia is the Blue Rock Thrush. This bird, usually of craggy hill country has been seen in the city on numerous occasions. This for me is of particular interest and sparked a memory of last year when a client who was staying in central Valencia emailed a photo of a bird that he´d taken from his window. It was indeed a Blue Rock Thrush! I´ve become accustomed to seeing Black Redstarts in the city, and to some extent Spotted and Pied Flycatchers but I´ll now be checking in more detail to watch for Blue Rock Thrush, as indications may suggest that there´s an urban population here too!

Enjoy the birds wherever you are!

So, as I began this article, I´d like to repeat my message of hope and wish you all well through this testing time. I´m sure that you would much rather be out and about, but for now perhaps there´s an incredible amount of discovery, joy and peace to be had simply by enjoying the birds that share our immediate surroundings. I hope to be watching more “exotic” species with you in the not too distant future, but in the meantime, stay at home, grab a cup of tea, a chair and your bins…you never know quite what might show up!!

 

Dave Warrington.

Bird Watching Guide at Valencia Birding.