Thursday 31 December 2020

The end of 2020 .... a year in review

2020 comes to an end today.

It has been a truly awful year with the immense human tragedy that is the Covid-19 pandemic and the greatest ever act of national self-harm to our society and economy that is the final Brexit departure from the EU. All that without even considering the escalating climate emergency and the continuing massive biodiversity loss and extinction.

A lot has occurred during 2020, most notably the tragic loss of so many lives and the huge impact on almost everyone due to the collapse of large parts of our economy. Political leadership, confident decision-making, clear communication and general competency seems to have gone missing which has directly resulted in worse health and economic outcomes for the UK compared with our European neighbours.

This review of the year does not aim to comment further on any of that, much of which is self-evident to even those who only take a casual interest in what has occurred.

The first few days of 2020 started normally for me with some winter birding (as it usually does) in East Anglia and south west England to kick off my 2020 year list …. see here.

This was then followed by my first ever trip to the Republic of Ireland from 28th January to 7th February 2020 …. see here. Apart from wildlife watching and photography, I needed a self-designated "Bollocks to Brexit" trip in a bid to escape a nation in which a far too vocal minority were exhibiting narrow-minded and economically illiterate English nationalism at best and bigotry and racism and worst. I wanted to avoid all coverage of the inevitable Brexit triumphalism and celebrations of that minority on 31st January 2020.

I deduced that the famed Irish hospitality, Guinness and traditional music would live up to expectation (it did) and that it would provide a perfect distraction and antidote (it did). Furthermore, the timing of my trip ensured that I would be away on 1st February 2020 for Imbolc, a Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring and something far more meaningful and worthy of celebration than Brexit.

However, particularly during the trip to the Republic of Ireland, worrying news was beginning to come out of China regarding a new emerging virus. In Europe, life seemed to carry on as normal before Italy and then Spain and then the rest of us quickly descended in to a dystopian nightmare that continues to this day despite the temporary respite during the summer months.

Eventually and belatedly (sorry, I was going to try and avoid the politics of the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic), after introducing advisory and then mandatory measures in respect of "social distancing" and "self-isolation", the Government announced the first national lockdown on 23rd March 2020 including severe restrictions on all movement and travel.

The initial measures and then the complete national lockdown had an immediate impact for me …. see here. All my planned spring and early summer wildlife watching trips around East Anglia and to Somerset, Wales and the Scottish Highlands quickly disappeared from my calendar. Furthermore, a provisional itinerary in respect of a late August/early September 2020 trip across the Bay of Biscay (for cetaceans and seabirds) and around Asturias and Castille y Leon in northern Spain (for Iberian Brown Bear and Iberian Wolf) did not progress beyond the initial research that I had already done.

These events prompted me to set up this blog with my first post on 17th March 2020.

After 9 months and 357 further posts and a lot of photos, here we are at the end of 2020.

The events in March 2020 also meant that I needed a Plan B .... see here and here.

Since mid-March 2020, I have regularly visited 2 local patch sites within walking distance from my home: St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas and Noak Bridge Nature Reserve.

In addition, I also visited Gloucester Park until 21st May 2020. However, unfortunately, the loosening of the national lockdown restrictions at that time led to a huge upsurge in anti-social behaviour, littering, noise and breaches of the "social distancing" guidance. Therefore, I have only visited once since May 2020.

Here are some photos of my 2 principal local patch sites.

St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas ....


























































Noak Bridge Nature Reserve ....















Gloucester Park ....




















If we were going to have to face the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, at least I was glad that it initially happened during the spring since this is a time of hope and of rebirth and re-emergence. 

As I know has been the experience of many people, "the peace of wild things" has proved to be a complete escape from the daily newsfeed and brought some enjoyment, peace and solace. "In times of crisis, the natural world is a source of both joy and solace".

Although I had visited St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas occasionally over recent years, Noak Bridge Nature Reserve was a new experience for me.

During the initial national lockdown period and since, both my local patch sites have enabled me to reconnect with my local area, substantially increase my knowledge and awareness of nature and wildlife within them and understand the seasonal rhythms (phenology) as the weeks and months have passed.

“Noticing nature is the greatest gift you can get from lockdown” .... this has certainly proved to be the case.

My regular visits to St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas since mid-March 2020 have enabled me to add 10 bird species, 2 mammal species, 6 butterfly species and 4 dragonfly and damselfly species to my site list totals bringing them to the following at the year end:

Birds = 51
Mammals = 6
Butterflies = 21
Dragonflies and damselflies = 7
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

I also recorded Santa hanging around from mid-December 2020 😀














At Noak Bridge Nature Reserve, all my records since mid-March 2020 are new for me and my site list totals are as follows at the year end:

Birds = 39
Mammals = 2
Butterflies= 18
Dragonflies and damselflies = 9
Reptiles = 1
Amphibians = 0

There have been so many highlights for me during 2020.

In terms of one single visit, nothing really gets close to International Dawn Chorus Day on 3rd May 2020.

With regard to wildlife, there has been so much to enjoy in seeing a wide variety of birds and hearing their calls and songs during spring and early summer, seeing many different species of butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies as summer progressed and then seeing the colours and fruits of autumn and the arrival of winter visitors.

However, at St. Nicholas Church and surrounding areas, I have had so many wonderful experiences watching the Red Foxes and Badgers and these are unforgettable highlights.

On 9th May 2020, I discovered the location of a family of Red Foxes, a vixen and her 4 very small cubs, and I have continued to watch them regularly since that time although the cubs are now well grown and often hard to distinguish from an adult. Here are some of the many photos that I have managed to take, starting with 2 photos of the vixen and then several of the cubs:






















After seeing my first Badger at the site on 3rd May 2020, I discovered the location of the sett on 8th June 2020. Since that time, I have seen Badgers on the majority of my evening visits, sometimes just a single animal but a maximum of 5 animals on 29th July 2020Sharing the “twilight time” with a Badger really is very special. Unfortunately, it has always been too dark to get any photos of the Badgers but here is a photo of a Badger that I took on a visit to the British Wildlife Centre in 2011:













Thank you Vulpes vulpes and Meles meles for all the enjoyment that you have given to me!

At Noak Bridge Nature Reserve, the highlight for me, amongst all the wonderful wildlife that the site supports, has been the many sightings of Common Lizards. I first recorded this reptile on 16th April 2020 and, since that time, I saw Common Lizards on several visits during the spring and summer, sometimes just a single animal but a maximum of 4 animals in the same general area around the boardwalks at the eastern end of the reserve.


































































During 2020, there were so many highlights amongst the birds, butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, other insects and plants at both sites, not to mention too many photos to review to select a "best of ....".

A review of 2020 would not be complete without a mention of lockdown window which fortunately did have periods of being non-lockdown window. With the national lockdown and restrictions on travel, many people started recording wildlife from the windows of their homes and their gardens from late March 2020. I did the same and I have managed to record 34 bird species from my flat.

My records have included Common BuzzardSparrowhawkGreen Woodpecker, Great Spotted WoodpeckerJayGrey HeronCormorant, Mallard, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull and Ring-necked Parakeet plus the usual common resident birds. During the spring and summer, I saw migrant species such as SwiftSwallowHouse MartinBlackcap and Chiffchaff.

In addition, I have seen both Red Foxes and Grey Squirrels on many occasions and twice heard the very distinctive sound of "barking" Reeves' Muntjacs.

On 8th May 2020, I even saw the Red Arrows!

Lockdown window also provided some memorable sky views during 2020.

Sunrises ....






























Sunsets .... 


















Rainbows ....
















The Moon .... 
















Venus ....














The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn .... 














Not to mention plane contrails and a paraglider! 




























And when the weather precluded visiting my local patch sites or sky-gazing from my flat, I read 3 excellent and timely books, all of which are highly recommended ....

"The Wild Remedy - How Nature Mends Us - A Diary" by Emma Mitchell
















"The Consolation of Nature: Spring in the Time of Coronavirus" by Michael McCarthy, Jeremy Mynott and Peter Marren















"Back to Nature: How to love life and save it" by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin











Plus there was, and still is, the Self-Isolating Bird Club to follow on social media .... 









And finally ....

























Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” - Rachel Carson

Although written in 1962 in the book "Silent Spring", never has this sentiment been more relevant.

Happy New Year!

Let’s hope 2021 is a much better, safer, healthier and greener and more sustainable year for us all .... for our local communities, our country and our planet.

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature