From my lockdown window - 4th April 2020

RSPB’s Breakfast Birdwatch

"From today, Tuesday 24 March, the RSPB begins a daily Breakfast Birdwatch, taking place between 8-9am weekdays, at a time when many of us would have been commuting to work, doing the school run, or otherwise unable to enjoy the splendour of nature, from the safety of our homes.

Using #BreakfastBirdwatch on social media, we hope to create a friendly, supportive and engaged community who are able to share what they can see in their gardens, on their balconies, rooftops and spaces from their own homes, all the while keeping within government guidelines in relation to Covid-19.

It is vital that nature can still be enjoyed by as many people as possible, whether keen birders, parents, children, those self-isolating or anyone else able to join in. Over the coming days and weeks, we will be helping people to share their wildlife encounters and provide ideas for things you can do for wildlife close to home.

With the arrival of spring, there is so much incredible nature returning, blooming, growing and thriving outside, and while we are in the midst of an unparalleled crisis, we must not forget the power of nature, including how watching nature can be so positive for our mental health and wellbeing."

I can see the eastern boundary of my St. Nicholas Church site from my flat window so even whilst I am indoors I can still see and hear wildlife.

I am not going to rigorously limit myself to the RSPB's timeslot of 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. but I am going to start recording from my lockdown window …. a wildlife hide with a difference!

Photo: my lockdown window (left side, top floor, middle window)

I recorded the following species today (heard only records in italics):

Blackbird
Blue Tit
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Goldfinch
Green Woodpecker
Woodpigeon
Magpie
Herring Gull

Pipistrelle sp.

The Woodpigeons were particularly obvious with several males displaying and calling. During the display flight the bird climbs, the wings are smartly cracked like a whiplash, and the bird glides down on stiff wings.

The lockdown window watch concluded at 8:00 p.m. with a lovely sunset, Venus shining brightly in the dusk sky, 2 singing Robins and 1 or possibly 2 Pipistrelle bats.

The Common Pipistrelle is a small microbat whose very large range extends across most of Europe and beyond. It is one of the most common bat species in the UK. However, there is a problem in specifically identifying Common Pipistrelle with confidence. In 1999, it was split into 2 species on the basis of different frequency echo location calls. The Common Pipistrelle makes a call at 45 kHz whilst the Soprano Pipistrelle makes a call at 55 kHz.

The 2 species can only be confidently identified by very subtle differences in size and appearance, DNA analysis and sonograms from bat detectors.

Good luck with that then in rapidly fading light, no science laboratory at home and no bat detector!

Therefore, these bats will need to be recorded as “Pipistrelle sp.”.

Nonetheless, it was an exciting record to close the day and the first record of any bat species on my St. Nicholas Church site.

Photo: The sun goes down at the end of the day over SS15 …. the view from lockdown window …. there is a Pipistrelle flying around somewhere in this shot 😀

💚🦆 🦉 🌼 🌳💚
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature