6 months have passed

Today marks 6 months since the implementation of the UK national lockdown which aimed to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

A lot has occurred since 23rd March 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 blog post 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.

I want to try and explain what the last 6 months has been like for me personally.

First and foremost, I have fortunately remained safe and healthy, other than a broken tooth that has only just been dealt with by root canal treatment and the fitting of a crown at great expense!

The first few days of the new year started 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 Covid-19), after introducing advisory and then mandatory measures in respect of "social distancing" and "self-isolation", the Government announced a national lockdown 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 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.

At least I saved some money to pay for my dental treatment!

I needed a Plan B .... see here and here.

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

If we were going to have to face the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and the essential national lockdown, at least I was glad that it happened in 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" proved to be a complete escape from the daily newsfeed and brought some enjoyment, peace and solace. It still does. "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 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 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 8 bird species, 2 mammal species, 6 butterfly species and 4 dragonfly and damselfly species to my site list totals bringing them to:

Birds = 49

Mammals = 6

Butterflies = 21

Dragonflies and damselflies = 7

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

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

Birds = 36

Mammals = 2

Butterflies= 18

Dragonflies and damselflies = 9

Reptiles = 1

Amphibians = 0

There have been so many highlights for me in the last 6 months.

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 plus seeing many different species of butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies as summer progressed.

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:

Additional photos of the Red Foxes can be seen here.

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 2020. 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 have seen Common Lizards on several visits, 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.

An account of the last 6 months would not be complete without a mention of lockdown window. With the national lockdown and restrictions on travel, many people started recording wildlife from the windows of their homes and their gardens. I did so too and I have managed to record 34 bird species from my flat including Common Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron and Cormorant plus summer migrants such as Swift, Swallow, House Martin, Blackcap and Chiffchaff and the usual common resident birds. In addition, I have seen Red Foxes and Grey Squirrels on many occasions and twice heard "barking" Reeves' Muntjac.

So, putting aside for one moment all the terrible impacts of Covid-19, the lockdown period and the time since has been relatively good to me.

I hope, we all hope, that the Covid-19 pandemic can ultimately be brought under control as quickly as possible. I also hope that lessons will be learnt and that going forward we can build a more sustainable, greener and respectful life for our planet and ourselves and the nature and wildlife that we co-exist with.

I will continue to visit my local patch sites during these challenging times. I have experienced and benefitted so much in the last 6 months by engaging with and appreciating my local area and its nature and wildlife. Therefore my visits to both local patch sites will carry on irrespective of whether or not I can eventually resume trips to other parts of the UK and around Europe.

💚🦆 🦉🦋🐝🦊🦡🌼 🌳💚

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong, stay connected with nature