Birding in Lockdown: Links to Garden Lockdown Listing League and our Birding Ideas Page, helping to make the most of extra time as a result of the lockdown.
Late news, 28/4, Maer Lake: 1 (elusive) male Garganey, 6 Dunlin. (H Kendall) Also 8 Shelduck, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Swallow, 15 Sand Martin, 5 Whimbrel, 2 Canada Goose, 6 Mallard. (T Nicholson)
Late news, 28/4, Downderry: 14 Whimbrel and 10 Great Northern Diver. Also a singing Reed Warbler at Seaton. (A Payne)
Late news, 28/4, St Just: 2cy Iceland Gull, 1 Swift. (D Flumm)
Newlyn: 2cy Glaucous Gull still on South pier. (L Proctor) Still present swimming around boats 12:00. (R Fox)
Tolcarne: 50+ Whimbrel, 1 Basking Shark close. (M Ahmad)
Mousehole (10:00-14:00): 1 pale ad Pomarine Skua, 2 Great Skua, 98 Whimbrel, 2 Mediterranean Gull, 9 Sandwich Tern, 4 Puffin, 14 Common Scoter, 1 Minke Whale. (M Elliott)
Porthgwarra: ad Pomarine Skua, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 9 Puffin flew past. (M Wallace)
Falmouth Bay (16:15- 19:15): 2 ad Pomarine Skua, 3 Great Skua, 193 Manx Shearwater, c50 Whimbrel, 45+ Common Scoter (single flock), 27 Fulmar, 16 Kittiwake, 385 Gannet, 52 auk sp. 2 Great Northern Divers on the sea. (T Phelps, M Doyle)
St Erth: 1 Hobby. (M Spicer)
Bude Marshes: 20+ prs Sedge Warbler, 2 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 4 Whitethroat, 6 House Martin, 4 Swallow. (N Bastin)
Drift: 35 Whimbrel. (D Flumm)
Tywardreath: Young Robin in private garden. (R Barlow)
Rosenannon Downs: 1 Snipe, taken by a Sparrowhawk. (A le Masurier)
Newquay, Towan Beach: 7 Sanderling below the outfall pipe, 1 Swift, 2 Stonechat on the killacourt. (S Grose)
St Ives Island: 5 Purple Sandpiper. (G Jones)
St Breward/Stannon Moor: 1m Redstart, 1 Grey Wagtail, pr Wheatear, 1 Grey Heron harassed by 2 Herring Gull. (G Chapman)
Downderry: 14 Whimbrel and 7 Common Scoter this morning. 2 Great Skuas West this afternoon with large passage of Gannets. (A Payne)
Gluvian (St Columb), North of: 1 Yellowhammer, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Bullfinch, 6 Swallow (I Bennallick)
Bridge, St Columb: 1 Dipper, 1 Willow Warbler (I Bennallick)
Carlyon Bay: 2 Shag. (D Hastilow)
Hannafore: 30+ Whimbrel, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit. (D Sharp)
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“The racket from those birds woke me again this morning,” they complain. Some people just don’t ‘get’ the dawn chorus. But this Sunday is International Dawn Chorus Day so perhaps those curmudgeons should poke their heads out of the window and listen to it instead of diving under the pillow. It is pure concert hall.
At 5.30 one morning I padded out to the cool, dimly-lit garden in my dressing gown to get the full effect. Blackbirds set the tempo; one close by, one in the middle distance and another further afield. Wood Pigeons keep up a soothing background hum. A Robin trills and a Wren explodes into the mix, and Great Tits and Chaffinches keep up their repetitive refrains. A Song Thrush bursts in with an impassioned aria, and there is an occasional percussive cough from a Pheasant. Jackdaws and Rooks add abrasive background texture. A soprano Blackcap leads the slow, romantic movement with a Chiffchaff keeping time. But it isn’t about the solo performances. It is the full symphony orchestra! The sound fills the air, Albert Hall style. Your ears are bathed in the joyous loudness of it. And then, in what seems like no time, it is over.
In these trying days, the dawn chorus is pure ambrosia for the soul.
Simon Marquis (palores@cbwps.org.uk)
