More Lockdown Birding

I'm pleased to say that things have improved slightly over recent months with regards to 'lockdown', allowing more freedom of movement, which has allowed me to resume my love of bird watching in different areas of the country - albeit maintaining social distancing! Going back to 19th June, my wife, (armed with a good pack-up and flask) accompanied me for the long drive up the A1 to Northumberland, arriving in time to travel across the causeway to 'The Snook' on Holy Island (Lindisfarne) for the Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana) which had been found there. This bird breeds in Central and Western Asia and the extreme East of Europe, but then winters in North-east Africa and South-western Asia, so one being on the Northumberland coast was an excellent find! As I recall, the bird was only seen very briefly the following morning then wasn't reported again.

Below are a couple of images of the bird

Asian Desert Warbler

Asian Desert Warbler

The 1st July - and Leicester is locked down again with Covid 19 - so it was back to garden bird watching for a while, until restrictions were eased once more for the area of Leicester where I live, on July 18th.

I was watching with interest of the whereabouts of a Bearded Vulture which was first sighted in June in the Kenilworth area - but seemed to have taken up residence in the Peak District of Derbyshire. The bird had been seen daily flying over Cutthroat Bridge on the A57 in Derbyshire, so I decided on 24th July to see if I could get a look at this huge vulture....... and I wasn't disappointed!  The bird showed pretty well - though distant - for about 20 minutes before disappearing over a ridge. I was lucky enough to get another sighting of this bird on 8th October, perched in a tree at Cowbit in Lincolnshire. Just a few days later, the bird was seen flying out over the English Channel - hopefully going back home again.

Feathers were found and had DNA checks carried out; this bird is a juvenile female which was hatched in 2019 in a wild nest in the French Alps

 

                                                                         Bearded Vulture

Bearded Vulture

As summer is slow for birding as a rule, I planned a day out with my wife to the south coast  - namely to Durlaston Country Park in Dorset to try and find the Lulworth Skipper - and hopefully follow up with a look around Poole or Swanage to round off our day. Once again we took our trusted flask and pack-up in order to keep away from crowds as much as possible and set off early on 30th July for what promised to be a beautiful summer's day.  We parked up at the Country Park and within an hour, we were enjoying my 56th British butterfly - the Lulworth Skipper! (only 3 more species to see now...)  It turned out to be a gloriously sunny day which in turn brought lots of people out to the park, so we decided to head back for the car and have our lunch - including a celebratory Scotch Egg! Our trip didn't go according to plan though, as, despite the Pandemic, the streets and beaches were full to capacity and so we decided it was in our best interests not to have our planned walk around the town, instead choosing to return home. All the same though - we had a brilliant day out at the park, looking out across the bay and enjoying some fresh sea air!!

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

As always, thanks for stopping by - another post to follow soon. In the meantime, keep safe please...