Lockdown Birding Part 3

Hoopoes in dispute (Martin Kelsey)
The Hoopoe's "song" oop-oop-oop is delivered perched, with the bird appearing to go through considerable effort in producing it. Standing on our balcony for lockdown birding has given me the chance to watch our garden birds stepping up into the rhythm of spring. A Blackbird appears relaxed as it sings: barely moving its body and its bill simply ajar, the head still as song flows warm and comforting into the soundsphere. Hoopoes undergo a contortion. They arch their heads downward, the neck becomes swollen and the bill is directed the feet. They appear hunched up and troubled, grave and serious. With its oop you can sense strain.

Hoopoe singing (Martin Kelsey)

Yet, Hoopoes are busy ooping away, because spring demands it. We must be on the border of two Hoopoe territories because whilst I was watching this singing bird, I sensed a split second of unease, its tail fanned and at the moment a rival flew in and dislodged the singer. Off the two bounded, with their wide fanned wings, flashing black and white.

Spotless Starlings sing from exposed perches too. Bills wide open, lax throat feathers spread like an inverted porcupine, and producing the zany weird series of whoops, whistles and gargles. Some are amassing nesting material, building under the loose tiles of our roof.

Spotless Starling wth nest material (Martin Kelsey)

Six days into the lockdown and I have recorded 43 species of bird. In a few days time I will take a look at some of the patterns emerging, but readers have requested an update on which species I have seen, so here is the list to date (based on eBird Clements taxonomy):

Common Woodpigeon
Eurasian Collared Dove
White Stork
Black (Cinereous) Vulture
Eurasian Griffon Vulture
Short-toed Eagle
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Red Kite
Black Kite
Little Owl
Eurasian Hoopoe
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Eurasian Kestrel
Iberian Magpie
Common Raven
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Woodlark
Crested Lark
Zitting Cisticola
Eurasian Crag Martin
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow
Common House Martin
Iberian Chiffchaff
Cetti's Warbler
Euasian Blackcap
Sardinian Warbler
Short-toed Treecreeper
Eutasaian Wren
Spotless Starling
Eurasian Blackbird
Black Redstart
House Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
Hawfinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Corn Bunting




Comments

Meropes said…
Thank you for this new series. It can feel very bleak right now, but Spring is a wonderful season and wherever we are, if we have a window on nature, we can watch the changes and take pleasure from them. We have recorded 27 species in and above our north London garden this week, not bad and it includes our first singing Blackcap of the season. That brings much joy. No Extremadura trip for me this spring, so I'm counting on you to bring it to me more than you usually do. Matt Evans
21 March 2020 at 22:54
Brian Banks said…
Thank-you Martin. Not a bad garden list! We have 19 species in common. I suspect the Cinereous vulture may require a slice of luck here in Sussex ;-). Feeling down about not sharing your garden next month, but looking forward to May 2021. Would be interested in your herpetofauna list.
23 March 2020 at 07:39
Janet S said…
Forgot to tell you, we had a Hoopoe on our birdwatching patch that stayed a couple of weeks before moving to a field within walking distance of home. It's gone now, probably back to Spain!
24 March 2020 at 08:17
Martin Kelsey at Birding Extremadura said…
Dear Matt, Brian and Janet,

Thank for your comments! I will keep these lockdown birding logs going and yes, there will be a herpetofauna memtion somewhere down the line!

Best wishes

Martin
26 April 2020 at 15:42
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Big Year 2022 Part Three: More special moments - November to December

Image
  Part Three: More special moments - November to December Little Owl (Martin Kelsey): first seen 15 January By the start of November, I reappraised my progress. There were a few species, like Grasshopper Warbler (a scarce autumn passage bird and always seen just by luck) that I had missed and with now little chance of recovering. There were also a few winter birds that I had missed at the start of the year that I still had a chance to find. The first one I found was just 500 metres from my front gate: a pair of Bullfinches feeding on desiccated blackberries in brambles growing over an old wall. They were first I had ever seen so close to home. At my local patch Alcollarín where the water levels were extremely low because of the prolonged drought, the waders had been better than usual (probably because the nearby rice fields were so dry) and the winter gull roost was starting to build up in numbers. I paid a visit one late afternoon. Below the dam, something made me pause. The Alcolla
Read more

Big Year 2022 Part 2: Windows of Opportunity - April to October

Image
  Part 2: Windows of Opportunity - April to October Black-winged Kite (Martin Kelsey) : first seen 28th January April is a crucial month in any Big Year attempt in Extremadura. This is the peak month for the northward passage of waders. Waders such as Grey Plover, Sanderling, Red Knot, Turnstone, Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit are very scarce. Although most migrate along the coast, some follow an overland route across Spain. If they meet adverse conditions, they might pause and stop off for a very brief rest. The rice fields in the centre of Extremadura and the shores of reservoirs provide places for them to stop and feed. Whilst there is still some migration of Arctic-bound waders in early May (especially Common Ringed Plovers) and some of these species can also make an appearance in early autumn, April offers us the best opportunity. It is a narrow window of opportunity. April is also a time when I am out every day with clients, visiting the full spectrum of habitats, the rice fiel
Read more

Big Year 2022: Part One The rising curve - January to March

Image
Spanish Sparrow (Martin Kelsey): first seen 8th January. The rising curve - January to March   I had never intended to do a “Big Year” in Extremadura in 2022, to see how many of birds I could record in twelve months. We spent the New Year in Galicia, the wonderfully wet and windy north-west of Spain, and it wasn’t until January 6th that I saw my first birds of the year in Extremadura. I was planning to be quite relaxed about my birding. But by February, it was clear that, thanks to strokes of luck and a lot of time spent in the field, I was doing rather well in the accumulative total of birds seen. So, I decided then that I would set myself two targets: to break my own record of 256 species and to see more species than anyone else in 2022.  However, I would also set some rules. First, only to twitch (i.e to make a special journey to see a specific individual bird found by someone else) if I had never seen that species before in Extremadura, all other birds would be “self-found”. I woul
Read more