Lockdown eased......

21 May - Lockdown has now been eased for a week or so, with unlimited outdoor exercise now permitted. Traffic on the roads has returned to something approaching normal after the silence of April, though there’s still no real rush hour. I’ve ventured a bit further afield, by car, as well as the local cycling. A short visit to Salisbury Plain, in early morning before the heat shimmer, gave excellent scope views of several Stone Curlews on their specially-prepared breeding scrapes, and included a pair with 2 fledged chicks. Such strange birds, furtive in their movements and sometimes difficult to spot against broken ground, but they can be quite obvious at times. I also saw a bird in flight and heard them calling. A good morning for raptora as well, Buzzards and Red Kites as a supporting cast to rarer species. Can Buntings are numerous on the plain, and I saw Stonechats but no Whinchats. Eurasian Curlew also heard calling. Nice to be able to go a bit further afield to one of Wiltshire’s special places...... More locally, a combined list from birders active on 16th May produced a combined total for CWP of exactly 100 species..... confirming what an excellent area this is for breeding bird species, including Warblers and Cuckoos which have a stronghold here, and Nightingale which maintains a localized presence. Not that many waders on the list with a lack of many really good areas for them this spring, combined with the dry weather. We did however log Crane, and 5 species of Heron which is not too unexpected in the WaterPark these days...... With the ongoing sunny spring weather I also made an early foray to the Forest of Dean on 20th for my annual spring visit, one of the best times of year in the Forest. Very successful in terms of target species, being serenaded on arrival by parachuting Tree Pipits, then moving on to a more deciduous area, where 3 Redstarts we’re singing in the old trees, with one seen well - then one of my favourite songs, the haunting Wood Warbler which seems to echo through its forest habitat, especially where dappled sunlight filters through the leaves - 2 of these sang, one either side of me, with one bird seen well and showing its lemon-yellow throat in the sun. A Spotted Flycatcher in the same area was a real bonus as I didn’t see one at all in 2019 - and I then heard a singing Pied Flycatcher, although I didn’t see it up in the canopy, at Nagshead, currently only accessible by public footpath. Singing male Cuckoo, a small flock of Crossbills (c15) and Siskins also seen/heard. An excellent morning, and so mentally helpful to see nature and the seasons turning as normal in the current strange and anxious times. Other odds and ends - a flyover Hobby powered north over the garden last week, and a Sanderling dropped into CWP resplendent in evolving orange-rufous summer dress. The breeding season feels as if it is in full swing now, with birdsong starting to diminish. Swifts and hirundines appear to be back in full force, with Swifts screaming over the garden in the fine weather. And one morning at 5.30am I heard a Cuckoo while lying in bed - my first from the garden since 2018.