One of the philosophical conundrums that Quantum Mechanics raised when it first appeared was on the nature of light. Is it a wave? Is it a particle? And the answer, roughly, is that if you are looking for it to be a wave, it's a wave, and if you are looking for it to be a particle, it's a particle. Waves and particles are concepts, and reality is under no obligation to exactly line up with your concepts.
Anyway
Off I went for my daily patch watch today. Overcast, dull, overnight rain, surely some migrants? Well, no. The pair of Mandarin in their usual place, some Blackcaps and Chiffchaff singing, a Whitethroat, then over the railway line and up to the fields. The usual Yellowhammers and Linnets, then a stop to scan the horizons noting a Red Kite and a Sparrowhawk over, then four Fallow Deer marching out of a hedgerow, giving me a look up and down, and slowly trotting off. A pair of Red-Legged Partridges, the solitary bird now having found a mate. Then back down past the scrape and home with a stop to look for a singing Sedge Warbler from the river-side by the scrape.
Now Steve Gale, over at the excellent North Downs And Beyond, doesn't think birding the patch is really on at the moment. Or rather, he says the lockdown law says it isn't on. The guidelines are for exercise only, not to carry on birding.
So...
Off I went for my daily exercise today. Overcast, dull, overnight rain. The pair of Mandarin in their usual place, I heard some some Blackcaps and Chiffchaff singing, a Whitethroat, then over the railway line and up to the fields. The usual Yellowhammers and Linnets then after what was a decent stretch of walking up an incline, a brief rest during which a Red Kite and a Sparrowhawk flew over. Then four Fallow Deer marching out of a hedgerow. Clearly I had to stop then to avoid spooking them, and I watched as they looked me up and down, then slowly trotted off. A pair of Red-Legged Partridges, the solitary bird now having found a mate. Then back down past the scrape and home. I stopped for a brief rest opposite where a Sedge Warbler was singing and stepped back into the wood to let a jogger past and maintain distance.
So. Birdwatching? Exercise? I guess what you see is up to you.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Friday, April 17, 2020
a Spring in my step
8:30 and I'm out on the patch again, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be*. First up is two Sparrowhawks displaying over the village. I have a feeling they are nesting along a tree-lined brook as I frequently see them in this area. They both look like females to me so maybe they are marking the edge of joint territories.
Down by the river and the first Lesser Whitethroat of the year bursts into song just a few feet from my head. I peer through the foliage trying to see it, and see a bird fly off after which there is no more song ...
Then its business-as-usual, singing Blackcap, Chiffchaff, and a Whitethroat, all down by the river area. Then up the path toward the farmland and its Yellowhammers and Linnets and a very distant Red Kite, and then as I'm having my umpteenth scan of a ploughed field Boom! There, about 100 yards away, is a male Wheatear.
Wheatears are on the patch list, but not for about ten years. There was a distant spring when a pair were on an adjacent field for a few days, and another spring day a couple of years later when there was one by the river, but then nothing. I've had them over the other side of the valley at Tharbies on a few occasions, and Mike had one up there yesterday, and top local birder and photographer Jason Ward had one a few miles south at Latton Common, but here, up to now, nothing. Not a peep. Or a chackk.
It just sat there for a while. It looked cold grey colour. Now I'm no expert as you will have gathered by now, but it looked the normal type, not one of those Greenland varieties. I looked a way for a few minutes whilst I sent a quick text to Mike togloat inform him, and when I looked back it was sat there again, but a metre or so to the left.
After a while of this I wondered if there were any more Wheatears. It was a heavily ploughed field, and after some scanning another male revealed itself. They were soon running around, and I left them feeding. I had spent so long watching them I think I may have gone over my government-mandated hour so hurried on home.
It's the kind of sighting that makes you wonder how many you've missed. It was hard work, a lot of scanning, and they could easily get in a rut left by the deep plough. Anyway I didn't miss them. And they are on the patch and year list. Fantastic.
* This is a lie. There are a lot of places I'd rather be.
Down by the river and the first Lesser Whitethroat of the year bursts into song just a few feet from my head. I peer through the foliage trying to see it, and see a bird fly off after which there is no more song ...
Then its business-as-usual, singing Blackcap, Chiffchaff, and a Whitethroat, all down by the river area. Then up the path toward the farmland and its Yellowhammers and Linnets and a very distant Red Kite, and then as I'm having my umpteenth scan of a ploughed field Boom! There, about 100 yards away, is a male Wheatear.
Wheatears are on the patch list, but not for about ten years. There was a distant spring when a pair were on an adjacent field for a few days, and another spring day a couple of years later when there was one by the river, but then nothing. I've had them over the other side of the valley at Tharbies on a few occasions, and Mike had one up there yesterday, and top local birder and photographer Jason Ward had one a few miles south at Latton Common, but here, up to now, nothing. Not a peep. Or a chackk.
It just sat there for a while. It looked cold grey colour. Now I'm no expert as you will have gathered by now, but it looked the normal type, not one of those Greenland varieties. I looked a way for a few minutes whilst I sent a quick text to Mike to
After a while of this I wondered if there were any more Wheatears. It was a heavily ploughed field, and after some scanning another male revealed itself. They were soon running around, and I left them feeding. I had spent so long watching them I think I may have gone over my government-mandated hour so hurried on home.
It's the kind of sighting that makes you wonder how many you've missed. It was hard work, a lot of scanning, and they could easily get in a rut left by the deep plough. Anyway I didn't miss them. And they are on the patch and year list. Fantastic.
* This is a lie. There are a lot of places I'd rather be.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Do You Really Know What a Sedge Warbler Looks Like?
Or, more correctly, do I?
It was towards the end of a reasonable but unspectacular patch walk. Three Redwings the highlight, perched quietly in some trees, possibly the last of winter. But other decent sightings; a Jay in a tree giving that Buzzard call, some nice Yellowhammers, good views of Linnet, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, distant Red Kite, then on the home stretch along the navigation a lady pointed out a pair of Mandarin under the opposite bank (from a safe distance), and then a Willow Warbler singing unseen from the middle of a thicket, probably the same bird I heard yesterday.
I noticed a movement down by the water's edge. A Chiff. And a second one. Oh hang on...
The two bird were silently picking their way through a mass of twigs all just coming into leaf. The second was a Sedge Warbler. Normally, Sedge Warblers are easy, bursting up from bushes giving their distinctive rattling churring song, but this was the first for a few months, and wasn't singing. In the end it was reasonably straightforward; heavy eyestripe, which was what first gave it away, browner and dumpier than the chiff, rusty rump, slight streaking on the back, and a stout tail. But it was good to have a decent look at it. It is seeing birds in unexpected places at unexpected times that makes for mistakes. Now, I obviously have no independent adjudication to point out that its was something else, but it was nice to slowly unpick this bird and get all the features. And that Chiff? The supercilium was quite strong continuing well behind the eye, longish primaries and pale legs, so if I had to guess I'd say Willow Warbler. But I don't have to guess, I can leave it as a Chiff.
This lockdown lark is making me think again about our birds. The everyday birds, the Blue Tits, the Linnets, the Mallards, are all spectacular in their own way. With nothing else to do it's a pleasure to spend time enjoying them.
It was towards the end of a reasonable but unspectacular patch walk. Three Redwings the highlight, perched quietly in some trees, possibly the last of winter. But other decent sightings; a Jay in a tree giving that Buzzard call, some nice Yellowhammers, good views of Linnet, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, distant Red Kite, then on the home stretch along the navigation a lady pointed out a pair of Mandarin under the opposite bank (from a safe distance), and then a Willow Warbler singing unseen from the middle of a thicket, probably the same bird I heard yesterday.
I noticed a movement down by the water's edge. A Chiff. And a second one. Oh hang on...
The two bird were silently picking their way through a mass of twigs all just coming into leaf. The second was a Sedge Warbler. Normally, Sedge Warblers are easy, bursting up from bushes giving their distinctive rattling churring song, but this was the first for a few months, and wasn't singing. In the end it was reasonably straightforward; heavy eyestripe, which was what first gave it away, browner and dumpier than the chiff, rusty rump, slight streaking on the back, and a stout tail. But it was good to have a decent look at it. It is seeing birds in unexpected places at unexpected times that makes for mistakes. Now, I obviously have no independent adjudication to point out that its was something else, but it was nice to slowly unpick this bird and get all the features. And that Chiff? The supercilium was quite strong continuing well behind the eye, longish primaries and pale legs, so if I had to guess I'd say Willow Warbler. But I don't have to guess, I can leave it as a Chiff.
This lockdown lark is making me think again about our birds. The everyday birds, the Blue Tits, the Linnets, the Mallards, are all spectacular in their own way. With nothing else to do it's a pleasure to spend time enjoying them.
Sunday, April 12, 2020
We'll be a long time in lockdown ...
A slow steady rise in the numbers of Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat. Some Fallow Deer showing well. The Mandarin around again. Quite nice all in, which is just as well because we birders are going to be here for some time. Possibly the rest of this year and into next. Here's why I think this.
There are two ways out of this pandemic; Vaccine or Herd Immunity. We'd all prefer a vaccine, but there is a long period of testing of any candidate, possibly (I believe) up to two years. We could shorten it, but that is risky as that testing period is there for a reason. Meanwhile, our economy will slide into depression and life will become more difficult. A prolonged shutdown will cost lives as we will be unable to look after everyone who needs it. If you thought being unable to get your hands on toilet roll was frustrating, wait until we start running out of food. So we will have to open up the economy at a point where we don't have a vaccine
That points to some kind of herd immunity strategy. The Herd Immunity strategy is based round the notion that there are vulnerable people who if they get the virus may die, and there are less vulnerable people who will nearly all live if they get the virus. If we can keep the vulnerable ('old') people isolated whilst we get the proportion of the population who have had the virus to over 60% then the vulnerable people could be let out again as the level of immunity in the community means the virus is unlikely to spread.
Optimistic calculations say we currently have around 20% immunity currently. So we need to go through what we have been through another three times.
A managed Herd Immunity has always been the underlying principle of the government strategy because of the sheer practical impossibility of the alternative. We are currently trying to 'flatten the curve'. That means get the demand down and the capacity of the health service up to a point where it can manage the demand. We are likely to achieve that in the next few weeks.
Hence, by the end of April we will be looking at lifting the lockdown in some way. The strategy will be, I think, to get the economy moving, allow the virus to spread amongst the younger section of the population (because we cannot realistically prevent that), which will increase health care demand, and keep the vulnerable people isolated.
I think this is going to be the way of things for a few years. We will evolve into a society that lives with the virus, rebuilding our businesses and social lives in ways the avoid close contact.
During this phase it will be important to keep the demand on the health service as low as possible, and keep vulnerable people locked up. I wouldn't be surprised if families are allowed to go on holiday, for instance, but not with old people.
Where does that leave birders? Well, isolated at home I fear. Most birders are over 50, myself included, and enough people my age have had very bad experiences, not just Boris, to make me think getting it would not be a wise move. So I think the government will say that trips that are not work related or involve taking young people on holiday or out socially will remain banned. And that means most of our birding trips.
I think there's also a problem for nature reserves building. Take Minsmere, the gold standard of bird reserves. Most people who go there are over 60, never mind 50. They spend much of their time sat in hides. It isn't possible to socially isolate in a hide, so they will be shut. It's going to be pretty hard to watch the scrape, or scan for Bitterns from the Bittern hide, if we can't go into hides. So if reserves do open up, I think there will be new ways of allowing people to see the key areas, eg long screens with gaps and people moving freely behind.
But that's a while off. Meanwhile allowing pensioners to all head off on a day to the coast adds potential strain on the NHS, exposes NHS staff to more virus, and for that reason it isn't going to happen.
There are two ways out of this pandemic; Vaccine or Herd Immunity. We'd all prefer a vaccine, but there is a long period of testing of any candidate, possibly (I believe) up to two years. We could shorten it, but that is risky as that testing period is there for a reason. Meanwhile, our economy will slide into depression and life will become more difficult. A prolonged shutdown will cost lives as we will be unable to look after everyone who needs it. If you thought being unable to get your hands on toilet roll was frustrating, wait until we start running out of food. So we will have to open up the economy at a point where we don't have a vaccine
That points to some kind of herd immunity strategy. The Herd Immunity strategy is based round the notion that there are vulnerable people who if they get the virus may die, and there are less vulnerable people who will nearly all live if they get the virus. If we can keep the vulnerable ('old') people isolated whilst we get the proportion of the population who have had the virus to over 60% then the vulnerable people could be let out again as the level of immunity in the community means the virus is unlikely to spread.
Optimistic calculations say we currently have around 20% immunity currently. So we need to go through what we have been through another three times.
A managed Herd Immunity has always been the underlying principle of the government strategy because of the sheer practical impossibility of the alternative. We are currently trying to 'flatten the curve'. That means get the demand down and the capacity of the health service up to a point where it can manage the demand. We are likely to achieve that in the next few weeks.
Hence, by the end of April we will be looking at lifting the lockdown in some way. The strategy will be, I think, to get the economy moving, allow the virus to spread amongst the younger section of the population (because we cannot realistically prevent that), which will increase health care demand, and keep the vulnerable people isolated.
I think this is going to be the way of things for a few years. We will evolve into a society that lives with the virus, rebuilding our businesses and social lives in ways the avoid close contact.
During this phase it will be important to keep the demand on the health service as low as possible, and keep vulnerable people locked up. I wouldn't be surprised if families are allowed to go on holiday, for instance, but not with old people.
Where does that leave birders? Well, isolated at home I fear. Most birders are over 50, myself included, and enough people my age have had very bad experiences, not just Boris, to make me think getting it would not be a wise move. So I think the government will say that trips that are not work related or involve taking young people on holiday or out socially will remain banned. And that means most of our birding trips.
I think there's also a problem for nature reserves building. Take Minsmere, the gold standard of bird reserves. Most people who go there are over 60, never mind 50. They spend much of their time sat in hides. It isn't possible to socially isolate in a hide, so they will be shut. It's going to be pretty hard to watch the scrape, or scan for Bitterns from the Bittern hide, if we can't go into hides. So if reserves do open up, I think there will be new ways of allowing people to see the key areas, eg long screens with gaps and people moving freely behind.
But that's a while off. Meanwhile allowing pensioners to all head off on a day to the coast adds potential strain on the NHS, exposes NHS staff to more virus, and for that reason it isn't going to happen.
Friday, April 10, 2020
The Slow Steady March of Spring.
My daily routine is now settled. Get up and do the full patch. Through the now flattened corner field, into the small wood by the river, look over the lower park area, along to Feakes Lock, up through the loop field along the railway (a few trains, all completely empty), past SLRS, up to the farm, then over the top fields, down back across the railway line and home. Lucky me can just manage all that in the one hour the government allows.
This daily routine gives as near a complete picture of what is happening on the patch that I can imagine doing, and the headline is that it is slow going. Here's the notable sightings.
24th March - Water Rail at SLRS. Grey Wagtail over. Blackcap m first for the year. Fieldfare 3.
25th March - Barn Owl by the railway line in the evening
26th March - Mandarin - a pair all over the patch, very noisily, presumably looking for a nest site. Treecreeper, down to the mead near Old Harlow - Lapwing, Snipe, and Gadwall.
28th March - Kingfisher, Little Egret, Cetti's Warbler! back after the Beast from the East. Redwing 15 N and c30 Fieldfare
31st March - Golden Plover 35 in the middle of a field on the high eastern section. first for the patch. Also 13 Fieldfare.
4th April - Blackcap
6th April - Yellow Wagtail 1 calling and flying over, Mandarin pair on the backwater quietly swimming around, now settled presumably.
7th April - Teal 5 on SLRS
8th April - nothing to report
9th April - 2 House Martin, 1 Whitethroat. The Water Rail out in the open at SLRS.
10th April - The Water Rail having a good long feeding session. 3 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat., 3 Black-Headed Gulls over.
The insect life has been emerging too. Peacock, Comma, and Small tortoiseshell have been out in decent numbers, and after a gap today saw Brimstone as well as my first Orange tip Butterfly of the year. The years first Vestal Cuckoo Bee too. There have been Fox, Muntjac deer, and Pipistrelle Bat too.
This birding is like the birding I did as a school boy, when trips to coastal hot-spots were beyond my means and I had to make do with whatever was in my local park. Time spent quietly checking a bush to see what is moving in there, taking time to enjoy close-up Great-Spotted Woodpecker, finding Long-tailed tit nests. Slowly the summer visitors are turning up, and the insects are appearing.
This daily routine gives as near a complete picture of what is happening on the patch that I can imagine doing, and the headline is that it is slow going. Here's the notable sightings.
24th March - Water Rail at SLRS. Grey Wagtail over. Blackcap m first for the year. Fieldfare 3.
25th March - Barn Owl by the railway line in the evening
26th March - Mandarin - a pair all over the patch, very noisily, presumably looking for a nest site. Treecreeper, down to the mead near Old Harlow - Lapwing, Snipe, and Gadwall.
28th March - Kingfisher, Little Egret, Cetti's Warbler! back after the Beast from the East. Redwing 15 N and c30 Fieldfare
31st March - Golden Plover 35 in the middle of a field on the high eastern section. first for the patch. Also 13 Fieldfare.
4th April - Blackcap
6th April - Yellow Wagtail 1 calling and flying over, Mandarin pair on the backwater quietly swimming around, now settled presumably.
7th April - Teal 5 on SLRS
8th April - nothing to report
9th April - 2 House Martin, 1 Whitethroat. The Water Rail out in the open at SLRS.
10th April - The Water Rail having a good long feeding session. 3 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat., 3 Black-Headed Gulls over.
The insect life has been emerging too. Peacock, Comma, and Small tortoiseshell have been out in decent numbers, and after a gap today saw Brimstone as well as my first Orange tip Butterfly of the year. The years first Vestal Cuckoo Bee too. There have been Fox, Muntjac deer, and Pipistrelle Bat too.
This birding is like the birding I did as a school boy, when trips to coastal hot-spots were beyond my means and I had to make do with whatever was in my local park. Time spent quietly checking a bush to see what is moving in there, taking time to enjoy close-up Great-Spotted Woodpecker, finding Long-tailed tit nests. Slowly the summer visitors are turning up, and the insects are appearing.
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