Lockdown Birding

Like much of the world right now, Cordoba is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Since the 14th March my birdwatching has been restricted to the confines of my garden. I have enjoyed reading other people's accounts of their garden birdwatching so I have decided to share what I have been seeing over the last three weeks.

Lizard in the garden

Although the garden does not attract a wide variety of birdlife, I can consider myself lucky that I am not trapped in a flat in the city. The cooing of Collared Doves and the melodious whistle of Spotless Starlings is almost constant except when it is drowned out by the chirping of House Sparrows, which nest in a large Palm Tree. Blackbirds, a pair of Sardinian Warblers and a Chiffchaff are frequent visitors to the fruits trees and a patch of scrub with wildflowers attracts Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Serins, Crested Larks and occasionally Waxbills in the early morning.

Sardinian Wardbler

Common Waxbill

Beyond my fence the area is a popular nesting site for White Storks and they can been seen circling overhead or heard making their clattering call in the nests. Another regular visitor is the Common Kestrel, passing overhead as it searches its prey.

Common Kestrel

The skies above are also worth watching. March and April sees groups of Black Kites making their way north on migration when the weather is good and last week I saw our first Short-Toed Eagle of the year. I have also had a couple of Booted Eagles, Buzzards and Griffon Vultures, probably from the nearby mountains. Other spring arrivals include Barn Swallows (including one that has come into the living room a few times) and Common Swifts.

Black Kite

In the evening Little Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Night Herons and Jackdaws head towards Cordoba, presumably to their roosting site by the river. Last week I saw a Black-Winged Kite hovering over nearby fields just before sundown. This was a new species on the garden list, although I have previously seen it perched on lampposts or trees nearby while driving to work.

House Sparrow

While our lives have ground to a halt, nature carries on as normal. The birds I see in the garden are busy building nests or bringing food to their young and migrants are coming back from their winter ground. I hope that as the weather warms up I will start to see more arrivals from Africa. Bee-eaters should be here soon and if I am lucky I may get some warblers stopping off in the garden. Most of all the current situation has made me appreciate even more the opportunity to observe the behaviour of birds that we often overlook or take for granted, such as the  House Sparrow or Blackbird.

"Better a sparrow, living or dead, than no birdsong at all." Catullus