Lockdown Birding, 04.-05.2020

After my school was closed in mid-March, the next shock for my classmates, my family and I came when Colombo district was put under lockdown to halt the spread of COVID-19. Initially, the curfews were lifted every two to three days to allow people to buy groceries, but it quickly became clear that this approach did not make sense – people would still be crowded in supermarkets, which is obviously counterproductive when intending to contain the spread of the virus. This resulted in the whole district being put under complete lockdown – one could not leave the house, and food was obtained from food-trucks that drive through the neighborhoods selling fruit and vegetables, fish, eggs and occasionally milk, and by ordering from supermarkets. I had my classes online which was a challenge as it was hard of me to stay motivated, especially since the IB cancelled exams worldwide.

Due to this completely different daily life, it took me a while to find things to do to keep me satisfied and occupied. One activity I started doing a lot more was painting in watercolors, which I rarely did before. I usually use pencils or acrylic or oil paint when doing art so it was nice to get better at a medium that was new for me.

I also did some birding, which was facilitated by Mr Duncan, a teacher who’s a birder as well, organised a few fun bird races on mornings or afternoons that kept me and other birders in the school community entertained and occupied. We used eBird which allowed us to share and compare lists. On the morning of April 4th, we had our first bird race, during which I tallied just under 40 species over two hours. A delight was an Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon, the first record for my garden. Otherwise, I got many of the usual birds like Brown-headed Barbet, Black-hooded Oriole (which have a nest in our neighbor’s garden), Stork-billed Kingfisher and Red-backed Flameback.

We had another bird race for 1.5 hours in the evening of April 10th. I expected far fewer birds than in the morning, but surprisingly I got 35 species in less time. I was excited to see Striated Heron, Alexandrine Parakeet and Western Yellow Wagtail, all of which being new for my garden. The parakeet gave only a brief fly-by view but its red shoulder and heavier build were characteristic. Other nice birds were the Black-headed Orioles still breeding in the mango tree, Shikra, Red-backed Flameback, Greater Coucal, Indian Robin, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Purple Heron and Oriental Darter. A few days later, I scanned the sky with my binoculars and found an Alpine Swift flying so high that it was invisible to the naked eye, the fifth new garden bird I added during the lockdown. I heard from some others that they saw it so I was wondering why I never saw any in my garden, the reason seemingly being that they fly too high. More bird races showed that seeing 40 species in my garden in a one- to two-hour period should be possible but I always narrowly missed it. I did however continue to see unusual garden birds, including Whiskered Tern and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. The most rewarding aspect, apart from observing the birds, was just to be under the open sky during a time of being confined to our home.

Watching the Black-headed Orioles breed was a highlight in itself. They are one of the most common garden birds but their plumage is stunning nonetheless, and being able to  follow the process of them breeding was a lot of fun. A few days after the April 10th race, I noticed that the pair was bringing food to the nest, showing that the eggs had finally hatched. They spent much of the day foraging and came to the nest about once every 30 minutes, before departing again.

One day, we had a large Green Garden Lizard in our house that gave great photo opportunities as it rested on the edge of the pool. Watching the activity at two Indian Honey Bee nests was also a fun way to spend some time outside.

The change COVID-19 brought into our lives is a huge challenge, but fortunately, I found ways to keep myself busy and do productive activities during this uncertain time. It was a lot of fun to do mini ‘bird races’ together with others from my school community, and I was very happy about a number of unexpected sightings that bumped up my garden list to 68 species. When seen as an opportunity to do activities I usually wouldn’t rather than solely as an annoyance, the lockdown is easier to get through.